Chapter 170: Contacting the Main World

[World Announcement]

[Heavenly Dragon has successfully destroyed the Southern Spatial Anchor Gate within the Invasion Corridor.]

[The Southern Spatial Anchor has collapsed.]

[World-Class Mission Progress: 1/4 Spatial Anchor Gates destroyed.]

Cain stared at the announcement.

"One down."

Just as he was about to think about something else, a hurried voice came from behind him.

"Cain!"

He turned around and saw Evelyne was approaching from the plaza with excitement as a translucent System panel remained in front of her.

"I’ve completed the mission and am about to advance."

Cain raised an eyebrow.

Her Advancement Mission had completed, since nobody in their group had died before the Southern Spatial Anchor Gate was destroyed.

Cain glanced across the plaza before nodding at her.

"Go ahead."

Evelyne immediately sat down near the damaged edge of the plaza.

She did not waste even a moment as her Perfected Mana Core began responding to the completed Advancement Mission.

Cain walked toward her and stopped several meters away.

The remaining battle had already moved farther from the plaza.

Even so, he had no intention of leaving Evelyne unguarded during the Core Metamorphosis.

She closed her eyes as Mana began gathering around her.

Cain remained nearby with one hand resting loosely on his sword, then another notification appeared.

The familiar golden color immediately caught his attention.

Cain’s eyes lit up when he saw the notifications before his eyes.

[World Announcement]

[Heavenly Demon has successfully destroyed the Eastern Spatial Anchor Gate within the Invasion Corridor.]

[The Eastern Spatial Anchor has collapsed.]

[World-Class Mission Progress: 2/4 Spatial Anchor Gates destroyed.]

Cain stared at the announcement for several seconds.

Then he laughed softly.

"This person is extremely fast."

They had destroyed the Southern Anchor only moments ago, yet Heavenly Demon’s group had apparently been attacking the Eastern Anchor at nearly the same time.

Cain did not know what kind of forces had defended the Eastern region.

But he guessed that there had been no 3rd Echelon commander stationed there.

That would explain why Heavenly Demon had been able to destroy the Gate without the same obstacle Cain encountered here.

Still, that didn’t make the achievement unimpressive.

The Southern Anchor Town alone contained more than a hundred Zombie Race soldiers consisting of dozens of 2nd Echelons and hundreds of 1st Echelons.

Even without the commander, breaking through that kind of defensive force required a powerful group.

Cain smiled faintly, thinking that he had been paying attention to Heavenly Demon since the first World Announcement on Earth.

Because that person had been the first to kill a First Echelon being while still remaining as Unranked.

Then he became the first person to advance too.

Now he had destroyed one of the four Spatial Anchor Gates.

Cain had no idea what kind of person was behind that ranking name.

But at least he knew that this person must be extremely strong.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to pull such things back to back.

"Good." Cain nodded in satisfaction.

The faster the other groups destroyed their Anchors, the sooner the Spatial Anchor Network protecting the World Gate Core would collapse.

His gaze then moved toward the north.

Beyond the Southern Anchor Town, the broad road continued deeper into the Invasion Corridor.

Somewhere far beyond the distorted terrain stood the central base.

And judging by what had been revealed, a reinforcement must have been on their way here.

Cain’s expression became thoughtful.

Two Anchor Gates had now fallen within an extremely short period.

So, there was no chance the central base would remain passive after all this mess.

He even thought that they might go all out, especially toward his group considering he managed to destroy the Southern Anchor Gate despite it was guarded by the 3rd Echelon Commander.

...

Far away from the Southern Anchor Town, near the center of the Invasion Corridor, the atmosphere had already descended into chaos.

A fortified city stood beneath the fractured crimson sky.

It was many times larger than any of the regional Anchor Towns.

Tall walls surrounded the settlement, while broad roads extended outward from different sections of the city before disappearing toward the four cardinal regions of the Corridor.

The largest concentration of gray-black dimensional energy existed here.

Streams of power flowing from the remaining Spatial Anchors converged beneath the city before feeding toward its deepest section.

That was where the World Gate Core was protected.

Inside one of the largest buildings near the center, four members of the Zombie Race sat around a circular table.

A large map of the Invasion Corridor had been engraved into the surface.

Four dark crystals were positioned around its edges.

Two had already gone out.

South and West.

One of the zombies struck the table.

BANG!

A crack appeared beneath his fist.

"I told you that coward was useless."

His face had become twisted with anger.

"If we knew the Southern Anchor would fall even with that weak bastard stationed there, we should’ve sent reinforcements the moment he reported that humans were heading there."

Another zombie sitting across from him looked equally displeased.

"We did send them."

"But it was already too late."

"They were already moving south when the Anchor Gate collapsed."

"Exactly."

The first zombie slammed his hand against the table again.

"What was that idiot doing the entire time?"

Nobody answered this time.

The report transmitted from the Southern Anchor Town had been incomplete.

The commander had requested reinforcement after witnessing the human group destroy his outer force.

Then communication stopped.

Shortly afterward, the Southern Spatial Anchor vanished from the network.

The conclusion was obvious.

That cowardly bastard must be dead by now.

One of the other figures looked toward the dark crystal representing the Western Anchor.

"And now the west is gone too."

The room became quieter.

Losing one Spatial Anchor was already serious.

Losing two within such a short interval was something none of them had expected when the Corridor first opened.

Only the Northern and Eastern Anchors remained.

The energy reaching the World Gate Core had already fallen noticeably.

One of the zombies finally spoke.

"We need to contact the Main World."

The angry commander immediately looked toward him.

"You know what happens if we contact them without authorization."

"I know that we will be punished."

The zombie’s expression remained serious as he glanced toward the two extinguished crystals.

"But if the remaining Anchors fall and we lose the World Gate Core, punishment will be the least of our problems."

Nobody contradicted him.

The man seated at the far side of the table had remained silent throughout the entire argument.

He appeared middle-aged by human standards.

His pale-gray hair had been cut short, and dark markings covered the side of his neck before disappearing beneath the collar of his clothing.

Unlike the others, no obvious anger appeared on his face as he simply stared at the map.

The Southern Anchor Gate had fallen.

Then the Western Anchor Gate followed immediately.

Two different human groups had accomplished what the Zombie Race command inside the Corridor had considered extremely unlikely at this stage of the invasion.

The middle-aged zombie finally raised his head.

"Alright."

The others became silent.

"We’ll contact them."

He reached beneath the table and removed a communication device unlike the portable ones carried by ordinary soldiers.

The object was much larger.

A dark crystal occupied its center, surrounded by a heavy metallic frame covered in unfamiliar inscriptions.