Chapter 181: Heading to the Northern Anchor Gate

The atmosphere around the ruined Western Anchor Town changed once everyone understood what Cain could do with Zombie Race resources.

Aurelia’s people looked at the corpses differently now.

So did the warehouses.

Several immediately began remembering things they had ignored during their journey through the western region.

Dark-red crystals left behind because of contamination.

Cores never harvested because the System warned against absorption.

What they previously considered dangerous waste had suddenly gained value.

Cain watched their expressions with amusement.

"Don’t look so depressed."

Aurelia turned toward him.

"Easy for you to say that."

Cain glanced toward the purified Blood Crystal in her hand and chuckled, "It’s okay... You didn’t know that before."

"That doesn’t make remembering all the ones we left behind feel any better." Aurelia said as she lowered her gaze toward the crystal.

After that, Cain and Aurelia properly discussed what to do with the Zombie Race resources from then on.

Since Cain was the only one capable of removing their contamination, Aurelia agreed to exchange some of the Scrolls and Orbs her group had obtained for the purified resources.

In the end, they settled on 500 purified Blood Crystals in exchange for one Cyan Scroll, five Blue Scrolls, and five Blue Orbs.

To be honest, Cain was somewhat reluctant to make the trade.

The Blood Crystals were far more valuable in his eyes, especially since they could be used to strengthen Mana Cores and help more people reach the Perfected Stage.

Normally, he would not have traded such a large amount for resources of this level.

However, many of the Blood Crystals and Cores they had just obtained came from enemies Aurelia’s group had killed in the first place.

Cain had only managed to claim them because Aurelia and her people previously believed those resources were useless.

Since that was the case, Cain did not mind giving them a more favorable exchange like this.

Future trades would naturally be another matter.

Once their agreement was settled, Cain turned his attention toward the Blood Crystals and Zombie Cores his group had just harvested.

He then purified the Blood Crystals first.

By the time he finished, the familiar mental exhaustion returned and Cain stopped for a short break before continuing.

After recovering enough, he purified the remaining Cores as well.

When the last batch was finally finished, Cain wiped the sweat from his forehead and leaned back slightly.

His gaze unconsciously moved toward the northern region.

"...Why hasn’t Heavenly Demon destroyed the Northern Anchor Gate yet?"

It had been bothering him for a while.

After the Eastern Spatial Anchor fell, Cain had assumed Heavenly Demon would continue toward the remaining region.

Heavenly Demon had been moving faster than every other human Cain knew since the apocalypse began.

First person to complete his initial advancement.

First person to reach the 2nd Echelon.

He had also destroyed one of the Eastern Anchor Gate right after he destroyed the Southern one.

Cain had no idea what kind of force traveled with him, but the results were enough to show that Heavenly Demon was not someone who wasted time.

Yet the Northern Spatial Anchor still remained.

Cain’s expression gradually lost its earlier amusement.

"Something’s wrong."

"You think he lost?" Nathan raised an eyebrow.

"I don’t know."

Cain doubted Heavenly Demon had simply died.

Someone capable of repeatedly taking first place in world progression would not disappear that easily.

But there were plenty of other possibilities.

The northern defenses could be far stronger.

Reinforcements might have reached that region before the humans did.

Or something inside the Corridor had changed after the other Anchors fell.

Cain did not like guessing when he could go there and see it himself.

He pushed himself away from the wall.

Aurelia’s people were nearing the end of their absorption.

Cain waited until she finished giving instructions to one of her fighters before approaching her.

There was something else he had become curious about.

"Aurelia."

She turned around.

"Yeah?"

Cain looked at her status for a moment before asking,

"What’s your Advancement Mission?"

Aurelia rested one hand near the sheath at her waist.

"I have to kill a 3rd Echelon being on my own."

"Oh?" Cain raised an eyebrow.

"Good luck with that." Cain smiled as he believed that with her skills, it won’t be a problem to complete her advancement mission.

"Thank you." Aurelia’s lips moved faintly before she asked with a curious expression.

"Why did you ask?"

"Because we’re going toward the Northern Anchor Gate."

Aurelia raised an eyebrow.

He then explained what had been bothering him.

The final Spatial Anchor had remained active far longer than Cain expected.

Heavenly Demon should already have reached that side of the Corridor.

The Northern Tyrant had entered through the northern region as well.

Even if one of them encountered trouble, Cain found it strange that there had been no announcement at all.

Aurelia listened without interrupting.

When Cain finished, she looked toward her people.

Most had already completed their absorption.

The ones still seated were beginning to open their eyes.

"Alright, let’s head there since I was actually thinking the same thing anyway."

"That’s good, let’s depart as soon as possible." Cain smiled faintly.

She then called her people together.

Cain did the same.

A minute later, Cain looked at the northern road.

"Let’s go."

The combined human force left the ruined Western Anchor Town.

Behind them, the shattered remains of the Spatial Anchor continued releasing weak dimensional fluctuations.

...

Not long ago, another event had already taken place near the center of Invasion Corridor 73-A.

The two remaining Spatial Anchors had placed the entire Corridor under growing strain.

The South had already collapsed.

The Eastern Anchor had followed right after that.

Losing half of the network did more than reduce the energy feeding the World Gate Core.

The passage connecting the Corridor to the Main World had become far less stable.

That instability became obvious inside the deepest military district of the central city.

A vast circular chamber had been built beneath one of the command structures.

Dark inscriptions covered the floor.

At the center stood a vertical distortion in space several meters high, held together by thick streams of gray-black energy.

The surface of the passage twisted violently.

Several officers stood around the chamber.

The first figure emerged from the distortion, his boot touched the dark stone floor.

The spatial passage behind him trembled.

A second person followed.

Then another.

By the time the seventh figure crossed through, the inscriptions covering the chamber had begun flickering.

The spatial distortion shrank sharply.

Several cracks spread through the surrounding formation.

The officer responsible for maintaining the transfer lifted one hand.

"Stop the connection."

Energy feeding the passage was cut.

The distortion instantly collapsed.

Because of the loss of two Spatial Anchors, the damaged Corridor could no longer tolerate the pressure created by too many powerful beings crossing from the Main World.

Six 3rd Echelons were the maximum the transfer formation could safely send without risking further damage to the invasion route.

The person standing at the front looked toward the extinguished passage.

He did not appear disappointed as he had already been informed of the limitation before entering.

His appearance was surprisingly young.