A deep golden glow flashed above the clouds followed by a familiar monotone voice "Well then, I better get ready."

#######

When researchers and doctors arrived to investigate what was happening, they found nothing wrong with the sleeping citizens. Still, they abstained from giving them any drugs because no one knew if these people would be able to pay for it.

Of course, they also wanted to prevent making the unknown situation worse.

Some of the victims soon began waking up with fear in their eyes. A few of them even woke up screaming like they had gone mad.

The doctors managed to suppress them eventually and were able to question them on what they had experienced before passing out.

"... I wanted to move but anytime I thought of moving, I felt a fear so suffocating that it was similar to being stared at by multiple hungry wolves. It felt like death was what awaited me if I even dared to breathe."

That was the description an old man gave to a doctor when he awoke from his passed-out state. Similar things were said by the others too.

The doctors and researchers were confused. The words spoken were all so vague and hardly made any sense.

In an attempt to find out the root or the possible cause of the weird things happening and how far it reached, the teams with four to six researchers scouted into the forest to trace the fallen bodies of the animals.

Four researchers happened to go in the same direction as Al'ravee's secret cave.

About ten kilometers into the forest and the researchers were still seeing sleeping animals but this time, one of them noticed a change in the plant life.

The grasses and trees seemed to have been pushed back by a very strong wind and the further they went, the more pressed-down trees they saw.

Even though they were anxious about a possible discovery, they had to get back to inform the Enforcers. Because no one apart from security personnel in the empire was allowed to own firearms, they still had to hire armed escorts in case of an unexpected appearance of a deadly animal.

After getting back to the checkpoint while being escorted by three forest rangers and moving forward by three kilometers, they came upon an area that looked like it had been hit by the worst natural disaster.

The region was approximately five hundred meters wide in diameter, the outer one hundred meters or so was filled with uprooted trees lying around. The rest of the area had large-sized rocks strewn about.

"According to the map, we are supposed to be standing in front of a small hill..." Said one of the researchers as he checked the map on his holo-tab.

The lead researcher looked around "Whatever caused all this ruckus should be close by. Let's spread out, don't go too far from here, and make sure to call if you see anything." He ordered.

They all went in different directions and began searching around for anything out of the ordinary. They didn't need to search too long though.

"Umm, sir. I think you need to see this." A female researcher voiced out through the communication link in their ears.

Several minutes later, seven figures could be seen standing in front of what looked like a very expensive sleeping pod.

The forest rangers immediately went on alert, they quickly removed the safety on their rifles and walked towards the three-meter tall pod cautiously.

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The last researcher, a plumpy man, pulled out his special holo-tab scanner and took a picture of the pod. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the information brought up by the main net.

"What is it?" The leader asked as he noticed the look on the chubby man's face.

"Sir, my scanner recognized the design of this object as an old model VR pod used for playing games in the past, unlike the current ones that mostly have glass instead of metal..." He walked forward, no longer fearing anything. His scanner released beeping sounds as he touched the surface of the pod "... This is amazing. Whoever owned this thing must have died more than two hundred years ago. The person should have also been very wealthy, probably one of the first ministers of the empire".

The leader frowned, "Why do you say that?"

"The material used to build this thing is very rare and can only be found in small quantities across the globe. It is known for its toughness so whoever built this also had his security in mind," The plump man concluded as he gave the surface of the metal a firm knock. The resulting 'Plak!' sound proved that it was indeed very tough.

The man shifted the scanner to the flat disk-shaped charger beneath it. Looking at the torn wires he said "This person also probably wanted to stay in this pod for a very long time. In fact, the wires look like they were cut not too long ago. It's possible that someone just got his hands on it recently and was testing it."

Hearing this, most of them thought of the same thing. The owner of the pod might currently be inside.

The lady among them rushed up to the front part of the pod. The plump man thought that she was probably going to try to open it. "What are you trying to do? This is some high-level tech right here, don't let the old design fool you. Even if we try to, only the person inside can open it."

The lady ignored the man as she used her gloved hand to rub against the glass panel on the pod. "*Gasp*" Both the rangers and researchers were shocked at what they saw behind the glass.

The plumpy man rushed to the front to see what was making them so flabbergasted. Behind the circular glass panel was the face of a man.

He had brown shoulder-length hair that was parted in the middle and a well-trimmed beard. His eyes were currently closed like he was having a beautiful dream.

The leader felt that he had seen this face somewhere but couldn't put a finger on it. " Hey use that scanner of yours." He ordered the plumpy man before him.

The said man quickly recovered from his shocked state as he raised the scanner and tapped a few buttons to increase the depth capture and proceeded to scan.

The system took a while to find a correct match. The results:

[[Name: Ravee Divera

Founder and first Ruler of the Divera Dynasty.

One of the founders of the royal guard organization.

Mysteriously disappeared two hundred and ninety-five years ago and hasn't been found since then.

…

It was confirmed that Ravee went missing after a group of grave robbers tried to steal from his supposed grave but found it empty. To not let their efforts be in vain, they took the video evidence to conspiracy theorists to sell it off. This revelation almost led to a mass rebellion. The grave robbers were never heard of again. Some suspect that they were killed off by the royal family for the trouble, others say that they successfully escaped to another continent...]]

The last part was the post of a blogger on a social media platform.

The plumpy man was not able to finish reading before he looked back at the face in disbelief.

"How is this possible?" One of the rangers said what was on everyone's mind.

After gawking the leader finally came to his senses and narrowed his eyes.

"It all makes sense now. The strange phenomenon and this hills' disappearance. They were all caused by this machine. This pod looks like a VR pod but it's actually some kind of life-prolonging machine that was perhaps invented secretly back then. Who knows, maybe something happened and they failed to get him out..." He said, convinced that he got it spot on.

The others nodded their head because that was the closest thing they could think of too.

"What do we do sir ?" Asked one of the rangers. This was news that could bring about both good and bad consequences.

"I would have said that we should keep this secret to ourselves if I was foolish, but I'm not. Others will come by this area when scouting and there will surely be difficulty in carrying this thing away. I already know some of you might be tempted to use this machine to extend your life but don't forget who is inside it"

The greed in the eyes of some of them disappeared when they heard that last part. That's right, Ravee Divera. The ancestor of the Royal Divera family.

"I suggest we come in contact with a Divera family branch as soon as possible and be discreet about it. We might be able to gain a fortune from this discovery alone, hahaha…," The leader laughed in joy.

The others' eyes brightened. Yes, they might not get to use the machine to live longer but they could use the money to live comfortably for the rest of their lives.

As for how to use the machine in the first place, that was now the Diveras family problem.