Rita stood in one of the storage rooms, staring at the bodies carefully lined up along the wall.

Seven in total.

It had taken a significant amount of time to drag them all there, but she couldn't just leave them scattered like discarded trash.

However, among the bodies, she couldn't find her uncle Marcus.

'Why?' That thought echoed relentlessly in Rita's mind.

'Of all people… Why did only those three survive, and not you?' she asked herself, biting her lip. 'What am I supposed to do now?'

The last words she had exchanged with her uncle hadn't been kind, and now…

Now she would never get the chance to speak to him again.

The sound of footsteps snapped her out of her thoughts. Someone had entered the room.

It was Damian, who froze as soon as he saw the scene. His eyes landed on the lined-up bodies, wide with shock. After a few moments, his expression shifted to one of sorrow as memories of their fallen companions resurfaced.

"What do you plan to do with them?" Damian asked quietly.

Rita sighed, running a hand through her damp hair.

"I'd like to give them a proper funeral… but it's complicated."

Damian nodded slowly.

"The guys were talking about it. They suggested we take the most valuable items and, once we're back on the surface, hire a team to recover the bodies and give them a proper burial."

The idea left Rita deep in thought.

They were surrounded by valuable treasures, after all. Using some for that purpose wasn't a bad idea.

After a few moments, she let out a sigh and nodded.

"Yes, that makes sense…"

"Of course it does. We'll do it right," Damian said, trying to lift her spirits. Then he shifted the conversation. "By the way, the guy who saved us is awake. He seems to be working on something."

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Rita frowned.

"I want to see him."

Damian accompanied her toward the exit, but before they left, Rita paused to take one last look at the bodies.

When she finally stepped out, Rita noticed something odd.

Unlike before, when her brown hair had turned completely white from manipulating all that water, now only faint traces of white remained.

The three men, clearly busy looting what they could from the rooms, turned to face her. One of them grinned widely.

"Miss Rita! How are you? Come on, there's still gold for everyone!"

Another let out a hearty laugh.

"Maybe we should split it based on who screamed the most. Right, Damian?"

She barely glanced at them before asking,

"How do you plan to carry all this?"

One of the men pointed toward a corner stacked with sacks.

"We've got four bags ready, but there are two left empty. One's for you, miss, and the other's for the ice guy."

Rita acknowledged the gesture with a slight nod before moving toward where Leonar was.

The men tried to stop her.

"Let him work, miss!" they protested, but Rita ignored them.

She found him standing before the icy wall that blocked the water. His hand rested on the frozen surface as he stared at it intently.

'His eyes haven't changed either… Is his power incomplete?' Rita wondered, concerned.

Leonar's breathing was labored, as though every movement drained him.

When she reached his side, she asked curiously,

"What are you trying to do?"

Leonar blinked several times, startled out of his concentration. A dull cracking sound came from the other side of the wall, and he quickly stepped back, nearly losing his balance.

Rita caught him before he fell.

"What happened?" she asked, alarmed.

Leonar took a deep breath before replying,

"I'm trying to create a safe path for us to move through the water."

Rita stared at him incredulously.

"A tunnel? Do you really think that's a good idea? If it collapses, we'll all be trapped."

"I know," Leonar replied seriously. "That's why I'm trying to make it as sturdy as possible."

They stood in silence for several moments.

Finally, Rita asked a question that had been troubling her.

"Couldn't you use your power to take us down another level? Maybe… there are more survivors."

Leonar remained silent for a long time.

When he finally spoke, his answer was simple:

"No, I can't."

Rita clenched her teeth, her tone rising slightly.

"What do you mean you can't? Didn't you drain this entire place in an instant and create these ice barriers?"

A loud growl erupted from Leonar's stomach, and he slumped to the ground, sitting down in exhaustion.

"I can't do it again."

Rita looked at him in frustration, her jaw tightening as she bit her lip.

She wanted to yell at him, to berate him for his helplessness, but something in his expression stopped her.

With a huff, Rita turned on her heel and stormed off, visibly upset.

In the silence that followed, Eleonora's voice echoed in Leonar's mind.

"Have you realized it yet?"

Leonar raised an eyebrow, still exhausted.

'What are you talking about now?'

"Your idea of making a tunnel is impossible. You don't have the strength or the skill to maintain something that size."

Leonar shut his eyes tightly, clenching his right fist as his fingers began to stiffen again.

With a sigh, he muttered sarcastically,

"Why don't you try it?"