Miles floated down from the hole and landed on the base of the cave once again. Jelly and its mother have left, so he was all alone in the scarry cave, but at least he was rewarded for his efforts. All he could do now was to go back and have a well deserved rest.
“I am curious if what she said is true? If monsters attack me, I would die unfairly.” Miles said with bated breath.
“I don’t sense anything different with your body, but I was never able to feel the energy anyway, so even if the monster had given you the said breath, I am not able to feel or judge it.” Coin reported timely, increasing Miles’s worry.
Unlike Coin, Miles was able to feel the breath of the monster clashing something seeping out of his body, albeit barely. Not only could he feel it, but he also thought he could make it disappear. But he would be crazy to dissipate the breath without leaving the cave.
Miles walked down the same path he took when he was following Jelly. Coin was drawing the maps as they walked and he too was memorizing the path ever since he stepped into the cave, so his chances of getting lost were close to null.
Miles decided not to return with the car for the time being to test the breath of Jelly's mother. If the breath proved to work to deter monsters in the cave, Miles wouldn’t mind hopping in his car to shorten the travel time, but if he were to run the car without knowing if the deterioration is working or not, he would attract more monsters and would die without knowing why.
Miles returned to the bridge and passed it without any problems, then the mausoleum of monuments and walked past it. After some time he arrived in the forest, and he had to follow the path, for the time being, so he wouldn’t be lost. It also meant he had to encounter monsters they passed by while he was following Jelly.
Not long after he entered the forest, he felt a sense of danger lingering on his body for a short second. He saw the armadillo-like monster staring at him, then turning away without even approaching. Even when he was with Jelly, the armadillo monster, unlike others, approached and quarreled with Jelly. But now, it ran away without even squeaking.
‘It is really working. I wonder if I can take the minerals since they are afraid of the breath on my body. After all, I don’t know if I can return to this cave anytime soon. The breath will dissipate when I leave the mountain perimeter. Even if it didn’t I had to dispel it to enter the stronghold.
If I have the breath on me when I approach the stronghold, they would turn their weapons on me as soon as they felt the aura of a strong monster on my body. Since I can’t return anytime soon, nor can I stand against those monsters, the best option would be plundering the cave, but I can’t sneak all more than I am carrying now into the stronghold without drawing attention.
Then leaving is the best option. Even if I can’t take them now, I would still avoid exposing my secrets. After all, not only do I have a massive amount of Elemental Minerals on my body, I also helped a descendant of a strong monster. They would label me as a traitor of humanity so quick, so fast, I wouldn’t even be able to defend myself without knowing how I died.’
Miles charged the white orb and a majestic car appeared in front of him. He took the wheel and with the help of Coin, he drove between trees. It took him more than half a month to take Jelly all the way to its mother. Luckily, the road back was quicker with the car. “I should have driven before too.” Miles lamented silently as he enjoyed the passing landscape.
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While Miles was helping Jelly to rejoin with its mother, explosive news shocked Unity. The first-ever post-invasion spacecraft returned from its expedition. The results were beyond belief. Not far from Earth on a planet, Uninauts discovered alien technology on a planet. Later, with the order of three generals, the president, and Mother AI, the spacecraft ventured deeper into space and discovered an alien planet. The records showed the alien race chasing after a giant monster. It was still unknown if the monster was a normal escapee of the Portal World or a regular creature of the Alien planet.
The government and the army decided to let the news leak and held a press conference to let citizens of Unity know about all the recent events. So far, no contact had been made with the alien race, because as far as humanity observed, the alien race had more advanced technology and stronger troops than humans. Unity decided to wait for the time being.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the only bad news. In the same press conference, Unity revealed another shocking news. Forsaken casualties of the invasion, mindless undead, gained some sort of wisdom, and they were no longer witless creatures attacking whatever alive thing in their visage.
From a few months earlier, Walking Dead showed a change in their patterns and they were more organized. Satellites showed that there were officers in their ranks and they were more army-like. So far, the leader of the undead hasn't been spotted, but Unity suspects there to be a supreme leader controlling every other mindless undead.
An Awaken Undead, as they are named, attacked Unity's border with a formation and caused many casualties. After being supported by heroes of Unity, the border was defended and the undead was killed once again, but everyone knew it wasn't the end of things. Undead was just testing the waters and warning humans with the last clash.
The bad news was coming one after another. War was due, and Unity decided to let people know everything is happening lest they would be unprepared in case of a sudden big scale battle.
Animals living outside of the Unity border also showed some changes. It wasn’t certain if it was related to feeding on undead meat or was it because the portal pinned at the sky, but animals once timid and tame, turned into vicious manhunters. All animals got bigger and stronger, some even comprehended elemental abilities.
They were mostly attacking the undead, but it was anyone’s guess if they would attack the walls of Unity or not in the future. The government was sitting on this information for some time, but they decided to let citizens of Unity learn it, so they could prepare for it.
Three shocking pieces of news caused a stir in Unity. Many people ran to government facilities to riot, but they were forced to calm down in a short time. After all, riots were taboo in Unity ever since the leader of the Starve Cleric held one to destroy Mother AI. The government and army published a small video to warn people. Three generals and the president were sitting at the table. There was a microphone in front of each of them, and they were all looking at the camera majestically.
“People of Unity, my fellow compatriots,” the President of Unity spoke with a heavy voice. He was Mihr Orril’s grandfather, Mikhael Orril. “The news we shared with you yesterday may have caused uneasiness and fear in you, but fret not. As always, we, the government, and the army will defend the walls of Unity with everything we have.
The reason we shared the news with you is to let the people know what we are dealing with. Sooner or later, everyone, every one of us, will have to face these threats to defend our planet and lives.
Causing disorder and riots will not help you with anything. It will only reduce our collective power against threats to our lives, our children’s lives! People provoking you don't want your well-being, but they only want to hurt us. So, keep calm, practice wholeheartedly. Every increase in strength is crucial!”
With this speech, the press conference ended and people got calmer. Fear caused these, so the army hadn’t taken a hard line with the rioters but warned them for once, and people who watched the press conference were also aware of these. Next time, there wouldn’t be a soft approach but total annihilation.
Since it was like this, people decided to shut in their houses, and not cause any problem for the army. At least they would live a little longer in this way. Some, on the other hand, decided to practice as the President said, and leveled up their superpowers. After all, they had to defend their homes.