*Buzzt*

Luo walked inside the gate, following Sarah, who went ahead. As soon as he stepped in, Luo tried to sense the general direction.

'Deeper?'

Luo could sense that he was descending further into the planet. It is important to note that he was already deep inside. He estimated that the base was built around 1000 km (about 620 mi) from the surface, making it incredibly deep.

`Hey, Eijaz, you saw it too, right? That gate'

Luo mentioned this point to Eijaz, expecting affirmation.

[I did. It is of the same type, but much weaker and simpler than the one we went through back in Sule.]

Luo didn't speak with Eijaz for long, as he was being cautious. Thankfully, nothing happened, as he could feel that the other side of the gate was very close.

*Swosh*

As he passed through the gate, he looked around in awe and realized he was standing in the middle of a vast, blue, starry sky. The expanse was so immense that he couldn't see its end. As he looked down, he saw the energy from back then covering the ground beneath him.

'Man, I really need to get used to these new scenes from now on.'

Luo was still not accustomed to witnessing things he had only seen in fiction before his eyes, but he knew he had to adapt quickly. He began scanning the area, searching for Sarah, when he noticed a table with a person seated on a chair. As he walked closer, he saw more clearly that it was indeed Sarah sitting there, drinking tea.

Without turning her head, she called out to him as he approached her.

"Come take a seat, Luo."

Walking forward, he sat in the seat opposite.

Sarah started brewing tea and said,

"Do you know what tea is?"

Luo didn't find the question weird, as he understood that there are cultural differences between worlds and he answered accordingly.

"I do; it is a significant aspect of the food culture in my hometown."

Smiling gently at him, she began to pour a cup of tea while speaking.

"This is an herbal tea brewed with a rare herb called Dirosa."

"It may resemble a flower, but its leaves can be utilized to make a delightful tea."

"It grows in only one place on this planet."

She swung her hand, and a cloud of starry blue energy gathered, forming a circular mirror that displayed a vast rocky plain stretching into the distance.

"The rocky desert is the place where you need to go."

She paused when she saw Luo's unperturbed expression, before continuing.

"One year ago, most of the fallen giant tribes that had invaded this area had settled on these plains."

Luo lifted his eyebrows in confusion as she stopped talking. He then said,

"And?"

"What does that have to do with?__"

"Don't tell me the mission is to annihilate them or something."

Luo said sarcastically, clearly not expecting to do what Sarah wanted him to do as she could clearly sense his current rank. However, as Sarah looked at him without saying anything, he began to worry. His anxiety was relieved when he heard her speak.

"Relax"

"As I said, I don't mean to harm you. Sending you there to fight them is the same as a death sentence."

*Sigh*

Luo sighed in relief as he asked her.

"So, what is it that you want me to do?"

As he said, Sarah's expression turned dead serious.

'She's mad'

Although she tried to hide it, Luo could feel the spiciness of her emotions.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

'It seems even the world's will could have emotions, huh'

Luo noted in his mind that just in case he had to face the world one day.

As he was thinking, the scene in the mirror changed to a human village. It seemed very close to one of the giants' tribe settlements. Most of the people there wore ragged clothes but seemed to be in good physical condition.

"Humans!?"

Luo was surprised by the fact that there were some humans left here. He looked at Sarah as if trying to ask what was going on, but she didn't speak much and only gave vague answers.

"Look more carefully."

Heeding her words, Luo observed the scene more closely and soon noticed some peculiar details.

"Weird. There are so few men, and what is wrong with their expressions?"

As he said, the number of men was significantly smaller compared to the number of women. Moreover, everyone had a distant and despondent look in their eyes, the kind that reflects a complete loss of hope.

Sarah swung her arm once more as the scene changed to a cave. There, young children were being brought in by adult females, some of the younger ones' expressions shifted between guilt and hesitation. The children appeared to be just like any other normal kids. As the women led the children further, their expressions grew increasingly distressed and they began to tremble subtly. Soon, they reached what seemed like a playground for children, filled with all kinds of toys and equipment. The cave was surprisingly well-lit, so when the children spotted the assortment of toys ahead, they ran over to them with innocent enthusiasm and began playing excitedly.

For a while, only the kids who were happily playing could be seen on the screen, so Luo thought.

'They are just playing around. What's the catch?'

Just as he thought he had noticed the women retreating, avoiding the kids' notice and leaving them behind.

'They are just leaving them behind?. No! Wait, there are very few men with sullen expressions. All of these kids are boys, and there are fallen giants nearby'

When Luo saw the women backing off, he seemed to have caught on and started connecting the dots. Before long, he came to a horrifying conclusion.

"Fu#k, this is a human farm."

Luo's usual cold expression wavered as he couldn't hold back his anger upon hearing the loud thumping sounds of footsteps. Soon, the horror began.

"Huh, what is this sound?"

A child on the screen heard the sound and turned his head to look behind him. He was faced with the grotesque face of a fallen giant.

"AH-"

*Kchgh*

Before he could even scream, the poor kid was swallowed whole. This marked the start of the shitshow, as fallen giants appeared from all directions, ruthlessly devouring and playing with the helpless children who didn't even get the chance to fight back against the strength of these monstrous creatures. Screams and cries echoed in the ears of the duo, etching the scenes in their memories.

'This will probably hunt me for the rest of my life'

*SNAP*

Sarah snapped her fingers, causing the mirror to disperse. Before she could even speak, Luo spoke in a low and cold tone filled with killing intent.

"Tell me! What the hell is going on?"

Looking at him, Sarah felt a bit ashamed of her powerlessness as she explained.

"During the latter part of the war, when the victorious side was certain of their success, they began to refrain from killing their enemies and instead captured them. They used these prisoners to slowly rebuild the villages that had been destroyed during the war."

She paused for a moment before continuing.

"They would send their young to feed on male children every six months."

As she was speaking, Luo tried to control his rampant emotions which cleared up quicker than usual. Luo noticed this as he found it perplexing.

'Something changed, I don't what it is, and I don't when it happened, but certainly changed'

Luo decided to push the matter aside as he focused on the present

'These giants can think this far ahead! Their intelligence is no probably no less than that of a human.'

"Why didn't you do something about it?"

"You are the will of this world."

Sarah helplessly shook her head from side to side in response to the question.

"That is exactly why I couldn't do something. I am the will of this world, and I cannot directly interfere with the ecosystem."

"Unless, a special creteria is met"

Luo didn't try to blame her as he skipped to the important part.

"Tell me what I need to do."

Seeing that he was no longer beating around the bush, she explained.

"Your mission this time is to save all the younger generation who are still mentally stable."

"What about the other humans?"

Luo asked, already having a guess in mind. Sarah looked at him for a while without saying anything before snapping her fingers to manifest the image of a spider logo.

"Do you know what this is?"

She asked. Luo looked at the logo and shook his head in denial.

"This is called a 'Demon Print', it is basically a mark that appears when a being enters into a contract with a demon. Most of the other humans are people who were forced into a slave contract."

"They cannot disobey the master's orders as he has already taken possession of their souls. In simpler terms, they are no different from the dead. Although they can still think and feel, they have no choice but to obey."

"So, you want me to kill them off?"

Luo didn't beat around the bush any longer and directly stated.

"No, I want to focus solely on rescuing. I'll handle everything else."

Luo nodded.

"Good, then let's start."

-------------------------------------------

Back in the village, inside the bedroom of a certain woman who was currently absent, a tall man suddenly appeared. He was around 6'5" tall with slicked-back black hair, a square-shaped face, and golden eyes. He had a scar passing by his left eyebrow and on his right cheek, which gave him a menacing and dashing appearance.

Luo stood there wearing a black colored high-tech uniform, with a gun placed at his waist and a sword on his back.

'What an amazing technology!"

Luo clenched his fist, impressed by the durability of his armor. He couldn't help but think how good it felt. According to the information provided by Eijaz, this armor is one of the best ever created on this planet. Despite its appearance, this object is incredibly durable that a canon ball won't even a scratch on it, and it doesn't impede movement in the slightest.

'I didn't expect it to be this useful when she handed it to me."

Before Departing

"Take this, Luo."

Said Sarah while swinging her arm as a cube, sword, and gun flew towards Luo.

"What are these?"

Luo caught the sword and gun in one hand, and the cube in the other. He looked at the cube with a confused expression.

"Those are your weapons and armor."

"I can't just send you looking like that and unarmed on top."

Luo looked at himself and mentally agreed that he certainly looked like a homeless person.

Wait, he is homeless!

Back to the present.

Luo checked his surroundings as he prepared to go out.

"Let's get started!"