Chapter 197: The Central Base

A small weapon appeared.

The next contained an ordinary piece of protective equipment.

Several Orbs later, a potion finally appeared.

Evelyne placed it beside herself.

Cain’s interest increased as she continued.

One Orb after another disappeared between her hands.

Most contained equipment or ordinary consumables, yet potions appeared far more frequently that it surprised him.

The pile beside Evelyne slowly grew.

Cain did not say anything since at this point, the pattern was becoming difficult to dismiss as coincidence.

Tang Ziyue’s experience had probably been correct.

The person opening the Orb affected the result.

It was not enough to guarantee a specific item, but compatibility clearly seemed to influence probability.

Several minutes passed.

The pile of unopened Orbs became smaller.

Behind them, Ethan and another fighter were apparently attempting to manufacture their own conflict.

Cain heard someone shout an insult about the other’s face.

A moment later, an even worse insult came back.

Cain looked over his shoulder.

The two men were standing opposite each other with exaggerated angry expressions.

Ron opened one eye.

"...They’re terrible actors."

"I know." Cain chuckled lightly before shifting back his attention toward Evelyne.

A few moments later when Ron finally opened his eyes, the aura coming from him had become much more stable than immediately after his advancement.

Ron released a slow breath, then stared at his own hands in satisfaction.

The Youngest Prince was waiting at the Central Base.

Whatever strength Ron had gained here might become the difference between surviving and dying later.

Nearby, Evelyne crushed the final Orb, blue light spread through her fingers.

A spear appeared in her hands.

She stared at it briefly.

"Finally finished."

Cain looked toward the items surrounding her.

There were dozens of weapons and pieces of equipment.

But his attention immediately moved toward the collection of potions arranged beside Evelyne.

More than a dozen.

Cain smiled satisfiedly.

"Not bad."

Evelyne followed his gaze and said excitedly.

"Most of them are Mana Potions."

"I know." Cain chuckled as he crouched.

The majority were similar to the ones Tang Ziyue had shown earlier.

There were differences in quality, but the purpose remained the same.

However, the potions obtained from the Blue Orbs were much more interesting.

Cain picked up one of the higher-quality vials.

The liquid inside was a deeper blue than the ordinary Mana Potions, a faint green hue moved through it whenever he tilted the glass.

The description appeared.

[Greater Restoration Potion]

[A concentrated alchemical solution created from purified Mana-rich materials and potent Life-attributed ingredients.]

[Rapidly restores depleted Mana while simultaneously accelerating the body’s natural recovery.]

[Under normal conditions, a single vial can restore the majority of the Mana reserves of a 3rd Echelon being or lower while rapidly healing moderate wounds, stopping severe bleeding, repairing damaged muscles and flesh, and stabilizing minor fractures.]

[More serious injuries require additional time and energy to recover and cannot be completely healed through the potion alone.]

[The potion cannot regenerate missing limbs or restore completely destroyed organs.]

[Both the healing and Mana-restoration effects are significantly reduced when consumed by beings at the 4th Echelon or above.]

Cain read the information carefully.

"So this one does both."

Evelyne leaned closer.

"Healing and Mana restoration?"

"Yeah."

Cain handed the vial to her.

Evelyne inspected it with interest.

The potion was much better than the Mana Potions they currently possessed.

A 3rd Echelon could restore most of their Mana reserve while recovering from moderate injuries at the same time.

In a prolonged fight, something like this could completely change the situation.

Unfortunately, there were only two.

Cain picked up the second one and stored both inside his Inventory.

There were several pure healing potions as well.

He inspected one before putting it with the others.

Evelyne watched him.

"Those aren’t that impressive, since I can heal better."

"So confident now?" Cain smiled.

Evelyne rolled her eyes and ignored him.

Cain chuckled lightly.

Noise came from the other side of the plaza as the second attempt had ended.

Ethan walked back with an annoyed expression.

Cain did not even need to ask as he already knew the outcome based on his expression.

Ethan scratched the side of his neck.

"We even argued first."

"Your argument was terrible." Ron laughed heartily.

Ethan looked toward him.

"At least I didn’t start mine because someone called me skinny."

Ron immediately stopped laughing, but before another argument could begin, Cain spoke.

"That’s enough."

Aurelia returned to the group as well.

"It appears that the opportunity cannot be reproduced intentionally."

"I guess so." Cain looked toward the ruined plaza.

He had already considered that possibility from the beginning.

The System was clearly capable of distinguishing between a genuine situation and people deliberately trying to exploit it.

Perhaps Ron and Dmitri’s challenge had met some hidden condition.

Perhaps the Special Advancement Opportunity had been a one-time event triggered by circumstances that could not be repeated.

Cain did not care enough to keep testing it as they had already gained one additional 3rd Echelon from that.

That was more than they possessed before.

"Forget it."

Cain raised his voice so the surrounding groups could hear him.

"We will depart in one minute."

The atmosphere changed immediately.

Nobody wasted time asking questions as they immediately checked their weapons.

The remaining resources disappeared into bags.

People who had been sitting stood up.

Tang Ziyue returned the unused Mana Potions to the pouch at her waist.

Dmitri picked up his halberd.

His injuries were gone, but his expression darkened slightly when Ron walked past him with an annoying smile.

Cain ignored them both as he checked the direction toward the center of the Invasion Corridor.

South.

That was where the Central Base was located.

More importantly, the Youngest Prince of the Zombie Race was somewhere inside it.

His 3rd-Echelon subordinates who had entered with him should also be there unless they had already been deployed elsewhere.

Cain did not know what had happened at the Central Base while they were destroying the Northern Anchor.

That uncertainty kind of bothered him more than anything.

They had already caused a major change to the entire Invasion Corridor.

All four Anchors Gates were gone.

The Youngest Prince definitely knew that every outer position had fallen.

If he had any intelligence at all, he would have spent this time preparing as he must have known that their ultimate target was the World Gate Core.

Cain rested one hand on his sword.

"Let’s go."

The gathered groups left the ruined plaza.

Their formation naturally changed according to strength and posititon.

Cain and Mo Xuanye took the front.

Ron and Viktor occupied the other side.

Four people now formed the spearhead of the group.

Behind them came the strongest 2nd Echelons.

Aurelia moved near the front with Tang Ziyue and Dmitri.

Elara and Sonya followed nearby, with Nathan, Alex, and Jack positioned where they could quickly support the others.

The weaker fighters moved farther toward the center and rear.

There was no need for Cain to give detailed instructions as everyone here had already fought through enough of the Invasion Corridor to understand how to move through hostile territory.

They headed south.

The ruined northern district gradually disappeared behind them.

Unlike their earlier journey through the Corridor, they encountered surprisingly few enemies.

Cain was not relieved by that because it might mean that the remaining Zombie Race forces had probably consolidated around the Central Base.

The farther south they traveled, the more obvious the signs became.

Abandoned defensive positions appeared beside the road, broken barricades had been left behind, and some buildings had been completely emptied.

There were no patrolling zombies inside several areas where Cain expected to find them.

"They pulled back." Mo Xuanye spoke beside him.

"Looks like it." Cain nodded in agreement.

They continued moving for around 15 minutes before the terrain gradually opened.

Cain noticed the structure ahead before most of the people behind him.

His footsteps slowed slightly.

A massive wall stretched across the horizon.

For a moment, the place did not look like something built merely to protect a single base.

It looked more like a fortified city.

The outer wall rose several stories high and extended far enough that Cain could not see where it ended from their current position.

Large defensive towers stood at intervals along the structure, while dark metal reinforced several sections of the walls.

The gate itself was enormous.

Even from this distance, Cain could see figures moving along the top of the fortifications.

There were many of them.

Far more than they had encountered around any of the Spatial Anchors.

Behind the wall, tall structures rose into view. Several resembled military buildings they had already seen throughout the Invasion Corridor, while others looked completely foreign.

Farther inside, partially hidden beyond the defensive structures, an enormous concentration of energy caused Cain’s expression to become serious.

The World Gate Core.

Even without seeing it clearly, he could already feel that something incredibly powerful was located there.

The group gradually came to a stop.

Nobody joked anymore after seeing the fortified city standing in front of them.

Aurelia looked toward the walls.

"So that’s the Central Base."

Viktor stared ahead with a serious expression.

"More like a fortress."

Mo Xuanye remained calm as his dark eyes moved across the distant defenses.

Cain said nothing.

His attention was already searching for one person.

The Youngest Prince of the Zombie Race.

Somewhere inside that fortified city, that bastard had to be waiting for their arrival.

Cain then turned toward everyone behind him with a solemn expression.

"Everyone, act according to the plan and don’t take anything lightly."

His gaze moved across everyone.

"This battle will determine the fate of our world."