Chapter 232: Two Weeks Have Passed in the Outside World

Cain’s footsteps stopped immediately.

The others noticed it as well.

Ron turned around first, followed by Elara and several people standing farther away.

The enormous spatial crack that had once served as the entrance to Invasion Corridor was still suspended several meters above the ground, occupying the same place where Cain had first discovered it before entering to clear the World-Class Mission.

However, it no longer looked stable as the irregular edges of the crack began trembling.

Dark energy that had previously moved within the opening was being pulled toward its center, and the distorted space surrounding it contracted with every passing second.

Cain watched silently.

“So it’s finally disappearing.” Ron murmured softly.

The outermost section of the spatial crack folded inward.

The phenomenon seemed to collapse under its own weight now that nothing remained on the other side to sustain it as the World Gate Core had been destroyed.

Without those sources of dimensional energy, the passage had nothing left to hold it open.

The crack shortened from both ends as its warped edges slowly closed toward one after another.

Ripples spread through the surrounding air.

The scenery behind them distorted, causing the remaining trees to bend strangely for a moment before returning to normal.

Cain and his group instinctively moved farther away.

His sense could feel that the dimensional energy was rapidly weakening.

Compared to the overwhelming spatial presence he remembered before entering the Corridor, what remained now felt like the final remnants of something that was already dead.

The dark energy inside the crack compressed further.

For a brief moment, the entire opening narrowed into a thin vertical line.

Then the remaining dimensional energy collapsed into a single point.

A low sound spread across the surrounding area.

Cain felt the vibration passed through his body as the final connection between both worlds severed completely with the disappearance of the point of darkness.

The space returned to normal.

Nothing remained where the entrance to the Invasion Corridor had once existed.

Cain continued staring at the empty air for several seconds.

It felt somehow strange because so much had happened beyond that crack.

They had fought different regions, destroying every Spatial Anchor holding the invasion passage together, and eventually reached the Central Base where they faced Serath—The Youngest Prince of the Zombie Race and his subordinates.

Now there was no physical evidence that any of it had ever existed.

Only the changes left behind in the people who returned from it remained.

Ron rested his spear against his shoulder as he looked toward the empty space.

“Well… I guess there’s no going back even if we wanted to.”

Cain raised an eyebrow as he glanced toward him.

“Why would you want to?”

“I don’t.”

Ron added as he shrugged, “I’m just saying.”

Cain ignored him and returned his attention toward the people he had near the road.

The disappearance of the spatial crack had clearly affected them as well.

Several figures were moving now, and Cain could hear distant voices becoming more active after witnessing the phenomenon vanish.

Cain looked toward the others.

“Let’s go.”

He gestured toward the edge of the park.

“There are people over there. We should find out what happened while we were gone.”

The group then began moving.

Cain followed shortly afterward, although his gaze briefly returned toward the place where the spatial crack had disappeared.

The Zombie Race’s path into their world was finally gone.

Cain sensed eight people approached his group’s direction.

Their figures then became clear through the remaining trees.

All of them carried a weapon.

Two had spears that Cain recognized as equipment his group had distributed before entering the Invasion Corridor, while another held a bow with several mismatched arrows strapped across his back.

The rest used weapons that were probably from the Orbs or modified from whatever they had found throughout the city.

Their equipment was not particularly impressive by Cain’s current standards.

However, their condition was another matter as none of them looked helpless.

Their movements were coordinated, and the way they spread slightly while approaching showed that they had become accustomed to traveling through dangerous areas without relying on someone stronger to constantly protect them.

Cain recognized three faces among them.

These three had been part of the larger group that remained outside under Professor Holt’s command.

The other five were strangers as he had never seen them before.

That alone told him enough that something had changed.

One of the people finally recognized Cain from a distance.

His cautious expression instantly disappeared.

“Cain?”

The others beside him stopped.

The young man’s eyes moved rapidly across Ron, Elara, Jack, and the rest of the group before widening in surprise.

“You guys are finally back!”

Cain raised an eyebrow.

“That surprised? Do you miss us that much?”

Ron rolled his eyes and couldn’t be bothered to respond this time.

The man stared at him for another second before laughing in disbelief.

“You disappeared into that thing two weeks ago. Of course we’re surprised. If it wasn’t for the World Announcement that gave the update about the destruction of the Southern Gate Anchor, we would’ve thought that something happened to you guys.”

Cain’s expression froze.

The people behind him became silent as well.

Ron was the first to react.

“Two fucking weeks?”

The man’s smile gradually disappeared when he noticed their expressions.

“Yeah?”

He looked between them.

“Fourteen days. Today is the fourteenth day since you entered.”

Cain stared at him without speaking.

Fourteen days.

No wonder the outside world had such a huge change that people became 2nd Echelon extremely fast before.

Apparently there was such a time dilation between the original world and inside the Invasion Corridor.

Looking at his group’s expression, Cain finally spoke.

“It must be because the time inside the Invasion Corridor flows much slower compared to the outside world. That’s why two weeks have passed in here when we’ve only been inside the Invasion Corridor for a few hours.”

Elara nodded.

“That makes sense, but still… It feels weird.”

“I totally get how you feel since I’m also still surprised by it.” Cain chuckled.

The man was confused at first but then he eventually understood why they showed such expressions.

“You guys have only been inside for a few hours?” He asked curiously.

Cain laughed lightly as he replied. “Yeah, that’s why we were surprised when you said that two weeks have passed in the outside world.”

Cain then continued before the man could respond.

“Anyway, what happened while we were gone?”

The man released a breath.

“A lot.”

“That useful, huh?” Cain raised an eyebrow.

The man gave an awkward laugh.

“I’m serious, but we should talk while we walk. You can talk about the detail with Professor Holt later.”

“Lead the way.” Cain replied with a nod.

The patrol turned around, and Cain’s group followed them toward the road.

The moment they left the park, Cain began noticing just how much the city had changed.

When they discovered the Southern Invasion Entrance, this entire district had still carried the disorder left behind by the first days of the Apocalypse.

Abandoned cars had blocked several roads, corpses remained scattered throughout streets nobody had bothered clearing, and zombies could still be found wandering between buildings whenever a survivor made enough noise.

Most of that was gone now.

Cain could still see dark stains on sections of the pavement and walls, but the bodies themselves had been removed.

Wooden signs had been fixed at several intersections.

Some marked cleared districts.

And there were some that warned about buildings that had not been fully searched.

Several arrows pointed toward areas used for supplies, while crude symbols Cain did not recognize had been painted across certain walls.

The survivor walking ahead noticed Cain looking around.

“We started marking everything after the first few days.”

Cain nodded faintly.

“Professor Holt’s idea?”

“Partly. A few others helped organize it.”

He stepped around the remains of a fallen streetlight.

“We couldn’t just sit beside the park waiting for you. There were still zombies throughout the city, so Professor Holt divided everyone capable of fighting into teams.”

Cain’s lips curved slightly.

That sounded familiar.

It was almost exactly how he had instructed Holt to organize the larger group before.

The man continued.

“At first we stayed close to this district because nobody knew when you would come back. Then the World Announcements started coming from inside.”

Cain glanced toward him.

“The Anchor Gates?”

“Yeah, all of them.” The man nodded and immediately continued.

“Every time one was destroyed, the whole camp knew about it. When the final announcement said the World Gate Core was gone, people were celebrating for several minutes.”

“Once we knew you were still alive and making progress, Professor Holt became more comfortable sending teams farther away. We cleared entire blocks instead of staying around the park.”

“How much of the city that you’ve cleared by now?”

“Almost all of the entire city.”

That answer caused Cain to look at him again and raised an eyebrow.

The man smiled proudly.

“There are still several sections we haven’t completely searched, mostly near the outer industrial area and a few underground places nobody wants to enter without a good reason. But as far as the main city is concerned, we’ve cleared nearly everything.”

Cain was genuinely impressed.

The main group he left behind had been considerably weaker than the twelve people who entered the Invasion Corridor, yet they had used those fourteen days exactly as Cain would have wanted them to be if they ever were in such a situation.

They hunted and gained Levels.

More importantly, they learned how to survive without having Cain constantly clearing everything ahead of them.

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Cain & Evelyne’s snu snu scenes are LIVE in the newest chapters!!

Cain & Evelyne’s snu snu scenes are LIVE in the newest chapters