Chapter 234: The Secret Behind Core Progression

Cain continued.

“There are other worlds. A lot of them. There are civilizations that have been connected to the System far longer than we have, and there is a place called the Main World where powerful races eventually establish themselves.”

Professor Holt stared at him without saying anything.

Cain could already tell that a much longer conversation would be necessary later.

For now, he kept the explanation limited to what mattered.

“When the System announced Heavenly Dragon across the Universe, some of those forces noticed.”

The atmosphere gradually changed.

Several of the newer survivors had initially listened with simple curiosity, but that disappeared as they began understanding why Cain had reacted so strongly to Professor Holt revealing his title.

Cain looked across the people gathered around him.

“I don’t know who all of them are, and I definitely don’t know what they want. Until I understand that, I’d rather not make it easy for anyone to learn exactly who Heavenly Dragon is.”

The young man who had asked the question became silent.

Cain continued calmly.

“This isn’t only about me. If someone powerful enough wants to find Heavenly Dragon and learns who travels with him, the rest of you become useful targets too.”

That made the problem much easier for everyone to understand.

Several expressions became serious.

Professor Holt frowned.

“I didn’t know any of that.”

“Naturally you wouldn’t and it’s fine, Professor..” Cain looked toward him with a faint smile, then continued. “Because I also only learned about it inside the Invasion Corridor.”

Cain looked toward everyone again.

“So don’t overthink it. I’m not asking anyone to pretend they’ve never heard the title before. Just stop spreading the connection between Heavenly Dragon and me.”

He thought briefly before adding, “If anyone asks who I am, Cain is enough.”

Ron finally failed to restrain himself.

“Your secret lasted a very long time.”

Cain slowly turned his head.

Ron was already looking toward the opposite side of the hall as if he had suddenly found the wall fascinating.

“I didn’t say anything.”

Cain decided not to waste energy on him.

Professor Holt cleared his throat.

“I’ll make sure everyone understands.”

“Good.” Cain nodded.

His gaze then moved toward the unfamiliar survivors again.

“That includes people who joined recently. If you’re staying with this group, keep it inside the group.”

Nobody objected.

Cain did not expect perfect secrecy as that would be unrealistic.

Some people who had already seen his abilities inside the Invasion Corridor could eventually reveal the connection anyway.

His goal was simply to avoid making the information easy to obtain.

Once the matter was settled, he looked back toward Professor Holt.

“Alright. Now tell me what happened while we were gone.”

Holt nodded and gestured toward several tables near the center of the sports hall.

“Come over here.”

A large paper map of the city had been spread across the widest table. It had been marked extensively, enough that Cain could tell Professor Holt and the others had been updating it repeatedly instead of simply drawing rough directions whenever they needed them.

Large portions of the central city had already been marked as cleared.

Several areas near the outskirts carried warning symbols, while a few streets had been crossed out entirely.

Professor Holt placed one hand against the table.

“Once the first day passed and none of you returned, I decided there was no point keeping everyone around the park.”

“Good.”

Cain would have been disappointed if they had wasted two weeks standing around.

Holt continued.

“We kept a rotating patrol near the entrance at all times, but everyone else began clearing the city.”

His finger moved toward the southern section of the map.

“We started around here. Most of the zombies in these districts had already been reduced before you entered the Corridor, so clearing them was relatively manageable.”

Then he moved farther across the map.

“After that, we expanded gradually.”

The process had not been smooth.

Holt explained that several evolved zombies remained throughout the city, including some that had grown considerably stronger during Cain’s absence.

There had also been mutated animals that entered from the outskirts after the human population decreased.

Several people had been injured.

A few new survivors they rescued had died during later battles.

Holt did not dwell on those deaths.

Neither did Cain.

Everyone living through the Apocalypse had already learned that surviving one dangerous day did not guarantee surviving the next.

“What about the group’s situation?” Cain asked.

Holt’s answer came without hesitation.

“We’ve become much stronger than when you left.”

Cain could already tell.

Many people he remembered as frightened Unranked survivors now possessed Mana Cores.

Several others had clearly advanced beyond the early stages of the 1st Echelon and some people had even become 2nd Echelon.

Holt looked toward the people scattered throughout the sports center.

“We kept using the same approach you taught us. Stronger fighters crippled dangerous enemies whenever possible, then weaker people finished them. Once enough people could fight independently, clearing became much faster.”

Cain nodded in satisfaction.

That method had worked since they were still in the university.

There was no reason to abandon something efficient.

“We also found more survivors as we expanded. Many chose to stay with us permanently, while a few left after recovering to search for their families.”

Cain glanced around.

“How many joined?”

“Enough that organizing everyone became annoying.”

Cain chuckled softly in response.

His attention then shifted to something more important.

He could sense the Mana Cores within many of the people nearby.

Several felt developed, but some were weaker than he expected considering how much fighting Holt claimed they had done during the past two weeks.

Cain frowned.

“How many people reached the Perfected Stage?”

Holt’s expression changed slightly.

“Not as many as I expected.”

Cain looked at him.

“Why?”

“That’s one of the things I wanted to ask you.”

Holt leaned against the table.

“We managed to find some resources while clearing the city. Everyone capable of forming a Mana Core received resources according to their progress, but after several days we started noticing something strange.”

“Some people advanced through the Core Stages normally, but some other people slowed down badly after reaching a certain point.”

Holt pointed toward a group resting near one side of the hall.

“Two people could absorb nearly the same amount of energy and show completely different progress. One person’s Core would become denser almost every time. Another could absorb twice as much and barely improve.”

Cain’s eyes narrowed slightly.

That was interesting.

Holt continued.

“At first I thought we were distributing the resources badly, so we began recording the amounts.”

“You kept records?”

“Yeah, just so that we will have concrete data related to it.”

Cain nodded.

“What did you find?”

“A pattern.”

Holt lowered his voice slightly.

“The people with stronger talents usually progressed farther with fewer resources.”

Cain raised an eyebrow.

He had already suspected something similar from his own experiences, but he had never possessed enough ordinary Awakeners progressing under controlled conditions to compare them properly.

Cain looked toward the nearest survivor.

The man was someone Cain remembered from the university.

He had awakened a relatively ordinary talent.

Cain focused on him.

Information appeared before his eyes.