Chapter 362 The Changes

A minute later, they were all outside the villa. Richard immediately called over his tamed beasts, bringing them over to serve as mounts for him, Miguel, and Selene.

The silver-haired lady carried Rune with her, unwilling to leave the cat behind.

Leon watched them go, then turned to Gwen.

"Let’s check quickly."

She nodded and gestured to the others to start moving. It didn’t take long for them to discover a problem. When the quantity and quality of mana suddenly increased, many normal humans had been knocked unconscious. Some Evolvers were already struggling to breathe and were only managing to stay conscious by sheer will.

Leon’s frown deepened.

"This..." He shook his head. "How do we solve this?"

Standing beside him, Gwen shook her head. "Maybe we don’t. I don’t think Fel or any other healer we have can treat them."

Leon blinked. "Then...?"

She turned and patted his back. "We let them adapt on their own. As long as no one turns into zombies, it’s fine."

Leon nodded, then turned to Nicolas, who was standing on his other side.

"Send the medical team to every house now. Everyone unconscious or struggling should be watched carefully and put in a comfortable position."

The man nodded and bowed. "Understood, City Lord."

As he retreated, Leon turned back to Gwen. "Let’s go join the others on the wall."

They moved quickly, and before long they were standing on the eastern Outer Ring Wall along with the others.

"Holy shit. Is the forest burning?" Reymond cursed as his eyes narrowed.

The forest wasn’t literally burning, but it was swirling with chaos. They could hear distant roars, cries of pain and victory, sounds of trees falling and something being torn apart. A thick bolt of lightning shot down from the sky and struck something within the forest, killing it before it could make a sound.

"The mutated beasts are evolving... fast," Gwen said as she covered her blindfold. "The mana surge is pushing their levels higher and higher. I can see that."

Marie turned to her, disturbed. "Why are only they getting stronger? Why aren’t we getting a level increase too?"

Gwen shook her head. "Probably because we’re highly intelligent. They aren’t. I believe the Star Stream is fair, so it’s probably only helping them because it knows we’re smarter and would kill them anyway."

"Uh... that sounds..." Fel muttered, then fell silent.

Leon glanced at her before turning back to the forest. "As long as they don’t disturb us, I guess it’s fine. And if they come, we’ll handle it."

Gwen nodded. "Marie, please inform the security team to keep a tight watch on the forest. Tell them to contact us the moment they sense trouble."

"Got it." The auburn-haired lady nodded and immediately went to carry out her orders.

Leon nodded, then took out four Tier One crystals. "Gwen, you and Fel should each take two and start practicing that technique I taught you."

The young lady shook her head. "I don’t think I can do that right now. We have so many issues on the ground already. The people—"

"Gwen." Leon called her name again. "You are more important. Your growth is more important. I’ll handle the management with Nicolas. Got it?"

Gwen nodded with a sigh. Stepping closer, Reymond looked at Leon in confusion. "Wait... didn’t you say they shouldn’t use that technique until they reach the peak?"

Leon nodded. "Yes, but these won’t be enough to push them to the peak. It’s probably only going to increase their levels and stats a little. So for now, they can use it. Once it’s morning, we’re going into the forest."

Cassie’s eyes brightened, though her voice remained flat. "So we’re still going?"

Leon turned to her. "Uh... did I say you were going too?"

She shrugged. "Since you’re going and Fel is going, then I’m coming too."

Leon rubbed his face, then nodded. "Alright, whatever. You’re coming with us."

He didn’t want to have an argument with that weird lady.

With that settled, they all came down from the walls and returned inside the city. Although there was no immediate danger, they still couldn’t relax yet.

......

Selene, Richard, and Miguel headed to Park Slope City as quickly as they could. On their way, they encountered some mutated beasts and stray zombies that immediately attacked them, but were killed by Selene.

Riding on Little East’s back, Reymond’s eyes widened in astonishment as he saw the levels of the beasts rising. The ones that hadn’t reached the peak of their Tier soon reached it, and their physical capabilities increased sharply.

"Damn. How come I didn’t get any EXP?"

Sadly, his own level didn’t increase even though he was linked to them. Shaking his head, he looked at the sky. The sun wasn’t out yet, but they could see its rays slowly lighting up the clouds above the horizon.

’What a lousy day.’

Crack!

Another mutated beast froze as it lunged at them, then shattered as it fell to the ground.

Richard and his tamed beasts glanced at Selene, reminding themselves not to offend the Ice Devil.

Selene glanced at the young man, feeling like she had been labeled with an unpleasant name. However, seeing his innocent expression, she turned around and focused on their journey.

In about an hour, they finally arrived at Park Slope City. Just like in Eternal Night City, they were distressed.

The guards’ eyes lit up when they recognized Selene. "Welcome, Vice City Lord."

Selene acknowledged their greeting with a nod before stepping inside with the others. The citizens were distressed because several of their family members and friends had fallen unconscious and showed no signs of waking anytime soon.

Selene’s eyes narrowed as she walked through the streets. The weird situation confused her, but she quickly realized that the mana surge was the reason behind the chaos and distress.

’Oh, I see... makes sense.’

She nodded, then paused when the city officials came to welcome her.

"Lady Selene, thank you for coming. We don’t know what to do."

A middle-aged man with a bald head sighed.

"We’ve been trying to heal the unconscious people, but no Healer-class Evolver seems to be able to help."

Selene nodded, then said coldly, "Ask them to stop bothering."