"Extract the samples. Now."

"Understood!" the six warriors answered in deep voices.

The team quickly set out.

The alternating sounds of Magnetic Boots and forest soil were heavy yet rhythmic. Now and then, the faint grinding of Chainsword gears sounded like a low battle hymn.

Although the orbital drones had yet to launch, the footage returned by the ground reconnaissance drones was already clear.

The dense forest gradually narrowed to the north, and the outlines of human buildings emerged at the edge of an open plain.

Houses stood scattered about, streets wound through the area, and the town appeared large enough to accommodate roughly fifty thousand people.

It was not an abandoned ruin, but a settlement that radiated signs of life. Yet the transmitted footage showed no pedestrians or vehicles for the moment.

That only made Lei Ruoya's brows knit slightly.

Her gaze darkened as she gripped the hilt of the Power Sword hanging at her waist.

"Advance."

As her words fell, the Glory Legion warriors gradually disappeared into the shadows beneath the trees, closing in on the unknown town.

Deep within the forest, light and shadow intertwined.

Lei Ruoya and the six Glory Legion warriors moved between the trees. The forest air was fresh to the point of clarity, scented with pine and earth, interwoven with the fragrance of moss and wildflowers.

Sunlight spilled through gaps in the branches and leaves, gathering into specks of light that swayed in the wind, like countless tiny golden scales floating in the air.

Wild animals occasionally flashed through view.

Several deer drank from a distant stream. The moment they sensed the heavy footsteps, their ears pricked up, and they dashed into the woods like the wind.

Higher up among the branches, a hawk circled and cried softly, its gaze sharp and cold.

Several rabbits darted through