I'm back

The Lighthouse outpost.

It was one of the few outposts in the No. 127 Inverse Realm. Lighthouse Base had been built to support exploration of three Inverse Realm cities and dozens of towns within five hundred kilometers.

It provided a place for personnel to rest, receive treatment, and replenish supplies.

The base stood beneath a dam. The structure, rising fifty meters above the base, housed a large water purification system that supplied its daily water needs.

In the event of a large-scale attack, the dam's retaining wall could also be blown up to trigger an artificial flood.

Fortunately, in the ten years since Lighthouse Base had been built, this suicidal defensive measure had never been needed.

Inside the heavy blast doors at the base entrance stood two defensive towers, one on either side. Their powerful searchlights swept the defensive trenches ahead day and night.

With assistance from intelligent electronic systems, each defensive tower needed only one soldier on duty.

At that moment, in the left-hand tower, a soldier clad in black full-body protective armor yawned. The tower's filtration and purification systems kept the black mist out, so soldiers could go without helmets.

That was one of the few perks of working in a defensive tower.

His armor's built-in communicator flashed as a message arrived on his private channel: "How's it going, Wei Bo? You haven't fallen asleep, have you?"

The soldier named Wei Bo smiled and replied, "I dozed off just ten minutes ago. God, working in this tower is boring me to death. If I'd known, I would've applied to join the Nightwalker Exploration Corps."

"Oh, spare me. You're an upper-class citizen. Your dad doesn't want you risking your neck. Aside from lower-class citizens and lunatics, what sane person would volunteer to join the Nightwalkers?"

Wei Bo was about to respond when the computer suddenly issued an alert. It had detected a warning signal, indicating that Children of Darkness were approaching the base.

"Damn it!"

Wei Bo jumped to his feet, his fingers flying across the virtual keyboard as a holographic window opened in front of him.

The window showed several shambling figures in the open ground before the base entrance.

The poor light prevented the soldier from making out their features, but their twisted limbs and the gray-white flames drifting before their chests made them easy to identify: a few Wanderers.

The soldier breathed a sigh of relief. A handful of Wanderers hardly qualified as a threat. Since the base had opened, Children of Darkness had rarely visited the area, though a few clueless creatures occasionally wandered in.

But Wei Bo suddenly tensed again. Behind those Wanderers, he saw a car.

It had a flimsy body, no mounted weapons, and just four tires. Those tires even looked flat.

It was clearly one of the vehicles found everywhere in Inverse Realm cities. Rumor had it that the first wheeled vehicle's design had been inspired by those heaps of scrap metal.

The soldier rubbed his eyes, wondering whether he was seeing things. Those vehicles shouldn't have had enough power to move.

He soon learned why.

It was the Wanderers!

Someone had fastened chains as thick as an arm to the hideous creatures. The other ends were secured to the car's bumper, turning the Wanderers into laborers that pulled the car along.

Wanderers weren't livestock, so a whip wouldn't work on them. Instead, a lamp casing hung from each side of the car.

Inside each transparent casing was a stalk of star crystal grass. Its glow instinctively drove the Wanderers away, producing the scene in the holographic window.

Wei Bo couldn't help letting out a heartfelt exclamation at the ingenious idea. Then a transmission reached the defensive tower: "Defensive tower, can you hear me? I'm Tianyang, a member of the Gathering Team's Fourth Squad, soldier ID 1507. Requesting entry to the base. Oh, and please notify the Experimentation Department. I have a few live Wanderer specimens here. Have them send someone to collect them."

Leaning his head out of the car window, Tianyang held his Standard Communicator and repeated what he had just said.

Only then did a slightly flustered voice come through the communicator: "Defensive tower acknowledges. Verifying your identity now. Please wait..."

A moment later, the base's blast doors opened, and several base vehicles drove over. Among them were two specimen transport vehicles from the base's Experimentation Department.

The Wanderers were collected, and Tianyang also handed over the star crystal grass he had gathered along the way. He couldn't bring back the Star Marrow Pillar in the tunnel himself, but he had marked the Star Pillar's location on his map.

Turning in that map later would also count as a major contribution.

The Wanderers, the star crystal grass, and the map to the Star Pillar. Those three things were enough to earn Tianyang 4,000 contribution points.

In the fortress, 1,000 contribution points could keep a family of three fed and clothed for a year.

So after registering Tianyang's haul, the officer handling the records looked at the boy with a hint of envy.

"Your left eye is injured. I recommend visiting the Medical Center. Besides, you've just returned, and regulations require you to undergo a full physical examination. It would be better to report to your superior officer afterward."

That was the advice the officer responsible for base defense gave after uploading Tianyang's information to the base system.

Tianyang made his request. "Sir, I'd like to see the Nightwalker Commander."

The base officer paused in surprise. "I'm afraid the commander won't make a special trip for a Gathering Team member, even if you brought back quite a haul."

Tianyang pointed at his own face. "Perhaps you've noticed I'm not wearing a helmet. Yes, I'm already an Ascender. And the class I awakened isn't listed in the information published by the fortress. The commander might be interested in that."

"You mean an entirely new class? Holy sh- ahem, sorry."

The officer finally agreed. "How about this? I'll have a soldier take you to the hospital. As for your request, I'll report it to Nightwalker Headquarters. Whether the commander meets you isn't for me to decide."

"That'll do. Sorry for the trouble."

A base vehicle took Tianyang through the blast doors. Looking out the window, the boy saw supply trucks heading toward the storage rooms.

Two Falcon High-Speed Assault Vehicles drove past nearby, preparing to leave the base. They were the Nightwalkers' standard vehicles. He wondered which squad was setting out on another expedition.

In the distance, several units of Three-Dimensional Armament were conducting combat training on the base's drill ground. These humanoid weapons had been developed to compensate for the shortage of Ascenders.

The base was as vibrant as ever. Its personnel were like a hardworking ant colony, exploring this world efficiently and tirelessly.

Tianyang drew his gaze back and murmured.

"I'm back."