In the entire room, Erin Xavier was probably the only one who was completely calm.

After hearing Zoe Pierce’s answer, he immediately asked, "Why did you choose Miles?"

Zoe Pierce glanced at him, then pointed to Miles Sherman, herself, and Erin. "The older brother, the sister, and the younger brother."

The serious older brother, the exasperated sister, the rebellious younger brother.

At a glance, the combination didn’t seem out of place at all.

The deeper reason was that Zoe Pierce felt that within the entire group, Miles was likely the only one willing to manage Erin.

Chase Shaw and Nathan Lockwood would only speak up when Erin went too far. Miles wasn’t like that. He was like a natural older brother, possessing a gentleness he himself might not have even noticed. Despite his exasperation, he would quietly look after people.

Erin responded well to that.

Zoe also subconsciously found him reliable.

Zoe’s explanation was like a Mecha plummeting from the sky, about to smash into the ground and be shattered to pieces, only to pull up at the last possible moment, soaring back into the air just before impact.

It made one’s heart hammer in their chest, pounding so hard it hurt their ribs.

Miles was the first to recover, saying in a low voice, "Okay."

Chase Shaw’s hand clenched and then relaxed. For a moment, he’d almost thought Zoe had actually developed feelings for Miles. It was hard not to overthink it; after all, he had temporarily marked her.

But Zoe’s eyes were clear now, and the reason she gave was perfectly normal.

He forced a smile and glanced at Nathan Lockwood, whose expression seemed unchanged but whose back was actually as rigid as a pillar.

’This is fine too. Some people scheme and plot, only to end up with nothing to show for it.’

And so, the team arrangements were settled.

Zoe Pierce, Miles Sherman, and Erin Xavier formed one team, while Chase Shaw, Nathan Lockwood, and Julian Chambers became the second.

They would travel separately and rendezvous at the final destination.

Afterwards, they discussed the surrounding area and the environment around the treehouse. There were surveillance drones near the treehouse, but they were in fixed positions. Avoiding them wouldn’t be difficult, but it would require the use of spiritual power to sense them.

Nathan was no longer as stiff as before. From this, it was clear that even if Zoe had picked him for her team, the arrangements would have ultimately been changed anyway.

Neither of the two teams could afford to be without a sensitive. Otherwise, once they left the treehouse and went deeper into the mountains, there was no telling what situations they might face.

They set their departure time for the next evening. Approaching the tourist area around the treehouse at dusk wouldn’t be too conspicuous. Showing up outside in the dead of night, however, would look suspicious.

「The next day, at an airship landing pad somewhere on B36.」 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

A thin, red-haired man, neatly dressed, stepped out of an interstellar hovercar. Standing on the landing pad were several tall Betas.

Seeing Arthur White, one of them said seriously, "Energy reserves fully replenished. Maintenance checks complete."

Arthur White grunted in acknowledgment and boarded the airship alone.

Soon, the small interstellar airship let out a loud roar, circled as it ascended, and flew away until it was out of sight.

Everyone on the landing pad left, except for the personnel on duty. The rest boarded hovercars and vanished from sight.

...

「Dusk.」

The sky was hazy and growing dark. A rare cluster of thick clouds obscured the moonlight, making it somewhat gloomy. The temperature at the treehouse in the forest was pleasant, without the morning’s heat, and the wind carried a slight chill.

Zoe Pierce had changed back into her training uniform.

She couldn’t help it; the school’s training uniforms were just too practical. They were waterproof, insulated, and even fire-resistant—an essential item for traversing a forest.

At the designated meeting spot, she saw Miles and Erin, who were also dressed in their training uniforms.

The three of them met up and, without another word, began moving quickly toward their destination.

With no vehicle, they had to rely on their own two feet. Every minute was precious.

On her Intelligent Brain, a reply came from Nathan’s end: Julian Chambers had met up with them.

Both teams advanced rapidly, but the experience was a huge shock for Julian Chambers. He didn’t know what the others’ spiritual powers were, but he was already awed by Nathan’s sharp spiritual senses.

To Nathan, it was as if he had x-ray vision for the surveillance drones along the path. He perfectly avoided them, constantly adjusting their route along the shortcut he’d planned, moving as if the land were his to explore freely.

His own spiritual power was control—plant control. This was why he was a valued member of the team; places where Xenobeast Tides broke out were rarely devoid of plant life.

As long as there were plants, he could control their growth and turn them into an asset.

He had originally thought this ability would be useful on this mission, but unexpectedly, Nathan’s planning was so good that he hadn’t needed to use it at all.

And Chase hadn’t even made a move, which made him seem all the more formidable.

’Just thinking that there are two other monsters like that on the team gives me a strange bit of confidence.’

Even at this pace, it still took them the better part of the night to reach the rendezvous point.

Nathan had already sensed it: in the mountain range where he’d expected, there was a massive cave entrance.

And now, on a wide road, a convoy of vehicles was heading in their direction.

Chase glanced at his Intelligent Brain and made a hand signal to Nathan.

Nathan followed suit and looked at his own Intelligent Brain.

His expression darkened slightly.

Zoe’s team wouldn’t be able to rendezvous with them for the time being.

Only Julian Chambers was still in the dark, as he hadn’t been added to the team’s communication channel.

Nathan looked at Chase, his voice extremely low. "Let’s go take a look."

Zoe’s team had made a discovery. It was useless for them to just wait here. Even if they didn’t go in deep, they had to scout out the perimeter first.

「On the other side.」

Zoe, Miles, and Erin were currently crouched in the bushes. The building before them was brightly lit but nondescript. Security wasn’t particularly tight; there were only a few scattered surveillance drones and not even many Beta guards.

It was impossible to tell what it was used for from the outside.

They had been moving quickly, not expecting to find this building so close to their destination.

To be safe, they decided to investigate.

But before they could make a move, they saw a medical ambulance, a common model, driving over from a short distance away.

Several Betas in white coats ran out of the building.

As soon as the vehicle passed through the main gate, its rear doors opened. Robots carrying a person on a stretcher quickly rushed them into the building.

A female Beta standing at the entrance had an ugly expression on her face. She asked urgently, "Was the medical pod used?"

A man getting out of the ambulance looked grim. "It was. It didn’t work."

If it had worked, they wouldn’t have been brought here.

She said to the person beside her, "Try the Y1 serum on him..."

Before the person behind her could run off, she turned and furiously snapped at the man in front of her, "Are you people insane?! How many has that been this month?"