Atlas Federation...

Atlas City Emergency Operations Center...

"General Kane, still can’t reach Ethan and the others?" A cluster of Atlas Federation officials stared at Maxwell, tension written all over their faces.

Maxwell shook his head.

"Under the crater should be a Void Realm," he said. "They’re probably inside it."

"That should be the Infernals’ home base," someone said, voice tight. "Ethan going in like that... isn’t it too risky?"

Worry spread across the room.

Back when Ethan’s team had bulldozed the Hale family and forcibly reset the power structure in Atlas City, plenty of them had hated the Fallen Star Squad for it.

But after everything that had happened since, their attitude had shifted—whether they liked it or not.

They were Federation leadership. They understood the bigger picture.

And the bigger picture was simple: the Fallen Star Squad mattered. A lot. Nobody here wanted them dead.

On Earth, there was basically nothing to worry about. With Fallen Star Squad’s strength, no one on the planet could realistically threaten them.

But in a Void Realm?

Even if you believed in them, you still couldn’t help feeling uneasy.

Maxwell’s tone stayed steady. "Let’s not sit here panicking. If they went in, they had a reason—and a plan. Don’t let Ryuji run his mouth and spook you into losing your heads."

He looked around the table. "Fallen Star Squad didn’t get where they are by luck. They clawed their way up step by step. What they can do... isn’t something we can measure with our imagination."

A few people nodded quickly.

"General Kane’s right. We should trust them."

"Yeah. They’ll be back out soon, and then it’ll be the Yamato bastards’ turn to die."

"I saw Ryuji acting all smug. Just wait—he’s going to be the one crying."

"Mm."

Maxwell let the chatter die down, then turned to a middle-aged man off to the side. "By the way—status on the Void Realms inside Federation territory?"

The man straightened. Daniel Carter—Atlas Federation Director of Intelligence. After the apocalypse, he’d become the guy responsible for gathering and filtering whatever scraps of truth they could find.

"Right now, besides the one near Atlas City, we’ve confirmed three others with decent certainty," Daniel said.

"One is in Stonepeak City’s territory. That Oliver Grant—he rose fast off a Void Realm opportunity. Took a team of a few hundred, went on a tear, and eventually built the Stonepeak City compound."

Daniel paused, letting the implication land. "It’s currently the only major non-government compound in the Federation besides Fallen Star City."

"But we haven’t found the Void Realm’s exact location," he continued. "Oliver’s group never disclosed it to the rest of the compound. The only thing we can infer is that it’s probably similar to the Atlas City Void Realm—and they’ve likely pulled a lot of valuable resources out of it."

Maxwell nodded once. "Oliver Grant... what’s he like?"

"He’s... decent," Daniel said carefully. "At least, survivors inside the compound are living pretty well."

He didn’t sugarcoat the rest. "Stonepeak City’s top government leadership died early in the apocalypse. The remaining staff couldn’t organize effective rescue or stabilization. The losses were catastrophic. If Oliver and his people hadn’t built that compound, Stonepeak City would’ve turned into hell on earth."

"So Oliver saved a lot of lives," Daniel finished. "His reputation in Stonepeak is extremely strong."

Maxwell’s gaze shifted to Charles and a few others at the table.

They were the ones who’d argued hard to bring every compound under centralized federal control—until Maxwell shut it down.

The world outside was already brutal. The last thing they needed was to squeeze survivors with another layer of top-down pressure.

"Sounds like letting compounds develop independently was the right call," Maxwell said, voice calm but pointed. "Trying to ’manage’ places like that directly would’ve blown up in our faces."

He tapped the table lightly. "What’s Oliver’s stance toward the government?"

"His position is basically: don’t interfere with them, and they won’t be enemies," Daniel said. "Live and let live."

Maxwell nodded. "Fine. As long as he doesn’t cross any lines, we’ll leave him be."

He leaned back. "And the other two Void Realms?"

"One is near Clearford City," Daniel said. "I personally confirmed it with General Cross. That Void Realm has living creatures. It’s spilled out before—sent multiple waves that attacked Clearford City."

Daniel’s expression tightened. "They survived only because Ethan’s team happened to be there at the time."

"Then can we go take a look at that Void Realm?" Charles and a few others lit up immediately—clearly fascinated by the idea of a Void Realm that still had living creatures inside.

"No." Maxwell cut it off without hesitation. "Adrian already told me. Ethan specifically warned us—there are monsters in there that are unbelievably dangerous. If they get out, the consequences would be catastrophic."

Charles’ excitement deflated. "Even Ethan and his team can’t handle them?"

Maxwell nodded. "When Ethan gave that warning, he was dead serious. That tells you everything. Even he’s wary of what’s in there."

"...Alright," someone muttered. "Then what about the last one?"

"The third confirmed Void Realm is in Riverton City," Daniel said. "Those extremely powerful, ugly creatures that attacked the Silverlake City compound—that’s where they came from."

Maxwell’s face hardened. "Ethan gave orders on that one too. Nobody goes near it. We only station people to watch it."

Arthur frowned. "Why?"

Maxwell didn’t sugarcoat it. "Because it’s obvious Ethan’s team doesn’t have full confidence there either."

The room fell into a heavy silence.

"So those two Void Realms are basically two time bombs," someone said, voice low. "They could blow at any moment."

Maxwell nodded. "Yeah."

A long breath went around the table.

"I get it now," another official said. "That’s why Ethan’s squad is willing to take risks and dive into the volcano Void Realm. They know what’s out there. So they’re not letting any chance to get stronger slip by."

"Exactly." Maxwell’s voice sharpened. "Which means we can’t slack off for even a day. Speed up the zombie-clearing operations. And tell the Advanced Research Division they’re all on overtime. The crystal core fusion tech and the decomposition tech both need to move faster. Again."

"Yes, sir!"

Maxwell turned back to Daniel. "That’s all we’ve got? Only those Void Realms? No other intel?"

Daniel hesitated, then nodded. "We do have more... just not something we can verify right now. We’ve heard the area where Fallen Star City used to be likely had a Void Realm. And there was a small-town compound near Starlight City—there should’ve been one nearby there too."

"But those people are all inside Fallen Star City now," Daniel added. "We can’t investigate."

He glanced at Maxwell. "You also told us not to plant eyes inside Fallen Star City—didn’t want to risk Ethan taking it the wrong way—so I pulled everyone back."

Maxwell nodded once, approving. "You did the right thing. If Ethan’s people discovered those Void Realms, we don’t go digging around in their backyard."

"Yes, sir."

"Alright," Maxwell said. "You can go. Keep increasing the search effort for Void Realms."

He pointed for emphasis. "And if we find one—do not go in casually. Wait for orders."

"Yes!"

After Daniel left, the room didn’t relax.

If anything, the pressure got worse.

"General," Gabriel said, voice rough, "I don’t know why, but I’ve got this feeling... like a storm’s about to hit. Like something big is about to happen."

Maxwell looked tired for the first time. "It’s not just you. I feel it too. That’s why we need everyone pushing their Tier up—now."

"Understood."

Maxwell stared at the wall map for a moment, then asked suddenly, "How long has it been since the apocalypse started?"

"Eleven months," someone answered. "One more month and it’ll be a year."

"Almost a year..." Maxwell let out a slow breath. "A year, and the world’s already unrecognizable."

"Yeah." Another official’s voice cracked just slightly. "It changed so fast... Do you really think we can survive a world like this?"

Maxwell’s eyes lifted, steady and fierce. "We can. We have to."