"Ah! Andrew?" A shout of delight and surprise echoed through the warehouse, "Andrew!!"

Just by the sound, without needing to ask or look, Andrew knew without a doubt it was young Sophie. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

In his mind, a thought flashed quickly: How did this girl end up in the laboratory’s underground warehouse?

No time to mull over it, he felt a small body suddenly crash into his arms!

Caught off guard, Andrew was hit with a stab of pain.

A look of joyful surprise appeared on his face: "Little Sophie, you’ve formally completed the ’Professional Awakening’ and become an ’Apprentice Hunter’? That was fast!"

If she hadn’t completed her professional awakening, she wouldn’t have had this strength.

Sure enough, another voice said, "Yes, little Sophie has awakened."

Sofia, the lady, was actually in the underground warehouse too, smiling as she walked over. Seeing her daughter clinging to Andrew like a koala, she couldn’t help but scold, "Get down quickly, young lady, be more reserved. What kind of behavior is this?"

Andrew rubbed little Sophie’s small head nestled on his shoulder and laughed, "It’s all right, it’s all right."

Sofia approached, her eyes slightly concerned as she looked at him, then glanced at the unconscious Ivan, asking, "Are you two okay?"

Andrew shook his head, "No troubles, don’t worry."

Pausing, he asked strangely, "How did you know Ivan and I were in danger?"

He thought to himself that when he was dragged into that space-time, he couldn’t send any distress signal to anyone. The entire underground warehouse had been temporarily sealed, and there was no way to seek help.

Could it be that Ivan, before being sucked in, used some special method of the Deep Blue Guard to alert Sofia and little Sophie? Or was it Barbara’s acute perception that detected something amiss?

Sofia listened to Andrew’s question, her expression turning slightly peculiar, her eyes wide as she stared at Andrew, "You..."

Little Sophie lifted her head, her adorable little face filled with tears as she pitifully said, "Andrew brother, I thought I’d never see you again. Boohoo, it scared me to death."

Her small hands clutched Andrew’s clothes tightly, her reliance on him not diminishing at all despite her professional awakening.

Andrew frowned involuntarily.

Not because he disliked the young girl’s tears on his clothes, but because... something about little Sophie’s words sounded odd. Weren’t he and Ivan in that space-time only for a short while? Why did it sound like they hadn’t met for ages?

Again the question: "How did you know Ivan and I were trapped and in danger?"

Sofia replied, "It was Barbara who asked us to wait here for you and Ivan. She said she sensed you two here in the warehouse. Frankly, your sudden disappearance almost drove us insane..."

"What? Disappearance? Hold on, hold on!" Andrew made a stop gesture, realizing things were amiss, "We were trapped in danger, but it couldn’t have been more than ten minutes, strictly speaking not enough to count as a disappearance, right, ten minutes of disappearance?"

What Andrew wanted to emphasize was: in such a short time, you guys shouldn’t have even noticed our disappearance, that’s the most logical situation!

Hearing Andrew’s words, Sofia’s eyes grew increasingly peculiar.

Little Sophie blinked, also using a strange gaze to look at Andrew.

The girl suddenly reached out a small hand and touched Andrew’s forehead, then turned to look at her mother, "No fever."

Sofia said, "Andrew, what are you talking about? You... you and Ivan have been missing for five days!"

Andrew: "??"

His first reaction was: Damn it, am I still not completely out of that reddish-brown space-time? Is this a dream?

Then quickly, another flash of realization came over his mind: The time flow speed inside that space-time wasn’t the same as outside!

Only ten minutes passed in the space-time, but outside... five days had actually passed?!

Realizing this, Andrew hurriedly activated "Water Spirit Sensing."

Upon seeing the current situation in Wildfire Territory, Andrew was in utter shock: "What is going on? What is this situation?!"

Indeed, he had been missing for five days.

The time flow speed in that small world was vastly different from the outside world.

In Andrew’s perception, he had merely spent time in that reddish-brown space-time, contending with the mountains and seas, uncovering the truth about the Desolate Beasts.

However, in the outside world, monumental changes took place during his and Ivan’s five-day absence!

Naros launched his attack on the second day of Andrew’s disappearance, fully executing his "Vanguard Plan."

The so-called "Vanguard Plan," in simple terms, involved controlling a large number of Desolate Beasts to drive desert residents from various places in the Inner Sea Desert, forcing people towards Wildfire Territory.

Using civilians as instruments to clear the path, with Desolate Beasts following closely behind, launching an assault on Wildfire Territory in this manner!

In response, Barbara promptly arrived at the underground warehouse, seeking Andrew: "According to the original plan, we should directly launch a surprise attack on Rose!"

Barbara had initially followed the tactical plan of the Tower Battle God.

But from the moment Andrew handed her the "Tear Mark," enabling her to lock onto Naros’ position, Barbara’s thoughts had completely changed: retreat beneath the tower? Impossible! If Naros dares to come, we’ll slaughter him! That’s Barbara’s newest idea!

Seeing Rose’s "Vanguard Plan" unfold, her fury at the opponent’s despicable attack method was intense, yet she was equally thrilled. With battle spirit high, she pushed open the door to the underground warehouse, ready to invite Andrew to join her in fighting monsters, extinguishing fires, slaughtering Rose. But upon opening the door, there was only exasperation—

Darn it...

Where’s everyone?!!

Barbara was initially shocked, but soon she became anxious. She could sense Andrew and Ivan’s presence right in this warehouse, yet couldn’t find them anywhere!

She nearly went mad, clutching her hair, thinking: "I’m not confident enough to take down Rose on my own; he’s now a tier higher than me! This... this was initially a three-person operation plan to ensure success!"

Reluctantly, she returned to the top floor of the laboratory.

Uh... for now, continue being the Tower Battle God.

Fortunately, when Barbara focused on defending the tower, seeking no merit but avoiding fault, the defense was akin to an iron fortress, impenetrable.

All Desolate Beasts driving civilians to enter within a kilometer of Wildfire Territory’s surroundings were blown up by her using the laboratory’s "Fortress Cannon Platform" ability from afar! The precision of magic was extraordinarily impressive.

While Barbara eliminated the Desolate Beasts, she inflicted no harm on those civilians driven by the beasts.

An Ya then deployed personnel to bring all desert residents who were driven in, into town for proper arrangement.