"Haozi, you see that?" Liu Qi whispered.
"Yeah, big hottie," Haozi drooled. "Why are all the girls on this planet this pretty?"
"Be serious," Liu Qi scolded. "What are they doing?"
"No clue. Just standing there."
Haozi and Liu Qi lay on top of the landing ship, using binoculars to track Galatea and the agent's every move. The village's terrain wasn't great—only the landing ship counted as a high point. Easy to attack, hard to defend. But for now, Zhang Dong didn't have any better ground to use. He was doing everything he could to strengthen defenses in case of an attack.
Of course, Zhang Dong was also ready to retreat at any time. The pilots were already on standby.
If the enemy didn't move, neither would they. Right now, both sides were just watching and scouting.
Haozi was totally entranced. "How can someone be that gorgeous? She's hotter than any celebrity I've seen."
"That's enough," Liu Qi said. Since there was only one pair of binoculars, he kept watch on their surroundings.
"I gotta ask Tola how to say 'I like you' in the local language," Haozi muttered. "I think I'm in love."
Liu Qi rolled his eyes and gave up talking. This planet was dangerous, and he had zero desire to end up as Yoma food.
The sun hung high in the sky. A breeze drifted across the grasslands. The weather was bright and pleasant—perfect for a picnic or a hike. But the Earth exploration team had no such mood.
More and more strangers were closing in on the village, making Zhang Dong break out in cold sweat. Kid had warned them before—Yoma that had eaten a person's internal organs could perfectly mimic the victim. Only a Claymore could tell a Yoma apart. These newcomers might very well be Yoma. Zhang Dong had talked with locals before and learned that they rarely left their towns or villages. When they did, it was only for necessary things like grain deliveries—and always while armed.
These strangers had no luggage, no weapons, and there were no nearby villages. That alone told Zhang Dong something was seriously wrong. Surveillance had already spotted over 20 of them. The village only had a little over 20 people total. Worst of all, Kid wasn't around.
Right now, Zhang Dong was reinforcing the village as much as possible, setting up firepower on the rooftops and making sure all the scientists were protected. Everything pointed to a tough fight coming soon.
But the organization still wasn't making a move. They were still observing.
Galatea stood with her eyes closed, sensing the village. The people inside really were different—they seemed to be aware that Yoma were approaching. She suddenly had a feeling they were being watched.
It was just a gut instinct. She didn't detect any Yoma energy nearby, but the sensation of being observed was clear. Galatea opened her eyes. Her Yoma energy sense wasn't helping with this, so she had to rely on her sight.
A Claymore's eyes could see far and fast. Scanning the distance, she spotted something interesting—an iron structure. Someone was holding two cylinders up to their face and aiming them in her direction.
"What is it?" the agent asked, curious.
"Nothing. Just felt an unusual wave of Yoma energy to the south."
"The south belongs to Luciela's territory. That's normal," the agent replied.
Galatea was known as the "Divine Eye." Her sensing ability could cover nearly half the entire experimental continent. Nothing from the Abyss could escape her gaze. So it was easy for her to confirm that the person lying on the steel structure was indeed using two cylinders to observe her.
"The beauty looked this way! My love must be burning like wildfire—it's already reached her!" Haozi beamed.
Damn it, Haozi was fine in every other way, but he couldn't focus. He had that reckless college-boy vibe, and it was honestly nauseating. Liu Qi felt like throwing up.
"Shut it. Keep watching. Don't lose sight of them."
"I won't let my goddess disappear before my eyes," Haozi muttered to himself.
Inside the village, Zhang Dong was debating whether to strike first. If they got surrounded, they'd lose the initiative. If only he had a rocket launcher, he would've blasted the whole place clean by now instead of messing around like this.
"What now? Better to retreat for now." Zhang Dong made the call. They were explorers, not soldiers. Clearly, these people had bad intentions. After weighing the risks, he chose to fall back. There was no way to win this without casualties, and he wasn't about to take that chance.
They acted fast—retreating before getting surrounded.
An Rong and Sony didn't want to leave. They didn't want to abandon their experimental samples. But this time Zhang Dong wasn't being diplomatic. He forced them onto the landing ship.
"What about the locals?" An Rong yelled.
Zhang Dong replied, "I'll take them with us."
Galatea frowned. She realized the organization's setup had definitely been discovered. Otherwise, there wouldn't be such a hasty retreat. But she couldn't figure out how they'd been exposed. Was it because of those two cylinders? She chose to stay silent and didn't report anything to the agent.
The Claymores had long harbored resentment toward the organization. It wasn't just a temporary grudge—it had built up for a long time. Even though they were half-Yoma, the fact that the organization never treated them as people left them deeply dissatisfied. So far, no Claymore had openly rebelled, but if things continued like this, that day would surely come.
To the organization, the Claymores were just experimental products—imperfect ones at that. No wonder the organization was fed up and wanted to wipe them out and make new ones. Claymores had no human rights. They were meant to protect humans but weren't even liked by them. Being a Claymore was pitiful. If not for the power to protect themselves or for revenge, no girl would ever willingly join such a messed-up group.
Boom!
Galatea was jolted by the sudden loud noise.
"What happened?" the agent asked. He couldn't see that far.
"Not sure. Looks like that steel structure is moving."
The mountain under their feet shook slightly. The landing ship's thrust had been massively boosted to counter double gravity. Its engines roared, pushing its wheels.
"It's moving." Galatea saw no animals or beasts pulling it. How was that thing moving?
"What?!" The agent still couldn't see a thing.
Boom!
Another blast. The landing ship lifted off.
This time, the agent finally saw a black dot slowly rising into the sky. "..."
The noise grew louder. The landing ship was getting closer, then soared right over their heads.
"Sky City?!" Was this what Eliza had seen and called Sky City?
Galatea turned and tracked the ship with her eyes until it vanished, leaving only two trails of cloud across the sky.
The agent was speechless. He hadn't believed the whole Sky City story, had thought Eliza was spouting nonsense. But now he saw it with his own eyes—that steel structure could actually fly! "Who the hell are they?" he blurted out, shocked. He didn't even realize he'd spoken out loud, assuming it was just his thoughts.
Galatea was stunned too. What was that thing? It definitely didn't belong on this continent. Could they really be visitors from the sky?
Zhang Dong had made a decisive call to retreat. The enemy numbers were too high, and they weren't ready for battle. If he'd had just a few more weapons, he definitely would've held his ground.
Haozi Planeted at the shrinking land below and thought, 'Goodbye, my goddess. I'll be back.'