This inconspicuous trail lay beside the entrance to the Valley Transfer Station, half-hidden and blocked by a few abandoned crates.
"Let's go this way. For now, don't alert them," Hao Fan said.
He stared at the dense cluster of red dots on his game map and felt that charging straight into the Transfer Station would be reckless.
There were simply too many Riftbreakers.
And on top of that, the area had some kind of Nest Effigy—spewing mist-like corrosive matter that posed a serious threat to humans.
He had no idea why those masked bandits could loiter in the crimson fog like it was nothing. Were they not afraid of dying?
Hao Fan couldn't comprehend it—and was genuinely shaken.
Either way, he wasn't about to plunge headfirst into the red haze and keel over from poison on the spot.
What a stupid way to die.
He thought that as he walked, eyes still glued to the map.
His "I-know-exactly-where-I'm-going" pace seemed to puzzle Wolfguard. The man didn't understand how this hooded guy could move so decisively—like he already knew the route ahead.
"…There's only this path. Move first," Wolfguard said.
The hooded man was suspicious, sure—but since he was a member of the Crisis Response Team, Wolfguard didn't go so far as to question the "innocence" of the same guy who had earlier aimed a hand-cannon at him.
Perlica, however, looked troubled.
"Visibility is a mess, and the Guild has no news… I'm worried the Riftbreakers are about to do something."
Now that they'd seen it for themselves, the fall of the Valley Passage was undeniable.
Perlica accepted that the Guild members were likely in grave danger. But she still didn't know what the Crushbone Clan truly wanted.
That uncertainty made her uneasy.
Chen Qianyu noticed another detail.
"Didn't Fiona say there were residents living nearby? How come we haven't seen a single person?"
"…That is strange," Perlica agreed.
Just then, the Doctor in front stopped walking.
"The bridge is gone."
Hao Fan stood at the edge of a cliff with his hands in his pockets, looking down at the deep, dark water below. It was obvious they couldn't go any farther this way.
But the bridge hadn't been destroyed—
It had been retracted.
The control terminal was probably on the far side.
"This was probably the Guild's doing," Hao Fan guessed, rubbing his chin. "To stop Riftbreakers from crossing here."
He'd seen a similar mechanism back in the Hub Zone Base—
Integrated Industrial Institute.
East of the Central Control Tower, built from platforms and bridges with a river underneath.
He'd only visited once because it felt boring, so he didn't really understand how it worked.
Incidentally, when the Administrator and Perlica first arrived at the Hub Zone Base, they'd entered from that direction—crossed the platforms into the tower area, and then made their dramatic "fall from the sky" arrival.
As for now, the Administrator firmly refused to try crossing this cliff.
Because she couldn't swim. If she slipped and fell, she'd die.
"Let's keep detouring. There's another route… huh? What's that?"
Hao Fan noticed something hovering near a cluster of Originium crystals by the roadside—a glowing orb so strange he just stared.
"That's Aethermatter," Perlica explained.
"When exploring in the wilds, you occasionally find this shimmering substance… It's valuable for research, and it seems to boost stamina."
She sounded genuinely interested.
And, as a side note:
Besides ordinary aethermatter like this, there was also active aethermatter, with different reactive properties. Some could move on their own. Others were good at hiding and needed to be located via scanning.
"I see… I'll give it to Andre later," Hao Fan said. "He'll probably be interested."
He tried storing the aethermatter in his contract-originium, planning to use it later to squeeze more refined Originium out of Andre.
Because raw ore really wasn't meant for human consumption.
Then he continued forward, stepping along an iron pipe that spanned the broken terrain and pressing onward under the canyon's shadow.
The lighting here was terrible—towering rock walls on both sides made the abandoned path feel oppressively narrow.
But the vegetation was lush, and occasionally they even spotted long-eared beasts hopping through.
"Shh. Something ahead," Wolfguard murmured.
His wolf ears twitched slightly.
And Hao Fan saw red dots on the map.
"You've gotta be kidding me—there are Riftbreakers here too? These bandits are like rats!"
The corner of his mouth twitched as he pulled out the Howling Guard.
At the same time—
Two Crushbone raiders, one Crushbone ambush archer, and a Crushbone Ripperfang beast were searching for something.
"Hurry up! It's been this long already—he's going to lose patience!"
One raider sounded frantic.
He didn't want to anger the boss.
If he did, the punishment would be brutal.
The ambush archer was certain the target was nearby, but couldn't locate them.
"That Perro… those people—where the hell are they hiding?"
They all looked agitated.
On a nearby metal rack lay two long-eared beast carcasses—apparently hunted by the Ripperfang, meant to be roasted and eaten later.
"They're so cute… why eat them?" Chen Qianyu said, face full of sympathy.
She was clearly the type who loved small animals.
"Because rabbit tastes good," Hao Fan shrugged. "Like donkey meat… probably. Though I've never actually had it."
Then he shifted gears.
"They're searching for the residents here?"
He'd overheard their conversation.
Wolfguard silently drew his hand-cannon.
"They won't get another chance."
One minute later—
The Riftbreakers in the temporary camp were wiped out.
They fought fiercely right up to the end, but three people and one dog simply weren't a match for the protagonist party's Power of Bonds.
So they fell—dead-eyed and unwilling.
"Doctor, what did you mean when you yelled 'friendship' and 'bonds' just now?" Chen Qianyu asked, sheathing her sword with casual curiosity.
Hao Fan felt a bit awkward.
"Ahem. I was just yelling stuff."
He tugged his hood and quickly changed the subject.
"Their search party isn't just one group. The situation's bad… We're definitely going to run into more Riftbreakers."
"It's fine—leave it to me! I'll handle it easily!" Chen Qianyu thumped her chest, smiling with absolute confidence.
"Good. That's the spirit!"
Hao Fan played along, then pointed off to the side.
"But before we fight more Riftbreakers… we need to catch up to that guy."
Everyone turned instinctively.
A brown-haired young man in a worn sweater had quietly slipped out of hiding, sprinting away like his life depended on it.
He was probably the Perro the Riftbreakers had been searching for—
and most likely one of the local residents.
"There really are people here! Move—after him!"
....
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