Yonghoon climbed up a tall tree and was gazing out over the distant plains.
There, he could see the corpse of a giant monster and wolf monsters flocking around it, eating its flesh.
“It seems the wolves took care of the remaining monsters.”
Seeing that, Yonghoon nodded as if he understood.
After meeting up with the team members, Yonghoon listened to their stories about the battle with the monsters. Then he realized that the number of monsters he had seen at the Warp Zone differed from the number they had fought.
In fact, the number of monsters the Awakened fought was smaller. Moreover, considering the tendencies of those humans, it was clear they had been sending monsters even before Yonghoon’s arrival.
Yonghoon recalled the wolf monsters he had seen earlier and had chased them north.
Along the way, he found the remains of several monsters and eventually discovered the giant monster corpse and the wolves above the demilitarized zone.
The corpse was at least B-rank or higher. It might have even been an A-rank monster. The giant monster, over 10 meters long and resembling a rhinoceros, had collapsed on its side with its innards exposed.
The monster’s tough-looking skin was riddled with holes, and half of its face seemed blown away.
Wolves clung to the monster’s body, tearing at the flesh.
Monsters from other dimensions usually didn’t eat. Since they crossed dimensions, they didn’t need to eat, and food from another dimension wasn’t compatible with their bodies.
However, what they were eating was a monster from the same world. It was fully consumable.
‘But is there a reason to eat it?’
Yonghoon wondered.
Until now, monsters that had crossed into this world had ignored each other rather than attacking.
These wolves seemed to be a little different.
And soon, Yonghoon realized why the wolves were eating the other monster.
He noticed that the dimensional power emanating from the wolves after eating the monster meat had slightly increased.
It wasn’t a huge increase. But it was a definite, albeit slight, growth in dimensional power.
Apparently, monsters capable of growth could absorb dimensional power from the flesh of other monsters. Or perhaps only this group of wolves could.
Yonghoon shrugged his shoulders.
Anyway, he had figured out why the number of attacking monsters didn’t match and why the wolf monsters were getting stronger.
Yonghoon decided to head back for now.
It was clear that this northern area had become the territory of the wolf monsters. Since other monsters had appeared there, it seemed the wolf monsters had fought a territorial battle.
As a result, a significant number of monsters that had fallen in the northern area seemed to have lost their lives.
It was a relatively fortunate situation.
Now, the problem was the strengthened wolf monsters.
Yonghoon decided to leave the wolf monsters alone for now.
It was impossible to know how many wolf monsters there were. If he provoked them, the monsters up north might start moving south.
Also, these wolf monsters were currently serving as a defense against enemy attacks. He figured it would be better to deal with them after crushing the enemies first.
“Well then, see you next time.”
Yonghoon muttered toward a spot a little away from the monster’s corpse and opened a dimensional tunnel.
As Yonghoon disappeared from atop the tree, the large white wolf that had been standing to the side watching him collapsed onto the ground. Its body was covered in wounds.
The wounds had been inflicted during the battle with the dead monster. Fortunately, they were healing quickly, but the giant white wolf gazed ahead with a tired expression.
There, white wolves were growling at each other with the dimensional core obtained from the A-rank monster placed between them.
The giant wolf let out a heavy sigh at the sight.
It was the sigh of a mother looking at her pathetic children.
Fortunately, there weren’t many casualties in this battle. Since no Dimensional Beast had appeared, and there were no corrupted humans, civilian damage was minimal.
It could even be considered the battle with the least damage among all the fights so far.
While Yonghoon was scouting the northern area, the government and the Awakened were cleaning up the battlefield.
The citizens of Uijeongbu had already been evacuated south, and since no Dimensional Beast had appeared, there was no need for Seoul citizens to evacuate, so the public anxiety was much lower than during the last invasion.
Yonghoon returned to the battlefield where the Awakened had fought about an hour after the battle had ended.
Soldiers who had been stationed in the rear had already swarmed the plains to clean up the battlefield. Among the soldiers, heavy equipment vehicles from various companies could be seen. They were there to transport the monster corpses.
By now, monster-related companies had practically become semi-military corporations.
Companies that used to follow hunting parties were now even waiting in the rear during battles, rushing in as soon as the fighting ended to collect monster corpses.
The Awakened had retreated to the rear to rest.
The injured Awakened had already been transported to the rear by ambulances. Most of the remaining Awakened had collapsed and fallen asleep inside tents hastily set up by soldiers, and those who were awake looked visibly exhausted.
It was only natural, given they had fought all night.
Team Crazy was also gathered in one of the tents. Perhaps out of consideration, they had been assigned a large, high-end tent just for them.
Inside the tent, Dohyeon and Hyangseol could be seen sleeping soundly, while Eunseo and Jimin were chatting with Sunhee.
Meanwhile, team leader Han was keeping an eye on Robert with a tired face.
However, it didn’t seem like there was much need to keep watch.
Robert was sitting blankly on the bed, looking utterly defeated, with an expression of complete resignation.
The awake team members greeted Yonghoon warmly and were amazed by his story about the wolves he had seen.
“Ah, Grace said that when the captain returns, he should come to the command headquarters.”
At Eunseo’s words, Yonghoon stood up. It seemed the government side was curious about what had happened in the other dimension.
As Yonghoon rose from his seat, Sunhee waved at him with a bright smile. She seemed to have let go of something, as if she had made a decision for herself.
The command headquarters was located in the middle of the tents.
It was made by connecting two van trucks, typically used as mobile operation centers. In the meeting room behind the headquarters, several people were waiting for Yonghoon.
Among them were General Yoon and Grace, whom he often saw during Safe Zone installations, and across from them sat a large man who didn’t look unfamiliar.
On the central TV screen, Director Jang’s face could be seen. It appeared to be a video conference.
“Welcome.”
Grace greeted Yonghoon warmly.
However, Grace’s face looked utterly exhausted. It was clear she had overused her abilities. Even now, she seemed to be barely holding on, which Yonghoon could easily notice.
“We’ve all been waiting for you, Yonghoon.”
Director Jang spoke from the screen. Everyone was looking at Yonghoon, seemingly waiting for his report.
Yonghoon sat down and calmly began recounting the events after the dimensional movement.
He tried to report as objectively as possible about the destruction of the Paris Warp Zone, the destruction of the fortress of Dimensional Beasts, and the destruction of the London C dimension Warp Zone.
Everyone held their breath and listened intently to Yonghoon’s story. When he finished by explaining how he and Robert had performed dimensional movement, everyone let out a deep sigh.
“Are you certain that all the Warp Zones leading to our world have been blocked?”
Director Jang leaned forward, almost as if he would pop out of the screen, and asked Yonghoon.
Yonghoon nodded in response to Director Jang’s question.
“I received confirmation from an expert. We destroyed all four C dimension Warp Zones. If they try to create new ones, it will take two years, and even in the worst case, transferring a Warp Zone from another dimension to ours would take several months.”
At Yonghoon’s words, Director Jang let out a sigh of relief, and General Yoon’s eyes gleamed at the mention of an expert.
“By expert, do you mean the Robert who was in charge of the Warp Zone?”
“Yes.”
“We would like you to hand him over to us immediately.”
General Yoon earnestly requested this of Yonghoon.
For the government and military, it was an unexpected windfall. A living operational manager of the enemy. He was crucial for obtaining various information and conducting experiments.
If Yonghoon had been an ordinary person or a regular Awakened, they would have simply informed him. But they couldn’t do that with Yonghoon.
Yonghoon shook his head at General Yoon’s request.
“We’ll keep him with our team for now. The government can send people to monitor him or interrogate him separately if they want.”
At Yonghoon’s words, General Yoon looked puzzled.
It wasn’t outright refusal, nor was it a demand to monopolize information.
“There’s something we need to obtain from him. He’s a Warp Zone expert. Thanks to him, three people were able to return this time. With more research, I think I’ll be able to perform dimensional movement with a significant number of Awakened.”
Hearing this, General Yoon had no choice but to agree. It was hard to oppose Yonghoon’s reasoning.
Besides, Yonghoon wasn’t even blocking interrogation, so it didn’t matter where Robert was kept.
At that moment–
“My goodness.”
The large man sitting across from them groaned. He seemed very surprised by Yonghoon’s story.
When the bewildered Yonghoon looked at him, Grace introduced the man.
“He’s a Linker who crossed over from the B dimension today. During the battle with the monsters, five Awakened became Linkers. Thanks to them, the battle ended with minimal damage.”
Yonghoon was quite surprised by Grace’s words. He looked closely at the man. Somehow, he seemed familiar.
“I feel like we’ve met before.”
At Yonghoon’s words, Captain Kangcheol gave a bitter smile. In his mind, he could hear furious cursing about not being recognized.
“I think you’ve encountered me a few times in this world.”
“Ah. The thug boss.”
Only then did Yonghoon remember the man sitting in front of him.
He was the man he had encountered when crossing over to this world. Having weathered the storms of life and housing a different personality, it was not easy to recognize him.
“You became an Awakened.”
“Yeah! Punk, let’s have a go!”
In the end, at the outburst that escaped his mouth, Captain Kangcheol let out a sigh. Although this meeting had been entrusted to him, his original personality’s temper had ultimately flared up.
At Kangcheol’s sigh, Yonghoon couldn’t help but chuckle, and only then was Captain Kangcheol able to explain how they had crossed over to this world.
“After seeing the will left by Major Sunhee, who had fallen into a vegetative state, the military in Jeju Island immediately launched an investigation. During that time, they discovered that the alternative use of the Dimensional Connector, which had previously ended in failure and rumors, was actually possible, and that the vegetative states were the result of minds transferring to other dimensions. Thus, the government and the military desperately devoted themselves to this matter. Although the enemy’s attacks suddenly stopped, most islands had lost contact, leaving the government and military with no choice but to become desperate.”
Captain Kangcheol’s expression darkened slightly as he recalled those events.
“By restoring the safety device of the Dimensional Connector used by Major Sunhee, we were able to learn about the situation in this world through various Awakened, and we confirmed that the writings she left behind were true. That’s how we, the initial qualified candidates, managed to cross over to this world.”
He gazed intently at Yonghoon.
“We were puzzled when the attacks suddenly stopped and the Awakened with gray eyes disappeared, but now we’ve found the reason here.”
Sunhee was the reason.
Hearing Captain Kangcheol’s words, Yonghoon suddenly realized why the Linkers from the B dimension had appeared.
“So now, the two dimensions are properly joining forces to fight against the attacking dimension?”
Just as Grace had said.
If they were the advance party, it meant more could cross over. Most likely, the other world was nearly destroyed, and surely more Awakened would come.
“If we can block the dimensional passage leading to the B dimension, then our world will be somewhat safer. We must contact them immediately.”
At Kangcheol’s words, Director Jang nodded.
“It doesn’t seem like something we can conclude here. We need to talk with the elders and also discuss it with other countries. If we can send more people, we must prepare properly.”
“Shouldn’t we inform the Linkers from other countries too?”
Grace spoke up behind Director Jang, and the meeting room began to buzz with various discussions.
Yonghoon looked around the meeting room.
The atmosphere in the meeting room had changed.
The previously gloomy mood had shifted to a positive one. From always being on the losing side, they were now in a position to attack.
As if their fatigue had vanished, the meeting continued throughout the day.