Ascenders Rift

While Joe, the others felt a bit uncomfortable being scanned, Evan didn"t seem to mind as he knew they were only doing these things for their safety. He had already been kind enough to act accordingly and show them a decent amount of respect. If they were to push things beyond this stage, he wouldn"t mind falling out with them. The only trouble would be pressing onwards without a base of operations or the aid of these humans.

Outside of the room, a large group of core individuals for the checkpoint were gathered, discussing something. While speaking, they would occasionally glance at the room, staring through the wall that was clear on their side as they inspected Evan"s party.

Another group was busily tapping away on devices that were showing their body structures, scanning down to the last bit of information of their body.

"So, have you found out who... or what they are?" Julie asked one of the men behind the machines, as Leo, Kens, and a few others looked over, including the sniper unit leader.

The technology specialist had fascinating eyes as she spoke, "They... they are amazing... I never thought this was possible, but they are definitely not the same as us; there is something about their genetic data that is only slightly different from ours."

Leo frowned at this and spoke, "So, are they are a threat or not? Are they spies of the Mother Breed?"

The technology specialist shook her head and replied, "No, they are humans, but they are different kinds of humans. My meaning is that they are humans who aren"t from our world..."

Everyone was stunned, as they heard those words, Julie couldn"t help but ask, "You mean to say that there are other humans than us, that actually exists! Where could they have possibly come from?"

"This s.h.i.+t is just crazy. First, we had to deal with the birth of both those Insects and Flesh Mutators. Now, we have the rise of another human race. Just how much worse could it possibly get..." Leo thought to himself while shaking his head.

Ken"s also had a similar line of thought; his complexion turned ugly as if he didn"t like how it sounded. As for the sky unit leader, he looked at this with a cool expression as if thinking about something.

Amongst everyone in this room, the only person who had remained with a pleased and happy expression was none other than the technology specialist. Her eyes had a strange glint from behind her gla.s.ses as she thought to herself, "If we can study these humans, would this be another chance at accelerating our evolution. I must pa.s.s this news on..."

After thinking here, she glanced at everyone and saw that they were now staring at the wall with complex looks on their faces. 

Not wasting any time, she pressed a b.u.t.ton on a strange-looking wristlet and tapped a few words on a virtual keyboard, sending a message to an unknown party.

When she saw that her message when through, she sighed in relief, but while she thought no one had seen her. The sky unit leader was staring at her in silence as his eyes narrowed, he was about to say something, but right at this time, Leo called out to him.

"Razel, what do you think? How should we deal with them?" Leo asked.

Razel, now pulled away from his previous concerns, looked at Leo before he spoke in a puzzled manner, "Eh? Are you asking me this? Leo, aren"t you the checkpoint supervisor?"

Julie also looked at him in mock, but she said nothing; she was feeling a bit stumped as she had no idea how to handle the opposing party.

Leo didn"t take offense to his words, he spoke with a slightly embarra.s.sed smile, "Haha, well, you see that was only by circ.u.mstance, but enough about me, everyone knows that you are the person with the best eyes in our entire Hidden Realm. I believe you"ll be able to make a better decision than I could, if possible, I would rather not provoke persons from a different ent.i.ty."

Razel paused for a bit before he stared him, and everyone then s.h.i.+fted his sights onto Evan"s group as he spoke, "You may have been sent here due to circ.u.mstances, but that doesn"t mean you have no skill. Your instincts are correct; it"s better to have another friend than a new enemy, even more, so an enemy that breaks through our defensive net and encroach upon our hidden territories. Who knows what other trump cards they are hiding?"

As Razel spoke to here, everyone"s faces turned solemn as he pointed towards Evan and spoke with a serious look in his eyes, "Look at him, they were captured by our forces the moment they came to our domain. But did you see shock, fear, or anxiousness in his manner? No, he showed calmness and indifference, and now he is even acting in a relaxed manner despite being locked away in our inspection rooms for a few hours. What does this mean? It"s simple; he doesn"t fear us in any way, which means that they are simply far too powerful, or their background is equally or more dangerous."

When they heard Razel"s words, everyone showed stern looks as they looked at Evan and the others. Currently, Evan seemed to be at ease, as if he didn"t have any concerns in the world, even Joe, who was a bit agitated from before, was now talking and laughing to Emilia and the others.

Rick leaned back in silence, his eyes closed, and seemed to show no care to the world outside.

"These guys are something else..." Leo muttered as he stared at them and shook his head.

"Indeed," Kens nodded his head with a similar expression.

At this time, Julie looked at them before speaking to Razel, "Then if it"s likely as you say, what could have possibly led them to our Hidden Realm? It"s highly unlikely for even those of the Mother Breed and Insect Hive to find our portals, and if they do, they know that we can easily evade them and s.h.i.+ft its entrance due to our sensor nets. Why go through the ha.s.sle of somehow sneaking past our net to enter our domain?"

Leon and Kens also looked on in silence; they too felt it to be a bit strange, even that female specialized listening had a strange glint in her eyes.

Razel shook his head and spoke, "I didn"t think you"d ask such a simple question, that answer is pretty obvious, why else would you invade unchartered territories? It"s simply to glean information; they are here to learn something, and based on their manner, they"ve come with the willingness to do some kind of exchange."

When Julie and the others heard this, their faces soon showed looks of understanding as they looked at the wall again.

Soon, Leo showed a firm look on his face as he made up his mind and spoke, "Alright, we will meet with them, after inquiring from them directly about their objectives, we can schedule for them to have a meeting with my fa... I mean, the Central City Head."

"Understood," Julie and everyone else said, while they may have their differences, he was still the checkpoint supervisor, and they had to respect his decisions.

Leo nodded with a smile as he heard their reply; he glanced at the technology specialist and spoke, "Open the pathway."

"As you wish," The specialist said as she pressed a b.u.t.ton, following that the inspection room"s scanning devices had halted.

After a moment, a mechanical sound was heard as the wall that sealed off Evan, and the others had begun to open slowly, Leo and the others looked at the scene in silence as their eyes had traces of curiosity.

At this moment, Joe and everyone were currently talking, but the moment they saw the door opening, they s.h.i.+fted their sights towards it in surprise.

"Well, Evan, it looks like you were right, they did release us in the end," Joe said happily over the communication device.

Layla and the others also felt better; they didn"t like being in this state. Though they could have escaped with brute force, it would have only led to unnecessary conflicts.

Rick opened his eyes and looked at Evan before speaking over the communication device, "So, what are we going to do from here on Evan?"

Evan stared at the silently opening door for a while, before a smile came onto his face when he spoke again, "It"s simple, we"ll begin our trade..."

As Evan said this, the wall had finally created a pathway to a bright room, showing Leo, Julie, Razel, and other well-equipped fighters with different weapons standing at the corners.

The two parties looked at each other, as Evan and Leo made a smile as they spoke at the same time, "It"s a pleasure to meet you..."