"Ugh..."

So how was Lixin supposed to get down?

She stood frozen at the entrance inside the small bungalow.

"Just smash through."

*BOOM!*

The floor shattered into a gaping hole. The stairs were gone—only a dark, yawning tunnel remained.

"What the hell?"

Lixin tried jumping but the hole was too narrow for her wings. She jammed Void Essence daggers into both walls to anchor herself, then lowered down inch by inch.

"!"

Minutes later, her watch’s light revealed open space below. She finally dropped freely.

"What is this place?"

She might as well be inside a colossal mine shaft. This massive "tunnel" stretched forward endlessly. After a dazed pause, Lixin suddenly remembered—someone had mentioned this underground command center was like a "mobile fortress." It could move.

So... it had rolled forward?

Either way, something this huge couldn’t vanish without a trace. Chasing it was the only option.

………………………………………………………………

"Done! *Really* shut this time!" Cleyna wiped her brow, shouting up to Li Xiaoya. How was she so sure? Simple—this was the last switch.

"Damn it, why didn’t you say the power switch was in the middle?" Cleyna grumbled.

"Hey! Isn’t checking the center first basic common sense?!" Li Xiaoya roared while hauling Cleyna up.

"I... I was scared the middle one might be a trap. Like, shut it and *boom*." Cleyna’s voice shrank.

*That’s* why Li Xiaoya hated teaming up with honor students. Survival demanded guts. Overthinking just got you stuck—like now. They could’ve shut the obvious central switch immediately, but *no*—she was scared of explosions? Who’d plant a bomb in an emergency control?!

Anyway, the fortress’s power was dead. Momentum would carry it forward a bit, but without its path-clearing lasers and mechanical limbs, it’d soon crash into a wall. Now it was up to the Gigantic Strength Ability Users outside.

"Three! Two! One! *Pull!*"

Outside, over a dozen C-to-B-rank Gigantic Strength Ability Users dug their heels into the dirt. They gripped the fortress’s outer railings, straining to halt its advance. Some wore the wrong shoes—their soles had worn through to the socks.

Luckily, the fortress usually cleared its path with frontal lasers and mechanical limbs. It still had distance before hitting the wall. Though it eventually crashed, the impact had weakened enough to avoid total collapse.

"*Whew—*"

A violent jolt startled them, but when nothing worse followed, they knew the crisis had passed. Cleyna and Li Xiaoya exchanged silent glances, wiping sweat from their foreheads with matching sighs of relief...

*Thud.*

They collapsed onto the ground, drained by the sudden release of tension.

"We’re alive."

"Yeah."

"Still... we’ll need to check our coordinates later. If we’re too close to Preyas Base, we evacuate immediately."

"Right... I know..."

………………………………………………………………

"*Haa...*"

Outside, Qin Fan slumped to the ground too. He hadn’t lifted a finger—but the stress had worn him out.

"Huh? What’s that?"

The tunnel was pitch-black except for distant lights. He spotted a fast-approaching glow deep in the darkness and snapped alert.

"Oh! So it *does* move! Amazing!"

Lixin retracted her wings further down the tunnel, sprinting on foot. Seeing the command center’s silhouette in the light ahead, she couldn’t help but marvel.

Hearing her voice, Qin Fan relaxed. *Not an enemy. Good.*

When Lixin reached him, he smirked. "You’re still alive? I thought you’d bought it out there."

"Hmph! Who do you think I am? Like I’d die that easily."

Lixin brushed past him—only to be blocked by a bare-chested man drenched in sweat, gasping for breath. He looked scrawny. *Were all Gigantic Strength Ability Users built like this?!*

"You can’t pass."

At his words, every Ability User except Qin Fan encircled Lixin.

"Why not?!" Rage flared in Lixin. Ambushed outside, and now *this* after barely making it back?

"Hey! Back off!" Qin Fan stepped forward to intervene.

"Say another word and we arrest you too!" The man’s confidence felt misplaced.

"What’s going on?!" Qin Fan’s head throbbed.

"She vanished right before the incident. Now she’s back? Obviously suspicious!"

*Wang Wei... you bastard. Saving this move for last.*

Lixin regretted not beating Wang Wei into submission and dragging him back herself.

"Listen—" Lixin started, but a woman’s voice cut her off.

"Stand down! *All of you!*"

"Li Xiaoya! Are you protecting this suspect too?!"

Lixin truly wanted to crush the smug fool before her.

"I have proof. Lixin is innocent. The real traitor is our commander—Wang Wei!"

Chaos erupted. *The commander did this?* No one would believe it outright—but Li Xiaoya claimed evidence. That changed everything.

"Cleyna. Show them."

"Got it."

Cleyna nodded, projecting the recording copied to her watch. Wang Wei’s conversation with Lixin played out before the stunned crowd.