Those who gazed in the northeast direction saw two suns appear in the sky simultaneously.
Although they could not hear or feel anything, everyone in Dragon City knew something disastrous had happened.
There was never supposed to be a sun on the northern horizon.
Whatever they saw was a symbol of pure destruction.
Fortunately, it didn't fall onto the city.
They breathed a sigh of relief.
If the attack was directed at the city, what could they have done?
Could they have truly survived?
A wave of depression washed over them as they contemplated the possible future.
Though the Mountain King returned to its slumber, the question gnawed at them: was this peace merely a prelude to devastation?
Would there come a day when its fangs point at them?
Their heart turned heavy with the realisation that the threat still loomed over their head. They felt helpless.
But so what?
What can they do?
Even the mightiest S-rankers wouldn't challenge the Mountain King. What chance did they have?
Their anxiety and fears were insignificant in the face of the cold, hard reality of Second Earth. Be it life or death, there were boundaries they couldn't cross. It is better to live knowing the fact.
*Sigh*
—-
An hour later.
The day ended, and the cold night began.
Still, thousands of people were posted near the city's perimeter wall.
Although the Mountain King returned to its mountain, the threat of the beast horde still exists.
They can't relax just yet.
Meanwhile, within the infirmary, rows of people were being treated. All of them were unconscious and were lying on their bed.
"When will they wake up?" An elderly man asked the person standing next to him.
The elderly man was the headmaster of the military academy, and he was speaking to a doctor wearing a lab coat.
"Soon." Dr Lark replied.
He was the same person who treated Oliver when he was injured.
"The poison the creature used is a mix of mild neurotoxins and psychoactive substances. It would take a while for their body to reach equilibrium and to gain consciousness." Dr Lark added while fiddling with his tablet.
"Meanwhile…" Dr Lark, who was speaking, suddenly paused and focused on the data displayed on his tablet. "Those sons of b*tches." He cursed under his breath while scanning his eyes over it.
Quickly, he swiped the screen, absorbing all the information he could.
"F*ck"
He cursed again.
The peace-loving, good-natured Doctor felt rage build up as he read the documents.
He was almost ready to throw hands at the damn bastards who authored the documents he was reading.
However, unfortunately for him, all of them were dead.
"Oliver, the data in the USB drive is real, right?" Dr Lark asked.
Anger and frustration were visible on his face.
"As real as it can be. I saw the place where they disposed of the bodies." Oliver said.
"Care to fill me in on the details?" The headmaster, standing nearby, asked.
After Oliver returned to the city, he was taken to the infirmary, along with the others, for treatment. At the same time, he was asked to report on what happened within the research outpost.
Instead of explaining everything outright, Oliver handed the USB drive he used to copy data from the computers in the research outpost to the headmaster. He thought it would be more convincing to see.
The headmaster, although confused, gave the USB drive to Dr Lark so that they could read it right then and there.
"The damned b*st*rds at Insta Heal did this right under our nose." Dr Lark said and showed the headmaster the data displayed.
The documents Oliver had copied contained information on human experiments. It also contained research data on the healing accelerants they were developing.
Once the headmaster saw it, a crackle of electric light appeared over his body. Like Dr Lark, he was also angered.
The methods used to torture and kill, as if human life were worth nothing, made his blood boil.
The headmaster could barely contain his anger.
"The result of their research was a monster." Oliver paused. "A monster that was turning into an abomination."
The existence of an abomination was not a secret. Although only a few were seen since humanity began exploring the Second Earth, the incidents related to the birth of the abominations were noted and studied.
It was not beyond reason that Oliver could recognise it. And even bigger proof that there existed an abomination was the action of the S-rank mana beast, The Mountain King. Why else would it blast away an entire mountain after waking up from its sleep?
Neither the headmaster nor Dr Lark doubted his words.
"The fast-growing abomination was the reason the outpost went dark. However, there is more to the story than what you saw." Oliver explained. However, he was careful not to reveal anything about spectres.
Oliver gazed at their faces and explained what happened after they entered the research outpost.
He didn't forget to mention the presence of demons and collusion with humans.
By doing so, his ultimate goal was to pose an obvious question.
How did they smuggle children onto the second Earth?
Oliver's piercing eyes gazed at the headmaster.
"There was an obvious flaw in their management of the gate. Something the headmaster could have looked into." He added.
All people, regardless of age, gender, race, or nationality, came through the permanent gate to the city, which was under the direct control of the military.
If someone had come here, even by means of human trafficking, they would have come through the gate.
Therefore, whatever happened was partially the military's fault.
No, it was more than 90 per cent the military's fault. Without their involvement, the researchers would not have had the chance to conduct such evil research at all.
There was a fundamental problem in the military which prevented an illegal activity of such a massive scale from being discovered.
Oliver vividly remembered the names and last wishes of one-hundred and forty-four children. Though they died, he wanted the headmaster to give him a proper answer. A reason why something like that happened under his watch.
'You shouldn't always hide behind demons when a problem occurs.' He said in his mind.