"What about the electricity?" Gideon asked.
Luke smiled, "It's in progress. This place doesn't have the materials I need. So, you'll have to wait a bit longer."
Gideon nodded. He only knew a few things about electricity, but Luke was the expert. If Luke said so, then he'd just follow his lead.
"I'll leave the electricity to you."
"Do I look like Thor already?"
"Thor? What are you talking about?"
A female voice startled both of them. They turned and saw Lena walking over, a stethoscope around her neck. She was wearing a white doctor's coat over her tactical t-shirt and black cargo pants.
Her white hair was draped over one shoulder, tied at the end with a simple hairband. She stopped beside them.
"I brought electricity to this village. You may call me the God of Thunder."
"More like the god of nonsense."
"Hey, that's rude," Luke said, giving her a look.
"How's the medical center?" Gideon asked. Lena turned to him.
"One by one, I can discharge the patients. There's no real threat to their health as long as I'm here to care for them."
"That's good. I'm glad you're here."
"Save your compliments, Captain. You know what I can do."
"Hmm."
Gideon walked past them, gazing over the wolfkin village landscape. So many things had changed since their arrival—things more advanced than the locals could possibly comprehend.
He was sure the rest of the world here still relied on torches for light and horse-drawn carts for travel.
Trying to modernize an entire world was no easy task—maybe even impossible.
"We can't stay in this world forever," Gideon muttered.
"Are we going exploring?" Luke asked.
"There's too much we don't know about this world. Our ignorance is a weakness."
"I feel the same," Lena replied, folding her arms.
"Even if we help them, the four of us can't change a civilization," she said, walking up to stand beside Gideon.
"Civilization? Isn't it a bit early to use that word?" Luke said.
"They still need to go through all the different eras—the industrial revolution hasn't even happened yet."
"Exactly. We're bringing them tech way beyond their current state. I'm afraid it could become a threat to this world," Lena said.
Gideon let out a slow breath. In times like these, he had to make decisions about what they should or shouldn't teach. The most important rule: don't introduce anything too advanced.
"Listen up."
"If they need tech, we provide it. If they need medicine, we give it. If they need training, we train them."
"But never explain how it works. Do you understand?" Gideon said.
"Understood, Captain."
Luke and Lena raised their hands and gave him a military salute.
Gideon stayed quiet for a moment. This was his precaution—to make sure their technology wouldn't be misused by the wolfkin.
He still didn't fully know their true nature. If he gave them guns and taught them how to use them, it could lead to bloodshed—something he didn't want.
For now, none of them truly understood modern technology. They could help with manual tasks, but they had no idea how a blueprint worked.
If Gideon's team ever had to leave the village, things would go right back to how they were. No one would know how to maintain the tools they left behind.
While the three of them were still talking, they saw their shelter door open. Lyra stepped out in her own tactical t-shirt, looking disoriented.
"Tell this to her," Gideon said to Lena.
"Got it, Captain."
Lena walked over to Lyra and took her for a walk. Luke approached Gideon with something on his mind.
"Do you think Nick and the others are still alive?" he asked.
"I don't know. We lost contact with them. They could've ended up somewhere else—or maybe… they didn't survive the crash."
"Why would you even say that?" Luke raised his voice.
"It's just a possibility. Until we see them again, that's what I'll assume."
"Put your ego aside and think straight. You're not the only one who's lost teammates!" Gideon snapped, giving Luke a sharp glare before walking off toward the center of the village.
Gideon—29 years old—had been reassigned to the recon unit after failing a mission in the Middle East. Because of one decision, nine Delta Force soldiers had died at the hands of insurgents.
He was the only one who made it out alive, but that judgment cost him. Command transferred him out of Delta and into Special Operations Forces.
Compared to Luke, Gideon had experienced the real horrors of war—and the weight of losing his own team.
Luke had no idea how much Gideon worried about the others.
***
Two days later
Wolf Beastkin Village
Gideon, Lena, and Lyra listened as Nai spoke. Thanks to the translator app, they could finally talk to her. They took turns asking questions, pointing Gideon's phone at her so she could speak.
"We're called the Wolf Beastkin. There are lots of other beastkin out there, but I can't tell you about all of them."
"That's fine, we understand," Lena said.
"Ask her—do the beastkin races fight each other?"
Lena nodded and passed the question to Nai. Her reply came with a hint of hesitation.
"I don't know about the other beastkin races… But the Wolf Beastkin have enemies with five races."
"Humans, orcs, elves, bears, and lions."
"We're not hostile with the rest—mostly because they're afraid of us," Nai added with a loud laugh.
'One of the superior races,'Gideon thought.
"Ask her where the human kingdoms are," Gideon said.
"Why don't you ask her yourself?" Lena said, handing him the phone.
Gideon took it and spoke into the translator. Nai listened.
"Is there a human kingdom? And which one attacked your village recently?"
"That was the Moko Kingdom. There are three human kingdoms: Luthe, Sisyla, and Moko. Luthe is the biggest. Moko is the smallest," Nai explained.
"What's their social structure? What about their economy? Which one is strongest? What's the diplomatic status between them?"
Before he could go further, Lena grabbed his phone and stopped him. Gideon blinked, startled.
"Let me ask the questions. You go outside, Captain."
"Wait! Weren't you the one who told me to ask her directly?"
"I told you to ask—not to interrogate."
"Just let me and Lyra handle the info gathering. You'll get the intel later."
Gideon went quiet, then cleared his throat and nodded. He left it in Lena and Lyra's hands. Nai clearly felt more comfortable speaking with them.
He stepped outside the shelter and checked the outer perimeter.
There, he saw Nan's squad still working on the watchtowers, and Lud's team digging trenches and building palisades. They were doing it exactly how Gideon had instructed.
Meanwhile, Bian and his squad were in the forest, conducting reconnaissance.
Gideon looked up. Three UAV drones hovered above different forest zones. Their range was 3–5 kilometers at 500 meters altitude, though flight time was limited.
An automatic low-battery alert would ping Lyra's laptop an hour before landing. If a drone ran out of power mid-air, it would land wherever it was—and someone would have to retrieve and recharge it.
Everything was working as planned. Early threat detection was now much more reliable. Attacks like the one from the Moko soldiers could be prevented in the future.
As Gideon continued monitoring the area, Bian and two members of his scout team returned—escorting two individuals.
They brought them to the camo team's shelter, which now served as a modern base of operations.
Gideon squinted. Bian had brought two people of a different race. From their facial features, ears, bodies, and tails… they looked like foxes.
"Please help us, sir," said one of the fox women, her tail drooping in sadness.
'She's speaking wolfkin language?'Gideon thought.
He pulled out his phone and launched the translator app. Walking up to her, he asked her to repeat herself.
"Tell me—what happened?" Gideon asked.
"O-Our village… has been cursed."
He listened to her words, then furrowed his brow, "Huh?"