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“You are all dismissed” Charles declared.r

The expedition team excused themselves, trickling out of the door one after the other, with Ana being the last to leave. Before doing so, however, she gave one last look at Charles.r

“You should remember who we have to thank for all of this.” She said before finally leaving, closing the door behind her.r

Now all alone in the room, with only his vice president, Charles smiled a little.r

“Of course, I know who we have to thank…” He whispered to himself.r

It certainly wasn’t the expedition team, who would have come back empty-handed if it weren’t for their encounter with Jeremy. It also wasn’t Jeremy, who would have died or ended up stranded without the help of the masked man. Their true benefactor, the one whom the Camp truly owed… r

“It’s the masked man… whoever he is.”

*********************************

“So, how did it go?” I heard Lily ask the remaining group members as they trickled into the room.r

I was pretending to be asleep, closing my eyes and breathing evenly, while extending my senses to overhear everything.r_.

“It was fine. He would like to see Jeremy as soon as he has recovered though.” Ana said, sighing a little.r

It was obvious that everyone else was exhausted too.r

“You should rest too, Lily. You did well.” r

Lily blushed upon hearing Ana’s words of praise.r

The room we were in was similar to the parlor back in my former apartment. But, since the entire building was retrofitted into a Camp, many rooms were segmented to ensure efficiency in order to hold more people.r

Many mattresses were placed on the floor, five to be precise.r

Since I was currently occupying one, it meant one of the group members would have to do without one. Of course, I knew who would volunteer.r

“I need to check on some things. You should all rest properly.” Ana offered.r

The group didn’t protest. Not only were they too tired to argue, but they already knew arguing with their leader would be pointless. She was a stubborn goody-goody.r

And so, they all took various positions and lay on their mattresses.r

‘Lily’s mattress is directly beside mine… that sure put a smile on my face.’r

With everyone falling asleep one after the other, I was tempted to do the same. However, I was definitely not going to let my guard down in a place filled with too many unfamiliar people. After all, even in this room, there was a faker.r

And so, I pretended to sleep while considering my next course of action.r

Based on what Lily told me, there really wasn’t any other choice. I had to…

************************************

“Welcome back!”r

“Welcome back!”r

The remaining two expedition teams arrived together some hours after Anabelle’s team did, entering the base they were welcomed by the people’s cheers. It was already quite late, with battery-used lamps shining to illuminate everywhere.r

The leader of one of the expedition team was donned in a special outfit, even better than what Ana had. His group appeared to be nearly a dozen, all having bags which were sure to have resources.r

The leader of the second, as well as his team members, all had nothing but shredded, blood-stained clothing. They also appeared to be wounded and bandaged in many places. Their group consisted of no more than six members, not counting their leader.r

“Huu, we finally made it, uh?” The first group’s leader smiled, looking at the girl beside him.r

She returned the gesture and gave him a slight punch to his shoulder.r

“All thanks to you.”r

He laughed, shrugging off the praise.r

Having the appearance of a teenage boy, the first group leader walked in the middle of the parted crowd, leading his group from the forefront. The girl he spoke to walked directly beside him, while the rest of his team remained at the back.r

The second leader and his own team trailed behind the first group.r

“Huff… Huff…” Their strained breaths could be heard even amongst the audience, indicating that they were nearly at their limit.r

“You there, call the medical unit to take care of their group.” The young leader said, pointing to one of the members of the crowd.r

The lady jumped instantly upon hearing this and nodded vehemently, before scurrying to obey his command.r

He looked back and saw the second group’s grateful expression and nodded.r

“You should all rest. I’ll explain to the leader what happened.”r

“Let me come with you, I can still-” The second leader protested, coughing in the process.r

He didn’t want to seem weak or incompetent, especially in front of everyone.r

However… that was exactly his current state.r

“Don’t worry about it. Get some rest.” The first group leader insisted, before finally walking away with his members.r

He nodded powerlessly and finally lost strength. Everyone in the second group collapsed on the floor, and soon enough the medics arrived to treat them.r

The first group made their way to the camp leader’s office, and as soon as their leader knocked, they walked in.r

“Oh, you’re back already?” Charles said, looking a little surprised to see them.r

“Cut the act, Charles. There’s no need to act surprised. You were already aware that we were coming to your office before we even arrived here.” The first group leader stated.r

“That’s true, but that doesn’t change the fact that I’m surprised.” r

“Not as much as I was. We ran into some trouble, so we decided that it would be inadvisable to continue, which is why we made our way back.” The first group leader said.r

“Trouble? Is that related to why the second group is in such a terrible state?” Charles asked.r

He had been shocked when he got news of their condition, and wondered what could put one of his best personnel in such a state.r

“Good guess. And by trouble, I mean Demons… exceptionally strong ones.” The first group leader said, narrowing his eyes.r

“Demons? Those shouldn’t be a problem for you. That’s your specialty, isn’t it? You didn’t stray from the Orange Zone, did you?”r

“No. That’s why it was so unexpected… it took the joint effort of both our groups to defeat them.”r

Charles was surprised to hear this. Not one expedition team, but two, had to fight Demons in an Orange Zone and barely won? That was absurd. r

His trump card, the strongest in the whole camp, and the hope of everyone who knew him… that was the first group leader. The young high schooler, Daniel!r

“Daniel… I’ll need you to tell me more about these Demons.”r