When Lian returned from the river area, the sky had become completely dark.
The magical lights of the base had turned on one after another, and the massive base looked like a shining city in the middle of the darkness of the Ruined Realm.
But unlike the day before, this time he did not go straight to his accommodation, the treasure that the book had shown was still occupying his mind.
The river, the three monster races, and that unknown object that even the book of treasure had not been able to identify.
If he wanted to get close to it, first of all he needed information, and information was as valuable as power.
So he changed his path toward the base’s information and archive building, the archive building was located in the center of the government section of the base.
A multi-story building with thick metal walls and dozens of holographic screens that constantly displayed new data.
When he entered, he saw several hunters and students who were searching for information about monsters and different areas.
It seemed he was not the only one who gathered information before doing something, there were other awakened ones who were willing to spend extra time to get information about monsters to protect their safety and lives.
Lian chose one of the terminals and started searching in the holographic systems.
The first name he entered was Ironfang Ravagers.
Immediately dozens of files appeared, maps, hunting reports, casualty statistics, behavioral patterns.
All of this was information that had been obtained over the past few weeks through continuous encounters.
After a few minutes of studying, he realized that what he had seen was even more dangerous than he had imagined.
The population of this race had increased by almost 40 percent over the past few weeks, this rate was unusual and unbelievable, such a growth rate had never been seen before.
Even if they spent every day reproducing, their population should not have grown this much in just a few weeks.
Their attacks on awakened ones had increased, and several exploration groups had been completely destroyed by them.
Hundreds of awakened ones had been killed by them, they never moved alone and were always in groups of ten.
For this reason, hunting them was almost impossible for low-level awakened ones, even Lian could not defeat a group of them.
But what caught his attention more was their habitat, all reports pointed to one common area.
The river, the same river he himself had seen.
Then he went to the second race, the armored lightning serpents.
Thunder Spine Serpents.
Creatures whose bodies were covered with metal spikes and naturally produced electrical currents.
Extremely aggressive monsters, highly territorial, and almost incapable of coexisting with other species, but again their habitat... was the same river.
What was even more interesting was that their population had also increased by 40 percent over the few weeks they had been identified.
Lian frowned, another strange population increase.
Then he went to the third race.
Ironhorn Marsh Drakes.
Massive black crocodiles with metal horns that emitted mysterious energy.
They were also highly aggressive, and according to all reports, they should have been in constant war with the other two races.
But they were not, all three races lived in one area, without destroying each other, without large-scale conflicts, and this was not normal at all.
And they had also experienced a 40 percent population increase.
Lian leaned back in his chair, in the entire history of the Ruined Realms, monster races rarely lived together.
Unless... there was something that kept them together, something whose value was greater than territory and hunting instincts.
Something that all those monsters unconsciously protected.
And the more he thought, the more sure he became that the answer was hidden in that same river.
When he left the archive building, he finally had a chance to walk through the base streets and noticed that the atmosphere of the base had completely changed compared to yesterday.
Everyone was talking about one topic.
The cleansing operation, groups were forming, new notifications were constantly appearing on the holographic screens.
The names of several big guilds of the country were heard in almost all the discussions.
Phoenix Crown guild.
Silver Vanguard guild.
Black Horizon guild.
And even several famous independent groups had also joined the operation, the thirty million dollar reward had made almost half of the base talk about this mission.
But money was not the only reason for people’s excitement, after the destruction of these three races, the areas beyond the current radius would become accessible again.
Unknown areas, new resources, undiscovered ruins, and possibly valuable treasures, even if they were lucky they could find hidden areas and traces left from the past civilizations of this world.
Each of these opportunities could make them stronger, richer, more famous, and more popular.
For many hunters, this operation was actually the gateway to bigger opportunities.
Lian was walking among the crowd when suddenly something came to his mind.
Kain, he immediately went to the registration section and checked his status.
The result had not changed.
Last sighting: six days ago.
Registered location: unknown area.
There was no new report, no check-in, no return.
Lian stared at the screen for a few moments, then sighed.
"He still has not returned..." In the end he closed the system and headed back to the exit, hoping nothing had happened to his friend.
Because that boy was the type of excited awakened one who might do very dangerous things, and Kain, feeling that he might fall behind him and Seraphina, might want to take risks to become stronger and catch up to them.
After leaving, on his way back to his accommodation, he heard a voice.
"I did not think I would see you again."
Lian turned around.
Kael, the lightning mage from yesterday’s group, today was wearing normal clothes and there was no sign of the bloody battle from yesterday on his face.
"Me neither, it looks like you have fully recovered and are on your feet." Lian gave a short smile.
"Thanks to you." Kael laughed and then continued.
"By the way, the money has been transferred."
"I have not left the realm yet to check my account, but thank you."
"We should be the ones thanking you, if you had not arrived there, probably none of us would be here today." Kael shook his head.
A few minutes were spent talking about yesterday’s battle.
During the conversation, Lian found out that Kael’s group was also going to participate in the cleansing operation and apparently they had prepared for it.
"Are you very sure the operation will go well?" Kael said calmly.
"It is natural, if everything goes well, there is a high chance I will reach level twenty." His eyes sparkled for a moment.
"And finally get my first evolution quest."
Lian unconsciously thought about his own level, Level 13, unless he personally slaughtered all three races, it was unlikely he would go beyond level 15 tomorrow.
The gap between levels became larger the higher they went, and for him this matter was even worse than for other awakened ones.
But he was a little curious to know what his first evolution quest would be.
"Soon the ranking of the base’s best hunters will also be launched, I want to be the first place, and tomorrow’s assault will be a help." Kael continued.
"Ranking?" This time Lian’s attention was truly caught.
"Yeah."
"A new system, points based on missions, hunts, contributions, and achievements, the top five ranks monthly receive rewards, and apparently in the future, if the federation discovers hidden areas or special areas and gives quotas to each country, the quotas will be chosen from the top ranks of the base... I think it will be an interesting competition."
Lian did not say anything, but his mind was engaged, the first place of the Base, it was not a bad title, but it would make him more famous than before, although if the talk about quotas was true, he might have no choice.
After that, the discussion continued for a while, Kael tried to recruit him to be with them in the assault, even though the entire group did not like Lian, as the captain he believed having such a warrior with them was very good.
But Lian refused, if he became a member of a group, he would lose his freedom and tomorrow he would not be able to do what he wanted, so he preferred to advance alone.
Kael did not insist too much, and after saying goodbye, Lian returned to his room.
He took a shower, checked his equipment, and fell asleep without thinking about the treasure or the monsters.
The next morning.
The base had exploded, at least in terms of population, when he left the accommodation building, he saw thousands of people preparing.
Hunters, students, guild members, mercenary groups, and even independent awakened ones who had come just for this operation.
Lian had also registered his name in the operation list yesterday.
So he went to the gathering point, when he arrived there, for the first time he realized how many powerful awakened ones were present at the base.
Dozens above level twenty, several above level thirty, and right in the center of the crowd... a woman in black armor was standing, the aura she was emitting was more commanding and stronger than everyone around her.
The woman stepped forward a few steps and her voice was calm but powerful.
"Today is not a joke, this operation is dangerous, anyone who thinks they came for excitement, it is better to turn back right now."
The crowd fell silent, and she continued.
"We are entering the territory of a monster race, they will defend their home, and they will have no hesitation in killing you."
"So be careful, do not leave your group, and if things get bad, running away is better than dying."
A heavy silence fell, and then the woman raised her hand and gave the signal.
"We move."
A few seconds later, a massive wave of awakened ones left the base.
Hundreds of riding monsters, hundreds of people on foot, and dozens of powerful groups, all moving toward the Ironfang Ravagers’ lair.
Lian also mounted the Windrunner Strider and moved among this massive army.
No one knew what was waiting for them, no one knew what was hidden in the depths of that river.
And no one knew that today’s cleansing operation... was going to be their biggest mistake.