Lian was sitting half-reclined on the bed.
A few moments later, the door opened and two people entered.
Commander Elizabeth.
And next to her, a tall man also entered the room.
Commander Valerian Cross.
Both commanders looked at Lian for a few moments, if the news that two commanders from two different bases had come to visit an 18-year-old awakened one had spread, it would probably have caused a great shock to everyone.
Both of them, although they are not among the most powerful in the world, are the chosen representatives of their country for leading and protecting the bases.
And now both of these individuals had come to visit a hero who had played a big role in saving the base.
Valerian was the first to break the silence.
"His appearance is better than what I expected, clearly his body is out of danger, but he still shouldn’t put too much pressure on himself." Then he calmly approached the bed and his gaze fixed directly on Lian.
"Nice to meet you, sir. I guess I don’t need to introduce myself," Lian said with a little awkwardness, the guy had gotten too close!
"Nice to meet you, I am Commander Valerian, commander of Base #5."
"If it weren’t for you... when we reached the Frontier Base, probably nothing of this base would have remained, I have to thank you."
The room fell into silence for a few moments and Lian gave a faint smile.
"I just tried to do my duty."
"Sometimes that is the hardest thing in the world, you did a very great thing." A small smile settled on Valerian’s face.
He had done a small investigation about this boy’s identity and was aware of his achievement in the border city, and more importantly, he was also aware that he was from the Vorhelm clan.
He had always known the Vorhelms as arrogant and self-satisfied people, and in his imagination they were like that, but this one seemed to know when to be humble and respectful.
"I also have to thank you, protecting this base is my duty, but you helped much more than I did." Elizabeth also nodded calmly and added.
Lian just smiled, he didn’t know if these two would still have these reactions if they knew that he himself was responsible for what had happened.
"For the help you gave, definitely a big reward will be arranged for you and it will be paid by the government, also you will receive payment for all the monsters you killed." Then she added.
"Thank you." Lian’s eyes sparkled, as if he was going to receive more reward than he had expected.
Unfortunately, he could not ask for the monster corpses to feed the Devourer because it would look very suspicious, but it was not a problem.
He could collect corpses himself by hunting, and he could probably also buy from the black market.
"I heard you captured a native human alive, I would like to know how." Valerian did not waste any more time and went straight to the main point.
Lian gave a quick look at Elizabeth and then started telling the story.
About finding the ruin, about Kain’s disappearance, about the long search through the ancient corridors.
About the two white-robed guards, about the battle, and finally, capturing one of them.
But he did not say even one word about Kain’s changes or what had happened in the depths of the temple, and when he finished, Valerian said slowly.
"The initial interrogation has been done." He placed his hands behind his back and continued.
"The information we obtained... is more important than anything we expected."
"That man... is from one of the seven human regions of this world." Elizabeth’s face also became serious.
Lian remained silent, he knew this part himself.
Valerian continued.
"The name of his region is Region Three, apparently they use numbers for the names of the regions."
Even saying that name was accompanied by a kind of respect for the prisoner.
"According to him, the population of that region is a few hundred thousand people."
"They have an organized government, they have a permanent army, economy, education system... almost a complete civilization, but one region. It is completely isolated, according to the prisoner, very tall walls and defensive layers have completely closed off the region to keep them safe from monsters."
This form of remaining civilization is practically the most advanced they had ever heard about.
The issue was so big that they sent all the information to the federation.
"So this world’s civilization never disappeared." Lian whispered quietly.
"At least not completely, their population does not seem large, maybe a few million people, which is very small compared to our world which reaches billions." Elizabeth answered.
But very soon, the atmosphere of the room became heavy again and Valerian said with a frown.
"We also have a big problem, that mage escaped according to you."
Lian frowned.
"That means now there is a high chance Region Three knows one of their people has been captured by us."
Elizabeth took a deep breath and added.
"And more importantly, they know someone infiltrated their temple and bathed in that spring... the Spring of Light?"
Lian said nothing, it seemed these two also knew about that spring, and they had definitely interrogated Kain too, and his friend had probably told them the same amount he had told him.
His face did not change, but his mind started analyzing the situation quickly, from the perspective of those natives... Kain had destroyed their most sacred heritage.
"If before this only powerful monsters were our enemy, from today maybe a human civilization has also become our enemy." Valerian said with a calm but heavy voice.
A heavy silence filled the room, no one had a sentence to answer.
A few minutes later, Valerian changed the subject.
"Anyway, tonight the commanders’ council meeting will be held, all commanders Level 30 and above will be present." Then he looked directly at Lian.
"I would like you to be there too."
"Me?" Lian was surprised for a moment.
"You are the only one who faced that ruin, those humans, and those monsters, your information is more than all of ours, your opinion is valuable for this meeting."
Lian also nodded and did not refuse, the two left after saying goodbye, and he also, after thinking and after a little effort, got up to get ready.
A few hours later...
The Base council hall.
A large hall with a high ceiling, its walls covered with maps of discovered areas, in the center of the room, a massive table was placed.
On it, a 3D map of the region was displayed, all the high-level commanders were present.
Lian had also come and was sitting in a corner.
With the arrival of Valerian and Elizabeth, the meeting officially began.
Elizabeth placed her hand on the map, a blue aura appeared around it.
"This is the current range of Base #3." A circle with a radius of approximately one hundred kilometers lit up on the map.
"Until the recent battle, the three main races north of the base were the biggest obstacle to our advancement." Their names appeared one by one on the map.
Ironfang Ravagers.
Thunder Spine Serpents.
Ironhorn Marsh Drakes.
"But now all three races have been destroyed." A few red points on the map went dark.
"The path is open and we can finally start advancing again, although before that we definitely need to regain some strength."
Valerian stepped forward, he was not the commander of this base but he could advise however he wanted.
"My suggestion is this." He expanded the blue circle on the map.
Four hundred kilometers... six hundred... eight hundred... one thousand... and finally... one thousand five hundred kilometers.
"In the next three months, increase the exploration radius from one hundred kilometers to one thousand five hundred kilometers." By reaching this radius, two bases could almost create a safe corridor to each other.
Valerian continued.
"The targets are clear, ancient ruins, mana mines, valuable plants, hidden and special areas." And then with a short pause he said.
"And native civilizations, these are the most valuable things we should be looking for, we need to find out exactly where those seven regions are."
One of the commanders said excitedly.
"If there really are seven human countries, there might also be thousands of undiscovered ruins and hidden areas."
"This way we can progress faster and cleanse this Ruined Realm."
A few people nodded in agreement with him.
At that same moment... Elizabeth turned her gaze toward Lian.
"What is your opinion?"
The entire hall fell silent, even Valerian waited for the answer.
Lian stared at the map for a few moments and then said calmly.
"I don’t think our priority should be the ruins."
A few people looked at each other in surprise, ruins were one of the biggest ways to progress.
Lian continued.
"First we should find the humans, if they are enemies, no ruin is valuable, in fact, the ruins might be traps that they use against us, exactly like what happened to me and my friend."
"We need to gather as much information as possible about them, if they really see us as a threat, they might do something against us sooner or later."
He knew that from the perspective of the native people of this world, they were considered barbarians, and that meant they did not have a good view of them at all.
"And sooner or later we will be forced to go to war with a complete civilization, but if we can form an alliance with them, it is worth more than a thousand ruins, maybe with their help we can even find the seven crystals and the seven cores of the world."
No one said anything immediately, even the experienced commanders looked at the map in silence.
Everyone realized that the biggest discovery of this mission was not an ancient ruin... and not even a Fallen monster, but the truth that beyond the known borders... living, powerful, and unknown civilizations were still breathing.