After hearing Lian’s question, Miranda looked at him in silence for a few moments.
Then she picked up the phone and made a call, asking one of her other employees to bring her a file containing all the information related to Base #9.
It took no more than a few minutes until an employee arrived with a file with the name of one of the Ruined Realm’s bases engraved in golden letters.
After that, the employee respectfully said goodbye and left the place.
On its cover, only a few words could be seen.
Confidential Exploration Report
Base #9
Miranda placed the folder on the table and pushed it toward Lian.
"This is the latest report we have from that area."
She pointed to the date on the report.
"Most of its information is from the past three or four days. The Ruined Realm is still very new, so new information is recorded every day."
Lian opened the folder, the first page was a large map of the area around Base number nine, the number of pages was not large and clearly did not contain much information.
But it was expected, this base was only three weeks old and there shouldn’t be much information.
Miranda explained.
"Base #9 belongs to the North American coalition."
"It wasn’t built by a single country, many countries sent forces to build it, from the very first days, they deployed a large number of military forces and awakened ones there."
In every accessible point of the Ruined Realm, countries, organizations, and coalitions build bases to be able to control those points.
Bases built by coalitions were still open to most awakened ones and had public use, but the question was which countries hosted portals to this base.
For now, only a few weeks had passed and most countries only had portals to one or two bases, but the numbers would gradually increase.
"For this reason, their advancement speed has been higher than most other bases."
On the map, dozens of colored lines extended from the center of the base in various directions.
Each line showed the path of one of the exploration caravans.
Miranda continued.
"So far, they have managed to explore about two thousand kilometers around the base, of course, exploration is different from complete cleansing."
She pointed to a few red routes.
"These routes are still considered unsafe."
"Caravans have passed through them, but the presence of powerful monsters or Alpha Monsters has meant they haven’t been declared safe routes yet."
Lian carefully memorized the routes.
If he was going to take longer journeys after the Special Area mission ended, such information would be very valuable.
Miranda opened the next page, and this time the map was divided into four sections.
She pointed to the north.
"North of the base, the stone forests." Aerial images of the area appeared on the screen.
Massive trees whose trunks looked more like stone pillars than wood.
"The density of plant monsters there is very high, new groups are still being sent for cleansing every few days."
Then she placed her finger on the east of the map, tall mountain ranges covered a large part of the image.
"East, the high mountains, several Alpha Monsters have been seen there, and for this reason, entry to that area is currently forbidden."
Alpha Monsters was a concept used to refer to monsters that led a herd of monsters.
Then it was the west’s turn.
Vast and almost unobstructed plains.
"West, the current safest route, most caravans travel through this route, if you also move toward Base #9, you will probably pass through this route."
Finally, the south, a network of rivers and small lakes covered the entire area.
"That is the territory of aquatic monsters, a large part of the area still remains unknown, every time a team has entered it, they have brought back different reports, and more importantly, the river water is completely poisonous, and the deeper you go, the more deadly the poison becomes."
Miranda turned a few more pages, and this time images of three registered dungeons appeared.
"So far, three confirmed dungeons have been identified around the Base."
First page.
Dungeon #1
Stone Giant Mine
"This dungeon was cleared about a week ago, stone creatures lived inside it, and it is now completely under the control of the North American forces."
Next page.
Dungeon #2
Crimson Spider Nest
An image of a massive cave full of red webs appeared on the screen.
"This one is still being cleansed."
"The final Boss is still alive."
"A new operation is carried out there every few days."
Then the last page.
Dungeon #3
Whispering Catacombs
There was no image, only a few lines of report.
Entry Forbidden
Multiple Casualties
Unknown Invisible Entities Detected
"Just around one base... three dungeons?" Kain unconsciously whistled under his breath, dungeons were not rare, but around their base, there wasn’t even one.
Dungeons could be anywhere and weren’t specific to just one area.
The problem here was that dungeons had conditions, if they failed to clear them more than three times, all the monsters in that dungeon could enter their world and cause a disaster.
Miranda nodded.
"Three identified dungeons, there is no guarantee that these are the only ones, the actual number is probably higher."
After a few minutes of studying, Lian asked the next question.
"How far is the Special Area entrance from the base?"
Miranda zoomed in on the map slightly, and a golden point lit up in the northwest of the base.
"About one hundred and eighty kilometers, completely within Base #9’s controlled range." She paused briefly.
"That is why the federation was able to determine the country quotas without trouble, if the area was still unsafe, no student would be allowed to enter."
Lian nodded calmly, at least until reaching the entrance, there was relative safety.
But after that, everything was unknown.
Lian closed the folder and pushed it back toward Miranda.
"This information is enough for now."
Miranda also took the order notebook and checked the last items, and after a few minutes, the final invoice appeared on the table.
All the equipment, defensive scrolls, healing scrolls, Emergency Beacons, potions, camping equipment, and information reports.
All were recorded in one list, and at the bottom of the page, the final number could be seen.
Total Cost
2,487,000 Dollars
Kain just stared at the number for a few seconds.
"...Just to prepare for a trip?" He really had not expected such an amount, for experienced awakened ones, this amount was not much.
It was an amount that could easily be earned over a few months to a year, but for new awakened ones, it was really a high amount.
Lian, however, without the slightest change in expression, took out his bank card and placed it on the device.
A few seconds later, the payment confirmation sound echoed in the room, the transaction was successful, and a digital receipt appeared on the table.
More than two million dollars for equipment.
"Proper equipment really is terribly expensive." He quietly whispered under his breath.
But almost immediately, he pushed the thought aside.
If even one of those scrolls, one of those Beacons, or even one potion, saved his life or one of the group members’ lives one day... it would be worth more than all that money.
Besides, for him, it wasn’t a lot of money.
Miranda gave a calm smile.
"All your orders are ready, you can take the receipt to the third floor and collect them."
"Thank you." Lian nodded.
"Good luck, if you find anything valuable there and want to sell it, I’m here." Miranda said with her usual calm tone.
A few minutes later, Lian and Kain left Miranda’s office.
The private elevator took them back down from the seventh floor to the third floor, they handed over the receipt, and after receiving their orders, they left the tower.
After passing through the busy market and exiting the pocket dimension, they entered the same abandoned building again, from there they left and headed toward the academy.
The cool evening air hit their faces.
The capital’s sky was slowly taking on orange and purple colors, and the streetlights were turning on one after another.
People were moving on the sidewalks, cars were moving on the city’s wide streets.
Kain locked his hands behind his back and said with a calm smile.
"Tomorrow you finally set off, if I say I don’t really want to come, I’d be lying, so explore that place on my behalf too."
Lian fixed his gaze on the city’s horizon, this time their destination was no longer the Base, their caravan had to head to Base #9.
"For sure."