The caravan, after crossing the last hill, slowly moved toward the massive gates of Base #9.
From close range, the grandeur of this base was even greater than what it had seemed from a distance.
Walls reaching over a hundred meters in height stood like an artificial mountain in the middle of the gray plains of the Ruined Realm.
Dozens of watchtowers were built on top of the walls, and on each tower, mana catapults, magical artillery, and dozens of armed awakened ones were ready to face any threat.
At the top of the walls, flags from different countries were waving gently in the wind alongside the World Alliance flag.
Just by seeing this scene, everyone understood that this was no longer an ordinary base.
This was the heart of humanity’s operations in one of the most important areas of the Ruined Realm.
Compared to their own base, Base #3, the difference was very noticeable, to the point that they were not even comparable at all, this base was at least ten times larger than their base.
Just in terms of defense, it could easily not only withstand the siege and battle they had experienced but also resolve it within a few minutes.
Of course, this base was also one of the best of its kind, currently it could probably be considered among the five largest bases in the Ruined Realm.
After approaching the main gate, the caravan stopped, unlike their Base, entering here was not done just by opening the gate.
Several inspection teams were already waiting, first the identity of all individuals was checked.
ID cards were scanned one by one, and everyone’s names were registered in the base, after that, it was time for the mana scan.
Several mages, using special Artifacts, examined the mana waves of all individuals to make sure no unknown creature, curse, or mana contamination entered the base.
After that, the class type and level of all awakened ones were recorded.
The number of people in each caravan, the number of pack monsters, the amount of equipment, the quantity of ammunition, and even the number of carts were also registered in the base’s central system.
All these steps were done with surprising speed, there was no chaos.
Every officer knew exactly their duty, and hundreds of people, like the gears of a massive machine, worked in harmony with each other.
Lian looked around in silence, until today, Base #3 had seemed large to him, but now he understood that base was nothing but a small border fortress compared to this.
This place... was a massive war machine.
This also made him curious about the main bases, how large were they?
After the inspection ended, the second gates also opened, the caravan entered Base #9, at that same moment, almost all the students involuntarily stopped for a few seconds.
Behind the massive walls was a complete city.
Wide stone streets, multi-story buildings, command towers, massive warehouses, and thousands of humans moving without a moment’s pause.
No part of the city was quiet, on the right side, the military zone was located.
Dozens of training grounds were built next to each other, thousands of soldiers and awakened ones were training.
Swords clashed, spears split the air.
Mages were activating mana circles one after another, and explosions of fire, ice, wind, and lightning lit up the sky.
In another corner, several groups were training with live monsters.
Commanders were shouting orders loudly, the entire area smelled of steel, sweat, and mana.
On the other side of the city, the sound of hundreds of hammers striking could be heard.
The craftsmen’s zone, dozens of blacksmiths working side by side, mana metals were melting in massive furnaces.
Heavy hammers landed on shining ingots, and each strike scattered blue and golden sparks in the air.
Swords were polished on special tables, damaged armors were repaired, spears, shields, arrows, and even special equipment for mages were coming out of the production lines one after another.
Of course, most of them were only blacksmiths who could make weapons below B rank, but for the soldiers and to ensure they never faced a shortage of weapons, it was enough.
A few streets ahead was the market, but this was no longer a small market like the Base.
Dozens of commercial streets were built next to each other, the large signs of the shops could be seen from a distance.
Artifact Shop.
Skill Book Shop.
Potion Shop.
Monster Core Exchange.
Auction House.
Mercenary Board.
Guild Recruitment Center.
The shouts of vendors, the bargaining of customers, and the movement of hundreds of awakened ones had created an atmosphere that looked more like the big cities in online games than a military base.
Every few steps, an item could be seen that in normal cities, its name might not even be heard.
Cores of high-rank monsters, skins of rare creatures, bones of various monsters, rare plants that only grew in the Ruined Realm.
Everything was available for buying and selling, but at prices that were not easy to imagine.
In another part of the city, the massive medical center building was located.
In front of it, a long line of wounded could be seen, some had lost an arm, some had lost a leg.
Some with burned faces were being carried on stretchers.
Healer mages, without a moment’s rest, were activating healing spells one after another.
Green and white lights had almost covered the entire building.
This scene reminded everyone of a truth that most people outside the Ruined Realm never saw, along with all its opportunities, this place also had great dangers.
At the same time, other caravans were also arriving.
Some carried the flag of the Northern Federation, another caravan was entering from the Eastern Coalition.
Several caravans from European countries, groups from Central Asia, and even forces from North African countries were entering the base one by one.
Their clothes, armors, and equipment styles were different, but everyone’s destination was the same.
The Special Area.
As expected, the federation had distributed many quotas among different countries of the world, and each country’s government decided how many of the quotas they received would be given to their guilds and organizations.
Naturally, each country that was higher in the ranking of power and influence received more quotas.
It seemed the entire Base #9 was preparing for the largest operation of the past few weeks.
Suddenly, the sound of a massive bell echoed throughout the base, and its heavy resonance echoed several times even among the hundred-meter walls.
A few seconds later, a man’s voice spread throughout the base through the mana communication system.
"All caravan commanders, report to the command hall within two hours."
"I repeat... all caravan commanders, report to the command hall within two hours."
A few officers immediately separated from the caravans, the escort commander also turned to the students.
"You are free until the end of the meeting, but do not leave the base’s limits, we will gather here again in two hours."
With the end of the order, the group also split up.
Marcus, without the slightest hesitation, went straight to the weapons zone.
From the moment he entered, his gaze had been locked on a few shield shops, even though he had upgraded his shield, if he could find a better one here, it wouldn’t be bad to buy it.
No one knew what threats they might face, and having one or two spare shields was not a bad idea.
Nathan, after a brief look around, headed toward the Arena, he intended to do a few practice fights before the mission began.
Seraphina went toward the potion market.
She always personally checked the stock of potions and emergency medicines before any operation, she had already bought some, but it wouldn’t hurt to see if she could find anything new here.
Selina and Liana also decided to check out the light equipment market.
Cassian and Rindo went to the information center to check the mission boards and the latest news.
A few minutes later, Lian was left alone, he walked through the base streets without a specific destination.
Every street showed a new image of humanity’s power, this also created another curiosity for him, were the seven regions of the native humans of this world on the same level as this base?
Or were they even larger and more advanced? How advanced and powerful were their civilizations?
"Hmm?" But a few minutes later, his steps suddenly stopped.
A bad feeling came over him, and he felt... someone was watching him.
He calmly turned around, the crowd, the shops, the soldiers... nothing unusual could be seen.
He walked for a few more seconds, and the same feeling returned, but much stronger! He felt killing intent directed at him!
He was sure! This was killing intent that was directly targeting him.
This time, he raised his head faster, and on the rooftop of a distant building, a human shadow was standing, the distance was great, and his face could not be seen.
The only thing that was clear was a dark cloak moving in the wind.
Lian made eye contact with him for less than a second, but when he blinked again, that shadow had disappeared.
As if it had never existed in the first place, Lian stood there for a few more moments.
"Who was that?" A deep frown appeared on his face.
He was sure he had felt killing intent, and that intent was not a joke, but who could have such intent toward him?
"Could it be...?" A possibility came to his mind, but he was not sure at all, but if it was correct, then it seemed he had entered their list...
Then without saying anything, he continued on his way.
But this time, his senses were fully alert.
Two hours later, all the students gathered again at the designated location, a few minutes later, the escort commander came out of the command building.
Unlike before, his face and the other officers’ faces were completely serious, he looked at the students for a few moments, then said with a firm voice.
"All students, tomorrow at eight in the morning, the opening ceremony of the Special Area will be held."
He was silent for a few seconds, and his gaze passed over each of them.
"After that, once you enter, there will be no turning back."