Chapter 284: Solution
This time, Alex didn’t try to act cold or push his feelings aside. Mia had already seen many of his worst sides, and there was no reason for him to pretend that he was unaffected in front of her.
He crouched down and hugged her as she continued meowing quietly. Alex buried his face in her fur and remained there while Mia stayed close to him, occasionally rubbing her head against him as though she were trying to comfort him.
After some time passed, Alex finally pulled away and wiped his moist eyes. He looked at Mia and gave her a small smile before gently patting her head.
"Thank you. I feel better now," he said.
Mia meowed while looking at him with concern. If this had happened before, Alex would have been happy to see Mia finally drop her arrogant attitude and become affectionate openly, but now he didn’t like it because he knew the reason behind her sudden change.
Mia looked at his face for another moment before meowing again. Then, for the first time since arriving in the Land of Origin, she transformed into her smaller cat form and climbed onto Alex’s lap, curling up against him before burying her face against his abdomen.
Alex gently stroked her fur while looking toward the sky. The sun was now shining clearly above the forest, and the darkness of the previous night had completely disappeared.
Neither of them said anything for several minutes. Alex simply continued petting Mia, allowing himself to enjoy the quiet moment before someone eventually woke up.
Frank was the first to stir, slowly moving as he woke from his sleep.
Alex turned toward him and asked, "Awake?"
His mood had already returned to its usual calm state, and Mia immediately transformed back into her Netherclaw Prowler-like appearance when Frank moved. It was almost as if she didn’t want anyone else to see her smaller form, which Alex found somewhat amusing despite everything that had happened.
"Yes. How is the situation?" Frank asked as he slowly sat up.
"Good is what I’d like to say, but it isn’t really good. We haven’t made any progress toward finding the portal, so we need to reach it as soon as everyone else gets back," Alex replied.
"Wouldn’t the portal be very dangerous?" Frank asked.
"It will be, but all of us are much stronger now, and we’re at least capable of fighting and defending ourselves. We also don’t know when the next assessment might happen, so we need to connect Hell Difficulty to Earth and determine whether it’s possible to bring Ascendants here to replenish our numbers," Alex explained.
Frank sighed after hearing that. Given everything that had happened since they entered Hell Difficulty, neither he nor Alex had any doubt that very few people had survived until now.
Even Hard Difficulty, which had been comparable to Hell Difficulty at the beginning, had an almost ninety-nine percent mortality rate. Out of nearly seven million participants in Hard Difficulty, only around sixty-eight thousand were still alive at the time.
After that, Hell Difficulty had gone through the Lightless Night, during which everyone had been forced to climb toward higher ground while monsters gathered in large numbers. Mid Rank and High Rank species had appeared throughout the area, making survival even more difficult.
’Given everything that has happened, I’d be happy if even 0.1% of the people who entered Hell Difficulty are still alive.’
Alex knew that was probably wishful thinking. He wouldn’t be surprised if, aside from his own group, there were fewer than five other groups of survivors still moving through Hell Difficulty.
There was at least one positive side to that situation. Anyone who had survived this long would have become exceptionally strong, and most of them should be capable of fighting Mid Rank monsters with some confidence.
Some might even be able to fight High Rank species, although Alex felt that expecting the survivors to reach that level already was probably unrealistic. Still, those who had survived would be much stronger than the average participant.
"So, what’s your plan now?" Alex asked Frank.
"I..." Frank scratched his head before continuing. "I don’t know. After completing my evolution, I went back to Earth, but the situation in Los Angeles has been getting worse by the hour."
He paused before continuing, "We had some military forces come to help us, and honestly, that’s the main reason we’re still standing, but I don’t think we can hold out for much longer. The monsters coming through the portal are simply too strong, and there are too many of them."
Alex nodded as he listened. He already understood how serious the situation was, especially since the portal were continuing to provide the monsters with a steady way into the city.
"Sarah is carrying the Gene Potentials from the Mid Rank species. You can take my portion and give them to the people in your area," Alex said.
Frank looked at him in surprise. "Are you sure?"
"Yes. My area is relatively stable, so I can afford to wait until I obtain more Gene Potentials," Alex explained. "Besides, if your city gets overrun, those monsters will have a strong foothold, and there’s a chance they’ll eventually start expanding toward other areas."
He paused briefly before continuing, "If that happens, they’ll become a problem for my city as well, so it’s better to deal with the situation before it reaches that point. Of course, the Gene Potentials are only a loan, so you’ll need to return them once things become more stable."
"You can take mine too," Emma suddenly said.
Alex turned toward her with a slightly confused expression. "Since when were you awake?"
"I... I returned just now," Emma answered while avoiding his eyes.
Alex looked at her for a moment but didn’t question her strange behavior. Frank, meanwhile, looked between the two of them, and his expression gradually changed as he seemed to struggle with his emotions.
"Thank you. Thank you so much. I’ll definitely make sure to return this favor in the future," Frank said, sincerely.
Alex waved his hand dismissively. "That’s fine. We also need to think about a way to gather Origin Energy faster, because we can’t keep transporting Gene Potentials and monster materials in large quantities if we have to repeatedly clear dungeons just to replenish our Origin Energy."
"Oh, I have a solution for that," Emma said.
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