Chapter 181 Stranger’s smile!

Chapter 181: Chapter 181 Stranger’s smile!

The aircraft continued toward their next destination_their base.

As it crossed the cloud-like portal that had brought them out of the nightmare, the survivors stared through the windows, watching the strange surroundings gradually disappear behind them. None of them dared to look away for too long. They were still shaken by what had happened inside that terrifying dimension, and the last thing they wanted was to blink and discover that they were back inside the tree’s deadly illusion.

They had barely escaped that nightmare. The memory of being trapped, having their blood drained, and fighting against something that seemed determined to consume them was still fresh in their minds.

Even now, none of them could completely relax.

Kai, in particular, was watching their surroundings with unusual concentration. His gaze moved from one part of the sky to another, carefully observing everything that passed the windows. He seemed determined to memorize every detail, as though he expected the world around them to change the moment he stopped paying attention.

"I think we’re finally safe from whatever dangers that world held," Rowan said after a while.

He continued watching the fading clouds, but the tension in his shoulders had eased slightly.

Kai nodded. "And here we were, thinking our world was bad enough."

His expression remained serious as he considered what they had experienced.

"I don’t know how to explain it, but every dimension we enter seems to be suffering from a fate similar to ours. Different places, different dangers, but the same kind of disaster. It’s almost as if every world we encounter is being pushed toward destruction."

Rowan turned to look at him.

"Now that you mention it, I can understand what you mean."

The others listened quietly.

What they had witnessed was not necessarily connected to their own world, yet the similarities were difficult to ignore. The world inside that nightmare had been just as hostile, just as dangerous, and seemingly just as determined to destroy them.

And yet, despite everything, they had survived another attack.

They had escaped the tree, overcome its illusions, and discovered abilities they hadn’t fully understood before. Adrian’s newly revealed power had been particularly shocking. If he hadn’t possessed that terrifying ability, they might still have been trapped inside the tree’s cocoon.

The thought alone made Luna’s expression darken.

She was relieved that they had escaped, but relief wasn’t the same as peace of mind. There were still too many unanswered questions, and she had a terrible feeling that their troubles weren’t over.

Nevertheless, she couldn’t help noticing something else.

Kai had started a conversation on his own.

It was such a small thing, yet it brought a quiet smile to Rowan’s face. The others seemed equally pleased, even if none of them openly commented on it.

Luna was especially relieved.

Since leaving the nightmare, she had been keeping an eye on Kai while pretending to concentrate on the aircraft’s control panel. Through the system’s interface, she could monitor the surrounding environment and track several important indicators. However, she had also been using it as an excuse to observe him without making her concern too obvious.

Kai wasn’t acting like himself.

Although he was participating in the conversation, there was something troubled about the way he watched their surroundings. His attention was almost unnaturally intense, and Luna couldn’t shake the feeling that his mind was still caught somewhere in the past.

Whatever memories had surfaced during their ordeal had clearly affected him.

She wanted to ask him what was wrong, but she also knew that forcing him to speak wouldn’t necessarily help. For now, she would let him decide when he was ready.

At least he was talking again.

That alone was enough to give her a little hope.

"Well, it can’t be helped," Luna finally said, shifting her attention back to the journey ahead. "Our world is already in chaos, and all we can do is find a way to survive it. We can’t control every disaster that comes our way."

She paused, her fingers moving across the control panel.

"But right now, I’m more worried about our base."

The moment she mentioned it, the atmosphere inside the aircraft changed.

"We received a warning that something was wrong while we were still dealing with the situation on the island," she continued. "And after what we saw in that vision, I can’t shake the feeling that something terrible has happened. We were supposed to return much earlier, but we’ve wasted too much time."

Her fingers tightened around the controls.

"I can’t lose our home."

The words came out more forcefully than she intended.

For a moment, nobody spoke.

Ethan, who had been listening while keeping an eye on their surroundings, turned toward her. The others did the same.

Home.

It was such a simple word, yet hearing Luna say it like that stirred something inside them.

For a long time, Luna had treated their base as a place to store supplies, strengthen their defenses, and prepare for the next disaster. She had always been practical about survival, making decisions based on what would give them the best chance of staying alive.

But now, she spoke of their base as something she couldn’t bear to lose.

It wasn’t merely a building filled with supplies anymore.

It was their home.

And, perhaps without realizing it, she had finally begun to accept what she had already told them: they were her family.

Ethan felt a warmth spread through his chest.

He didn’t say anything. There was no need to. The smile that appeared on his face was enough to reveal how happy he was.

The others seemed to share his feelings, even if they expressed them differently.

After everything they had endured, knowing that Luna considered them her family meant more than any of them wanted to admit.

For a brief moment, the aircraft was filled with a peaceful atmosphere.

Then Ethan turned toward Adrian.

"By the way, thanks, Adrian. I still don’t know how you suddenly became capable of using your power like that, but what you did back there was incredible."

Adrian looked at him, and a radiant smile spread across his face.

"Really?"

"Of course! Did you see what happened to that tree? You practically turned the entire situation around."

Adrian’s expression became almost serene as he recalled the flames that had erupted from his body. Even he hadn’t expected his power to be so formidable.

"I didn’t know I could do that either," he admitted. "It just happened."

"Well, whatever triggered it, I’m glad you discovered it before we were all digested by that damn tree."

Kai snorted.

"Speak for yourself. I was already preparing to freeze the entire thing from the inside."

"Sure you were," Ethan replied dryly. "And I suppose the tree would have apologized and released us out of respect for your ice powers?"

Rowan let out a quiet laugh.

Even Luna’s lips curved slightly as she continued guiding the aircraft toward their destination.

For once, the men seemed peaceful. They were exchanging comments, teasing one another, and discussing their escape as though they had just returned from a particularly dangerous vacation.

It was almost enough to make Luna forget the uneasiness weighing on her chest.

Almost.

She kept her eyes on the control panel, watching their position and checking the readings displayed by the system. Their route was clear, and their destination was getting closer.

They would be home soon.

She could finally check on Miles and Astrid, find out what had happened at the base, and make certain that everyone was safe.

That was all she wanted.

Unfortunately, the universe seemed to have other plans.

BOOM!

Something slammed into the aircraft with tremendous force.

The entire vehicle tilted violently to one side.

Luna was thrown against her seat, and the control panel flashed red as warning signals erupted across its surface. The peaceful atmosphere vanished instantly.

"What the hell?!"

Her scream was swallowed by the deafening noise as the aircraft lurched again.

Kai grabbed the nearest support, his eyes widening. Rowan immediately braced himself against the side of his seat, while Ethan and Adrian struggled to keep their balance.

Only moments ago, they had been discussing their return home.

Now, the aircraft was shaking as though something enormous had struck it out of the sky.

"What happened?!" Rowan demanded.

Luna didn’t answer immediately.

Her eyes were fixed on the control panel, where several danger indicators were flashing at once. She tried to stabilize the aircraft, but the controls were no longer responding as smoothly as they should have.

Something had damaged the vehicle.

But what?

She quickly activated the system’s external surveillance function, attempting to identify the source of the impact.

The image that appeared made her eyes widen.

A gigantic spear was embedded in the aircraft’s engine, its thick shaft lodged between the engine housing and the middle section of one of the landing wheels. It had pierced the vehicle with such force that it looked almost impossible to remove without causing further damage.

The weapon was enormous.

And judging by how deeply it had embedded itself in the aircraft, whoever had thrown it possessed terrifying strength.

"How did that get there?" Luna muttered.

She immediately scanned the surrounding area, searching for the direction from which the spear had come.

Kai moved toward the window, trying to catch a glimpse of whatever was responsible. Rowan did the same from the opposite side, his gaze sweeping across the sky and the distant waters below.

There was nothing obvious.

No approaching aircraft. No familiar monster. No clear source of the attack.

Luna’s expression tightened.

She attempted to trace the weapon’s trajectory, but controlling the damaged aircraft while navigating the system’s increasingly unstable interface was proving far more difficult than she had expected.

Then a warning appeared.

[Host, threats detected from four directions. The aircraft has been breached. You are surrounded.]

Luna’s eyes widened.

Surrounded?

How was that possible?

Her system was designed to detect approaching threats, and the aircraft itself possessed advanced scanning capabilities. Even if something had managed to approach them from a blind spot, four separate threats should have been detected much earlier.

Something wasn’t right.

She couldn’t shake the suspicion that their enemies had found a way to bypass the system’s defenses.

Her spatial abilities were still undergoing development, and she couldn’t yet rely on them to resolve a situation of this magnitude. Nevertheless, she wasn’t about to let anyone harm her men.

Not after everything they had survived.

"Check the threat level of the incoming enemies," she ordered.

As she spoke, she tried to redirect the aircraft’s controls, searching for a way to counter the attack and keep them moving toward their destination.

But before the system could complete its analysis, another notification appeared.

A new file was loading into the interface.

Luna’s expression changed.

"What is that?"

The file was unfamiliar. It hadn’t been part of the aircraft’s normal operating system, and she certainly hadn’t authorized its installation.

Her eyes narrowed as the loading indicator continued to advance.

Then the truth struck her.

"Wait. Is someone trying to hack into the system’s internal controls?"

The realization sent a chill down her spine.

If their enemies gained control of the aircraft, they wouldn’t need to destroy it. They could simply turn its own defenses against them.

"System, block the intrusion immediately!"

The interface flashed.

For a few tense seconds, the aircraft’s controls flickered as the unknown program attempted to penetrate its internal network. Warning symbols appeared one after another, and the screen briefly went dark.

Luna’s fingers tightened.

Her advanced space and its associated systems had undergone several changes recently, but she hadn’t expected to encounter an intrusion like this.

Fortunately, the system reacted quickly.

An unfamiliar mode activated without warning, and a strange wave of energy swept across the interface. The incoming file froze, fragmented, and disappeared as though it had been erased from existence.

The screen refreshed.

The system was back online.

Luna released a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding.

At least the intruder hadn’t succeeded.

But that only raised another question.

Who was capable of launching such a sophisticated attack against them?

"Luna!" Rowan’s voice cut through her thoughts. "What’s happening? You’re the one connected to the system. Tell us what we’re dealing with!"

Kai turned toward her as well.

"Seriously, what kind of threat is this? Is it another sea monster? Something from the island?"

"I don’t know yet," Luna replied, her gaze fixed on the screen. "I’m trying to identify it."

The aircraft continued to shake as she worked through the remaining alerts.

Then, at last, the system’s interface began to glow.

A new image appeared.

For one brief moment, Luna felt relieved.

Finally, she would be able to see what was coming for them.

But the moment the image fully loaded, the smile vanished from her face.

Her eyes widened, and she stared at the screen in disbelief.

The object displayed there was enormous.

It resembled a gigantic armored vehicle, but its structure was so strange that Luna struggled to classify it. Its exterior was covered in thick, overlapping plates, giving it the appearance of an armored soldier built on a monstrous scale.

Its shape was intimidating enough, but what truly terrified her was its movement.

The colossal machine was rolling across the sea as though the water were nothing more than a smooth road.

Every time it advanced, the ocean erupted around it.

Massive waves crashed outward, sweeping through the surrounding waters with enough force to threaten anything caught in their path. The sea churned violently, and the disturbance spread far beyond the vehicle itself.

It was as if some ancient creature had awakened beneath the ocean and decided to rise into the world.

Luna stared at the display, unable to hide her shock.

"What the hell is that thing?"

Ethan had also noticed the violent movement of the sea. He leaned toward the window, trying to make sense of the enormous waves forming around them.

"Am I the only one who’s going insane right now?" he demanded. "Why is the ocean rising like this?"

Nobody had time to answer.

The aircraft suddenly lurched again.

This time, however, it wasn’t an impact that sent them off balance.

The entire vehicle began to disappear.

It happened so quickly that none of them understood what they were seeing at first. One moment, the aircraft was suspended above the turbulent sea. The next, something beneath it seemed to pull the entire vehicle downward.

It was as though an invisible abyss had opened beneath them.

"What is happening?!" Rowan shouted.

Luna frantically searched the system’s display, but the aircraft was already being dragged away from its original position.

Then Kai caught sight of the source.

"Look!"

His voice was sharp enough to make everyone turn.

Beneath the aircraft was a strange opening, something resembling a massive panel suspended in the air. It had appeared without warning, and its surface was surrounded by a powerful glow.

The opening was swallowing the aircraft.

Not pulling it toward itself in the ordinary sense, but absorbing the entire vehicle as though it were nothing more than a small object being drawn into a container.

Luna saw it too.

Her eyes widened in horror as the aircraft was dragged completely inside.

In the next instant, the vehicle vanished.

The surrounding air fell strangely still.

They were no longer inside their aircraft.

Instead, they found themselves standing on a beam suspended high in the air, with a powerful light shining beneath them. The glowing structure held them in place, trapping them above what appeared to be an immense, illuminated platform.

For a moment, nobody could understand what had happened.

Then the pain began.

"Ahhh!"

The men cried out almost simultaneously.

A sudden, unbearable force seemed to press down on their bodies. Their legs weakened, and their expressions twisted with pain as they struggled to remain standing.

Luna’s eyes bulged.

She tried to move, but the moment she shifted her weight, she felt the same overwhelming pressure crushing her body.

What was this place?

Where had their aircraft gone?

And how had someone managed to capture them so easily?

Before she could find an answer, a voice rang out from somewhere beyond the glowing platform.

"So, you’re the one?"

The words were filled with unmistakable excitement.

Luna slowly lifted her head.

A figure stood before them, wearing a dangerous smile that sent a chill through her entire body.

The stranger looked at them as though they were not people at all, but some long-awaited prize that had finally fallen into his hands.

His gaze settled on Luna.

"Finally," he said, his smile widening. "I’ve caught you."

He paused, his expression becoming almost fanatical.

"And now, we can save humanity through you."