The moment the gigantic mutated mushroom started attacking in their direction again, she had sensed its abnormality. It was using Cassias as an illusion to lull her into a fake sense of security. He stood in front of her, as if willing to take any attack. However, it was merely the mutated mushroom’s ploy. When she finally let Cassias handle its attack... she would have lost. There were no Cassias at all. Thus, the absolute blackness would have sucked her in. How did she recognize him? At first, indeed she was too shocked to scrutinize him properly, but when he got closer to her, she felt his aura was unusual. On top of that, he looked a bit less handsome than usual... Definitely not something a mere brainless monster could easily imitate. They don’t have the same aesthetic sense as humans, which was their weakness. Zerra slowly sat on the ground, not minding how close she was to the mushroom cap and utterly exhausted. The absolute blackness, which resembled the night sky, was slowly closing. Its color was fading, along with the shrinking sinkhole. "Mr. Ashford?" The two ability users widened their eyes when they spotted someone familiar–the person they had been looking for. Derek approached Zerra, who had lost all the strength. The tiger was tugging on her, trying to bring her away from the black mass of the mushroom. Its color somehow evoked such an ominous vibe. "Is she your friend, Mr. Ashford? Let us help you carry her." They quickly got up and offered. Zerra refused Derek and their help, hugging the tiger’s neck. "It’s okay, Derek. The tiger will help me." The tiger helped her to move away from the mushroom, which had turned into inky black mush. She sat in the cleaner space, filled with grass. They came over, and the two ability users began to bombard Derek with a lot of questions. "Mr. Ashford, where have you been?" "Yeah, we have been looking all over the forest for you for the past few days! The Chief was very worried when he heard about an earthquake in this place." Zerra sipped from the bottle of water as she listened to the two ability users’ words. She gave one to each of them, then closed her eyes–she didn’t miss the slightly surprised look on both ability users’ faces when they found out she was a space ability user. "Only the two of you came?" Derek pretended to ask. "No, there were a few of us, but we split up." They glanced at the tiger on Zerra’s feet cautiously. Seeing Zerra asleep, they lowered their volume. "The tiger looks so docile right now, but is it okay just to let it near us , Mr. Ashford? Those mutated animals have become so cunning lately." "You don’t need to worry about the tiger," Derek assured them, yet he didn’t explain further. The two no longer continued the topic when they saw Derek . After all, he was also the one who had sent them letters about the condition in the forest through a carrier bird. He had specifically mentioned this dangerous tiger. "That’s right," an ability user trailed off. He glanced at the mass of torn mushrooms. Pointing at it, he asked, "What is that, Mr. Ashford?" Derek thought about it. "Did you also feel that you have been walking through the same path repeatedly for the past few days?" They exchanged glances, a little doubtful and ashamed. "Our sole focus was to find you... so we didn’t notice it too clearly." The other ability user nodded in agreement. "Yes, but we feel it was weird we never met other ability users after walking for a few days. It turned out it was because of that monster." "Yup, luckily, you solved the monster, Mr. Ashford. It was really an odd and terrifying one. We didn’t even notice such a thing near us... and also your presence even though you are very close," he muttered, full of fear. "It’s my friend who killed it, not me," Derek corrected them. "I was just a support." "At least you are still helping..." they let out a sigh. They glanced at Zerra again, who seemed to be asleep on the tiger’s body, hugging a baby tiger. The girl looked so thin with a soft appearance. There were a few dark stains on her hands and face. Derek didn’t dwell on the topic too much. He pondered briefly and calculated whether the two ability users in front of him were trustworthy. He recognized them. They often help the people at the Research Institute by delivering news or strange mutated animal parts. They sometimes brought mutated plants to him. Hence, he could be considered familiar with them. "Where are the others?" He scrutinized their faces. "About this... we also don’t know yet, Mr. Ashford. There are around fifteen of us dispatched this time. So, we might run into them if we start to move," they explained in an unsure tone. "Let’s rest first." Derek sent a discreet glance at Zerra, who was sleeping. He took some fruit seeds from his bag and began to grow a few small fruit trees. They ate the fruit trees in silence. Now, the difference was very obvious. Compared to the illusion built by the mushroom monster, the forest was much more lively . They heard occasional bird chirps and screeches of mutated animals. Zerra fell into a deep sleep, but only for a few minutes. The tiger seemed to sense her exhaustion and told her to take a brief nap while it kept guard. She trusted the tiger the most, and it was also the strongest being here, so she naturally followed its suggestion. After she woke up, she didn’t open her eyes, pretending to sleep while she listened to Derek and two ability users’ conversation. For original chapters go to novｅlfire.net There wasn’t anything particularly useful. If she wanted to know certain things, she had to ask about them herself, so she opened her eyes. "Zerra, you have woken up?" Derek noticed straight away. He took some fruit wrapped in leaves and told her, "Here, I kept your share." She took it while thanking him. The fruit refreshed her a bit. As she ate, she stared at the two ability users and asked, "Are you here looking for Derek?" They were a little startled at how she had familiarly called Derek by his first name, but they quickly composed themselves and nodded. "Yes, Miss... Zerra." "Besides your group, are there other people?" She had a bit of hope. "If you are referring to people from the base... we have seen them entering the forest. However, we don’t know the details, and we haven’t seen them again since we got stuck in the monster’s illusion." They quickly caught on to Zerra’s identity and replied. They weren’t familiar with her, someone who could defeat a monster like the mutated mushroom. She couldn’t be a nobody, so she must have been from the base. She nodded in understanding, hoping that the mutated animals’ siege from the last time had taken no casualties. "Have you all taken enough rest?" She stood up, followed by the tiger, whose eyes had a predatory glint as it stared at the two ability users. The ability users jolted and hurriedly nodded. She turned to Derek and raised her eyebrows. "Let’s go," he said. "We need to get out of this place." He didn’t blatantly mention the possibility of some atrocious scientists using his name to commit an inhumane experiment in front of them. "Wouldn’t it be better if we found others first, Mr. Ashford?" They gulped nervously. The tiger made them feel unsettled. "That’s also fine." Derek nodded. "We can try to find a way out too." They all started to move again. Zerra knew that the more people knew about the tiger, the more they would notice an abnormality between her and it, so she told it to go. The ability users audibly heaved a sigh of relief when the tiger was gone. They became more easygoing. "Mr. Ashford, I think I heard someone’s voice." Zerra heard it too. After walking for two hours, they finally found someone. The two ability users were noticeably excited. However, Zerra, whose senses were better than theirs, didn’t think so. There was a small wooden hut in the distance. She sniffed the air; her eyes narrowed. There was a strange smell... It resembled the mutated mushroom, which can guide people into entering illusion. "How is test subject 064’s condition after the last experiment? Did he die?" Someone entered the hut. "No, he is surprisingly still alive. A tenacious person." "Oh?" There was a pleasant surprise in the person’s tone. "He looks weak, but he is indeed a strange case." "We paid a lot of resources to that greedy man to get this test subject in our hands, after all. So, the test subject better hold on for a few more experiments." "We should move soon too. The base has started paying attention to this place. If they find us, the Research Institute will wash its hands of this." "Bring test subject 064 out. We should move him today." "The base sent more reinforcements..." Zerra didn’t listen to their conversation anymore, because she was staring at the so-called test subject number 064 with wide eyes. It was a familiar person to her!