"You’re deceiving me again... No, it can’t be, wait a moment, is it really you, young Mr. Malin?" Old Bill finally reacted this time, seemingly also understanding that the skin-peeler couldn’t fabricate a human voice it didn’t recognize. Malin reached out and grabbed the bundle of dynamite: "It’s me, Old Bill. If I had been a little later, you would barely be able to piece yourself together now." As he spoke, Malin threw the bomb aside and glanced at the skin-peeler, which was retreating incredulously. But as Malin directed his attention to it, the machine began to self-combust—the holy flames scorched the deformed machine, and soon it stopped moving. Having lost its twisted soul and driving core, it turned into a useless pile of scrap. Malin cast a healing spell formation on Old Bill, whose eyeballs began to regenerate, causing the old man to scream. But when he found himself seeing Malin again, the elderly man shed tears. Malin knew the old man harbored a dark past and didn’t expose his thoughts, only signaling Old Bill to follow him back to find people, while asking what exactly had happened. Old Bill stated they didn’t know either, only that the Chaos had surged out from an underground tunnel to the south that had long been sealed and abandoned. This was right at the southern part of the platform. When the residents of the platform area fled to other districts, the entire camp’s ultraviolet lamp system failed. Bill and his teammates happened to be near the power system, and when they went there, they found the system had been sabotaged. While progressing towards the backup power system, they encountered the skin-peeler. They barely managed to shake off the Chaos and found two manual ultraviolet lights, intending to use them to pass through the platform and escape using a hand-cranked railcar. But on the way, they encountered a group of survivors, with the skin-peeler trailing right behind them. "When my daughter went on her first mission, the entire team encountered that monster. They all died, and it skinned my daughter... the lunatic fashioned himself as my daughter... Right, where is it?" "Over there." Malin pointed to the heap of decommissioned skin-peeler. Old Bill saw it and finally let out a long sigh. "Thank you, Malin... How should I address you properly?" he said. "Just call me Malin. I don’t wish for someone of your age to pay me undue respects, it doesn’t suit me." Malin smiled slightly. To him, Old Bill seemed like a pitiful relic of the old world, making Malin wonder how he even knew these stories: "If you want to thank me, tell me how you know the stories from before the Great Destruction once all this is over." Saying this, Malin signaled the old man to follow him. As they walked along, as light appeared, some survivors hidden in the corners came out. Malin quickly scanned them, then turned up some children hiding in the corners—children who were likely commanded by their parents to hide until Malin found them. There was no thought of emerging beforehand. Malin got someone to take the children, then led them all around a bend where they came upon a young pregnant woman standing outside a small metal house. She looked at the street full of corpses with confusion and dread, but upon seeing Old Bill beside Malin, she broke into a slight smile: "Uncle Bill, what happened here, have we survived?" "Oh my, my little Lisa, you’re still alive; Jack will be so thrilled." Old Bill said as he walked to her side to support her, "We have indeed survived, so hurry to the platform, this Lord Malin saved us. Quick, while the spell formation’s effect lasts." "What about Old Jack?" the girl still worried about Old Jack. "He’s on the train; we returned together." Malin comforted the girl, and hearing Old Jack was alive, she finally stopped pretending to be strong, sighed at the grim scene, and then, supported by Old Bill, the young woman began to move. In fact, as far as the situation goes, Old Bill was not wrong, just that he hadn’t anticipated Malin’s spell formation could extend to frightening lengths—both spatially and temporally. Because of this, Malin did not expose the false statement, for with that claim, all the survivors scrambled to grab what they should take and join the escape. Because of this, when Malin led the group back to the previous spot, they saw Old Jack crying aloud. "My wife is dead! She was so young!" Old Jack wept bitterly. "Father, can’t you be mature? Don’t you see the situation?" This was Robinson. "She carried my child! Your brother!" Old Jack almost scolded Robinson for being an unfilial son. "Old Jack, stop crying. Being born in this era is the sorrow of us all, but stop crying, Lisa wouldn’t be happy." Rochelle said seated nearby. After speaking, she wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, looked up, and saw Malin, Old Bill, and Lisa being supported by Old Bill. "Old Bill! Lisa!" She stood, and the overjoyed black woman screamed, running over to give Old Bill a hug, and then hugging the young woman: "Thank heavens, you’re alive! My dear Lisa!" "Yes, I’m still alive." The young woman said before looking at Old Jack: "...Who are you?" "I’m your husband!" Old Jack exclaimed before slapping his face: "I drank the potion given by Lord Malin, I’m now at least twenty years younger!" With his explanation, the young woman under his guidance turned to Malin. Malin nodded: "Yes, I lent him a hand." "Thank you, my lord." Although Malin still appeared to be a child, the young woman expressed her gratitude with solemnity. Malin signaled that the lady didn’t need to express more gratitude and then looked to the other side, where a young man previously weeping inconsolably found his kin hadn’t perished, hugging them while laughing and crying. "Alright, everyone stop crying, time to board." There were roughly over fifty people; the train would be crowded, but it could at least transport them away. This camp clearly had a mole, yet Malin didn’t have the time to catch one—he still had no idea of the situation on surface camps. And over here among the survivors, they were already shaken to the core, knowing they could truly escape this fallen camp, rushing back to the platform area without delay. As he got on the train, Malin glanced at the corridor he hadn’t been through. In its depths were countless cold gazes, but the holy light prevented them from attacking. Malin also didn’t want to pressure the survivors, so after letting them board, Malin instructed Tulin and Hal to take care of them, then cast an illumination spell with holy effects on the train. As it entered the corridor, it purified a number of vengeful spirits. It seemed clear that the Chaos had come prepared, but little did they know, they were not the only ones. Malin told Tulin, then opened a rift to return to the camp, having anchored it to Mana. Once he emerged from the rift, he found himself on the camp’s wall. "You’re back, quite fast." Mana noticed Malin’s appearance, embracing him with a smile. Malin gazed outside the wall, seeing the ground covered with wights. "These guys tried to attack us, but didn’t succeed." Maya said, noting the lightness on Malin’s face: "What’s the matter?" Malin recounted what he discovered underground to Maya, then suggested to their leopard girl to stay alert. If any real issue arose, she should open a portal to the Semi-Plane and evacuate everyone. Then Malin returned once more to the train. "Where did you go?" Tulin asked, looking at Malin. As Malin held up the bag of food, watching the shrieking wights in the tunnel repelled by the holy light, he replied, "Food." "Food!" Tulin and Hal stared wide-eyed at the bags in Malin’s hands. Yes, food. With so many people, the provisions in the train’s storeroom meant nobody would get a full meal tonight.