While Adam was near the walls of the Citadel, several soldiers on the walls and Phantoms in the distance watched him.

Some recognized him, while others did not understand what a lone young man was doing in a land where monsters roamed.

Even if none of the monsters here posed a threat to Adam, that didn't mean it wasn't dangerous for ordinary people or K0-Phantoms. After all, a year and a half ago, he himself had hunted here and found himself in life-threatening situations.

In fact, Frida had saved him once somewhere in these lands, although he barely remembered it because he had lost consciousness due to exhaustion.

Step. Step. Step.

With each step he took, the ground trembled as the desert area full of dunes remained behind, replaced by boring, gray land.

Adam narrowed his eyes as he saw a thin layer of snow covering the stone plain in the distance. It was a vast expanse covering hundreds of kilometers, but there was nothing ahead, only snow and a stone plateau.

'Hah, it's true, if I didn't know they were here, I would never have come to this place of my own free will. It is quite close to the Citadel, but far enough that it would be impossible to get here by accident,' he mused as he continued running.

If a K0 or K1 Phantom wanted to be somewhere in this area, he would have to use the fighter jet and choose some kind of mission.

Obviously, the mission department never gave missions in this zone.

Thus, even though the location of the Detached Mountains was visible through binoculars from the top of the walls, no one had ever found this place.

Well, even if that had somehow happened, the Gamma Division and the strongest Phantoms had many ways to correct this mistake.

"Hey, I'm getting close, right?" Adam asked, looking at the snow flying toward him on the wind currents.

Silvana nodded, tracking Adam's location. To her, he looked like a bright dot on the blue 3D map. A few kilometers ahead was another dot, much larger, which was the Detached Mountains.

A few seconds later, Adam accelerated even more. He surged forward, leaving bare ground behind as the snow flew back in a single gust.

Tremble. Tremble. Treble.

Suddenly, a blue wave of energy passed through the seemingly empty air as Adam's gaze fell upon the complex, multi-layered barrier he had just passed through.

He felt each layer of the barrier with his body, feeling the pressure grow stronger and stronger with each heartbeat.

Then... all the pressure disappeared as a wave of freshness washed over Adam.

He didn't have time to think about the barrier because of the sight that appeared before him.

"What the...?"

As the name suggested, he was now looking at several large mountains, or more precisely, five large mountains and several smaller ones that connected all the mountains in a chaotic ring like rocks.

As in any cold territory, the mountain peaks were covered with a thick layer of snow and ice, which reminded him of the place where he and Alexia were going to go in the Primal Lands.

Near some of the mountains and right in them, structures were visible. Small facilities had been built right there, and lights were burning in many of the windows.

Moreover, as in the Citadel, the central entrance was blocked by huge gates that had long since become part of the two mountains between which they stood.

Next to the gates, on each side, two massive gears worked perfectly despite the ice-covered metal. It was a complex, indestructible structure that used not fuel or electricity but energy to operate.

Adam was sure that many more curious buildings were waiting for him inside, but that wasn't what made his eyes widen.

All over the Detached Mountains, there were many shining lights of different colors, which were actually anomalies.

"Hey, those are anomalies, right?" Adam asked in disbelief.

After a pause, Silvana nodded deeply. Like him, she was not yet sure what was happening here.

"Yes, it looks like it. Damn, Adam, I can already see more than a hundred, and we can only see the front part!"

Adam gulped as his gaze deepened.

"No, it's not just that. Look around, look how far the barrier is from the mountains."

"Hmm? What do you mean?" She tilted her head.

Adam frowned.

"Maybe I'm wrong, and the barrier is so far away to better hide these mountains, but I think it's something else. The Gamma Division couldn't allow anyone to accidentally use these anomalies, since most of them are not at the top but at the bottom, the ones we can't see."

Silvana's pupils narrowed as she realized what Adam meant.

"Shit, you're right. But if there are anomalies underground, then there aren't hundreds of them, there are thousands!"

Adam had encountered anomalies several times when he was still a fairly weak Phantom. Over time, the anomalies ceased to pose a threat to stronger Phantoms, but they were replaced by the External Artifacts and even the Ancient Artifacts.

However, Adam remembered how he had twice fallen into an anomaly and found himself in a life-threatening situation, just as happens every day to many Phantoms throughout the Dead Lands.

"But why are they here? No..." Adam shook his head. "That's not the only thing. Why are there so many of them here? They don't wander around and stay in their small areas. Don't they want to clash with each other?"

Adam had many questions, but neither he nor Silvana had answers to any of them.

That wasn't a problem, because they knew there was a person who could tell them everything.

Whooooooosh.

With the next, particularly cold gust of wind, Adam stopped in front of a heavy iron gate.

He looked around, expecting someone to approach him or at least contact him, but he didn't see a single Gamma Division member. He was sure that they were the ones who controlled this secret place that even the K3-Phantoms didn't know about.

Slck!

A strange sound came from above, causing Adam to look up only to see Damien sitting on top of the gate.

While everything around him was covered in ice and a thick layer of snow, he was staring intently at his strawberry ice cream.

Soon, Damien turned to Adam and smiled broadly.

"Yo! You're finally here!"

Adam shuddered.

'There's definitely something wrong with his head.'

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