Michael stared at Victoria's peerless face in silence, contemplating his next words.

'I guess she is so smart that it's hard to hide things from her.' He sighed. While he probably could have used some kind of mental gymnastics to lie to her, it didn't feel right to do so. Not after she had helped him so much.

"Yes, I am the one." He answered while carefully observing her reaction.

To his surprise, she didn't seem shocked. Instead, her whole body relaxed.

"Thank God, I was beginning to think I was going crazy."

With an arched brow, he asked, "Aren't you going to ask me how I knew about the alien invasion?"

Victoria simply shrugged. "No."

Seeing his confusion, she elaborated.

"You have played a part in saving my life, gotten rid of a bothersome second-in-command, and killed many aliens, saving countless lives of my troops in the process. It doesn't matter what techniques you have, what knowledge you possess, or what past you might carry. I will never ask you to reveal any of that to me if you don't want to. I owe you this much at least."

At the end, Michael was so flabbergasted that he could only mumble two words. "...Thank you."

He was thankful for the trust she was putting in him.

"Still, please try not to agitate the powerhouses. My protection can only last for so long."

"I will try to." He flashed her a warm smile.

Once their conversation was over, the two went to the aftermath of the battle. There were thousands of human bodies that had to be recovered and buried.

However, Michael had requested that Victoria let him cultivate on the battlefield freely. He wasn't willing to let go of such concentrated spiritual energy without using it to the limit.

Getting a confirmation, he sat on a suitable spot and began to cultivate. His actions naturally attracted the attention of many people in the area.

"Our brothers have perished on this land. The least we can do is make their sacrifice fuel us, allowing us to reach higher heights!"

Still in mourning, the ones that were too injured to carry the dead began to mirror his actions. Unlike Michael, who could begin cultivating immediately, it took them several hours to get into the mindset.

With the help of the mechas, it took a little over a day to recover the dead bodies. Each base took the corpses of their brothers and sisters to have an official burial in their headquarters.

Of course, the whole day Michael had been cultivating non-stop, and by the end, the results were made apparent.

[You have achieved enlightenment!]

[Peak Adept → Early Expert]

Name: Michael

Soul Realm: Early Expert

Cybernetics: Indomitable System, Berserker, Dash, Perfect Vision, Spirit Surge, Blink, Bypasser

• Strength: 780

• Agility: 740

• Stamina: 675

• Spirit: 50,000

• Mind: 10,000

Skill Points: 1,000

'200 points to my basic stats? Not bad.' Michael mused as he stared at his body.

With the armies beginning to split up, he found the members of his faction.

"..."

They all looked at him like they were looking at a ghost. They too had used the day to cultivate, but no one expected Michael to reach the Early Expert realm.

"I will not let you surpass me!" Ava declared as she pouted cutely.

Michael chuckled as he patted her on the head. "We will see about that."

Before departing, they paid their goodbyes to the members of the other bases. After saying farewell to Roy, Michael approached Evelyn to thank her for the help with the Grandmasters and apologized for not sharing any further details.

"It's fine. You came to our aid in the first place. I will not press you for answers." Evelyn reassured.

Loading the many dead bodies on board, the army of base #85 headed to their headquarters to prepare the funeral for the fallen soldiers.

"Victoria." Once he judged the setting right, Michael approached her.

"What is it?" She asked, a small smile forming on her lips upon witnessing his realm.

"I know that you will want me to stay on guard in case something dire happens. However, I request full freedom. There are still many aliens on the surface of Triton, and I want to personally deal with them."

After a brief consideration, she nodded.

"It's honorable work, so I will not stop you. But I don't permit you to go alone. At the very least, you have to take your faction with you."

Michael didn't find the request unreasonable, so he complied.

"I don't mind!" Ava agreed in a heartbeat.

"Seeing you become an Expert so fast makes me feel left out. It seems I have to intensify my training." Enzo wasn't against the idea.

"Sure." Amelia said simply.

"Count me in." Leo didn't seem to mind.

Before they could split from the main force, Bryce approached them.

"I hear that you will go out to clean up the remaining threat. Can I join?"

Since Michael trusted the man, he wasn't against the idea.

"Oh, I almost forgot… Would it be a problem if my granddaughter joins as well?" He added shamelessly, stroking his overgrown beard.

"Grandpa! Why are you telling it like it was my idea?!" Claire exclaimed.

Since the threat of the command alien ship was dealt with, she had decided to stay with her grandpa for the time being. The old fool had the tendency to risk his life needlessly after all.

"Sunshine, it's never bad to refine your fighting skills further." The old man laughed joyfully.

"I told you to stop calling me Sunshine!"

Michael observed their banter from the side. 'It seems there will be more than expected.'

Still, he didn't dislike the idea. The more people he could rely on to have his back, the more freely he could fight.

A grin appeared on his face as he looked at his still active quest.

[Quest: Slaughtering Machine]

[Difficulty: Insane]

[Task: With so many hidden forces, the aliens threaten the safety of humanity. Slaughter at least 20,000 of their forces!]

[Reward: Legendary cybernetic, 500 Skill Points]

[Current slain forces: 2,413/20,000]

What better way to test his new limits than slaughtering a great amount of aliens?

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