A few minutes ago.
The adventurers' camp on the ground of the research facility.
The bonfire was still burning fiercely, but inside the countless tents, there was dead silence.
Upon closer inspection, the entire camp was filled with shriveled corpses, their dead faces twisted and covered with growing mushrooms.
At this very moment, Heman and a dozen or so surviving high tiers had somber expressions as they gathered inside the legion commander's tent.
Before entering the relics, they had left space coordinates on the ground as a precaution.
They hadn't expected to actually use them.
Yet, it was this that had fortuitously saved their lives.
"It seems that those East Wilderness folks had long been planning, just waiting to lure us to the second floor of the research facility to trap and kill us..."