Chapter 166: Chapter 166

Federal Calendar 7708, October 21st, early morning hours.

Since both Loren and Retab Collin were flying at a leisurely pace, it took them a full hour to return to the Interstellar Hunter Association and walk into that war castle.

The moment the two of them stepped into this castle, their expressions simultaneously hardened.

After exchanging a knowing glance in perfect sync, Loren stood in place, raised his hand, and snapped his fingers, silently reciting in his heart, "Misfortune."

Meanwhile, Retab Collin's portly figure vanished in an instant.

Retab Collin's figure reappeared, cradling a pile of machine wreckage that was still sparking. Some of the mechanical debris had been deformed from being squeezed.

"It's a combat robot from Gray Moon. Looks like Longlair is pulling some strings behind the scenes," Retab Collin explained.

Loren nodded silently. "Let's go to your office first."

Retab Collin and Loren flew directly to the castle's sixth floor, entering Office 001 through a window.

The office was in complete disarray. Various books were scattered across the carpet as if someone had conducted a violent search.

By now, the bookshelf behind this office was fully open.

The old elevator door behind the bookshelf had also been violently destroyed by an unknown entity.

There was only a large melted hole on the elevator door, with some residual warmth lingering around the edges.

Seeing this, Loren's eyes involuntarily narrowed.

"Don't worry, the safe room's defenses are quite good," Retab Collin said somewhat guiltily from the side.

Loren shot him a glance but said nothing.

He walked directly to the elevator door, looked down into the shaft, and was met with a bottomless darkness.

"Raven, stack Fortune."

After issuing the command in his mind, Loren spread his wings and jumped straight into the seemingly endless shaft.

Retab Collin looked at the disastrous scene in his office and sighed with heartache. "Gonna have to redecorate again..."

With that, he too followed Loren down the elevator shaft.

Because the elevator shaft wasn't particularly spacious, and with Loren lightly flapping his wings to accelerate, his free fall lasted a full 2 minutes before he made contact with the ground.

After bursting out of the elevator door, Loren gave his wings a single powerful flap, and his figure instantly vanished into the somewhat dark metal tunnel.

In the next instant, Retab Collin also reached the ground. He unhurriedly walked out of the elevator door.

Upon entering the metal tunnel, he reached out and flipped the light switch on the wall, instantly illuminating the entire passage.

"Even side jobs are this urgent, no wonder your mission success rate is a hundred percent..."

"These intruders, really, didn't even know to turn on the lights. I can afford the energy bill, you know..."

After saying this, he gave a light tap with his foot, and his figure similarly vanished instantly, catching up to Loren.

In front of a heavy metal door.

A red-eyed robot was violently dismantling the door. Its eyes were emitting scorching lasers, fully focused on trying to burn through that thick metal barrier.

Suddenly, a fierce gust of wind swept in from the metal tunnel outside.

The red-eyed robot retracted the lasers from its eyes and turned to look towards the now-lit metal tunnel.

"It seems the task my master assigned me has failed," a grating mechanical voice sounded from its mouth.

Immediately after, it detected something wrong with its mechanical body.

The energy supply unit was consuming massive amounts of power, and sparks were erupting from the connection points inside its chassis.

A plume of black smoke billowed from its entire frame.

"Boom!" Its body exploded.

The heat generated by the explosion surged down the metal tunnel.

In the next instant, another fierce gust of wind came from the metal tunnel, dispersing the wave of heat.

A figure with broad black wings calmly walked out of the tunnel, followed by a portly figure.

"Told you, the safe room's defenses are pretty good. No need to be in such a hurry."

Retab Collin's voice drifted lazily from the tunnel.

Loren ignored the comment, calmly walking up to the heavy metal door and stopping. He glanced at Retab Collin.

Retab Collin placed his hand on the patterned metal door, and the black patterns lit up one by one.

"Let's get this straight first, I'm not refunding the money just because that little girl didn't stay the full 10 hours. After all, you saw the safe room's defensive performance. Worth every penny."

Hearing this, Loren looked at Retab Collin and said with a smile,

"No refund needed. I'll find someone to reimburse it."

Mr. Marcus Rhine, if you dare refuse to reimburse this, I'll kill you...

The patterned metal door opened.

Inside the safe room, Ayla Morningstar was lying on the bed, sleeping peacefully. Her breathing was even, and she looked utterly content.

Loren nodded with satisfaction. In this entire castle, the only reliable thing might just be this safe room...

Walking into the safe room, Loren gently picked up the sleeping Ayla Morningstar.

With light steps, he carried the little one out of the safe room and headed straight for the metal tunnel...

Buried deep underground, this place had nothing going for it except safety.

Retab Collin opened his mouth to say something but was stopped by Loren's threatening glare.

The meaning in Loren's eyes was clear: disturbing a human child's sleep is a crime.

Seeing this, Retab Collin wisely closed his mouth.

So dangerous, yet you have such a gentle side too? How contradictory...

Loren carried the little one back to Lounge 104 on the castle's third floor.

After placing Ayla Morningstar on the sofa, Loren gave the Raven an order.

"Understood! Also, Master, you really can endure."

Loren ignored the Raven in his mind and shook the sleeping Ayla Morningstar awake.

The little one groggily opened her eyes.

"Big Brother, you're back?!"

"Little one, heal me. You'd better hurry."

After shaking Ayla Morningstar awake, Loren only managed to utter one sentence before he passed out, collapsing onto the sofa.

"Huh?!" Ayla Morningstar was startled.

Then, she closed her eyes and used her psychic ability to sense Loren's injuries.

After examining Loren's wounds, her expression turned grave. She extended her small hands, grasped Loren's large hand, and activated her ability.

A dazzling white light appeared on Ayla Morningstar's hands.

A uniquely fresh scent, reminiscent of a forest after rain, also filled Lounge 104.

The white light symbolizing "luxuriance" and "growth" slowly enveloped Loren's hand.

Soon, Loren, who had fallen unconscious, gradually regained his awareness.

With his eyes closed, he felt his body. That intense pain had vanished, and his body had returned to that indescribable feeling of lightness.

Even seeing it a second time, it still feels like an utterly unreasonable ability, little one...

After sighing inwardly, Loren opened his eyes and sat up.

I, in peak condition, have returned!!!

"Big Brother, how did you get hurt so badly?"

"Was it to protect me?"

After withdrawing her ability, Ayla Morningstar asked with a hint of guilt.

Recalling what happened during his advancement, Loren's mouth twitched involuntarily.

"No, it has nothing to do with you."

"Some... expected accidents occurred."