An old enemy.

"So that wolf is some kind of friend of yours?" Robin couldn't help but feel excited about it after seeing it in action. However, Aiden just nodded but explained nothing.

"That thing is insanely strong." another nod confirmed Robin's words. Yet Robin frowned and asked, "Why didn't we go with the wolf?"

"Didn't you mention there's a research post in this direction?" He didn't know whether it was because of the slave tattoo or because they overcame a few lives and death situations together, Robin felt that Aiden's guard had relaxed a little.

"Then why didn't you ask it to accompany us?"

Hearing the question Aiden wanted to curse. But all he did was sigh. He was not too familiar with the concept of the totem, but he was sure it wasn't the same as the slave tattoo.

But the most important point is that he didn't dare to ask for help. After all, it killed the shell monster without even startling the baby on the back. Remembering the scene, Aiden felt it had every right to be arrogant.

"By the way, how do you make friends with the monster? Can you talk in their language?"

"You need not know about that."

"Come on, tell me. It's not like I can tell anyone about it." Robin pointed at the slave tattoo and smiled at Aiden.

"For a slave, you are awfully cheerful." Aiden frowned.

"Didn't you say I'm free to do whatever I want to do unless I talk about your secrets or try to hurt someone connected to you?" Aiden sighed, opting to stay quiet. But Robin followed him, "Was you a slave before?"

Aiden's foot stopped in the middle of the air and didn't touch the ground for a moment.

"Am I right?" Robin, too, wasn't expecting to hit the mark. But now that he did, he didn't know how to break the awkwardness. Aiden's speed dropped, but he continued to move forwards. And Robin followed him.

It wasn't until Robin spotted something he dared to speak again, "There's an outpost." Robin sighed with a breath of relief.

To tell the truth, he didn't know the exact location of the research post. He had been here before, but with the assistance of technology, he didn't need to remember the location of the research post.

But now that the grey cloud covered the sky, and he had no way to communicate, he had to rely on his memories.

He remembered that the research post was at the base of the mountain, but he didn't know the exact position. However, he became more vigilant about it as soon as he discovered it.

"The monsters have destroyed the research post. Be on guard." Robin said, but it was like Aiden didn't care about it.

"They have already left the place," Aiden said confidently after taking a glance at the research post that was almost a couple kilometres away.

It was only when Robin scanned using his helmet he realized what Aiden was talking about. He didn't find any movement near the outpost. However, he wasn't sure whether there was someone inside the outpost.

Aiden didn't clarify, so all Robin could do was to follow him in silence. The closer he got to the research post, the more vigilant he became.

The traces of hopeless struggles have become more prominent. Even if they didn't find any human bodies, they found a half-buried carrier vehicle and the remains of smashed opened cargo boxes.

Broken weapons, rail guns, and ripped parts of protective suits were common sites. The monsters even demolished the electric fence around the research post.

However, there was no trace of blood on the ground, whether it was red or blue. As they looked around the research post, they concluded that the snow had buried all the traces of death.

"Who the fuck have done this?" Robin stared with wide eyes, not believing that something can twist the two-foot-thick Conmetal vault door in this way. He tried to believe that it resulted from some kind of explosion, but the deep palm marks forced him to believe the absurd reality.

"Ice troll. A fourth circle, maybe." Aiden replied as he checked the path behind the distorted door.

He had fought with a three-circle troll, so he felt that it was the only logical explanation. At least after watching the wolf, he believed that if it was a five-circle beast, it wouldn't have to use its hand.

"Ice troll?" Robin looked at Aiden in confusion. "Is that the one you had fought? The one that carried the stone pillar?"

"Yes, but that was the one with three circles. It wasn't strong enough."

Yet Aiden's explanation made him more puzzled, "What circle? Did they have circles on their body?"

Aiden shook his head and said, "Think of it as the rank. The one who carried big ice shards is the first circle or first rank. It's the weakest one. Above it is the two-headed one, then the one that carried the stone pillar. The one who did it was stronger than them."

Robin took a few moments to digest all the information before he asked, "Then what about the ones who are small monsters that wear armour? Zero rank? Zero circles?"

���They are dwarves. They have circles, but they grow little with circles."

"How do you know so much?" While he knew that there would be no response from the other side, he still couldn't help himself. "You know spells that other people can't use and also have the knowledge that nobody knows."

Taking another look at Aiden, he added, "You fought barehanded with those creatures that others don't even care about battling with weapons. Who are you?"

"What is in there?" Yet Aiden poured a bucket of cold water over his curiosity, pointing to the darkness behind the door.

Receiving the expected response, he, too, didn't want to answer, but the slave tattoo didn't let him. "All the research laboratories are underground."

Aiden nodded and stepped into the darkness. It startled Robin for a moment, but he soon followed. "Do we have to go there? You will not find any food or guns down there. Even all the communication devices are in those ruined buildings."

"There is something alive down there."

"Huh?" Robin gripped his gun and asked, "Are they humans or monsters?" As Aiden shook his head, Robin complained, "Didn't you say there is nothing here?"

Aiden stopped and turned to look at him. He turned back and said, "You can go back outside and look for anything you need. There is no beast outside."

"Does that mean there is a monster inside?" Robin was quick to catch on the point, but he didn't get a response.

But after spending so many days with Aiden, he understood that even though it looked like he didn't care, Aiden always looked out for him. Neither did he ask Robin to do what he couldn't do, nor did he pressure Robin to scout first.

"Well, I won't die as long as you're alive," Robin said loudly, but Aiden didn't respond and kept walking down through the corridor.

Even if no one was taking care of the labs, the system around the place was still functioning. Other than a few broken lights at the entrance, most of the light was still intact.

But Robin wished that it would have been better if it hadn't. Dents and scratches were all over the wall, but it was vivid coloured dried blood on the wall which sent shivers down his spine.

The more he went down the path, the fiercer the stench became. So did the blood graffiti. There were splashes of blood on the roof too. While they didn't leave behind any dead bodies, he could see dried meat paste engraved on the wall with fist prints.

The blood had already lost its redness and the remaining meats were rotting because of the regulated temperature of the path. However, it was still enough to remind him of the furious struggle his fellow soldiers had to go through against the monsters.

"Why do you think the monsters have targeted a research post? It didn't look like they were intelligent enough to steal the data?"

Aiden didn't laugh at his joke, but he said, "To eat." His answer stopped Robin in his tracks. Yet Aiden continued, "Have you seen dead bodies around here?"

Only then he realized the chilling truth. From the marks that were left behind from their struggle, it was obvious that the death toll wasn't low, but from the point they have entered the research post to this underground tunnel, they didn't find any human remains.

"But why? Why do they eat humans? It wasn't like there was any human on the planet before we came here. Why change their diet all of…" Robin stopped in the mid-sentence, asked, "Were they cannibals?"

"Eating humans doesn't make them cannibal, and I don't think they eat their own."

"Even if they are not, that doesn't explain why they are hunting humans for food?"

"Why? Do you eat the same thing when you travel to a new place? It is natural for hunters to eat what they hunt."

"Why would I…" Realizing something, Robin ran a few steps and came in front of Aiden to stop him, "Are you telling me they came here from a different planet?"

Aiden's smile was like a bucket of cold water. He wanted to ask a lot of questions, but none of the questions reached his lips. All he could ask was, "Are you an alien too?"

Aiden tried hard to suppress his laughter, patted his shoulder, walked on without responding. Inside Robin's mind, he felt that all the pieces of puzzles were fitting at the right place. But other questions made little sense to him.

'If they are alien, how come they're still using swords and shields? No, if they came from a different planet, how did they even come here? How do they even put a mountain-carrying turtle inside a spaceship?'

Robin wanted to ask. However, before he could do so, Aiden was already signalling him to stop and listen. So he did. "It's a human voice." And he confirmed in a low voice.

Aiden nodded and said, "Stay a few meters away from me." Aiden was quick to take out the dwarven man metal. Under the guidance of his essence mana, a sharp edge made of ice appeared on it.

Robin too, keeping his gun closer, followed with a gap of around 15 metres between them. The path was almost three meters wide in all directions, and with enough light, Robin could see it all.

However, the voice in the distance didn't stop talking, and the more carefully he listened to it, the more he realized that the voice was saying the same thing again and again.

"... 5, 11,..., 23 and 27… please… leave… caution… security…"

"It's a recording." Aiden's words, which came through his helmet, almost made him leap in panic. "Specimens in lab 2, 5, 11, 12, 14, 19, 23 and 27 had escaped. Please exit the laboratory and exercise caution. Notify the security." Aiden repeated the words of the recording.

'If a human-eating alien wasn't enough, now some lab monsters have escaped as well.' Robin took a deep breath and calmed his nerves as he moved. All these years of training weren't for show. However, looking ahead, he found that the darkness masked the road in front of Aiden.

He looked back to see that the light still illuminated the path behind him, but the path in front if… 'Why is there ice so deep in the tunnel?' Robin noticed that it wasn't just the edge of the floor, the icicles were also forming from the roof.

"Those bastards?" Aiden's sudden curse shocked him, but when he looked closely, he found the reason.

It was standing at the edge of the light, yet Robin could see it. A body with no head. Apart from being a little overgrown, Robin felt it to be like a human from the shoulder down.

However, after a few more steps, he couldn't help but curse out loud, "What the fuck is that? Why the hell it has three faces on its chest?"

"That is a head-snatcher." Robin expected Aiden to know about the monster. But the next line wasn't something he'd expected, "It is not a monster. It's a mutated human."