But when I participated in the National Championship, I sacrificed myself so that we would win."

"What an idiot," Michael muttered. Alice kicked him in the ribs.

Lance chose to ignore him and continued. "I knew I was dead, and I was waiting to get back to the VR console. But no, I did not come back. I continued to sink further into the monster alien base. When I came back, my body had changed… it was like I mutated."

At this, Michael finally showed interest. "Oh, so did you develop any abilities?"

"I did," Lance confirmed. "I can control the wind. And my senses are sharper. One time, I was trying to make sense of this bizarre situation when I met a group of trainees. They tried to kill me, and I lost consciousness. When I woke up, I possessed this poor boy's body."

Michael whistled. He huddled closer to Lance and raised his arms. "Interesting. Your mutation must have given you two superior abilities: wind and parasitism. Your body sensed it was in great danger, so you abandoned your physical body and possessed a nearby human being."

Lance shuddered. Michael noticed his reaction and laughed.

"Oh, don't worry about it. That's okay. In fact, it wasn't just you. My sister and I also possessed supernatural abilities, and our bodies can do strange, abnormal things. Sister's body is almost immortal. She can heal her own wounds, repair broken limbs, and even regenerate if one of her body parts is decapitated."

Lance's mouth hung wide open. Michael was pleased with his reaction and patted his shoulder. "And I can change my body into metal. I can make my hand into a sharp pointed steel and fight. But we can't show them to you right now. This place has heavy restrictions that prevent anyone from using their abilities."

Lance's index finger pointed at Alice shakily.

"So, you… If you have that ability, why did you not heal our broken arm before coming to this island?"

Alice chuckled. "Are you stupid? I will not expose myself in front of those degenerate Marshals. Besides, those so-called trainers will check our bodies to see what we consumed while we are here."

"If they find out I did not ingest the healing medicine, they will become suspicious."

"Oh, right. That makes sense," Lance understood. "So what about you two? What happened?"

"Same as you," Michael shrugged. "They also put us in an illusion that we were leading a normal life while playing e-sports games. But we died trying to eliminate one of the monster alien bases, and when we came to, we noticed we no longer looked human."

Lance nodded. "I see."

"It took us quite some time to adjust. We ran around the corrupted areas to find we are immune to the corrupted black fluid. Along the way, we met people from a nearby human base and got captured. They started conducting tests on us, but the researchers who tried were immediately killed by the corruption. In the end, they sentenced us to death."

"But luckily, we escaped and hid in the underground of the human base. We don't feel thirst or hunger, so we were able to live by hiding. We stayed underground for weeks until we finally learned how to alter our appearance."

"We ended up infiltrating the base, posing as trainees. And we were separated. I stayed in that human base while my sister was sent here."

Michael handed Lance the healing pills to treat his bruises from Michael.

"How about the others like you? Don't you want to save them?" Lance wondered.

Michael looked at Alice. "We tried, but we failed several times. We ended up killing one of our comrades."

Lance opened his mouth, wanting to know what happened, but Michael's mood plummeted. So he held his curiosity back.

"I also wanted to save my friends. My teammates… They are all trapped inside the illusion, just like I was. I was thinking of destroying the hibernation pods to get them out."

"You can't recklessly do that. To get them out, we need to find the main system that controls the Suit. In fact, there are two ways to save them. The first is to let them be killed and drowned in the monster alien base corrosion. But we found out that instant death happens to the majority of the Suit that gets corrupted. We are just among the few that live. We cannot risk them to that threat, so we chose the other one. If we disconnect from the system controlling them, they should be free. I have checked the base where I was for any traces of the main system, but it wasn't there."

"Alice infiltrated this base, rose up in the ranks, and finally got a clue about its whereabouts."

"Really?" Lance's eyes lit up. He turned to Alice. "Where is it?"

Alice's expression darkened. "It's hidden deeply. I betrayed the Marshal who took care of me so I could be sent to the lowest prison in the underground, but there was no entrance indicating the main system was there."

"I stayed there for days but found no traces."

Michael sighed, "Figured as much."

"Our last chance is here. In this second-floor paradise."

Paradise?

Lance was confused. "This is the second floor dreamed of by many trainees. The only people who can enter here are those with significant positions, but the resources are limited, so no one can stay here for long."

"Wait, I'm confused. Second floor? What is this, another dimension? I thought this place was just a simulated location protected by the military for training purposes."

"It is. You can think of this place as a small space dimension for temporary shelter while the monster aliens spread their corrosion everywhere. It's a safe haven for those who rise up in the ranks. It's also where they let the trainees who performed well receive supernatural abilities."

"That's awesome," Lance marveled.

Michael smacked him in the head. "Awesome, what? Don't you know how this place was created and maintained?" Michael sneered.

"How am I supposed to know when it's the first time I've heard of this place?"

"Bruh, then get more information. I can't believe you just recklessly infiltrated one of the human bases without knowing anything."

Lance and Michael scowled at each other, almost like two wild dogs on the verge of fighting, waiting for the right opportunity to strike first.

Alice ignored their bickering and explained. "This place is created and operated by the first mecha alien species. It's also their leader who commands the overall fortresses."

"The leader's location is twice as hard to find as the main system. But there's a big possibility that where this person is, is where the main system is located."

For the whole night, they took turns keeping watch. In the first half of the night, Michael volunteered to keep watch. Alice and Lance slept slumped against a tree trunk. Michael took a blanket and covered Alice with it.

Lance, on the other hand, had to scuttle closer to the small fire Michael made just to keep himself warm.

Even now, he still couldn't believe what Michael said. He actually just noticed now. Slowly, he did not feel the need to eat or drink. He still felt pain and fatigue, but the sensations of thirst and hunger were no longer there.

Lance hugged himself and stared at the night sky above. Everything still felt unreal. But what choice did he have except to accept everything?

Soon, sleepiness took over him, and he closed his eyes.

After an hour, Alice was woken up by the system.

[Alice, I received a response.]

[There's no mistaking it, the main system controlling all the Suits is here.]

[I tracked the location where the signal is coming from and it led me to the central base. I cannot narrow down the location further.]

"I see. Thanks."

[I know it was my suggestion to work together with Lance, but do you think it's the right choice? Right now, he doesn't recognize you. What if he betrays us halfway? I tried to contact his system, but it immediately blocked me.]

[And also, Alice, be careful. In the central base, I sense the presence of multiple Awakeners. There are at least five of them there. I want to investigate further, but one system detected my presence, and I dare not pry further. I will be risking your safety if I do that.]

"Are they working together?"

[I think so.]

Alice fell silent. "Anyway, we need to find out who they are and kill them."

"In this mission, I will only allow Lance and me to complete it. No one should interrupt us."

Both fell silent. The system was about to let Alice continue her rest when it remembered another vital piece of information.

[By the way, Alice, I checked Lance's body composition and our guess was wrong. His body's ability is not parasitism. It's cloning.]

"Cloning?"