So, in about five hours, I’d get to meet Stella and Co.

I wasn’t in a good mood with everything going on, but I couldn’t wait for the meeting to take place. There was a great chance that they had something to do with Ratska’s kidnapping and knew about his current whereabouts.

“What’s wrong,” said Vivian with a puzzled look on her face after I stopped walking.

“A system screen appeared, and it seems important,” I didn’t know much about this meeting, but I could make a few guesses, “Something about the top Rankers of Earth participating in a formal meeting, for the likely purpose of distributing power and control over Earth among themselves.”

“Yeah, that’s about right,” she nodded, “I’ve heard that something like that happened in my home planet as well, though it’s only talked about in folklore tales and myths.”

The Sirens’ planet must have been integrated into the system long ago… This means that Vivian might be able to give me clues on how to optimally prepare for the first dungeon breakout.

In my past life, the first dungeon breakout happened nearly two years and a half after the system integration, and it was a pre-mediated event that we knew about six months before its occurrence. Thanks to everyone’s preparations and the cooperation of strong people, humans managed to survive though without a great number of casualties on their side.

The Rankers’ meeting would be the perfect place to alert the others about it and possibly find a way to benefit from an otherwise dangerous event.

Nonetheless, this timeline isn’t an exact copy of the previous one as proven by my own previous experiences, so things might happen differently this time around.

I kept that in mind and resumed walking toward the Lizardfolk town. Vivian matched my pace and followed close behind.

In my past life, the hierarchy of power was already established when I was back from the tutorial, and there was no way for a mere dismantler like me to tip the scales and change the inevitable.

The strongest people –Stella’s group- managed to take control over the vast majority of the world. Europe, Asia, and the two Americas fell under the control of their guild which they called the ‘Way of The Champion’.

“Hmm, Jason?” asked Vivian, “Is it just me, or have you noticed? I think we’re not getting any closer to the town.”

“Don’t worry about it, it must be the heat of the sun playing tricks on us,” I reassured her, “Mirages like this one were a frequent occurrence in deserts even before the system’s arrival on our planet.”

She wasn’t familiar with this phenomenon, which wasn’t that big of a deal considering that Sirens were aquatic creatures after all.

I couldn’t tell whether Vivian was comfortable or not based on appearance, as the hood of her cloak was covering her head from the sun’s rays. Her steps were steady, and her breath seemed calm for all I could tell.

“You’re okay, Vivian?” I spoke.

The hot wind blowing in my face muffled my words slightly, and it wasn’t comfortable having to squint all the time. I could tolerate the Sahara thanks to my high endurance stat and my fire-based class, but I was kind of worried about my partner.

“For the most part, yes,” her voice was soft, “My skin is drying up much faster than usual, but I have access to skills that can alleviate this problem. Breathing is slightly difficult too, and I’m not used to such bright light.”

It was unexpected for a member of the Glitchers not to have experienced such weather conditions, but it was understandable as she had a relatively lower level according to Albert. This meant that not only was she much younger than the average Glitcher, but she also didn’t have to deal with danger daily.

Even then, her latent ability is so powerful that it makes her a feared opponent regardless…

“What was life like on your home planet?” I asked her.

“It was good and ordinary, maybe you can call it boring, but I find myself missing it a lot,” she said in a reminiscing tone, “Water was abundant, everyone had enough food to eat, and the average person didn’t have to fight at all due to the strength of our military forces, but…”

“But?”

“Another dungeon outbreak happened, the fourth one in recorded history,” her voice was monotonous as if to hide great pain behind her words, “It was too much… I lost all I had left and was helpless as the monsters tore my life apart. After hiding and running away for a couple of months, I was lucky to meet Albert. He took me in, and the rest is history.”

“Sorry for your loss, it must’ve been very difficult for you to adjust to a sudden cataclysmic event like that. It takes great strength and courage to stay sane after such loss, and I admire you for that,” In a way, she went through a similar experience to the one I had when the system came for the first time around, “How long ago was this dungeon outbreak, and what happened to your planet?”

“Thanks for the kind words,” Vivian said with a cheerful voice as if to reassure me, “It’s been ten years since that dark time, and I’m not even sure about its aftermath. Albert told me that our planet was no longer habitable for intelligent life forms the day he took me in, and I’m not sure if it still existed in the present.”

I nodded and thanked her for the precious information. I had more questions and I was very curious about the dungeon outbreaks, but I decided to leave it for another time.

After walking for around half an hour, we finally got close to the Lizardfolk town. Many large tents were placed around its outskirts, and I heard a lot of commotion the closer I got.

The language wasn’t one that I commonly heard even before the system’s arrival, but I could understand it perfectly.

“Ali! Not the Camels,” it was the voice of a woman, “We can’t afford to sell them! We need livestock, and they are very useful and will continue to be!”

This is Arabic… They must be the native residents of the area who came back from the tutorial.

I didn’t know how much time passed since my departure toward Vivaldium in hopes of saving Ratska, but it was more than a week as humans were already back on Earth.

I noticed the person who grabbed my attention earlier walking out of a tent, and it was a young girl in her early twenties. Bronze skin, vivid brown eyes with thick eyebrows over them, and dark hair were characteristics that would’ve made her stand out in a room full of conventional beauties.

Her clothes were modest, covering most of her body, and even her hair was only partially exposed as a beige scarf covered most of it. She seemed to be in a hurry, as the scarf was only loosely tied up.

She kept walking toward another tent that was adjacent to hers, and a man came out just in time.

“Leyla! Trust me! The deal is worth it,” he tried to convince her, “The Ghibli Fennec’s fur is greatly sought after inside the town, and I think we might be able to gain entry if we trade it for passage permits! It’ll be much better than sleeping outside!”

It seems like they’re related, maybe siblings? Or married to one another?

They weren’t the only ones talking in the vicinity, as there were more than a hundred tents on this side of the town borders alone.

If each tent housed three people, then we’re talking about more than a thousand people based on estimations of the total number of tents. All in all, it wasn’t that big of a number, but it was concerning when factoring in the fact that they all lived in the harsh living conditions of the Sahara inside tents where monsters could kill them at any moment.

It seemed like the Lizardfolk weren’t ready to welcome all of these humans inside their town, hence Ali’s desire to sell the Camels for entry permits.

I shook my head and motioned for Vivian to follow me. She’d been quietly observing the surroundings without uttering a word for a while, and I was curious about her opinion on the matter.

We reached the town gate, and it was shinier and more impressive than the one I saw when I first arrived in this town. Many people were standing in line in front of it, but the percentage of those allowed to enter was too low.

After about ten minutes, it was our turn and we came face to face with the town guards.

“Halt!” said one of the Lizardfolk guards. He pointed his spear toward us and kept staring me in the eye.

“You! Take off your hood,” the other guard addressed Vivian.

Oh no…

She wasn’t comfortable in the Saharan weather even with the hood covering her head, but the guard wouldn’t understand that even if we tried to explain.

Vivian shook her head without speaking, but the guard wasn’t buying it. He pulled a dagger out of his bag of holding and moved steadily toward my companion.

I was anxious that a quarrel might break out, and I wanted to diffuse it however possible.

“Listen, man, you remember me, right? Jason Stubbs; that name rings a bell, no?” I spoke calmly with a smile as I moved between the approaching guard and Vivian, “We’re not here for trouble, and we have acquaintances of high standing among your people who can vouch for us!”

“Eat shit,” said the guard holding the spear, seemingly unimpressed with my self-proclaimed identity, “You’re not the first ‘Jason Stubbs’ of today, and I sure hope you’re the last. You might’ve been able to enter the town had your companion cooperated, but now, you might not even walk away.”

We might not walk away? Bitch, I’m trying to protect you from unimaginable suffering!

Vivian was a calm and collected person based on what I knew about her, but I didn’t know what she’d do when provoked out of nowhere, especially now that she enduring the uncomfortable climate of the Sahara.

My fellow Glitcher raised both of her arms in front of her, in anticipation of the incoming attack. I prepared myself psychologically in case I had to intervene, but there was still the issue of my fucked up body-soul connection to consider.

And Loki hadn’t called yet, I’d better call him soon to learn more about my condition and what I can do to recover as fast as possible…

Suddenly, dark smoke appeared out of nowhere in front of the gate, and it thickened in the area between the two Lizardfolk guards.