Within the bodies of the ability users, various colors of "ginger lights" flickered.

As James Lone had suspected, green and blue were the most common, gold was less frequent, and gray—Teresa Taylor's unique color—remained exclusive to her.

Why is this woman so special?

James Lone didn't dare recklessly open a portal.

With so many ability users around, who knew what detection abilities they might have?

If he got discovered, it would be extremely dangerous.

I'm here to steal fruits, not to pick a fight.

James Lone turned his focus to the base of the glowing sphere anchored by Teresa Taylor's spatial marker.

About 100 meters below her, right at the edge of his perception, was a thick layer of rock between two levels of the base.

Without hesitation, James Lone selected this location for his entry point.

In the timeless rock formed over billions of years, a glowing blue portal suddenly appeared.

James Lone activated Phantomization, cautiously stepping out of the portal.

He didn't move immediately. Instead, he remained in place, keeping the portal open as a precaution.

If anything goes wrong, I can escape instantly.

This base was home to at least a hundred ability users, and it was better to err on the side of caution.

Who knew if there was some specialized ability that could counter his own?

James Lone remained hyper-focused, carefully monitoring his surroundings with his perception.

Everything seemed normal.

Some people were sleeping, while others stood guard.

It appeared that no one had noticed James Lone within the rock.

He waited for a full ten minutes, and the area remained silent.

Only then did James Lone close the portal and begin cautiously moving through the rock.

The residential area was far from the warehouse where Teresa Taylor had gotten the Enlightenment Fruits.

The distance was at least 100 meters, so James Lone had to carefully navigate through the rock.

Along the way, he "saw" many people and gradually pieced together the layout of the underground base.

The entire base consisted of 10 levels, structured into upper, middle, and lower sections.

The uppermost level, closest to the surface, was where ordinary survivors lived.

Most wore gray clothing and lived in large communal dormitories with 50 people per room. The living conditions were appalling, with almost no possessions beyond their beds.

There were a lot of them—about 4,000 people.

Physically, they were in terrible condition, their bodies dim and lifeless in James Lone's perception.

Many industrial production facilities and indoor farming areas were also located on the upper levels, where some people were still working late into the night.

The middle levels housed ordinary soldiers, low-ranking officers, and junior researchers.

These individuals lived in smaller quarters, either four people to a room or two.

Their accommodations were much better equipped, and there were about 700-800 of them.

The lower levels were reserved for ability users, senior officers, and high-ranking researchers.

Each of their rooms was about 20-30 square meters, and the population was much smaller—fewer than 200 people.

One particular official had the largest residence, a staggering 200 square meters.

This official was also an ability user, with a radiance twice as bright as that of ordinary people.

His room was guarded by four ability users and twenty soldiers stationed outside.

"He must be the leader of this base..." James Lone thought but chose not to engage.

The primary objective here is to steal the fruits—no need to take unnecessary risks.

James Lone also passed by several research labs, where work continued even late at night.

Some labs were studying chemical materials, others were researching evolved plants and animals, and some were even dissecting corpses.

Clearly, there was plenty of valuable information to be found here.

But James Lone refrained from acting.

If necessary, he could return after securing the Enlightenment Fruits.

He then discovered the light weapons storage area, which housed a large arsenal of firearms—rifles, pistols, sniper rifles, and crates of ammunition.

The weapons here far exceeded anything James Lone had seen in the police station.

They even had real offensive grenades, not just the stun grenades used by police forces.

After some thought, James Lone floated into the warehouse and quietly took two sniper rifles, several crates of ammunition, and a few boxes of grenades.

If he emptied the entire storage, the base would immediately suspect an ability user with spatial storage capabilities had infiltrated, as carrying everything out would be impossible otherwise.

James Lone didn't want outsiders to deduce his abilities.

However, if he only took a small portion, the warehouse manager might think it was an internal theft. To avoid taking the blame, the manager would likely cover it up and slowly try to make up the loss.

As for the tanks and artillery, James Lone left those untouched.

They were useless in the confines of the underground base and would just remain stored here. If he ever needed them, he could return to take them.

James Lone made a full circuit of the base without being detected.

He was now confident that no one here could sense enemies hiding within the rock.

This realization eased his mind considerably.

Along the way, he noted several points of interest, such as the spiral tunnel at the lowest level. It extended far deeper than his 100-meter perception range, leading to an unknown destination.

He also noticed a few individuals who caught his attention.

One of them was a female ability user on night duty whose willpower bubble was extraordinarily strong and colorful.

Of course, it didn't compare to James Lone's, but it was far superior to anyone else's he had seen.

This made her the most willful person he'd encountered besides himself.

Finally, James Lone reached the explosion-proof glass compartments where the ability fruits were stored.

Holy hell!

"Poison gas, landmines, flamethrowers..."

James Lone "saw" numerous defensive mechanisms.

There were also ability users and soldiers standing guard in the hallway. Clearly, the base valued this area's security highly.

James Lone positioned himself beneath the compartments and "saw" the Enlightenment Fruits just above him.

The compartments were monitored by flashing red security cameras.

If he reached out, he would definitely be caught on camera.

Destroying the cameras might trigger an alarm, making things even more dangerous.

"There's no choice—I'll have to grab them by force."

James Lone opened a portal, then extended his hand from the ground to pluck the Enlightenment Fruits.

One fruit secured!

He stored it in his personal space.

Two fruits secured!

That, too, went into his space.

After successfully acquiring the fruits, James Lone immediately sank back into the ground, cautiously scanning his surroundings.

The area was as quiet as before.

No one noticed?

James Lone finally gained a full understanding of the base's defenses.

The security here was primarily designed to deter ordinary humans, with little consideration for ability users.

Or perhaps there were simply too many types of abilities for the base to predict someone could phase through walls.

In any case, their defenses are useless against me!

"Since that's the case..."

James Lone grew bolder, deciding to investigate the people who had piqued his interest earlier.

First, he wanted to observe the strong-willed woman.

James Lone stopped by the armory to change into a soldier's uniform before making his way toward her, moving cautiously through the rock.

In the underground research facility, Olivia Brooks was on duty.

With so few ability users in the base, everyone had to work long hours, and female ability users were no exception.

Olivia Brooks leaned against her chair, half-asleep.

This lounge was exclusively for ability users.

The soldiers on duty had to remain outside and were strictly prohibited from entering without permission.

Suddenly, a wave of inexplicable dread jolted Olivia awake.

She opened her eyes and saw a seemingly ordinary soldier walking past the window.

The soldier glanced at her casually. He was somewhat handsome.

But in Olivia Brooks's eyes, he might as well have been a prehistoric beast!

This "soldier" had... 1, 2, 3... 9... 9 abilities!

Olivia Brooks's entire body began to tremble.

She immediately realized this man was absolutely not from the base!

The most powerful ability user in the base had only four abilities.

This man was an incredibly strong infiltrator!