Chapter 35: Chapter35-Trust Caelan — No Total Wipe!
Caelan’s [Eye of Insight] had another function—ultra-long-range detection.
When he raised his head and looked into the distance, he immediately noticed that Moon Shell Valley was filled with danger.
By contrast, although the Endless Mountains looked perilous on the surface, there were actually no major threats lurking there.
Caelan even spotted traces left behind by another supply convoy in Moon Shell Valley.
Those traces made one thing painfully clear—
That convoy had already met a tragic end.
"Caelan, what are you thinking about?"
Seeing that Caelan neither spoke nor moved, standing frozen in place, Winston stepped forward to ask.
For some reason, Winston had always felt that Caelan was an exceptionally powerful awakener.
He had been waiting for Caelan to voice his opinion—but since Caelan remained silent, Winston took the initiative.
Caelan snapped back to his senses.
He opened his mouth, originally intending to share the information he had obtained.
But then he hesitated.
If he said it outright, others might not believe him.
So he decided to find a pretext.
At that moment, his eyes lit up, and he spoke:
"Winston, I just observed the area and noticed signs of human activity in Moon Shell Valley."
Winston was a very sharp person.
The moment he heard that, he immediately grasped the core issue.
If there were footprints or traces of people in Moon Shell Valley, then it meant there was a high chance danger was hiding there.
After all, in recent times, the only people likely to enter Moon Shell Valley were transport convoys.
Realizing this, Winston looked at Caelan with admiration.
"Caelan, that’s incredible."
Caelan replied calmly,
"I can’t be sure either. It’s just a suspicion."
In truth, for Caelan, choosing either route wouldn’t have made much difference.
But because Alyssa was present, he now wanted even more to successfully join Ironclad Legion.
He was extremely curious about the relationship between his lazy cousin and Alyssa.
"Caelan, I think your suspicion makes perfect sense."
Winston scratched his head and immediately chose to report the information to the reception officer.
The moment the officer learned of this, he took it very seriously and quickly organized a long-range investigation toward Moon Shell Valley.
When they confirmed that there were indeed signs of human activity there, everyone’s expressions turned grave.
Because now—
They had no choice left but to enter the Endless Mountains.
Even so, some people still remained doubtful.
Compared to the relative familiarity of Moon Shell Valley, the Endless Mountains represented complete uncertainty.
"I don’t think footprints necessarily mean anything. They could’ve been left by people from earlier missions."
"At least we know Moon Shell Valley well. The Endless Mountains are completely unknown to us."
There were objections—but far more people chose to support Caelan’s judgment.
"I agree with going into the Endless Mountains. If we already know there’s danger ahead, why walk straight into it?"
Because opinions were divided, and because this decision affected everyone’s survival as well as whether the supplies would reach the front line, the reception officer hesitated.
After a brief internal struggle, he decided to seek Alyssa’s opinion.
From a certain perspective, Alyssa was the true leader of this convoy.
"Miss Alyssa, what do you think?"
Alyssa frowned slightly as she looked at the arguing crowd.
"Enough."
"We shouldn’t fear the unknown—nor should we refuse to change course when we already know where the danger lies."
"Besides, no matter which path we choose, we still have to complete the delivery."
"So for now, we’ll follow Caelan’s judgment and go through the Endless Mountains. Everyone stay alert."
Alyssa’s decision wasn’t made because Caelan occasionally looked her way—
It was because she genuinely agreed with his reasoning.
Once Alyssa made her call, the arguments immediately died down.
Everyone trusted her.
Without further delay, the convoy turned toward the Endless Mountains.
About twenty minutes later, the convoy entered the mountain range.
At first, everyone was extremely tense.
But after traveling several kilometers into the mountains without encountering any danger at all, their nerves gradually began to relax.
Even so, most people didn’t credit Caelan.
Instead, they lavished praise on Alyssa’s "decisive leadership."
Winston, walking beside Caelan, couldn’t help speaking up when he heard this.
"Caelan was the one who brought it up first! You can’t just praise Alyssa!"
...
It took the convoy a full two hours to pass through the Endless Mountains.
Even after that, similar route-selection problems continued to appear.
Fortunately, Caelan always made timely judgments, repeatedly steering the team away from catastrophic danger.
After the initial skepticism, even the most stubborn people now looked to Caelan for guidance before making decisions.
Even Alyssa’s gaze toward Caelan now carried a hint of curiosity.
But she didn’t have time to investigate further.
After everything they’d encountered, she could already feel how difficult this mission truly was.
No one knew how the frontline situation looked now.
Just the journey alone had been filled with flesh abominations.
If not for Caelan choosing the correct path every single time—preventing total annihilation—
They would’ve already failed the mission... or even lost their lives.
Just then, a violent explosion suddenly erupted ahead.
BOOOOM!!
The ground itself trembled faintly.
They were clearly very close to the frontline now.
Everyone’s nerves snapped taut again, and they quickened their pace.
On the frontline battlefield, blood carpeted the ground.
Rotting flesh and severed limbs were piled together, forming mound after mound.
And yet—even so—the fighting had not stopped.
Wave after wave of flesh abominations continued to crash against the already crumbling defensive line.
One awakener fought until his strength gave out.
His weapon was knocked from his hands—
And in the next instant, he was swallowed and torn apart by countless flesh abominations, until not even bones remained.
"Hold the line! We must hold the line—no retreat!"
"C4 sector has fallen! Send reinforcements immediately!"
"We can’t—our manpower isn’t enough!!"