Hearing his remark, Emily was confused at first, but she quickly realized what Alex meant.
Her eyes turned solemn, looking at the crystalline building around them.
"What kind of missions do you think I undertook as a Hunter?
Even though Mom made it so I cannot take any dangerous missions, it doesn't mean it's all easy, brother. Not only have I seen many atrocities, but some of my colleagues also died in front of me."
Alex patted her head. "It's been hard on you, Emily."
Emily shook her head. "It's not. Whatever father faces now is worse than this.
Aunt Olivia, Aunt Quartz, and even Zold face worse things than me. What I do is nothing much."
"Don't sell yourself short, Emily. It's still great progress from that timid girl who cried all the time to an experienced, seasoned hunter like you," Alex said with a chuckle.
Then, another voice reached their ears, making them turn their heads over their shoulders.
"Both of you are still as close as ever," Olivia said with a smile.
"How are they, Aunt?"
"They are alright now, but we need to rest for at least a while before they can move again."
"That's good then. In that time, we can explore the ruin. Maybe we will find some clues about the truth of the dungeon."
Olivia looked around the area, and a small part of it was already cleared of sand by Petricia's diligent work.
"What truth? At this point, it's already confirmed, Alex. Just look at all this structure. I am one hundred percent sure this is just another planet."
Alex nodded. "That part is already confirmed, but we still don't know how the dungeon came into being.
Just think about this, big sis. How far is this planet from ours, and how many light-years? But somehow, with the dungeon, we can travel to here in a flash.
Just what kind of technology is this?
If we really have this, why not use it for our benefit, for example, teleporting directly to the red zone or even those new black zones that are filled with mystery."
Olivia thought about it. The Hunter's Association put a lot of effort and sacrifice into fighting back against the invaders.
With how long the dungeon has existed now, she wouldn't believe the Association has no idea how the dungeon works. They just hide this from the public to avoid chaos.
"That just means this portal was created outside of their means, Alex. If they could control it, they would just create it somewhere far from civilization."
"I don't think it's that simple, Sis. There is another possibility. After all, The hunter association was only created after things became worse.
Who's to say this portal isn't an experiment from another nation?
They choose to do it in another country out of political interest in case something goes wrong. Others will pay for their fault; if it's a success, they will just pack up and leave.
But something happened, and then things grew out of their control.
Without any choice, they then decided to create the hunter association to wipe their own ass and bail."
After the incident, many country leaders resigned, and some were even decimated to oblivion; they say it's to take responsibility, but in Alex's mind, they are just escaping from responsibility.
When the Hunter Association was formed, every country lost its right to own military force; everything was now controlled by the Association.
"That's also possible, but does that matter, Alex?"
"For you, it might not, Sis, but for me, it does," Alex said with a somber tone.
With the burden on his shoulders, he knew he would get involved with whatever his planet was facing now, red zones, dark zones. He will need to get to the bottom of it. There are no other ways around this.
Although, if worse comes to worse, he could send his loved one to Mingyue's world, it still won't work for him.
Hearing his words, Olivia felt a hurt in her heart. She moved closer to Alex and then knocked him on the head.
"What even does that word mean? It matters for you, but not for me?" Olivia said with a stern tone.
Alex didn't understand why Olivia did that, but he didn't ask her out loud because he could see she was hurting.
He thought carefully, choosing what words to say next since he didn't want to hurt her further.
Alex then looked at Emily, silently asking for her help. But Emily's lips curled into a smirk.
He knew she wouldn't help him.
Seeing Alex still silent, Olivia asked again, "Why silent? Explain to me what that means?"
"Well… that is…" Alex struggled to choose the right words, but suddenly, the building they were staying at started to glow in a dim blue color, surprising everyone.
They quickly turned alert, looking at the area, while Alex looked down at the glowing building.
Even though the map doesn't show any other monsters in the area, Alex still felt wary.
Who knows if another monster has the same skill as the desert Loch Ness they just faced.
Alex then put his hand on the surface. Before, it felt smooth and cold, but now it felt warm to the touch.
After some time passed and nothing more changed, he than said, "I think we can drop our guard now. It's probably just the crystal's unique attribute."
Emily let out a relieved sigh. "Thank God. I don't want to meet something like that monster again."
"I will check on the others to make sure they are alright."
Olivia said while moving toward the camp, but not before leaving another remark. "We are not done, Alex!"
This made Emily let out a chuckle. "Bro, you are really dumb! Or Dense! Or dumb! Well, it doesn't matter. Both still mean you are ignorant!"
"And you are a traitor. Why are you not even helping me?"
"Because that is not for me to intervene. It's between you and Aunt Olivia."