Cave Refuge

As more people within the group began to share their firsthand experiences or stories they had heard, the intelligence about the humanoid monsters in the camp gradually became more abundant under the united efforts of the group members.

When the group leader gathered and summarized the information contributed by everyone, the group members finally gained an understanding of the monsters lurking in the camp.

However, the resemblance of these monsters to humans was too high; aside from some differences in the throat area, other body parts and organs were very similar to humans and virtually indistinguishable.

Normally, very few people possessed an ability like Dong Tianyu's Divine Sense, which could penetrate the surface of the skin to examine the internal conditions of the body. Although it was not impossible for an Awakener to have a similar Super Ability to Dong Tianyu's Divine Sense, such cases were extremely rare and not widespread.

Therefore, under the collective brainstorming of the group, they actually came up with an alternative solution. However, at that time, the camp lacked the special materials required to make that device; even though Madeline had already mentioned ordering many related materials in the group, there was no delivery service that could deliver anywhere at that time, and obtaining those materials required going to pick them up in person.

At that moment, Dong Tianyu encountered Madeline leading people out of the camp; they were actually going to pick up goods from the seller, and fortunately, the seller's location wasn't too far from the camp. Otherwise, it would have taken Madeline a significant amount of time to bring back the purchased materials.

After the people in the living room heard about Madeline's trip outside, Madeline walked over to the coffee table, and took out something similar to a temperature gun from the Storage space.

Dong Tianyu casually grabbed one, played with it in his hand for a while, and then asked, "Is this the inspection device you mentioned? How do you use this thing, and are the results accurate?"

In response to Dong Tianyu's question, Madeline didn't directly answer but casually picked up one from the table, pressed it against his own throat, and then a red dot shot out from the aiming scope above the barrel.

Madeline shook the device around his throat a few times, and then a small green light lit up on the rear side of the device similar to a temperature gun.

Seeing Madeline's series of actions, Dong Tianyu also curiously used the device to scan his own throat, and the result was the same as Madeline's.

Seeing the result Dong Tianyu got after his investigation, Madeline first breathed a sigh of relief; after all, under normal circumstances, none of the people in the room combined had combat capabilities as high as Dong Tianyu's.

Having confirmed that the person with the highest combat ability was one of their own, Madeline naturally felt much more at ease, and then noticed that Madeline didn't put the device back on the table but handed it to his father.

Seeing Madeline's action, Master Ye was initially stunned, but then seemed to understand Madeline's intention, didn't get angry, and very naturally took the detector from Madeline's hand, following Madeline's actions to scan his own throat a few times.

After the green light on the detector lit up, Master Ye handed the detector to his spouse. Just then, seeing Master Ye's action, Mr. Thompson glanced at Dong Tianyu, who was still fiddling with the detector in his hand, didn't say much, and picked up a new detector from the table, then proceeded to check both himself and Mrs. Thompson.

After everyone used the detector to confirm their human identity, the caution that Madeline had been harboring gradually relaxed.

"Mom, Dad, Uncle Thompson, Aunt Thompson, although our home is safe right now, we still don't know how many such monsters are lurking in the camp. So lock up the doors and windows when you're at home; the people who came back with me have already started to gather the Guard Squad. Dong Tianyu and I will join forces to clear out the monsters in the camp."

Hearing Madeline say this, Dong Tianyu, who was seated nearby, suddenly paused. He had thought he would stay and protect his family, but unexpectedly, Madeline had roped him into this task.

Just when Dong Tianyu was about to speak in rebuttal, he heard a rhythmic knocking sound from outside the door: thump~thump~thump.

Hearing this, Madeline immediately stood up, and swiftly pulled Dong Tianyu, who was still fiddling with the detector in his hands, to his feet. She then quickly stored the detector on the table back into the storage space, and forcefully dragged Dong Tianyu to the door.

Upon opening the door, just as Madeline had said, the person knocking was one of the group who had originally gone out with her. Seeing that it was Madeline opening the door, he immediately reported, "Report, Captain, twenty members of the Guard Squad are now assembled both inside and outside the courtyard, awaiting your next instruction."

Hearing the report, Madeline shouted to everyone inside the room, "Dong Tianyu and I need to attend to important matters first. It's getting late and we don't know how long we'll be busy, so don't wait for us to eat or rest."

Without waiting for a response from those inside the room, she pulled Dong Tianyu and the Guard Squad Captain, and left together. The Guard Squad Captain, who was the last to leave, thoughtfully closed the door gently behind him.

At this moment, the members of the Guard Squad standing in the courtyard were those who originally lived on Madeline's Companion Spiritual Treasure.

After a series of events, Madeline understood that without military protection, her business could not run smoothly. Therefore, after the natural disaster struck, she began recruiting and training suitable personnel early on. Although several successive natural disasters had heavily impacted her Guard Squad, Madeline continued to recruit new members, diligently screening and training them whenever the opportunity arose.

This was why, after the destruction of the third water base in Magic City, she was able to quickly assemble and take control of a fleet.

Although there were only twenty-one members of the Guard Squad in the courtyard, this was already quite an achievement. It's important to note that during the natural disaster, there had been a hundred-member Guard Squad stationed just on her Companion Spiritual Treasure.

However, after the natural disaster subsided, perhaps due to more avenues of retreat becoming available, some Guard Squad members' attitudes changed. Moreover, following the Imperial Court's conscription order, the camp had undergone a split. Although not everyone followed those who caused turmoil and left,

due to that incident, some people were still internally conflicted. Though they neither spoke openly nor left, their attitudes unmistakably changed.

After realizing this, Madeline naturally lost trust in those individuals, hence she did not summon them this time, completely excluding these treacherous elements.

Watching the twenty-one absolutely trustworthy Guard Squad members standing before her, Madeline released Dong Tianyu's hand but didn't speak. She scrutinized everyone carefully with a discerning gaze before finally saying,

"I believe you all are aware of the situation at the base, and know that I recently returned from a trip outside. The reason I went out was to find a solution to this matter."

Then, Madeline took a detector from the storage space and walked up to a squad member at the rightmost end of the front row. She directly aimed the detector at the man's throat to scan.

Seeing Madeline holding something similar to a gun directed at his throat, the man showed a scared expression in his eyes and subconsciously made a small dodging movement, but the motion was minimal and he did not argue or plead.

Seeing his behavior at that moment, Madeline, still expressionless, felt very satisfied on the inside.

As the detector moved back and forth over his throat, a green light indicating normal functioning lit up shortly afterward. Expectedly, all twenty members of the Guard Squad passed the test. As for the Guard Squad Captain, he had already experienced this device while out with Madeline earlier.