Rebirth: 100 Days Before Doomsday - Chapter 291

Chapter 291: Aftermath of the First Hunt
The ruins of Lakeshire City became silent once more, but this time, the silence was different. It wasn’t the eerie stillness of a place abandoned by time, but the heavy quiet of victory.

The corpses of eight Class 2 Monster Beasts were sprawled across the shattered streets, their massive forms still radiating the lingering traces of whatever energy they possessed. Their blood was soaking into the snow covering the ground.

And standing among them were the warriors of the Starfall Isle. Some were bruised, bloodied, exhausted, but all pretty much alive and safe.

Aleena was the first to break the silence that took over after Grace finished speaking.

“Well,” she said, wiping sweat from her brow, “I don’t know about you guys, but I think we just made history.”

A breathless chuckle rippled through the group. Though they knew she was exaggerating, they knew what they had just done. They had fought their first real battle against the Monster Beasts. And they had won.

Grace allowed them this moment, watching as tge team exchanged weary smiles, a pat on the shoulder, a high-five, or a hug. They needed this victory.

But she also knew it was only the first step.

“Don’t get too comfortable,” she finally spoke, keeping her voice steady but firm. “The battle was just the beginning. The real work starts now.”

The team turned to her, and their expressions sobered. They had proven they could fight, but there were still hundreds, maybe thousands, of Monster Beasts out there.

“Boss is right,” Kevin said “We need to analyze what we did right, what we did wrong, and how we can improve. This was a controlled mission. We had intel, preparation, and an escape plan if things went south. Next time? We might not be so lucky, especially since she will not be with us to save our asses.”

Grace looked at him approvingly. “Exactly.”

She turned her gaze to the fallen beasts. “First, we harvest what we can. Their bodies hold valuable resources – energy Cores, beast hides, and bones strong enough to be reforged into weapons. We are going to waste nothing.”

Maven cracked his knuckles as he spoke, “I’ll handle the explosives. If we can’t take the whole body, we should at least destroy what we leave behind. We can’t let other monsters feast on them and grow stronger.”

Grace nodded. “Good thinking. Hans, reinforce the area with a temporary formation. We don’t want to attract unwanted attention while we work.”

As her team moved efficiently to complete their tasks, she stepped back, observing them carefully.

This mission had been designed to teach, to test the team’s abilities in a real fight against Monster Beasts. And as much as she wanted to believe in their strength, she had noticed flaws.

Each one of them had potential. They had the will to fight, they had trained for it, but they still needed to improve as they lacked experience.

She sighed as realization hit her – even after all these years, their training was far from over.

By dusk, the bodies of the Monster Beasts had been dealt with.

Silas and Veronica collected the Energy Cores. These were small glowing orbs found deep within the monsters’ bodies – the source of their power. These could be refined into energy for weapons, barriers, or even human cultivation.

The rest of the team salvaged other useful materials. Even the sharpest beast fangs could be reforged into daggers or arrows.

Once everything was secured, Grace gave the signal. “Time to move.”

Since Davian didn’t accompany them on this mission, a portal wasn’t even an option. But Grace had her teleportation to bring everyone back safely to Starfall Isle.

As soon as they returned, word of their victory spread like wildfire.

Warriors and civilians alike gathered near the academy grounds, murmuring excitedly.

“Did they really defeat a whole group of Monster Beasts?”

“I heard they fought Class 2 Beasts!”

“Does this mean we can start fighting back?”

The atmosphere was buzzing with something rare in these dark times – hope and excitement.

At that moment, a large digital screen suddenly appeared in thin air, and a video of the fight against the beasts started playing on it. This same video was sent to the Great Allaince for study purpose.

2025 made sure to cross check the video before playing it for the citizens of Starfall Isle, and also before sending a copy of it to the Alliance. After all, not everyone needed to know what kind of items Grace and her team collected from the fallen Monster beasts.

– – –

The success of the first hunt triggered a chain reaction.

Within weeks, other squads were formed and trained. More missions were planned, targeting weaker Monster Beasts at first, before gradually moving toward stronger threats.

Weapons were refined using harvested Energy Cores. New battle tactics were developed.

And at the heart of it all was Grace.

She was doing her best to help her three bases grow stronger, and at the same time, she was helping the Great Allaince in every possible way, except for sharing her deep secrets or rare resources.

It wasn’t until a month later that President Grant contacted her. He had a team of warriors ready to go out into the old ruins of the world and face the Monster Beasts. And he needed her guidance.

Once the rest of the Alliance learned about it, they wanted to be involved too so that they could learn and prepare their own teams.

Rune took over the job of keeping the three bases safe and under control in her absence, and only then did Grace was able to head to Sunspire City to meet President Grant and his team of warriors.

She had Davian, Rio, Valeska, Aleena, Kevin, Cara, Ryan, Seth, and Nina accompany her.

They arrived at the headquarters of Starship Country’s safe zone through a portal and immediately got busy with the preparations of the second hunt.

And this time, Grace picked a mission that was slightly more dangerous than the first one. Not because the team of warriors this time was stronger, but because she knew it was the right thing to do.