When the Mayor, the Deputy mayor, and Sungyoon went into Plu-El’s room, she was having her meal .

  After a conversation with Sungyoon, Plu-El had decided to stop fasting . Only a short while had passed since then, but her face had regained some color . Her wrists were bound, yet she was deftly eating bread .

  “Do you have more questions for me?”


  Plu-El put away her food to the side .

  The Mayor responded .

  “Is the food to your taste?”


  “It’s good . Ingredients like these can’t be acquired within the labyrinths . So it’s unimaginably good for me . ”


  “That’s good to hear . ”


  Contrary to his words, the worry was evident in the Mayor’s voice . They could no longer acquire food provisions on the Moon, and it was beyond food . Drinking water was scarce too .

  They somehow endured by rationing the food and water that had been stored in the storage Gems of several Connectors . However, each Connector had a single labyrinth run in mind when they had been storing the food . Therefore, the total food and water didn’t amount to much, and this was one of the reasons the Mayor wanted to send his people to Earth as soon as possible .

  “I’ll be direct with you . We need to know how you and your comrades managed to go down to Earth . ”


  Plu-El blinked at the Mayor’s question, then she looked toward Sungyoon .

  “Is that the reason why we are still here? You can just open a portal to Earth . ”


  “I can only open portals on the Moon . ”


  “Ah!”


  Plu-El let out an exclamation as if she had a realization .

  “You still haven’t gained mastery over the Royal Gem . It’s to be expected . You awakened it just a while ago . ”


  Some important words had come out of her mouth, and Sungyoon took a step forward .

  “It’s called the Royal Gem?”


  “Yes . The Royal Gem . I’m talking about the Gem Mr . Sungyoon possesses . The one you took from Aruwen . ”


  Sungyoon’s gaze headed toward the Gold Gem that sparkled with a red tint every now and then on his Device .

  “What’s the Royal Gem?”


  The Mayor asked the question .

  Plu-El furrowed her brows for a moment as she went over her options . In the end, she let out a long sigh and shook her head from side to side .

  “I don’t trust you guys enough to reveal such information . ”


  The Mayor groaned in frustration, but he could do nothing . Their side couldn’t completely trust Plu-El, so they had detained her in this room . In consideration of that, her response was reasonable .

  “Can you teach us how to place the portal on Earth?”


  Plu-El hadn’t been planning on holding back that information, so she replied to the Mayor’s request .

  “Mr . Sungyoon can open a portal to Earth once the Royal Gem’s abilities become stronger . I don’t know how long that will take . If you can just wait until—”


  “We can’t . ”


  The Mayor was firm in turning down that option .

  “Mmm! You asking me this question means either you have no other way of returning to Earth or it would be very difficult to pull off such a thing . Am I right?”


  “.…… You’re correct . ”


  “Then give me back my Device and Gems . ”


  The Mayor, the Deputy mayor, and Sungyoon, all gave her a nasty look .

  “Don’t look at me like that . I don’t plan on running away after attacking you guys . I need my Gem to open a portal to Earth . ”


  “You have such a Gem?”


  “It’s similar to the Royal Gem . I’ll leave it at that . ”


  Plu-El didn’t want to give a further explanation, so she shut her mouth .

  “.…… I think it would be wise to accept Ms . Plu-El’s request . ”


  Sungyoon carefully expressed his opinion, but the Mayor and the Deputy mayor looked dismayed .

  Plu-El saw their faces, and her voice sounded as if she was a bit offended .

  “It can’t be helped if you still distrust me . ”


  “No . It isn’t like that . . . ”


  The Mayor let out a long sigh .

  “We don’t have your Device and Gems . ”


  “What?”


  “We were busy evacuating people . The Device and Gems of a terrorist was the last thing on our mind . We didn’t have time to collect it . ”


  “Then my Device and Gems are . . . ”


  “In Armstrong city . ”


  Silence descended in the room for a moment .

  “Let’s think this through for a moment . ”


  Sungyoon spoke .

  “There are three plans that would allow us to get out of this place . First, we can wait for the so-called Royal Gem to get stronger . Second, we can somehow contact Earth and ask them to send spaceships . Last, we can recover Ms . Plu-El’s Device and Gems . ”


  “The first idea is a no . ”


  The Deputy mayor struck down the first escape plan .

  “We have to transport these people to Earth as soon as possible . There is a lack of food and water here . Even if we ration our supplies, we’ll run out in a week . At the latest, we have to escape within two weeks . Since we have no idea if the Gem will get stronger within two weeks, the first plan is unfeasible . ”


  Plu-El, who had been eating, looked down at the food .

  “That means we have to somehow infiltrate Armstrong city . ”


  Sungyoon stroked his chin .

  “We will have to do it whether we want to acquire a communication device or recover Ms . Plu-El’s Device and Gems . ”


  “Which is the better option, Mr . Sungyoon?”


  “I’m not sure . ”


  Sungyoon thought about the two options when the Mayor posed the question .

  “As expected, our best option will be recovering Ms . Plu-El’s Device and Gems . ”


  “That’s the safest option . ”


  The Mayor and the Deputy mayor both agreed with him .

  “Even if we do establish contact with Earth, they would have to send a massive fleet of spaceships . Moreover, it will be dangerous if any monster sees the spaceships land on the Moon . ”


  “The communication part is the problem . The communication apparatus needs electricity for it to work . That means we have to recapture a part of Armstrong city . I’m not sure if that’s possible with the force we possess . ”


  “Basically, we don’t have a choice . ”


  The words of the Mayor and the Deputy mayor revealed the brutal reality of their situation . Sungyoon agreed with their reasoning .

  ‘We just have to hope Ms . Plu-El told us the truth . ’


  “Where is Ms . Plu-El’s Device and Gems?”


  “We put it in the vault beneath the city hall . The vault key is located inside my desk’s drawer . ”


  The Mayor spoke .

  With that information, Sungyoon now knew everything he needed to .

  “Understood . We’ll move immediately . Time is not on our side . ”


  “Wait a moment . ”


  Sungyoon was about to exit the room, but the Deputy mayor got in his way .

  “Are you planning on going yourself, Mr . Sungyoon?”


  “Yes . Is that a problem?”


  “You can’t!”


  The Deputy mayor argued against Sungyoon’s plan of action .

  “What happens if you die? Only you can open the portal, and we can’t leave without it . We’ll be stranded here, and this place will become a huge prison for us . We can’t send you, Mr . Sungyoon . ”


  Sungyoon had been in a hurry, so he hadn’t thought it through . That was why he came to a stop .

  “The Deputy mayor is right . As of now, we can’t send you to do dangerous missions . You just have to keep the portal open . Didn’t you say you can open a portal to anywhere you’ve been before?”


  “Correct . ”


  “Let’s open a portal to my office, and we can send Connectors to retrieve the key . Then we can open a portal to the vault in the basement . It seems like the best course of action . ”


  The Mayor gave a rough outline of a plan .

  “That’ll be for the best . ”


  The Deputy mayor agreed with the new plan . It was clear that both the Mayor and his deputy refused to send Sungyoon on a mission . They had a point, so Sungyoon didn’t put up a fuss .

  In order to create a more detailed plan, the three of them decided to leave the room . They headed to the room that they had repurposed as a meeting room . As they left, they could hear Plu-El speak .

  “If you run into any problems, please come and visit me . I’ll help if it doesn’t compromise my people . ”


  “I will bear that in mind . ”


  Sungyoon bowed toward Plu-El, then left the room .

  After everyone left, Plu-El picked up the bread once again . As always, the bread made on Earth was very delicious .

  ***

  Woooooong!

  The portal radiated a blue glow as it appeared in front of the people .

  “As always, it’s a beautiful sight . ”


  It was as if the enormous galaxy was contracted into the portal, dyed blue, and spun in a spiral . The Deputy mayor let out an exclamation without realizing it .

  “Does everyone know the plan?”


  The Mayor had specifically chosen five Connectors . They just had to sneak out the Device and Gems, so there was no need for a large number of Connectors . In fact, a large group might be a detriment to the plan .

  “Yes! We have to avoid making contact with monsters . We should avoid fights if possible . First, we have to retrieve the vault key within the Mayor’s desk—”


  Suddenly, something interrupted the Connector that had been answering the Mayor .

  Shweeeeek!

  The portal rippled, and something flew toward the Connector . It was an enormous bone that was shaped like a sharp knife .

  Kwahng!

  “Ooh-wahk!”


  Fortunately, the Connector didn’t lose his life . The Mayor had stationed Connectors in various locations around the room just to be safe, and one of them had stepped in to block the attack .

  The Connector who had been attacked didn’t suffer many injuries . He was just surprised by it .

  Sungyoon also immediately reacted .

  Hoo-oohk!

  He canceled the portal and summoned his halberd . Then, he immediately stabbed the monster that had jumped out of the portal .

  Kwah-jee-jeek!

  The monster had lost its balance, so it couldn’t defend against the attack . Sungyoon’s halberd pierced through its back .

  Koo-uhhhhhh!

  The monster let out a scream, and the other Connectors attacked it before the monster could do anything . It died without putting up much of a fight .

  “What . . . what the hell!”


  The situation had been resolved, but the Connector was shocked by the attack . He looked as if his soul had been drained out of him .

  Every Connector who had immediately realized what had happened looked at the monster with a serious expression .

  “Is it dead?”


  “Yes . It’s completely dead . ”


  Sungyoon kicked the monster and flipped it over for the Mayor .

  The monster didn’t move at all, and soon, it disappeared to reveal a moonstone .

  “It seems there was a monster within the office . We were unlucky . ”


  The Deputy mayor said as he looked at the location where the portal had been hovering . However, Sungyoon didn’t agree with him .

  “Was it really bad luck?”


  “.…… What are you trying to say?”


  “What if monsters are guarding the important locations within Armstrong city?”


  Everyone’s face stiffened .

  “We used the portal in the open to evacuate . They know about it now . ”


  Since time was of the essence when evacuating, Sungyoon and the others hadn’t bothered to open the portal within a building . They had opened it in front of the city hall, and of course, the monsters had seen it .

  “.…… Do you think monsters were ready for us? Aren’t you getting ahead of yourself in making such assumptions?”


  Even though he said such words, the Deputy mayor sensed an ominous feeling . He reacted as if he didn’t want to believe it .

  “It’s a possibility . I hope I’m wrong, but we should open the portal in a different location . We’ll find out if my theory is true or not . It really might have been a coincidence that a monster had been inside the Mayor’s office . ”


  Sungyoon started opening his portal once again, and everyone within the room became tense . However, the outcome was the same as in the first try: a monster had shown up .

  He then opened the portal several more times, but every time, monsters kept crossing the portal . Even if a monster hadn’t appeared from the portal, Connectors found the monsters stationed nearby, and they had to immediately return through the portal .

  In the end, Sungyoon gave up on opening the portal . An unpleasant mood descended within the room .

  “It seems……”


  Sungyoon let out a deep sigh as he opened his mouth .

  “I’ll have to talk to Ms . Plu-El once again . ”