Chapter 215: Deserted…

Bruce stood before the gate, hand resting lightly against the metal.

Just before opening it, a thought crossed his mind.

He turned back slightly and looked at Lily. “Did Sophie visit while I was gone?” he asked calmly. “Or contact you or Mom in the past three days?”

Lily blinked, then shook her head. “No.”

The answer came too easily.

Bruce’s brows knit together almost imperceptibly.

’That’s unlike her.’

During the days he had been in the Nether Realm, Sophie would have tried to contact him. And if she couldn’t reach him, she would have come here. She knew where he lived. She knew Lily. She knew Lucy.

’For her to do neither, Something must have happened.’ Bruce exhaled slowly and let the thought settle without letting it show. He turned back to Lily and smiled faintly.

“Alright,” he said. “I’ll be back later.”

Lily smiled brightly in return. “Goodbye, big brother Bruce.”

Then, as if remembering something important, she added quickly, “Are you going to see big sister Sophie?”

“Yes.”

“Tell her I said hi.”

“I will.”

That seemed to satisfy her.

Bruce opened the gate and stepped out.

Behind him, Lily raised her hand and waved until he was a few steps away, then closed the gate carefully. Ash hovered just behind her, silent this time, watching Bruce until he was out of sight.

The moment the gate shut behind him, Bruce’s expression changed.

He frowned.

Then he ran.

The ground shattered beneath his feet as he accelerated, his SS Rank speed erupting in full. The wind screamed past him, the world blurring as he shot forward like a living shockwave, direction locked firmly toward the Reign family region.

It was far.

For anyone else.

For him, it was barely a walk.

As the distance collapsed beneath his stride, Bruce’s awareness expanded outward instinctively. Tens of kilometers unfolded before him, streets, districts, roads, forests, mapped not by sight, but by presence.

And that was when he noticed it.

’Empty.’

The towns and cities bordering the Reign family’s territory were deserted. Streets lay silent. Buildings stood intact but lifeless. No movement. No crowds. No ambient hum of daily life.

Bruce’s frown deepened.

Activating Life Glance, he scanned again.

There were people.

But they were all hidden.

Deep underground.

Shelters. Reinforced basements. Underground zones designed for emergencies.

The sight stirred a memory.

’So today we were in class, right, and we were sparring like normal, and then suddenly the instructor shouted that we had to go underground because beasts were coming!’ Lily’s voice echoed faintly in his mind.

Bruce narrowed his eyes.

’Was there a dungeon outbreak here?’ he thought

His awareness swept outward again, sharper this time, but he found nothing. No active dungeon. No spatial instability. No lingering signatures strong enough to justify this level of evacuation.

That made it worse.

’If there’s no dungeon outbreak, Then why are they hiding?’

The thought settled heavily in his chest.

’And is this connected… to Sophie not contacting my family?’

Too many things didn’t add up.

Bruce clicked his tongue softly and increased his speed even further, the sound barrier breaking behind him once more as he tore toward the Reign family region.

Whatever was happening…

He was about to find out.

And instinct told him he wouldn’t like the answer.

At some point, curiosity got the better of him.

Bruce slowed abruptly, coming to a complete stop beside a deserted road. His awareness had brushed against a lone presence there, a man standing near the roadside, glancing around repeatedly as if expecting something to appear at any moment.

A mana taxi. The man was expecting one, but the road was dry.

The man didn’t notice Bruce until he was already close.

Bruce stepped into view and spoke calmly. “Why does everywhere look so deserted? Is something wrong?”

The man flinched slightly, then turned, eyes scanning Bruce from head to toe. There was a strange mix of fear and disbelief in his expression.

“Do you live under a rock?” he asked bluntly.

Then he sighed and shook his head. “Never mind. You look young. Got a lot of years ahead of you. So let me tell you this, whether you listen or not is up to you.”

He leaned back slightly, lowering his voice instinctively. “I don’t know if the Reign family is cursed… or if it’s the entire northern district of the Valkrin Kingdom that’s cursed as a whole. But Reignland has had more than a dozen dungeon spawns in the last few days.”

Bruce’s eyes sharpened.

“And there are rumors,” the man continued, “that an SSS ranked dungeon appeared as well. They’re trying to keep it quiet, but everyone knows. Even a Great Ancient Family has limits. No matter how much manpower they have, they can’t handle something like that forever.”

He swallowed.

“Just yesterday, the SSS dungeon broke out.”

The words hung heavy in the air.

“After that, people panicked. Towns and regions near Reignland started evacuating immediately. Anyone who could leave, left. Those who couldn’t went underground.” He gestured vaguely around them. “That’s why everything looks like this.”

The man glanced down the empty road again, irritation creeping into his fear. “I’ve been waiting here for minutes, but no mana taxi’s coming. No one wants to get close anymore.”

He looked back at Bruce, eyes earnest now. “Take my advice. Leave. If the Reign family can’t handle it, it’ll only take a few hours before the beasts from that dungeon start reaching towns thousands of kilometers away.”

It was clear he’d been holding this in for a while.

The words spilled out unchecked, as if he just needed someone, anyone, to hear them.

Bruce frowned.

Then, without another word, he vanished.

The ground exploded beneath his feet as he accelerated instantly, the shockwave tearing through the air. Wind roared outward, snapping the man’s hair back violently as Bruce blurred into the distance, his form reduced to a streak of force racing straight toward Reignland.

The man staggered back a step, eyes wide.

He could only stare at the empty road in stunned silence, the echo of displaced air still lingering where Bruce had been standing just a heartbeat earlier.

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