As long as you have the courage, fierce ghosts go on maternity leave.

Alexander, unfazed by fatigue, was escorted back to his tent by the two women. Politely declining their offer of a Thai massage and a relaxing spa, he preferred solitude and closed the tent’s entrance behind him.

As the team leader, he enjoyed the privilege of having his own tent, a luxury compared to other soldiers who had to sleep outdoors or crammed together.

This privacy gave Alexander the opportunity to absorb the corpses of the black beetles undisturbed and conduct his experiments. Loosening his military belt and pulling out his tucked-in shirt, a cascade of beetles’ corpses fell to the ground, numbering at least three hundred. These were the ones he had stealthily slipped into his sleeve while loading beetle corpses into his gun.

Picking up a beetle corpse and placing it in his mouth, Alexander began operating the Ghost Nerve. The beetle corpse, tasteless, transformed into a surge of Ghost Energy, flowing into his body and merging with the faint presence of Ghost Energy already within.

With barely a point of Ghost Energy initially, it started growing rapidly. The larger the base, the faster the integration. Ten minutes later, the first black beetle corpse was fully absorbed. A minute after, the second beetle increased the total Ghost Energy to evil spirit level. Five minutes later, a hundred corpses were absorbed, boosting the Ghost Energy to the level of a Fierce ghost.

The remaining beetle corpses were all carefully selected Ferocious ghost level ones. This was no small feat, as most of the beetles in the surge were at the evil spirit level, with Fercious ghost level ones likely less than one percent.

Alexander had to deliberately allow them in to acquire these. As for fierce level beetles, he had only seen two, both killed by Atos. To avoid suspicion, he had to forgo them.

Another quarter of an hour passed, and Alexander successfully absorbed all the beetle corpses, reaching the Fierce level and was just a step away from reaching the Soldier level.

Having attained such a level of Ghost Energy, Alexander was confident in his ability to defeat any entity at the Soldier or even General level, thanks to his experience and control skills. However, his expression was not one of joy, but rather, one of deep contemplation.

A crucial decision lay before him: whether to share the Ghost Nerve with Atos and disseminate it throughout this world. Given the dire state of this world, even more desolate than Earth, pondering over this seemed unnecessary.

He couldn’t stay in this world forever, especially considering the bleak situation where only one main base and ten defense bases remained, sheltering a mere three hundred thousand survivors.

In such a scenario, hoarding the Ghost Nerve seemed pointless. Even if this world lacked beetle corpses above the Ferocious level, once Alexander regained his full strength, he could roam freely. However, if he couldn’t return and humanity was extinguished, his lone survival would be meaningless.

The decision was clear: the Ghost Nerve must be shared, and publicly so, enabling everyone to gain sufficient strength. The question was when to do this. Should he share it now or wait until he had amassed enough strength to rival Atos?

Alexander eventually decided against further hesitation. His initial reluctance stemmed from concerns about Atos’s character and the fear that Atos might harbor greed for the Ghost Nerve, potentially leading to Alexander’s elimination. This made him consider waiting until reaching a Prince or General level of power before approaching Atos.

However, obtaining the necessary quantity of beetle corpses secretly would take an indeterminate amount of time, and there was the risk of the base falling before then. Therefore, Alexander resolved to disclose the Ghost Nerve immediately, enabling him to openly enhance his strength with the beetle corpses.

Regardless of the reasons for his presence in this world, strengthening himself and the surviving human population was undoubtedly the right course of action.

In the center of the camp stood a simple concrete building, modest in comparison to the surrounding tents but still sizable, covering about a hundred square meters.

It was not so much a luxury for Atos as it was a necessity; the room served not only as his living quarters but also as the control center for the defense towers outside.

The interior of the room was spartan, with instruments that Alexander couldn’t comprehend and a simple steel bed frame at the center. There were no guards outside, and the door stood open, allowing free entry.

Given Atos’ Prince-level strength, no one in the camp posed a threat to him, and with only two factions in the entire world, it was unlikely anyone would come here to cause trouble, unless they were utterly mad.

"Alexander, what brings you here?" Atos, not resting, sat on the edge of his bed, surrounded by a pile of black beetle corpses.

"I’ve come to give something to Commander Atos," Alexander replied, picking up a black beetle corpse casually.

"What is it?" Atos asked with a hint of curiosity. He held a favorable impression of Alexander, especially after witnessing his extraordinary marksmanship. Even with his Prince-level Ghost Energy, Atos admitted that he couldn’t match Alexander’s skill, despite being the top marksman in his military region before the apocalypse.

"Something that could change our current situation, giving the survivors a fighting chance," Alexander explained, tossing the beetle corpse lightly, activating the Ghost Energy within him.

"You’ve become an Awakener?" Atos looked at Alexander in surprise.

The term "Awakener" refers to individuals possessing the innate ability to absorb Ghost Energy without the need for external aids like the Ghost Nerve. They can directly consume beetle corpses to assimilate Ghost Energy.

Such individuals are exceedingly rare; among all the human survivors, there are only fifteen, with five stationed at the main base and the rest commanding the ten defense bases. Atos is one of these elite few.

Quickly sensing the Ferocious-level Ghost Energy fluctuations in Alexander, Atos stood up, astonished.

"No, this can’t be. You just became an Awakener and already have level four energy fluctuations? How is that possible!"

In the Horror World context, level four corresponds to the Ferocious level.

Atos was certain that Alexander had only recently become an Awakener, as there was no need to hide one’s abilities in this world. The dire nature of the battles they faced left no room for pretense or concealment. This revelation left Atos both shocked and bewildered.

In their world, without the Ghost Nerve, Awakeners had to resort to the most rudimentary method of consuming beetle corpses and assimilating Ghost Energy through their physical constitution.

This process was incredibly inefficient, with most of the Ghost Energy dissipating. Less than one percent of it could be truly absorbed.

This meant that even an Awakener had to consume at least a hundred evil spirit-level beetle corpses to elevate their Ghost Energy to the evil spirit level. Moreover, the absorption rate was significantly slower compared to the Ghost Nerve.

This explained why Atos, despite having access to countless beetle corpses, had only reached the Prince level. After all, absorbing energy from a million beetle corpses was a daunting task.

"Is this what you mentioned? A method to rapidly enhance the strength of Awakeners?" Atos asked, his voice tinged with excitement.

"Correct! But..." Alexander nodded, then added with a smile, "It’s not just for Awakeners, but for all human survivors."

"All human survivors..." Atos repeated softly, then his eyes lit up with intense enthusiasm. "Can it make ordinary people become Awakeners too?"

This possibility was tremendously significant for the current state of humanity.