Inside the box lay a gemstone, deep emerald green. The moment it touched open air, it gave off a faint, glowing pulse of green light, then faded just as quickly into stillness. Thora froze for a second, then picked it up, holding it in her palm. Immediately, the blue light surrounding her soulstone surged to life. "Thora! That energy is insane!" Amie's tail was wagging with excitement in her mind. "Our ability just spiked—big time! Even my power feels stronger!" Thora's eyes flickered with joy. For werewolves with abilities, wolf power formed the physical core—fueling strength and speed—while ability was a mental extension, unlocking unique supernatural skills. The two could function independently, like when Amie was dormant, and Thora still relied on enhanced strength and speed powered solely by her ability to stand toe-to-toe with awakened werewolves. But when combined, they could unleash devastating results. And the stronger the ability, the more efficiently it could channel wolf power. If this had appeared in the black market during the apocalypse era, blood would've spilled in droves. She hadn't expected this to be the secret hidden behind that key. In this era, true ability users were so rare, there weren't even official records of them. How had Grandpa gotten his hands on something like this? Did he even know what it really was? Original Thora hadn't awakened her wolf spirit, and she definitely hadn't shown signs of any ability. There's no way Grandpa could've predicted this future. Maybe he just knew it was valuable, without knowing why?And as for those who were after the key ... Thora's gaze turned cold and focused. No use overthinking it. The stone was in her hands now. Whatever came next, she'd deal with it eventually. She looped a cord around the green gem and tucked it against her skin. The cool touch sent a sharp wave of clarity through her body, insantly sharpening her senses. She focused. Several large pieces of furniture around the room floated into the air, gliding smoothly into new positions. This time, her ability held for a full 10 minutes, and she didn't even feel winded. Thora released her ability, the objects settling gently back into place. A rare, satisfied smile crossed her face. The ability-enhancing effect of the stone could only be triggered once. After that, it became inert, useless to her body. Now, to her, it was just an ordinary stone.But it still had value. It could be used to bait out whoever was after it. ... Darius didn't waste time. That same day, he had the training system and equipment delivered to the base. Thora immediately ordered everyone to start VR training. At first, the squad was hyped. The gear looked cool, and they thought it'd feel like playing some next-level combat sim, fast-paced and fun. One round later, that excitement was gone. Screw "fun". This system made Thora's usual training look like warm-ups. It was more intense, more painful, and way more brutal. "All of you, listen up!" Thora's voice rang out across the training field. "For the next month, you're doing eight hours of outdoor training every day, same standards as before. No exceptions. And on top of that, six additional hours of VR training. Got it?" "Yes!" Everyone stood at attention, hands behind their backs, voices sharp in unison. The second the briefing ended, they jumped into action, training at full throttle. Thora hadn't spelled it out, but every single one of them knew that in one month, something bigger was coming. A new battlefield. A new level. And when it arrived, they had to be ready—or risk dragging their brothers, and their boss, down with them. Watching the team's intensity, Thora nodded in approval. As expected, nothing boosted efficiency like tech. "Luke," she said, turning to where he was analyzing the VR system, "run a scan on all active black-market organizations in Chaules. Especially any thief syndicates." Luke narrowed his eyes. "Thief syndicates?"Thora pulled a bullet from her pocket and tossed it to him. "And check where this came from, too." It was the same bullet she'd pulled from Darius's bulletproof vest.