Tristan studied Ryan, feeling like he had seen him somewhere before. He put away his smoking gun and stepped closer. "Are you from Astralis?" Ryan sneered, his voice sharp as he threw the name out loud. "Yes. I'm from Astralis Empire, Ryan Cole!" Tristan's expression changed. He had heard that name before. Two years ago, Ryan had been the youngest major general of the Astralis Empire. The youngest officer at that rank ever. Their eyes met, and it was impossible to tell whether it was delayed recognition or a silent challenge. "I'm Tristan, from Astralis Empire," Tristan replied, his words short and strong. Well, what a coincidence. Ryan's eyes widened. He'd heard that name before, too. Shirley stepped a little closer, studying Ryan carefully. Seeing the sweet, pretty girl in front of him, Ryan raised an eyebrow. His old habit kicked in again—he couldn't help noticing a beautiful girl. But why did she look so familiar? "Ryan Cole? Do you know Oliver?" Shirley asked, tilting her head. Oliver? Ryan froze. He remembered a brat who loved calling Oliver Caldwell by his first name. And he remembered, years ago, he'd teased her and almost ended up paying the price for it! No wonder she looked familiar. Ryan clenched his teeth and spat out her name. "Shirley—Reed!"On the other side, Thora and the other three had already slipped into a forest. From the beginning, Number 79 didn't say a single word, except for, "She's right." Ashley, on the other hand, was much more talkative, occasionally chatting with Thora as they ran. "Boss, how do you know this path is the shortcut?" Luke asked, curious. Thora didn't hide anything. She kept running as she explained, her voice steady. "From the starting point of the previous map to the endpoint of the next one, the two routes formed a 30-degree isosceles triangle. The way we're taking is the hypotenuse—the straight line between the two points. That's why it's the shortcut." Her voice was steady, not rushed, and even while running, there wasn't a trace of heavy breathing. As she spoke, both Number 79 and Ashley looked at her at the same time. Luke suddenly understood.So it was just the principle that the straight line between two points is the shortest distance. Simple enough for a grade school math problem. But the hard part? Who could notice the pattern of the map's turns while running for six miles through such a dangerous environment? On top of that, every time the map changed, the illusions messed with their sense of direction. Luke was proud of his sense of direction, but here, it didn't help at all. Yet Thora had noticed it—and so had the two people next to her. He instinctively glanced at Number 79 and Ashley, a flash of caution in his eyes behind his glasses. "Then, Boss, will Tristan and the others figure it out?" Luke asked, worried about his teammates stuck with the main group. Thora's lips curved just a little. "Yeah, they will."Tristan had sharp instincts. Even if he noticed a little later, he would eventually figure it out. Plus, they had Dominic. Dominic was really good at measuring distances and doing precise calculations. Even if Tristan missed it, Dominic definitely wouldn't. Number 79 looked at Thora. Behind his silver mask, his eyes glowed a strange red. His lips curled, like a devil who had finally spotted his target. Suddenly, a buzzing sound resembling beating wings rose from behind them. All four of them froze for a moment. Before they could react, a storm of fire rained down from the sky! They split up instantly, barely dodging the explosions. "Micro-bombers!" Thora shouted. Above them, the sky was full of small "Red Dragonflies," about the size of a hand. They were circling tightly, automatically aiming and shooting at them as they chased.