Without wasting any time, Erick stepped forward and swiped the access card across the scanner beside the door.

A loud mechanical whir echoed through the corridor.

Heavy gears began turning behind the thick metal walls as the massive door slowly slid open. The sound alone was enough to make everyone’s nerves tighten.

"Huh...?" Ivy thought inwardly.

The moment the door began opening, a sharp pain suddenly shot through her head.

Her face paled.

A flood of disturbing images invaded her mind without warning.

Blood.

Severed limbs.

Broken bodies.

Endless screams.

The horrifying visions flashed before her eyes one after another, causing her breathing to become uneven.

Her psychic ability, which had remained dormant for a long time, had suddenly activated on its own.

"Danger..." she muttered under her breath.

Her eyes remained fixed on the opening doorway.

Thick fog and smoke poured from within the room, completely obscuring whatever lay beyond. No one could see more than a few feet inside.

Ignoring the throbbing pain in her skull, Ivy attempted to push her psychic senses further into the room.

She needed answers.

She needed to know what was waiting for them inside.

But the moment her mental energy reached the doorway, it slammed into an invisible barrier.

An isolation wall.

A powerful one.

Her psychic senses couldn’t penetrate it.

Not even a little.

"Ghk!"

A metallic taste filled her mouth.

She quickly covered her lips as blood began gathering in her mouth from the strain.

Realizing she was forcing herself too much, she immediately withdrew her psychic energy.

"What’s going on, System?" Ivy asked inwardly.

Ding!

{Host, even your psychic ability cannot sense what’s inside. There is no way for me to scan it either. As you can see, the entire room is covered by an unknown fog, and something appears to be blocking all forms of detection.}

Ivy’s expression darkened.

After taking a deep breath, she looked toward the group.

"There’s danger," she finally said, her tone unusually serious. "We can’t go in yet."

"Huh?"

Nathan stared at her before bursting into laughter.

"Are you drunk or something?" he mocked.

Several people frowned while others exchanged uncertain glances.

Nathan pointed at her with a grin.

"Or are you scared?" he continued. "Earlier, when the Captain told you to leave, you insisted on coming with us. Now you’re suddenly telling us not to enter?"

"It is extremely dangerous in there," Ivy replied firmly. "Trust me."

"Crap."

Nathan scoffed loudly and folded his arms across his chest.

"Captain, are we seriously listening to this?" he asked while turning toward Erick. "Remember why we’re here. We came all this way for resources."

His eyes shifted back toward Ivy.

"Sure, she’s useful. She found resources. She has powers. But that doesn’t mean she gets to give everyone orders."

His expression became even more disdainful.

"If she’s too scared to go in, then she can stay out here while the rest of us do our jobs."

"Nathan, wait...."

But before anyone could stop him, Nathan marched straight toward the entrance.

The fog hadn’t even cleared yet.

Yet he walked directly into it without hesitation.

His figure was soon swallowed by the dense mist.

The atmosphere instantly became tense.

A few team members looked worried while others silently watched the doorway.

Erick remained calm.

Then, without warning, he walked over to Ivy and placed a pouch into her hands.

"Here."

Ivy blinked in surprise.

"What?"

"Seventy-eight crystal cores," Erick said casually.

Before she could refuse, he dropped the pouch into her bag.

The weight alone was enough to tell her he wasn’t joking.

"I’ll consider this payment for information."

His expression grew serious.

"You seem genuinely concerned, and you’re not the type to panic for no reason."

He glanced toward the fog-covered room.

"So tell me everything."

"What exactly did you sense?"

"What do you mean by danger?"

"And more importantly..." His eyes narrowed. "How do we avoid it?"

Ivy stared at him for several seconds before releasing a frustrated sigh.

"That’s the problem."

She rubbed her forehead.

"I don’t know."

"What?"

Several people looked at her in confusion.

"There’s no freaking way to avoid something I can’t even identify."

Ivy pointed toward the room.

"My abilities showed me danger."

Her voice became even more serious.

"I tried sensing further, but something inside blocked me completely."

She clenched her fists.

"Whatever is in there isn’t normal."

The group fell silent.

Even those who had doubted her earlier were beginning to feel uneasy.

Ivy looked at every single person present before speaking once more.

"Can’t you all just listen to me for once?"

Her voice carried genuine frustration now.

"I’m not trying to stop anyone because I’m scared."

She pointed toward the fog-covered entrance.

"I’m trying to stop you because I honestly believe walking into that room right now could get every single one of us killed."

"See you later, Mrs. Ivy," Erick replied with a smirk.

Before Ivy could say anything else, he turned around and strode into the core room alongside the rest of his teammates. Even Albert and Josh, who clearly weren’t comfortable with the situation, followed behind him without hesitation.

After all, Erick was their true captain.

Soon, only Ivy and Darren remained outside the massive metal entrance.