Exhaustion hit camp like a second Shifting.
Not violent.
Just total.
People did not fall asleep with grace.
They dropped wherever they found something soft.
Trolls lay in a ring near the perimeter, rocks still clutched in their hands.
The lizardmen took light watch along the canal, but even they moved slower now, fatigue showing in every step.
Inside the new stone house, Dominic snored like a far-off avalanche.
Janet fell asleep halfway through explaining better defense rotations.
Jake and Jack were out before their heads hit the bedding.
Joanne passed out with her phone still unlocked, unread messages glowing in the dark.
Vanessa curled up beside Selena, who had fallen asleep with her tablet on her chest.
The Alerting Carrots were finally getting the respect they deserved.
Planted with care around the perimeter.
Silent.
Armed.
Watching thirty feet in every direction.
The camp slept knowing that if anything came close, they would not get caught off guard.
Phong lay beside Alex under the lime-oak's fading frost.
No adrenaline left.
Just deep, bone-heavy tiredness.
She was level thirty now.
Arbiter Mindblade.
Ready.
Soon she would dive again.
Floor Two.
Maybe deeper.
Nights like this were numbered.
He did not say it.
He did not need to.
She curled closer anyway.
Her breathing even.
His hand resting on her waist.
They slept.
And sometime after midnight, Little Fireball slipped away.
No one noticed.
The chick hopped lightly out of the coop, her yellow-red feathers catching moonlight.
She did not chirp loudly.
Just one soft, firm peep.
She walked toward the bamboo forest.
Past the chili lines.
Past broken shiitake stumps.
Past piles of chitin husks.
The bamboo did not part for her.
It simply allowed her through.
Deep in the grove, the ground trembled.
A shadow moved.
An ant emerged.
Not rat-sized.
Not dog-sized.
Buffalo-sized.
Its chitin was thicker than layered armor.
Its mandibles looked strong enough to shear stone.
Its level: 61.
The Queen.
The Black Ant Sovereign.
She lowered herself.
And bowed.
Her huge head touched the soil before the tiny chick.
Little Fireball chirped once.
Soft.
Calm.
Her shadow flickered.
Just for a heartbeat, she was no longer a chick.
Six wings spread in the dark.
Nine long tail feathers fanned behind her like a peacock halo.
A beak like an axe.
The Monstrous Phoenix.
The air warped with ancient heat.
Then it was gone.
Back to fluff and tiny talons.
The ant queen did not rise until she was allowed to.
A subtle stir passed under the forest floor.
Not ant.
Not treant.
Not even truly physical.
It was authority.
Absolute.
Then the soil cracked open.
Slowly.
Gently.
Something small emerged.
About a foot long.
Scales like polished jade.
Gold slit eyes.
Two mouths stacked one above the other along its snout.
It moved with smooth grace, coiling atop a bamboo stalk.
The tiny dragon looked down at the chick.
Its voice did not shake the forest.
But it carried far more weight than something that size should.
"Suzaku."
Little Fireball tilted her head.
Chirp.
The upper mouth curved faintly.
"You returned to infancy."
The lower mouth clicked once.
"Why?"
Chirp.
The dragon's eyes narrowed.
"Out of all of us, you hated the test subjects most."
The bamboo leaves whispered.
The ant queen stayed bowed.
"And yet," the dragon said, "you are the first to stay among them."
Little Fireball stepped closer.
Chirp.
Short.
Sure.
The dragon stayed silent for several seconds.
Mana pulsed once under the forest floor.
Then it nodded.
"Very well."
The ant queen finally raised her head.
But she stayed kneeling.
"I will not interfere further with Floor One's progress."
Its voice softened.
"Not unless it becomes necessary."
Little Fireball's feathers shimmered faintly.
Satisfied.
The jade dragon drew in a breath.
Then exhaled.
A roar.
Not loud.
But absolute.
It rolled across the first floor like an ancient order.
The same roar that had frozen lizardmen mid-charge.
The same that had silenced treants.
The same that had stopped a war.
The Sky Emperor.
Not myth.
Not rumor.
Present.
And choosing restraint.
The dragon coiled once more.
"Observe, Suzaku."
Then it sank back into the earth.
The soil closed behind it without a trace.
The ant queen rose to her full height.
She looked at the chick one last time.
Then she turned and vanished deeper into the bamboo.
The forest returned to its quiet sway.
Little Fireball stood alone in the clearing.
Just a chick again.
She gave a small chirp.
Then walked back toward camp.
By the time dawn brushed the lime-oak branches, she was asleep in the coop.
No one stirred.
No carrot beeped.
No chili fired.
Camp Stymphalian slept on.
Unaware that another calamity-tier being had just acknowledged them.
And chosen, for now, to let them grow.
Morning came softly.
No alarms.
No beeping carrots.
No chitin scraping at the perimeter.
Just sunlight through the lime-oak leaves and the distant splash of lizardmen in the canal.
Camp Stymphalian breathed.
Dominic and the team were getting ready.
Armor adjusted.
Weapons checked.
Buff items sorted.
Alex stood with them again, not as someone waiting at camp, but as their spearhead returned.
Level 30.
Arbiter Mindblade.
Their hardest hitter was back.
The mood was steady.
Focused.
Then Phong cleared his throat.
Not loud.
Just enough.
He was not the speech type.
He did not climb onto rocks or raise a weapon.
He just stood near the cooking area, hands loosely behind his back.
Everyone paused.
Even the trolls shifted.
"I… have something to say."
Dominic immediately grinned like he already knew.
Janet elbowed him.
Alex looked at Phong with quiet suspicion.
He met her eyes.
Did not look away.
"Before you all dive again," he said slowly, "before Floor Two drags you into another mess…"
A small wave of amusement moved through camp.
He kept going.
"I would like to… ask Alexandra to be engaged to me."
Silence.
Not confused silence.
Just the weight of the words settling.
He raised a hand quickly.
"Not the ceremony yet. That has to happen on the surface. With Papa and Mama Vogel."
"And Uncle Long."
"But it's still a commitment."
The silence broke.
Cheers.
Real cheers.
Jake whooped.
Joanne clapped loud enough to startle a troll.
Camille laughed in delight.
Élise whistled.
Selena covered her mouth with both hands, then instantly demanded details.
Vanessa smirked in approval.
Even the trolls roared support in their own way.
The lizardmen gave solemn nods, which somehow felt even more serious.
Dominic wiped at an imaginary tear.
"They grow up so fast," he said to Janet.
Janet snorted.
"You're barely five years older than they are."
Dominic ignored her.
Alex still had not moved.
She only stared at Phong.
Then she stepped forward.
Slow.
Measured.
Like a Mindblade walking into a duel.
Except there was no edge in her eyes.
Only warmth.
"You sure?" she asked softly.
"Yes."
"Even with everything?"
"Yes."
"Even with revenge?"
"Yes."
"Even knowing I'm diving again?"
Phong groaned softly.
"You asking that many questions is making me even more nervous. Have mercy."
A beat passed.
Then she smiled.
That full, open smile that still felt rare.
"Then yes."
No ring.
No kneeling.
No theatrics.
Just an answer.
The camp erupted again.
Dominic actually clapped this time.
Janet leaned toward Phong.
"With the ants around," she said in her flat, matter-of-fact way, "we're staying here a bit longer."
Dominic blinked.
"What?"
"We are not diving into Floor Two until we have a real answer for level forty-plus swarms."
She glanced toward the bamboo forest.
"With that many high-tier ants in the area, we would die without the farm. And even with the carrockets and necroginger, I doubt Phong can hold this place by himself."
Then she looked back at Phong and Alex.
"So you two still have more time together."
The meaning hung in the air.
Dominic pressed a hand to his chest.
"I object. I'm going to get diabetes from these two being unofficially engaged."
Janet elbowed him.
He shut up.
Phong did not wait for more teasing.
He stepped forward and hugged Alex for real.
Not quick.
Not shy.
His arms around her shoulders.
His face in her hair.
He felt her relax fully into him.
Just for a moment.
No Mindblade.
No A-class threshold.
No dungeon politics.
Just them.
Then he pulled back.
"Alright," he said briskly.
"Phở."
Dominic's eyes lit up at once.
"Say no more."
"This time, chicken," Phong added.
There were eggs now.
Finally.
The hens had started laying.
It had taken longer than expected.
Camp theories varied.
Mana exposure affecting cycles.
Stress from the siege.
Or, as Selena had put it with dry academic seriousness:
[Residual unstable essence from Alexei's proximity.]
Dominic laughed when she said it.
"Chicken Professor curse."
No one suspected Little Fireball.
She sat by the coop entrance, chirping with offended impatience.
Demanding attention.
Demanding food.
Demanding respect.
"Fine," Phong muttered.
He scooped her up gently.
She wriggled free at once and hopped onto Alex's hand instead.
Chirp.
Then tucked her head down and settled there, as if that had always been her rightful place.
Alex looked down at the chick.
"Possessive, huh?"
Chirp.
Satisfied.
The broth began to simmer.
Bones were charred lightly before the cleaned chicken went into the pot.
Ginger seared.
Onion blackened.
The clear northern-style broth came together slowly.
Eggs boiled in a second pot.
The smell spread through camp.
Warm.
Comforting.
Alive.
Dominic hovered near the pot with no shame.
Jake leaned against the wall, smiling quietly.
Selena scribbled notes about the future of ant meat integration.
Vanessa leaned beside her with folded arms, content.
The trolls waited patiently for moletato rations.
The lizardmen watched the latest perimeter changes.
The bamboo forest stood silent in the distance.
For now.
Phong stirred the broth.
Steam rose.
He looked at Alex.
She caught him staring.
Then lifted Little Fireball slightly, like issuing a royal decree.
"Engaged," she said lightly.
"Engaged," he echoed.
The world outside was still shifting.
Floor Four threats.
Elite politics.
Production-class abuse.
The Sky Emperor watching.
But here, there was phở.
There were eggs.
There was commitment.
And for the first time since the ants came, Camp Stymphalian did not just feel like a fortress.
It felt like a home making plans for the future.