Aaron was granted leave from the exploration, but he couldn't travel alone back to Rock City, especially with what was happening around. Lots of things changed while Aaron was inside the ruins,

The cults increased their attacking intensity. No one has any idea why that was so. No one has time to investigate that either. They were busy fighting off the cultists.

All of a sudden, the cultist attacks increased in number. They were not reduced to a number as the previous intelligence suggested.

When the Supreme was imprisoned, the alliance had a chance to actively attack the assets of the cults, rather than passively defending.

In times of war, there would be times when Offence is the Best Defence.

The alliance, with the information they obtained from the Supreme, did the same. They actively hunted the cult holdouts.

It was understood that either the cults would be wiped out or they would burrow deep underground for a while before resurfacing.

What was supposed to be the final stage of the war suddenly became chaotic, with the sudden increase in their numbers.

There was no intelligence regarding this situation. No one expected the war to escalate like this. The Alliance, no matter how much they tried, couldn't find where the reinforcements came from.

A major issue was that these reinforcements never showed their faces, nor did they display any symbols. They wouldn't face the alliance in a frontal war. They would appear, cause damage and disappear before any alliance members arrive.

The cults usually cause a lot of commotion, engage in some theatrics, and showcase themselves, but these new members act differently.

They never showed themselves, never got caught, not even a dead body. The only time one was almost caught was when they blew themselves up. Nothing remained to identify the person.

The alliance was unable to determine whether the person was male or female. There are various theories floating around. Some believe that they are puppets.

There are professions that use puppets. Just like how Necromancers and others used undead, dead beings can be used by Puppeteers too, but they can also use alive ones, which makes them one of the most dangerous professions ever.

The issue was that they couldn't control too many puppets that were alive, as living ones have consciousness, and their consciousness would try to resist any kind of mind control on its own, making it difficult to control too many beings for too long.

So, the theory that some puppeteers are behind this was held by a few who believed it. To most, that's not possible, but they didn't completely discard the theory.

What if the cult created some artifacts that could make it easy for puppeteers or make anyone a puppeteer, even without their class or skill?

There is some worth to the theory of puppeteers, as long as the cult made some strides in inventions and created an item like that.

At the moment, everything was just theory, nothing more. Therefore, the Alliance issued warnings to everyone to be vigilant. If those were just puppets controlled by someone, then adding more would become a significant problem for the alliance. So, the warning to be on guard was issued, and nighttime was closed for movement inside towns and cities.

Also, for safety's sake, it was advised not to travel alone.

---

All this has nothing to do with Aaron at the moment, but as advised, he can't travel alone and has to wait.

So, he rested for a few days, waiting for the delivery of supplies to arrive. Given the current state of affairs, the local fauna was not enough to sustain the exploration team, which became clear long ago.

So, there were always deliveries every ten days. The last was done six days before Aaron stepped through the portal and returned to the world. So, he had to wait only for four more days before the supply convoy came.

The supply convoy serves not only to supply but also to transport personnel.

No one would stay to do work for months on end without occasionally returning home. So, people moved whenever there was a supply run. They would leave when the supply caravan departed and return with a new caravan.

The numbers kept them safe from both cultists and monsters.

Since he was still posing as a weak one, even the record of his adventures inside the ruins was toned down, which raised some brows, but Aaron easily deflected that to his Luck.

He said that since he awakened, his luck seemed to be high. He always got good loot. Enemies never concentrated on him during battles in dungeons, even outside.

Though there were some lingering doubts, the higher-ups didn't question much as they knew that having luck would be just as he described.

Many people who are stronger than Aaron are yet to return; some may never. Using the items Aaron collected from the dead bodies, they found out who they belonged to, and as he got them from dead bodies, those were declared dead.

Also, Aaron awakened just more than two years ago, which was not enough to reach the stage where he could easily escape the terrors that killed those powerful ones.

It could have been possible if he had a strong backing, but he doesn't.

So, they themselves believed that he was just lucky enough not to come across dangers that could have ended his life, and rewarded him with some merits for bringing back valuable information and also information regarding those who entered.

MIA is never good. There would be hope among their family members that they might still be alive. The longer that hope stays, the more devastated they would be when they find that the person they were waiting for is long gone.1

This info would bring peace to the families.

---

After waiting for four days, the caravan arrived. The caravan stayed for the night, as night travel is never safe, and they had been travelling for a long time. Additionally, they unloaded the supplies and were tired.

It would be dangerous to travel in a state of exhaustion. They packed up and left in the morning. Aarn hitched a ride with them to Rock City.

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