The next morning, the fortress was a hive of activity.
The first wave of evacuation transports had arrived from the ASEAN command sector, their massive hulls descending from the sky like benevolent gods. The fifty thousand survivors, clutching their meager belongings, were being led aboard in orderly lines. Tears of joy streamed down their faces as they looked up at the ships that represented their first taste of freedom in half a century.
It was a profoundly moving sight.
Lin Ming watched from the fortress wall, a rare, quiet smile on his face. This was a victory. A real, tangible victory that he could see and feel. It wasn't just about killing monsters or gaining points. It was about this.
"It's quite a sight, isn't it?"
He turned. Mei, the beast-keeper, had walked up beside him. She had traded her crude leather tunic for a standard-issue ASEAN jumpsuit that was a few sizes too big for her, but she wore it with an air of newfound confidence. Gary trotted happily at her heels, his three heads looking around with boundless curiosity.
"It is," Lin Ming agreed. "I was starting to forget what a victory looked like."
"For fifty years, we dreamed of this," Mei said, her voice soft. "But we never thought it would actually happen. We thought the world outside had forgotten us. That we were the last ones."
"You were never forgotten," Lin Ming said firmly. "We were just... slow."
They stood in comfortable silence for a moment, watching the last of a family board a transport.
"So," Mei said, changing the subject, her tone becoming more business-like. "You mentioned you were looking for something in the deep caverns. An 'elemental codex'." She pronounced the words carefully, as if testing them on her tongue. "You're not a normal soldier, are you?"
Lin Ming chuckled. "Is it that obvious?"
"The part where you command gravity, shoot light out of your hands, and have a three-headed badger following you around like a lost puppy were fairly significant clues," she said dryly. "I'm a scientist, or I was training to be one before... all this. I deal in observable facts. And the observable facts about you are... strange."
"Strange is my specialty," Lin Ming admitted. "And yes, I'm looking for a source of great power. Vex was a Peak Golden Core cultivator. The enemies that are coming will be far, far worse. Humanity needs more than just guns and soldiers to survive. We need our own miracles."
Mei's sharp eyes studied him intently. "The elders used to tell stories. Legends of the mountain. They said that the heart of this mountain range doesn't beat with stone, but with fire. They called it 'The Dragon's Maw'. A place of immense heat and power, where the very earth is liquid."
Lin Ming's interest was piqued. "The Dragon's Maw? Where is it?"
"It's in the cavern system you pointed to on the map," Mei confirmed. "No one has gone down there in generations. The air is toxic, the heat is unbearable, and the passages are unstable. The old stories say it's guarded."
"Guarded by what?"
"The stories don't say," she admitted. "They just say 'The First Flame' still burns there, protected by its 'Child'."
The First Flame. The Child of Flame. It was all very cryptic, but it resonated with a powerful truth in Lin Ming's gut. This was it. The Fire Codex.
"I need to go there," he said, his decision made.
"Then you'll need a guide," Mei stated simply. "And a map. I have both."
"You've been down there?"
"Partially," she corrected. "As the fortress's xenobotanist, I studied the strange, heat-resistant flora that grows near the upper entrances. I've mapped the first few levels. And I know the safe paths." She gave him a sly look. "My services, however, are not free."
Lin Ming raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And what's your price?"
She pointed a thumb at Gary, who was currently trying to chase his own left tail. "A lifetime supply of those snack bars for him. And for me... a place on your team."
The request caught him off guard. "You want to join Task Force Chimera? Why? You're a scientist, not a soldier."
"I am a survivor," she corrected him, her voice hardening with a resolve forged in fifty years of hardship. "I have spent my entire life trapped in this mountain, studying what I could with scraps and salvage. You... you represent a chance to see the rest of the world. To learn. To fight back with knowledge, not just fists. Your 'Minerva' AI... the things she could teach me..." Her eyes shone with a fierce, burning hunger for knowledge. "I can be useful. I know this mountain better than anyone. And Gary likes you. He's an excellent judge of character. And a very effective portable heater."
Lin Ming looked at her. He saw not a victim, but a fighter. A brilliant mind that had been starved for resources. She was resourceful, brave, and had a strangely practical approach to life.
And she came with a three-headed badger. That was a significant bonus.
"Alright, Mei the beast-keeper," he said with a smile. "Welcome to the team. You're our new Science and Exploration Officer. Your first assignment is to lead us into a volcano."
"Excellent," she said, her smile mirroring his. "I'll go pack my heat-resistant specimen bags."
An hour later, the newly expanded Task Force Chimera gathered at the entrance to the deep caverns.
The evacuation was complete. The fortress was now under the control of the ASEAN military. Lin Ming had left a detailed report for Director Tran, conveniently omitting the parts about laxatives and the "Rasengan." Some details were best left to the imagination.
Their team now consisted of:
Lin Ming, the ridiculously overpowered leader.
Quynh Nhu, the sniper with an addiction to sugar and sarcasm.
Pham Tuan, the human battering ram with a heart of gold.
Mei, the scientist with a pet monster.
And Gary, who was officially their new mascot and heavy-fire-support-badger.
Minerva, as always, was with them, her primary consciousness linked to their comms and her spider-drone now perched comfortably on Mei's shoulder, the two of them already deep in a conversation about quantum data compression that was making Quynh Nhu's head hurt.
The entrance to the cavern was a dark, jagged fissure in the mountainside. A wave of oppressive heat washed over them, smelling of sulfur and brimstone.
"Okay, so this is it," Quynh Nhu said, pulling a cooling unit from her pack and attaching it to her armor. "The gateway to hell. Any last words?"
"Yes," Mei said, looking at a thermal scanner on her datapad. "Don't touch the yellow crystals on the walls. They're highly explosive when exposed to oxygen. And try not to breathe too deeply. The air in the first few levels can cause mild to moderate paranoia."
"Mild to moderate paranoia and exploding crystals. Great," Quynh Nhu deadpanned. "This is going to be my favorite field trip ever."
Pham Tuan took a deep breath of the hot, sulfurous air and activated his Earth Qi, a thin layer of diamond-like energy covering his skin. "I am ready, Leader."
Lin Ming looked at his strange, eclectic team. They were a force of nature.
"Alright, Chimera," he said, his voice echoing in the cavern entrance. "Let's go find a book. And try not to get paranoid and explode."
He took the first step into the darkness, the heat washing over him like a familiar blanket. The quest for the Fire Codex had begun.