Alex''s eyes darted around the immediate surroundings of the base, feeling impressed by their ingenuity.

    Normally, weapons like that would be useless against them due to their speed limitations.

    ''Creating space tunnels at intervals eliminates those limitations.'' Alex mused with a small smile. ''And the user appears to be a space ability user. Unfortunately, it''s all pointless...''

    The tunnels were well hidden and anyone not familiar with spatial fluctuations would miss it entirely. That simple addition made the cannons much more dangerous.

    [Halt!]

    A sudden transmission through the void reached Alex and his party.

    [This is a private space. You''re trespassing.]

    "This is preposterous." Jaseph was shocked by the audacity of the people on the base. "Are they blind or do we just look like clowns to them?"

    "Beats me," Basso chuckled at the amusing display. "Let''s see how this plays out."

    The two refocused on Alex who floated ahead of them, standing tall with a relaxed and calm demeanour.

    He watched as the cannons began to light up with their killer beams, their charge steadily building.

    Seeing as the trespassers made no moves of retreating, they fired the cannons without hesitation.

    Bzzt...!

    Multiple cannons fired at once, all streaming at light speed towards Alex and his party.

    Suddenly, the beams disappeared as if they never existed and reappeared a few hundred meters away and around them. They were surrounded!

    "!"

    ''How?!''

    Basso, Jaseph and Julia felt their hearts leap out of their chest in shock. The beams came at them fast and terrifying.

    The leaders still had enough time to react as they were still Class-E hunters, but Julia was not the same.

    "Smart choice," Alex muttered as he floated forward, bringing Julia and the leaders with him.

    In his view, Zara and her goons were completing the procedure and Alex noticed a few peculiarities with the process.

    ''It''s not something that can be forced. Still, the boost they''ve gotten from the procedure is quite impressive.''

    Back in the procedure chamber, the researcher observed with bated breath as the tubes withdrew and the pods opened.

    "It''s a success.." The researcher smiled. "Ignoring some of the mutations, of course."

    The atmosphere within the chamber took on a gloomy vibe as Zara and her hunters climbed out of their pods.

    The research team members gulped as they backed away from the hunters. The collective aura they gave off was suffocating, and coupled with the trace amounts of void energy they gave off, they looked terrifying.

    Zara in particular had her skin tone change to a slight grey colour-- an effect induced by the void energy flowing through her system.

    And despite this change, she could not help but flash a victorious grin. ''This is incredible... I feel like I can do anything!''

    Compared to her current self to her level before, she could swat that version of herself away and take on her co-leaders with a single hand!

    ''So this is the kind of power that boy was carrying around.'' she clenched and unclenched her fist. ''No wonder he was so cocky.''

    She turned around to her hunters, ignoring the changes they had undergone. One had his hand phase in and out of reality while another had their eyes turn completely black with no pupils.

    Another one had their hair and eyes blazing in bluish-purple flames that dripped from their eyes like tears. When they fell on the floor, they burned through the floors like lava.

    Whatever changes they underwent, the fact remained; each one of them had an exponential increase in strength.

    "This is it." Zara proclaimed. "Right outside this base is the boy who seeks to destroy everything we''ve built to this point.

    "And through our newfound strength came from him, let''s teach him the true ways of combat. Do not hold back." She stated. "Take all the advantages you find and hammer them until he breaks!

    "Today we show them who the true rulers of this universe are!"

    Zara had a simple dream, and despite its difficulties, she worked hard to reach this point.

    On this day, she was going to test how strong her resolve was in the face of overwhelming resistance.