Yet they could not be detected by the digitalized individual tactical armor—perhaps because they were beyond the detection mode of the armor’s sensory module.

Even more astonishing, some of these special energy particles seemed to easily resonate with him, who possessed four-star elemental affinity.

It was light-element energy, and moreover, it was naturally active light elements that could even be directly driven by mental power.

No wonder casting the Light Mirror spell just now felt much easier than usual. With just a trace of mental power channeled through the incantation, the familiar spell structure had already formed swiftly and smoothly.

The elemental energy activity here was astonishingly high!

The abundant, active light-element energy made him feel as if he was on the verge of an answer, as if he only needed to reach out and poke it to see the truth.

Could this be somewhere on Earth, or perhaps not on Earth at all?

Once, a dragon knight who had been exiled to another world by the “Spatial Absolute Prison” grand curse, after becoming the top ace pilot of Earth’s civilization, was once again forcibly pulled into a dimensional space invasion channel disrupted by energy released from a giant particle collider, during a critical invasion battle with a Third Era civilization that originally belonged to myth and legend.

And now, in this environment, it felt as if he had returned to his original world.

At this thought, the surrounding plants gave him a feeling both familiar and strange, as if fate was playing tricks.

Just as an answer was about to surface in his mind, a series of crisp popping sounds drifted over on the wind.

Was someone setting off firecrackers nearby?

Firecrackers? No, those were gunshots!

Immediately after, something seemed to explode violently—the earth-shattering blast sounded like an offensive grenade.

There might be a small-scale battle happening nearby. The continuous burst of gunfire should be coming from two Type 95 automatic rifles.

Pulling the tactical helmet onto his head, surging light battle energy erupted, and Mark Benson's figure instantly vanished from where he stood.

The whistling wind from his high-speed movement entered the “Dragon General” tactical helmet, while the previous Light Mirror spell still followed closely at his side like a shadow.

The spell projected by the light-element energy was weightless, easily and instinctively following the movement of his mental power source.

The highly active elemental energy in the environment made Mark Benson feel as if he were soaking in a pleasantly warm spring, and the increasingly lively light battle energy made his movements even more agile as he sped along.

The source of the gunshots and explosions wasn’t far away. A minute later, two familiar voices reached Mark Benson’s ears.

“Big sis! We’re running low on bullets. What are these animals? They look like wolves, but I’ve never heard of wolves this huge anywhere in the world.”

“Careful! These things are good at group attacks! They must be pack-hunting canines—don’t let them get close!”

Gunfire rang out intermittently as they spoke.

The “Nightshade” Special Operations Team’s Intelligence Unit “Gemini” sisters, Emily Thompson and Grace Thompson?

How did the “Gemini” twins from the Special Ops Intelligence Unit end up here too? A trace of doubt flashed in Mark Benson’s eyes, and some memories suddenly surged up from deep within.

A dozen giant wolves, each as big as a water buffalo, were silently encircling two young women clad in heavy desert-camouflage combat uniforms. The two were perched atop the forked branches of two massive, unknown trees—fifteen or sixteen meters above the ground—firing their automatic rifles nonstop, the crisp gunshots echoing without pause.

Even after penetrating a 10mm-thick Q235-A steel plate at a hundred meters, the 5.8mm caliber bullets still couldn’t easily pierce the thick pelts of these giant wolves.

Perhaps the deaths and injuries among their kind had taught them that these strange-looking sticks could spit out deadly projectiles, making the wolves even more agile and cautious, so much so that even aiming was no easy task for the two young women.

Three giant wolf corpses lay in the nearby bushes, one of which was missing both its head and neck, the massive wound splitting all the way to its chest, the area reeking of blood and gunpowder.

Perhaps that violent explosion just now was the result of this headless wolf foolishly biting down on an offensive grenade.

In a wolf’s mouth, the grenade’s explosive power was unleashed to the fullest.

These massive wolves appeared to be gifted by nature—their long, silvery-white fur as hard as steel needles.

Their limbs were thick and powerful, out of proportion to their bodies, and their broad paws easily adapted to soft ground, while their extended claws could effortlessly tear open a prey’s body.

The most distinctive feature was the three long, thin black stripes running from their broad noses to the backs of their heads.

Chapter 0002: This Is Not Scientific

From these striking features, Mark Benson recognized their species.

They were first-rank humanoid magical beasts living in cold regions like snowy mountains and tundra—the Three-striped Ice Fang Wolf.

By nature, they were both patient and ferocious, their thick, tough pelts rivaling the finest steel armor.

Though classified as magical beasts, only a rare few Three-striped Ice Fang Wolves could unleash the three basic spells: Freezing Breath, Ice Spike, and Frost Armor.