Chapter 146

R-a Chapter 146 - (In editing- v2)

The first person in Executive Riana’s team to reach the site of the internal schism was, unsurprisingly, Shin. His warping speed surpassed everyone else’s movement speed by a sizable margin, allowing him to be the first member of the Godfather Organization to reach the combined 4th and 5th floor of the skyscraper.

Beyond the standard ground level floor, the bottom four floors of Nest B’s skyscraper were unique, something everyone had been briefed on before their mission.

The fourth and fifth floor that Shin had reached were combined to form a tall section that held 4 very large, individual rooms. Each room was wide and open, decorated with several very large, water-filled glass containers. These glass containers twisted in a myriad of designs and shapes, linking up with all of the other glass containers on the extra-large floor. The water in them was backlit by a myriad of blue and green lights, giving the containers a natural and exotic feel.

In other words, these two floors contained a large aquarium.

No living creatures spawned into this aquarium naturally. After all, Morenkai were the only species native to this strange world. However, the unique lightning and only slightly foggy water still managed to give the bottom floors the appearance of a world-class aquarium, lacking only in the actual fish themselves.

When Shin teleported in, he warped into a nook that was set in the side of one of these aquariums. He’d taken to teleporting into smaller, tucked away areas whenever he could. It was better to be out of sight of any potential enemies when teleporting into a new place, mostly to give himself enough time to prepare.

Teleporting without a direct line of sight was dangerous, after all. He could find safe places to teleport to using his Warping Phaser Ability, but he couldn’t actually look around to see where exactly he was going to land.

An excellent example of this happened right now.

The moment Shin warped into the combined fourth and fifth floors, he was serenaded with a cool, wet sensation. The world around him was dyed a light blue, giving it a strange, ethereal quality. Even gravity seemed to have lessened as he floated, suspended in the air.

Confusion swept over him as he felt all of this, not quite sure what was happening.

Everything came clear a moment later, however, as he tried to take a breath.

“Cough, cough!” His lungs burned as he breathed in, and subsequently sputtered out, a mouthful of water.

‘Am I… I’m underwater?’ The thought flashed through his mind as he twisted about, a faint feeling of horror sweeping through him.

He had accidentally teleported inside one of the aquarium tanks.

Shin forced the feeling of panic down as he assessed his surroundings.

He was currently floating in one of the corners of a large tank, set in the side of the wall. There was a small, underwater castle and a fake reef, but no actual fish or animals in the tank. The natural water of the tanks was mostly opaque, meaning he couldn’t see more than half a meter away from his face.

The first thing he did was reach down to his right arm and tap on a white bracelet he was wearing.

Immediately, a few small sparks of energy appeared as an Artifact activated.

Abruptly, Shin’s vision warped slightly. Instead of just the foggy water, he could make out the outline of six people fighting in the northwest room, right above the southwest room he’d landed in. These outlines were vague and jagged, but clear and easy to see.

Micheal called this Artifact a Wavelength Crystal Bracelet. It was actually a combination of Artifacts and resources from the Shop, merged together in a rough fashion. The plain bracelet was a Signal Seer Bracelet that heightened one’s senses when it came to certain electrical signals. Certain parts on the inside of this bracelet had been melded with a material called Enerton Stones.

It was a crude creation, in Micheal’s words, but it would allow them to sense any large concentrations of energy within a few dozen meters. According to Micheal, he saw how to make it in one of his visions.

He’d insisted that all three of them wear one for the upcoming battle, and that they keep them on at all times to be safe, even if the battle was finished. The bracelets would only last for around 24 hours after they were activated, but they would be perfect for detecting enemies or ambushes.

The main downside was that they cost way too many Points to create and lasted for only a brief period. If they hadn’t used the Godfather Organization’s stores, putting Shin further in Contribution Points debt, it would’ve cost them more than 40,000 Points for all three.

After finding out that no enemies were in his room, Shin grabbed ahold of his Spatial Ring and brought out three strange-looking grey cubes. The objects each were about half the size of his palm and had odd, metallic lusters.

By this point, Shin was starting to feel the burn in his lungs from being underwater. He quickly looked around the aquarium tank, his mind racing.

‘There works!’

Moving quickly, he swam over to the top of the fake castle and wedged the cubes into a spot on its roof. He then brought out a black rope from his Spatial Ring and looped it around the cubes, securing them tightly into the place.

His lungs felt as if they were on fire at this point. Without a whit of hesitation further, Shin warped himself out of the aquarium to the open air of the room just a couple of meters away.

“Stupid… water…” Shin wheezed out as he gulped in air, blinking as he looked around the empty room and ignored the water that was dripping off his drenched clothes.

A burning scent coated the air, giving this room a harsh edge. Several patches of red blood covered the floor, and if there had been furniture in this room, Shin was sure it would’ve been in disarray.

Before he could get a scope on the battle that was happening in the room over, however, several more figures arrived.

Executive Riana appeared first, slinking out from the stairwell with almost unerring silence. Her entrance was quickly followed by several other figures quickly filing into the room. In just a scant couple of seconds, more than two dozen warriors had snuck in.

Shin spotted Sophia in the back of the crowd, sneaking in alongside Asim and Vladimir. He smiled and waved, ignoring the glare she sent his way.

Riana motioned for the team members to spread out and remain silent as she stalked forward, heading towards the only other source of noise on the floor. Everyone else, Shin included, followed behind.

The room they were in was large, taking up a full fourth of the two floors, but it still took only a half dozen seconds for them to reach the northwest room.

What unfolded in Shin’s sight, then, was a brutal scene of carnage.

A full dozen bodies lay on the ground, frozen in rigor mortis. Most of the figures wore the dark armor customary to the Nightrunners. Half of them were covered in severe burns, while the other half had been chopped up to near pieces.

In the middle of the room, six masked figures were currently fighting.

Two of them were heavily injured and fighting defensively as they blocked the attacking four.

The two defenders were both men, one dressed in shredded leather armor of some sort, while the other wore a set of tattered, cut robes. They looked exhausted and were gradually being driven into a corner by the attackers. The man in the tattered robes had the number ‘4’ carved into his mask, while the man in the shredded leather had the number ‘3’ set in his mask. Both of them were covered in several large bloodstains, clearly blood that leaked from injuries they’d suffered recently.

The four attackers wore masks that read ’13,’ ‘12,’ ‘8,’ and ‘7.’

Number 13 wore grey armor over a huge, furry frame that bulged with muscles, leading the attack against the two injured defenders. Number 12 was the lone woman of the group, dressed in tight-looking black leather armor and wielding two long, pointed daggers as she ducked in behind Number 13. Number 8 wielded two large stone hammers and a heavy-looking collection of chainmail, and was currently in the process of charging over towards the defenders. Number 7, the last of the attackers, was dressed in a simple robe and stood at the back of the group, holding a blue wand in his hand.

At the time that Executive Riana and everyone else came into view of the fight, the battle had abruptly come to a halt as the fighters noticed the Godfather warrior’s presence.

The masks covered up the expressions of all of the Numbers members. The shock and surprise at Executive Riana and their team’s presence, however, was palpable as both sides froze in unison.

The first person to break the tense silence was Number 3 of the defenders.

“Brave rescuers, please help! The lower Numbers have betrayed the Nightrunners and are slaughtering the innocent!” Number 3’s voice was deep and contained a force of presence that was hard to fake.

His serious, debilitating injuries took away from that a bit as he hacked up several spurts of blood, forced to clutch at his chest as he finished speaking. Number 4 quickly stood up next to him, yellow flames bursting into existence around his arms as he guarded the injured warrior.

Both of them subsequently fell back against the wall they had been forced up to, using this moment to catch their breath.

To have driven elites such as Number 3 and 4 to such a state… Shin could barely believe it. Both of them were ranked within the top 20 A Rankers on the First Layer. The 4 attackers here were all extremely strong too, but for these two to be in such a state, they must have been badly injured by someone else beforehand.

“I told you we should’ve killed them immediately. Just because they used to be our allies is no reason to show mercy. We should’ve gone all out from the start!” Number 13’s voice was a growl as he turned his attention to Executive Riana, his hair bristling.

“Not everyone is as careless as you and 14 were, 13. Slow and steady wins the race all the same.” Number 7 shrugged as he spoke from the back, his voice a light tenor that carried softly in the air.

“The ending will be inevitable, either way.” Number 12’s voice was cool as she flicked her daggers out, her masked eyes zeroing in on Executive Riana. The attackers seemed surprisingly unconquered with their arrival, though surprised nonetheless.

“Indeed.” Number 8’s voice was stalwart, matching his stout figure.

Despite their confident-sounding bluster, the four masked fighters didn’t seem to be in perfect condition either. Number 13’s chest was clearly trembling, as if extremely tired, while Number 8’s body was lathered in sweat. The group chose to ignore the resting figures of Number 3 and 4 as they moved into a defensive position.

Executive Riana observed all of this and confidently spoke aloud without missing a beat, completely ignoring the Nightrunners’ banter.

“Shin’s, Hashien’s, and Kelley’s, teams, go down and assist Cardell.” Riana paused as she took a step forward and raised both of her hands.

The 4 attackers watched on without reacting. Some of them even tilted their heads as they heard the order for Shin and the others to descend, as if in mild amusement. It was a very strange reaction that pitted a sinking feeling in Shin’s stomach.

“The rest of you are on me.” Executive Riana’s eyes began to glow as she ignored their odd behavior. The air around her began to fluctuate, a vast, overwhelming presence spreading out as her Vast Gaze Ability was activated,

“Show no mercy!”

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