The sound of the heavy iron door slamming shut shook the dust in the air. Belida turned the thick gear on the wall, locking the entrance from the inside. The giant knight let out a long breath. He leaned his back against the concrete wall, leaving his black sword resting on the floor by his foot.
"Clear," Belida spoke quietly. "I blocked the water route outside with concrete rubble. The Sensor Bureau will not be able to track our blood scent here."
The four of them were now inside an old smuggler’s warehouse located deep underground in the slums. This place was Sili’s recommendation. No windows, no ventilation shafts reaching the surface. The air was terribly stuffy, smelling like a mix of wet mold and iron rust. But there was an old wooden cot in the corner and several drums of clean water that were still usable. For people who just trashed an entire royal company, this place felt like a five star hotel.
Kanos immediately dropped his body onto the wooden cot. He lay flat on his back, his eyes staring at the cobweb covered concrete ceiling. His muscles were completely numb. His black golem was ordered to stand still in the corner of the room, looking like the most terrifying statue in the world.
Papuyu sat on a wooden crate, busy wiping the blood off her twin daggers using a dirty rag. The girl did not look tired at all. Her movements were steady, her eyes sharp, observing every corner of the room.
"They pulled their troops back," Papuyu broke the silence. She sheathed her daggers. "I set up detection threads at three intersections before we entered this place. No patrol movement. The command post you destroyed completely shattered the upper commanders’ mental state. They are regrouping to figure out a new strategy. We have a minimum of twenty four hours of safety."
"Good," Kanos mumbled quietly from his cot. He lifted his right hand, looking at the thick stab scar on his palm. The wound had closed a long time ago, but the stinging pain always returned whenever he used too much magical energy.
Kanos focused his mind. He wanted to check his physical condition. The transparent blue panel instantly popped up in front of his eyes. But this time, its shape was abnormal. The edges of the blue panel flickered rapidly. Static red lines distorted the text. The Yomalvara system was truly experiencing errors trying to read Kanos’s status after he used the void stone earlier.
[ NAME: KANOS ]
[ LEVEL: 36 ]
[ CLASS: I-L-L-U-S-T-R-A-M-A-N-C-Y (S T A T U S: A N O M A L Y) ]
[ HP: 120/800 ]
[ MANA: 45/1500 ]
[ PHYSICAL STATUS: EXTREME EXHAUSTION, MANA NETWORK DAMAGE ]
Kanos closed the panel. The text was giving him a worse headache. But one thing gave him immense satisfaction. His maximum mana and health had skyrocketed drastically. The back to back fights and slaughtering the executioners gave him insane amounts of experience, even though the system tried to suppress it.
Sili was unpacking his leather bag on a rickety wooden table. The skinny guy pulled out a stack of old map scrolls and thick books he took from Chitala’s secret library. He pushed his cracked glasses up.
"Boss," Sili called out enthusiastically. His tone truly could never be relaxed. "If we are going to keep playing crazy like this, we need a permanent base. We cannot keep sleeping in rotting warehouses and moving every single day. The Sensor Bureau has thousands of executioners. They could just burn the entire lower district to the ground if they get truly desperate looking for you."
Kanos forced himself to sit on the edge of the cot. He rubbed his face roughly. "I agree. But in this city, every location is recorded in their system. Where do you plan to find a safe place?"
Sili grinned widely. He unrolled the largest map scroll on the table. The map showed the structure of the Marrath dungeon hole from floor one to floor one hundred. Sili pointed his finger at a blank area between the ninth and tenth floors. The area was drawn in thick black ink with warning labels lining the edges.
"The Dead Zone," Sili explained quickly. His eyes sparkled with sheer cunning. "This used to be an old underground mining district before mutant monsters destroyed everything centuries ago. The Yomalvara system completely blocked this area off because their algorithms failed to read the spatial layout shifts inside."
Belida walked closer to the table. The giant knight studied the map sharply. "I have heard the myths. People say that zone is a nest for blind monsters that suck mana dry. No adventurer guild is willing to risk going down there."
"Exactly!" Sili snapped his fingers. "No adventurers. No Sensor Bureau. The system is completely blind down there. If the boss can bring his shadow monsters and that crazy golem there, we can wipe out all the real monsters in that zone." Sili looked at Kanos. "We can take over that zone, boss. We build your workshop there. A base that is one hundred percent untouchable by the royal dogs."
Kanos stared quietly at the map on the table. His brain immediately went to work thinking about efficiency. He had Papuyu to gather surface intel. He had Sili to supply materials from the black market. He had Belida as the frontline commander. If he had a permanent workshop safe from the system, he could focus on creating an army out of void stones without fearing getting raided.
He could build his own army. An army he could use to sever the necks of the people who created this flawed system.
Kanos stood up slowly. He walked to the table, pressing his left index finger onto the black area of the map. A thin, cold smile appeared on his pale face.
"Papuyu," Kanos called out without taking his eyes off the map.
"Yeah," the hitman answered from the corner.
"Pack the essentials only. Sili, wrap up your maps." Kanos pulled his finger off the old paper. His eyes now looked sharp and intensely focused again. "We sleep for five hours. Tomorrow morning we head down to the tenth floor. We are moving out."