As he ventured deeper into the ventilation system, Andrew understood why a passage this large was left unguarded.
The sprawling network of ducts was a labyrinth. With no landmarks, anyone would get turned around and lose their bearings, even with a map—let alone without one.
The path twisted and turned, and even included several fake tunnels designed as traps. But the person who designed this system could never have imagined that something as broken as Scoutflies even existed in this world.
Who needs top-secret blueprints? As long as you have a destination, they could guide you to the ends of the earth.
Following the Scoutflies' lead, he made his way through without taking a single wrong turn.
For Andrew, the ducts were a tight crawlspace, but for Belle, piloting Eous, it was a wide-open highway where she could move with complete freedom.
Along the way, Belle used the Bangboo's advantages to disable the many traps set up within the system.
Once again operating a mechanism through Eous, she brought the high-speed exhaust fan in front of them to a halt. Andrew carefully slipped past the obstacle, which was no obstacle at all.
Finally, the Scoutflies directed Andrew to the exit of an air duct. Seeing that he could finally get out, Andrew let out a long sigh of relief.
After all, crawling through ventilation ducts for this long was starting to feel like a form of torture.
He crept quietly to the iron grate blocking the exit and peered through the gaps.
He didn't see the Silver Squad he was expecting. Instead, there were just two researchers, chatting idly as they sorted through the supplies the squad had brought back.
"Ether crystals, ether crystals, ether crystals... Ooh! This one's pretty special. Might fetch a nice price!"
The researcher continued his inventory, while the pendant Anby treasured so much had been carelessly tossed aside.
The researchers only cared about valuable items; a simple trinket stitched together from strips of cloth was utterly worthless in their eyes.
Just then, one of the researchers couldn't help but complain.
"What a pain. Everything was running just fine. With the 'Silver' outlet, we never had to worry about funding. If it weren't for a bunch of meddlers sticking their noses where they don't belong and forcing us to shut down, we wouldn't be here sorting through this junk."
Hearing this, the other man's face paled. He immediately shot back, "Watch your mouth! If someone heard you say that and it got back to the higher-ups, you'd be in for a world of hurt!"
He fell silent for a moment, the air growing heavy as if he was recalling something unspeakable. After a while, he continued, "Besides... I actually think it's not a bad thing that the 'Silver' supply was cut off."
The researcher who had been complaining looked at him in disbelief.
"Don't tell me you're starting to sympathize with them? They're not even human! They're just like Bangboos, that's all."
"But..."
"No 'buts'! They are Bangboos—Bangboos made of flesh! If you're really having these weird ideas, go sympathize with the Silver Squad soldiers, not the 'Silver' raw materials!"
The air was now completely frozen. The researcher who had been silent now wore a grim, somber expression.
After hastily finishing the sorting, the complaining researcher didn't even say goodbye. He walked briskly out of the room, carelessly trampling the pendant on the floor as if spending another second talking to his colleague was a waste of time.
As the other man left, a slow, heavy sigh echoed through the empty room, followed by nothing but silence.
In the quiet atmosphere, even the sound of breathing was distinctly audible.
When that pendant, so precious to Soldier 0, was so casually trampled on, he had subconsciously held his breath. It was in that instant that the remaining researcher noticed another faint sound of breathing in the air.
He realized it with sharp clarity.
'Someone's infiltrated the facility.'
The researcher's body suddenly went rigid. He dropped the supplies he had nearly finished sorting and hastily prepared to leave.
This abrupt movement told Andrew he'd been discovered, but the man's next actions made Andrew abandon his plan to strike first.
As the researcher feigned finishing his work and headed for the exit, his steps suddenly halted before the door.
He didn't shout, call for help, or run. He simply turned back, his gaze falling silently on the pendant that had been tossed aside.
The once carefully folded and stored pendant was now splayed on the ground, a dark footprint starkly visible against the silvery cloth—so much so that it was almost painful to look at.
Silence. Still more silence. A suffocating pressure settled over the man's face, his hollow eyes betraying nothing but numbness.
No, that wasn't right.
The accident he had been desperately hoping for all this time had finally occurred.
He walked over to the pendant and picked it up. He carefully brushed off the footprint, folded it back to how Anby had kept it, and placed it on the table.
As if he had made a decision, he spoke without turning around, his voice hoarse.
"My dorm is C-1407. I have evidence I've collected over the years in there, hidden under the tile at the bottom-left corner of my bed. This research facility has very few security cameras, probably because it's never been breached. The supervisors are almost never in the monitoring room during work hours."
He placed the pendant on the desk, carefully smoothing out every crease. Still not turning, he spoke again, as if mumbling to himself.
"I'm just a coward. I don't have the courage to fight back, and I'm not about to report anything. I just... I just want them to have a chance to truly live."
With that, he hesitated no longer. He pushed the door open and walked out, as if he had simply finished his work for the day.
As the man left, Andrew used his hunter's dagger to slice through the screws holding the grate in place and climbed out of the duct.
Belle scrambled onto his shoulder with practiced ease and whispered, "Should we trust him?"
Andrew thought for a moment. The man's pain and conflict seemed too genuine to be an act. He felt it was worth a shot to trust him and check out the location he mentioned.
Besides, even if it was an ambush that turned into an all-out brawl, Andrew was confident he could fight his way out alone. That's the confidence the Lock-Blade Dragon set gives me!
With a fearless resolve in his heart, Andrew nodded. "Let's go take a look. We don't have much to lose. Instead of searching blindly, a potential collection of intel like this is exactly what we need."
Recalling the two researchers' conversation about "Silver," Andrew suspected that it was not something that would bring anyone peace of mind.
He stashed the pendant in his item pouch, opened the door, and peeked outside. The corridors on both sides were empty.
Seeing no one, Andrew followed the signs on the ceiling and made his way toward Area C.
To be safe, and also to muffle the sounds of his Lock-Blade Dragon armor, Andrew pulled a stealth suit from his backpack and draped it over himself.
Once the suit was on, the scraping and clanking of his armor plates, which normally occurred with any sharp movement, was muffled to near-silence. The dark green cloak also made his pure white armor much less conspicuous.
Then, he pulled a cardboard box from his backpack—one big enough for a person to crouch inside—and put it over everything. The perfect stealth method was achieved
-
Hello! Walnut here! Or... Miku Dayo in this case heheh...
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