Chapter 281: Infiltrating the Holy Land
Three o'clock in the morning.
The deepest and quietest hour of the night.
Even so, Mary Geoise, perched atop the Red Line, still shone brilliantly against the darkness.
Marines stood along the outer perimeter like statues, their eyes fixed ahead as they watched for the slightest disturbance. Searchlights periodically swept across the night, leaving bright trails through the darkness.
Below them stretched a sheer, towering cliff.
To this day, Fisher Tiger remained the only person known to have climbed it successfully.
Afterward, the Celestial Dragons had ordered every possible foothold ground smooth to prevent anyone from repeating the feat.
The cliff had become a wall of despair, seemingly impossible to climb.
Yet at that moment, a group of people was suspended halfway up its surface.
"Are you certain you didn't make a mistake?" Ivankov asked again.
He glanced down at the bottomless darkness beneath them.
Mary Geoise glowed overhead like heaven, while the abyss below resembled a silent hell waiting to swallow them.
And death's blade seemed to hang directly beneath their feet.
If they fell from this height, Ivankov doubted any of them would survive.
His body trembled slightly, but he quickly suppressed the movement.
He did not dare shake too much.
Neither his hands nor his feet were touching the cliff.
They were not climbing at all.
They were simply rising through the air, like passengers inside an invisible elevator.
Having no control over his own body made Ivankov uneasy. His repeated questions were little more than an attempt to distract himself.
In truth, the Revolutionary Army had already verified the route before Axel began the operation.
The fact that they had reached this point was proof enough that Axel's calculations were correct.
Axel ignored the nervousness around him.
His attention remained fixed on the Marines' defensive positions above.
"We're approaching the summit," he said quietly. "You still remember the routes and locations I marked earlier, correct?"
"Once we enter Mary Geoise, the rest should be manageable."
"The delegations from every nation have brought large numbers of attendants. Even with dedicated personnel overseeing them, it is impossible to verify every individual."
"Don't worry," one of the Revolutionary Army members replied. "Once we blend in, we'll adapt to the situation."
The Revolutionary Army specialized in covert operations.
If they could not conceal themselves under such favorable conditions, then they would have no one to blame if they were arrested.
Ivankov studied Axel.
"To predict the Marines' defensive positions and blind spots from distant observations alone... even an experienced strategist would struggle to accomplish that."
His tone became playful.
"You truly are extraordinary. My interest in you keeps growing, though I'm not quite sure in what way."
The other revolutionaries stared at Ivankov in disbelief.
Their lives were currently in Axel's hands.
Was this really the time to tease him?
If Axel lost focus for even a moment, every one of them might plunge into the abyss.
Just imagining it made them shudder.
"You're fortunate," Axel replied.
Fortunately for Ivankov, Axel currently had little emotional fluctuation.
If his original personality were present, he could not guarantee he would have tolerated such remarks.
Ivankov failed to understand the warning.
"I certainly am fortunate to have met such a cute boy."
During their earlier discussions, Ivankov had discovered that Axel was not a girl.
Rather than feeling disappointed, he had considered himself lucky.
He had always found boys more interesting, especially one as cute as Axel.
Without warning, their ascent stopped.
The entire group swayed in midair, seeming ready to fall at any moment.
Several revolutionaries instinctively reached toward the cliff, hoping to steady themselves against the rock.
"If you don't want to die, stop moving," Axel said.
Everyone immediately froze.
They assumed Ivankov had irritated him.
Even Ivankov thought so and was preparing to apologize when Axel continued.
"There are surveillance Transponder Snails installed along the cliff."
"We'll continue upward shortly."
The revolutionaries looked above them.
The darkness was so deep that ordinary people would not have been able to see their own hands.
However, Ivankov had enhanced their vision with his hormones, granting them greater night vision than normal humans.
They could faintly make out tiny points of light embedded in the dark rock.
Surveillance Transponder Snails.
"They've truly covered every angle for this conference," Ivankov remarked.
He looked at Axel.
"So how are we getting past them?"
"By concealing the light."
The swaying had not been caused by a mistake in Axel's calculations.
He had diverted part of his Calculation Power toward determining how the surrounding light needed to bend.
His warning had been necessary because any random movement could disrupt the calculation and cause the ability to fail.
Their ascent was possible only because Axel had reversed the direction of gravity around them.
At present, they were like objects resting in his hand.
If someone moved beyond the range of his control, that person would immediately fall.
Manipulating light itself was not especially difficult for Axel, but doing so precisely was another matter.
If he simply reflected all surrounding light, they would also lose their ability to see.
More importantly, careless distortion would create abnormalities in the images transmitted by the surveillance Transponder Snails.
If every ray of light were bent away, for example, the affected area would appear completely black, as though a section of the world had vanished.
That would attract attention immediately.
"What good will masking the light do?" Ivankov asked.
"It will allow us to pass unnoticed," Axel replied.
Ivankov looked at him more carefully.
He was no longer merely impressed by the range of Axel's abilities.
He was becoming wary.
A person skilled in one or two areas could be called a genius.
Someone knowledgeable in many fields might be considered a polymath.
But Axel possessed abilities and knowledge that most people could never attain even after dedicating an entire lifetime to them.
That was frightening.
Just as Vegapunk's existence made the World Government uneasy, someone who appeared too perfect inspired fear rather than envy.
Under the cover of Axel's ability, the group resumed its ascent.
They passed the surveillance Transponder Snails and crossed the final stretch of the cliff without raising an alarm.
At last, they reached the summit of the Red Line and entered Mary Geoise.
Only then did Ivankov and the others fully understand what Axel meant by concealing the light.
Marines stood guard only a few steps away.
Their posture remained vigilant, their eyes carefully scanning the surroundings.
Yet none of them reacted.
It was as though Axel and the Revolutionary Army were not there at all.
....
https://discord.gg/KvMN2CFsMR
[If you don't want to wait for the next update, read 50 chapters ahead on P@treon.]
[[email protected]/FanficLord03].