Chapter 135 Clues

"Master, it has initiated its self-destruct sequence!"

Hearing Franca's report, Ferren raised an eyebrow and then looked toward the young girl beside him.

"Is there a way to stop it?"

"I'm trying... but the target has multiple layers of protection, and all sorts of traps are hidden inside... I'm afraid there isn't enough time!"

"I figured as much..."

Without waiting for Franca to elaborate, Ferren could already see the mechanical wreckage before him starting to vibrate violently, with jets of gas occasionally shooting out from the gaps. In this situation, it probably wouldn't be more than a few seconds before he and the others were reduced to flying ash amidst the explosive fireworks... As if!

"Kuronah, transfer the target! Directly overhead!"

"Understood!"

Accompanied by Kuronah's voice, the wreckage that had been right in front of them vanished with a sharp "shwip." Just a few seconds later, a muffled "boom" of an explosion echoed from overhead, and even the ground shook for a moment before gradually subsiding.

"Phew..."

Feeling the vibrations stop, Ferren let out a soft sigh. He hadn't expected the power of the explosion to be this intense. After all, he had instructed Kuronah to transfer the robot's wreckage straight up into the sky. Logically speaking, even with an explosion, it shouldn't have affected them this deep underground. Yet, contrary to his expectations, even three layers down, they still heard that dull, thunderous blast and nearly felt its shockwave. It seemed this robot wasn't something easily dealt with after all...

With that thought, Ferren gathered his wandering thoughts and looked back at Franca.

"Well? Franca, did you manage to gather any intelligence?"

Risking being blown to pieces, it would be a terrible loss if they came away empty-handed.

Hearing Ferren's inquiry, Franca lowered her head apologetically and replied in a soft voice.

"I'm very sorry, Master. The target's firewall was extremely tight and specially reinforced. I triggered a trap just as I began my probe. Consequently, the intelligence data I was able to retrieve is very limited. All I know now is that this robot came here from a place called 'Steel City,' and its orders were to monitor this research facility. Aside from that, the only piece of valuable information I uncovered is that there is a secret room hidden within this laboratory."

"Oh?"

Hearing this, Ferren immediately grew interested.

"A secret room?"

"Yes, it should be right..."

As she spoke, Franca walked over to the wall where the cryotube had previously stood, reached out, and felt along the surface. A moment later, a section of the wall bricks flipped open with a click, revealing a heavy metal safe. Franca punched a few numbers into the keypad, and with a soft beep, the thick safe door slowly swung open. She then reached inside and pulled out a syringe.

"What is this?"

Looking at the syringe filled with blue liquid handed to her by the girl, Ferren was utterly baffled. Even a doctor giving a patient an injection would at least know what medication they were administering. But what on earth was this thing? Did it not even come with a product manual?

In response, Franca shook her head helplessly.

"I'm sorry, Master. The only information I could read was that there was a hidden compartment here containing this syringe. As for what this substance actually does, I didn't obtain sufficient data. However, judging from the residual files, it should be used to activate a certain type of experimental subject."

To activate a certain experimental subject...

Hearing Franca's answer, Ferren cast his gaze once more toward the outer shell of the cryotube, which had been reduced to a mere skeleton. If they were talking about experimental subjects, this seemed to be the only possibility.

Regardless of the specifics, he would have to investigate thoroughly before making any decisions. Aside from this syringe, the safe contained nothing else—neither product manuals nor experiment notes could be found. Ferren could do nothing about this; after all, anything of value had already been thoroughly scavenged by the Caesar Legion. Coming here now to pick through the scraps, it was clear they wouldn't find anything worthwhile.

With that in mind, Ferren hesitated no longer, put away the syringe, and waved to the others.

"Let's go."

It wasn't until they returned to the surface that Ferren and the others realized just how powerful that "human bomb" had been. The two-story building that had stood above ground had been almost entirely leveled by the tremendous force of the explosion, leaving only a few broken, jagged walls stubbornly standing. Had the entrance leading underground not been uniquely designed with a specially preserved layout, Ferren and his group might well have been buried alive down there, forced to dig their own way out to survive.

"Commander, what on earth was that thing?"

Seeing Ferren again, Kuronah was still shaken. Fortunately, just to be safe, they had parked the Harmony behind a large boulder not far from the base, which allowed them to escape disaster. Otherwise, even with the protection of the electromagnetic barrier, the sheer force of the explosion would have completely flipped the Harmony over.

Even so, Kuronah and Chris had been scared out of their wits. The little girl had obediently followed Ferren's command to transfer the wreckage nearly a thousand meters into the upper atmosphere. Yet even from that distance, the shockwave of the blast had left her astonished. According to Kuronah, it looked as though a miniature sun had suddenly appeared in the sky, giving the two of them a terrible fright.

"What kind of freakish humanoid nuclear bomb is that..."

Hearing Kuronah's description, Ferren was speechless, while simultaneously congratulating himself inwardly for reacting quickly enough. Otherwise, they would probably have had to enact one of those Hollywood blockbuster scenes, desperately fleeing amidst explosions and fire. But now... well, being able to leave easily and effortlessly was infinitely better than running away in a disheveled mess.

Thinking this, Ferren adjusted his clothes, confirmed there were not a single crease on his outfit, and nodded in satisfaction.

"In any case, we've investigated everything we could here... Let's move out."

"Understood, Commander."

Hearing Ferren's order, Kuronah nodded. Then, the girl hesitated, clutching her little bear plushie, and cast a puzzled look toward the silver-haired, red-eyed magical girl holding a pentagram wand who was standing not far from Ferren.

"Um... Commander? Who is she?"