Chapter Thirteen: The Wanderer in the Shadows

“The highest supervisor is actually imprisoned? No wonder you have to access the control center to locate him—this is truly…” Ashen couldn’t help but feel both amused and exasperated, yet his heart eased a little. He had already prepared himself to venture forward alone, but now that it had become a group operation, the risks were much reduced.

The deputy guard, upon receiving his orders, wasted no time in gathering his men and rushing to the designated location. As they departed, the head of the control center looked at Ashen and, whether intentionally or not, tapped his glasses with a finger.

At first, Ashen didn’t understand the gesture, but a prompt from the game quickly dispelled his doubts.

[Prompt: Your access card has received a message from the head of the control center.]

Ashen pulled out the card, his brows arching in surprise.

“D1106, you are both lucky and unlucky. Every month, the Foundation recruits countless temporary workers to undertake various dangerous tasks. These people are either terminally ill with no hope for a cure or condemned criminals awaiting execution. They come here seeking a second chance at life or freedom from their fates, but only a very few succeed. Will you be the luckiest of them all?

By protocol, I should have immediately reclaimed the Fifth Guard’s access card, but in light of the potential crisis, I have decided to secretly grant you clearance to the supervisor’s cell. If my suspicions are correct, the Technology Division has already fallen; the control center could face a fierce backlash from the Apostles of Chaos at any moment. The moles still lurking among us will surely reveal themselves soon. Even if you gain the control center’s support, this mission will be anything but smooth.

I tell you all this because, beyond your performance, I see in you the will to survive against all odds. Let me be frank: the Technology Division is under far greater pressure than the control center. If the supervisor is not freed, all of us will be trapped here to die.”

Along with this message came the location of the supervisor’s cell. Ashen’s expression grew grave as he glanced at the task description for the initial assessment, “Rookie on the Road.” Every ten minutes after the first sixty, the evaluation would rise by one level, and with it, the difficulty would increase accordingly.

A challenge at every step!

Ashen pondered for a moment, then followed the group as they once again braved the perilous steel corridors. The deputy guard even activated a kind of acceleration device, giving the players a sensation of moving with extraordinary speed.

At that moment, this cold and imposing structure was the stage for a terrifying massacre. The Apostles of Chaos, attacking en masse, had completed their purge of the Technology Division. The control center, having mobilized its defensive weapons, repeatedly unleashed storms of bullets and cutting lasers, carving a path for the rescue squad.

All along the way, the Apostles of Chaos were reduced to grotesque, unrecognizable remains. Even though the four players were of steady mind, they wished to linger as little as possible, grumbling that the carnage was too realistic and that the new immersive suits weren’t flawless after all.

After all, stepping through rivers of blood is hardly a pleasant sensation.

But it wasn’t long before the players found themselves missing the carnage they had just escaped—for they soon passed beyond the cover of the fire network and once more confronted the Apostles of Chaos head-on.

Though the control center was doing its best, it couldn’t fully regain control over communications, barely managing a stalemate. For the remainder of the journey, even the deputy guard was prepared to die in battle. The four players, with near-zero combat ability, hardly dared show themselves as bullets whizzed by their ears. They advanced in fits and starts, fighting and retreating, and only at the sixty-six-minute mark did they finally reach the vicinity of their objective.

By then, only seven members of the Third Guard squad had survived.

Now able to “raise their heads and be human” once more, the players all felt the casualties were appalling. None of them realized, however, that had Ashen not deflected that grenade, the situation would have been far grimmer. The undermanned control center would have been unable to counter the Apostles of Chaos, the fire network’s coverage would have shrunk, and the pressure on the guard squad would have multiplied.

Yet even so, Ashen couldn’t ignore a crucial question: among these seven, could there still be a mole?

Ashen was not the only one pondering this—so were the other three players and the deputy guard. But the destination was within sight, and for the first time, the usually calm deputy guard grew excited: “The supervisor’s cell is right there! Quickly! Push forward—before those madmen regroup, let’s charge in one last time!”

The deputy’s words spurred the six remaining guards to new vigor, but to Ashen, they only signaled the coming of another crisis.

Should he warn the deputy? Ashen shook his head. If the head of the center already hinted at the presence of moles, he would surely not keep it from the deputy, who was the linchpin of the mission. Besides, what good would a warning do? Any mole who had survived such chaos must be exceptional. Rather than wasting precious time, it was better to follow the current and look for an opportunity to break the impasse.

Seemingly off guard, the deputy guard, access card in hand, strode toward the facility’s gate. At that moment, a guard who had fought by his side all this time suddenly tore off his mask and launched a brazen attack.

Unlike the usual barrage of bullets, Ashen witnessed a most unusual assault. A barely perceptible shadow stretched to the deputy’s feet, morphing into a pair of massive hands that grasped for his legs. But the deputy was well-prepared; he stomped down with his heavy boots, electric sparks flashing from the soles, causing the shadowy hands to shatter instantly. Yet a cold gleam followed immediately, aimed straight at the deputy’s eyes.

“I’ve been waiting for you!” the deputy guard shouted, locking eyes with his attacker. He clenched his right fist, and iron plates surged from his wrist, encasing his hand in layers until it became a steel gauntlet the size of a human head. Four thrusters ignited at the gauntlet’s base, jets of flame adding power to his own strength, and with a force like a rocket launch, he smashed his fist toward the oncoming cold flash.

The outcome was never in doubt.

The short blade hidden in the cold light shattered instantly, its wielder sent flying to crash against a wall and dissolve into a swirl of black mist. Yet the deputy guard’s expression did not ease, for he had caught the attacker’s strange smile before disappearing.

Could it be…

A flash of fire. A spray of blood.

A burst of bloody flowers erupted from the deputy guard’s back, and he fell uncontrollably to the ground!

This left the players stunned. They knew there might be a mole among the guards, but never expected there would be two!

Had the two moles faced the deputy in a fair fight, he would have held the absolute advantage. Don’t underestimate him just because of the “deputy” in his title. The Foundation’s strength was among the greatest in the world of the Abnormal Amusement Park. Even the Chaos Beacon, with its vast reach, could only attack such a vital stronghold while the highest supervisor was confined. Though the Chaos Beacon had gained the upper hand, it could not completely suppress the Foundation, and so only a limited force had been assigned to the control center. The two moles had thus chosen to lie in wait until now.

Seeing the deputy down, the two moles relaxed at last. Of the four remaining guards, none posed a real threat, and as for Ashen and the other players, they were beneath notice—mere ants, easily crushed at any time.

Yet, even in their moment of triumph, the two moles did not grow careless. As the deputy lay prone, they pressed the attack.

A blade shone from the shadows, plunging for his heart. A gun spat bullets at his head.

At that critical instant, no one believed the deputy could survive—except the deputy himself. Though gravely wounded, he sprang up, a crouching tiger baring its fangs, his aura surging forth and forcing the shadows to recede, revealing the hidden assailant.

Bang, bang, bang!

Three spurts of blood erupted from the deputy’s body, but he seemed unfeeling, his eyes locked on his foe as he threw a crushing punch.

A roar split the air, and the slower of the two moles was sent flying once more. This time, before being stopped, he hurled a dagger that embedded itself in the deputy’s chest—yet the deputy, ruthless as ever, pulled it free and hurled it back.

The dagger struck first, nailing the attacker to the wall.

“Cough... cough…” Blood foamed at the deputy’s lips, his expression wild with fury. “Trash will always be trash. Even with abnormal gear, you still die to a single punch from me.”

Meanwhile, the other mole, his cover blown, was gunned down in confusion by the four remaining guards.

Thus, no more Apostles of Chaos lurked in the squad, but only the deputy knew what price he had paid.

The adrenaline overload—a rare drug that allows the user to ignore wounds and unleash their potential, but once its effects fade, death or crippling injury is certain.

Swallowing the blood rising in his throat, the deputy guard once more took the access card and walked to the door, the four guards close behind, ever vigilant. Even Ashen and the others were eyed with suspicion and forced to stand aside, watching the deputy’s back from afar.

No matter what, the mission was finally about to be completed!

The players were relieved, convinced that this phase had gone more smoothly than expected. The guards had done all the work; they just had to stay alive.

But none of them saw the corpse nailed to the wall quietly dissolve into shadows, which surged under the feet of the remaining guards and silently formed an intricate pentagram.

A pentagram for summoning explosive orbs!

The orb, which should have blasted open the facility’s door, now targeted the guard squad instead—one last gift from the Shadow Walker, true to the traditions of the Apostles of Chaos.

Even in death, destruction must be carried through to the end.

Boom!

The explosion came without warning. An orb of light appeared in the distance and detonated right among them. The deputy guard and his four companions, caught within the pentagram, were instantly obliterated, while the distant players, who had not followed, escaped unharmed.

When the energy faded, the area was devastated. The five guards had vanished without a trace, leaving only unrecognizable, melted remnants behind.

As for the access card, it was utterly destroyed—the Shadow Walker’s final strike had been meant to erase it, snuffing out the Foundation’s last hope.

This…

The sudden turn left the players dumbfounded. The mission reward that was almost within reach was gone in an instant, and what had seemed a straightforward assessment now threatened to bring them all to a halt.