There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 344 - 336. The Great Disappearance

Chapter 344: Chapter 336. The Great Disappearance

"It’s only lunch, but I feel exhausted already," Han Shin stretched his body after he was done with the instant noodle. Well, at least the stuff helped him feel more comfortable. "Alright, I’m heading to the lab now, bye."

And with that short farewell, he was gone, back to researching the materials Han Joon left behind.

"He said that, but still going to work anyway," Zein chuckled, watching the healer disappear behind the door.

"Getting busy is good," Radia muttered, almost to himself more than to anyone else.

It didn’t go unnoticed by Zein, who then tried to see the good things. "Well, he doesn’t seem to be so upset anymore."

"Nah," Bassena, however, had another thought. "The fact that he didn’t say anything about Radia’s birthday means he’s still angry."

Zein raised his brow and looked at Radia. "Your birthday? When?"

"Last day of this month," Radia shrugged.

"Of this year?"

"Yeah."

"...that’s a ’wow’ for many reasons," Zein remarked in fascination. The last day of this month, after all, only appeared every four years.

"See why I said he’s still angry?" Bassena chuckled. "Four years ago, he planned the party from a week before."

Knowing Han Shin and his penchant for societal events, it was definitely weird that the healer hadn’t asked Zein to join in a sort of plan for Radia’s birthday when it was only four days left in the calendar. The man hadn’t even asked him to empty his schedule for that day.

"Well, he does have something else in his mind right now," Zein remarked, before putting the last slice of pear in his mouth.

"That’s true too," Bassena nodded.

Radia, pressing the golden needle into an ashtray, just said dismissively. "It’s just a birthday anyway."

"That’s something Zein would say," Bassena chuckled.

Radia smirked and stood up, taking the suit jacket that Nyx had held for him since the morning. "I’m going back to the office," he announced.

"Ah, I’m going to the lab too," Zein also stood up while wiping his hands together. "What about you, Bas?"

"Why are you asking me? I’m your bodyguard now," Bassena humphed. There hadn’t been a more crucial time for him to be around Zein than now, when House Horin might started to send their own people after Varion’s failure to capture Zein.

And bad things, as usual, always happened when he was away.

So now, Bassena appointed himself to be Zein’s personal guard until this whole fiasco with the House of Horin ended. Even if a dungeon appeared where he was needed, he would raid it with Zein. It wasn’t the time to argue about personal space and privacy when one’s safety was on the line.

Looking at the firm, blazing pair of ambers, Zein could only chuckle and patted the esper’s cheek fondly. Well...he didn’t truly mind being together with his esper all the time, at least now.

What an unthinkable thing for his old self.

"Ah, I’ll need you tomorrow to talk about funds, Zein," Radia told the guide before going out of the room, as well as reminding him to contact the Iron Shield.

"Alright," Zein nodded, and together with Bassena, moved to the shard’s laboratory through an underground tunnel connecting this building under the hill to the Mortix building.

That was how Zein found out that beneath Mortix Hill, there was a whole layout of a complex tunnel system connecting every critical infrastructure. The walls of the tunnel, he observed, were quite similar to what he had under his lakehouse; thick, strong, and resistant to miasma.

The whole complex, essentially, was one giant bunker for the whole city.

"This is amazing," he remarked, looking around the tunnel from the cart they used to move to the other building.

"Isn’t it? But not even the employee knew about this--well, at least, not until they needed to use it," Bassena smiled. "But it would also be problematic if an outsider managed to get into this place."

"Because they can go anywhere in Mortix Hill?"

"Yep--provided they don’t get lost first," Bassena chuckled, and Zein could see why. The tunnel was like a maze, and there was no clear sign pointing the way to each building. "So there’s people who only lived down here to patrol the place. Those people know the system like the back of their hand, and can draw the map of this place by heart."

"You seem to know the system too," Zein glanced at the esper, who grinned and pointed at the floating darkness in front of them.

"I have my children search for the right way."

"Cheater."

Bassena laughed, and with that, they arrived at the outpost of the path leading to the lab, which actually went even deeper than the tunnel system.

"The tunnels were being reinforced way later, but the underground system itself had been here since Althrea Mallarc’s days," Bassena explained while they continued their journey on foot. "This is what made the whole district able to survive before the Towers and the Temples descended."

"Wow..."

It was a sincere exclaim. No wonder the native citizens of Althrea revered the Mallarcs so much, to the point that there was no protest about how they took a whole district to build an industrial complex around their mansion.

"Well...I hope we won’t have to use this place ever," Zein muttered.

* * *

Senia had never seen the appeal of winning the bid for the reclamation project.

Why should someone as talented as her waste time trying to free contaminated land? For five years at that? It was hardly rewarding, since the one who benefited from the land would be the shareholders anyway.

Honor? Fame? Yeah, if they managed to succeed. If they failed, they would just become a ridicule. She’d rather gain fame from raiding dungeons with high difficulty.

In fact, she was rather Trinity winning the project from the start. That way, Bassena Vaski would spend five years toiling in that wasteland while she climbed higher and higher. It’d be better if the man ended up dead or crippled in the Deathzone, and came back with total failure. For her, who saw the reclamation effort to be hopeless, Trinity winning the project was the best outcome.

So she was rather vexed when the Guildmaster kept throwing tantrums about losing the project, whining and grumbling all the time. Senia was so annoyed that she decided she would go away for a vacation in the Western Republic, rather than having to hear Varion cursing Radia Mallarc every hour.

She would never thought, however, that she would come back to a chaotic guild.

The staff and espers alike were restless. She had been threatening people to never call her when she was on vacation, so she had no idea what could make the proudful Celestia shaken like this. They didn’t even act like this when they lost the reclamation project.

"Tsk--how could Varion let them act like this?" she grumbled at how distracted the staff that supposedly welcomed her were. She called one of the employees to ask what happened, but the person dared to act hesitant about what happened.

After a minute of confusing silence, she slapped the employee and stomped her way to the Guildmaster’s office in irritation. It’d be faster to ask Varion directly rather than question these useless people.

When she exited the elevator, she saw some people congregating outside of the Guildmaster’s office. There were Varion’s secretaries, some guild’s executives, and espers. One of the top espers of the guild who was part of the vice-guildmaster’s squad, Harmon, was standing beside the door, seemingly peeking inside.

What? Is Varion in one of his anger spats? Senia thought while walking closer.

"Harmon, what happened?"

The moment they heard Senia’s voice, those people flinched and became a little bit flustered--especially the guild employee. But she ignored them for now, because her curiosity was peaking. Harmon turned at her, a subtle smile on his thin lips as his eyes curled and narrowed like a fox.

"Sir Belthera is here," the man said.

"What, Varion’s Dad?"

"That’s ’former Guildmaster’ for you, Senia," a woman’s voice answered her, coming from the Head of Celestia’s Internal Security Department, Siyu.

Senia, pursing her lips, narrowed her eyes at the older woman. She knew Siyu was one of Darleon Belthera’s disciples, but for some reason, rather than supporting her master’s son, this woman oftentimes opposed Varion. Still, she was just a bit stronger than Senia right now, and more experienced, so Senia could only bite her lips in annoyance.

Just wait. She would be able to bring down this woman in a few years.

Swallowing her annoyance, she turned toward Harmon again. "Why is he here?"

Glancing at Siyu, who was nonchalantly pushing the office’s door and walking in, Harmon cocked his head toward her with a smirk. "Why don’t you come and see for yourself?"

Senia rolled her eyes, and again, stomped her way in. Why was everyone so useless today? She glared at Varion’s secretaries and assistants who were in the hallway, and they swiftly averted her eyes.

Tsk. Clicking her tongue, she glanced at the smiling Harmon and, in spite, slammed the office door shut so the man wouldn’t be able to peek inside or eavesdrop.

But even the loud slamming sound could not shift the attention of the people inside, as they gathered and looked at each other, frowning. Varion’s main secretary was standing to the side, slightly shaking; The Vice-Guildmaster Linze, hulking over the table, was massaging his temple, while Varion’s father, the former Guildmaster Darleon Belthera, was looking like he could explode in anger at any time.

Before Senia could ask what exactly happened, Siyu bowed slightly at her master and reported. "Forgive me, Sir. I have examined all possible traces, but I’ve failed to find his whereabouts."

Startled, Senia belatedly realized that the most important person was not there in the room, and immediately, she felt her nape grow cold. As if conforming to her dread, Siyu continued;

"Guildmaster Varion had disappeared without a trace."