There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 554 - 548. Setting the Board

Chapter 554: Chapter 548. Setting the Board

"It’s okay, it’s not like we’ll be parting for long," Zein spoke softly, caressing the twins shaking on his chest.

They pushed onto him, nuzzled him, diving into his coat as if they wanted to hide behind him rather than lodging themselves in the ship. They truly seemed like children in this way; even the elemental spirits came and patted the twins in consolation. Perhaps because the twins were there when the dungeon was ’freed’ the first time, there was a bond between them.

And that was why, Zein decided to put the twins on the ship instead of the previously sleeping shard--who would be placed on the plains’s watchtower.

"Listen," Zein held the twins, looking at them with a mix of gentle gaze and spoke in a firm tone as if they were truly children. "Don’t you want to help me?"

He couldn’t believe he used the same trick he had done to his younger brothers every time he was going on a long dungeon excursion, but there he was.

And just like his brothers, the twin shards moved up and down slightly as if nodding.

"Then, please stay with my friends and help them," he stroked the twins with his thumbs. "The more you do, the faster we can finish this and meet up. How about it?"

The twins buzzed, swaying left and right as if thinking about it deeply. The elemental spirits swayed with them and buzzed around, probably giving their opinion and coaxing the shards.

Well, Zein was glad that at least the twins would have other friends to talk with on the journey.

Hesitatingly, with a heavy movement, the shards nodded in the end. But it wasn’t until they had their fill latching themselves to Zein that they were willing to move to the ship. They also cheekily did not deactivate their barrier, so even Bassena couldn’t come close.

For the onlooker, it was a fascinating and adorable sight--a bonus point for having a gentle and soft-spoken Zein, which was a rarity still. They were even treated to the guide’s beautiful smile and melodious laughter, which was usually only reserved for Bassena inside their private tent.

"I saw a glimpse of a future," Gus stroked his chin while watching the spectacle.

"Oh, I think I know!" Zhan, who had been in a good mood since the swordsman came back--albeit temporarily--uses his brain for once. "It’s like seeing how he would be talking to his own children, right?"

"Wow, you’re right for once..."

"What do you mean for once? I’m always right!"

"Yeah...so right you become a jinx carrier," Naoya scoffed.

"Don’t say things I can’t refute!"

Ah...so peaceful--Bassena thought, closing his eyes and staving away any negative feelings. It would most likely be the last time [Anzus] gathered before the final battle. He didn’t even bother correcting them about the very low possibility of Zein’s fathering a child--with the low possibility involving Zein changing his sexual preference or a miracle reviving Zein’s womb.

At any rate, it was a good day before plunging themselves into more hardship. Before that though, they had to wait for the old man Tian Yu to descend his mountain and try to conquer the one in the Deathzone.

As for the Eastern Sun, they were still trying to get that artifact she requested. Hopefully, they managed to get it before the final battle.

But the Iron Mountain was preferable at this stage anyway, because they needed protection more than anything. Moreover, the old man could train the Iron Shield and Trinity’s defense line while at it.

Like a bunch of adults watching their niece and nephew’s stage, the espers and guilds were cheering at the twins and applauded when the two lodged themselves on a pedestal that the ship crew added by the Guildmaster’s order.

"Good job, guys!"

"What good kids!"

Zein shook his head at their antics, but he laughed in the end. In that cheery atmosphere, they made a small farewell party for the ship crew’s expedition, who departed with the original lineup plus Carra as support. This time, their objective was to look for a shore and suitable places for debarking; an alternative if they couldn’t go past the fog.

After the party though, it was time to hustle.

"Can I go explore all the way to the mountain?" Zhan asked from the newly built watchtower in the plains.

From the rooftop, they could see the mountain range at the edge of the forest. Based on the map they had, it was the south border of the Deathzone; beyond the vast mountain range was the tail end of the Redridge desert, and beyond that was a red-zone called Ahnam.

"This is your region, General Zhan Li," Bassena patted the spearman’s shoulder. "You can do whatever you want here."

"Don’t use flattery to make me work for free!" Zhan clicked his tongue before grinning. "But I like that--keep calling me that."

Bassena snorted and rolled his eyes. He had to tell Naoya to keep his eyes on Zhan from time to time. The man was truly prone to trouble, and the only reason Bassena put him there was that the southern area was the border and any trouble happening there would be manageable.

"Conquer the region, General," Bassena smacked the spearman’s back for the last time once Zein finished setting up the shard on top of the watchtower’s spire.

Once again, he bid his goodbye to the second Anzus members. The most concerning member too, for that matter. But who knew--perhaps the spearman would show his leadership quality once he wasn’t surrounded by his squadmates. It was also the base where they put the most mercenaries in, so Zhan’s fiery and energetic attitude would probably mesh well.

"Hey," Zhan called out to the descending Saint class and grinned. "Don’t leave me out of the grand finale, okay?"

Bassena smirked and waved his hand. "Wouldn’t dream of it!"

* * *

"When will your Grandpa Yu come?"

Senan almost choked on his meal when he heard Bassena mention the Iron Mountain--the idol of defenders--so casually like that. It would have sounded disrespectful if Bassena wasn’t also a Saint class. But then again, he also held a pass card as Zein’s lover, and from their last call, the old man seemed to like being called that.

"Hmm..." Zein looked at his commlink to check. "About three days if there’s no delay."

"Alright, there’s still time," Bassena nodded, looking back at the curtain of darkness fifty meters away in front of them. "Let’s make sure we have at least one successful run before he arrives."

Right after fitting the last shard into the southern plains’ watchtower, Bassena started the fog erasure operation immediately. They cleaned up the fifth lane as well as they could, and built a watchtower at the border; right in front of the fog. Bassena wanted the teams to get used to the operation before he left for the dungeon.

Making a successful run for two hundred meters seemed simple enough. In reality, however, it was filled with coughing mess and blind crawling. Even the scout could barely see anything with their vision skill, and dark-vision goggles helped less.

The effort was made even more difficult by the discovery that spending too long inside the fog distorted their perception. Like Fata Morgana in a real desert, they would see things that weren’t there, or fail to see things that were there. Thanks to this, creating a map had become a tall task.

They felt like diving into an underwater cave without an air tank, slowly suffering from nitrogen narcosis. Some would feel too delirious to realize they had to go back, and Bassena would have to enter the field and drag the person out--just in time before the person’s corrosion reached the limit.

After this accident, the teams always consisted of at least two people, and they were using a magic rope tied to a boulder on the border as a guideline. Slowly, they managed to move forward and added to the map.

But there were other things that set them back; the corrosion level. It spiked at least thrice faster near the border, and even more the further they were. Naturally, this slowed their progress to what Bassena felt was a snail’s pace. Forget looking for the source of the fog; just crossing over was hard enough as it was.

Three days. They hadn’t reached the other side even after three days. Their progress was getting slower and slower thanks to the density of the center. Especially after they reached a hundred meters--just to take two steps forward required a good effort, let alone ten or a hundred meters.

"We couldn’t see anything, and it felt like the gravity increased," Naoya said. "At this point, I’m not even sure it’s only two hundred meters across. For all we know, it’s only an illusion made by the fog."

Naoya’s concern was not without basis, but it was also not a reason for them to stop. "Let’s just keep trying," Bassena said. It was time for the Iron Mountain to come, and then they had to proceed with the dungeon hopping. "Once we manage to get through, try to look for the source. If you find it, tell the old man, and if you can’t destroy it even with him--"

"Torn the yellow paper," Naoya nodded. He would be the one to spearhead this fog erasure project.

"Good," Bassena patted the archer’s shoulder. "I’m counting on you. Report regularly to Kei, and check on Zhan from time to time--just make sure he’s not lost in the mountain somewhere."

The archer scoffed. "So you want me to babysit him while doing this? I need a raise."

"I’ll sell some of my shares to you."

"Sell? You should just give me some, Commander."

Bassena laughed at the archer’s playful grumble, before staring at the swirling dungeon he could see with his enhanced vision. Currently, Zein was welcoming the Iron Mountain in the main base. And tomorrow...

Tomorrow they will hunt the Fallen Star.

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