There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 564 - 558. Miracle

Chapter 564: Chapter 558. Miracle

Everyone immediately stood up the moment they saw the Iron Mountain. Coincidentally, Zein also finished guiding Arlo, so he approached the two Saint class espers.

Of course, the one who reached him first was the shard, who was buzzing excitedly--a considerably different reaction than when it entered the fog with Bassena.

Zein had no choice but to halt his steps, listening to the shard’s rambling. Apparently, the shard was excited because it felt the existence of the other shards for the first time when it breached the field of fog. It sounded adorable in Zein’s head, hearing the shy child singing mirthfully.

"I see," Zein nodded and patted the excited shard. "You’ll be able to see them soon, don’t worry. We might be able to find some that are still on this side."

The shard startled, as if the notion of finding another shard in this unexplored side was shocking. Perhaps because it had been living in hiding forever, without letting out a signal or receiving from the others.

"Do you want to look for them together?" Zein asked, and the shard immediately moved up and down, before circling him as if dancing.

Tian Yu, who finally reached the guide, laughed at the unexpected sight. It was the first time he saw Zein interact with the shard, and it was definitely fascinating.

"It hasn’t been long, but it feels like it has been a while," the old man said solemnly while patting Zein’s shoulder.

"It’s because there’s no difference between days and nights here," Zein shrugged. "How do you find the Deathzone?"

"Disgusting," the old man scrunched his nose. "We should definitely get rid of it as soon as possible."

Zein smiled in satisfaction and nodded. He led the old man to the camp while talking about the progress of the operation in general. Han Joon offered a cup of herbal tea to the old man, and Bassena decided it would be nice for some barbeque. Tian Yu almost laughed at how relaxed they looked despite the situation, marveling at the advances in technology while reminiscing about his old raiding days.

"Fourth dungeon already?" he nodded, as if giving his approval to this younger generation. "It’s pretty fast, isn’t it?"

"They weren’t that high level, and we did attack from the back door, straight to the boss," Bassena explained. That statement would make other raid squads groan, because apparently, red-level dungeons weren’t ’high level’ enough for him.

But then again, their squad was rather overkill.

"But it’ll probably take longer for the next three," Bassena continued. "Based on the reading, it seemed to be mature black dungeons."

"Mature black dungeons..." the old man grimaced. "Never thought I would hear such a thing."

"Indeed."

Mature dungeon referred to dungeons that have existed for a long time, providing a chance for the beasts inside the dungeon--especially the boss--to get stronger. Most of them, naturally, were eternal dungeons, since regular ones usually experienced outbreaks instead. The rest of them were caused by anomalies, which were rare occurrences. Thus, most of the mature dungeons were low-level.

Besides, no sane organization would let high-level dungeons mature. Black dungeons, especially, had the potential to destroy a country if an outbreak should happen, so even the government would move to contact Rankers, even if they had to double the national debt because of it. After all, the other choice was death.

Naturally, ’matured black dungeon’ was a concept that spelled nightmare for the difficulties.

But would these people, who had faced the monstrosity of a fallen Celestial Being, get shaken by that concept?

Obviously not.

"The miasma level outside the dungeons is high, so even if they are not eternal dungeons, they have a longer lifespan than the black dungeon outside," Han Shin gave a plausible theory; it was one of his thesis topics.

"It’s better like this," Bassena shrugged while flipping the barbequed meat. "It’s just a pain in the ass if the dungeon’s resident roaming outside."

"True," Tian Yu nodded while stroking his beard. The Deathzone was fast and tricky with reduced visibility. Moreover, fighting inside the dungeon actually meant less miasma and thus, less corrosion. "Well, you won’t have a problem with them anyway."

"Of course."

The old man smiled in satisfaction; he liked a confidence that was backed with skills. "Good," he nodded. "So, it will end after those three dungeon?"

"That..." Bassena paused briefly, and the old man could see doubt creeping into the others’ faces. "We’re not sure."

The old man turned his head, looking at Han Shin for an explanation. Fortunately, the healer caught on and responded immediately. "Initially, we thought the location of the gates in the star corridor corresponded with how close they were to the Fallen Star’s dungeon."

"But?"

"But this area is connected to the area of the first dungeon," Han Shin looked at Jock, who quickly pulled up the map he had finished integrating. "Theoretically, the Fallen Star’s dungeon would have been nearby then, or between these two dungeons."

And yet, they didn’t find any gate even after looking in every direction; at least until they got stuck with a mountainous border or the lake.

"I see...so you think the gates just clustered in one place because they are in the same region, not because they are next to each other?"

Han Shin nodded wryly while staring at the firepit in frustration. "Exactly."

"But we’ll see," Bassena took the meat off the grill and passed the plate to Zein. "Perhaps we’ll find the dungeon gate during the next three dungeon excursions."

"That’s possible," the old man shook his head to refuse the grilled meat that Zein offered, which he thought would be better for the espers in action. "Anyway, it’s better to do it as fast as possible, right?"

"That’ll be ideal," Bassena put another batch of meat on top of the grill, before raising his head to look at the fog field in front of them. "For that, we have to pave the way for the soldiers."

* * *

Together with Arlo, the old man went back to the other side to relay information, and Zein was stuck trying to coax the shard again.

It might have agreed to look for the other side, but going inside the fig field to pinpoint the source was a different matter. For a child who was cautious by nature and experience, going inside the scary field three times in a row was too much.

"Let’s just do it tomorrow," Zein gave up, because the shard had become sulky and voluntarily entered the sealed storage ring like a kid locking themselves in the bedroom.

"It happens," Bassena chuckled and patted Zein’s back.

"Yeah," the guide laughed softly. "Aiden used to do that a lot too when he was a child."

Bassena raised his brow; Zein rarely talked about his little brothers openly, and even if he did, he seldom mentioned their names. But now...not only did he mention the name, his eyes were also bright and...

He’s not clutching his necklace anymore--Bassena smiled. "What about Hayden?" he pulled up the courage to ask.

"He’d run away to the Grandma next door."

Pfft--Bassena pressed his lips to muffle his laugh. "Sounds lively."

"There are those moments," Zein nodded. Thanks to the purification device, Bassena could see the smile properly without being obstructed by the mask.

Ah...it was easy to imagine Zein playing with the kids wearing the reluctant face of a teenager, but also feeling glad that he wasn’t alone. Despite the hardship, Zein managed to find those little joyful moments that made him hold on to the bitter life. It was buried in a deep pit of sorrow before, but the guide gradually recalled them back again.

Bassena wished he could provide such moments for Zein. Maybe with a new set of kids of their own...

Bassena stiffened at the thought. What? Did he just...picturing them with kids? He had always been on the fence about it since he knew what happened to Zein’s womb--hell, he even asked the guide to remove it altogether. But...

Was he finally coming to terms with it? That a miracle might happen?

"What’s wrong?" Zein tilted his head when Bassena froze in his tracks.

"...miracle," Bassena whispered, staring at the curious blue eyes. "I was...wishing for a miracle."

Zein arched his brow. "That’s not like you."

"I know right?" Bassena laughed wryly.

"Hmm..." Zein stared at the field of fog and exhaled heavily. "Well, there’s no harm in wishing for one. Personally, I want to quickly find the source of this fog."

Bassena breathed in relief. "Yeah," he swept his gaze across the long line of thick darkness in front of him. "It might take years to find one without any hint."

"Unless there’s a miracle," Zein chuckled bitterly. "Fortunately, we have this child, so we can rely less on a miracle."

He stroked the storage ring, knowing that the shard listening to his conversation. Perhaps it would stop sulking faster then.

"Fortunately," Bassena laughed at the mischievous twinkle inside the blue eyes.

He was also glad. After all, he wanted to save the miracle for something else.