There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 570 - 564. Integration

Chapter 570: Chapter 564. Integration

After wandering around the cliff area, Jock came back with his topography data and compiled everything during the meeting after breakfast the next day.

"This place is a hill. There’s a way down not far from the edge of the forest path. It’s not hard too, almost like a leisure trail," he started by opening the map he had drawn last night on his commlink. He activated Mortix’s newest program and a three-dimensional map appeared in the middle of the dining table.

"Oh? No hurdle?" Han Shin, whose physical ability was worse than Zein these days, perked up. He was getting tired of maneuvering through cliffs, uneven landscapes, and swamps.

"No, and the trees are not as thick as usual; they looked more like normal trees outside too," Jock glanced at the two shards that had been together since yesterday, having a reunion on their own. "Maybe because of the shard? I think that’s why the fragments came here to check, but they couldn’t find anything anyway."

Han Shin clapped his hands mirthfully, letting out a sigh of satisfaction. "Aah...isn’t that refreshing?"

"For sure," the others agreed. Bassena, especially, was making a satisfied expression like someone ready to purchase some land for real estate.

How long had those two fragments roaming around trying to find the shards all this time? Zein knew for a fact that the shard kept the Specter core intact and let it heal just to provide more cover while waiting for Zein to come. Indeed, that one was very smart, probably even more than the core.

Jock continued his report, pointing at the map and drew a crescent at the edge. "The cliff is directly against the sea, and there’s hardly any shore down there, just rock and seawater."

Han Shin tilted his head. "So, the ship won’t come through here?"

"Who knows? It’s not like they’ll only take a shore route," Bassena said, looking at the temporary map. They couldn’t know which side this cliff was; was it closer to the north, or closer to where the ship team started their advances? It was impossible to tell because they couldn’t the shoreline. "At any rate, we’ll leave the beacon as usual."

"Ah, I’m not sure yet, but I think we can connect this area with the lake from the first one," Jock zoomed out the screen and there was a familiar map on the left side of the current map. It was the biggest map consisting of their first and fourth area. On the rightmost side of the bigger map, there was a lake and a blurry marked border. "I think the lake is also connected to the sea through an underwater passage."

"Interesting."

"We still need to go there to make sure, but for now, I’ve tried to integrate them," Jock moved two pieces of the map, but left dashes on the border area to mark that it wasn’t finalized yet. The dashes would naturally be erased once they were sure.

Zein stared at the vast lake with narrowed eyes. Except for Han Joon, they hadn’t seen the lake yet, but it looked big. It was several times bigger than his lake, and would easily be mistaken for the sea if it wasn’t for the existence of a ruin on the other side. There was also an island in the middle of the lake, which piqued his interest.

But that interest could only be explored some other time. He looked at the map, which was as good as an official one and had all kinds of details they could hope for at this stage. He recalled that Jock had been out to map the area as soon as they were out of the dungeon. The weird thing was...Zein knew automatic mapping wasn’t in Jock’s roster skill, which focused on communication.

"Is making a map your hobby?" Zein asked curiously.

The one who answer, because Jock was in the middle of sipping his coffee, was Eleanor. "It’s his former job."

"Oh, were you working together before, Ella?" Han Shin chimed in quickly with bright eyes.

"You can say that."

The bright black eyes narrowed as Han Shin stroked his chin and sniffed the air once. He had been observing how Jock treated Eleanor very gently and attentively, so his radar was blinking. "Hmm...I smell history."

"Shin..."

"W-what?" Han Shin straightened his back when he heard his brother’s slightly sharp tone. "I’m not trying to tease! I’m just curious!" he argued to defend himself. "What if I said something wrong because I didn’t know?"

"Then don’t say anything at all," Han Joon said amusedly with a softer tone. "Are you just trying to wiggle out of your promise?"

"N-no?!" the healer shook his head in fluster, which only made him look even more suspicious. "Look--now that I know Ashur has no feelings for Zein, there’s no way I will tease him about it!"

The innocent Ashur who was having his after-meal cookies blinked in bewilderment when his name suddenly got dragged.

Han Joon flicked his brother’s forehead. "You shouldn’t tease him for that in the first place."

"Ugh--"

Looking at the healer rubbing his forehead while jutting his lower lips, Eleanor let out a rare soft giggle. "It’s alright, Young Master," she smiled. "It’s not like we were keeping it a secret."

"Oh??" Han Shin immediately recovered.

Jock chuckled at the healer’s enthusiasm and spoke nonchalantly. "We were peacefully married and peacefully separated."

Han Shin blinked. "Peacefully?"

"Peacefully," Eleanor smiled.

"That works?"

"Things just don’t work out for us as a couple," Eleanor shrugged. "But he’s a good man and a good friend."

Han Shin and the others looked at Jock, who only responded with another shrug. Sometimes, things just didn’t work out even if there was no apparent trouble at home. "Being apart because of work and stuff suddenly felt more unbearable when you were married than when you were dating, much less when you were just friends."

Eleanor nodded silently. The loneliness of an empty home because their schedule never aligned was suffocating, at least for them. Jock thought Eleanor should find someone better, and Eleanor thought she shouldn’t remain as a shackle. They decided to end things mutually but remained in contact as friends and colleagues, unburdened by each other.

"Hmm...but you both are still single now, aren’t you?" Han Shin grinned.

"Shin," this time, Han Joon’s warning came even sharper, delivered with a smile that made Han Shin press his mouth tight and sew them. "But I don’t think I can do that though--keep being friends after separating, I mean."

"Neither do I," Bassena nodded.

"You possessive obsessive men," Han Shin scoffed.

"I can’t do that too," Zein said, a subtle smile playing on his lips. He was still in a good mood after spending the night sleeping in Bassena’s arms while staring at the sea, and his heart had started to make some decisions. The only situation that would make them break up or separate at that point was something outside their own feelings, an external factor like death.

But Zein was happy that morning, so he didn’t want to think about anything negative.

Han Shin gasped at how much Zein had fallen into this relationship, but Bassena was giggling sheepishly like a teenage boy in front of his crush. "Hehe..."

"Lovebirds," Han Joon chuckled, before tilting his head at his brother. "I feel like Shin can do that, though."

Han Shin blinked and tilted his head too. Hmm...he couldn’t deny it. He and Raina were a good friend before they got engaged, and while he didn’t think they’d break up, they’d try to do it in the best way possible if they had to, since they really hated hurting each other.

So he accepted it with a shrug in the end and shifted back to Jock. "Anyway...you’re originally a scout?"

"I have always been a scout," the man replied with a laugh.

"Who...bodyguarding?"

"I’m more in charge of relaying information and receiving warnings to people who really guarding," Jock smirked. "The goal is always to not let the danger come close to the person we guard."

"I see," Zein curled his lips. He recalled hearing something like that from Jock before; that was what the shadow guards were for. With that concept, all Jock had to do was data mining without taking field action. But then...why did this man come to the Deathzone where he had to run around instead of chilling in the background? Looking at Jock’s eyes, he smirked. "You’re bored, huh?"

Jock chuckled at the on-point observation. "It had always been fun when I was with Zein before," he said in reminiscence. "Things always happened."

"Well, I’m glad you were having fun."

"I’m having fun even now," Jock shrugged.

Zein scoffed while shaking his head. "You’re just like Captain Khan."

Were all older men getting bored fast and requiring extreme stimulus?

"And look," Bassena suddenly took out a small burning blue sheet. "Seems like something fun happening again."

"Huh? Isn’t that--"

Bassena stood up as the sheet burned completely. "Seems like they finally found the source of that fog field."