There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 579 - 573. Circling and Trapping

Chapter 579: Chapter 573. Circling and Trapping

[We just finished the fourth one; the first team will be done with the fifth one in a little bit--only the boss is remaining]

"Maintain your speed."

[Section One is done with the tenth; there are only three remaining]

"That’s fast. How’s the guides’ condition?"

[We were a bit too hasty earlier, since the first five were almost on the verge of breaking. The guides seem to be exhausted, so we’ll tone it down for now]

"Alright; don’t let them get a burnout. Just put a barrier around the gates that’s about to break and deal with the pouring beasts."

[Yes, Commander]

"Section Three, what’s your status?"

Zein watched Bassena facing several screens, listening to reports and giving out orders but still making sure he was close enough to Zein. Close enough to keep glancing in Zein’s direction every time there was a lull in the reports.

The guide chuckled inwardly while eating his breakfast. It had been a day since the sudden dungeon appearances happened, and everyone had been busy except for him. Well, except for him and the other six guides still digesting their absorbed miasma and recuperating from the pressure they experienced after getting exposed to the fog.

Bassena, for an obvious reason, couldn’t go into the dungeon himself. He had been busy organizing the attack force in every base, including the newly built one around the ruin where the field of fog previously was. The esper also moved from base to base to see the condition directly, but after going around, he came back to check on his guide.

Naturally, once he found out that Zein still could barely move, Bassena stopped moving around unless there was an emergency that needed his immediate presence.

Thankfully, it was nothing like a case of burnout; just the effect of absorbing miasma to the limit while constantly using mana. Mentally, Zein was fine. He didn’t even need a dedicated bedrest. His muscles just refused to cooperate due to exhaustion.

Still, using the excuse of cooking a nursing meal for Zein, Bassena went back to the new camp and started organizing the task force from there. This, however, turned out perfect. While Bassena was managing the espers, Zein also received constant updates about the guides from Silva and Dheera. With Bassena being there, they actually managed to synchronize the espers and guides’ schedule, making sure the dungeon erasure operation went smoothly.

Bassena was a bit miffed that Zein wasn’t properly resting, but since it provided a perfect excuse...he just held his sigh and made sure Zein drank his silver needle.

[Sir, dungeon nine in Section Four is about to break; the estimated time is twenty minutes. Team one and two are in the middle of raids right now, shall we send the support team?]

"No; give me the coordinates of the dungeon and keep on standby," Bassena turned toward the old man who had been amusedly looking at the three-dimensional map of the whole region under their protection. He put a pointer on a spot in the plain and asked the old man. "Sir, please put a five-meter barrier around this area."

"Sure," Tian Yu nodded, and, while nothing seemed to happen on their side, Bassena received a confirmation that a barrier had formed around dungeon nine of Section Four.

"Thank you," Bassena returned to the screen and told them to let the dungeon break and clean it with both teams after they came out and received guiding.

"We’re halfway there, aren’t we?" Zein commented while joining Tian Yu in front of the three-dimensional holographic map.

Most of the red dots had turned green, which showed their significant progress. Not surprisingly, the red dots around the new camp had been totally cleaned out. After all, the people who gathered in the new camp were all high-ranking espers. They quickly dispatched the dungeons without jeopardizing their corrosion level, and the new camp became the safest spot despite being the one on the newest border.

"Is there any news from Jock?" Zein asked Bassena, who immediately shook his head.

The dungeon-hopping team had been temporarily disbanded. Bassena and Zein stayed in the new camp while Radia dragged his husband back to Althrea. Han Shin was going around from base to base as a mobile medic, while Jock and Eleanor tried to follow the energy threads coming from the dungeon gates.

"Well, they did say they would have to move slowly," Bassena crossed his arms and glanced toward the canyon. "We can still go through the star corridor again. For now, I’m more concerned about...oh?"

Bassena tilted his head and Zein shifted closer to look at the notification on the esper’s screen. A simple ship icon was blinking in the communication channel.

"Oh, the ship is calling."

* * *

[Yo, Commander...I heard you were doing something fun~?] Gus’s relaxed voice flowed out of the commlink like someone who had been spending time on a cruise instead of a battleship. But then they heard the sound of a slap and Gus’s laugh. [Ouch--ow--okay, okay...ahem, our Princess is a bit moody today--ouch, I get it, I get it~]

"Sounds like they get along well," Zein shrugged at Bassena’s incredulous gaze.

[Geez--she really wants to be taken seriously, pfft--ah, ah, okay, okay!]

"So peaceful," Zein hummed while Bassena chuckled in amusement.

"Did you find our beacon?" Bassena asked right away.

[We can’t see it, but we caught the signal--guess you hid it pretty well, huh?] Gus finally went on with the report. [We’re near a tall cliff, so it seems like the location you told us about? Anyway, here’s the thing; we actually came across something like a port city when you told us about the cliff side]

Bassena raised his brow. "Ah, I reckoned you move right away to look for the cliff?"

They heard the sound of fingers snapping from the other side. [Yep! But this cliff of yours is on the northern side, so I don’t think there’s much further than the road...err, the water. The Captain’s crews told us the northern sea is more dangerous than our Deathzone]

"So I heard," Zein nodded, remembering the stories he heard from Elena and Frejya’s templars.

The northern sea was basically the Northern Alliance’s Deathzone. But since no one wanted to live in the sea anyway, and there was nothing but ice in the north, no one really cared about reclaiming it. No beast ever crossed the ice and the treacherous sea, so no one got affected by the Deathzone.

Of course, there were thousands of miles of water between the Eastern Sea and the Northern Sea, but the condition was mostly the same; constant storms and whirlpools, with occasional guests from the ’deathzone’ of the sea.

[We can see the storm from here, hahaha...] Gus laughed light-heartedly despite the seemingly bleak situation. [The spirits had been warning us not to go, so we think about turning back toward the port city--well, it was a ruin, but...]

"Is it far from the cliff?" Bassena glanced at Zein, who nodded in silent agreement.

[Not really; we can go back faster since we already established a route. You know we need to go slowly before since we need to map the place first]

"Alright, wait a bit--" Bassena muted the speaker before turning back to have a discussion with Zein. "What do you think?"

"Same as you," Zein shrugged. "I think the shard would be closer to the port city than the northern sea. They tended to look for habitable places if they could."

Bassena nodded, pulling the temporary map of the eastern region that Jock draw by guessing stuff. He pulled a line from the cliff toward the southeastern side and made cross marks there. "Let’s send a hunting team to the cliff and have them follow along the route to look for the port city."

"And we’ll be going there once they find the route?"

"Yeah," Bassena nodded. "It’s better to collect the shard first, right? We still need to wait for the Eastern Sun and Jock’s report anyway."

Zein closed his eyes and leaned back as a sign of endorsement, and Bassena quickly returned to the ship’s communication channel. "Alright, go to the port and stay there for a while. I’m going to send a hunting team to meet you there. Ask the elemental spirits to keep watch for a shard--most likely deep in the sea."

[Ah, you think it hides there? We did never encounter a fragment in the water--okay, I get it] Gus clapped his hand. [I’ll give you an update once we arrive in that port city...ruin...whatever--ah, Zein!]

The blue eyes opened with an arched brow, and a laughter-filled voice could be heard. [Senia wanted me to tell you that she did a good job--ouch, stop hitting me! Pfft--bye!]

When the line ended, Bassena tilted his head as he turned to face an equally amused Zein. "Why does he sound so cheerful after spending weeks at the sea?"

"Maybe he got a girlfriend or something," Zein scoffed.

"Huh..."