Transcendent Gene
Chapter 224: Ruin Exploration [2]

Chapter 224: Ruin Exploration [2]

Sneaking out of Celestelle could be easy or hard depending on who one was.

It was very difficult for an ordinary student to do so. The floating island’s buses required identification to enter, and they were all equipped to match any alternate forms of identification with the First Institute’s records.

The academy ensured that a student without permission couldn’t even entertain the idea of leaving. For students without background, those buses were their only path to the ground.

Naturally, they wouldn’t be disallowed from leaving permanently. Such rules were in place for both their safety and education’s sake. They were not meant to chain students and limit them.

Nevertheless, for first years, at least, permission was not easy to receive.

It was a bit different for people from higher social classes. They had various ways to leave the island. In fact, even Gio could call a driver at any time.

The Atmos Clan was a merchant clan. They did not have military power in Celestelle, but they still had influence. "Influence" was a strong thing that could create many pathways to the ground even without the clan’s direct help.

And, in the end, it wasn’t as if these big clans could enter and leave the city without being recorded. Eventually, the institute would find out and punish them as well.

There was a time when the Great Clans had enough influence on the institute to subvert these rules, but that changed the day the current Headmaster took his post. He was a man focused on raising soldiers. He was not a pawn that others could use in their political games.

’Basically, it all comes down to the fact that escaping the city isn’t as easy as just leaving.’

Even jumping off was far too obvious. It was impossible to do so without being spotted.

’So, for a first year, the only way to leave the city without being found out is to make the right connections.’

Nightreign was also an option, but only if one could reach their destination through a connection with another person. There were services in Nightreign with such purposes, but...well, those were a topic for another time.

’I don’t need to pay the absurd prices people charge to be terminals. Even if I did, I’d have to wait for the terminal to reach the location I send before I can even use it.’

He had a much better method in the form of a very established scientist in this city.

He never visited the lab in the morning for obvious reasons, but he had more than enough time now.

’It’s more convenient now that I have my own credentials. The first few days were difficult when I had to wait to be walked up to the main lab floors.’

The path to Farrah’s office was practically muscle memory by now. This visit also wasn’t a random one. She was fully expecting his presence when he knocked on her door.

"Come in."

With her permission, he opened it and walked into the office, where she was already standing up out of her seat.

"I hope you’re telling the truth again this time," she said.

"I’ve been looking for traces like the ones you mentioned, but there aren’t many near here. Most of them are fully excavated before we can get people inside."

During his usually scheduled visit the previous evening, Gio had informed Farrah of his plan to go to the ancient ruin. If it was just about getting him a car, she didn’t mind doing so regardless of his reason, but this particular reason happened to align with goals she herself held.

It had only been a week and some days, but Gio had been personally helping with the refinement of the process they used to create the first prototype of their new Sequence Enhancer.

At this point, the preliminary tests were done and it was time to start turning a practically proven theory into a real product. Farrah’s nature was still untrusting, but her first instinct with Gio was now to give him the benefit of the doubt.

She didn’t question him much after learning about his goal, only saying that she also wanted to see the ruin.

"I’m not a Sequencer. You know that, right?" She asked.

"Yeah," Gio responded.

"Do you need me to get you something from inside?"

"Mm. Well, I’ll bring someone as well just in case, but yes. I’d like you to keep your eyes peeled for a certain resource. I’ll send you the information as we walk to the car."

Someone at Farrah’s level had similar benefits to a Great Clan. However, as a Taurus-Roth affiliate, she was seen in a more neutral light, giving her even more freedom in some ways.

The car they entered was accompanied by a driver in official clothing. Its windows were definitely illegally tinted, yet Farrah didn’t care in the slightest. So, Gio didn’t care either.

’Thion Dust, is it? I can understand why she needs an ancient ruin,’ he thought as he noted the incredibly smooth feeling of the car accelerating out of the lab’s attached garage.

Thion Dust wasn’t a particularly complex material. Its rarity was defined by scarcity.

’It was produced by an alloy they used in the eras Before Gehenna, and just like most of the resources that populated Earth almost a thousand years ago, the original materials used to create those alloys don’t exist anymore.’

They were finite, and with humanity’s growing greed for expansion, they were quickly used up and replaced by mining operations in the depths of outer space.

If the Forthcoming didn’t gift Earth with new resources and new life, the planet was bound to die in a few centuries even with the creation of Strata and humanity’s advancements in technology.

’So, in the current day and age, the only way to find products of those past resources is to find ancient ruins like these and hope that there’ll be traces.’

Humanity’s plight began at the last turn of the millennium. The only "ruins" that could still stand after such a long period and after the entire world was terraformed were the most important of them.

Naturally, facilities strong enough to withstand such tribulations could only contain the things past humans considered most vital.

The car was able to leave Celestelle smoothly. Gio’s shadow couldn’t even be seen through the tint, and the car’s plate could only be matched to Taurus-Roth as a company car with no real owner.

It flew through the air with the same smoothness that it had on the ground, making the hour-and-a-half-long journey feel much shorter.

Gio spent most of the time thinking about ancient history and the rest chatting with Farrah before he could see it outside the window.

’There are a lot of people here already.’

The news of this ruin was only accessible through certain connections that Gio and even Farrah did not have. Still, Gio could see at least several tens of heads on the ground below.

"The ruin should be underground with an entrance near that clearing, which is why they’ve gathered," Farrah said as she handed Gio a mask that looked oddly similar to one he’d worn in the past.

"This car is too conspicuous to land. The two of you will have to jump and approach the clearing from the ground."

The two of them were accompanied by another person who remained silent throughout the ride. He was covered in all black with his face not visible in the slightest. Even his eyes were covered by a thick pair of goggles tinted just as darkly as the car’s windows.

Both he and Gio nodded at her words, already expecting this much.

"I don’t know what kind of skills you have as a Sequencer, but I’ll trust your judgement and allow you to move freely," Farrah said, facing Gio.

She turned her head to the man in black next.

"As for you, 46, there’s no need to follow him, but if the two of you happen to encounter each other at any point, aid him in his pursuit. After all, he’s helping us, too."

The man named 46 nodded in acknowledgement, to which Farrah hummed.

"Then, let’s not waste any more time on useless conversation."

She strapped herself into her seat and opened the door next to her.

"I’ll see you both on the other side."

46 went first and Gio jumped right after him.

With the air on his face and the expansive Great Northern Forest below him, Gio was reminded of memories from the Wasteland.

However, this time, his enemies weren’t monsters, but humans.

The only goal existing in his mind was leaving stronger than he came.

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