Chapter 278: In-Depth (2/2)

“You can go down. Even if something happens, the Administration Bureau will open a green channel for you.”

Green channel, expedited revival.

The bald uncle said this and pushed the two into the freight elevator leading to the computer room.

Although Alice said it hadn’t been used since construction, the interior of the elevator was quite clean and spacious, indeed large enough to transport big equipment, even brighter and more spacious than the old elevators in the Cheap Rental Apartment and the Underground Garden.

Then, the elevator doors closed.

“Tch, this old man, his words are really unlucky—huh?!”

Kamui, hands on her hips, complained angrily. Before she could finish, she felt a sinking under her feet. The elevator began descending at an extremely fast speed, accompanied by violent shaking.

“Are we just falling straight down?!”

Although the Moon Rabbit Combat Unit had experienced something similar, Clara was still startled.

‘After all, this isn’t for passengers. Going as fast as possible without dying improves work efficiency.’

“This is only a little slower than the drone elevator—aaaaah!”

Clara, unstable on her feet, wailed and hugged Kamui.

The latter had no reaction, standing like a pine, even showing a “you’re hopeless” expression while gently patting Clara’s back.

Even though the descent was fast, the process felt long. The depth of the computer room was comparable to the Naitemel Underground Base, approaching the gravity adjustment limit of the dome.

***

After about ten seconds, the falling elevator began to slow down, and the shaking gradually subsided.

Only then did Clara release her small tentacles that were clinging to the latter and quickly moved three steps away.

“Sorry~”

The squid lady apologized softly for her lapse.

Kamui still had no reaction, just called out:

“Let’s go.”

The elevator doors opened, and she was the first to step out.

Although she didn’t say it, she unconsciously protected Clara.

As a result, the passage ahead was blocked by server cabinets, not even a 0.3-meter gap left, completely sealed off.

The passage didn’t have a ten-meter ceiling; three-meter cabinets were enough to completely block it.

“They’ve blocked it off really tightly.”

Kamui sighed and looked back at Clara.

“Can you sense it?” she asked.

‘Yes.’

It was Nyx in Clara’s head who replied.

‘And it’s strange. Nyx can sense the existence of two relics.’

‘They’re both above.’

“Huh? Two?”

Above the computer room was the big iron ball of the hero network, a behemoth nearly ten meters in diameter and the center of this computer room.

Could it be that the criminal really…?

It could be sensed, possibly inside the host of the hero network.

“Really?”

Kamui rubbed her hands together.

Then, she began to push from one corner of the cabinet. With a harsh grating sound, the entire cabinet started moving forward under her force.

“Haaaaaah!!”

After forcing open a gap, she pushed the adjacent cabinet with the same effort, as if opening some heavy ancient tomb door.

“Young lady has great strength.”

Clara couldn’t help, so she just flattered.

“Don’t be a smartass, let’s go in.”

The two squeezed sideways through the gap they had created.

Because they were petite, it was narrow but not without room to move. If they were adult-sized, even sideways would feel oppressive.

rustle rustle—

Some spider-like drones clung to the top of the cabinets, watching them, making the scene eerie.

“Let’s go up first.”

The space was too small for the squid broom to be deployed, so Clara had to step on the protruding parts of the cabinets and use her hands and tentacles to grab the servers fixed to the cabinets, slowly climbing up.

“The path down here is all like this. Going from above is more spacious and closer to the host.”

Because it was narrow, she couldn’t stick her butt out while climbing. Instead, her whole body was in a more spread-out position, climbing up in a strange, laborious crab-like posture.

This was even more strenuous than when she was the Moon Rabbit. Thank goodness she was wearing a skirt; spreading her legs didn’t strain her crotch.

“What are you standing there for? Hurry up!”

But Kamui was still standing sideways between the cabinets, unmoved.

Even though she could fly straight up, Clara had already climbed to the top.

“There’s something here.”

She said, staring intently at the oppressive, narrow path ahead and continued moving forward sideways.

‘Is it a thief, or a shadow soldier that fell in here?’

“Clara, keep an eye out for me from up there.”

Her Mana Emission value was zero. If she also climbed up, she’d be useless when a real enemy appeared, so she chose to keep moving below.

“Be careful.”

Clara summoned her Inkstained Staff.

“Huh?!”

A black shadow darted across a dim fork in the path. Kamui clenched her fists and quickened her pace.

She said:

“I think I saw her.”

“Huh? What is it?”

“A shadow person.”

Shadow soldiers—officially called Dark Domain Individuals.

Their essence is closer to a Black Mud Amoeba. Though they appear humanoid, they actually have no skeletal structure. Their only weak point is the invisible core inside their bodies.

In other words, they are better suited for moving in this kind of unconventional terrain.

Moreover, Kamui probably had no x-ray vision. Breaking the core could only rely on Clara, who had Nyx.

‘Scanning multiple individuals approaching.’

‘They’re trying to flank.’

‘Someone is commanding them, so there’s a high possibility a Witch is present.’

With Nyx saying this, Clara warned Kamui:

“There’s more than one. Be careful.”

But even with Clara’s warning, Kamui couldn’t do much to prepare.

However, the elevator in the maintenance passage was sealed. Why were there so many shadow soldiers here?

‘Probably a wormhole. There’s also a wormhole beacon inside the computer room.’

“A second wormhole?”

Clara relayed Nyx’s speculation to Kamui and to the uncle on the other end of the communicator.

“A second beacon device? How was it brought in?” Clara asked.

“Or it could be one beacon opening two wormholes simultaneously above and below.”

No one knew the answer, but the bald uncle came up with a guess.

“The wormhole above might just be a smokescreen.”

When a wormhole opens, besides the halo that serves as its exit, a mysterious light pillar appears directly above it, capable of penetrating matter. It can be seen but not touched—that’s the projection of the wormhole’s “passage” in reality.

“If one beacon can open two wormholes at different depths above and below, it can serve as cover for the second wormhole… Who would think of opening two wormholes at different depths on the same beacon?”

When the light pillars of two wormholes overlap, the first wormhole can act as cover for the second.

As for why the enemy opened this second wormhole, the answer was obvious.

The bald uncle urged:

“Hurry up. That’s probably the thief’s escape route!”

“Huh? Then where’s the second wormhole?” Kamui asked.

She was standing in the narrow gap between cabinets, so she couldn’t see clearly.

But Clara looked up and clearly saw a lump of black mud drip down like a drop of water from within the blue iron shell of the hero network.

‘As expected.’

The moment someone proudly boasts about security is often when problems are most likely to occur.