Seed of Titan-Chapter 167: Revelations Before an Escape

"Can the lad still contact two other people?" Max asked Madeleine.

"Yes, but..." Madeleine paused, glancing warily at the downstairs passage on the right.

"It’s risky?" Max surmised.

Madeleine nodded. "The alteration I made was meant to facilitate the sending of two waves of messages, with the second one being a contingency in case Drai’s parents couldn’t be reached—a prediction which turned out to be true. But I wouldn’t have expected for all four recipients to be disconnected from the comm network. Truthfully, even as we’re talking, we’re risking detection, as it only requires someone to manually inspect my terminal activity to notice an abnormality in my encryption key, signal pattern, access history, or transmission log."

"What?" Max blurted in surprise.

Almost immediately, Drai asked, "Why didn’t you tell me this operation was that risky?"

Madeleine smiled wryly. "If your parents were reachable, I would’ve reverted my modifications by now. We also wouldn’t be having this conversation at all. Rather than making you hesitate and fuss about the supposedly low risk, I figured it’s better to keep it to myself."

"Then just change your system back to normal now," Drai said.

"Are you sure, child? You can still contact two more people if you’re really bothered about the communication blackout," Madeleine offered.

"Can’t I do that later after you remodify your system again?"

Madeleine shook her head. "It’s not that simple. Messing with the protocols too much in such a short timespan will also risk alerting the security system as well as the monitoring personnel. It would take at least a week before it’s much safer to tinker with it again."

Drai pondered over Madeleine’s words. Meanwhile, Max stayed quiet. He was actually opposed to continuing with the unsafe operation, but since the host herself was keeping that option open for Drai, he decided not to interfere. Besides, he too was curious about why all of Drai’s chosen contacts were unreachable at this particular moment.

Eventually, Drai said, "I’ll try one more time with two more contacts if that’s okay."

Max’s gaze locked onto Madeleine as he wondered if her previous offer was merely lip service. However, his doubt was quickly proven to be uncalled for.

"Very well. Show me their contact IDs," Madeleine said.

Drai rummaged through his contact list once more, and shortly after, two similarly attractive yet contrasting faces were projected alongside their contact information.

Madeleine quickly typed in the necessary data, whereas Max became intrigued upon seeing the name of the sharp-looking young lady.

"Skyward? Is this fierce cutie a relative of that up-and-coming young dragon commander? I forgot his name."

Drai couldn’t help but chuckle at Max’s outdated remark. "Alancho Skyward, right? He’s Rivideria’s Great General now, and yes—Nat’s his daughter, his only child to date."

"Great General? Damn... My friends and I knew that he’d quickly rise up through the ranks, especially with that powerful bloodline class of his, but I didn’t actually expect him to end up being the Great General. And his only daughter is your close friend? That’s one hell of a useful connection."

"Actually, connection-wise, the other girl doesn’t lose in the slightest—in fact, hers might be even more impressive," Drai added.

"Really? Who is she even—huh?" Max was briefly stunned as he stared at Auri’s name. He then turned to Drai with a look of excitement and astonishment. "That’s my grand-niece, Auri? What the hell, son?! From your description, I expected her to be a malnourished nerd. How can you not fall for such a hottie?!"

"Like I said, she lacks proper muscles," Drai replied flatly.

Hearing this, Max shook his head helplessly, muttering, "For someone with a healthy pair of eyes, you sure are blind, lad..."

Right at that moment, Madeleine spoke up. "Sorry to interrupt your borderline-improper physical evaluation, Max, but I need to hear Drai’s message."

Hearing her remark, Max clicked his tongue and quietly mumbled, "’Borderline-improper’ my ass—I was just worried about my future grand-nephew in-law here..."

Drai, on the other hand, said, "Just make it the same as the one before. Oh—wait a second." He then turned to Max and asked, "Do you want to say something to Auri?"

"No," Max simply replied.

"Not even a hi?" Drai asked with a slightly puzzled expression.

"No. I’ve been dead for decades. Rather than giving my family a false hope and end up saddening them again, I’d rather stay dead for now. Remember—it’s still uncertain when we’ll ever escape from here, or if we’ll ever escape," Max said with a stern look. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

"Well, if you so," Drai remarked before turning to Madeleine. "I guess I’ll stick the same message."

"Put ’love’ before his name," Max suddenly ordered, causing the other two to raise their brows.

"You shouldn’t meddle with these youngsters’ affairs, Max," Madeleine said, half advising, half reprimanding.

"Yeah. I don’t want to create a misunderstanding," Drai added, supporting Madeleine’s sentiment.

"Bah! What a pair of killjoys," Max groaned in annoyance. "Fine—I’ll be taking the matter into my own hands when we get back anyway."

Madeleine lightly snorted before typing in the message. Meanwhile, Drai massaged his temples, feeling a headache already from Max’s future shenanigans if he ever reunited with his family.

The two waited in silence as Madeleine monitored the pair of new messages. Not long after, she turned to Drai again and said, "Your messages have been delivered."

Both Drai and Max sighed in relief. At least they knew there wasn’t some kind of apocalypse happening to their country.

Madeleine didn’t have time to share their relief though, as she was busy re-altering her modifications.

It wasn’t until a few minutes later that she finally sighed in relief.

"Is it done?" Max asked.

"Yes. I’ve returned the settings to normal and wiped out the transmission log. Unless we’ve been detected already, we’re probably safe—"

Just then, a new message appeared on the screen, which prompted her to cut her sentence short as she checked on it. Almost immediately, her face turned grave, and she quickly turned toward her two guests.

"You two need to get away from here quickly. An inspector and a few enforcers are coming."

"What?! I thought we were clear!" Max blurted.

"They must’ve found out about it earlier and waited until I readjusted the configuration, perhaps to collect irrefutable proof of intentional protocol breaching. Regardless, you need to run away now—there’s no time."

"Run to where? Funky Valley? Or are there better alternatives?" Drai asked.

"Head west and cut through the alpine biome, then pass through the Illusive Strip. After that, you’ll reach the outermost parts of Siyeun Mountains," she directed.

Hearing this, Drai and Max looked at each other in bewilderment before turning back to Madeleine.

"You mean we’re able to completely escape?" Drai asked.

"Yes. If I’m not mistaken, that’s the closest route to your home country."

This time it was Max who asked, "What about the Strip—the guardians? I know Drai has progressed quite a lot, but are you sure we’re strong enough to pass them safely?"

"It doesn’t take a lot to pass those trivial beasts. There’s a reason we call it the Illusive Strip," she said.

Realization hit Max. With a shaken expression, he muttered, "No way..."

Madeleine nodded. "Yes. Your so-called ’guardians’ are just illusions created by the Strip’s inhabitants. Why else would those ’powerful’ beasts remain on that barren land instead of venturing into lusher grounds? Their illusive powers are only effective there—perhaps they’re evolutionary abilities gained by staying in that peculiar biome for a long time."

"B-but my wounds were real! I even got bedridden many times after battling there!" Max exclaimed, still unconvinced.

"So are the beasts there, it’s just that they are not what they appear to be, and their true strength is also way lower than what’s portrayed through the illusion," Madeleine elaborated further. "Unfortunately, the damage incurred while caught in their illusion corresponds to your perception. So, despite their relatively mild strength, they’re able to prevent all the inner areas’ inhabitants from expanding outward and outsiders from venturing in, practically isolating this entire area."

While Max was devastated by Madeleine’s words, Drai questioned, "But why is this information kept a secret? Wouldn’t it be more useful for humanity if we could fully explore this area? And couldn’t you inform Max years ago so he could escape?"

Madeleine glanced at the right passage nervously but still chose to explain the matter. "Because it’s an organizational secret, and our main goals don’t include the advancement of humanity as a whole, so there’s no reason to share this exclusive research haven with the world—which is why I also kept this from Max. If we’re not in such an emergency, I wouldn’t have divulged this info, even to you, child."

Just then, a series of mechanical noises sounded from below.

"Go now! Use the map I gave you to lead your way! There’s really no more time!" Madeleine frantically urged with her right hand lifted, ready to unleash a spell to send out her two guests away if needed.

Drai turned to Max and saw that he was still in a daze from Madeleine’s shocking revelation earlier, so he slapped him on the cheek, jolting him awake.

"Let’s go, Max! Don’t you want to return to your family!?" Drai urged.

Touching his reddened cheek, Max’s resolve hardened as he gave a firm nod. The two then looked at Madeleine, who was keeping an eye on the right passage.

"What about you? You can go with us," Drai said.

"No, I’ll have to stay here to fabricate an excuse and delay the inspection," she replied with a reassuring smile. "Don’t worry, I’ve been their loyal employee and valuable researcher for decades. They won’t hastily dispose of me."

"But why go this far to help us? What’s in it for you?" Drai pressed further. He didn’t want to leave with unanswered questions that would guilt him for years to come.

"Truthfully, I’ve been lying to you. I actually know your rector very well. That might be the reason why he decided to send you here."

Drai was stunned as he finally realized the main reason for Madeleine’s hospitality. He had thought that Universal Grandson had worked amazingly well, but it turned out the old lady already had her own reasons for aiding him.

Eventually, Drai said, "Stay safe and thanks for everything, Madeleine. I hope we meet again in the future."

"Thanks," Max curtly added. Though he didn’t really meant to, he couldn’t help but feel bitter toward the woman who had been keeping crucial information from him. If she had told him the truth about the Strip earlier, he wouldn’t have wasted three whole decades trapped here like an idiot.

The mechanical noises from below grew louder, prompting Madeleine to wave her hand and conjure a large amount of fog that swept Drai and Max, sending them away in a flash.

Once they were gone, Madeleine softly whispered, "Godspeed, Prophesied Child."

Seconds later, a loud noise akin to steam bursting out resounded from below. Following that, footsteps could be heard approaching.

A clean-shaven, middle-aged man with a futuristic monocle and a long white suit emerged from the passage, followed by several menacing figures—each of them holding a mechanical weapon.

"Pardon our intrusion, Ms. Hamilton, but alarming activities have been detected from your terminal, which prompted our abrupt visit. I hope you cooperate with our investigation," the leading man said with an eerie smile.

"Very well, Inspector Carnegon," Madeleine replied. "But first, how about some glacial water for you and your men? It’s a refreshing specialty that I recently discovered..."

***