Transcendent Gene-Chapter 284: Escalating Conflict [2]

The task system was surprisingly efficient for something that had been put together roughly. The cards were all connected to a main server that could locate and contact them as long as they were in the vicinity of Lyverene.

This system allowed for remote contact between the cards and the bunker. The tasks they pertained to could be marked complete without a direct return.

The djinns who went out to complete their tasks didn’t necessarily have to move between the bunker and the outside world over and over again, potentially revealing their hiding place. Instead, they were allowed to take multiple cards at once and submit them through the digital interface.

If they failed to return within a set period of time, their cards would be located and retrieved to be returned to the board. Otherwise, they’d just be recreated.

Gio made sure to grab a great load of tasks for his party. It was best to maintain as little contact as possible unless necessary.

The tasks themselves weren’t anything difficult. What made them challenging was the environment.

Gio was aware of his party’s strengths and weaknesses. He chose in consideration of them.

The tasks on the mission wall ranged from incredibly dangerous confrontations like assassinations or kidnappings of important figures to much simpler tasks that merely required one to destroy a few structures or take care of small yet troublesome groups.

His group would be doing the latter. Most of their jobs were related to structures rather than people. He did choose a few combat missions, but they were few and far between.

They were not in Lyverne to form blood debts. The djinns who lived through this conflict would be at each other’s throats until one side didn’t exist anymore, and he didn’t plan to involve his comrades in that.

It wasn’t as if they were sacrificing anything by choosing such a path. Either path would lead them to the rewards they sought.

"We’re not doing bad," Gio said as he looked at his teammates. They were currently camping for the night in an abandoned building on the city’s outskirts.

"This one marks seven tasks complete in four days. I don’t think anyone could ask for a faster completion rate."

Not only were they raking up resources they stole from djinns and found at their points of interest, but they also had the rebel faction’s promised rewards waiting for them when they got back to the bunker.

"Should we head back now?" Serene asked.

"I think we should," Shiro chimed in.

"You guys have heard the same things as me. It feels like this war is about to explode. We should head back and see what’s going on over there before deciding what to do next."

"Mm."

Gio nodded his head with some satisfaction. He was thinking the same thing.

"You’ve grown," he said with a smile.

"And you’re right. We can’t determine much off of rumors, after all. We need to go back and find out what’s true and false."

The structures they set out to destroy were mostly related to some kind of network that the Old Duke’s faction was using. Though their mission wasn’t to fight, there were still people working at and guarding those structures.

The rumors they heard by eavesdropping on said individuals were concerning, to say the least. When the common people could make a general consensus that something terribly wrong would happen soon, nobody else could deny it either.

’It was a good run. We managed to do more than expected.’

Their tasks were the least of their accomplishments. Of the almost five days they’d spent away from the bunker, they’d barely completed one task a day. The rest of their days were spent running around the city.

’We showed up at the perfect time. With that guy in the bunker on the verge of death, the badges the Old Duke uses stopped functioning. Nobody knows who’s on what side anymore.’

Other than the people with big names and recognizable faces, nobody else could be confirmed as a member of either side without confrontation. Any badges one saw could easily have been stolen, and anyone without a badge could easily have removed it.

In this world where the line between enemy and ally was blurred, Gio’s team dug into the city in a way that would have been otherwise impossible.

It was to the point where they were even able to reach the Duke’s mansion without being touched.

Strangely enough, there wasn’t much action around the mansion at all. They only learned later that while it was the Old Duke’s main residence in Lyverne, it wasn’t where he spent the most of his time.

That was at the headquarters of the Green Mountain Faction that he led. If the mansion was where objects of interest were stored, the headquarters contained most of the people.

They stayed away from the large hedges that blocked it from the world beyond so they wouldn’t be seen by the guards around the perimeter. From buildings nearby, they could see the mansion from above and understand its general layout.

The problem was with the secrets that could be hidden inside. In that sense...

’Neriah has it covered.’

She had more than just a nose for treasure. If she knew the general areas she needed to investigate, she could maneuver her Sequence to help her along the rest of the way.

So, the majority of their five days in Lyverne were situated in the mansion’s vicinity. It was only obvious that they alerted some guards with their presence and were being watched the entire time, but...

’When we end up in the mansion, it’ll be past the point where that matters.’

The party spent the night outside. The plan was to return to the bunker early in the morning to collect their rewards and get caught up on everything that had happened while they focused primarily on themselves.

However, plans were meant to be destroyed.

BOOM!

The four of them were startled awake by a huge boom in the distance. As they scrambled to their feet, the glass windows all around them were shattered by a shockwave.

Their eyes connected with each other. They rushed to the ledge left after the window’s disappearance just in time to see the mushroom cloud in the distance.

"That’s..."

"Yeah. It’s right in the middle of the city. If it were any further, the shockwave wouldn’t have made it this far."

Gio’s eyes narrowed.

"Let’s get back to the bunker. I’d rather not wait to see what that’s about."

They’d been awake for no more than a minute, but it didn’t matter. Realizing the severity of such a massive impact, they rushed out of the building and into the sewer tunnels below the world.

The winding path to the bunker became more and more populated with other people running both with them and against them.

’They’re fleeing the bunker.’

Half of the crowd was trying to get there to figure out what was happening. The other half was running from the bunker as if it were infested with the deadliest plague.

Despite his better judgement, Gio still chose to push past the fleeing crowd and into the bunker.

It was chaos. On every floor, there were people gathering either their belongings or their weapons. There was blood everywhere and killing intent flowing in rivers. Unlike the crowd that was running away, the people still in the bunker were preparing for war.

Gio’s eyes scanned the space until he found Fabian in the distance. The man looked like he was being swarmed with people, but that didn’t stop Gio from rushing over.

"Everyone, calm down!" 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

He yelled it several times as he tried to get people’s attention before he had no choice but to be more forceful.

Voom!

A wave of energy forced the crowd to part and allow him through.

Fabian’s eyes scanned them as he moved. When he saw Gio, he made a pleading expression and called the parry over.

"Lynx, it’s good to see you, but you guys should run."

They talked as they walked. Fabian was clearly busy, but he still took the time to talk to them. It was clear that he’d become fond of Gio in the short time they’d known each other.

"What happened?" Gio asked.

"We saw the explosion..."

"Yeah, it’s because of that explosion."

They reached a staircase leading to the second floor and started climbing.

"Some idiot decided that he was strong enough to kill the guy we all joined forces to kill. I guess that fact that the rest of us have common sense doesn’t matter when you’re a fucking moron."

According to Fabian, a djinn who got too far into his own head went and challenged the Old Duke.

He lost easily. If it were simple to kill the Old Duke, he’d be dead already. Many had been captured and killed already, so it wasn’t a surprising outcome.

"The problem is that they decided to make this one squeal before killing him. He told them where the bunker is and he told them who runs our operation. Basically..."

Fabian didn’t need to say more. They were screwed.

"They’re on their way here now. Reports say even the Old Duke is personally coming. Everyone who left is gone for good and everyone who’s staying is willing to fight. I don’t know which side you belong to, but I think you should leave."

The actions of a single person expedited a war that should’ve taken weeks to end. The enemy was on their doorstep now, and they only had minutes to prepare.

"Tch."

Gio clicked his tongue.

"We can’t stay. I already told you we have other goals."

"I know that, too. You can fool everyone else, but not me."

They arrived in front of a locker that Fabian opened. He pulled out a metal box the size of a small briefcase and handed it to Gio.

"I don’t know where you came from, but none of you are djinns. I don’t care about any of that. Actually, it’s probably for the better, because I couldn’t trust a djinn with this."

Fabian looked into Gio’s eyes.

"This case contains my life in it. There’s nothing valuable. It’s filled with pictures, books, and letters. If you want to feel it to confirm, you can."

He pushed it into Gio’s arms and continued.

"If you’re a djinn and I’m wrong, then just ignore this. If I’m right about you, then please take it, open it, and deliver those letters to the people they’re addressed to."

"You–"

"Don’t say anything."

Fabian shook his head with a frown.

"I’m too deep in this. The Old Duke knows my face personally, so I’m almost guaranteed to die here. You guys are new, so it’ll be a lot easier for you to get out."

Gio looked at the case with heavy eyes before sighing. He gripped it tightly and looked back up at Fabian.

"Fine, but don’t be so set on dying. If you survive, I’m going to find you."

"Hahaha."

Fabian chucked a little and shook his head.

"Good luck with that."

There wasn’t a farewell in any sense of the word. Once he confirmed that Gio had the suitcase, he turned around and disappeared into the crowd.

Gio only took one more second to comprehend what had happened before turning back to his group.

"You heard him."

There was no time to feel sorrow for someone he’d only known for a few days.

"We have to go."

Though it came out of nowhere and at the expense of countless people, one ignorant soul created the perfect scenario for them.

For the replication of the clue cards and the discovery of the Old Duke’s treasure, this was the most perfect opportunity.

Regardless of anything and regardless of anyone, they had to seize the moment.