Chương 981: Paintings
Hera left the server room, leaving the man stuck inside a locker. She continued walking through the passage. There was a lot of empty space before she reached another door, one that turned the tunnel into a smaller hallway. No longer were there towering walls around her, but now a corridor that seemed very much like something you would see in an office building.
The first couple of paintings were just basic, the type of thing you would expect to see from someone trying to add some art to a building. Rolling hills of green with some trees and flowers. A forest filled with small critters roaming around, with the silhouette of a massive stag bathed in sunlight.
The next one depicted a large battle. One fought purely with weapons and armor, not with any spells or magic. All the people in this particular painting were humans, which wasn't exactly a surprise, but it also made Hera somewhat confused.
Why would they display something showing humans fighting against each other if they were at war with the Alliance?
The following painting showed a single person on top of a hill overlooking the survivors of a battle. They were holding a flag as if they were claiming the land for themselves. It was very obvious that the painter tried to mirror the feeling of seeing Cyrus, but didn't quite hit the mark. In the best-case scenario, it was someone playing a similar role, and in the worst-case, a bad copycat.
Next came one with a city, a very beautiful and large city with a castle or a keep in the middle.
Hera continued walking, seeing a couple of other similar paintings, like the last three. Each of them followed the same pattern: a group of humans fighting, one of them reaching a hill and lifting a banner, followed by a city in a different style and architecture.
This sequence repeated about five times, each set taking up one side of the wall. Finally, the theme changed to something different. It was a picture of six people, the six who were holding the banners, but this time, their symbols were in their capes. All connected together, they created the logo for the New Dawn.
"This has to be the most egotistical thing I've ever seen," Livy shook her head.
"I know, right? Are they really trying to say that the New Dawn was created by a bunch of heroes?" Crimson scoffed.
"I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case, or at least that's part of their pitch," Forge grumbled.
"What do you mean?" Hera turned to Vulcan.
"Think about it. Once this war is over, they won't keep the Soldiers of Strength as just glorified bodyguards. They're probably trying to market it as your own personal army worthy of a hero. This is just art to help sell the point," the kangaroo explained.
"Holy shit. You're right. That would be a good way to sell it," Hera gasped.
The next few pictures showed exactly that: an army with red skin wearing clothes with the emblem of the New Dawn. This time, they were fighting members of the Alliance and killing everyone without suffering any casualties or injuries. The very last painting showed a silhouette sitting on a throne with the Soldiers of Strength kneeling in front of them.
"This is frankly disgusting," Nimbus frowned.
"I agree," Lurize stared daggers at the painting.
They were at the end of this hallway, and there was a turn to the left. From that direction, they heard footsteps approaching. Hera quickly looked around and found a bathroom in the corner. She rushed inside, dismissing her entire court. It was a men's bathroom. But at least the stalls went all the way to the ground instead of having a part open, showing everyone's feet.
The Empress quickly checked and found out that one of the stalls was locked, with an "Under Maintenance" sign on it. This meant the person who was walking here could be the one who needed to fix that, or it was someone else, and they wouldn't go inside the broken stall.
Going for a gamble, she summoned Shadow inside the stall with Daskka's help and used [Shadowstep Strike] to get inside without actually opening the door. This was a very private bathroom, not the kind you would see in an office or public space. Every stall was completely closed off from each other, which would ensure no one saw her inside, as long as they didn't try to enter the same stall she was using.
It didn't take long before the door of the bathroom opened, but Hera was still safely hidden.
"This is going to sound weird, but it's kind of nice to have the whole place to ourselves," a voice said. A couple of steps followed before they stopped.
"Enjoy it while it lasts. The boss said we should be getting some work later today," a second voice replied, followed by the sound of a jet of water hitting ceramic.
"What? Didn't they send the prototypes away? What else would we have to do?"
"I don't know. The boss, and I mean the big boss, said that he was going to need some help with his new personal project," the second man replied.
"Personal project? So, if you call the shots, you can use this entire thing for something you want to do? Man, being rich sounds great."
The noise continued. Hera had to admit that it was kind of amazing that it was lasting this long.
"It's not just about money. It's about power. And not just physical power. Mr. Wabeeri can pretty much do whatever he wants. He controls a massive company, the Soldiers of Strength, and the dude is strong enough in his own right. I saw him practicing with a few soldiers. He wasn't wiping the floor with them, but he was holding his own pretty well."
"Really?" The noise finally stopped, and footsteps walked to the other wall. "Not going to lie. I didn't expect him to be good at fighting."
"If you have enough money, you can probably hire someone to train you, or just get a bunch of skill compendiums," the second man replied. His footsteps went directly to the exit.
"But do we know what he's going to ask us to do?"
"It had something to do with some subjects that are not being cooperative. Probably just scare them off, but there's a chance its something more. By the way, did you see the game last night?"
Their voices slowly faded away as the two men walked off.
"I'm pretty sure one of them didn't wash their hands," Shadow grumbled in Hera's mind.
"Yeah. I think so too."
"The people working here are truly monsters," the Alabaster Duke huffed.
Hera held back a chuckle and continued to wait. At least the toilet in her stall wasn't dirty. She wasn't just giving time for the two people to leave the area but also waiting for Shadow's [Shadowstep Strike] to finish its cooldown.
But it seemed like there was a problem she would have to deal with. Mr. Wabeeri, whoever he was, was calling the shots. He was also someone strong enough to face one of the Soldiers of Strength on his own. It was a good thing she wasn't going to face him by herself.
On the other end of the laboratory, the Harmony Guardians had just arrived at another set of doors, this one clearly indicating the entrance to the actual laboratory part of the facility. Blade moved to the side, trying to find a way to open it without having Grimm blow everything up.
While she was searching for the control panel, Vash simply walked closer to the door and pressed a button in the middle of it. The entire door shifted and opened, revealing a wide-open space with a cluster of cages dangling from the ceiling, various red pipes pumping a liquid back and forth, and a few operation theaters scattered around the area.
The moment the door started to move, everyone rushed away to make sure they wouldn't be seen. After all, their cloaks were already gone.
"How did you do that?" Blade asked in a whisper.
"There was a button in the middle of the door. I figured that since this doesn't have an actual handle, that would be it," Vash replied.
"Good call. But next time, let us know beforehand," the human said, getting a nod in response.
Once the door was completely open, they quickly moved inside. The place seemed empty, with no one being experimented on and no scientists walking around. The only living beings they could see were a couple of Strength Spirits in each corner of the room, but they were trapped inside large vats of red liquid and attached to the walls.
They were on the second or third floor, with the gurneys and all the tools used for the experiments on the bottom floor. This was likely a way for the people in charge to observe what was going on without having to be too close to the experiments themselves.
Looking around was a harrowing sight. There was so much dried blood on the floor that it seemed like they never even bothered cleaning the place up. Yet, there was a corner to the left that was completely spotless, with a maintenance cart by the side and a small plaque reading "On a Break" sitting on top of it.
That clearly meant they did clean this place, but this was just how much blood was produced between the regularly scheduled visits from the janitor.
Vash flew around a bit until he found a passage directly underneath the entrance they had taken. Going to the staircase on the right was a possibility, but no one bothered with it. Everyone just jumped down from the second floor and started moving through this new passage.
The environment shifted again, now looking more like a hospital than an office or a large cargo area. They could also hear some moans coming from deeper into the facility.
Imagining that it was someone actively turning into a Soldier of Strength, they picked up the pace. Without the cloaks, their stealth ability was much weaker, and right now, the consideration of not being seen was almost out the window.
It didn't take long for the group to find the source of the moans. It was an elf inside one of the rooms, currently being forcibly tattooed. The person doing it was a human wearing glasses and a lab coat, holding a needle that was connected to something in the ceiling.
The scientist quickly noticed the intruders and stood up. "Who are you?"
Before he could do anything else, Iris and Ivy jumped forward and struck him repeatedly with their daggers. The attacks were so numerous and quick that the human died before even hitting the ground.
They turned to the elf to see what they could do to help, but it was too late. The tattoo had already been finished. Now, the human had just been making the black band that would cover the tattoo itself. The elf was in a delirious state, unable to form any sentences, much less understand what was happening. All this was because the Strength Daemon was already influencing his mind.
"Shit… there's nothing we can do for him. Let's keep going, and we'll try to save him when we're leaving," Blade said.
"Hang on. Let me try one thing," Neria stepped forward. She had spent the last few days trying to come up with Strength Healing, a way to offset the daemonic influence that came from the tattoos. According to Vulcan, she was somewhat successful, even if she lacked consistency.
As the Triton prepared her healing, a small ball of red water appeared in her hand. Trying to maintain the specific wavelength of the Strength Mana that would fight off the energy given by the daemon, she placed the liquid on top of the elf. The man stopped groaning, and his breathing became more stable. But more than that, the tattoo around his neck slowly started to degrade, not the black line, but the one connecting him to the Strength Daemon.
Unfortunately, she wasn't able to hold on for long, which caused the man to return to his suffering. However, the tattoo was still damaged, meaning that the connection was now much weaker.
Neria wanted to continue. She wanted to try again and make sure that this man was saved, but they had already wasted too much time in this area. Blade was kind enough not to say anything while she worked.
"Sorry. I thought I had it," Neria sighed.
"Don't be. I don't think anyone would have gotten so close. When we're coming back, you can try again. But we really can't afford to waste more time here. We need to find where the Strength Daemons are, not just the ones that are yet to be linked to the Soldiers of Strength," Blade replied.
Everyone nodded, and they rushed out of the room, leaving behind the wounded elf and the corpse of a scientist. But in their hearts, they all promised to return.
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