Cain, who had separated from his comrades, jogged as he explored the empty city streets. On each side across the road, he was accompanied by ruins, some of which still stood firm, untouched by time.
His black eyes glanced right and left, slightly paranoid due to the battle he had just gone through in the northern area. Cain's left hand held the katana sheath; its complex and cold texture sent a tingling sensation up his arm.
He momentarily halted, and a fragment of his conversation in the car resurfaced. It dimmed the boy's expression, filled with guilt.
"In the end, I ran away."
True, instead of mediating between the two. Cain chose to issue an order, wrapped in coercion, to reunite the two childhood friends. All of that, he did it to cover his inability to solve the problems plaguing the team.
Cain let out a long sigh. A realization came and hit him from above, causing his shoulder to slump. Becoming a leader was not an easy path.
'I hope they are alright.'
He shook his head, pulling his scattered thoughts together, and focused on the mission in front of him.
According to what Peter said. The East Area was an industrial place; there were many wide buildings surrounded by vast land.
The scales almost rivaled the dirt field where Cain ran every morning. However, most of the factory buildings were destroyed, leaving only outstretched walls behind rusted fences.
'It seems this is not the place Peter mentioned.'
Cain kept repeating Peter's words and combining them with the vague image that appeared in his head, the moment he received the news about the underground vault.
He hoped it was not a lie.
What could he do? Most of his memories had been wiped out when activating his Null Sequence. Thanks to that, it left a sense of foreboding in his heart, as well as an emptiness that would usually gnaw at his consciousness whenever he tried to remember something.
But this time, the situation was different, whether it was the system or his own subconscious that wanted to tell him a forgotten clue that Cain should know. Whatever that was, he must see it to the end.
'I need to increase my pace.'
The boy couldn't keep wasting his limited time. Although his leg muscles were still screaming in pain, Cain forced them to move even if it meant he couldn't stand again.
The scenery around him faded as Cain increased his speed. His head turned right, left, constantly looking for the white building mentioned.
After he went further inside, his eyes widened. A tall white building stood at the corner of his vision.
'That's it.'
Without stopping, Cain used his momentum to slam his right foot hard into the ground and take a sharp turn. He heard his leg bones clatter, plus a hot sensation from his burning muscle tissues spread agony throughout his bated breath. Cold sweat began to pour down his forehead.
The boy gritted his teeth, keeping his pace as he passed the iron fence, then he jumped through the hollowed window of the building and entered the seemingly sturdy building.
The sound of his shoes squeaking as they scraped the building floor echoed. Cain's chest rose and fell, a testament to his limit approaching. Yet he endured, taking a deep breath to calm his racing heartbeat.
'So this is the place, huff.'
He stared at the room's interior. The boy stood in a spacious, empty hall and could see a glittering dust that was once shattered glass.
Raising his wrist, Cain nodded in satisfaction because the time needed to find this place took less than half an hour.
Cain took a step and began to explore the dark room. He checked the doors that were in his vision's radar until he found a door with a winding iron staircase leading to the lower floor.
He licked his dry lips.
'I found it!'
Inside the cylinder-shaped space, the 'clang' sound of his footsteps reverberated across the dim room. Thanks to his armor suit's thermal vision, Cain could see the surrounding situation, which automatically activated when the light was dismissed.
Cain gulped, seeing the darkness beneath the stairs path. His vision tunneled, the boy feared he was walking towards the void. A place where living things sleep for eternity.
However, not long after, his narrowed vision widened when he saw the flat base. He set foot in a round and empty room. A sudden chill caressed his back.
'The temperature suddenly dropped!?'
He squinted, noticing there was a light peeking through a gap in an open door. Cain gulped his saliva and strolled closer to the iron door. His cold hand reached for the sturdy object, then pulled it.
A loud 'creaking' sound resounded in the room due to a lack of maintenance. His black pupils shrank as he saw a surreal sight laid out before him.
"This is!?"
He lifted his foot inside, descending the steps to a vast room, although it was buried underground.
The room was rectangular in shape. It was about a dozen meters high and around thirty meters wide. Based on rough calculations, this place could accommodate more than a thousand people.
What Louise said about the underground vault with bunker-like specs, it couldn't be more perfect than that.
Cain landed his foot in the spacious room. His steps bounced around, creating a prolonged echo and fading over time. He crouched down and ran his finger on the metal floor. It was smooth, no dust, and showed no signs of deterioration.
The boy knitted his brows, wondering how a place that was nearly abandoned for so long could be preserved well.
'That's weird.'
He cast his gaze around and saw two doors on the right and left, both of which were tightly closed. The boy assumed it might be where supplies were stored, but to be clearer.
"Scan Protocol!"
His black pupils trembled before they turned blue. His vision changed, revealing white lines stretching into every corner, like the fabric of reality as described in quantum physics theory.
[Scan Protocol lv 2 New abilities added!]
> Can penetrate various firewalls, even the most difficult ones, to collect essential data and obtain the access key to the analyzed system.
A memory flashed in his mind, tracing back to the moment after he discovered his scan protocol skill had upgraded. Cain nearly fell off his chair in his private room when he read his new ability.
He could easily gain unlimited access to computers worldwide by breaking into their systems and stealing their access codes. That made him an enemy to all cyber networks.
Cain looked at the door on the left, and a panel detailing the room appeared.
[Supply Room]
- The access key is damaged, and the door can be opened or closed freely.
He turned to the right and widened his eyes because he saw information that deviated from his estimation.
[Database Room Sector 3]
- The access key is damaged…
The boy blinked to deactivate his vision and stood up, sauntering to the door on the right. Cain stood before the door and reached for the handle. With a slight jerk, he slid the two doors open.
A spacious interior welcomed him. There was a long metal desk forming a square around a large projection machine in the center. On the table were several small holographic projections, maybe something that other staff used to support the main unit.
'Maybe this is the room that Louise meant in her explanation.'
After sweeping his gaze across the room, Cain activated his scan protocol again. The view of the surrounding area distorted as it turned blue, and panels started to appear.
[Computer Unit-01 is responsible for storing supply data. It records every expenditure and intake from the factory XXX. ...System Status: Dead without main computer.]
[Computer Unit-02... System Status: Dead…]
...
Cain wrinkled his eyebrows, seeing the last information written on the panel that appeared every time he gazed at the small projection. He glanced right and left, hoping to fix the problem he was facing.
A loud thumping in his heart dulled his thinking. Lost in hope, Cain glared at the main computer in the middle. His eyes swam through those long details. Moments later, the boy's jaw dropped to the floor after reading to its last detail.
'My god!'
[Main Computer, the brain of all operations of the Database Room Sector 3 regarding supply, research facility, and backup data form attributes creation. ...System Status: Dormant. Awaiting to be reactivated.]