Chapter 188 — The Children

Chapter 188: Chapter 188 — The Children

Chapter 188 — The Children

Victor focused on Zack first.

He crouched beside him and carefully checked his condition.

After a moment, Victor relaxed slightly.

There was some internal bleeding, but nothing severe. With a little time and cultivation, Zack should recover without any lasting damage.

Victor frowned.

What the hell just happened?

His eyes drifted toward the shadows where the masked man had disappeared.

More importantly—

What was that person doing with those kids?

Victor stood.

Grace slowly approached from the other side of the cavern.

"I checked the children," she said. "They’re all okay. None of them have any serious injuries. Just bumps, scrapes, and bruises."

She glanced toward the children.

"It looks like they were hit a few times with the staff, but nothing life-threatening."

Victor shook his head.

It doesn’t matter which world you’re in, I guess.

There are monsters everywhere.

He looked at Grace.

"Good. I’m going to talk to them and see if I can get some information."

He glanced at Zack.

"Can you watch him?"

Grace nodded.

"Yeah."

She walked over and knelt beside Zack.

For a moment, she studied him.

There was something peculiar about the way she looked at him.

Zack opened one eye.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Grace’s expression returned to normal.

"No reason. How are you feeling?"

"I’m fine."

Zack slowly sat up.

"Nothing a little cultivating won’t fix."

He crossed his legs and immediately began cultivating.

Grace stood beside him, keeping watch.

Her eyes occasionally drifted toward the direction the masked man had disappeared.

She wasn’t going to let them get caught off guard if he returned.

Victor, meanwhile, walked toward the boy who had originally asked for help.

The boy looked at him and smiled.

"Thank you."

Victor shook his head.

"You don’t have to thank me."

He looked at the group of children.

"I just wish you guys weren’t in this situation in the first place."

Victor crouched slightly so he wasn’t towering over the boy.

"What happened?"

The boy hesitated.

"It’s hard to explain."

He glanced at the other children.

"We were all in our village when a group of people suddenly raided us."

Victor’s expression hardened.

"They killed our families."

The boy’s voice trembled.

"They only took the children. We don’t know why."

He looked around at the others.

"I think we’re all that’s left of our village."

Victor stared at him.

"They raided your village?"

The boy nodded.

Victor thought for a moment.

"Are you from outside the Tower?"

The boy frowned.

"The Tower?"

Victor paused.

"You don’t know you’re inside the Tower right now?"

The boy shook his head.

"No."

Victor’s expression changed.

"I don’t understand."

The boy continued.

"I just remember us entering a cave. There was a huge cavern system."

He looked toward the darkness behind them.

"We walked for... I think ten days."

"Ten days?"

The boy nodded.

"I lost track of time."

Victor stared at him.

"You walked through a cavern system for ten days and ended up here?"

"Yes."

Victor slowly stood.

So they came from outside the Tower.

That meant they hadn’t entered through the normal entrance.

The Tower didn’t even know they existed.

Victor glanced toward Grace.

She had been listening.

She slowly shook her head.

She didn’t understand it either.

Victor looked back at the children.

How did they get here?

And more importantly—

Why were they brought here?

Zack continued cultivating nearby, his eyes closed.

Victor stood silently for several moments.

Then he reached into his pocket.

There was only one person he could think of who might have an answer.

Victor pulled out his citizen ID.

He hesitated.

He really didn’t want to make this call.

But he didn’t have much of a choice.

He pressed several buttons.

A moment later, the call connected.

"Hello?"

Victor took a breath.

"Elder Benton, this is Victor."

There was a brief pause.

"Oh?"

Benton’s voice came through the device.

"Why are you calling me, Victor?"

Victor looked toward the children.

Victor hesitated.

"There’s a situation in the cavern."

Benton’s tone became slightly more serious.

"What kind of situation?"

"Zack, Grace, and I were completing the assignment. We had just finished collecting all the ingredients."

Victor paused.

"On our way back, we ran into something that I believe may be connected to what we discussed before."

There was silence on the other end.

"What do you mean?"

Victor glanced toward the children again.

"It’s difficult to explain."

He continued.

"We encountered someone wearing a mask."

"A mask?"

"A wolf mask."

Victor’s expression hardened.

"It had a sideways eye carved into the forehead."

Benton didn’t respond.

Victor continued.

"He was escorting around twelve children. They’re all under sixteen years old.

Another pause.

"We interfered."

Benton’s voice remained calm.

"I see."

"I couldn’t just watch them get taken away."

"What happened to the masked individual?"

"He ran."

Victor frowned.

"Once he realized he was losing the fight, he activated some kind of technique and escaped."

Benton was silent for a moment.

"Understood."

Victor couldn’t tell what the Elder was thinking.

"Where are you now?"

"Region F."

Victor looked toward the passage leading out.

"We’re going to escort the children back toward Region A."

"Understood."

Benton’s voice remained emotionless.

"I’ll meet you at the entrance to Basement Level Five."

Victor nodded.

"Sounds good."

The call ended.

Victor put away his citizen ID.

He turned toward the children.

"Is everyone able to walk?"

One by one, they nodded.

Then one of the children pointed toward a smaller girl.

"I don’t know if Tori can."

Victor looked over.

The little girl was sitting quietly on the ground.

Her feet were covered in blood.

Victor immediately walked over.

He crouched in front of her.

"Hi, Tori."

The girl looked at him nervously.

"My name is Victor."

He smiled.

"Have you ever heard of a piggyback ride?"

Tori shook her head.

Victor laughed softly.

"Trust me. You’re going to love it."

He turned around and crouched down.

"Hop on."

Tori stared at him.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

He glanced back at her.

"Come on."

After a moment of hesitation, Tori climbed onto his back.

Victor stood.

She was surprisingly light.

Her arms wrapped around his neck.

Victor adjusted her position carefully.

"Comfortable?"

Tori nodded.

"Good."

Grace watched the interaction.

A small smile appeared on her face.

The group began walking. ℴ

Victor looked towards Zack.

Zack slowly stood.

Victor glanced over.

"How is it? Can you walk?"

Zack stretched his shoulders.

"Yeah. I should be okay."

Victor nodded.

"Good."

He looked toward the passage ahead.

"Then let’s head back."

His expression became serious.

"Before anything else happens."

The group continued through the cavern.

Victor carried Tori on his back while the other children followed closely behind.

Grace stayed near them.

Zack walked alongside the group.

Behind them, the dark cavern slowly swallowed their footprints.

And somewhere in that darkness, the person wearing the wolf mask was already gone.