Debuff Master

Chapter 1137

This rescue operation would prove to be a very challenging one.

The research facility was located deep within enemy territory, so even if they managed to infiltrate and rescue Daode Tianzun and Betelgeuse, escaping would still be nearly impossible.

Just the distance from the lab to the exfil point was almost a hundred kilometers. They would have to endure a brutal forced march after everything they had to brave in the research facility.

Still, Siegfried did not hesitate for a moment to take on this dangerous mission, as he was prepared to risk his life in order to rescue Daode Tianzun and Betelgeuse. These two were like his own grandfathers, after all.

Having made it all the way into the enemy territory, he finally arrived at the research facility.

“Kyuuu! Is that the place, owner punk?” Hamchhi asked, pointing his paw at a distant dome-shaped white building.

“It looks like it, no? I mean, just look at it. That thing screams science,” Siegfried replied with a shrug.

“Kyuuu! That’s true!”

“But how do we get in…?” Siegfried grimaced and muttered.

The research facility was dome-shaped with no walls or barriers. There were only a few options for infiltration.

“Kyuuu! Why even think about it? Just do what you’re good at, owner punk!”

“Huh? What I’m good at?”

“Owner punk is a sewer lover! Why not use the sewers like you always do?! Kyuuu!”

“Hmm… I guess you have a point.”

Surprisingly, Siegfried did not bother denying that he had a thing for using the sewers.

Why?

It was all because even he had to admit that he often relied on them for infiltration.

However, it was different this time.

“Using the sewers would be nice, but…” Siegfried said, before using Wave of Oppression.

Rumble!

The Wave of Oppression pulsed forth and jammed the alarm systems surrounding the research facility.

“Hey, Hamchi.”

“Kyu?”

“Three, two, one..”

“Kyu?”

Hamchi tilted his head in confusion and—

Pop!

Siegfried and Hamchi were suddenly surrounded by light and reappeared on the roof of the research facility.

Having reached the realm of Grandmaster, he could now teleport short distances. Though it had a long cooldown, he could teleport about fifty or so meters away, which was unusual for someone who wasn’t even a magician-type class.

“Kyuuu?! Did you just teleport, owner punk?!”

“Yup. I couldn’t do it a while ago, but it worked after I jammed the alarm systems with Wave of Oppression.”

“Kyuuu! You’re a genius, owner punk!”

“Took you this long to figure that out? Keke!” Siegfried said with a cackle.

Then, they climbed across the research facility roof toward the nearest ventilation duct.

The research facility had no windows, so sneaking in through the vents was the only way in.

With Hamchi by his side, Siegfried crawled inside the vent. Then, he activated Inzaghi’s Clairvoyance to scan the interior and check for any signs of Daode Tianzun and Betelgeuse.

A while later…

[Alert: Search in progress…]

[Alert: Search complete!]

[Alert: Daode Tianzun and Betelgeuse have been found!]

Fortunately, both of them were inside the research facility.

‘I found them, but they’re too far away. There are too many alarms and guards on the way, too… Getting there won’t be easy…’

To make matters worse, the vent he was currently in wasn’t connected to where Daode Tianzun and Betelgeuse were located. A close look at the map showed that he had to switch vents five times just to reach them.

“Kyuu? What’s wrong, owner punk?”

“We have to switch vents five times, and it seems like opening the grates won’t be easy either. Also, the doors are all locked. And I can’t just smash everything apart either…”

“Kyuuu! Yeah! We would be announcing that we are here if we did that!”

“Exactly. So we’re stuck. I have to open the grates from outside the vent, but how…?”

“Kyuuu! Hamchi will do it!”

“Huh? How?”

“Kyuuu! Did you forget that Hamchi can shrink?! Hamchi will open the grate and door for you!”

“Really? You can do that?”

“Kyaaaa! Don’t you trust Hamchi?!”

“I do. I owe you one, buddy.”

“Step aside! This is Hamchi’s time to shine! Kyuuu!”

With that, Hamchi shrank himself down to the size of a mouse and slipped out through the vent.

He undid the screws of the vent, quickly freeing the grate. Then, he pressed a stethoscope on the door lock before poking a shabby hairpin into the hole.

Click… Click…

He jiggled around the hairpin for a while, and amazingly—

Clack!

The locked door was unlocked.

“How did you open this?!”

“Kyuuu! Hamchi did a bit of stealing back in the day! Picking this kind of lock is a piece of cake for Hamchi!”

“W-Wait, you were a thief?”

“Hamchi did it just for fun! Kyuuu!”

“You’re unbelievable…”

Siegfried shook his head, crawled out of the vent, and slipped through the door Hamchi had unlocked.

He moved stealthily through the lab so the Corals would not notice, and then he slipped into another vent.

“We can make it to them at this pace.”

“Kyuuu! Just leave it to Hamchi, owner punk!”

“Okay. Let’s keep going.”

With Hamchi’s help, Siegfried made steady progress toward the place where Daode Tianzun and Betelgeuse were being imprisoned.

***

About two hours later…

‘This is it.’

Siegfried finally reached the vent directly above the room where Daode Tianzun and Betelgeuse were imprisoned.

‘Let’s see what’s going on…’

He peered through the vent and saw a typical biological experiment chamber.

“Vitals are stable.”

“There’s no issue with oxygen, right?”

“Good. We’re almost there.”

The Coral Scientists chatted as they checked on Daode Tianzun and Betelgeuse, who were submerged in cylindrical tanks filled with a certain type of liquid solution.

Metal hoses were plugged into various parts of their bodies as they floated inside the tank.

‘Hang in there. I’ll save you soon,’ Siegfried thought.

He couldn’t help but feel guilty as he watched them in the tanks. Then, he shifted his mind to how he could seize control of the room without attracting any attention.

From here on, he had to focus on rescuing them without causing any commotion, as attracting attention now would ruin everything.

What was the point of infiltrating this deep if he failed at the very end?

He scanned the room and weighed his options.

Inside the room were no fewer than twenty Coral Scientists. Taking them all down quietly without making a sound seemed nearly impossible.

If there was even the slightest ruckus, the two Coral Guards standing outside would sense it instantly and rush in.

‘What do I do? There’s only one way to kill them quietly, but…’ Siegfried thought before deciding to try using Green Hell Magno. After all, there was nothing more effective than poison when it came to killing a group of targets without causing a scene.

Sssseuu…!

Siegfried activated Green Hell Magno and slowly released his radioactive energy through the vent.

‘Will it work?’

This was a gamble.

The Coral Race naturally possessed high stats, and their poison resistance was way higher than most creatures. In fact, their resistance was so high that they could drink poison without being affected by it at all.

‘Come on… Work!’ Siegfried prayed as he unleashed his radioactive energy.

It was then.

“Hm? Do you smell something?”

One of the Coral Scientists grimaced and covered his nose.

“Yeah, I do.”

“My throat’s feeling itchy…”

The others sensed something amiss and grumbled in discomfort.

However, that was as far as their conversation went.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

One by one, the Coral Scientists inside the room collapsed to the ground.

‘Oh?’

Siegfried couldn’t help but smile after seeing that every single one of the Coral Scientists had collapsed.

‘It must be because of my new gear.’

He figured the reason the skill ended up working was the skill level boost Green Hell Magno received from his new gear. Without that boost, the radioactive energy he unleashed wouldn’t have done anything at all.

“Let’s go, Hamchi.”

“Kyuu.”

Without wasting another second, Siegfried slipped out of the vent and moved in to rescue Daode Tianzun and Betelgeuse.

***

Siegfried immediately pulled out Daode Tianzun and Betelgeuse from the tanks.

Then, he shook Betelgeuse in an attempt to wake him up, as he couldn’t possibly carry both of them on his own. He chose to wake up Betelgeuse first, as he possessed greater physical stats than Daode Tianzun.

“Elder! Elder!”

“Ughh… I’ll pay my tab later when I…”

“Elder!”

“Eh?”

Betelgeuse’s eyes snapped open, and he stared blankly at Siegfried.

“Young Master? What brings you here?”

“Are you awake? Can you talk?”

“Where are we…? I clearly remember blacking out during the battle, but…” Betelgeuse muttered, glancing around the room, looking bewildered.

“This is a research facility of the Corals. They captured you and were resocializing you,” Siegfried explained.

“R-Resocializing…? What is that?”

“Brainwashing. They were trying to control you.”

“Ha! They dare to…!”

“I’ll explain everything later. Right now, we need to get out of here first.”

“Yes, Young Master. But what about Elder Daode Tianzun?”

“Let’s wake him up, too.”

Siegfried tried to rouse Daode Tianzun, but…

“…”

The old man would not open his eyes, no matter how many times Siegfried tried.

‘This is bad…’ Siegfried thought, biting down on his lower lip.

Trying to escape was almost impossible, even with everyone capable of carrying their own weight, but having one of them incapacitated meant that the odds of getting out alive were even lower.

Unfortunately, Siegfried had no other choice, as he couldn’t just leave Daode Tianzun behind.

“Can you carry him, elder?” Siegfried asked. He figured it’d be better for him to handle the enemy if they ended up getting attacked in the middle of their escape.

“Of course,” Betelgeuse replied with a nod.

“Then let’s get moving. We have to get out of here before anything else.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

With that, Siegfried and Betelgeuse carried the unconscious Daode Tianzun and slipped out of the room.

Before leaving, Siegfried did not forget to lock the door from the inside.

‘Thirty minutes at most… or maybe an hour if we’re lucky. They will find out by then, and we have to be out of this place before that,’ Siegfried thought, picking up the pace.

Fortunately, they managed to get out of the research facility and reach the forest without triggering any alarms.

“Phew…”

Once they were deep enough in the forest, Siegfried let out a sigh of relief and opened his inventory. He pulled out some food and potions and handed them to Betelgeuse.

“Please eat up and recover for now.”

“Thank you, Young Master.”

Betelgeuse devoured the rations in an instant.

His condition was absolutely pitiful. It was clear from the wounds all over his body just how brutal the torture he had to endure had been.

In addition, the spot where the metal hoses had been plugged into him still had gaping holes, making him look even more pitiful.

‘Damn… This poor old man had to go through all of that at his age,’ Siegfried thought, his heart sinking at the sight.

Both Daode Tianzun and Betelgeuse were mighty warriors who had reached the realm of Grandmaster.

However, they were far too old now. At their age, they ought to have settled somewhere and spent their final years in peace.

Yet these two heroes had decided to use the last years of their lives to protect the world against the alien invaders. They sacrificed their twilight years for the greater cause… for the sake of saving the world.

‘If only the world could stay quiet for once… then maybe they could finally have some peace…’

While Siegfried was lost in thought—

Beep! Beep! Beep!

The alarms in the research facility suddenly started wailing in the distance.

“Damn it…” Siegfried cursed under his breath at the sirens that shattered their brief moment of rest. Then, he looked back and said, “We are out of time, Elder. Let us get moving again.”

“Yes, Young Master.”

Betelgeuse secured Daode Tianzun onto his back and took off after Siegfried.

The two of them ran through the forest at breakneck speed. Both of them were Grandmasters, so they could run faster than any supercar.

As they sprinted toward the extraction point…

“Elder?”

“Yes, Young Master?”

“How did you end up getting captured?”

This question had been bugging Siegfried for quite a while now. No matter how strong the Corals were, catching either Betelgeuse or Daode Tianzun had to be incredibly difficult.

Despite that, they managed to capture both warriors, who were considered to be some of the most powerful individuals on the continent.

“There were powerful warriors among them,” Betelgeuse replied.

“Powerful warriors?”

“The high-ranking knights of the Coral Race… The weakest among them was a Master.”

“Ah…”

“And the ones that seemed to be knight captains… They were so strong that even I struggled against them.”

“Were there a lot of them?”

“There were definitely more than ten.”

“What?!” Siegfried shrieked after hearing that there were more than ten enemies on par with Grandmasters.

If those monsters came after them all at once, then he knew he would end up getting captured just like the others.

“We have to reach the exfil point before those monsters can catch up—”

It was then.

“Kyaaaak!”

“Kyak! Kyaaak!”

Dozens of creatures that resembled black panthers rushed out of the bush and lunged at Siegfried and the others.