Chapter 467: The Living Cave I

Ding...

Gareth was still standing behind the multi-layered glass of the observation room when the sound of the bell did not pass through the surveillance speakers.

Even so, he heard it.

For a moment, the sound echoed directly inside the depths of his mind, and all the hairs on the back of his neck stood up.

Before he could react, the image inside the cell broke apart.

Lian’s hand split into several semi-transparent cubes for a fraction of a second.

The table, the chair, the white-eyed man, and even part of the cell wall turned into irregular pieces that seemed to be in different points of space.

The commander took one step forward.

"What—"

Everything disappeared, no explosion happened, no wave of mana shook the room, and none of the hundreds of security arrays gave a warning before it happened.

The cell was simply empty.

For almost one second, complete silence filled the observation room, and then all the systems started screaming at the same time.

[Warning.]

[Target Number One has left the area.]

[Target Number Two has left the area.]

[Exit Method: Unknown.]

[Teleportation Array not activated.]

[Spatial Rift not detected.]

[No identifiable mana trace found.]

Gareth’s face immediately became cold, the inner door was still completely closed, but he did not even wait for the normal process.

"Open it!"

One of the agents nervously touched the control screen, and the locks were released at the highest possible speed.

He entered the cell... but it was empty, and the white-eyed man’s chair was still there, the chains had not been broken either.

The mana suppression rings had not fallen onto the floor.

In fact, they had disappeared with him as well, as if someone had taken not only the prisoner, but also a part of the reality around him from this place.

The sound of fast footsteps came from behind.

Rina entered the cell, and the usual coldness on her face was slightly broken.

"How did they get past the arrays?" she asked with a deep frown.

Gareth said nothing for several seconds, his eyes remained on the empty space in front of the chair.

Then he calmly said

"They didn’t get past them."

"What?"

He raised his head slightly.

"If they had passed through the arrays, at least one of them should have recorded something.

Spatial fluctuation, mana, a rift, pressure... anything, but nothing was recorded."

Rina pressed her lips together, and Gareth suddenly turned around, his tone was no longer the tone of the man who had joked with Lian a few minutes ago, but the tone of a commander.

"Close down the entire facility.

Check all exit routes, transportation systems, and outside communications.

Connect every spatial sensor in the country to the network; I want every unusual fluctuation, every new rift, and every unknown transfer that was recorded in the last ten minutes."

"Yes, Commander." Rina nodded.

"Contact the Federation Center as well.

Send them the first report and inform Overlord Orion."

"Do you think he will need to act himself?" This time, his deputy paused for a moment.

"I hope not." The commander looked at the empty chair.

"And Mr. Vorhelm?"

That question made Gareth frown even more, he had brought Lian here, he had personally asked him to enter that cell.

And now he did not even know where in the world he was.

"That madman took Lian with him, we have to find him, otherwise the Vorhelm family won’t leave us alone." He finally said calmly and his eyes stayed on the place where Lian had been sitting a few seconds ago.

At the same time, somewhere else

"You have no choice."

The cave fell silent for several seconds.

Lian stood in front of Ezrak and did not take his eyes away from those completely white eyes.

Then he slowly laughed.

"That sentence is usually said right before the other side makes a stupid choice."

Ezrak blinked several times, and then the corner of his lips rose.

"There you go again, your arrogant attitude still hasn’t changed."

"No, I’m just warning you, remember?

You were saying these things and making these threats in the border city too, what happened in the end?

In the end, you ran away like a dog."

The madman’s face became ugly, it was clear that some memories had been brought back to him that he was not happy about, even so, this was not enough to make him give up on his plan.

The Calamity Seed had to be completed today!

He had planned for years, made preparations, and was ready for this day.

"You want to fight?" Then Ezrak happily clapped his hands together.

"Great!

Great!

Let me see!

You’ve changed a lot since last time, so you have to show me how much better you’ve become, seeing the growth of my last piece!

Just thinking about it makes me excited."

"I thought you said I’m your last piece, so it’s better if you don’t break me."

Lian gave a short look at the huge chamber behind him.

"Exactly, that’s why I’m not going to kill you...just break you a little, enough to make you ready to be used."

Ezrak nodded very seriously and then smiled.

He paused for a moment.

And suddenly

Boom...!!!!

The young Vorhelm immediately turned his head slightly.

A deep sound spread through the entire cave, it sounded more like a heartbeat.

Boom!!!

This time, the ground under his feet shook, and one of the biological tubes inside the wall contracted.

Then another.

He moved his eyes across the walls.

The thick veins that had seemed to be only part of the laboratory a few minutes ago now started to pulse one after another.

The dark liquid inside them moved several centimeters forward with every beat, and the temperature of the area changed slightly.

At the same time, Predator’s Instincts sensed something.

Life.

From the walls themselves....?

He could feel life and blood flowing through the floor, the ceiling, and the entire structure around him.

"This cave..." he whispered in surprise and

Ezrak proudly walked to the nearest wall and placed his palm against its semi-transparent tissue.

"You thought this was just a cave?

This has been my home and laboratory for twenty years, and more importantly...one of my children!"

The vein under his fingers contracted.

Boom.

"And I only taught it what shape to take."