Chapter 241: Finding the Substitutes

Meanwhile, far away from Blackridge Tower...

Neil, Alpha, and Damien moved through the ruined city as quickly as they could. They had one job- find the substitutes.

And unlike the fight around the tower, there was no guarantee that the six missing members were anywhere near one another.

The Regional Selection had deliberately scattered them across the battlefield. They couldn’t even understand the purpose of substitutes if all of them had been dropped in the tournament at the same time.

Neil checked the communication device in his hand, but there was nothing- no signal.

He frowned. "Still nothing."

Damien glanced over.

"Are you sure these things even work?"

"They worked before deployment."

"That doesn’t answer my question."

Neil sighed.

"The regional battlefield is interfering with long-range communication. We can only receive the tournament system."

Alpha walked ahead of them, occasionally looking toward the sky.

"Then we search manually."

Damien looked at him.

"You make that sound easy."

Alpha smiled.

"It is."

Neil shook his head.

"Just keep moving."

They crossed another ruined intersection.

The buildings around them were almost completely destroyed. Several roads had collapsed into enormous trenches, while old vehicles sat abandoned beneath layers of dirt and vegetation.

Suddenly, Alpha stopped. Neil nearly walked into him.

"What?"

He pointed toward the ruins ahead.

"Movement."

Damien immediately became alert, while Neil raised his weapon. The three of them waited. A faint sound came from behind a collapsed building, metal scraping against stone- then a voice.

"Get off me!"

Another voice answered.

"Stop moving!"

"You’re making it worse!"

"I know!"

Neil blinked.

"That sounds familiar."

Alpha’s expression brightened.

"One of ours?"

They rushed forward.

Neil climbed over a pile of broken concrete and looked down. Two people were trapped beneath a fallen section of wall. One was holding the other by the collar, and both were covered in dust.

Neil stared.

"Victor?"

Victor Wesley looked up, and his expression immediately changed to relief.

"Neil!"

Neil crouched down.

"What happened?"

Victor pointed at the person beside him.

"Ask Natalia."

Natalia Nat glared at him.

"I was trying to pull him out."

"You dropped the wall on me."

"It was already falling!"

"You pushed it!"

"I was trying to save you!"

"You almost killed me!"

Neil sighed.

"Good."

Both of them stared at him.

Neil smiled.

"We found two."

Alpha immediately moved toward them. With one hand, he lifted the broken concrete blocking their path. Victor crawled out and Natalia followed.

Damien looked around.

"Are either of you injured?"

Victor rubbed his shoulder. "Nothing serious."

Natalia nodded. "We can still move."

Neil checked the time. They had already wasted too much.

"Good. We need to keep moving."

Victor frowned.

"Where are we going?"

"Blackridge Tower."

"The checkpoint?"

"Yes."

Natalia looked toward the distant skyline.

"Then we need to find the others."

"Exactly."

They started moving again, but they still had four substitutes missing from their group, and somewhere in the ruined city, they were all trying to survive the same battlefield.

***

Several kilometers away...

A young man ducked behind a broken wall. Peter held his breath as a group of monsters passed through the street ahead. He waited until the monsters disappeared. The bees had been traumatizing enough for him. He didn’t want more.

Peter slowly raised his head.

"Finally."

He stepped out and stopped. A voice came from behind him.

"Looking for someone?"

Peter froze and slowly turned. His hand moved toward his weapon, but the person standing behind him wasn’t a monster. It was Salmoa Freda.

Peter stared.

"Salmoa?"

She stared back.

"Peter?"

For a moment, neither said anything. Then Peter laughed.

"You have no idea how happy I am to see you."

Salmoa nodded.

"Same."

Peter looked around.

"Have you seen anyone else?"

"No."

"Darren?"

"No."

"Christian?"

"No."

"Natalia?"

Salmoa shook her head.

Peter sighed. "Figures."

Salmoa looked toward the distant battlefield.

"Where’s the main team?"

"Blackridge Tower."

"Then we should head there."

Peter nodded.

"Yeah."

They began moving.

Neither noticed the faint red light blinking beneath the rubble nearby- a surveillance crystal. The tournament system was watching, and somewhere far away, the battle around Blackridge Tower continued.

***

Back with Neil’s group...

The five of them moved through another ruined district. Alpha suddenly stopped again.

"What is it?" Neil asked him.

"Something is coming."

Damien sighed. "Again?"

This time, the sound wasn’t from a monster.

It was footsteps... heavy ones, and they were fast. A figure suddenly appeared at the end of the street. Neil raised his weapon.

"Identify yourself!"

The figure stopped, and a familiar voice echoed through the rain.

"Don’t shoot!"

Neil lowered his weapon.

"Darren?"

Darren raised both hands.

"Thank God." He ran toward them. "You have no idea how long I’ve been looking for you guys."

Neil smiled.

"That makes three."

Darren looked behind him.

"Are there more?"

"Four more substitutes still missing."

Darren’s expression became serious.

"Then let’s find them."

Alpha nodded.

But before they could continue, a massive explosion erupted somewhere in the distance.

BOOOOOOM!

The entire city shook. Everyone turned. A giant plume of smoke rose beyond the ruined buildings.

Damien’s eyes narrowed.

"Was that..."

Neil looked toward the direction of Blackridge Tower.

"No."

He knew exactly what it was: Silas.

Darren stared at the smoke.

"What the hell is happening over there?"

Neil started walking.

"Silas."

"Silas?"

"He’s probably fighting."

Damien gave a small smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

"Probably?"

Neil glanced back.

"With Silas, it’s safer to assume the worst."

Alpha giggled.

"Or the funniest."

Neil sighed.

"Either way, we can’t worry about him."

He looked at the three substitutes beside him.

"We have four more people to find."

He pointed ahead.

"Move."

The group continued deeper into the Blackridge Borderlands. Somewhere ahead, another voice suddenly echoed through the ruins.

"HELP!"

Everyone stopped.

Neil’s eyes widened.

"That sounded like..."

Alpha smiled.

"Another one of ours."

They immediately ran toward the voice. For some reason, everyone expected one person: Christian. He was the only person they knew who could scream that even monsters would look at him in disdain. And they were right.