Chapter 271: Enemy Territory

The sixty-meter armored ship cut steadily through the freezing swells of the northern channel.

Above them, the sky had started to open up to a bright blue, heavy with the stench of salt, smoke, and atmospheric mana leaking from underwater gate tears. Far out on the water, the silence felt unnatural, broken only by the chug of the vessel’s engines vibrating through the steel hull.

Deep inside the ship’s lower bay, the air smelled of copper wire, and stale coffee.

Toma sat hunched over a cluttered bench, his fingers trembling slightly as he carefully recalibrated a portable signal jammer. The anxious furrow of his brow was the exact same as the day he had tripped face-first into the gate.

“You’re soldering with too much,” a quiet voice noted from the doorway.

Toma jumped, nearly dropping his iron, before spinning around in his swivel chair. “H… Hide!”

Hide walked into the cramped room, his hands jammed into his jacket pockets. He pulled up an empty metal stool, sitting down across from the young technician.

“You alright, Toma?” Hide asked.

“Ah… well, force of habit,” Toma muttered, rubbing the back of his neck with a sheepish grin. Then, his smile faded, his eyes dropping to the glowing circuit board. “I was just making sure the communication scrubbers won’t fail when we hit coastal radar. If corporate command intercepts our frequency… they’ll scramble interceptors before we can touch the docks.”

Hide looked at the bruised dark circles beneath Toma’s eyes.

“You didn’t have to get on this ship,” Hide said quietly. “You are not a fighter exactly. You could have stayed behind in the shelters, kept your head down, and waited for the war to pass. Walking into the Central Continent with a man who has a five-billion bounty on his head… it’s suicide.”

Toma paused, holding the soldering iron still. Slowly, he looked up, meeting Hide’s eyes with unexpected steadiness.

“I was a coward when we met, not exactly,” Toma said softly, his voice thick. “But I was not significant. But when you founded Black Shield, you didn’t look down on me. You gave me a desk, you gave me purpose, and you protected all of us. I would most probably be dead by now, by most accounts. You saved me and gave me a place and people to call friends. You are my dear friend, If standing with you means being hunted by the entire world… then I’d rather die a fugitive beside my friends than live in ignorance.”

Hide’s chest tightened. He reached forward, patting Toma’s shoulder with a firm grip. “Keep the scrubbers running. We’re going to need them.”

Leaving the radio bay, Hide climbed the narrow iron stairs to the upper chart room.

Inside, illuminated by the pale blue glare of a holographic projector, stood Ryan. The scholarly mage had his thick spectacles pushed firmly against the bridge of his nose, methodically cross-referencing naval radar grids with municipal power lines.

“Three coastal patrol cutters passed within twenty kilometers an hour ago,” Ryan said without turning his head, recognizing Hide’s footsteps. “Our disguised signal spoofed their passive sweeps. But the approach to the docks will be tight.”

Hide stepped up to the edge of the holographic table, looking at the intricate network of lines Ryan had drawn.

“Ryan,” Hide began, leaning against the steel bulkhead. “How are you doing? Last time we saw each other you were close to reaching A-Rank. Also, I am pretty sure, you are considered a prodigy in the eyes of normal people because of your growth rate. You were one of Maddox’s student, you could have become a major easily in the NEA, seeing how the conditions are. Why did you come with me? Why throw a secure future away?”

Ryan adjusted his glasses, a sharp, bitter smirk tugging at his mouth.

“Ah yes. I am officially an A Rank. Well, that is my highest class potential. And as for why I am here, It’s because Maddox is dead, and the system he served was a rotten facade,” Ryan answered coldly, his fingers tapping the edge of the holo-table. “The NEA high command crumbled when the war escalated and the surroundings applied pressure. They were willing to sacrifice you, sacrifice the people, and pretend everything was fine just to preserve their political comfort. Commander didn’t teach me how to master master lightning mana to serve cowards and traitors.”

Ryan turned fully to face Hide, his sharp gaze filled with unwavering conviction.

“The Black shield agency you created was better than most of the others. A place where people cared for stuff. That’s worth risking my life for, Hide. We’re in this until the end.”

Hide nodded slowly, feeling the immense weight of the trust resting on his shoulders. “Then let’s make sure none of us die.”

By mid-afternoon, the heavy sea fog broke.

Ahead, the jagged, broken corpses of the buildings that once formed the skyline of the Central Continent loomed like an fallen swords against dark clouds.

They approached Port Kalen—one of the few deep-water logistical hubs still functioning under standard protocols. Massive concrete seawalls forty meters high held back the crashing surf, lined with automated flak cannons.

The ship glided slowly toward Berth Nine, the heavy rubber bumpers groaning.

Hide didn’t waste a second and commanded abyssal slime to change his appearance and as well as Kiko’s. Here on central continent, she too was a wanted criminal.

He pulled on a grease-stained tactical vest, slinging a standard-issue supply crate onto his shoulder.

“Remember the plan,” Evelyn murmured to the team gathered near the hatch. “We are an auxiliary reinforcement contingent dispatched for an emergency. Let me speak. No weapons drawn unless I give the word.”

They lowered the heavy steel gangway.

Under normal circumstances, maritime docks were manned only by standard port authorities and a handful of local military guards. But with gate activities threatening to rupture at any moment across the globe, the entire harbor had been placed under maximum quarantine.

Lining the perimeter barricades were regular military riflemen, their assault rifles held at the ready.

And standing directly at the foot of the gangway were two full squads of twenty Exterminators.

They wore matching blue-and-gold reinforced carapace armor bearing the crest of the Central Continent’s National Exterminator Corporation. Their weapons out and ready, visors scanning every incoming crate and passenger with ruthless scrutiny.

“Halt!”

The captain of the first Exterminator squad stepped forward, slamming the butt of a heavy halberd against the ground. A shockwave of dense yellow mana rippled across the concrete, rattling the team’s boots.

“All maritime traffic from the southern sectors is subject to immediate Level-One quarantine,” the captain barked, his voice echoing through his helmet speaker. “Present your unit dispatches, authorizations, and individual exterminator rings. Right now.”

Evelyn stepped to the front without a hint of hesitation.

She carried a high-grade holographic datapad under one arm, her trench coat swaying gracefully in the wind. Her expression was a masterpiece of cold, aristocratic condescension—the exact look of a high-ranking corporate liaison annoyed by incompetent subordinates.

“Do you usually greet Tier-Two emergency reinforcements with a halberd, Captain?” Evelyn said smoothly, her tone dripping with venomous disdain.

The captain’s eyes narrowed behind the Visor. “Reinforcements? We received no dispatch regarding an incoming squad from the south today. The registry has no entry for this vessel.”

Behind Evelyn, Gideon’s hand subtly drifted toward the warhammer slung across his back, while Kai quietly shifted his weight, readying his focus staff.

Evelyn didn’t even blink. She pulled a gold-plated data chip from her pocket and snapped it aggressively into the captain’s portable terminal.

“Of course you don’t have it on the public registry, you fool,” Evelyn hissed, stepping directly into the captain’s space. “This is an emergency requisition detachment authorized under the Direct Security Protocol of the Council. Due to the spatial fluctuations reported in Area Three, our unit was mobilized to reinforce the regional transit lines.”

A flurry of encrypted documents, verified corporate seals, and falsified high-level stamps flashed across the captain’s screen.

“Wait…” The captain frowned, tapping the terminal. “The authorization routing code has an irregular handshake with the central database. I need to hold you here for manual clearance. It’ll take forty minutes to run a query to the capital—”

“Then you can explain to the joint council why forty minutes of bureaucratic incompetence allowed a Four-Star Dungeon gate to break in your sector while my vanguard was held at the pier!” Evelyn snapped, her voice rising with furious authority. “Do you want your badge revoked, or do you want to do your job and clear this dock?”

The mention of central council hit the captain like a physical slap.

The central council was a special joint team of all the Commanders of National Exterminator agencies across all continents.

The squad leader swallowed audibly behind his visor, his posture stiffening. The forged authorization bore high-tier encryption, and no low-level customs officer dared risk offending someone connected to the upper echelon.

The captain pulled the data chip, offering a stiff, hurried salute.

“Apologies, Ma’am,” he stammered, gesturing sharply to his men. “Raise the barricades! Let the reinforcement unit through!”

The iron gates groaned open.

Hide exhaled a microscopic breath beneath his disguise. Hauling the steel supply crate tighter against his shoulder, he walked in step behind Gideon and Kai, with Sora and Kiko flanking his sides.

They passed the first squad of Exterminators, stepping past the concrete pillars toward the terminal exit leading into the city.

They were three paces from freedom.

Suddenly, a tall, gaunt Exterminator standing near the secondary checkpoint barrier froze.

HUMMM—!

A sharp, diagnostic mana pulse flicked out from the man’s eyes, sweeping across the passing deckhands. The moment the diagnostic wave brushed past Hide’s chest, the man knew exactly who he was thanks to his talent.

The Exterminator’s breath hitched violently, his skin draining of all color as his hands began to shake.

He stumbled backward, pointing a trembling finger straight at the plain, brown-haired youth.

“WAIT!” He shrieked at the top of his lungs, his voice echoing in terror across the entire harbor. “THAT GUY… IT’S HIM! IT’S HIDE VOLTER!”