Novel Full Chapter 143: A plan overview isn’t easy
Chapter 143: A plan overview isn’t easy
The faint blue glow of the holographic blueprints reflected in Blake’s eyes as he silently studied every line, every room, every corridor.
His bedroom was still dimly lit by the early morning sunlight filtering through the curtains, but he had already been awake for almost an hour.
Not because he had to, but really, it was because he couldn’t sleep anymore.
Tonight was the infiltration, after all.
As always, he planned to move after dark. Sneaking into a facility in broad daylight wasn’t exactly the smartest plan anyway, and darkness would naturally hide whatever mistakes he made.
Even so, his nerves refused to settle.
With a quiet sigh, Blake stuck his head closer to take another good look at the first floor of the blueprints.
"...One more time."
He already knew the route.
He’d gone over it dozens of times.
Still, reviewing it once more couldn’t hurt, probably.
Although it was, most definitely, making him infinitely more anxious. But of well, he has been doing this since the first infiltration mission, so who cared.
His finger traced the path across the holographic display.
The entrance.
The main hallway.
Possible guard stations.
Emergency exits.
Staircases.
Every single detail had already been engraved into his memory.
Yet he kept checking.
A-exp really wasn’t conveniently located.
If anything, it felt like whoever had built it had intentionally chosen the middle of nowhere.
The facility sat well outside the city, surrounded by little more than empty roads and neglected land.
Looking at the map, there wasn’t much nearby besides scattered patches of forest and a few abandoned-looking structures.
Come to think of it... every location on his list had been like that.
A-exp, YAN and the remaining three sites... all of them were isolated and all of them required a long trip.
Which meant tonight he’d have to leave much earlier than he usually did.
Blake leaned back in his chair.
’I mean, who cares, traveling isn’t exactly what worries me...’
His biggest concern was a completely different problem.
His skill.
I’ll Sneak For My Lover.
He could only use for 30 minutes, that was all he had.
Only thirty minutes of becoming almost impossible to notice.
Half an hour sounded generous until he imagined himself actually inside a seven-story facility.
It wasn’t generous at all.
It was terrifyingly short.
"I can’t waste it..."
He muttered quietly to himself.
There was absolutely no point activating the skill while traveling.
The bus ride alone would consume too much time, and the roads leading toward A-EXP were long enough that he’d burn through most of the duration before even reaching the building.
That would be unbelievably stupid.
Still...
He couldn’t simply appear on every CCTV camera with his real face either.
His solution was considerably simpler.
The Blank Mask.
Blake tapped the item resting on his desk.
Until he got off the bus, he’d simply disguise himself as someone who didn’t exist.
Some random face.
Some random hairstyle.
Nothing memorable.
Even if someone reviewed the footage later, they’d be searching for a person that had never existed in the first place.
Once he got off the bus and started walking toward A-EXP...
That was when things would actually begin.
He couldn’t approach the building from underground.
The blueprints made that perfectly clear.
So, somewhere before reaching the entrance, he’d activate I’ll Sneak For My Lover and simultaneously change his appearance with the Blank Mask.
This time...
Into a soldier.
Someone who looked like they belonged.
Someone security wouldn’t immediately question if they happened to catch a glimpse of him.
The moment he successfully entered the building, however, he’d deactivate the skill.
There was no point wasting precious minutes wandering empty hallways.
From that point onward, he’d only reactivate it if absolutely necessary.
If someone questioned his identity.
If he had to pass through a guarded area.
If there was no reasonable excuse to redirect suspicion.
Otherwise...
Thirty minutes would disappear far too quickly.
Blake slowly closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
Seven floors.
The number echoed unpleasantly in his head.
Realistically...
There was no way he could thoroughly investigate all seven.
Not in a single night.
Not while trying to avoid getting caught.
His attention drifted toward another section of the blueprint.
The underground level.
Fortunately...
It wasn’t very large.
Compared to the seven floors above it, the basement looked surprisingly compact.
There weren’t many rooms.
Which probably meant it contained something important.
Or something dangerous.
Or both.
The entrance caught his attention again.
According to the blueprints, the only route into the underground section was through a heavy-looking door positioned on the first floor.
Unfortunately...
The blueprints didn’t explain how that door actually worked.
Was it electronic?
Locked?
Biometric?
Did it require a keycard?
A password?
There was no way of knowing from a simple floor plan.
Blake rubbed his forehead.
"If I can’t open it..."
He already knew the answer.
He wouldn’t force it.
Not unless he wanted every alarm in the building screaming his location.
No.
If opening the underground entrance wasn’t immediately possible, he’d simply continue the infiltration normally.
Investigate every accessible floor.
Search offices.
Take photographs.
Collect whatever information he could.
If necessary, he’d even change his appearance multiple times.
A researcher.
A technician.
Another soldier.
Whatever fit the environment best.
There was no reason to cling to a single disguise.
His objective wasn’t maintaining one identity.
It was avoiding suspicion.
Blake let out another long sigh.
"...Still..."
His gaze drifted toward the ceiling.
What worried him the most wasn’t the disguises.
Or the route.
Or even the underground level.
It was what happened when everything inevitably went wrong.
Because something always went wrong.
What then?
The combat training had helped.
A lot, actually.
He’d learned how to read movement.
How to predict attacks.
How to use leverage instead of strength.
How to defend himself well enough to escape.
But...
Confidence?
That was another matter entirely.
If an actual fight broke out inside a heavily guarded facility...
He honestly wasn’t sure how much those two weeks of training would matter.
"I’ll manage..."
He said quietly.
"...Probably."
It wouldn’t be a complete disaster.
At least, he hoped not.
His stamina had improved enormously.
His body felt stronger.
He wasn’t the helpless amateur he’d been two weeks ago.
Still...
There was a massive difference between sparring with someone who deliberately avoided hurting him and fighting people who actually intended to stop him.
Keeping a low profile remained his best strategy.
Always.
Then there were the aliens.
Blake’s expression became slightly more serious.
If he encountered one...
He already knew he wouldn’t be able to bring it back.
He’d asked Spoon several days ago.
The answer had been disappointingly straightforward.
In a life-or-death emergency, Spoon would only ever teleport Blake himself.
Nothing else.
No captured alien.
No unconscious soldier.
Nothing.
Which meant bringing physical proof home was impossible.
"...Pictures will have to do."
Thankfully, he’d already prepared for that.
His camera batteries were fully charged.
Extra storage cards were packed.
If he saw an alien, he’d document everything he could.
Pictures.
Videos.
Observations.
And...
He’d try talking to it.
With Myles’ subordinates, the creature had clearly understood human speech.
That alone suggested communication wasn’t impossible.
Maybe...
Just maybe...
The alien would actually answer.
Whether truthfully or not remained another question entirely.
Eventually, Blake dismissed the holographic blueprints with a wave of his hand.
The blue light disappeared.
His room suddenly felt strangely empty.
"...No point thinking about it anymore."
The plan was finished.
Now all that remained was carrying it out.
Standing up, Blake stretched his stiff shoulders before changing into his school uniform.
No matter what happened tonight...
Today still began with school.
---
By the time Blake reached the bus stop, several students had already gathered there.
He barely paid them any attention.
His thoughts remained occupied by routes, disguises, cameras, escape plans and possible failures.
"...Morning."
Blake looked up.
Myles stood a few steps away, backpack hanging from one shoulder.
"Morning."
That was the entirety of their conversation.
Neither of them seemed particularly interested in speaking further.
The silence wasn’t uncomfortable anymore.
Over the past two weeks, they’d spent enough time together that quiet moments had become almost normal.
As the bus approached in the distance, Blake found his thoughts wandering elsewhere.
DNA.
Specifically...
Myles’ DNA.
Over the past two weeks, he’d made several attempts to obtain a usable sample without being suspicious.
Every single one had failed.
It was honestly becoming ridiculous.
Myles barely sweated.
Even after hours of training.
Blake had genuinely begun questioning whether the guy’s sweat glands simply didn’t function.
Blood was obviously out of the question.
There was absolutely no way he could casually ask for that.
’Fingernails were also impossible. And as for hair...’
Blake glanced sideways.
Myles’ thick, wavy hair looked like it should shed constantly.
It didn’t, not a single strand fell, not even once.
Blake had checked on it several times after they’d finished.
Nothing, not even one hair.
’Seriously...’
I’m either case, the alien’s DNA came first.
’At least, I can analyse that one when I’ll get the money to buy a genetic analyser, I don’t know. I saw the section, and it had a lot of options anyway, I will research which is the most functional for well... non human DNA.’
Everything else could wait.