Chapter 261: The Search For Gorald Estate

We returned to the rift the next day, this time with me in my Mortal God persona.

Accompanying me were Olivia, Dan, Liliac and Maylene, the four of them all kitted out and prepared for a dive into the rift.

There was another group of Vanguards waiting there and with them were a large group of workers, no doubt there to set up the camps we asked for.

Unlike the last time when I came here where everyone was looking at us with caution and suspicion... This time around, I could feel the awe and... Dare I say... Worship... Coming from the people around us.

Honestly, I was expecting some of them to be a little hostile to me as well since I thought people might see me as someone who got to this position through luck and not skill.

But for some reason... That wasn’t the case here which was still a surprise to me.

I would later find out it’s mainly because of the fact that my presence here meant that Vanguards like them would have more work to do and thus, more money to earn. And because they’ve learned that I could also lead in the frontlines instead of just hanging around at the back, they could expect me to fight alongside them as well which increases their chances of survival.

In other words.... I was basically their god of fortune.

...

No, my godly persona is not any of the gods of fortune. I checked. Not that I had anything to even suggest that I could be one of the gods of fortune anyway...

I wasn’t the only one who noticed the clear difference in attitudes as Dan leaned over to whisper, "Wah... Quite different from yesterday ah? You quite popular eh."

I was about to answer him when I spotted a group gathered outside the portal with a very familiar face... No... With several familiar faces walking around a cordon off area.

It only took me a moment to realise that the area was set aside specifically for my group and our support team was gathered there.

I sucked in a breath and walked over to that area, ignoring the stares coming from the other Vanguards and government staff, moving straight towards the person in question.

"What are you doing here?" I seethed, narrowing my eyes at my sister who was trying to act innocent.

"Oh~ Hello my lord~" She drawled sarcastically. "I volunteered to help out here so here I am~"

I was going to tell her to head home when Maylene spoke up from the side, "Umm... Umm... She’s only here for auxiliary support, Mortal God. She won’t be heading inside the rift."

"Hmm... If that’s the case... Fine then. As long as she stays outside. And she better be back in the tower once she finishes her duties," I ordered.

She pouted at me, clearly not happy with my decision.

I gave her a look which I wasn’t sure if she even caught it considering I was wearing my mask, but I think she got the idea that if I caught her sneaking into the rift, I would definitely be spanking her.

I nodded at the rest, "I suppose we should be going in the rift then? Is there anything else we need to prepare beforehand?"

Olivia nodded, "We should do a quick briefing first, my Lord."

I raised an eyebrow from underneath my mask, "Didn’t we already do one back in the tower?"

She nodded in the direction of the Vanguards, "It’s for them, my Lord."

Ah... I guess we should tell them about our plan on how to find the survivors... They would need to hold down the fort while we were away, after all.

I nodded at her and she made the preparations to have the leaders of the Vanguards gather to be briefed.

Well... I won’t be the one doing the brief anyway... I just have to stand here and look imposing for Olivia.

She got them all gathered in front of her before she started giving out instructions detailing about the plan to establish a forward base inside the rift near the portal which would be what they were expected to do.

The rest of us will be splitting up to look for clues about this ’Gorald Estate’ to figure out where it was located and meet up with the survivors.

The Vanguards nodded along with her instructions before they were dismissed and left to disseminate the information amongst the rest of the Vanguards.

With everyone properly briefed, we headed towards the portal and stepped into the rift together.

I led the way in with my Guardians following me close behind, my floating arms hovering above me, prepared to deal with any Anomaly that might be near the portal should there be any.

The place was as we had left it, the tents that had been set up for the survey team still pitched and standing.

The Vanguards would be working together with the workers to set up a forward base for this rift so we left them to it while I gathered with my Guardians.

Maylene would operate on her own thanks to her super speed and she would check the buildings in the outer perimeter of the abandoned city while Olivia, Dan and Liliac worked on the buildings that were closer to the portal.

As for me... I would be flying up in the air to see if I could find any locations that could be described as an ’estate’ or find signs of survivors from above.

I think if I were to see a barricaded and walled location, that would be a clear sign that there were people there.

With that in mind, all of us split up and I flew up into the air, flying higher and higher until the camp was just a small speck in the streets below.

I rose up above the buildings and squinted my eyes in the distance, trying to see what was beyond the city limits.

There was a single road that extended out towards the wilderness so I flew above it to follow it, assuming that the road should at least lead somewhere.

I flew even higher, seeing a few pockets of figures moving around outside the city.

Make no mistake though, those were Anomalies, not survivors.

The road continued for quite a distance before it disappeared into a forest of red trees.

Looking beyond that, the forest extended for a good distance before several roads diverted from different sides, each of them leading in a different direction.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t see any locations of interest for a good distance around so I’m not sure which path I should follow.

Seeing that the roads split, I suddenly had an idea.

I dove down towards the ground until I could just barely see the road underneath the tree canopy, following it while looking for the exact point that the roads would split.

Eventually, I reached a roundabout of sorts that split to three different paths so I dove down towards the roundabout to look for the thing I expected to be there.

Sure enough, there were several large road signs that showed where each path was leading to.

I watched as the symbols on the sign slowly changed to a language I could understand and I inspected the signs to see if there was anything that had ’Gorald Estate’ on top of it.

I did not need to look very far before I found an arrow pointing straight ahead that read ’Gorald road’, which I made an educated guess was also where the estate with the same name was located at.

I flew back up into the sky, flying even higher before I accelerated in the direction of the road.

There was a small town along the way, the place also overrun by Anomalies with the buildings overgrown with vines and plants and no survivors in sight.

But even after I flew for at least five minutes, I did not see any other points of interest along the road.

I decided to stop my solo expedition there and opened a teleportation door to teleport back, intending to see if the others had found anything.

When I returned, I found Maylene waiting there with a bunch of papers gathered around her.

She perked up when she saw me appear and rushed over to me.

"Mortal God!! Welcome back!"

I nodded at her, "Did you find something?"

She nodded enthusiastically and pulled out what looked like a map that she unfolded to show me its contents.

The map was centered around this city and I found the road I was flying above easily enough and I traced it on the map until Maylene pointed to a road that I definitely did not see branching off in another direction.

At the end of the road was a plot of land that had the words ’Gorald Estate’ printed on it.

Hmm... I don’t remember there being a road that split off like that while I was there...

Did someone remove the road or something?

Or was the place already wiped off from existence?

I guess... Only one way to find out.