Empire Building With Infinite Warehouse-Chapter 106: Raiding the Green Gate

Lena did not answer his question right away. She just kept staring at the swirling green pool of energy, her eyes reflecting the bright light perfectly.

She looked like a predator watching a piece of meat just out of reach.

"Do you actually know what this is, merchant?" Lena asked quietly, her voice carrying a strange weight in the massive space.

Julien definitely knew.

Isabella and Gina had both told him a few terrifying details about these specific anomalies back when he was with them.

But admitting he had inside knowledge about high-level system secrets while standing inside a restricted military bunker was a terrible idea.

It would instantly blow his cover as a simple travelling salesman.

"I have heard a lot of crazy rumours from drunk scavengers at the market," Julien lied smoothly, putting his hands in his pockets to look completely relaxed and unbothered.

"Most people say it is a rare dungeon gate. But I have never actually seen one in real life until today."

"It is not a dungeon," Lena corrected him, finally turning around to face him completely.

"It is a doorway to an entirely different Earth."

Julien blinked.

He knew it was something big, but hearing it said out loud by a paranoid warlord made it feel way more real.

"The system announcement made it very clear that humanity is just a small part of a multiverse competition," Lena explained, walking slowly around the edge of the glowing green circle.

Her boots clicked loudly against the concrete floor.

"The beings on the other side of this gate are our direct competitors in that grand game. And instead of just sitting around in these ruins waiting for the system to tell us what to do next, I plan to take the complete initiative."

Julien felt his stomach drop.

’Oh no,’ he thought to himself, completely horrified by the scale of her ambition.

’She is completely out of her mind.’

"I am going to send my entire army right through this gate," Lena stated proudly, her voice completely serious and full of absolute conviction.

"We are going to raid their world and destroy our competition before the actual games even begin."

Julien was completely dumbfounded.

He just stood there staring at her, trying to process the absolute insanity of her plan.

She was not just trying to survive the apocalypse like everyone else in the ruined city, but trying to start a literal interdimensional war to get ahead of the system rules.

"Okay, wow," Julien said, forcing a nervous laugh to keep up his humble merchant act.

"That is definitely a very ambitious business model, Commander. But how can your soldiers actually travel inside that thing? I am no expert, but will a trip to another universe not completely drain their mana cores or just suck their souls right out of their bodies?"

"There is a very high possibility of that happening," Lena admitted casually, stopping her slow pacing right in front of the swirling green light.

"Our initial tests showed that the spatial pressure inside the portal tunnel is incredibly hostile. Anyone who steps inside without proper protection will have their internal mana flow completely disrupted, which leads to immediate death."

She turned around and pointed a single, heavy finger right at Julien’s chest.

"And that is exactly why you are standing here today," Lena said flatly.

"I need a specific potion that will keep a person’s internal mana flow completely stable for ten whole minutes. That should be exactly enough time for my soldiers to cross the portal threshold and secure a safe landing zone on the other side."

Julien swallowed hard.

That was an impossibly tall order.

Stabilising mana during an interdimensional jump was not something a basic health potion could fix.

He would have to dig deep into his system shop and spend an amount of accumulated points to find an item that specific and powerful.

"I need a complete batch of these stabilisation potions by next week," Lena ordered, her tone leaving absolutely no room for negotiation or failure.

"The first raid party will consist of seven elite members. You will provide the necessary alchemy for them. If you fail to deliver on time, or if your potions do not work, I will personally push you into this gate without one."

Julien did not say a single word.

He slowly shifted his eyes over to Maya, who was standing quietly by the back concrete wall.

Maya was staring right at the Green Gate with a very complicated expression on her face.

She was taking in every single word of Lena’s explanation and analysing the situation.

Her original plan was to just sneak into this military camp and jump straight into the anomaly to search for her missing father.

But now she finally understood the disadvantage she was facing. If the gate actually ripped your mana apart, she could not just jump in blindly like she wanted, but needed those same stabilisation potions to survive the trip.

Julien looked back at the Commander.

He had been dealing with way too many crazy, overpowered women lately to know how this conversation worked.

Lena was not asking for a favour.

She was not going to accept any excuses about missing rare ingredients or complicated brewing times.

If he argued with her, she would probably just lock him in a cage in the research facility right now and torture the formula out of him.

So he simply nodded his head.

"I understand the assignment, Commander," Julien said respectfully, putting on a serious, dedicated face.

"I will get to work on the formula right away and deliver it by next week."

"See that you do," Lena replied, completely dismissing him with a lazy wave of her hand.

"The guard will escort you back to your stall. Do not disappoint me, Julien."

Julien did not waste another second.

He turned around and walked right toward the doors, eager to get as far away from the portal as possible.

He needed to get back to Camp Five and figure out how to pull off a prison break while simultaneously funding an interdimensional war for a paranoid warlord.

The garage doors slid open with a creak, letting the bright afternoon sunlight back into the dark bunker.

Julien stepped outside, taking a deep breath of normal, fresh air to calm his racing heart.

But before he could even take two steps down the paved road, a squad of elite guards marched right past him, heading toward the garage entrance.

They were dragging someone along with them, forcing the person to walk fast despite their obvious injuries.

Julien stopped dead in his tracks.

The prisoner was chained at the wrists and ankles, wearing dirty clothes, and looking completely exhausted.

But even through the dirt and the dark bruises covering his face, Julien instantly recognised him.

It was a familiar face.

It was Aiden.