Transcendent Gene-Chapter 267: Connection [3]

Through the corridor Gio uncovered and past several connecting tunnels stood the Bloodless Crypt.

It wasn’t much of a sight. The catacombs served as a burial site, so the crypt was used only for the storage of treasures. Unfortunately, those treasures were already gone. If Gio had to guess, a lot of them ended up as rewards scattered through other parts of the Scenario Quest.

The places that were created during terraforming all existed at some point in time, but they’d become pieces of this quest now. They were arranged in a way that benefited the quest participants and made the quest itself flow smoother.

The crypt was left to serve only a single purpose.

"A ladder? Really?"

Shiro frowned at the exit they found.

"Of all things, why is it a ladder? We didn’t even get here from the surface."

They were teleported into that strange space before ever breaking into the catacombs. They hadn’t been to the surface in some time, but were they being sent there now?

Shiro found it hard to believe that the main area was only ever meant to lead them to the crypt. There must’ve been other treasures inside. Were they supposed to leave without looking for them?

Gio shrugged as he looked around the crypt. freewebnøvel_com

"We could go all the way back to the main chambers, but I don’t think it’s worth the time. We’re still trying to work on the quest and be part of the clearing squad, and with all the stuff we have right now..."

He held up the litepack in his hand while motioning towards the ones on his and Serene’s backs.

"...wouldn’t it be better for us to use our time getting stronger?"

Not only did they have the means to grow, but Gio also wanted some time to translate some more of the language in his mind.

"Let’s go up the ladder and find somewhere safe to stay for around a week. We can keep ourselves within that area for a little and figure out our next steps while training."

Nobody disagreed with his suggestion. He didn’t mention it, but Serene and Shiro also needed some time. It was better for them to calmly understand the weight on their backs without letting it pile up more.

Gio, Serene, and Neriah all looked around the crypt for a while before they finally decided that there was nothing worth seeing in the small room. Following Gio’s lead, they took the ladder up to its final destination.

’There’s a grate up there.’

It was similar to a manhole cover with a strip in the middle through which one could see the outside world. When he reached it, Gio had to use both arms empowered by Aether to push it to the side and grant his team freedom.

As they left the ladder and climbed onto the land above, he glanced over at the surprisingly heavy piece of metal.

’Hm? Isn’t that...’

If he wasn’t mistaken, it was the same lettering as he’d seen in the books they found. He walked over and traced them with his fingers, matching them to the translations in his mind.

"Property of...Riverene City?" He muttered.

"Did you say Riverene?" Serene asked from behind.

"I saw that name earlier. I think a lot of the humans that lived in the crypt were from that city. Is it...why is that here?"

"I don’t know," Gio responded, shaking his head.

She saw what he was looking at when she approached and assumed the rest easily.

Looking around, it was hard to say they weren’t still in monster territory. The environment and the sky looked just as dreary, and there were still strange celestial bodies in the sky.

However, there was a manhole cover in the ground with human language on it and it led to a hidden settlement of humans who’d escaped slavery on this planet.

’It looks more like the two worlds combined. It isn’t the same as when corruption spreads into Earth and creates Wild Zones.’

This was more of a fusion. The sky was still that of the monster world and the atmosphere was different from what existed on Earth, yet there were unmistakable artifacts from the other planet embedded in its core.

’Hmm...’

He stood up and took his attention away from it.

’Riverene City. I wonder...’

He skimmed over his memories until he found the maps he saw in the City Hall. There was one of the city, one of the state, and one of the entire country. On the third, he found "Riverene City" listed as the capital city of an area in the northern frontiers of the country.

"It’s not far from New Renis. There’s a possibility that it exists in the scenario.’

If everything in the Scenario Quest was taken as a clue, then Riverene could already be guaranteed as their next location.

’I should look for it while we’re training.’

It was a good clue, especially if it was related to the ones who lived in the facility below. With it in mind, Gio led his team through the open landscape until they found a decently-sized mountain in the distance.

After climbing around a quarter of the way up its form, they finally found a decent cave that was located away from hostile environments.

There wasn’t anything living in the cave, though it showed clear signs of being inhabited at some point. After ensuring that they would have the space for themselves, the four of them settled down and organized their spoils.

Shiro and Neriah’s gains were mostly raw materials they couldn’t use now, but among those materials were several things that could benefit them.

"These stones are Gem Onyx," Neriah said.

"These right here should be Dagger Tears. You can still find those in caverns if you look deep enough. These look similar to Enhancers, but not the same. They should be the earliest form of elixirs humans were making..."

Serene backed her up.

"Yeah, you’re exactly right. Rather than Enhancers, these are Elixirs. They were made to improve the human body before Sequences existed, so it’s not like they’ll help with energy or anything like that, but they have a surprising effect on Bloodlines, and even without that, they’re useful."

Unlike the Gene Fluid Gio found for himself, Elixirs were safe for consumption and didn’t interfere with any of the changes made to the human body through natural and unnatural evolution.

Some of them would improve the blood, some focused on organs, some concentrated on nerves, and others focused on bones and ligaments. It was unknown what each of these Elixirs was made for, but all of them would be worth taking.

Gio found plenty of Elixirs as well. And, even though they didn’t exist in this era, the litepack contained Enhancers and other modern resources. It was the benefit of exploring historic sites through Scenario Quests where not everything was entirely based on reality.

They had more than enough supplies to go around. An even split wasn’t possible, but Gio was happy to let go of a small portion of the rewards so the other three could split them equally.

’For everything I lost here, I have Gene Fluid in the Storage Hole as a replacement. There’s no need to be greedy.’

Everyone could have their share. All of them were going to get stronger together.

And when they left, they’d truly be able to start attacking the scenario.

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