Chapter 449: Inside the silo.

At his words, Zyra let out a low, evil chuckle that sent a cold shiver straight down everyone’s spines.

It was like Anukin could read her mind_ and her mind was definitely not offering a warm hug. His eyes went wide with pure terror, and he threw his hands up. "Please! Do not kill me! I am not one of the bad ones. I tried to get Erik to free her. Not just your mother, but all the Soul Maidens trapped in there. But you don’t know Erik. He was insane and dangerous. Now that he is gone, I have nothing to be afraid of. I’m on your side, I promise."

Zyra let out a thoughtful humming sound, tilting her head like a cat playing with a mouse before giving it a good smack. "Mmm, you’re lying."

"I’m not!" Anukin squeaked.

"That’s really not how I remember you, buddy," Zyra said, her voice dripping with sweet sarcastically fake affection. "You followed Erik around like he was a god and hung on his every word. So really, it’s only right that I send you straight to hell to meet your master."

Before Anukin could beg again, Zyra’s dagger flickered in the light. With one swift, terrifying motion, she ripped his hazmat suit open and yanked out his core with the tip of the dagger. Anukin gasped once, collapsed into the moss, and stayed there.

Ivar let out a long, satisfied sigh, wiping a tear from his eye like a proud father at a graduation. "Ah, beautiful," he said, turning to Zyra. "Thank you for that. For a second there, I was actually worried you might forgive him and offer him redemption."

Zyra casually wiped her blade clean. "I don’t do forgiveness. Those who wrong me always pay the price."

Since part of Anukin’s suit was ripped wide open, the nasty gases floating around the air instantly swooped in for lunch. His body started smoking like a burnt piece of toast, sizzling and melting away right in front of them. In less than five seconds, there wasn’t even a skeleton left. Just a tiny puff of smoke.

Hunter took two steps back and cleared his throat. "Now we know what happens when you take off the suit."

While all the killing drama was happening, Almeida wasn’t paying any attention. He was crouching near the ground, furiously looking for any clues that could show where the defense grid was hidden. He picked up a small stone, threw it into a nearby pond, and watched it go splash.

Nothing happened.

He picked up another rock and tossed it in.

He threw a third rock.

He picked up a huge rock and hurled it with all his might but still nothing happened.

Hunter frowned. "Dude!"

Almeida looked up for a moment, with a curious smile. "Dude?"

Hunter shrugged. He couldn’t say dad in the midst of all these people.

Almeida dusted off his hands and shrugged helplessly. "Well, I tried my best, but I can’t find a single thing that could give us a clue."

Zyra ignored him and silently asked her System for help.

A cheerful voice buzzed directly inside her head: [Host, thank you for the core! And indeed, I have detected an underground silo right below you.]

Suddenly, a bright blue light flashed from Zyra’s vision, highlighting a thick batch of glowing flowers a few feet ahead.

[Those are artificial plants... definitely not part of the natural vegetation here. Fake plastic garbage, basically.]

Zyra smirked and started walking straight toward the fake garden.

[Wait, Host! Hold your horses!] the System yelped.

Zyra paused midway, her boot hovering inches over a neon pink petal.

[This whole place has been booby-trapped! There are bombs almost everywhere, and the detonators are safely tucked inside the silo. I also detect hostiles hanging out in the silo. But, because you have been harvesting cores like they are fruits and making me happy, I decided to reward you. I overrode the silo security system while you were chopping up Anukin. The bombs will be deactivated in 3... 2... 1... boom! Just kidding, no boom. You’re clear! You can move toward the entrance and pull off those tacky fake plants now.]

"Look at that!" Zyra said quietly, "You are in such a good mood that you are making jokes."

Zyra motioned with her hand for the team to follow her. She crouched near the bright pink blossoms and touched them.

"Hey guys, it’s fake," she whispered.

Whispers broke out among the Beast Valley task force as everyone crowded around. They started ripping away the plastic flowers and shoveled off the dirt until a large, round underground iron door appeared beneath their feet.

[Host, heads up!] the System chimed in again. [I am detecting a bunch of angry hybrids right inside. As soon as you crack that door open, they will take you out.]

Zyra didn’t panic. She quietly requested upgraded flash bombs from the System shop, popped them into her hand, and gave the order: Open the door.

The heavy iron door which served as a roof unlocked and started sliding open with a loud mechanical screech. The moment there was a tiny crack, Zyra didn’t even hesitate. She yanked the pins and tossed in as many flash bombs as her hands could hold.

A series of blinding white explosions detonated inside the bright silo, followed instantly by a thick, nasty cloud of full-strength Spice’s poison gas.

"My eyes!" screaming broke out from below.

"It burns!"

"Charge!" Hunter yelled, lunging forward with a grin. The whole team took the chaos as their cue and dived straight into the silo to clear the room.

The Elder trees dropped down into the clearing dust, taking down every single armed knight before they could even figure out which way was up. Humans and trees went forward, slaughtering every enemy in their path until they came to the single biggest room.

It was like the inside of a granary, so deep, shadowed and hushed. Everything was silent, except for the heavy breathing of a small group huddled together in the corner. Their hands were held high in the air. Their eyes were wide with fright, and they were all wearing crisp white doctor coats.

Zyra marched over to them, squinting with an unreadable expression, looking at them like they were strange animals that had somehow escaped from a local zoo.

An older woman in the front, her doctor’s coat stained with dust, trembled nervously as she spoke up. "P-please don’t shoot! We were kept here against our will! We didn’t choose to be part of this!"

Zyra lowered her dagger slightly. "Who are you people?"

A man sitting beside the woman swallowed hard, his hands shaking above his head. "We’re engineers and doctors. They dragged us here to work!"

Almeida stepped forward, crossing his arms and frowning at the unfamiliar equipment humming around the room. "Why on earth were they keeping a bunch of scientists locked up in a big dusty underground hole?"

The older woman took a shaky breath and gestured toward the back of the room. "They forced us to monitor everything... we were making sure the fetus pods and the Soul Maidens stayed in stable condition."

At the mention of the Soul Maidens, the air in Zyra’s lungs seemed to freeze. Her heart began to pound against her ribs like a sledgehammer. She took a step closer, her voice barely above a whisper. "Is this... is this the Hollow Cradle?"

The trapped scientists looked at each other with sad, weary eyes, and slowly, every single one of them nodded their heads.

Zyra’s heart trembled. Hope and fear rose within her soul.