Chapter 510: Clear the Gate? (2)

Chapter 508

Back in the Vanguard’s base, Captain Raze could be seen sitting in his room with a cup of coffee in one hand and a tablet displaying the livestream in the other.

Seated across from him was Captain Ella, holding her own tablet.

When the Gate Break had happened, she had rushed over to call Raze and have him send a squad, only for him to tell her not to do anything and simply watch.

Watch she did.

And what she saw had been quite mind-blowing, especially when the Captain ordered Ray to go into the Gate alone to battle the boss.

"Raze, are you crazy?! He could die from that! An Emperor-rank boss is too much for him, even if he is a werewolf."

Thinking for a few seconds, she added:

"...And what’s this about some twenty thousand reward? You do know that it will be hard to get him that, though?"

"Not if I’m able to cajole the General," Raze replied calmly as he took another drink.

Ella frowned at the man before tilting her head.

"The hover bike? All Vanguards do get one a week after joining. And about the cores, you didn’t have to frame that as a reward because he is entitled to them too."

Sipping his drink once more, the man let out a satisfied sigh.

"Does he know?"

"Well, no?"

"Good."

Captain Ella dropped her tablet onto her lap before smiling as she leaned back into her chair.

"You know, some people just consider you a brute with barely any brains. But you can be really shrewd when the situation benefits you. But I don’t see how this works in your favour, especially if he dies inside the Gate, though."

Captain Raze didn’t rush to reply.

Instead, he casually scrolled through his tablet, his eyes remaining fixed on the information before him.

Then, with a simple swipe of his fingers, Ella received a notification on her own tablet.

With a confused raise of her brows, she looked down and noticed that it was a report.

She opened it.

Then she began reading.

The more she read, the more her brows drew together.

Her eyes moved rapidly across the screen, absorbing each line with increasing disbelief.

"Wh-What is this?"

"The reason I defended him during the trial and made sure to send him into that Gate."

Dropping his tablet to the side, Raze grabbed his cup by placing his whole hand over its mouth before crossing one leg over the other and looking in Ella’s direction.

"Yes, he is a werewolf, but from what I read in myths and fantasies, I don’t think those creatures grow stronger from each battle, though. If anything, they grow stronger by eating flesh... I think."

Captain Ella was still deep in what she was reading, but nevertheless, she was listening to what the man was saying.

"...Yet, this kid genuinely keeps growing more powerful after each major battle. Looking at page one over there—"

Ella zoomed in.

"Before the Red Gate incident, he was genuinely struggling against Advanced-rank beasts. Went into the Gate, came back, and was able to flawlessly defeat Berg like it was nothing."

Raze’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"The same Berg that could wipe the floor with him before. The same Berg who rose to a Grade 7.8—a few sub-grades below the peak of what a Meta-human can be. Isn’t that crazy?"

"Okay...? It does sound crazy, but an Em—"

Raze shook his head and uncrossed his legs before dropping his cup of coffee onto the table.

"Ella, it was a Red Gate. A fucking Red Gate, and these kids survived and even brought back survivors. What are the rules of a Red Gate?"

Captain Ella thought for a few seconds before shaking her head.

"There are no rules."

"Exactly. There are no rules to what one can encounter in one. You could genuinely be faced with the lowest-ranked threat ever, and at the same time, you could be thrown into hell mode from the onset of arrival."

Raze leaned forward slightly, his previous calm expression becoming more serious.

"Yet, those kids were dragged in and came back better and more cohesive. From what I can deduce, there’s no doubt that they wouldn’t have faced a threat like an Emperor-rank beast too."

He paused for a moment.

"Yet they escaped, and the Gate closed up."

His gaze hardened.

"Isn’t that suspicious?"

"...."

Captain Ella thought for several seconds before her eyes narrowed.

"Are you meaning to say that they defeated the guardian of the Gate, who could potentially be an Emperor-rank beast?"

Raze shook his head.

"Not ’they,’ but him. He came back strong enough to go toe-to-toe with a Five-Spined Aberrant. Though he didn’t kill her, he’s still too weak to do so."

His fingers tapped lightly against the arm of his chair as his gaze remained fixed on the screen.

"But I will be damned if I see an opportunity to make him stronger and don’t push him towards it."

Ella kept scrolling through the file, her eyes moving across the information for several more seconds before she finally let out a sigh and leaned back in her chair.

"Crazy."

...

"FUCKKKK!"

Kai burst out of his room with a loud shout.

And it wasn’t just him.

The others, except for Van, also burst out of their rooms with looks of worry plastered across their faces.

"Can you all see? I told you people that Ray was mad! What did he just do?!"

Kai screamed as he was about to shove his screen forward, only to notice that everyone else was already watching the same thing.

He paused.

"Wh—What should we do? He w-went into the Gate."

Chloe stuttered as she stared down at her screen again, her fingers tightening around the device.

Trisha shot her a look.

"We go help him, of course."

Felix only heaved a tired sigh before looking down at his own screen as well.

"Man... when will he stop putting himself in danger constantly?"

"Come on, let’s go."

Trish urged as she took a step forward.

Only for their comm buds to screech simultaneously, the sudden sound stunning them in place.

"This is your Captain speaking, and I order you all to stand down from attempting to go towards that Gate."

"...."

They all exchanged confused looks amongst themselves for a moment.

"But—But Ray went inside the Gate?" Chloe spoke up.

"He went into it himself. He explicitly told me not to send any help, and neither should I allow you all to come over to help. He doesn’t want to put you all in danger, hence he said he will tackle it himself."

Trisha tightened her grip around her katana as a cold glint gleamed within her eyes.

"Captain, Ray intentionally went into danger, and are we supposed to sit down and wait until he gets back? We want to he—"

"—So what should I do when the one you all want to help doesn’t want it?!"

Raze snapped angrily before taking several deep breaths.

"Look, I haven’t known Ray as much as you all do. Heck, I don’t even know you all, but I still trust in his strength, and you all should do the same."

His voice became calmer.

"He will come back safely and possibly..."

He paused.

"...stronger."