There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL) novel Chapter 498

Chapter 498: Chapter 491. Dawnbreak

When Ashur first realized the black sheet inside the box in the command center was destroyed, it was dawn. He had been compiling the weekly reports to be submitted to the Guildmaster, but he never thought that the report he submitted later would be wholly different.

For a full minute, he just stood there, feeling his blood freeze as he convinced himself again and again that he wasn’t hallucinating.

But the black sheet was still gone; the remaining ash pooling inside the box as a reality check.

He remembered how they tore the sheet in jest, talking about the end of the world and whatnot should this black sheet be truly destroyed. But what is this? It was only the beginning of the fourth day since Trinity’s best squad made their way, but a catastrophe already befell them.

With a pounding heart, Ashur allowed himself time to take a deep breath and calm himself. Only after he could raise his hand without trembling did he call his deputy, Iore.

"What is it?" Iore asked with a frown as soon as she entered the command tent, completely alarmed. Ashur didn’t say much in the text, but she had worked with the man enough to know that a summon at the break of dawn spelled an emergency.

Wordlessly, Ashur pushed the box containing the ashes of the black sheet into view. Funnily enough, Iore had the same reaction to him; a total stun, followed by a deep breath.

"W-what..." she took a seat and blinked her eyes repeatedly to shake her dazed mind. "What do you think happened?"

"I don’t know, but we can’t think of that now," Ashur shook his head. "I had been trying to contact their commlink, but nothing comes through."

"So they are out of range," Iore nodded. "Either they had no time to set up a beacon, or they are in a place where the signal couldn’t reach." _{fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm}

Ashur rubbed his face and exhaled slowly, heavily. He closed his eyes for a bit before standing up and walking toward the command board. "As planned, we will enact Protocol Iron Turtle," he said with a sharp gaze; the dread in his face had vanished like a lie. "I leave the guides and support magicians to you."

"Yessir," Iore stood up and straightened her back as Ashur made a call to Althrea.

It was dawn in the Deathzone, but it was even earlier in Althrea. That being said, the call was instantly received by the Guildmaster himself, who didn’t even look like he had any sleep. Ashur forgo all courtesy and went straight to the matter.

"The flare paper was lit ten minutes ago."

The crimson eyes behind the screen closed for a few seconds. [Last communication entry?]

"At the start of the second day, the report stated they were entering a desert region," Ashur typed on the keyboard to send the last daily report to the Guildmaster. "Nothing since."

[So you lost contact for two days before the flare was lit] Radia rubbed his lips. [Based on the plan, they should reach the shard’s location already, no?]

"If it went smoothly," Ashur nodded. "With the timing, it’s possible that they encounter a crisis when they find the shards."

[Shards?]

"Zein said there are two of them."

The Guildmaster leaned back and patted his fingers together in contemplation. His face remained calm, however, which strangely made Ashur breathe a bit easier. [Do the shards still communicate?]

Ashur blinked at the unexpected question. "I...am not sure, Sir."

[Get the interpreter machine over there; perhaps you can learn what really happened] Radia said. If the mana wave the shards let out was still the same, then they should be able to translate it into some context, just like how they did it in the Mortix lab.

Ashur inhaled sharply, feeling so stupid for not thinking about that. "What about the protocol, Sir?"

[Get on with it; I’ll prepare some countermeasures. Keep me updated]

"Yes, Sir."

Ashur closed the connection so he could turn on the base warning system. Typing a series of commands he had remembered so much, he punched the confirm button while letting out a deep sigh. As an alarm rang throughout the base and an icon of a black turtle showed up in everyone’s commlink, he called Iore.

"Get Chief Han’s deputy to come to the command tent," he said briefly, before calling the Captain of the guard division as well. He took another deep breath and exhaled sharply. "Haa...let’s go," he chanted for himself. "Let’s hold on."

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