There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)-Chapter 482 - 475. Clean Up

"Dungeon, huh..."

In the first place, Deathzone was created from dungeons that didn’t get cleared because, well...no one could. No tower was created, and so no esper was born in this region. With no one to kill the beasts and clear new sprouting dungeons, the miasma got thicker and became a perfect home for the creatures coming out of the dungeons.

Of course, with how thick the miasma was, even if humans used a detection machine, they wouldn’t be able to sense any dungeon, since the miasma coming out of the new dungeon would be masked by the Deathzone’s miasma. But that didn’t mean there wouldn’t be any dungeon.

"It’s where all those beasts spawned from, isn’t it?" Bassena shrugged. "That’s why they seemed to be endless."

But who knows? Perhaps if they slew more beasts than they could spawn from the dungeons, the Deathzone would be cleared of beasts one day. All they had to deal with was the wights and lesser specters then, who were created by the Deathzone natural evolution itself, before Zein united the shards into a complete fragment to get rid of the rest of the miasma.

The problem was...

"Based on what the Horins had been doing...it seems like the Fallen Star can generate dungeon, isn’t that so?" Zein narrowed his eyes. "Do you think It is staying in one It created itself?"

Bassena nodded. "You know...I had been thinking that the reason why the Fallen Star regenerates so slowly is that It is also a creature of mana. I mean...the Fallen Star used to be a Celestial Being, right? It used the same source of energy with the other Celestial Being, not miasma."

Senan blinked and spoke eagerly. "You mean...the miasma is also pressuring It?"

"Well, it explains why It stays in a dungeon," Zein rubbed his lips. "Perhaps until the mana exhausted, and then It hopped into another dungeon, and..." something suddenly popped into his mind. "That’s why It created the fragments even though it would weaken It further--because It needs a proxy in the Deathzone to manage the unruly beasts."

"Yeah," Bassena, the one with the responsibility to face this former Celestial Being, exhaled slowly as he threw his head back against his seat. Seemed like this entity became trickier and trickier to deal with. "Well...we’ll have to deal with that one either way."

"Right," Zein emptied his cup of coffee and tapped on the table before standing up. "Anyway, there’s no change in our initial plan, isn’t it?"

"Except for that special team you want to make--where are you going?"

Zein patted the esper’s cheek on his way out of the tent. "I’m still the Operation’s lead guide," he said. "What else would I do but guide?"

* * *

The guides that were part of the advance troops were among Zein’s best disciples. But they weren’t Zein. Even Dean, the only A-class guide aside from Zein, couldn’t guide half the amount Zein usually did.

Of course, not because they were inept.

In fact, thanks to Zein’s strict teaching derived from experience rather than theory, the guides in the strike division could guide better than their peers. Zein just had a vessel equivalent to what Bassena’s mana core was compared to other espers. And then, that vessel capacity was doubled by his ability to convert the absorbed corrosion quickly into pure mana.

That was why he had been taking on the role of guiding the damage dealers, who were twice the number of the defenders and supporters. These damage dealers, both warriors and magicians, were the people they needed the most to do the next steps in their base establishment; construction works.

After all, they would need magic and muscle.

Thus, the faster Zein could cleanse these espers, the faster they could start cleaning the path and building the facilities. And thanks to using all of his mana on destroying the Fallen Star’s fragment earlier, his vessel was empty. Right before the after the dinner, he kept guiding the espers--especially the ones who would clean the road, including his Iron Brigade members.

Once again, the other guides realized they were but mere chicks in front of the blue-eyed Phoenix.

Bassena might get a bit cranky because he couldn’t find any time to cuddle with his boyfriend, but it also made him work non-stop since he had nothing to do with Zein being so busy. By the time Zein finished his cleansing for that day, Bassena had managed to finish making a whole schedule for the cleaning process, the construction, as well as security patrol rotation--not just for the advance troop, but the whole Operation members.

And as an extra, he even made a list of potential members for Zein’s special team. He was rewarded with a short, but nice cuddling time a bit before dawn, so all is well.

With their commanders working extra hard, the rest of the members couldn’t help but whip themselves. The cleaning process started right away with two teams--one to clear the ruined city itself to smoothen the construction process, and one to clear the path from the ruin to the edge of the Deathzone.

The first challenge, of course, was the marsh. They had to burn the leftover frogmen’s corpses, dry a long line of the marsh, and fill it with hard soil; making it sturdy enough for many people to cross easily, and if they could, for a vehicle to come too later on. They also installed another beacon and purification device there--just to smoothen the communication signal and make sure the new path wasn’t easily decayed.

To test it out, Zhan was having fun using his bike to run along the new path. Despite Gus and Shin praying a section would crumble and the bike would drown in the marsh, Zhan waved his halberd in triumph at the end of the path.

What a dilemmatic feeling.

While the cleaner team continued their work, the people left behind inside the tree fortress could finally leave with all the construction materials. They arrived just in time, right after the city team was done clearing the path to the stadium and the area where they would build the watchtower.

Since the espers were split into two teams, so did the guides. Zein sent Brisk, Leehan, and Dheera to go with the cleaner team, and he put Silva, who was eager to act after days of doing nothing, to work. As for Dean...

"Captain," Dean called for Zein as he jogged down the newly cleared path around the stadium.

The older guide had been taking a walk around the safe zone after it was cleared, looking as if he was deep in thought. Perhaps because it was a stadium, there were a lot of streets leading to the place, and even a trench surrounding the stadium that seemed to be a waterway in the past.

Once they cleared the rubble of the ruin, and took out the sinister vines and ivy, they could see places that looked like hotels, eateries, and shops scattered around the stadium. Empty fields, which either used to be parks or parking lots completed the picture.

The residential buildings were located a bit further away, around the edge of the safe zone. They were trying to see which one was still sturdy enough to be turned into a dorm, or whether they would need to level up everything and just build a new residential building.

Their utmost priority, however, was strengthening the defense of their first base. Once the materials they brought arrived, they immediately installed fences and a warning system around the safe area. Zein stopped at a small empty field near the stadium that offered an unobstructed view of one of the watchtowers being built, and turned his head to look at his approaching disciple.

"You’re here."

Dean looked at the construction of the watchtower as he entered the empty field. From here, they could also see how much the espers had cleaned the ruin. The rubbles were collected and used to make stone walls outside of the safe zone, providing more security for the base. The land was then leveled out and marked so they could build other facilities once the rest of the troops arrived, including where the guiding facility would be.

And talking about guiding...

Dean shifted his gaze toward Zein with an inquisitive glint. "Is this about how you didn’t give me any role today, Captain?"

Zein smiled subtly. Indeed, he gave instructions to the others, including the newly arrived Silva. But he left out the A-class among the guide with nothing to do.

"Why do you think I did that?"

The question was thrown in a nonchalant tone, but Dean answered it seriously. "I don’t think you did it because I made a mistake," he said.

He knew his Captain enough; Zein wasn’t the type to ignore someone when they made a mistake. Zein would tell the person in a straightforward manner so they could do better next time--especially when the person listened well, like Dean.

And if it wasn’t a mistake then...

"I presume you have another work for me," Dean concluded. Guides had no work aside from guiding, however, so it alluded to one thing. "Are you sending me on a separate team?"

Zein’s smile grew wider. In a way, Dean was almost like Nadine; smart and talented. But the guy was too quiet and very textbook, so not exactly a leader material. But for something that needed discipline and persistence? He was the best.

And that was why Zein picked the man for this.

"You presume right," Zein nodded, turning his head in the direction of the mountain range. "I need you to go on an expedition."

"Would it be long, Captain?"

"Long," Zein nodded. "And harsh. You might not be able to make camp, or could only come back once a week at the quickest."

Dean blinked and wondered what kind of expedition it was. He felt dreadful, suddenly, but pressed his lips and clenched his fists. "So, just like how you used to do it?"

Zein chuckled and rubbed his lips in amusement. "Yeah...yeah, you can say it like that. Don’t worry, though--the espers going with you will be stronger than the ones I used to go with."

Dean tilted his head, instantly thinking about who might be a part of this dangerous expedition. He didn’t need to think for long, however, since the answer was coming at them already.

"Hey, why are you calling me to a place like this?"

Dean turned his head. Ah...of course. Of course, it would be the fallen princess.