There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)-Chapter 483 - 476. Watchtower

"Which one is easier, Miss Iore? This, or hunting the beast?" Dheera asked the Hagalaz’s vice Captain, who had become her new friend during this new mission--since sadly, Carra was in the home cleaning team.

"Slaying the beasts is definitely easier," Iore replied after a few seconds of contemplation. "After doing it for years, using our skills to kill them feels as easy as breathing--especially when you’re doing it from the back."

Dheera giggled and watched the magician shape the ground that had been cleared of any boulders and trees, making it level and accessible for the following troops, who would come with some heavy artillery and even more logistics.

"But this one feels more meaningful, isn’t it?" Iore added as she snapped her fingers and finalized the spell. "Haa...it’d be better if we could bring specialized engineers, but no amount of pay would make them come in this kind of place."

"Can’t we find a desperate one?"

"Desperate ones with good skills are rare," Iore shrugged. "Let’s go."

Dheera jumped off the boulder she used to wait until the espers were done. Honestly, she too, liked seeing those amazing skills being used to build something more than for killing. She liked this cleaning journey; more relaxed, less anxious about facing some random beasts...

"Oh! That is the bridge you made!" Dheera pointed at the structure that wasn’t there when she traveled through this terrain before.

To accommodate the stuff Hagalaz needed to bring, they had made a makeshift bridge so they could cross the ravine because certainly, they couldn’t just jump over it with hand trucks and carts in tow. Thanks to the height of technology nowadays, the makeshift stuff they made was sturdy enough, even without the help of a professional.

"Let’s widen this bridge," Ashur gave his order and selected some people. "The rest of you will come with me; let’s split that hill and make a new access road."

Zhan, who was bored from the lack of enemies he could slay, stride forward excitedly. The spearman got even more excited when small beasts were coming out of the hills they destroyed to make a path.

Perhaps because she had experienced something more shocking before--a life-and-death experience even--seeing the hordes of hissing, angry back-bladed mole did not faze Dheera much anymore. She flinched in surprise once, but she found her heart calming down fast. She looked at Brisk and Leehan to see their reaction, and even Leehan who seemed to be the most distressed about it before merely shrugged at her.

She smiled and curled her fists--definitely would tell her Captain all about it once they were back.

The hills between the Tree Fortress valley and the riverside were the hardest terrain to tackle, and took the longest time. They had to make railings on some parts, create gravel from boulders, and do a bit of deforestation--which was welcomed, since those trees were still a stuff of nightmare in Dheera’s opinion.

But once they reached the riverside, it was easier. The path had been determined, and all they had to do was erect a simple railing from the trees that Gus had cut with gusto, and clear the river from any remaining underwater beasts. They checked on the beacon and purifying device, and found them intact, which was good news. The cleaning up from the riverside to the field and the edge of the forest was even easier, since Zhan and Gus had already cleared the trees on the first day of the operation. The magicians only need to level and harden the path as usual.

Once they reached the edge of the forest, Dheera ran out to the marsh and threw her arms up in delight. "Oh...never thought a gray sky could look so beautiful!"

A sentiment that was easily agreed upon by the others. Far away, looking tiny, they could see the first beacon, and even further, the wall of the Borderland Unit. Not far from the beacon, there was a truck that immediately drove toward them the moment they got out, with Mortix’s logo on its side.

"New logistics and materials for the gate," Iore told the guides.

There, on the place they stood, an entrance gate to the Deathzone would be made.

"Enjoy it as much as you can," Ashur said while rolling up his sleeve. "We’ll return as soon as we’re done setting up the gate."

* * *

While some construction was done on the border, an even bigger construction was happening in the city ruin. In a place that used to be filled with rubble and a decayed foundation, a tall structure was imposingly erected. With a ladder on the side and an elevator in the middle, the top of the structure had a window lined up with kinetic and mana-fueled guns.

The window was built circling a command room, with an alarm system and mounted terrestrial telescope. Outside the watch room, four cameras were installed to watch over four directions in dark vision mode, which could be seen both from the watch tower and the command room in the stadium.

On the roof of the tower, an automatic mana cannon and ballistae had been installed for added measure, guarding a purification device and a radar system that could detect presence from the air and underground.

Two of such towers welcomed the clean-up team when they returned to the base with more logistics for their stay.

"Waaaah!" Dheera looked up at the imposing tower that emanated lights from the alarm system.

The moment the radar detected the movement of miasma, the lights would change according to the amount from yellow to red, just like dungeon gates classification. A purple light had been used in place of black for the highest level of danger, in accordance with the color of the Fallen Star’s fragment--a color no one from the advance troop could forget.

For now, it glowed in green light.

The guides took off their mask and goggles in delight, skipping inside to look for their Captain while observing the change happening just in a few days they took to clean up the road.

"I didn’t know towers can be made that fast..." Leehan commented.

"Because construction companies don’t have high-star espers working for them," Brisk laughed. "And money! If you have money to bring all the materials in dimensional storage and not waste time for normal transportation, plus all of those robots programmed with construction workers’ skillset..." Brisk paused and looked around, before adding in a whisper. "I heard the Guildmaster had to lobby the government to acquire permission to use those robots because...you know--the construction companies hate those."

"A lot of things go in this Operation, huh?" Leehan stroked his chin. "I used to think it’s just a matter of going in and killing all the beasts, but..."

"If that’s the case, they would have just appointed the guild with the strongest firepower, or even the military."

"Hmm...my brain is not compute for this kind of stuff," Dheera shook her head, before perking up as she caught the sight of the person they had been looking for. "Captaaain!"

Zein turned to look at them, and greeted them with a subtle smile and instantly shaved away all the exhaustion they had been feeling during the clean-up. As expected, looking at a beautiful thing was the best for mental health, especially with a bonus hug.

No wonder the Serpent Lord looked less scary and temperamental after Zein came to Trinity.

"How is it?" Zein asked with a squeeze on Dheera’s cheeks.

"We’re fine!" the girl answered cheerfully. "We encountered some beasts, but we didn’t get afraid or anything."

"If I have to be honest, they don’t feel that scary anymore," Leehan said. "Well...the small ones at least."

Zein looked at the guides’ eyes, and from the persistent brightness, it seemed to be true. The dark circles prevalent on the first morning after that event could no longer be seen.

"Good," he patted their head. "Good job."

"Hehe..." Dheera grinned happily, but Zein didn’t just give them praises. He told them to stay vigilant even if they had gotten used to it--no, that was why they needed to keep even more vigilant, so they didn’t lower their guard and get hurt for some silly reasons.

As usual, the guides nodded like the good kids that they were. Silva, who was with Zein at that time, asked what happened when she wasn’t around, and they had a little storytime around the plot of land where a guide station would be built next.

For now, there was only one guide tent and a long table with a canopy. Once the rest of the troops came, a proper clinic would be established, with a room for queue and attendance indicator.

"What the hell?! And you managed to kill it?! Oh, my Goddess!" the usually calm and serious Silva looked animated all of a sudden, fueling the other guides with their story even more.

In the middle of the excitement, however, Brisk finally noticed something. "Huh? Where’s Dean? Is he guiding?"

"Ah, he’s away on a mission," Zein replied casually.

The guides paused and blinked at Zein. "Whaaat?"

Silva leaned forward and whispered scandalously. "With that ’princess’ no less."

"Whaaat?!"

"What kind of development is this?!"

Zein chuckled at the way the guides making noises among themselves, glad that acted like they had been when they weren’t in the Deathzone. He thought they might be tempted to get away after seeing the Borderland, but it seemed like he didn’t need to worry about it.

"But Captain, what is that mission abo--"

Before Brisk could ask about it, let alone get an answer, they were surprised by a sudden loud sound that made them turn toward the watch tower.

The green lights below the lining window had turned orange. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com