Chapter 202 - 202

202

It's been days since Arc and his group entered the endless swamps, and so far, they had a considerable harvest, he found several hidden mines teeming with resources. They also found several ruins leading them to believe that the endless swamps were once used to be some sort of huge city, and some catastrophe happened that ended up destroying the city and swallowed up by the swamps and eventually became what it used to be today an endless swamp. 

What confused and worried Arc is that what kind of catastrophe happened that even a city that has more than 5-star technology ended up like this. Just what kind of power is capable of doing it. "Is it the gods? Or something else," Arc questions himself. 

For this kind of reason, he was afraid to expose Specter's existence as he didn't know what kind of power would be attracted to it. It's good if it's something they can handle like Graff, but what if a god-like existence appeared that would be the end of them. Arc is a lot stronger now but not strong enough to fight against a god. Even the weakest of the gods can kill him with one finger. He needs to be very careful until he knows that, he plans to keep a low profile and stay in the shadows, as Jem and Ruby said. 

What frustrated Arc is that despite the harvest he got in the endless swamps, their true purpose for being here still eludes them, and with each day spent here, it's a day less to complete his urgent mission. 

"Boss we found something," said Jem. 

Arc heard that line several times before, and his enthusiasm has greatly diminished, nevertheless finding something is still better than finding nothing. 

If other adventurers know what Arc is thinking. In that case, they might vomit blood for being too frustrated, when Arc is complaining because he can't find his real target despite the rich harvest, the majority of the adventurers end up suffering with nothing to show for it. 

Arc follows Jem for several kilometers as it took a few minutes. To them, with their enhanced body, this kind of travel, even in swamp areas which are notorious for being hard to travel, is not a big deal. 

When they reach the said destination, Arc saw a building under a huge tree. No, the tree is not growing on top of the building like a decoration. The tree is submerging the building with its gigantic roots, the tree must be at least several hundred meters tall. Arc just couldn't see the top of it mainly because of the thick canopy obscuring it from sight. But despite the colossal tree overgrowing on top of the building, there are no visible damages to the said building. 

He has seen many ruins in the endless swamps so far, and many remain intact despite the passage of time, but this one takes the cake. The building is about five-story tall and kind of like a dome shape; at least that's what it looks like as most of it is covered by roots. 

The rest of the team are already there; they were the first to discover the ruin. While the others wanted to explore, Arc on the other hand, grew tired of it after several days and mainly relied on drones to do the exploring for him. Eve on the other hand, is so eager to explore and use her physical body to do things, so he was left on their temporary base camp while others do their thing and explore. At first, others are reluctant to leave him alone, but Arc insisted he would be ok for one, his power is no longer what it used to be, and second in terms of combat power, he was leading the charge in his group. What's more, he has several hundred high-grade droids in his storage ring ready to fight at any given notice. 

So they were finally convinced to leave Arc alone, but still like Biggs and Wedge, who was a guard as a profession didn't dare venture far so that they can respond to Arc if something happens. 

Arc saw Ruby using drones to scan the building, its a standard procedure for them to scan and identify what kind of building it is. If not, they can at least determine if there's any trap in it. 

But according to Ruby, the building's purpose is unknown, and there seem to be no traps, and it also indicates that no one has managed to visit this place for at least several hundred years. 

There were no other buildings in the surrounding area, which is strange, if this is some kind of facility, there should be a series of buildings surrounding it, and it's too small for being a secret facility, and there seems to be no underground area according to the drones. 

There's also no special energy in the building like the other ruins. This special energy is what protects the materials of the building from corroding, and even after such a long time, it still does its job of protecting the building. 

But this particular building doesn't have that kind of energy, and despite that, it remains standing for who knows how long and with a gigantic tree on top of it, so this really picked his interest. He wasn't in a rush to explore the building; he was waiting for the drones to complete its reading. 

Before, because of his eagerness to explore, he didn't wait for the drones to finish scanning and ended up falling for a trap, luckily it's not a fatal one, he only got away with a bruised ego, nothing else, he also knows that if for some reason the trap was deadly given the technology the owner of the ruins possessed he would be dead. 

He thought he has greatly matured at first, but after that incident, he knows he hasn't grown enough. 

Arc knows that this is not a pleasure cruise, but sometimes his immaturity and excitement get the better of him, and he knows he must practice self-control more. As his life is no longer what it used to be, a lot of lives depend on him, not just his family, but people like Arielle and the system personnel are all depending on him being alive and to lead them. 

And as he was daydreaming. Ruby's voice woke him up. 

Boss scan completed, no traps of any kind detected. We should be careful Boss, our drones might be unable to detect because of the difference in technology. Ever since they arrived at this endless swamp, they found out that some traps and materials used in ruins are unable to figure out even with the very best technology they possessed. 

Arc nodded, he also indicated that they would be entering the building soon. Over the past few days, Ruby and Jem came up with several group formations when exploring the ruins or even the regular swamps.

Ruby gestured with her hand, indicating that they are doing a high-security formation and that's having Arc in the Center, Arc no longer complains to that like before. 

He nodded, and they began to approach the building, and the entrance is also dome-shaped. Much like what they assume the shape of the building as well. 

It doesn't have a door of some kind, but for some reason, the inside of the building is very clean. There's not even a speck of dust or mud in it. Clearly, something is preventing those things from entering the building, the moment Arc entered the building, he felt something like a pulse or a heartbeat. But strangely different from that, he can't figure it out, the others notice the changes in Arc expression. Jem asked what it was, but Arc just shakes his head. He clearly has no idea of what he felt. He instinctively knows this is not what Nine has indicated about the Adams legacy. It's more like his ability; the energy manipulation is at work. Still, unfortunately, with the current mastery of his ability, he can't figure it out, he can feel it, but that's about it. 

He suddenly ordered others to stop. "Wait, this building is dangerous. He said as sweat was forming in his forehead, he was trying to resonate with energy in the building but ended up being suppressed by it". 

Arc's mind is churning; he no longer pays attention to his surroundings, he couldn't even hear the others calling to him. He was focused on protecting himself from the sudden pressure the building is giving him.

"Boss!, Boss!" 

Ruby's calls woke him up.. He looked around and saw everyone was looking at him. He was covered in sweat, but the pressure was gone.. 

"I, I'm ok" he was about to order a retreat when suddenly he heard a voice. 

"It's fine there's no danger here especially for you." 

He was surprised he knows that voice, it's a voice he hadn't heard in a long time, Adam. 

"You're awake? What do you mean?" 

But there was no response, did he imagine it? He asked himself.. "Nine was that....'' 

"Adam," that's the only word Nine said. 

He wiped the sweat from his forehead, and he gestures to others that he was ok. 

"Don't worry I just felt some energy and i tried to attune to it but failed. Let's just continue exploring." 

The others nodded, they didn't ask more as they know if their Boss wants them to know, he would tell them. So Ruby lead the group next to her was Jem, behind Arc, several meters apart were Biggs and Wedge taking up the rear, and surrounding Arc a few steps away are four top grade Droids under Eve, and finally next to Arc was Eve with her enhanced body similar to Legion only smaller. Eve's body is special, it's the same as her first body, which Arc won by using the lottery. It's a liquid type of droid using 3-star tech, and what's more, it can continuously upgrade by absorbing different materials. Unfortunately, he only managed to get one even after opening several lottery boxes by completing quite a few regular missions. 

He also got an exoskeleton armor that's 4-star rank, giving him more life-saving treasures to protect his life. 

He also got a lot of health potions and one other thing that makes him super happy, unfortunately, he can't use it yet. 

The group makes their way into a hallway. 

Ruby and the rest were confused. This is clearly not a facility of any kind.  If they didn't know better, it looks like a house, that's right, the setup is like a luxurious house, and where they are standing in what looks like a living room, they were sure this is just a regular house. And when Arc saw the portrait hanging on the wall, he was stunned. 

EDITOR: King of Mortals