Chapter 171 Ch 169: A Break Out [Pt2]

'I am doing the right thing. I need to do this for Bernetta so she does not make a mistake. I know I can do this.'

Thoughts and doubts circled Shizue's mind as she slowly made her way toward Bernetta's room. She did not want to drug her lover and force her not to participate in the biggest mistake of her life.

But there seemed to be no other way for Bernetta to learn that she was making a big mistake. Going after the central cord was too big of a risk to take. It had killed so many people already.

"Bernetta, hopefully, you'll forgive me one day for sure. Until then, I need you to understand my reasoning even if you cannot forgive me."

Shizue's heart skipped a beat as she entered the room where Bernetta was getting ready. Her lover knew that Shizue was against her going out but she still respected Shizue enough not to hide things from her.

That was why, when Shizue tried to drug Bernetta, she could not anything but apologize to her in return. She did not want to cause her partner any pain.

"S-Shizue, you-B-But why?"

Bernetta's eyes shined with unshed tears and betrayal, but the love still shined through. It was a mess of emotions inside Bernetta's eyes as they asked Shizue for her reasons.

"I am not going to lose you as well. The central cord is a killer, a devourer. I will not see you being devoured by it as well."

Shizue's voice held raw agony as she tried to reason things. She spoke as if she had experienced seeing her loved ones dying at the hand of the core.

Bernetta's eyes flashed at the betrayal but she could still hear the agony in her lover's voice. She had never seen or heard Shizue behave like this.

"S-Shizue, you!"

Bernetta was knocked out cold before she could finesse her sentence. Shizue looked a little apologetic and a lot more concerned than before. But she ultimately decided to force her emotions away from her lover.

She quickly took over the body suit that Bernetta was supposed to wear and decided to take her lover's place.

If she could not stop Bernetta from doing this, then she will simply take her place and protect her this way. There was nothing else left to do, especially with Yohan having broken out of the prison.

'I hope I do not regret my decision later on. And I know I won't if Bernetta kept on sleeping the whole time.'

Shizue had made sure that this would be the case. She had even asked someone to check up on her lover once she was alone and to give her fresh doses of medicine. Things would have to turn out to be ok in the end.

And that was how Shizue joined the rebellion instead of her lover.

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Yohan waited around for his small team to hurry up and gather. It consisted of him, Liza, Diantha, and Bernetta. The four of them were supposed to run around inside the inner tubular-connective system while the soldiers were busy stopping the rebels.

Bernetta had been the one responsible to get the map of this place and to lead the team. And currently, the team was waiting on the redhead to make her way in.

"Ugh, she's late. We should just go in without her. I am sure I can hack my way in to get maps of this place."

Liza boasted as she tried not to show how nervous she was. This small operation had made her realize how foolish she had been to think she could steal the central cord alone.

The front guards had taken one look at her and decided to almost detain her then and there. If not for Yohan and Diantha, she would be behind the bars right now.

​ "We should wait one more minute for her to come. Bernetta is not one to be late without reason. As much as I hate her, I have to acknowledge her skills and her talent. And we will need her for certain."

It was a big praise coming from Diantha. Yohan was surprised to hear her say such nice things about Bernetta but the pair seemed to have dissolved a little of their misunderstanding in the time Yohan had not been here.

"Still, we will be too late if he did not head out now. Just where is this girl?"

Liza complained just as Bernetta entered the hallway. For some reason, she was covered from head to toe in her outfit. One could not even see her signature red hair on display either.

And she did not say anything in greeting when Diantha raised her hand to greet her. She just walked toward the group and took out the map.

"Hey, excuse me but don't you have something to say to us? You were so late and you are still irritating. At least greet us properly or something."

Liza complained but Bernetta still did not reply. It was not like she had turned into a different person.

Now that Yohan took a closer look at her, he could tell that something was wrong with Bernetta and her clothes. They were a little baggy on her and her figure also seemed different.

'Ah, so Shizue decided to make her move on Bernetta now. But I guess I can allow her to have a little fun for now.'

It did not take Yohan much time to realize what was happening. But once he did, he decided not to sweat about it too much. It did not matter to him if it was Bernetta who helped him out or Shizue.

"Yohan, are you not going to say anything to Bernetta? She's insulting us all by being like this."

Liza complained and she seemed to be the only one who had a problem. One look at Diantha was enough to make Yohan realize that she knew the truth as well.

"Calm down Liza. Instead of paying attention to Bernetta and her work, why don't you think of a way to deal with your brother? You do know that he's a part of this operation as well, right?"

Liza went quiet after hearing Diantha's words. Her obsession with her brother had not been curbed even now and Yohan was sure that Liza would never be over her brother.

But at least she was not flaming mad about her brother like the first time. She could at least head about him without flipping out all of a sudden.

"I know my brother is a part of this operation but I will prove myself to be more useful than him. Just wait and watch me surpass all of you soon enough. You will have to look up at me and praise me."

Liza sounded confident in her words. It was better than her asking questions at least. Even Shizue breathed a sigh of relief as soon as the attention was off her.

"Anyway, you all know what to do so get into your position. Hurry up and contact the backup if anything happens that you cannot control."

Yohan had planned for all of them to become separated once they were deep into the facility. They would be able to cover more ground that way and these people were loyal enough to him to not betray him.

But with the addition of Shizue, things seemed to be a little shaky now. Yohan was sure he would have to revise his strategy. But he was also lucky that Diantha was there to lighten his burden.

"Fine by me. Then, Miss late, hurry up and guide us into the tunnels."

Liza laughed a little at her joke but no one else did. She was a little childish for everyone else's taste but they did not tell Liza that. She was still young and an important asset after all.

Once, the team clicked, they did click. Shizue navigated the map like a pro and Liza knew the way to get past security. They were a scarily efficient team.

Diantha managed to take down any lingering body and also the teams. Yohan enjoyed it all from behind, letting his part do their work for him.

Finally, it came time for them to slip off into different teams and Diantha slipped off after Shizue quietly. Meanwhile, Liza was loud enough to attract attention.

"I will be the first to find the core. Just wait and watch me. I will make sure to beat you all in this race."

Yohan shook his head as he watched Liza take off. Without her burden and expectations to keep up, Liza was a lot more carefree than he expected her to be. He did not know if it was a good thing or not but he decided to wait and see what would happen next.

Meanwhile, he had his one route to take. They were all on a timer before the central cord would be taken away from this base, never to be seen here again.

They had approximately half an hour to get things done.

"Now then, time to rely on my system again. I hope I do not get lost and -what the fuck?"

Of course, the most dreaded things happened. His system was offline and Yohan had lost all means of contact with the outside world.