Life didn't get easier, even in another world

312 Barriers

“Is it here?”

“Yeah.”

The team that had been following Alan for about ten minutes stopped moving and looked around.

“But there is nothing here?”

Alan pointed at a spot in the air with his finger.

“There. That place has an illusion barrier on it as well as layers of defensive walls.”

Kairen looked at the place that Alan was pointing at. Alan was right. He could sense that there was something strange with the natural mana in that area as if it was cut by something. There was also something else.

‘Man, I’m sure this is where the weapons are.’

By now, he had gotten used to getting a strange feeling whenever he was near something that had a power similar to his, and he also knew why he could sense such power from this place.

.....

The weapons... The ones that were made with the help of Atypical Matter. He knew for sure that they were the things that were causing him to have this familiar feeling.

“Huuu...”

He heaved a sigh and shook his head. Not noticing Aaron’s gaze that was locked on him, he tried to guess the number of bombs that might be stored there.

“That is not the only layer of protection though. There are a total of five layers, one inside the other. The more you go in, the stronger the barriers get. After passing the barriers, you have to pass through the guards that roam around the underground pathway, and after that, pass another layer again, to finally reach the entrance of the warehouse.”

The others listened to Alan’s explanations and nodded their heads. They had known about the existence of these barriers, as Alan had been sending them regular reports about this area, but seeing them in person and hearing about them were two different stories.

“How are we going to pass through them?”

“I can break them.”

Alan commented nonchalantly.

“But my salary raises a little bit more for each barrier I break.”

“....”

“....”

The team members turned to him.

“Are you here to rob us of money?”

“He is literally a thug!”

“Heh!”

Alan only snorted at them and then glanced at team leader Dains with a smirk on his face. The poor team leader could only sigh and nod his head.

“Yeah. I’ll talk to the head of the finance office about this.”

“Hehe!”

Alan smiled broadly and placed his hands on his hips.

“Well then~”

He hummed to himself and stepped forward.

‘He has become even crazier since he was sent to this mission.’

Kairen wasn’t the only one who was having that thought while staring at the golden-haired man’s back.

SHHH

ONNNGGG

The barrier, which was invisible to the eyes, started to shake and tremble. It looked as if the air was being sucked in on the eyes of the others. The barrier, which was an illusion, then cracked and started to shatter.

“Whoah!”

What the others saw was a transparent layer crumbling, and what appeared behind looked exactly the same as the background.

“How did he do that?”

Aaron whispered to Kairen’s ear, confused as well as mesmerized.

“Time!”

Kairen whispered back.

“Huh?”

“He can reverse the time of the barrier so much that it eventually reaches the day that it was created, and then before that time when no barriers existed at all.”

“Oh!”

Aaron gasped and looked at Alan’s back with admiration in his eyes.

“Isn’t he a cheat?”

“...You are a cheat yourself!”

Kairen snorted.

“Look who is saying that!”

Aaron also snorted. The two of them, as well as the rest of the team, started to follow Alan once again.

The team stopped walking from time to time when Alan told them to and had to watch the golden-haired grandpa shatter the barriers one after another to open a path for them. The barriers were actually quite dangerous, as they could burn you to a crisp if you were noticed by their sensors and activated their defensive mechanisms, but the old man who was leading the team took them out one by one with no difficulty.

‘Poor Philomns thinking that these things would protect them.’

Kairen felt bad, thinking how much money was wasted on creating these things that got easily destroyed.

“We will be there in no time.”

“What about the rest of the teams?”

“They are arriving here one by one.”

“Have they started their missions yet?”

“Some are already on the move.”

The teams had different missions today. Unit 5, as the core team of the operation, had one of the most important and most difficult jobs: Finding and taking care of the secret weapons.

They were currently walking towards the warehouse where the weapons were suspected to be held. They started their mission sooner than the other teams, as they had to make sure about the safety of the weapons before the others stepped into this place. If one of these bombs goes out, they could all die in an instant, so they had to take care of these weapons before anything dangerous happens.

The main base and the main warehouse were a little bit far away from each other, probably for safety reasons, but they were still somewhat close. The other units had all gone to the main base and were preparing an attack. The attack would take place once unit 5 was sure that they had control over the main warehouse and could ensure the safety of the weapons.

“After this barrier, there are a bunch of guards going around.”

Alan notified everyone about their enemies.

“We have to take care of them before they can report anything or call for backup.”

“Can’t you just do that with your power? Like, stop their time or something, and we will take care of the rest.”

“Well, that will cost you.”

“Tsk!”

Serria clicked her tongue and looked away from the old man.

“Someone who had been living on a mountain on a ruin is now talking about more money when he doesn’t even need it!”

She grumbled under her lips and moved away from Alan, who pretended as if he heard nothing.

“I can take care of them.”

Everyone turned to Aaron, who said that, and then nodded their heads. They all agreed that Aaron’s ability was the best in taking care of things in a fast way.

“Then...”

Alan mumbled and took a step forward. Like the other barriers, the last one also shook and trembled before it crumbled and vanished.

“Huh?”

“Wha-”

As soon as the barrier disappeared, the surprised gasps of two men were heard. There were a total of 10 men standing inside the barrier, in front of a metal wall with a closed door. The guards, who were either dozing off or eating breakfast, flinched and jumped up.

“Intru-MMMPHHH!”

SHHHHH

But before any of them could say anything, a thick layer of soil rose into the air and engulfed each of their bodies completely, even entering their mouths to stop them from making any noise.

“MMMPHH!”

.....

The 10 guards looked at the intruders with panicked faces, but that lasted only for a few seconds.

SNAP

BOMM

The necks of some of the guards snapped, their eyes lost light, and their bodies felt limp. Some of the other guards who were struggling to get out of the soil that was engulfing their bodies, had their bodies exploded. The sound of bones breaking echoed in the area, blood splashed around, and ten lifeless bodies fell to the ground one by one.

PLOP

PLOP

PLOP

SHHHHHH

The soil that had just killed ten people in less than ten seconds fell back to the ground, to the bloodied ground.

“....”

“....”

“....”

The team stared at the corpses of their enemies in silence, before turning to gaze at Aaron.

“Done!”

Aaron smiled at them and whipped the blood that had splashed on his cheek.

“....”

“....”

The others looked back at the corpses.

“That was... A little bit...”

‘Cruel!’

‘Cold!’

‘Scary!’

‘Heartless!’

Everyone completed Rai’s sentence on their minds, but no one dared to state their opinion out loud.

“I’m glad you are on our team, Aaron!”

Elsie smiled at the man.

‘I’m glad we are not your enemy!’

That was what she screamed to herself internally.

“...Let’s go.”

Everyone snapped out of their panicked thoughts and started to walk again. They followed Alan and passed the door, walked across the metal wall, and turned to a corner.

“Shouldn’t we enter the building?”

“That a dorm. There is nothing there.”

“Oh!”

They walked in the narrow space between two parts of the dorm’s building for about five minutes, avoiding any cameras and sensors on their path, and finally stopped moving once they left the narrow path.

“Is this the last barrier?”

Alan nodded his head.

“After this is the main entrance of the warehouse, and there are a lot of guards protecting the entrance, so be ready.

ONGGGG

The last barrier, thas seemed to be stronger than the previous ones, shattered and vanished in the span of a few seconds.