1628 Heaven's Fury
Payne accessed the matter deeply.
The first underground floor was designed as such. But as for the other floors below, the prison formation was different.
No cells were placed along the outer walls—instead, the hallways circled the cells. Meaning the outer walls were along the hallways instead.
Thus, the ventilation channels on those bottom floors ran along the outer walls.
All in all, the ruckus they made should have alerted the giants.
So if no one has appeared or moved, it could only mean one thing.
Payne blurred his thoughts. "They are planning something."
With grim faces, everyone stared at the dark, gloomy hallway.
"When backed into a corner, even rabbits will know how to kill wolves... Keep vigilant. The plan remains the same."
"Right."
Both Baymardians and Giants nodded.
The group cautiously advanced through the dark hallway, leaning just a handgun of Baymardians to guard the doors and hall.
The hallway moved like a snake, slithering, curving, and many a time splitting into twos. And every time it divided, one path would be far narrower than the other. This was to confuse intruders.
Think about it. The best way to analyze it was through ordinary roads.
Everyone knows that highway roads were far broader and wider than other paths. So if one were lost, they would often try to find a highway oath, that is, a bigger road, thinking it would lead them to whatever destination they wanted.
The same was true here. If they followed the latter path, one would expect it to lead them to the floors down since the entire building itself was for the purpose of keeping prisoners.
In contrast, the smaller path was like a footpath, so small and seemingly useless at first glance.
It had barrels and other proper disguises to make one think they would be headed for a small storage room with buckets and rags. But that wasn't all.
After a while, the small road broke into 2, both looking alike.
According to the map, they took a left, then another left, and finally a right. The road kept splitting into 2 at every turn.
As for the paths they missed, they should loop with each other at another far end of buildings, maybe in the North, East, or who knows.
Like so, they maneuvered their way to the final fork in the road. This time the roads broke into 2 unequal roads: one massive and another very tiny.
Yes. It was the same as the first path they faced when they started. But this time, they took the biggest path.
"Well done, Payne." Artemis placed his hands on Payne's shoulders. "It's because of you that we could make it this far and this quickly."
Payne scratched his head, particularly embarrassed. He didn't think he did anything out of the ordinary.
After all, even a 5-year-old child in his shoes could probably do the same too.
As the one to take over his father's duties, he knew his palace at the back of his hand. He also knew his land t, down to the very last detail.
He knew what plants grew where and even knew how many steps it would take to move from one point to another in his land.
That is, if one day he got blinded, he would still be able to live without issues here. But he wasn't the only one.
People in this world pay attention to details far greater than one could imagine. They could remember things as though they were reading them out from a textbook. It was all because they had trained their minds from birth to be like this.
Moreover, as an heir, his father had shown him all the secrets in his territory and explained the prison's mazes too.
His father had only told him once. And after that, he was told to make his way to the last floor without assistance. That was his test, which he passed with flying colors.
Payne felt almost everyone in this world could do it. So it wasn't a big deal.
He was right. Artemis thanked him for making it out alive, so he could later show them the way.
After all, if Payne wasn't here, their operations should've taken longer than it was now.
.
Ah!-
One of the Baymardians noticed something as she numbered her head sideways. And everyone gave a good distance between themselves and the door ahead.
"Report. What did you find?"
"Your majesty, it's the door. Looking at the door from our end, it has 2 box hooks on it and on the adjacent walls. But after trying to open it, I failed."
"As Sir Payne mentioned, the door can be locked from either side. So they've locked us out?"
The female soldier nodded. "Affirmative. I may be wrong, but they should be buying themselves time for whatever plan they've conjured."
Everyone nodded in agreement, but just as the enemy was short on time, they too didn't have time to squander either.
"Destroy it."
"Yes." The female soldier nodded before hastily throwing a small but lethal explosive at the door.
Oh my God!
Everyone felt their blood pumped and their muscles swell with vigor.
"7 seconds! Everyone take cover!"
Go! Go! Go!
These giants have seen what such a tiny thing can do to an enemy and dared not slow down.
Their bodies became infected with adrenaline, and their speed was the best they'd ever done.
Oh My Vine God! ... Was this what their enemies faced when seeing the small devices thrown at them?
In under 5 seconds, they had reached the end of the straight hallway and began dicing to the side along the sharp turn.
BOOM!
The heavens shook with fury as a deadly wave of heat filled their lungs. If where they were was already so hot, then imagine how people who receive first-impact attacks felt.
Woosh!
Several metal pieces slammed into the wall ahead, with some pieces even digging into the stone crevices.
Payne's eyes bulged exaggeratedly. If they were still out there, these pieces would've sliced them to bits.
How scary... Many giants made a mental note, swearing never to provoke these Baymardians in their lives!
Luckily, these Baymardians weren't bad people. Or else it would really be over for their Soma empire.
.
Cough. Cough. Cough~
Several people coughed while getting on their feet.
"MOVE IN!"
