Chapter 405
Chapter 405
As far as Kyon knew, the information from the visual formations could well be duplicated in the family information center. This means that the destruction of any observant nephrite is fraught with raising the alarm. He was wondering what Valeera had come up with to hide the metal loading zone from observation.
Meanwhile, a group of people led by Alexander, hidden by a barrier, entered the warehouse building. Among them, half belonged to the former assassin clan in Boston, and the rest were ordinary, albeit strong, bandits of Dantes. They were moving along a long corridor, when suddenly a girl appeared next to them. She pointed two fingers at the subordinates and at the door on the right.
Without a word, two assassins, dressed in security uniforms, entered the warehouse information center office. They laid both paralyzed men in a corner and covered them with a blanket so that they would not attract attention to the recordings of visual formations. The task of the two is simple: to watch the screens of visual formations in case of the appearance of the Stalbers, as well as to answer calls and report that «everything is in perfect order».
{But how will you hide the workspace from observation, Valeera?} – Kyon wondered mentally.
Using concealment techniques, the girl entered the warehouse together with Alexander. Both climbed to the same level with the visual formation, of which there were more than 10, made a copy of the image, glued the nephrite next to the copy and activated it. Thus, a high-quality image simulating the recording of an unmanned warehouse was created right in front of the visual formation.
When Kyon went inside and saw this, his mouth opened in surprise: {Valeera, what a smart girl you are!} – he couldn’t believe that the girl did something that can only be found in spy movies.
A huge room with numerous stacks of metal fused into thick plates appeared before the group of people. Thousands and thousands of tons of various metals: from cast iron and aluminum to titanium and steel.
The question is why is all this not stored in spatial objects? And why don’t they do the same with things and resources in the treasuries? It’s so logical and profitable! The mass and volume are lost! Easy to reach, fold and count! The answer is simple: the rings have an expiration date, depending on the quality of the formation and nephrite. It is too expensive to change a spatial object every few years. And if the ring suddenly erupts, few people will like the sight of metal plates flying around the warehouse, crushing everything around. That is why the rings are used only for transportation.
It is also worth considering that after the death of a person, his energy, and therefore the formations created by him, dissipate. However, those that are enclosed in nephrite, and not in organic matter (on people), last at least for an eternity. These stones seem to be blessed by the almighty.
«Zosimos, search the warehouse for traps.» – Valeera ordered. – «Everyone else, get to work! Tymoshka and Bernard, this also concerns you. Don’t get distracted.»
The guy and the man, who accidentally looked at their beautiful leader, came to their senses and moved.
Kyon studied his surroundings with glowing eyes.
Time passed. In just 10 minutes, half of the metal was immersed in the rings.
At some point, the heavy plate slipped out of the hands of a hurried Tymoshka and fell with a crash into a two-meter cubic pit in the center of the hall. The guy guiltily folded his palms in front of the head of the clan and tried to jump down, but Zosimos grabbed his hand and threw him away.
Everyone stared at the pot-bellied man in surprise. What is he doing?
Tymoshka grinned angrily and growled: «Do you want to die, geezer?!»
«What does this mean, Zosimos?» – Valeera frowned with elegant eyebrows.
«I see a barrier in this pit… A very powerful barrier! A very powerful barrier! If the guy had jumped down there, something irreparable could have happened.» – Kyon answered seriously.
«What are you talking about, senile?!» – Tymoshka barked.
«Be silent!» – Valeera said coldly, took out the nephrite and held it over the pit. When it vibrated, the girl raised her eyebrows in surprise: indeed, a barrier! She didn’t feel it, but the man’s amazing eyes were really able to fix the danger.
«Kid, how about apologizing for your bad temper?» – Kyon couldn’t resist teasing.
«Fuck you…» – Tymoshka began excitedly, but immediately choked on Lanai’s sharp gaze, coughed and muttered softly. – «Thanks.»
«Speak louder and clearer when adults are talking to you!» – Lovr did not let up.
«I told you – thank you!» – the guy hissed, trembling and blushing from unbearable anger.
«That’s better.» – Kyon nodded condescendingly.
Some of the group of movers sneered. It serves Tymoshka right.
«Zosimos, what do you think, how developed was the practitioner who created it?» – asked Valeera.
«An imperial phaser at the beginning or even middle stage. However, why is there such a powerful barrier? Considering that the barriers created by strong practitioners consume a lot of energy, I dare to assume that it is of an alarm type and guards the passage to the hidden part of the warehouse with more valuable metals.»
The eyes of everyone present, including the girl, glittered greedily.
Bernard took a step forward: «Lady Arpha, I’m afraid that even you will not be able to pass the alarm barrier created by the imperial phaser unnoticed…»
With barely discernible annoyance, Valeera nodded briefly: «That’s right. The chance of failure is too high to risk the entire operation. Keep working.»
Numerous disappointed sighs were heard.
«Lady Arpha, there is one way.» – Zosimos volunteered.
Everyone stopped loading the metal again and stared at the bald man.
«What way?» – the girl asked suspiciously.
«Use the teleportation trigram.» – with these words, Kyon took out from the ring two meter-long metal pancakes with a trigram carved inside.
Many of the thieves were surprised by Zosimos’ ingenuity.
The silent pause lasted too long for an event where every second counts.
«Where did you get the teleportation trigram from?» – finally asked Valeera.
Alexander also wanted to know the answer, however, not “why”, but “how” they ended up in his ring. Earlier, while searching Zosimos, the sensitive device found only one ring, and the man did not notice any objects of a similar shape inside it. Or was he inattentively scanning? Yes, it seems to be true, because there can be no other option.
«Now there is no time to answer questions!» – Kyon replied quite sharply.
Valeera frowned slightly at that tone.
«Ha! Ha ha! Didn’t anyone understand what the recruit was up to?» – Tymoshka began with a gleeful smile. – «It’s so obvious! It is known for certain that an unregistered teleportation trigram cannot be used in Dantes, and if the ban is violated, a group of security forces will arrive at the place of displacement in a few minutes! This old bastard wanted to set us all up!»
«What?! Seriously?!» … «Is he really a traitor?!» … «Lying scum!»
The guy’s convincing words, fueled by unbreakable confidence, instantly turned everyone against the newcomer. The gazes of killers and bandits filled with bloodlust and anger. Everyone wanted to tear the pot-bellied traitor to pieces.
«What do you say in your defense?» – Valeera asked with a dangerous gleam in her eyes.
Just as Zosimos opened his mouth, Bernard intervened: «Lady Arpha, it’s better to listen to the words of a hardened merchant, and not a stupid youngster. Historically, it is known that more than a hundred years ago, the capital underwent a sharp economic leap, and the reason for this lies in the fact that the bloody empress completely changed the customs policy. One of the important steps was the reinstalling of the city barrier. Since then, if a teleportation route passes through it, it fixes the coordinates, and any unregistered movement is fraught with the appearance of powerful people from the government. However, how does all this prohibit movement within the city? A thin barrier cannot fix any teleportation inside the immense capital! And what is the expediency? That is why the option proposed by Zosimos is safe.»
After the speech of one of the most authoritative members of the clan, the opinion of the listeners changed dramatically again.
Under heavy condemning glances, Tymoshka felt like a complete idiot. He blushed and clenched his fists with burning shame and rage. He really wanted to say something in defense, or at least bite out Bernard’s throat, but this would only make it worse. A great chance to get rid of the old fart is lost! Eh, why the hell did Bernard insist on going on this assignment? Filthy thing.
«I believe you.» – Valeera agreed, then turned to the others. – «Get to work! If I see any more shirkers, I’ll cut off their heads.» – her words were supported by the bloodlust that spread in the air.
The group of people, including the oppressed Tymoshka, trembled with fear and continued to work.
Valeera approached Zosimos and asked: «Your plan?»
«Since I am the weakest of all, it is advantageous to teleport me. Let Alexander bring the information center employee here. A high-level access family formation may be needed to open the passage. I’ll need the keys from you.»
The killer understood the lady’s intentions from one look, nodded and disappeared.
While the girl was taking the keys out of the ring, Ken took out the nephrites, turned them into powder and poured them into the furrows of the trigram. He placed a bag with spheres in one of the 10 holes. The head of the clan filled the remaining 9 holes with the keys of different elements.
«Lady, I will need the keys on the way back.» – Kyon reminded her impudently.
With a displeased chuckle, Valeera took out another handful and handed it to the man. Since the creation of the assassins guild, she was used to keeping everything of value in one place, so she had the keys, like anything else, with her.
When Alexander brought the paralyzed Stalber, the preparations were just coming to an end. And although the second teleportation trigram does not need resources to successfully move, it is necessary to fill it with nephrite powder and add a few spheres to feed the formation.
Kyon asked the killer for a rope, tied the second metal trigram in a special way and carefully lowered it into the pit without scattering the powder, and then with a sharp movement untied the rope knot and pulled it out, because it would not allow teleportation.
Valeera, Alexander and Bernard could not help but appreciate the high skill of Zosimos.
«When I go down, let someone pour the powder into the trigram and put at least a hundred spheres in the center, otherwise I will not be able to go back.» – having finished speaking, Kyon took the warehouse employee, squatted down with him on the trigram and activated the movement. A greenish film formed over the heads of the two, indicating the beginning of the movement. The same barrier appeared on the second trigram in the recess, as if copying the first one.
A minute and a half later, a green flash lit up the warehouse.
The two men were at the bottom of the pit so that their heads almost touched the barrier.
Valeera, like many other observers, breathed out a sigh of relief: it worked flawlessly!
Kyon almost immediately found an externally distinguishable fragment of the wall and put the paralyzed person’s wrist there. Just like the time when he successfully left the Stone treasury with the help of the sleeping Juno’s wrist.
~scratch~
With an unpleasant screech, the stone wall slid aside.
«There really was a secret passage!» – Bernard wiped sweat from his forehead in amazement.
«Unbelievable! He found a storehouse of the Stalbers!» … «I can’t believe it! This newcomer is not a fool!» … «Zosimos is a damn genius!» – without being distracted from work, the bandits muttered admiringly. Even Valeera and Alexander grunted respectfully, and only Tymoshka with a twisted face tried not to pay attention to what was happening.
«Give me a lot of spatial rings.» – Kyon’s voice came from below.
Alexander threw off the bag: «Don’t forget about the possible traps. We rely on you.»
«I understand.» – Kyon nodded and went into the passage, went down about five meters and found there a small room filled with bars of silver, gold and platinum.
Lovr’s eyes lit up with joy: {It’s true: a storeroom of precious metals!}
Ten minutes passed, when suddenly the doors to the main hall opened deafeningly.
The mass barrier of concealment fell, and the members of the Silent Horror clan saw two dozen audacious bandits. They were led by a handsome guy in his twenties with long bangs. Terrifyingly strong practitioners were standing next to him.