When Chase Shaw wasn’t smiling, his exceptionally tall fra was enough to completely tower over Zoe Pierce just by standing in front of her.
It should have seed like a comforting gesture, but the way he said it added a completely different undertone.
Zoe Pierce reached out her hand, only for his large palm to suddenly seize it.
Chase Shaw’s hand was so large that his grip almost completely concealed hers, leaving only the tips of her fingers visible.
His strength was no different from when he was semi-conscious. He only loosened his grip slightly after seeing her brow furrow.
Sure enough, when she probed with her spiritual power, she saw that the spirit sea she had just smoothed out had beco volatile again. The restless spiritual power was twisting on its own, even though it wasn’t being actively used.
"Chase... your spiritual power..." Zoe Pierce began. She recalled all the details from before: the rumors about Chase Shaw’s volatile temper, how he’d been drowsing with his eyes narrowed when they first t, and the especially oppressive spiritual power...
Chase Shaw said, "It’s an old problem."
Every few generations, a child with imnse spiritual power is born into the family. And accompanying this great power is a pervasive volatility—an agitation like the after-effects of using one’s spiritual power, but without actually having to use it.
This condition even affects the body, not just the spirit sea. It’s the price for such power.
That’s why Chase Shaw had to undergo regular physical check-ups and spiritual power soothing treatnts.
But he’d discovered that even the Ogas his family hired at great expense were a far cry from Zoe Pierce.
At least, on the night she soothed his spiritual power, he’d had a rare, good night’s sleep.
No irritating, twisted dreams, no clamoring noise. It was as if everything had returned to tranquility, allowing his mind to settle and empty.
Sensing the agitation fade, Chase Shaw released Zoe Pierce’s hand.
In that short ti, his grip had already turned her skin slightly red.
’So delicate,’ Chase Shaw thought nonchalantly.
He hadn’t even used much strength.
Taking a step with his long legs toward the cave entrance, Chase Shaw braced a hand against the stone wall and said to Erin Xavier and Zoe Pierce, "Didn’t you say you wanted to go? Let’s move."
The rising sun illuminated his face. He smirked, his gaze wild and his attitude dismissive.
It was as if this cave was nothing more than a simple matter to him.
Erin Xavier walked over, arms crossed, grumbling, "Chase, you’re going too far."
"She wants to go, so we go? Why didn’t you agree when I wanted to?"
Chase Shaw took the signal jamr he’d given Zoe Pierce to hold yesterday and placed it in an inconspicuous corner of the cave. Without turning back, he said, "The minority yields to the majority."
"You talk too much."
Erin Xavier pouted. ’Minority yields to the majority, my ass.’
Zoe Pierce felt that Chase Shaw had completely overturned her previous impression of him. She’d thought he was as calm and composed as Miles Sherman or Nathan Lockwood.
But just now, in his expression, she saw an arrogance born from complete trust in his own abilities.
"You’re in the middle," Chase Shaw arranged. "I’ll take the lead. Erin Xavier, you take the rear."
"Don’t rely too much on spiritual power," he reminded Erin.
Since they’d found a signal jamr, it wouldn’t be surprising to find other strange things inside.
For once, Erin Xavier grew excited. He had thought they’d just be waiting around for Miles Sherman and the others today, but he never expected Chase Shaw to agree to an adventure.
He sent a ssage to their group chat about what they were planning to do, and the three of them advanced into the dark cave in formation.
Zoe Pierce had already scouted ahead with her spiritual power last night. For at least the first few dozen ters, there was nothing.
But she couldn’t say that. She obediently let Chase Shaw lead the way, with her and Erin Xavier following behind.
They walked for more than ten minutes to cover a few dozen ters in the darkness. Soon, they reached the fork in the path that Zoe Pierce had detected last night.
Every few ters, small, glowing green lights were embedded in the stone wall. There were two branching paths, and it was impossible to tell which one was correct.
In the silence, Zoe Pierce heard Erin Xavier speak up. "Left."
"The left path gives a better feeling."
Zoe Pierce watched as Chase Shaw chose the left tunnel without any hesitation.
’That sense of absolute trust... it’s strange.’
’At least, I can’t bring myself to trust them that completely yet.’
After another ten-odd ters, the three of them finally saw a tal door carved into the cave, gleaming with a silvery light.
But the door wasn’t tightly shut as they’d imagined. It was ajar, leaving a gap just wide enough for one person to squeeze through sideways.
Peeking through the gap, they could vaguely make out a chaotic workbench inside.
It looked like the campsite outside, as if it had been abandoned.
Chase Shaw said only two words: "Stay here."
He imdiately and silently approached the door. She watched as his arm brushed over various parts of the door’s surface, finally finding a control panel in the bottom-right corner.
Zoe Pierce didn’t even see how he operated it so precisely. The door, which had seed broken, suddenly flashed with light and then abruptly slid fully open, revealing the entire scene inside.
As they had glimpsed through the crack, there was no one inside.
In fact, the place was a complete ss.
The floor was littered with many of the sa type of syringes Zoe Pierce had found earlier. So were scattered on the ground, while others were stacked in a box.
There were also other tools whose purpose they didn’t know.
It looked more like a storage room, filled with all sorts of things. Yet, they could also see that so areas were completely empty, as if entire sections of equipnt had been moved out.
"It’s clear." After scanning the surroundings, Chase Shaw turned back to Erin Xavier and Zoe Pierce. "Co on in."
Only after ruling out any imdiate danger did Chase Shaw let the other two approach.
Zoe Pierce looked around curiously at the place, which was built underground and resembled a laboratory. She had only ever seen scenes like this in Interstellar sci-fi movies from Earth.
The three of them began to search for any clues.
However, it was clear that while a lot had been left behind, the most crucial things were gone.
Erin Xavier wiped the dust off a workbench. "It can’t have been abandoned for long. This dust looks like it’s only been here for about half a month."
He could tell from the feel of the dust—it was a thin layer, suggesting the place had been abandoned only recently.
"Our academy hasn’t held the joint exams here for a long ti, right?"
The Federal Military Academy had several locations for its joint exams, each with different terrains and survival conditions. The school randomly selected a location each year.
And it had been seven or eight years since this particular location was last chosen.
’Judging by the dust, it’s like they moved out just this month.’
’Could it be that they left in a hurry because they heard this place was going to be selected as an exam site?’
Chase Shaw glanced at the Xenobeast-related items scattered around. "They were conducting research on Xenobeasts."
But research shouldn’t require this level of secrecy, nor should it be located here. And a signal jamr worth almost as much as a cha was just left at the cave entrance.
’No one would take a loss like that without a significant payoff.’
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