Under the cover of night, the three silhouettes approached the warehouse, working directly with the Lower Ring.
It seed that such a place should have strict defenses, but there was no need. Few ordinary people would venture into the warehouse, perhaps only thieves, but a few caras and guards at the main gate were enough to deal with them.
If soone could get past the caras and fool the guards into entering the warehouse through another entrance, they would be t by the real guards watching the shipnts coming from the Lower Ring.
Naturally, the intruders would not know this so they would be arrested and presented as attempted theft. None of the intruders would have known that they were close to the passage to the Lower Ring.
Sure, the situation was different for those who knew that this warehouse was a Hollow Spot. Most of them were powerful and important people, the kind the internal guards didn't chase away, but prepared for their arrival.
Obviously, Erik fell into the second category.
The supplies from the Lower Ring and the location of the Hollow Spot were a dark secret to commoners and even Phantoms below K3-Level, but not to the strongest man in one of the twelve great families.
"Here." Erik opened the gate at the back of the warehouse, there was no lock. "Follow . Once we're inside, we'll be t."
Adam and Silvana glanced over, a slight worry visible in her eyes. It was obvious she was worried about the unknown.
Step. Step. Step.
Slowly, they approached the back of the warehouse, the staff entrance. As the door opened, a long passageway ran along the left side of the warehouse ahead.
For a mont, Adam thought they were in a basent, first, they descended, walked a dozen ters, and then climbed u,p stopping in front of a steel, heavy door. The door had a code lock, Erik knew the code so soon they moved on.
A bright light fell on their faces, forcing Adam and Silvana to cover themselves with their hands.
A slight noise ca from outside as a massive platform with a common-looking truck rose up. Several n in black clothes opened the gates, allowing the truck to move forward. They looked like governnt personnel, but at first glance, it was obvious that there were two groups of people working together, the emblems on their chests showing it.
One group had a sphere emblem empty at the bottom and filled at the top like a do. The second group had the opposite pattern.
'I see...' Adam muttered internally. 'As Erik said, the governnt only works with the Lower Ring on basic things, supplies are clearly one of them. Apparently, there are people from both the Upper Ring and the Lower Ring departnts here. The emblems on their chests make it clear who's from where.'
Despite Erik's arrival, the n continued their work - a group of three n ca to et them. A man with broad shoulders and long black hair walked in front, his dark outfit was not like the official suit of governnt agents, but like that of the military.
"Mr. Erik, it's good to see you," the man said in a low voice, his hands behind his back.
Then, his eyes traveled toward Adam. For so reason, he completely ignored Silvana's presence not even bothering to look at her.
"Is this the young man we agreed on?"
"Yes." Erik nodded deeply. "This young man will be traveling to the Lower Ring today. As we agreed his destination should be a random place in the Outer Field. I'm afraid soone might have found out about our plans."
"Sure, I understand your concern. I've heard that the Red Bears have beco considerably more aggressive lately. If they're going to take over territories, now might be a bad ti to go down to the Lower Ring for a lone Phantom." The man warned, he seed to be sincere.
Tap.
Erik patted Adam on the shoulder, a slight smile on his face. "Don't worry. This guy can stand up for himself. What's more, he has a reason to co down at the Lower Ring. Even if he doesn't have a protector, he'll figure it out sohow."
"Well..." the man looked intently at Adam. "My job was to tell you about the risks. Whether or not to listen to is your decision."
With that, the man turned around and beckoned them with his hand.
Adam raised an eyebrow, uncertainty appearing in his heart.
'Hm? The Outer Field? The Red Bears? What were those two just talking about?' he inwardly frowned, 'Hmm... Erik was right. Thinking of the Lower Ring as a big slum is a mistake. I'll need to figure out what's going on there as soon as possible.'
Following the commander, they walked past the truck platform, passing into a separate room a little ahead.
A multitude of steel chambers resembling coffins filled the walls from floor to ceiling - in the center was a massive hatch going deep down.
The man hit the button closing the door behind them as he waved his hand.
"We usually use this place to dispose of trash and rejected products. On rare occasions we place packages in these chambers, and even more rarely..." he glanced at Adam over his shoulder. "People end up in there - usually dead."
Silvana gulped, her face pale, but Adam was hardly impressed. He was prepared for anything when it ca to the Lower Ring, and the more he learned about the place the higher his expectations beca.
"So, we'll proceed as follows. You get into the chamber, we'll lock you in and take you down. The system will automatically move all the chambers going down the channels, so even if soone is following you, it'll be impossible to figure out where you end up."
Adam narrowed his eyes, looking around.
"What strange, but effective, security asures.," he muttered.
"Sure. They're rare asures. If you used the Hollow Spot closer to the center of the Citadel, the descent is indistinguishable from an elevator, but considering you're the lone K3-Phantom from the Upper Ring, it would be too dangerous."
With a brief pause, Adam nodded deeply as he stepped forward.
"Fine, I'm ready. Let's get started already."
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