Chapter 198 - 193: The People Beneath the Forest
John pressed himself against the stone wall and listened.
The footsteps remained behind them.
Four people.
Maybe five.
They weren’t searching randomly anymore.
They knew someone had entered the underground facility.
That meant they couldn’t stay here.
Darius leaned closer.
"There’s another passage."
John nodded.
"Lead the way."
Darius carefully moved forward.
The narrow corridor continued deeper into the underground complex. Unlike the main hallway, there were no cages here. The walls were reinforced with stone and metal, and several old lamps were attached to them.
Most were dead.
A few still gave off a weak magical glow.
John noticed something strange.
"The facility still has power."
Darius looked at the lamps.
"That’s impossible."
"Apparently not."
Sylvara touched one of the walls.
"There’s mana flowing through it."
John frowned.
"So this place isn’t completely abandoned."
"That’s what I’m worried about."
Behind them, a door opened.
"Search every room!"
John raised his hand.
Everyone stopped.
The voices were getting closer.
Lythriel whispered.
"What now?"
John looked ahead.
A faint light appeared at the end of the corridor.
"Keep moving."
They hurried forward.
The passage opened into a large chamber.
John immediately stopped.
The room was enormous.
Several metal tables stood in rows.
Shelves were filled with glass containers.
Some were empty.
Others contained strange pieces of bone, scales, feathers, and crystals.
Darius stared.
"This is a laboratory."
John looked around.
"So they were experimenting on the monsters."
"Yes."
Sylvara moved toward one of the tables.
She immediately stepped back.
"Don’t touch anything."
John looked at her.
"What?"
"There are traces of alchemical compounds."
She pointed at a small bottle.
"Some of these could be poisonous."
John nodded.
"Then we leave them alone."
Darius was already examining a desk.
"There are records here."
John walked over.
"What kind?"
"Recent ones."
That caught everyone’s attention.
Darius opened the first document.
The paper was fresh.
Not years old.
Someone had been using this place recently.
He read silently for several seconds.
Then his expression hardened.
"These people are still capturing monsters."
John crossed his arms.
"Why?"
Darius continued reading.
"They’re studying magical adaptation."
"Meaning?"
"They believe creatures exposed to concentrated mana can develop stronger bodies."
John looked toward the shelves.
"So they’re experimenting on them."
"Yes."
"And selling the results?"
Darius shook his head.
"Not exactly."
He held up another document.
"They’re trying to create stronger monsters."
Silence.
John stared at him.
"Create?"
"Modify."
Darius looked disturbed.
"They aren’t simply capturing creatures. They’re changing them."
John thought about the giant wolf they had fought.
Its unusual size.
The strange mark.
The unnatural mana.
It suddenly made sense.
"That wolf."
Darius nodded.
"Could have been one of their experiments."
---
A metallic sound echoed from the corridor.
Someone had entered the laboratory.
John immediately extinguished the lamp.
The room fell dark.
Voices approached.
"Check the laboratory."
"Someone opened the door."
John looked around.
There were too many places to hide.
He pointed toward a large storage cabinet.
Everyone moved behind it.
The door opened.
Light entered the room.
Three men walked inside.
All wore dark clothing.
Their equipment was practical.
Not military.
Not adventurer gear.
Professionals.
The first man carried a crossbow.
The second had a sword.
The third wore a long coat and carried a small magical device.
He looked around.
"They were here."
The swordsman frowned.
"How do you know?"
"The documents are disturbed."
He walked toward the desk Darius had been examining.
John watched silently.
The man picked up the papers.
"They found the records."
The crossbowman cursed.
"We need to alert the others."
The man in the coat nodded.
"Do it."
John’s eyes narrowed.
*The others?*
How many were there?
The crossbowman turned toward the door.
Then stopped.
"Wait."
He looked toward the storage cabinet.
John’s body tensed.
The man stared directly at them.
"I heard something."
The swordsman drew his weapon.
"Check it."
The crossbowman raised his weapon.
John whispered.
"Stay behind me."
Lythriel tightened her grip.
The man stepped closer.
Three meters.
Two.
One—
John moved.
He burst from behind the cabinet.
His fist struck the crossbowman’s wrist.
The weapon flew across the room.
Before the others could react, John kicked the swordsman’s weapon away.
The man stumbled.
Lythriel moved immediately.
She swept his legs out from under him.
He hit the ground.
The man in the coat stepped backward.
He raised his hand.
A magical barrier appeared.
John punched it.
**Boom!**
The barrier cracked.
The man’s eyes widened.
"Impossible."
John punched again.
The barrier shattered.
The man fell backward.
Darius quickly grabbed the papers.
"John!"
"I know."
John moved toward the doorway.
More footsteps were coming.
Lots of them.
"Everyone move!"
They ran.
---
The underground facility erupted into chaos.
Men shouted from the corridors.
"Intruders!"
"Seal the lower levels!"
"Don’t let them escape!"
John pushed open a metal door.
They entered a storage room.
Darius looked around.
"Dead end."
John looked at the walls.
Then at the ceiling.
"No."
He pointed upward.
"There’s ventilation."
Aerion looked at the opening.
"That’s too small."
John smiled.
"For you."
He grabbed the metal grate and tore it free.
The opening was large enough for the others.
"Go."
Lythriel looked at him.
"What about you?"
"I’ll follow."
They climbed inside.
John entered last.
He replaced the grate behind them.
A moment later, the storage room door opened.
The men rushed inside.
"Where did they go?"
"Search the room!"
John and the others crawled through the ventilation tunnel.
It was narrow.
Dust filled the air.
Lythriel whispered.
"I hate this."
John smiled.
"Almost there."
"Easy for you to say."
They continued.
The tunnel eventually opened above another room.
John looked through the opening.
And froze.
Below them was a massive chamber.
Cages.
Dozens of them.
Some were empty.
Others weren’t.
John’s expression changed.
There were monsters inside.
Some were wounded.
Some were unconscious.
Some were simply sitting quietly.
And all of them were chained.
Lythriel stared.
"Oh..."
Sylvara covered her mouth.
Darius looked horrified.
John’s hands slowly clenched.
This wasn’t a small operation.
It was a facility.
A real one.
Dozens of creatures.
Maybe hundreds.
And the people responsible were still operating.
---
John looked toward the far side of the chamber.
A large reinforced cage stood there.
Something moved inside.
He recognized the horns.
The same creature from the cave.
But this wasn’t the creature itself.
It was another one.
A smaller version.
A juvenile.
John stared.
"They have more."
Lythriel looked at him.
"We need to free them."
John nodded.
"But not yet."
She frowned.
"Why?"
"Because if we release them now, they’ll panic."
He pointed toward the guards below.
"And we’ll be trapped underground with dozens of frightened monsters."
Darius nodded.
"He’s right."
John looked around.
"We need to find the exit first."
Then a voice echoed through the chamber.
"You’re correct."
Everyone froze.
The voice wasn’t coming from below.
It was coming from behind them.
John turned.
A man stood at the end of the ventilation tunnel.
He was older than the others.
Gray hair.
Dark coat.
No visible weapon.
But the moment John looked at him, he knew.
This man was different.
The guards below immediately became silent.
The older man looked directly at John.
"You’re the one who entered the forest with the expedition."
John didn’t answer.
The man smiled.
"You’ve caused quite a problem."
Lythriel stepped closer to John.
"Who are you?"
The man ignored her.
His eyes remained on John.
"You shouldn’t have come here."
John looked at the cages below.
"Neither should you."
The man’s smile disappeared.
"You’re making a mistake."
John’s voice remained calm.
"Maybe."
He looked toward the imprisoned creatures.
"But I’m pretty sure I’m not the one keeping monsters in cages."
The man’s expression hardened.
"You don’t understand what you’re interfering with."
"Then explain it."
The man was silent.
John continued.
"Why are you modifying monsters?"
Still nothing.
"Why are you keeping them here?"
The man finally answered.
"Because the world is changing."
John frowned.
"That’s your excuse?"
"It’s not an excuse."
The man’s eyes became cold.
"It’s a fact."
He stepped closer.
"Mana concentrations are increasing."
"New monsters are appearing."
"Old species are evolving."
"Kingdoms are preparing for another wave of monster outbreaks."
John stared at him.
"And your solution is to experiment on them?"
"We are preparing."
"For what?"
The man looked toward the cages.
"For what comes next."
John’s eyes narrowed.
"What comes next?"
The man smiled.
"That’s the question everyone should be asking."
Then the alarms began to sound.
Red magical lights flashed throughout the facility.
The man stepped backward.
"You should leave while you still can."
John noticed the strange confidence in his expression.
"What did you do?"
The man didn’t answer.
Then the entire facility shook.
**BOOM!**
Dust fell from the ceiling.
Several monsters below began roaring.
The cages rattled violently.
John’s expression changed.
"What the hell?"
The older man smiled.
"The containment system has failed."
Another explosion shook the facility.
The cages began opening.
One after another.
John looked at Lythriel.
"Get everyone out."
"What about you?"
"I’ll handle this."
"John—"
"Go!"
She hesitated.
Then nodded.
"Be careful."
John jumped from the ventilation opening.
He landed in the center of the chamber.
A cage door crashed open beside him.
A massive creature stepped out.
Then another.
Then another.
The entire facility descended into chaos.
Guards screamed.
Monsters roared.
Metal shattered.
And somewhere deep underground, something far larger began pounding against its restraints.
John slowly raised his head.
The older man’s voice echoed through the facility.
"Now you understand."
John’s eyes narrowed.
"No."
He cracked his knuckles.
"Now I’m angry."
The next roar shook the entire forest.
And for the first time since entering the Silverwood...
John realized that the greatest danger wasn’t waiting somewhere deep in the forest.
It had been beneath his feet all along.
---
100 ps = 1 extra Chapter
200 ps = 2 Extra Chapter
1 Golden ticket = 3 Extra Chapter