The SSS-rank Guide Doesn't Need Saving

There were dozens of tanks. From where Aisha was standing, there were already a dozen. And the cavern was massive and there was no end to the tanks inside it. The ones closest to her made her understood what these tanks

Human bodies floated inside. Some were completely still while others drifted faintly with the movement of the liquid surrounding them. Thick tubes were attached to their bodies, extending from the machinery around the tanks and entering through sealed openings. Several more lines connected the tanks to large metallic structures further inside the chamber.

The entire place operated like one enormous system.

Aisha’s gaze slowly moved from one tank to another. She initially thought they were corpses collected and maintained with formalin. However, the fingers’ twitching and chest moving told her otherwise.

These people were alive. Though barely.

Aisha’s expression darkened.

A worker, unaware of her presence there, stood beside one of the tanks and entered several commands into a control panel. He tapped on a device and something moved through the transparent pipes. The substance traveled toward the tank.

Aisha watched as it entered the system connected to the container. The person inside suddenly jerked. Their body arched violently as bubbles rushed upward.

The workers immediately turned their attention to the readings displayed on the nearby screens. Their nonchalance toward what was happening to the person inside the tank made her feel extreme disgust and deepened the cold, murderous intent within her.

The person’s body continued convulsing, then gradually became still again.

Aisha’s eyes remained fixed on the dark substance. Something inside her tightened. Her gaze followed the pipes toward the massive container connected to the system. A faint dark vapor escaped from one of the metal joints.

Miasma.

”It’s miasma.”

Nykos spoke at almost the exact moment the word crossed her mind. Aisha glanced toward him. The shadow beside her had gone still, its attention fixed on the chamber.

”What are they doing with it?”

Nykos didn’t answer, watching through his shadow what was going on before them.

Aisha looked back as well. The people inside those tanks were being deliberately exposed to miasma. For what? Aisha didn’t know.

Aisha moved slightly deeper into the shadows near the wall. Nykos followed.

The closer they got, the more she could see. Several tanks were empty. Others contained bodies that hadn’t moved since she arrived. Two workers approached one of them. Aisha watched as they checked the readings. One shook his head. And the other pressed something on the control panel. The liquid began draining.

Aisha’s eyes narrowed. The body inside had already been corrupted thoroughly that they no longer resembled a human. They appeared between a mass of meat and miasma.

Aisha wanted to move closer, but footsteps echoed behind them.

She immediately stopped. Soon, voices followed from where the footsteps were coming.

Before Aisha could look for somewhere to hide, shadows spilled across the ground. It climbed over her feet, her legs, and then the rest of her body. Cold shadows wrapped around her. The darkness spread against the stone wall, swallowing her completely.

Aisha could barely see through it, but it worked well in hiding her.

The footsteps grew closer.

Three people entered the passage. Two men and a woman. They wore uniforms similar to those of the workers operating the machinery inside the cavern.

The woman glanced toward the chamber. ”The ship arrived already.”

”That’s earlier than expected,” one of the men muttered, barely looking up.

”That’s because the Elders are feeling impatient. Anyway, they’re waiting for the loading team.”

The man beside her shrugged. ”Then they can wait a bit longer. We’re not done here yet.”

The woman gave him an irritated look.

The second man carried a device in one hand. He glanced down at it. ”Don’t worry... They won’t be waiting much longer. Everything’s nearly ready.”

The woman turned toward him. ”How many are there this time?”

He continued using the device. ”Seven made it.”

Her expression tightened. ”Only seven?”

”There’s nothing we can do. The Association has been moving around lately, and we can’t risk exposing ourselves.”

The other man glanced toward the chamber. ”And what about the rest?”

The device holder shrugged. ”Same as usual. They didn’t make it.”

The woman clicked her tongue. ”Tsk. What a waste.”

Aisha remained silent within the shadows as the three continued walking.

”Where are the seven being transferred?”

”They’re being sent straight to the main branch,” the device holder answered.

The woman glanced toward the tanks. ”And these?”

”Since they failed, they’ll stay and be processed. We can send them to the Feeding Area.”

Aisha looked at the tanks again, the ones they called failure. Some of them still contained people who were alive and were hanging on for a chance to live.

”What about the one Holden brought in here?”

Aisha’s attention sharpened.

The man holding the device looked down at it. ”He’s still alive.”

The other man gave a short laugh. ”I thought he was finished after the second phase.”

For the first time, the woman looked genuinely surprised. ”Really? After everything they put him through? How many phases did he pass?”

The man shrugged. ”Three. That’s what the report says.”

The woman let out a gasp of surprise and suddenly appeared excited.

Aisha knew who they were talking about. But she didn’t move to attack them immediately, waiting patiently for them to reveal more to her. Nykos also remained around her, keeping her from being exposed as they got closer to where she was.

The woman looked toward the chamber. ”And is he being transferred with the others?”

”Yes. They’re sending all the successful ones together.”

”Holden must be disappointed.”

One of the men laughed. ”Disappointed? You think Holden brought him here hoping he’d survive? I bet he’s having the best time of his life after getting rid of him.”

The three resumed walking.

”By the way, the ones who will transport him should check his restraints before loading.”

The woman glanced back. ”Why?”

”It’s just that he was being tenacious. I was even surprised he survived and didn’t die with the amount he had ingested.”

They continued walking. Aisha followed silently from within the darkness. He had survived the third, and they were moving him somewhere else. For the first time since entering the facility, Aisha felt the tension in her chest ease slightly.

But she still didn’t know what the processes were meant to accomplish or the phases they were talking about. Or where the ship was taking them.

The second man said, ”Just make sure that one doesn’t wake up again while you’re loading him onto the ship.”

Aisha moved.

Her body slipped out of the shadows. The man didn’t hear her. Neither did the others. He continued speaking.

”If he wakes up before the ship reaches the—”

Her hand wrapped around his head. For a brief second, the man didn’t understand what was happening. His eyes blinked as Aisha’s fingers tightened around his head.

Then she twisted.

Crack.

The sound was sharp inside the massive cavern.

”The—”

His voice came out strangely, repeating the last word on the tip of his tongue, not yet realizing that his head was facing the wrong direction.

The man stared forward with an expression that looked almost confused, as though his mind couldn’t comprehend why there was an unfamiliar woman in front of him. Where were his coworkers?

But he died before he could get an answer.

The others also realized something was wrong. A scream started to rise from one of their throats.

Aisha let the body fall and emerged from the dark with Nykos’s shadows cloaking around her.