Ascenders Rift

Chapter 204: The Brain Lab, The Danger on the Horizon

When Evan and the others entered the laboratory, they saw a myriad of machinery and devices that showed complex information. Many different white coat individuals were moving back and forth as they hurried to analyze a variety of data.

Suddenly, one person seemed to have noticed their arrival, she hurried over and greeted them, "Welcome back Miss Livia and the Esteemed Heroes!"

Livia didn't want to waste time she spoke, "Hurry and prepare the brain scanner, Sir Evan's crew have brought us a fresh sample and this time around we must ensure to scan its memories thoroughly,"

"Yes, ma'am!" The other scientists said they hurried off towards the position of the machine. 

Looking at it, one would notice that it was of a circular shape with a compartment at its center that had tubes, wires, and an unusual green liquid, a series of monitoring screens were connected at it from each terminal. 

A few other scientists also gathered with the previous individual as they went towards different terminals, flipping a few switches as the screens turned on and the machine started its boot sequence.

As Livia saw this, she smiled before turning and looking at Evan as she spoke, "Okay, I will begin the extraction process right away, once we're done, I will contact you all again."

When Evan heard this, he thought for a bit before asking, "How long will this take?"

Livia gave him a look and replied, "If it's quick, then one or two hours, but if it's slow, then it might be up the five or even ten hours."

Joe and the others had troublesome looks, but Evan didn't seem to mind, he looked at Livia and spoke, "Fine, I'll be in the resting area, I look forward to the good news."

"Good, leave it to us," Livia nodded and spoke before leaving.

When Evan saw Livia left, he looked at Joe and the others before speaking, "So, what are you guys going to do? Are you going to watch?"

Joe shook his head while fanning his face as he replied in a lazy tone, "Nah, this not my kind of thing, I'd rather lay back and rest, all this back and forth has got me sweating too much whew!"

Breya rolled her eyes at Joe's words before she spoke with somewhat bright eyes, "I'm going to be watching, this might be useful information for the future you see... so later!"

As Breya said this, she didn't even hesitate to chase after Livia as she took out a small device to record the details.

Layla looked at Emilia before she spoke, "We're going back to the rooms, we have hadn't a good rest in a while, plus Emilia and I have something to discuss."

Evan gave the two girls a look, but as he didn't understand the world of women, he knew better than to jump into it.

Rick was the only person who didn't answer; he seemed a bit distracted. Evan looked at him and spoke, "Hey, what's up? You decided on what you're doing?"

Rick only now seemed to hear Evan's words, he looked at him with a strange look and spoke, "I was thinking about one thing,"

Evan made a curious look as he asked, "What?"

Rick stared at him and replied, "Don't you think it odd? We placed those surveillance drones at the entrance we used, but for none of them to show any signs of detecting unusual lifeforms not even once during our entire month here... that is just far from normal."

When Evan, Layla, Joe, and Emilia heard those words, their eyes opened wide as it was only now they realized this fact.

"This... that is certainly odd, even if it's a fly, it wouldn't be able to hide its presence from those drones, and with the nature of animals we should have already had a few disturbances," Evan said with scratching his chin with a serious look.

Layla looked at Evan and spoke, "Then, could it be that something has interfered with them?"

Rick and the others looked at Evan; from their expressions, it was clear that they had reached a similar conclusion. 

Evan thought the same as them, he nodded and spoke, "Yes, you're likely right Layla, if something can influence those drones to the point where we there were no disturbances, then it wouldn't be hard for them to enter this domain and bypass those weapons either..."

Layla and the other had a serious expression, Rick looked at Evan and spoke, "Well, I'm going to check it out, since we have a bit of time, I think we its best to know what's up."

Evan thought for a bit, he didn't want to leave here without getting any information about those Body Shifters, he also wanted Layla and the others to get a little rest if possible. He gave Rick a look recalling his speed, knowing that if anything unexpected were to happen he should at least be able to escape unscathed.

"Fine, just be careful and don't fall into an unexpected trap," Evan said.

Rick nodded before he blurred and vanished from the room. Evan looked at where he left before speaking to the others, "Well, I'm off."

Layla and the others also left along with Evan before they separated and went towards different areas. Evan's face was one of sternness, as he knew that if things happened as he thought, then the situation from this point on will only get more complicated.

He sighed as he soon arrived in an outdoor section of the private base, once here, he seated himself in one of the chairs and shifted his eyes towards Checkpoint 05 as he thought, 'I hope this is just our imagination...'

A fresh wind blew across the area, one that carried a dark mood within it as if the winds had foreshadowed a brand-new change.

***

In a familiar-looking valley that was once secluded from all things, a colorful region with a vast lake of crystal-clear waters, a startling change had occurred.

One would no longer see anything that had the semblance of a lake as countless cocoons littered about the area, each that bread a series of 1-meter large spiders that crawled towards a larger congregation of spiders.

Above these critters was massive cobweb upon which a gorgeous beauty sat on top of a throne, she stared down at the corpse-filled and blood-stained lake with a frown on her face.

The black gold armored guard that stood blow in the see of spiders looked up at her expression and spoke, "My dearest queen, do not worry, though the portal had rejected you because of your strength, I sense that it might not be able to persist in this attempt for long."

Yelshiva still had an annoyed look on her face, she glanced at the guard and spoke, "Marcruse, don't you think I know of that, hmph! I'm bothered because those wretched pawns had entered before with their troops before I got here..."

Marcruse shook his head and spoke, "My dearest queen, while I can't say the same for the Mosquito Queen Marlin, the Bee Queen Devora should more or likely be acting in your best interests..."

Yelshiva didn't like it; she preferred when she was the one with full control, she glanced at Marcruse and spoke with a commanding tone, "Marcruse, I want you to lead my troops and conquer any of the humans you see inside."

Marcruse was a bit surprised, but he looked at her and spoke, "I will not,"

Yelshiva exploded with dominating power that shook all the surrounding troops, even the giant bug men in armor and other numerous insects didn't dare to breathe loudly.

"I gave you a command Marcruse! Hurry and do it!" Yelshiva said in a solemn tone,

Marcruse bowed his head not moving an inch as he spoke, "I will not obey, as I've said to the queen before, my place... is only at your side,"

Yelshiva gritted her teeth at those words, staring intensely at him before she bit her lips and snorted, saying nothing else. Even if she wanted to kill him, she couldn't; he was the most devoted subordinate that's been with her since the beginning.

The scene here found a temporary peace, but unlike here, a particular area within the X Space was about to undergo a drastic change.