Chapter 1225: Safe House
Hovering in the sky, Shiro glanced at the plains in the distance and frowned.
'This… this is the safe house? There's not a single building in sight. There doesn't seem to be anything underground either.' Shiro thought to herself with a frown. She had already sent out her senses but detected nothing wrong with the area.
To her, it was just a normal field.
{That shouldn't be the case. Unless the map is outdated?} Nimue asked as Shiro shook her head.
She still remembers the code from the map and the last interaction before she came along was relatively recent. Granted, by 'recent' it was still tens of years ago.
"Hmm… This is concerning."
Floating down, Shiro called for Gazir and asked for the map.
She wanted to see if the map could receive updates. If they have a network set up, she'll also be able to gather more intel.
Thankfully for Nimue, this didn't require her to read the code.
'It's been a while since I last hacked something but it shouldn't be too difficult if there is a network.' Shiro thought to herself Vinri shimmered for a moment.
Creating nanobots using creation mana, Shiro watched as they entered the device.
Closing her eyes, she could picture herself in a strange virtual space. Unlike the digital space that she used, this was similar to the mana realm within her body. Only instead of being confined in the body, it's linked to the world around them.
Just like how codes make up the composition of the world, mana covers the world like a blanket. Unless it was a special area, mana fills the world.
This virtual space makes use of the mana and carries information through the flow and updates the information just like how the internet would work. Only that it wasn't confined by the limitations of hardware.
As long as you can use mana in any capacity, you can access this network.
Naturally, it wasn't as though everyone can just gain all the knowledge since they'll die from the huge influx of information. They require careful control over their mana to extract exactly what they need.
'Remarkable…' Shiro muttered as she didn't expect someone to set up a 'library' within the mana network similar to how she sorts out information in her own mind.
This made accessing information easier but the more secretive intel required a key. If you wanted to access the information without a key, you'll either need to overpower the mana network as a whole, be given special permission or have such precise control that you can bypass the locks.
However, the library itself seems to be in the beginning stages as there were still a lot of information adrift in the mana flow.
'The network is in the infancy stages so it's pretty easy to establish a connection. If I relink the map to the network, I should be able to get an updated version.' Shiro thought to herself.
Waving her finger, she etched a few runes into the device and re-established the connection.
'Now then, let's see the updated map.' Shiro smiled as the map flickered briefly. Some of the 'safe houses' disappeared while red danger zones started to spread. However, despite all that, there was still a safe house in front of them.
Tilting her head in confusion, Shiro frowned before trying to pull up some records regarding the safe houses.
'Hmm… strange. They said it's underground so I should be able to detect it with my mana sense. But there's nothing?' Shiro wondered to herself.
{Do you think they're using something that blocks mana?} Nimue asked as Shiro shook her head.
'Unlikely. If they were to be using something like that, it'll only cause them to stand out more. Picture it like this, there's a painting, very detailed. And in the middle of the canvas, there's a blob of paint. While it matches the surrounding colours, it lacks detail. If they were to be using something that blocks mana, I would be able to pick it out rather easily.'
Opening her eyes, Shiro explained the situation to the group. Eventually, they decided to survey the area in case there's something they might've missed. It was better to try than to skip it over without trying.
With everyone searching the plains for any hints of a clue, Shiro kneeled down and placed her hand against the ground.
Sending out several pulses of mana, Shiro traced out what was below ground but nothing strange appeared.
'Strange… Well, when in doubt, check the codes.' Shiro chuckled as Nimue sighed and got back to work.
Closing her eyes, circuits appeared on her arm before digging into the ground. A wave of information flooded into Shiro's mind, causing her to flinch slightly before recovering.
{Hm?} Pausing for a moment, Nimue was confused by the lack of reaction. She had noticed it while they were on the trip here but every time Shiro read the codes, her tolerance levels continue to increase. It was abnormal even for Shiro standards.
To put it into perspective, it's like seeing someone eating one bowl of food then almost passing out due to fullness, then the next day they can eat another bowl. The day after that they eat three bowls. The speed that her tolerance is growing is simply too fast.
{Is it because of what Shiro. C mentioned? Something that has been set into motion. Perhaps it's affecting Shiro as well.} Nimue frowned. However, her thoughts ended there as she still had to help Shiro maintain her body.
After all, just because her tolerance has increased doesn't mean she was now immune to the effects.
'Found it.' Shiro smiled.
After reading the codes, Shiro realised what had happened. In order to avoid detection and hide their safehouses, the remaining humans used camouflaging materials to make an elevator. Since they were only trying to hide a small elevator shaft, it was easy to put more resources into hiding it properly.
The actual safe house was buried deep underground. While it was still within the range of Shiro's detection, they camouflaged it well enough to the point where it was almost indistinguishable from the surrounding mana.
Shaking her head, Shiro sighed inwardly.
'I'm too dependent on Error. If I had tried a bit harder I would've found it without the codes.' Shiro shrugged as she stood up.
Looking at the circuits on her arm, Shiro contemplated to herself for a brief moment before turning to the group.
"I've found the entrance. We won't be able to move all at once so I'll head down first to set up an anchor point for teleports. I'll leave you with a clone of myself to keep you safe while I take a look at the situation below." Shiro called out before snapping her fingers.
Quickly creating a clone of herself, Shiro set up a quick camouflage so they won't be discovered.
Making her way over to where the entrance would be. Shiro thought for a moment before shrugging her shoulders. There shouldn't be a problem if she used her original appearance, right? Plus it's better to resolve some misunderstandings early instead of later.
Arriving in front of the 'gate', Shiro snapped her finger causing a portal to appear.
{If a random group found a map how the hell are they supposed to enter?} Nimue asked with a raised eyebrow.
'Well pretty much everyone that's not in a safe house is dead or part of a puppet. Only time they would need to enter would be when travelers from another safehouse arrive. You need a basic network key in order to activate the portal.' Shiro replied while stepping into the portal.
The exit of the portal was deep underground as she arrived in a rather large room with two elevators and a camera in the corner monitoring what was happening.
"Hello~ Anyone home? I got quite a few survivors above ground. Would you be so kind as to bring the lift up?" Shiro smiled and waved at the camera.
Seeing as there was no response, Shiro guessed that they were either not around or they saw her face and panicked.
Either way, she was going to make her way down and see how things were in the safe house. An elevator wasn't going to stop her.
Phasing into the spirit realm temporarily, she walked through the elevator doors and jumped down. That way she didn't damage anything. The fall downwards was surprisingly long as she didn't expect them to build the safehouse so deep underground.
Though if they wanted to be safe from detection, this was the least they could do.
After a short period of falling, Shiro could see the elevator at the very bottom and slowed her descent. Gently tapping against the roof of the elevator, Shiro phased through the roof and walked past the doors.
She expected to see the sight of the city but instead was welcomed with a myriad of spells.
"This is quite the hostile welcome. I only said hello." Shiro shrugged with a smile before opening her mouth and blowing out a mouthful of air.
*CRACK
Suddenly, all the spell circles shattered apart, causing the casters to gasp in shock while Shiro stood there motionless with a smile.
"Let's talk now."
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