The soldiers immediately understood the Guko's attempt to ensure its safety. Its revelation hinted at awful scenes of humans used as test subjects or material for the anti-mana project. The alien had actually considered the possibility of an emotional reaction from its captors.
Flashes of anger appeared in the eyes of some soldiers, but Khan, Lieutenant Pouille, and those close to the Guko remained calm. The others also managed to contain themselves since the relationships among the platoon were relatively shallow except for a few exceptions.
"What's anti-mana?" Lieutenant Pouille questioned to turn the interrogation toward important topics.
The Guko remained speechless for a few seconds at that question. It didn't seem to understand how to explain the project better, but it tried anyway. "Project anti-mana strives to create a form of energy capable of countering every item, weapon, technique, or spell that uses mana as its fuel. In short, it has the potential to revolutionize the very structure of most societies and win this war in a series of short battles."
Lieutenant Pouille's question was a mere attempt to gain a clearer understanding of the projects, but he didn't need an explanation about the possible consequences of anti-mana. The same went for the other soldiers. Among the platoon, only Khan knew how life without mana worked due to his life in the Slums, but even he realized how revolutionary that change would be.
The sole idea of undoing five hundred years of technological progress founded on mana was unthinkable. Everything would fall apart if anti-mana became actual energy. Every discovery or achievement might become obsolete, especially when related to wars or battles in general.
"How close you are to completing this project?" Khan found himself asking out of pure curiosity.
"That's unclear even for us," The Guko explained. "The anti-mana project theoretically requires a comprehensive study of all the forms that mana can obtain. We don't know when we'll start seeing a pattern in its behavior, so we keep adding information as we develop different approaches."
"How close are you?" Delia repeated in a chilling voice. She couldn't remain completely calm when she realized that adding information meant using more humans as guinea pigs.
"I can't give real answers," The Guko replied.
"Guess then," Delia threatened while pressing her piece of armor even more on the alien's throat.
The Guko lowered its three eyes. They darted left and right as calculations happened in its mind, and its antennas imitated those movements before stopping once it found an answer. "The project should be thirty or forty percent complete, but most of us believe that its progression will accelerate after crossing fifty percent."
The explanation brought some reassurance. The project was still far away from completion, according to the Guko. In theory, the Global Army still had the time to take it before deciding what to do with it.
"You said you wanted to show us the anti-mana project," Lieutenant Pouille continued. "Is the lab close? Can we reach it without alerting the Stal?"
"Of course," The Guko exclaimed. "Those of us who have earned the Stal's trust have also gained the chance to build separate structures to avoid interferences. The Stal are too dumb to be close to valuable tech, so they let us on our own there."
"How can they be sure that you will follow the plan?" Khan asked. "They can't trust you so deeply, especially since they are aware of their stupidity."
"They have members of my species keeping track of our actions," The Guko revealed.
"Don't you have camaraderie or something in your species?" Delia questioned.
"Our species is already safe with the humans," The Guko stated. "Everything here is about individual survival."
The cold, robotic answer left no room for rebukes. The soldiers in the room understood that approach. Khan basically always had that mindset, so he could quickly accept that the Guko would bring that behavior to its limits.
"Lead us to the lab," Lieutenant Pouille ordered, but a series of eyes immediately fell on his figure.
"Shouldn't we prioritize our escape?" Khan voiced everyone's thoughts. "We are still deep into the enemy territory. The Global Army can interrogate this Guko on its own once we are safe."
"A possible leak in the information connected to the project will lead to its relocation," The Guko contradicted.
"See? This is our only chance to find the lab," Lieutenant Pouille declared.
"I still believe that we should leave first," Khan continued.
"The Guko are a pragmatic species," Lieutenant Pouille uttered while raising his chained arms and pointing at his shoulders. "They will naturally establish deals with the high-ranking soldier, am I right?"
"That's correct," The Guko promptly replied.
Khan fixed his cold eyes on Lieutenant Pouille. He knew that the soldier didn't care about him or the rest of his underlings. The man was probably trying to use that situation to regain the Global Army's favor, even if that meant putting his entire platoon at risk, but Khan couldn't do anything about the matter.
Going back on his own now would only worsen his situation. The Guko had confirmed that most troops had reached new battlefields, which meant that Khan couldn't use the initial elevator since it would bring him behind or in the middle of the enemy lines. His best bet was with his platoon and the alien.
Khan closed his eyes and nodded, and the Lieutenant could only rejoice at that scene. The soldier knew that Khan had gained a lot of favor after freeing everyone, so convincing his underlings to follow him without their savior would have been complicated.
"Let's go then," Lieutenant Pouille ordered. "I'd also wish to obtain a complete map of this underground structure and the current battle plans of the Stal's forces."
"I can get them immediately," The Guko revealed while stretching its short arms toward the screens, but Delia interrupted it by putting force on her piece or armor.
"I won't gain anything by creating a trap or alerting everyone," The Guko explained. "You would only kill me before attempting a reckless escape."
Delia didn't fully believe those robotic words, but Lieutenant Pouille placed his chained hands on the piece of armor before nodding at her. The soldier could only snort before retracting her weapon.
"Do you want me to remove the handcuffs too?" The Guko asked as it approached the screens.
"Of course," Lieutenant Pouille announced, and a series of mechanical noises resounded in the room as the handcuffs unlocked.
Khan cursed in his mind and his expression twisted as the handcuffs slid on his wrists. An intense wave of pain had reached his mind as soon as the heavy item touched the bandages. His suffering continued even after he freed his limbs and slowly removed his piece of armor.
"Hey," Delia whispered while approaching Khan and carefully placing a hand on his right shoulder. "Let me help you."
Khan felt the instinctive need to reject Delia, but he suppressed his social paranoia for the sake of his hand. He slowly removed his blood-stained bandages as Delia tore away her sleeve and picked his piece of armor to create a better sustain.
The lack of handcuffs allowed Khan to tie the armor around his forearm, creating a more manageable fortification. Delia couldn't help but show a surprised expression when she saw the actual state of the wounded hand, but she still proceeded to create firm bandages that could keep it still.
Delia didn't know how Khan had managed to escape from his cell, but the scene uncovered part of his deep resolve. He didn't only go through the interrogation and battle without letting his hand hinder him. He had also remained silent when she applied the new bandages.
"Thanks," Khan weakly whispered after checking his new bandages and waving his arms at his sides.
Delia had done an excellent job. His wounded hand didn't move at all when he moved. Still, most of his happiness came from his newfound freedom. He could finally rely on the Divine Reaper again, even if he didn't know how much the [Blood Shield] would help.
'I might need to try that out if I end up injuring my left hand too,' Khan sighed as his thoughts went to the Wave spell and Liiza.
There was something in Khan's arsenal that both Liiza and his training program had told him not to use. He was still unable to execute the Wave spell, and he didn't know if the human teachings were to blame.
Still, the alternative approach saw a complete disregard for the rules that past mages with the chaos element had set. The matter had been different with the Divine Reaper since his proficiency with the martial art was already bordering the competent level. He had suffered severe injuries, but they had been the result of a miscalculation. He knew what drawbacks his attempt could cause.
Instead, trying to execute the Wave spell while letting his emotions take control of the process could directly kill him. Khan even heard Paul's words resounding in his mind when he thought about that. He had no intention to become like one of the past soldiers who blew themselves up to test new approaches.
"Is it too tight?" Delia asked, forcing Khan to snap out of his thoughts.
Delia appeared truly worried about his state, and he blamed his sad expression for that. Thinking about Liiza always added evident longing to his face, and he had no control over it.
"It's perfect," Khan replied while wearing a fake smile.
Lieutenant Pouille and the Guko had completed the download of information on the soldier's device while Khan and Delia had been busy with the bandages. The group could move afterward, but the alien revealed more detail as it let everyone into the second corridor.
"There is an armory along the way," The Guko explained while walking carelessly and crossing corners without bothering to check them first. "Rifles and some weapons that the Stal have seized during your capture are stored there, but you would have to fight a small squad to enter it."
"Why didn't you say anything before?" Khan asked as he made sure that he and Lieutenant Pouille remained in front or next to the alien.
"You have asked about the lab, not the armory," The Guko justified. "I can take you to the lab without meeting Stal or showing you a short detour that would involve a small battle."
Khan would have already seen red flags in those words, but they had come out of a species that struggled to lie. He had learnt about that feature from a Guko, but its explanation had sounded believable. It even made a lot of sense when paired to their almost complete lack of personalities.
Khan's doubts or thoughts didn't matter too much when Lieutenant Pouille had made it clear that he was in charge. The soldier didn't hesitate to accept the Guko's suggestion and prolong the group's stay inside the underground structure.
The corridor never changed. It was the same large metallic tunnel that featured an evident lack of branches or large underground areas. Most of the structure seemed made of mere passages that connected one small important room to another.
The armory was slightly different than the previous control room. The corridor unfolded into a relatively large hall that had many lockers at its sides. Five Stal lazily patrolled the area or sat on the metal floor without paying much attention to their surroundings. They almost seemed to have forgotten their job there.
Khan and Lieutenant Pouille inspected the Stal and the lockers from the turn right before that area. The five aliens were all first-level warriors armed with rifles, but that wasn't a problem on its own. The main issue was that the corridor continued for a while before reaching the hall, so the aliens would have the time to point their weapons and fire them before any intruder could get to them.
Lieutenant Pouille had already shown that the rifles couldn't do much against his spells, but the soldiers still feared that the Stal would sound the alarm if they recalled how to do that. The situation required a distraction, and Khan didn't hesitate to offer himself for the job.
A series of whispers preceded the simple plan. Lieutenant Pouille nodded at Khan before preparing himself to sprint forward. Delia squeezed his shoulders to reassure him before doing the same, and the other soldiers also showed encouraging faces or gestures.
Khan inspected everything coldly, limiting himself to a fake smile for Delia. He didn't offer himself as the initial distraction due to his speed. He only wanted to be in a position of control during the attack.
After the soldiers involved with the mission completed their preparations, Khan shot forward, crossing the corner and sprinting across the corridor to reach the armory in no time.
The Stal were in no position or mood to notice Khan right away, but they still jumped to their feet and began to point their weapons when they saw someone stepping inside the armory. Still, they were too late at that point, and Khan could easily slip past them to reach the alien near to the hall's exit.
The Stal had remained half-kneeled on the floor while aiming its rifle at the corridor, but that only made a perfect target for Khan's technique. The alien fired a shot that missed him as he covered his hand with the [Blood Shield] and applied the theory behind the Divine Reaper.
One of the Stal's heads split in half and fell on the floor as Khan stopped in front of the hall's entrance. Pain spread from his left hand, but its intensity was far inferior to what his other hand had to suffer. Still, the situation didn't give him the time to assess his injuries since multiple angry eyes and rifles turned toward him.
The four Stal tried to aim at Khan, but a series of loud steps suddenly resounded behind them and made them turn again. Other soldiers had crossed the corner, and Lieutenant Pouille was in the lead.
Khan used that chance to approach another Stal and wave his left hand. The pain intensified as a head fell, but everything was still bearable. The other aliens disregarded him and fired at the incoming soldiers, but Lieutenant Pouille stopped the bullets, giving Khan the time to reach another opponent.
Khan's hand had become a firm blade with the addition of the [Blood Shield], but he still suffered when using it as an actual weapon. Even the Niqols' technique couldn't make his body match the first-grade knife, at least for now.
Lieutenant Pouille entered the hall before Khan could go after his fourth opponent, and the battle ended a few seconds afterward. Khan could finally inspect his hand when peace spread among him. His skin had broken in many spots, and his overall grip felt weak, but nothing important was broken.
****
Author's notes: This constant catching up with the releases has drained me, but Saturday has arrived, so I have the chance to reset the publishing schedule again. I'm dying now, so I'll sleep before moving to the second chapter. I'm thinking about ignoring my partial break Sunday due to the many chapters missed last week, but I'll let you know that day.
