Shadow Slave novel Chapter 2269

2269 /2448

"It's definitely going to work this time!"

A group of tired engineers, scientists, and Awakened stared at a young woman wearing a formal suit, a buttoned-up blouse, and a white lab coat with numb expressions. The woman looked just as tired — there were dark circles under her eyes, many strands of hair had escaped her messy bun, and her lab coat was charred in several places.

However, her scathing gaze was still full of vigor and energy.

"Chief Bethany... h—how about we call it a day?"

"Please..."

"Somebody find Master Quentin... only he can save us!"

Hearing the complaints, Beth frowned. "What is this I'm hearing? A mutiny?"

The engineers, the scientists, and the Awakened paled.

"N—no..."

"Of course not, Chief!"

"We were just joking, Chief!"

She nodded in satisfaction, then turned to a complicated control board in front of her. Outside, Bastion was shrouded in darkness. A bright moon hung above the lake, bathing it in pale radiance, and although the streets were illuminated here and there by mundane or enchanted lanterns, most of the city was resting in the embrace of shadows.

The city was too large and populous to be entirely asleep, but most citizens were sleeping in their homes, waiting for dawn to come so that they could continue their work. After all, nobody could work in darkness.

Well... few people could.

Beth turned her head and looked at one of her Awakened subordinates — a stunning girl with pale skin and raven-black hair, barely out of her teenage years by the look of it. The girl was a recent addition to the team and worked as somewhat of an intern, assisting everyone who needed help with menial tasks while she was learning the ropes.

Unlike the rest of the sorry bunch, the youngest member of the team never complained.

"You there, Rani... you just returned from building the road across Godgrave, right?"

The girl nodded with a smile. "Yes, Chief! I've worked on the Dark Road."

The Dark Road stretched across the arms of the dead deity and the entire Collarbone Plain, connecting the human territories in the north. Some of its sections lay under the open sky, but most of it was shrouded by the eternal darkness that the Lord of Shadows had summoned before slaying the King of Swords and being slain by Changing Star in turn.

Needless to say, building a road across a Death Zone had not been an easy project. Beth looked sternly at the rest of her subordinates.

"You see, Rani spent months doing arduous manual labor in total darkness while terrifying Nightmare Creatures and carnivorous plants were trying to eat her. So, what are you, sorry lot, complaining about? When was the last time one of you was eaten?"

The team members looked at each other.

"Wasn't Russel eaten last week, though?"

"Yes, I was! I spent a whole minute in an abomination's stomach! Luckily, Master Quentin was there to kill the beast... thank the Immortal Flame..."

"The cable-laying crews are getting attacked all the time!"

Beth grimaced.

"Whatever! We are doing another run. You guys can sleep tomorrow!"

As groans resounded in the control room, Rani summoned a leather backpack and pulled something out of it. The team members looked at a tin can with burning eyes.