Del and Cole walked to the area where Lize could be seen according to the map that the bounty hunter “provided” for them. It was located in a valley close to the campsite. They didn’t have to walk for too long until they arrived at the edge of the circled area on the map.

“Well, here we are,” Del said.

The valley was different from the previous valley that he visited with Cassandra. This valley was much greener with bushes growing left and right although they were covered in snow. Trees were also there, most of the trees were pines.

“It’s not as cold as the campsite, that’s for sure,” Cole commented.

It was indeed warmer. It might the whole reason why Lize chose that location to take shelter. It was simply warmer. Still, why would Lize go to this kind of location? She was certainly not the adventurous kind, much less someone who would go to the home of the ice dragon.

“Yeah, I agree, anyway, let’s start searching for Lize. She should be somewhere around here, but I don’t see any sign of any campsite so far,” Del said.

“Yeah, I don’t see it either, could it be that she is hiding inside one of the caves inside of this valley?” Cole asked.

“I can’t say for sure, but it is certainly a possibility,” Del said.

“Is there even any cave in here?” Cole asked.

“I don’t know man, I never go here before,” Del said.

“Anyway, let’s keep searching,” Cole said.

Looking left and right, Del could find several caves scattered on that valley. The caves should be the most probable spot where Lize could be hiding. Maybe checking the caves wasn’t a bad idea after all.

Del wondered whether he should check the caves or not. Caves had their own special monsters, in particular, giant spiders. Still, Lize could be hiding there. Del wasn’t exactly bringing any flashlight with him. Cave was dark and Del might need to buy one unless Cole had a lantern spell. Not because he couldn’t buy one from Pidma, but if he got separated from Cole, Cole wouldn’t have any light source.

Del asked, “Cole, do you have any lantern spell?”

“Yeah, why do you ask?” Cole then looked at the caves and looked back at Del, “Oh no, don’t tell me you’re going to enter the caverns.”

“Yeah, why do you even ask? It should be obvious, right?” Del felt confused.

“I don’t like spiders, damn it,” Cole said.

“If there’s an option between spiders and money, what would you choose?” Del asked.

“I choose money of course,” Cole thought that Del asked whether he wanted to get money or to get a spider. Of course, in response, Cole chose money although he wasn’t sure what Del was asking.

“Then help me go to the cave then,” Del said.

Cole shuddered, “Alright, alright, but you have to lead the way, ok?”

“Fine,” Del sighed.

They entered one of the caves on the wall of that valley. The cave was dark, as expected, however, something sparked positivity in Del’s mind. There was something on the wall of the cave, a burned-out torch, and a piece of ripped clothing.

“Hmm, it looks like someone entered this cave before,” Del picked up the torch, “Let me talk to my spirit first, ok?”

“Sure,” Cole nodded.

“Pidma, provide me with something useful.”

[Do you need a flashlight and duct tape?]

“Yeah, how much it will be?

[60$]

“Alright, give it all to me,” Del said.

A flashlight and duct tape suddenly appeared on the ground. Del picked those two items up and attached them to his machine gun. The flashlight was jury-rigged to his machine gun. It was held firmly with duct tape.

Del continued heading deeper into the cave. He turned on his flashlight as he led the way with his machine gun aimed down the sight. He wanted to make sure that anything that could kill him could be attacked first.

They walked deeper and deeper into the cave. Del didn’t notice any sign of Lize and her group. However, he kept walking deeper into the cave, hoping to find any clue. He eventually found something after walking for a while in that cave.

That something was not something that Del expected to find inside of that world. Why? That thing was a metal door, a futuristic one at that, and it was located right next to an RFID reader. There were a lot of dials on that reader and they needed a password to open it.

Cole commented once he saw that door, “What in the actual fuck is this?”

The security door was white and there was no handle for it. It looked like it opened automatically. Still, an automatic door that appeared out of nowhere was quite weird. Still, there was something that made Del want to enter the space behind that door. There was a used bandage besides that something that caught Del’s attention.

“Look, there’s a keycard on the ground,” Del said as he picked up the keycard from the ground.

The keycard was made of plastic. It was odd. Glass was quite common in that world, but plastic? It was something new. He questioned what was behind that metal door. It could be something that Del didn’t understand.

However, the writing on that door really caught his attention.

[Security and Defense Lab Of Cryotechnology. Site RADL-24]

“Site RADL-24? Do you know what is this?” Del asked, thinking that the exotic door was the technology of the demons.

“No, I never saw something like this in my entire life. Thinking about it, I know someplace in Ilbistirum that is like this, but it’s quite rare,” Cole was also confused.

To enter or not to enter, that was the question. For ten white gold coins, would Del and Cole risk it to enter the place that only could be guessed as some high-tech research lab? At one side, Del was sure that Lize was behind the door, but at another, he knew that there could be some advanced security system inside.

“Fuck this, one hundred grand is still one hundred grand,” Del put the keycard on top of the RFID reader and the door opened.

Weirdly enough, the other side of the door was warmer than the cave entrance. Del stepped into the lab. The lab was exactly what he was thinking. The floor was tiled and the wall was painted in gray. Inside of it, the light was shining from the fluorescent lamp from above. It really felt like a hallway that would lead to some science lab from a sci-fi movie.

“Damn, what kind of place have we entered?” Del commented.

Cole replied, “The kind of place that is very sterile and very bloody suspicious.”

Del switched off the flashlight on his machine gun and he started moving forward. The door closed behind him but Del kept moving forward while Cole was still astonished by the appearance of that hallway.

The technological level of that hallway itself was rather odd for that world. What kind of advanced civilization built a thing like that? Cole said that the demons were not this advanced, but he said that building like that was available in his country.

Del kept moving through that hallway. He felt that the threat of this lab was not a magical thing, but a technological thing such as guns or even laser weaponry. If that were the case, Del just hoped for the best.

He eventually arrived at the T-junction of that hallway. There was a sign on top of that T-Junction. The sign was pointing in two directions, left and right and the sign showed where the hallway would lead them.

[← Security | General Lab for Cryotechnology →]

“Hmm, odd,” Del commented.

Del took the hallway to the left. He kept walking until he noticed something on the roof of the hallway. A turret suddenly appeared on top of the hallway. Before the turret was able to do anything, Del fired it with 7.62 rounds from his machine gun.

“WARNING! WARNING! FACILITY BREACH DETECTED! FACILITY BREACH DETECTED!”

Del sighed, “Ah shit, what in the actual fuck have I done?”

Red strobe light started shining in that hallway. A bunch of other similar turrets suddenly appeared and Del took cover from behind one of the walls of that hallway. He peeked from the wall and the turret fired its bullet. The bullet hit his helmet and it bounced to the ceiling of the hallway.

“Motherfucker, Del, what did you do?” Cole asked as he readied his spell.

“I don’t have any idea, let’s get to the security office!” Del shouted.

“Security? You can read the gibberish on the sign?” Cole asked.

“Yeah, more or less, don’t you think it’s not the time to ask that question?” Del asked.

“Fair enough.”

Del peeked his machine gun and blindly fired it, hoping that one of the bullets destroyed the turret. Del felt safe once one of the turrets was destroyed, but seriously, what the hell did Del get himself into?