BIOLOGICAL SUPERCOMPUTER SYSTEM

Chapter 918: Entering the city yet again

The forest was dense but dimly lit by the sun's rays piercing through the canopy.

Erik let his hand trail the rough bark of an old oak as they passed, remembering simpler times spent hunting thaids around here.

But now the forest felt strange and watched, as if the very trees were listening for intruders.

They moved in haste, worried to be found by the guards littering New Alexandria's surroundings. The clones' paws barely cracking fallen twigs on the forest floor.

As the clones strode through the forest, Erik's mind wandered back to the night when he had fled the city.

The memory was still vivid: the deafening explosions, smoke filling the club, bodies littering the floor.

Back then, he escaped a massacre at the Red Lotus Lounge, after having helped many people and saved many other ones.

He remembered the chase that followed leaving the club. He remembered his fight to death with Nathaniel's father's goons.

Erik knew that Nathaniel's father's criminal empire had likely been destroyed with the elimination of the Crystal Cross Gang.

It could have happened even before that.

Erik got told by Amber and the others that Matthew McConnel ended up in prison. After all he did, those guys still brought him there instead of executing him.

The man wasn't sure the prison had been enough to prevent Matthew from controlling his people.

Someone must have escaped, many likely joined the crystal cross gang, to which they were already affiliated through Matthew's organization.

But after he destroyed the Crystal Cross Gang, there would be no one left to call the shots.

Erik placed the last stone on the underworld's tomb when he killed Shade. If before there could have been someone still having control on the reins, after that, there would be no organization holding the crime lords together.

The problem was whether Matthew was still there. Volkov would for sure have jumped at the chance to have him released, especially after the Crystal Cross Gang ceased to exist because of Erik.

A noise caught Mira's attention.

"Quick, hide!"

Erik crouched lower behind the thick trunk of an old oak tree as Mira's warning carried through the forest.

The clones shapeshifted into human form, hiding within the underbrush.

Amber and Emily dove behind a fallen log and June scrambled up a nearby pine, blending in with its dark boughs.

Mira slid down next to Erik, her back pressed against the oak's ridged bark. In the distance, the sound of voices floated nearer.

Boots crunched leaves and twigs, accompanied by the jingle of armor and equipment.

A patrol of city guards came into view, four men marching abreast, scanning their surroundings vigilantly.

One pointed to a set of large paw prints in the damp earth. In their opinion, a group of large thaids was roaming around. The problem was that they knew the prints belonged to Erendus.

Though they weren't surprised. New Alexandria knew certainly that the monsters from the Eldraith mountain range were moving, and that this pushed all the other thaids outside of their territories. An Erendu here, or a pack, wasn't unthinkable.

While Erik had already thought about this, which was confirmed by the patrols' looks, Mira and the others didn't.

"What do we do?" Mira asked in hushed tones.

"Stay still. If they find us, they will call for reinforcements. If they die, no one will reply to the comm, and reinforcements will arrive. They will learn there are intruders' either way, and we can't allow that."

But Erik had many thoughts in mind. This patrol was awfully close to the barrier's breach. What if Volkov found it and closed it?

If that happened, Mira and the others would have no way to enter the city. He would be forced to go in alone and find a way to make them enter.

But that would not be easy. The question itself was IF it was possible to make them enter. Maybe Fischer had a secret passage that they could use, but what if they didn't?

They had the last time they arrived, but what if it had been found?

The group observed as the patrol started searching around, moving further away from Erik and the others.

<Well, at least luck is still on our side. >

Once the voices faded into the forest, Erik risked a peek around the tree's wide trunk. Seeing no one, he gestured for the group to reassemble. The clones turned into Erendus once more, kneeling to allow Erik and the girls to mount once more.

Their journey continued onward, more cautiously this time. Mira glanced back in the patrol's direction, wondering how often such groups went out and how long they would need to avoid

them.

But for now, they pressed on deeper into the forest, keeping their distance from New Alexandria's looming walls and shimmering barrier.

...

...

After hours of weaving among the trees and avoiding patrols, Erik spotted the shimmering barrier-a semi-transparent wall that separated the outskirts of the city from the deep

woods.

There was a small space where a tree had fallen to the ground. The breach was there, but the tree shouldn't have been.

The only problem was that for Erik to find the breach, he had to feel the barrier with his hands. He jumped down from June and approached the barrier, using his hands to check whether the barrier was still there.

He reached out, his hands moving through the air, tapping and feeling for the unseen wall. His fingers stretched wide, trying to touch something, anything that might give away the barrier's presence, or better, to touch the empty air.

But there was nothing-not yet, at least.

Erik gave a quick glance behind the barrier. He could see the sprawling camps behind it; they

were the same.

The scorched earth had already healed a lot since the last time he had been here. New plants took the place of the old ones, but they weren't as tall as the wheat fields that sprawled around here years before he left the city.

After having touched the barrier for a while, Erik finally found the breach. He breathed a sigh

of relief.

"It's here," Erik said.

"Did you use this to escape the city back then?" Amber asked.

"I used this also to sneak out of the city and hunt thaids before and after going to work."

"You went hunting thaids when you were 16?" Amber asked.

"Of course I did; you know how the biological supercomputer works."

He waved the others forward and slipped through the barrier one by one, Mira, Amber, and Emily following close behind, and last, the clones. They were still naked, the girls now used to it. Even Emily was used to seeing them naked now.

"Dress up; we can't let people see you naked. If there are any, of course."

The last thing they wanted was to attract unwanted attention. Not that they wouldn't get it if

someone saw them. Emily, Amber and Mira were too beautiful, and the first two were even famous in New Alexandria.

As for him, Erik was sure the city was plastered with posters showing his photo here and there

around the city.

The three girls handed clothes to the four clones, and they dressed up.

The group observed the sprawling farming camps laid out before them.

Most of the land had once been flattened or scorched by battle, but now fresh growth was

flourishing.

Wheat stalks swayed in the breeze, having reclaimed much of the earth. Young crops dotted patches of freshly tilled soil.

In the distance, Erik could make out roads snaking their way through the landscape.

Those roads had led him to and from Mr. Fox's farm, where he had worked for the past few

years. Yet now, he had returned with a singular purpose.

Erik's eyes scanned the camps for any signs of movement. All remained still and silent;

nothing stirred among the slowly regrowing vegetation.

Peaceful green, dotted with yellow flowers, stretched as far as he could see.

His companions waited behind him, watching Erik survey the land before them. Emily spoke

up first. "It looks so green again. Do you think the people will return?" She knew what happened here. The Heniates' parasites ravaged the city, reaching the outskirts.

Erik pondered her question but did not answer. He didn't have an answer for that.

For sure, Volkov seized most of the Stone's family assets, and they had most of the farming

sites within the nation, so at least someone was tending to the underground fields and

replenishing the city with food.

But as for the smaller farmers, Erik did not know. Were they still alive to begin with?

Instead, he focused his gaze on the dirt roads in the distance.

Erik turned to the others. "This way," he said.

"Stay close." They set off down the camps, walking through the foliage as they began making

their way deeper into the city.