Chapter 291 Leaving The City
Walking out of the secret rooms that was filled with corpses, Shiro took this time to save all of the test subjects that were held in the lab.
Moving everyone out of the base, she made sure to clear all details about nanobots. After all, this world would be a little better without scientists kidnapping children to perform the experiments.
Looking at the empty lab, the notion of using this as a base popped into her head but there were several problems regarding that. First was the children's trauma and second was the fact that the other labs knew the location of this one.
If she really did use this as a base, she would only be increasing the amount of risks around her.
Shaking her head, Shiro ignored the idea of turning the labs into a base.
Once she made sure that everything was cleared up, she took the children back to the village and had them stay with the other children.
Due to the hardsh.i.p.s that they each suffered, each one of them were like siblings to each other.
Smiling at the fact that the children were slowly getting over their trauma through relying on each other, Shiro called for a meeting amongst all the different leaders.
These leaders included the blacksmith leader, the chief and so on.
"So, as you are all well aware, I had been saving the children from a nearby base that had been kidnapping them for experiments. While I have finished clearing this one up, there are plenty more scattered throughout the world. I hope that you can help me find all of these bases so that we can help these children before more are taken." Shiro said while hiding some of the truths.
Her main goal was to naturally find the main base but even after scanning through everything in the computer, she only found the locations of branch labs like the one she had cleared. While she could remember the location based on her old memories, she had to keep in mind that they had shifted the main base several times so there was no telling where the base was now.
"Miss Shiro, we would love to help you, but you must remember, we're not high level warriors that can help you fight. There isn't much that we can help out with." One of the leaders said while furrowing his brows.
"Don't worry about that. What I want you to do doesn't require fighting at all but rather, surveillance using these drones that I have created." She smiled while pulling out several mechanised birds.
She had retrieved this design from her database since it fit the current situation quite well.
Dubbed the P.X 102 Surveillance drone, it was capable of camouflaging itself and hiding its mana signal making it one of the best scouting tools she could make right now. The only downside to this was that it required someone to control it using a controller and the fact that it was difficult to use underground
As for how it would find the bases, once the bird is within 100 meters of a nanobot, it would send a signal to the controller and mark down the location.
Explaining the controls for the drone, she made a few hundred drones so that they could cover more ground.
Instructing the leaders to tell the other villagers about her request, Shiro made her way back to her house.
After the last incident, Shiro had offered her parents and her younger self to stay in her house so that they could live together.
While they did reject it at first, they eventually agreed after some persuasion.
Opening the doors, she saw her mother preparing dinner while her father and Nytri sat on the sofa and watched TV.
"Ah you're home. How was the mission today?" Her mother asked with a smile.
"It was rather productive. I've finished off the labs and rescued all the subjects. The next thing on my list is to find the main lab along with some personal things that I need to deal with." Shiro replied with a smile.
Walking up to the table, she started to help her mother prepare some of the ingredients.
"Don't stress yourself out too much. If you keep going like this, you'll overwork soon enough you know?" Her father called out with a smile.
"I understand." Shiro chuckled softly.
Spending time with her parents like this was pretty enjoyable since this is how she imagined how life may have been like should the village not be raided. Of course, that was ignoring the fact that she was going around destroying bases.
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The next day, she informed them that she'd be going on a trip and that if they needed her, they can just contact her using the communication devices that she had with the chief and her parents.
Of course, this was reserved for important notifications only.
Making sure that she has enough food and mana stones should she need to eat, Shiro made her way to the carriages.
She wanted to get some information regarding the light hero's hometown and perhaps clear a few labs on the way.
"Excuse me, have you heard of a place called Ardvine?" She asked the stables manager.
"Ardvine? Yes, I have. Are you looking for a way to get there?" The manager replied while marvelling at her appearance.
"Yeah, do you know a caravan or carriage that's going there? I can act as a guard if need be."
"Hmm… if you're looking for something like that, I think there are two carriages that you can take. The first is a carriage that could only afford hiring some D ranked guards so if you're someone powerful, I don't think they can hire you. As for the second one, it's a strange mix of people since they're apparently going to do a newly emerged raid or something near Ardvine. You'll have to get off mid-way and walk the rest of the journey. As for whether or not they're willing to take you, I'm not exactly sure." The manager shrugged.
"Thank you. Can you show me where the first carriage is?" Shiro asked. She didn't really care about the payment since it wasn't like she could bring money from out of this quest to begin with.
"Of course, they're just around that corner over there. The leader of the hired guards is a guy with red hair so it shouldn't be too hard to find them."
Thanking the manager once more, she followed his directions and found them soon enough.
The guards that had been hired sat on one side while the carriage was being loaded with goods.
"Excuse me~" Shiro called out with a friendly voice.
When paired with her appearance and newly matured body, it scored a critical hit on the men's hearts.
"Is this the caravan to Ardvine?" She asked.
"Ah er yes." The merchant replied.
"Is it possible for me to tag along? You don't need to pay me anything since I'm really just trying to look for a guide there." Shiro smiled.
"Of course! Though about the seating…"
"Don't worry about that. I can just sit on the roof or walk."
'The roof?' The merchant thought in confusion. Normally, a beautiful girl would like to be seated inside the carriage so that they don't have to walk. Not only was the roof hard and dirty, but the seats inside were also padded so that they were comfortable. Who in the right mind would give up something comfy for something like a roof?
"You want to sit on the roof?" He asked again just to make sure.
"Yup." Shiro nodded.
While she was talking to the merchant regarding travel plans, the D class guards couldn't take their eyes off Shiro.
Although the reason could be attributed to her appearance, the main cause was the lack of pressure they felt from her. It was as if she didn't even exist. This feeling unnerved the guards since it felt like she could suddenly erupt at any moment.
Meanwhile, the figure that had been observing her all this time narrowed his eyes in thought.
"The time limit is almost up. I'll move the main base to Ardvine for you to discover. Once you arrive in the city, the time remaining in the trial will only be enough for you to do one task. Without knowing this, would you choose the satisfaction of revenge over power gain or the other way around?" He muttered while flicking his wrist.