Published at 27th of February 2023 11:46 am

Chapter 346 Question Of the future leaders

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Mathew wanted to rush right past Daniel to reach the nearest location with the merchant.

The major reason why they were at the media building, to begin with, was to obtain the cures needed at Peter’s place, after all.

And yet, when faced with Daniel’s statement, Mathew froze.

An invisible and untouchable barrier appeared within the hole leading inside the building, stopping the young man in his tracks.

It was nothing more but a mental barrier, but it stopped Mathew from progressing his tasks just as well as a wall of steel would.

“I’m glad that you are on board,” Mathew muttered. He then turned properly around and looked right at Daniel’s face. “But you do realize that even I don’t know what will be needed to accomplish it.”

The entire idea behind progressing beyond the level of fortresses was nothing more but Mathew’s logical deduction of the next logical step that would work in accordance with the stuff that he learned about this new, changed world’s system so far.

There was a need for three merchants in order to establish a fortress. And so, Mathew opted to believe he was in need of three fortresses if he wanted to go beyond their level.

He knew that there was something above the fortress due to how certain features of the area managed by Daniel were locked behind this very requirement. And yet, the idea that the number of fortresses necessary to advance beyond that basic level… was nothing more but wishful thinking.

And even upon the assumption that Mathew’s guess was actually correct… No one knew how much establishing this next-level zone could cost!

‘Those are only the two basic things that I can think of in advance,’ Mathew thought while staring deeply into Daniel’s face. ‘Only God and whoever’s behind this system knows what else would be necessary for this next level to happen.’

“I’m aware,” Daniel replied after giving the matter some thought. He returned the intense gaze with a determined look on his face, as if in an attempt to showcase what he thought about the topic before. “I might not like the idea, but it doesn’t change the situation we are in.”

Mathew released a small breath of relief.

‘It would be way too suspicious if he were to be fully on board with it despite his earlier wish to remain relatively autonomous,’ he thought.

If there was anything that Mathew always had in mind, it was to be wary of those that weren’t strictly bound to him. And even though he was the one to establish the fortress in the media building, ever since he left it for Daniel to manage, he no longer could claim any real control over it.

“Then who will manage the school grounds?” Daniel asked out after giving Mathew some time to prepare.

“Isn’t that obvious?” Mathew bounced the ball back while putting a smirk on his own face.

“Yeah, you or one of your wives,” Daniel replied while rolling his eyes. “But that’s not what I meant,” he added while slightly shaking his head.

His smile disappeared from his mouth, replaced by a small grimace of worry.

“What if whatever comes after the fortress won’t just be an upgrade but a separate entity?”

Mathew opened his mouth, ready to reply… And then slowly closed them back, unable to find any proper answer.

‘I didn’t think about it,’ he thought, realizing the lapse in his plan.

Up to this point, Mathew assumed that whatever would come after the fortress would simply elevate the status and potential of the fortress that he set for his main base.

‘What should I do if it works as Daniel suggests?’ the young man asked himself, lowering his eyes as he sank into the depths of his own thoughts.

Mathew didn’t lose himself in the daze, though. He soon shook his head before raising his hands and slapping his cheeks.

“There is no use thinking about it right now,” Mathew said as he turned around and faced the hole in the wall once again. “I have someone who can take care of the school in that case, but I will give it proper consideration once we know what we are actually dealing with!”

Mathew didn’t waste a single word more on the man, opting to rush inside the building as quickly as his still recovering body would allow. Once inside, he took the trip along the path made from nothing more but his memories all the way to where he summoned the very first merchant during the invasion of this place.

A short trip to the shadowy realm of the merchant later, Mathew returned to reality with three packs of five vials each in his hand and his storage seven hundred and fifty cores lighter.

‘It’s a relief I can buy them anywhere I want,’ Mathew thought as he rushed back towards the building’s entrance while taking a look at how the place changed in the last few days.

There was a distinctive difference between how he and Beatrice managed the renovations to the school and how Daniel organized the work within his own area.

While Mathew and the workers directly under him focused on restoring as much of the school as they could, Mathew could tell that most of the work hours of the people under Daniel went into building the maze, limiting the renovations of the building only to the absolute minimum.

‘At least there are no corpses rotting around,’ Mathew thought when he had to kick away yet another broken brick out of his way in order to clear the path ahead.

Thankfully, the never was that much fighting inside the media building, greatly limiting the degree of damage done to its interior.

“Here,” Mathew said, reaching out with his hand while holding one set of five vials in it. “They are for you, just in case,” he said, passing the set over to Daniel.

“Those are…?” the man took a look at the set of five vials for a moment before turning his eyes up to look at Mathew’s face.

“It’s the cure,” Mathew confirmed Daniel’s expectations. “I don’t know to what degree it can help, so don’t rely on it too much. There is a reason why it’s a low-leveled one,” he pointed out.

“It’s okay,” Daniel nodded his head while bringing the vials to his chest and pressing them tightly against his clothes as if worried about potentially dropping them on accident. “I never intended to push the limits, but it’s reassuring to have them,” he said before raising his eyes back to Mathew’s face. “Thanks.”

“No biggie,” Mathew didn’t waste time waiting for Daniel’s thanks, opting to instantly approach the rest of his group.

And to his happy surprise, Carol was already there, currently getting ready to set off on her mission of cleaning the rest of the horde.

“It’s good to see you here,” Mathew said while passing one set of vials to Norbert and the other to Nadia.

“Are you happy to see me?” Carol asked, raising his eyebrows in surprise.

She already knew Mathew’s group came given how she met Nadia and Norbert in the staging area of the media building. And yet, Mathew’s words still managed to get her by a surprise.

“I’m happy that you are already here,” Mathew replied, cutting Carol’s relationship-related hopes short. “Because I need you to come with us,” he said only for his face to take on a darker shade, “just in case.”

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