Defiance of the Fall

Chapter 1146: Teamwork

"It looks like a captain's quarters," Emily commented as they observed the room. "God, this aura. Is this what you were talking about?"Zac placed a collapsed piece of wall in the doorway to prevent it from automatically closing before stepping inside. The interiors weren't opulent, but it was at least 100 square meters with multiple rooms. Far more generous than the smaller domiciles Zac passed on his way. However, it looked like a hurricane had passed through the room, leaving it in utter disarray.

It wasn't the result of previous looting. Rather, the inner wall was covered in familiar cracks. A few sections had crumbled entirely, giving a glimpse of the outside. The apartment had only narrowly avoided the sword slash, leaving it flooded with Killing Intent.

"Yeah, it's from the sword scar," Zac confirmed. "I didn't expect to see so much of it here."

There was no clear reason why it hadn't fully dispersed in this particular room. Could the intent have sensed this was the room of a high-ranking officer, and refused to be dragged out by the hurricane? Or was the chasm's pull weakening the further up the tower they went? It left the room significantly more affected, though not to the point condensed streaks would form.

Zac tried prodding [Void Heart] to see if it could absorb the intent, but it remained lifeless. Being showered in Life-attuned energy hadn't done anything to repair its damage. Surrounding it with Void Energy or using it to activate [Surging Rebirth] didn't help either, leaving Zac helpless. It wasn't like he had any Void Healing Pills or Natural Treasures to repair his bloodline. Hopefully, it'd recover on its own.

He dropped the matter and turned his attention to the room. "Let's see what your helper sniffed out."

The living room had nothing of value, so they continued into an office. It had avoided being directly hit by the attack, yet they only found one treasure within—an ancient Spatial Ring. Whatever books, crystals, or reports placed on the stone desk had been destroyed by the intent already.

"What a shame," Emily sighed as she inspected the ring. "It looks like it's about to collapse. If there are restrictions placed on it…"

"Would be nice to have someone take a look at it, but it doesn't look like it'll last the journey," Zac muttered as he reached for the ring. "We'll just have to take a gamble."

"Wait! Don't do anything hasty," Emily urged and took out a jelly-like blob.

She pushed the ring inside before squeezing the blob into a cylinder that snugly fit in one of her pouches. Zac looked on with interest, realizing the cylinder released weak Spatial Ripples. The arrangement protected the brittle treasure from shocks while providing it with nurturing energy.

"This way, we can open it when we get back."

Zac had planned to deal with the ring the same way as the Technocrat's since he didn't get any particular feeling from it. He'd quickly scan it and attempt to extract whatever looked the most impressive. But this was much better.

"Good job," Zac smiled. "But wait for me to be present when you crack that thing open. I think it might be flooded with Killing Intent."

Emily nodded, and the two continued their

There was only one way to find out.