Chapter 300: Heading To Floor 3!

​"The first thing we need to establish is how to find each other on the Third Floor," Uhtred began. "Since we share knowledge of the sub-scenario, it’ll be much better if we team up as soon as we arrive."

​"Yeah." Zara nodded. "I have a feeling Floor 3 is going to be completely different from Floor 2. Pooling our strength to find the sub-scenario together is our best shot."

​"Alright," White Raven said, agreeing with them. "So how do we meet up? Can’t we just bring long-range communication devices with us? That’d solve our problem right away."

​"There’s no harm in trying, but I doubt it’ll work. The Tower won’t let us exploit an easy loophole like that." Uhtred shook his head. "It’s a scenario world for a reason. We can’t rely on tools from our world to break the difficulty. We need another way."

​"What about major cities?" Zara suggested. "Even if we spawn far apart, we could all head toward the largest city in the scenario. There’s bound to be one."

​"That’s not a bad idea." White Raven nodded. "Or we could aim for major landmarks — like the highest mountain peak in the world. That might be safer than a crowded city."

​"True, but a major city offers a different kind of cover. We could blend into the crowds without drawing any attention," Zara countered.

​"—Or we think we’re blending in, while someone is watching those cities specifically for people like us," White Raven said. "The Heavenly Demon did the exact same thing back on Floor 2... setting up traps disguised as fortuitous encounters to lure in champions. Who’s to say Floor 3 won’t have something similar?"

​"White Raven has a point," Uhtred said. "In fact, every major city is probably monitored. But then again, wouldn’t the famous peaks and mountain ranges be watched, too? They might even belong to powerful sects. What do we do then?"

​He looked between Zara and White Raven.

​"Any major landmark comes with the same risks," Uhtred continued. "So the real issue isn’t where to meet... it’s how to reach each other safely."

​"Then maybe we shouldn’t lock down a meeting spot until we actually get there," White Raven offered. "Right now, we should just focus on how to pass messages to each other no matter where we land."

"Yeah," Zara nodded in agreement. "We can still head for those landmarks and major cities, but instead of stopping there and waiting, we can just figure out a way to drop a message... something hidden in plain sight... something only we would understand... like a reference specific to Earth..."

"Like what?" Uhtred asked. "Pop culture? Science?"

"Could be anything," Zara said, a smirk tugging at her lips. "We could pay local bards to sing lyrics from popular songs, or carve chemical formulas into tables of popular taverns or somewhere in public. Imagine leaving E=mc^2 or ’Avengers assemble’ on some notice board in the scenario world... To the locals, it’s just insane gibberish, but to us..."

"Ah, can we please not use young adult pop culture references?" White Raven interrupted with an embarrassed chuckle. "If we’re doing this, let’s keep it all-ages friendly. I won’t go so far as to call myself old, but I’m definitely not in the same generation as you two. Some of your references might fly right over my head."

"What?" Uhtred stared at her, mouth wide agape. "There’s no way you don’t know the Avengers reference. You’re at most, in your forties, for goodness’ sake. Even casuals should know ’Avengers assemble!’"

White Raven didn’t comment at all. She only offered a light smile, watching as Uhtred’s expression continued to grow more and more disbelieving by the second.

He was now deeply curious to know exactly how old White Raven was to not know that reference. But at the same time, he had enough tact not to ask a woman her age out loud.

What he could say, though, was that White Raven still looked vibrantly young. His earlier estimate had only been a response to what she had said. If he was asked out of the blue, he could actually place her as someone in her early thirties and no one would bat an eye at that estimate.

"Alright then," he said after forcing down the questions he wanted to ask. "We’ll stick to references that are ageless... things any modern human at all would get at first glance."

White Raven nodded, clearly pleased that Uhtred had taken the hint and navigated the subject gracefully.

"But that means our primary targets will still be major cities," Zara said. "The biggest city, to be exact. Our messages would be easy to place in plain sight there. And then, depending on the situation of the scenario once we’re on ground, we can even add more hidden details in the message... something that might tell us where to meet each other."

​"Exactly." Uhtred nodded. "I think that settles it. We can improvise the exact details once we get a feel for the floor."

Once the matter of how to meet was settled, Uhtred, Zara and White Raven moved on to other matters. They discussed what they might expect on Floor 3, exchanging pointers on how to tackle certain situations — specifically if they were met with methods similar to what the Heavenly Demon from Floor 2 had used.

Their talk then shifted to the hidden lore they’d uncovered in the sub-scenario regarding Multiversal Eras, agreeing that identifying Floor 3’s era should be their first priority upon landing.

Eventually, their discussion shifted to more general talks about what to expect in the main scenario. Here, Uhtred finally called Diya back into the meeting room.

She’d left the Tower entirely to go attend to other matters, and Uhtred thought she wouldn’t bother returning — but she actually did after receiving his call. It seemed that despite how curt he’d been with her earlier, she also didn’t want to spend the last day holding a grudge.

Together, all four of them — Uhtred, Diya, Zara and White Raven — talked about what to expect of the scenario, exchanging experiences and insights at the same time. If Diya was insistent on continuing her climb, then the least they could all do to support her was share what they could at these last few hours.

After their meeting, Uhtred also made his last rounds with Dennis, Minh Quan and everyone else he needed to meet within the Capitol — including Sophie Albert, his in-name disciple.

He simply gave her a few pointers and a stash of Essence Crystals to cultivate. Besides that, he offered nothing more. She was still an in-name disciple for now, so he needed to see her prove herself before committing more resources.

It was in this manner, after settling every matter — to the best of their extent, at least — that Uhtred, Zara, Diya and White Raven called for Handler Roy, ready to return to the Tower.

And in a flash, almost like Roy had been waiting for them the whole time, their bodies disappeared in a stream of light, shooting straight up for the Tower floating in the void above the planet.

The same was happening at two other territories. Isolde Castiglione and Hassan Al-Malik disappeared in streams of light, straight to the Tower above.

They all arrived in the familiar waiting room, their eyes blinking open and spotting Roy’s figure tapping away at a tactile holographic screen.

"Well, you guys took your sweet time," Roy waved away his holographic screen and looked at the six of them the moment they materialized.

"I hope you’re all well-rested... because you have some catching up to do now."