Chapter 37: No Zone Is Truly Safe

"Saddie! Come here!" Ilya shouted at the pink fox, who was still some distance away.

The moment Saddie heard him, she ran over without asking a single question. After all, a burst of Pollution Energy was not something anyone could afford to take lightly.

"Miss Beaumont, your evaluation is on hold for now," Ilya said as soon as she reached them. His voice had lost all of its usual softness. "Your safety is my responsibility until this is over, so you need to stay by my side. Understood?"

Just from the original body’s memories alone, Summer could already tell that this was not a small matter.

Because of that, she didn’t try to argue with him. "Understood, sir."

"Captain, we need somewhere airtight!" Saddie shouted the moment she saw a dark mist emerged from afar.

Unfortunately, there was no bunker nearby, and finding a place that was completely sealed from the outside air in this old ruined area was almost impossible.

Summer quickly looked toward the abandoned hotel and then an idea came to her.

"What about a walk-in freezer?" she suggested. "A hotel this big should have one, right?"

Ilya immediately followed her gaze toward the building. "That might work."

Saddie nodded quickly. "Then we should find the kitchen first."

She immediately rushed into the hotel without wasting another second.

Ilya followed right behind her, one hand holding Summer’s as he pulled her along.

The livestream comments became even more chaotic.

[WHY DID THIS GET SO INTENSE ALL OF A SUDDEN?!]

[This is somehow scarier than that basement Summer and Archer went into yesterday!]

[I’M SCARED! ILYA, SHOW ME YOUR ABS SO I CAN CALM DOWN! TAKE OFF YOUR SHIRT!]

[MODS! RULE 5! NSFW!]

[fairybish has been muted for 1 week]

Then another comment appeared. [Worth it]

[Mods! She made an alt!]

[The moderator team is tired of y’all]

Outside the livestream, Summer and the others finally reached the kitchen on the first floor of the hotel.

The place looked like it had been abandoned for years.

Dust covered the counters, broken plates were scattered across the floor, and several metal shelves had already fallen over.

"Spread out," Ilya said quickly. "Look for the freezer."

Summer immediately moved to the left while Saddie checked the back of the kitchen.

[THREE MINUTES UNTIL POLLUTION ENERGY BURST.]

The warning echoed from outside.

Saddie’s fox ears flattened against her head. "I really hate countdowns."

"So do I," Summer muttered as she rubbed her rabbit ears, which were extremely sensitive to sound.

Summer stepped over a broken chair and walked deeper into the kitchen, checking every heavy door she could find.

Not long after, she noticed a thick metal door at the far end of the room.

The moment she saw the faded snowflake symbol on it, she immediately shouted, "Here!"

Ilya quickly came over to her. He grabbed the handle and tried to pull open the door, which was already covered in rust around the edges. The thick metal surface was scratched and dull, while the old rubber seal around the frame had started to crack.

[THREE MINUTES UNTIL POLLUTION ENERGY BURST.]

Even though they were inside the building, Summer could faintly hear several explosions in the distance. Soon after, smoke and thick gray fog started spreading across Zone 41, moving quickly between the ruined buildings.

The moment the mist started slipping into the hotel, Ilya finally managed to force the freezer door open. "Go! Go! Inside, now!"

He let Summer enter the walk-in freezer first, followed by Saddie, while he went in last.

Before the mist could reach them, Ilya had already closed the door and made sure there wasn’t even the smallest opening for outside air to get in.

[Damn it! Everything is so dark!]

[Summer, I can’t see anything! I’m scared! Let me pet you in your rabbit form!]

Those were the first comments Summer saw when she opened her terminal and used the light from the hologram screen.

"Fuck, this place is a mess." Saddie’s voice echoed through the freezer. Unlike Summer, at least she had a flashlight and used it to look around the entire room.

The electricity had clearly been dead for years, which meant all the food that had once been stored there had long since rotted away, so the smell was horrible.

Rotten food, dust, rust, and something Summer really didn’t want to identify had all mixed together.

Summer was about to say something, but she started coughing instead because the air was thick with dust and smell.

"Here." Ilya reached toward her and held out something small.

Summer looked down and she saw a tiny metal nose plug that almost looked like a piercing.

"It filters dust and bad smells," Ilya explained. "It can also give you oxygen."

Something this small could give her oxygen? She had never seen anything like that in her old world.

Still, she gladly accepted it. "Thanks."

Summer carefully placed the small device under her nose. The moment it locked into place, a faint stream of cool air flowed into her nose, and she could finally breathe without having to smell anything awful.

"Captain..." Saddie suddenly said. She blinked at him sweetly, even though she probably already knew acting cute would never work on him. "Do you have another one?"

"I only brought one," Ilya replied. Then he looked at her from head to toe. "Besides, why don’t you have something this important? Did your ex steal all of your basic supplies too?"

Saddie didn’t answer directly and avoided Ilya’s gaze. Just from that alone, Ilya already knew the answer.

Summer stared at her for a moment before asking, "Why are you even here?" she added, "I thought there weren’t any other high-ranking Sentinels left to handle things in this area."

More than that, Saddie had come here without much preparation, almost as if she had come here to die instead of survive.

"Ah..." Saddie scratched her cheek awkwardly. "Today is actually my day off."

She gave a nervous laugh. "But since I’m really short on money, I decided to enter a low-rank polluted zone. I just... didn’t read the alert saying that this place was having a sudden increase in polluted creatures, so..."

"So you came here without proper preparation because you thought you could finish the mission with a few bullets and your dreams?" Ilya cut her off, and his tone finally became more serious.

"Didn’t I always tell my soldiers not to underestimate any zone?" He looked straight at her. "Even if it’s only an F-Rank zone?"