"Let's go," Nick said from behind.
The three at the front wanted to look at each other for reassurance, but that was quite dangerous.
Sure, right now, the Crimson Sea wasn't looking at them yet, but it was better not to get used to looking at each other.
Eventually, Clayton stepped forward, and the other two quickly followed.
Jenny kept her rifle ready and also walked forward.
As the four of them walked forward, Nick felt his ability reactivate again.
'Means nobody is following us.'
Then, Nick also started to walk forward.
Nick's goal had actually been the mountain from the very beginning.
The Swallowing Swamp had only been a short pitstop for him since he just wanted to confirm if it really was just a Force Specter.
There were a couple of reasons why Nick wanted to look for Specters on the Mountain.
The first was that he was certain that not many people looked at the mountain after the city gained access to the outside again.
Even Specialists weren't safe from the Crimson Sea, and any wrong turn was fatal.
The second reason was the fact that the Desert was directly adjacent.
Since the city was so interested in the Desert, many Experts and even the occasional Specialists were there.
With so many powerful people there, why would they need to send a weak team of Extractors to the mountain?
The Specialists would just look at it from the ground, and that would be search enough.
Maybe some Experts and Specialists also looked around a bit, but that was it.
What if there were a Specter here?
What if it were a Hatchling, Adolescent, or Adult?
Obviously, with only Experts and Specialists appearing here, the Specter wouldn't dare to show itself.
But if there were a couple of Initial Johns…
Nick was hoping that there was a Specter here and that it was desperate for some food.
Sadly, the chances were higher that there was simply no Specter here.
While the effects of the Specters could be seen all over the world, finding weak Specters that were easy to catch was still very difficult.
The five of them slowly climbed the mountain.
Suddenly, Nick's ability deactivated.
However, he had been prepared for that.
After all, the Crimson Sea, which was about three kilometers away from their current location, could probably see them by now.
At this moment, several eyes were probably looking at the five of them from a distance.
Luckily, the five of them couldn't be seen by anyone in the city since the red mist completely blocked them.
The five of them continued climbing.
Naturally, all of them were nervous and even scared.
Nick felt especially nervous due to his ability being inactive.
He always relied on his ability to tell him if somebody was looking at him, and his ability didn't work anymore since the Crimson Sea was constantly looking at him.
What if someone from Anatomy had found them climbing the mountain and was currently preparing to shoot at them from the base?
Sadly, Nick couldn't turn around to check.
He just had to believe that nobody was currently aiming a gun at them.
The five of them slowly ascended the mountain.
They wanted to go very slowly so that any possible Specter had ample opportunity to ambush them.
Nick was constantly ready to explode forward.
While he was willingly using his employees as bait, he would still do his absolute best to protect them.
They entrusted him with their lives, and he would not disappoint them.
As they climbed the lonely mountain in the middle of the wasteland, they looked upward.
They were about halfway to the top.
Nothing had attacked them yet.
All the stone around them was just as grey and jagged as it always was.
Nothing was happening.
Was there a Specter or not?
The answer seemed to be negative.
Nevertheless, they remained vigilant during their climb.
They continued climbing.
And eventually…
They reached the top.
Clayton slowly crawled onto the relatively even ground on the tip of the mountain.
He wanted to be sure that nobody from the Desert could see him.
The others waited.
Some seconds later, he crawled backward back to the group.
"There are three people near the Desert," he said. "Stay low."
The other four slowly continued advancing until they also reached the top.
And then…
That was it.
They were there.
There was nothing here.
Several seconds of silence passed.
"Let's go back down," Nick said. "Keep in mind not to turn around. We have to descend the mountain without looking down or backward."
The others nodded without looking at Nick.
Then, Nick slowly walked backward and grabbed the edge.
Climbing down without looking down was stressful and strange, but thanks to their powerful bodies, it wouldn't be very problematic.
Their descent was many times slower than their ascend, and Nick saw the four of them slowly descending.
His ability was still deactivated, making him nervous.
What if there was a Specter standing right behind him right now?
Nick did his best to remain calm and vigilant.
They continued descending.
Nick's ability would soon reactivate ag-
"AAAHH!"
"DON'T LOOK!"
BOOOOOOOM!
All hell broke loose.
Nick saw four long and thin appendages shooting out of the mountain.
These four appendages surrounded Petra and immediately pulled back into the mountain at insane speeds.
Nick could only see the light of Petra's Barrier shining before she was gone.
The scream had come from her.
As soon as Nick had seen what was going on, he had screamed not to look.
It was important that nobody turned around to look at Petra during this crisis lest they see the Crimson Sea.
At the same time as Nick shouted, Jenny jumped backward, away from the mountain.
And then, she fired her rifle.
A cloud of grey dust had appeared as soon as the four appendages shot out, and it was difficult to see whether or not Jenny had hit her target.
However, Nick trusted in her aim.
Most likely, she had hit the enemy without hitting Petra.
"I'm fine!" Jenny shouted from above Nick. "I can land on my own!"
Clayton and Jason had been slightly in front of Petra, and they had jumped up the mountain a bit to get away from whatever had just happened behind them.
BANG!
The stone below Nick exploded as he shot forward.
In an instant, he reached the grey cloud.
And then, he saw it.
A hole leading into the dark mountain.
There would be no sunlight in there.
BANG!
Without hesitation, Nick charged in.
