Supernatural Beings: Strive Survivors Vol. 2 (Steady Update)

Strive 137: Something's Wrong...

Kibishi's POV

Beep! Beep!

Tao was still standing outside with her tracker on her right palm. Huh. It seems like she upgraded the device during a short break. If so, then it bounds to have errors here and there, which won't make any sense to Tao. I think.

Putting that aside,

It seems like she has some doubts. The doubts of the Cetus are not hunting us down since the angel monster did. I have some doubts, too, but still, we can use this to our advantage.

Since no one is chasing after us, the best course of action is to figure out how to move forward. And I would need everyone's help.

However, that in itself won't be easy as well.

"She's still at it, Kib?"Jir asks while walking towards me alongside Kuma.

"Yup." I nod.

"I don't blame Tao for being this way. The first layer kicked our butt, and the only bad thing about this one is the Cetus." Kuma says while folding her arms. Kuma looks at the prison building. "Still, that doesn't explain the lack of creatures in this area as well. If I have to guess, it's either that area has the weakest hunting ground or-"

"-Or, they might be inside guarding the other prisoners. But even then," I heard Tao's voice, then saw her coming to join us with a severe expression, then placed her right arm on her hips. "Even if that's the case, there's no excuse for the lack of reinforcements in this area. Something about all of this isn't sitting well with me. It's getting to the point that the mission is getting way too easy."

Tao placed her hand under her chin.

"..." Tao had this stern expression while trying to figure out how this was happening.

"Guys, I think we're wasting too much time as is. I mean, I get it." Jir frowns and looks at the roof. "Nothing about this mission makes much sense to me, and this is ONLY the second layer. I would like to think that the higher area is more difficult than an underwater prison."

"Right," Kuma nods.

"..." Tao close her eyes. Tao then shakes her head. "*Sigh* This is tiring. I'll keep this mental note and write it down when I get home. My head is hurting me from trying to make sense out of nonsense. Let's just go..." Tao says while holding her head and walking ahead of us.

"You sure this time? This is the fifth time you say that to us and then turn around with your tracker. I want to confirm that this is the last time for the night." Kuma asks with concern written all over her face.

"...No, I'm not entirely sure. But I want to at least make progress before twirling my thumbs into something so illogical that it causes this much headache." Tao says honestly.

"That is fair. Come on, let's go upstairs to this prison." I say while cranking my megaphone.

Inside of the prison...

Upstairs...

Step! Step! Step!

I step foot on the upper floor of the prison building. I lift my other foot and now can view the place properly. I heard Tao, Kuma, and Jir walking side by side and meeting me on the top floor.

Nothing much changed since the bottom floor except maybe a couple more prisoners around her. But to my surprise, there are no creatures around here either.

"What the heck?" Kuma folded her arms.

"Okay, is it me, or are we getting this thing Scott free? Because nothing about this prison is making a lot of sense." Jir sounds confused, just like the rest of us.

"There's something suspicious about this underground prison." I started to say with a serious expression.

"Right," Tao says. "For example, there's not even ONE creature guarding this place. It's almost as if they're welcoming us." Tao says with a calm expression.

"Argh! Nothing about this makes any sense at all!" Kuma says while scratching her blue hair.

"Calm down, guys. Now is not the time for this." Jir says, sounding nervous. Jir places her hands on her hips and looks around. "Most likely, this place COULD be a trap of sorts. Though, even on that front, I don't believe that factor of the problem."

"So, now what?"Kuma asked.

"We'll still free the prisoners from in here. But we will stay behind and continue our investigation. Once the prisoners are out of the way, we must be ready for anything." Tao says, sounding determined to get to the bottom of this.

"Tao's right. This prison is WAY too strange. We had at least two creatures guarding our cell. What makes this place so different in comparison?" I say while bending my knee on the floor. I wipe my right hand on the floor and rub them together. "The prison is stable. It seems to be a bit older than ours. That means it could be that the creatures aren't used to this place yet. Even then, they should at least have guards around. Nothing about this makes sense, but we should move forward." I say seriously.

I turn around and look at Tao.

"Tao, you're thinking what I'm thinking?" I asked.

Tao nods and then looks at Kuma. "Kuma, contact the founder about the situation. Jir, you go with her and try to scout the area one last time for any switches or even traps. Kishi and I will stay here and free the rest of the prisoners."

"What would that accomplish? Because the reporting part." Jir asked.

"I get it. If we can get info from the founder- or better yet, Mato- then we should have an obvious idea of what's happening around the prison. I see; nice observation, you too." Kuma complimented us while looking serious.

"Why don't guys contact our "companion" while we're at it? They may know what's going on around here as well. This mission might be bigger than we expected." Kuma commented.

"My thoughts exactly. Now, I'm more awakened than ever. Let's do this." Tao says, sounding evening more determined than ever before.

"Me, too. I'll set up the teleporters for each group. That way, it'll make the progress a bit faster. I'm not sure how fast, but it's better than nothing." I said.

"Alright then, seems like we have a plan then?" Kuma narrows her eyes seriously. "Let's take down this prison and find out what's happening around this layer!" Kuma says, sounding determined to figure out the mystery of this place.

There are so many things wrong with this area.

It's almost as if they're mocking us and trying to get under our skin. NOTHING about this is normal, even for this place's standard.

This might be me trying to figure out a few things while thinking up nonsense, but-

This is just as strange as tonight's mission.

I'm sure it's connected somehow. And I have a pretty good idea of how the response for Mato and the founder will go. But let's see if it'll come true or not.

I'm hoping for the latter...

Anyway, it's time to work!

To Be Continued...