Chapter 21: The Royal Refinery
The surrounding of the Royal Dungeon was left bare.
No house was constructed close to it, and the nearest building was at least a few hundred meters away.
Anyone could see the reason why.
The Royal Dungeon was dangerous for regular people, and while the entire establishment had strong, powerful walls around it, residents of the city still had to keep their distance.
There was also the fact that refining the Minerals was a loud and inconvenient activity that would bother those living too close to the structures put in place.
Due to all of these factors, Rey knew he had to sneak in through very inconspicuous means.
There was an invisible energy dome that surrounded the entire compound, so he couldn't use his bird form to dive inside.
The reason for the barrier wasn't due to security, else the Royal Estate would have it too.
Instead, it was to prevent too much noise and air pollution from spreading to the rest of the city.
Refining Minerals was inevitably going to end up with tons of pollution as a result of the processes involved.
To prevent the Capital from suffering any adverse effects, the barrier was established.
It took Mana Crystals to sustain barriers of such Magnitude, and the Crystals had to be changed frequently, so it wasn't sustainable to constantly use the barrier.
'They only use it during production and refining. Afterwards, they turn off the barrier to save energy. If I wait until it's late, I should be able to enter—no big deal.'
Unfortunately, Rey didn't have all the time in the world.
The sooner he entered, the more time he would have to properly train and practice his Skills.
As a result, he decided to use the most reasonable option at his disposal.
~GLOP!~
He found a place to hide with [Stealth] and transformed his body to a new identity.
Afterward, he walked towards the main gate.
'Keep a confident front. You've got this!' Rey told himself as he kept marching forward.
Once he neared the front gate and the soldiers stationed there saw him, their eyes instantly popped out in surprise.
"H-Head Warrior!" They all yelled in shock.
Many of them had star-struck expressions on their faces. Nervousness filled the air, and shock pervaded all their demeanors.
'I guess Brutus is like a hero to them.' Rey felt his confidence strengthened.
He was currently taking on the form of one of the two strongest people in the entire Alliance, after all.
"W-what brings you here, sir?"
"Do you require our assistance for anything?"
"I love you, sir!"
So many mixed reactions filled the air as they stared at him intensely.
Rey felt a bit awkward, considering how he wasn't used to getting so much attention.
'It's as I suspected. Brutus hardly leaves the Royal Capital, so using this body won't place me in a complicated mess.'
His initial fear was that he could be asked certain things that only Brutus would know, or worse still... Brutus was already inside the compound and he would instantly be identified as an imposter.
'I made sure to confirm that Brutus was in the Royal Estate before arriving here, but it seems that was unnecessary.'
Everyone here was shocked to see him, which meant he hadn't made an appearance here in a while.
And more importantly, he wasn't going to do it anytime soon.
'I'll deal with that when the situation comes. For now, I should handle this.'
"It's been a while since I came here. I only want to have a look around..."
Speaking in Brutus' deep voice felt good to Rey for some reason, but he composed himself.
"In that case, we better inform—!"
"... Alone."
Once he said this, narrowing his brows in a knowing fashion, the skins of the guards jumped instantly.
"A-ah! Understood!"
Apparently, that was all he had to say to be granted access inside.
"H-here! Please wear these, sir."
One one hand was a special filter mask, and Rey instantly realized what it was for.
'The insides are very stuffy, so this prevents overexposure to the air poisoning.'
The mask had goggles attached to it, so his eyes were also safe from irritation.
The second item was a pair of Earplugs.
'It won't completely cancel the noise, but it blocks off most of the grinding and overbearing sound that pervades this establishment.'
Rey wore everything in a hurry, and after he was done, they opened the very thick and heavy doors for him to enter.
He swiftly entered, and they closed the doors instantly.
'Ahh... I see what happened now.' Rey smiled in his Brutus form.
The gates didn't use Energy Barriers, so they had to swiftly close the doors before too much of the noise and polluted air seeped out.
'I felt something while entering, though, so they must have some filter that prevents most of it from leaking out immediately.'
In any case, the entire structure was built very effectively, and now that Rey witnessed its interior, he confirmed that was the case.
So many large buildings and silos decorated the vast compound, and workers were walking in multiple directions, working their asses off.
No one really noticed him, since he was wearing a mask and goggles, and frankly everyone was too busy to pay him much mind.
'Second phase complete. Now for the final stage...'
It didn't take Rey too long to spot the entrance to the Royal Dungeon from where he stood.
A troop of Miners were charging in with their bags behind them and masks on their faces.
They had uniformed overalls that covered their bodies, so it was difficult to distinguish one from the other.
'Alright! Here goes!'
With a mischievous smile, Rey used [Stealth] and ran to join the ranks of miners, using his [Mimic] Skill to replicate their uniforms.
He instantly became one of them and went in as easily as they did.
Before long, he was able to enter the Dungeon's gaping mouth.
'Hehehe! So far, so good!'
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[A/N]
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