Chapter 149: No Matter What It Takes!

Chapter 149: No Matter What It Takes!

Grinwall Country… Riverdale City… Riverdale Academy.

The revelations came at Tessa like a relentless tide, each one hitting harder than the last as she ruminated on the discovery of the past hour. Adrian had been captured, taken by Rhemon and his men, and every fiber of her being screamed for action.

She wanted to charge into Rhemon's lair and drag Adrian back, but there was one glaring problem: she had no idea where Rhemon actually was. His hideout was shrouded in secrecy, known only to those closest to him, and even then, sparingly.

The man she'd just rescued—a fast talker, clumsy, but determined agent—had divulged little useful information. He confessed he was only a low-level operative, someone who barely scraped the inner circles of Rhemon's sprawling network.

Most agents, he explained, were kept in the dark, especially those at levels four and five. Only the elite, level 3 and above, especially those bound to Rhemon by blood oath or dangerous loyalty, were granted knowledge of his true base of operations.

Reek Manor, he said, was merely one of Rhemon's many fronts, a place where agents gathered and missions were assigned. But the real Rhemon? His movements were like smoke in the wind—unpredictable, unseen, and impossible to pin down. Only those with critical responsibilities knew even a hint of his whereabouts.

Desperate for any lead, Tessa had asked the agent, who went by Heziah Eric, to attempt a login to the organization's database. But as he tried, his face fell. Headquarters had marked him as dead, and in doing so, had purged his records from the system. His identity, his clearance, his past—gone in an instant, as though he'd never existed.

Heziah, seeing the cold abandonment of his former allegiance, had turned to Tessa with a surprising sincerity. "I swear my loyalty to you, Tessa," he'd said, his voice carrying the weight of betrayal. "Rhemon's agency abandoned me the moment they thought I was dead. No one came looking, no one cared. So, I'm offering my services to you as a spy, however you see fit."

Tessa considered his words carefully. Trusting an ex-agent of Rhemon was a dangerous gamble, but she knew she needed allies, people who understood the organization's twisted inner workings. If Heziah was telling the truth, he could be invaluable.

With a heavy sigh, Tessa made her decision. Charging off blindly would only land her in a trap, and she couldn't afford to take risks that would leave Adrian's fate uncertain. She needed a plan—one that could turn her scattered leads into a solid path toward Rhemon.

"Let's go back to Riverdale Academy," she finally said, her tone calm but resolute. Beneath the husk of a school lay a huge underground school base, a facility not known to any outsider, where the students were free and safe to enjoy good schooling system without interruptions, where the corrupted government system cannot interfere.

It is hidden within the academy's deep foundations. There, Tessa could strategize, piecing together what little information they had and exploring every option. She couldn't afford mistakes now. Adrian's life depended on her precision, her patience, and her ability to find clarity in the chaos.

Heziah followed her closely as they made their way to the underground entrance of Riverdale Academy. Tessa moved with swift, purposeful steps, and Heziah, though still reeling from the shift in his allegiance, couldn't help but feel an odd sense of security in her presence.

As they approached a discreet, metal panel embedded into the academy's stone walls, Tessa pressed a hidden button. With a faint hiss, a door slid open at ground level, revealing a dark passageway stretching down into the depths of the academy.

Heziah's eyes widened as he stepped inside, glancing around in disbelief. He'd been an agent under Rhemon, privy to information that the general public have no idea of, and certain knowledge that would make a grown man cry, yet this—this hidden world beneath Riverdale Academy—was something beyond anything he'd known.

His thoughts spun as he struggled to reconcile this revelation with the data he'd once trusted. How could such a place have existed, completely off the radar? He kept glancing around, his awe mingling with a hint of unease. "This… none of our records mentioned anything like this," he muttered to himself, barely realizing he'd spoken aloud.

The passage opened up into a vast underground chamber, with ceilings towering 25 feet above them. The sight before him was breathtaking—a stunning blend of nature and technology.

Along the glass walls surrounding them, schools of colorful fish swam gracefully in massive aquariums, the water shimmering in ambient blue light.

Heziah's gaze swept over the space, captivated by the underwater ecosystem thriving within the confines of reinforced glass. It was as though they'd stepped into an underwater sanctuary, one that defied the sterile environments he'd known in Rhemon's hideouts.

Tessa glanced back at him, catching his awestruck expression. "This place was built as a school as well as a sanctuary," she explained, her tone quiet yet resolute. "Few outsiders know of its existence, and fewer still understand its purpose. It's more than just a hideout. It's a space to keep the students safe and sound, it is also a place to keep out of sight, to think, to strategize, without the outside world pressing in."

Heziah nodded, absorbing her words as they continued down a long walkway that led to a room that the proprietor, had given Tessa for her privacy. Waiting outside the room was Nyala and Principal Hammond, amongst other worried onlookers.

Tessa pushed the heavy door open and stepped inside, motioning for the others to follow. She gestured to an empty seat at the table and sat down, her expression serious yet composed. Heziah hesitated for a moment before joining her, his curiosity growing. Principal Hammond and Nyala took their seats as well, the room settling into an expectant silence.

Tessa took a deep breath, her gaze sweeping over the group. "Adrian has been captured," she began, her voice steady but laced with urgency. "Rhemon Sanchez is holding him. We don't have much time."

Nyala's eyes widened, and her lip quivered as silent tears streamed down her face. She wiped them away quickly, trying to maintain her composure. Principal Hammond's usually stern demeanor softened, a flicker of sorrow crossing his face, though he quickly masked it with a determined nod.

Tessa leaned forward, pulling out a folded map from her bag. She spread it across the table, revealing a detailed layout of the region. Her fingers traced over a few key landmarks before pausing at a large estate labeled Reek Manor.

Tessa then started looking through a map and called Heziah to help her identify Reek Manor. Heziah leaned in, watching as she overlaid one map with another, tracing paths and marking potential locations.

"So, Heziah," she said, her eyes still fixed on the screen, "if Rhemon doesn't use Reek Manor as his base, where would he hide?"

Heziah thought for a moment, considering her question. "Where there is smoke, there is bound to be fire, although I don't know where he is exactly, but one can trace his general location from his habits. Rhemon thrives on control and unpredictability. He wouldn't place himself in a known location. But he does have patterns… he often retreats to locations that offer both isolation and access to power sources."

Tessa's gaze sharpened, her mind working quickly. "Then we'll find his patterns. Every trace, every movement—no matter how small. We'll map it all."

For the first time since they had entered, Heziah felt a surge of hope. This wasn't just a desperate attempt to save Adrian; this was a calculated strategy led by someone who wouldn't stop until every piece fit. And as Tessa's fingers flew across the keyboard, her face set with determination, he knew he had chosen the right side.

Proprietor Hammond and Nyala also racked their brains trying to come up with any useful ideas.

Whatever it took, they would find Adrian—and when they did, Rhemon would finally face the reckoning he had so long evaded.