Jaden picked up his bag and the two devouring pups as he stepped down from the ASUV while looking around.

"Bre!"

"Bru!"

His gaze first landed on the enormous walls of the bunker, then his gaze shifted towards Maria, who was tapping at a machine on the left wall. The whole place was being brightened by lights and mana cores embedded in the ceiling and walls. The walls were surprisingly in much better condition than the infrastructure he had seen outside, and the floor was also clean, as if it had been taken care of every day.

"How surprising…" he muttered.

Turning around, his eyes fell on the iron doors that lined the right wall. Each of the gates had an insignia of a golden crown glowing with a heavy white glow like a white sun—the Imperial family's insignia was engraved on all of them.

As he stood there looking at the iron doors, a voice, followed by the sound of soft steps, called out to him.

"Oh? You woke up already?" Maria questioned with a raised eyebrow, a large blob of flowing silver floated beside her.

Jaden turned towards her and replied with a shrug.

"As you can see."

He bent down and let go of the devouring pups who were squirming in his hands for freedom. They let out soft barks before scampering around the enormous room

"Bre!"

"Bru!"

Maria and Jaden let out a chuckle after seeing their cute actions. She raised her hand towards the silver blob. The blob parted a little, giving way to her hand. She put her hand inside and took out what seemed to be a bag of chips.

She threw the bag of chips to him, which he caught. He looked at her in confusion, at which Maria let out a soft chuckle before she spoke with a smile.

"You can obtain food and drinkable water from that machine." Turning around, she pointed at the machine she was tapping on a moment ago before continuing, "Do not worry about the price, I will take care of it."

Jaden gave her a faint nod as he looked at the bag of chips. The bag did not have any branding; it was simply a blue bag with a silver strip at the top and bottom… However, it had a small black snake eating its own tail at the corner.

He raised an eyebrow. 'What is this?'

"I have to go now," Maria said and stepped towards the iron door at the centre of the right wall. She pointed to the door on the left and added, "You can take this one."

He gave a slight smile and bowed slightly before adding, "I thank you greatly for the kindness you have shown me."

She gave him a wide smile before opening the iron gate and stepping inside.

Just as she left, he turned towards the machine on the left wall and walked towards it. Just as he had expected, it was a modern vending machine.

He selected the same bag of chips and ordered it. The machine let out a low chime before a similar bag of chips fell from it. He bent down to pick it up. At the same time, the devouring pups came running to him and let out soft whimpers while clinging to his legs.

"Heh," he smirked and let out a chuckle before rubbing the tiny heads of both of the devouring pups. He picked up the bag and added before making his way toward the door that Maria had pointed to.

"Let's go."

The pups looked at each other before following him.

"Breee!"

"Bruuu!"

Jaden pushed open the iron door and stepped inside. Just as he stepped inside, the light within the room came to life. Everything became clear, and he could see the bed in the right corner. The table and chairs to the right of the entrance, with a sofa aligned with the corner.

To the left was another iron door—likely leading to the bath and toilet.

"It's not that bad…" he mumbled.

He walked near the table and placed both of the bags on the table as he looked around the short room. He checked the bed, the corners—everything.

The pups sat by the entrance, their heads tilted as they watched him.

Jaden finished checking the room and walked towards the table, tapped on it, and sat on the chair beside it. He looked at the pups, who were staring at him with tilted heads, and spoke.

"It's always good to be cautious… I hate dying the most, you know?"

He picked up the two bags and checked them one by one, his brows knitting together as he mumbled.

"Only one of them has the symbol of a snake… The one I bought myself, while the other had been given by Maria… does this have something to do with her?"

He placed the packets down and walked towards the pups. They licked his face as he picked them up and turned towards the door on the left. He opened the door and stepped inside, just as he had expected; it led to the bath and toilet.

He stepped closer to the bath, and the pups' expressions turned pale as they looked at the water filling the tub. They squirmed in his hands and tried to free themselves, but much to their surprise, it didn't work.

They lifted their small heads and looked at him with tears welling at the corner of their big, innocent black eyes. Jaden looked into their glistening eyes, smiling faintly as he mumbled.

"This won't work, you know? You both need to take a bath. I am doing the same, after all."

The pups' faces grew even paler; they opened their tiny mouths to protest—but then their world spun, and—

Plop…

______

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• 100 power stones = extra 1 chapter.

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• 100 collections = extra 1 chapter.

• Golden Castle = extra 5 chapters.

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