Chapter 2212: Disguise
The managers all took a deep breath before they injected themselves with the special vial.
They all had similar expressions immediately. Even though this is the first time they are trying this in real life, they actually tried it before in the simulations. They knew full well, what the effects of this medicine are going to be.
And just like what they expected, they all hand this weird tingly feeling all over their body.
They couldn't understand where it is coming from, it is all over the place and nowhere at all. The next moment, on each of their bodies, there were some lumps forming. Their flesh is bubbling like some liquid on a stove.
Accompanying those bubbles is the severely itchy feeling. They could barely stop their urge to scratch their body all over some rough surface. Even a bed made of nails and spikes would look like a soft silk mattress to them.
They could only try and endure it.
Because they know the consequences of subjecting their bodies to any kind of external pressure at the moment. The bubbling increased as they gritted their teeth and waited for the process to be over.
After around three minutes that felt like three hours, they finally felt a sense of relief.
The bubbling died down slowly and their skin returned to normal. They sweated buckets by then and felt the effects of it. They hurriedly took out some drinks from their storage and rehydrated themselves.
This could be considered the first time their bodies actually underwent dehydration after they started cultivation seriously. Most of the time, spiritual energy will make sure that the body gets all the things it needs from the atmosphere.
But this is a special case.
Even though they could substitute the usage of water and other drinks with the spiritual energy, it is highly recommended to absorb as much liquid as possible.
After the process was finished, they came out of the dark room with no hesitation. They put away all of their weapons and changed into different set of clothes casually. There is no hurry or rush in their eyes.
It is almost like they are not the same people who were just now running away from the elders and instructors.
They acted like they have nowhere else to be.
After changing their attire, they walked out of the bar and started walking in different directions. By then, a few instructors were looking around hurriedly, their gazes swept past these eight people. However, none of them stopped them.
Icarus and Ivar were walking together for a few minutes, as they went past the Elder, that is extremely familiar with them. But he didn't stop them once again. They just walked away.
There is a lockdown in the city to ensure that no one would escape, but of course with so many killings happening everyone wanted to leave. There are people from other regions and just commoners in general.
All of them are swarming the city gates, demanding that they were let go.
But the elders completely took over the city.
Even the city guards' authority became completely secondary. They couldn't even wrestle the control back, even if they desired it. It is impossible to do so.
Of course, even if the commoners cannot do anything about the situation, the other academies and the other regions can. The people that are stuck here, immediately contacted their academies using their emergency means.
They people already moved.
The managers took different routes and all of them gathered at the exit waiting for the gates to open so that they could leave.
They didn't try to break through, nor did they use the transference tokens to escape back to the Hub. Right now, the Hub is compromised. At least the branch of the Olympian region. The Zeus academy's strongest elders are stationed there, trying to break it down.
They already barged into the Hub building after breaking through the walls. Even in such a state, they didn't just destroy everything. Instead, they tried to find people in there. That maze like structure and so many formations adding layers up on layers of concealment did pose a challenge.
However, they soon realized that the whole Hub is but an empty shell at this point. Of course, they didn't just break everything down. Even in such a state, they cannot stop their greedy hearts. They did find some rationalization though.
At least for this equipment someone must come back. Even if they don't they need this place to find clues that might lead to Joker and the managers.
The managers settled down in the crowd.
They all keenly observed each other. More precisely their new faces.
"I always thought that there is no such thing as perfect disguise, but this is the closest to the perfect one." Icarus said in a low voice. He activated a sound proof formation around them. Not just him most other groups did it. So, it didn't seem that suspicious.
"True. This just didn't change our face, it changed our whole body structure. I wonder how he even made this. Even though the duration is long, the disguise is perfect for however long it stays on us."
Another one of the managers replied.
"I asked him and he said something about taking the transformative genes from different creatures and using it in that serum.
I don't even understand it completely, but in short he used some kind of genes from different creatures and the final image that he had in mind to transform our original look to this." Ivar replied as he looked at his own hands and legs.
He is a few inches shorter and his hands are a bit chubby and longer.
He is completely different from the person he initially was. He is a lot of bulkier, chubbier, shorter and even a bit balder, with different hair color.
And that is not even the best part.
"The best part is that he even disguised the nature of our energy. Unless we use it excessively we won't break it. The other's wouldn't be able to sense our energy unless we let them. It is impeccable. If only he could perfect it so that we can keep it as long as we can.
It will be gone after a few hours and we need to top ourselves up with another vial before that if we want to keep up the disguise. There are only ten of those vials too. I wonder why he became so stingy."
Lan complained as she grumbled.
"Stop complaining. We already have enough. Anyway, if everything goes well, we don't even need to use the second vial. If my guess is right, the Sanatan region should be burning up right now." Daksh who rarely spoke said.
And just like he assumed, at the moment the Sanatan region is in intense blaze. Not the actual flames, but the current state... it might as well be burning right now.
There is a massive meeting happening at one of the common buildings of the region. Yes, they did have a few common areas. Unlike the other regions that are constantly in a state of conflict and with little to no cooperation at all... Sanatan region is a bit more harmonious.
At least on the surface level, they have much deeper cooperation compared to even the likes of Olympian region and Norse region.
The common buildings like the one they are in right now is a result of such cooperation. This common is hosting one of the biggest meetings in the history of the academy realm. The meeting has all the Deans, Grand elders, Senior elders and some core instructors along with the student council heads of each grade.
On top of all of them, there is one person who does not fall into any of the above mentioned categories.
However, he is the main attraction of the meeting. It is none other than Virat.
He just finished demonstrating what he discovered and said.
"This chip... I don't know how they created it. I doubt that I will even be able to break it down its structure and understand how its made any time soon. It is too intricate.
But I do understand that they are sending all the information they are collecting to somewhere else and my best guess is Hub. The surveillance exceeded the stealth of any of our existing methods. We never even suspected it one bit.
This is one of the greatest failures of the academy realm.
We need to quickly understand why they are doing this and where they came from. The information they have collected... the secret meetings, plots, spies... everything is within their grasp. With this much information and if the man behind this knows how to use...
Tsk, I believe that he knows how to use it more than anyone else.
The academy realm will face the biggest crisis that it has ever faced. It could even be destroyed root and stem.