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Chapter 48: Chapter 48: Road Trip to Hell

"Did I hear someone complaining?"

"No, Ma\'am!"

"Good."

"...But another person, I\'m afraid our baby can\'t take it anymore."

"Did I hear someone complaining again?"

"No, Ma\'am!"

Rhys had initially thought he would finally get the chance to at least try and conquer one of Ayesha\'s hearts, but no. The mission that he thought he and Ayesha would tackle alone did not happen... as the entire Faceless crew was actually ordered to tag along.

And now, they were all trying to cram themselves in the Faceless Crew\'s old jeep, with No. 2 barely even fitting in the driver\'s seat now that the morbidly obese No. 5 and sleeping No. 3 were both sitting shotgun.

Normally, No. 2 would have already gone off and started going livid and saying all sorts of beautiful words. But alas, with Commander Ayesha at the back, No. 2 could really only swallow everything she wanted to say.

And it did not help that Ayesha\'s hearing was probably a hundred times better than most people\'s. And so, No. 2 had no choice but to just caress their jeep, hoping it would survive this ordeal. Thankfully, the region they were in was nothing but a sea of grass for miles and miles; barely even any humps.

All the members of the Faceless crew were wearing their masks, except for Rhys, as he wasn\'t here as a member of the crew, but as Commander Ayesha\'s plus one, and even though they were already crammed at the back, Ayesha had one side of the jeep all to herself. And they just sat there, completely in silence until that is, they neared their destination.

"Are those... dead monsters?"

It was hard to ignore the corpses sprawled and scattered everywhere. Barely even recognizable as they were just lumps of flesh and limbs. No. 2 did not even make an effort to avoid them, as he just ran over them causing the jeep to bounce several times.

"Gathering like flies for an opportunity to come up to the Surface," Ayesha just slightly tilted her head to look at the corpses, "I guess this is the first time you\'ll be seeing a Dig?"

"Yes, Ma\'am."

"Ma\'am...? Well hot damn, Rhys. What happened to just calling me Ayesha?" Ayesha\'s eyebrow rose up as he looked at Rhys, making sure everyone heard what she was saying, "You were just calling me by my name earlier when we were alone in my office and even holding my hand with your big, hot hands."

And with those words, everyone except No. 3 and No. 4 immediately looked at Rhys; the smiles on their faces, almost sinister as they very subtly nodded to him.

As for Rhys, he could really only close his eyes and lament the fact that the others would surely tease and egg on him after this—and that\'s most likely what Ayesha wanted. But perhaps the most frustrating thing about all of this...

...is that he could still not hear Ayesha\'s desire, not even once.

"Anyway, this your first time seeing a Dig, Recruit?" Ayesha repeated her question, "And call me Ayesha from now on, that\'s an order.

"Yes, Ayesha."

"Pft," Ayesha seemed to truly enjoy teasing Rhys. And it wasn\'t only her, No. 2 also tried her best not to laugh, "These monsters we\'re running over right now? They\'re hoping to slip by while some other beast is digging through the Surface — sadly for them, Explorers usually hunt them down before they can even dive through the Dig. My mission is literally to stop the Dig from becoming a full-pledged Hole... sounds dirty, right?"

"May I ask a question, Ma\'am?" No. 1 raised his hand; his voice, extremely timid and filled with respect.

"Hm, I\'ll allow it," Ayesha waved her hand.

"What... level is the monster responsible for the Dig for the government to request your aid?"

"Level 8."

"!!!" No. 2 almost stepped on the brakes when Ayesha\'s whisper reached his ear. The level of the monsters is decided, declared, and ordained by the World Government. Level 1 being the weakest, and Level 10 being a Continent-level threat.

The gigantic Hole in which the Underworld Corps made their base around was dug by a Level 9 beast, the Colossal Hydra, and was considered a threat to multiple countries. That is why the area surrounding the Hole back in Surface was nothing but a wasteland.

A Level 8 is a threat to an entire country.

...And Commander Ayesha just dragged them to that?

"It\'s a Cyclops Barbarian," Commander Ayesha just let out a small yawn, "Should be fun."

"What\'s our role in this mission, Ma\'am?" Everyone could hear No. 1 taking in a gulp, "Do we help the Explorers in clearing stragglers?"

"The Faceless Crew will."

"Including No. 6, Ma\'am?"

"What? No, psh," Ayesha snorted, "Do you see him wearing a mask? His role...

...is with me."

***

"Commander Ayesha!"

"Stop with the saluting, you\'re not even military."

"O... okay."

"And this tall punk is Rhys, my bodyguard. Greet him."

"H... hello."

"Hm."

Rhys was expecting an even more chaotic scenery when they arrived at their destination—but no. A lot of people were there, with steel trusses and several tents already set up. There was also some sort of metal cladding, leading to the large hole that was in the very center of the temporary camp.

"It\'s... larger than the one we have at the base."

"That\'s what she said," Ayesha quickly slapped Rhys\'s back, almost causing him to tumble to the ground, "Anyway, Recruit. I have something to talk about with this old guy, feel free to roam around but don\'t go too far or join the freaks, they have a different mission."

"Yes, M—Ayesha."

"Hm, now shoo. Go play or something," Ayesha gestured to Rhys to leave as she walked inside a tent; going inside first like it was hers.

"..." Rhys stared at the tent for a few seconds before deciding to just look around the camp. There were many people there looking at him, but Rhys did not really mind as he walked toward the so-called Dig. Sadly for him, however, he was not even able to get near the Dig before someone finally approached him.

"Is... that a Lowborn? It\'s my first time seeing one."

"Who cares, the real question is what it\'s doing here."

"No, the real question here is why is it so tall?"

"..." Rhys would have completely ignored them, but it was hard to do that when the group decided to block his path. Rhys could really only sigh as he glanced at them, only to almost be blinded by the color of their faintly glowing hair—

—a sign of nobility.

"Ew! Did... did it just look at me!?"