Chapter 144: The New Mission And The Dangerous Calculation!
"Neve? Neve, wake up," Popi called out, her hand slowly jerking Neve’s shoulder back and forth.
She looked around the dark cave, trying to understand where they were. Thanks to the small reflection of light coming from the other side of the cave, she was able to see a little bit. Not much, but enough to make out shapes and shadows.
She could see where she was. The stone walls of the cave. The cold floor beneath them. The tall guards standing outside their prison room, blocking any chance of escape.
And she could see Neve sleeping unconscious beside her on the hard ground.
She was beginning to panic. Her heart was pounding in her chest. She did not know medicine like Neve did. She did not know how to treat injuries or illnesses like Gideon did. She did not know what to do except to keep calling his name over and over again, hoping he would hear her and wake up.
"Neve, wake up," she begged again, rocking him slowly. Her hands were shaking. Her voice was shaking.
Neve’s eyelid twitched as his eyes slowly opened.
"Neve!" Popi screamed, excited and relieved that he was finally awake.
"Hey! No talking!" one of the guards yelled from outside, his voice sharp and threatening. "Prisoners don’t get to make noise. Stay quiet or you’ll regret it!"
Popi frowned at the guard. She totally ignored his warning and looked back at Neve, focusing on making sure he was okay.
"Are you alright? How do you feel?" she asked, helping him sit up carefully. She was worried about his injuries. She was worried about his pregnancy.
Neve winced as he grabbed his stomach. He was checking to make sure his cubs were okay. He felt around his belly, assessing the situation. His cubs seemed fine. He looked around slowly, taking in his surroundings.
"Where are we?" he muttered, still wincing from the pain of the teleportation. His entire body felt weak and exhausted.
His memories started to flood back in. Everything came rushing back. The snow. The stranger with scales beside his eyes. The power. The speed. The absolute dominance.
He remembered how that snake bastard had slammed Cael into the tree. He remembered how Sable had tried to fight back and been thrown like he weighed nothing. He remembered the terror in their eyes.
Neve gasped, his fingers sinking deep into his hair.
"Cael. Sable. Are they fine?" he asked urgently, panic rising in his voice. "What if they were hurt? What if they’re dead? What if they bled out and no one was there to help them?"
The thoughts spiraled in his mind. Dark thoughts. Terrible possibilities.
Popi grabbed his hand and squeezed it gently.
"Nothing will happen to them," she said, trying to sound confident even though she was just as scared. "Let’s just find a way to survive since we can’t run away right now. We need to focus on staying alive."
Neve knew Popi was right, even though it hurt to accept it. He did not know the exact reason he had been brought to this place. He did not know what the snake king wanted from him. But he knew he did not want to be a tool here. He did not want to be used and discarded.
His hand moved to his inventory and he carefully took out some fruits. Apples and berries and other things that could be eaten. He split them between himself and Popi, making sure she got enough to eat.
They secretly ate so the guards would not catch them and question them. They kept their heads down and their voices quiet. They did not want to draw attention. They did not want to give the guards a reason to punish them.
As they ate, Popi asked the question that was weighing on both their minds.
"Do you think they’ll find us?" Popi asked, hugging her knees to her chest. "Cael, Sable, Gideon and the others? Do you think they’ll come rescue us?"
Neve swallowed the fruit in his mouth before answering.
"Let’s hope so," Neve said, his voice filled with a strange mixture of confidence and desperation. "There’s no way they’d just sit around and let anything bad happen to me. They’re my mates. They care about me. They’ll come for us."
He paused, thinking about what they could actually do to help themselves.
"As we wait for them, let’s also try to protect ourselves," Neve said. "We need to be smart. We need to watch the guards. We need to understand this place. We need to look for ways to escape if we get the chance."
"Hmm," Popi nodded in agreement, her expression becoming more determined.
They finished eating in silence. The guards did not notice. The guards did not seem to care. They just stood there, occasionally stealing glances at Popi in a way that made Neve’s skin crawl.
Just when Popi bit into her last fruit, Neve heard the system ding inside his head.
A notification appeared in his vision.
Neve frowned as he read it carefully.
[Special Mission: Save Maren’s mother]
[Reward: ???]
"A mission? In the enemy’s territory? How’s that even possible?" Neve muttered to himself, staring at the notification with confusion and suspicion.
Save Maren’s mother? Who was Maren? Who was his mother? And an unknown reward? That was extremely suspicious. The unknown reward could be trash. It could be something completely useless. It could be a trap.
He wanted to refuse it immediately. He wanted to dismiss the notification and pretend it had never appeared.
But he could not ignore the unknown reward. Unknown rewards from the system could be anything. It could be something that would help him escape. It could be something that would protect him and Popi. It could be something that would save his life.
He stared at the system notification and then looked back at Popi who was chewing slowly, lost in her own thoughts.
His eyes drifted to the guards who were standing outside the prison room. They were busy stealing glances at Popi. Long, lingering glances. Possessive glances. The kind of glances that made Neve’s protective instincts scream.
’This place is probably not safe for Popi,’ Neve thought to himself, watching the guards carefully. ’I’ll have to find a way to protect her while protecting myself. I can’t let anything happen to her. She’s under my protection now.’
He looked back at the mission notification.
’This reward better be worth it,’ he thought grimly.
Neve made his decision. He could not refuse. He could not ignore a potential opportunity. He accepted the mission and waited with trembling legs.
He accepted the mission and felt the system recognize his acceptance.
Now he would have to meet this Maren, whoever he was. Now he would have to treat this mother. Now he would have to use his healing abilities to save someone he did not know in hopes of getting a reward that might help him escape this nightmare.
But it was a risk he had to take.
It was a gamble with his own survival and Popi’s safety.
He’ll treat Maren’s mother and hurry out of here immediately.