Episode-751
Chapter : 1501
"Listen to me," Lloyd said, leaning in. "You are going to close this book. You are going to tell your brother that the numbers gave you a headache. You are going to act bored. You are going to act weak."
"I can't," she said. "I can't look at him and not... scream."
"You must," Lloyd said. "For them. For the children in that facility. If you scream, they die. If you play the game... I can save them."
She stared at him. She saw the steel in his eyes. The Doctor Zayn mask was slipping, revealing the warrior beneath.
"Who are you?" she whispered. "You aren't just a doctor."
"I am the man who is going to burn that place to the ground," Lloyd said. "That is all you need to know."
He checked his pocket watch. "Our time is almost up. The guards will enter soon. You need to compose yourself. Breathe. Remember the stone. Siphon the fear."
Seraphina closed her eyes. She took a deep, shuddering breath. She placed her hand on her chest. She pushed the horror down, locking it away in a box in her mind.
When she opened her eyes, they were cold. Harder.
"Bored," she said. "I am bored of numbers."
"Perfect," Lloyd said.
Just then, the heavy bolts of the door slid back. The guards opened the doors. The functionary stepped in.
"Time, Doctor," he droned.
Lloyd bowed deeply. "Thank you. Her Highness has made excellent progress today. We discussed the... soothing nature of organization. Though I fear the details of the grain budget were a bit taxing."
Seraphina pushed the ledger away with a look of distaste. "It is tedious," she said, her voice steady. "So many numbers. My head hurts."
"Rest, Highness," Lloyd said. "I will return tomorrow."
He packed his bag. He turned to leave. As he walked out, he felt Cassius’s presence in the hallway. The Prince was standing in the shadows, watching.
Lloyd didn't look at him. He kept his head down, shuffling like a tired scholar.
"Did she find anything?" Cassius asked the functionary as Lloyd passed.
"She complained about the price of candles, Highness," the functionary reported. "She got bored after ten minutes."
Lloyd heard Cassius chuckle. A low, arrogant sound.
"Good," Cassius said. "Let her play at being queen. It keeps her occupied."
Lloyd walked away, his heart pounding a war drum against his ribs.
Laugh while you can, Prince, Lloyd thought. I just stole your secrets right from under your nose.
Back at the safe house, the air was thick with a nervous, electric energy. The moment the heavy oak door clicked shut and the privacy wards hummed to life, Lloyd Ferrum shed the persona of the humble scholar like a snake shedding its skin. He ripped off the stifling turban, running a hand through his hair, and tossed the wire-rimmed spectacles onto the table with a clatter.
"We have it," he announced, his voice low but vibrating with intensity.
Ken Park, who had been oiling a dagger in the corner, stood up instantly. Jasmin, who had been anxiously pacing the floor, froze.
"The location?" Ken asked, his voice steady as a rock.
"Sector 4, Grid 9," Lloyd said. He strode over to the wall where they had pinned a large, detailed map of Saber and its surrounding territories. He grabbed a piece of charcoal, his movements sharp and precise. He circled a spot north of the city, deep in the dense, uninhabited forest near the old, abandoned quarry.
"Here," Lloyd said, tapping the circle. "The 'Hothouse'. Site B in the ledgers. Officially, it is listed as a botanical research station for rare high-altitude flora. It has a boring name, a boring budget for fertilizer, and a boring location. But the supply manifest tells a different story. A story that belongs in a nightmare."
He turned back to them, his face grim. He began to list the items he had memorized from the Royal Ledger, reciting them with cold, clinical precision.
"Mana-suppression collars. Small sizes. Reinforced surgical tables with strap mounts. High-volume incinerators capable of burning organic matter at extreme temperatures. And massive amounts of food. Enough for... hundreds."
Jasmin covered her mouth with her hands, her eyes wide with horror. "Hundreds?" she whispered, her voice cracking.
"It's a factory," Lloyd said, his tone dark and heavy. "It isn't a prison. It isn't a dungeon. It is an industrial facility. Risa isn't just a prisoner, Jasmin. She is part of an inventory. They are processing them."
Chapter : 1502
He turned back to the map, tracing the terrain with his finger. "The terrain is rough. Dense woods, steep inclines. There is only one main road in, and according to the logistics report, it is heavily guarded by the Obsidian Eye. Checkpoints every mile. But..."
He tapped a spot near the quarry face.
"The ledgers mentioned a 'maintenance access' for the disposal units," Lloyd said. "Incinerators need ventilation. They need drainage for the... waste. There is a back door. Likely a drainage tunnel or a ventilation shaft near the old quarry face. It will be dirty, it will be dangerous, and it will likely smell like death. That is our way in."
"Security?" Ken asked, stepping closer to the map.
"Heavy," Lloyd replied. "The budget lists 'specialized contractors'. That means mercenaries. Or worse, elite Obsidian Eye units stationed permanently. And there are significant expenses for 'containment wards' and 'anti-scrying barriers'. They have magic defenses layers deep. If we touch the fence, they will know."
"So we can't just walk in," Jasmin said, her voice trembling but her chin set with determination.
"No," Lloyd said. "We infiltrate. We move like smoke. We hit them hard, we grab Risa, and we get out. And then..."
He looked at the map. He looked at the word 'Incinerators' he had scribbled in the margin. A cold fire ignited in his eyes.
"And then we blow it to hell," Lloyd said softly. "We destroy the research. We destroy the facility. We make sure they can never use this place again. We burn the Orchid House to the ground."
Ken looked at the map, assessing the tactical situation. He looked at Lloyd.
"When?" Ken asked. "Tonight?"
The room went silent. Jasmin looked at Lloyd, hope and urgency warring in her eyes. She wanted to say yes. She wanted to run out the door right now. Every second Risa was in there was a second of terror.
But Lloyd didn't say yes.
He stared at the map. He stared at the location of the Royal Palace relative to the Orchid House. He thought about the cold, dead eyes of Prince Cassius. He thought about the way the Prince had watched him leave the solar.
"No," Lloyd said slowly. "Not tonight."
Jasmin’s face fell. "But... Master! You said—"
"I know what I said," Lloyd interrupted gently. "But the situation has changed. Cassius is suspicious. He was watching me today. He knows Seraphina looked at the ledgers. He thinks she got bored, yes, but he is a paranoid man. He will be watching us. He will be watching the palace. If we move now... if we strike the core of his operation while his gaze is fixed on us... we walk into a trap."
He turned to face them fully.
"We have to go when the Prince is busy," Lloyd said, his voice firm. "Or, it won't be easy to touch their core."
"Busy?" Ken asked. "He runs the kingdom. He is always busy."
"Not busy enough," Lloyd corrected. "I mean distracted. Physically and mentally occupied. We need a window where he cannot respond immediately. Where his best guards are elsewhere. Where his attention is forced away from his secret projects."
"How do we do that?" Jasmin asked, frustration leaking into her voice. "Do we start a fire?"
"Too crude," Lloyd said. "And he has people for fires. We need a State event. A military review. A grand ball. Something that requires his personal presence and the presence of his elite guard."
He began to pace the small room, his mind whirring like a machine.
"The ledgers mentioned increased supply runs for the next week," Lloyd mused. "That means they are ramping up for something. A processing cycle. But it also means Cassius will be protecting his investment."
He stopped. "We wait. We watch. We use Ken's network to find out the Prince's schedule. We find the gap in his armor. It might be two days. It might be three. But we cannot strike until the spider looks away from the web."
Jasmin looked like she wanted to argue, but she bit her lip. She knew he was right. She knew that rushing in and getting captured would save no one.
"What do we do until then?" she asked quietly.
"We prepare," Lloyd said. "We turn this safe house into a war room. We are going to need more than just courage to breach that facility. We need gear."