Nero really wanted to get that innate ability upgrade, but it was a fact that only Arter and Maximilian could provide it to them. If they had unlimited time then Nero would have combed through the Vault looking for it himself, but it was not possible right now. They had barely covered a small portion of this facility that used to house hundreds of workers at one point.
Arter and Maximilian could even tell them that such a procedure was no longer possible since they used up all the supplies, and Nero would have no way of knowing if they were telling the truth or lying.
The truth was that Nero considered coming up with a complicated plan to get them to divulge the details, but such a thing was not something he could execute in their present circumstances, and the chances of failure were high. So he came up with a better, more direct plan.
He would try to trade with them, and if they complied then that would be for the best. If not, then he would subtly influence circumstances so that they would be forced to trade.
"What do you have to trade?" Arter asked after a moment of silence.
"I have duplicate copies of unranked cards, Aether candies that offer physical recovery and aether recovery, as well as weapons that augment your physical capabilities while you use them," said Nero.
Arter and Maximilian shared a look, though what that look represented was hard to tell.
"I can allow you to look at the cards. They're pretty good. One allows you to have invincible defence, one allows you to practically come back from the dead while the last one might be able to push back the fog. We will need to test it out to be sure."
"The weapons aren't bad either," Gabriel said as he drew the dagger and displayed his sudden boost in speed.
Their display, while tempting, did not get the reaction Nero was hoping for. Although, to a degree, it was also expected.
"Unfortunately, we have nothing we can trade with," Arter said. It was true. While Gabriel and Nero had explored multiple rooms, the two of them spent most of their time experiencing the upgrade, which was a long and painful process, and then getting used to their new abilities.
"What about the ability upgrade? Or whatever is in those briefcases?" Nero asked. "I don't mean to tell you what to do, but leaving this place is not going to be particularly easy. We will have to fight our way out. It's not going to be so simple with you carrying those briefcases."
Their expressions worsened, since even though Nero was telling the truth, it sounded a whole lot like a threat.
"We will manage," Arter said. "If the situation becomes drastic we might consider leaving the cases behind and destroying them since we can't risk them falling into the wrong hands, but otherwise, it will be worth it. More importantly, even if we wanted to help you get the upgrade we can't. As it happened, there were only two such injections available."
Arter glanced at Gabriel as he spoke, almost as if he was waiting for Gabriel to realise what he was talking about.
"That's a shame," Nero said, with genuine disappointment in his voice. "But we can't dwell on such things anymore. We've already disabled the security node, so it's time to get out of here. We haven't been able to find another exit to this place. We haven't run into Jessie either.
I have no idea where she is or what she might be doing, but we need to exit, and it looks like we'll have to go out the same way we came in. Unless you guys managed to find another exit to this place."
That made Arter and Maximilian genuinely frown. None of them had forgotten the attack they faced in the last moments before they entered the Vault. More importantly, they remembered the dark berserkers continuously slamming into the opening, as if they were determined to enter.
If they were really as determined as they appeared, then a small army of dark berserkers would be waiting for them upon exit. Even with their upgrades, they were not arrogant enough to think they could take them all on alone.
"If we can communicate with the outside somehow, we can try and request backup," Maximilian said.
"I've seen a map of the vault. There's no communication room, but there is a logistics bay. Maybe that might have a way to contact other parts of the facility."
"You've seen a map? Are you sure there was no other exit on it? Can you show us?" Maximilian suddenly asked.
Nero wanted to reject the offer, stating that they would have to pay if they wanted Nero's help, and there was only one price to gain his help. But it was premature. He was at least 50% certain that whatever they used to upgrade their abilities was inside those briefcases.
As such, he wanted to maintain the facade of cooperation until a critical moment when they needed his help. At the same time, he also wanted to exit from here, so there was no harm in cooperating for now.
Although this was the first time Nero was conniving against someone like this, it was not so hard. It was about taking certain risks, and unfolding his plan at the critical moment. It was a shame things unfolded like this. Nero even revealed some of their gains as a gesture of good faith, but not only was it not returned, Arter and Maximilian had essentially not revealed anything about their gains.
Even if the briefcases did not contain the secret to upgrading their abilities, what they did contain was not revealed either.
Since that was the case, Nero didn't feel bad about taking advantage of them at all.
"Follow me," Nero said as he navigated the halls back to the room where he saw the map and pulled it up on the computer for the others to view it. They looked for details of an escape route, but besides the one entrance, there was no other - at least on the map.
"There's a security room," Maximilian said, pointing towards a side of the map. "I think our chances there are much better than the logistics room."
Nero frowned, and looked at the map. The place on the map was marked as "Saufte" which he had been unable to decipher as meaning the security room when he first saw it.
"You're familiar with old Valen?" Nero could not help but ask.
"Familiar is one way to put it," Maximilian said with a begrudging voice. "My father is a little… eccentric. I've been exposed to a number of very unusual things. Old Valen is still one of the more relevant pieces of knowledge that I have."
"And there's no other exit on the map?" Arter asked, reading the map for himself but finding himself unable to decipher the unfamiliar words.
"None."
"The security room seems like a good option," Nero admitted. "Even if there's no way to contact the outside, it might help us better equip ourselves. If that doesn't work we can try the logistics room. Otherwise, we will just have to risk going out on our own. I don't want to stay here for too long."
Nero thought about mentioning that their chances of surviving would be stronger if he and Gabriel had an upgrade in powers, but resisted. It was clear that Arter's guard was up, much more than Maximilian, and Nero had to be sure he was in the perfect situation before he proposed the idea of the trade once more. It was fortunate that he had endless patience.
They made their way to the security room, and paused. On the way Nero had been considering how to destroy any evidence of him and Gabriel moving the corpse in case the surveillance in the security room was active. He strongly suspected that Arter was thinking the same thing, but for how they got their upgrades.
As it turned out, they didn't need to. Compared to many other places, the destruction in the security room was thorough! There weren't even corpses here, only random bones. All the machines were thoroughly destroyed, and there were deep gashes in the walls, revealing the adjacent rooms even.
Standing at the entrance, as Nero analysed the room, he got the feeling that the security room was taken by surprise. Someone had attacked them when they were unprepared, with such devastating strength that they were unable to retaliate at all. It was a complete and genuine slaughter.
It saved Nero from the task of destroying evidence of what he did, but he strongly suspected that whoever attacked the security room so long ago had the same intentions. They wanted to destroy any evidence of what happened here, or what was about to happen at that time.
Nero walked it and searched the rubble that cluttered the floor, hoping to find something useful. Maybe there were weapons or armour that he could use. But there was nothing of the sort.
"Logistics room it is," Gabriel said.