CHAPTER 181: CHAPTER 181: BENEATH THE SURFACE

A few months had passed since China’s definitive fall. The draconic conquest had consolidated itself in a manner as relentless as it was efficient, radically transforming the urban and social landscape. Where once dynamic and modern human cities had reigned, now stretched dark and imposing cities, rebuilt according to the cold and brutal architecture of dragons.

Forced labor camps now extended for kilometers, housing millions of enslaved humans. Day after day, they painfully extracted the raw materials vital to the draconic empire, building with their own hands the fortresses and cities that now embodied their own oppression.

The dragons had methodically reduced all human opposition to nothing. Each slave now bore a distinctive mark, a clear symbol of their inferior status. Those not assigned to extraction camps worked directly in dragon houses, servants submissive to the slightest desires of their reptilian masters.

For Mordred, observing this reality was like reliving a nightmare already experienced in another world. He saw the same tragedy repeating before his eyes, the same brutal submission imposed on human beings, the same dark and merciless fate. This time, he felt directly responsible, his conscience crushed by the weight of guilt he could not ignore.

Since his successful assassination of patriarch Varnor Ignivara, security measures within the draconic empire had reached unprecedented levels. The dragons, traumatized by the loss of such an emblematic figure, had imposed rigorous identity controls. Memorial crystals had been deployed everywhere, faithfully reproducing the mental image extracted directly from Syléane’s memory: Mordred’s draconic appearance. Now, his face was plastered in every security post, every urban center, every barracks.

Mordred could no longer move freely, not even in human form. In this new world, the sight of a free and clean human, without slave marks and without obvious signs of physical exhaustion, immediately aroused suspicion from draconic patrols. It was impossible for him and Livia to circulate on the surface without attracting immediate and fatal attention from dragons.

The situation had forced them to adopt a radical but effective solution. Mordred had decided to establish their base in the old ultra-secure penitentiary complex under Paris, a forgotten and hidden place, out of reach of dragons thanks to a single perfectly concealed entrance, protected by enchantments he had carefully put in place.

It had become their refuge, an underground fortress far from the Empire’s relentless gaze. In the depths of the old isolation cells, Mordred and Livia had organized their daily life, accumulating information, methodically preparing their next strategy.

Sitting before an old metal table recovered from the ruins, Livia looked at Mordred with a worried expression. He was lost in thought, his gaze fixed on a world map covered with scribbled notes and draconic symbols.

- "Mordred, you’re lost in your thoughts again," she remarked gently. "You’ve been staring at that map for hours."

He slowly raised his head toward her, his eyes marked with deep fatigue.

- "I can’t help thinking about it, Livia. We eliminated Varnor, but all we accomplished was to strengthen their grip even more."

She approached slowly, placing a gentle but firm hand on his shoulder.

- "You’re not responsible for this, Mordred. Varnor’s death was necessary. What they’re doing to humans, that’s not your fault. It’s their choice, not yours."

Mordred let out a slight sigh.

- "Yet I can’t stop thinking about the slaves up there. About the humans in the camps, in the houses. They’re experiencing exactly what I knew in the other world, Livia. I can’t let history repeat itself, again and again."

Livia perfectly understood his pain. She herself had felt this same rage upon discovering the extent of atrocities committed by dragons. But she also knew their room for maneuver was now terribly reduced.

- "We must remain cautious for now," she reminded him calmly. "The controls have become too strict. They have your image everywhere. The slightest misstep would condemn us both."

He nodded slowly, his features tense with silent frustration.

- "I know. But this won’t last forever. We must be ready to seize our chance, at the first opportunity."

He slowly straightened up, his determined gaze plunging into Livia’s.

- "And this opportunity might come sooner than expected. Maléor has deliberately slowed his offensives against the United States to stabilize the empire. He knows humans no longer represent an immediate threat. This strategic pause could work in our favor."

She frowned slightly, intrigued.

- "You think the dragons will lower their guard?"

Mordred slowly shook his head.

- "No, not really. But while they focus on their internal stability, we can accumulate information, weaken their bases, prepare a discreet human insurrection. If we act with enough caution, we can destabilize their empire at the very moment they least expect it."

Livia smiled slightly, impressed by his strategic insight despite the enormous pressure weighing on him.

- "You seem to already have a very precise idea of what we must do."

Livia’s words resonated softly in the heavy silence of the underground room. Mordred stared at her for a moment, his intense gaze illuminated by deep, almost fierce determination.

- "Exactly," he finally replied, his voice vibrant with renewed assurance. "This prison we live in is undetectable to dragons. Until now, I considered this luck. But it’s much more than that. It’s a weapon, Livia, a major strategic weapon."

Livia tilted her head, intrigued by the obvious certainty in Mordred’s voice.

- "What do you mean exactly?"

Mordred slowly approached a wall of the underground prison, placing his hand against the cold, damp stone.

- "I mean this prison isn’t simply hidden by chance. It’s protected by extremely powerful enchantments, designed to escape all magical or technological detection. If I can study these enchantments, reproduce them, adapt them to our use, then we’ll have a concrete possibility to change the game."

Livia’s eyes widened with sudden understanding.

- "You want to extend these enchantments to other places?"

- "Not just extend," said Mordred with a thin, cunning smile. "We’re going to dig. Dig secret tunnels from here, to the slave camps, to the main buildings of the city. Each tunnel will be protected by these same enchantments, completely invisible to dragons."

She remained silent, assimilating the scope of what Mordred had just proposed.

- "You imagine these tunnels would become..."

Mordred nodded gravely.

- "Yes. A path of salvation. A path of hope. Each night, slaves could discreetly leave their camps, reach this place. We would offer them temporary refuge, a space to breathe, to train, to regain lost dignity before having to return to work the following day."

Livia smiled slowly, a smile filled with cautious but palpable joy.

- "It would give them a reason to hope again. To believe that resistance is possible, even facing a power that seems invincible."

- "Exactly," confirmed Mordred. "It’s hope that makes the difference. As long as there remains a hint of hope, they will fight, resist, rise again."

He raised his eyes toward the dark ceiling of the cell, already visualizing precisely this network of complex and hidden tunnels, vibrating with silent activity each night.

- "But this is just a beginning," he added, more softly this time. "While slaves train and rebuild themselves each night, I’ll dig even further, well beyond Paris’s limits. We’ll establish a true base, larger, better protected, completely undetectable, sheltered from the draconic empire’s eyes."

Livia slowly became aware of this plan’s immense scope.

- "A secret operations base," she murmured slowly, fascinated. "Where they could flee definitively..."

- "Yes. A true resistance base, far enough not to be discovered. There, slaves who join us could live without fear of being found, without having to return each day to their nightmare."

She nodded slowly, amazed by the strategic depth of Mordred’s plan.

- "If this succeeds... Mordred, this is a real turning point. This could completely reverse the current dynamic."

He nodded slowly, his face becoming even more serious.

- "It won’t be easy, Livia. The risks are immense. A single misstep could condemn hundreds of people. But if we succeed, this invisible underground network will become our best weapon against dragons."

Livia slowly straightened up, determined, a renewed spark in her gaze.

- "Then let’s do it. I’ll be by your side, every night if necessary. Together, we’ll succeed."

Mordred smiled slightly, Livia’s determination reinforcing his own resolve.

- "I knew you’d say that. Let’s go then, there’s not a second to lose."

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Hi everyone, just to let you know that NovelBin doesn’t appreciate my new work "The Heir of Aethrim", judging it unworthy of what can be found on NovelBin, so I’m stopping it here and maybe I’ll publish it on another platform, I don’t know.

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Give me some platform ideas if you know of any, and have a nice day!

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I hope your ideas won’t be judged like that, and that they’ll take off in the flight of your creativity.