Miguel checked his phone and answered the call right away the call when he saw it was Anthony calling.
“Yes, Master?”
Anthony watched Miguel's back and declared, “The spot's right where you're standing.”
Upon hearing that, Miguel glanced around and remarked, “But there's nothing here.” All around him were wildly grown weeds that were as tall as a person. Not a single soul was in sight.
Anthony said nothing else after receiving that feedback. He hung up the phone and got out of the car at once.
Witnessing the situation, Benjamin and Denise quickly followed suit.
Miguel laid his eyes on the approaching Anthony and shrugged. “There's nothing here!”
A small frown creased Anthony's forehead as he staked out the place as well.
It was at that time that Benjamin put forward an inquiry. “This watch is custom-made, so its location's very accurate. We had even managed to track Denise down in a remote valley back then, let alone a place like this...”
As a precaution, Anthony double-checked the location. “Benjamin's right. Thalia should be right here.”
“But... there's nothing around here...” Miguel swept a glance around the vicinity, and his gaze landed on the walls in front of him. “Don't tell me she's inside there?”
The group of people stared at the walls, their miens serious. “If she's not here, she must be inside. In any case, she has to be somewhere nearby.”
Miguel had absolute faith in Anthony. A word from the latter was more than sufficient to drive him to search the surroundings. “Is there any pathway we can get through with just this wall blocking us?” he asked during the interim.
The rest of them also started to search nearby for a way in.
Trailing along the wall, Denise surveyed the area. Just as she was about to say something, she suddenly noticed some marks on the ground.
Furrowing her brows, she squatted down.
From a distance, Benjamin's gaze was fixed on Denise. Seeing her squatting on the ground like that, he immediately asked, “Denise, what's wrong?” As he spoke, he quickly paced toward the girl.
Benjamin's voice made Anthony wheel around and eye Denise. Even when his gaze was pinned on the girl, he did not stop walking in her direction.
Soon enough, the others went to her and saw that she seemed to be fine. Only then did Benjamin breathe a sigh of relief. “Denise, what are you doing?”
“Ben, what do you think this is?” asked Denise.
Benjamin looked over and noticed drag marks on the ground. Upon clapping his eyes on those traces, he glanced around at the other areas. Yet, those marks could only be found at the spot they were standing.
“This entire vicinity reeks of nothing but desolation. It's unlikely anyone's around here. Plus, the marks are still quite clear, so they must've been left rather recently.” As Benjamin spoke, he looked ahead and added, “Let's move forward and check it out.”
“There's only the sea ahead of us. It's a dead end!” exclaimed Miguel.
However, Benjamin remained silent and simply continued walking forward.
The rest of them followed behind.
Originally, they thought that the end of the road would lead them to the sea, but much to their surprise, it turned out to be a downhill slope. After descending the slope, they were greeted by a huge gate at the side.
“Over there.” Benjamin pointed out.
Miguel was amazed, hence exclaiming, “Who designed this place?”
“It doesn't matter who designed it; what's important is whether they're inside or not,” refuted Anthony as he proceeded to walk straight in.
The trio eagerly and anxiously rushed inside.
By the time Miguel realized what was happening, the three of them had already entered the gate. He wanted to call out to them but was afraid of alerting the people inside. Consequently, he trotted to catch up with them. “Slow down, guys. Can you all please stay behind me instead?”
Even so, the three of them could not care less about him.
Miguel had to hurry up and dashed a little ahead of them, his eyes scanning the surroundings. It was as if he was anticipating an ambush.
Nevertheless, after they set foot inside, they stumbled upon a complete emptiness in the interior.
Miguel gazed around and then turned back to Anthony. “Master, are you sure this is the right location?”
Speaking of which, Anthony lifted his wrist to check the location. Just as he was about to get something off his mind, he noticed that the location was moving toward them all of a sudden.
“Over here,” he cried out before tallying the direction with that place. “Right here.”
As he spoke, he led the way inside, and the others trailed his steps then and there.
“Master, slow down, will you?” Miguel advised as he walked in front of the kids, fearing that he might not be able to protect all of them properly. To say that he was being cautious and careful would be an understatement.
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