Jake knew he had been made, but it didn't really matter at this point. He had learned everything he needed to know about Level A, so the fact that Skullface had likely already sent a team of guards to intercept him didn't concern him at all.

Besides, all Skullface knew so far was that a pilot named Omar had somehow hacked into the elevator and gone up to the hangar. He surely had no idea of Jake's true identity or what he was planning.

As soon as the door slid open, Jake stepped out of the elevator and took a quick look around.

Several helicopters were parked on the helipads that dotted the expansive area. Although the space was expansive, most of the helipads weren't occupied, and there wasn't a single human in sight.

However, there were plenty of turrets, though none of them paid him any mind. At least, not yet.

Jake knew that since the base could only be accessed from the chasm above, the only way out of the base was by aircraft. So he quickly approached the center of the hangar and took a look at one of the helicopters. With a thought, he placed an explosive magical trap beneath it, setting the trigger condition to activate if the helicopter lifted off the ground.

The trap looked like an orange circle drawn on the floor around the helicopter, adorned with flickering flames dancing along its perimeter. While the magical trap was visible to Jake since he was the one who created it, it was completely invisible to anyone else.

The magical trap could only be detected with a special detection spell. To deactivate it, another spell would need to be used. But the magical trap Jake had placed was high-level and required an equally high-level deactivation spell to neutralize it.

Skullface was a high-level survivor, so he would likely be able to both detect and deactivate the trap. However, if Skullface decided to flee, he would likely do so in a great hurry and wouldn't think to check a helicopter of his choice for magical traps.

And he wouldn't have any reason to do so, either. After all, Jake stood in the middle of the hangar, and all he was seemingly doing was just scanning his surroundings. He knew that placing magical traps and casting regular spells were undetectable through visual observation because it was done through simple mental commands.

So, if he was currently being watched, and Jake was absolutely sure he was, given the numerous surveillance cameras in the hangar, whoever monitored the feed would see nothing more than him looking around.

Skullface likely wouldn't have a reason to check the helicopters for magical traps if he chose to flee the base at any point. As soon as he entered a helicopter and took off, the magical trap below would be triggered, resulting in a powerful explosion capable of obliterating the helicopter and anyone inside.

But there was always a chance that even if Skullface decided to flee in a hurry, he might still have the presence of mind to inspect a helicopter for any potential magical traps and neutralize them, even knowing that such a deactivation spell couldn't be cast quickly.

Thus, Jake knew that after setting the traps, he needed to implement additional precautions in case that scenario unfolded.

Jake managed to place a magical trap under three helicopters when one of the elevators on the far side of the hangar slid open, disgorging several armed guards led by the woman he had met earlier, Moira.

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They jogged across the area to the center of the hangar, assault rifles raised and aimed at him. The guards formed a semicircle around him, while their leader, Moira, stepped forward, eyeing Jake with a mix of puzzlement and disapproval.

Although she was also armed with an assault rifle, she held it angled toward the floor rather than pointing it directly at him like her team did.

"Omar, what the hell are you doing here?" she asked. "You aren't supposed to be here. I know you're a pilot, but according to the new directive, you can't enter the hangar without clearance from your superiors. You're assigned to Level A now, which means you're not permitted to use the elevator to go up to the hangar or down to the mines. Didn't Qadir, your boss, inform you of that?"

Jake shook his head in response. Moira let out a sigh.

"Not surprising," she said. "He always forgets something. A more responsible person should be in charge of Level A."

"Someone like you, maybe?" one of the guards asked, a smirk spreading across his face.

Moira shot the guard an angry look, and he immediately shut up.

Jake couldn't help but notice that, while the guards had their weapons aimed at him, they all looked relatively relaxed. It was clear they had been instructed to intercept him and likely bring him back to Level A where he belonged, but that was the extent of it. They obviously didn't expect any trouble from him, still believing he was one of them.

Moira then frowned as another thought occurred to her.

"How did you even manage to get the elevator to take you up to the hangar?" she asked. "Access should be restricted for you now."

Jake simply pointed at his throat, which looked poorly healed. Moira glanced at it and said, "Guess you can't talk anymore, huh?"

One of the guards added, "He must've hacked the elevator somehow."

Another guard proposed an alternative theory: "Maybe since he just came back to the base, his ability to control the elevators hasn't been restricted yet."

"I doubt it," the first one countered. "Access for all the pilots was restricted even before they returned to the base."

Moira lowered her gaze, took one hand off her weapon, and tapped her earpiece, clearly listening to someone giving her further instructions.

After acknowledging her superior's orders, she looked back at Jake and said, "Skullface wants to see you right now, Omar. I hope you haven't done anything too serious? Other than getting to the hangar, I mean. Which, I suppose, isn't that serious an offense."

"Skullface probably wants to know how the hell he managed to get to the hangar if access is supposed to be restricted for him," one of the guards said. "He must've hacked the elevator to get here for some reason, which looks suspicious as hell if you ask me."

Moira looked at the guard for a moment before returning her gaze to Jake. From the expression on the woman's face, he could tell that she agreed with the guard and was now having her own doubts about him.

"Why the hell did you break into the hangar, Omar?" she asked, sounding as though she felt personally betrayed by his actions. "What were you even looking for here?"

Jake kept silent, staring back at Moira while his thoughts were focused on Skullface. He actually contemplated allowing her to escort him to Skullface's quarters. After all, eliminating him was one of the main reasons he had infiltrated the base in the first place. And after dealing with Skullface, he could free the captured survivors.

On the other hand, he felt a strong urge to rescue the enslaved survivors, who were forced to toil in the mines, before killing Skullface. His goal was to help them free one level of the mines after another, fully aware that Skullface would be closely monitoring everything happening there.

Jake really wanted the leader of the base to watch how his organization, which had taken so long to build, would crumble like a cookie.

Jake knew Skullface was deeply upset by the collapse of his secondary bases, which had fallen one after another, and now he wanted to make Skullface watch the same fate befall his main base. He wanted Skullface to witness the downfall of his evil organization in real time.

"Alright," the woman said, clearly disappointed when she realized Jake wasn't going to explain himself. "Let's take you to Skullface, Omar. Please cooperate and don't make this difficult. I don't want to hurt you. Just come with us peacefully, okay?"

Jake was still on the fence: should he let Moira take him to Skullface's quarters and then kill the leader of the gang, or should he get to the mines to free the captives first?

As Moira took a step toward him, Jake finally made a decision.

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