Chapter 138: Bunker

Atlan and Geminus soared through the jungle-like garden atop the vine. It didn't take long for them to reach a place overgrown with weeds. If it weren't for Atlan's Thermal Vision, he wouldn't have noticed that there was a metal contraption underneath all those wild overgrowths."This is it," Geminus said as he commanded the vine to put them down.

"This is the Vineyard?" Atlan would have thought to look for an actual vineyard, but instead, he was peering down at a bunker that led deep underground.

Geminus nodded. "Yes, this is the Vineyard. Mister Vine, would you mind clearing the way for us?" Searᴄh the Nôvel(F)ire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Another vine connected to the main one swooped down at extremely fast speeds and before they knew it, the weeds were already cut down till they were nothing but green sprinkles in the air.

"Thank you."

The Vineyard was a bunker that was overgrown with moss and vines wrapping through the degraded concrete structure. But strangely enough, the double doors that led inside were perfectly preserved. The metal didn't seem to rust and remained structurally stable.

"I assume you have a ticket?"

Atlan took out his golden ticket and Geminus couldn't hide his surprise. He didn't think that such a young man would be given a golden ticket.

"Wow….Remind me, what's your job again?"

"Porter."

"...porter…" Even though Geminus knew of a porter's importance during missions, he didn't understand how that would be enough for him to be rewarded with a golden ticket.

"Can I go in?"

"Oh, yes. You can go in. Just put your golden ticket in the middle of the doors." Even though he wanted to ask, Geminus knew that it wasn't appropriate to inquire about such personal matters.

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"I won't be able to go in, but I hope you find what you're looking for. It's been a while since somebody came in here, so I hope it hasn't degraded like the garden haha."

Atlan slid the golden ticket in between the doors and a mysterious force sucked it in. It wasn't long before the sounds of gears turning and metal clanging resounded inside the bunker.

DUGSSHH

The double doors parted ways to reveal a staircase that led down to the depths underground. Other people might get a little frightened by the darkness, but Atlan spent all his life underground in the Unclaimed Lands. This was familiar.

Of course, he also had his Thermal Vision to help him navigate to where he wanted to go.

Atlan stepped inside and the door behind him immediately started to close.

"Oh, a little advice for you. I suggest you take your time and explore all your options before you pick the Genus that you want. It will kick you out the moment you pick a Genus from the vine," Geminus said as he waved goodbye at Atlan. "See you later!"

Then, the door closed. Atlan was all alone in the darkness.

With his Thermal Vision, he saw the whole bunker turn into a shade of blue. He easily distinguished the declining steps as he walked down.

Even though his LifeSkill was SR class, he wasn't able to see past the bunker.

Are the walls thick or do they have a mechanism that prevents my Thermal Vision from seeing through it?

Atlan walked down more steps until he finally came across a door with the number '1' ingrained into the very metal itself.

Seeing no other way to go, Atlan pushed the door open.

Immediately, fresh air from a gentle gust of natural wind hit his face.

Wow…

Now that he was inside, he finally figured out why it was called the Vineyard.

There was an endless row of trellises lined up in a neat and orderly fashion over a landscape in the plains. Vines grew on these trellises which bore strange fruits that glowed even in the sunlight.

But that wasn't the weirdest part.

He looked around and was stunned to see blue skies overhead. He couldn't understand how that was possible; they were tens of meters underground!

He was immediately blinded when he looked up at the 'sun' in the middle of the clouds. It was as if it was the real thing! Even when he used his new Photosynthesis mutation, he was surprised to find that he was still gaining 1 year for every second that elapsed, meaning that the 'sun' here was the real thing. It wasn't an illusion.

He walked forward and saw the first row of fruits that grew on the vineyard.

These 'fruits' had strange shapes and colors. Some had a uniform color, like a blue spherical peach-like fruit, or a velvety red banana. Some even had shapes that looked like 2D versions of animals! There was one indigo-colored fish-shaped fruit and one that looked like a roaring bear.

He was tempted to pick out one of these strange fruits, but he knew that he only had one chance to get what he wanted. If he picked one, then that's all he would get.

With his Thermal Vision, he saw the varying degrees of the fruits' internal body temperature. Some were burning like a raging flame, and some barely had a flicker of fire inside.

Does that mean that the fruits are weaker if they have less heat?

Atlan walked through the seemingly endless rows of fruits in the vineyard, but none of them caught his eye. Judging from the fact that this was the 1st floor, he guessed that every fruit in this place corresponded to a 1-star rarity Genus. He didn't need those.

He walked for what seemed like hours until he finally saw another bunker in the distance. He walked towards it and saw that the doors were wide open. It led even further down.

Atlan entered the bunker and walked down the steps.

He didn't stop until he found another door with the number '2' inscribed on the very metal itself.

He opened the door and was greeted with the same blue skies and vineyard, except the plains were now slightly inclined.

Atlan didn't stop walking and continued to search for the next bunker.

He unfolded his Angel Wings to breeze past the vineyard until he finally saw the bunker.

Atlan continued to go deeper and deeper underground, passing through an increasingly inclining vineyard and going through the same bunkers until he finally came across a door underground with the number '9' written on it.

This was the place where 9-star Genuses were stored.