I'm Trapped Inside a Prince as the Most Powerful Entity-Chapter 54: New Paths and Hidden Entrances

Back in the small, dusty room hidden within the dilapidated two-story wooden building, Bryan, the bald Spider Syndicate captain, held the large, humming teleportation crystal in his hands. It pulsed with a faint, dark energy, the strange symbols etched on its surface glowing ominously. This was their emergency escape route, their one-way ticket to the Syndicate’s main headquarters.

He glanced at Billy, the younger, sharp-witted agent. "Ready?" Bryan grunted.

Billy nodded curtly, his face grim. He reached out and placed a hand firmly on Bryan’s shoulder. He then looked back at Malkor, the terrified thug who had brought them the warning and who Oliver had ordered to escape with them. Malkor, seeing Billy’s look, quickly understood. He stepped forward hesitantly and placed his own trembling hand on Billy’s other shoulder, completing the chain.

The moment Malkor’s hand made contact, Bryan poured a surge of his own magical energy into the dark crystal.

Instantly, a brilliant blue light erupted from the crystal, engulfing the three of them. The light was so intense it momentarily blinded them. There was a rushing sound, a feeling of immense pressure, and then, just as suddenly as it had begun, the light vanished.

Bryan, Billy, and Malkor found themselves standing, not in the dusty room, but in a completely different environment. They were in a dense forest.

Giant trees with thick trunks towered over them, their leafy canopies blocking out most of the sky, creating a dim, green-tinged twilight even though it was likely still daytime outside the forest.

The air was damp and cool, filled with the earthy smell of decaying leaves and pine needles.

Billy was the first to react. He took his hand off Bryan’s shoulder and stepped forward, looking around the unfamiliar woods with a cautious expression. He seemed to be trying to get his bearings.

Bryan also looked around, a frown creasing his face. This wasn’t what he had expected. Malkor, still shaking from the teleportation and the earlier terror, looked utterly bewildered.

"Master Bryan," Malkor stammered, looking at the dense trees surrounding them. "I thought... I thought the crystal was supposed to take us to the main base? This... this is just a forest."

Bryan grunted, clearly just as confused. He looked towards Billy, who was now walking a short distance ahead, examining the trees closely. "Don’t ask me," Bryan snapped at Malkor, his own uncertainty making him irritable. "I’ve never been to the main headquarters before. Only a few high-ranking operatives ever get summoned there directly."

Malkor quickly fell silent, understanding that Billy was the only one among them who might know where they were, or where they were supposed to be going.

Billy continued walking a little further into the dense woods, his eyes scanning the trees. He stopped abruptly in front of a peculiar cluster of three enormous, ancient-looking oak trees that grew unusually close together, their massive roots intertwining.

He reached out and tapped the trunk of the middle tree three times – tap, tap, tap. He waited a few seconds, then tapped it three times again. After another short pause, he tapped it a final three times. A specific, coded rhythm.

For a moment, nothing happened. Bryan and Malkor watched, confused. Then, with a low, grinding rumble that seemed to come from deep within the earth, the three massive trees began to move.

They didn’t fall; they seemed to shimmer and fade, as if they were illusions. In their place, a dark opening appeared in the side of a large, moss-covered boulder that hadn’t been visible before.

The opening led downwards, into a sloping passage that disappeared into the earth. It looked like the entrance to a cave, or perhaps something more deliberately constructed. No light came from within.

Billy turned back to Bryan and Malkor, who were staring at the hidden entrance with wide, astonished eyes. "Well?" Billy said impatiently. "Are you coming or not? We need to move quickly."

Without waiting for their reply, Billy turned and stepped into the dark passage. Bryan and Malkor exchanged a quick, nervous look, then hurried after him, disappearing into the hidden entrance beneath the forest floor.

Scene Shift: Back in the Spider Syndicate’s Crestport Hideout

Meanwhile, back in the bloody corridor of the Syndicate’s Crestport base, Adam, Alina, and Lucas stood near the lifeless body of Oliver. The immediate threat seemed to be over.

Lucas, still looking pale but more composed now after Adam had healed his arm, surveyed the carnage around them. "We should check further in," he suggested, his voice a little shaky. "there’s another way out, perhaps some clue about where the others went."

Adam, who had been silently observing the corridor ahead, turned his empty white eyes towards Lucas. "There is only one more significant chamber ahead," Adam stated flatly.

"the man Oliver sent running, and the other two, they have already fled from that room. They are no longer in this immediate section of the base."

Lucas frowned at this information. "If they’ve already escaped from here," he said, a new worry creasing his brow, "that’s dangerous. They could be anywhere in the city by now, hiding, regrouping." freёnovelkiss.com

Adam shook his head slightly. "I do not believe their primary goal is to hide within this city," he said, his voice calm and analytical. "Given the information extracted from Oliver, their main objective will be to return to their primary base. To leave this kingdom entirely and report back to their headquarters."

While Adam and Lucas were discussing this, Alina stood silently nearby, her mind racing. She was thinking about what Adam had said – that her mother might still be alive, held at the Syndicate’s main base in the Roland Kingdom. But how would she get there? Her teleportation ability was tricky.

She could teleport to a specific place reliably only if she had seen it with her own eyes before. If she hadn’t seen a place, and just thought about teleporting to a general area, like "the Roland Kingdom," she could end up anywhere, in some random field.

She didn’t know how she would find the Syndicate’s base even if she managed to get to the right kingdom. The problem seemed impossible.

Adam seemed to sense her distress, or perhaps he simply understood the logical problem she faced. He turned his attention from Lucas to Alina. Then he looked back at Lucas.

"Lucas," Adam commanded. "You will return to the surface. Gather all the city guards still loyal and functioning. Take command. Investigate anyone you suspect, especially those in higher positions. Suspend them if necessary."

Lucas looked surprised, and then overwhelmed. His family, the Von Hess household, was a minor noble family in this region. They had always been overshadowed by more powerful families like Karlos’s, and more recently, by whatever noble had been acting as mayor before his father had presumably taken over.

His father had always quietly served those above him. Lucas himself had dreamed of one day elevating his family’s status, perhaps even to the level where they could participate in the King’s council.

Now, this being in Prince Eric had just made him the de facto mayor, a position with immense responsibility, especially given the city’s current chaotic state.

He wasn’t sure he could do it. He also doubted many of the existing city guards would simply obey him, the son of a now-dead and disgraced Baron.

As if sensing Lucas’s hesitation and doubt, Adam reached into a pocket of Eric’s simple training tunic. He pulled out a small, heavy object. It was a golden emblem, intricately carved. In the center was the symbol of the kingdom – a roaring lion. This was a Prince’s personal seal, a token of royal authority. Every Prince was given one.

Adam held the golden emblem out to Lucas. "If anyone questions your authority," Adam said, his voice flat, "show them this. They will understand."

Lucas stared at the emblem, his eyes wide with astonishment. He knew what it was. He knew its significance. Such an emblem carried immense weight. It was a direct symbol of the Royal Family’s power and backing.

Possession of it granted the holder almost unquestionable authority. He reached out with a trembling hand and took the golden lion emblem from Adam. He looked down at it, then back at Adam, bowing his head deeply. "As you command... Prince Eric," Lucas said, his voice filled with a new sense of awe and a heavy weight of responsibility.

Adam then turned his gaze to Alina. "Girl," he began.

Alina frowned, a flash of her earlier spirit returning despite her fear. "You’ve been calling me ’girl’ this whole time," she interrupted, putting her hands on her hips. "My name is Alina! Didn’t I tell you that before?" She was still scared of him, but his casual dismissal of her name was annoying.

Adam was silent for a few seconds, those empty white eyes just looking at her. Then, he gave a barely perceptible nod. "Very well," he said, his tone unchanging. "Alina. You will come with me."

He turned and started walking back down the corridor, towards the ramp leading out of the base.

Alina stared after him, surprised. "Wait! Come with you?" she called out. "What do you mean, ’come with you’?"

Adam, who had already started walking, paused at the entrance to the ramp. He turned his head slightly, looking back at her over his shoulder. "Do you not wish to rescue your parents?" he asked simply.

The question hit both Alina and Lucas with full force. They both stared at Adam, shock and then a dawning realization on their faces.

"Prince Eric," Lucas said, his voice filled with disbelief and a new level of alarm. "Are you... are you planning to go to the Roland Kingdom? Yourself? But... Your Highness, you know our two kingdoms... we have many disagreements, many old grudges. If you, a Prince of our kingdom, were to cross into their territory unannounced... it could be seen as an act of war!"

Adam didn’t answer immediately. He turned fully and started walking up the ramp, out of the bloody, torch-lit hideout and into the dim light of the Old Market district above. Lucas and Alina exchanged another quick, worried look, then hurried after him, both wanting to hear his answer to Lucas’s very serious question.

As they followed Adam out of the reshaped shop and into the deserted alleyway, Adam finally spoke, his voice calm and unconcerned. "Who said anything about me going there as a Prince?" he asked, not looking back. "I intend to go quietly. No one will even know I was there."

Lucas and Alina were stunned into silence by his casual dismissal of such a dangerous political risk. Go quietly? How could a Prince of one kingdom simply sneak into a rival, hostile kingdom unnoticed, especially one as heavily guarded as Roland?

As Adam, followed by Alina and Lucas, emerged from the alleyway and stepped back into the wider area of the Old Market, they saw a crowd of people waiting for them. It was all the prisoners Adam had freed from the Syndicate’s cells. They hadn’t fled far. They were standing there, huddled together, their faces filled with gratitude and awe, waiting to thank their rescuer.

The moment they saw Adam emerge, all the freed prisoners – men, women, and children – knelt down on the dusty ground, bowing their heads low. A chorus of voices rose up. "Thank you! Thank you, kind sir!" "You saved us from that hell!" "We are forever in your debt!"

One man, middle-aged and dressed in torn but once-fine merchant clothes, stepped forward from the crowd, approaching Adam hesitantly but with deep respect in his eyes. "We do not know who you are, sir," the man said, his voice thick with emotion, "but you have done us a great kindness today. A kindness we can never repay. You have given us back our lives, our freedom."

Before Adam could respond (or ignore them, which was more likely), Lucas stepped forward proudly, holding up the golden lion emblem Adam had given him for all to see. "All of you!" Lucas announced, his voice ringing with newfound authority. "You may not know who saved you, but I do!" He gestured towards Adam. "This is His Royal Highness, Prince Eric Reinhart, the Third Prince of our great Kingdom!"

A collective gasp went up from the crowd of freed prisoners. Their eyes, already wide with gratitude, now filled with an even deeper sense of awe and reverence as they looked at the young man with the strange, empty white eyes who had single-handedly destroyed their captors and set them free. The ’useless Prince’ had performed a miracle for them.