Chapter 155 – Federal Reserve Vault (2)

*Tatatata! Kwang! Tung.*

Machine guns spat fire, grenades flew, and the roots charging at us were blown apart by the grenades launched from the grenade launcher. Unfortunately, the damage the raiders inflicted on the sacred tree roots was minimal.

Bullets could only pierce small holes in the roots, and while grenades and launchers could deal some decent damage, the roots were too massive and numerous. It was like soldiers with guns fighting against dozens of giant serpents coiled around a building.

“Dammit, we need to run!”

“Don’t stand there!”

“We can’t stop them!”

After barely destroying one root, infighting broke out among the raiders. Well, “infighting” might be too strong a word. Seeing the massive roots closing in, everyone was just trying to save themselves.

Eventually, the raiders scattered in all directions, firing their guns as they fled. And one by one, the scattered raiders were caught by the pursuing roots.

Some were crushed under the weight of the roots, their bodies mangled. Others were sent flying through the air, their bodies broken after being struck by the massive roots. But those who died instantly were the lucky ones. The others who tried to run were slowly absorbed by the roots, their bodies melting away like prey caught by carnivorous plants.

“Ah, no! It hurts so much! Save me!”

The raiders’ bodies slowly melted and were absorbed by the roots. Now it made sense why there were no zombies here. Instead of turning into zombies, the people here had been absorbed by these undead roots. It was no wonder there were no living people left.

All the raiders died this way, except for one. The last survivor ran toward us.

“There are people here! Please, save me!”

As he ran, he spotted us hiding behind a building a block away and his face lit up with relief. We frowned at the sight of him. It wasn’t just that a raider was begging for help that bothered us, but the fact that he had brought trouble with him. A root was following him, not too quickly, as if playing with its prey.

Of course, the raider was no help. We had considered sparing him since he didn’t lead the root elsewhere, but that thought was quickly dismissed. With this development, waiting for things to quiet down before moving was no longer an option.

As expected, the root following the raider noticed us. I don’t know how the undead tree roots sensed us, but seeing the roots that had been absorbing the raiders turn their attention toward us confirmed that we had been spotted.

“We need to break through.”

“Wouldn’t it be dangerous to go inside? We’d be surrounded.”

Tom looked puzzled by my words, but I trusted our party members.

“If we go inside, we can hold them off.”

We had a mage, the daughter of the sacred tree, and a priest. There were plenty of ways to escape once we were inside the building.

“Run! Our target is the Federal Reserve building. Break through anything in our way and get inside.”

At Tom’s command, the agents began to move. We followed, running behind them. The raider who had been running toward us looked relieved when he saw us charging out, but unfortunately, he was just another obstacle.

*Tudududud.*

The agents opened fire on the massive root chasing him, and the raider caught in the crossfire fell to the ground. The continuous gunfire tore through the roots in several places, but bullets alone couldn’t stop those massive roots.

However, unlike the raiders, bullets weren’t our only firepower.

*Whoosh.*

A massive fireball flew out, setting the charging roots ablaze. The undead roots thrashed wildly in the sudden flames, smashing through the pavement and sweeping aside withered trees. It seemed that even as undead, the sacred tree roots still hated fire.

Thanks to that, other roots couldn’t approach the road ahead of us, but the problem was that we couldn’t move forward either, for fear of being swept up by the roots. Seeing Yelena’s apologetic expression, I stomped the ground in frustration.

The massive roots whizzed past at incredible speed. Even from a distance, the wind pressure was enough to shake our bodies. If I were hit by one of those roots, I’d definitely be sent flying. That meant I didn’t need to swing my sword hard to cut through them.

As soon as a root passed by, I pushed myself into its trajectory. Another massive root came flying toward me. I raised my sword to block its path. The length of the sword alone would only allow me to cut through part of the root, but I had mana.

*Booong.*

A faint light enveloped the blade, extending it to over three meters long. The root lashed out like a whip toward the elongated mana blade.

*Sssshhk!*

Black, transparent sap splattered in all directions. At the same time, the root was severed in half, with the detached part flying toward the opposite building, sweeping through the area. The severed end quickly retreated, spewing sap. It was strange behavior for an undead, but this was our chance.

Without needing to say anything, the agents seized the opportunity to run toward the Federal Reserve building. Our party followed behind, covering their retreat. It felt like our roles had reversed, but there was no helping it with an enemy like this.

After I cut through one root, others came crashing down toward us. But Yelena had already prepared for this. A solid shield formed, blocking the roots’ impacts one after another. The roots bounced off the shield.

“My mana is draining fast. I won’t be able to hold this for long,” Yelena worried, but we didn’t need to hold out for long. Before her mana ran out, we all made it inside the Federal Reserve building.

“Main entrance clear! Lobby is also secure!”

The New York Federal Reserve building, unlike other buildings on Wall Street, was surrounded by large, block-like walls, giving it the appearance of an old structure. The interior was no different. Since it wasn’t a place for the general public, the lobby and hallways had an old-fashioned atmosphere. The interior was surprisingly clean, with only bloodstains and no signs of people, but we didn’t have time to look around. We kept moving because the sound of roots pounding against the building’s walls was growing louder.

*Thud. Thud. Thud.*

Although the building was a structure the United States had poured its heart into, it wasn’t safe from those massive undead roots. They hadn’t found the entrance yet, but it was only a matter of time before they either found it or broke through the walls.

“Our destination is the fifth basement level. Everyone, follow me.”

Fortunately, Tom, who was leading the agents, knew the building’s layout well. He led us through the hallway to a door at the far end, where a security device with a still-functioning light was located. He swiped a card, and the heavy door opened with a creak.

Behind the door was a staircase leading down.

“This is the emergency staircase. I heard it’s rarely used. Thankfully, the security key still works, and the stairs are intact.”

Tom sent the agents down first, then followed us down the stairs. As he passed by, he casually mentioned, “The stairs are covered in dust.”

We continued descending the dusty staircase. As we went down, the sound of the roots breaking through the walls above continued. The fact that the sound didn’t fade as we descended meant the roots had either found the entrance or broken through somewhere.

After reaching the fifth basement level, Tom used the security key to open another heavy steel door. Seeing that the security system here was also intact, Tom seemed relieved. He opened the door and proudly introduced us to the room.

“This is the vault of the New York Federal Reserve.”

As the door opened, a modest lobby and another thick steel door came into view. The vertical steel door, several meters thick, had large hand wheels on either side, locked with padlocks. It seemed the door was opened by turning these wheels. Behind that thick door, there must be stacks of gold bars.

Seeing that the underground lobby was intact, Tom gave orders to the agents. They rushed to the hand wheels on either side, unlocked the padlocks, and began turning the wheels.

*Grind, grind, grind.*

With a heavy sound, the steel door—or rather, the massive steel pillar—began to rise slowly. As the steel pillar ascended, everyone except Zahina and Yelena, who were indifferent to the gold, had their eyes sparkling. They were excited at the prospect of seeing the gold, but I was still deep in thought.

How could I take as much gold as possible without them noticing? I had been pondering this ever since I heard about the gold in Daejeon. I had even recruited a mage capable of using spatial expansion bags and had been accommodating the Americans’ excessive requests. Since we had an image to maintain, I couldn’t just kill them to silence them, but if there was a way to deceive them, I was willing to use some force.

‘If all else fails, I’ll just knock them all out.’

Whether by magic or physical means, there were plenty of ways to do it. After all, they didn’t have spatial expansion bags, so they couldn’t carry much gold. Or, with the sacred tree roots outside, they might not be able to take any at all. The remaining gold would have to be left here, and as long as Tom and the agents didn’t know I had a way to take the gold separately, there were plenty of opportunities.

As I was thinking this, the steel pillar—the door—opened. Lights came on inside the vault, and a golden glow spilled out from the open door. It was the gold.

Behind the door, beyond the iron bars, stacks of gold bars reached the ceiling. Even under the dim vault lights, the gold’s brilliance was dazzling. We were drawn to the golden light and entered the vault.

Inside, the vault was divided into cells with iron bars, like a prison. But instead of prisoners, the cells were filled with piles of gold bars.

“The gold is safe. That’s a relief,” Tom said, looking around and letting out a sigh of relief.

As Tom said, the interior seemed unchanged. The gold bars were undisturbed, and the electricity and generators were functioning normally. The generators wouldn’t last forever, but for now, the vault and the gold were intact.

After checking the gold bars in the back, Tom gave orders to the agents.

“Now that we’ve confirmed, we’ll proceed with the plan. Since it’s difficult to move the gold out, we’ll execute Plan B.”

“Understood.”

After everyone exited the vault, the agents began to move. They took bombs from their bags, set timers, and started placing them around the area.

‘Wait, what?’

Could Plan B be…?

I looked at Tom in shock, and he kindly explained.

“Plan B is to bury this underground vault. With those roots covering Manhattan, we can’t take the gold out, so we have no choice but to bury it underground so no one can take it.”

Wait, Tom and the Americans had never mentioned this plan to me.

“Maybe someday, when the world is back to normal, we can dig it up again.”

By then, it would be too late. I needed to take it now.

I was about to reach for my sword when Tom spoke to me again.

“We’ll wait outside the vault. As promised, you can take as much gold as you can carry.”

Thankfully, Tom hadn’t forgotten our agreement. That was a relief. I quickly asked him, “Can I take a lot?”

“Haha. Don’t worry. There’s over 6,000 tons of gold here. Besides, since we’re burying it, it’ll be a long time before this gold is used again. By then, people might even forget how much was here.”

I barely heard what he said after that. But since I had permission, all I had to do now was take it. Yelena and I re-entered the vault.