The entrance to the Far North Abandoned Mine was half buried in snow. The iron doors of the Explosive Tag warehouse had been welded shut after the Third Shinobi World War, but Soval had now forced them open with his roots. Translucent, fleshy fungal patches covered the broken hinges.
Lin Ye did not take the main entrance. As he lowered himself on a rope through an old ventilation shaft, he caught a strange smell-saltpeter, the bitter-almond scent of aged gunpowder, and the cloying rot of overripe spores. Soval really was mixing gunpowder: the old ammunition crates lining the tunnels had all been pried open, and mycelium had rewritten the inscriptions on the Explosive Tags, replacing cinnabar with dark purple bodily fluid. Once these modified tags circulated through the Five Great Nations' black markets, they would blow up more than buildings. They would also shatter the barely restored threshold for panic in the minds of everyone nearby.
"Cognitive Bombs," Lin Ye murmured over the comms, bringing the Ark up to speed. "He isn't blowing up cities. He's blowing up public trust right after the Bladeless Book was signed. If even one black-market bazaar goes up in flames from these tags tomorrow, the filings in the Land of Iron and Konoha will be turned against them as evidence of 'official arson.'"
The Intelligent System's scanning beam swept into the depths of the tunnel. "High concentrations of mimicry signals detected. Soval has bound his consciousness to the Central Detonation Array. Physical destruction will sever his final corporeal anchor."
"Then let's not give him a dignified exit." Lin Ye adjusted his wrist armor to its lowest frequency, leaving only a dim yellow light like a kerosene lamp. "Treat this like urban combat. Cut the cables. Don't pull the plug."
The warehouse hall resembled an