Eagle's unknown situation caused deep anger within the Alterran guards and citizens, which ultimately led to the extreme torture of their prisoners, who were used to vent by the soldiers.
Anyway, these prisoners were definitely deserving of the pain. The suffering they caused was probably no less than Fargo and his men.
The Torture Chamber was located in the new Justice Hall, a manual construction building placed between the System Prison and the Barracks, directly placed at the end of a new wide street called Justice Street.
The Building was large and quite intimidating from the outside, its form naturally showing its prestige. There were towering columns that rose majestically from the ground, supporting the large roof above. After a short staircase, they would be led to an expansive entryway and lounge that goes to various 'halls'.
Although it was inspired by the imposing neoclassic architecture back in Terran, aesthetically, it was combined with distinctly Alterran elements like stone and wood.
The top two floors had several rooms serving as courtrooms, though they were there mostly to handle grey area cases that oaths might not necessarily handle fairly enough.
This was also where criminals who would 'graduate' from their prisoner of war status—when they paid up all their atonement points—would be tried, to check whether they truly deserved their freedom.
There was also an underground pathway to transport high-profile prisoners to the other building. Similarly, there was also underground access from the Barracks. This was done not only for secrecy and security but also not to scare people too much at the possibly very poor state of the prisoners.
For instance, the Guians, many of whom were being tortured in the underground torture chamber.
"ARGGHHHH!!!!" Seto screamed as he was pricked by thousands of needles all over his body by some mechanism. He had been gravely injured during the war, and the needles didn't choose whether to prick good skin or the broken ones.
It would then be lifted, and the mechanism would prick him with random needles at varying intervals, torturing him psychologically too.
In another torture chamber, his comrades were suffering no less.
"AHHHHHH!" Ero screeched as his body was heated up like in an oven. Sometimes it would be scorching hot, while other times it would be minor burns—which just added contrast to the pain.
From here they knew that Alterra was the land of innovation in Xeno—and these innovations… were not limited to infrastructure or daily things.
"YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS!!!" Ero screamed at the top of his lungs, "YOU'LL PAY FOR THISSS! GAHHH!!!"
Gill raised his spear and heated it up, branding his fat cheek. "How? You're trapped here, powerless. Your lord is dead. How?"
Ero gritted his teeth as he shivered from the pain, but his eyes were defiant. He probably knew about the master city but couldn't say anything due to an oath.
Knowing him, if there wasn't, he'd definitely drop the name just to 'make them fall into terror'.
But, while a good piece of info to have, it wasn't what they were looking for.
And so, the torture resumed.
Garan went out of the room about half an hour later, going out to see his wife waiting there. She didn't get changed either. They didn't have the leisure to waste, after all, they needed to find that token as soon as possible.
From what they knew from the Golds, the token would automatically integrate with the person nearest to it regardless of whether it was in the sky or underground.
However, there was another—very expensive—tool that could contain it. Baltimore probably used this.
If they didn't find it before the war ended, however, then it'd be troublesome to find it again. What if the so-called master territory decided to visit? Would they lose Guia just like that? How could they let it happen when it was so near?
"It's probably in a secret room in his territory," Garan said. That was all they could get and they decided not to waste any more time on torture. Those people probably made a few more oaths so torturing them more was no use.
It seemed like Baltimore didn't go back to Guia after being in Alterra. This meant that he had always hidden it somewhere else and didn't bother integrating with himself anymore.
This could actually be very smart, assuming that the place was really secure. Not only was the territory protected during wars even at a loss, but when the lord died outside of it, the territory probably would not disintegrate—at least not until the war officially ended on the 28th hour.
However, Baltimore didn't seem like someone who cared for his people so much, so this was likely the instruction of the master he served, who refused to lose the territory even at the event of his death.
Further, even if there was no one who would retrieve the token after his death, it meant that the winning territory wouldn't get anything from him either. It was quite vindictive.
"We have 6 more hours," Garan said, heaving a sigh.
They had to find that token, this was obvious, and the couple didn't waste another minute and headed to the array.
The thing about the teleportation arrays during wars was that they were accessible for the 28 hours the war was supposed to last.
Guia could take days to get to. It was too practical to get there and—ideally—back via the array before it closed.
Sadly, Garan was beyond the level cap, so he could only accompany Althea—and a few others like Luis—to the array.
"I will go now," Althea said, and the little sparkle on her eyes wasn't missed by her husband who knew every part of her.
She was definitely excited to use the array and go to another place.
Garan really wished he could come with her, or at least accompany her to a legitimate trip done just for the sake of travel. But, for now, it was a temporary goodbye for the couple.
"Good luck," he said, kissing her forehead, and he could only watch as she entered deep into the array, and disappeared.