"Who?"
Clap!
Clap!
Following Hina's question, a round of applause followed.
A long haired man and two women with piercings and tattoos stepped into the warehouse.
All the three of them were wearing a special bracelet engraved with Abysse words.
Hina ran to Betty and stretched her arms defending the unconscious girl. "If you dare to take another step, I'll make you regret it."
"Space Awakener…it's a pity." The long haired man shook his head.
"Don't waste time. Tch." The woman wearing a black jacket clicked her tongue.
"Just a bit of talk is go—" the long haired man stopped abruptly.
Ka~
A snapping sound reverberated in the warehouse as the petite woman broke Hina's neck.
"Hey, she was my target!" The woman in black yelled.
"Don't waste time." The petite woman said and grabbed Betty. Contrary to her looks, she was an excellent body awakener.
"Tsk. No fun." The long haired man clicked his tongue and grabbed at a corner of the warehouse.
Out of nowhere, a palm-sized disc appeared.
At the same time, the space lock dissolved and everything turned to normal. The three of them also put their bracelets back into their storage ring.
"This little bitch cost us too much."
"Indeed. But were three keys even necessary? They were pretty pricey as well."
"You two, chat later." The petite woman glared and said. "They'll be here in less than a minute. Let's go!"
"….yeah."
The two nodded reluctantly. The lack of difficulty was hard to swallow. But this was for the best.
Ka!
Ka!
Their bodies blurred and the three of them disappeared carrying Betty.
Boom!
Kaa!
30 seconds after they left, two massive auras approached the warehouse.
Right behind them was a level 7 awakener of Grant family.
Shortly after them was an old man—Vinar's master.
"Miss!!!"
"Young Master!!!"
"Disciple!!!"
"…."
In the ghost ship high up from the sky, Varian rolled his eyes.
Boo was already tracking Betty's comm since a week. So, despite the enemy technocrat trying to fiddle with it, they had no problem in finding her location.
So, they reached her even before Hina.
And Varian witnessed the murder.
Even if he wanted to, he wouldn't have changed a thing—getting too close them would've exposed ghost ship and sabotaged the entire plan.
The Grant family man should be rewarded for his dope acting skills. Seeing Liluh, he showed a shocked expression.
How shocked you ask?
As shocked when realizing their favorite heroine was actually a guy.
"Master, that analogy wasn't really appropriate." Boo felt like its master was becoming more carefree and also a bit stupid.
Boo didn't understand why the gender issue. But it did conclude one thing.
Falling in love kills your brain.
"Follow the kidnappers." Varian said.
"Ah~I forgot. Yes." Boo facepalmed and the ghost ship took off.
'A super AI, you forgot?' Varian looked at Boo with pity. Sure enough, staying stupid makes you more stupid.
The ghost ship soon reached a slum and entered an underground tunnel. There was a team of twelve awaiting the three kidnappers.
Betty was skillfully wrapped into a box with life-support and the box was quickly transported to a spaceport.
Under Varian's incredulous stare, the box somehow wasn't found under the security checks and was transported to a private space shuttle responsible for delivering personalized goods for rich people.
The space shuttle took off without a hitch and ghost ship followed it.
"Halt everything in the spaceport. Open everything and check! Check!"
Shortly after the space shuttle took off, all spaceports of Valos were locked down.
A handsome middle-aged man wearing a military uniform appeared at the warehouse and clenched his fists so hard that his knuckles turned white.
As his eyes literally spat fire, the warehouse was burnt to ashes leaving behind only his melancholic voice.
"…Betty."
*** *** ***
"Finally!" Varian grinned from ear to ear as the space shuttle they were tailing shook lightly.
A small space pod exited the space ship and another similar pod entered it. The space shuttle continued to travel in its registered route.
The space pod, however, headed towards an unknown destination.
After thirty minutes of travel, it reached a spot and disappeared abruptly.
"Secret Realm." Varian muttered.
"Hm. Master, I can feel it." Boo nodded and ghost ship's stealth was activated to its fullest.
Then with a whoosh, they entered the most secretive area of Valos.
"Woah!"
Varian was dazzled by the grandeur of the place.
With a dazzling skyline, pristine roads, and elegant designs, this place looked more like a city than Valos.
Of course, it was only a secret realm.
Ironically, Varian found districts belonging to each major gang of Valos. Caso Brotherhood had one. Viper gang had one.
Even Grant family had one. But they operated under the name of Obsidian.
"Holy shit! These gangsters are living better lives than everyone else." Varian laughed at the irony.
But more than that, he laughed at their future.
"I'll burn everything you built to crisp." Varian's smile widened.
During the last seven days, he developed a weird feeling towards the Uranus cluster cities.
Despite the hardships he faced, he never had to go through such terrible living conditions.
To him who considered his life as one filled with difficulty, Valos was a living example that people had it much worse.
"Master." Boo's called snapped him out of his thoughts.
"Eh?" Varian realized that ghost ship was entering a huge building with a symbol "C".
Boo hacked into he building and Varian was able to see everything at a glance.
"….Insane."
There were rooms literally filled with aura crystals, advanced weapons, storage devices and more.
From the building's AI, they were the loots of kidnapping.
"Betty…what are they doing?" Varian found Betty in a lab.
She was strapped to a white bed and two women were about to inject her with some strange liquid.
Varian hesitated for a moment before sighing. "Boo…"
The ghost ship entered the lab.
Contrary to expectations, this floor didn't have any strong security. It was filled with level 1s and level 2s.
All of them wore white suits and had a special feel around them.
From the building's database, he knew who they were.
Researchers. Scientists. Architects. Designers.
Some kidnapped, others voluntary.
"Stop!"
The two women stiffened as they heard a voice in their minds. Before they could yell, a powerful mental force attacked them.
Their pupils dilated and their heart halted for a moment.
'You've already injected her. Already injected her.' Varian planted a mental suggestion in their minds.
At the same time, he used his telekinetic powers and grabbed the syringe.
Boo acted timely for once and emptied the barrel. Of course, it also simultaneously managed the camera in the room.
Varian nodded in appreciation and sent the syringes back to their hands.
Then he withdrew his powers.
"Ah? What happened?" The woman standing in front of Betty muttered in confusion.
"Hm? We injected her." The other woman replied.
"Ah yes!"
"Confirm it with security. I heard she's an important target."
"What do you expect? She's the only one that's injected with such a high dose."
The women turned to the camera in the room and gave a thumbs up.
The camera turned green, indicating that everything went as per protocol.
The man in the security room clicked on a button and informed his superior.. "Sir, injecting complete."