“When is this shift done…” Frederick slowly puffed the smoke out of his mouth as he stared up at the dark sky with a dazed look on his face.
“A few more hours… I think…” His friend replied as he rested his back against the wall, looking equally exhausted.
“Goddamit! A few more hours… I’m freezing in this place and there is nothing to do!”
“Shut up, Freddy. You’re lucky you got this job with your stupidity. I was ready to see you homeless by the time you reached 30 years old.” His friend rolled his eyes.
“But now I get paid more than you. See how life goes?”
“I’m going to kill you one day.”
As the two were talking, they didn’t notice that someone was approaching them until they heard the sound of footsteps walking closer and closer. Looking to the side, they saw a tall individual appearing out of the darkness.
“Good evening, gents.” The young man said with a weird smile.
“Hm?” Freddy raised his eyes. “Who the hell are you?”
“Oh, just a passerby.” Herculia shrugged.
“A passerby? Return from where you came from, boy. This is a restricted area.” Freddy replied with a strong glare. It was not rare for some curious person to come here and their job was to kick these curious bastards away.
However, this particular boy gave them a different reply.
“No.” He said with a wide grin.
“What?”
The two stared at him confusedly. This was the first time someone wasn’t intimidated by their threat.
“I said leave before I beat you up, kid.” The man threw his cigarette and stepped forward toward Herculia. “Listen here. You have a few seconds to leave while I’m still being ni-“
*BANG*
Before Freddy could even finish the sentence, his vision was suddenly flipped upside down as he felt an extremely sharp pain assault his face. Then, before he could realize it, he was on the floor, completely motionless.
“…”
His friend, completely in shock, dropped the cigarette as he stared at Herculia. The latter smiled at him with the same expression. “You’re next.”
“Wha-“
*Smash*
Herculia grabbed his head before he shoved it into the wall, making a loud cracking noise as the man immediately went cold. Then, the entire place was submerged in silence again as Herculia looked around him silently.
“Well, that was easier than I expected.” He muttered as he dusted his hands off and looked at the door. “Hmm, ok… Time to create some chaos.”
Cracking his fingers, Herculia smiled and stepped forward. If there was one thing Herculia was confident about, it was destroying stuff.
***
Meanwhile, on the other side, Arthur was slowly climbing the building through the windows. His arms slowly pulled him from one window to another, jumping a good distance with each step.
“Damn, this is a little annoying.” He muttered to himself as he looked down at the distance he just crossed. The building was quite large so it was taking him sometime to actually climb it.
‘I hope the others found a way inside already. I need to hurry.’ He clenched his teeth and continued his task.
A few moments later, Arthur reached the top and finally jumped on the ceiling. Looking around him, he saw a few chimneys popping up from the ground and a large iron door on the other side.
Slowly, he started walking through the empty roof till he stopped in front of the door. That was when he noticed a problem.
*Cackle*
“Chains… This door is locked shut.” Arthur muttered as he grabbed the large iron chains wrapped around the door knobs, making it absolutely impossible to open with normal means.
“Hmm… What should I do?” He muttered as he thought for a moment. That was when Arthur’s mind lit up with an idea.
Channeling his mana, Arthur activated one of his strongest abilities… Frost Flame. The blue fire ignited in the palm of his hand. Then, Arthur put it near the lock. Immediately, the fire caught into the chains, immediately freezing them with a thick layer of ice.
“Hmm, ok…” Arthur muttered as he waited for the chains to freeze up completely. Then, he grabbed it from both sides and channeled his mana into his muscles. “Here goes nothing.”
Exerting immense force into his body, he tried to snap the chains with sheer power. He knew that doing it without freezing the chains was impossible even with his 50 points in strength. But, when frozen, it was a different story.
*Crack*
It didn’t take a few seconds for him to hear cracks in the chains. Then, in one single instant, it snapped instantly.
“Got it!” Arthur grinned as he quickly pulled the chains out and opened the doors quietly. “Wait for me, guys… I’m coming.”
Then, he walked inside, vanishing into the building.
***
“So many carriages…” Isla slowly walked through the parking area of the Red Pearl, looking around her with a deep frown. There were dozens and dozens of carriages parked there, most of them having the Red Pearl logo which indicates that they were a part of the business.
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‘Is all of this just to deliver meat?’ She asked herself with a confused look. She was aware of how huge this business was but the number of carriages was simply… Too much. Something didn’t feel right there and she felt it.
But, she shook her head and decided to focus on the important matter she came for. ‘I hope I don’t find them here.’
She closed her eyes and expanded her senses, trying to find any traces of her friends’ aura. However, sadly, she could not feel anything near her. There were many people walking throughout the parking lot so it was extremely hard to actually pinpoint anyone there.
But, Isla didn’t have any intention of giving up. She was going to look around to the best of her ability.
So, with that in mind, she continued moving around, peeking here and there. Her senses were working like a scanner, covering the entire place. However, there was no result whatsoever.
Slowly, she was starting to think that they may have been truly still inside the building which was the optimal situation.
*Drop*
“You fucking idiot! Why did you drop that box?!”
At that moment, Isla heard a noise coming from a place near her. Looking to the side, she saw a man yelling at a younger man with a strong glare on his face. Beneath them, there was a large cardboard box that the younger man had dropped.
“I-I’m sorry!”
“Go back and get the other one now!”
“Y-Yes!!”
With that, the boy turned around and rushed back to the carriage, clearly terrified.
“Tsk, I don’t get paid enough for this nonsense!” The man ran his hand through his hair before he turned around and walked away, still grumbling under his breath as he walked.
Isla wasn’t that interested in the interaction as it was none of her business. However, when she noticed the box left alone… She got a little curious.
So, she looked around her a few times before she moved toward the box, grabbed it, and then disappeared quickly as if she was never there in the first place.
‘I am sorry for the scolding you will receive.’
A//N: Don’t forget to give the book some golden tickets for good luck! :3