It was Arthur's first time seeing the interior of the exclusive vehicle, and it was nothing short of a full-fledged command center. Packed with state-of-the-art equipment that maximized every inch of space, it featured four spacious, individual sofa seats. The windows were one-way tinted, appearing pitch-black from the outside.
As the vehicle pulled away, Ralph's seat swiveled from the co-pilot's position to face them. He slid his tablet into a storage compartment under the table, and a preset holographic display flickered to life on the surface.
"Arthur, I don't think I need to introduce this man?" Ralph said.
Arthur glanced at him, then fixed his gaze on the man in front of him.
Beneath his mature features, the man's profound eyes and circular beard exuded an air of calm stability. He smiled softly—his composed demeanor lending the gesture an air of authority rather than frivolity. It was the kind of aura that naturally inspired trust.
Arthur, however, thought otherwise. He knew these two all too well.
"I haven't lost my memory yet!" Arthur snorted in exasperation. "You two are probably the most talked-about figures in this cluster of star systems right now. Even if I had forgotten, those endless news cycles would've drilled it back into my head."
"Ha!" Blair—seated across from Arthur—let out a dry chuckle. "Arthur always had a way with words."
Blair: the current Prime Minister of the Reno Sector, a name known throughout this star system. He and Ralph were practically inseparable—wherever Blair went, Ralph was sure to follow.
Rumors swirled around the pair, fueled by their countless achievements, including whispers of a powerful fleet that had vanished without a trace. Yet none of that diminished Blair's capabilities.
Through sheer personal strength, he'd unified the chaotic region, established the Reno Sector, and assumed the role of its first Prime Minister. His domain now spanned a large portion of the star map, making it one of the most prosperous emerging sectors in the galaxy.
"Long time no see, Arthur!" Blair held out his hand.
"It has been, since we met at the hospital back then."
As their hands clasped, Arthur felt the warm, steady heat emanating from Blair's calloused palm. The scars on the back of Blair's hand spoke volumes of his glorious past battles.
"You seem to be in a stable condition now?"
"I hope so!" Arthur nodded. "What have you two been up to lately? If you've gone to the trouble of coming all this way in person, it must be more than what the news is reporting."
The two exchanged a glance. Blair nodded at Ralph, and the holographic projection on the table expanded.
Ralph turned his head, his expression still emotionless. "You're right to be skeptical, Arthur. First, take a look at the Telos experiment project." He gestured toward the display.
Arthur swiped through the holographic images, his brow furrowing. The data was exhaustive to the point of tediousness, but without any context, it was just a jumble of lengthy statistics and cold facility blueprints to him.
He looked up, his gaze drifting slowly to Blair.
"It's interesting... but I don't see what you're getting at."
Ralph didn't respond immediately—he merely shot Blair a sidelong glance, as if communicating silently. Then, with a flick of his finger, he unlocked another layer of encrypted files.
"The contents of these documents are top-secret." he said in a low voice. "But now, this secret has become the laughingstock of the entire galaxy. The leaker and this attack have put us in a tight spot. Concealing the experiment, the assault, the front-page news—needless to say, Congress is furious."
Arthur raised an eyebrow, leaning back in his seat and adopting a relaxed posture.
"Aren't you used to this by now? Do you really need me to investigate this?"
"It's not just an investigation..." Ralph said.
"If you want to stop the news from spreading, isn't that your specialty?" Arthur paused, tapping his fingers alternately on the table.
His hesitation made the two men across from him look slightly tense. Ralph and Blair exchanged an involuntary glance, as if waiting for his answer. Although Arthur had worked as their mercenary in the past, he was never an official employee—he had every right to refuse. And the fact that they'd shown up so brazenly suggested they wouldn't take no for an answer easily.
Ralph frowned slightly, about to speak up and put an end to the standoff, when Arthur finally spoke.
"You two..." he said, his tone laced with exasperation. "Do you have any more detailed information?"
A flicker of unmistakable triumph crossed Ralph's eyes—as if he'd known Arthur wouldn't refuse. "Of course we do," he smiled. "But this time, we need you to retrieve something that was stolen."
Arthur took a deep breath, his gaze shifting between the two men as if weighing his options. Perhaps he was calculating more than just the value of the job—something far more complex.
"Tell me what happened" he said, a hint of weariness in his voice. For once, he didn't sound as cold and unfeeling as usual.
Ralph glanced triumphantly at Blair, a look of relief in his eyes—as if he'd confirmed Arthur's agreement. He quickly spread the remaining data across the display.
"The incident itself was nothing out of the ordinary for someone like you" he said. "But... the only thing that raises our suspicions is a murder in the experiment zone. What happened next is what you saw on the news. It was like a fuse."
"A murder?" Arthur frowned. "If they launched a surprise attack, isn't it normal for people to die?"
"No!" Ralph shook his head. "In a fierce battle, casualties are inevitable. But the men who came to steal walked right into our experiment zone—bold as day. The key point is, they only suffered minor injuries."
Arthur's eyes widened, and he stared at the two men in disbelief.
"Wait, are you serious?"
Blair, seeing Arthur's skepticism, let out a few dry chuckles—as if he too found the failure of their security systems absurd. He shrugged, shook his head, and looked out the window.
Ralph glanced at Blair, then turned to Arthur with a helpless expression. "Our defense systems were shut down. It's clear they knew the laboratory and its defenses inside out—they evaded our fleet effortlessly. Only a six-man security team and some researchers remained at the entire base."
His eyes sharpened, his tone firm. "Arthur, do you really think that's just a coincidence?"
"Ha, what do you think?" Arthur let out a humorless laugh, his smile fading. "If they only had minor injuries, why was there a murder?"
"He was the 1,001st victim" Ralph said. "And I'm afraid... he died before any of this happened. Take a look at the photos first. If the perpetrators have this kind of power, you might encounter it too. You'd better start thinking about how to deal with it."
Ralph pulled up another image—a photo of the deceased, with an autopsy report displayed alongside it. This piqued Arthur's interest. He sat up straight, studying the body impaled on the wall. It was a mass of white crystalline substance, pierced by several sharp white objects.
"Ice shards?"
Ralph nodded. "Bizarre, isn't it? Any thoughts?"
"Mohand Industries' cryogenic assault rifles?" Arthur turned to the report, his brow furrowing again. "From what I remember, that weapon doesn't cause injuries like this—let alone penetrate steel this thick. It must be several centimeters thick."
"Twenty centimeters" Ralph replied. "I reached the same conclusion. Cryogenic rifles don't cause this level of damage. When ice bullets freeze tissue, they inevitably trap moisture from the air. But the autopsy report contradicts that. This man was impaled on the wall before turning into this. The test results confirm that the crystalline substance is composed entirely of bodily fluids. In other words, this poor soul was likely conscious when all the moisture was drained from his body."
"Are you sure he was one of yours?"
Ralph shrugged, looking helpless.
"We do have a missing personnel report. But the genetic material in the samples was severely damaged—we couldn't make a positive match. We can only assume it's him."
Arthur smiled coldly. From past experience, he knew the two men's motives were probably far from simple. But the mercenary's code was etched into his mind—never probe into an employer's deepest motives or secrets.
Yet this time, Arthur's intuition told him something was different. Otherwise, these two wouldn't have gone to such great lengths to find him. Even if he couldn't uncover their ultimate goal, he needed to know more.
"Ha, is this thing really that important to you? Important enough to risk public opinion and Congressional pressure just to get it back?"
Arthur looked up at Ralph, who then glanced at Blair.
"Arthur, you might be interested in the origins of the laboratory, Blair said."
He took a deep breath, sat up straight, and interlaced his fingers on his knees. "Once, when I served as Executive Officer on Marsal, I assisted an alien civilization in exploring their ruins. The locals worshipped something they called the World Tree—the center of the universe. Parts of it were surprisingly similar to the legends of Basuhata that I'm familiar with. What fascinated me, though, was how all these beliefs shared certain similarities."
His Adam's apple bobbed. "The legends all described an ancient great war—much like the ones I'd heard before. They all spoke of common enemies: giant serpents, dragons, and other mythical beasts. That's what sparked my curiosity to dig deeper. By chance, we discovered an ancient ruin on Telos with the same symbols as the ones on Marsal. It was a thrilling discovery."
Arthur struggled to suppress his growing impatience. This roundabout storytelling was testing his limits. He hoped these legends weren't too closely tied to whatever he was supposed to retrieve.
"When did you become an archaeologist?" Arthur asked. Blair shot him a look, and he raised his hands in surrender. "Uh, right. I get why you're excited, but what does this have to do with what happened on Telos? Don't tell me you dug up some damn magical weapon."