The General's corpse was slowly turning into ash—a characteristic of High-Tier monsters dying.
Aria walked over to the ash pile. A grey crystal, larger than the one from the Licker, sat in the dust.
[Item: Evolution Crystal (Tier 1 - Strength Type)]
She reached for it.
Click.
A pistol barrel pointed at the back of her head.
"Don't touch it," Kael's voice came from behind. He had switched from his sniper rifle to a handgun. "I used my ultimate bullet on that kill. The loot is mine."
Aria didn't turn around. She smiled coldly.
"You shot the ear," she said, her fingers hovering over the crystal. "I opened the path. Without me, your bullet would have flattened against his skull."
"50-50," Kael negotiated. "But I hold the gun."
"And I have a shadow cat behind you."
Kael's eyes flickered. He glanced at his shadow. Onyx was there, claws ready to hamstring him.
Stalemate.
Aria stood up slowly. She kicked the crystal toward Kael.
"Take it," she said nonchalantly. "It's a Strength type. I prefer Agility. But in exchange..."
She pointed at the crashed helicopter.
"I get first pick of what's inside."
Kael caught the crystal. He holstered his gun. He seemed surprised by her easy concession.
"Deal."
They walked into the belly of the beast together.
The interior of the Chinook was a mess. Red emergency lights strobed in the dark. Dead crew members hung from their seatbelts, their throats ripped out.
In the center of the cargo hold sat a massive, high-tech metal container. It was stamped with the logo: [Project: AEGIS].
"That's it," Kael whispered. "The rumors said they were moving a cure."
"Or a weapon," Aria corrected.
They approached the container.
It was secured with a bio-metric lock and a keypad.
"I can hack this," Kael said, pulling out a decoder tool from his tactical vest. "Give me two minutes."
"No need," Aria said. Her voice sounded strange.
She pointed at the lock.
It wasn't locked.
It was melted.
Someone had used intense heat—hotter than fire, almost like plasma—to burn through the lock mechanism.
Kael frowned. "Who..."
He kicked the heavy lid open.
Creak.
They both looked inside.
Empty.
There were foam paddings shaped to hold a human-sized object, possibly a cryo-pod. But the pod was gone.
Only a single playing card was left inside the empty box.
Aria picked it up.
It was a Tarot card: The Magician.
On the back, a message was scrawled in elegant cursive:
"Thanks for the distraction, military boys. I'll take good care of the Sleeping Beauty. — P."
Aria crumpled the card.
"Someone beat us to it," she hissed. "While the zombies were distracting the soldiers outside, someone sneaked in, melted the lock, and stole the package."
[Eye of Truth Activated]
Aria scanned the interior.
[Trace Detected: Elemental Magic (Plasma/Fire)]
[Time of Theft: 1 hour ago.]
[Footprints: Size 8, Light combat boots. Unusually light steps.]
"One hour ago," Aria deduced. "While we were fighting the zombies in the park, they were already leaving."
Kael punched the metal wall of the helicopter. Clang!
"Damn it! I wasted three magazines of ammo for an empty box!"
He looked at Aria. "Who is 'P'? Do you know them?"
Aria looked at the Tarot card again.
The Magician. Plasma Magic. The initial 'P'.
In her past life, there was a notorious organization called "The Phantom Troupe." They were thieves who specialized in stealing high-value items from Warlords. Their leader was an elusive mage.
But they shouldn't exist yet. It was only Day 2.
"I have a guess," Aria lied. She wouldn't reveal her rebirth knowledge yet. "But we missed them."
She turned her attention to the rest of the helicopter.
"The main prize is gone," she said, recovering her composure quickly. "But we didn't come here for nothing."
She opened the weapon racks on the wall.
Assault rifles. Grenades. C4 explosives. Night vision goggles.
"Christmas came early," Aria smirked.
She looked at Kael. "Since I gave you the Crystal, I take half of this."
Kael looked at the armory. His anger subsided. As a Gunmancer, guns were his lifeblood.
"Fine," he grunted. He grabbed a modified M4 Carbine and tossed a bandolier of grenades to Aria. "But we have a problem."
"What?"
"The thief," Kael pointed to the open hatch. "He left footprints in the ash outside. They head North."
"North..." Aria thought. "Toward the University District."
Kael loaded his new rifle. The mechanical click was loud and crisp.
"I'm going to hunt him down," Kael stated. "Nobody steals my loot."
He looked at Aria.
"You have that fancy eye skill. You can see things I can't. And that cat is a good tracker."
He extended a hand. It was rough, calloused, and covered in gunpowder residue.
"Temporary Alliance?" he offered. "Until we get the package back?"
Aria looked at his hand.
She looked at Onyx, who was currently chewing on a dead pilot's helmet.
She looked at the Tarot card in her pocket.
Alone, she might lose the trail. With a Sniper covering her back, she could move faster.
She shook his hand. Her grip was surprisingly strong.
"Temporary," Aria agreed. "But if you aim that gun at me again, I'll feed your fingers to my cat."
Kael smirked. The wolfish grin returned.
"Deal, Princess."