No Name stared at the trembling child, then shifted his gaze toward Tora and Scyte, who were covered in dust from the warehouse explosion.
His expression was hard to read, somewhere between mild surprise and simple confusion at a situation that hadn't been part of his plan.
"Hah? Fine. Bring him to the base," No Name said.
Without waiting for a response, the man in the black suit turned away.
His coat, as dark as the night itself, swayed as he stepped into his private elevator, leaving the three boys standing in the cold silence of the corridor.
To No Name, humanity was an inefficient variable.
But if his pawns desired it… he would allow it, for now.
Upon returning to the headquarters, No Name headed straight to the deepest underground level, a zone that didn't even exist on the company's official map.
The air was filled with the scent of ozone, cold metal, and the lingering trace of failed experiments.
He placed the silver briefcase onto a bionic scanning table.
With a single press, the lock clicked open.
Sing…
A dense red light flooded the room instantly.
Inside lay an irregularly shaped crystal, glowing like molten lava flowing beneath glass.
It pulsed rhythmically, like a living heartbeat.
"So this is… Red?" No Name murmured.
His raspy voice echoed against the steel walls as he began a series of tests with deadly precision.
He activated a high-level scanning laser and directed it at the core of the the red stone.
An anomaly occurred.
The moment the beam touched the surface, it was completely absorbed.
Not reflected, but devoured, as if the stone itself consumed light.
The monitor beside him flickered violently, displaying chaotic fluctuations that exceeded even the limits of his quantum computer.
Without changing his expression, he switched methods.
No Name exposed the red stone to high-frequency resonance waves.
Slowly, the crystal responded with a deep, overwhelming hum.
The vibration was so absolute that it shattered every glass container in the room into fine dust within seconds.
Even No Name could feel his ribs trembling beneath his skin.
This wasn't artificial energy.
This was the heartbeat of the world's fundamental element.
For the final test, No Name took the greatest risk.
He let a thin mist of Pure Darkness seep from his fingertips… and touched it to the crystal.
The reaction was instant and violent.
The red stone's glow shifted from blazing red to a deeper, more painful crimson.
A massive wave of heat erupted, raising the room's temperature to extreme levels in an instant.
Yet No Name didn't move an inch.
His cold eyes gleamed with obsession.
Within the overwhelming heat, a vision flashed through his mind,
a burning world, collapsing mountains, and a faceless ancient entity staring at him from beyond an ocean of fire.
This red crystal wasn't just a source of energy.
It was a fragment of the puzzle he had been searching for.
"One of three," No Name muttered, glancing at his slightly reddened palm.
"The price isn't cheap… but this is only the beginning."
Beyond the soundproof walls, he knew his two new pawns were preparing.
No Name turned his gaze back to the still-burning red stone.