Chapter 23 - The Lab Under the Highway
Gas flooded the hallway.
Maya threw up a wind talisman.
Jace smashed the nearest door.
Trevor screamed, “I knew this was a trap!”
Eli shouted, “You brought us here!”
“Exactly!”
Fair point.
They escaped into the production floor.
Three Vane enforcers waited.
All Qi Gathering II or III.
Eli was Qi Gathering I.
His system displayed:
[OUTNUMBERED.]
[OUTLEVELED.]
[ENVIRONMENTAL ADVANTAGE AVAILABLE.]
“What advantage?”
A pipe above them glowed yellow in Insight.
Steam pressure.
Eli used Street Step, slid beneath the first enforcer’s punch, and kicked the release valve.
Steam exploded across the floor.
Jace charged through it like a truck.
Maya’s talismans pinned the second attacker.
Trevor surprised everyone by tackling the third.
“I PLAY LINEBACKER!” he yelled.
“You got suspended!” Eli yelled back.
“TEMPORARILY!”
They reached the black-liquid tanks.
Inside each floated a corrupted spirit core.
The system identified them.
[VOID SEEDS]
[FUNCTION: FORCED CULTIVATION / POSSESSION RISK]
Maya went pale.
“The stimulants are a cover.”
Lucas wasn’t selling performance drugs.
He was testing people for compatibility with Void Seeds.
A red alarm began.
Mr. Zhou’s voice shouted through the comm.
“Get out! Someone is coming.”
The roof above them exploded inward.
A man in a white suit landed on the production floor.
Eli’s system froze.
[ANALYSIS FAILED.]
The man smiled.
“Lucas talks about you often.”
May you like
Behind him, the black tanks began opening.
