Chapter 6: Fleeting Moment

Sector 4.

In a certain high-rise building.

A man stood near the window of his office, overlooking the city below him. He had bright yellow hair and a star tattooed on his cheek.

His wrist twirled the champagne on his hand gently.

This man is none other than Allen Starr.

"Sir, B-15 failed to turn in his hourly reports."

Another man dressed in black appeared behind him silently and kneeled.

Allen paused his hand and asked without turning around.

"He was the one sent to watch someone in Sector 12, right? Owen, was it?"

"Yes."

"And what of this Owen person?"

"We sent people to investigate. He's dead, sir...along with everyone on the same floor as him..."

"...Oh?

Finally, Allen turned around to face the man in black.

"Show me."

"Yes."

The man in black bowed and tapped on his arm, the next moment, a holographic screen appeared in front of him, showing images of what they captured when they had investigated.

All the guards stationed on that floor were beheaded cleanly.

As for Owen, both legs were gone as well as one arm and his head.

"And B-15?"

"Beheaded the same way as the guards as well, sir..."

"I see..."

Allen took a sip of his champagne as he pondered silently.

Everyone apart from Owen was beheaded. Only Owen had other parts severed... which meant that whoever did this had tortured Owen first before killing him.

Allen frowned.

He could already guess what all this was about.

He turned to the man in black and asked.

"What do you think of this?"

"...This may have to do with the Artifact, sir."

"Explain."

"You have asked Owen to eliminate the kid who freed everyone in the incident with Sector 15. Although Owen reported that the job was done, seeing as he was killed soon after, that may not be the case so I sent someone to investigate. Sure enough, the kid is still alive."

"So you think that whoever did this, did so to protect the kid who had seen the Artifact?"

"I believe so, yes."

Allen nodded.

He had also arrived at the same conclusion as it was the only obvious one.

During the Sector 15 incident, the kid named Adam Martins had told the soldiers what happened.

The kid clearly didn't know what the Artifact was and where it is. Luckily, the soldiers who he had told this were all on his paycheck and they reported to him.

Although the others also knew the alien invaders were searching for an Artifact of some sort, only the kid had seen it firsthand and can confirm it was real.

As long as the kid is dead, no one else would know about this and only he could reap the rewards.

However, it seems that he was too late. Someone had found out about it as well and is protecting the kid.

He didn't care that Owen may or may not have given up his name. After all, he was confident that whoever killed Owen wouldn't dare to touch him.

Not unless...he belonged to Sector 3 or above...but that's impossible.

The people living in Sector 3 and above are all well-known people among their circles.

If it were any of them, he would already be dead before they could even investigate what happened to Owen or B-15.

As for those in the same Sector as he is, although they have the same level of authority as him, he isn't necessarily afraid of them.

The man in black bowed and asked.

"Sir, what will be our orders?"

"Hmm, never mind then. Since someone's intent on protecting the boy, then just leave them alone for now. We've already missed the best time to kill the boy without alarming the others. Instead, focus more on finding the Artifact. Fast."

"Understood!"

The man in black nodded and disappeared silently.

Allen turned back to look out the window and tilted his head to look above.

His mouth curved into a sneer.

"Soon, I will replace the ones on top of this place..."

...

Sector 18.

A hoverbike parked outside one of the apartment buildings in the residential area.

Two people were riding on the hoverbike wearing fancy clothes that didn't suit the Sector.

The woman got out of the bike and removed her helmet, revealing a beautiful woman while the man driving the hoverbike also removed his helmet without leaving the bike, revealing a rather dashing man. Although it may have been an effect of the clothes he was wearing that improved his appearance.

Naturally, these two were Lucas and Linda.

"Thank you, Lucas. For the evening."

"It was my pleasure. Although it's a day early, happy birthday Linda."

"Thank you."

Linda smiled and her cheeks flushed like a pink blossom.

Lucas nodded.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow at school then. Good night."

"Right. Good night..."

Linda trailed off at the end which confused Lucas. However, since there was nothing else he wanted to say, he was about to leave.

But just before he could wear his helmet again, Linda approached him and did something he didn't expect.

The two of them interlocked their lips together for a brief moment before Linda pulled away just as quickly as if it was but a fleeting moment.

"Good night."

"Lin-"

Lucas called out but Linda had already run inside the apartment building and disappeared from his view.

Lucas smiled wryly and shook his head.

He wore his helmet and drove off.

Meanwhile, right after entering her apartment, Linda suddenly paused.

Her face went red and if this was an anime, steam would be coming off her head with how red her face is!

"Ahhhhh!!! W-why did I do that!?"

She immediately started to bad her head on the wall repeatedly as if trying to forget what she did just a moment ago.

"Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid Linda!"

The noise naturally caught the attention of her father who immediately dropped what he was doing and come to take a look.

"Linda? What's wrong? What are you doing!?"

Linda's father was named Samuel Blanc, or Sam for short.

Sam saw his daughter repeatedly banging her head on the wall like a kid and was confused.

What's more, his daughter seemed to be wearing something that looked rather expensive...

Sam's face blackened as he immediately assumed the worst.

Did she get cheated by some rich guy?

Linda saw her father and began to tear up.

"Uuu dad! I...I..."

Then she started to remember what she did again. Her face turned red and she started screaming as she ran to her own room.

"Uwaaaaah! This is so embarrassing!!!"

Sam blinked in confusion and could only watch his daughter run to her room and slam the door on him.

However, seeing how comical she was being, he sighed in relief.

At least it didn't seem like the worst had happened. Or else, she wouldn't act like that at all.

He sighed and sat back on the couch. His head naturally turned to the table at the side where a picture frame was placed, revealing himself, Linda, and his wife.

Sam picked up the picture frame and lightly caressed the image of his wife.

"Lia...what's wrong with our daughter? How come I can't understand her at all...if only you were here..."

Sam sighed.

Ever since his wife passed away a few years ago, he had been trying to drown himself with work to forget about all the pain.

It was a good thing that Linda was already a grown-up at the time and knew how to take care of herself. However, recently, he finally snapped out of it and wanted to reconnect with his daughter.

That was why he had invited her to eat together at Sector 15 yesterday.

Who knew that incident would happen and Linda had nearly lost her father as well. It was a good thing that he got out of that incident safely and got another chance to reconnect with his daughter.

This time, Linda told him that she was going to treat a colleague of hers to thank him for sending her back home safely yesterday.

And now she returned wearing a fancy dress and acting strange...he really doesn't understand it.

...

Sector 20.

Inside a certain room.

Lucas picked up a bag and pulled out an orb with glowing lines all around it.

"Is this the reason why people are trying to kill Adam?"

Lucas frowned.

He saw the alien before twisting and turning it. But what is it in the end?

Is there something inside it?

"It's not gonna be an Infinity Stone, right?"

Lucas recalled an old movie from the past where there were six powerful stones with unimaginable power...

He looked at the orb in his hand and continued to frown.

In any case, he couldn't just ignore this anymore since there were people who would kill to get it. He needed to know what it is.

Thinking that, Lucas pulled out his phone and called a number.