CHAPTER 88: RANG FROM HIS POCKET

Theo kept one hand on the wheel, the other resting near the window as he casually drove through the quiet streets of the provincial town. He wasn’t really headed anywhere specific. He just needed to clear his mind after the meeting with Beatrice and Marlon.

The sun was dipping lower, casting warm orange streaks across the sky. Yet even with the calm scenery and the breeze brushing through his rolled-down window, Theo’s thoughts remained unsettled.

He simply drove around in circles, letting Aries back inside after she said she wanted to spend more time with Beatrice and would just call once she was done.

Now, parked along the side of a quiet road, he stared through the windshield at the perimeter tape in the distance. Bright yellow signs had been hung hastily on makeshift barricades surrounding the small municipal hall just ahead. The warning was clear: Red Zone - Do Not Enter.

According to the news update this morning, the hall had just been marked a red zone this morning. There were around thirty employees trapped inside. No official response team had been deployed yet. AMSO was likely still consolidating resources or waiting for backup.

Theo drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. He could just turn the car around, head back, or wait for Aries to finish. But something about the hall called to him. Maybe it was instinct. Or maybe it was the system faintly pulsing in the back of his mind, quietly urging him forward.

[Ding! Special Quests Available]

[Ding! Main Quests Available]

Theo stared at the notification. He should avoid it. He really should. The plan was to stay low. But instead, he leaned forward, eyes narrowing at the distant building cloaked in eerie silence.

His hand reached for his axe, and he muttered under his breath, "Just a quick look. No one’s going in yet, right?"

Theo made his decision. He opened the door and stepped out into the cool breeze. He exhaled sharply, already sliding into action.

His body shimmered as he activated the Camouflage Gear, his outline distorting and vanishing from plain view. The click of his boots quieted as the soles adapted to minimize noise on contact.

He moved fast and low across the street, sticking close to alleyways and behind broken-down vehicles. His eyes fixed on the front of the building.

Seven soldiers guarded the area.

Three were stationed at the front gate, rifles at the ready. Another two patrolled the building’s perimeter. The last two stood on watchtowers set up hastily at the corners of the compound.

Theo crouched behind an armored truck, watching. One of the patrolling guards swept a look over the road, too slow, too predictable.

Theo slipped past them, his footsteps silent as a shadow. His camouflage gear bent the light around him, and the soldiers never noticed as he breezed past within arm’s reach.

He could hear them talking over their comms.

"No movement yet. This place gives me the creeps."

"HQ said they will dispatch an AMSO unit soon. Civilian reported activity on the second floor."

"Anyone actually go inside?"

"Not unless they want to end up like Bravo Team. This place is sealed tight."

Theo’s eyes narrowed. He slipped inside through the side hatch of the barricade of the building toward the parking area without anyone noticing. The entire ground level was sealed with welded steel plates, every door locked down with industrial chains and padlocks. Thick bars covered the windows.

"Locked down from every direction..." he muttered under his breath, fingers brushing along the surface of the reinforced gate. Typical AMSO protocol for a red zone lockdown. No one gets in. Or out.

His gaze shifted upward. The second-floor window where the tied-up clothes hung fluttered lightly in the breeze.

I could climb. Or-

His eyes narrowed as a low hum sparked beneath his skin.

[Ding! Ability Combination Activated: Granite Skin + Bonebreaker Frame + Pyre Burst]

Theo’s body tensed, muscles swelling with enhanced density as a stone-like sheen covered his limbs. His veins glowed faintly beneath the surface, flickering red.

[Meteor State Engaged - Brute Mode]

With a single step forward, he clenched his fist, heat pulsing at his knuckles. "Let’s knock."

His fist ignited, swirling flame laced with explosive force.

With a feral grunt, Theo slammed his burning, stone-armored fist into the sealed metal doors.

BOOM!

The entire barricade caved inward with a thunderous roar, the reinforced steel warped and torn apart like paper. The shockwave kicked up debris and smoke as Theo stepped through the smoldering gap, embers flickering off his shoulders.

From a distance, the soldiers spun around at the sound of the explosion, weapons half-raised and alert. Smoke still curled from the shattered barricade.

One of them grabbed the comm unit clipped to his vest.

"We’ve got movement inside the red zone!" he barked. "Entrance breach, something or someone just tore through the main barricade!"

Another soldier swore under his breath. "No way that was human strength..."

"Tell HQ we need backup, now! Requesting deployment of at least a Class 5 or Class 4 rank to the municipal hall red zone!" the squad leader ordered, eyes wide. "If there’s a Meteorborn in there strong enough to break reinforced steel, we’re not equipped to handle that!"

They tightened formation, but none dared enter.

Not yet.

Not without reinforcements.

Theo shook his head as he slipped deeper into the building’s dim interior. "I should’ve just climbed up," he muttered under his breath, frowning. "That entrance stunt was too loud... now I’ve got attention I don’t need."

With a sigh, he reached for his gear interface and deactivated the camouflage system. The shimmer of stealth faded from his form.

"No point keeping this active if I’m heading into a fight," he murmured. "I don’t want it damaged."

He moved cautiously now, steps light and alert, scanning every corner as he advanced through the quiet, dust-filled hallway.

His movement was faster than any unaugmented human could track, especially in the haze.

Inside, the municipal building was no longer of its former self. Cracked floor tiles. Dried blood. Office doors either locked tight or smashed in. But what drew Theo’s attention was the muffled crying echoing from above.

Children. Maybe two or three.

Theo’s jaw tightened the moment he heard the faint cries above. Without hesitation, he sprinted silently toward the stairwell, each step echoing faintly in the abandoned halls.

When he reached the second floor landing, the scene made his chest tighten.

A man, breath ragged, was swinging an axe with everything he had, fending off a swarm of MB infectees closing in from both ends of the hallway. Behind him, three terrified children huddled close, one of them sobbing as they tried to stay behind his broad back.

"Climb down now! Use the rope!" the man shouted hoarsely, eyes flicking to the window where knotted fabrics dangled outside, the makeshift escape the kids had prepared.

Theo didn’t hesitate.

In a blur of motion, he darted forward, his instincts locking in. With his enhanced physique and reflexes, he ducked under the first infectee’s lunge and slammed his elbow into its skull.

It crumpled instantly.

One, two, three, he moved like a shadow of precision and force, channeling his mutation powers.

Ember Step.

A fiery burst flared beneath his feet as he flashed past the cluster of infectees, striking fast and lethal. He slammed a knee into one infected’s ribs, spun, and cracked another’s skull with a backhand strike enhanced by Bonebreaker Frame. His movements flowed like liquid fire, each impact sharp and final.

Ten infectees went down in a matter of seconds, their bodies hitting the floor like falling lumber.

The man with the axe blinked, panting as he stepped back. "Who the hell-?"

Theo didn’t answer. He kept his eyes on the children as they finally began descending down the rope of knotted clothes, one by one. The smallest girl froze halfway down, her hands trembling.

"I got her," Theo said, already moving to the window.

With a boost from Aero Dash, he leapt and caught the girl effortlessly before she slipped.

The wind curled around him, softening their landing as he brought her safely to the ground.

"Get them out of here!" Theo barked at the man upstairs. "I’ll hold the line!"

The man didn’t argue. He grabbed the remaining two children and guided them to the rope.

Theo turned back toward the hallway, more infected groaning in the distance. His hand clenched into a fist, flames simmering just beneath his skin.

Just as Theo prepared to engage again, readying himself for another wave of infected, a familiar tone rang from his pocket, Aries’s ringtone.

His eyes narrowed. He swiftly pulled out his mobile and answered, intending to speak fast and return to the fight.

But before he could utter a word, a low, unfamiliar voice of a man cut through the line.

"Oh, you finally picked up. You see, I’ve got these two gorgeous girls with me right now... your sister Aries and this Beatrice."