Chapter 136:
The four figures crouched on a ridge overlooking the valley below, their bodies pressed low against the stone as they surveyed the scene before them.
The Zenith Empire stretched out in all directions, a landscape of dark pines and narrow valleys that seemed to swallow the afternoon light.
Below them, two massive warehouses stood at opposite ends of a sprawling supply depot, their walls reinforced with steel and their roofs guarded by cultivators who moved in steady patrols.
A hundred elites guarded each warehouse. The mana signatures that rose from them painted a clear picture in the senses of the Black Ops team:
Four Stars near the outer perimeter, Five Stars and Six Stars clustered around the entrances, and Seven Stars positioned at the critical points where the most valuable supplies were stored. It was not an army, but it was enough to slow down anyone who tried to approach.
Kaya's eyes had shifted to their Pure state, the white irises taking on a faint luminescence as she extended her vision across the valley.
Her clan's ocular ability allowed her to see the flow of mana at distances that should have been impossible, and she swept her gaze across the depot, searching for the one signature that mattered most.
"She is not there," Kaya said quietly. "I can see every guard, every patrol, every mana signature in both warehouses. But Tisha is not among them."
Ethan's expression tightened. "She is hiding somewhere. Suppressing her aura."
Lucas said nothing. Behind his goggles, his Mana Eyes had already activated, the cyan light concealed by the dark lenses.
He could not see as far as Kaya could, but he could see what she could not. His eyes pierced through the suppression that Tisha had wrapped around herself like a cloak, revealing the overwhelming density of her mana core where it waited in a narrow ravine near the second warehouse.
She was close—close enough to respond the moment an attack began.
He did not share this information.
His mind worked quickly, calculating the implications. If Austin encountered Tisha, the fight would push him beyond his limits.
He would be forced to use his Four Leaf Clover Eyes and summon his Avatar to survive. And if he did that, the information would reach the Hidden City of Sky. The council would learn what he was. The assassins would come.
Lucas would not allow that to happen.
"We need to split up," Ethan said, his voice cutting through Lucas's thoughts. "Two teams. Two warehouses. We plant the bombs without being discovered and escape before lighting them up."
Lucas spoke before anyone else could respond. "I will go with you to the second warehouse."
Ethan looked at him. "Why?"
"From the layout, the second warehouse is where they are storing the weapons," Lucas said, his tone calm and reasonable. "If Tisha is going to protect anything, she will protect that one first. You will need backup if she appears."
It was a logical argument, and it had the benefit of being true. The second warehouse did contain the weapons. Tisha was positioned near it.
But Lucas was not volunteering to protect Ethan. He was volunteering to put himself between Austin and Tisha, to draw the danger away from the one person on this team who could not afford to be pushed past his limits.
Ethan studied Lucas's face for a moment, searching for something he could not quite identify. Then he nodded. "Fine. Austin, Kaya—you take the first warehouse. Plant the bombs, get out, and wait for my signal. Do not engage unless you have no other choice."
Austin nodded. Kaya did the same.
Ethan turned his attention back to the depot. "The supply transports are still moving through. We can use them to get inside."
The plan was simple. A line of transport cars moved along the road that connected the two warehouses, their beds loaded with crates and their drivers focused on the path ahead. Austin and Kaya would slip beneath one of the cars and suppress their mana, letting the vehicle carry them past the perimeter guards. Ethan and Lucas would take a different approach—knocking out two of the drivers and using Ethan's illusion wind spell to assume their appearances.
They moved.
Austin and Kaya descended the ridge in silence, their bodies low to the ground as they approached the road. A transport car rumbled past, its engine loud enough to cover any sound they might make, and they slid beneath its undercarriage with practiced ease. Their mana signatures vanished as they suppressed their cores, becoming indistinguishable from the ambient energy of the valley.
Ethan and Lucas found their targets near the depot's outer gate. Two drivers had stepped away from their vehicles to share a quick meal before the next run, their plates balanced on a stack of crates. Ethan raised his hand, and wind coiled around them like a serpent, silent and invisible. The drivers slumped in their seats, unconscious before they knew they had been attacked.
[Wind Spell: Mirage Veil]
The illusion settled over Ethan first, his features shifting and blurring until he wore the face of the driver he had incapacitated. Lucas stood still as the same spell wrapped around him, his silver hair darkening to brown, his blue eyes dulling to a common gray. When the transformation was complete, they were no longer Black Ops agents. They were warehouse workers returning from their meal, walking toward the gate with the easy stride of men who had done this a thousand times before.
The guards at the entrance barely glanced at them as they passed.
The four of them had entered the depot.