The Steel Lions were more than just ordinary police officers; they were the city's guardians.
While the heroes dealt with supernatural threats, the Lions handled cases of murder, theft, and robbery, as well as emergencies involving individuals with special powers, as long as they were within a certain level of strength.
For this reason, they were not only trained in investigative techniques but also in defense and the use of advanced weaponry.
At the head of the Steel Lions was Captain Samuel Brooks, a man with dark brown hair and eyes of the same color, who wore glasses.
"Ah... what peace," Samuel thought, sitting relaxed in his office while sipping his coffee. "Another day without problems."
*Boom!* Just as he was about to take another sip, the door burst open, making him momentarily lose his balance.
"Boss! We have a problem!" A young man with light brown hair and brown eyes entered, dressed in a professional brown suit with a gray tie.
"What—" The young man saw his boss drenched in coffee.
"Sorry, boss, maybe I opened the door a bit too forcefully."
"A bit, you say? Anyway, Liam, why are you here?" Samuel asked with a sigh, turning to the young man named Liam.
"Ah! I found this note while I was buying some fruit at the shop next door." Liam placed the note on Adriano's desk.
"At midnight, I will take the one and only beautiful moon."
"Signed Enigma, huh."
"Boss, what should we do? It sounds like a case of theft."
"You said 'what should we do'? Absolutely nothing! You disturbed me just for this silly prank."
"But—" Liam tried to protest, but it was in vain, as Samuel was a stubborn person who only believed what he wanted to believe.
"Now get back to work!" Samuel ordered, shoving Liam out of the office.
"What nonsense! What sane thief would write down the object they intend to steal and send it directly to us, the Thalion security team?"
"And, moreover, that sentence reads more like a riddle than a description of the object to be stolen!"
Exclaims Adriano, throwing the note into the trash with a decisive gesture. He doesn't yet know that this will be the greatest mistake of his career.
*****
"11:43 PM," I murmur, glancing at the watch on my wrist. I have completely changed my appearance.
I wear an elegant black suit that envelops me like a shadow, a black mask that hides part of my face, a red tie that stands out like a wound in the night, and a refined black cloak that lightly grazes the floor as I walk.
Atop my head, a black top hat adorned with a thin red band completes my look.
"As expected, they didn't take my letter seriously," I smile to myself, "but after tonight, they'll change their minds."
I move with a calm stride along the deserted street, the streetlights casting long shadows on the pavement. Finally, I stop in front of the designated location: a museum with modern, minimalistic lines, no visible windows, and a roof entirely covered in glass.
The automatic door, handleless, is made of an unknown metal alloy, faintly reflecting the surrounding lights. At the center of the door, an engraved symbol catches my eye: a circle with the Roman numeral VII inside.
To the right, embedded in the wall, there is a security device. The buttons, numbered 0 to 9, require a 28-digit combination.
"Impressive," I think aloud. "How do the museum staff remember such a long password? There are tens of billions of possible combinations."
As I approach the device, I notice a thin strip of light next to the buttons, on the left side.
"Ah, that's the trick," I reflect. "They use a special card that contains the code data."
1794382456910273581620438754
The door emits a soft hiss as it opens, splitting the circle with the symbol in half: one part slides to the left, the other to the right.