They stopped at the gate of Hector's flat, but once Sky showed their permission, they were allowed to enter. Soon, they reached Hector's room. With just a tap on the lock, the door opened. Rain, expecting they'd need to find keys or break the door down, was surprised at how easily it was accessed. Curious, he expressed his thoughts to the BIT inside him, and it replied that all locks in the city were computerized, and the city's central A.I. could override them effortlessly.
As they stepped inside, they were met with a large, open space. The sitting room was at the front, with a kitchen at the back. To the left, instead of a wall, there was a full glass window offering a view of the outside scenery. On the right were three doors—the furthest led to Hector's bedroom, the middle to the guest room, and the closest to the bathroom.
Sky gave her orders. "Search all the rooms thoroughly. Lily and I will check Hector's bedroom. Siobhan, you take the guest room and the bathroom. Damian, Rain, search this main room."
As they began searching, Rain noted there was no television in the house, but then he thought, *With BIT, who even needs a TV?* He rummaged through the sofa and fridge, finding some food inside. The search continued for about half an hour, and just as Rain was about to move to another part of the room, the door to Hector's flat opened. Six people entered.
Damian, noticing them, frowned. "Jack, what are you doing here?"
The man in the lead smirked. "It's not 'Jack,' Damian. It's 'Leader Jack.'"
Damian rolled his eyes but corrected himself, "Yeah, Leader Jack. What are you doing here?"
The exchange caught the attention of Sky, Lily, and Siobhan, who emerged from their search, drawn by the voices. Before Jack could answer, a woman stepped forward from behind the group, her jade-colored curls catching Rain's attention. He was struck by her beauty—though all the people he met are all beautifull as he knew genetic engineering had made people theoretically perfect, there was something otherworldly about her. Noticing that their hair color was the same, Rain wondered if her genetic medicine might also be tied to life energy, or perhaps even the same type as his.
The woman's voice was melodic as she spoke. "I brought them here."
Sky's gaze sharpened. "And who are you?"
The woman replied, "I am Helen, Hector's sister. Our family received a call two hours ago—my brother has been kidnapped. They demanded a ransom of 100,000 credits by tomorrow. We informed the police and came here with them to check for clues."
Jack turned to Sky. "Miss Sky, why are you here?"
Sky remained unfazed. "500 kilograms of ironwood were stolen from the LHC warehouse, and Hector is the prime suspect."
Helen's eyes flashed with indignation. "My brother would never do such a thing. As you know, my family does not lack money."
Lily raised an eyebrow, "Then why did he work at LHC?"
Helen sighed, "My brother isn't particularly talented in genetic warrior cultivation. Even with our family's resources, he only managed to break through to D-rank. He'll likely stay at that rank unless something changes. But he's always been passionate about light hoverboards, so he joined LHC's design team to follow his interest."
A moment of silence passed, before Sky nodded, turning to Jack. "You and your team search the house for any clues. We're done here."
As Sky led her team out of the flat, Rain and the others exchanged puzzled glances but followed her out, eventually settling back into their vehicle.
Once inside, Damian asked, "Why did we leave so quickly?"
Sky responded calmly, "We've already searched for half an hour and found nothing. Two teams searching the same house is redundant. Our priority is figuring out how the ironwood was moved from the warehouse."
The car fell into a brief silence before Sky broke it, turning to Siobhan and Rain. "Any thoughts?"
Both hesitated for a moment before Rain spoke up. "How does the scanner identify ironwood? Does it detect the material based on its energy signature?"
Damian nodded. "Exactly. Weird domain materials emit unique energy signatures. The scanner picks up on those."
Rain thought for a moment. "What if something could mask that energy signature? They could have taken the ironwood out by disguising it as something else, like hoverboards."
Sky and the others exchanged looks of agreement. "That's a good lead," Sky said. "We'll pass your idea to the researchers and see if there's anything that could mask the signature of ironwood."
Siobhan added thoughtfully, "Helen mentioned that Hector worked in the design department, so why was he put in charge of the factory in Martin's absence?"
Sky's eyes sharpened. "That's exactly what we're going to find out at the LHC office."
As the vehicle drove on, Rain soon caught sight of a large, white building shaped like a beehive, with gleaming glass windows and vines cascading down its sides. The structure had an organic, futuristic look, blending nature and technology seamlessly.
After a few turns, they arrived at the LHC office, located on one of the building's floors. Stepping out of the vehicle, the team entered the office. They quickly identified themselves and explained the reason for their visit.
The receptionist led them through sleek corridors to a spacious meeting room, informing them that someone would be along shortly to speak with them. The team settled in, waiting for answers.
After some time, a man and a woman walked in. The man introduced himself as the office manager, and the woman as the company lawyer.
Sky wasted no time, her tone sharp. "Does Hector work in the design department?"
The man and woman exchanged glances before the man answered, "Yes, he was a member of the design team."
"Then why was he sent to take charge of the factory?" Sky pressed.
The man hesitated, then explained, "Hector's team was assigned to design a new hoverboard. After Martin went on vacation, Hector requested to visit the factory to observe the manufacturing process, hoping it would spark some ideas for the design."
Damian leaned forward, "Can we speak with the design team?"
Again, the man looked to the lawyer, who nodded. "I'll call them," he said, typing something into a small device in his hand. Rain noticed this and realized the man wasn't a genetic warrior.
A few minutes later, five men and three women entered the room and seated themselves across from the team, ready for questioning.
Damian asked, "Did Hector act suspicious before going to the factory or while he was working there?"
The design team members exchanged glances before an older man spoke up. "He was mostly normal, but the day before he left for the factory, we went to our usual restaurant, and instead of ordering his favorite dish, he asked for something he's always said he didn't like—fried blue salmon. When we questioned him about it, he said he just wanted to try something new. Then, when it came time to pay, he mentioned he was low on credits, which we found odd since he's from the Cressey family. But as a group, we figured he just didn't want to rely on his family's wealth."
Another member chimed in, nodding in agreement. "Yeah, and the day he left for the factory, he told us not to contact him unless it was urgent, saying he'd be off the grid for the week."
After more questioning, the team returned to the car. Lily, glancing at Sky, suggested, "So, where to now?"
Sky replied, "Back to the office."
Lily interjected, "Before that, how about lunch at the café in the hive center? Driving back to the upper seventh floor will take over two hours, but we can take the lift at the center of the hive instead."
Damian grinned. "Yes, Sky, let's celebrate our two new team members."
Sky, after a moment, agreed. "Alright, it's already lunchtime. Let's eat, and afterward, we'll return to the office to discuss the case."
After some time, they arrived at a parking lot. Stepping out of the vehicle, they made their way toward a large glass door that opened into an expansive area. Rain was in awe of the scenery. A glass tube stood at the center, which he figured must be the lift. The floor and roof were made of glass, offering a view of the levels above and below, with circular openings allowing water to cascade down from the top. Tables and chairs were scattered across the space, and they found an empty table for their group to sit at.
Rain took in the surroundings, noticing the café, a two hundered-square-meter circular area, with shops lining the edges. The floors above and below appeared similar in design.
Curious, Rain asked, "Is the center of the hive arranged like this on every floor? And how many floors does the hive have?"
Lily replied, "The hive runs from the ground to the tenth floor up to the upper seventh. All the floors are arranged similarly, but the shops vary on each level. The upper seventh floor even has a garden and the water cascade start from there."
Sky ordered for Rain and Siobhan, as they were unfamiliar with the menu. She chose Blue Pigeon meat for Siobhan and Green Venison for Rain. As Rain tasted the venison, he found it divine, far superior to anything he had eaten in his past life. He figured it must be because it was D-rank meat, whereas his previous life was in an ordinary world.
After lunch, they took the central lift back to where they had come from and returned to the police compound. The compound was divided into several buildings, each two stories tall. They shared one building with two other teams. Damian pointed out that the room on the right belonged to another team, and the upper floor housed the team captain's office and a meeting room for all teams. The team captain was the highest-ranking officer in the building, followed by the two team leaders—one of whom was Sky.