The door to the lab opened, and out stepped a man in a white lab coat. "Who are you?" he asked with a bored expression.
Siobhan introduced them, "I'm Siobhan, and this is Rain," gesturing to him.
"Hello," Rain greeted.
The man, still looking disinterested, replied, "Yeah, okay. Why are you here?"
Siobhan explained, "We've been asked to inquire whether you've figured out if the ironwood's energy signature can be masked."
The man's expression shifted slightly. "Oh, you're from Sky's team. We've already identified the material needed to mask the ironwood signature and uploaded the information to the case records. But since you're here, I'll show you how it works in person." He motioned for them to follow him inside.
They entered the lift, and soon arrived at a lab divided into four rooms. He led them into the third room.
"Oh! I forgot to introduce myself," the man said, as if it were an afterthought. "I'm Lawrence."
They stood on one side of a table, with Lawrence on the other. He picked up a square piece of material with green markings on it. "This is ironwood," he began. "Its unique property is that, given the right nutrients, it can heal itself, and it has all the durability of iron." He then pointed to a small white device, similar to the scanner they'd seen at the warehouse but much smaller. Lawrence passed the ironwood through the scanner, which displayed: *Weird Material: Ironwood.*
Rain and Siobhan nodded in understanding.
"There are two materials that can already mask ironwood," Lawrence continued, "but they're incredibly rare and high-level resources. No one in their right mind would use them to hide large quantities of ironwood. So, I researched the materials present in the warehouse."
He placed two bottles filled with liquid in front of them. Pointing to the yellow-colored one, he said, "This is a substance used in hoverboards. It holds all the parts together. It's a liquid when used inside the board, but when mixed with the other substance here, it hardens to the strength of any metal, while being much lighter. The company likes it because it breaks down and becomes useless after two or three years."
Rain couldn't help but think about the exploitation of planned obsolescence.
Lawrence continued, his tone more excited now. "But here's where it gets interesting." He took both bottles and poured some of the liquids onto the ironwood. Before their eyes, the ironwood began to dissolve into the liquid mixture. "When these two liquids combine, they form a solid, but when mixed with ironwood, the ironwood liquefies, and it stays that way."
He passed the new mixture through the scanner, which now displayed: *Common Liquid.*
"The kicker?" Lawrence added. "These two liquids are manufactured by Heshi."
Rain and Siobhan exchanged glances, alarmed at the mention of Heshi.
"Now you've seen how it works. You're free to go," Lawrence concluded, his earlier indifference returning.
Rain and Siobhan thanked Lawrence and left the lab, but the weight of what they had learned lingered. As they made their way back toward the police headquarters, their conversation grew more serious.
"Do you think Heshi is behind this?" Rain asked, his tone thoughtful.
"I don't know," Siobhan replied, her brow furrowed in concern. "One of Heshi's members was also kidnapped, but it's possible they're faking it."
Rain nodded slowly. "It seems like all the clues are pointing toward them. Now we need to figure out when Heshi started supplying those two liquids."
As they reached the door of their office, Siobhan hesitated, her worry evident. "I'm worried Luke might get implicated in all this."
Rain snorted, trying to reassure her. "Who would suspect him? He's only been with Heshi for two days."
As they entered the office, they found Sky, Damian, and Lily sitting around a holographic table displaying the faces of three men. When Rain and Siobhan entered, the group turned to them.
Sky acknowledged their arrival, "You're back from the lab?"
Siobhan nodded, "Yes, and we've seen how the ironwood energy signature is being masked. But the more significant discovery is that the two liquids used for masking are manufactured by Heshi."
Damian leaned forward, his expression serious. "Sky, this case isn't just about the theft of ironwood. It's much bigger—these three men are involved."
Rain looked at the faces on the display and asked, "Who are these three, and why are they involved?"
Damian tapped the holographic table, and a video began to play, showing Hector leaving the Gu Body Training Centre on the 15th. Fifteen minutes later, two men carrying a large bag walked out. Rain watched, confused. Damian then rewound the footage, revealing the same two men and another individual entering the building earlier.
Lily stepped in to explain, "These three men are wanted by most major forces. The ones on the left and right are Emanuel and Miguel, brothers. The man in the middle is still unidentified, but we suspect he's Francis, also known as 'Mirror Man.'"
She paused before continuing, "The Hector you see walking out of the building in the video is actually Francis, who transformed into Hector. The real Hector was likely inside that large bag carried by Emanuel and Miguel. We concluded this because of Francis's ability—and he never left the building when it closed at 12:30 AM."
Siobhan raised a question, "Why are these three so wanted?"
Damian sighed, "They're members of a group that used to be known as the Weird Research Institute. Initially, the institute was at the forefront of research into the Weird Domain, a mysterious force with untapped potential. They discovered that the Weird Domain's energy could be used to grant extraordinary abilities. At first, this was celebrated as another path to power, a new way to become extraordinary. But things quickly went wrong."
His tone grew darker. "People who used the Weird Domain's energy began promoting the weird domain which energy they used as some kind of god. They started sacrificing people to the Weird Domain, claiming it gave them more power. Some went berserk, killing and even eating people. After that, using the Weird Domain's energy was banned, and the rest of the group's members were hunted down."
Lily spoke up, "Now we need to figure out how they entered the city and if they had any help."
Sky nodded. "I've already passed the information to the captain. He said we're to focus on finding them and uncovering how they got in will be handled by others."
Lily frowned, "There's no point in capturing Francis if he's in the city. It's probably just his mirror clone. Even if his real body did show up, the whole city wouldn't stand a chance—he's A-rank."
Sky added, "The captain wants us to go after Emanuel and Miguel. If Francis is here, it's likely his clone. His real body is hiding in Black Mist Forest, keeping out of sight from the other A-ranks."
Damian chimed in, "The last time Emanuel and Miguel were spotted, it was near G7, at the bottom ten floors. They might have a base in the sewer tunnels down there."
Lily. "I've received information from Jack—Hector and Jules will be dropped at the 10th floor at 5:00 PM today by the kidnappers after they receive the payment."
Rain thought, 'Jules must be the Heshi family member who was kidnapped.'
Sky stood up. "Then let's head to the 10th floor." As everyone got ready to leave, Sky turned to Rain and Siobhan. "You two stay here in the office and wait for us."
Rain and Siobhan exchanged a look, ready to protest. Before they could say anything, Sky cut them off. "Both of you just broke through to D-rank three days ago and haven't learned any combat techniques yet. So, you stay."
They could only watch as Sky, Damian, and Lily left the office. Once the others were gone, Siobhan stood up. "I'm going to practice," she said, heading behind her desk. She sat down, and moments later, the outline of an ice cat's head and neck began to take shape above her palm as she worked on controlling her genetic energy.
Seeing Siobhan practicing, Rain decided to do the same. He sat down behind his desk, closed his eyes, and accessed the video he had purchased earlier that morning. The video demonstrated how to shape genetic energy into the form of a super-healing lizard. Focusing intently, Rain followed the instructions, mentally visualizing each step as he tried to guide his genetic energy into the correct shape.