A squad of White Rose agents stood on the bank of a river. They were spread out, looking at some of the stones on the ground, while also taking readings from the water itself. They weren't alone either, as a few members of the police force were out with them, aiding them and trying to help steer public attention away.
If one was to look up, not too far away, a large bridge loomed overhead, with traffic moving back and forth. Looking further at the skyscrapers in the city, there were several wires hanging off the buildings, with glass being replaced.
The workers had recently been working overtime.
On the bank itself, some agents wore the familiar white-and-gold uniforms, while a few donned black with a red trim. A site that was unusual for the general public, as these White Rose agents would hardly be spotted on the outside.
“The number of calls I’ve been getting lately…” Elijah muttered, putting his phone back in his pocket.
Making his way toward his captain, Kanu, he glanced to the right, where several boats floated offshore.
A team of special divers was on board, preparing to enter the river. On top of that, they had even called in a White Rose specialist—an Altered who could breathe underwater and swim well despite the strong currents, spreading out their search.
“That was headquarters,” Elijah said. “The One Gang is doing everything they can to pressure us to leave this city.”
“Which means we’re on to something,” Kanu replied. “You should know by now that if they’re trying this hard, they have something to hide.”
“Right,” Elijah agreed, scratching his head. “The thing is, we can’t keep investigating on a hunch. We’ve raided nearly every building the One Gang owns, and there’s been nothing.”
“At least, nothing we could use. Why are we even searching this river? What are we going to find here that we couldn’t find anywhere else?” Elijah asked.
Kanu looked at the bridge and the buildings surrounding the area.
“I spoke to a few people who reported sightings—the last place the Dragon was seen was right above this river. A large beam attacked the river itself; nearly everyone saw it.”
“I’m betting there’s something here, but part of me doesn’t want to find anything… How is Gary doing?” Kanu asked.
“He’s alive; the One Gang hasn’t made any moves against him because of us. From what I’ve heard, they might have something, but it’ll take time.”
Kanu let out a deep sigh. The Howlers needed more time. Although White Rose hadn’t found anything to extend the investigation or cause trouble for the gang, they had realized just how large and strong the One Gang was. For the Howlers to go up against the One Gang on their own would be nearly impossible. White Rose needed to get heavily involved.
They needed to find something—and fast.
“We found something!” one of the men on the boat shouted.
At that moment, Kanu’s heart started to beat rapidly, twice as forceful as usual. Flashbacks filled his mind—he had felt this feeling before.
He looked over as he saw the specialist Altered, covered in blue fins, pull a large object from the riverbed.
It was heavy, and they placed it in the boat. The view was still unclear, but the boat began moving slowly toward shore.
As all of this was happening, Kanu was unaware that someone was watching from the top of the bank on a slight uphill, standing by the guardrail.
It wasn’t just anyone who was watching either. Xin was biting her lip as she looked on.
The boat finally reached the shore, and carefully, using a large bag, they brought the object out.
“It’s a body…” Kanu said.
One of the specialists turned the body on its side, and instantly, Kanu recognized who it was.
Elijah immediately turned to look at his captain’s face. It felt like the world had frozen; Kanu wasn’t blinking, staring straight ahead at the face.
“Put it away and bring it in. We need to confirm who it is,” Elijah ordered.
“There’s no need to confirm. Even with a bloated, pale face like that, anyone could tell.” Kanu said. “Why did you have to follow in her footsteps?”
“Why couldn’t you just wait a bit longer until we had everything ready?” Kanu looked up at the sky.
“It feels like I’ve lost everything,” Kanu whispered.
“What do you want to do now?” Elijah asked.
“We have to use this,” Kanu replied. “Use this as our reason to continue the investigation.”
“No matter how much pressure they put on us, we’ll push back twice as hard. Every news outlet, every bit of power we have—we won’t leave anything unturned.”
“Harvor will have to try and stop me himself if he wants us to leave!”
Elijah didn’t say much. The person was clearly important to Kanu. A death was always tragic, but in his eyes, this was what they needed to buy time for the Howlers.
He hoped that Kanu wouldn’t get directly involved, and all he could hope was that Gary and his friends would pull through and find something.
Meanwhile, Xin, who stood at the guardrail, couldn’t stop tears from flowing down her face.
She wore a hoodie that covered her appearance, and just under her sleeve, several yellow sparks could be seen.
Her eyes glowed yellow. She couldn’t control herself or her emotions; they had reached an unbearable level.
She had come here for a reason after safely returning to Slough. She hadn’t wanted to cause any problems; she was going to stay hidden while investigating on her own.
Now, though, there was nothing left for her to investigate.
“I’ll kill them all… I’ll kill them all! Whatever it takes… I’ll kill you, Harvor!!!”
**