Another round of investigations was taking place with the White Rose and local police force working hand in hand.
They had returned to the last place where everyone knew Jayden was last seen, which was the fighting arenas.
It was in the middle of reconstruction, so it hadn’t been used since that day, but the work had been halted since the investigation continued.
“Keep an eye on the police!” Elijah shouted in the ring. “Make sure every bit of evidence is collected properly and sent to the lab.”
“Are you sure that’s wise to say that in front of the police force that’s helping us?” one of the other agents asked.
“No, it’s even better that they know we’re paying strict attention,” Elijah replied. “These are all Kanu’s orders anyway. This isn’t our city. This city is owned by the One Gang.”
“It would be no surprise if the entire local police force were in his pocket. In fact, I’d be more surprised if they weren’t.”
Elijah was standing in the ring with blue coverings over his shoes, looking around at the large stage.
‘Honestly, I have my doubts that we’ll find anything. We already investigated this place once, and after finding nothing, they even had time to clear up what we might have missed,’ Elijah thought. ‘We’re just buying time… and I need Kanu to quiet down.’
There was something bugging him, though, and that was a particular member in a white and purple tracksuit, observing from the top of the stands where the crowd would be.
It was a tall, slender man known as Vico, one of the Zodiacs. Although Harvor had been placed under house arrest, that wasn’t true for the rest of his gang members.
‘If I remember the testimony from the others, that Vico is quite the trusted member of the One Gang. I guess he’s here as insurance for them.’
Gritting his teeth, Elijah continued to shout orders at the force, hoping to help in any way he could.
After some time had passed, Vico eventually left the police force and the White Rose to continue their investigation.
Even though he was an Altered, nature still called. He headed down the corridor and made his way to the men’s toilet.
‘This place would usually be crammed with people, but it’s completely empty. It’s strange to see,’ Vico thought as he approached the urinal and started his yellow stream pouring down, letting out a sigh.
“I was holding that one in for a while,” Vico said, turning around.
“Hey!” a voice called out in the room, but immediately Vico’s vision was blocked by a strong stream of water that exploded in his face and pushed him back.
It sent him back until his back was touching the urinal itself. Eventually, the strong, powerful stream of water stopped, and now he didn’t quite know what he was seeing in front of him.
“An Altered?” Vico raised an eyebrow.
The Altered was covered in strange, hardened feathers, but the feathers were jagged, making them look deadly in nature. On top of that, the Altered in front of him only had one wing.
Evaluating the situation, he could see what had happened; someone had burst a water pipe and had forced the flow of it to soak his entire body completely.
“What are you—”
Before Vico could even finish his sentence, the Altered rushed right at him, the whole room electrified itself, and even he was being hurt before it hit him.
A hardened, jagged yellow hand then burst right through the side of his stomach.
“Ah! You bitch!” Vico yelled.
He hadn’t transformed; he couldn’t even get a word out. It was a surprise attack, but who would even attack them like this under conditions like this?
The Howlers wouldn’t make a move with the White Rose all around, and the White Rose was never this brazen when it came to things like this.
Looking down, Vico looked into the other’s eyes, and he came to the realization.
“You’re Xin?”
With Xin’s hand lodged into the man, all the feathers on her body, including that on her wing, charged up with immense power, and the elemental energy exploded off her.
Her hand was still stuck inside Vico, and his whole body was being electrocuted, shaking, and there was even a burning smell being emitted.
With the added water, her elemental power was conducting more electricity, allowing for it to hit every part of Vico.
Before Vico knew it, his entire brain had been fried. When Xin stopped, she pulled her arm out, and the man fell to the floor, lifeless.
“I have to clean this up,” Xin said, huffing and puffing as her Altered form reverted back.
She dragged Vico’s body into one of the stalls and closed the door. The bathroom was still a mess, so she quickly went into the hallway and into the cleaner’s closet, finding an out-of-order sign.
On the outside of the men’s toilets, she placed the out-of-order sign. She wasn’t sure it would buy her much time, but it would buy her some time.
Exiting, Xin started to walk down the hallway and tensed her fist.
‘I don’t care what I have to do. Attack them by surprise, attack them from behind, trick them, or kill them with my bare hands!’ Xin thought in her mind.
‘I’ll get rid of them all, I’ll get rid of every single one of them. I’ll get rid of the Zodiacs, and I’m coming straight for you, Harvor!’
Back in the arena, for a moment, all the hairs were standing up on Elijah’s body.
“Is there a load of static somewhere?” Elijah asked.
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