Chapter 100 : The Search

"...there's nothing much you can do," said Maskmana. 

"I understand. We will return ASAP," said Kaizo. 

End of transmission.

Maskmana went silent. The fact that Axion left soon after he sent info about the three men means that those three men meant something to her.

"Who are they? Are they a threat?" Maskmana mumbled. 

Maskmana pressed a button on his computer and contacted one of his men. 

"Yes, Admiral?"

"The three visitors from Terra. Are they already left?" Maskmana asked. 

"No, sir. Their ship is still parked in the hangar."

"I see. Keep an eye on them. I want to know what they do and where they're heading," Maskmana replied. 

"Understood."

Maskmana re-checked the files of the three visitors. They claimed to have come from Terra. From what Astraeus' database can tell, Terra is a rather primitive planet. This explains why they don't have any official intergalactic ID. Chances are Terra has discovered intergalactic travel just recently and Terrans hasn't made many contacts with people outside its planet. 

"... still, why are they here? Why are they looking for Axion?" Maskmana thought to himself. 

There isn't much information about Axion. 

In this entire station, Maskmana might be the one who knows the most about Axion. And even he doesn't know much about her.

But, there's one other person that Maskmana can ask.

The transformers that Axion brought with her to this station. Vion, Axion's personal assistant.

He rises from his seat and immediately goes out. He strides through the hallways and hurriedly goes to the control room. 

On his way, he saw 3 men conversing with two Astraeus members. 

"Gentlemen," Maskmana greets with a nod. 

"Admiral," the three men greeted back. 

The man with dark brown hair is Valerius. He seems to be the leader of this group. Although the other one with blonde hair who is called Verchiel seems to be in control of everything. Verchiel is often seen whispering to Valerius to which Valerius always listens. While the silent man with a rather cold look is called Zivon. 

"Is everything alright?" Maskmana asked. 

"Ah, yes. We were on our way to our ship but… we got lost…." said Valerius. 

"We came from a rather rural planet. This is the first time we ever visit a big station," Verchiel added. 

"I see. No worries. My people will escort you back to your ship," said Maksmana. 

"Say, Admiral. Do you by any chance have someone who knows...magic in this station?" Valerius asked. 

"Pardon?" said Maskmana in confusion. 

"The person we're looking for is a magician. I was wondering if you have anyone who is aware of magic," Valerius explains. 

"I suppose no. Not in the way you know. We are not familiar with magic. We are more familiar with science," said Maskmana. 

"Ah, yes. Of course. Thank you for your hospitality, Admiral," said Verchiel. 

They nodded and left. Maskmana watches them as they walk away. 

"Magic… so they are related to Axion…." Maskmana thought to himself. 

-----------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, Kaizo and his team are still searching for clues.

"I must say… this is an unexpected turn of event," said Isadore as he poured a glass of wine. He put the glass on the table and sat down.

"Can you find her?" Kaizo asked.

"Ah… Can't exactly say I can…." said Isadore. 

"Look. You owe us a favor. If you don't want me to leak out evidence of your illegal trade and put you into jail, you better do as I said," said Kaizo.

Isadore laughed nervously. "Now now, let's not make rash decisions shall we. It's not that I don't want to help you…."

"What? Is it money? I can give you money…"

"That's not it," said Isadore, cutting off Kaizo. "I don't trade business that I can't guarantee. You know how skilled Noche is. I can use every connection I have and I doubt I can find anything about her."

"Can you at least try?" Kaizo asked. 

Isadore goes silent for a moment. "...Guillermo!" he called. 

One of the guards near the door stepped closer to them.

"Take all your men and search the Market. Help Mr. K find Noche," said Isadore. "Guillermo is one of my trusted men. He will help you. And while you both do the leg work, I and my assistant here will try to find any clue through our database," said Isadore. 

"Thank you," said Kaizo. 

Kaizo shakes Isadore's hand and leaves with Guillermo. He turned on his communicator and called Ramenman. 

"Ramenman, it's me. How are things on your end?" Kaizo asked. 

Ramenman sigh. "No clue. I've been asking around for a while. No one has seen her," said Ramenman as he looked around his surroundings. 

"Where are you?"

"Not far from the city's square," Ramenman replied. 

"Meet me at the city's square. I'm bringing back up," said Kaizo.

Both Kaizo and Guillermo rushed to the city's square. 

"Kaizo!" Ramenman exclaimed as he hurriedly approached him. "How'd it go?"

"Isadore agreed to help us out," said Kaizo. 

"I know some people we can ask. Follow me," said Guillermo. 

Both Kaizo and Ramenman nodded. 

Star market is bustling with aliens of all races. Isadore has dispatched his men to scour the area. Kaizo and Ramenman followed Guillermo to meet all Isadore's connections and ask them one by one. 

"Rum, got anything?" Kaizo asked through his communicator as he waited for Isadore to come back. 

"It seems that Axion tampered with the CCTV. 1 hour's worth of footage is missing," said Rum.  

"I also got nothing," said Lahap. "I checked her room. It's been cleaned. All her stuff is gone. No sign of life, no fingerprint. It's as if no one ever lived in that room." 

"Really?! No signal, no tracking any of her devices?" Ramenman asked. 

"I'm still trying to reach her devices. Communicator, phone, tablet computers. Anything that comes into mind. But nothing…." said Lahap. 

Kaizo and Ramenman looked at each other. 

"Can you find where Axion was last seen?" Kaizo asked. 

"The earliest footage I can find is during the fight with Caligo," Rum replied. 

"Alright. Carry on," said Kaizo. 

"This is the last one," said Guillermo as he approached Kaizo.

"Anything?" Ramenman asked. 

"No," said Guillermo bluntly. "But they'll help."

"Where to now?" 

"We go outside the border," said Guillermo. 

"Outside? It's a big area. How are we going to search in such a short time?" Ramenman asked. 

"My friend said the CCTV stopped working for 1 hour. She was last seen at Isadore's mansion. Where is the closest border from the mansion?" Kaizo asked. 

"Isadore's mansion is right in the middle of Star Market. There are four borders in total. North, East, West, and South. All with the same distance.," said Guillermo. 

"Don't tell me we're going to check all four," said Ramenman. 

"No. We don't have time to do that. There must be a way to narrow it down…." said Kaizo. He goes silent and thinks.

"Axion… Knowing her, she must be already out of the star market by the time we realize she's gone…." he mumbled. "Can Isadore find a list of any spaceship that has been ordered for the past 3 days?" Kaizo asked. 

"Yes," Guillermo replied. 

"Tell Isadore to find a list of spaceships that were bought or rented for the past 3 days. Focus only on the spaceship that has taken off recently," said Kaizo. 

Guillermo nodded. He immediately picks up his phone and calls Isadore.

Kaizo turned on the communicator. "Rum, I need you to figure out which border Axion can reach in an hour from the mansion."

"Already ahead of you," said Rum. 

"Do you think this will work?" Ramenman asked. 

"The distance between the mansion and the 4 borders may be similar. But the road toward each border is different," Kaizo replied. "I will find her… no matter what." 

"Isadore is working on your request. You should go back to the mansion, wait for any news," said Guillermo. 

"Tell Isadore to establish a connection to my ship. We're leaving for Astraeus as soon as we get any news," said Kaizo. 

"Alright," Guillermo replied.