Secret Basement

On the way back, all I could think about was what I found. I had to do a breathing exercise to calm down.

——-30 minutes ago——

I walked down to the basement and walked through the halls. Overall, nothing really popped out. Nothing seemed important enough to want it back. However, files could've been on the computer. But even then. There's ways to get them without even coming here.

I continued to walk down the halls and went through some rooms. I did miss some rooms though. I was on a time limit. Couldn't just spend all my time left going through every single room.

I walked down and continued my search until I reached the end.

I'm front of me was a room slightly open. I pushed it and opened it even wider. Different colours hit my face. I was blinded to a second by how light it was.

The room seemed kind of like a surgical one. On the bed, a zombie laid dead. I wasn't really shocked though. The military would one hundred percent try to figure out why people started turning . 'Maybe that's the reason?'

Maybe they needed the research materials. It was definitely a good possibility that was the reason. However, my curiosity took over. I walked around the room and inspected it. I then walked over to what I thought was a closet.

I turned the handle clockwise and pulled the door open. What greeted me was a dimly lit room. When I walked in my eyes widened. 'This was the reason.'

There was no way anything less would've mattered.

I walked up and picked up the AR with crystals in it. The gun was glowing a dark red.

I moved the gun around and started aiming it at random things.

I injected mana into the gun and it started glowing.

I aimed it at the steel wall at the end of the room and shot.

*boom

The bullet fired from gun at unreal speeds. It was so strong it went through the thick, steel wall. "And it's only a first tier crystal."

I quickly put the gun down and continued my search. I ended up finding two more items with crystals. A sniper and a knife.

The sniper was like the AR. It had crystals coming out of it and it was glowing. The knife, however, looked insane. In a good way.

The blade part was the crystal. It was also a first tier crystal. It flowed glowed red and looked incredibly sharp.

"No. I don't wanna break it by accident."

I wanted to slash at something but I didn't want to deal with the aftermath if it broke.

After holding them for a second time, I quickly ran upstairs and put everything back the way it was.

I also quickly deleted any footage of me entering on the computer.

———-

After a little bit more driving, I made it back to the base. Bruce was carried inside and I followed closely behind the soldiers. Many people in the lobby looked at us. But after a couple of seconds they lost interest.

Bruce was taken to the infirmary and I went to report what happened to the sergeant.

Walking a couple meters, I arrived in front of his office. I brought up my hand to knock but stopped when I heard his voice.

"Come in."

I opened the door and sat down.

"Sir-"

I went on to explain everything detail by detail.

"You did good. It's a shame two meme bees died, but you should get used to it. Don't let it get you down. Anyway, I'll let you rest. I'll think about what to do with your team."

I nodded and got up. I said 'bye' one more time before walking out. I went back up to my room and greeted Ash who was in the bed. He ran up and gave me a quick hug.

"See. You don't have to worry. I'll always come back."

I patted his head and he let go. "Okay."

That was all he said before letting go and jumping back on the bed.

I took a shower and put on some comfortable clothes. A black hoodie and black joggers.

I went back to the room and jumped in the bed with crystals in my hand. I had a total of seven on me. I took two from Danielas corpse. I would've taken more but time ran out and the soldiers arrived.

I now had two tier 2 crystals. Three tier 3s, one tier 4 and one tier 1.

"Ash. You want powers?"

"Finally!"

"It'll hurt. But if you get through it, you'll get strong."

He frantically nodded his head and with a smile I gave him a tier 1 crystal.

He quickly popped it into his mouth like candy.

I shook my head and waited for him to start screaming.

I didn't have to wait long.

"Argh!"

He screamed for a good two minutes before calming down. I waited another minute or so for him to catch his breath before asking him how he felt.

"Strong! I can finally help you."

I nodded and patted his head. 'Should I give him another one? He can unlock his ability today. But that would draw too much attention. The amount of pain he's go through would be a lot for such a young kid.

"Go take a shower. You were sweating like crazy. Once your done I'll teach you some quick workouts."

"Okay."

——

After teaching Ash some workouts, I went to Emma's room door and knocked.

She opened it and gave me a quick hug. She heard I had a mission and got worried.

"Danny and Ivan are worried sick too. You should visit them."

"Already planned to."

"So. How was it?"

I then went on to explain to her how the mission went. Once I was done she gave me another hug.

"You reckless fuck. You guys should've ran away. Or at least waited for back up to come."

"Yeah, but if I did that, I wouldn't have gotten this."

I took out a tier 3 crystal and gave it to her. I had three of them. Two now.

I planned on giving Ivan and Danny one too. After this mission and encountering a tier 4, I didn't want my friends and loved ones dying. Getting them stronger would ensure their safety.

"What about you?"

"I already have one. Plus I got a tier 4. So don't worry."

"Thanks."

She took it and placed it on her night stand.

We talked for a little longer before I left to meet with Ivan and Danny. Since they were close to each other we both met in one room. Ivan's.

I gave them both the crystal and explained what happened.

They had serious looks on their faces when they heard about the tier 4.

They thanked me for the tier 3s and we talked for a little while longer. The two both had missions tomorrow, so I left earlier than I wanted.