Ch 16: Danger hidden in Light
After summoning the new stealth hero, Ghostbit, Alex approached the side of the event stage where Yurei was stationed. His expression was calm, but his eyes betrayed a sharp alertness. He leaned close to her and spoke in a hushed voice. "Yurei, I noticed a few individuals who don't seem to belong. Something about them feels... off."
Yurei raised an eyebrow. "Could be undercover agents, or just overcurious citizens. But I trust your gut."
Meanwhile, Ghostbit had activated his cloaking system and melded into the shadows. The cyborg's form shimmered briefly before vanishing completely from sight. As he moved through the crowd, his sensors began registering low electronic activity. It struck him as unusual. For such a high-profile event, particularly with the Mayor in attendance, there were surprisingly few surveillance cameras. He found it suspicious. Security should've been airtight, and yet...
"Odd," Ghostbit muttered through the neural link. "There's barely any city surveillance. For an event like this, it's practically blind."
Ghostbit then initiated his secondary scanning protocol. He pinged and hijacked several personal devices—phones, smartwatches, even portable speakers—all of which were connected to the public event Wi-Fi. With advanced stealth-hacking abilities, he rerouted their data streams to his internal display. His visor glowed faintly under the invisibility field as he absorbed the information.
Then, Ghostbit did something bold: he accessed Alex's earpiece directly. A slight interference buzzed in Alex's ear before Ghostbit's disguised voice filtered in.
"Sir, the surveillance here is lower than expected. I've scanned 12 devices; all unguarded. No city cameras online within a hundred-meter radius. That's not standard protocol for something this important."
Alex frowned and leaned closer to Yurei again. "Is it normal that there's barely any surveillance in this area?"
Yurei gave a thoughtful nod. "Actually, yes. We intentionally reduced visible tech. The Mayor didn't want the citizens feeling like they were being watched. But don't worry—we have special agents with high-caliber sniper scopes and long-range audio pickups stationed around the park. They're trained to identify any threat in seconds."
Alex exhaled, somewhat reassured. He cast another glance across the gathering, where the spore tree planting ceremony was concluding. The Mayor smiled, waving to the crowd as news drones hovered nearby, capturing every moment. The citizens applauded, children ran up to get a closer look at the miracle tree, and everything appeared peaceful on the surface.
Yet the unease didn't leave Alex. He felt it in his bones—the calm before something big.
After the ceremony concluded, the Mayor shook hands with Alex and Yurei, praising their joint initiative. The trio exchanged polite words before making their way back to the government building.
Alex, however, wasn't finished.
Before stepping into his office, he gave a mental command to Ghostbit. "Keep following them. Discreetly. I want eyes on them until we know who they really are."
Invisible once more, Ghostbit melted into the crowd, his sensors sharp and his systems quiet. The mission wasn't over yet.
___
Ghostbit trailed the group silently across winding backstreets, his light refractive panels humming gently as he adjusted to blend with the environment. They moved with purpose, heads down, not glancing back even once. That kind of confidence only came from knowing the area—too well.
The group eventually arrived at a modest, slightly worn warehouse on the city's eastern fringe. The faded signage above the rusted door read:
Sunlight Foundation – Storage and Distribution Hub
A name well-known for its philanthropic efforts. They funded orphanages, donated medical supplies, and fed the poor. A clean public record. No red flags. Nothing suspicious—at least on paper.
Ghostbit tilted his head. "Odd," he muttered in his internal log.
He accessed the warehouse's security system, a low-tier setup with basic firewalls. The outer security cracked open easily under his intrusion suite. Streams of video footage flickered across his retina overlay. He scanned the last thirty minutes of interior activity. Boxes were stacked, shelves aligned, workers moved like clockwork.
But something didn't add up.
Just moments ago, the group Ghostbit had followed entered the facility. But on camera—they vanished around a corner and never reappeared. No exit, no further movement. Just gone.
"Blind spot," Ghostbit grumbled. "Convenient."
Switching to full stealth mode, he phased through the unlocked side entrance, cloaking his digital trail. His footsteps were light, calculated. He passed by crates labeled "Rice," "Grain," and "Nutrient Paste," all scanned and verified.
Everything appeared... normal. Too normal.
Then he saw it.
Etched faintly on the floor, beneath one of the grain pallets, was a symbol—barely visible to the untrained eye. A spiraling hexagram with broken lines forming a cracked sun. Something old. Something intentionally obscured.
Ghostbit immediately captured the image, relaying it to Alex's encrypted channel.
> Ghostbit Transmission:
"No hostiles. Target trail lost in blind spot. Interior is clean. Grains, rice, standard relief goods. Except for this."
[Image Attached: Symbol on Floor]
"Pulling archives. Will continue surveillance on premises."
From his end, Alex narrowed his eyes as he studied the symbol on his tablet. His fingers tapped the screen nervously, knowing this wasn't the last they'd hear from the Sunlight Foundation.
And definitely not the last symbol
Ghostbit contacted Alex again, asking, "Sir, do you have access to the government's deeper archive systems? I need to cross-reference this symbol. It may be old or classified."
Alex nodded and immediately called Yurei. She answered with her usual calm expression.
"I need permission to access the internal archive," Alex said.
Yurei raised an eyebrow. "Why? What did you find?"
Alex sent the image of the symbol. Her gaze sharpened.
"I'll ask for clearance, but I can't promise anything. That level of access is tightly monitored."
"Understood," Alex replied. "No need to rush. Just thought I'd check."
Once the call ended, Alex leaned back in his chair, deep in thought. For the first time in a while, he felt… vulnerable.
With one hero temporarily unavailable, he could only summon one more hero. It put him at a disadvantage. One wrong move, and he'd be exposed.
He glanced toward the summoning place, heart heavy but determined. Maybe it was time to try again—to summon something that could support him better.
He whispered the incantation and focused his mind, reaching into the portal. But something unexpected happened. The Fragment that Vault had left him—once inert and symbolic—was suddenly pulled into the swirling portal.
A pulse of light exploded outward.
Moments later, a radiant item emerged. It hovered in the air, spinning slowly. The glow alone made his eyes sting.
[Item Acquired: Mindhalo of Ascension]
Rarity: Legendary
Type: Supportive Artifact
Effect: Increases user's maximum mental energy capacity by 50%. Grants passive regeneration of mental energy over time. Also enhances sensory perception, reaction speed, and multi-tasking ability.
Lore: Forged from the regrets of the fallen and the resolve of the living. Binds only to summoners who carry the will of those they've lost.
Alex stepped back, breath caught in his chest. The room seemed brighter, lighter.
He now had a new strength—and a reminder of Vault's gift.