There was no loud noise.
No explosion.
Everything simply vanished.
Within less than a minute, the enormous warehouse was completely empty.
Zayden walked inside the magical storage space to inspect the results.
Everything had been organized automatically.
The vehicles were parked neatly in the vehicle section.
Weapons and ammunition were stored in another area.
Machines, generators, drones, and spare parts were placed inside the workshop.
"Perfect."
He closed the crate and moved to the next warehouse.
Before taking anything, Upgrade scanned every machine and removed all tracking chips, GPS transmitters, hidden security systems, and remote shutdown devices.
Only after making sure nothing could be traced did he activate the enchanted crate again.
The second warehouse disappeared.
Then the third.
Then the fourth.
By the time he finished, every warehouse belonging to Hammer Industries had been emptied.
Prototype weapons.
Military vehicles.
Advanced machinery.
Manufacturing equipment.
Research materials.
Raw components.
Everything had been transferred into the magical storage space.
The buildings themselves remained standing.
Only their contents had vanished.
Zayden walked through the facility one final time.
He checked every laboratory, office, storage room, and underground level.
Nothing valuable had been left behind.
Satisfied, he closed the crate and stored it inside his coat.
He cast a few simple cleaning spells to remove any traces of his presence.
After that, he flew into the night sky and quietly left Hammer Industries.
The next morning, employees arrived for work as usual.
The first warehouse supervisor unlocked the doors.
He froze.
The warehouse was completely empty.
Not a single crate remained.
Moments later, similar reports came from every other warehouse.
Research labs had lost every prototype.
Storage buildings contained nothing but empty shelves.
No doors had been forced open.
No alarms had been triggered.
No security cameras showed anyone entering or leaving.
It was as if every piece of equipment had simply vanished overnight.
Within an hour, the entire Hammer Industries headquarters had fallen into chaos.
Meanwhile, Justin Hammer was having breakfast in his penthouse while watching the morning news.
His phone suddenly rang.
He glanced at the screen.
It was one of his senior managers.
Justin answered the call.
"What is it?"
On the other end, the manager's voice was shaking.
"Sir... everything is gone."
Justin frowned.
"What do you mean everything is gone?"
"The warehouses, sir."
"They're empty."
"Every weapon."
"Every vehicle."
"Every prototype."
"Every machine."
"It's all gone."
Justin stood up so suddenly that his chair fell backward.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"I'm serious, sir."
"We've checked every warehouse and every storage building."
"There's nothing left."
Justin's face darkened.
"Stay where you are."
"I'm coming."
He immediately grabbed his car keys and left the penthouse.
Less than thirty minutes later, Justin Hammer arrived at Hammer Industries.
Police cars and company security vehicles surrounded the facility.
Employees stood outside in groups, talking nervously.
Justin ignored everyone and rushed into the nearest warehouse.
The moment he stepped inside, he stopped.
The warehouse was empty.
Not partially empty.
Completely empty.
The shelves were bare.
The floor was spotless.
There wasn't even a single screw left behind.
His breathing became heavier.
"No..."
He quickly ran to another warehouse.
It was exactly the same.
Then another.
And another.
Every single warehouse had been emptied.
Research laboratories had also been stripped clean.
Every prototype, every computer, every machine, and every experimental weapon had disappeared.
Justin stood silently in the middle of one of the empty buildings.
His fists slowly clenched.
"How..."
"How is this even possible?"
One of the security managers cautiously walked over.
"Sir..."
"We've reviewed every security recording."
"There isn't a single sign of forced entry."
"No alarms were triggered."
"The cameras never recorded anyone entering the warehouses."
"It's as if everything simply vanished."
Justin looked around the empty warehouse again.
Years of research.
Billions of dollars worth of equipment.
Gone overnight.
Without leaving behind a single trace.
Justin remained silent for several seconds.
Then he turned toward the security manager.
"Lock down the entire facility."
"Nobody leaves until we've questioned every employee."
"Yes, sir."
"And call every department head."
"I want a complete inventory of everything that's missing."
The manager nodded and quickly left.
Justin walked into one of the research laboratories.
It was just as empty as the warehouses.
The computers were gone.
The prototype drones were gone.
Even the workbenches had disappeared.
He looked around the room with a grim expression.
"Just how in the world is this happened?"
No group of thieves could steal this much equipment in a single night.
Not without leaving evidence.
Not without triggering alarms.
One of the engineers cautiously approached him.
"Sir..."
"We checked the backup servers."
Justin immediately looked at him.
"And?"
"The data is gone."
"Every research file."
"Every blueprint."
"The internal servers are completely empty."
Justin's expression became even darker.
"So they didn't just steal the equipment."
"They stole our research too."
"Yes, sir."
Another employee hurried into the room.
"Sir, the insurance company is asking for an estimate of the losses."
Justin took a deep breath.
"We'll calculate that later."
"Right now, I want to know who did this."
He turned toward the head of security.
"Contact the FBI."
"And notify every intelligence agency we have connections with."
"I don't care how much it costs."
"I want whoever did this found."
"Understood."
As the orders were carried out, Justin stood quietly in the empty laboratory.
"Just what could do such thing?" He mumbled gobsmacked.
Justin remained standing in the empty laboratory for several more minutes.
No matter how many times he looked around, the result was the same.
Everything was gone.
A senior engineer walked into the room carrying a tablet.
"Sir."
"We finished checking the backup power logs."
Justin looked at him.
"And?"
"There wasn't a single power interruption."
"The security systems worked normally all night."
"The vault doors were never opened."
"The biometric locks were never used."
Justin frowned.
"So whoever did this didn't break in."
"It appears that way, sir."
Another manager hurried over.
"We've also contacted every transportation company nearby."
"No trucks entered or left the facility."
"No cargo aircraft were scheduled."
"No ships reported suspicious activity."
Justin rubbed his forehead.
"This doesn't make any sense."