"Stop!" Mira exclaimed, looking at A.D. "You said high-tech but ancient. What do you mean by that?"
"You'll know later, when the time comes," A.D. replied, a strange glint in his eye, trying to ignore her penetrating gaze. He then turned to Tina, who asked with a peculiar expression, "A.D., how do you know what's inside the trunk?"
A.D. strangely turned his face to avoid her eyes. "I think so, by seeing this place and the mission," he replied, then urged, "Come on, take the guns for your safety."
One by one, they took the guns. Some were large and seemed to offer high advantages. Rodi, Fin, and Dunk chose those.
"Okay, all of you listen now," Dunk announced, asserting himself. "We have a mission. We have to work together to get out of here safely." He then turned to Fin and Rodi. "We'll work in teams and find a way. You both come with me; first, we'll look out over our whole zone."
"It looks like you think you're our leader and ordering us around," Fin scoffed.
"What do you mean?" Tina interjected. "He's senior to all of you; he wants to protect us."
"Huh!" Fin retorted. "How do we believe it? It's possible he could get us into trouble and then run alone! And how do we believe you?"
"Yeah!" Rodi chimed in, agreeing with Fin. "I also think so. How do we believe each other? We don't even know anyone here!"
A.D. interrupted, his voice firm. "Stop fighting with each other. We are all players, and on the same team."
"Huh! You're a mind reader or something like that?" Rodi challenged. "And how do you know?"
"It's common sense," A.D. replied calmly. "We all have watches on which the game guidelines are shown at the same time, and nothing else."
"Hmm!" Fin said after some deep thinking, finally conceding. "Okay."
"Okayyy!" Tina agreed. "Then listen to Dunk."
"Huh! All sorted out," Dunk said. "Listen, then. Fin, Koni, and Mira, you will be in my team. The remaining will be in the other team."
"No!" Koni and Mira protested simultaneously. "We will not! We will be with Tina."
"No, we have to be somewhat equal to save ourselves," Dunk argued.
"No, we have our choice," Mira insisted.
"Yeah, she's correct!" Rodi chimed in, "And I don't want to be in this team."
"But!" Dunk started, frustrated.
Tina interrupted. "Okay, it's clear. Let's stop here. Mira, Koni, Megail, and A.D. will be in one team," she declared. Then, turning to Dunk, "You, Fin, and Rodi will be in the second team." Everyone agreed.
"Now, first, we have to look out our zone thoroughly," Tina instructed. They then left in different directions.
Chapter Eighty-Six: Divided Paths
On their way, Fin asked Rodi, "Why did you change your team?"
"You also know," Rodi replied, a slight smirk on his face, "I don't want to take risks. Their team is too weak. What can girls do in danger? Because of them, I could be in danger."
"Hmm!" Fin agreed. "You're too smart."
On the other path, Tina asked Koni and Mira, "Why did you change your team? That team would be more advantageous and could guarantee your safety. Then why?"
Mira glanced strangely at A.D. from behind him. "It's because I wasn't comfortable in a boys' team," she said.
They came to a towering building. "Wow!" Koni exclaimed.
"Okay, hmm," Tina said. "Now we have to check this whole building. So, Koni and Megail, come with me, and Mira, you go with A.D." They split up, going into different rooms within the ancient place. There were a few trunks, and some rooms were empty.
Tina instructed Koni. "Okay, open the trunk. Take everything you think can be useful and that we can carry."
"Yeah!" Koni and Megail replied, eager to explore.
Chapter Eighty-Seven: A.D.'s Haunting Memory
On A.D.'s side, Mira was behaving strangely, with some unknown expressions flickering across her face. "It looks like you have some questions," A.D. observed.
"Yeah!" Mira confirmed. "I can't believe what you said earlier when the trunk opened."
"It's not my business if you trust me or not," A.D. replied, his voice flat. "There's nothing in this room; let's check another."
On their way, Mira got lost, and they were separated. A.D., unaware that Mira was no longer behind him, steadily continued walking. "Any other questions?" he asked, then turned around. He saw that Mira wasn't there. He looked around; darkness was everywhere. Mentally lost, he sat down against a wall, holding his hand to his head. A memory of Mia, the girl he thought was dead, the promise he couldn't fulfill to her parents, flooded his mind. He began to cry.
Mira, meanwhile, looked around frantically to find A.D., walking quickly this way and that. Then, she heard the sound of crying. Mira slowly approached the sound, asking, "Who is that? A.D., is that you?" Slowly, she saw him from a distance. "A.D.!" she whispered, then came closer. "A.D., what happened? Why are you crying?" But A.D. was not mentally present. Gently, she grabbed his arm and shook him softly. "A.D.... A.D.!"
"Huh!" A.D. snapped back to his senses. He stood up, clearing his tears.
"What happened?" Mira asked again.
"Nothing," A.D. replied, his voice strained. "And where were you? Don't get lost, and stay with me, okay!"
"Hmm, but?" Mira started.
"Now stop it," A.D. cut her off. "Let's check some other rooms." They left, continuing to open all the trunks they found, but all were empty.
Mira, tired, sighed. "We checked all the rooms, but all in vain. Why are there trunks if nothing is inside?"
A.D. opened the last trunk. "This is the last one," he said, "then we'll leave for our place."
"Okayyy!" Mira replied, exhausted.
When he opened it, looking inside, A.D. exclaimed, "Oh my God! It's what we need!"
"What is that?" Mira asked, coming forward to look inside. There were some small, ancient, hand-sized objects in bottles. "What is this?" Mira asked again.
A.D. was about to answer, but at that moment, a message appeared on their watches: "TIME IS GOING TO END. THE WAR IS GOING TO START IN FIVE HOURS. WHEN IT STARTS, YOU HAVE 24 HOURS TO GET THAT BLACK STONE AND GET OUT FROM HERE ALIVE."
"Let's move to our place," A.D. said.
Chapter Eighty-Eight: Preparations for War
All the teams gathered at their designated meeting point. Tina approached Dunk. "You know what happened?" she asked.
"Hmm!" Dunk replied.
"But we didn't expect that it would start early," Tina added, worried.
A.D. interrupted. "Don't panic. First, show what you all collected."
Dunk's team had gathered various weapons. Tina's team had found some guns and two small trunks.
"Huh! You collected this?" Fin scoffed, looking at Tina's team's haul. "I knew you'd get useless things! And what's in these little trunks?" He then looked at A.D. "And you, what did you get?"
Mira, holding something, looked at them. "Huh! What is this?" she asked, grabbing it.
A.D. quickly stepped forward and took it from Fin. "Be careful," he warned, then handed it to Mira. There were only six of them.
"You are all useless!" Fin declared, exasperated.
Dunk interrupted. "Stop it! We have a lot of weapons, so don't worry."
"Huh!" Rodi said to Dunk. "We have, but we don't know who our opponent is!"
"I said, stop!" Dunk snapped.
Then Mira asked Tina, "What's in these trunks?"
"I don't know," Tina replied. "We couldn't open them."
A.D. stepped forward. "Step aside," he said. "I want to see." After seeing them, A.D. hummed with a slight smile.
"What? Why are you smiling?" Mira asked.
"Whose are hungry?" A.D. asked, then placed his watch on a scanning spot on the trunk. It opened. Inside was some strange-looking food and fruits.
"Huh! What are these?" Koni exclaimed.
A.D. took a fruit and began eating it. "These look weird, but they're capable of being eaten. If you don't want to die from hunger, eat it." Mira came forward and began to eat. Then, everyone started eating, consuming everything.
After eating, Tina asked Dunk, "What will we do about the war? We don't know how to use these weapons."