Yuanchen paused, and Edith let out a slight chuckle as she observed his reaction to what Serena had said.
"You are the person Silas was talking about?" Yuanchen asked, not entirely convinced that the woman was who she claimed to be.
Serena nodded. "That sly fox is an old friend of mine, and it's one of the reasons we even managed to help you."
Yuanchen found himself wanting to apologize for calling Silas names when he was in the forest.
"Come on, we need to get you those fixes ASAP," Serena said, leading the way to her laboratory.
On the other side of the large city of ice, disaster was unfolding. Many of the factories on the outskirts were burning, smoke billowing into the air, and screams echoing through the streets.
Lightning blasts struck the ground, creating massive yet localized explosions that sent personnel flying into the air.
Four individuals stepped into the courtyard, littered with bodies, and looked toward the building in the distance.
The smaller man in a blue and white Mecha suit pulsing with Neuro-Qi commanded.
Falcon — the man in the same-color mesh-up suit with wings — nodded, and blue Neuro-Qi shot from the hollow opening of the suit as he took flight.
Falcon soared over the top of the personnel gathering in the courtyard, all of them pointing guns at him.
Falcon's cold speech made the personnel freeze in their tracks, the malice radiating from his voice weakening their will.
His hand pointed down, and the suit's fiber-like material moved as Neuro-Qi gathered through it and focused in his palm.
The beam expanded in a blinding light, and a massive explosion followed, creating a small crater in the ground. Once the blast died down, charred corpses were left, and Falcon landed on the ground.
Behind him, the other three approached, the one with a leaner suit than the leader whistling.
The leader commanded again.
Elephant stepped up. His Mecha suit's steps sounded like earthquakes; his suit was massive, with a smaller head and large limbs for maximum power.
Elephant threw a punch at the reinforced metal. The elbow of his suit split open, revealing a hollow channel like Falcon's suit. A throttle valve appeared above the forearm, and Neuro-Qi flickered to life — once... twice... three times.
Boom!
The metal wall went flying as it caved inward, creating a gaping hole.
Elephant stepped aside, and the rest of the team entered, with him being the last to follow.
Chaos ensued as bodies dropped one by one, and the four assailants laid destruction to everything in their path, making their way to the heart of the factory.
With the last few remaining personnel disposed of, the group entered a building littered with monitors and blueprints showing readings of the item at the center.
A golden glove, with crystals on the knuckles.
The leader's information screen behind the cockpit helmet flashed, and he stepped forward. He placed his hand on the glass, and a massive wave of electricity shot from his palm, cracking the glass into a multitude of pieces.
The leader held the glove and placed his hand into it.
A surge of Neuro-Qi flooded his suit, causing multiple warning signals to appear in his cockpit. Gritting his teeth, he slowly siphoned the energy into his suit, and the glove stopped glowing.
The Navi lab was quiet as Serena concluded the procedure on Yuanchen's implants.
She glanced at their structure from her computer screen and couldn't help but marvel at the intricate way they were built. It was like nothing she had ever seen, and she had vast technological knowledge of implants.
She took her gaze off the screen and briefly looked at Yuanchen, who was lying on the operating bed with multiple tubes connected to him.
'You are one unique kid,' she mused to herself before proceeding with the repairs.
Once she hit the button to finalize the repairs, something neither she nor Edith expected happened.
Yuanchen began glowing, and his glow was rather magnificent: a compilation of colors that formed an ethereal light. The light was absorbed into Yuanchen while the charts showed the completion of the repairs.
The array of implants changed as well.
The doors leading into the room separated, and a frantic personnel appeared, almost shocking Serena and Edith.
"What is it?" Serena asked, half-annoyed at the intrusion.
"Chief! Sector 7 has been raided!" the personnel informed after gathering his breath.
"What!?" Serena barked, her stress mounting. Edith, gather the Mecha force and assist immediately."
Old wrinkles appeared on Serena's face as the stress took over. She dreaded what was stolen — the item in question was a powerful relic. She put on her gear and walked over to the sleeping Yuanchen.
She pressed her hand against his heart and jolted him awake. "Time to wake up, kiddo. We have a state of emergency."
Yuanchen groggily opened his eyes. He looked at his hands, feeling the radiating Qi and Neuro-Qi within his body, but something about the two energies felt different. It was as if they were one. He sat up and looked at Serena barking out orders.
"What's going on?"
"A group of vigilantes raided our factories and stole an important artifact. Care to lend me your help?"
Yuanchen thought for a bit and nodded. "Sure thing."
Spiked tires gripped the snowy road as the motorcycle roared through the snow. Edith floored the vehicle, praying to reach the sector in time. Hot on her trail were several cars with a multitude of security personnel.
A digital window appeared on her side, showing the group of assailants fleeing the sector.
"Launch attacks!" Edith commanded the tracking drones.
The drones, as she commanded, began firing plasma lasers, forcing the group to dodge and stop.
The leader of the group stepped forward and raised his hand at the drones as another volley of attacks shot at them. An invisible barrier deflected the laser beams, and he clenched his hand, creating an impulsive wave that covered the vicinity, turning off the technological infrastructure that wasn't aligned with his allies.
The drones did their intended job, however, as Edith and the platoon with her arrived at the scene.
Edith got off her bike, and it morphed into a massive gun with pulsating veins along its body. She spat on the ground, seeing the four, and with a scowl, spoke, "Bring back the glove."
The leader chuckled, seeing Edith.
Edith's scowl deepened. "Why not test that theory out then?"
The leader's mask visor glowed.
The leader took a step forward, clearing the distance between him and his group.
Edith raised the massive weapon and pointed it at the group. "Die!" Her finger clicked on the trigger, and the gun gathered Neuro-Qi, focusing it on the edge before firing a massive blast that tore the ground as it approached the group