The junkyard stretched on like a metallic wasteland. Broken machines, shattered weapons, rusted steel, and jagged heaps of old tech loomed in every direction.
Sparks from salvage tools flickered here and there as Lucius's chosen engineers pried parts loose.
Jamie kept her weapon casually propped against her shoulder, scanning the shadows. Mira kept an eye on both the workers and the monsters circling the perimeter.
Lucius, meanwhile, felt something pulling at him.
It wasn't a sound or a visible sign—just an insistent tug in his chest, one that seemed tied to the static buzzing faintly in his system. Without realizing it, he began following it.
Every step led him deeper, away from the salvage group, toward a quiet pocket of junk piled high like walls. He paused only when the static became unbearable.
And there it was.
A small device sat wedged between collapsed plating, its surface cracked but glowing faintly with pale gold light. Its pulse wasn't random.
