It didn't take long for us to finish our meal since we were both hungry from a day of hard work and patrolling. Once we finished, I brought Crow back to the community so she could start doing her own investigations before finally teleporting back home. It wasn't absolutely necessary, but I wanted to let Kali know what was going on and grab Troy.

I was prepared to spend all night patrolling the city, letting Alya peek and search every nook and hidey-hole she could find in order to locate the Farm. That didn't mean I wanted to spend the whole time walking around aimlessly, twiddling my thumbs as Alya did her work. I would if it came down to that, obviously, but luckily, that wasn't necessary. Troy was more or less capable of following simple pathing instructions, which meant I could ride him without paying attention. This meant that I could just ride on Troy's back, letting Alya scan around while I worked on new spells or rituals. Most likely spells for now since I was finally feeling pretty secure in my current gear.

Once I was ready, I spent ten minutes looking at the map that Miss Militia had given me of Brockton Bay, trying to figure out where I had left to scan. Alya had already scanned a significant portion of ABB territory while Crow and I were on patrol, but there were still some sections we needed to go over. After a few minutes of planning, I had a loose path I had planned on taking, a looping circle around the territory I hadn't been quite yet.

After saying goodbye to Kali, I teleported Troy, my golems, and myself to a familiar spot in AB territory, immediately hopping on Troy's back. I easily used a spell to turn his back into a flat table for my notebook before giving him a mental command to walk forward. As we moved, I could feel Alya pull back, diffusing herself over an entire area, poking and prodding to try and find the abominable gang spot. As we began to move, my golems walked around me, their heads turning and scanning for any threats. With Alya and the golems keeping an eye out for anything strange, I felt pretty safe focusing primarily on my own work.

We patrolled for a while, circling along and passing by a few questionable areas, but Alya found nothing related to the Farm. I had gotten about halfway through creating a long-range healing spell, which I was hoping to get down to a three or four-word spell eventually, when Alya pulled in around me again, tugging at me to my right.

"There is a mugging on a street down and to the right," She explained. "Three in ABB colors and two civilians. The ABB are armed."

"Alright, let's go," I said, casting a quick cast spell to have Troy absorb all my papers, calculators, and pencils before mentally urging the golem to pick.

Following Alya's tugging directions, I arrived at a long alley about ten seconds later, just in time to watch some poor man's head meet the stock end of a shotgun. He dropped to the ground like his strings were cut, leaving the three ABB with a single woman who was screaming and sobbing. With a whistle, I sent out three of my brass golems, all of them moving in an incredible burst of speed. They leaped across the ground, one of them vaulting over a series of trash cans like a trained Olympic athlete.

The first one to arrive slammed into the woman a bit roughly, pulling her out of the ganger's line of fire and covering her with his thick metal body. The second and third golems plowed into the gangers, knocking them over like a pair of bowling balls getting a strike. They quickly disarmed and had the ABB ganger pinned to the ground, hands on their shoulders.

The woman was panicking, managing to pull herself free of the golem, mostly cause it wasn't trying to hold her. She fell back onto her backside before scrambling away from me and my golems. Thankfully, once I healed and woke up her partner, she calmed down significantly, wrapping the man in a tight hug. Once they recovered enough, they both apologized and thanked me, sticking around just long enough to give their statement to the police before hurrying off.

Before long, I was back on the path, Alya once again scanning the area as I worked on my magic. I managed to complete my healing ray, which wasn't exactly the most potent healing spell in my repertoire, but even just being able to barely stabilize someone from across the room, maybe even further, was still well worth it.

By then, though, the sun was starting to set, and I could feel the air growing colder. Alya and I had scanned a good chunk of the area that was designated ABB territory, and now we were starting to push further and further away from the city center.

Slowly but surely, the warehouses and large buildings were replaced, generally speaking, by smaller homes and the occasional apartment building. The further we pushed out, the less and less likely it became that we would find the Farm in the direction we were going since not only were there fewer buildings capable of holding a lot of people but there was too much room for people to notice. It was a lot harder to hide a large-scale operation in a small town or the suburbs of a city, if for no other reason than the people living in those areas tended to be a bit nosier.

I pushed as far into the suburbs of Brockton Bay as I felt I could before turning around and making my way back, stopping before I entered what was considered ABB turf. I found a place in an alley for Alya to pull back close to me so I could bounce ideas off of her.

"The likelihood that the farm is in E88 or Protectorate territory is pretty damn small," I said, shaking my head. "I just can't imagine they wouldn't stumble on it eventually. They keep a close watch over that area, there is no way they wouldn't notice."

"I agree, and we've already patrolled a good chunk of that space, and I never saw anything," Alya pointed out, solidifying my statement. "Which leaves Undersiders territory and Merchant territory."

"I've learned a bit about the Undersiders since we first met them," I said with a frown. "Supposedly, their thinker is pretty flexible… And it feels unlikely they would let that slide if they knew about it… if for no other reason than they seemed determined to stay small time."

"So that leaves merchant territory."

"Yeah… and it does make a certain amount of sense, if you think about it. What better way to keep attention off of something than by putting it in someone else's territory?" I pointed out with a frown. "Not only that but according to what we heard from Lady Photon, the Merchants only hold that territory because Lung never bothered to push them back any further. What if that was on purpose, to keep the heat off of the Farm?"

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"Maybe?" Alya responded, sounding unsure. "It's a bit loose."

"I know. It's not much to go on, but it's more likely than it being somewhere in Empire territory," I pointed out, a feeling of begrudging agreement coming through our connection. "Plus, we can work through it in a night, cross it off, and start working on new theories."

We discussed a path to follow before I climbed back on top of Troy, setting him to walk along the border of ABB and Merchant territory. We had patrolled a portion of this strip before, but we had been more focused on the ABB territory, so we stopped when the lines diverged. This time, we followed the outskirts of Merchant territory as it ran along the Undersiders. When we didn't find anything, we continued to push into Merchant territory, which was primarily the trainyard and parts of the Docks that the ABB didn't have an interest in.

The area was mostly abandoned, save for the homeless who couldn't find more hospitable places to stay. They huddled by barrel fires, burning tires and trash for warmth, fighting each other to get closer. I had to break up more than one fight over drugs, booze, or food as Alya and I made our way along our pre-planned route. I couldn't help but wonder if there was a way I could help these people, but Alya helped keep me focused.

"These aren't the same kind of people as you help at the docks, Will," She whispered into my ear. "I'm not saying they don't deserve or need help, but you can't just start planting trees and handing out healing and expect it to all workout. There's nobody in charge, and there's no hierarchy or common decency. You saw them fighting over barrels and food. They would be lording over the trees by the end of the first day, selling or trading the fruit. One thing at a time, okay?"

"I just wish I knew they were here like this," I said with a frown. "The community never mentioned them, it always seemed like it was just Merchants up here."

"I think to them, these guys are Merchants," Alya explained. "Drugs run free here, and judging by the looks we are getting, not many of them would say no to the chance of earning a few hits by running with a gang.

I frowned, letting out a long breath. I would try, at some point, to find a way to help these people, but for now, I was hunting down something even darker. I needed to focus. After a moment to gather my thoughts, I continued my patrol across the territory until, finally, Alya told me to stop and head into an alleyway.

"I think… I found something worrying, like a group of people keeping watch," She explained. "It's just on the outskirts of where I can reach. Can you get closer, but while hiding away?"

"Yeah, just let me hide stash Troy first."

I guided the living wood golem further back into the alleyway, encouraging him to lie down behind a dumpster. I covered him in a ratty tarp before stepping back and confirming no one could see him from the street. When I was sure he was hidden, I had Alya guide me in the direction she wanted to see in, all while carefully staying out of sight, creeping through alleys, and hiding in the dark shadows.

First, she confirmed an unmarked group that was absolutely keeping watch, hiding in an abandoned building. All of them were at least some shade of Asian, which was unfortunately telling in this scenario. With Alya's help, I managed to make it past the lookout, discovering a second lookout base in the process but still managing to get further into Merchant territory. Then, after another ten minutes of sneaking around. Alya told me to stop.

"I found it," She said simply, a hollowness in her voice that immediately caught my attention. "There is a warehouse that is run by what looks like a legitimate business, but under it is some sort of large-scale facility, completely sealed off from the surface."

"Could I see it from the roof?" I asked, looking up, already looking for handholds.

"Just barely, it's two roads away, but it's not worth it," She responded. "You… you're going to do something about this soon, right?"

For a moment, Alya sounded more human than she ever had, her voice filled with disgust and horror that made me clench my fists. I could only imagine how bad it must be if it was making her sound like this.

"Yes. As soon as I can convince the others to join us," I said.

"Good. And Olivia was right. Attacking this place alone would have been a mistake," She admitted, pulling in tight around me. "We should go before someone spots us or Troy. Surprise is going to be a big deal clearing this place out with victims getting hurt."

It took a moment and a gentle pull from Alya for me to nod and walk away, heading back the way I had come. Part of me was glad I hadn't climbed up on the roof or that I couldn't get closer. I was pretty sure that if I had, I wouldn't have left, no matter what Alya could say or what I promised Olivia.

I managed to get back to Troy without issue, quickly teleporting home directly from where he had been hidden away. The second I was home, I contacted Olivia and New Wave, explaining that I had found the Farm and that we needed to set up a meeting as soon as possible. Thankfully Sarah Pelham agreed that speed was of the essence, so she agreed to call an emergency meeting, superseded school, work, and all other responsibilities. I also agreed to bring Olivia to the meeting, after getting permission from her, of course. We would be meeting early the next morning, with plans to hopefully bust the Farm before the day was done.

When we were done organizing the meeting, I was about ready to head in for the night. I wanted to try and get as much natural rest as possible, but Alya caught my attention before I could actually lay down.

"William… Perhaps tomorrow we should reveal my existence to New Wave and Crow," She suggested.

"What? Why?" I asked before quickly continuing. "I mean, I don't have a problem if that's what you want. I told you before that I don't want to force you to do anything."

"Will, relax, it's nothing like that," She responded reassuringly. "I feel no difference between only talking to you, talking to no one, or talking to many people at once. I may hold a sliver of your soul, but I am not human. Elementals are not social creatures. But, while I remain bound to you, my task is to help you to the best of my ability."

"Right, which is why I thought you were staying as a trump card."

"I very well could. However, I also think this assault on the Farm has a much greater chance of going well if I am able to assist directly," She explained. "And I know how devastated you would be if it went wrong."

"I… Okay, yeah, I can definitely see how having you guide everyone through would be a lot of help," I admitted, nodding along. "Can you handle that without collapsing like you did with the Nazis?"

"As long as I stay away from using electricity, yes," She responded confidently. "Whispering words into people's ears is simple, and if that's too hard, I can just blow cold or warm breezes around to direct them."

"Right… then yes, if it is okay with you, we should," I said with a nod. "How should we introduce you?"

"As a case fifty-three," She responded simply. "I am a nebulous air creature with a slight changer form and a strong thinker field that allows me to keep track of a large space around me. I've been helping you secretly, mostly because my nature means I would prefer people not to know about me."

"And why is that changing now?"

"Because the Farm is too much for me to ignore," She responded. "And if getting the victims out safely means more people need to know that I exist, then so be it."

"And why we can't separate?" I asked, sitting down on the edge of my bed.

"I… I need a focus point to keep my mind clear, and you are my focus point," She explained. "Maybe even imply a linking process, or that your power is allowing me to think and speak in a more human frame of mind. It's true, after all."

"...Alright, fine. That should work, but we can go over it tomorrow morning to make sure we didn't miss anything," I said, shaking my head before running my hand through my hair. "In the meantime, I need some sleep. I'll see you in the morning."

I could feel her agreement, the bound elemental pulling away to keep watch over the compound. I let out a long sigh before finally laying back on my head, putting my head down on my pillow, and closing my eyes.