Having returned to the inner facility, I wave my hand at Carl. “You can go now. Make sure you memorize where the Security Office is because I might have you be a go-between for me in the future.”

At first, he seems as if he wishes to question me on this, but ultimately he seems to decide against it. With a nod, he walks into a nearby office and collapses into a computer chair. He stares at the ceiling, a bit exhausted as the chair slowly spins in circles from the momentum of his fall.

Hearing the light breathing of a sleeping bear cub in my arms, I scratch behind its ear and then glance at the two others who hang from my left and right shoulder. Nearby I notice the Asian woman I put in charge, obviously avoiding eye contact but failing due to the three bears.

Regardless, this is one of the few researchers I recognize, so I shout, “Akemi! Anything to report?”

Obviously surprised by the sudden question, her body freezes, and shivers.

“N-nope! Nothing to report; everyone is j-just happy to be here! Yep! Happy!” she forces out with a big smile as drops of sweat drip from her forehead.

“Are you sure? You remember what I said earlier, right?” I reply, flashing my sharp fangs.

“Of course!” she answers, followed by saluting me for some reason, “How could I ever forget!”

Before inquiring why she chose to salute me, a message comes in from Aponi.

‘Eira, we have a request.’

‘...Aponi? A request? It seems a bit late for that.’

‘I know, but we prepared everything, and then one of the researchers… sabotaged our sabotaging.’

‘Who!? What did they do!?’

‘They tossed something we needed into a garbage chute... Oh, and why are these other guys begging me not to kill them? What did you say to them? Because y’know… after that guy threw all the stuff down the chute, the others picked him up and tossed him down the chute after it… The whole thing nearly got us caught.’

Aponi’s comment causes me to laugh, but something tells me I don’t actually need to explain what I said. ‘Don’t worry about that, just tell me what it is you need?’

‘Hydrogen peroxide, a lot of it.’

‘Why do you need hydrogen peroxide? What is it you’re doing?’

‘This was the egghead’s idea, but they recommended making some kind of solution called “piranha solution.” It’s a mix of sulfuric acid and hydrogen peroxide, and apparently, they sometimes use it to dissolve “dangerous substances.”’

‘Like what?’

‘Dangerous organic substances is what they told me.’

I take a moment to ponder what these “dangerous organic substances” are, but it only takes me a moment to realize they must be referring to those people they were experimenting on, but…

‘Isn’t that what an incinerator is for?’ I ask.

‘I said the same thing, but they told me it didn’t work; thus, they made a big vat for this paranoia solution stuff that they use to dissolve this “dangerous organic substance.”’ She emphasizes the last three words, apparently having realized what they’re referring to herself. ‘Anyway, forget that for now, I’ve mostly done what I planned, but with the acid, we can force them from their positions.’

‘Wait, can we not just use the sulfuric acid alone?’

She goes quiet as if talking to someone before answering. ‘Yeah, but it wouldn’t be as effective, and we’d be missing a third of the volume.’

After thinking about it for a moment, I glance at my ring and then at Akemi. ‘If I get you some hydrogen peroxide, can you still make it work?’

‘Yeah, I don’t see why not, but it needs to be in a bucket or something, so we can add it without much suspicion. The researchers are already operating under the pretense of helping get through the black substance, but I’m almost certain they know we’re up to something.’

‘...I’ll get it to you. Just make it worth the effort.’

‘Right. They kept a drum of sulfuric acid in this room around fifty-five gallons. According to them, we need around a third of that amount to make it work apparently.’

‘Alright, be on the lookout for an Asian lady with a ring. All you have to do is assert your will upon the ring to remove things from it. The peroxide will be in there, and don’t touch anything else besides the peroxide! I mean it!’

‘...Okay?’ she states with evident confusion.

‘I’m serious!’

Disconnecting from Aponi, I look at Akemi with a smile. “Akemi, do you know where all the hydrogen peroxide is?”

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“Hydrogen peroxide? There might be some in the warehouse; why?”

“Great! Grab some help, and fill me a bucket of it around…” I run the numbers in my head. “Just a bit over eighteen gallons worth!”

“...Will do.”

Once again, I am pleasantly surprised by the lack of questions as Akemi walks off. ‘Wow! For the most part, these researchers seemed to have been trained not to ask too many questions! I like it!’

With my business concluded, I return to Eden to find two researchers leaned against a wall with black eyes. Eden, on the other hand, stands at the entrance to the hallway. A large number of bullet holes dot the wall near her making it resemble something more akin to swiss cheese than a concrete wall. She holds the rifle stiffly and awkwardly, showing her absence of experience, but her enhanced stats seem to help make up for her lack of ability.

‘I doubt she would ever be able to hit anyone intentionally, but that’s not really the point anyway.’

Noticing my arrival, Eden’s eyes light up even if her face remains the same.

“Did they hit themselves in the face with the rifle?” I ask with a laugh.

Eden nods. “Yes, actually. The kick-back of the rifle was more than they expected.” She stops and points toward two other researchers, curled up in the fetal position while quietly crying. “They both accidentally shot and killed someone, and then they had a breakdown, so it has been mostly just me shooting.”

‘Hmm. I didn't even notice them there.’

“Take a break, and go find four new people to help you. I’ll distract them while you do that.” I say, holding the cub in my arm toward Eden. “Watch these three while you do that. People seem more inclined to talk when you’re holding cubs.”

“Okay. Just be careful; they’ve lost their calm a few times already, and the second you poke the gun out, they’ll start shooting.” Again she points, but this time toward a wall that is riddled with holes. “I haven’t even been shooting at them half the time. For the most part, it seems the noise is enough to make the researchers placing the bombs panic, though, it seems to be losing its effect.”

“Good job. I’ll see about renewing their fears; just hurry it up.”

She smirks, apparently happy about being told ‘good job,’ and gathers the cubs and researchers, disappearing down the hall. I prop the scythe against a nearby wall and cut my wrist.

‘This is a good opportunity to try something.’

Manipulating the blood, I form a spike as I have dozens of times prior. Once I have my spike, I make a chain that hooks to the back of it and finally a ball of blood at the end of the chain. I repeat this two more times until I have what resembles three ball-and-chain flails.

I toss the three flails at the entrance to the hallway and manipulate the spike to face the exo-soldier wall. Having done that, I begin to manage the ball, compressing and squeezing it as much as possible, forming a Blood Bomb. With a flick of my wrist, the flail like construct launches down the hall.

“Somethings coming!” I hear someone shout.

A moment later, a loud noise rings out, but I don’t get distracted and instead compress the remaining two flails. One at a time, I launch them down the hall as well, hearing painful shouts reverberate outward. Curious at my results, I pull a specially made mirror from my ring and attach it to the end of the scythe. Using it to see around the corner, I can recognize some researchers with red toothpick-like protrusions littering their arms and legs. Their bodies shake, overwhelmed by the pain the protrusions bring them. Meanwhile, the exo-soldiers simply remove the pins as if they’re merely an annoyance. Once they have removed their own pins, they proceed to yank the pins from the researchers despite their screams and protests.

‘Hmm, it seems it did work, but those exo-soldiers simply don’t care—I hope Aponi’s acid actually works to hinder them. But, I suppose our goal is to just slow down the researchers, so, I guess, mission accomplished as far as that is concerned. Still, I call my little bomb experiment a success.’

Observing for some time, to my relief, the exo-soldier simply retake their positions as if nothing ever happened. However, the bomb setters seem scared, and their lab coats are stained with blood, indicating the extent of the damage.

‘Better not do that again, or they might charge us out of pure frustration. I’m glad they don’t realize how difficult the Brutes are to control and that they aren’t here right now.’

“I’m back, Eira.” I hear someone abruptly whisper into my ear.

I shake, turning to find Eden unexpectedly close.

“How did you sneak up on me?”

She smirks. “Very slowly.”

Pursing my lips, I glare at her. “Don’t sneak up on me; I don’t like it. Where are the researchers you were supposed to come back with!?”

Four fresh researchers walk toward us from the end of that hall, with a strange mix of awkwardness and fear.

“S-she told us to not come out until she talked to you first,” a plump man in an undersized white coat says.

“Whatever! I’ll be back soon!” I grab the cubs from Eden and scowl at the group of researchers. “Try not to get your brains blown out if you can help it… and get a coat that actually fits you!”

The bear cubs coo at Eden bitterly as I walk away, ignoring the sounds of her stifling laughter.

‘She’s lucky I didn’t attack her on reflex!’

With things somehow not devolving into utter chaos, I quickly walk to the warehouse to find Akemi with a group of researchers. I watch as they remove small, individually sized bottles of hydrogen peroxide and squeeze them into a large tub.

‘I guess these were meant to be long-term medical supplies.’

“Akemi!” I shout at the oblivious woman.

“Gehh!” she inadvertently squeaks.

When her big eyes meet mine, I smile, adding, “You shouldn’t let people sneak up on you so easily.”

“...Y-yeah, you’re right.”

“I have a question, well, I’m already pretty certain what the answer is, but I thought I should confirm it.”

“W-what’s your question?”

“The purpose of the gigantic warehouse.”

“Oh, this warehouse was constructed for the facility underneath, but more importantly, it was built so the Society would have supplies after the return of ‘the energy.’”

“...The energy? You mean Mana?”

“Mana? I suppose you could think about it like that.”

“...?” I tilt my head, staring at the woman as if she’s grown two-heads. “I suppose I could ‘think about it like that’ since that is literally what it is.”

“Huh?”

“‘The energy’ is a dumb name…” I glance between the researchers nearby. “Is anyone in this facility a part of the Beta?” They look at one another, puzzled by what I am referring to. “Hmm, I find it unlikely that there aren’t at least a few here that are in the Beta. I suppose I’ll find out sooner or later. Anyway, how goes the peroxide?”

Akemi turns toward a large pile of empty containers and then at the tub. “We’ll have what you asked for in about an hour. It would be faster, but the larger volumes are stored somewhere else. This was all we could find.”

“Whatever. Just hurry it up; I’ve got some sorting to do in the meantime.”

Ignoring their questioning faces, I take a seat nearby and commence sorting through the contents of the ring.

‘Let’s see some old clothes, a broken shotgun, a lamp I never found a use for, a few bodies, a shopping cart full of snacks… Nah, better keep that last one.’ While scanning through the items, I suddenly realize something. ‘Wait. Does Aponi actually know the ring is where I store all this stuff…? That would explain why she was confused.’