While a few of the laborers worked on unloading the crates, Ali and the remaining laborers waited on standby. The laborers around him were already discussing how they were going to spend the money they were receiving for the job. Ali looked in the direction of the crates but his focus was with Tian as the air serpent did a quick scouting of the facility. There were no other warehouse workers in their vicinity but there were half a dozen armed personnel standing guard of the exits. A lot of the ship crew members had already disembarked once the ship landed so the teenager estimated that there were a dozen armed personnel to deal with.

We’re outmatched but they are more spread out. If we can cut down their numbers…

Leave it to me, Ali!

The air serpent, after getting a good idea of the warehouse layout, realized that there were many blindspots in the facility. The exits were designed for either logistics or emergency purposes. With all of the bay doors closed, the armed personnel were merely guarding exits used by people only. Some of these exits were well concealed behind warehouse goods so a dead or unconscious armed personnel wouldn’t be spotted easily. Using this opportunity, Tian secretly killed three of the armed personnels by sneaking up behind them and delivering a deadly blow through their spine. Following a clean hit to the spine, anyone not considered a monster would completely lose consciousness. At that point, it was a matter of time before Tian could finish them off. With the three kills, the odds shifted more in his favor.

Three of them are down. They were too weak so I didn’t even gain anything from the kills. What’s next?

We wait for them to make a move. Let’s not assume all of them are that weak.

The laborers just finished unloading the crates when a crew member approached them.

“Good work! You earned yourself a clean death at least.”

Before the man could unleash his attack, an ability shot through his head, killing the man instantly. Ali instinctively dropped to the ground as the laborers fired projectiles at the armed personnel. The people Ali mistaken for laborers proved to be combat veterans, making the teenager view them in a new light. The battle was over shortly due to the armed personnel underestimating the laborers. Even Ali was surprised by how strong the laborers were as they did an incredible job hiding their abilities. As he feared for his own life, the leader of the group offered his hand.

“Don’t worry! We’re on the same side. Don’t think I didn’t notice you killing three of their personnel.”

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Ali accepted the hand and got up. He then followed the group into a secret compartment where the newly brought crates were stored. The group traveled underground through tunnels until they arrived in a basement of a building. The place looked familiar when Ali suddenly noticed Menna staring back at him. Her surprised expression yielded a short laugh from the laborers. A few minutes later, he, Menna and the leader of the laborers were in a room.

“We were very surprised by your disappearance,” said Menna. “We were going to ask my brother here to track you down but you somehow met up with him.”

The man introduced himself as Meneo and, when Ali looked between the siblings, he stated that they lacked the similarities normally that came with siblings. He then asked the teenager what happened. Ali shared everything that had happened but he purposely left out the inheritance relic. He feared that such information would attract the attention that would get him killed. Even excluding the matter from his story, he wondered how much of what he shared was believable. He himself couldn’t believe what had happened the last couple of days.

“Then the one who kidnapped you is now dead.”

Meneo went on to explain what he learned of the stronghold Ali was supposedly in. According to reliable sources, a trap trigger was activated and everyone inside was killed off. The trap was so powerful that anyone, regardless of their capabilities, couldn't escape. The man suspected that, when the teenager escaped from the stronghold, he likely triggered the deadly trap. The development did make their life easier as the kidnapper was very dangerous and not an easy foe to eliminate. The kidnapper’s death would lessen a major distraction so they could focus on the upcoming battle.

“Upcoming battle?” asked Ali. “You are talking about the fleet of airships coming to Vliland?”

“Yes,” replied Menna. “They are closing in on the city and a fierce battle will ensue. We expect heavy casualties throughout the city.”

“And that’s when the crime syndicates will come out and carry out their major operations,” finished Meneo.

Upon learning that Meneo was part of the reinforcements sent to Vliland, Ali asked what his abilities were. The man said it was a secret so the teenager didn’t pursue further. He also asked about the crates that were brought to the city. He suspected that whatever was inside could be of use to the upcoming conflict.

“I fear I cannot reveal the contents of those crates,” said Meneo. “There are some things that are very well kept secrets that even the Dark Cult know nothing about except for a few unreliable rumors.”

“Even you don’t know?”

Ali hadn’t expected Meneo to not know the content of the crates. This only made him appreciate seals more due to how powerful they were. A single seal ability could really add to his versatility but he didn’t even know where to start in acquiring such an ability. The prompt confirmed his worries that seal abilities couldn’t be learned naturally. There were specific conditions before one had a chance and, even then, it wasn’t guaranteed. For the time being, he needed someone strong capable of breaking seals. Therefore, he asked Meneo and Menna if they knew of anyone like that. The two of them said that they don’t know of anyone in the Dark Cult capable of breaking seals.

I guess I’ll have to find this individual elsewhere.