Kaito Ren and Christopher Wolf got out of the rift and rushed to the headquarters where they could access the tracking data. It took a little bribery to get them some privacy. Neither of the men had any authority left after Christopher Wolf had been removed from the director’s position.

They found the location of Keynes’s Kid family without an issue but the question was how to get to them? They were in Lower London and that was a problem.

London was a supercity, one of the largest. At some point, it started growing up and down because the local governing body hadn’t wanted it spread over the entire island, which would happen anyway, the cost of expanding vertically grew at an exponential rate. Lower London was a part of the city below the ground. It was the hardest part to get to without high-level permissions. Many rich people lived there in the bunker-like compounds. Kaito Ren had worked for one such family as a security before he joined the army.

I may need to call in favours…

Before they left the headquarters, Kaito Ren noticed something under Keynes Kid’s name. His status was ‘In a rift’. It couldn’t be corrected. Keynes had left the rift a few hours ago. Not wanting to raise suspicion, Kaito Ren checked on Daiyu Fen who still was ‘A runaway”. Somehow she’d removed her tracker and the system had notified them about this. Could it be that Keynes had lost his tracker inside the rift and—

Kaito Ren understood. This was a ground-breaking loophole in the tracking system. If someone entered the rift and removed a tracker, the system wouldn’t pick this up and raise an alarm.

They left the headquarters quietly. Officer McJames remained in the administration offices. They heard what Keynes Kid had told her. Rumours spread quickly and it didn’t favour her. She might be a good administrator but she was a terrible leader.

The headquarters was occupied almost exclusively by low-level clerks who were responsible for operating various systems and applying directives coming from Officer McJames.

The World Government had harmed itself by introducing the recent changes without proper preparation. They were understaffed, the tracking system was underdeveloped and there was much vagueness left in the rules.

“We must get back into a rift,” Kaito Ren said.

“You aren’t proposing what I think you’re proposing.”

“I am.”

“Damn it, Ren, this is reckless.”

Christopher’s face frowned with concern, then a thoughtful look took over his face and stayed there until they entered the rift compound. Kaito Ren understood the other man, they walked a fine line between betraying their oaths and helping their friend.

For Kaito Ren, the dilemma was more complex. It was about knowing the next outbreak. Keynes Kid believed that it was his only choice and to Kaito Ren’s surprise he began leaning toward this conviction as well. Lord Waxilium Earl hadn’t been the gentlest of the men when he and Willow Croft had pushed Keynes Kid to train his Talent.

They had broken the boy and then handed him to Kaito Ren to piece him back together.

Kaito Ren shook his head, cementing his resolve. Maybe Keynes Kid was making a mistake but there was no doubt that Windsor Freeman would never let him go.

***

“What do we do with the trackers?” Christopher Wolf asked, holding a tiny device. Whatever technology the World Government used in building these things, it was disturbing.

They’d injected the trackers with a syringe but now it grew in size inside their bodies. It was already the size of a nail.

“We dump them here.”

They’d entered the winter forest rift because they could easily hide here.

“I am still not sure about this. The government has introduced the trackers for a good reason.”

Kaito Ren perked up.

“What do you mean?”

“Once the entire population has trackers, they want to integrate them with the Spiritual Interface and an upgraded version of the Web. We will no longer need computers and we will gain access to the full spiritual information.”

Kaito Ren threw his tracker as far as he could then turned back to Christopher.

“And you aren’t finding it alarming?”

Christopher shrugged, still holding his tracker in his hand.

“I have faith in the government. I am old enough to remember the time before the World Government. Wars. Scotland and England at each other’s throats all the time. Many high-level Scotsmen died because English bastards didn’t want to accept our independence. The World Government saved my family from certain death.”

“And where is your family now?”

Christopher stiffened and Kaito Ren immediately regretted asking the question but it was too late to take it back. He could only curse himself silently for being inconsiderate and naïve.

“The outbreak has taken them.”

Christopher Wolf didn’t shed a tear but his face was struck by anguish. He raked his fingers through his ginger beard, clearing the snow and ice from it. Then did the same with his hair.

“I am sorry,” Kaito Ren said, feeling bile in his throat. He felt terrible knowing the truth but he couldn’t reveal it to him. Now less than ever.

“It’s not your fault. No one could predict this damned outbreak. I have come to peace with it. Now.” He dropped the tracker on the frozen ground. “Do you have any idea how we are going to get to London?”

“We will board one of the active trains.”

“I don’t think they’d let us leave without Officer McJames’s permission.”

“That’s the easiest part.”

Once a day Kaito Ren could use his portal Talent. It has a few kilometres range but with the Level 5 using it, the distance would go down and the cooldown would go up. So they needed to succeed on their first try. Kaito Ren didn’t know how much time they had but guessed no more than two days.

They left the rift and the compound in a hurry. Without the trainees, Kaito Ren’s duties were reduced to waiting. Certainly, the World Government dropped the ball with their new system.

There was one direct train connection with London that still worked. Others were destroyed by rift monsters. Because of that, the connection was very busy. Kaito Ren led them to the cabin he’d been given in the beginning. He had been there only once but he still had the entry code.

“I am feeling nervous,” Christopher Wolf said, sounding excited like a child that was about to commit a silly misdeed.

Kaito Ren’s mouth cracked into a smile, seeing the tall, robust man turning giddy. Christopher had undergone a substantial change since his demotion. It was refreshing to interact with him on equal footing.

Without thinking twice, Kaito Ren opened the portal he believed was close to the railroad tracks. A line appeared in the air, then with a mental effort he divided the line into two and pushed them apart, revealing the other side of the portal.”

“Let’s go.”

Christopher went through and Kaito Ren felt a spiritual kick, almost bringing him to his knees. He opened the portal farther than he expected.

Grunting, he followed Christopher to the other side, then closed the portal.

They stood on a small hill, about two kilometres from the cluster city. The walls around it looked intimidating enough, perhaps Keynes Kid had been right and the world was ready for another outbreak. Then he remembered what Christopher had told him about his family and his hope turned to ash.

They left the hill and walked to the nearest railroad track with a good hiding spot.

“I almost feel young again,” Christopher said. “This is like— silly.”

It wasn’t silly. It was alarming. If they hadn’t found the loophole, they most likely wouldn’t get permission to leave the city. McJames was pissed off and she’d refuse them just because she could.

The train didn’t force them to wait for long. It appeared barely ten minutes after they’d found the spot. It was a cargo train. They easily jumped onto a car and then entered it. Inside they found labelled boxes.

Level 1 Soil. Scotland, Cluster City. Uncommon rift.

It wasn’t surprising that they were exporting the rift materials. All the experiments Kaito Ren was aware of, confirmed the superiority of these materials over anything found on Earth.

“Soon, everything on Earth will be made out of the rift stuff,” Kaito Ren whispered to himself, forgetting that Christopher Wolf was Level 5 and could hear his whisper even from a couple of metres away.

“Yes.”

Kaito Ren looked up a little bit surprised then said.

“Speaking of stuff; Is there anything edible here? We forgot to bring food with us.”

There wasn’t and they had to wait their entire five-hour long trip here.

Except for a tiny detail…

A few minutes into the journey, the doors on both sides opened suddenly and people rushed inside. Christoper Wolf and Kaito Ren shifted their stances, ready to fight. The intruders had guns trained at them. Without the damage reduction, even Christopher was in danger.

“Who are you?” Christopher Wolf asked. The intruders wore balaclavas, hiding their faces. Then they parted and a blonde girl in a green combat coat stepped in front of them. She had no gun but she looked completely at ease—

Kaito Ren needed a second longer than the Level 5 to recognize her. Mind attribute didn’t make people smarter but it helped with recall and such.

“Sael sidekick and the murderer of High Lord Stonewood,” he said with disgust. “Wasn’t his death enough to satiate your destructive appetite?”

Her expression didn’t change nor did she show them contempt, someone like her should be brimming with.

“Our scouts saw you teleport out of the city and enter the train.”

“You’re wanted for killing over a hundred innocent people. What is your point here?” Christopher said, his voice harder than ever.

“Which of you has the portal Talent? We need to get inside the city.”

Christopher shook his head, the appearance of the enemies of the World Government, sparked rage inside him.

“That will never happen, Sael. We would rather die than help you murder people inside that city. Some of your friends have already attacked our city but High Lord Earl killed them all.”

The troopers stirred but no one spoke up. Esopp Earl was a powerhouse feared all over the world. Hopefully, hearing about this would make them reconsider their plans. Unless they knew—somehow—that Esopp Earl wasn’t there.

The blonde gestured to her troopers to lower their weapons. This could be their chance—

“Your government is lying to you about the outbreak.”

Kaito Ren went completely stiff but Christopher only laughed.

“Your tongue is poisonous like your entire family.”

Shocked by Christopher’s sudden transformation, Kaito Ren could only get so much more shocked by this new development. Did the enemies of Windsor Freeman know the truth? But how?

“They caused it.”

Christopher Wolf began shivering, turning red from rage. He was about to lunge at the girl when two shots rang, he grunted and dropped to his knees.

“What the hell?” he growled. “What did you do to me?”

“Bullets enchanted with local paralysis,” a young man said calmly from the other side. “We didn’t come here to murder anyone. My sister tells the truth. The World Government is behind everything. We have proof, we went to their base where it all started.”

“LIES!” Christoper Wolf roared.

Kaito Ren was speechless. They knew the truth. But what did it mean to him? To anyone? Would they reveal it to the public or, like the government, would they keep it for their own benefits?

The man pulled out a small device from his pocket and pressed a button.

“Wax, I want the rift open now.”

“Yes, Mr President, it will happen. However—Croft thinks the boy is not ready yet. He has issues controlling his Talent.”

“I don’t understand why that would be the case.”

“His affinity shows error. We’d need to look through his files from the Unlocking ceremony.

“Denied,” Windsor Freeman said with hesitation. “Prepare the boy, we’re opening the rift in twenty minutes.”

A click and the recording stopped. Kaito Ren had never heard this conversation. He’d been only a specialist at that time, certainly not a person privy to such things. How did they obtain it?

“It’s FAKE,” Christopher snarled, his face crimson. He struggled to get up but the enchants were powerful enough to keep him down. “Our President would have never done this to us.”

“We recovered the recording from his secret base. Moreover, Waxilium Earl himself has joined us. Now, help us get inside—”

“Why?” Kaito Ren asked even though he knew why they wanted to get inside. They knew about Keynes Kid and were after him.

“We cannot tell you,” the man said. He wore the same combat uniform as the rest troopers, but unlike them, he didn’t have a balaclava. Only the blonde had a different outfit. Judging by the look, it came out of a rift. “Some things must remain secret. At least for now.” He gave his sister a long look then he stepped next to her. He showed the gun to Kaito Ren and Christopher Wolf and then handed it to someone behind him. It was a meaningless gesture when they were stuck between twenty armed troopers.

“If you’re so loyal to the government, why did you flee the city?”

“You’re after him, aren’t you?” Kaito Ren said. He didn’t exactly know what he was trying to accomplish here but returning to the city was out of the question. Neither Keynes Kid nor Esopp Earl were in the city. It would be a pointless trip and it wasn’t like Kaito Ren was going to hand Keynes Kid to them. If they knew the truth, they couldn’t be trusted either. But something needed to be done.

“And what do you know?” the blonde asked sharply, showing a sliver of emotions.

“Easy, sister. He’s baiting you.”

“Maybe,” she added in a calmer, sadder voice. “But with each minute, we are moving away from the city. We cannot drag this forever.”

“Ren, what do you mean by him?” Christopher Wolf asked, his bloodshot eyes looking inhuman. He didn’t accept his family’s death as he claimed, he was just in a denial phase. Gods, all of this is messed up. And soon, we’ll go through this again…

He’d gladly welcome an unexpected interference, something that could take the burden off his chest but nothing like this happened. The train carried on, while heavy silence stretched, finding emotions he hadn’t known existed.

“We all know who opened the rift in Jamaica.”

The siblings’ heads snapped, their eyes wide in shock.

“You were there?!”

“REN, WHAT IS GOING ON?!” Christopher Wolf roared.

“I am sorry, Chris, but this is bigger than us. I am sorry.” Kaito Ren couldn’t keep it anymore. It was too much. “In a day or two, another outbreak will come.”

Silence.

Utter. Brutal. Silence.

“How…” the blonde was the first to recover. “How do you know?”

“No, no, no, no…” Christopher was shaking his head.

Troopers lowered their weapons, some pulled off their balaclavas.

“Freeman will force him to open a single Level 2 rift but he won’t do it. They had broken him in Jamaica. Whatever Waxilium Earl has done to him… it has changed him and now he will break free.”

“Ren, you knew…” Christoper muttered, then his hand shot with deadly intent toward Kaito Ren. Even though he’d maxed his Strength twice and had trained his Dexterity, he still couldn’t dodge the attack—

Kaito Ren blinked, finding Wolf’s punch an inch from his face. Wolf’s wrist was held by the blonde.

When did she move? What the hell? How strong was she?

“Where is he?” she whispered to Kaito Ren.

“Taken away. Most likely, he’s with Windsor Freeman already.”

It was now that the unexpected interference came.

A whiz and then a deafening explosion made everything spin until only silence and darkness remained.

***

“Taken away. Perhaps, he’s with Windsor Freeman already.”

Reglant’s face split in a wide smile. He’d been right to plant his spies in the Saels’ forces. The Saels couldn’t be trusted. They possessed some connection to Keynes Kid and it endangered the Ravencrofts’ plans.

Killing Vivena Sael wasn’t ideal. She was a strong ally against Freeman but with Columbus Curt’s idealism and strength, they would be fine.

“Kill them all,” he ordered the helicopter pilots. They obeyed and missiles departed flying toward their target.

Reglant watched from above as the explosions hurled a part of the train, earth and railroad tracks into the air. There was less fire than he thought. Maybe she would survive. It didn’t matter in the end. He just couldn’t allow the Saels to get to Keynes Kid first.

He opened the direct line to his father.

“Keynes Kid is with Windsor Freeman right now.”

“Where?”

“I don’t know—”

“Then find out and get back to me.”

Reglant ground his teeth. It wasn’t the reply he expected. His father cut off the line before Reglant could add anything else.

“Land,” Reglant snapped.

“Sir,” one of the pilots said. “We’re close to the government’s city. They’ll send someone to investigate the crash site.”

“I don’t care,” Reglant repeated, allowing his spiritual aura to gently roll around him and reminding the pilots that he was Level 6.

With his [Stealth] skill, he didn’t worry about getting caught. What filled him with concern was his father’s disregard toward the information Reglant provided.

One thing he doesn’t know though. Another outbreak is upon us. Maybe a rift will open inside his chamber and take the old fart where he belongs – to hell.