Author's Note: Unedited Chapter
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"Good luck," Endric tapped E.E.'s shoulder twice before following after Gustav.
"These two little fuckers," E.E. sighed.
Gustav's fingertips emitted blueish beams as he drew rectangular lines in mid-air.
A spatial doorway appeared and he stepped in alongside Endric. They entered a space of Gustav's making where an oddly shaped device was centred.
Gustav tapped on a couple of buttons attached to the device and it shot out rays of light that displayed a particular part of outer space.
Within the display, a mixture of grey and white matter that seemed alive engulfed orbital bodies in the distance. Right before their very eyes, Gustav and Endric could see stars as large as the Milky Way sun, asteroids and every other thing in sight get drawn into the grey and white matter. It cruised through space with its gigantic form and vanished not too long after.
The device then went on to make a couple of analyses based on the properties of the grey and white matter.
"I knew it…" Gustav mumbled.
"Knew what? What are we looking at here?" Endric inquired with a tone of curiosity.
"Do you see this signature right here…" Gustav pointed at one of the displays that had a '/\' sign.
"Yeah?"
"That shows that whatever the warp demolator consumes doesn't necessarily get destroyed…"
"Then, what happens to them?"
"It's a spatial sign that interprets that they get transported to an entirely different location from where they were in space."
"What? That's insane!"
"I know right? To be able to teleport orbital masses of that size… Incredible,"
At that point, Gustav began to put two and two together.
("You're finally getting closer to the truth,") The system voiced in his mind.
'You have always shunned it whenever I mentioned the destruction of Planet Humbad... Does this mean their planet just got swallowed up by the warp demolator and transferred elsewhere?'
("You already arrived at the answer… why still ask?")
'Because a lot of details are still missing. The warp demolator appears randomly even though I can read its appearance now. How did the Slarkovs know that their planet was in danger of being swallowed up before it appeared?
They must have left before the appearance of the warp demolator, which means, they lied about their planet getting destroyed.
What is the aim and objective here? I don't get it,' Gustav rambled internally while staring at the device before him.
("That's what the five-year quest is for. Find dimension six in planet Humbad and the answers will be waiting for you,") The system voiced.
'That's where the problem lies… The warp demolator scanner has confirmed the spatial transportation but where they were transported to…' Gustav stared at the readings before him.
"What do all these mean?" Endric pointed at the bottom half of the readings.
"Yes, once I see it again in person," E.E. sat up and took note of Commander Xanatus's pondering expression.
"You know that unauthorized personnel are not allowed to head there, right?"
"I do. It is a top-secret location even amongst MBO officers."
"I know."
A brief silence ensued between them as Commander Xanatus peered into E.E.'s eyes with suspicion.
"Tell me the true reason you want to head there," Commander Xanatus demanded.
"There is no…"
"It's for him, isn't it?" A smile suddenly appeared on Commander Xanatus's face.
'How did he…? He couldn't have figured it out, right?' E.E. gulped down saliva while maintaining eye contact with Commander Xanatus in a bid to decrease suspicion.
"I don't know what you're…" Before E.E. could complete his sentence, Commander Xanatus cut him off.
"It's okay. I am an ally. I've always been. Did Gustav never tell you that we go way back?" Commander Xanatus burst into a full-blown smile.
E.E. sat in place with a stunned look, unable to decide on what to say to deter the high-ranked officer before him.
Commander Xanatus proceeded to pull out an image of him and Gustav receiving awards together and a few other holographic pictures of the meeting.
"Be careful though, if you had gone to another officer, things could have gone really bad," He voiced.
"Yeah…" E.E. rubbed his head while letting out a sigh of relief.
"You're not very good at coming up with lies. You should learn from Gustav," Commander Xanatus pointed out.
"I'm not sure I want to learn that," E.E. lightly stroked his afro with a bashful look.
"You should. Gustav is a master in the art of deceit," Commander Xanatus was chuckling.
"That is true. Hold on… does this mean that you have been deceiving everyone like you were on their side with the allegations against Gustav all this time?" E.E inquired.
"Of course. I could never truly be on their side. I owe that kid my life," Commander Xanatus bore a reminiscent look.
"I am secretly working behind the scenes to clear his name but I will not bore you with the details. We all have our parts to play in this. I'll help you get into the underground research centre," Commander Xanatus added while reaching out to shake E.E.
"Thank you…" E.E. received the handshake with immense gratitude. ….
….
Within the fiery depths of an active volcano, where molten lava bubbled and roiled with relentless fury, a figure sat amid red bubbling liquid.
The air crackled with the searing heat of the molten rock, sending waves of intense heat radiating through the cavernous chamber.
The figure exuded an aura of raw power, their presence commanding reverence that prevented the surroundings from having any effect on him.
Molten lava flowed around him like a river of liquid fire. The figure got repeatedly bathed by the fiery liquid and yet his skin radiated with smoothness.
His eyes were closed, almost like he was meditating in the perilous environment. Dark smoke pervaded the vicinity which didn't bother him in the slightest. After what seemed like ages, he suddenly opened his eyes.
"I told you, I don't want to be bothered until he returns…"
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