Chapter 208 — A Warning

Chapter 208: Chapter 208 — A Warning

Chapter 208 — A Warning

Victor’s group slowly made their way back toward the main encampment of Basement Level Five.

The entire interaction with Daniel Graveborn had been weird.

There was no other way Victor could describe it.

The man was suspicious. Victor could feel that much.

Then there was the invitation.

Why had Daniel invited him to the Graveborn estate for dinner?

Maybe Daniel really did want to answer his questions and get Victor off Team Two’s back.

They finally reached the main encampment.

Victor looked towards Lyra.

There’s no point pushing Team Two right now. In three days, we’ll go to the estate and see what we can learn."

Lyra nodded.

He turned toward Zack.

"Thanks for your help today, but I think we’re going to head in. It’s about time for our cultivation and training routine."

Zack’s face immediately fell.

"Oh, come on, man. I thought we could finally go get something to eat or drink for once."

Victor shook his head.

"Man, I can’t. I’m sorry. There’s just too much going on right now."

He really did feel bad.

Ever since returning to the Tower, it seemed like there was always something else he needed to do.

Cultivation.

Alchemy.

The disappearances.

Now the Graveborn family.

There was never enough time.

"I just don’t have enough time. But once I make some progress with everything I’m working on, I promise you’ll be the first person I come looking for."

Zack sighed.

"Okay. I understand."

Victor and Lyra headed toward the elevator while Zack stayed behind.

"See you later!" Zack called.

Victor looked back and waved.

The elevator doors began to close.

Just before they shut completely, Victor saw Zack turn and walk toward one of the guards.

Then the doors closed.

Victor watched the metal doors for another second.

The elevator began carrying them upward.

After leaving the elevator, Victor and Lyra started making their way back toward the apartment.

Nala sat comfortably on top of Victor’s head.

She had been surprisingly well behaved all day, and now she was chirping happily while Victor reached up occasionally to scratch beneath her chin.

Victor smiled.

"You know what, Nala?"

"Chirp! Chirp, chirp!"

"When we get back, I’m making barbecue."

"Booyah!"

Victor stopped.

He slowly turned around.

Lyra stood behind him with a huge smile on her face.

Victor stared at her.

"Where did you learn how to say booyah?"

Lyra laughed.

"I heard some kids saying it at the market the other day. It sounded fun."

Victor couldn’t help laughing.

For some reason, hearing that come from Lyra was ridiculously cute.

"All right. Barbecue for everybody."

Lyra’s smile grew wider.

Nala chirped excitedly from the top of his head.

For a few minutes, the missing slaves and Daniel Graveborn disappeared from Victor’s thoughts.

They were going home.

A few minutes later, Victor rounded the final corner and reached their apartment.

He opened the door.

Then stopped.

His smile disappeared.

The apartment was trashed.

A chair had been knocked over. Papers covered the floor. Several of the small things they’d accumulated since moving in had been scattered around the room.

Victor’s eyes immediately moved toward the wall.

The map was destroyed.

Days of work had been ripped down, torn apart, and scattered across the apartment.

Every mark they’d made.

Every disappearance they’d tracked.

Every pattern they’d found.

Gone.

Victor’s expression hardened.

"Lyra. Wait outside."

Lyra immediately understood.

Nala chirped.

"You too. Stay with Lyra."

Victor stepped inside alone.

Slowly.

Carefully.

He checked the main room first.

Then the kitchen.

The rest of the apartment.

Nothing.

No footsteps.

No movement.

Nobody waiting for him.

Victor frowned.

Something else was strange.

Whoever had done this hadn’t been searching for anything.

Drawers weren’t emptied.

Their belongings hadn’t been taken.

The destruction was deliberate.

They hadn’t come here to steal.

They’d come here to make sure Victor saw what they’d done.

Then his eyes reached the wall.

Where their maps and notes had been hanging, several large words had been painted across the surface.

STAY OUT OF IT IF YOU KNOW WHAT’S GOOD FOR YOU.

Victor stared at the message.

So there it was.

The Evil God Organization knew.

He’d already assumed they were aware he was snooping around after Snake Mask confronted him.

But this was different.

They had entered his home.

His apartment.

The one place Victor had slowly started thinking of as safe.

His jaw tightened.

"Lyra. You guys can come in."

Lyra entered first, with Nala following close behind.

Her eyes moved across the room.

The overturned furniture.

The scattered papers.

The remains of their map.

Then she saw the wall.

Her expression changed.

Victor had already checked everything.

Whoever had done this was gone.

For now, they were safe.

But that wasn’t the problem.

The problem was that someone had gotten inside in the first place.

And if they could enter once, they could enter again.

Victor thought back to Snake Mask.

The man had told him that the organization had been ordered not to deal with him yet.

Someone higher up had apparently told them to leave Victor alone.

But who?

And why?

Victor still didn’t understand who was protecting him or what they wanted from him.

More importantly, how far did that protection actually go?

Apparently, breaking into his apartment and threatening him was still allowed.

Victor looked at the ruined map again.

They knew he was investigating.

Maybe they knew more than that.

The thought sat uncomfortably in the back of his mind.

"Don’t worry about this," Lyra said. "I’ll clean it up. You go make dinner."

Victor looked at her.

There was worry in her eyes.

He was sure she could see the same thing in his.

Both of them understood what this meant.

They weren’t as safe here as they’d thought.

Victor briefly considered calling Elder Benton.

His hand almost moved toward his communicator.

The intruder was already gone. Victor didn’t have a face, a name, or any new information Benton could act on.

Victor looked at the message again.

Stay out of it.

A small smile slowly appeared on his face.

Wrong approach.

If whoever had done this thought breaking into his apartment would scare him away, they’d made a mistake.

If anything, they’d done the opposite.

This was his home.

Not a rented room anymore.

Not just somewhere he slept.

His home.

Lyra lived here.

Nala lived here.

Someone had walked inside and threatened all three of them.

No.

Victor wasn’t backing off.

At this point, he wanted to destroy the Evil God Organization even more than before.

He turned away from the wall and headed toward the kitchen.

First—

Barbecue.

Victor pulled out the meat and started preparing it.

He cut everything into pieces, seasoned it, and got to work.

Soon, the smell of cooking meat began spreading through the apartment.

It was strangely ordinary.

Behind him, Lyra picked up the remains of their investigation while Nala fluttered around, occasionally attempting to help and mostly getting in the way.

Little by little, the apartment started looking like theirs again.

Thirty or forty minutes later, dinner was ready.

By then, Lyra had cleaned up most of the mess.

The papers and destroyed pieces of the map had been gathered. The furniture was back where it belonged.

They had some extra paint stored in the apartment, so she’d even painted over the warning.

Lyra looked over her paint job and smiled.

Then the smell of barbecue reached her.

She stopped.

Her nose twitched.

The tension in her expression slowly disappeared.

A smile took its place.

Victor laughed.

"You guys hungry?"

"Chirp! Chirp! Chirp!"

Nala answered immediately.

Lyra laughed.

"Yes."

They sat down together at the kitchen table.

For a little while, the Evil God Organization could wait.

The Graveborn family could wait.

The missing slaves could wait.

Victor looked across the table.

Lyra was already eating.

Nala was doing everything in her power to convince Victor she deserved another piece of meat despite still having one in front of her.

Victor smiled.

Their future wasn’t going to be easy.

He knew that much.