Chapter 416: Too Late!

Ethan had assumed Kaela would find the nearest Gate, steal some kind of giant truck, and beat down a few smaller monsters that would be easier to transport.

It would have been reckless and very illegal.

But by Kaela’s standards, it would have been perfectly reasonable.

Unfortunately, she had come up with something far worse.

Kaela planned on raiding the secret facility Greg had taken her to. The very same facility where Greg and Elias had been secretly researching Titled, Monsterfication, and had helped Mark.

The same facility Greg had trusted her enough to show her.

A place that was probably worth an absurd amount of money, but was definitely off the books.

Kaela was about to tear through it.

’What’s he going to do, report me to the cops for raiding his illegal research facility?’

Kaela laughed to herself as she leaned forward over the handlebars of her motorcycle. The engine roared beneath her as she zoomed through the city, weaving between cars without a car.

She had already made up her mind.

Mark needed living monsters, and she was going to get him some.

If Greg wanted to complain about it afterwards, he could take it up with her.

The timing of her decision seemed almost suspiciously perfect.

Her phone began ringing.

Kaela glanced down at it, and the name on the screen made her grin.

Greg.

’No fucking way he knows, right?’

She answered the call anyway.

"Hello?"

Greg’s voice came through almost immediately.

"Kaela."

There was something about his tone that made her smile widen.

"What’s up?"

"Why are you heading toward my facility?"

Kaela raised an eyebrow.

"How do you know where I’m going?"

"I have security systems."

"Right."

Kaela continued driving.

Greg paused before asking, "Does Mark need more help?"

"Nah. He’s fine."

Kaela shrugged while riding at absurd speeds with only one hand.

"I just need to borrow something."

There was a short silence.

"Borrow something?"

"Yeah."

"Like what?"

Kaela’s grin became downright malicious.

"Living monsters."

There was complete silence after that.

Kaela could almost picture Greg staring at the phone.

She had deliberately allowed him to stop her, and if he agreed to hand over a few monsters, she could save herself the trouble of breaking into the facility.

If he didn’t...

Well, she got to have some fun.

For several seconds, Greg said nothing.

Then his voice came through slowly.

"Kaela Voss."

Kaela’s smile widened.

"If you even think about-"

"Too late!"

She didn’t even bother ending the call.

Instead, she slipped the phone into her pocket and kept driving.

She wanted him to hear what happened next.

The facility appeared ahead.

From the outside, it looked exactly as it had the last time they visited.

An ordinary industrial building sitting quietly among countless other structures.

No Association markings.

No large signs.

Nothing suggesting that one of the city’s most heavily fortified secret research facilities was hidden beneath it.

Last time, they had stopped in front of that building.

One of the doors had opened, revealing a ramp leading underground.

The vehicles had descended, and the doors had immediately closed behind them.

Then the convoy had continued deeper beneath the city.

The further they had gone, the more the environment had changed. Concrete walls had given way to reinforced metal, security doors had appeared at regular intervals, and cameras had followed the convoy from every direction.

At the time, Kaela was in the back of a van with Elara and Mark.

This time, she knew she wouldn’t be allowed in and had no intention of slowing down.

She twisted the throttle.

The motorcycle’s engine screamed.

"Here we go."

She accelerated.

Then she drove directly into the building.

BOOM!

The motorcycle smashed through the outer wall.

Concrete exploded inward, glass shattered, and metal bent.

Kaela flew through the opening without slowing down.

Her motorcycle skidded across the floor before she jumped off and landed on her feet.

She didn’t even wait for it to stop moving.

Kaela charged forward.

A reinforced wall suddenly fell from the ceiling, blocking the path ahead.

She punched through it.

CRASH!

Then another.

BOOM!

Then another.

CRACK!

One after another, reinforced barriers collapsed beneath her assault. Meanwhile, somewhere deeper inside the facility, alarms began screaming, and red lights flashed across the ceiling.

Kaela grinned.

"Morning, boys."

A pair of automated guns dropped from the ceiling.

They immediately opened fire.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Kaela twisted sideways.

Her foresight kicked in, and the world seemed to slow for an instant. She could see where the bullets were going before they were fired, and moved accordingly.

She stepped between them, but took the most direct path forward.

One bullet grazed her shoulder.

Another struck her side.

The wounds barely mattered, and her flesh knitted together immediately.

By the time Kaela had finished moving, the damage had already disappeared.

She didn’t even bother looking at it.

"You’re going to have to do better than that."

More weapons emerged.

Turrets, automated rifles, heavy artillery built directly into the walls, and even explosive mines.

Kaela’s eyes widened slightly.

’Okay.’

She cracked her neck.

’Greg really wasn’t fucking around.’

The facility was far more fortified than she remembered.

Security systems activated throughout the corridors: more metal shutters slammed down, reinforced doors locked into place, and dozens of weapons descended from hidden compartments.

The entire building seemed to transform around her.

Kaela charged anyway.

A burst of gunfire ripped through the corridor.

She ducked beneath it.

A second burst followed.

She twisted around it.

A heavy projectile came screaming toward her.

Her foresight warned her a fraction of a second before impact.

Kaela jumped.

The projectile tore through the wall behind her.

She landed and immediately drove her fist into the nearest security door.

BOOM!

The door folded inward.

Kaela stepped through and was instantly greeted by another wave of weapons.

She kept moving.

Bullets and explosions tore through her arms and shoulders.

Her flesh immediately knitted itself back together.

Yet she looked almost untouched.

That regeneration, combined with her increasingly natural foresight, made the facility’s defences futile. Kaela could almost hear Greg barking orders at Elias through the facility’s communications system.

"Protect the facility!"

"Stop her!"

"Don’t let her reach the containment sector!"

She laughed.

"Sorry, Greg."

Kaela kicked a security drone out of the air.

"I probably should’ve asked first, but that’s not really my style."

Somewhere deep inside the facility, Dr Elias was already dealing with the consequences. Greg didn’t have the luxury of simply sending Association resources after her, so it was all up to the mad scientist to protect the facility.

There was no official team he could call.

He couldn’t exactly tell the Association that a rogue Titled was breaking into a secret underground laboratory where they had been illegally researching Monsterification.

If the Association became involved, they would have far bigger problems than Kaela.

Not that whoever he called would be able to do much against her.

But surprisingly, Elias was much more effective at doing so than Kaela expected.

The next security door didn’t explode when she hit it.

It didn’t even move.

Kaela stopped and stared at it.

"Huh?"

She punched it again.

BOOM!

The reinforced metal dented, but it didn’t break.

Kaela’s eyebrow twitched.

She punched it again.

BOOM!

Another dent appeared.

Still nothing.

Kaela stared at the door.

Then she smiled.

"Okay."

She rolled her shoulders.

"What the fuck is this made out of?"

A few strikes later, she managed to get through, but it seemed as though it had only been there to delay her arrival.

Somewhere deeper in the facility, Elias watched through a security monitor.

He calmly adjusted his glasses.

"Let’s see how you handle this."

The facility around Kaela suddenly shifted, and the lights went dark.

For a moment, there was complete silence.

Kaela’s smile faded slightly.

Then the corridor ahead opened, and something moved behind the darkness.

Kaela’s eyes narrowed.

’Well, this is new.’

She lowered her stance.

Whatever Elias had prepared for her now, it was clearly different from the automated defences and much more difficult to deal with.

Her grin slowly returned.

"This is more like it."

She stepped forward, and moments later, the secret facility descended into chaos...