Chapter 190: Late Regrets

The night had become unusually quiet.

Nobody stood on the rooftop of the abandoned research building, looking down at the empty street. The investigation had given him several pieces of information, but none of them formed a complete picture.

Project 05-17, Daniel Cross, the erased records. The people still using the abandoned facility. And somewhere in the middle of all of it, Daniel was missing.

Nobody tapped his helmet. "Okay...where did you disappear to, Daniel?"

Blossom Bunny floated beside him. "Atta ta."

Nobody glanced at her. "Yes, I know. Finding missing people is apparently my job now."

He opened the System interface.

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[Available Investigation Tools]

CC Eyes

Tracking Mark

Known Person Tracking

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Nobody stared at the last option. "Known Person Tracking..." He had used it before, but Daniel Cross wasn’t exactly someone he knew personally. Still, he had enough information. "System, search Daniel Cross."

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[Searching...]

Name: Daniel Cross

Former Occupation: Nathan Industries Legal Department

Status: Missing

Last confirmed location: Unknown

Additional information detected.

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Nobody leaned closer. "What additional information?"

The System displayed another window.

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[Recovered Data Fragment]

Daniel Cross’s company identification device was last detected:

Industrial District 7

Time: 19 hours ago

Signal status: Inactive

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Nobody’s eyes narrowed. "Industrial District 7."

Blossom Bunny’s ears bounced. "Atta!"

Nobody smiled. "Exactly." He jumped from the building. His crimson coat fluttered behind him as he moved across the rooftops. Zig Zag Teleportation activated. The city shifted around him.

One rooftop.

Another. Then another.

Each teleport carried him closer to Industrial District 7. The district was one of the older industrial areas of Alkon City. Large warehouses stood beside abandoned factories. Most businesses closed before midnight. The streets were nearly empty.

Nobody landed on top of a warehouse. He activated CC Eyes. Hundreds of cameras appeared inside his vision. He searched the surrounding streets. But nothing.

Then he found an old traffic camera. Its footage showed a black van entering the district earlier that evening. Nobody followed the van through the available camera feeds. The vehicle disappeared from one camera. Then appeared on another. Then vanished again. "Someone knows how to avoid surveillance."

He continued. Eventually the van stopped beside an old storage facility.

Nobody froze the feed. "Got you."

He marked the location. Then he noticed something.

Three men exited the van. Two were carrying weapons. The third was dragging someone.

Nobody’s expression hardened. The person being dragged had his head covered. But the clothing was visible. A dark gray suit. Nobody zoomed in.

The System analyzed the footage.

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[Possible Identity Match]

Daniel Cross

Probability:94.2%

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Nobody’s eyes narrowed. "So that’s where you’ve been."

He immediately teleported.

.....

The storage facility looked abandoned from the outside.

Inside, several Eclipse Corporation workers stood around the main floor. They weren’t ordinary employees. Their clothes were plain, but their movements were disciplined.

One man stood near the entrance. Another monitored the cameras. Two more stood beside a metal chair.

Daniel Cross was tied to it. His face was exhausted. A cut had formed near his eyebrow, but he was conscious.

One of the men placed a document on the table. "Mr.Cross, I’ll ask you one more time."

Daniel looked at him. "I already told you."

"Where are the records?"

"I don’t have them."

The man leaned closer. "You worked inside Nathan Industries for five years."

Daniel lowered his eyes. "I know."

"You had access to everything."

"I said I don’t have them."

The man slammed his hand onto the table. "You expect us to believe that?"

Daniel remained silent.

Another worker entered. "Sir."

The first man looked over. "What?"

"We detected movement outside."

Everyone turned. The room became quiet.

The worker checked the monitor. "Nothing."

"Check again."

The monitor showed an empty street.

Nobody stood above the building. He had already entered through the roof silently. He moved through the ventilation passage until he reached a position above the warehouse floor. He looked down. "There are too many."

The System appeared.

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[Enemy Count Detected]

12 hostile targets

Threat level: Moderate

Civilian presence: None

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Nobody smiled. "Good."

Blossom Bunny floated beside him. "Atta ta!"

Nobody whispered. "Exactly. Let’s make this quick." He dropped from the ceiling.

Several men looked upward. Before they could react, Nobody landed between them. One worker swung a metal pipe. Nobody leaned backward. The pipe passed over his helmet. He grabbed the man’s arm and redirected him into a stack of empty crates.

Another attacker charged from the side. Nobody stepped forward instead of retreating. His shoulder struck the man’s chest and sent him stumbling backward. A third man tried to grab him from behind. Nobody twisted away and drove his elbow into the man’s shoulder. The attacker collapsed.

The remaining workers reacted quickly. They surrounded him.

Nobody looked around. "Seriously?" He pulled out his frost crowbars. "All of you?"

The first attacker rushed forward. Nobody blocked the strike with one crowbar, then swept the second across the man’s legs. The man fell. Another came from the opposite side. Nobody ducked and spun. The crowbar struck the attacker’s weapon away. Nobody kicked it across the floor.

A fourth attacker reached for Daniel.

Nobody’s expression changed. "Don’t."

The man stopped.

Nobody stepped toward him. "I said..." He raised the crowbar. "...don’t."

The man attacked anyway.

Nobody moved faster. Zig Zag Teleportation carried him behind the attacker. A strike to the back of the legs dropped him. Within seconds, the formation collapsed.

The remaining workers hesitated.

Nobody stood in the center of the room. His crowbars rested against his shoulders. "So." He looked around. "Who’s next?"

Nobody answered.

One worker slowly dropped his weapon.

The others followed.

Nobody nodded. "Good decision." He walked toward Daniel.

Daniel stared at him. "Who are you?"

Nobody looked at his crimson helmet and suit. He pointed toward himself. "Your neighborhood Crimson Bunny."

Daniel blinked. "...What?"

"Don’t worry about it."

Nobody cut the restraints. Daniel’s hands dropped. He struggled to stand.

Nobody caught him before he fell. "Easy."

Daniel looked at him. "Why are you helping me?"

Nobody paused. "Because someone had to."

He helped Daniel sit on a nearby crate. Then he turned toward the unconscious workers. "Now..." He looked at Daniel. "...we need to talk."

Daniel swallowed. "About what?"

"Everything."

Daniel’s expression became complicated.

Nobody continued. "You worked at Nathan Industries for five years."

Daniel looked down. "Yes."

"You had access to company information."

"Yes."

"You gave information to Eclipse."

Daniel’s body went still. Nobody didn’t need to say anything else. The silence answered for him.

Daniel closed his eyes. "Yes." His voice was barely audible. "I did."

Nobody remained silent.

Daniel looked at the floor. "I was hired into the legal department five years ago." He took a slow breath. "At first, I thought I was only helping with minor information."

"What kind?"

"Contracts. Internal schedules. Department structures. Negotiation strategies."

Daniel’s hands trembled. "Eclipse kept asking for more."

"And you gave it to them."

"Yes."

Daniel looked ashamed. "I kept telling myself it wasn’t serious. I told myself they were only competing with Nathan Industries." He laughed bitterly. "But I knew."

Nobody watched him. "You knew what?"

"That they weren’t just competing." Daniel’s voice became quieter. "They were slowly building a way into Nathan Industries."

Nobody’s expression hardened. "How long?"

"Five years." Daniel lowered his head. "For five years, I gave them information."

The room became quiet. Even the unconscious workers seemed irrelevant now.

Daniel continued. "I watched Aiden trust people around him." His eyes became wet. "He trusted me too."

Nobody said nothing.

"I betrayed him." Daniel wiped his face. "Every time Eclipse asked for something, I gave it to them."

"Why did you stop?"

Daniel took a long breath. "Because I finally realized what they were planning."

"The contracts."

"Yes." Daniel nodded. "They weren’t just trying to steal information anymore." He looked directly at Nobody. "They wanted to infiltrate Nathan Industries completely."

Nobody’s expression became serious. "They wanted access to internal operations, legal systems, employee records and confidential projects."

Daniel nodded. "And the chairman was personally overseeing it."

Nobody looked at the unconscious workers. "Then why did you leave?"

"I couldn’t do it anymore." Daniel’s voice cracked. "I tried to quit."

"When?"

"Three months ago."

Nobody remembered. Daniel had resigned three months ago.

"After I resigned, I thought I could disappear." He shook his head. "I was wrong."

"What happened?"

"Eclipse found me." Daniel looked terrified. "The chairman knew I had stopped cooperating." He swallowed. "They captured me."

Nobody’s hands tightened around his crowbars. "How long?"

"Several weeks." Daniel looked toward the floor. "They kept asking where I had stored the information."

"Did you tell them?"

"No."

"Why?"

Daniel looked at Nobody. "Because I had already betrayed Aiden enough." For the first time, his voice carried something stronger than fear. It was his regret. "I couldn’t betray him again."

Nobody stared at him. Then he looked around the warehouse. The workers had been defeated. Daniel was safe. At least for tonight.

Nobody extended his hand. "Come on."

Daniel looked at it. "Where?"

"Somewhere safe."

Daniel hesitated. Then took his hand.

Nobody pulled him up. "You’ve survived long enough."

Daniel looked at the strange crimson helmet.

Nobody’s voice softened. "Now you’re safe."

Daniel stared at him. For some reason, those words nearly broke him. He nodded. "Thank you."

Nobody turned toward the warehouse entrance.

Blossom Bunny floated beside him. "Atta ta."

Daniel looked at the bunny. "...Is that also part of your organization?"

Nobody paused. "He’s management."

The bunny happily raised her paws. "Atta!"

Daniel almost smiled for the first time in weeks.