Surprise Attack

During the remainder of the ride, they encountered no more crime scenes.

The world went on with no regard for the unfortunate two souls. It looked the same, still bustling with life.

This got Eve thinking. One or two lives are nothing in the grand scheme of things.

Not that Eve cared. What pissed him off was that the presumed pregnant woman made a decision that harmed her child. 

'There's no use sulking over this. For one, I don't even know if the woman was pregnant for sure. Second, I'm not going to let this unforeseen event ruin my first car ride ever.'

He looked over the window and saw that they were out of the inner city, on the edge of the inner city to be precise.

Eve observed the skyscrapers, each built like a pillar. Some had bridges connecting one building to another like a spider web, some were completely isolated, some were taller, and some were relatively short.

Unlike cities in the Federation, where the buildings were completely covered in screens for the purpose of advertisement, the Empire's buildings were clean and elegant.

The car suddenly came to a screeching halt, causing Eve to hit his head on the seat in front of him.

"Get out. We're here." Arco's deep voice reached his ears.

The trio got out of the car and was greeted with a peculiar sight.

'What the hell, how is this thing still standing.'

In front of him, was a small 5-floor tall building. Cracks ran along the walls, the paint had worn off, giving it a disgusting grey color. The windows were dusty and since it was in the middle of a large field, it looked as if it was haunted.

Not far away, an abandoned warehouse could be seen.

"What is this?"

"Our base." Melina confidently declared and entered through the decaying wooden door.

Eve facepalmed. He didn't expect a mansion or anything like that but it was definitely not a safety hazard like this one.

It looked like it could collapse at any given moment and as such, Eve was very hesitant to follow her.

"Stop wasting time and get inside." Arco shoved him inside.

The door's spine creaked as if it was alive and being brutally mauled as Eve pushed it open.

"Bring the saw for me."

"Jameson, notify the resource team that we require more pesticide."

"Hello, hello. Cut the power at cable 3."

'Huh?'

There were many people in orange vests bustling around. Some carried tools, some carried baggage, and some hammered the walls.

'They are construction workers. Are they repairing the building?'

"Eve, come here!"

Melina called out to him in front of some stairs.

Eve walked up to her and said, "You have many people at your base."

"They are just workers, don't mind them. Let's go upstairs, I will show you the rest of the crew."

Some people worked on the stairs, replacing the rotten steps with fresh wood while others replaced the old wallpaper on the walls around the stairs.

"Isn't this illegal? Intruding an active construction zone I mean."

"It's fine. They are paid workers rather than official workers so they won't say a thing."

They quickly ascended the stairs, skipped past the second floor, and got on the third.

There were no construction workers on this floor. The room itself was basic and empty, save for some basic pieces of furniture.

There was a low table in the middle of the room, surrounded by 3 couches on 3 sides while the 4th side was empty to provide a view of the TV stationed on the wall.

There were also pots of plants in all three corners, and shelves next to the TV alongside a window on the opposite side. 

On the couches, were three people in total. 

Two looked identical, presumably twins. One of them wore a sleeveless cyan dress, her eyes were light blue like azure, and her chin-length hair was of the same color, albeit slightly tinted with a darker indigo shade at the tip.

The other twin, a male, wore a white long coat with fur that covered his legs. He had deep crimson eyes, giving it an intimidating look. He had a decent build and a pale skin.

In terms of looks, the twins had the exact same face. The only way to differentiate them was their body stature and clothes.

The third person though, stood out like a sore thumb when compared to the beautiful and colorful twins. He was not bad-looking by any means but his favorite color was obvious as reflected by his choice of outfit.

First of all, he wore black clothes only. Black jacket, black T-shirt, black pants, black fingerless gloves, and black shoes. His hair was raven black, his eyes an unnatural black color and his skin was pale like a doll's.

He looked tired. Dark circles were starting to form under his eyes.

Currently, all three were looking at Melina and Eve.

"Welcome back, Mely!" The girl walked up to Melina and hugged her.

"Who is this boy?" She asked. Although she put up the face of an innocent young girl, there was a clear hint of mischief in her eyes.

Melina chuckled. "Don't get any funny ideas Este."

She cleared her throat. "Anyways, allow me to introduce you all.

This is Ivarage, but you can call him Eve. Eve, this girl is Este and the similar-looking boy over there is Cel. As for the gloomy boy- ADRIAN STOP"

The gloomy boy's eyes, upon hearing Eve's name widened. It wasn't long before the darkness of hatred clouded his vision and he rushed towards Eve full speed.

Before anyone could even process what was happening, Adrian crouched down and his right hand curled up.

He pulled his fist as far as he could, his spine arched back and his veins bulged. 

Then he struck Eve's abdomen.