In the hold

But before I could try to satisfy my curiosity and take a peek. I felt the truck slow down. Naturally, I became alarmed.

There was no traffic in the area, therefore there were no lights or traffic signals. One would simply stop for pedestrians, which again there were none of at the moment. That left only one possibility, I am screwed!

They either found out that I took the box or we already reached the library. If it is the latter I should prepare to engage in conflict. Based on Kaiser's words, the library was being defended by grade two and above individuals. It would be hard to not be noticed by such individuals.

Of course, as long as I maintained myself out of their sight it should still be possible to evade them. A bonus in perception shouldn't be enough to spot people through walls and such. It does make you wonder if there is a grade in which it does though.

Regardless, I didn't plan on taking any chances. I grabbed one of the empty boxes and hid. This was a renowned tactic I learned from a video game. Thus, I was not worried about being found.

I was worried they would take the lead box though. Which was also why I kept it handy.

Not only that but since I broke the chains to enter they would be able to easily tell someone broke in. If the box was out in the open, they might suspect I was still in there. Actually, if they didn't suspect that I'd question their reliability.

"Hey! The chain is actually broken!" Yelled a man with a husky voice. I then heard hurried steps as, who I presumed was the driver, got out of the vehicle to check alongside the husky person.

"F*ck!" Another man, with a higher pitch, said.

The truck's back doors were promptly opened. Both men quickly made their way in and saw that the lead box was gone.

"Ah! Damnit!" The man continued to curse. I could already picture him with his hands on his head lamenting the situation.

"What should we do?" The husky voice man asked. It was clear which of the two was in charge.

"What should we do!? We kiss grade two goodbye! F*ck, let's quickly head to the library!" This man had quite a foul mouth. Then again, I would also not be able to hold myself back if someone put my job at risk.

They both left the hold and then I heard something very unpleasant…

"Make sure to lock the doors, not like it f*cking matters but f*ck all right!?" Ah… there goes my chances to escape before we get to the library. I could hear the broken chain being used to close the doors again.

Damn, if I knew this was going to happen I would have taken my chances and ran out of the hold.

They were both grade ones so the worst thing that could happen would only be them recognizing me. But that also didn't really matter since I was likely spotted by a camera.

I sighed internally as the truck started to pick up speed. It also started to make some sharp turns showing how serious they were about getting to the library. These guys could at least have tried to play it off and give them an empty box. Why be so dutiful?

Well, there weren't any extra lead boxes here that I could see anyway so that plan would be doomed to fail. I could try to break out by sheer force but that would be easier said than done.

I would also end up with a hurting shoulder if I had to repeatedly slam the door. Of course, I would also have to hope it opens up quickly, or else all I would have done is alert the two men upfront.

An idea suddenly crept into my mind… a way out…

I looked at the lead box in my hands. It seemed especially enticing…

The only problem was that I would likely fail my mission. Not only that, but my life in the underground would also be threatened.

The truck was still speeding, the cargo holds shaking all the while. If I take too long I won't have an opportunity to open this thing and conceal myself later…

I grabbed the wire cutters. I looked for a lock on the box in order to open it. I gripped the wire cutters and slammed them against the lock.

Clang

Clang!

I could only hope that the driver and passenger wouldn't be able to hear the noise due to their anxious minds and reckless driving.

Clang!

The lock broke apart. The wire cutter wasn't looking all that well afterward but its job was already done.

Full of expectation, I popped the lid off of the lead box. A green radiance instantly washed over my body. My eyes winced in pain from the sudden green light but that didn't really matter…

Large!

It was a pretty large crystal, the size of a melon. Its edges were rough and bumpy. Reminded me of rock candy…

I threw the thought away as soon as I thought about the origin of this… waste…

What was really attention-worthy was the dangerous heat it emitted. This likely had to do with radiation. The radiation the crystal emitted was most likely why it was inside of a lead box rather than a regular old box.

What grade might this thing be… Grade 5? 6? I believed it was likely one of the two unless the jump between grades and crystal sizes was exponential.

But that makes things hard for me. The sheet clearly explained that absorbing the energy of a much higher quantity than you can handle would lead to severe consequences or even death.

Is it possible to only absorb a small portion? I felt as though this was a likely possibility. Then again, would the document have warned against absorbing higher grade crystals without mentioning such a simple method?

This really puts me in a dilemma… is what a normal person might say. As long as the crystal could help me gain even just a temporary boost in strength I would be able to escape. The downside would be I would have wasted the crystal and might incur Kaiser's distrust.

On another hand… The mission was basically to make sure that the other party didn't receive their reward. I wouldn't be failing the mission if I took this for myself then. Of course, I acknowledge that Kaiser would likely be interested in getting his hand on this thing.

But since it can't be helped… why don't I give it a go, right?