Are you a crook?

It was late noon and the sky outside was orange. The light of early dusk made its way into the corridor, making the surroundings look quite nostalgic. The tranquil atmosphere, however, was disturbed by shrill yelling.

"You're not my brother!" cried the girl in the blue dress. "Who are you?!"

Ink didn't know how to reply to this situation. Never would he have thought that he would be exposed so quickly. The girl in front of him came out from nowhere and it was all so sudden that he was dumbstruck.

He was about to say something when suddenly there were footsteps coming not too far away from the intersection. The footsteps were accompanied by chatting and laughter.

"Not good!" the girl gasped, looking quite startled. Without thinking, she pulled Ink on his sleeves and drag him with surprising strength. "We need to go before they find us! Dammit, come on work you stupid junk!"

The girl raised her arm and on her wrist was a bracelet with a single blue bead adorned on it. The bracelet looked extremely tight on her arm and even yanking hard on it will not make it budge even a little.

The girl flicked her hand and several white glitters spread across her body.

Ink stared shockingly, as the glitters also headed in his direction. Before he could say anything he was already shrouded in dazzling light.

By the time the glitter cover them completely, three middle-aged men walked past them into the corridor. Ink stared with wide eyes as the group of three disappeared, ignoring them completely.

"Alright follow me!" the girl whispered, as she continues to drag Ink with her.

They arrived at a courtyard and proceeded down a path until they came across a wooden hut.

The hut was, in fact, a storage room that seemed abandon for a long time. It was blanketed by trees and shrubs, making it unlikely for anyone to notice its existence.

The girl walked up to the hut and placed her hand on the surface of the door. A droning like sound emitted from it and the door slowly creaks open.

At this point, Ink was no longer surprised by the bizarre things he had seen lately.

He was an analytical person and he had long since figured out that the girl had done something to hide their presence before.

He followed the girl in the room and as he did, the door closed behind him automatically.

The interior of the hut was bleak and empty, several crevices could be seen on the floor. There was a wooden bed at a corner of the room, and a little table was placed beside it. On the table was an oil lamp that seemed rather new.

The girl took a deep breath and glared at Ink sternly.

"You have one minute to talk before I call security!" she ordered.

As she stated that, she took out a small remote device from her dress pocket and dangle it in front of Ink.

"And don't even try to do anything stupid!" She continued.

This time, she went up to a wall and punched it hard with her fist!

The punch left a hole on the wall and light smoke could be seen drifting out from it!

Ink was once again surprised as he stared fixedly at the broken wall. He was even more shocked at what had happened next.

The hole on the wall gradually reformed itself, and eventually, it was completely fixed. It was as if the hole wasn't there in the first place!

The girl once again looked back at Ink, gazing coolly.

Ink swallowed hard and knowing that he was in a dangerous spot, he decided to lessen the enmity between them by removing his mask, exposing his real face to the girl.

"How did you know?" He asked.

"My brother will always turn around immediately as soon as he hears my voice." She replied coldly.

The girl didn't say anything afterward, she only waited.

Seeing the girl like that, Ink sighed and started to explain everything to her. He explained about the mask, his meeting with Trident and his reason for being here.

Of course, he tried to not disclose his true reason for being here, but the girl was extremely sharp and kept pressuring him to speak.

"I see, " said the girl thoughtfully. "Although I'm not sure if what you say is entirely true... But since my brother is not someone to be easily fooled into helping others, I guess I can trust you."

"I don't think I told you my name yet, " she continued. "It's Nina, I'm Trident's younger sister."

After listening to Nina, Ink did notice a slight similarity between her and Trident. The hair was especially obvious.

"Hearing your story, I guess my good for nothing brother is working to look for father as well..." Murmured Nina. "You said you were looking for your father right?"

"Yeah, " replied Ink.

"If it's info you want, " she continued. "I guess I might know something."

Ink hesitated for a moment before deciding to ask her a question. He was not sure if he could trust her or not, so he chose his wording carefully when asking.

"Did a Mafia group from Mainland City visit your estate three years ago?"

"There was, " answered Nina. "The Don of Dragon Den was here three years ago to do business with my father, I'm guessing that makes you some sort lackey from there then?"

"I'm the Don's son." He replied in a straightforward manner.

"Oh..." Nina murmured, somewhat embarrassed. "Well, my father is the Don of White Hand. Three years ago, my dad and your father went on a coop mission together and was never heard of again."

She paused for a while, a hint of loneliness could be seen on her face.

"At first, me and my brother didn't notice anything wrong, " she continued. "But several months had passed, he didn't return back to the estate, so we started to get worried. Brother was already eighteen by then and was allowed to do certain things to an extent, but he refused to look further into the matter of father.

"A year later he took up a 'business trip' and left. I haven't heard from him since then... Until you came along."

Nina breathed deeply and sat on the wooden bed.

There was no more talking. Ink took this opportunity to examine the room and its mysterious feature. He hesitated for a moment before asking.

"What is this room made of?"

"Nanotech, " Nina replied, already aware that he was curious about the room. "This entire hut was made out of the stuff, it was specially constructed by my father as a present for me when I was little. And so as this..."

Nina folds her left sleeve and revealed the bracelet that she used to hide their presence back at the corridor. She displayed it in front of Ink and at the same time, staring intently at his mask.

"Then..." Ink murmured.

"Both my bracelet and the mask you are holding were made of Nanotech, " she replied calmly. "I'm not sure exactly how it was made but I do know that the organization that produces it is a top-secret military facility of Unity. Also, every single one of this Nanotech product is one of a kind and extremely precious.

"My dad was able to get his hand on five of them through smuggling. Three of which you already know of. The other two was with my dad and he gave one to your father."

Ink couldn't help but stare at the mask he was currently holding. Such a thing was as rare as a red diamond. Yet here he is, holding one.

"Since it is Nanotech, it doesn't require electricity as a power source. It generates its own power through some kind of method I'm not sure of." She continued.

She talked for several more minutes, discussing the different uses of the five nanotech owned by her father.

It was now late evening and the sky outside darkens.

Having not eaten for hours, Ink was feeling quite hungry. Nina noticed how late it was outside and how she herself was famished.

She stood up and place her hand on a wall next to the door. Once again there was a droning sound as the floor next to her rumbled. The crevice on the floor rotated and a hatch opened up as a pillar-like object rose up slowly from underneath.

Nina places her palm on the surface of the pillar and this time, there was a buzzing sound. The pillar mechanically open, and as it did, cool air whistle out from within it.

Inside the pillar was a variety of assorted dishes, each one looked extremely appetizing. She gestured to Ink to pick one of the dishes, as she herself chose hers.

She then walked up to the center of the room and stomped her feet hard. As she did, another crevice rotated and this time it was an even larger hole. A set of table and chairs rose up from below. Nina placed her food atop the table and clapped her hand loudly, suddenly, the oil lamp on the small table lit up.

Ink wasn't surprised by this at all as he was already quite informed about the various features of the hut.

After picking his dish, the both of them silently enjoyed their meal together.

Time passed slowly as they peacefully eat their food. Ink knew that this was the best possible time to ask Nina another question.

He puts down his spoon and asked.

"So um..." said Ink hesitantly. "You said my dad and your father went off on a 'business trip' together right?

Nina didn't reply, she just continues to eat her dish. Ink frowned, seeing that she didn't reply, he hesitated again before asking another question.

"Do you at least know where they went off to on their 'business trip'?"

At that moment Nina stopped eating. She puts down her fork and wiped her lips with a napkin. After she was done, she looked deeply into Ink's eye.

"I don't, " she replied.

Ink suddenly frown even more after hearing that, he was hoping to get some lead from her since she seemed quite knowledgeable about his father's affairs.

He had asked a few members of the White Hand about the topic, but they all gave him the same reply of being oblivious to the event. All they know was that their boss had taken an extremely long mission and that he was not going to return to the estate anytime soon.

Even as he was feeling somewhat dejected, Nina continued to speak.

"I don't know where they are exactly... but I think I might know where they could be at."

Ink attention was now peaked, a lead like this was exactly something he was looking this entire time. Now feeling enlivened, he ignored the fact that Nina had just played with his feelings and listened to her attentively.

"However, the place I think they might be at is an extremely dangerous place, " said Nina. "That is because the place they might be at is... the Military Headquarters of the Republic of Unity!"

"Wait what?" Exclaimed Ink, he was quite shocked to hear that the place his father might be held captive in, was actually the main military department of Unity. "Why would they..."

"I'm extremely positive that they went there, " interrupted Nina. "By using the bracelet, I've bypassed my father's security and thoroughly searched through my father's files. In one particular folder, it stated that he was going to the Military Headquarters of Unity. The reason for going there, however, was unknown but I'm extremely sure that they went there!

"I was planning to go there today, with the help of my bracelet, but I happened bumped into you at the last moment...

"Look, I'm only going to ask you once - are you in or not?"

Without even hesitating, Ink replied, "Yes!"

He was planning to go all out with looking for his father in the first place anyways. Now that he found a good lead, and someone who shared the same goal as him to work with, how could he possibly refuse the offer?

Nina smiled approvingly and stood up from her sit.

She walked up to the wall next to her bed and touched it. Once again there was a droning sound that emitted from the wall and this time, the wall expanded and covered her completely.

After a few moments it opened up and Nina appeared from within it. She was now in a completely different outfit, she wore a skin-tight suit that was pitch black in color, covering her body entirely. Her mouth was covered by a mask and she wore a black beanie on her head.

"Are you a crook or something?" asked Ink sarcastically.

He was never a person who liked to joke, but he simply couldn't help himself from making one right now.

"Shut up and get change!" she growled, with a cold harumph.

As she said that, she stomped her feet hard and the floor beneath Ink started to expand upwards. Eventually, it covered him up entirely.

Inside the make-shift room was a huge mirror and a wardrobe filled with countless different clothing. Ink was surprised to see that the room was more spacious than he had thought. He was sure that the exterior of the room was only a few meters wide, but the interior of it is easily five times larger.

The uniqueness of the hut only continues to surprise him even more. Even after being told about some of its bizarre features, he can't help but feel amazed by it over and over again.

He quickly changed into his black attire and donned his mask to change the appearance of his face to that of Trident's.

There was, in fact, three options of black clothing to choose from in the wardrobe.

There was the skin-tight option, the one Nina had. A flamboyant option, which was quite questionable. And the most normal of the three, the casual option.

Ink ignored the skin-tight option completely, the flamboyant one as well, and instead, chose the casual set.

He noticed there were a few weaponary in the wardrobe such as firearms and tasers. After searching around for awhile, he took a pistol and some ammunition, a taser, and an all-purpose army knife. Once he finished changing, he knocked on the wall, after a moment, the wall retracted and he was outside once again.

"Ready to go?" asked Nina.

Ink nodded his head and the two started their departure.