Axel stepped into the underground base, shoulders heavy, eyes hollow. The fight was over—but it hadn't left him.
Goro was already there, waiting in the dim light. He looked up the moment Axel entered.
"I called Shin," Goro said quietly. "He's on the way."
Axel nodded once. Then, without emotion, without drama, he said it.
"I killed Rika."
The words hung in the air.
Goro didn't react at first. He just stared at Axel, searching his face, like he might find a crack, a lie, something to respond to. But there was nothing—just exhaustion and resolve.
After a long moment, Axel spoke again. "It was probably for the best. She tried to kill me. More than once. I gave her a chance."A pause."She still wanted to put a bullet in my head."
Goro exhaled slowly. He didn't argue. He didn't judge. He just nodded.
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Two hours later.
The scene shifted back to the mayor's island.
From a bird's-eye view, the damage was obvious. Soldiers swarmed the property. Cranes lifted debris. Armor units patched shattered walls. The house was wounded—but standing.
The camera drifted downward.
Past the lake's dark surface.Through cold, artificial water.Into dirt.Then deeper.
Far beneath the island… the truth revealed itself.
An underground laboratory—vast, sprawling, alive.
Scientists moved briskly between stations. Screens flickered with data. White coats, black gloves, controlled urgency. A hidden prison lay embedded within the complex.
Rows of cells.
Inside them—people.
Each prisoner wore a black-metal collar around their neck, four green lights glowing faintly on every device. The artificial "sunlight" lamps overhead dimmed and shut off one by one. Night cycle.
The prisoners retreated into their cells.
The camera moved on.
Shooting ranges—underground. Soldiers trained relentlessly. Pistols. Rifles. Snipers. Every echo swallowed by reinforced walls.
Then—at the very center.
Directly beneath the mayor's house.
A room.
Massive, pristine, sealed behind futuristic white double doors.
Three men arrived and stood silently.
The doors slid open.
They entered.
The doors closed instantly behind them.
Inside: white walls, immaculate. A throne-like white chair faced enormous screens mounted high above the doors. Silver-leaf plants decorated the room. A polished silver statue stood to the side—an abstract woman, serene, unsettling.
Seated in the chair was a man.
Tall. Slender. Impeccably dressed in a dark suit with subtle gold accents. Pale skin. Silver hair slicked neatly back. Eyes calm. Calculating. Unbothered.
He looked at his phone.
"Kairo Noctis. Elias Mortane. Rhett Kael," he read aloud.
The three men straightened. "Ye—"
"I didn't tell you to speak yet."
Silence snapped into place.
The man leaned back slightly. "You were recommended by our scientists. They say you're willing to work for the army. For the government."A pause."Now you answer."
"Yes," all three said in unison.
"Fabulous," the man replied calmly. "Before you begin officially, I'll need a scientist to—"
The door opened again.
A black-skinned female scientist stepped inside.
"—to explain what your powers truly are after our research—" the man continued.
"We know our powers, sir," Kairo Noctis interrupted.
Black gas swirled around Kairo's coat. His white eyes burned with red pupils. A black bandage crossed his forehead. A black-metal mask covered his mouth and nose, gas seeping from its vents.
The man in the chair stiffened.
Before he could speak, the scientist struck Kairo hard across the face.
The sound echoed.
Kairo recoiled, covering his face with his arm.
"My apologies, Your Majesty," the scientist said smoothly. "He isn't fully adjusted to your position yet."
She turned to the three men and placed a hand on each of their backs.
"Gentlemen," she said calmly, "from now on, you take orders directly from him. Missions. Commands. Messages. Whatever he deems necessary."
She looked at Kairo.
"This," she said firmly, "is our mayor."
The man in the white chair smiled faintly.
"Lucien Voss."
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Morning came quietly.
The sun rose behind the distant hills, painting Old Yagami's Place in soft gold. A brief timelapse rolled by—cows shifting lazily across the fields, steam rising from the earth, wind brushing through endless wheat.
At 10:39 AM, a familiar white van crept up the dirt road and rolled to a stop.
The doors slid open.
Veyron and Nyra jumped out first, both moving with urgency. Akari and Reina were still inside the farmhouse, finishing breakfast, unaware of what had just returned to their doorstep.
Then Yuki stepped out.
Goro followed.
Axel.
Finally Shin—who slammed the van door so hard it rattled.
"I swear to god," Shin growled, "this van's engine is gonna die at the worst possible moment. I'm telling you."
"Relax," Yuki said casually. "It held up fine. Even if it's old."
"Well I hope so," Shin snapped, "because this trash is older than my father's father—"
He kicked the back tire.
Immediately regretted it.
"FUCK—"
Everyone burst out laughing as Shin hissed in pain, limping toward the house in silence.
"He'll cool down, don't wo—" Axel started.
Thud.
Veyron's fist slammed straight into Axel's stomach.
Axel doubled over, coughing.
Veyron turned sharply toward Goro—then thought better of it. Goro's build alone discouraged the idea.
"You know why you deserved that," Veyron said coldly.
"Yeah," Axel wheezed, holding his gut. "Fair. My bad, I guess."A crooked grin."Look—we got the external hard drives. Yay."
Goro reached into his bag and pulled out the two remaining drives.
No one spoke.
They all went inside immediately.
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The computer in the Yagami house was ancient. It whined, clicked, froze—then whined again.
Twenty minutes passed.
Then thirty.
Finally, the screen flickered to life.
They plugged in one of the hard drives, setting the other aside—just in case.
A single folder appeared.
They opened it.
Silence.
Everything inside was blacked out.
PDFs. Word documents. Images. Entire pages drowned in censorship. Thick black bars erased nearly every line.
"…They locked it," Reina muttered.
"Probably encrypted it remotely," Yuki said. "No way we crack this."
For a moment, it felt like the mission had died right there.
Then Nyra blinked.
"…Hidden folders," she said.
Everyone froze.
They turned Hidden Files: ON.
The disk refreshed.
A new folder appeared.
Seal manual backup9
The room went dead silent.
Veyron clicked it.
Inside—one PDF.
No redactions. No black bars.
The title alone made everyone's breath hitch.
SEALBREAKING RESEARCH #48 – Main Research (Summarized)