*Chapter 24: The Moth Light*

Almost evening. At Station Cafe, Tokio and Memeko entered their hideout, returning from Tokio’s house. Both were still wearing their school uniforms—they hadn’t had a chance to change. Tokio carried two warm plastic bags.

As for Memeko? She didn’t find her laptop charger at her senpai’s house, either.

The cafe was closed to customers today. But their hideout wasn’t.

“So the empress’s empire is closed today, huh?” Tokio spoke, standing in front of the cafe’s door. He sighed and continued, “Anyway, you’ve got the keys, right?”

“Yep. Bossy gave me one,” Memeko replied. Then she started moving right along the alley beside the cafe. “Follow me, senpai.”

She took him to a secondary entrance. The alley was quite narrow to begin with, and she almost stepped her foot on a black cat’s tail.

“Watch out. It’s gonna bite you.”

What a clumsy little eater, Tokio sighed inwardly.

“Oops, apologies, kitten~” Memeko said as she bowed to the angry cat.

Blade, Eyepatch, Memeko, and Tokio had left for classes in the morning, but Shina stayed behind. She was leaning on the couch. When did she fall asleep? She couldn’t tell.

The automated door clicked open as Tokio and Memeko entered. Shina’s eyes opened at the sound.

“Well, someone’s sleeping on her couch like a little baby born yesterday,” Tokio said in a sarcastic tone.

“Hey, are you referring to me?” Shina snapped back.

“Anyway,” Tokio said, pushing the bags onto the table, “take this and eat before this eater’s tummy stops hurting after drinking my free soda.”

Shina unwrapped the bags. They contained hot meals. Her stomach growled, and she struggled to hide her embarrassment.

After she finished her meal, Blade and Eyepatch also returned. Then Memeko pulled out a projector, and it started up.

Meanwhile, at Abyss…

A private, expensive bar. Empty. Quiet.

Reizen stood by the counter, talking to someone on the phone. He looked unimpressed, almost bored. Across from him, Renji sat facing the bartender, completely relaxed.

The bartender was actually the tall bodyguard.

Only the three of them were present.

Even though Reizen’s voice echoed through the room, the silence somehow remained.

“A non-alcoholic apple soda, please,” Renji said calmly.

“My pleasure.”

Renji was about to take a sip when—

“Tch.”

Reizen ended the call.

“Damn it.”

He slammed his phone onto the bar counter.

Renji’s drink tipped over and spilled across the table, but he didn’t react.

“What’s the matter, my friend?” Renji asked.

“Did you hear that? The NSIA got intel on the warehouse holding the captives. Somehow, they even managed to track down its location.”

“My, my… Isn’t that interesting?” Renji replied with calm amusement. “Have they arrived already?”

“Not yet. But soon.” Reizen folded his arms. “The insider says they’re keeping the operation undercover. It should take them around four to five hours.”

Renji was quiet for a moment. Then he put his hands on chin with a smile.

“Just let them be.”

Reizen stared at him. “Just let them be? They’re walking right into—”

Renji silently picked up the fallen glass and set it upright. The remaining drops of apple soda slowly slid down its side.

“You know how we catch moths?” he asked.

Reizen frowned. Renji lightly traced a finger through the spilled soda.

“We give them a light to believe in.”

His smile was faint. Barely visible.

“They follow it willingly. Closer and closer.”

The room was silent.

“By the time they realize the glow was never meant for them…” He tapped the puddle. “…they’re already drowning in the dark.”

He leaned back and spoke in calm , “No worries. We have plenty of time ahead of us.”

“Even so,” Reizen replied, sitting right next to him, “The ESC, Estate Shopping Complex, is one of our most important and secretive assets. We’ve been using it as a warehouse for a very long time.” Reizen’s expression darkened. “Its existence was heavily restricted, even among our own soldiers. Only a handful knew about it, specifically to prevent information leaks. Yet somehow, it still got exposed.”

“Yeah…” Renji nodded slowly. “The NSIA couldn’t have figured it out on their own.”

He paused.

“Unless…”

Reizen narrowed his eyes.

“Unless what?”

Renji remained silent for a moment.

“Forget it. Let’s not go there yet.”

He cleared his throat.

“Anyway… did you prepare everything as planned?”

“Yes, indeed.”

A cold smile appeared on Reizen’s face, unreadable and unsettling.

“The preparation and distribution have been assigned to Sao Yaome herself, no less.”

“I see.”

Renji’s expression revealed nothing.

He turned back toward the bartender.

“Another glass of apple soda, please.”

“My pleasure.”

Inside the Estate Shopping Complex’s underground parking lot…

Sao Yaome stood with her arms crossed, her expression a perfect mask of irritation.

Four container trucks rumbled into the dimly lit space, their headlights cutting through the dust-filled air. One by one, their engines fell silent, and the drivers, Abyss soldiers, climbed out and hurried toward her.

All wore the same standard-issue tactical gear she’d seen a thousand times before. They formed a loose semicircle around her, moving with practiced discipline.

One of them stepped forward and bowed.

“These are assigned to you for distribution, Ma’am.”

Sao’s eyes narrowed. Without acknowledging him, she walked past and headed straight for the nearest truck.

“Huh? What’s inside this garbage?” she muttered, slapping the metal side of the container.

“Supplies, Ma’am. Equipment for the operation. Sir Renji personally oversaw the preparation.”

“Master Renji,” Sao repeated flatly. “Of course he did.”

She reached for the latch, but the soldier quickly stepped forward.

“Ma’am, perhaps it would be better if…”

“Did I ask for your opinion?”

The soldier’s mouth snapped shut. He immediately stepped back and lowered his head.

Sao yanked the latch open. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness inside, and then…

She froze.

Rows of new equipment filled the container. Body armor. Helmets. Not the standard issue.

These were special.

Sao’s jaw tightened. Her fingers dug into the edge of the truck door.

“What,” she said slowly, her voice dangerously quiet, “is this?”

“Specialized tactical suits, Ma’am. For the soldiers assigned to the primary engagement zone. Master Renji ordered them prepared specifically for this operation. They’re…”

“I know what they are,” Sao cut in sharply. “I’m asking why I wasn’t informed.”

The soldier shifted uncomfortably.

“I… I assumed you were, Ma’am. Sir Renji said the distribution would be handled by you, but the suits themselves were…”

“Were what?”

“Classified. Until now.”

Sao stared at the suits for a long moment. Classified. For the soldiers. Not for her. Her grip tightened.

She wanted special gear too.

A petty thought, perhaps. Yet the jealousy simmering inside her felt hot enough to burn.

“Whatever. Unload them,” she said. “Move everything to Staging Area B. I want every suit checked, inspected, and ready within the hour.”

“Yes, Ma’am!”

Sao watched them get to work, her arms folded tightly across her chest. Her fingers dug into her sleeves.

Tch. Why do THEY get special treatment and not me? She thought.

Back at Station Café…

The projector blinked, casting a soft blue glow across the room.

Tokio, Blade, and Eyepatch sat around the table while Shina stood at the front with her arms crossed, watching over the meeting.

Memeko typed rapidly, opening files one after another.

“Bad news, guys,” she said, her voice unusually flat. “Anya’s phone has been offline since this morning.”

Tokio frowned. “Since morning? That’s… not good.”

“I’ve been pinging it all day, but I ain’t getting any ponging,” Memeko said. “Nothing. No signal. No GPS. No response. It’s like the phone just… disappeared.”

She tapped a few keys and brought up a map on the projector.

“I checked the logs. The last signal came from one location, and then it just stopped. No movement. No updates. Nothing… This is different. It’s like someone smashed the phone.”

The screen changed to a map of Eastern City. A single red marker blinked in the middle of an abandoned shopping complex.

“The Estate Shopping Complex,” Memeko announced. “It was shut down in 2001 and left abandoned. Anya’s phone was last detected here.”

“That’s the warehouse we’ve been looking for,” Shina said and leaned forward, staring at the marker.

Memeko nodded and opened another file.

“And here’s the interesting part. I managed to get the original blueprints for the place from the city archives…”

“Wait.” Blade sat up straight. “Since when do you have access to city archives? And how did you get them so fast?”

Memeko cleared her throat and puffed out her chest.

“A true hacker never reveals her secrets,” she declared dramatically. “But if you really want to know, I might spill some beans for ya. I just happened to find them online. Someone posted the files and claimed to be a leaker. No name, no proof. Just the blueprints.”

Blade blinked.

“So you downloaded building plans from some random person on the internet?”

“Exactly!” Memeko said proudly.

Then she paused.

”…Okay, that sounds suspicious when you put it like that.”

“Because it is suspicious,” Tokio said with a sigh. “You don’t think it’s strange that someone just happened to post the exact blueprints we needed? The internet sure is a bad place.”

Memeko’s confidence immediately shrank.

“I mean… I thought about it. But the blueprints are real. They match the old city records. Maybe the timing is just a coincidence?”

“Right,” Eyepatch said evenly. “A coincidence indeed.”

Memeko cleared her throat and pulled up the blueprints on the main screen. The image showed a huge underground complex beneath the shopping center.

“The main warehouse is in the basement,” Memeko said, tracing the layout with her cursor. “But the interesting part is below that… an abandoned underground railway station. It was sealed during World War II and forgotten.”

Tokio leaned forward, eyes narrowing as he studied the tracks.

“Are the tracks still usable?” he asked, voice low.

Eyepatch tilted his head. “The rail lines here were built for military use. Heavy steel, reinforced structure. Even after years of abandonment, they should still hold. The freight lines to the coast were used now and then until the late 1990s.”

“So theoretically,” Tokio said, “someone could still move cargo through there.”

“Correct, senpai,” Eyepatch said. “The layout supports fast transport. Multiple entry and exit points all connect to one main route. It would work perfectly for smuggling… or a quick escape.”

“Quick escape… I see,” Tokio said, his face unreadable.

Tokio leaned back, rubbing his chin. His eyes stayed on the map.

“Alright then,” he said. “So that’s the plan.”

The words hung in the air.

Shina straightened, her expression shifting. She raised her hand and snapped her fingers once.

The sound was crisp and sharp.

From the shadows near the bookshelf, a figure stepped forward. Tokio nearly jumped out of his chair.

“Where the heck did you even come from?!” he blurted out, his composure cracking.

Miorin emerged from the darkness like a ghost, her hands neatly folded in front of her. Her face was calm, as if appearing out of nowhere was completely normal.

“I’ve been here since the meeting started, Mr. Yukawa,” she replied smoothly. “You didn’t notice me?”

“Of course I didn’t notice you! You were standing in the shadows like some kind of ninja.”

Miorin’s lips curved into the faintest hint of a smile.

Shina ignored them. She stepped forward and reached beneath the table, pulling out a small case. The metal clicked as she opened it.

Inside were four masks.

White. Featureless. Smooth like polished skin.

Shina picked up one of the masks, turning it over in her hands.

“So my beloved soldiers… We’ve been hiding in the shadows long enough,” she said, her voice low and steady. “But tonight? Tonight, the Phantoms step into the darkness—and kick their asses off!”

She paused, waiting for applause.

Tokio stared at her.

Wow. She can’t forget how to get extra cringe when it’s the right time, can she? he thought.

And her eyes also met his.

“HEY! I KNOW WHAT YOU’RE THINKING!” Shina snapped, pointing at him accusingly.

Tokio blinked. “I didn’t say anything.”

“YOUR FACE DID! I could hear your soul judging me!”

“My soul doesn’t talk you see.”

“IT DOES! AND IT’S VERY RUDE!”

Blade snorted. Memeko covered her mouth, shoulders shaking.

While they bickered, Eyepatch sat slightly apart from the others. His hands moved with quiet precision—pulling a massive black handgun from his jacket. A Desert Eagle. Absurdly oversized.

Blade’s eyes went wide. “Holy—is that a Desert Eagle, bro?!”

Chk.

Eyepatch finally glanced up, his expression calm and unreadable.

“I hope not to use it,” he said quietly. “For safety purposes, I guess.”

Blade cracked his knuckles, a grin spreading across his face. “Hell yeah. Finally… Gotta kick those bitches’ asses, don’tcha?”

Tokio sighed. ”…Unbelievable.”