287: A Plague of Phantoms: Black Crescent Moon III

"What do you mean it might be about the legendary villages?" Jane asked. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the stone tablet that I got from Turak'Kahn and held it up for everyone to see.

"This tablet that your dad sold me isn't actually just a tablet. It's a key to an ancient splicer's laboratory." I said. Viola perked up at the mention of ancient splicer and zeroed in on me.

"Ancient splicer laboratory?" Viola asked, eyeing me intensely. Jane frowned and looked back at her mother.

"Mom no!" Jane exclaimed then looked to her father. Turak'Kahn avoided her gaze and suddenly found the ceiling and floor very interesting. Jane glared at me and pointed a finger at me. "Chase it is ten at night we are not going to go dungeon crawling in Japan!"

"You guys don't have to, I'm going regardless, I think I have to." I replied. That made Jane and a few others arch a brow at me. I turned and looked at Grandpa Seamus then added. "I think you need to come with me as well."

"Whatcha mean Starlight?" Grandpa Seamus asked, looking concerned. I walked over to Grandpa Seamus and handed him the stone tablet. He frowned and looked over the tablet then after a moment his eyes widened and he looked back up at me. "The laboratory of a previous Star farm crystal bearer?!"

Everyone in the room gasped and a silence fell over the room as Grandpa's words soaked in. Jane and Iris were the first to show their understanding, both of them looking worried.

"What's so special about Star farm crystal whatevers?" Anders asked suddenly.

"They are extremely rare and powerful splicers. Their mana capacity is larger than normal and they have a seemingly unnatural connection to magic and spells. Chase here is one such splicer." Turak'Kahn explained. Anders and Reagan both looked at me, their expressions ones of shock and a little understanding.

"So the importance isn't that the laboratory belonged to one of these Star farm crystal bearers but in the fact that Chase is one and what he could learn at that laboratory." Reagan surmised. I nodded and looked back go Grandpa.

"Bone-lasher thinks he found the entrance to the lab, not far from the island. The star farm crystal bearer was from the same legendary village as Grandma…even her name is similar. I don't know what's in the lab but I need to find out." I said. Grandpa Seamus nodded slowly then sighed.

"I'll go with ya Starlight." Grandpa Seamus replied. I smiled and hugged him tightly.

"Thank you Grandpa!" I exclaimed.

"I would like to go with you two." Turak'Kahn said suddenly. I looked over at the Pharaoh and saw that he was getting death glares from his wife. "Don't look at me like that, my love. You're low on mana and while I know you want to go and investigate this lab, your body would not hold out. Let me investigate it and make sure it is safe and then we can come back later and investigate together."

Viola huffed and looked away from her husband. Turak'Kahn sighed and shook his head as his wife had her little tantrum. Jane walked over to me then tapped my shoulder.

"Take our two new employees with you." Jane said then pointed to Anders and Reagan. The duo shared a look of confusion then pointed at themselves.

"Wait, us?" Anders asked. Jane nodded and then turned to face both of them.

"You both showed your resolve by betraying your old government but it's time for you two to get your feet wet and learn how dangerous it is working for Sho'lajah Artifact Company." Jane said.

"Dangerous?" Anders and Reagan said in unison shooting each other a look then cockily chuckled and shook their heads.

"We're soldiers, dealing with danger is nothing new to us." Anders said cockily. Everyone else in the room shared a look then laughed loudly making the men frown. Haws walked over and clapped Reagan on the back.

"Life in the military is nowhere near as dangerous as being around Chase. Equate it to the day that ascended rampaged through St. Louis except....that is a good day." Haws said. Reagan and Anders both spun around to look at Haws incredulously then around to everyone else in the room.

"That's a over exaggeration." I said, only feeling a little insulted.

"No its not!" Jane, Iris, Nate, Bo, and Grandpa Seamus all said in unison. I frowned and crossed my arms.

"Either way, babysitting…I mean escorting Chase while he's delving into potentially dangerous situations is part of the job." Jane said.

"What do you mean babysitting?!" I snapped. Jane avoided my gaze and suddenly found the ceiling very interesting.

"I don't know what you mean? I said escort not babysit. You might need go get your ears checked." Jane said, feigning innocence. I frowned at her but didn't press the issue. Instead Nate spoke up.

"You basically want to see if they can take care of themselves?" He asked. Jane nodded which prompted Nate to look at Bo. "In that case take Bo with you."

"Wait…what?!" I exclaimed then shot Nate a questioning look.

"He's just going to sneak out of King's glaive and follow after you if you don't take him with you. Better to take him with you so you can watch over him." Nate said. I looked down at the young trouble maker and frowned.

"Fine, since you insist." I said. Bo beamed then reached up on his shoulder to scratch Gadget.

"Yes! We're tomb raiding!" Bo exclaimed then jumped up and down.

"It's not a tomb!" I immediately exclaimed and grabbed Bo by his head and forced him to stop jumping. "Do NOT put that juju on us!"

"What's juju?" Bo asked then looked back at his dad.

"Don't worry about it." Nate said. Madilyn walked over and poked me in the arm.

"Chase we still need to plan for tomorrow!" She gripped. I sighed and motioned for her to hurry up.

"Fine, we can talk about on the way to the laboratory." I said then glanced up at the ceiling. "King's glaive, scan for Bone-lasher and then seat a course for his destination."

"Confirmed! Scanning…mana signature of Bone-lasher found. Plotting course….warning: Bone-lasher's current position is underwater. Hermetic sealing of all mana train cars will be required to travel underwater….is this okay?" King's glaive announced.

"Yes." I replied quickly.

"Confirmed! Sealing all mana train cars. Once sealed it will not be possible to leave King's glaive without undoing the seals…." King's glaive replied.

A loud hissing noise emanated from the outside door followed by a clinking sound. The lights in the car flickered for a moment then finally a loud chiming noise sounded. Several second went by then finally King's glaive started moving. Madilyn immediately went back into work mode and stepped in front of me once that happened.

"Now about tomorrow..." She started but I quickly cut her off.

"We need to make a big impact and show positive sides our evos. Especially since tomorrow is we'll be showing off aerial evos. They are normally the focal point of a nation's military. We brought with us the Solaris Wolfen and the Briar Lieon, both are good in a variety of situations in both air and ground combat. We need to capitalize on that." I said. Madilyn frowned but nodded in agreement with my summary.

"And I have some ideas on how to do that…" She started only to get cut off by me again.

"Offer free rides on the Solaris Wolfen for anyone that can earn their respect and make a presentation to show off their combat strength. Maybe see if we can try and promote a sort of tournament among them. As for the Briar Lieon play up their cuteness and market them to the women. Make sure to also promote their combat potential and uses as a personal security type evo." I said. Madilyn frowned and narrowed her eyes at me.

"I see…so you have given this some thought." Madilyn said with a pout. She crossed her arms and tapped a finger in her chin. After a few moments her eyes widened and a devilish smirk crept across her lips. "…I see! Instead of using Sadamas Center we'll set up a arena of own! A spectacle for the senses. We could even charge! Oh! This is good! Really good!"

"Jane, Iris, since you two aren't going with me, can you both hammer out the details with Madilyn?" I asked. They both nodded and turned to Madilyn and looked to Haws.

"We'll need Haws and Nate as well. They're in charge of logistics and the evos." Jane said. Iris nodded in agreement then turned and started towards the door to the car's in the back.

"Let's head back to Jane's car." Iris said. Jane, Haws, Nate, and Madilyn all followed her into the other cars. Viola gasped suddenly and rushed over to me and grabbed my hands.

"I just remembered! There is going to be a sort of banquet tomorrow! To celebrate the second day and announce the arrivals of the Paragons!" Viola exclaimed. Stunned I simply blinked at Viola.

"A banquet?" I asked. Viola let me go and stepped back.

"Well more like a expensive lunch. Most years only about half of the dignitaries show up. This is because they don't like being reminded their country doesn't have a Paragon." Viola explained.

"That might be different this year given Chase will be attending." Turak'Kahn spoke up then added. "The attendance of techno-splicing companies heads is mandatory. So you'll probably have a member of the Tech-9 committee coming to make an appearance tomorrow afternoon."

"Great…" I muttered then looked over at the navigation column, it displayed the route that King's glaive was traveling. According to the column they were over the ocean already and descending into the depths. There were about five minutes away from where Bone-lasher was keeping watch. "…More work and expectations."

***

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Bo asked as he stood in a transparent cube made from a spell I created. I was in the cube with Bo along with Grandpa, Turak'Kahn, Reagan, and Anders floating in the ocean at the mouth of the sea cave beside Bone-lasher. Now that I was near the cave I could sense a powerful mana emanating from the cave.

"Yeah…there is something here. I can feel it." I replied. Grandpa Seamus nodded in agreement and let out a ragged sigh.

"I do too, lad. I feel a pressure like I did when I was back in Sullivardic village as a lad. Strong magic at work 'ere." Grandpa Seamus said. I nodded then looked over at the cave mouth.

"Okay everyone…Let's do this!" I exclaimed.