Cass

Hopper couldn't hold back her curiosity.

"The Professor?"

But the labcoat ignored her and merely stepped back, gesturing for Nathan and the other two to leave the room.

Nathan scanned the woman up and down. She didn't have a skill and looked ordinary. But her presence in the Triangle made that an impossibility.

Nathan considered retreating for a moment. The fluctuations from the liquid energy in the blue tubes made it impossible for Nathan to detect the presence of other powerful existences, even if the insides of the Triangle hadn't suppressed his senses.

He could be in even more danger than when he stopped by the bunker and ran into Rotgi.

But Nathan couldn't really retreat here. His curiosity and need to settle things were too great. He nodded and followed the lab coat.

Hopper was a little disgruntled about the labcoat ignoring her, but she could tell she wasn't in a position to demand answers. After all, they had broken in and trespassed. It was a wonder they were being welcomed at all.

Smith and Hopper followed behind Nathan, looking around at the metallic insides of the Triangle in wonder. They could have never expected or guessed that something like this was hiding inside the symbol of Avalio. It was incredible and incredibly concerning.

Hopper already knew there was something in the Triangle or that there was something suspicious with it, so she wasn't as alarmed as Smith. But she was still on alert.

Smith, on the other hand, wasn't native to Avalio. Not that anyone over ten years old was native since the city wasn't that old. But he had been in the city less than a year and had barely started getting accustomed to all the big streets.

He didn't know about the open secret of the Triangle.

But more than that, he could tell that the technology inside the Triangle was highly advanced. It far surpassed anything he had seen in the rest of the city. It was like two entirely different civilizations.

The only thing similar that he knew of was the Hero Association's headquarters. He had only been there once and hadn't seen more than a few rooms and the large hall. But he had caught glimpses of the infrastructure below the surface.

But it was difficult to make a comparison since he wasn't well-versed in technology. All he could tell was that the Triangle was advanced.

As they studied the futuristic hallway, Nathan and the others soon found themselves in front of the only piece of wood they had seen so far. It was a simple door, which the labcoat opened before gesturing the others inside. She closed the door behind them.

Nathan was calm as he looked around the study. He couldn't sense anything threatening, even if he could tell there were a few safety mechanisms hidden behind the bookshelves and paintings around the room.

Finally, he turned his gaze to the man sitting on the other side of a coffee table. He had round glasses, short brown hair, and a gentle expression as he gestured for Nathan and the other two to sit down on the sofa opposite him.

"Welcome to my study. Nia insists on calling me the Professor, but feel free to call me Markrim."

Nathan sat down in the middle of the sofa and looked at Markrim. But he didn't ignore the way Hopper's eyes had widened as he mentioned his name.

"I'm…"

"Nathan Yuander Hobster."

Markrim turned to Hopper.

"Cass Alver. Also known as Hopper."

Finally, he turned to Smith.

"...And Smith. I know who all of you are. I also have an idea of why you're here, though I must say your method of entry was a little forceful."

Nathan shrugged.

"Would you have let me inside if I asked nicely?"

"No."

"Exactly. Anyway, you said you knew why we're here?"

Since Markrim already knew about their identities, Nathan already guessed he knew about the Vijang Syndicate as well. But Markrim's tone had hinted that he knew more than what he had overheard from Nathan's conversations with Hopper and Smith.

Markrim nodded as he rested his clasped hands on his crossed legs.

"I suspect a certain brother of mine has driven you to go to these lengths to find answers."

Nathan frowned.

"Your brother?"

Markrim nodded again.

"I…calculate that we won't have time for the full story of how I ended up here and how my brother ended up down there."

As he spoke, Markrim's face grew somber while looking toward the bunker below the city.

But he quickly composed his expression and looked at Nathan again.

"Simply put, my brother and I made the foundation of this city fifteen years ago or so with the help of a seemingly impossible power source. Then, we had our differences. Now, I'm doing my best to protect this power source while my brother is, well, doing the opposite. As far as I can tell, he's infiltrated both the city's underworld, the city's upper echelons, and parts of various outside organizations. He always was good at that kind of thing."

Nathan frowned. He hadn't thought that a simple sibling squabble was what had led to his parents' deaths. The more he thought of it, the angrier he got. He glared at Markrim.

His parents had died because this meek fucker and his brother didn't get along?

Markrim's study flooded with the pressure of the Sky Piercer Force and Nathan's killing intent.

Wouldn't everything be solved if he just killed Markrim and took control over the Triangle and the power source before killing Markrim's brother?

Nathan stood up.

"H-hey, w-wait up! I-I-I can tell what you're thinking, Nathan, but don't make any rash decisions! I'm the only one who knows how to control the power source!"

"I'm sure I can figure it out."

Nathan reached out and grabbed Markrim by the neck, raising him into the air. Books popped out, and paintings dropped to the floor as miniature cannons slid out of the walls and pointed at Nathan with lasers. They were more dangerous than Nathan first thought.

But could they contest with his Sky Piercer Force?

No.

"Hey! What are you doing, man?!"

Hopper grabbed Nathan's shoulder to try and stop him from killing Markrim, but she flinched back in pain and looked at her bleeding hand in confusion. She didn't understand what had just happened. But she also couldn't remain an idle spectator when Nathan was trying to kill someone right in front of her, especially when that someone was Markrim.

Hopper looked around for something to use as a weapon when she saw Nathan's lunch bag next to where he sat on the sofa.