Swarms of ship personnel and security guards scrambled toward The Ballistics Proving Grounds in a frantic rush.
Jerrick stood perfectly still, watching the chaotic exodus.
His gray-blue eyes darkened slightly.
Joker's little phone call...
The timing had been surgically precise.
A second earlier, and the guards wouldn't have dropped their guard.
A second later, and his team might not have secured access to the backstage and
the elevator zone so effortlessly.
The Panacea really didn't ally herself with dead weight.
The synchronization was flawless.
It certainly saved him a lot of trouble.
A faint smirk ghosted across Jerrick's lips beneath the mask as he raised a hand, signaling his men.
His mercenaries fell into step immediately.
They advanced swiftly toward their predetermined targets.
Within moments, The Logistics Spine and every critical choke point surrounding the elevator had been silently and aggressively secured.
Meanwhile.
Serena had finished rewriting the last of The Apex Bio-Transfer Pod's external clearances.
She slid Obsidian Sun's keycard back into the card reader.
[Internal Specialized Transit Clearance: Active.]
[Cargo Serial Number: Verified.]
[Logistics Route: Online.]
A sharp chime rang out.
Beneath the pod, the Maglev Logistics Sled hummed to life.
The massive container glided smoothly along the digital tracks Obsidian Sun had so graciously laid, heading straight for the cargo transit elevator.
Every security blast door along the way flashed green and parted before them.
Not a single guard stepped out to intercept them.
Watching the glowing green route on the monitor, Serena's smile widened.
Obsidian Sun really had broken their backs over Specimen Fourteen.
They had orchestrated every single detail to perfection.
Identifications, security clearances, routing, and even bypassing the mid-route inspections they had anticipated and neutralized every obstacle.
It was just a shame that all their painstaking labor...
Had merely rolled out the red carpet for her.
Just imagining the look on their faces when they saw Specimen Fourteen surface on the auction block was highly entertaining.
Logically, Obsidian Sun's original plan was to use the backstage to smuggle the asset out entirely via The Logistics Spine.
That meant their pre-cleared path definitively did not cover the elevator ascent.
By rerouting the pod to The Grand
Stage Elevator, she knew it would et
naturally trigger a mandatory cargo inspection before loading.
Only after a manual verification would the asset be cleared to ascend to the stage.
That was standard operating procedure.
Yet Serena rode the pod all the way to the final set of blast doors without an ounce of concern.
The heavy steel doors slid open.
Beyond them lay the ascent zone leading directly to the Midnight Auction Arena.
There was no inspection team waiting.
Serena's lips curled. She wasn't surprised in the slightest.
After all...
She was well aware of Fenris's capabilities.
Waiting for her on the other side of the threshold was Fenris, flanked by his elite squad.
The ship's security detail was completely absent from the elevator zone.
That was exactly why it had been smooth sailing.
Upon seeing her, Jerrick didn't
speak. He simply glanced at the
or the
glowing green clearance tag on t
pod's exterior and raised a hand to
his men.
FindNovel.net
The mercenaries guarding the perimeter fell back, clearing a direct line to the elevator.
Serena stepped forward, pressing her keycard against the final scanner.
[Clearance Verified.]
[Cargo Ascent Protocol Initiated.]
[Transferring Cargo to Stage.]
The Apex Bio-Transfer Pod glided effortlessly into The Grand Stage Elevator,
officially entering the final auction sequence.