“Ugh…!”
When I opened my eyes, a dull pain shot through my whole body. I pressed my chest and squeezed out a voice.
“What happened to everyone—!?”
“Segawa-san! Mitani! Yamamoto-san! Tanaka-san!”
I called each name, but there was no response. However, from somewhere, I heard a faint groan.
"Damn it, is anyone... okay?"
I tried to move toward the voice, but my feet froze at the scene that suddenly came into view.
“What... is this?”
The cases, the cargo, were stuck to the ceiling, upside down.
“The ceiling? Why?”
Normally, the cases should be fixed to the floor. But now, it seemed as though the floor had become the ceiling—
“The transport vehicle... was overturned?”
My brain was refusing to accept the situation, overwhelmed with confusion. But the scene in front of me left no other possibility.
“This is impossible!”
A trembling voice escaped my lips. This transport vehicle weighed nearly 8 tons—equivalent to a medium-sized truck. To overturn it like a toy car—!
Cold sweat ran down my spine. Something is here—something beyond our imagination, here in this very spot.
“What the hell is going on?”
The sound of metal tearing echoed. The container of the transport vehicle was slowly, but surely, being torn apart by human hands.
“Matsumoto! Why are you standing there?”
Segawa-san's voice snapped me back to reality.
“Use it!”
I finally realized the meaning of Segawa’s words. I needed to activate my CA Device and unlock my abilities. I had been so dazed by the surroundings that I had forgotten the most important action to take.
—‘ROCK ON!’
—‘ROCK ON!’
We slid our CA Devices almost simultaneously and activated them.
“Tiger Eye!”
“Emerald!”
Segawa-san and I unleashed our respective Adept Stones and activated our powers.
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“Matsumoto! The wall!”
Segawa-san’s voice urged me to act. Although I had activated my abilities, there was no room to fight in this small container. We needed to get out—
I used the Emerald power to create bracers and shattered the container wall, opening a path to the outside.
“Let’s go!”
Segawa-san leaped out first. I followed closely behind and jumped out of the container.
In front of us stood a giant man, likely the one who had overturned the truck.
His overwhelming presence radiated. I couldn’t tell which Adept Stone he had, but compared to the other Adepts I had encountered on past missions, he exuded an unusual power.
“Well... I’m not going to let this end so easily.”
The man smiled confidently and spoke in a light tone. His demeanor made it seem as though he thought of us as nothing more than playthings.
Segawa-san and I exchanged silent eye contact, confirming our unspoken intention.
We would take him down together—this was the time to execute the teamwork we had practiced countless times in training.
“Matsumoto, you can use Emerald’s ability, right?”
Segawa-san’s question snapped me back to focus.
Right, in this situation, my Emerald future vision ability could be key.
With this power, I could see anywhere from 2 to 5 seconds into the future.
But—during combat, 2 seconds was the limit. Even so, it should be enough to predict the opponent’s moves and spot a slight opening.
I activated future vision and saw 2 seconds ahead.
The man’s massive fist was coming at me.
“Damn...!”
I crouched down and barely avoided it, but the impact of his punch slamming into the ground sent me flying.
“What?! I thought I hit you—But that won’t work!”
The man’s shout rang in my ears.
I quickly stood up and activated my future vision again, but his movements were unnaturally fast, and I couldn’t keep up.
Taking advantage of the opening as I was struggling, Segawa-san’s fist landed a crushing blow to the man’s jaw.
A sharp, high-pitched sound rang through the air.
It wasn’t the sound of bones breaking; it was more like hitting an iron plate.
“—!”
The man’s head jerked back slightly, and a red streak of blood dripped from his mouth.
“I see... so you can actually land a hit.”
Wiping his mouth lightly, the man grinned, his attitude suggesting that he wasn’t bothered by the pain—in fact, it seemed to fuel his excitement even more.
“What’s with this guy’s body... It’s as hard as metal!”
Just as Segawa-san muttered that, the man grabbed Segawa-san’s arm and threw him into the air.
“Matsumoto, get out—!”
Segawa-san’s shout was cut off.
Just as I had seen in my future vision, Segawa-san was slammed into the ground, unmoving.
“Damn...!”
I tried to look into the next moment, but my vision turned dark, and I couldn’t see the future anymore.
“It’s over, kid.”
The man’s fist came crashing down on me.
As my consciousness faded, a low voice echoed in my ears.
“Something was off... I erased both the motion and presence...”
The giant man—his voice.
“Maybe he’s slowing down?”
A woman’s figure appeared in the corner of my vision.
Her long hair swayed, and in her eyes was a coldness that seemed to mock me.
“Don’t be stupid.”
The man replied with a voice that barely concealed his irritation.
“Enhanced intuition or some kind of foresight... well, it wasn’t a bad ability. But the user wasn’t very good.”
With a dismissive voice, they turned their backs.
What was left behind was only helplessness, and me, slowly losing consciousness.
“You, take them all, including the ones in the transport vehicle! Don’t forget the CA Devices and Adept Stones!”
The man’s voice echoed as he commanded his subordinates, who hurriedly began to move. They each took ropes and tools, starting to restrain the security team.
“Well then, time to meet the treasure.”
The man cracked his neck and smiled smugly.
“Suzi. You know the deal, right?”
The woman standing next to him smiled faintly and nodded.
“Of course. The results of the work we did together are shared by everyone. That’s the rule of ‘Happy Mine’, right?”
Her voice was calm and composed, but there was an undertone of enjoyment.
“Alright. Then let’s go.”
The man turned away without looking back and slowly walked toward the container.
