First Intergalactic Emperor: Starting With The Ancient Goddess-Chapter 430: Broken Lead

They split up and worked fast, not bothering to be careful anymore.

Crates were cracked open, panels ripped loose, racks stripped down to frames. Klatos moved with practiced efficiency, identifying what was worth taking and what would slow them down. Rin dragged gear toward the exit point they’d already marked, stacking it without thinking twice. Arlen kept one eye on her device, one ear tuned to the background noise of the bunker, listening for changes that mattered.

Xavier was the one who stopped.

He stood in front of a recessed chamber he hadn’t noticed earlier, half-hidden behind collapsed plating. Inside it sat something compact and dense, humming faintly, surface patterned with markings that didn’t match the rest of the tech in the facility.

"What is this?" Xavier asked, lifting it slightly.

Klatos turned toward him and started to answer. "That’s not standard hardware. It looks like—"

The alarms changed.

A different pitch entirely, layered over the existing chaos like a warning meant for people who knew what it meant. Red lights shifted to white, then pulsed hard enough to hurt the eyes. The floor vibrated in a way that had nothing to do with structural failure.

Arlen’s head snapped up. "Drop it. Now."

Xavier didn’t argue. He let the object fall where it was.

"We’re leaving," Arlen said, already moving. "This is a purge alarm. Full self-destruct."

Rin didn’t ask questions. Klatos didn’t either. They ran.

The bunker started tearing itself apart as they moved, internal blasts ripping through corridors they’d cleared minutes ago. Walls buckled. Doors sealed and failed all at once. The air turned hot and heavy, pressure chasing them toward the exit like a living thing.

They burst out into daylight just as the ground behind them erupted.

The bunker collapsed inward, then detonated outward, fire and debris swallowing the entrance and everything connected to it. The shockwave hit seconds later, throwing dust and fragments across the terrain as the structure erased itself completely.

They didn’t stop running until it was over.

Xavier slowed first, turning back to look at the rising smoke and fire where the bunker had been. "Well," he said, breathing hard, "guess that answers that."

Arlen wiped dust from her face. "Whatever that thing was," she said, "we were not meant to take it."

Klatos stared at the destruction in silence. "Which means," he said finally, "we were very close to something important." 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Xavier nodded. "Close enough to scare the real owner."

And that, more than anything else, told him they were on the right path.

They piled into the van without talking about what they’d just outrun.

From the outside it still looked rough, armored plating scarred and mismatched, but inside it was built for long hauls across Jupiter. The cabin stretched longer than it should have, gravity dampeners humming low to smooth out the terrain.

Soft strips of blue light ran along the ceiling, adjusting automatically as the doors sealed. One side held storage racks bolted into the walls, crates locked down with magnetic clamps. The other had fold-down seats, a narrow table that slid out of the floor, and bunks stacked toward the rear. Air filters worked constantly, cycling the smell of smoke and dust out and replacing it with something clean and earthly smell, which Xavier preferred.

Arlen took the driver’s seat and brought the van up smoothly. The road ahead unfolded on the windshield as layered projections, terrain data bleeding into real space.

Xavier moved to the sink unit near the back and washed his hands, water running dark before clearing. He leaned closer to the mirror and started peeling the bandages from his face. They came away stiff and burned, stained with blood that wasn’t his. He stared at the damage for a few seconds, expression flat, then went to work. Disinfectant first, careful and methodical. Fresh bandages after, tighter this time, cleaner.

When he was done, he turned and opened the small fridge built into the wall. He grabbed a couple of wrapped snacks and a bottle, tossing one toward Klatos and another toward Rin. Rin caught his and passed the extra forward to Arlen without looking away from the road.

Xavier dropped into a seat. "Where to, now?"

Klatos pulled out a holomap, projecting it above the table. Routes and markers floated in the air. "Two possible stops," he said. "One fifty-two kilometers to the right. Another twenty-eight left. Or we go straight and reach Helior Prime by midnight."

Xavier leaned forward, eyes scanning the projections. He studied the locations for a moment, then shook his head. "Too small. Nothing worth digging into."

He leaned back. "We go straight."

Klatos nodded and collapsed the map. Arlen adjusted the route without comment, the van accelerating as the city thinned and Jupiter’s wider expanse opened up ahead.

"I am feeling dizzy so I will take a nap." Xavier stood, climbed into the top bunk, and lay back.

Arlen glanced back once, then again.

Rin was sitting with one leg pulled up, polishing one of his swords with slow, practiced movements, cloth dragging along the blade like this was the calmest place in the universe to do it.

"You want to drive," Arlen asked, not taking her eyes off the road for long.

Rin looked up, confused. "Drive. As in... actually drive."

"Yes," she said.

"No," Rin replied immediately. "I don’t know how."

She snorted softly and looked back ahead, then raised her voice. "Klatos."

Klatos was curled up near the side window, wings tucked in tight, eyes closed, knees drawn up in a way that looked uncomfortable but clearly wasn’t for him. When she called his name again, he cracked one eye open.

"Please," he muttered. "Let me sleep."

Arlen glanced at him through the mirror. "I need someone to take over."

"I didn’t sleep last night," Klatos said, eyes closing again. "I didn’t sleep on the ride either. We kept stopping to wreck bunkers, warehouses, bases. Every time I closed my eyes, something exploded."

Rin smirked. "Sounds relaxing."

"Shut up," Klatos replied weakly.

Rin sheathed his blade and leaned back. "Doesn’t this thing have autopilot or something."

Arlen shook her head. "It’s a law vehicle. Autopilot is limited, dampened, and half-locked. Someone still has to sit there and hold the controls for it to work properly."

Rin stared at the console, then sighed. "I can do that much."

He stood and stretched. "But if this thing crashes or does something stupid, don’t blame me."

Arlen slowed the van and shifted aside just enough for them to swap seats. Rin slid in, hands hovering awkwardly over the controls as the interface adjusted to him.

The van stabilized again, autopilot engaging under supervision.

Arlen leaned back slightly, finally letting her shoulders drop.