Chapter 156: Weapons Have Arrived!
BOOM.
A thunderous crash shook the whole village.
Chickens screamed. Dogs barked. The ground trembled. Villagers screamed and ran toward the center field where smoke and dust billowed up into the sky.
Xavier jolted awake.
His eyes shot open, heart hammering. "What the hell—?!"
Lilia kicked open his door, panting. "Xavier! Something fell! It’s huge!"
"Like... a meteor?" Lyra peeked in, wide-eyed.
"No. It’s cargo. I think it’s your cargo!" Reva was already pulling on her boots. "From Angel."
Xavier shot out of bed, dragging on his clothes half-awake. "You serious?"
Outside, the whole village was already in a frenzy—people gathering around a massive black cargo crate that had slammed into the middle of the open field. It stood tall, sleek, and humming softly, glowing with faint blue lights.
Xavier shoved through the crowd, the girls on his heels. "Everyone, back up! Step away! Might still be active!"
The villagers hesitated, murmuring to each other, but did as he said. Just as they cleared the space—
BOOM.
Another sonic boom tore through the sky. Everyone looked up.
A sleek, jet-black vehicle was descending with small boosters firing from the bottom—hovering down like a sci-fi chariot.
It landed right beside the crate.
The door hissed open.
And out stepped Angel.
In a skin-tight silver suit, her black-blue hair blowing slightly in the wind, she adjusted her gloves and walked out like she owned the place.
Xavier blinked. "Angel?"
She grinned. "Miss me?"
He stepped up to her. "What are you doing here? You were supposed to airdrop, not—"
"I got bored," she said, brushing imaginary dust off her shoulder. "Besides, you sent me five hundred million dollars, Xavier. You expect me to stay at home after that?"
He sighed. "You didn’t have to come all the way here."
"I wanted to. And don’t underestimate how hard it was to pull strings to get all this tech delivered in one night." She motioned at the crate. "You owe me."
The villagers whispered behind them. Some of the elders were freaking out quietly, others just staring at the flying car like it was sorcery.
Angel turned to them and waved casually. "Yo."
Xavier chuckled under his breath. "Yeah, they’re not used to... all this."
Angel smiled. "Let them get used to it. You’re gonna need them."
Then she turned and tapped the crate’s side. Panels lit up. The lock hissed and opened.
Inside: rows of combat drones, sleek rifles, portable shields, armor packs, surveillance bugs, and all kinds of tech that had no business existing in a village like this.
Xavier stepped closer. "Everything I asked for?"
"More," Angel said with a wink. "You said fighting bots. I got you two prototype androids. You’ll love ’em."
Xavier exhaled, jaw tight with excitement. "Damn... You really delivered."
"I always do."
They both turned back to the second crate—the car Angel arrived in.
"That your new ride," she said. "Fully space-grade. Hover mode, stealth shield, solar battery, and a built-in bar."
Xavier smirked. "You didn’t."
"I did."
He looked at the gear. Then at Angel. Then at the crowd.
Today wasn’t gonna be just another day.
It was time to prepare for war.
The morning haze had barely cleared when Xavier stood near the edge of the field, armored vest half-zipped, eyes fixed on the crates they’d just unpacked. Reva was beside him, loading mags into a new rifle, her movements precise and cold. She didn’t need to breathe, didn’t need to blink much, and her vampiric senses were already picking up the faintest of sounds from kilometers away.
And then there was Lyra.
No longer the sleepy girl who fought for food scraps, she stood tall, wrapped in a tight black suit stripped down from one of the combat units. She’d modded it herself, explaining something about "suit drift correction protocols" and "magnetic recoil stabilizers" that made Xavier blink like an idiot.
He wasn’t used to this Lyra.
"You sure you were just a starving girl screaming for meat last week?" he muttered, half-joking.
Lyra didn’t smile. She was too focused. "I was starving because I was stranded. Doesn’t mean I forgot everything."
Reva tilted her head. "She’s got elite-level combat knowledge. Could’ve fooled me too."
Xavier raised his hands. "Alright, alright. I get it. You’re both scary."
Lyra walked up to the car, tapping into the display screen and loading up a tactical map with red markers and coordinates. "So... when’s the attack?"
"Soon," Xavier said, narrowing his eyes. "I want to hit them tonight."
Lyra turned her head slightly. "If you think night gives us an advantage—you’re wrong. They’ll have spatial tech sensors, body heat scanners, even aerial drone surveillance running passive scans. They’re mercs. They’re not sleeping."
"I know," Xavier said calmly. "That’s not why I’m picking night."
Lyra waited.
He glanced at Reva, then back to her. "It’s part of the plan we came up with last night. The sensors can be jammed... and the night’s not for hiding. It’s for chaos."
Reva nodded with a faint smile. "Darkness favors unpredictability. Especially when we’re the ones bringing the noise."
Lyra stared at them for a moment, then gave a small smirk. "Okay then, genius. Let’s hear it."
They went back to discussing weak points in the compound’s security and vehicle placements. Reva outlined a stealth approach, while Lyra mapped out potential strike zones and fallback routes.
From a distance, Lilia watched.
She was sitting on a small boulder, her hands on her lap. Not a single word came out of her mouth. They were planning, laughing, exchanging ideas and battle tactics she couldn’t even wrap her head around.
Reva was a literal vampire with inhuman strength. Lyra was a battle-hardened merc from space with advanced tech know-how. Xavier was... well, Xavier. The guy people followed.
And she?
She was a university student. A girl who once dreamed of getting into a corporate firm. She didn’t know how to fight, didn’t know how to kill. The only thing she had was—
"Don’t overthink it," a voice said beside her.
Lilia looked up. Angel was sitting next to her now, having appeared so quietly it startled her. "Huh?"
"You’re comparing yourself again, aren’t you?" Angel smiled. "I saw that look."
Lilia glanced down. "...It’s just that I feel out of place sometimes. I mean, I’m not like them. I don’t have powers. I can’t fight. And Xavier doesn’t really—"
"You think he doesn’t notice you?" Angel said gently.
Lilia hesitated.
Angel looked at the training ground where Xavier was now setting up drone targets. "Lilia... you might not know me. But I know you."
Lilia blinked. "How?"
"Because Xavier talks about you," Angel said, chuckling softly. "A lot. Especially when he thinks no one’s listening."
Lilia’s cheeks warmed. "He... does?"
Angel nodded. "He said you’re the first person who ever treated him like a human when he had nothing. That you’re kind, that you stayed when everyone else ran. You matter, Lilia. Maybe not like a vampire assassin or a space merc... but you matter to him."
Lilia stared down at her hands.
A small smile crept onto her lips.
"...Thanks."
"Don’t thank me," Angel said, patting her head lightly. "Just make sure to be there for him when he needs you most. That’s your role. Don’t try to be anyone else."
The training continued. Gunfire echoed across the field. Reva’s rounds were perfect. Lyra moved like she was born with a rifle in her hand.
But even from far away, Xavier’s eyes flicked toward Lilia every now and then.
And each time, he smiled.
The sun rolled high above them as the training kicked off in full force.
The field near the southern ridge had been cleared out. Ammo crates, weapons, armor parts, and energy packs were laid out in neat rows—well, at least Lyra’s side was neat. The rest was chaos, just like Xavier’s brain at the moment.
"You’re holding that wrong," Lyra said flatly, standing behind him with her arms crossed.
Xavier blinked down at the pulse rifle in his hands. "This? I thought it’s just point and shoot."
"Yeah, if you want your wrist snapped from recoil," she said and stepped in. "It’s a hybrid-cored rail weapon. Needs your elbow tucked, shoulder locked. Like this."
She grabbed his arm and shifted it into place. Her movements were precise, no hesitation.
"Now stance. Widen your legs. Balance. Think like a mountain. Hard and stable."
"Think like a mountain, huh..." Xavier muttered, trying not to get distracted by the way her fingers adjusted his grip. "Sounds very kung-fu-y."
"I was a space merc," Lyra said. "We invented kung-fu-y."
Off to the side, Reva sat cross-legged under the shade of the car, wires and tools scattered around her like broken bones. The car’s console was open, and she was already deep into the OS, muttering to herself.
"Layer six encryption... obsolete," she murmured. "What kind of joke code is this? And they said this was a high-end model?"
She plugged in a new module, sparks flickering around her gloves. The console glitched, then rebooted with a soft beep. A custom interface bloomed on the screen.
"Finally. Unlocked admin access. Time to tear down those pathetic safety limits..."
Back on the field, Lyra now moved like a phantom. Her blade sliced the air, each move clean and precise.
"Watch closely," she told Xavier. "Every stance, every transition. Don’t blink."
Xavier didn’t. His eyes tracked every single motion. His mind, already sharpened by experience, soaked it up like a sponge.
Lyra finished with a final strike, twisting the knife in a reverse grip and flipping it back into the holster.
"Got it?" she asked.
Xavier stepped forward. Took a breath. And repeated the entire sequence in one smooth go.
Lyra stared at him. "...You’re not normal."
"I keep telling you people that," Xavier grinned. "But I still need field practice."