Chapter 29: Unclaimed Freight
The "Magical Delivery LLC" van roared down the coastal highway, the engine screaming as Xavier pushed it past its limit. In the rearview mirror, the burning silhouette of the Magic Bureau Research Wing faded into a red haze, but the tension inside the vehicle was only mounting.
"Xavier," Silas choked out, clutching his seatbelt. "The box... it's talking. Why is the box talking?"
From the lead-lined crate in the back, a voice resonated. It wasn't a sound made by vocal cords; it was a harmonic vibration that bypassed their ears and settled directly in their minds.
"I am Aurelius," the voice hummed, rhythmic and ancient. "I was the Navigator of this city's currents. The Bureau used me to keep the gates 'quiet,' but their resonance was... agonizing. Your frequency, Driver... it is mechanical. Quiet. I chose to ride with you."
"You chose us?" Xavier gripped the steering wheel tighter. "We're being hunted by the government and a shadow cult, and you decided to hitch a ride because I'm 'quiet'?"
"Logic: Irrelevant," Serena said, her eyes fixed on her tablet. "Potential utility: Infinite. Xavier, we have a problem. We're being tracked."
"The Bureau?"
"No," Serena replied, her brow furrowing. "Something else. Look at the fuel gauge."
Xavier glanced down. The needle was dropping visibly, as if a leak had sprung in the tank. Simultaneously, a cold, static-like interference began to crawl across the dashboard displays.
"A Void Tracker," Aurelius whispered. "It is latched to your roof, feeding on your kinetic momentum and dampening your Engine."
Xavier felt it—the sluggishness in his veins. The Engine Sync was being choked. If he lost speed now, they were sitting ducks.
"Serena, brace Silas!" Xavier shouted. "I'm testing the new upgrade!"
He didn't hit the brakes. Instead, he swerved, aiming the van directly at a reinforced concrete highway barrier.
"XAVIER, WHAT ARE YOU—" Silas's scream was cut short as the van slammed into the wall at 150 km/h.
CRUNCH.
The impact should have flattened the front end and sent them cartwheeling into the ocean. Instead, the Momentum Buffer flared to life. A translucent blue field absorbed the shock, converting the deadly kinetic energy into a localized shockwave that rippled across the van's frame.
The Void Tracker—a spindly, invisible drone of black glass—was bucked off the roof by the vibration, shattering against the pavement.
"Purge complete," Xavier grunted, pulling the van back into the lane. The engine roared back to full life. "Next stop, the warehouse."
The Foreclosure
They pulled onto the industrial street of the warehouse ten minutes later, but the sight that met them wasn't welcoming.
Six black Bureau sedans were parked in a neat semicircle around the entrance of Magical Delivery LLC. A dozen agents in tactical gear stood with their arms crossed, and a man in a tailored suit held a glowing scroll.
"They're foreclosing," Silas whispered, his face pale. "They're seizing the assets."
Xavier pulled the van into the loading bay alleyway, trapped. The Bureau agents were closing in from the front, and the flickering shadows of Void assassins were appearing in the distance behind them.
"Xavier Cross!" the suited man called out. "By order of the Magic Bureau, this property is being seized as collateral for the theft of State Property. Surrender the Core and step out with your hands up!"
"They will not let you keep your freedom, Driver," Aurelius hummed from the back. "But I can offer a trade. I can sync with this structure. I can turn your 'business' into something they cannot touch."
"What's the price?" Xavier asked.
"Integration. I must become an employee. I require a vessel, and in return, I will give this building legs—and wings."
Xavier looked at the Bureau agents raising their mana-rifles. He looked at Serena. She gave him a short, sharp nod.
"Welcome to the team, Aurelius. Do it!"
Xavier floored the van, smashing through the warehouse's rear shutter just as the Bureau's "Seizure Field" slammed down, turning the air outside into a shimmering wall of blue force.
Inside, the transformation began.
The gold light of Aurelius exploded from the lead-lined box, flooding the warehouse. The runes Xavier had carved during the initial Overhaul began to spin, detaching themselves from the walls and floating in mid-air. The floor vibrated with the sound of a massive, subterranean engine turning over.
Outside, the Bureau suit gasped. The building didn't collapse; it began to fold. The brickwork compressed, the roof tiles shifted into aerodynamic plates, and four massive, hydraulic pillars retracted into the foundation.
"Serena..." Xavier whispered, watching the dashboard as the warehouse's blueprints shifted into a 3D tactical map. "Did we just become a flying post office?"
"Optimization: Complete," Serena smirked. "We are now the only mobile logistics hub in the world."
With a blast of pressurized mana that blew the Bureau sedans back like toys, the entire Magical Delivery LLC headquarters lifted off the ground, cloaked in a shimmering pocket-dimension veil, and vanished into the clouds.