Crock activated another function on the device in his hand. A penetrating beam swept out. Any hidden room or safe in the area would be impossible to conceal from this scan.
Through Shadow Servant's eyes, David watched the device in Crock's hand turn and point toward the corner where Shadow Servant was hiding him. His heart tightened.
But he soon realized there was no need to worry. Crock turned away from Shadow Servant's hiding place without pausing. It seemed the device hadn't detected Shadow Servant, much less David, who was wrapped inside it.
After searching the room, Crock was disappointed. It was just as clean as it looked.
But years of mercenary experience told him something was off about this Underground Gym. Someone had been here not long ago.
Though he couldn't see David now, the Underground Gym still carried the scent of sweat from David practicing the Eighteen Forms of Body Technique all day. In this sealed environment, Crock's experience let him judge how long the scents had been there.
That was why he wanted to find a secret room or some other passage. The person who had been here couldn't have simply vanished. There had to be something he didn't know about.
In fact, if David had tried to watch Crock with his own eyes, no matter how well he hid, he would have drawn Crock's attention and been discovered long ago.
It was the instinct of a battle-hardened Armored Warrior. In a quiet environment, that instinct became even more pronounced.
Shadow Servant, however, was a special existence. Its eyes had been fixed on Crock the whole time, but it never attracted his attention.
Amos's unexpected appearance while monitoring David had disrupted the Sirius Mercenary Group's plans. After receiving an order from Captain Froman, Crock immediately put away his device.
As he was about to leave the Underground Gym, he still cast a reluctant glance around the empty room before hurrying out.
Through Shadow Servant's senses, David felt the danger receding quickly. He couldn't help but let out a long breath of relief.
At the most dangerous moment, he had discovered another of Shadow Servant's abilities. But he didn't want to uncover its abilities this way. His heart couldn't take it.
He didn't move himself. Instead, he sent Shadow Servant flying out to check whether anyone was outside the Underground Gym.
Outside the gym was a passage lit by lights in the ceiling. It was only five meters long before changing from a metal corridor into a transparent, glasslike passage suspended in midair.
Surrounding and beneath the glass passage was a vegetable-growing facility spanning five levels, with an estimated area of a thousand square meters.
It was easy to tell at a glance whether anyone was there. After confirming that no one was around, Shadow Servant flew upward, passed through the ground, and emerged at the surface.
Using Shadow Servant's vision, David saw four mercenaries preparing to leave. One of them carried a battered corpse: the only female mercenary.
The moment Shadow Servant appeared, a hazy shadow rose from the female mercenary's corpse and entered its body.
Another hazy shadow flew into Shadow Servant. It came from Amos's battered corpse, which lay on the ground.
David had been hiding in the Underground Gym and hadn't known what had just happened. But now he could tell that Amos, who had been monitoring him, had somehow fought the enemies who had broken into his home.
He was only glad that both sides had suffered losses. What he cared about most were the two hazy shadows Shadow Servant had absorbed.
This was the first time he had clearly seen Shadow Servant absorb souls from corpses. More people had died in the bookstore last time, but by the time he went outside, Shadow Servant had already finished absorbing them.
The mercenaries withdrew, and a police patrol flyer approached. David knew he was finally safe.
Just then, he spotted an object on the ground that looked like a notebook. He remembered clearly that the female mercenary had been holding it.
David didn't know who these people were, but he was certain they weren't with the ones who wanted him dead. Otherwise, they wouldn't have fought Amos, who had been watching him.
Maybe he could find out what was going on from the object. It was the only thing those people had left behind.
Shadow Servant couldn't lift something that heavy, but hiding it was easy enough.
Just as it had concealed David, Shadow Servant flew over to the object and wrapped itself around it.
"Quick, call for backup!" A police officer spotted the bodies on the ground, the Rapid-fire Machine Gun still roaring atop the car, and the battle-scarred scene, which looked like the aftermath of an explosion. He immediately shouted the order.
The officer could tell that Armored Warriors had been involved in the fight. This was already beyond his authority to handle.
A minute later, a larger police transport ship arrived. Four Armored Warriors wearing Exoskeleton Armor jumped out, while the other officers began sealing off the scene.
Through Shadow Servant's eyes, David got a clear look at the most powerful fighting force in his memory: the Armored Warriors. Those in Exoskeleton Armor were at their strongest.
Since the first suit of armor appeared, the Interstellar Federation had spent ten thousand years reforming it before settling on the final form of today's Exoskeleton Armor.
From the cumbersome mechs of the beginning to robots controlled entirely by artificial intelligence, and finally to Exoskeleton Armor controlled by Armored Warriors, all these changes had come about because of the Zerg.
The old designs had all proved useless against the Zerg. Only Exoskeleton Armor, which harnessed the Armored Warriors' own strength and amplified it, had ultimately come to dominate the ground battlefield.
The Zerg's speed and fighting style dictated how Armored Warriors had to fight. They needed enough speed to maneuver against the Zerg, and weapons capable of piercing their Insect Shells to injure them.
Armored Warriors all used weapons made from materials of at least first-grade quality. If those materials were instead made into bullets for firearms, the cost of dealing damage to the Zerg would bankrupt any organization.
The cost of those bullets made from materials of at least first-grade quality far exceeded the value of the Zerg they killed. The Zerg's tenacious vitality was to blame: kinetic bullets made wounds too small to be reliably fatal.
Only in battles where cost didn't matter would large quantities of bullets made from materials of at least first-grade quality be used.
Of course, there were exceptions: Sniper Armored Warriors, a special kind of Armored Warrior. They made the most of the bullets' power and conserved them by accurately targeting vital spots.
Among the four Armored Warriors who had arrived, the one carrying a shield was a Defense Armored Warrior, the one wielding Dual Swords was an Assault Armored Warrior, and the two carrying Heavy Axes were Assault/Breach Armored Warriors. They formed a standard Armored Warrior combat squad.
As soon as Officer Bob's patrol flyer stopped, he jumped straight down from two meters above the ground and sprinted toward David's home.
"David, I'm so glad you're all right!" When he reached the front door, he saw David coming up from the basement. His heart relaxed, and he spoke.
"Officer Bob, thank you for getting here in time!" David didn't mention how he had hidden himself. He simply thanked him.
"David, don't worry. We'll find the culprit!" Officer Bob promised.
Even if he hadn't said so, the government would take this matter seriously.
David was only a high school senior, but he was the son of National Scholar Hans. An attempt on the child of someone honored as a National Scholar crossed the government's bottom line.
National Scholars were heroes who had returned from War Star, heroes who had rendered great service.
Almost every retired soldier returning from War Star would do everything in their power to strike back at anyone who offended a National Scholar.
In every department of the Interstellar Federation, retired soldiers returning from War Star formed the backbone. Panshi Planet was no exception.
David's predecessor had always underestimated the influence of the title National Scholar. Even David, who had inherited his memories, hadn't understood its significance.
"Officer Bob, could you not tell my father?" David asked quietly. He didn't want to disturb Hans's rest.
"David, there's no way Deputy Director Hans won't hear about this. The matter's far too serious!" Officer Bob replied with a bitter smile and a shake of his head.
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