Chapter 30 Blood Crystal Pursuit

Dr. Ichiban’s voice was urgent, her eyes darting toward the hallway as she spoke.

  “I would explain, but we have little time. They’re coming back to eliminate me. I have to leave this place.”

Shujinko’s eyes widened in confusion.

  “What? Who’s coming? What’s happening? Are these crystal monsters?”

Ichiban shook her head.

  “Dr. Kaiju. He’s returned to finish what he started. He and his mercenaries breached the containment. They’re heading down here.”

Shujinko’s confusion deepened. 

“What? That doesn’t make any sense. Why would they do that?”

“We have to go. I’ll explain later.”

Akarui stepped forward, his face twisted with anger and desperation. 

“No! I’m not leaving until I find my dad! He has to be somewhere!”

Ichiban turned to him, her tone cold. 

“If he was outside the facility, he was eliminated. All the soldiers stationed outside were eliminated. The only people in this area are us and Kaiju with his mercenary group.”

Akarui’s fists clenched, his voice rising. 

“How the fuck do you know that? You’ve been locked here for two weeks!”

Ichiban gestured to the broken monitors.

  “I… saw it in the security camera feed.”

Akarui’s knees buckled, and he slammed his fist into the ground, his voice breaking.

  “God damn it! First my brother, now my dad! Damn it! Damn it all!”

The group fell silent, the weight of his grief pressing down on them. But Ichiban’s urgency didn’t waver.

  “We need to go. They’re getting closer. Dr. Kaiju will kill me, but before he does, I need to do it. To save this world from the filth that consumes it. To wipe it from the face of the earth. I made a cure that will save this planet. It kept the crystallization at bay all this time. That's how I survived this long down here.”

She reached into her lab coat and pulled out a large metal vial encased in glass. Inside was a shining liquid with small yellow crystals suspended in it.

  “This is it. But we need to get it to the ocean. It will react to water and spread, curing the whole world. It will take several months to rid this world of the contaminants that plague it, but it will cure the planet.”

Shujinko stared at the vial.

  “A cure? For the crystallization? But… how? What’s in it?”

Ichiban’s gaze was distant, her voice hollow.

  “It’s… complicated. But there’s no time to explain. If Kaiju gets his hands on this, he’ll destroy it. He doesn’t want the world cured. He wants it consumed. He came back to kill me and destroy the cure.”

Makiko stepped forward, her usual sharpness replaced by unease. 

“Why would he want that? What’s in it for him? He will die just like the rest of us!”

Ichiban’s lips twitched into something that might have been a smile, but it was devoid of warmth. 

"Fine… I’ll explain. Dr. Kaiju and I were working on a cure. A way to stop the crystallization. But Kaiju… he wasn’t interested in saving the world. He stole an unstable agent—something that could have been a cure but could just as easily become a weapon. He’s working for Eel Schmuck. These people don’t want salvation. They want the world to rot in its filth, so only they can control what’s left. Kaiju's mercenaries tried to kill me. When they failed, they locked me up here. And now, they’re back to finish the job."

Before she could continue, a sudden explosion rocked the lab. The walls trembled, and a deafening blast rumbled through the hallway. A massive breach appeared in the far side of the corridor, thick smoke spilling in.

“They’re close,” Ichiban said, her voice eerily steady.

 “We need to move. That explosion came from the hallway. We have little time. I’ll explain what you need to know later. Right now, we need to run.”

Shujinko didn’t hesitate. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her forward.

 “Then let’s go! We can’t let them get away with this. I swear, Professor, I’ll protect you! I won’t let them hurt you again!”

The group bolted toward the exit, Ichiban leading the way. Just as they stepped into the hallway—

“Major! Target confirmed! Proceeding with elimination! Open fire!”

The sharp crack of gunfire echoed through the halls.

But before the first bullets could reach them, a crystalline vine exploded through the wall, blocking the path. Jagged, blood-red crystal growths pulsed as if alive, twisting into unnatural shapes. Then, from the newly formed mass, something began to emerge.

A low, unnatural screech filled the air.

From the shifting crimson vines, monstrous figures took shape—humanoid, but twisted, crystalline creatures. The mercenaries were too busy fending off the crystal creatures to chase them down—screams, gunfire, and the sickening sound of limbs tearing through armor filled the air behind them. 

But none of them turned around. There was no time. They ran, feet pounding against the cold metal floors of the facility. 

The path outside was clear—too clear—but they didn’t question it. They burst through the exit doors and into the open air, lungs burning. Shachiku’s car was parked just ahead, waiting. Without breaking stride, they threw themselves inside, slamming the doors shut.

"Go, go, GO!" Makiko yelled.

Shachiku didn’t need to be told twice. He stomped on the gas, tires screeching as the car shot forward, leaving a cloud of dust.

Kaiju and his mercenaries weren’t far behind. The moment they cleared the breached hallway, they came charging out of the facility, rifles raised, their gunfire ripping through the air. But they weren’t aiming at Shujinko and his group—no, they were laying down suppressing fire on the nightmare creatures clawing their way out of the crystal-infested ruins behind them.

"Move, move, move!" Major Conor shouted as they sprinted toward their vehicles.

Within seconds, they piled into their Humvees, engines roaring to life as tires screeched against the cracked pavement. Without hesitation, they tore after the fleeing team. 

The first wave of bullets zipped past, one grazing the side mirror of their getaway car with a sharp ping! Another shot shattered the rear windshield, glass spraying across the back seat.

“I can't believe they are shooting at us!” Akarui yelled, ducking as another round punched a hole through the roof.

Shujinko ducked, heart hammering. 

"Are you kidding me?! They're still coming?!"

One of the mercs leaned out the window of the lead Humvee, an RPG launcher resting on his shoulder.

“Oh, come ON! No way! He got a rocket launcher!” Makiko shrieked.

Then—

FWOOSH!

A thunderous roar split the night as the rocket screamed toward them.

“BRACE!!”

Shachiku yanked the wheel hard, the car jerking violently to the right just as the RPG flew past them—

BOOOOM!

The wreckage of an abandoned bus erupted into flames, the explosion’s shockwave rocking their vehicle. Heat washed over them, filling the car with the smell of burning metal and fuel.

Shujinko coughed through the smoke, gripping the seat in front of him. 

“Please tell me that was the only one they had—”

CRACK! RUMMMMBLE!

Before anyone could react, the ground itself began to shake.

A deep, unnatural groan echoed through the ruined highway, the earth splitting apart like something alive was forcing its way through.

Then—

A massive crimson vine erupted from the asphalt, jagged crystal shards ripping through the pavement as if the very bones of the earth were clawing their way to the surface. The monstrous vine coiled and twisted, slamming down between them and the chasing mercenaries like an unbreakable wall.

The lead Humvee had no time to stop—

CRASH!

It plowed straight into the crystal growth, the front end of the vehicle crumpling like a tin can. The impact launched the merc inside through the windshield, his body flipping violently before hitting the crystal spikes with a sickening crunch, impaled.

The other Humvees skidded to a halt, their drivers barely avoiding the same fate.

They were trapped.

But Shachiku? He hit the gas harder.

“Hold on! We are getting out of here! If we need to reach the ocean, we will need a plane! So, we are going to the airport!” he barked, swerving around the shattered remains of the highway.