Chapter 80: I don’t care what her name is
Hana stepped into the darkness, and as if sensing her movement, a row of overhead fluorescent lights flickered to life, buzzing as they chased away the shadows of the past.
This bunker seemed to be more advanced than the first one they found. Its doors had reinforced layers and it had a motion sensor.
Still... This meant the loot in here would be just as valuable.
The bunker stretched deep into the mountain, filled with rows of pristine, silver crates and machines that looked like sleeping giants.
> [LOCATION SECURED: AEGIS SUB-STATION 02]
> Reward: +30,000 Karmic Points
> New Balance: -917,880
> Note: You’ve just unlocked the local power grid’s heart. Try not to break it.
"Caspian, Kulu, Raiden," Hana called out, her voice echoing off the metallic walls. "Get in here. We have a lot of shopping to do."
She looked back at the Chief, who was still standing in the mist of the waterfall, looking small and defeated.
"You can stay out there and pray to your trees," she said, her voice clinical and cold. "But this cave, and everything inside it, belongs to me now."
She turned her back on them, her eyes already scanning the crates for the kitchen upgrades and medical supplies she needed. The previous bunker didn’t have medical supplies, for some reason, but this one should.
First, she had to find the base’s tablet to account for all that was inside.
The Fox Tribe’s ’curse’ was officially under new management.
The fluorescent lights hummed with a sterile buzz that Hana found comforting for some reason.
As she walked deeper into the sub-station, her boots clicked against the polished composite flooring. She spotted a terminal docked near the primary power core and swiped her hand across it, pulling the master manifest into her tablet.
> [MANIFEST: AEGIS SUB-STATION 02]
> Status: High-Resource Hub
> Medical Tier: 04 (Advanced Surgical & Trauma Support)
> Armory: Defensive Sentry Tech & Non-Lethal Crowd Control
> Utility: Industrial Solar Arrays (Gen 3), Climate Control Modules, Synth-Fiber Textiles.
Hana’s eyes widened slightly.
"Medical supplies," she whispered. In her own terms, the first bunker had been a bare-bones storage unit, but this? This was a sanctuary.
She saw rows of cryo-stasis canisters and automated med-kits. With her system’s HUD providing real-time anatomical data, she could practically perform surgery using these tools.
"Caspian, start with the crates marked with the blue cross," Hana directed, her voice echoing. "Those are fragile. Kulu, the crates with the lightning bolts are the high-capacity batteries. Move them to the loading zone. And Raiden..."
She was just about to inform Raiden to go gather up the Boars when the air was suddenly punctured by a high-pitched, feminine gasp.
"Raiden? Is it... is it really you?"
Hana’s shoulders tensed. She turned slowly to see a sleek, four-tailed fox-kin standing just past the iris door. She was pretty in a delicate way, her fur groomed in a way that shined, a way that Raiden would usually appreciate.
She looked at Raiden with wide, tearful eyes, completely ignoring the "Keep Out" vibe of the power-houses standing in the room.
Hana felt a massive wave of déjà vu. She thought of Lira and the headache at the Red Peak. Not this again. Do these beastmen have a surplus of obsessed exes?
The fox-kin stepped further into the bunker, her legs feeling the coldness of the metal floor and she flinched. But it did not stop her from her objective.
"Raiden, the Elders said you were a monster, but I knew you’d come back for—"
"Stop right there," Hana’s voice snapped like a whip.
The fox-kin flinched, finally noticing the small human in the white dress and a tactical harness. Her nose crinkled.
"Who are you? A servant? Move aside, I need to speak with—"
Hana didn’t even let her finish. She didn’t have the patience for a romantic subplot while she was calculating her karmic debt. She looked at Raiden, her eyes dead cold.
"Raiden," Hana said, her tone flat. "This is my base, not a high school reunion. No one is allowed to enter without my permission, you know that, right?"
Raiden, who had been enjoying his reflection in a polished supply cabinet and didn’t even mind the fox-kin girl, froze.
Of course he knew her policies. It wasn’t like he asked the fox girl to come here. He didn’t even recall who she was.
He saw the look in Hana’s eyes—it was the same look she had right before she ordered the forest burned. His nine tails snapped into an aggressive, vertical fan.
"Hana, I didn’t invite her! I don’t even remember her name—Mina? Suna?" Raiden stammered, his usual cool shattered by the threat of Hana’s genuine irritation.
"I don’t care what her name is," Hana said, turning back to her tablet. "Chase her out. If she’s still here in ten seconds, Caspian gets a snack."
"Hey!" the fox-kin protested, her tails fluffing up. "You can’t treat me like—"
"Out!" Raiden barked, stepping toward the female with a ferocity that made her stumble backward.
He didn’t use a drop of his usual charm; his emerald eyes were sharp and filled with a desperate need to please Hana.
"You heard her! You’re trespassing on her ground. Get back to your holes before I show you exactly why they call me the Trickster."
He practically lunged at her, his nine tails creating a wall of silver-pink force that shoved the interloper back toward the waterfall veil. The girl looked at him with hurt in her eyes but Raiden just couldn’t be bothered.
It was only inevitable for there to be a few females who fell head over heels for his charm while he was still in the tribe. He was gorgeous, after all.
But to Raiden, everyone in the tribe was the same.
The female watched how his expression did not even soften one bit and let out a yelp of betrayal before fleeing into the mist.
Raiden turned back, smoothing his hair with a shaky hand. "She’s gone, Hana. Gone! Completely forgotten. Please don’t be mad anymore, okay?"
Hana didn’t look up, but she nodded in acknowledgement.
The last thing she wanted was bugs messing up her goods.
"Good," Hana said. "Now, help me open these armory crates. I think I found some drones that’ll make sure nobody else ’accidentally’ wanders in."
And if she was able to place them around their den, they wouldn’t have to be at high alert at all times anymore.
The perfect guard dogs that didn’t need food or to be pleased. Just give them a regular maintenance check and it’s all done.
