Chapter 235: 235 | The World’s Most Expensive Backpack
I fired.
The golden spiral hit the containment field dead center. The white light surrounding the crystal flickered like a dying fluorescent bulb, and I poured more energy into the pulse, keeping the output steady while Belle’s fingers flew across a tablet that apparently controlled half the vault’s security systems.
The field crackled. Purple lightning arced between the pedestal and the crystal itself.
"Almost there," Belle whispered. "Keep it stable."
My stamina bar dropped to sixty percent. My arm started shaking from the sustained output, which was ridiculous since Bronze rank was supposed to make this easier.
Turns out disabling million-credit security measures still sucked.
Jordan’s voice came through again, sharper this time. "Two minutes. They’re jogging."
"Copy." Belle didn’t look up. "Jace, increase output by twenty percent on my mark."
"That’ll drain me to forty."
"Do you want twenty thousand credits or not?"
Fair point.
The containment field was weakening. I could see it straining against my interference, the frequencies warping and bending like light through water. Belle’s fingers moved faster across the tablet screen, her tongue poking out between her teeth the way it always did when she concentrated hard on something.
"Mark."
I pushed harder. Golden light blazed from my palm, flooding the vault with color that painted everything in sharp relief.
The field shattered.
The crystal dropped onto the pedestal with a heavy thunk that shouldn’t have been possible for something that size. The sound echoed through the vault like someone had dropped a bowling ball.
Belle grabbed it bare-handed. Her eyes went wide. "It’s warm."
"It’s also worth more than my entire existence. Put it in the bag."
She shoved the crystal into my backpack, and I nearly fell over when the weight hit me. The thing felt like someone had stuffed a small child into the pack. My C-rank strength handled it fine, but carrying this while running was going to be miserable.
"Done. Let’s move."
We turned toward the exit. The vault door still hung open, beckoning us back into the California night and relative safety.
Jordan’s voice exploded through the radio. "They’re sprinting. Ninety seconds."
"Copy. Extracting now."
We ran.
Belle led with her tablet out, mapping the fastest route while I followed with the world’s most expensive backpack bouncing against my spine and Naomi keeping pace beside me. Jordan’s shadow spread ahead of us like a living carpet, feeling for obstacles and threats in the darkness.
Behind us, the vault door hissed closed. The third ward began rebuilding itself, slower this time but still functional. The second ward’s remains flickered weakly.
We cleared two hundred meters when the first shout cut through the night.
"Contact! North side! Four runners!"
Belle cursed. "They saw us."
"How?" I asked between breaths.
"Doesn’t matter. Jordan, cover."
Jordan’s shadows erupted upward, forming a wall of pure darkness between us and the pursuing guards. Bought us maybe thirty seconds before they pushed through or went around.
We hit the fence line and Belle yanked out wire cutters, working on the chain link with quick, practiced movements. The metal parted with soft pinging sounds.
Naomi crawled through first. Belle followed. I shoved the backpack through and squeezed after it, my new shoulders barely fitting through the gap. Jordan came last, his shadows finally collapsing as he dove through the fence.
"Keep running," Belle said. "Don’t stop until we hit the quad."
My phone buzzed. I ignored it.
We sprinted across the open lawn between the restricted section and Zone Four. No cover. No shadows. Just five hundred meters of grass under security lights that might as well have been spotlights.
Behind us, voices shouted coordinates. Someone called for backup. A siren started wailing in the distance, high and sharp.
My lungs burned. The backpack felt heavier with every step. But my upgraded stats held, C-rank strength carrying weight that would have destroyed me a month ago.
We hit the quad at a full sprint. Students were still out despite the hour, sitting on benches and hanging around the fountain. They stared as we blew past wearing all black and breathing like we’d just run from death itself.
Which we absolutely had.
Belle yanked us left toward the residential buildings. "Keep moving. Don’t slow down."
"Where are we going?" Naomi gasped.
"My room. We split up after that."
We reached Building C and Belle used her key card on the door, practically ripping it open. The four of us stumbled into the lobby, and Belle immediately directed us toward the stairs instead of the elevator.
"Cameras," she explained.
Smart.
We climbed five flights. My legs screamed. The backpack felt like someone had filled it with concrete instead of a glowing rock worth my tuition times ten.
Belle’s room. 5C. She opened the door and we piled inside, collapsing onto her furniture like soldiers after combat.
Jordan flopped onto Belle’s bed facedown. "We’re going to die."
"We’re not dead yet." Belle locked the door and pulled all the curtains closed. "That’s a win in my book."
My phone buzzed again. Multiple times. I finally checked it.
Misato had sent six messages.
First one: Where are you?
Second: Jordan’s not in his room.
Third: Belle’s room is dark but I hear breathing.
Fourth: If you idiots are doing what I think you’re doing I’m going to kill you myself.
Fifth: Answer your phone.
Sixth: NOW.
I showed Belle. Her face went pale even under the black greasepaint.
"We’re so dead."
"We knew she’d figure it out eventually."
"I was hoping for eventually being tomorrow morning."
Naomi sat on Belle’s desk chair, hugging her knees. Her pink hair had come loose from the braid during our sprint, falling around her face in messy waves. "What do we tell her?"
"The truth," I said. "We went for a walk. Got some exercise. Definitely didn’t commit felony theft."
Jordan raised his head. "She’s going to murder us."
"Only if she catches us with evidence." I shrugged off the backpack and set it carefully on Belle’s floor. The crystal’s glow was visible through the fabric, pulsing like a heartbeat. "Speaking of which, where are we hiding this thing?"
Belle looked around her small dorm room with its standard-issue furniture and limited storage options. "Under my bed?"
"That’s the first place anyone looks."
"Inside my closet?"
"Second place."
Jordan sat up. "What about the air vent?"
We all turned to stare at him.
"What? It works in movies."
Belle grabbed her desk chair and climbed up, examining the ceiling vent. "It’s too small. The crystal won’t fit."
"We could break it into smaller pieces," Naomi suggested quietly.
"And tank the resale value? Absolutely not."
I looked at the crystal again. Its purple and gold veins pulsed brighter now that it was out of the containment field, almost like it was breathing. My Treasure Sense confirmed what Belle had said earlier. One hundred thousand credits minimum, possibly more depending on purity.
Twenty thousand each.
Enough to fix Naomi’s dad’s boat. Pay for Belle’s mom’s rent for six months. Cover Jordan’s textbooks and supplies for the entire year.
Fund my ability upgrades and keep me alive longer without constantly scrambling for essence.
Worth the risk.
Assuming we didn’t get caught and expelled.
