Aegis' database gave an alarm just minutes after the incident with the Trickster.
The Champion and the Tinkerer's replacement ran right into the room containing their new and improved database.
The Tinkerer's replacement, a man with black hair, looked at the database as the Champion looked over his shoulders.
"It's gone!" the Shield shouted.
The Champion narrowed his eyes and gently pushed the Shield to the side.
Then, he started to type away on the database himself.
Within the last centuries, the Champion had become amazing at managing Aegis' technologies.
After typing away on the console, the Champion gritted his teeth.
Every top-secret file had been deleted!
How did the Trickster do it?!
The Champion was growing more and more frustrated with the Trickster.
"You!" the Champion shouted at the Shield. "You're the Trickster! You deleted everything just now!"
The Shield's eyes widened. "What? How?! You literally looked over my shoulder and watched me!"
The Champion pulled out his sword.
"I didn't do nothing wrong!" the Shield shouted.
When the Champion heard that, he calmed down somewhat.
"Okay, I believe you," the Champion said.
The Shield sighed in relief.
Naturally, this strange phrase wasn't just random.
This was the top-secret phrase to identify themselves as Shields of Aegis.
Only the Shields knew of this phrase, and they were only allowed to use it when one of their colleagues was about to kill them.
If the Shield hadn't said that phrase, the Champion would have killed him.
"How did the Trickster do it?" he asked.
"Well, the transponder on our Barriers…"
The Shield started to say several complex words that almost nobody could understand since it dealt with very advanced technology.
Yet, the Champion understood everything the Shield said.
"That's one possibility," the Champion answered with a nod. "Are there more?"
"Maybe," the Shield answered. "I'm not sure, though. I would need a while to think about it."
The Champion nodded again. "Do that. I want a full report of every potential weakness."
"Affirmative," the Shield said. "I will do that in the secret lab."
The Champion just nodded before leaving the room.
The Shield kept looking at the database, lost in thought.
Then, he sighed in stress.
Why was the Trickster so hard to deal with?!
After some minutes, the Shield went back to the research and development department.
He searched through the machines until he found a portable Flexinator.
He grabbed it and walked out of the research and development department.
"Why are you not putting that in your Space Bag?" the Champion asked via voice transmission.
"It has Star Energy in it," the Shield answered, not stopping.
From his office, the Champion looked at the Shield in suspicion.
Something didn't sit right with him.
He kept watching as the Shield left Aegis' headquarters.
The Shield traveled to the south and stopped above a random mountain.
This was where the secret lab was.
When the Champion saw the Shield typing in the long secret code, his suspicions lowered.
Only the Champion and the Shield knew this code.
The Shield entered the secret lab, and the door closed.
The secret lab was made of materials that isolated perceptions, and the Champion couldn't look inside.
For some reason, the Champion became suspicious, and he arrived on top of the secret lab within a second.
He rapidly typed in the secret code and entered.
But when he saw the secret lab, his eyes widened in horror.
Everything was destroyed!
Even more, the Shield was nowhere to be seen!
That was when the Champion realized that the Shield had been the Trickster!
How did the Trickster know the secret phrase?!
How did the Trickster know about the secret lab?!
How did the Trickster know the secret code?!
'The Flexinator!' the Champion realized. 'I knew it was suspicious that he didn't put the Flexinator in his Space Bag!'
'Yes, it has Star Energy, but the chances of that leaking out is low!'
'He kept Michael's body in the Flexinator!'
Sadly, that still didn't explain how the Trickster knew about all of these things.
'The Trickster must have attained an ability to read minds!' the Champion realized.
'This makes things much more difficult.'
In truth, there were places inside the research and development department that were outside of the Champion's perception.
They did some research with isolating materials, and when Michael entered one of these, Nick replaced him after reading his memories.
He got the Flexinator into the location and put the corpse inside.
Naturally, it hadn't been easy to keep all of this secret since the Champion always watched like a hawk.
Luckily, Nick had already created several excuses.
Ironically enough, the stronger Nick became, the harder it became to infiltrate Aegis.
Fooling the Champion became harder and harder, and Nick had to take more risks.
If the Champion had attacked him, he would be dead right now.
'Our current safety measurements are no longer enough,' the Champion thought. 'We need to gather and come up with countermeasures before things go out of control!'
The Champion raced back to Aegis' headquarters and called for an emergency assembly.
The Shields all traveled to Aegis' headquarters.
An explosion occurred around one of the Shields, and the Champion immediately raced over.
That was when another explosion occurred near another Shield, who was thousands of kilometers away.
Three more explosions occurred, and everyone fell into a panic.
The Champion tried to find the cause.
That was when he noticed a portal closing near one of the Shields, who was on the other side of the world.
The only thing the Champion could do was to grit his teeth.
That Shield was already gone.
He wouldn't arrive in time.
Three Shields had vanished within an hour!
"Assemble!" the Champion transmitted to everyone.
The remaining Shields gathered successfully.
And then, they waited and planned.
They couldn't allow the Trickster to take more of them.
Meanwhile, Nick arrived inside the Containment Unit with the three Shields.
In the past, Nick wouldn't have been able to use his portal ability to escape from the Champion.
After all, he could only place portals in places he could perceive, and the Champion could perceive everything that Nick could perceive.
However, with Nick's new ability, that was no longer the case.
He took inspiration from Envy and created his own ability to create perception drones.
He had put one of the drones in this buried Containment Unit.
Nick could find the Containment Unit, but the Champion couldn't.
, Nick always had a way to retreat.
Sadly, transporting the bodies wasn't easy since they couldn't travel through the portal as long as they were still alive.
Nick had to be creative to transport them.
Luckily, Nick didn't lack creativity.
After manipulating the memories of the Shields, he looked at them.
One Mid Shield. One Early Shield. One Initial Shield.
'This should be enough for now.'
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The author's . If he gets more than 1000€ per month, he will increase the number of words in the chapter.