CHAPTER 1110: ANOMALY HERE

The soldier outside the gate stepped out of his post and then he squinted up at the sky.

His partner remained seated inside, but anxiety had already begun creeping into his gut as well.

The air felt heavier almost as if it were charged by electricity. He frowned and finally leaned forward, peering through the window of their small guard post.

The clouds above them were strange. They didn’t just darken the sky but also churned and twisting unnaturally.

"What do you see?" the soldier inside finally asked, his voice uncertain.

The one outside didn’t look away. "Do you ever see lightning that doesn’t make a sound?"

That question froze his partner for a second. "What?"

He pushed himself up, grabbed his cap, and stepped outside.

When he looked up, he saw it too. Flashes of pale white light weaving through the clouds but silently, like veins pulsing beneath a dark skin. No thunder or echo, just light.

"Shit... what the fuck..." the second guard muttered, feeling his throat go dry. A chill ran down his neck.

"I think we have to report this," the first guard said, stepping closer to his partner.

"But... it’s just clouds, right?"

"I don’t think so, man," the first replied, his tone flat and uneasy. "You know what kind of project we’re guarding. We’re meddling with unnatural power here. For all we know, this could be connected."

The second guard’s hand twitched near his pistol holster as he looked back at the sky, then at his partner. "Alright," he finally muttered. "We better report this."

They entered the small communications room beside the post, the red standby light blinking above the console.

The first guard took the receiver and keyed the line to central command.

"Central, this is Gate Team Alpha," he said, his voice sounding tense. "We’re reporting an anomaly outside the facility perimeter. Cloud formations above the site are behaving abnormally. We see visuals of continuous lightning flashes but no sound. Requesting confirmation if this could be an atmospheric test or known interference."

There was a pause, static crackling through the line, before the duty officer’s voice came through.

"Gate Team Alpha, copy that. No known weather activity in your sector. Maintain position and observe. Await further instructions. Command out."

"Roger that," the first guard replied, lowering the receiver.

He exchanged a glance with his partner. Both sighed almost at the same time, the tension lingering in their eyes.

"Could be nothing," the first guard said after a moment, forcing a weak grin. "Maybe we’re just paranoid."

The second guard gave a dry laugh and shook his head. "Usually I don’t like people thinking I worry too much... but right now, I really hope I am."

They both looked up one more time. The clouds above remained unsettling.

—

A few floors below, the sound of footsteps stopped outside the operations office. There was a knock on the door.

Adrien looked up from his seat. "Come in."

A young soldier stepped inside with straight posture and saluting sharply. "Captain Adrien, sir. I have a report from the front gate."

Adrien gestured for him to proceed. "What is it?"

"Gate Team Alpha has reported atmospheric irregularities above the facility, sir. They’re observing silent lightning activity in the clouds. Command has acknowledged but told them to maintain watch for now."

Billy’s fingers froze above his keyboard. Jessica stopped scrolling through her tablet.

All three of them exchanged a glance and concern flickering in their eyes.

Adrien leaned back slightly in his chair, the air in the room suddenly feeling colder.

"Silent lightning," he murmured. "I don’t think that’s a good sign."

"Do you think it’s related to the entity?" Jessica’s voice was quiet.

Adrien didn’t answer right away. His gaze turned toward the ceiling, as if he could see through the concrete, all the way to the storm above.

"Please don’t...," he thought grimly.

—

Adrien dismissed the guards with a firm nod before straightening his posture. The gravity of unease pressing deeper into his chest even more now.

"We need to talk to Conrad and Thomas and go outside now," he said, his tone carrying urgency.

Billy and Jessica exchanged brief looks and nodded. Most likely feeling the same thing.

Without another word, the three of them stepped out of the office and moved quickly down the corridor.

The rhythmic hum of the facility lights followed them until they reached the engineering wing, where Thomas and Conrad worked as the lead scientists and technical overseers of the project.

When the door slid open, Thomas immediately looked up from his screen.

One glance at Adrien’s face was enough for him to know something wasn’t right.

"Something wrong, Captain?" he asked, though a grim sense of expectation was already forming behind his voice.

Adrien didn’t hesitate. "Let’s go outside and make sure," Adrien said.

That was all it took. The five of them—Adrien, Billy, Jessica, Thomas, and Conrad—left the room together and entered the elevator that would take them to the surface.

The soft whirring of the lift was drowned by the silence between them.

When the doors opened, a cool wind swept in.

They stepped out, greeted by rows of curious staffers and soldiers already gathered near the entrance gate.

The soldiers straightened immediately and then saluting as the higher officers passed.

Adrien didn’t return the gesture. His eyes were fixed on the outside already.

When they arrived outside, all five of them finally saw it.

The afternoon had been consumed by heavy churning clouds. Forks of silent lightning flickered through the dark mass above, their glow reflecting across the compound’s metal structures.

A quiet tension gripped them all. Adrien, Billy, and Conrad who had already attuned to Magic after awakening their Magic powers long ago, could feel it more clearly than the rest of them.

The pressure in the air wasn’t natural at all. It pulsed like the breath of something big stirring beyond the clouds.

They exchanged grim glances.

"This isn’t just weather," Conrad said quietly, his voice low and heavy with certainty. "This isn’t just clouds, Captain."

"I know," Adrien said.

—