Chapter 269: The Ruin [Edited]

The long-range Association cargo jet bounced slightly as it touched down on the cracked runway of an isolated desert airfield outside Cairo.

The moment the rear cargo hatch opened, dry, sweltering heat rushed into the cabin. The midday sun reflected off endless stretches of pale yellow sand.

Nicholas stepped onto the metal ramp, squinting behind his dark sunglasses. Beside him, Zero adjusted the scarf around his lower face, looking completely unfazed by the heat. Nectron was already fanning himself with a laminated map, muttering about how much he missed the air-conditioned gyms of Grayland.

"Alright, people, move it!" Selena called, marching down the ramp with a clipboard and two heavy packs. "The local guides have our rovers fueled and waiting on the tarmac. We need to load up and hit the coordinates before the heat gets worse."

Before anyone could lift a crate, a frantic voice came from inside the aircraft.

"Wait! Wait for me! Don’t leave the media team behind!"

Nicholas, Selena, and Vixen turned around.

Julie came tumbling out from between two equipment containers. She wore a ridiculous safari outfit, complete with an oversized khaki sunhat, dark sunglasses, and three camera rigs hanging from her neck and shoulders. She dragged an overstuffed suitcase behind her, which immediately got stuck on the edge of the ramp.

"Julie?!" Selena’s voice rose in disbelief. "What on earth are you doing here?! You were supposed to be reviewing footage at the Grayland media wing!"

"Correction, Supervisor Selena," Julie said proudly, kicking her suitcase until it broke free and clattered down the ramp. "I was promoted! By myself! As the official chief documentarian for the Sahara expedition!"

"There is no official documentarian!" Selena snapped, rubbing her temples. "This is an off-the-books, top-secret operation! You literally smuggled yourself onto a high-security transport!"

"I didn’t smuggle myself. I simply utilized available cargo space behind the extra water filters," Julie replied with an innocent smile.

She quickly pulled out a handheld camera and aimed it at Selena’s twitching eye.

"Look at this raw passion, chat! We’ve barely landed in Egypt and the drama is already at an all-time high!"

Selena reached out and covered the camera lens with her hand. "Turn that off before I throw it into a sand dune."

"Hey! That’s Association property... technically!" Julie protested, hugging the camera to her chest.

She scurried behind Nicholas, using his broad shoulders as a shield.

"Tell her, Phantom! Tell her content is essential for public morale!"

Nicholas didn’t look back. "Did you bring water?"

"I brought four power banks, two spare memory cards, and a ring light!" Julie announced cheerfully.

"You’re going to die of dehydration in twenty minutes," Nicholas said flatly.

"I can share Nectron’s water!"

Nectron immediately pulled his massive two-gallon jug against his chest.

"Absolutely not. I drink four liters an hour in this heat. You touch my jug, little girl, and I’ll throw you over a pyramid."

Vixen leaned against the transport jet and chuckled.

"Let her tag along, Selena. If ancient alien monsters jump out of the sand, we can use her bright pink tripod as a distraction."

"It’s rose gold!" Julie yelled defensively.

Three heavy, six-wheeled off-road rovers were parked near a low cinderblock hangar. Two local guides dressed in dust-covered robes stood near the lead vehicle, watching the arguing group with quiet bewilderment.

"Mount up," Zero said, cutting through the bickering. He walked toward the lead rover without waiting for anyone else. "The anomaly is two hundred miles southwest. The terrain gets rough once we leave the paved road."

Nicholas loaded his canvas duffel bag into the back of the second rover. Selena took the driver’s seat, while Nicholas sat beside her.

Naturally, Julie scrambled into the middle of the back row, wedging herself between Nectron’s massive frame and a mountain of emergency tool kits.

"Shotgun!" Julie yelled.

"You’re in the back seat, Julie," Selena said through gritted teeth, adjusting the rearview mirror.

"Metaphorical shotgun!" Julie corrected, pointing her camera out the window as the engines roared to life.

The three rovers left the airfield, kicking up clouds of sand as they accelerated into the desert.

For the first hour, the drive was relatively smooth. The sun beat down against the reinforced windows, turning the landscape into a shimmering sea of yellow dunes.

Inside the rover, however, there was no peace.

"So, Zero," Julie shouted over the engine, leaning forward between Nicholas and Selena to aim a wide-angle lens at the lead vehicle. "On a scale of one to ten, how cursed is the alien spaceship? Are we talking ’mild haunting’ or ’everyone gets eaten by space zombies’?"

Zero’s flat voice crackled over the radio.

"Be quiet."

"Fascinating insight," Julie narrated into her microphone, nodding solemnly. "The legendary swordsman remains enigmatic as ever. Now, turning to Phantom—"

She shoved the microphone toward Nicholas’s cheek.

Nicholas gently pushed it away with one finger.

"Thirty percent."

"What?" Julie blinked.

"You’re recording," Nicholas said calmly. "Every minute of footage you take out here falls under our revenue agreement. If you monetize this expedition, my cut applies."

Julie gasped, pulling the microphone back.

"You are ruthless! We are in the middle of the Sahara Desert searching for the cosmic origin of the plague, and you’re doing contract math!"

"I have rent to pay," Nicholas said. "And Katie wants new school supplies."

Nectron laughed from the back seat.

"The kid has his priorities straight! Never work for free, camera girl!"

"Don’t encourage him, Nectron!" Selena groaned, steering around a large ridge of loose sand. "And Julie, if you don’t put that camera away right now, I am putting you on tire-changing duty for the rest of the trip."

Julie immediately tucked the camera into her lap.

"No one appreciates art anymore."

As the hours passed, the banter gradually faded.

The landscape began to change.

The golden dunes grew steeper and more jagged, while the pale sand gradually darkened into an unnatural ashen gray. Despite the blazing sun, the temperature seemed to drop, replaced by an eerie stillness.

Nicholas felt it first.

A subtle hum resonated through the floor of the rover. It wasn’t the engine. It was an energy signature—dense, cold, and unmistakably alien.

Up ahead, Zero’s lead rover slowed to a stop.

The vehicles entered a wide, sunken basin surrounded by towering walls of dark stone. Massive pillars rose from the gray sand, made of smooth, seamless black rock and covered in strange geometric carvings. Faint purple veins pulsed across their surfaces.

At the center of the basin, half-buried beneath the desert, was a massive opening leading deep into the earth.

The strike team climbed out of the rovers.

Even Julie had nothing to say as she stared at the ancient structures.

Zero walked to the edge of the dark chasm and rested a hand on the hilt of his sword. The plague gemstone embedded in the blade pulsed in sync with the glowing veins on the pillars.

"We’re here," Zero said quietly, staring into the darkness below. "The tomb of the vessel."

Nicholas stepped beside him, his dark blue eyes scanning the entrance.

The jokes and bickering were gone.

The strike team checked their gear and supplies, preparing to descend into the buried ruins where humanity’s greatest nightmare had begun.