First Intergalactic Emperor: Starting With The Ancient Goddess-Chapter 498: Reunion

The rail slowed as it slid into the terminal at Glassreach Basin. No announcement followed. Doors opened when the system decided they should.

Glassreach Basin was known for its local hostility and unwelcoming to tourists. And because of that, even after being a neighboring city with Helior Prime, its economy was worse.

Arlen stepped out first, boots hitting the platform with a soft thud. Rin followed, stretching his shoulders as he scanned the space automatically. The air smelled processed, filtered too many times, carrying heat from engines and the sharp edge of electrical discharge.

Glassreach didn't sprawl the way Ashfall did. It stacked. Platforms rose and fell at odd intervals, freight lanes cut straight through pedestrian zones, and automated towers watched everything without looking at anyone in particular. People moved fast and didn't linger, faces neutral, hands busy, eyes flicking only when necessary.

Arlen pulled up the map Xavier had shared before they split. "We've got three marked points," she said. "Transfer yards, short-term housing, and a service corridor that feeds toward Helior."

Rin nodded.

They merged into the flow, keeping pace without drawing attention. The first point sat near a reconfiguration hub where cargo convoys broke apart and reformed under algorithmic supervision. Arlen slowed enough to watch patterns, not the vehicles themselves but the people directing them.

"No one hiding here," Rin said quietly.

"Agreed," Arlen replied. "Too many records."

They moved on.

The second point lay deeper, past the towers, into a temporary settlement built to service overflow traffic. Modular housing units stacked three high, power routed externally, lights flickering where systems hadn't synced properly. Arlen paused near a public terminal and pretended to scroll while watching reflections in the screen.

"Someone passed through recently," she said. "Foot traffic, not cargo."

The third point sat at the edge of a service corridor that cut beneath the main lanes. Maintenance access, old conduits, emergency reroutes that never fully closed after upgrades. Arlen felt it immediately. The noise changed. And there were fewer public.

"This one," she said.

Rin rested his hand near his blade without touching it. "Yeah. This feels right."

They moved in together, following the path Xavier and Klatos had flagged.

Arlen checked the map again, then looked ahead. "If Xavier's right, we're not early."

Rin smiled faintly. "Then let's not be late."

They didn't rush into the corridor like tourists pretending to be lost.

Arlen and Rin moved like they knew where they were talking. Arlen was used to that kind of thing as she was more experienced in this field, but for Rin, it was something new. He just wanted to find enemies and cut them down.

They walked slow enough to notice details, fast enough to avoid inviting questions. The service corridor wasn't abandoned, just ignored by anyone who didn't need it. Maintenance crews passed through in short bursts. Couriers cut across it when the upper lanes were clogged. A few vendors had set up improvised stalls along the wider sections, selling food, tools, or favors depending on who asked.

Rin stopped near one of them, leaning an elbow on the counter like he was killing time. "You seen a small group pass through earlier?" he asked casually. "Didn't look like cargo runners."

The vendor glanced up, eyes flicking past Rin to Arlen and then away again. "I saw your mother pass through with some dudes," he said.

"Oh," Rin replied. "Are you sure it wasn't your wife instead?" Rin moved his hand to his blade.

The man hesitated, then shrugged. "Some folks came through fast."

Arlen stepped closer. "Which direction?"

The vendor tilted his chin down the corridor. "That way. Toward the lower junction."

They walked off without looking back. Arlen fell into step beside him.

"That lines up," she said quietly.

"Yeah," Rin replied. "Too clean to be random."

They reached the junction and slowed again. The space widened just enough to feel wrong. Old access panels. Poor lighting. Power routed through temporary lines instead of the main grid.

Arlen crouched and touched the ground near one of the panels. "Recent," she said. "Dust hasn't settled."

Her device vibrated.

She checked it immediately.

She accepted the call and kept walking. "Talk."

"I've got another ping," Xavier said. "It surfaced when we recalibrated the hover."

"Send it," Arlen replied.

A moment later, the data came through. She slowed and pulled up the map overlay, eyes narrowing as the location resolved.

Rin noticed. "What?"

She turned the screen toward him. "It's here. Or close enough to count."

Rin looked ahead, then back at the map. "So either we're right on top of them or we're about to be."

Arlen keyed the comm again. "We're already in the area. We're moving now."

"Be careful," Xavier said.

Arlen didn't answer that. She ended the call and nodded toward a narrower passage branching off the junction.

"This way," she said.

After walking for a while, Arlen slowed first.

Rin caught it immediately and followed her line of sight instead of asking. The corridor opened into a wider service bay cut beneath the main lanes, vehicles lined up in uneven rows, engines idling low, drivers arguing with loaders over timing and space.

Light spilled in from one side through a grated opening, slicing the bay in half.

"There," Arlen said under her breath.

Rin saw them a second later.

Reva stood near the far end, half-turned toward a boxy ground transport with reinforced sides and mismatched panels. Lyra was already climbing in, Iria close behind her. Viola and Requiem were arguing with the driver like they were trying to shave seconds off a bad deal.

They were too far to hear or to signal. And they were about to leave.

"Shit," Rin muttered.

They cut left, weaving between parked vehicles and stacked crates, keeping low, using the noise of the bay to cover their footsteps. Rin vaulted a short barrier and landed hard, barely breaking stride. Arlen slipped through a gap between two transports, shoulder brushing metal as she came out the other side.

The engine on Reva's transport revved.

"Hey," Rin shouted, finally breaking cover. "You planning to leave without saying goodbye?"

Reva froze.

Her head snapped around, eyes scanning, then locking onto them as recognition hit. "Rin?"

Arlen pushed past the last row of vehicles. "You always pick the worst places to stop."

For half a second, Reva didn't move. Then she swore, loud and relieved, and stepped away from the transport.

"You've got to be kidding me," Viola said, turning fully now. "How did you—"

Lyra jumped down from the transport and ran the rest of the distance.

Requiem exhaled slowly, tension easing from his shoulders as he took Rin in properly. "You alone?"

"Not exactly," Rin replied. "Xavier's moving too."

Reva's expression shifted at the name, relief flashing through before she masked it. "Where?"

"Close enough," Arlen said. "He'll meet us."

The driver cleared his throat loudly from the transport. "You people riding or talking?"

Reva waved him off without looking. "Give us a minute."

The bay kept moving around them, engines starting and stopping, voices rising and falling.

Rin looked around at all of them, then nodded once. "Alright," he said. "Now we're back where we're supposed to be."