Henry waited a few minutes. The groans from the slope had ceased. He saw that he had gained 42 white pearls and 54 grey ones. Satisfied, he stored the granite block and began to sprint down the dark slope.
Inside the factory, the two remaining German Shepherds began to bark, their cries growing more frantic by the second.
The sound sent a jolt of terror through Tom and Fabio. He's coming again!
Tom gritted his teeth. "Machine gunners, get ready!" he roared. "Fire a flare!"
With his night vision, Henry was a child of the darkness, moving as easily as if it were day. He estimated he could reach the factory gate in just over thirty seconds.
He was only halfway there when a streak of red shot into the sky, bursting overhead and bathing the entire area in a ghastly white light.
The guards in the watchtowers saw him immediately—a masked figure, running at an impossible speed. They scrambled to traverse their heavy machine guns.
The crew in the tower nearest the gate couldn't bring their gun to bear in time; the angle was too steep. But the other crew, the one that had been covering the mountain road, got their gun swung around in a few seconds and began firing, a seven-second burst that stitched the ground around Henry.
Although his speed caused most of the shots to miss, three of them found their mark. One green pearl husk and ten white ones shattered.
The eleven guards behind the main gate rushed out, firing wildly, some of their bullets sparking off the wire fence.
As Henry closed to within twenty meters of the first tower, he threw a 5-pound TNT charge. The single second it took to slow down and throw cost him two more hits from the second machine gun. Ten more white husks vanished.
He immediately summoned the granite block, using it as a shield as he ducked into a crouch.
The men in the towers stared, dumbfounded. The eleven guards behind the gate also saw the massive rock appear from thin air, their minds refusing to believe what they were seeing.
BOOM!
The charge detonated at the base of the first watchtower, and the structure was annihilated in a blast of heat and pressure.
"My God, is that magic?!"
"He's the devil!"
"Lord, save us!"
The soldiers in the second tower were so stunned that their rate of fire dropped significantly. Seizing the opportunity, Henry stored the rock and charged toward them. Another flare shot into the sky.
By the time the second gun crew had recovered, he was only thirty meters away. He took another three hits. He threw his second 5-pound charge, and in the instant it took, he was hit three more times. He summoned the rock again and took cover.
BOOM!
The second tower was gone. Silence fell over the battlefield.
He had sacrificed one green husk and fifty white ones to take out the two Gatling guns.
Damn it, Henry thought. It was all that dog's fault.
He stored the rock and ran to the wire fence, about fifty meters from the ruined gate. He placed two 50-pound charges with 15-second fuses, then turned and sprinted away.
The brief delay cost him another four hits from the eleven guards. Sparks flew as their bullets ricocheted off the fence.
He counted to twelve, stopped, and summoned two granite blocks, stacking them in front of him. He pulled an oak table from his space and dove underneath it. He was now about 120 meters away.
Two seconds later, just as the flare died, the world erupted in a deafening roar. The air filled with a high-pitched whistling, like a thousand flying knives. The two granite blocks in front of him rang as they were struck by shrapnel.
When the noise subsided, Henry emerged from cover and walked slowly back toward the factory, carefully watching his step. The ground was littered with razor-sharp pieces of wire.
The explosion had torn a hole in the fence large enough for an elephant to walk through sideways. The eleven guards who had been firing at him were all down, torn to shreds by the makeshift shrapnel. A few of them were still groaning.
Henry drew his two revolvers and ended their suffering, storing their bodies one by one. The last man to die was the massive commander, Tom. His muscular body had been no match for a hundred flying nails of razor wire. Henry put him out of his misery.
A new, green pearl, pulsing with a skill, appeared in his vision.
Since my cover is blown, Henry thought, I have to kill everyone who saw the rock. Secrecy was a weapon, and his was the simplest, most effective kind.
He moved deeper into the factory. It was deserted; the ordinary workers had long since gone home. The grounds were well-lit by gas lamps, making it easy to spot any threats.
He quickly found the main office building and began a room-by-room search. In the manager's office, his powerful vision and LV 3 Theft skill allowed him to spot a secret room hidden behind a bookshelf. He found the trigger—a decorative bull's head—and turned it. The bookshelf slid open.
Danger!
He instinctively leaped to the side.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Three bullets tore through the space where he had just been standing.
Henry instantly drew a revolver and emptied all six rounds into the dark opening.
"Agh!" A cry of pain, and a man stumbled out of the secret room, blood pouring from his wounds, and collapsed on the floor.
Henry stepped inside. The room was small, containing only three large, uncut gemstones—a ruby, a sapphire, and an emerald. He stored them and continued his search, but found nothing else. He rolled the dead man over. He'd been handsome once. There was a money pouch on his belt. With a face like that, you could make a living anywhere, Henry thought. Why come to this godforsaken place? He was likely another member of the McKinley clan.
He opened the pouch and found $126. A small bonus. He stored the body and the cash, then reset the secret door.
He continued his search and soon found two warehouses. The larger one contained production materials and weapons. He helped himself to 2,400 pounds of TNT, 4,600 pounds of dynamite, hundreds of blasting caps, 56 Winchester rifles, 68 Colt double-action revolvers, 16 Smith & Wesson Model 3s, two more Gatling guns, and roughly a hundred thousand rounds of assorted ammunition.