"Yes," Shoaib answered, his voice clear and resolute despite the heavy tension in the room. He wiped a streak of grease from his forearm and looked directly at the assembled group. "And my dream is to collect all the Building Orbs, which will help me to build anything. In short, to be the best builder in this world."
The declaration echoed across the cold stone walls of the underground workshop. The room fell silent as the weight of that ambition hung in the air. Collecting all the legendary Building Orbs was a feat most considered a myth, a task that required surviving the most lethal zones in the entire dimension.
Lam stepped forward, his crimson eyes reflecting the soft blue glow of the holographic workbench schematics.
"Ok, you can join our... I mean my guild, DREAMHUNTERS," Lam offered smoothly, extending his hand.
Shoaib paused. He looked at Lam's violet-tinged Endermite hand, then at the heavy gear worn by Faizan, Saad, and Nehal. His mind raced through every variable, calculating the risks, the sheer magnitude of the proposal, and what it meant to ally himself with a group targeting the absolute peak of the world. Shoaib thinks too much, weighing every possible outcome in a fraction of a second.
"Ok," Shoaib said, finally reaching out to grip Lam's hand.
Before the pact could be fully celebrated, the heavy steel reinforced door at the top of the concrete stairs exploded inward with a deafening screech. Red warning lights flooded the workshop as sirens began to wail through the ventilation shafts. Dozens of heavily armed municipal enforcers in tactical armor rushed down the stairwell, their riot shields raised and weapons locked onto the targets below.
"Oh, why did the police come?" Shoaib said, his eyes widening as he instinctively reached for his drafting tools.
"Don't worry, I can handle all of them," Lam said calmly, stepping in front of the group.
With a low hum, Lam covers his palms with Endermite shells, the dense, violet-black material instantly manifesting and wrapping around his hands like impenetrable gauntlets. Lam stands to fight, his shadow stretching across the floor as the crimson glow in his eyes flared with terrifying intensity.
Suddenly he stops.
The dark aura around his hands faded slightly as he tilted his head, a thoughtful expression crossing his face.
"Wait, wait. Why should I fight? Ah, my guild can handle all of them," Lam said, stepping back with a relaxed grin. He turned to his comrades and raised his voice with absolute authority. "DREAMHUNTERS, attack!"
The response was instantaneous.
Faizan draws his Diamond sword out with a sharp, echoing metallic ring, the blade gleaming under the harsh red warning lights. Saad places his Cannon onto its heavy tripod mount, his fingers flying across the firing console to align the targeting systems. Nehal draws his Dual Diamond Blades, crossing the twin swords in front of his chest as blue energy hummed along their polished edges.
"Go finish them off," Lam ordered, casually backing away from the front line.
Faizan rushes 1st. He blurred across the concrete floor, his footwork flawless as he closed the distance to the advancing riot squad in a heartbeat. With his diamond swords, Faizan beats them, parrying heavy stun batons, shattering tactical shields, and disarming the lead officers with blindingly fast, precise strikes before they could even pull their triggers.
Amidst the chaos of clashing metal, Shoaib hears a burning sound.
He looks at that sound and sees that Saad is lighting his Cannon. A bright fuse crackled violently near the breech, building up a massive kinetic charge. Saad locked the firing pin into place and pulled the release lever.
THOOM!
A massive shockwave erupted from the barrel, blindingly bright light engulfing the front hallway. The explosive concussive force tore through the tight tactical formation of the enforcers, sending shields and armor plating flying back up the stairwell.
With 1 fire, 70% of the police were down, groaning on the floor amidst smoking debris.
Saad wiped a speck of soot off his visor and adjusted his shoulder strap, a smirk clearly visible on his face. "Ah, it's so easy to beat them," Saad says.
Meanwhile, Lam was sitting in a chair watching everything unfold from the back of the room, looking completely relaxed as if he were enjoying a private show. He leaned back, resting his chin on his palm while watching the remaining officers attempt to surround the left flank.
"Wow, that's it, Nehal, that's it!" he cheered, clapping his hands together.
Nehal moved like a whirlwind of razor-sharp diamond, his twin blades carving through the dark room. He parried incoming gunfire, redirected physical attacks with master-level martial skill, and struck with precise non-lethal blows to the chest plates of the squad leaders. Nehal, with his dual diamond blades, was overwhelming every single police officer left standing, moving so fast his outline became a continuous streak of blue light.
Shoaib watched in absolute shock. He had seen the municipal police force dismantle entire rogue syndicates in minutes, yet this small group was treating an entire battalion like a routine warm-up exercise.
"Looks like Nehal is the strongest out of all of you," Shoaib says, staring open-mouthed as Nehal flipped over three officers and knocked them out simultaneously.
Suddenly, a grenade comes to Lam.
It whistled through the air, pulled from a downed captain's belt, its pin popped and fuse burning fast as it flew straight toward the chair where the guild leader was sitting.
Lam didn't flinch. He casually raised his hand, his Endermite shell instantly hardening over his fingers. Lam catches it and destroys it with his 1 hand, squeezing his palm shut. The grenade detonated inside his grip with a muffled thump, small wisps of harmless grey smoke escaping from between his fingers while his skin remained completely unblemished.
Lam opened his hand, letting the pulverized metal powder drop to the floor. He turned his head slightly toward the young builder.
"What you were saying, sorry I can't hear it," Lam asked.
Shoaib swallowed hard, his face turning pale as he looked at the crushed remains of high-grade explosive metal resting at Lam's feet.
"Ahh nothing," Shoaib said.
"Ok," Lam says.
Within seconds, the remaining noise of battle faded into silence, leaving only the sound of heavy breathing and crackling electrical wires hanging from the ceiling. All the police are beat, scattered across the entrance corridor completely neutralized.
Nehal sheathed his twin diamond blades with a clean metallic click, while Saad packed up his cannon and Faizan wiped his sword before returning it to his scabbard.
Shoaib looked at the five men standing in his shattered workshop, then down at his blueprints, and finally at the glowing emblem resting on his desk. A feeling of absolute certainty washed over him.
"Ok I am coming," Shoaib says, stepping forward to officially take his place alongside his new teammates.
Lam stood up from his chair, walking to the center of the room. He looked at his core team—Faizan, Saad, Nehal, and Shoaib—the five pillars of his vision ready to take on the world. He raised his right hand, his eyes burning bright with red fire.
"DREAMHUNTERS WE WILL ACHIEVE OUR DREAMS" Lam shouted.