The North China Sea is dotted with islands like stars in the sky, making it difficult to find a specific one. Thea's operation also needed to remain covert. Limited by fuel, she had to return to Hong Kong regularly for the first two days, both for refueling and lodging – city comforts were undeniably better.
For the next couple of days, she couldn't be bothered flying back and forth. Attaching two auxiliary fuel tanks, she spent the days hiding on various islands, sunbathing, and letting her little unicorn out for fresh air. At night, she resumed her search, dodging patrol boats, fisheries vessels, and maritime administration ships, weaving left and right – it was exhausting work.
"Ugh—so sleepy," Thea muttered. Playing stealthy explorer every night left her drained during the day. She watched the little unicorn frolicking far off on its four small hooves. It seemed quite content with these islands, full of fresh air and abundant sunlight, happily amusing itself. A thought suddenly struck Thea. Using a tone like someone luring a child, she thought, "Come here, come here..."
Theoretically, their communication was seamless. Unfortunately, the unicorn was still too young, only capable of transmitting simple thoughts like "hungry" or "comfortable."
Thanks to the intense sunbathing over the past few days, the little unicorn had grown another size larger. If it was palm-sized before, it was now about the size of her foot.
The little unicorn bounced cheerfully over to Thea, likely expecting a treat. The creature wasn't picky; a couple of days ago, it had happily munched on some squid Thea bought from a street vendor in Hong Kong.
Watching the unicorn waggle its head and tail fawningly, Thea's eyes glinted. With lightning speed, she grabbed its two front legs, lifting the entire unicorn up. Her gaze swept quickly over its underside. Hmm! ...It was a little princess. That was good. If it were male, merging later would be rather awkward...
The little unicorn kicked its hind legs vigorously at her, but the distance was too great to have any effect. Thea quickly put it down before it could spit, then casually stroked its mane – a gesture of appeasement, whether effective or not.
Gender confirmed, the next step was easier. "Time to give you a name!" Thea mused, tapping her chin.
"What? You already have a name? No way, you have to use the one I pick!" Thea declared, staking her claim. But being terrible at naming things, she couldn't immediately think of a good one. So...
"My child," she announced dramatically, "the very forests of Lordaeron whispered the name... Arthas! Isn't that a great name? Are you happy?" Thea racked her brains but couldn't come up with anything better. Slapping her thigh, she decided, "That's it!"
Ignoring the little unicorn's apparent objections, she picked it up and tossed it gently into the air twice, concluding the naming ceremony. Then she let it go play on its own while she found a sunny spot to continue her nap.
Day turned into night, night into day. Persistence paid off. Finally, near dawn on the seventh day, Thea spotted a sizable island ahead.
"Seriously hard to find. Nobody told me this blasted island was surrounded by such thick fog!" Thea grumbled. She had flown over this area before, but the dense fog had caused her to overlook it. Only this morning, when the sunlight shone directly, did she spot the island hidden beneath the mist.
A crescent-shaped island, covered in dense primaeval forest. In the central region stood watchtowers built by ancient inhabitants. On the south side was a channel – this must be where the WWII-era Japanese submarine carrying Mirakuru ran aground. Comparing it repeatedly with her memories, this had to be the place.
Thea had absolutely no interest in using the Mirakuru biochemical agent herself; she didn't need power gained at the cost of sanity. However, she wouldn't mind taking a few vials back for research.
The doctor obsessed with finding the serum probably had issues, too. This was a WWII-era agent, created over fifty years ago! Scientists fifty years ahead of their time weren't nonexistent, but they were exceptionally rare. And those particular scientists from that era? Thea doubted they possessed that level of capability.
The Court of Owls' enhancement experiments shared some similarities with Mirakuru. She could give them a vial later to see if there was anything mutually beneficial to learn.
Thea didn't just fly directly towards potential inhabitants. The island was much larger than she'd expected, roughly the size of a mid-tier city.
Oliver thought only a few people were on the island, but he was sorely mistaken. This place hosted illicit growers, drug manufacturers, tunnel diggers, and treasure hunters. Mercenaries from various nations and other assorted individuals numbered possibly over a thousand. People came and went constantly; it was never truly empty, just so large that encounters were infrequent.
Lowering altitude, she found a small valley and landed the helicopter.
This time, she brought out all her gear: Glider, arrows, the works. Her mechanical arm prototype was also complete. Based on Wayne Enterprises' technology, the arm usually looked like three decorative pieces worn on her left forearm.
With the press of a switch, it could fully deploy in under a second. At full power, it could exert between two to ten tons of force. The arm was constructed primarily from Hafnium, a metal resistant to high temperatures and abrasion, capable of withstanding large-caliber bullets without damage – a rare alloy also used in high-security vault doors.
Concealed within were three retractable claws made from an ultra-hard composite of titanium alloy and trace amounts of synthetic carbon nitride.
Perfecting these three claws had kept fifty scientists at Queen Consolidated's Applied Sciences division busy for a month.
The results certainly didn't disappoint Thea. After multiple tests, she had yet to find a metal she couldn't cut, aside from substances with absurd density and weight like white dwarf or neutron star matter.
After packing her gear and camouflaging the helicopter (though even if discovered, she could fly back on her Glider, albeit less comfortably), she hopped onto the Glider. Without magic, finding Oliver would have been difficult, but now, a simple tracking spell could locate her blood relative.
"He's far away!" The magical trace was faint and intermittent, indicating a great distance, almost beyond the spell's detection limit.
"Westward," she confirmed after double-checking. Thea flew low, skimming close to the ground as she headed towards the distant signal.
...
The sun gradually dipped towards the west, its fading light reflecting on the clear lake water. A man and a woman stood facing each other. The man's face was etched with sorrow, as if carrying the weight of the world. The woman watched him with concern, her eyes revealing sympathy and affection.
"I just feel like this island... it's turning me into something monstrous," the man said, his voice low and filled with sadness.
The woman's expressive eyes pondered for a moment. She scooped up some water from the lake and gently dabbed it onto the man's forehead.
"No island, no place, can make you something you don't want to be."
But her words didn't dispel his despair. "So, does that mean I've always been a killer?"
The woman chose her words carefully. "Everyone carries darkness inside them. Ancient philosophies speak of Yin and Yang – opposing forces within us all. Darkness and light. Killer... and hero."
She finished speaking and caressed his face, her gaze full of love.
Unseen by them, a burly, middle-aged man watched from nearby as they embraced and stepped into the water, his eyes filled with struggle and resentment.