The Spider Queen

(Hydra Star System- Lunar Colony Renoran)

(Northern Region- Unnamed Location)

Four motorized vehicles traveled through the desert. Each vehicle had been specially designed to traverse the unique terrain on the lunar colony.

The vehicles hovered slightly above the ground so there was no need to worry about friction and the engines and exhaust pipes were covered in mini- force fields in order to prevent sand particles from entering inside.

Qiana leaned back against the passenger seat and watched lazily as massive sand dunes appeared in the distance.

She was currently on her way to the processing plant after spending a week investigating all the mines on the lunar colony.

The results had been worse than she feared.

The mining site that Carter had operated was not out of the norm and in fact every single pit that she visited had issues with the workers.

Some managed to conceal their lack of progress better than others but it was concerning that about eighty percent of the workforce was content to slow down production.

What could be the reason? Was it some kind of strike or protest?

If there was an issue with payment and the miners wanted a larger salary, then why not make some demands?

Qiana was not an unreasonable person and was more than prepared to meet the workers on a negotiation table if they wished for better benefits.

But that is not what was happening.

Instead, they treated her like some naïve rich girl who would be unable to tell that the mine operations were being intentionally sabotaged.

Qiana furrowed her brows and checked her communicator. Once again, she noticed that her inbox was empty except for a few old messages from Astrid.

Her girlfriend was currently doing some intense training with Archmage Servies in his mage tower so it was unlikely that she would be able to talk anytime soon.

Qiana let out a heavy sigh and checked the message that she had sent out to her father.

It consisted of a report of everything that she had observed so far along with photos that provided evidence to back up her claims.

There was no response.

Clearly her father had seen the message but either he wanted to test her, or he did not care about the matter.

Qiana curled up her fingers in frustration as the hot rays of sunlight brushed against the side of her face.

She was not closer to solving the mystery than she had been a few days ago. There were just too many unknown factors involved.

Perhaps she needed to use more… 'forceful' methods.

The young noble girl glanced at the other vehicles and mentally made a note of the occupants inside each hovercar.

There were a few security officers, Carter and one mining supervisor who was in charge of the processing plant.

A cold looking woman by the name of Elsa Foster.

Qiana had only gotten the opportunity to speak to her briefly and was under the impression that she did not talk very much.

Hours passed and Qiana could feel her eyelids slowly slipping downwards as she had to fight off a wave of exhaustion.

A week of non-stop investigation had taken its toll and honestly, she could use a full nine hours worth of sleep right about now.

She reached into her storage bag and pulled out an energy bar. Qiana peeled off the wrapper and quickly tossed the bar in her mouth.

Caffeine, adrenaline, and some other chemicals…

Qiana shivered slightly as she felt a burst of energy flow through her body. It was not much but it was good enough to get her through the tour of the processing plant.

And not a moment too soon!

A large metalloid structure appeared in the distance with tall spires that seemed to extend outwards towards the heavens.

Blackish smog left the exhaust pipes and the tiny ant-like figures moving around the plant all wore heavy gas masks.

Trucks and other vehicles could be seen entering the gaping maw of the processing plant and exiting the other side with no raw materials inside their storage spaces.

Qiana snapped a quick picture of the scenery and took a few mental notes about the possible exits and entrances to the processing plant.

It was a habit that she had picked up after going on numerous bounty hunting and assassination missions.

"We are here young miss," Carter lazily spoke as he got out of his vehicle.

"Please allow me to guide you through the facility," Supervisor Foster coldly spoke as she stepped out of her hovercar and adjusted the mask on her face.

She was an intimidating woman standing well over six feet with cybernetic implants all over her body from her artificial limbs to the metalloid eyes that slightly glowed red.

Qiana adjusted the gas mask on her face to make sure that it covered everything properly and then stepped outside.

As a cultivator there was technically no need to worry about the health effects of inhaling smog, but Qiana had no desire to breathe in the toxic gas.

Just because her body could deal with it didn't mean that she wanted to subject herself to the awful smell and taste.

Qiana took one step forward and felt the hot lunar sands on the bottom of her shoes. The sand around the processing plant was a greyish white colour.

Occasionally she could see strange green pebbles scattered amidst the sea of white that seemed a bit out of place.

"Right this way," Supervisor Foster plainly spoke as she walked forward towards the side entrance of the processing plant.

Qiana followed behind her lead and the three security guards as well as Carter also joined the tour.

There was a small metalloid door in the side of the massive building that was around the size of three humans standing side by side.

Supervisor Foster placed her artificial hand against the door and a green light scanned the length of her entire body.

The door shuddered slightly and then opened.

Qiana frowned as she experienced a cold gust of wind that felt quite uncomfortable after being exposed to the constant desert heat.

Supervisor Foster walked inside and gestured for the rest of the party to follow her. Qiana entered the processing plant and was taken aback at what she saw inside.

Numerous mechanical devices larger than a two-story house were scattered around a massive open hall-like space.

The entire plant was completely automated.

First the raw material would be separated and filtered through a cone-shaped device and then the resulting materials would go to different machines to be processed.

There were a few humans walking around the processing plant and just like Supervisor Foster they all had cybernetic enhancements.

The common link in all of their appearances were two artificial eyes that glowed red.

Qiana assumed that their mechanical eyes helped them to spot tiny details in the raw material which they otherwise would not have noticed unless they were cultivators.

"Welcome to the processing plant," Supervisor Foster whispered in a quiet tone.