《Factory Inc.》 Chapter 1 - Beginning A young man can be seen walking with a tired look on his face, all around him, countless people can be seen, some are celebrating some are dating with their beloved, some are too drunk to even stand up, with their buddies laughing around them. Neon light and 3D holograms can also be seen everywhere on top of many shops, advertis.e.m.e.nts of all kinds can be seen everywhere you look. for at this time the city comes back to life, this is a typical view of a healthy city. But the young man continues to walk without any care of what''s around him, for he was on his own world, he was mumbling with himself with a single goal in his mind, to go home. His name is Arc D. Grand, he was once considered a genius during his younger years but because of the wrong crowd he hangs out with, he has been led astray because of that he barely graduates from high school and even his grade is below average. but back then he didn''t care no matter what his parents or his teacher said. but he ignores them all. For as long as he was enjoying himself nothing else matters to him until a tragedy struck, his parents were caught in a huge accident, though his parents survived they were in a coma, and the doctor said they may not wake up again. that''s when reality hits him, and it him hard without his parents his family no longer has an income as the eldest of the three siblings his two younger sisters are still in high school. And without his parents there will be no one to support them, their parents pension can barely cover the hospital bills... 2 years have passed since his parents accident his relatives has but all abandoned them. his sister Anne will be graduating high school this year and his youngest sister will graduate 2 years later. as for himself he was doing two to three jobs at the same time just to support his sisters and his parents who were still in coma, he matured a lot since that fateful day not only in thinking but his appearance as well, he regrets a lot of things he did but he also knows that he can only move forward now, for there''s no use thinking about the past. "damn that [email protected]#$# he keeps making me do overtime but never pays me for it". he said to himself. Arc knows that the owner of the factory is taking advantage of him, but there''s nothing he can do about it as he needed the job plain and simple, he just can''t afford to lose it and his boss knows it, so no matter how angry he was he can only swallow it all, -darn I''m so tired I only slept for about four hours in the last two days working 3 jobs at a time is taking a toll on my body-. Arc mumbled he worked in the construction in the morning for about six hours then goes to the market to carry products for the shop there and lastly, he worked in the factory till late at night. that''s his life for the last two years, his only consolations are in these past two years he becomes very close to his two sisters... -I''m home!- -big brother, how''s your day going? said, Anne- -oh Anne, well same old same old that Jackass is still making me do overtime without pay- reply Arc -big bro, you should really look for a new job that factory is Killing you, you know-, said, Anne -sighs, I know but what can I do? it''s not easy to look for a job that accepts dropout like me. and besides, I can still take it-. looking at the about to cry sister, he thought all the pain and sacrifice was worth it. -why do you look like that? I''m fine just study hard don''t be like me in the past. don''t worry about anything else, where Amy?- -she''s upstairs doing homework,- -call her I bought dinner let''s eat together.- said Arc -sure! I''ll call her.- Anne replied the dinner is not much, but no one complains about it. in fact, it is a fun dinner, they joke about many things never going on any depressing topics. it was only in this time that he forgets all the burden he was carrying, after dinner, he went upstairs to rest he still need to wake up early, he only has about 6 hours before he went to work meaning he only has about 4hrs to sleep he travels on foot to save money from transportation, he keeps telling himself I''m doing exercise. he lay on his old beaten bed but for some reason, he can''t fall asleep. [email protected]#k I need to sleep.- He keeps rolling and changing position in order to fall asleep but to no avail, -the [email protected]#k is going on!- Arc cursed Normally the moment his back touches his bed he''s knock out, he opens his cellphone Andro35 it''s an old model phone, it was a gift from his parents before the accident. many times he wanted to sell it but change his mind every time, -sigh, I wonder what''s the hot games right now?- Arc mumbles -it''s been a long time since I played a mobile game.- the year is 2556 500yrs since the so-called world war 3 happened, according to the historians it was the most brutal and costly war, no country was spared more than 3 billion people died. historians call it the apocalyptic war. no one knows exactly how the war started but everyone knows how it ends, more than ten thousand super nukes were used and it changed the world forever. after the war ends countless more died because of radiation and most animals have changed or mutated, those mutated animals are now simply called the beast. Over the years a lot of people call it by many different names such as demons or mutant many names were given to it but over time it''s was universally called (Beast). Beast is divided into two categories the mindless and the intelligent. Intelligent beast are mainly called beast Lord, beast Lord is not your typical mutated animals it was very intelligent, some even surpass a human genius, the beast Lords built a huge Kingdom in the center of the Deadland it was a land that has very high concentrations of radiation that are very fatal humans, ordinary humans will die within seconds in the center of the deadland without proper equipment. A long time ago that place is called "Hell" but 500 years have passed since the war and humans come a long way since then, humans who were once powerless against Beast have managed to take back their dignity. And the second type of beast is called brutal beast it was mindless and it only knows how to follows it''s instinct, the brutal beast was very territorial and every time someone cross or trespass in its territory it attacks 100 percent. Chapter 2 - Beginning II After the war, a lot of technology was lost but over time humans were able to regain what was lost and greatly improved them, surpassing even their ancestors, but humanity''s lost is not just the technology. no, the humans also lost one of the biggest advantages of being human, (fertility) For some reasons humans are showing symptoms of infertility, and during the last 200 years it only becomes apparent, more and more couples are unable to produce a child, so 150 years ago the United Government along with all superpowers has unanimously made a difficult decision, to pursue one of the taboo branches of science, (Cloning) At first, it was bombarded by a lot of oppositions, but when the government released the data and study of humanity''s infertility for the last 200 years, the world was shocked. data shows that for the last 100 years the human population not only It didn''t increase but actually decreases, it was so alarming that study shows that if humans didn''t do anything to address the infertility issue human would be extinct within 200 years later. A lot of alternatives was given such as in-vitro fertilization or most commonly known as (seed project) but it was scr.a.p.ed 20 years later because humans born this way are showing symptoms of mental issues, such as derangement or aggressive personality even with the most advanced technology they can''t figure out what''s the source of the mental issue. In the end, the Governments were forced to shut down the project because cloning is showing good progress, not only it was cheaper. No human clone is showing any mental problem it even shows some upgrades in human intelligence and physiology the only downside is human clone has a short life span compared to natural born humans. but because of cloning the term "family" is beginning to lose its value even after more than 70years a clone is still not accepted in most communities especially the religious community, it strongly rejects the government cloning project and did not accept any clone in their community. The radial city where Arc and his family lived, is an exception it''s an open city where clone or human mutant is accepted without being discriminated against, Jorge Ferdinand Radial the founder of Radial city. He once stated that to him any human whether it''s a clone or a mutant is still a human, he also said that what makes human a human is not our genes or how we are born but it''s the principle to accept and to love others unconditionally are what makes us human. Using his fortune that his family was able to amass over the past six generations he founded a city near the wasteland, near enough to be able to take advantage of the rich abundance of material the wasteland was able to offer but far enough to be safe from radiation. A lot of people thinks he was crazy and even his own family thinks the same, they said that it was a fools dream, but Jorge was not discouraged in fact it only fuels him to prove himself, he strongly believes that he was building a Future, one that everyone will be accepted, and true enough 50 years later he was correct, in the last 50 years since the founding of Radial city it becomes the center of commerce in the southern part of United Governments and countless people visit it every year to trade or to simply experience the open city able to provide. Arc check his mobile phone and look for anything interesting such as games or latest trend but after few minutes he lost interest, and only his annoyance increase he still can''t fall asleep it''s like he was on drugs or something his body wants to rest but his mind wants to party. you have new mail! "Hmm, it''s been a long time since he gets any personal mail". He gets messages from his sister or from his annoying boss who keeps on taking advantage of him. but never a mail or email, the last email he gets is more than a year ago, it''s from his relatives saying don''t disturb them anymore. he checks the sender it was blank, "hmm well, it might be a spam." even though this was a new account he created after the accident. he can only count on his fingers the people who know this new email address, Click! he opens it the only thing he saw was a link, the link address covers the whole page. -eh, what the hell is this web address? it must be a prank right.- "has it been like this two years ago?" he asks himself, he may not be active anymore online, but he was not a novice. before the accident, he was an active user. he was an active member of many forum and he was even a moderator in one of them, though he left all of those things behind two years ago, it''s not long enough for many things changes to happen, normally he will just ignore it a shady website is full of virus and worm that preys on any new user, though the human technology has advanced during the couple of centuries the virus and those hackers is also advancing along with the technology. well since he has nothing better to do he can''t even fall asleep so he might as well check the link out. Click!.... he blacks out! Chapter 3 - factory System Beep Beep his Alarm wakes him up, -yawn.- "When did I fall asleep he wonder? but I couldn''t remember," -whatever I need to get ready for work- for some reason, he feels great this morning he felt refresh like all his fatigue and stress all go away. -Big bro are you awake!? breakfast is ready, so come down to eat.- Anne shouted from downstairs. -yeah, I''m coming just let me take a shower for a bit..- -hmm smells good.- said Arc -told you not to bother waking up this early in the morning to cook.- said Arc -go back to sleep it''s only 4 am in the morning, but thanks for the breakfast..- said Arc ginning. -hehe, no prob big bro, I''ll go back to sleep but don''t forget to lock the door when you leave.- said Anne -sure no prob go back to sleep.- reply Arc -Okey said,- Anne. "nice it''s been a long time since I felt this refresh, I wonder what happen?" I don''t remember what happened last night. the last thing I remember is opening that suspicious link, but I don''t remember what happened after. well, nevermind I''m off to work... "This is weird," "This whole day I didn''t feel any tiredness at all even after carrying more than 50 loads I''m still ok..." "Normally I''ll be like a dying dog after carrying around 20 loads." carrying more than 50kl of produce back and forth between the shop and the warehouse, traveling around 300meters carrying around more than 50kl he can only do 20 rounds or so before he can no longer move from exhaustion. he was paid per load or for a round trip. 20 loads can earn him around 50 credits, he was paid 2.5 credits per load this job pays more than any of his other job. in the factory he only gets paid 3credit an hour, a single bowl of street noodles is around 10 to 15 credit, he works around 4 to 6 hours a day in the factory he only earns less than 20credit a day from the factory. the construction work, however, is different he gets paid per job done... his job at the market pays good money but it''s a very hard job and if by chance he damages the goods he is carrying, he will be responsible for it. and that''s why even though the pay was good barely anyone wants that job. though working in the factory only earns him around 20 credit a day it was not hard work at least not for him. his job is mainly checking the quality of the product being made by the machines. the only problem is the pollution released by the machines in the factory, never the less it''s still an easy job for him that''s why even though his boss keeps on taking advantage of him he can never let go of the job since he considers it relaxing job... -it''s really weird did I accidentally consume psychotropic drugs..?- Arc asks himself he was no stranger to psychotropic drugs since he used to take them before because it allows him to party for 3 days without getting tired, the downside is the after-effects, it was bad, no it was hell. not being able to move and not to mention the pain after the drugs wore out is a nightmare. that''s why people who took psychotropic drugs keep on taking them, in the end, they become dependent on it... he still remembers the day he tried to clean out, the experience is hell even today after 2 years it still gives him a jibby. that''s why he slightly panic when he thinks about accidentally ingesting drugs.. he comes straight home after working in the factory. -I''m home!- shouted Arc -big bro, you''re home, give me a sec I''m almost done with dinner said, Anne..- -big bro help me with my homework! said Amy- -Amy, I told you don''t bother big bro about your homework he''s tired from working..- said, Anne -it''s fine, what''s the problem Amy I may not look like it but I was once called a genius during my Early school year..- Arc replies he flexes his muscles while saying those lines making his sisters giggles. -so what''s the problem?- ask Arc -well, I don''t understand these equations I tried what my teacher is telling me but I still don''t understand.- answer Amy -hmm, let me see this is how you do it..- said Arc 30mins later his sister Anne called, -dinner is ready!- Anne shouted from the kitchen -Okay!- Arc and Amy said together... -bro, you''re better than my teacher in explaining things why don''t you work as a teacher instead..- said, Amy -haha, of course, who do you think I am - Arc said while grinning winking at his sister... -My secret is back then I hate studying so in order not to fail I learned how to make short cuts in studying for example in order to solve math I''ve read and read many books in order to understand it better.- -I allocated 1week of complete study in one subject in order to better understand it and when I did. after that the rest is easy..- -once you understand the core of things no matter how much they twist the outside you can still untwist it, that''s my secret..- -though I mainly do that so I have more time doing other things besides studying. because after all my goal at that time is not the top, but mainly to pass and not fail..- -I''ll give you some tips on how to do that but don''t copy me and waste your time with other things..- said Arc his two sister looks at him with open mouth -big bro what the hell why didn''t you tell us this sooner?- Ask Anne -eh hehe well.... you didn''t ask?- said Arc -ahhh, stop tickling me stop..- -I''m sorry I''m sorry- he begs his sister to stop -our dinner is getting cold..- said Arc Gasping for air -ah, I forgot said Anne.. ok let''s eat first will continue this later. right agreed Amy..- -what you still plan to continue?- ask Arc his face paled his sister giggles and hop towards the kitchen while giggling. he looks at the back of his sister and smile after dinner he tutored his two sisters on his so-called Shortcut in studying, it took them 2hrs before they get most of it because even though he calls it short cut it''s useless until you completely understand it. - it''s harder than we thought says, Amy and Anne..- -but I''m beginning to understand it I think, but it will take a while to completely understand it.. yeah said Amy.- -haha, I never said it''s easy, back then I tried to teach this to my buddies. but none of them have the patience to do it.- said Arc -then how did you do it? asked Amy who told you this method?- -no one! I came up with it.-said Arc he said with the smug look on his face... -don''t underestimate the man who will do anything just to have more time to party, ahem. I mean to do other things hehe..- said Arc his sister looks at him like he is an alien. -why are you looking at me like that?- ask Arc -nothing. his sister''s giggles..- -well, whatever I''m going to bed I''ll teach you two again tomorrow if you still have more questions ask them tomorrow...- said Arc he turns around and walks upstairs.. his sisters look at each other and said, -I think our big bro is really a genius, Amy said- -I think so too.. back then mom and dad said that big bro is a genius if only he takes his studying seriously.. I never believe it mainly because his grades sucks...- -but now I think I''m starting to believe it Amy and Anne nod at each other..- all this talk happens without Arc knowing anything... in his bedroom, he sat on his bed thinking, -I didn''t think I would still be able to remember my Shortcut..- he reminisces a little until he remembers the situation that he might have ingested accidentally psychotropic drugs... he checks for any symptoms of being drugged he knows them too well but no matter how he checked he didn''t find any symptoms of being drugged... -what the hell is going on? he asks himself- "right! last night I tried to open an unknown link.." he checks his email saw the blank sender mail Click it open but to his surprise, the link was gone the mail was simply empty.. this left him confused -did I just imagine it?- said Arc but the mail is here only the content is gone. -well, no used thinking about it, I need to sleep.- he lay in bed and suddenly DING! factory System booting complete. Chapter 4 - factory System II factory System booting... diagnostic complete... registering user.... registered.. scanning... scanning complete Displaying Old Status Name: Arc D Grand Age: 20yrs old former stats str 1.6 agility 1.2 intelligence 2.6 endurance 1.1 health orange skill none... Displaying New Status strength 2.1 agility 1.8 endurance 2.0 intelligence 2.8 health green... skill: none Arc bounce up from his bed -who!!!? Who is it?- ask Arc panicking silence... -eh, what the hell is that.. am I losing my mind. factory System? what the hell is that- ask Arc confuse -hello, user, I''m 00927dag568 I''m your guide in factory System..- what he jumps again he looks around then he took a deep breath and said to himself "relax relax it''s just the drugs effects.." Arc said trying to calm himself scanning... no drugs in user system detected... user health is green.. no abnormality found... -eh hahaha, no way I''m I really losing my mind? noooo no way...- -scanning..- -no problem found in user mind no external influence detected..- system green... after several panic action Arc finally started to calm down... -who are you again?- ask Arc -I''m 00927dag568 your guide to factory System...- -shit, this is real I''m not hallucinating? 0099 something what''s the factory system?- ask Arc it''s 00927dag568, factory System is a supreme creation of the mighty sovereign empire. it''s a program to help with war logistics and productions.. 00927dag568 synthetic voice said... "sovereign empire I never heard of it.. is there something like that in our history?" Arc thinking in his mind -anyway, 099 whatever I''ll call you nine, no wait hmm let me think, facty nope nah sounds bad... I''m always been bad at naming things.. Nine it is then simple easy to remember, alright from now on your name is nine..- said Arc loading.. overwriting serial number.. overwiting complete -so it''s not a name but serial number. how many of you are made..- ask Arc arc without realizing began to converse with the one he called hallucinations. no data found... said Nine -what''s this sovereign empire?- ask Arc user privilege, not enough... user privilege rank 1 need rank 7 to unlock the required information... said Nine -eh so my rank is not high enough.. well it''s understandable we only just. eh did I just converse with you so you''re really real..?- ask Arc nine... -right, can u explain to me what a factory System is?- ask Arc factory System is made to provide logistical supply and to supply war-related weapons. -so, in other words, you like war factory?- said Arc not completely, the factory System can provide all items a factory can create... Nine replied -ohh can your factory System create a machine to create money?- Arc ask searching... 3 factory found... 1 factory to create paper base currency 2 factory to create metal base currency 3 factory to create energy base currency -whoa, are you for real.? you can really make the machine to create money?- Arc said surprised -do you need materials to create it?- ask Arc negative, energy unit is all the system needs to create factory... Nine Replied -energy unit? what''s that?- Arc ask Nine everything is made of energy, so energy is all the systems need to create anything does the user need a complete explanation? Nine replied -nope!- -well, whatever I don''t really care I''m not a scientist or anything so how many energy units to create a factory?- Arc ask Nine that depends on a factory you want to build... "well, that makes sense.." said Arc -so in other words energy unit is like a currency in the factory system.. and I need this energy unit to use the factory system..- said Arc yes... nine answer -so how much is need to create a factory to create paper currency?- ask Arc 50 energy unit to create paper currency factory upkeep 5 energy units for 100 days... -hmm, so how can I earn energy unit?- ask Arc 1 energy unit is automatically earned every 10days.replied Nine you can also earn energy unit by completing factory System missions, said Nine or by building a factory that produces energy unit... -ok, so do I have any energy unit available right now?- ask Arc 100 energy unit is available in the system right now... " so if I created a currency factory I need 50 energy unit and I need 5 more every 100days.." arc said in his mind -so exactly how big is this currency factory?- Arc ask Nine "paper currency factory is 5sq meters wide and 3.5 meters tall..."said Nine -it''s smaller than I thought.. but it''s still not something I can easily hide..- Arc said "paper currency factory is the smallest of all currency factory metal currency factory consist of 2 machine 1 is 15 by 35 square meters the other machine is 26 by 47 sq meters..." "the energy currency is..." -stop!- Arc said cutting Nine explanation -I don''t need to know I don''t need it anyways not right now atleast..- said arc "I need to think this through.. coz I only have 100en unit. I need to Budget it and I can''t let anyone know about it either. it''s dangerous if anyone else found out about it.." arc said thinking in his mind -hmm, wait you said earlier that my stats are change? I seem to remember you saying something like before like old stats?- Arc said user stats was enhanced to accommodate the factory system... "oh, so that why I feel different the whole day today.." Arc said in his mind -what about the mission or system mission?- Arc ask system mission is given depends on the current circ.u.mstances.. and the action of the user. said Nine -oh is that so. so a mission will be issued depending on my future decision..- said Arc correct... said Nine -so do I have any mission right now?- ask Arc suddenly a screen was projected in front of him. #### MISSION LIST #### * build your first factory rewards * 50en unit and 1 lottery box -lottery box? - ask Arc lottery box is an item that can give you random items from the system... said Nine -so you mean to says lottery box can give me free random factory?- Arc said negative lottery box can only give you a random single item from the system store... reply Nine -eh, system store?- ask Arc system store is where you can spend your energy unit to purchase a single user item or any Item a factory can create... said Nine -oh. eh but if that''s true then isn''t better to buy the factory that can make them?- ask Arc that depends on some factory requires a lot of energy unit but it''s not the same for the item it can produce... said Nine -oh. now I get it for example if I need a car I can either buy a factory that can make it or I can just buy a car. so I assume it''s a lot cheaper buying a car than a factory?- ask Arc yes!! said Nine -well thinking about it, buying an item from the system shop is cheaper especially if I only need one of that item.. since it''s wasteful to build a factory if I only need one item it produces...- arc said "well, that makes sense.." correct... -well, show me the store.- #### STORE #### rank 5 body armor 1 en rank 6 energy shield 2 en rank 5 health potion 1en rank 5 cleansing potion 1en rank 5 mobile phone 5en * mobile phone 30 en * gun 15 en * health potion 3 en * cleansing potion 2en ** body armor 35en -hmm, what?? what''s the difference between rank and ?????- Arc ask 1 ???? is equivalent to 10rank. -oh so wait what''s the rank of the mobile phone I''m using right now?- scanning... stats Andro35.... is being displayed .. rank 1.8 earth current technology is rank 2.9 -ohhhh even with all this advanced technology our country has advanced our technology in only 2.9 then just how high is the sovereign empire technology is?- "information is currently unavailable please increase privilege..." said Nine -hmm, that''s disappointing I guess all topics regarding the sovereign empire is unavailable right now right?- ask Arc correct it''s for user protection... Chapter 5 - New Life "so it''s for my protection. I won''t ask any more details then since I don''t really care right now.." said Arc -display the specs of ???? the Mobile phone- "no need to ask me just use your mind to control the system..." said Nine -hmm right, let me try..- ding! "well, that was easier than I thought. let see" *mobile phone device model: SE mobile military unit 0SE-alpha ram: 100 yottabyte Storage: unlimited CPU: S.E.M Alpha quantum core 255 camera: true capture features: auto-mapping Omni projection, auto personnel identification **AI support rank 8 energy shield projection... Arc reads all the specs most of it he can not understand but those he can 100 yottabytes!! -whoa, unlimited storage holy-shit that''s [email protected]#k up.- -so this is a military-grade phone. AI support.. wicked, no wonder it''s so expensive 30en that''s more than half of paper currency factory..- -I bet it''s worth it..- he browses the available factory in the system, darn so many there even factory to make robot soldiers like Terminator. -20k en shit so expensive eh no way diety production factory able to create 5* to 8* diety being wtf..- -factory to create a god? whoa so many numbers there more than one hundred digits I don''t even know how to say it.. but damn that''s so sick..- -cloning factory, battleship factory. mech factory darn alright I''m getting way out perspective.. display factory 100en below- over a hundred factory rank 5-10 weapons factory, rank 5-10 combat vehicles, rank 5-10 food factory and many more... -so many.. well I have to check my priority- #1 money #2 security -that''s my priority right now looks like I need to clean up the bas.e.m.e.nt..- so my priority is to build a currency factory then for security should I go for a * mobile phone producing so much money is suspicious and it will attract unwanted attention if made a wrong move me and my sisters and my parents will be in danger.. that needs to be avoided at all costs... -by the way, why can I only see a few items in the system store? is it because of my low privilege?- correct... "I see if I can build a currency factory I''ll be able to complete my current mission meaning I can get back what I spend in building the paper currency factory.." "and if I buy the *mobile phone I still have around 65en left.." -let''s see how much is energy the factory. shit so expensive let see the cheapest is rank 5 energy factory is 45en and can produce 1.5 energy a day that''s not so bad... energy factory has no upkeep.. well it makes sense since it can produce energy it probably deducted all the energy needed to run the factory.. so I can have about 16en unit every 10days.. that''s not so bad if I can make 2 rank 5 energy factory I''ll have 31en every 10days..- hehehehe I''m rich ahahaha .. alright no time to waste... Arc runs into the bas.e.m.e.nt... -eh, big bro, you''re not sleeping yet what are you going to do? ask Anne- -I''m not sleepy don''t worry about me. but you should sleep early..- -hmm ok... but don''t stay up too late..- -sure!!- he runs straight to the bas.e.m.e.nt without even look at his sister... cough cough!! -shit so dusty in here, time to clean up..- it took Arc 5 hrs to completely organized and clean the bas.e.m.e.nt, "I remember I used to play here a lot when I was younger but after the accident, this becomes a warehouse of some sort.." he throws away all the junk that''s been pilling in the bas.e.m.e.nt.. their bas.e.m.e.nt is quite spacious because it used to be his fathers workshop his father used to work in a company that create all kinds of machine.. he doesn''t know much about what his father did for a living, all he knows is his father used to work for a big company as a chief engineer.. and most of the time his father brings his work home so the bas.e.m.e.nt becomes his workshop.. after his father accident his company came to their house to collect all the materials and machine his father brought home from work.. so there''s no trace of his father old workshop in the bas.e.m.e.nt anymore.. patting his now dusty shirt... "alright, this is the moment of truth.." in reality, he wasn''t really convinced about all this, part of him still thinks it''s all a hallucinations. -build a paper currency factory- he shouts in his mind... building paper currency factory 50en confirm? he saw a small screen in front of him confirm! suddenly a black cube appears in front of him. it''s like a Rubix cube but all black.. it started spinning and growing.. 10 minutes later a paper currency factory machine was in front of him it''s like an oversized scanner printer type of machine with a 3d projection display in the side, it was active the 3d projection at the side of it.. he walks closer than he saw a list of currency available for printing.. he clicks United government currency called Ugcredit. Ugcredit has 6 denomination 1,5,10,20,50 and 100.. he chose 100 and click 100 copy.. 10sec later 100stock of 100 Ugcredit bills are in front of him.. he stood there for a while whispering -it''s all real. it''s real it''s all real hell yeah..- he almost shouts out loud.. lucky he stops himself in time otherwise his sister would be able to hear him.. he picks up the money he checks it, -nice, it''s real- he opens his wallet pick up his 100bill he got this morning from working in the market compare the two, it''s the same... -I''m rich I''m rich...- a few minutes later he began to calm down... -I need a plan..- he picks up a big brown cloth that used to be white covers the paper currency factory machine he arranges some box and item to hide it.. check it again he nods and smiles alright! and went back to his room his sister is already in their room sleeping... in his room arc sits on his bed took a deep breath and began to think... Chapter 6 - Plan ** before I start let me just say that I''m a novice writer and my grammar is a bit Of whak.. so forgive me for that if you find any mistakes pls let me know. and I''m writing just for fun by the way... Arc sat on his bed thinking of what he needs to do next, he picks up a pen and paper he writes a to-do list # an excuse for the money he would produce right now and in the future.. in other words, a source of income. # a permanent place to place his factory. the bas.e.m.e.nt is not ideal for a long run #and excuse to quit my job hmmm, he keeps thinking about how to create an excuse for the money he gets in the currency factory machine... -the best I can think of is stocks. online stocks I can always say the stocks I invested in just paying out.. so I need to create an online account,- he opens his phone and was about to check the stock exchange when he suddenly thinks of something. "right I just completed a mission.." said Ar. in his mind earlier when he built the factory he received a notification but ignores it because he was so happy and excited, now that he calms down.. he opens the system look at the mission page and saw a mission complete he clicks it on his mind. another window appears that says rewards 50en and 1 lottery box. he checks his energy reserved and 95en.. he checked the storage page and saw the box icon that says random lottery box... he read the description. LOTTERY BOX receive 1 to 5 five random items from rank 5 to ***** stars... "so nice so generous I didn''t expect to receive more than 1 item from the random lottery box.. hopefully, I''m lucky, wait!" -nine if I open it now will I only received an item that''s currently available in my store?- Arc asked "random lottery box can give you 1-5 random item from rank 5 to 5stars in the store whether it''s unlocked or not it doesn''t matter..." Nine replied -I see, and the factory is not included?- ask Arc correct... "well doesn''t matter I still like it " Arc said in his mind he clicks the lottery box while chanting -give me luck over and over...- ding you received 1 rank 5 health potion 1 ** attribute enhancement serum 1 * energy shield device 1 ** guard bot 1 *** storage ring -shit, I''m so lucky - he checked the description of the guard bot **guard bot a military VIP guard bot to protect the top and important military personnel can detect stealth energy within a 1-mile radius arm with lethal weapons. list of weapon # ** mini Ck Lazer Gatling gun able to kill target I mile radius can penetrate all types of *shield technology # ** multifunction stun gun # instant teleportation 10miles radius. can be used as a last resort as it drains all energy charge # ... #... he smiles this is like a mini transformer it can transform to any small item such as a bracelet or necklace and many more. he reads all its description and the more he reads the bigger his smile, "This is amazing I''ll be using it for now, after that I''ll pass it to my sisters.." said Arc **attribute serum he read the description... wow nice so it can randomly enhance my all my attribute.. it doesn''t say how much it can increase but since it''s a 2star serum it''s bound to be good... storage ring shit 3star rank storage ring. he clicks on it and a jet black plain ring appears in front of him.. he checks the description, *** storage ring #10000 square miles in storage space #time is stopped inside the storage space #perfect for storing perishable goods # can auto arrange item at the owner will special features automatically absorb energy and converts it to energy unit 5en unit is produce every 10days as long as energy shield has 100% charge he keeps reading the description of the storage ring and he was so impressed by it. -I hit a jackpot on this one..- He read the *energy shield and stop before reading the first few lines in its description... "with the ring, it becomes useless well maybe not that useless I can still use it as a backup.." -with this ring, my energy unit acc.u.mulation will increase. Nine, will the energy factory can still function inside the storage ring?- "no! energy factories need to absorb huge amounts of energy in their surroundings in order to produce energy unit..." said Nine -I guess as much. what about the paper currency factory?- Said Arc paper currency factory can still function inside the storage ring as it has its own energy supply... - nice hahaha so how can I use this ring?- just put it on. -eh, that easy I don''t need to drop my blood or something?- user, you watch too much tv or read to many novels... a synthetic voice rings in his head and for some reason, it sounded like the system is mocking him... just my imagination, just my imagination he repeats in his mind... he put the ring in his right-hand middle finger.. and instantly a notification rings in his head a new user found. proceeding to activation activate? activate arc said in his mind.. and a series of prompt appears in his mind... scanning new owner... scan complete... biometric registered DNA registered... 1 minute later a burst of information appears in his mind... it surprises him.. he almost jump.. -ohh nice nice nice..- he keeps saying he touches his pen suddenly the pen disappeared, and inside the storage ring, his pen suddenly appears with the command of his mind the pen appears again in his hand... -cool- Chapter 7 - planning he looks at his phone and saw the time, 4 am it''s time for him to prepare for work but this time it''s different, for the first time since he starts working he is going to miss his work. never the less he still gets ready he doesn''t want his sisters to notice anything at least not yet. he took a bath check his ring on his mind he saw the paper currency factory machine continue to print money non-stop.. he grinned a few hours ago after getting the ring and learned that he can still use the paper currency factory inside the ring he runs back to the bas.e.m.e.nt to retrieve the factory, today he plans to go to the market to notify the shop he was working with that he is quitting... in the market, he calls, -old man!- "Arc what are you still doing here the work is already begun..." said the old man -old man, I''m quitting! Arc said- -huh, why I thought you need money?- -I do but my body can''t handle it anymore I suffer from a serious back issue - he said looking depressed.. that was the excused he come up with after thinking over and over again... haiis, the old man look at him with pity in his eyes. it''s not the first time someone said something like this, in fact, it''s too common.. every year 1or 2 of his worker was forced to quit because of these kinds of related issue. -I see sorry kid it''s part of the work..- -I know thanks for the taking care of me..- in fairness, although the work is hard the old man always gives him what he deserves. He never took advantage of him he even helps him a few times by giving him extra money. -what''s your plan now kid?- -well, what can I do? but to look for a job that allows me to work with my current body..- -well, good luck kid, I mean it..- -thanks, old man..- after saying goodbye he left. his next destination is the factory there''s no need to go to the construction site since it''s only a part-time job. weather he works or not doesn''t matter to the construction site... -what! you can''t quit I have no one to replace you at the moment.- it''s not like I want to quit but my doctor says if I keep working in this kind of environment my damage lungs will end up as cancer.. you know I can''t afford to do have that there''s so much riding on my shoulders!- f.u.c.k what can he say? don''t worry about getting cancer? as much as he wants to keep the boy he can''t, he took advantage of the boy because he knows he won''t quit because he needs the job now that the boy gets lung damaged because of the pollution in his factory, he was aware of it of course but fixing it takes a lot money he doesn''t want to spend... -so what''s your plan now brat?- -my doctor said she will recommend me to a job she an old family friend..- [email protected]#k fine good luck brat here your last paycheck I add a little more. treat it like a severance pay!!- -thanks, boss..- after getting out of the factory he checks his cash that his boss gave him. [email protected]#k 10credits!- he received 10 additional credit -severance bonus my ass what a cheap bastard,- even though he doesn''t need the money he still can''t stop cursing. next stop, bank. universal United Bank the biggest bank in the United government. -good morning sir what can I do to help you?- aid the beautiful teller in the UUB... -I would like to open an account.- -no problem sir, what kind of account would you like to open?- -can you give me a suggestion?- -sure first can I ask you what''s the purpose of you opening an account?- -oh for personal and online transaction..- -can you elaborate on what kind of online transaction?- -for trading, I mean stocks trading..- -oh, in that case, an open savings account will do sir.- -open? is that mean there''s a closed savings account?- -yes, sir, a closed saving account can only be deposited from a registered account meaning if I want to deposit to close saving account the owner of the account need to register my account first in order for me send money that account.. close saving account mainly used for the company to pay their employees..- the other is a regular saving account. a regular saving account can only accept money from a local source, bank from different city can not deposit money from a regular saving account, the advantage of regular saving account is its low maintenance fee a client who owns a regular saving account only need to maintain 50 credit on his account to prevent it from closing, parents mainly used this kind of account to give allowance for their kids. "yeah, I remember I used to have this kind of account before.." as for open accounts, anyone can deposit money on the account and it''s also easier to move money around as well. since it doesn''t need too much verification but you don''t have to worry about it your money is secured and insured any money less than 1million Ugcredit is secured and under insurance.. if you plan on moving more than a million I suggest you open business account. -so what''s the maintenance for an open savings account?- 500 Ugcredit. -I see. then I would like to open an open savings account please..- no problem may I have your citizen I''d please. arc gave his citizen id, 2 minutes later the registration is complete. sir Arc D Grand how much would you like to deposit for initial deposit? ask the Teller arc is not surprised for a fast transaction since the implementation of citizen id 200years ago all citizen information is recorded in the single I''d system.. and over the last two century the citizen id system has already been perfected -20000 Ugcredit..- sir, may I know where''s or what''s the source of the money? this is just a standard question when you''re opening an account to prevent any illegal use of the account. -no problem I sold one of my dad old machine,- do you have any doc.u.mentation? -sadly no it''s a cash basis transaction,- can you tell me what your dad does for a living? -my dad used to be a chief engineer in pan trans Corp..- I see, let me verify it first give me a second. the Teller type something from his computer she already knows the name of arc parents since it''s included in his information from his citizen id. a few seconds later. I see I''m sorry to hear about your parents. -no problem said Arc..- everything checks out sir. Arc gave the 20k Ugcredit that''s been produced from his paper currency factory machine.. his face shows no emotions but inside his heart, it is beating so fast he can almost hear it... he waited for the Teller to complete the transaction... Sir Arc thank you for choosing Universal United Bank. here''s your citizen I''d, your account is already linked to your id anything else I can help you with? said the beautiful teller while smiling at him, he was about to say goodbye when he thought of something. -oh yes, can you open a regular saving account for my two sisters? I don''t have their id with me though..- are you their legal guardian? both his sister is underage ever since his parents'' accident he became the legal guardian for both his sister. -I am..- in that case, there''s no need to bring their id. let me verify it. ok, Mr. Grand how much would you like to for the initial deposit? -1000 Ugcredit each please..- ok, give me a second. all done sir confirmation would be sent to your email anything else? -no that would be all miss thank you..- Chapter 8 - Planning II after going to the bank he went to the grocery store to buy some food it''s been a while since he and his sisters have a proper meal... after shopping, he went home after, after taking care of all the groceries he bought, he sat on the couch... "it''s still early Anne and Amy won''t be back till late in the afternoon.." he checks his phone 2:49 pm "hmm, the first step is done now for the next step.." he opens the factory system interface. on the shop page he is looking at the ** Mobile phone up until now, he still can''t decide if he will purchase the **mobile phone. but he knows he needed it for his excuse on online trading of stocks, of course, he can learn it himself but that will take some time even with his enhance stats he was not confident he can master trading in a short time. a two-star AI support from the ** mobile phone can help him a lot.. he was betting on the **AI support to help him with the trading since it''s his only excuse for money source.. he took a deep breath and grit his teeth. he clicks buy on 30en **mobile phone instantly a black slick elegant crystal-like phone appears on his hand he looks at its hand, this looks sick but at the same time attention grabber he check the phone and there''s no button whatsoever -how the hell I''m I going to use this - ding! user identification... clear suddenly the phone power up. and a bunch of holograms appears before him.. whoa awesome. -hi, user, I''m eve1938unhk you can call me Eve for short I''m you interface AI support how can I help you?- in fairness, this AI doesn''t sound like a synthetic voice like the factory system has. Eve sounds like a real human and it''s even a girl''s voice... -Eve is there a way to change the interface settings? and call me boss, all this hologram is asking for trouble..- of course boss, this is just a factory setting everything can be customized to your convenience. -is there a way to hide all this?- we can do a neural connection boss... -sure let''s try that...- suddenly a lot of information was download in his brain.. the blank phone on his hands died down... -do I have to carry this all the time?- unfortunately yes boss but you can change its appearance if you want.. -eh, really can you change it into a watch?- sure boss, please pick a design. Arc choose a regular looking watch then click change.. he watches as the black phone in his hand change into a regular watch... -cool- he changes it again and again until he had enough. -Eve can you link to all my accounts and phone number to you?- that''s easy Boss. syncing... done! -Eve, I plan to do stock trading can you help me..- he was a bit nervous if Eve can not help him he''s [email protected]#k. "that''s easy Boss, give me a second," said Eve he watches as Eve study all she needs to trading at least that''s what he thinks Eve is doing, a few minutes later Eve''s voice rings in his head. "preparation complete boss .. so what kind of trading you want Boss? long term or short term?" asked Eve -I leave that up to you, you can use my 20k Ugcredit in my account to do what you want I only have one request I need results asap!- said Arc affirmative Boss. "whew finally my starting preparation is complete, I''ll lay low for a few days until the first results of trading are complete after that I can slowly deposit money into my account until I have enough to buy a new house far from here to avoid a problem," Arc mumbled in his mind to his surprise, it''s not even 10mins a notification ring in his head. "Boss, the first transaction is complete!" -eh so fast- he checked and saw that Eve divided his money into several trading accounts invested in a few companies and sell it again a few minutes later when he saw his account 36079 Ugcredit is displayed. -holy shit did I just earn 16k in less than 10mins?- "to be accurate boss it''s more than that I still have few stocks I haven''t sold yet still waiting for a perfect time." "predicting the flow of the market is so easy it didn''t even use 1% of my computing power." -eh.. is that so...- -well while you''re at it help me look for a new house should be big enough to accommodate a few energy production factories..- said Arc "Sure Boss." -oh and continue trading oh and help me check of what''s the best business to open later, put into account the factory system into your criteria for searching..- "right away Boss" - I''m rich ahahaha I''m rich- although he didn''t say it out loud he keeps dancing like a caveman who discovered fire. a few minutes later. -I need some contingency plan.. I can''t be complacent..- in the high rise office building, a row of an advance computer with people can be seen shouting and calling all the time. Rowling trading agency is one of the top trading agency in the continent the amount of Ugcredit flowing into their agency is in trillions of credits many top companies are their clients. Mill has been a stockbroker for more than 10yrs he was good at it that''s why he was one of the top earners of the Rowling agency the commission he gets is in the millions but because of his gambling addiction he barely has any savings, be that as it may, money comes easy for him. -shit, I miss the deal on Duran company, eh!- looking and saw a list of trader and notice that one trader perfectly buy and sell the stocks at the right time. it may sound easy but it''s not, buying a stock and selling it at the right time to earn profits is not easy oftentimes if you''re late by a few seconds you see your stock plummet below the price you bought it from.. you have to account the tariff and tax for every transaction too, to make a profit. lucky guy although he saw the name the amount is hidden for security reasons. "belam Corp stock is down by 5points should we buy the stocks?" one of the men in the office shouted. he clicks the belam Corp and saw a graf of the company history he checks the graf of the company history for the last 10yrs to the latest if it didn''t fall for the next 5mins buy all the stocks available, "Sir, It falls again by 3points." "wait for another 5mins, " Mill Said "sir the stocks just went up for 20points." "what! shit another missed opportunity" Mill cursed he clicks on the recent traders'' list, eh him again he saw the name Mr. Grand he checks the timing of the trade. normally you can''t check what kind of information but because they are the top trading agency there are some perks and this is one of them. "again the timing is perfect." Mill said in his mind he was amused but that''s about it, he focused again on his job when his shift ends he checked all the transaction he missed, he did this every time, he checks the pattern and see if he can learn something..he checked all the miss opportunity and Every time the name Mr. Grand is there he check all the transaction he made today and again the name Mr. Grand is there. "Jenny give me the list of all the transactions today." Mill said "Which one?" answer jenny, "All of it!" "oh sure eh what all of it?" why? just send it to me don''t ask why. Mill said "fine give me a few minutes" 5 minutes later his company mail sent a notification.. he saw the file jenny sent he click it open check all the transactions and to his grew wide open his mouth is open wide that an egg can fit inside... "This is impossible..." he clicks to download and saves it to his tablet.. jenny! is Jake still in his office? Jake Rowling is the owner and the CEO of Rowling trading agency he was a genius even Mill can only concede to Jake in terms of skill in trading that guy is a prodigy. "Mr. Rowling is still in his office." In Rowling trading agency the only mill can call Jake by his first name... everyone else addresses Jake as Mr. Rowling. Chapter 9 - Trading prodigy Mills barge in Jake Rowling''s office while shouting Jake you got to see this.. when he got to the office he saw Jake in a meeting with two beautiful ladies.. he recognized 1 of them miss, Mary Austin a top celebrity the other one might be Mary Austin manager. "ehem sorry I didn''t know you were in the meeting." Mill said scratching his head in embarrassment "if you have knock, then you will find out," Jake said sarcastically "hahaha sorry, I''ll come back later." then Mary said, "You must be mill, mill sander the top trader of the Rowling trading agency." "We were just talking about you.. anyways our meeting is already been concluded. Mr. Rowling, it''s a pleasure I''m waiting for the good news." "The pleasure is all mine miss Austin you can count on us." Mary left but she passes by into mill she stops and said "I''ll leave my money in your good hands, Mr. Mill." Mill scratches his head and said, "no problem..." Mary smiles and left with her companion... after Mary left Jake look at mill and said, "So what''s so important that you disturb my lovely chat with miss Austin?" asked Jake "hehe well look at this" he passes him his tablet Jake look at it and said, "so what I''m I looking at?" "Look at the transaction and traders'' names!" Jake look at it and said, "I''m looking at it but I... he stops no way is this possible!" over 50 transactions! he saw the name Mr. Grand on all of it, looking at the timing of the transaction. "Perfect! all the transaction of this Mr. Grand is perfect," Jake said in amazement "can you find out who he is?" asked Mill "difficult," looking at the other traders'' information is classified not even the United trading government agency or UTGA does not have the right to look at it unless the trader makes his/her information public but no trader would to that. it''s the United statistics commission who holds the record. and only them has the ability to check and view these records, ever since the hacker name nobody hacks the name and records of all the top government officials and made it public, leading to chaos and death of so many people, nobody hacks the top officials of the government because he believes all of them are corrupt, and exposing the record of the top officials, would expose all of their corruption, if that was all then it''s no big deal but the problem is most of those officials are connected to much top-secret information in the government like for example the head of the intelligence office when his records are made public all secret agent name working as a spy to the others countries are also made public leading to the death of more than 100 secret agent and mole in the other countries including all working undercover agent send to many gangs and mobs by the police when the chief of police records was made public all those undercover agents were exposed leading many deaths. even the hacker nobody probably didn''t think that his decision to hack and exposed those corrupt officials will lead to the death of many innocent and not related people to die. a massive manhunt was issued by the president of the United government himself to look and arrest the so-called nobody... but after so many years the hacker nobody just disappeared like a puff of smokes nobody knows if the hacker nobody was ever found there''s A lot of conspiracy theories about it but at the end that''s all there is to it, a theory nothing more. Jake keeps looking at the tablet-like there''s a beautiful girl picture that he can''t take his eyes of it. "did you check yesterday transaction?" asked Jake "I did.. not all of it of course but nothing I also checked our database and there''s no prior transaction until today..." Mill replied "maybe this Mr. Grand is not a single person it''s not unheard of for multiple people to use a single account for trading," Jake said "Yeah but there are no benefits of doing it in fact there only negative of doing it multiple people using a single account can lead to all kinds of problems," said Mill "I know.. actually, my intuition tells me it''s a single person, not multiple people using a single account." "your intuition huh," said Mill. "well if you put it that way I believe you." Jake''s intuition is very accurate... "I don''t remember any account of it being wrong." "I''ll make some phone calls I have a few connections in the United statistics office." Said, Jake "Alright, I''m out to see you tomorrow jake." "leave your tablet with me, for now, I''ll give it back to you tomorrow." "sure no problem" Mill replied Arc back at home is still dancing like a caveman in his house in unaware of the things happening away from him.. maybe even if he knows he won''t be worried, after all, he trusts Eve capability, after all, **rank AI is not something anyone from here can deal with. it''s almost time for Anne and Amy to come home "I should start cooking?" Arc said in his mind 2yrs ago when his parents got into an accident. in order to make do Arc red many cookbooks he red and study, his purpose is to turn ordinary and cheap ingredients into delicious food for his sisters.. of course, he failed a lot but day by day his cooking improved until to a point his sisters can''t tell the difference between the ingredients used. " it''s been a while since I cooked food ever since I started doing 3jobs I no longer have any time to cook, good thing Anne cooking is improving as well. I left my recipe for my food so that even if I was not here to cook Anne just by following my recipe, and can cook delicious food. it''s not as good as mine of course but it''s passable hahaha.." 45min later three delicious dishes were served in the dining table. -eh smells so good- the moment Anne and Amy open the door to the house they smell delicious food. -big bro is cooking, alright!!- they run straight to the kitchen and when they saw the food on the table a drool can be seen on their mouths they can tell that the ingredients used are top class, imagine if you can turn ordinary ingredients into a top-class cuisine what will happen if you used top-class ingredients, the results godly dish.. the sister run straight to the table... -stop!!- shouted Arc -wash your hands first..- eh. the two sisters just woke up from their stupor.. big bro I didn''t notice you there hehe -wash your hands first!- Arc said "right right" the two sisters run into the sinks almost bumping on each other. Arc can only shake his head looking at his two younger sisters, after washing their hands, they run back at the dinner table - soo good I miss your cooking bro said, Anne,- Amy is nodding while eating at the same time -chow gyudd,- -stop talking when you eat..- snap Arc but honestly even he was surprised by the taste of the food he cooks "Did I just become a god of cooking? hehe" 30 minutes later all the food is gone. burp! "so full," said Anne, hehe me too, said, Amy, -alright, I''ll prepare some tea to help with digestion.. you two go to the living room I''ll take care of cleaning,- "I''ll help you, bro," said, Anne. -no need I can do this go to the living room and stop bothering me..- "Okay," said, Anne. in the living room "I wonder what happened to big bro? it''s unusual for him to be home early he even cook using expensive ingredients," said Anne "did he win a lottery or something?" ask amy. "Who knows maybe he got a girlfriend." -who got a girlfriend?- "hii.. ahaha nothing" the two sisters look at each other and laugh. -here drink some tea..- said Arc "so big bro what''s the occasion?" asked Anne they look at him waiting for his explanation... -ehem, nothing much it''s just that my investment in stocks just pays out..- "whoa, when did you start trading stocks?" asked Anne -awhile back I lost quite a bit as well of course, but now I earned back all I lost and more..- "eh, how much more?" Amy looking exited. -just earn 50000 Ugcredit..- "50000!!" shhh! the sisters quickly cover their mouth "how much did you invest" ask Anne quickly... Chapter 10 - Trading prodigy II "how much did you invest big bro?" -I''ve been investing little by little over the past yr.. total around 1k+ Ugcredit..- "whoa, 50x investment returns.. and good job big bro." said Anne giving him a thumbs up ???? -hehe thanks, I''m a genius after all - -and after thinking about it I decided to be a full-time trader.. so I quit all my jobs- -I need a good rest anyway.. and if this does not work I can always go back to work no big deal..- "I support you, big bro," "yeah yeah yeah" nod Amy. -oh and I have a surprise for you two..- he gave them two boxes. "what''s this?" ask Amy. -just open it..- "hihi ok, ahhhh!!" "no way! andro prime ex! ahhhh" Amy and Anne continue to shriek looking so excited. this is the latest of the andro prime model, andro prime model is the most expensive brand among the andro series. after calming down Anne said, "this must be expensive a regular andro phone will do." -ah I see sure give it back I''ll exchange it for a regular one said Arc with the mocking face..- Anne on the other hand although she said those words her two hands are wrap around the Andro prime ex box and clearly no intention of giving it back. "hihi I already have my drool on in, its warranty is already voided hehe," "right right," nod Amy. -yeah yeah, open it there''s more..- said Arc they look at each other looking puzzle, so they open the box when they open the box Anne looks at the brand new orange Andro prime EX her favorite color is obviously orange, Amy, on the other hand, looking at her pink phone and can''t stop giggling. -ok ok, stop staring at it and booth it up!- they did as what told, -alright, complete the registration..- "eh, big bro are you for real?" they saw that their id si now connected to UUB and their current balance is 1000 Ugcredit... -of course, use that to buy whatever you need oh yeah any this is for you- he handed her the now transformed guard bot. now looking like a cute bracelet. -always bring it with you whenever you leave home ok!- Anne look at his brother she plans to joke around but when she saw the serious face of Her big bro face all she can do is nod and said "I promise." -Amy this is for you.- he handed her the now transformed energy shield the one that he plans to use as a backup. back then when Eve heard that he plans to give the guard bot to Anne, Eve suggests that he also gave the energy shield to Amy. he then learned that almost all items *rank above is capable of changing form. Amy look at the pink cute bracelet and said "I promise to always wear it.. hihi" the two sisters then jump at him and hug him and said thanks big bro hihi. -no prob. he said to them. I promise from now on we will never have any money problems.. oh and by the way I plan to move to the center of Radial city in the future close to mom and dad''s hospital.. what do you think about it?- really? so what''s your plan for this house? ask Anne. -I''ll leave it be for now or in worst-case scenario well rent it out..- whew.. the two sisters breath out and relax we were afraid you plan to sell our house. -I''ll never to that you know that.. even when we almost have nothing, selling our house has never crossed my mind, it was never an option..- -anyway, go back to your room do your homework and rest afterward..- -go go..- hihi the two runs upstairs giggling non-stop... a moment later he was alone in the living room.. he checked with Eve. "boss here''s the latest transaction." he saw his balance 70k+ he took a deep breath and smile 70k this not include all the stocks that haven''t been sold yet. "Wow I didn''t realize that stock trading can be so lucrative.. it almost makes the money factory useless, well almost the amount the money factory machine is producing is in a million every hour.." "The problem is how to use it, I didn''t think in just a span of few hours my problem of, on how to earn money will turn to how to laundry so much money,.." "I feel like a drug Lord who''s biggest problem is how to laundry the money illegally.. though I didn''t earn it in an illegal way.. there''s still no way for me to explain the source for my money.." "I need to find a way to transfer my money to the bank legally. the only way I can think of is starting a business.. hopefully, Eve can give me a good suggestion.." -Eve what do you think is the best business to start with?- "according to all the data I got from the internet starting an international business or even a galactic one is the most lucrative... the only problem is our starting point is too low." -I know.. well, we have to start somewhere..- "Boss, I suggest you buy a warehouse with cash," -warehouse? Can you elaborate Eve?- "sure Boss, according to the stock market trading goods that came from the wilderness has the biggest potential.. countless materials are being traded in stock market almost 65% of that are good that came from the wilderness." "we can do buy and sell wilderness goods." -hmm but there are already so many people doing that, I''ve read it before that market is already saturated it''s difficult to make a profit there..- "boss you seem to forget that you have the money factory machine.. our purpose is not to make money but to turn our current money legal." -right right I almost forgot about it for a second there good job Eve ????.- Chapter 11 - Grand Trading -Eve good job????,- "I see buy and sell huh. that''s not a bad idea.." -but I have no background in buy and sell. even though we''re not in it for the profit we can''t be in deep red.. or it will be suspicious. no matter how we edit our ledger buying high and selling low, will be suspicious especially a word of mouth if someone talks about it we can escape being investigated..- "I know boss... I''m searching for a broker who has dealings with Hunter." -ok but I think it''s better if we can sign a contract with them.. but for now do you have a warehouse location we can purchase in cash?- "I have found 3 location Boss, take a look..." "hmm the first one is interesting it''s in a good location near the Jorge market why is it cheap?" -this place should be a good place for a warehouse and therefore should be expensive, why is it cheap do you know why?- "According to data, I gathered the owner needs a huge amount of money to pay for a gambling debt. I''ve watched and observed the owner''s action the whole day and all I say is he''s pathetic idiot, he used his company money for gambling, and lost big-time now he can''t pay his employees, and the casino is asking him for his debt." -I see.. well, we can take advantage of... eh, what did you just said watch and observed him?- "Boss, it''s easy to hack their CCTV I not only observed him I also observed the casino he was indebted with.. the casino is definitely connected to a mob.. so the owner of the warehouse is in a panic he needs a lot of money fast so he''s selling his warehouse below market price." -mob. huh is that going to be a problem?- Arc asked. "I don''t want trouble for me and my family.. not until I have a way to protect them. I''m still too weak.." "No problem boss ???? I hack into their secured server and download all their illegal activities." "I can just release all that in the public before they become a problem ... and I think their appearance there is also a good thing for us." -eh, why?- "their appearance will keep the good guys off our noses. let them attract all the attention of the cops allowing us to do business in peace, and beside our warehouse is far enough from them to interfere with us. it''s also one of the reasons they didn''t just take the warehouse from that pathetic guy, they want all their business close to each other." -well, I don''t understand the reason for all that, to be honest, but I trust you so let''s do that...- said Arc Shrugging his shoulder -schedule a meeting with the warehouse owner tomorrow.. and one more thing order a computer system and have them delivered here..- "I need to keep my appearance of being a stockbroker to my sisters after all.." "no prob boss????" ding! new mission activated. "Eh, a new mission? I didn''t expect a new mission this soon." #### mission #### successfully established a business within 10 days... REWARDS # 120 energy unit # ???? human manager # ????human guard x2 # ???? human secretary FAILURE - 80 energy unit removal of one random item own by the user... no new mission will be issued for 100 days. nice rewards.. but the failure is also bad. minus 80en plus one random item removal if I lost both 80en and Eve I''m [email protected]#k... "hmmm, by the way, what do you mean human?" "it''s a human clone that has specialized skill sets." Nine replied "oh, so it''s a ???? rank human clone huh. I guess they are perfect run the business I''m opening." "I guess it''s time to use that ???????? enhancement serum.. will I turn to be a superhuman,? hehe, let''s hope so." Arc said in his mind Arc went upstairs to his bedroom laid on his bed and open the system storage he clicks on enhancement serum.. a silver injectable vial appeared in his hand... the whole vial is pure silver metal so can''t see what''s inside.. he took a deep breath and injected it into his arm. for a while, nothing happened as he was about to ask the system he felt something in his arm felt like a hot liquid traveling to his veins it started slow and getting faster and faster.. and when it reaches into his head a sudden pain hit him.. then he blacks out... -arrgg my head..- he felt like he''s been drinking the whole night and now he had a really really bad hangover. -what the hell..- he stood up went to the bathroom groggily, he looks into the mirror and he was shocked.. he looks much younger all the wrinkles and pimples he have is gone.. in fact, he looks handsome.. he noticed a black sticky substance on his face neck and in fact he just noticed that his whole body is sticky and he stinks. -shit, what''s that smell did I just poop and roll over it?- he immediately took a shower. in the shower he noticed that all the scars he got in the last few years is gone.. he also noticed that his skin is smooth, "shit, how am I going to explain this to my sisters .." after showering, he removes all the bedding and replaces it with a new one... when he went downstairs he noticed that both his sisters are gone.. he took a quick breakfast and check his status. ### STATUS ### ARC D GRAND strength 3.5 agility 2.9 endurance 4.1 intelligence 3.9 SKILL: none whoa, that''s some increase. system display my old stats. strength 2.1 agility 1.8 endurance 2.0 intelligence 2.8 "wow, my strength increase by 1.4 points not much compared to endurance that increases by more than 2 points my intelligence increased by 1point.. well I''m close to being superhuman." "user stats will continue to increase in the following days.. the serum strength is too much for the current users'' stats.. on 10.67% of the serum has been used the rest are being stored inside your body." Nine Said "Eh, this is just the beginning? well, when I think about it, it is ????????rank after all.. good thing my body didn''t explode from injecting too much energy." "the user should stop reading to much manga or reading to much xianxia novel.." Nine synthetic voice rang on his head. "The serum is not made of high concentrations of energy but of an evolutionary bioengineered substance, that enhances the genetic make-up of carbon-based lifeform..." Nine Explained "right, whatever that means I''m not interested in it.. as long as it is safe and can increase my stats that''s all I need to know.. though I understand the theory I don''t have any interest in it, so I won''t ask any more explanation, it''s just a waste of time for me." "Right, time to go and meet that pathetic owner of the warehouse." Chapter 12 - Grand Trading II Of course, before he met with the warehouse owner.. he needs some preparation such as bag, right I need to buy some bag.. he made a quick detour to a mall choose a relatively big backpack.. he also went and buy some clothes after all he needs to look the part as well. he looks into the mirror, -looks good - he didn''t choose any fancy clothes, he just chooses a good brand of jogging pants and a windbreaker and a plain white shirt and also a good. brand of running shoes.. he looks like a rich kid going for a morning run. in his mind, I only need to look like someone with money. no need to exaggerate it fancy clothes will only backfire for him.. plus it''s comfortable. the meeting is already been set, Eve took care of everything, their meeting place is a relatively fancy restaurant near the town center. when he got there the owner of the warehouse is already there. he recognized him immediately since Eve shows him his pictures.. he walks there. Mike Lee has been nervous ever since he received a call from a woman interested in buying his warehouse. Mike knows how important this deal to him it''s literally life and death for him so early in the morning 2hrs before the meeting time he was already on his way to the meeting place. Angel''s restobar is quite a famous place many rich young men and women hangs there during the night, even he himself have been here a few times before. Mike sits in the table he ordered a coffee and small breakfast consist of bacon and egg and some toasted bread.. he drinks the coffee but no appetite for eating.. he waited until 5mins into their agreed meeting time. he doesn''t see any lady coming into the restorant.. then he noticed a young man with a backpack on one shoulder coming in his direction, he checks the young man out, he''s wearing a pair of black jogging pants and a jacket he noticed the brand frost. frost is a relatively luxurious brand and quite famous for the upper-class teenager. Arc got in front of Mike''s table he greets him. -you must be Mike?- "eh, and you are?" -didn''t my secretary called you last night?- Arc Said "Oh, I see I didn''t expect you to be so young, please sit down." -by the way, I''m Arc Grand and you''re Mike Lee correct?- "that''s right said Mike can I have you something, mister Grand." -don''t be so formal Mike call me Arc. I''ll pass on your first offer. well, then Mike I''m not the type to beat around the bush..- Mike swallows his saliva.. of course.. he calls for a waiter to Clean his table. -so, Mike, you''re selling you''re warehouse on 38th ave. I won''t ask why since I''m not interested in it.. 300k Ugcredit it''s not a bad number but considering the condition of the warehouse it''s still on the upper side don''t you think Mike?- "Actually, it''s already below the market price any lower than that and I''ll be losing too much." -I see- Arc looks at him and said -then I''m sorry to waste your time Mr. Lee..- Arc tried to get up and leave. Mike panic a little he sighs "please sit down Mr. Grand.. I''m willing to lower the price a little." Arc smile and sit down again.. he looks at Mike who already sweating a little. he laughed in the inside he feet great looking at Mike. normally he can only look up to a person like Mike, if not for the system he would still be killing himself working. "Mike let me give you an offer I''m willing to pay 320k Ugcredit if you include all your contact and previous data of all your transactions..." Mike look at him and said, "that''s not a problem." those things are useless to him anyway without his Warehouse. "what are you planning on doing with the warehouse anyways? no need to answer if it''s inconvenient." -no no nothing like that in truth I don''t have a plan just yet.. acquiring your company data is just a whim on my part it may be useful or it may not..- -so do we have a deal, Mike?- "haha. of course we have a deal." -excellent ???? should we finalize our deal here..?- "let''s move to a more private area." Mike call a waiter and ask to prepare a private room for them. the waitress bows and ask them to follow her. the went to the 3rd floor which consists of private rooms they choose a room with a view sat down and ask the waitress to leave for now. Mike takes out an envelope with doc.u.ments on in as well as a tablet with data on it. in order to purchase land, there are two steps a physical doc.u.ments and electronic doc.u.ments. United land statistics office is a government agency responsible for all transactions regarding real estate in the United government.. it may sound complicated but actually, the transaction can be completed in a matter of minutes. Mike pass the doc.u.ments to arc. Mike already sign his part, arc look at it.. at the same time he was talking to Eve in his mind, he was asking Eve if the doc.u.ments are in order.. one can never be too careful after all.. when Eve confirm the legitimacy of the doc.u.ments he signs his name and other information.. when that''s done he also input his information on the tablet. actually, all he needs to do is put his sss number on it.. but it''s not done yet.. a confirmation on both parties need to be submitted... after submitting the doc.u.ments.. arc passes his bag to Mike. -320k Ugcredit it''s all there you can count it..- Mike accept the bag and open it he saw bundles of 100ugc bills separated by a band that says 10000, Arc prepares all this last night. it took Mike around 20mins to count all the bills, "it''s all here I''ve verified it," Mike said. Then he calls the USO confirmed the transaction and hang up.. 2 minutes later Arc and Mike received verification from USO that the transaction has been finalized and completed. Mike pass him a USB drive he said that that is all the transaction history of his company he also mails him all his client and contacts information.. arc took the USB while smiling at Mike and said, -shall we order now? my treat..- Mike smile and said let''s concluded our deal with a toast, Mike call the waitress ordered some fine wine, while Arc also ordered some food.. 10mins later the food and wine were served. Mike open the wine poured it into two wine glass, then Arc and Mike raise their glass of wine and made toast ???? ding!. Mike offered to pay for the meal but Arc refused. Mike didn''t stay for long after they toast he makes some small talk and left. Arc stayed for awhile eat some food while talking to Eve. boss all preparation is complete I''m ready to register a business give it a name, Boss. Grand Trading Corp... Chapter 13 - Grand Trading III Ding! he received a notification from United Business Office confirming that the business name has been registered. but that doesn''t mean that the business is already established there are a lot more things to be done. but he doesn''t need to do anything Eve will do the rest.. all he needs to do is think of the next step and have Eve implement it... Mill went to the office early in the morning. the first thing he did is check last night''s transaction records.. but to his surprise, he didn''t see the name of Mr. Grand but soon he received a call from Jake.. he stood up and went to Jake''s office. when mill opens the door to Jake''s office he saw him talking to someone on the phone.. he greets him anyway. "morning Jake!" and he sat in the chair in front of Jake office table.. he sat there quietly waiting for Jake to Finnish talking in the phone.. he opens his phone check on the latest trend and news, it''s important for a trader like him to be informed about the latest current events.. he checked many things from news of galactic war to the conflict between United government and Pacific Asian Alliance or PAA... he also saw some news about the discovery of new alien species. then he click on the video of a raid on beast Lord, five hunters circle and attacked the beast Lord, the beast Lord look like a minotaur only it has 4 arms and each arm as thick woman''s waist each arm also hold a huge club like weapon.. one hunter fire a harpoon but it only bounces back against the beast Lord thick skin.. the beast Lord laugh and charge at the hunter who fires the harpoon.. but the hunter is ready for it.. these hunters are clearly professional every action they made is calculated and meticulously planned. but this beast Lord is very strong and very intelligent it didn''t fall to the hunters provocation and taunting.. in remain passive on defending and oy occasionally attack.. it looks like it was waiting for the hunters to get tired.. the hunters know that too and after many unsuccessful attempts they pull out.. this is a failed raid. this just shows how troublesome these beast Lord was.. their many debates on why not used high powered weapon.. and eradicate the beast.. but Many are against that actions.. yes the beast Lord and brutal beast are dangerous but they are also a rare commodity. the danger they pose is a lot smaller compared to the advantage of having them around.. beast meat especially beast Lord have high energy contents study shows that eating beast Lord meat can strengthen a human genes and continues eating of that said meat can increase one strength and immunity and best of all it increases one''s life span. that''s why humanity continues to tolerate the beast.. and one more thing a cloned beast Lord doesn''t possess the same quality of its wild counterpart.. even beast raise in captivity shows sign of Gene degradation. that''s human stop raising the beast.. and allows it to roam free in the wilderness.. and besides beast hunting, as become a sort national sensations beast hunters are becoming superstar.. hunters are graded by United hunters association.. the grading system goes from SSS SS S AAA AA A B C D E F F being the lowest rank. Mill continues to browse when he heard Jake calling him. "mill can you guess who I''m talking to earlier? I" "someone from the United statistics office?" "that''s right yesterday I made some calls regarding our mysterious Mr. Grand. guess what we have uncovered?" Ask Jake "do we have his information?" "no not even close.. all information regarding this Mr. Grand is confidential.. even my contact in USO can''t access the files.. according to him the files are encrypted only access to the highest office..." "whoa, that''s something.. I tried looking at last night transaction records but I didn''t see his name." "well, that''s not surprising we probably won''t see any record about him again.." "eh, why?" "well according to my source Mr. Grand increased it''s security level yesterday.. so he probably finds out someone''s trying to access his information," said Jake "did he know it was us?" asked Mill "probably or probably not we can never know.." "I wonder who he is to have that kind of security level it must be related to the top office." Mill Asked "it''s better if don''t poke our head on this one.. there''s no advantage in it for us," Jake said what they didn''t know is Eve is watching and listening to their conversations the moment they do something that will endanger of exposing her boss she will implement her plan... Eve after listening to their conversations stops spending a lot of her CPU power to monitor them.. she still monitoring them but only minimum surveillance. what Jake and mill didn''t know is that because of the decision they made they we''re spared from a disaster that will befall them if they continue to investigate or poke their head on her boss business... Arc has no idea about all this after he got the notification form UBO of the successful registration of his business name.. he was in good mood.. he ordered some stakeout for his little sisters.. he went home because his next appointment is still in the afternoon. today both his sisters have a half-day in school that''s why he ordered some food for his sisters. he looks at his watch 10:49 am still early, he hails a cab and told the driver his address. it''s actually not far from Angel restobar to his house.. only around 2 kilometers. 2 kilometers is nothing to him, every day for the last 2yrs in order to save money he travels on foot for more than 5 kilometers every day to go to work.. he sits at the back of the cub he look at the window.. he thinks about all his past experiences it seems so long ago.. even though 2days ago he was still a penny less ant in front of people like Mike. now everything is changing and it''s changing too fast and he needs to adapt quickly so he can give his family especially his two little sisters a better life that much sooner. before he knows it he was already in front of his house.. he pays the driver left the cub and enter his home. Chapter 14 - Grand Trading IV In a bar Called Flamming Mugs, Barry a veteran hunter he''s been a hunter for over 10yrs a AAA rank hunter he together with his four teammates, Bart a AA rank hunter position Gunner his job is to distract and trap the beast Bak a AA rank hunter, position: Blocker, his job is to block any attacks the beast has throw at them, using the thick shield he also distracts the beast Abel a AAA rank hunter, position: Slayer, his job is damage and kill the beast as fast as possible he and Barry their team leader are responsible for killing the beast Jenna a AA rank hunter, position: Support, her job is to heal provide ammo and other support to her teammates. together their team is called Raid masters, but now there are a depressing aura surroundings them because for some reason the drone they used to capture video of their fight against the beast was hack and the videos of their failed raid was posted in the hunter forum and into vitube where millions if not billions of people''s can view their failure... normally a failed raid is common their failed raid is not a bad video it even captures their professionalism in hunting a beast Lord.. the problem is two days ago before the so-called failed raid.. they brag and taunt their rival team called BEAST KILLERS. they brag and said that no beast Lord can escape their Teamworks and they never failed a raid before. they said this after the BEAST KILLERS team leader said that they failed a few raids in the past during their interview on some prominent tv program that covers all beast hunting related topics. and now that their failed raid was leak and uploaded online.. they received a lot of criticism and insult.. like this is what happens when you brag too much. there were even memes related to them. video of their bragging and the videos of their failed raid were posted side by side... to make matters most when their rival was asked if they have any comments regarding their failed raid.. they said that they are very professional even in failure especially in bragging... Barry almost pukes blood when he heard it because he was so angry.. but what can he do? the source of their misfortune is him.. last night after their failed raid he went drinking and got drunk on his way home he drops the drone on the cub he was ridding.. it was not until the morning that he figured it out what happens. he was waking up by a call from Jenna asking him what did he do? at first, he was confused because he didn''t remember doing anything last night except drinking.. which he does all the time... but when Jenna told him to open the hunter''s forum. it was after he opens the hunter''s forum that he remembers his blunder.. he immediately calls his teammates to Flamming Mugs to discuss what to do next... "black Blades just called they are canceling their sponsorship on us." said, Jenna Black Blades are a famous brand that supplies weapons and gears to the hunters. "It wasn''t just black Blades.. all our sponsors have pulled out," said Abel hunters that seek the fame and fortune knows how ruthless the race if becoming celebrity hunter.. anyone can''t wait to stomp kick you down like shark smelling blood.. they did it too. insulting a celebrity hunter who made a mistake no matter how small it is they will fan the flames to make it bigger, they did it for two reasons one to make a name for themselves by insulting him/her by saying they will never do what he/she did. second, by destroying his or her reputation, there would be 1less competitor, and maybe steal his or her sponsors and fans at the same time. in other words, it''s a dirty business but they are willing to be part of it because there''s a lot of money in it... and now team raid masters find themselves in the receiving end of the barrel. the money they earn from their sponsors is more than 10 to 20 times the earn in killing and selling the beast they hunted... and now 1 blunder and it''s all gone. Abel was the first to speak. "I was invited by team Slayer to join their team and I accepted it. I just came here to say sorry and goodbye. I can''t afford the loss of our sponsors I have 3 children and my wife is carrying the fourth I''m sorry." Barry said without looking at him, "it''s fine I understand." in fact, he really does.. he has a lot of mortgages he just bought a brand new house 6 months ago, and a car a year ago. now he didn''t know how will he be able to pay all of it without the money from his sponsors. Abel without saying much stand up and left. Abel was their best damager, without him it will be hard for them to hunt again. Bak was next to speak, "I''m going too. team berserk ask me to join them, they offer me the same contract from all their sponsors and I said yes, sorry guys it''s been fun." he stood up and left. "actually, team Bullet Time asks me to join them but I said no." said, Bart Barry looks at Bart and said, "it looks like it''s me and you again buddy." "Che, I''m still here you know.." said, Jenna Barry and Bart look at her and said: "you''re staying?" "I know team Glamour has been pirating you for a while now, I didn''t think they would miss this opportunity to join them," said Barry "Actually, for your information, it wasn''t just Glamour, I have offers from team Masters and team Unity as well, but turn them all down." "really hahaha That''s good to hear said Barry.. in fact, I wasn''t surprised you receiving that many offers from another team, after all, you''re one of the best support hunter Bellow S rank." "yeah yeah," said Jenna while rolling her eyes. "so what now?" asked Bart Barry picks up a bottle of beer took a gulp and said tell you the truth my mind still blank. "I guess what goes around comes around. and now I''m in the receiving end of the stick." "well whatever we still need a plan.. we can''t mop all day here we have bills to pay after all..." said Bart "I agree," said, Jenna. ring ring! Jenna looks at her phone.. the caller has no number. ring ring ring "Are you not going to answer that?" said Barry? Bart also looks at her. "the caller has no number," said, Jenna. "well answer it and put it on speaker let''s see who it is," said, Barry. "ok," said Jenna, she clicks answer and turns on the speaker... "Hello, guys, I''m Eve..." Chapter 15 - Grand Trading V Arc, on the other hand, has no idea that those kinds of things are happening around him.. the moment he gave Eve the job he never bothers with any of the details he trusted Eve, he wasn''t a control freak who wants everything under his control. Arc was laying on the couch, he was thinking what to do next. the first step is complete now he was just waiting for Eve to complete the rest of the procedure.. after that the real game would start... with a smile on his face he was imagining what the future be like for him. he''s not an idiot he knows the value and the capability of the factory System if used correctly, him ruling the Galaxy if not just a pipe dream. the problem is how to get there from where he is now. "everyone got to start somewhere he said in his mind.." while he was daydreaming Eve was busy laying the foundation of his future empire. creak.. he heard the door open and heard his sisters talking excitedly on the door. -hey, you guys are back I bought lunch it''s in the kitchen go ahead and eat it..- "what about you big bro?" asked Amy -I''ve already eaten so don''t worry about me..- "They," said, Amy and Anne. -alright, you two I''m going out for a bit. I''ll be back later ok.. eat up..- "oh, and before I go, I plan to replace both of your beds since it''s getting smaller for you two. choose a design you want online the send me the details don''t worry about the price ok." "And be sure it''s comfortable okay ????" "ok hihi, you got it big bro be careful outside." "sure." he had an appointment with builders who would renovate the warehouse to his settings, he already said what he''s planning to do in the warehouse to eve, Eve show him some rendering on what the warehouse would be like, Eve shows him a lot of designs, finally he picks one that can accommodate all he needs at the moments... the warehouse he bought from Mike. it''s not very big but it has a lot of undeveloped land area and he plans to utilize all of it... he hails a cab, and sat at the back, -driver take me to diamond builders on 85th ave.- "Alright!" said the driver, 15 minutes later he was in front of the diamond builders office. inside he walks to the reception area, good afternoon sir how can I help you? said the cute looking receptionist. -yeah, I have scheduled a meeting with Ms. Graft can you tell her I''m here..- "Oh, then you must be Mr. Grand." "I am.." "she''s already waiting for you." "Please wait a moment." she calls another lady whisper something to the lady and went back to face Arc. "Mr. Grand. this is Lila she will take you to Ms. Graft office" "hi, Mr. Grand, I''m Lila please follow me I''ll take you to Ms. Graft''s office." -no need to be so formal call me Arc.. - "hihi, ok Arc follow me" -sure lead the way..- In front of the door on the second floor, Lila lightly knocks twice and said Ms. Graft your guest Mr. Grand is here. come in said the cute sounding voice inside Lila opens the door and gesture to Arc to go inside after Arc went inside he close the door lightly and left. inside, Arc was greeted by a beautiful bombshell. Mia Rain A. Graft the owner and founder of diamond builders was once a beauty queen, she won many beauty pageants during her college years, after graduating from a course architecture at the young age of 21 she founded diamond builders inc. unfortunately, she learns the darkness of the business most of his client only wants to sleep with her.. and didn''t really care about her capability.. some a brazen enough and tell her they will only hire her if she sleeps with him. of course, she rejects them all. it''s has been a year already since she founded the diamond builders but all project they got is all small-time business, like building a small office or small house or something like that. unfortunately, that kind of project is not enough to make them float.. in fact if they didn''t get a big project they may close after the end of the year she came from a wealthy family. but she runs away from home when her parents tried to arrange a marriage for her. she doesn''t like other people controlling her life even if they are her parents. this is her last chance to be in control of her life. if she failed she may not be able to refuse the arrange marriage set by her parents. she was surprised when she saw Arc when she received a call from a mysterious girl who claims to be the secretary of the one called Mr. Grand. "Hello, Mr. Grand, I''m Mia Rain Graft you can call me Mia I didn''t think you would be this young" -haha nice to meet you, Mia, I''m Arc Grand call me Arc..- "alright, please sit Arc, would like some drinks?" -thanks, Mia water would do..- sitting down Arc said: -let''s talk about the proposal my secretary has given you what do think about it?- "straight to the point I like that I''ve read and saw the design I would have to say, you have a very good architect, as an architect myself I can tell how good it is, every detail is well thought of, it was amazing." inside his mind arc said, of course, it''s good it was designed by ????????rank military-grade AI... it would be a surprise if there''s a mistake in it. -well I''m glad you like it.. so do you think you''re capable of building it in exact details Mia?- Mia look at Arc and was a little disappointed he didn''t see any l.u.s.t in his eyes it was a rare experience for her.. but at the same time, she was intrigued, "did I lost my s.e.x appeal?" she thought, she can see Arc was very young maybe two years or so younger than her.. guys that age is full of hormone especially rich kid like Arc, but she didn''t see any of that haughtiness that came from a typical silver spoon kids. "she looks at Arc and smile, it will be difficult but I''m 100% sure we can do it." it was at this time Lila came to the office and brought a bottle of water for Arc. Arc look at Lila and smile, -thanks, Lila- Lila smiles back at him and said "no problem.." Left Mia looks at Arc and asks "you know each other?" -just now when I came to your office..- Arc answer back. Arc look at Mia and said -are you sure you can build it exactly like in the blueprint?- Mia was about to joke around but when she noticed arc serious face she swallows all that and answers "I am.. so what''s the time frame?" Arc smile and said -cool!, I don''t have a time frame per se but I would like it to be built as soon as possible.- "Alright, I can accept that.. can I ask you why you want to pay in cash?" -hais well, it''s a long story.- Arc pick up the bottle of water open it and drink a mouthful, -but I can give you a short version or should I say a short reason..- -I just don''t want let a certain someone know of what I''m doing.. as for who that someone is I can''t tell you.. but I can promise you it''s nothing illegal..- "if it''s going to be a problem for you I can understand it, I''ll go somewhere else." Mia smile and said, "it''s nothing like that I''m just curious that''s all, forgive me for that." -there''s nothing to forgive mia, so do we have a deal?- "yes, we do" said Mia she offers her hand for a handshake????. Arc grab her hand handshake it and laugh, "excellent!" he said Mia laugh too afterward Mia made some phone calls, "I''ll have someone write a contract after you sign it we''re good to go." the truth is Mia already prepared the contract beforehand and gave it to her secretary.. she didn''t keep it in her office as she doesn''t want to look too eager to her clients especially the one called Mr. Grand by the mysterious secretary. the reason she calls it mysterious is that there was no number when she got the calls.. in this day and age all calls are controlled by UNITED TELECOMMUNICATION OFFICE and they make sure all calls are controlled, safe and transparent, meaning criminals can''t hide their phone no. when they call, since their phone number is linked to their citizen id. all citizens will receive a permanent phone number. and changing it is a very long process. they chat about the small details while waiting for the contract to make, they didn''t have to wait long as a few minutes later another beautiful lady enters the office and delivered the doc.u.ments.. she didn''t linger though after she gave the doc.u.ments she smiled at Arc and left. Mia handed the doc.u.ments to Arc, who pretended to be reading it, while in truth he was conversing with Eve for verification of the doc.u.ments.. a few minutes later Arc sign the doc.u.ments.. and handed it back to Mia who is watching him with a smile on her face. "excellent said Mia she gave him a thumb up????." Arc laugh takes out the backpack From his shoulder and hands it over to Mia. "500k my initial down payment." "Mia was surprised didn''t we agreed that the initial deposit would be 200k?" -yeah, my secretary informs me of that.. but since we already agreed here, and you look trustworthy.. might as well give you one-third of the agreed price. initially, the price for the renovation of the warehouse is only about 50k credit but with all the addition and expansion the price to up to 1.3m credit arc decided to upgrade the wall for it jumps to 1.5 million credit. Eve didn''t even bargain about the price when she contacted Mia, likewise, Mia believes than the one going to do the bargaining with her is the one called Mr. Grand.. and she prepares for it. to her surprise not only Arc is easy to talk to he didn''t even bargain. she looks at Arc and she was intrigued. Chapter 16 - Grand Trading VI Arc was already back home 4 hours ago he made a deal with the lovely Mia.. he enjoys talking to Mia chat for a while then he said goodbye to Mia and return home. he was greeted by his sister eager to show him the beds and other things they have chosen, that took them until it''s time for dinner and another hour after it. he was now laying in his bedroom he asks Eve to purchase the beds and other things for his sisters he chooses one for himself as well. tomorrow according to Eve, Grand Trading Corp will officially become a legitimate business company.. that made him very excited finally he said in his mind. early in the morning after eating breakfast he left home and went to Cardinal building, one of the tallest and luxurious buildings in downtown of radial city one of the reasons he chooses this building is that it''s closer to the hospital than his parents were admitted. Arc also with the help of Eve have his parents transfer to the Private intensive care room in the hospital so that his parents can receive the best care radial hospital can offer.. "hello, Mr. Grand." "what do you think about the office area?" he was now in the 160th floor of Cardinal building, the Cardinal building has a total of 180 floors, unfortunately, all the top floor is already occupied.. so he ended up in 160th floor which is not so bad with 360¡ã view, you can almost see everything in radial city. -I''m happy with it. I''ll have my secretary contact you finalize the lease..- "we will be waiting, Mr. Grand." -of course,- he shakes the hand of the lady representing Cardinal building after talking another look at the area he left. next destination hospital Arc was standing in front of his parents it''s been two years since the accident.. and nothing is changed in the condition of his parents.. even with advance medical treatment of RUH his parent''s condition remains the same. just a few minutes ago he received a confirmation of the office lease agreement. now they have an office space in sure Eve is already working on arranging everything needed in the office. -hi Mom, dad it''s been a few months since I last saw you guys. I promise I fix you guys up.- before, he almost lost all hope of seeing his parents waking up again, but now that he has the system.. everything changes he is 100% sure he can cure his parents it''s only a matter of time. he asks the system before and there''s an item that can help his parents but his privilege is still too low.. be was not discouraged because he knows it''s only a matter of time before he can cure his parents. he didn''t stay long in the hospital.. he still has many things to do in the downtown radial city. over the next few hours he visited United business office for confirmation of his business.. every requirement has already been submitted by Eve.. all he needs to do to is went personally in UBO.. in UBO he signs some doc.u.ments and after signing over a dozen doc.u.ments Grand Trading Corp is officially a legitimate business. ding mission complete!! #### mission #### successfully established a business within 10 days... REWARDS # 120 energy unit # ???? human manager # ???? human personal guard x2 # ???? human secretary #### COMPLETE #### congratulations user for completing the mission established a business within 10 days, rewards will be transferred into the system storage. excitedly he checked his status ### STATUS ### ARC D GRAND current energy unit 185 strength 3.7 agility 3 endurance 4.2 intelligence 4 SKILL: none sure enough, my current energy unit is already 185 -my stats increase too my intelligence is already 4 not bad hehe - he checks his rewards in system storage he saw ???? human manager ???? human guard 2x ???? human secretary he didn''t waste any time he went to a secluded area there''s no one else here, he asked Eve for any surveillance camera. Eve confirms that everything is under control. he immediately summons the first of his many more to come, followers, four people stand in front of him... luckily they were not n.a.k.e.d he didn''t think it through to be honest.. only after he clicks and summon on the four that the thought came to him. two men and two women stand in front of him.. all four kneeled and said, greetings master. he immediately told them to stand up and told them to call him boss. the secretary he names Tiffa the manager he names Diana and the two bodyguards he names Biggs and wedge base on a classic game he once played when he was a kid. Tifa is a charming s.e.xy beautiful girl that look around 20+ years old Diana is a beautiful strict type mature woman that look around 30+ years old Biggs and wedge your typical bodyguard type guys they were around 2 meters tall that wears a tight-fitting black suit they look really strong. when Arc check their stats his eyes almost pop out.. #### STATUS #### Tiffa Locker strength 28.8 agility 32.6 endurance 26.1 intelligence 49.6 description: perfect secretary for a ????rank company, master in hand to hand combat expert in all manner of firearms.. able to grow Diana Price strength 19.6 agility 18.8 endurance 30.8 intelligence 57.9 description: perfect for managing a ????rank company, perfect leadership skills, master in negotiations. expert gun fighter.. able to grow Biggs and wedge has an identical stats strength 100 agility 100 endurance 100 intelligence 80 description: a perfect guard to anyone below ????rank, master in all form of combat peak of ????rank warrior.. unbeatable to anyone below ????rank. able to grow.. "holyshit.. and here I thought I was getting stronger but compare to this for I''m as weak as an ant.." -and what''s with the 100 stats is that the limit of ????rank?- that is correct 100 is the limit of ???? rank anymore and they will step into half ????????rank.. only when 3 of their stat went pass over 100 will they be rank ????????. Chapter 17 - Venture He looks at their stats and the only word that came to his mind is "Holyshit!! so OP," He was expecting them to be above normal human but when he summoned them, only then did he found out that he was greatly underestimating a ???? rank human so much. "he looks at them and clenched his fist finally my first step to being an overlord is underway, haha" -Eve can you coordinate with them?- "yes, boss, they are equipped with their own communication device, I''m already briefing them on your plan boss, no need to worry." -So efficient, Eve you are godly..- -So did you guys get the details of my plan from Eve?- "yes, Boss," said the four. -alright, you can go.. wait! Eve, I just realized, what about their identification?- "no problem boss the moment you named them the system already registered them on a local government agency," said Nine -nice that''s so convenient.. at least he won''t have to worry about it.- he looks at the four again and said, -you know what to do. go!- "yes Boss," said the four and left, Eve wants for Biggs or wedge to stay by his side but he rejected it, he doesn''t need protection for now.. and anyone of them staying by his side is only asking for trouble. he doesn''t need that kind of attention right now, or ever for that matter. his plan is to be the overlord in the background, that''s his ideal plan of course whether he can keep it that way that remains to be seen. now that he has the four he doesn''t need to physically do anything anymore everything will be handled by Diana, Eve or Tiffa, as for Biggs and wedge they would be like a show of force, those two will accompany Diana and Tiffa to prevent any problem. and I mean all kinds of problems. with the looks of that two without Biggs or wedge accompanying them they will attract all kinds of flies and c.o.c.kroach, with Biggs and wedge with them, all those problems will be prevented. without anything else to do, he hailed a cab and went home. in the meantime, Diana and Tiffa went on a separate way Dianna''s job is to set the business logistics and everything else it needs. Tiffa on the hand will coordinate with the hunters and will try to set up a local supply line for the company.. the export or the selling of the items all of it will be handled by Diana, and Eve will look for sources outside United government, Jenna, Barry, and Bart found themselves in an old warehouse, where they join with more than 30 other Hunters, according to the woman name Eve she had a good offer for them and they were asked to go to a specific place and time.. and so they are here. Jenna asked the hunter next to him on the specific and found out they are in the same boat as them, suddenly all voice died down Jenna, Barry and Bart follow the eyes of the hunters and a beautiful woman about 20 or so years old next to her is a burly guy that radiating danger.. all warning sign in mind goes off. no wonder every stop talking. "Hello everyone my name is Tiffa," Tiffa lovely voice rang in the warehouse "I represent Grand Trading Corp.. please to meet you all now this is what we are offering she said with a smile..." the original plan for Grand Trading Corp.. is plain and simple buy and sell, but with the addition of Tiffa, Diana, Biggs, and Wedge along with additional 120en Arc began to think, as powerful as Eve is she can''t access or interfere with system.. so the only thing Eve has on the system is what Arc told her.. and therefore she can only operate within the knowledge that she has, she knows that that the system can make factory as to what kind of what the limit of the factory the system can make she has no idea. and she won''t ask Arc about it either.. her job is to provide help on whatever Arc asks of her nothing more and nothing less. while Arc was on his way home he asks Eve on what if we manufacture the materials we got on the wasteland into something more like a weapon or food supplement rather than simply buying and selling. the moment arc suggested it to Eve she begin to gather all she needs regarding it. she then said to Arc, that''s possible boss if we can manufacture the materials on the wasteland into something greater than the current market have, we can make more profit and make a name for ourselves at the same time. Arc immediately checks the system for a factory that can facilitate what he has on his mind. he doesn''t need high-rank factory the lowest rank5 would do considering humanity''s rank is only 2. something.. rank 5 is already overkill, rank 5 weapon factory 60en upkeep: 5en for 10days rank 5 armor factory 65 en upkeep: 5en for 10days nutrition supplement factory 45en upkeep: 10en for 60days he browses all the factory that fit his description.. but can''t decide on any of them so he asks the system -Nine do we have a rank 5 factory that can manufacture weapon, armor and food supplement in one factory?- a window open in front of him ## multi-purpose manufacturing factory ## Can produce all kind of item 5 rank and bellow 75en upkeep: using energy to manufacture item 50en for 100days using supplied materials to manufacture item 5en for 100days he looks at it and said -this is it!!- he then shared the details with Eve to ask for her opinion. Eve answered, "our first objective will change from money laundering to become the no.1 manufacturer of wasteland materials." The estimated annual profit of 35 billion Ugcredit. Arc said in his mind "35 billion!! holy moly that''s insane.. alright I''ve decided let''s go with this plan." "Eve, we''re changing plans." Chapter 18 - Venture II "Eve, we''re changing plans..." and with that a lot of things are changed, Eve immediately conveys the changes to Dianna and Tiffa, Biggs and Wedge don''t need to know their job is simple protection... -Eve about the plan on the warehouse do we need to change it as well?- "no boss there''s no need," he didn''t ask more he trust Eve.. if she said no problem then there will no problem. ring ring! -eh, Anne what''s up?- "big bro there''s a package for you here I already accepted it what is it anyway?" -oh, that.. he asks Eve.. that my new computer system I would need for trading. using just my phone is inefficient.. just leave it there, I''ll take care of it when I get back, I''m on my way back anyways..- "Okey! oh me and Amy we''re going out for a bit." -where are the two going?- "we''re going to buy new clothes and shoes hihi." "oh ok, no prob be careful." "ok, big bro." "Eve sends 5k credits each to my sisters." "no problem boss." ding! new message received "thanks, big bro." Amy and Anne both send a message. he looks at the message and smiles... back in the Rowling trading agency. hmm, Mill looks at the list of the new company he did this once in a while ever since he received the warning from Jake to stop look at Mr. Grand. and sure enough there no Mr. Grand on the list of traders but he knew the name was there it was just hidden. as he browses through the list of new company one company name got his attention. Grand Trading Corp. he clicks the name, it was just established a few hours ago.. there are not many details in it, it just says trading of materials from the wasteland.. as he continues to read eh. Cardinal building 160flr. Rowling trading agency is also in Cardinal building they occupied floor 172-175 in other words, they were in the same building.. are Grand Trading Corp.. related to Mr. Grand? I wonder, he didn''t notify Jake about it, there''s no point anyway. he made a mental note I''ll keep an eye on this company. when Arc got home he noticed five boxes in the living room he didn''t open it yet.. first needed to fix his room. 3hrs later everything is set up.. he underestimates the amount of junk he has in his room.. it took him two and a half hours to clean his bedroom.. and another 30minutes to set up the computer, it will take him more without the help of ever capable Eve. Eve guide him step by step. like an idiot, at first he tried to do it himself but 10mins later he gave up these things is nothing like a regular computer just the wiring and proper placements of the devices give him a headache. he boots it up.. and watch as Eve set up everything he looks at the screen in astonishment he can see the windows popping in and out different apps and programs are being installed in quick succession he can also see Eve optimizing everything.. a few minutes later everything is ready. well actually he didn''t need to do anything everything is automated.. three different screen display different things like Graf and stats on the other he can see stocks being traded and on the last he can see his, history of transaction and current balance 1.3 million credit.. in just a few days Eve has earned more than a million credits. how insane is that.. we have more than 200million in cash in his storage ring but that''s like dirty money. he can''t just use it whenever he wants.. he can also see that Eve upgraded his account into a business account.. it used to be an open savings account. but in just a few days his 20000 credit has turned into million. he really didn''t expect it to be like that.. he was speechless.. he stood there watching the automated trading that Eve setup like an idiot.. he stayed like that for over 10 minutes. ding hmm.. he woke up from his stupor.. and saw a message from Anne. "big bro, we''re on our way home... " he looks at the time 6 pm right time to prepare dinner I''ll take a quick shower first. and just like that 10 days has passed for the past 10 days, Mia was so busy coordinating and managing the construction of the warehouse for arc. the construction business has come a long way since 500 years ago work that needs a few months can be completed in a few days 3d printing has advanced to the point that every industry use it for producing item, from clothing to making battleship 3d printing application is endless Mia meticulously supervise the printing of materials to be on the warehouse project she doesn''t want any mistakes to happen, for some reason she doesn''t want Arc disappointed in her and at the same time, she wants to impress Arc she had a feeling that Warehouse project is just the beginning. over the past 10 Days, Diana and Tiffa tirelessly complete many things, 5days ago the first transaction of Grand Trading Corp was made and it never stops till then. only Arc has found himself nothing to do for the last 10days with the arrival of Dianna and Tiffa he found that there''s nothing for him to do except for occasionally signing some doc.u.ments he has free time so find some gym and started training. arc just woke up.. he was excited because today the warehouse will finally be completed 5days ago Grand Trading Corp made its first transaction with Hunters and it never stops til now.. over the past 5days, Grand Trading Corp was able to acc.u.mulate quite a huge amount of materials from the Hunter''s, they rented a temporary warehouse to store it... Grand Trading has managed to hire 5 hunter groups with the help of Barry, Bart, and Janna who become Grand Trading representative in supervising the contracted hunter groups. Arc took a shower eat some breakfast and went outside, outside he can see a black SUV waiting for him, on the driver seat he saw Biggs next to him is Tiffa, good morning boss greet Tiffa, Biggs didn''t say anything and just started driving, today is the official handover of the warehouse that''s been on construction for the last 10days, Tiffa doesn''t need to inform him of anything since Eve does that in real-time. "Boss, the owner of diamond builders will be waiting for you at the warehouse she insisted that she will be the one to hand over the keys to the warehouse to you, hihi I think she likes you boss." -you''re thinking too much Tiffa she''s just being professional about the work, nothing more..- "No, I think she likes you, boss, she keeps on asking about you whenever I go there to check the construction.. believe me boss it''s a woman''s intuition." -woman intuition huh.. what do you think Biggs is it reliable?- "eh ahh, I''m not sure boss I''m not a woman." -hahaha, I didn''t know you had a sense of humor Biggs haha said Arc..- "hihihi our boss is so handsome it''s not weird for miss Mia to be attracted to your boss." -haha is that so,- who doesn''t want to be complimented and to be honest he did become handsome in the past 10days his facial features have become sharp, even his sisters keep harassing him for his beauty secret. they joke around for about 15mins, "boss we''re here," said Tiffa "right let''s go." said Arc he steps outside the car he saw the warehouse gate honestly it''s his first time here even when he purchased it he has never been physically here Eve shows him some pictures and videos but it''s different when you see it in person. he saw the huge gate Mia and probably her subordinates are with her, Diana was there as well she''s talking to Mia and wedge was behind her still looking menacing, stop talking when the saw Arc getting off the SUV, Arc walk towards them with a smile on his face, -good morning guys!- -Miss Mia Good morning it''s been a while.. how are you- he nodded at Diana who greeted him as well, Arc told you to stop being formal greeted Mia, -Right, right sorry bout that Mia I can see that you made a wonderful job thank you,- Mia handed him the key he took it, and walk in front of the black door with the words Grand Trading etched in front of the gate, he opens the door and he was greeted with a wide road, wide enough for 6 trucks to go side by side and on the side of the street six warehouse door that can easily fit any huge trucks three warehouse on each side of the road with black roof and silver walls it looks good.. -perfect he said..- when he said it a huge smile was seen on Mia''s face. he walks on one of the warehouses the crowd was following him behind on his right was Mia explaining things to him on his left was Diana and Tiffa and behind him is Biggs and Wedge.. when he was here their priority change from protecting Diana and Tiffa to protecting him. it took 2 to 3 hours for the ceremony to be completed a small party was arranged with food and table, everyone who works at the construction is invited, he chatted with Mia the whole time.. and promise her that Grand Trading Corp future construction projects will be handed to her first. after the party Arc Diana and Tiffa on the side was Biggs and Wedge they are in the back of warehouse this is the secured building that only authorized person can enter the security here is no joke, Eve ordered the most secured and advanced technology available, it''s all military-grade Arc have no idea how and where Eve manages to get from he didn''t care anyway.. it was then upgraded by Biggs and Wedge with Eve''s instructions. the reason for this is because the energy factory from the system will be placed here. Arc didn''t waste time he first chooses the 2 lowest energy factory worth 45en he clicks build.. suddenly 2 black Rubix cube appeared in from of him just like the first time he builds the paper currency factory. 2 black Rubix cube-like thing keeps turning and rolling, after a few seconds 2huge cylinder-like object appears before him it''s jet black in color with a diameter of 5 meters and 15 meters tall with 3 golden rings moving up and down its cylindrical body. "it''s bigger than I thought.." with that his energy reserved is 103 he originally have 185en 10days ago, and after 10 days he got an additional 5 for his ring and 3more for the system.. adding to 193, minus 90 for both energy factory. leaving him with 103en. -Yosh with this my energy gain is 38en every 10days. it''s a good start..- next, they move to another secured building. this is going to be the heart of Grand Trading Corp. Chapter 19 - Venture III ### STATUS ### ARC D GRAND current energy unit 103 Strength: 4.5 Agility: 3.8 Endurance: 4.1 Intelligence: 4.3 SKILL: none Enhancement serum reserved 83% -my stats have increased for the past ten days- well then he clicks on the multi-purpose manufacturing factory he waited for the factory to be built, it''s big he exclaimed the MPMF almost took half of the facility it''s rectangular in shape, like always it was black, he can see that on the backside you can place the raw materials, and the finished product would appear on the front there''s a bunch of drones that come with it. according to Eve the drone help with the manufacturing of the product.. all you have to do is input what and how many items you want to produce, and they will do all the works. I''ve already synced with them boss no one has the access here except for you and the four of them.. all works will be done by the drones. eve have ordered many military-grade industrial drones to be placed in the warehouse they will be the ones responsible for the whole warehouse in other words this place is going to be a nonhuman factory. it''s not unusual to have a nonhuman factory. Almost all high-grade factory is basically an automated factory as they deem it. The front will be the reception were all materials from hunters will be stored it will then be transferred by the drone to the manufacturing facility. "Boss five days from now our products will be released into the market worldwide," said Dianna "All preparation has been made, advertis.e.m.e.nt has been running for the past 6days and the response is good, all we need to do is get the approval for the various government agency to test and approve our products and it will be released into the market the next day," said Dianna -good job everyone..- "The first batch of our products will be sent to United quality control office for approval and certification.. all materials we have gathered in the past five days will be delivered here today, with our buying price of 10% above market price many independent hunters came to us to sell their hunts." Said, Dianna "Barry, Bart, and Janna are doing a great job in recruiting many independent hunter groups to sign an exclusive contract with us. and per your order, we are currently negotiating in order to buy old and abandoned warehouses to facilitate our future advancement." Said Tiffa -Good job guys ???? thank you for your hard work appreciate it..- Diana, Tiffa and even Biggs and Wedge have a huge grin on their face.. the acknowledgment of their beloved boss is everything for them it''s the purpose for their life, Even Arc underestimates the loyalty and respects the four has for him, to them he was their god. he was on his way home to prepare for the next steps, he and his sisters will be moving house, 8 days ago Eve found a perfect place for him and his sisters it''s in one of the exclusive condominiums in the downtown radial city.. only a few blocks away from Cardinal building where Grand Trading Corp was located.. after he gives his approval Diana and Eve get to work in buying and renovating the condo unit, the unit occupied 3 floors in total, floor 103-105 it also has an exclusive elevator that only the unit owner can access.. but most of all it''s security is top-notch.. the unit was formerly owned by a famous celebrity only to be sold when the celebrity''s fame went downhill, yesterday Eve informs him that all renovation and interior design is complete. he didn''t go for over fancy design he chooses a moderate and simple but relaxing design. he hasn''t told his sisters yet, he tried to prepare his sisters little by little telling them how successful he was in trading and little by little his sisters began to accept their change of status.. it gave them back the confidence they lost 2 years ago.. he was happy to see his sisters getting their confidence back. but on the other hand, his success is starting to receive attention to the local neighborhood, and gangs are starting to come around, so Biggs and Wedge put a stop on it before it escalates. so for the past 10 days, all gangs and criminals surrounding their house mysteriously disappeared.. it even baffled many police officials.. the tried to find the reason but failed to find anything.. Biggs and Wedge are meticulous in their work leaving no evidence behind. when they move to their new home it was arranged for Diana, Tiffa and Biggs and Wedge to move with them when he informed them of the changes they were ecstatic, to live with their god there''s no better gift they can receive. of course, he tried to introduce the four to his sisters, at first they were confused especially when they met Tiffa they repeatedly tease him for days. Diana, on the other hand, was treated like a big sister even Biggs and Wedge was become like another big brother to them once in a while he let Biggs or wedge send his sisters to school, to discourage any annoying flies from getting close. of course, his sisters are not stupid they understand what their big bro wanted to do but they just laughed at it, they even enjoy it, so in the past 10 Days, his sisters got closer to his four subordinates. as he got home Tiffa and the rest are with him he plans to have a meal with everyone it was then he will tell his sisters his plans, 2 days ago was the end of this year school year so it''s perfect for them moving house. they stop by the grocery store to buy ingredients, he plans to cook a lot of food tonight, with his increase in stats comes increase in appetite not to mention him, Biggs and Wedge can eat the equivalent of 10 people and that''s them holding back even he was surprised when he saw it, but when he thinks about it, with their strength it made sense, but now he plans to satisfy them with foods so he bought a lot of stuff.. the back of the SUV is jam-packed with ingredients. he looks at the time 1.39 pm he has time to prepare and cook all the dishes he has in mind. Chapter 20 - Fame for four hours he cooks and cooks, Dianna and Tiffa offer to help but he refused he wants to do this by himself it was his way of paying back for everything the four did for him. even though he knows that Tiffa and the rest don''t expect anything in return.. he still felt a little guilty about it, so he didn''t accept their offer to help. and besides, he enjoys cooking, back then cooking is his way to escape the burden he was carrying, he forgets all that when he cooks. "hmm smells good, big sis Tiffa what do you think big bro is cooking? said Amy "I have no idea he chased us from the kitchen, but you''re right it smells good." grrrrrr they all look at the direction of Wedge, they saw him scratching his head, and they all laugh at the same time they''ve been playing board games for the past 4hrs while waiting for Arc to Finnish cooking. -alright, guys come over the food is ready..- all of them stood up and rush to the kitchen when they got there the table is full of food and the smells are so good they all start drooling. Arc saw their face and laugh, -alright wash your hands and pick a seat, alright let''s eat..- they woke up from their stupor rush to the sink and pick a seat to the table, Anne says a little grace and they started eating. "big bro cooking is getting godly" said amy. "yeah" said Anne with an agreeing nod, "Boss your food is better than any restaurant I''ve been through.."said Tiffa, "that''s right boss" said, Diana. As for Biggs and Wedge, they are busy stuffing my face with food their only regret is they only have two hands. Arc laughs at the sight of them eating. -by the way Anne, Amy we''re moving house tomorrow..- "eh, what?" Anne and Amy look at him with a surprising look in their faces, Tiffa and the rest keep quiet they are not surprised since they already know about it. they just continue eating albeit a little slower, even Biggs and Wedge slow down their pace so that Arc can talk to his sister without distraction. -why are guys surprised I already talked about it to you two before..- "I know but we didn''t think it will be this fast" said Anne, "yeah" reply Amy -well, the business is booming we got to take advantage of it so the closer we are at the center of the city the better, besides I want to be closer to mom and dad as soon as possible, that''s why I hastened the procedure. I already have everything arrange we can move there today if you want to much less tomorrow..- Anne looked at Amy and said ok we also want to be closer to Mom and Dad what about our things? -just bring few clothes we''ll leave everything behind here beside it''s not like we won''t be back here again.. leave most of your things here so we can come back here any time we want..- when Anne and Amy heard that all their worries disappeared.. because even though they know they were leaving soon they are reluctant to leave this place, after all, it''s their home and a lot of their memories are attached to this place. so when they heard that they can come back here anytime they want they were relieved. -oh yeah, I plan to fix this place while we''re not here, there''s a lot of stuff that needs fixing. but worry about your things I promise it won''t be damaged or anything ok..- "hihi ok" said Amy "sure no prob" ???? said Anne, now that all the serious talk is over they become noisy again they began to joke around again.. after dinner Tiffa and the rest of the girls take care of the aftermath of the battlefield. as for Arc, Biggs, and Wedge, they were in the living room drinking tea and watching TV the next day Diana left early with Biggs they need to bring the first batch of product to the UQCO to be tested and certified.. as for Arc and rest they''re moving house Arc only brought a small bag of clothes, he''s leaving the rest here, for Anne and Amy they brought 1 big suitcase each. Arc look at them and said, -why bring so many? told you to only bing minimum clothes we''ll buy everything else there.- Amy and Anne look at him with a pouting face and said "this is a minimum." Tiffa giggles Arc look and said -well, whatever let''s get going- wedge carries the suitcase of Anne and Amy he carries them like there nothing in it, Anne and Amy are used to seeing it, they still remember the first time they saw Wedge lift the sofa with one hand like it''s made of carton they were so surprised.. but now they''re used to it. Arc ride in the back with his sister wedge in the driver seat and Tiffa beside him. a few days ago Arc ask Biggs and Wedge to fix the security of their old house and that''s including replacing all lock and any potential security breach.. he asks that as a preparation for when they leave.. he didn''t want for his home to be burgled when they are gone. on the way to their new house, Anne and Amy ask all kinds of questions about their new home. and Arc answer -find out for your self..- that make Tiffa giggles and wedge smile... it didn''t take long, an hour or so and they are already in the parking area of their new home as they take the elevator Anne and Amy can''t keep their mouths shut they we''re so surprised by everything they see. they fantasize about all kinds of scenario but nothing prepared them to what they are seeing. when they saw the condo unit. "ahhhh are we really living here is this really our new home?" Anne and Amy Shouted while running all over the place. even Arc was surprised when he saw it.. the simple design he chose actually enhance the elegance of the place.. he went to the living room that has a great view for the surrounding metropolis he was entrance.. a few minutes later Tiffa sat beside him and said not bad right boss. -yeah not bad indeed, have you guys settled down? do mind accompanying my sisters shopping of what they need?- "no problem boss what about you?" said Tiffa -I''ll stay here for now as a wait for Diana news about our products.. bring wedge with you..- "ok boss." after that Tiffa stand up went to find the girls who are still running around excitedly.. after a few reminders they left.. now arc is alone in the house.. he asks Eve to give suggestions for their next step of the plan. a few days ago he asks Eve for an evaluation of the market so he can decide what new product he needs to introduce into the market, he knows he can''t just simply introduce any item without thinking about it, after all, any item produced by the system is beyond anything the current technology possesses today... Chapter 21 - Fame II As Eve gave him the report and suggestions of what way the Grand Trading Corp. can go He received a call from Diana about the approval and the certification of their products he grinned even though he was 100% sure it will pass, but actually hearing about it still makes him happy. especially when he heard a 5-star evaluation. that''s the highest evaluation a product can get.. since yesterday the multi-purpose manufacturing factory is producing product non-stop, now that they got a 5-star evaluation can add a stamp of 5star approval on their label. Dianna didn''t waste time she already informed the Grand Trading logistics team to make preparation and coordinate the distribution four days from now the G health solutions will hit the market worldwide the G health solutions are divided into four grade: S A B C A, B and C will be released into the market as for S in will be exclusively distributed to a select branch and with limited supply. G solutions promise an improvement of overall health upon ingesting it''s even several times more nutritious than any solution and food produce by any health company. Arc expects a lot of retaliation from many health companies but Eve assured him everything is under control. Then 9 days later G hunting Armament will also hit the market. they also received a 5-star evaluation today, tomorrow it will be exclusively distributed to all Hunter''s under contract with Grand Trading Corp. At first, Arc was worried that the multi-purpose manufacturing factory will not be able to produce enough products to be distributed around the world, and again he was reminded how much he underestimates the factory produce by the system. Just overnight the multi-purpose manufacturing factory produces millions of products. to the point, it was stopped because of the lack of space to store them. the multi-purpose manufacturing factory also uses 100% of the materials without wasting any of it, it just shows how high the quality of the factory-made by the system.. Arc promise he would no longer doubt the system. Another good news is they were able to acquire two more factory warehouse, both of them is 2 to 3 times bigger than their current warehouse both are old and abandoned factory but the land area is huge and that all they need.. he didn''t call Mia yet, as he has yet to decide what factory he will build next he look at his status ARC D GRAND current energy unit 28 Strength: 4.5 Agility: 3.8 Endurance: 4.1 Intelligence: 4.3 SKILL: none Enhancement serum reserved 83% There''s no change in his status he noticed that as he got stronger the slower the increase as been but according to Nine it was normal, his starting point is just to low that''s one of the reasons his stats are slower to increase. DING!! NEW MISSION IS RELEASED! "huh, I have a new mission?" when he received it he was ecstatic he was going to wait until he has enough energy unit to decide on a new factory, but if he can complete the new mission he may not have to wait long... ## MISSION ## MAKE A PROFIT OF 500 MILLION FROM THE SALES OF PRODUCT MADE FROM THE SYSTEM REWARDS 250 ENERGY UNIT 1X ???? SECURITY OFFICER 2X ???? MILITARY TRAINER 2X ???? INTELLIGENCE OFFICER 1X ???? BUTLER 3X ???? MAID 5X ???? ENHANCEMENT SERUM 1X LOTTERY BOX NO TIME LIMIT -this... is this the way for system telling me to go for military step. "now that I think about it the system itself is made for military used. I mean even Tiffa and Diana are an expert in combat in their own way.." "military huh, the factory for maybe weapons or military vehicle? hmm, I have no intention of doing any military thing this early in the game. I have to think this through.." "the reward is very generous there are even no time limits. I understand military but why is system giving me a Butler even a maid...well though I don''t understand what the system is telling me I''ll just take what was given and make do, besides there''s no demerit in it." said in his mind -hey Nine can you tell me what the system is telling me?- "..... the system will issue the mission and rewards base on circ.u.mstances and user action and choices, the system has no mind of its own and only following the set of instructions and guidelines set by sovereign empire... and I am only a guide to the user." -is that so. well if you say so, I still think the system is telling me something..- Nine... -no reply huh.. well whatever I still have to think this through messing with the military is no joke,- "even with Eve and Biggs and Wedge if the military wants to mess with me I''ll be powerless as I''m now. I can''t be careless since there''s so much riding on my shoulder.. if I''m alone I won''t think much of the consequences since Biggs and Wedge are enough to ensure my survival but I have a family and I''ll do anything to protect and secure their way of life.. running and hiding is not an option.." he consults Eve about it and she said it''s not the right time to go military not until we build enough fame and reputations.. but building a private army in preparation for the company advancement to the military is not a bad thing. especially if can train loyal and faithful intelligence personal we can take over the underground organization in secret, and build our own intelligence network. -Are you not enough Eve?- "I can''t access all network and many places only have private Networks especially those high-security areas.. building an intelligence network is a must if we want to expand into military business.. even if we don''t, having an intelligence network is only a boon, not a bane." Chapter 22 - Fame III Arc was thinking about what to do next Eve''s advice is aligned with his plan that entering a military business is too early for them. he was very careful even the multi-purpose manufacturing factory is only accepted after carefully thinking about it, Only when Eve reassured him that the quality of the product can be adjusted accordingly did he made the decision to build it. He doesn''t want to quickly change the world current technology too fast, that will only lead to all kind of un unseen problems, that he and his men weren''t capable of handling, he lay on the couch and close his eyes he needs to relax his mind from all the excitement he got today. Of course, he continues to browse the list of the factory, unfortunately, Eve can''t access the system if she can it will be so much easier... "hmm did I get too lazy lately? am I relying too much on Eve and the rest.? he asked himself.." "well, there''s no point in me doing it if my people can do it better isn''t that the reason for the system, to help me with everything, well I guess I found an excuse to be lazy then hahaha" he laughed in his mind. "hmm, this can be good he is looking at the information of a certain factory." "Eve, what do you think?" he shared the information to Eve for a minute Eve didn''t respond, but he wasn''t worried he knows that Eve is researching all related topics on the factory and comparing and analyzing all data before she answers.. so he waited. "It can be done boss the item produced by this factory will make it easier for us to transition to military side and at the same time will put our name on the map, but we need to wait for the right timing to introduce it to the market" -well that doesn''t matter anyway I don''t have enough energy unit to build it yet, anyways can the product be adjusted to our specific? I don''t want to produce item too advance for this world current technology, it will be suspicious and we will face a lot of unwanted attention from all superpower no matter how strong you guys are one nuke and we''re done..- "our shields can protect us from nuke" -that''s not the point Eve.. did you just throw a joke at me? when did you get some sense of humor?- "I may be an IA boss but I''m a ???????? rank AI I''m not heartless like Nine" "Nine: ????....." somehow Arc had a feeling that Eve and Nine has some kind of thing going on. -....is that so, good for you Eve hehe..- what can he says, if he agrees, what if Nine went rogue on him isn''t that a tragedy.. although he knows it won''t happen better be safe than sorry. "must stay neutral, must stay neutral," he said in his mind it''s not like Nine and Eve can read his mind unless he wants to share his thoughts they won''t be able to guess what''s he''s thinking.. at least that''s what I think, anyways no used thinking about it. "boss, should I go and made preparation for this?" -hmm I guess so it''s better to be prepared, have you found a way to make use of our previous paper currency factory. it''s a waste if we can''t take advantage of it, after all, it produces is still faster than you make in trading, even now I''m sitting in billions of credit waiting to be used..- "it''s not wise to suddenly introduce a huge amount of paper currency in one go to the market boss it will definitely be investigated.." -I know that''s why I''m not just making Ugcredit I''m also printing Pacific Asian Alliance and Eastern Emporium currency, I''m not sure if I should print some currency from Atlantic Consortium since the paper currency there is highly regulated by their government, it''s a shame that more than 70% human population is already using digital currency, although I can understand the reason it''s convenient after all, if not we can take advantage of our paper currency factory.. well, whatever just try to find a way to used our paper currency factory I don''t want it to rot in my inventory..- " will do boss, and should I start making preparation for our next step?" -go ahead..- and with that Eve started planning and making preparation for the next step of their company. "I should call Mia as well..." Arc is nervously pacing back and forth in his room because today is the product launch and the very first of Grand Trading Corp line of products, the Grand health Supplements. even though Eve, Diana and Tiffa reassured him that everything thing is taken care of, he can''t help being nervous, after all a lot of things are ridding on this product launch. over the last few days Diana and Tiffa with the help of Eve tirelessly made preparation for today''s product launch, to the point they are hardly at home, and his sisters are starting to ask some questions, of course, he just made some random excuse to placate his sisters curiosity but that doesn''t change the fact that they are starting to be suspicious... for the last few days Diana with the help of Eve was able to make a huge hype about their products, she creates PR department to hide the existence of Eve, after all, Eve existence is a huge threat to the world, he can''t imagine the consequences if Eve existence is exposed to the public, the superpowers will not allow the existence of Eve, and they be sure to take action against Eve..so it must be prevented at all costs. so Diana created the PR department as well as the research and development department, and intelligence department, just to hide Eve existence, this is just a start there will more preventive measure taking place in the future, and Eve itself played the biggest role in preventing her existence from being exposed. according to Diana, they were successful in creating a huge hype and anticipation on their products I''m sure around 80% of it is Eve work, he looks at the time 8:45 am it''s still early the time of their product launch is exactly 10 am, it''s a global launch. Chapter 23 - Fame IV Arc received a call from Diana that it''s almost time for the product launch, Arc noticed that she was not nervous in fact she sounds very relax in informing him about the coming product launch. "as expected of a ????rank.. he said in his mind" he look at the time again he lost count on how many times he checked the time in past few minutes, he sat on his bed trying to calm himself down, he picked up the remote and open the TV it is time for the launch of their products, and a press conference was arranged for it, -oh, it''s starting- he saw Diana and behind her is Biggs wearing a black suit as usual with shades on his eyes. "Good morning everyone!" Diana greeted the crowd and the moment she started talking, all focus turns to her everyone stop talking and focus on her, she excludes a sort of Aura that''s hard for everyone to not pay attention to, it''s a sort of authority aura that can be felt from many top government officials, except her aura is many times more potent, "well, that''s ???? rank for you," said Arc in his mind, Diana addresses the crowd of reporters with a smile on her face, As you all have already know Grand Trading Corp will be launching it''s a very first product called Grand Food Solutions. it''s a product of the long hard study of materials from the wasteland, our researchers work tirelessly for a long time to make this product, to help humanity advance into the future... -Arc smiles when he heard her lines.. researcher my ass hahaha- after saying all her prepared opening speech she said. any questions? she pointed at one of the reporters, you! "Ahem, I''m from United daily news, I would like to ask how sure are you of the product and how safely it is to be consumed?" she looks at him smiling and said, "is the 5-star evaluation answers your questions?" After they heard it the reporters started to clamor, 5-star evaluation they can only name a few products for the past few years to have received a 5-star evaluation the 5star evaluation was deliberately hidden from the public for the exact reason of surprising the reporters, then she picks another reporter, "What are the effects of the solutions and how is it compared to the other leading solutions in the market?" "I''m glad you asked, the effects of our solutions is to greatly improved ones immunity it can even heal all kind of lingering diseases in the body, our study shows that continues consuming of the solutions can prevent all kind of diseases it also strengthens the muscle of the individual because it contains high concentration of energy one can find from the meats of the beasts in the wilderness," "And the most important of all it can make one skin smooth it is also perfect for losing weight and maintaining one''s figures, I can go on and on about the benefits of our products but that will take forever so if you''re interested you can check our website, as for your other question I can''t say anything about the other products as I have never used them but I can say for sure that our products are way above them the 5-star evaluations have already proven that," she said that with huge smile on her face, she answers a few more questions after that, she said her closing speech, then the press conference is over. there was huge applause when the press conference ended signaling the successful event.. after that she let the PR team handled the rest. -as expected of Diana she is good hahaha- Arc breathe a sigh of relief after watching the press conference he knows now for sure that with the way the press conference ended, the popularity of their products will soar.. "Now the real fun starts," he was very sure that the company of the other health solutions will soon make their move, but he was not worried in fact he was looking forward to it.. as this is a test for his company, he wondered how Diana and the rest will handle the situations, well knowing them it''s a child play for them. he pitty the company who will be in Diana and the rest receiving the end of the stick, hopefully, they don''t go too far, he doubts it though.. luckily they''re on my side and the other way around. suddenly he heard Anne and Amy running on their way to his room, he braced for it he knows it will happen sooner or later... Anne opens the door in his room and said. "big bro, what''s going on?" he knew they saw the press conference. "what do you mean?" he tried to play dumb, "what''s going on tell us?" he saw the seriousness of their face, he knew he can''t hide anymore. he sighs and said, "fine I''ll tell you guys." he tried the best he could to explain without revealing too much about it, especially he hides anything about the system and Eve, he knows his explanation has a lot of holes in it and it''s not fully convincing but his sisters are intelligent and didn''t ask too many questions, they trusted their big bro, they were just surprised and a little curious that''s all, in the end, they accepted his explanation without too much fuss, when the two finally left him alone, without realizing it he was sweating a lot. he sighs it''s not that he didn''t trust his sisters it''s just that there''s too much at stake, and revealing it to his sisters will only gave them burden they didn''t need, in the future when he was sure that he can protect themselves from all kind of threat he will tell them the truth, but not now. he took a quick shower he went downstairs to the kitchen all these talking and excitement is making him hungry he looks at the time it''s already 12:39 pm it time for lunch, took him 30mins to prepared lunch he eats with his sisters, they joke around like usual after lunch he went out he has a meeting with Mia. he called her before about the New project but since there was no blueprint yet they just scheduled their meeting after the blueprint was ready, actually, it didn''t take long for Eve to create a blueprint for the new warehouse location he was just excited and called Mia immediately before Eve can make a blueprint, so it ended just him asking Mia to be prepared. and now he was on his way to see Mia. Chapter 24 - Fame V "Darn, it''s been a while since I drive a car." he used to have a car before his parent''s accident but sold them after all along with his parent''s car, now he was driving again after two years and he feels great, he bought a car yesterday for himself it''s not a fancy sports car, Nor any of those fancy maglev vehicles, No he chose a classic black sports type SUV, it is different from a regular SUV it is smaller but bulkier and it looks cool, even before, he was never into a fancy two-seater sports car, he was more into big bulky SUV or pick up truck that''s his choice of ride... So of course since he was getting a new car he might as well get something he likes, he was on his way to a restaurant called the golden Jade, it''s a famous restaurant here in downtown radial.. since he was already familiar with Mia he chose a less formal meeting. it''s a short drive from his house, 15 minutes later he was already in the parking area of the golden Jade, inside. as he was about to ask for a seat he heard someone calling him, he follows the voice and saw Mia calling him.. he smile and walk over to her. he greets her and takes a seat in front of her. -hi you''re early- he said "yeah, I figured since we''re meeting in the restaurant might as have my lunch here," said Mia -I see so did you get your lunch yet?- he asked -yeah just finished, I was about to ask for a tea when I saw you arrived- -we''ll I''ll have a drink as well then- Arc said -so what do you think about the blueprint?- -it''s more complicated than the first, that''s for sure- said, Mia -haha well I''m sure you can handle it I''m not in a rush anyway so you can take your time, just don''t take too long- -hmm well it certainly challenging I''ll give you that, it''s a good thing I like a good challenge- "But you know you gave me a good surprise this morning, I was so surprised when I opened my tv this morning," said Mia with a teasing look -haha sorry, I didn''t mention it before, it''s a secret after all.. as an apology I''ll get you a box of S class solutions..- -hihi that''s easy I was prepared to strangle you for it, my friends can''t stop talking about it you know- -well, that''s good news for me. that means my PR department is doing a great job..- -a moment later their drinks arrived, he took a sip and said: I actually have another project for you besides the one I sent earlier. here, take a look- he passed her the tablet he was carrying hmm, she takes a look at it and said, "well, This is different what do you plan on doing with it?" -well sorry, I can''t tell you that since it involves corporate secret.- what he shows her is a blueprint for where he will train his future army.. so of course, he can''t tell her about it. "is that so, then I won''t ask about it then." "But I can''t do two projects at the same time. my company is not big enough for that yet..." said, Mia -well, what if I invest in your company?- arc said he said that with a smile on his face, this is his real objective that''s why he wants to meet Mia in person because he will have more projects in the future and having a trusted company doing it saves him all kinds of trouble. Mia look at Arc and said, "you''re serious, aren''t you?" -of course.. to tell you the truth this is just the beginning there will be more projects in the future all this is was just small project, in the future we will be doing project 100 time bigger than you''re doing right now, so having a trusted builders save me a lot of hassles in the future...- "let me think about it it''s not an easy decision after all.." said, Mia -of course, take your time it''s not like I''m forcing you anyways just don''t think too long to decide..- "let me ask you something," said Mia seriously. "what will happen if I refuse?" Arc said while smiling. -not much, nothing will change we will still continue to give you the priority over our projects as long as you''re capable of it.. but I will say it now, the project in the future will be bigger and bigger. and I''ll be honest with you it will be very difficult for you to manage it, without a huge upgrade of your current pieces of equipment, but you know what, if you think you can keep up with us then we can just say that this conversation didn''t happen- -hihi you''re really something alright I agree- -eh on what?- -I''ll take your offer on the investment silly- -what really? to tell you the truth I wasn''t really expecting for you to agree..- "why not? it''s a good opportunity, after all, I was having some doubts earlier but seeing your reaction removes all that..." -is that so hahaha well whatever that''s good to hear partner haha- in all honesty, he was really happy having his own exclusive builders will save him a lot of trouble in the future -I will ask Diana to talk to you about it later you two can discuss the details of the investment- "no need I''m willing to offer you 45% of diamond builders shares.. so what do you think about it?" -well since you''re being honest let me show my sincerity how about 2 billion credits for 45% of diamond builders shares, but I have a condition you can''t sell or hand over any of your shares to anyone else, and I want you and only you to be in charge of the business. I don''t want anyone else butting in our business.. so what do you think?- "well looks like we have a deal partner," said, Mia they shake hands and the deal is done. what they didn''t know that in the future diamond builders will become the number one builder in the Galaxy, of course, that''s in the future... Chapter 25 - Fame VI (General food manufacture incorporated) is one of the biggest food manufacturers in the world their products range from all kind food supplement to many preserved foods they also have a hand in almost every industry that involves food and health.. they even have a hand in supplying a space food products to "Human Federation Alliance" that are responsible for all off-world issues, but right now an emergency meeting is taking place in the headquarters of "General food manufacture incorporated" or GFMI, attendance is a must on this meeting.. Larry James w. Osborne 4th is the current generation head of Osborne family their family rise to prominence after the war, when Larry James Osborne 1st found an abandoned automated food factory after the war, using that they become the biggest food supplier post war.. and they amassed a huge amount of fortune that stands into this day. "I''m sure you''re already aware of the reason for this emergency meeting," said Larry "let me show you the sales status in the last 24 hours, a 3d projection appeared in front of the board of directors, in the last 24 hours our stocks went down by 7 points this has never happened in the last 50 years, our supplements sale was down by 30% our processed food product 16%, health and wellness products 15% I can go on and on, but we''re not here for that right now, right now are agenda is about Grand Trading Corp.." Justin Breaker a middle-aged man one of the board of directors said, "what are the steps we''re taking about them?" Justin Breaker family has always been in support to the Osborne family, since the last four generations of his family, their family has always been the most loyal supporters of the Osborne family. "many!" said Larry "all of our hackers associates who attempted to hack the server of Grand Trading Corp.. are now in prison and awaiting trials with overwhelming evidence against them, we are still investigating the reasons for that, but it''s safe to say that the Grand Trading Corp. cybersecurity is way above us, since most of those hackers are the best in the business, as for the men we sent to investigate, none has reported back, we have a general idea of what happened to them, so it''s also safe to assume that they will not be reporting back anytime soon, or ever for that matter.." "I will say this, we become complacent! Larry slam his hand in the table.. we become too complacent, we have heard and saw the advertis.e.m.e.nt of Grand Trading Corp. but what did we do? nothing! I have to admit I too am guilty of being complacent, we have become too comfortable in our position as top players and that we are unmovable..." "isn''t that to Early to say that Larry? our position is not something that can easily be move.." said the old man with the mustache. "is it?" said Larry "when was the last time we have products that get the 5 star evaluation?" "that was more than 100 years ago! and even that, is not something we can be proud off.. you know what I mean.." the man with the mustache sat down and kept quiet. "there''re plenty of ways to mess with Grand Trading Corp.. aren''t they reliant on the materials from the wasteland? we can always do..." "stop!" shouted Larry "do you really want to mess with the Hunter Association? do you f$&king know who was behind them? or have you forgotten what happened the last time we mess with Hunter Association?" everyone in the board of directors shivered, a few years ago the general food manufacture incorporated.. tried to get their hands on the wasteland business by playing dirty they tried to threaten and coerced hunters who refused their offer they even go as far as kidnapping the family of the hunters, the results they almost went out of business, Many of the people responsible for it was erased including Larry''s father, and many of their board of directors at that time, of course, all that happened in the background and nothing was released to public.. it was then that they realize that there is something they cannot mess with. "Are you saying Grand Trading Corp. is related to them?" "we don''t know for sure, but I''m not dismissing the possibility," said Larry he continued "how else is a no-name company came up with a product that received a "Genuine" he emphasizes the word Genuine, 5 star evaluation in their very first product, not to mention their capability in cybersecurity, and that was just one of the many reasons.. until we know more about this Grand Trading Corp.. we have no choice but to play by the book.. I don''t want a repeat of what happened last time happen in my generation.. and so are you!." "we assume that the Grand Trading Corp.. is just another small fish try to mingle with a bunch of sharks, but they turn out to be a shark eating monster..." "And this meeting is exactly because of that, on how to fight Grand Trading Corp.. without breaking the chain, we can''t afford to step over the line for now. I''ll also permit any action as long as it''s within the boundary, now I''m let''s continue with the meeting." this kind of thing is happening to many top companies in the food industry. of course, Arc was unaware of it all, but he can imagine the reaction of the many top companies in the food industry, but he was unaware that the existence in the back of Hunter''s Association has become his biggest shield, of course, he was not worried even if there was no such existence, Eve and the rest is no pushover after all.. he was not worried by the action of the many top companies against them in the daylight and even less in the shadows, Biggs and Wedge is capable of destroying any Force sent by any company, as long as it''s not a weapon of mass destruction.. and no company will ever use that, so he was relaxed about it.. Chapter 26 - Ambition today is the first time arc stepped into Grand Trading Corp since he bought it, the reason for it was a certain big shot was asking for a meeting with him... six hours ago Eve informs him of a certain Big shot asking for a meeting with him... Eve and Diana, of course, wanted to refuse the said meeting but they need Arc permission for that... Diana repeatedly apologizes for leaks in his existence.. but Arc just dismissed it by saying it not her fault, that''s indeed the truth, if the superpowers really want to investigate his existence it''s easy for them to do that. one Diana and rest are living with him anyone can easily connect the dots... no matter how careful Diana and rest including Eve it''s only a matter of time before he''s existence is exposed, so he wasn''t surprised about someone asking about him.. so he agreed on the meeting... but the employee of his Grand Trading Corp was a different story, they are surprised when the enigmatic leader comes to their office so suddenly.. at first they were puzzled who was the young man their super boss Diana and even the ever-charming Tiffa and the two master Biggs and Wedge was following from behind until they heard Tiffa said the word boss that they realize who that was... Tiffa also realized her blunder and her complexion paled.. but Arc just laughed about it and said, just reminds them to keep it to themselves. Tiffa immediately said, "sorry boss I''ll be sure to remind them." -Arc look at Tiffa paled face and smile don''t worry too much about it. it''s not something we can hide right now- he was already prepared for this kind of thing to happen the moment he agrees on the meeting, on the Grand Trading office, -he also said to Tiffa I was planning to let them know anyways to prevent any unnecessary gossip, so don''t worry about it..- he said this to Tiffa because he knows she will blame herself for it, he knows how loyal they are and mistakes are not acceptable for them.. so he tried to lighten the situations. when he got to the conference room he saw a middle-aged man drinking tea.. he look at him as expected of the admiral, their aura is amazing.. as the same time he was checking the man, he was also checking him out, he saw a quick change of expression that quickly returns to normal when he saw him... -hello admiral Ford, sorry for making you wait I''m Arc d. Grand founder and owner of Grand Trading Corp.. good to meet you- Arc didn''t show any expression except for faint smile on his face, he was not perturbed about the Aura of authority the admiral is emitting, he''s no longer a regular human his status is already above regular human, not to mention Biggs and Wedge aura is hundred times More potent the admiral, if those two are not controlling their Aura the admiral might end up fainting right now... even he when exposed to a true Aura of Biggs and Wedge almost fainted, he tried asking about it before to Biggs just for fun, and he ended up almost disgracing himself, heck he almost pissed himself.. good thing he managed to hold it in time, or he would have destroyed his godly reputation to them.. well maybe nothing would change even if he did piss himself but his ego would definitely take a nosedive, at least he only ended up with a slightly bruised ego.. he keeps telling himself someday I''ll be as strong as them if not stronger, well it''s not exactly an empty dream with the help of the system anything is possible... he takes a sit in the chairman seat while Diana Tiffa and Biggs and Wedge stand behind him. proving his identity. "Hello, Mr. Grand, you''re younger than I expected it''s amazing how someone''s as young as you are capable of taming the monster behind you. no offense though said," admiral Ford. Ford has been through a lot, him having a rank of 3rd class admiral proved that he can tell that the four people behind the young man is not ordinary people, no matter how much they control their aura he can feel the danger about them, in fact, the first time he met them, especially when he said he wanted to meet their true boss the lady Diana lost control of her aura for fraction of the moment, when that happens he felt like he was back when he was still a space cadet about to face an overwhelming power of the alien Force, and what surprised him, even more, is that the man behind her is 100 times more dangerous he can feel it in his bones, that''s why he was adamant in meeting the person behind them.. he was intrigued it''s been a while since he was this intrigued about meeting someone. -no, no none taken, I''ll take that as a compliment- said Arc "well let me introduce myself I''m 3rd rank admiral, Jackson K. Ford of the 18th space squadron of Human Federation Alliance, I''m responsible for logistics and support in the battlefront, my squadron is mainly responsible for delivering supply to the battlefront, and that''s why I''m here." "Normally I''ll just ask someone to liaise with your company, but since I was on the planet for another business I decided to come and meet the one responsible for the 5star Supplements that everyone is talking about. in all honesty, I tried the S rank solutions your company produced and I''m very surprised the quality is top-notch, and it certainly delivered what was promised and more." -I''m happy to hear that from someone like you admiral it certainly gave us a huge boost for our moral- -well then let us not waste your time admiral, what do want from us?- ask Arc "decisive, I like that. I want a priority on S, A, and B rank solutions from your company and if possible give us a discount you can take it as a favor from me." -no problem we can give you 80% of the original price any lower and we''ll be taking a loss but a favor from an admiral certainly worth it- said Arc with a smile. 80% even if he gives a price 10% of the retail price he was still in profit their profit margin in solutions is several times the production price.. but of course, he will say this. and this is a huge opportunity for them, to have their products reach the Human Federation Alliance, is a huge step for them at this moment he didn''t think they will get the attention of HFA this early in the game.. he was predicting maybe a year or so for them to get the attention of HFA, but now the admiral himself is on their doorstep and asking for a favor.. how huge is that? he didn''t reveal it in his face but he was over the mood right now. "Great! said admiral Ford, I''ll have someone liaise about the details, I won''t stay long as I have a prior engagement, it''s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Grand, let''s continue to cooperate in the future." -likewise admiral likewise- said Arc they shake hands, and he let Tiffa and Diana escort the admiral outside were his Entourage is waiting. Arc stayed in the conference room waiting for Diana and Tiffa, he was conversing with Eve about the possible changes in their plan.. but Eve told him it''s too early to change their plan right now.. building our own private army is still the priority at this moment. moments later Diana and the rest arrived back in the conference room.. they sit at the chair next to him. -so what do you guys think?- ask Arc "I don''t see any problem with this deal Right now if there''s any it''s all positive for us..." said Diana Tiffa and the rest didn''t join the conversation they just listened, waiting for a new order from their Boss. a couple of days ago Arc already completed the current system mission he summoned the butler and the maids but left the others alone for now, he was tempted to summon the intelligence specialist but decided not to, for now, tomorrow was the day their hunters equipment products will be introduced to the market, he was looking forward to it as well. -Agree I don''t see any problem with it either, a connection with the HFA is a huge boon for us, it will certainly propel our company as one of the best in health and wellness industry.- said Arc -our priority won''t change for now except procuring more wasteland materials, I''ll ask Eve on the alternative for the materials need for our solutions, but for now continue to do what you normally do, except for a boost in production nothing is change.- Chapter 27 - Ambition II Admiral Ford walks out of Grand Trading Corp office and to the car waiting for him, a beautiful woman in officer uniform greets him, how was it sir asked the woman, "it''s been a while since I had an interesting experience, the people behind the Grand Trading Corp, is not simply that''s for sure, make sure you tread carefully around them do not offend them, until we know more about them." "Are they that dangerous sir?" "I''m not sure, the people I met earlier is not someone you want to offend that''s for sure, because if they want your life almost nothing can stop them unless we used weapons of mass destruction, at least that''s how I felt when I met them..." "is their boss that strong? I can''t believe it..." "No not their boss, I''m still not sure if the one I met is the real boss, that young man is certainly interesting but his ability is not enough for the four monsters behind him to follow him, especially those two..." "I''ll be sure to convey that to our liaison officer." "No! I want you to handle it, I trust no one besides you, I feel that if we can forge a good relationship with them it will be beneficial for us in the future... Lisa, it will benefit you too..." "is that your guts again sir, no Uncle?" "hahaha it certainly is, it certainly is hahaha," then he becomes serious, "it never failed me before it''s what helps me to where I am now, so believe me, I want you to be the liaison officer for the Grand Trading Corp. that''s an order." Lisa look at the serious face of his uncle and said. "yes, sir!" Lisa F Lang was an orphan, her parents was both officials in HFA they were killed when their ship encounters a hostile alien fleet, her uncle who was a captain at that time become her guardian and later when she joins the space navy her uncle who becomes a rear admiral took her under his wings, now as a lieutenant she becomes her uncle naval secretary which she accepted with pride... her uncle 3rd rank admiral Jackson K. Ford was her mother''s only brother, Jackson never got married and dedicated his life to his work. she wondered what kind of people the Grand Trading Corp. has that intrigued her uncle so, he was willing to send her personally as a liaison between the Grand Trading Corp. to the navy supply Corp, that her uncle is in charge of, she would be lying if Grand Trading Corp. didn''t pick her interest... Arc after the meeting with the admiral, didn''t stay long after giving a set of instructions to Dianna and the rest, he left.. he plans to take a look at the progress of the construction that will become his training facility, according to Mia with the help of the new pieces of equipment, it will be built in just a few days so he set an appointment with Mia for a visit, well because of the simple reason, he has nothing to do. he''s getting bored, he didn''t think that becoming a master in the background would be such a boring job. it''s part of the reason he agreed to a meeting with the admiral.. he wants to take part in some of the action, so in order to relieve some of his boredom he scheduled a visit to his future training facility.. well maybe to chat a little bit with Mia. "Arc you''re finally here, so what do you think?" he looks at the construction site and saw many construction drones and people working there must be a at least a few thousand construction drones working on sites, he was no stranger to construction he used to be one of the workers after all, but he never worked in a huge construction projects before.. so this is the first for him to see so many drones and people working together... -it''s quite a sight that''s for sure- he said they were in the elevated platform overlooking the whole site it was a place where architect and engineer come to overlook and supervise the construction area, but today Mia book the platform to accommodate Arc in his visit, she knows he doesn''t like others spying on their conversation, and maybe she did it for a selfish reason to alone with Arc... she looks at Arc who was looking fascinated watching the drones and people working... "it certainly is quite a sight, it''s one of my reasons for founding the diamond builders..." "managing the construction drones and workers to build something always fascinated me. watching the building being built step by step is a type of enjoyment for me..." -can''t say I blame you after seeing this, I always ask something to be built and only see it after it was built so this sight is a first for me, maybe I should visit you more often- Arc joked when she heard Arc''s words she blushed a little, she looks at him and said with a smile on her face. "maybe you should you never know maybe you can learn a thing or two" -Arc look at her and laugh haha that would be interesting maybe I should apply for a foreman position haha- they laughed and joke around for a bit then Arc asked Mia. -when do think this will be completed?- "hard to say the earliest maybe around 2 to 3 days if the weather cooperates, the longest probably a week." -I see that''s not bad, it''s faster than I thought considering you''re doing two major construction at the same time- "You forgot I''m also building many of your exclusive stores worldwide. is a good thing your S rank solutions is godly.. otherwise I''ll be Dead with all this project, you really didn''t joke when you said the project will be bigger in the future, I thought you''re just making a speech or something, didn''t think the moment I signed the partnership I''ll be buried with projects.." -haha, are you regretting your decision now, well it''s too late you''re already part of my ship haha- she rolled her eyes at him and said, "what''s there to regret if it wasn''t this big I''ll be disappointed." he looks at her in the eyes for a second, that makes her blushed a little bit. and said -well, you''re really something I guess you were born for this job, after all, not many can take this kind of stressful job and enjoys it, that makes you special- while trying to hide her blushed face she said. "is that so, well it''s not everyone can do the job they love I''m just one of the lucky ones I guess, so I guess thank you for making it happen." -I can''t say I can take the credit since you''re already doing the job you love even before I met you, all I did is give you a bigger playing field. but I''ll take it it''s free anyway, so you''re welcome haha- who told you it''s free? -eh, it''s not- "no no not even close I''ll cost you a box of S class solutions- my friends keep harassing me when they found out I''m working with for the Grand Trading Corp." -not for but with we''re partners now remember and sure I''ll ask Diana to send you a few boxes of S class solutions- she laughed hard when she heard that. haha thanks a lot, partner... Chapter 28 - Ambition III Arc had a great time with Mia yesterday he didn''t think his visit to the construction site would end up him and Mia talking until it gets dark... -it''s been a while since I had a great time with a girl- he reminisces a little, he was laying in his bed waiting for news from Diana and the rest, earlier the press conference about the released of their line up of hunters equipment was successfully concluded, but news of war stops him from celebrating, just a few minutes ago the Human Federation Alliance, just released a shocking news an unknown powerful alien Force was discovered by HFA exploration ship the exploration ship tried to communicate with alien force only to fired upon, the HFA exploration ship tried to escape without retaliating in order not to escalate the issue, but the alien Force continued to pursue and attack the HFA exploration ship, and eventually got destroyed.. over 2000 lives were lost in that ship including the daughter of the president of HFA who volunteers to be part of the explanation ship to help and discovered new life in the Galaxy.. but that''s not the end of it the rescue fleet who responded to the emergency signal of the HFA exploration ship called Explorer EX.. was also attacked, 5 of the 12 sh.i.p.s of the fleet was destroyed killing over 20000 men and women but with the determination of rescue command fleet they were able to destroy 3 out 5 alien ship the 2 was able to escape after receiving significant damage.. and now HFA has issued a full-blown war against that alien species who are clearly hostile to human.. all this happened a few hours ago and only a few minutes ago the released the declaration to the public.. recovery and study of the destroyed alien is already underway according to HFA they are doing everything to find the location of the alien species, In the meantime HFA is readying for a full-blown war.. a code red was issued to all fleet roaming across the Galaxy... it would be a lie if Arc said he was not excited, in fact, we were alone in that, almost all of humanity felt exited, only those pacifists are against it but those people are few in numbers. it''s been a while since humanity has a full-blown war, there where few skirmishes Avery now and then against other alien species but humanity always act passively and that gives humanity good reputation with other alien species.. humanity always find a way to make friends with other species... humanity is always reluctant to engage in a war because of their past, they don''t want to repeat the mistakes of their predecessor, the survivors of the apocalyptic war, tried hard to ingrained to their descendants the horror of war and they carry it till this day, but now after a long time humanity is going for war, and because it''s not against another human there are little oppositions in it, fact there''s almost none, as they say, humanity only shines in war.. Arc didn''t know if this war was good or bad for him but he knows he was excited. -hmm, Eve what''s up?- the liaison for the navy supply office wants to discuss something with you. said, Eve -I''m sure Diana is more than capable of making decisions without me- no boss I think you should go this time, said Eve this is the first time Eve asked him to participate in something because Eve and the rest can do almost anything there''s hardly anything for him to do. that''s why he was surprised when Eve asked him to go... -well if you say so then it must be important- it''s not really important boss but I think you will be interested in it.. reply Eve "did she found out I was bored?" Arc didn''t waste time in just a few minutes he was already in the conference room, in there he a beautiful woman in officer uniform. -sorry to have kept you waiting for miss... how can I address you?- he forgot to ask Eve about the name of the liaison... boss, you''re here greeted, Diana, Tiffa and Wedge are not here they''re coordinating with the Hunters... Arc nod at Diana and look again at the woman next to her and waited for her reply. no, no problem I should be the one apologizing for imposing on you. I''m lieutenant Lisa Lang liaison for the Navy supply office. -so then lieutenant what can I do for you that my CEO can''t- arc was seating in chairman seat, to his left was Diana, and on his right was lieutenant Lisa Lang call me Lisa, a lieutenant is too formal and since we''ll be working for a long time let''s not be too formal... -alright, Lisa nice to meet you call me Arc, so what can I do for you- as you know that war is coming, so in preparation for the war we want you to make a military-grade solution for us. Arc frown a little when he heard it, -it''s not a problem to make a military-grade solution the problem is the quantity, just making an S grade solutions required a lot of materials not to mention military-grade that''s the reason we made the S grade solutions a limited supply, but you already know this, that means you have a solution- as expected of you Arc I guess you building the Grand Trading Corp. is not an accident. I won''t call it a solution, but more of a suggestion what do you know about space beast? -so that''s your suggestion hmm let me think- he slumped back into his chair and pretended to think, but in truth he was asking Eve about it, it''s not surprising that he didn''t know about it, although it''s not exactly a top-secret it''s still can be considered a secret, HFA didn''t disclose the existence of the space beast to the public to avoid public panic, only top family and government officials know about it.. now that Eve explained what a space beast is, he now has a general idea of what it is, in simple terms, it was a beast living in space, so it''s called space beast, only difference is, it''s many times bigger than, it''s land counterpart. -I can see where you''re going with this but my question is why us, there are many companies who are more qualified for this for example general food manufacture incorporated, so why did you choose us?- ask Arc Chapter 29 - Ambition IV well it''s not like we choose you for a reason but almost all top food companies already tried making something from a space beast meat, but failed, and because your company is the only company that manages to get a 5-star evaluation in food solutions. -hmm that''s weird if I recall correctly General food manufacture incorporated was able to make a solution that received a 5-star evaluation before although it''s several decades ago they still managed to do it- said Arc oh, that, that was fake, they bribed the private company that tests the solutions. that''s the reason the HFA ordered that all test in a product being released into the public must be tested by the government itself, and ordered the closure of all private testing facility.. of course, it wasn''t released to the public to avoid public outcries. the HFA also ordered a gag order and the banning of the said product and gave a hefty fine on general food manufacture incorporated... -oh, I see I didn''t know that I just read about it online before, and what makes you think that we can do what many others failed to do?- to be honest, I wasn''t sure, but your S grade solutions are almost perfect we can''t find any fault in it, to be honest, our lab was baffled on how you make your solution. -so you tried to study our solutions I assumed you failed or else we''re not talking right now- she blushed, well to be fair do expect any less? well to be honest Arc didn''t care he didn''t think anyone would be capable of copying the product produced by the factory-made by the system, even though he downgrade the solutions to the lowest rank it was still created by a rank 5 technology and not something the current technology can copy -well If I know that it will be easy to copy I wouldn''t have released it without first registering it to the patent office, fact that I released it to the public without registering for a patent is already stating the obvious don''t you think?- said Arc that may be so but do you think it will stop the people from studying and copying it? -well I guess not- he said in truth, he just said it, for him to look cool because he didn''t really care if anyone tries to study or copy it because he knew it''s impossible plain and simple... well, we''re getting out of topic, so what do you think about our proposal? ask Lisa - you''re right, and yeah we''re willing to try, but what do we get out of it if we succeed?- well that''s easy, an exclusive right to it - you''re joking, right? if we succeed of course we have the exclusive right to it, that''s not an offer Lisa- said Arc that may be so but we''re the only ones who can supply the space beast meat - you''re forgetting something we don''t need a space beast since we''re not really planning on making military-grade solutions, why should we waste our time and manpower for nothing?- it''s not for nothing per se we will still buy it from you we only want it to be a lot cheaper. - because you have the Monopoly of the materials so you dictate the price after all, of course, your not willing to pay good money for it. Lisa knows Arc was right the HFA is not willing to spend a lot of money for it since they know they have the Monopoly of the space beast meat but she can''t do anything about it she was just asked to negotiate with him, this is getting nowhere Lisa said in her mind, she thought she can easily negotiate with Arc. who doesn''t want to work for HFA any company would jump for the opportunity. you know war is coming and the HFA is spending a lot of money in preparation for war, so they can''t spend too much money on food solutions, and besides, we all need to give part in it. said Lisa - come on Lisa you have to give us more than that, otherwise, it''s not worth it for us to spend time and resources to create a military-grade solution using space beast meat for you..- Lisa was getting frustrated the conversation doesn''t seem to move on, but she didn''t show it in her face. please tell me what you want Arc, and let''s not waste anyone''s time? - well if you want it that way sure, I want HFA to provide us our own place at the LIBERTY and we want to work unsupervised.. - LIBERTY a gigantic space city founded by much human power and friendly aliens by combining the many asteroids to form a gigantic spaceport that facilitates open trade to all friendly forces, HFA is not the only human power in space, they''re one of the biggest yes, but the not the only one, Omega Foundation is one of them founded by a group of scientist who thinks that combining alien and human genes is the way to the future, they have already separated themselves to Earths humanity a long time ago.. during the age of space exploration, many humans didn''t want to be under HFA so they separated themselves and build power for themselves Omega Foundation is one of them, the Royal Empire is another, and many more... in other words, LIBERTY has become the biggest hub for humans and aliens in space, in simple terms, it''s a gigantic space market. and in there Grand Trading Corp. will truly shine, in there Arc will be able to use the system in full capacity, and arc knows this because of Eve... that''s.. don''t you think you''re asking for too much? we''re just asking you for a military-grade solution. Lisa replied - is that so, well if you think it''s not a big deal creating a military-grade solutions from space beast meat, you can do it yourself, or better yet find someone besides us to do it for you, it''s not like we''re really losing anything from not accepting the deal you''re offering - said Arc Lisa shakes her head she''s frustrated because she can''t do anything, I can''t decide on this I''ll convey your request to the higher up, I''ll let you know when they decided something. - sure no problem take your time I''m not in a hurry anyways - Arc said with a playful sounds " you''re not but we are, just how big is your appetite LIBERTY is the most sought after land in the Galaxy many power wants a piece of it but remains unreachable " she frustratedly said in her mind ok I''ll let them know but don''t expect much, you know the value of LIBERTY I don''t think the higher-ups will agree - it''s fine just let them know, just tell them it''s either that or they can find someone else to do it for them, because that''s the only price we will accept - replied Arc to Lisa Chapter 30 - Ambition V After the meeting, Arc and Diana, as well as wedge, are the only ones remaining in the conference room... - looks like we need to step up our plans, I thought I will have to wait until Mia manage to complete the construction before I need to summon the five, but it looks like we don''t have that much time. I''ll summon the five later. I''ll have them coordinate with you and Eve, and wedge looks like even you and your bro will be busy for awhile - wedge grinned, it''s about time boss said wedge - haha, you look excited, are you getting bored protecting Diana and Tiffa?- they didn''t really need protection boss, wedge replied while scratching his head right, Arc remembers the reason he asks Biggs and Wedge to accompany Diana and Tiffa it''s not really for the protection it''s more like to prevent flies and c.o.c.kroaches from making trouble. - right right I forgot, Diana and Tiffa are too beautiful so I ask you to accompany them to prevent any flies and c.o.c.kroach from approaching our beloved Diana and Tiffa.- arc said Diana blushed and replied, Tiffa will be overjoyed if she heard what you said boss said, Diana. who doesn''t want to be praised especially by their beloved boss, so Diana was over the moon right now Arc left with wedge, and left Diana alone to do her job in the office they were on their way to the prepared hideout, they purchased an old abandoned mansion and renovate it a little, the mansion is located in the not so populated area, so it''s a perfect place to summon people in the future and it''s a good vacation house as well so no loss in buying it, after about 45 minutes of Driving they arrived in the mansion, they didn''t waste time they enter the mansion and went directly in the bas.e.m.e.nt.. arc look at the system inventory. 1 rank 5 health potion 1X ???? SECURITY OFFICER 2X ???? MILITARY TRAINER 2X ???? INTELLIGENCE OFFICER 5X ???? ENHANCEMENT SERUM 1X LOTTERY BOX he didn''t think too much he clicks on the five and summons them seconds later 3 men and 2 women are kneeling in front of him he immediately asks them to stand up all of them looks young the oldest is probably the 2 military officer that look like they''re in their thirties but the security officer and the two women are all young probably the same age as Tiffa he names them as following ???? SECURITY OFFICER: Ash Dillinger ???? MILITARY TRAINERS: Tom and Jerry Hardy he based them on the classic cartoons he used to watch when he was a kid, in fact, he still has the collection in his room, he smiles a little he felt a little guilty naming the two, base on a cat and a mouse, but his excuse is, it''s easy to remember and it''s actually a proper human name.. ???? INTELLIGENCE OFFICER Ruby and Jem Thorn. he set them as sister just as he set Tom and Jerry as brother oh and Biggs and wedge are also set as brothers he looks at their stats and we''re Impressed, all of them have almost perfect stats especially Tom and Jerry all their stats is 100 the only difference about them is their specialty, looking at them he was excited. he can''t wait for the future this guys will give him... after asking Eve to give them a briefing, they left. Ash is going with Wedge they will meet up with Diana to create a full-proof security network Tom and Jerry will go together to recruit for his future army he didn''t know how they''ll go about it but he trusted them so he didn''t think too much about it, as for him he will be with Ruby and Jem for now, to discuss about forming their own intelligence network, the vehicles are already been prepared in advance for them. an hour later he was back home with Ruby and Jem they were greeted by his personal butler he named. Jarvis Maxwell and the two maids Lily and Lila Blossom, he was satisfied with the three especially because anyone of them is a better cook then himself so everyday he gets to enjoy a first class meal, especially his sisters who he was getting worried about getting fat... when her sisters met Ruby and Jem they were not surprised anymore, they''re already used to see their brother bringing home remarkable people, they greeted them with a laugh, to them they are just another sisters, he asks Jarvis to shows them to the room they will be staying temporarily until the training facility is completed, where they will train his shadow unit, at first he plan to have them go with Tom and Jerry but Eve said the people they need are different from what Tom and Jerry are looking for, Eve will be responsible for searching potential recruit for the shadows unit, and Ruby and Jem for personally recruiting and training them, and according to Eve it''s better if they do that after the training facility is built... Lisa called her Uncle Admiral Jackson Ford, she told him the results of the meeting and the demand of Arc the so-called founder of Grand Trading Corp. because honestly, they''re still not convinced he was really the founder or if there''re people behind him pulling the strings... Jackson frown when he heard her.. that''s not going to be an easy demand to fulfill, the question is how important the military-grade solutions to them? there are no questions they''re very important especially in the coming War, HFA knows how difficult it is to get supplies to the front lines it''s not like they are separated by a mere kilometers or Miles they were talking about light-years the difference is huge, it''s not like they haven''t tried other way of making military rations countless item was introduced and only solution type is acceptable and even the best solutions didn''t stay fresh for long in the space and they taste awful, but the solutions made by Grand Trading Corp. is different after subjecting it to many ridiculous tests, it passes with flying colors, and they taste great. but A, B, and C solutions are not much for military use, after all, it was made for a regular human to consume. only S grade is passable as it can sustain military personnel who needs a huge amount of energy every day, because of their enhance physics, but the problem is the supply is limited even if they get all S grade solutions produce by Grand Trading Corp. it''s not nearly enough to supply one fleet much less multiple squadron.. so military-grade solutions made from space beast is their only solutions, after all it''s ridiculous to send a huge supply ship with the squadron going to war in a long terms, it''s an easy target after all, and it wastes a huge amount of manpower to protect it especially since they need all the manpower they have in the coming war, it''s not only a waste but the cost is very high as well it''s really not practical.. it''s acceptable during peacetime since most of the fleet or squadron have nothing much to do but in times of war it''s a different story, and Admiral Jackson knows this so are everyone on top. Chapter 31 - Ambition VI Arc was conversing with Eve at the moment it''s been 3 days since he summon Ash and the others, the construction still need a few days to be completed according to Mia because of bad weather, and there''s still no word From Lisa the liaison for army supply office, but he''s not worried even if it didn''t work there''s not much lost for him since he still needs a lot of time to established his power properly, worse case scenario he''ll just wait until he was able to build his own spaceship and go to horizon himself. Eve is giving him an update on everything... after a while, he looks at his status. ### STATUS ### ARC D GRAND current energy unit 278 strength 4.7 - 5.2 agility 4.1 - 4.3 endurance 4.5 - 5.0 intelligence 4.5 - 4.9 SKILL: none enhancement serum reserved 82% item list 1 rank 5 health Potion 5X ???? ENHANCEMENT SERUM 1X LOTTERY BOX "my status has increased quite a bit, enhancement serum in his body remains the same it just shows how potent a ???????? rank enhancement serum is, " -right I still have a lottery box I almost forgot about it I guess it''s a good time to open it, hopefully, I''m lucky again.- CONGRATULATIONS YOU GOT... 1 rank 5 pet dog 2x rank 5 health Potion 1 ???? rank training machine -eh, a pet dog, what am I supposed to do with a pet dog? let me see- Rank 5 pet dog Strength: 9 Agility: 11 Endurance: 7 Intelligence: 15 Skill: Super smell and Danger perception Description: A enhance breed of dog a loyal and loving dog very protective of its owner, has super smell and can detect danger a mile away... - #@&$!! mother.. even a dog is better than me, and here I thought I''m getting stronger, but it turns out I can''t even compare to a dog wtf! haiss I will give this to my sisters later well it''s a good addition to the family anyways, but [email protected]#k this is depressing- - training machine looks interesting though let''s see - ???? rank Training machine Description: A virtual reality training machine with 100% realism can provide all kinds of training exercises, can customize any kind of scenario to provide optimal training for the user... - not bad, this is what I need to quickly enhance my status, is this the systems way of saying I''m lazy and needs to train? Nine? - Nine..... - no answer huh, well whatever, I''ll check that out later I''ll look for a place to put it, as for the health Potion I''ll save it for the future it may be of help who knows..- ITEM LIST 3X rank 5 health Potion 5X ???? ENHANCEMENT SERUM " Should I give the enhancement serum to my sisters? I guess I should it''s a good thing anyway, I''ll think about it later " Arc said in his mind "I currently have a 278 energy unit and it will be 300+ in a few days, the next factory is already set but that will to wait until all preparation is complete," - Eve, should we continue with the current plan? I think the appearance of war will also change the priority of the people and I have a feeling that the factory we choose before will not be enough - data shows that even with the coming war, earth would not be influence much, data and my analysis shows that although the war is coming more than 80% of human on earth Don''t care much about it, but It might change depending on the outcome of the war, there''s no way to predict for now, since there''s almost no data regarding the hostile alien Force. -I guess so, but I feel that HFA is not telling us everything about this war, there must be something else that convinces the HFA to go to war, although the death of 22000 lives is a good excuse, I feel that it''s not enough to risks the lives of millions or possibly billions of lives in this war - -or am I thinking too much? what do you think Eve- it''s possible boss but not enough data to support it. -yeah, it was just a feeling on my part, I guess we''ll find out in the future - he left his room and look for her sisters he plans to give them a ???? star enhancement serum, he believes that the sooner he gave it to his sisters the better, he also plans to give it to his parents but Eve stop him as there might be some complications that might arise because of it, since it''s not recovery Potion, so he plans to heal his parents first before he gave them the serum, just to sure. brother, what''s this? ask Anne, Amy is also looking at him in confusion. - it''s an enhancement serum that I paid a great deal to acquire it will enhance your physique and improve your immunity, don''t worry it''s very safe, I already took 1 myself, and will give mom and dad in the future when they get better... Anne and Amy nodded he took the serum and injected it to his sisters it''s in a pressurized injectable serum the pain is gone even before one even realizes it.. after that her sisters suddenly felt sleepy so he let them sleep, it''s probably the serum working he thinks. after his sisters fall asleep he went to the living room to summon the pet dog, he click summon and a big dog similar to a Tibetan mastiff appeared before him, it has a glossy black fur that looks really fancy it looks cute though especially when it''s wagging its tail, he patted it in the head Which the dog enjoy because the wagging if its tail becomes faster. - I should give you a name, but don''t expect much I suck at naming,- the look at him with expectations in his eyes - hmm, blacky? the dog growl you didn''t like it? I guess it''s too common, what about bingo, no? che what picky dog, let see Stain, Coal, Burnt, Poopy,...- he suggested a couple of dog name but the dog keeps growling finally Jarvis his trusted butler can''t take it anymore and gave a suggestion he said. boss what about. "Cosmos" it''s a good name for it boss... - Cosmos huh do you like it?- the dog jump and down indicating he likes it... - I guess if I name you Poopy my sisters are going to kill me... well, Cosmos it is then - and so Cosmos the dog that will play a significant role in the future becomes part of their family... - so Cosmos your job is to protect my sisters and act cute that''s your job what do you think? - - you didn''t like it? which one? the first? no the second? I see but is the most important part of all, if you didn''t act cute what if my sisters didn''t like you, how will you be able to protect them if they didn''t like you, did you think about that?- cosmos face looks like it''s struggling eventually it relented. Arc on the other hand grinned. " you may have higher intelligence than me but I''m still smarter than you hahaha " - ok don''t forget to act cute when you meet my sisters, that''s very important- bark bark... - good, I''m glad you understand - he looks serious on the outside but on the inside, he was laughing hard... Chapter 32 - Grand Army Pant pant pant.. for the last 30 days Arc has been addicted to training in the ???? rank training machine, he spends most of his time training non stop, ever since he first step into it, he becomes addicted to it.. the training machine is an octagonal-shaped room, it''s exterior is jet black except for the door that''s golden in color, from the outside it looks like a regular fancy room, but the moment it was started it''s like a whole new world was created, every time Arc entered it, it''s like he was transported into another world, so for the last 30 days Arc experience a lot of things, he died a lot too and the pain is real so he suffered a lot, but the training machine would stop every time he can''t take it anymore to protect his mind, most people would be traumatized by the experience but Arc was different he only felt excitement and trill it''s a first for him he wondered if this is what the adrenaline junkie felt whenever they risk their life for fun and excitement.. and right now he was fighting a monster using only a hand made knife his body is already bloody and his left hand is dangling from his shoulder his face was pale but his eyes tell a different story, his enemy is also not looking good, one of its eyes is destroyed from a deep cut, a huge wound can be seen across its body one of its arms is missing. and it keeps on roaring, the monster looks like a huge orc it''s remaining hand is holding a club full by of spikes and blood can be seen dripping from it, it suddenly charge at Arc while trying to smash him to death, it swings its club at Arc, he already seen this kind of attack and was used to it but his body is barely responding, he tried to roll over to avoid the swing but it clipped his foot smashing one of them he winced, he felt the pain he can never get used to it no matter how much he tried, but he can endure it longer and longer the more he experiences it and he no longer panic like the first few time he got hurt, and honestly he''s been thru worst than this at least one of his hand is still working. he stubs the orc-like monster in the thigh and he put all his weight in it cutting it all the way down, felling the monster the moment it fell his knife is already ready to cut its throat, but not everything went according to plan, when it fell it fell on top of him crushing his head, he died. as he exited the training machine his face is pale, - shit!, so unlucky I almost have it,- he looks at the time it''s already late at night... he went to the bathroom and took a shower.. this has been his life for the past 30days except giving his order once in a while he spends most of his time training... a lot of things happened in the last 30days shadow unit already started training their first batch of recruit, most of them are girls age around 15 to 20 yrs old many of them are rescued from criminal organization, the rest was recruited by Eve all over United Government, the first batch is numbered 80, they will be train and possibly brainwashed by Ruby and Jem for the next 60 days their training started 10 days ago.. as for Tom and Jerry, they were able to recruit over 400 people, Arc didn''t bother to know where they came from. their training started 15 days ago Biggs and wedge are also there helping. 20 days ago Arc spends on a rank 5 enhancement serum factory that cost 150 energy .. upkeep is 5en every 100 days if materials are provided if not upkeep 1 energy a day, luckily materials can easily be bought in the market although some are quite expensive, money is something, Grand Trading Corp. Never lack, just the sales of solutions are providing Grand Trading Corp. billions revenue on a weekly basis not to mention the hunter equipment.. in other words Grand Trading Corp. is swimming in money, and most of it was being used for training and developing new facility... the enhancement serum will be given to the new recruits it will never be sold. also 5 days ago Grand Trading Corp open up a new company branch call Grand Technology Corp. along with the released of the product called GM alpha it''s a mobile phone similar to the one Arc have only severely downgraded, Arc bought a new factory, a rank 5 Mobile phone factory for 250 energy its upkeep is 10 energy every 100days if materials are provided if not 50 every 100days. this is the first step in Grand Trading Corp. stepping into the military business. also 25 days ago Lisa come back to tell us the response from their higher up, as expected they refused.. but funny enough 20 days ago the first skirmish of HFA against the alien Force they nicknamed Ganesh as it resembles an old idol Ganesha they look like bipedal elephant with four arms and they are heavily armored, they were 3-5 meters tall the biggest they encounter so far is 5 meters and they are strong luckily in space battle personal strength is useless only the power of their ship matters. 25 days ago when the first skirmish happened 10 sh.i.p.s of HFA 2nd squadron was lost and many are damaged the enemy didn''t fare any better they lost 12 sh.i.p.s before they retreated in defeat, the success of the first battle greatly increased humanity moral, added to that, that even though 10 sh.i.p.s are lost not many have died because they were able to evacuate in time.. as humanity celebrate the navy top officials are having an emergency meeting the reasons? out of 10 ship lost 7 are supply ship, clearly their enemies are targeting their supply line and they have succeeded, without supply ship they''re stuck until new supply ship have come, and that''s a big problem without supply ship all solutions they have will need to be consumed within 30 days or it will expire the supply ship purpose is to manufacture new solutions every 30 days in other words without supply ship the whole squadron will have to start fasting and stocking of goods is useless if after 30 days it will expire and regular food is a no go since its not enough to supply their enhance body.. they have to eat 10 times a regular human eat to get the energy they need, inland or in city it''s not a problem since food is abundant but in space it''s a big problem especially if you have to feed thousands if not hundreds of thousands of enhanced soldiers.. Chapter 33 - Grand Army II 20 days ago Admiral Ford comes to the Grand Trading Corp. office in person together with Lisa to renegotiate with them, of course, Arc meets them in person. they negotiate back and forth in the end after almost 4 hours of negotiations they agreed on three terms. 1 Gran Trading Corp. will provide 1million military-grade solutions and 100k military+ grade solutions, every 10 days to the HFA navy supply office. Arc simple name the military solutions as SS and SSS grade because according to him it''s easy to understand and because he also plans to release it to the public 2 the price must be 20% less than the market price and they have the priority over the solutions in case they need more, of course, any additional above the agreed number must be paid at the market price 3 the contract will last until the war is over in return, HFA will provide 5sq kilometers of prime land in Liberty. meaning it''s near the center of liberty itself. 5sq kilometers may sound huge but Liberty is 3 time the size of the earth and it continues to expand HFA own hundreds of thousands of kilometers of prime land in Liberty as they are one of the founders of Liberty even so giving 5 kilometers pains them so in fact, Arc originally wants 10sq km of prime land but eventually settled in five he was not afraid to negotiate as he knows he holds all the cards. HFA will also provide 100 ton of space beast meat every 10days with the 50% the market price.. actually this is not much to HFA as they don''t have any used in Space beast meat except as fertilizer because according to study space beast meat can make an excellent fertilizer, because it''s meat is pack with energy. And HFA over the last hundreds of years was able to acc.u.mulate an uncountable number of space beast meat, Actually every part of space beast is expensive except its meat, and if there''s one thing a space beast has plenty of, it''s meat... so they are more than happy to sell it to Grand Trading Corp. even in 50% market price since there''s almost no market in it in Space.. And last HFA will pay the solutions in BGC, not in any earth currency. BGC stands for Bright Galaxy Credits because according to the aliens our Galaxy is name Bright if translated into human language. BGC was a lower currency in the known universe it was managed by one of the oldest races called Overseer at least that''s the closest word we have to-it''s a translation, others call them guardian race as it guards the biggest and the oldest bank in the known universe. But HFA called them Overseer, not much is known about the said alien race only that they protect and manage the oldest bank in the known universe.. according to information humanity have gathered, the known universe has a single universally used currency it''s called Chaos stone it was then converted into digital currency by the overseer and they called it Chaos Stone Credit, in other words, 1 credit is equivalent to 1 chaos stone, of course, there are lower rank credits such us Bright Galaxy Credit, 1 BGC is equivalent to 1 bright stone and 100 bright stone is equivalent of 1 chaos stone or CSC credit and the overseer manages the exchange in credit to a physical one or vise versa.. and the HFA use BGC as currency to trade with other alien species the price of materials and exchange rate are all regulated by the overseer.. that''s why since the founding of Liberty the human and all alien species who want to trade and be part of Liberty have been requesting the first bank to open a branch in Liberty and only 80years ago this wish was granted.. and that propel the Liberty as a number one Trading hub within a million light-years, almost every friendly aliens who steps in space use Liberty as a Trading hub and that turned the land of liberty especially near the bank which is called prime land extremely expensive and HFA would not have agreed to give 5sq kilometers of land to Arc, if there''s another way.. but the current war was too important for them so they reluctantly agreed, of course, that''s only if the Grand Trading Corp. can manage to deliver, if not they can forget about the prime land they wouldn''t even be allowed to step in Liberty if HFA didn''t allow them to go space since HFA own the only space elevator on earth.. of course they didn''t know that even without their help Grand Trading Corp. is more than capable of going there, it''s only a matter of time.. according to the contract Grand Trading Corp. has 60 days to develop SS and SSS grade solutions. to receive the promised land in the Library, they have to deliver the solutions within 60days that''s a very short time to develop a product that even they failed to do.. and if Grand Trading Corp. failed to deliver they have to pay a million S grade rank solutions to HFA as compensation. for the space beast meat, it''s a very unfair deal since the space beast meat was purchased by Grand Trading Corp. but the HFA insist they are on a loading side since the space beast meat should be paid in BGC and not UGC, arc didn''t bother to argue about it.. since he knows he won''t fail. HFA must transfer the land within 24hrs upon receiving the 1st batch of solutions, failure to do so will entitle Arc to 10sq km instead of 5, course the contract was signed and sealed by the first bank, the same with the title transfer doc.u.ments they must be notarized by the first bank to make the doc.u.ments legal in space.. otherwise, HFA can take the land back anytime they want.. only if it''s sealed by the first bank will the doc.u.ments be official. no one has the guts to break the first bank seal not even HFA have the guts to do it... of course, anytime Arc can make an SS and SSS grade solutions but he decided to wait for at least 45 days before he reveals it HFA... Eve discovered that space beast meat makes an excellent beauty products, and health drinks, he also plans to make a health potion from space beast meat.. according to bro Eve space beast meat is an excellent material for any health product.. but that would have to wait until they are in Liberty as it would be a waste to release it in earth.. for now, Arc''s plans to make money have turned to make the earth his personal factory. his plan is to place most of his factory on earth turning earth as his manufacturing planet. but in order to do that he needs to completely control earth, and in order to do that he needs an army and not just any army he needs a powerful army, he was not worried about the power in space since he knows they can''t do anything in the open, HFA and all human superpower in space can''t interfere with the issue on earth unless they did something illegal and it affects them otherwise even if a war is started on earth they cannot interfere that''s part of the armistice they sign during the space exploration era. otherwise, every human superpower on space will want a peace on earth of course that doesn''t stop them from influencing earth in the shadows, many power on earth has a connection to a human superpower on space.. hunter association is an example according to Eve hunter association has human superpower backing them. after Arc took a shower he went to the kitchen and ask Jarvis to prepare food for him, all those training has made him hungry... Chapter 34 - Grand Army III Arc checks his status as he waits for Jarvis to deliver his meal. ### STATUS ### ARC D GRAND current energy unit 23 strength 7.9 agility 6.5 endurance 8.2 intelligence 7.6 SKILL: none enhancement serum reserved 80% item list 3 rank 5 health Potion 3X ???? ENHANCEMENT SERUM ### MISSION LIST ### #1 Take control of 5 major underworld group in three 3 different nation no time limits rewards 500 energy unit ???? 1x medical doctor ???? 10 medical nurse ???? medical facilities ???? 20x truth serum ???? 100x stealth suit #2 build an army of 1000 and took over a city with a population no lower than 50000 no time limit rewards: 5000 energy unit ???? 10x army captain ???? 5x weapon specialist ???? 2x army Colonel ???????? 1x general ???? 100x power suit ???? 50x reconnaissance drone #3 take over a nation population no lower than 1 million no time limit rewards 50000 energy unit ???? cloning factory ???? weapons factory ???? drone factory ???? food factory PRIVILEGE LEVEL 2 SYSTEM UPGRADE Arc look at his status has increased quite a bit - I guess training pays off, but this system mission is giving me a headache, mission no.1 is quite easy since I have a lot of guys that are capable of doing it, the problem is mission no.2 and mission no.3 it will take a while to complete them but the privilege upgrade might be the one I''ve been waiting for, with the privilege upgrade I may be able to cure my mom and dad - -Eve do you have the list of the criminal organization in UG? if we''re taking over the underground organization we should start in our own backyard. unfortunately, we don''t have a major criminal organization in Radial city which is kind of weird since this city is a center of commerce in Eastern UG there must be someone behind it right? - according to data HFA have a 30% stake in radial city... - that makes sense, if that''s true then it''s not weird for the major criminal organization to avoid radial city like a plague, actually what I find weird is that I''m disappointed that we don''t have a major criminal organization here, because it''s a good thing for me and my sisters before I have the system, but I guess ones perception changes with their status in life, well whatever I''m not the same as I was back then and I''m actually doing a good thing taking over those criminal organizations, honestly I rather clean them up than took over them.- boss, there''s merit in taking over them we will be able to move in the shadows in the future if we used them as shields, that way Grand Trading Corp. won''t be implicated in any way... - yeah I know that just take it as me rambling I don''t care much in other nations for now but I want all major criminal organization in UG either under our control or remove I want UG to be a place my family can move without any worry- you got it boss. said Eve I''ve prepared the list of the known criminal organization in UG take a look boss, Arc looks at it, and the more he reads the more a frown on his face appeared, he reads the name and the business of the criminal organization. and he felt like puking, " I thought I already strengthen my mind in the training machine but I guess I still have a long way to go." "Is this what humanity is capable of doing? he asks himself I guess living in peace makes one ignorant, this really opens my eyes to the truth of the world" -do we really have to take over then, Eve?- "his fist is clenching he imagines he and his sisters going to with this.. stop! I need to stop imagining things" Eve when we take over them. he didn''t need to finish his questions we will clean them up boss don''t worry we will stop all inhuman activities and have them work for us in managing the city and the government. but boss blood will still be spilled... - I know as long as it''s not innocent people, I may have been adamant in taking over the world and such but deep down I''m still human and no matter what I have to do in the future I will not do anything that crosses my bottom line, you and the guys have to know this too, there are somethings we need to avoid at all costs and harming innocent people is one of them..- " This really wakes him up, he may have been too neglectful in the past, he didn''t bother to care or even ask on how they are accomplishing their task, now he began to imagine it, for all he knows innocent lives are being implicated or even losing their lives because of him, and not knowing about it doesn''t make him innocent " -relay my words to them, Eve, this is my bottom line and no one is allowed to cross it at any cost- he closed the window he had enough of reading he closed his eyes and tried to calm his mind, Eve didn''t bother him but she began to give Arc instructions to the rest of the guys, she watches Arc nobody knows what she is thinking... of course, Arc is not aware of it at all, he was still trying to calm his mind he tried to erase all the graphic images he has on his mind, Eve report doesn''t have any pictures or videos it''s just list, but his mind pictures all those things happening. I''m too imaginative? he asks himself a sigh bark bark! hmm poopy. I mean cosmos what are doing here? I bet you smell the food right? looks like you''re using your skill on things beside it was intended.. re ruffles the head of cosmos before he knows it his mind already relaxed. - I guess I owe you one this time poo... Cosmos- cosmos jumps at him and tried to lick his face. - alright, alright I''ll ask Jarvis to get you something too - bark bark. " look like this mutt really learn how to act cute, I remember Amy always playing with him she even sleeps with him, and always bring him when she goes, she took the ownership over this mutt, I underestimated this mutt, his acting cute is so effective to girls" he looks at Cosmos. bark? -how''s your acting cute going on?- bark bark, brother, what you doing with cosmos? he looks back and saw Amy her hair all messy and was rubbing her eyes clearly she just woke up. -nothing he came here when he smells the food, I was about to tell him to go back to you, go ahead you can take him..- bark bark? -don''t look at me like that can''t you see she can''t sleep without you now, he whispered to Cosmos- cosmos face is like it''s about to cry, but it still walks to Amy when she calls him and Amy took him back to her room while saying to Cosmos I''ll feed you later ok! after Amy left with cosmos Arc started laughing he can''t forget the pathetic face of cosmos who was about to cry, -I''m starting to really like that dog haha- after eating his fill he went to his bedroom to sleep. Chapter 35 - Grand Army IV today is a very important day for Arc today is when he will complete the no.1 mission of taking over the underground organization, 3 days ago the training for the first batch of shadow unit is completed and the rank 5 enhancement serum do wonder in the new shadow unit. - I have no idea what kind of training did Ruby and Jem to them but they look like they have been to numerous war, their aura is incredible and they can completely control it that''s amazing,- Diana and the rest agreed they Ruby and Jem did a great job in training the shadow unit. Arc knows how hard it is to control one''s aura completely because he himself is having a hard time doing it... he decided he will participate in today''s operation, they rented the floor on top of the Grand Trading Corp office and turn it into his personal office/command center today he was with Diana and Tiffa as well as Ash the four of them are seating in front for a huge projection where views of shadow unit as well as Ruby and Jem are showing Eve is in control of the camera he wasn''t here to interfere or give order he was only here to watch.. he decided to do this in every major operation his Army is undertaking in the future. today''s operation is being handled by Ruby and Jem and Eve''s job is to provide real-time intel. the shadow unit is scattered in the whole area, they are wearing regular clothes and look no different than any regular tourist or resident, today''s mission is about the group called TWELVE FINGERS this criminal organization is responsible for many murders and kidnapping as well as many illegal activities in Los Kantos city, Los Kantos is a famous destination for may young rich kids because of the very colorful nightlife here during the day Los Kantos is like any other quiet town but during the night the whole city woke up colorful neon light and 3d projections light up the night sky, and because of the nature of the city, this has become a nest of much criminal organization TWELVE FINGERS can be considered as the biggest criminal organization in the city they have a hand on everything here, in other words, they are the real master of the City many of the government officials are under their payroll almost 80% of government officials here are corrupt, and the Good one here don''t live long. 80 shadow unit are scattered around 4 major Base of the TWELVE FINGERS they are ready and just waiting for the order of Ruby and Jem, they are only armed with a handgun and a knife, they didn''t even have body armor on them. Arc was a bit worried about them but Ruby reassured him that everything is under control... the shadows unit are divided into four groups 2 teams are being led by Ruby and Jem the other 2 are being led by Michelle and Dove Two of the most outstanding recruits, today is their first operation but Arc can see no nervousness or fear in their eyes instead what he saw was anticipation and excitement he was very familiar with the feeling, he wondered how Ruby and Jem trained this guy''s there are only 15 male in the shadows unit most of them are females and according to Eve the top 10 shadows unit are all females. shame on you guys, where''s your balls, he thought in his mind he also imagines the guys being bullied by over 60 girls and he shivered, I''m glad I''m not of them he thought he prayed for them in his mind. of course, none of those things happened in training, it was just his imagination running wild, every shadows unit treats each other like true brothers and sisters... this is unit 1 I''m starting the operation. said Ruby as she and around 10 plus others follow her in a calculated distance, she walks in front of the gate of what looks like a mansion 2 big guys full of tattoos are standing in front of it... sir can I ask a question I''m lost, she approach while holding a map on her left hand and right hand in her pocket, she walk closer with s smile on her face, the guards look at each other and smile with a lascivious smile on thier face Ruby look like an 18 years old beautiful girl, sure said the two they approach her and when they are in her arms reach there was a flash and before they know it thier neck was slash a van immediately park in front of gate covering the action taking place in less than a minute the van move forward and two new guys are standing in front of the gate like nothing happened she gestures with her hand and the two disguised shadows unit knocked on the door and it slowly open clearly they already study the people in this mansion on how they operate when the door open Ruby quickly entered and subdued the guards inside they are like baby in front of Ruby after that the rest is easy the shadows unit swarmed the place and in less than 10 minutes everyone inside is subdued the only casualties are the two guards in the front of the gate. there wasn''t even a single shot fired Arc watch how the shadows unit subdued the criminals and was surprised they are very good and very fast even he can''t do it any better, even though he''s training non stop for more than two months, maybe I should ask Ruby and Jem to train me as well I felt like I wasted my two months, watching this girl''s. imagine if they have the training machine with them on their training wouldn''t that make them even more of a monster? "Should I hand the training machine to them, he was very reluctant he like that machine very much, I have to think this through, I''ll decide later" units 2, 3 and 4 also began their operation at almost the same time. less than 30 mins later the whole operation is over, it''s a perfect operation, he can''t find a single fault in it.. and he praises them for it he saw Ruby and Jem blushed when he praises and congratulated them, but the job is not done yet. in fact it only just begun, the clean up takes over operation began. it''s lengthy process but Arc stayed in his office until late in the afternoon the operation starts very early in the morning.. and will continue for at least 2-3 days after the shadows unit dealt with main based of Twelve Fingers they form 5 small group of five to clean the rest of small bases of Twelve Fingers the rest busy themselves in taking over the operation of Twelve Fingers, in one of the bas.e.m.e.nts of Twelve Fingers main based he saw may prison and cages full of people many are young girls and boys his eyes went red when he saw this, he was very angry he can''t help cursing Tiffa tried to calm him down Diana and Ash didn''t stay long after the subjugation of the main based they excused themselves and went back to work only Tiffa stayed with him. she called Jarvis after awhile to prepare meal for Arc leaving the two maids in the house with Anne and Amy who are busy training in the training machine if course it was configured in the lowest settings, a few weeks ago the got curious on what their big bro doing in the storage room all the time, so they ask Arc about bit and got more curious and wanted to try it, at first Arc was afraid because the training machine is offering very real scenario, but later Eve reassured him that they can be adjusted which frustrate him since he didn''t know about it and he didn''t bother asking Eve about it aswell he remembered his suffering, in the beginning, was pissed at himself. so Eve adjusted the pain to only 15% and the difficulty to novice.. and now just like him is addicted to it they play together with cosmos as a team and doing adventures hunting and having fun they even used it for vacation like settings which frustrate him because he can''t use it anymore eventually they agreed on the using time from 8 am to 6 pm it belongs to his sisters after that it was his. Chapter 36 - Grand Army V Arc looks at the faces of the victims and he saw fear, helplessness, pain, some even have dead-looking eyes, he asks Tiffa, what do you plan to do with them? we will send them all to the hospitals, of course, we will cover all expenses. said Tiffa, - no, send them all to our base, prepare a transport for them have them sent to our base, then give them unmodified health solutions after that those with family send them home if they chose to the rest recruit them for our army, of course, let them make the decision themselves..- said Arc yes, boss ill let them know right away. said Tiffa Tiffa makes a call and moments later Ruby makes the arrangements, a few minutes later multiple buses can be seen leaving the area of the mansion. Arc didn''t know if he made the right decision, but he didn''t care all he knows is he can''t just abandon them after seeing them like that, he didn''t plan to be the hero that saves everyone, but he won''t abandon those that cross his path. the subjugation of Twelve Fingers is just the start he needs to subjugate three top criminal organizations in three countries, in other words, he needed to take control of nine underground organizations in order for him to complete no. 1 mission. that will take time, a few weeks ago he made he gave the first shipments of SS and SSS grade solutions to Lisa which surprised her greatly, in fact, she wasn''t the only one surprised with the delivery even the top officials of HFA were surprised honestly, they didn''t think that Grand Trading Corp. will actually succeed when even them failed to do, before even though they signed the contract about giving 5sq km of prime lands in Liberty they didn''t really expect for Grand Trading Corp. to succeed that''s one of the reasons they gave a 60 days deadlines.. but against all odds the Grand Trading Corp. manages to deliver. so now they have no choice but to deliver what they promised even if they don''t want to, the contract sealed by the first bank is not something they can break unless they have a death wish, so when HFA honored their promise and hand over 5sq km of prime lands to Grand Trading Corp. all top organization found out about it, and they were all surprised and scared at the same time as most of them have taken action against Grand Trading Corp. especially General food manufacture incorporated. when they found out about it, Larry Osborne immediately ordered an emergency meeting, and they are not alone, almost every company that took action against Grand Trading Corp. their top executives immediately ordered an emergency meeting. and all company who plans to take action immediately cancel it. so in just a few minutes after HFA officially hands over the title for the 5sq km prime lands in Liberty all kinds of attacks on Grand Trading Corp. suddenly stops. when Mia founds out about it she can''t talk for a few minutes, because of shock, she thought what did Arc do to make HFA hands over one of the most sought after land in the galaxy to him, and she wasn''t the only one asking that question, and when Grand Trading Corp. publicly released the SS and SSS solutions they have got their answers. Arc didn''t immediately ask Mia to construct a facility in Liberty, he didn''t plan to move to Liberty just yet first, he plans to complete all current system mission first before he decides if he wants to move to Liberty at that point in time. in the last few days, he builds an additional two energy factories, turning his energy unit income to 68 every 10 days.. at the moment he didn''t have any plan on building a factory except energy factory for the next few months he plans to earn enough to build a ????rank energy factory, unfortunately, it cost around 1000 energy unit but it''s output make it worth it, it gives a hefty 50 energy unit every day, he plans to build 2 ????rank energy factory before he started building another type of factory, that''s his plan. so if he can complete all three mission that will give him an additional 55500 extra energy unit enough for him to build a ???????????? rank energy unit that cost 35000 energy unit.. it has an output of 1000 energy units every day that''s enough to last him for quite some time. he went home after seeing that most of the cleanup is done and after that, the takeover will commence, it''s amazing that even after subjugating the Twelve Finger the government and other organizations remain ignorant, a slave chip was injected to the head of all top leader of the "twelve finger" it was specially made from multi-purpose manufacturing factory using many rare metals and other materials it''s a rank 5 slave chip, it comes with a small bomb placed inside it. the chip was injected between the left and right cerebral cortex upon injecting it will immediately merge with the brain making it almost impossible to remove. it will also serve as a monitoring device the device is connected to Eve, meaning all their actions will be monitored by Eve, although the chip is incapable of reading the mind it''s advanced enough to allow Eve to see and hear what the subject see and hear, it can even serve as a communication device. a similar device was injected to the shadow unit as well as the army, of course, it was done with consent the only difference is that the one injected to the shadow unit and the Army is that it will automatically disintegrate after 30 years if they decided to retire. and they will receive a generous amount credit that will allow 3 generations of their family to live luxury.. this was done before their training starts, this is part of their contract. at first, they were worried about it, after realizing it''s the advantage they quickly forgot all their misgivings towards it. Chapter 37 - Grand Army VI A few days ago Grand Trading Corp. received multiple business awards from many prominent organization, making Grand Trading Corp. a household name, Dianna was the one responsible for accepting the various awards given to Grand Trading Corp. and Grand Communication Corp. the GM alpha has become the most popular mobile phone to date, even Anne and Amy requested a special edition of Device, so Arc arrange for 5, 3.5 rank mobile device to be made, the one released in public is only 3.0 rank, 2 of the 3.5 rank devices was given to Anne and Amy another one is given to Mia the other 2 was kept as an emergency replacement. today is the second day of the takeover operation of the Twelve Finger organizations, the takeover is welcome by many oppositions, many of the affiliated organization refused to follow the new regulation, so the new controlled heads of Twelve Finger attack them with full force, the shadow unit in order to accelerate the transition of power and the implementation of the new order, make an example by killing many criminals. because subjugating each and every one of them will take a long time. so in order to accelerate the plan Arc gives a go-ahead to the use of maximum force, but hurting the innocent is strictly prohibited, so with the go-ahead many criminals head rolls in just a few hours, more than a hundred criminals were killed, including over 20 corrupt government officials, scaring all those who tried to opposed the changes including the mayor of the Los Kantos who in the end was injected with slavery chip. so with the help of the mayor along with the controlled leaders of Twelve Fingers many of the criminal organization was dissolved and absorbed by the new Twelve Finger, which was renamed as Shadow Moon organization, of course, there are still many who tried to resist especially those who have a connection to huge organization from another city like Anarchy 66, Anarchy 66 is a huge underground organization they have branches in many cities in the United Government, their headquarter is in Central City, the capital of the United Government, and Anarchy 66 was next on the list of shadow unit to subjugate, and after that will be the mother of all criminal organizations in United Government the Spider, and just like their name their web reaches to every part of United Government. including many government officials, Arc insists that the Spider organization be included in the list of the organization to be subjugated. actually, Eve discourage Arc about the subjugation of Spider Because it''s too big and it will take a long time to be completely subjugated, this is the first time Arc go against the advice of Eve, he said that since we are cleaning the underground organization in United Government might as well do it right, since it will be beneficial in the long run, so with that order Eve and the shadow unit began planning the subjugation of Spider, but before that Anarchy 66 is next in the plate. the role of shadow unit in Los Kantos is done, the rest will be left to the old head of Twelve Finger and the mayor, Arc believes that in the future only Shadow moon will be left in Los Kantos the rest would either be absorbed or purge, that''s Arc order and therefore in will done one way or another.. for now, Arc watches as the shadow unit is preparing to subjugate the Anarchy 66, it''s been 2 days since the shadow unit left Los Kantos, and this time all of them are wearing a rank 5 flexible armor created just for them. the subjugation of the Twelve Finger is a sort of test for them according to Ruby its a test of their resolve and dedication, that''s why they didn''t wear any of their standard equipment, and only equip themselves with a knife and a regular handgun. but now playtime is over Anarchy 66 is much more dangerous than Twelve Finger, so they can''t afford to make any mistake, the rank 5 flexible armor is the standard equipment of the shadow unit along with the rank 5 flexible swords and rank 5 silent handguns, Rank 5 flexible armor is built with the stealth in mind, but that doesn''t mean it has a weak armor, it was still a rank 5 armor after all, and although it''s specialty is stealth it is still strong enough to stop the current heavy machine gun, only it will hurt a lot, regular gun won''t even scratch it and with force dispersion technology they won''t feel anything if they are shot by a regular gun. the only thing that can damage it is a super high caliber weapon, and only slightly damage it not destroy or penetrated. but it''s still not recommended to take a hit from a super high caliber weapon as even though it cannot destroy the suit, the impact even with force dispersion technology it is strong enough to break their bones, even with their enhance body, of course, that kind of weapon is very rare and extremely regulated, and a criminal organization like Anarchy 66 have no way to get their hands on it. only the organization like Spider can get their hands on it. but only in limited numbers, Eve estimate that Spider has 1 or 2 and not more than 3 super high caliber weapons. but that alone makes the Spider a very dangerous organization. unlike the attack on Twelve Finger, that''s been done in daylight the attack on Anarchy 66 will be done in the night time to maximize the stealth effect of the flexible armor. Arc look at the Shadow Unit and they remind him of a ninja, they look like a modern ninja with a black tight-fitting flexible armor and flexible sword wrap around their waist and two silent guns holstered on both their thigh they look like a modern ninja... some of them even have several small throwing knives on their arms, "they look so cool," Arc said in his mind ETA 10 minutes said ruby in her comm all shadow unit acknowledge, unlike Twelve Finger who have 4 main bases, the Anarchy 66 only have a single base, and because of that, it is highly fortified... Chapter 38 - Grand Army VII Operation start said, Ruby Arc watches as the shadow unit moves so fast, the guards are getting killed without seeing their killers. they move in a group of three, one to do the killing the other to hide the body and the last one as a backup, they move so fast without any wasted movement in less than 5 minutes all the guard in the outside perimeter is gone, Eve''s job is to intercept the communication in order for the guards inside not to realize what''s happening outside, the mansion has four perimeter walls and each wall is guarded by several patrols who communicate every few minutes, Eve''s jobs is to intercept the report and pretend to be the dead guard in order to fool the enemy. Arc watches as one by one the guards fell, in just a matter of 30 minutes all the guards outside the mansion were killed and without being found out. Arc tense up, the difficult part is about to come, a huge door is presented to the shadow unit guarded by what looks like four mutant they are about 2 meters tall they have fish scales on their skin up into their neck they have a huge frame like hulk, and on their back huge broadswords," I''ll take the one in the left" said Ruby, "I''ll do the right," said jem with a smile on her face "the two of you take the two on the middle, be swift go for a kill and don''t give your target a chance to react, on my signal 3 2 1 go!" said Ruby the four of them so fast the screen blurred for bit the first one to arrive is Ruby she appeared in front of her target and before it can react her flexible sword is already back in her waist there wasn''t even a single drop of blood in it, a few milliseconds slower than her is Jem and like ruby, before her target manage to react her flexible sword is already back in her waist, Michelle and Dove arrived at the same time and although their movement is not as swift as Ruby and Jem they were still able to kill their target in a single attack. Arc can tell that Ruby and Jem adjusted their speed so that there was no delay in killing the four-guard, in truth Ruby and Jem are capable of killing the four guards themselves without being noticed, but they didn''t do that in order to give experience to Michelle and Dove, in fact in killing all the guards outside the mansion Ruby and Jem didn''t do anything they just watch as they let the shadow unit do all the work, they were just there as a contingency just in case any mistake is made, but the shadow unit did the job perfectly so they were not able to do anything except kill one of the door guards. now there was no hiding anymore because it''s impossible to do so. the door will only open if someone inside goes out, and they can''t wait that long, so they will destroy the door and storm inside that''s the main reason the shadow guards were allowed to wear their equipment, ruby gestured something and two shadow unit place an explosive in the door after they move a certain distance, Ruby, noded Boom! the door was blasted open immediately alarm rang in the mansion, at the same time the door was blasted four shadow unit throw a smoke bomb inside the mansion, ruby smiles at the shadow unit and said happy hunting guys just leave the leaders alive, go! the moment she said that all 80 shadow unit dash inside the mansion leaving Ruby and Jem outside. - you two not gonna join them?- ask Arc "This is another form of test for them boss we can''t babysit them forever they need to learn how to decide and to think for themselves, because, in the future, they may receive an assignment all by themselves, it''s better for them to experience all kind of scenario to better prepare them in the future, we will not interfere whatever happens inside even if their life is in danger, they need to be able to think for themselves," Jem replied "that''s the right boss and besides I trust them we''re the one who trained them after all-" said Ruby with a smile on her face Arc nodded at them. inside the mansion there is chaos, the people inside are panicking, they didn''t imagine that anyone would be able to attack their mansion without them realizing anything, so they''re caught unprepared. all kinds of shouting and gunshot can be heard inside, as well as cries of panic. inside the head of Anarchy 66 is seating at the very top of the mansion this room is where they gather to discuss all important decisions there are around 15 people inside the room, they are the elder of anarchy 66, normal they will be in their own base ruling like a king but today they are gathering here to discuss the situation in Los Kantos, but who would think they will be attacked here, clearly their enemy has meticulously planned all this, but in truth even if they know they will be attacked they won''t bother and just laugh it off after all this is the headquarters of Anarchy 66 one of the most guarded placed in central City, who in their right mind would attack this place. well clearly they are greatly mistaken, and worse of all even until now they have no idea how their enemies, manage to clear all the guards outside without them realizing it especially the four-door guards as those four are monster, they can''t fathom the idea the someone can kill those four without them alarming the inside. "Do we have any information on who is attacking us?" Ask Michael Friday, he is the current head and leader of Anarchy 66, he is, in fact, the 66th leader of Anarchy 66, if he died or replaced Anarchy will be renamed Anarchy 67, Anarchy 66 has a very competitive history, unlike other organizations where the leader is considered the head of the family any attack or insult is considered taboo, Anarchy is different only the capable are allowed to rule and anyone can claim the seat if they think they are capable of it, it''s the reason why there are so many past leaders, in fact, Michael Friday is the longest ruler of Anarchy 66 he''s been ruling Anarchy for the past 20 years, the longest ruler next to him only ruled for about 6 years, and even the founder of Anarchy himself only ruled for about 4 years before he was killed and replaced by his right-hand man, the fact that Michael Friday can rule Anarchy 66 for a long time speaks of his ability as well as his ruthlessness, all elders and members of Anarchy 66 are very afraid of him his nickname the Butcher, is not there just to scare them he really did butchered his enemies along with their families, he''s a very ruthless man, but now that butcher is trapped inside his mansion waiting to be butchered, how ironic is that. "sir we have no idea, the only organization capable of doing this is Spider but why would they attack us, we have been very loyal towards them," said one of the elders. "no I don''t think this is the Spider even they are not capable of bypassing all our defenses without us knowing, and they are not this organized, I only saw this kind of meticulous planning and execution in the Army, and I didn''t mean just any army but one on par with HFA special force, I know because I used to be one of analyst of special force group, " said another "that''s even more bulshit why would HFA special force attack us the fact that they are not allowed to step into earth soil prove that." shouted one of the elders "I didn''t say it was them I said it''s on par with them" "enough!" Michael slams his fist in the table, "I want to know who they are and what can we do? I didn''t ask you to bicker among yourself, Peter you''re responsible for our security how the hell did this happen?" "to tell you the truth boss I have no idea. I''ve checked and check everything there is no problem, all routine check is done and normal until they breach our door, even now all our communication is blocked, and they move so fast that before we know it all of our escape routes were either blocked or destroyed, even now I can''t access our own network, Sima is right, the one attacking us is highly trained and organized group that on par or even above HFA special forces." suddenly all noise outside has disappeared, it was so quiet that the people in the room can hear their own heartbeat. "I guess we will find out soon who our mysterious guests are," said Michael with the grim look on his face Chapter 39 - Grand Army VIII ++ before anything else let me rant a little bit because I just lost a whole chapter with more than 1k words because this f.u.c.k.i.n.g web novel app didn''t save it even though I save it, its very frustrating Wtf.. ok sorry for the rant, enjoy the chap. ++ Ruby and Jem are watching the shadow unit execute the operation, it can even be said it was perfect except for some very minor issue everything went exactly as planned so it is safe to say the operation is almost perfect, Ruby and Jem have a smile on their faces as they watch the shadow unit, "what do you think boss?" asked Ruby - what do want me to say, haha you trained them well and I mean it, you really train them well, good job I''m very pleased they will play a very important role in building a future for all of us - replied Arc Ruby and Jem were both very happy when they heard the praised of their beloved boss, they almost jump up and down. luckily they manage to control their emotions before they embarrassed themselves.. but they still let out a giggle "were very happy with their performances too, but this is just the beginning the real test is about to come but I trust them, after all, we are the ones who trained them." said, Ruby "right" agreed with Jem while nodding after a few minutes of waiting all noises started to die down and sure enough Ruby And Jem receive the message that everything inside the mansion is either subdued or killed "let''s not make our guest waiting," said Ruby with a smile "Huh, we are supposed to be the guest right?" replied Jem "don''t worry about the detail and let''s just go and meet them," reply Ruby with an embarrassed face. in truth Ruby just want to say something cool in front of her boss, unfortunately, her sister Jem busted her up and ruin her performance, and now because of Jem, she felt embarrassed saying those lines. "right," said Jem excitedly not knowing how she busted her sister Micheal and the elders immediately stop talking when all noise outside the door died down. they can hear footsteps outside getting closer and closer to the door, inside eight personal guards of Micheal is waiting in front ready to intercept their guest, when the door opens all they saw is flashes of light and suddenly, all eight guards started falling down one by one, there''s no blood on them except on one. "Jem why did you killed one of them?" asked Ruby "it''s too ugly" replied Jem shrugging "you know we might need them later right?" said, Ruby "It won''t matter it just one of them it doesn''t make a difference, but it really is too ugly" replied Jen while pointing at the guys on the far right Ruby look at the where Jem is pointing and when she saw the face she felt goosebumps, "it really is too ugly" she said in her mind. "It doesn''t matter you have to explain that to our" Boss. said Ruby Arc was watching them on the monitor, he also heard Ruby and Jem bickering he follows where Jem is pointing he zoom on it, and as he saw it, like Ruby he too felt goosebumps all over his body, "what kind of face is that it looks like it was dumped in an acid then patches it together using glue wtf.." he cursed in his mind - it''s fine it really is not a friendly face, just don''t kill anymore guard we might need them in the future - arc said to Ruby and Jem "see even Boss agree that it''s too ugly," said Jem to Ruby while grinning Ruby ignored her sister, she looks at the crowd in front of her and said.. "hello and good evening guys from now on you guys are working for us," said Ruby while smiling at them. Michael and the rest was stupified by what they saw, they only saw some flashes and all the big scary bodyguard of Michael the butcher who terrified them so were defeated just like that, those eight is not just any regular warrior, they are genetically modified monster but those monster in front of those two girls is no different to a toddler, they were so terrified that they couldn''t say anything even Michael who has been through a lot is the same, two cute girls are bickering in front of them like a normal teenage girls but they couldn''t say anything, to them those two is worse than a monster. "Hello and good evening guys from now on you guys are working for us" hearing those words woke them from their stupor, "who are you people and what do you mean we are working for you from now on?" Peter asked. "you look smart but actually very stupid, do I have to spell it out for you? do you really not know what kind of situation you guys are in?" said Jem with a mocking face. Peter frowned when he heard it, of course, he knows what kind of situation they are in, but being mocked by little girls gives him a bitter taste. Michael then said. "why did you attack us I didn''t remember provoking you people?." "another stupid question, does it matter? were already here you only need to decide whether you want live or die," said Jem one of the elders shouted, "Don''t give me that bulshit do you know who I am? I''m..." he didn''t manage to finish, Michelle who was behind Ruby and Jem all along cut off his head before he can finish. "well, let''s ignore the interruption I don''t really care who you are, you have 10 sec. to decides." said ruby without any emotions on her face. what can they do, they may act tough and fearless on the outside, but who wants to die? all of them are actually very afraid to die. one of the elders immediately agreed and soon the rest follows. Jem smiled and said "isn''t that easy right? no need to makes it complicated" she gestures something to the shadow hunters in the back and five of the comes forth with a case, Michael and the rest where confused. the five opened the case revealing many injectible cylindrical containers. "don''t resist," said Jem with the smile a few minutes later all of them were injected including the remaining seven guards who were still alive but unconscious. ruby then begin to explain what they are and what they have to do in the future, it didn''t take long around 10 minutes is all it takes to tell them a short briefing. "oh, and yeah from this day forth Anarchy 66 is disbanded from now on you guys are part of Shadow Moon..." said Jem Chapter 40 - Grand Army IX It''s been a few days since the subjugation of Anarchy 66, and the clean up has already begun. Arc insisted that besides the elders all officers have to be injected with slaves chip, although according to Eve it is not necessary, as long as the leader and elders are under control there would be no problem, but Arc didn''t trust any of this criminals if possible he wants all member of the criminal organization they subjugated to be injected with slavery chip to be safe, but unfortunately the material needed to make slavery chip are very rare and hard to come by so he compromises with just the officers... within the last few days, Arc had seen the numbers of victims the criminal organization have imprisoned, many are already on the verge of death, it really made Arc blood boils in anger he really wants to kill all those criminals, so before he made something he will regret in the future, he wants to cool his head off, so he plans to visit the army headquarters to see if the victims are ok, even though all he has to do is ask Eve, and he will have his answers, but to clear his head he plans to go there to ease his mind. "looks like I still have the mentality of a regular human, I still can''t get used to seeing innocent victims without being affected by it, I just don''t understand how people in the government can see people as mere numbers all decision they made is always base on numbers, but people are not numbers, will I ended like that in the future as well" he wondered he also asks himself, will he still be himself in the future " sigh there no use thinking about it, maybe I will change in the future, but I''ll just have to change for the better. I have to train my mentality in future I''m being affected so easily but I don''t personally think it''s not a bad thing it just shows I''m still human, but I have to control my emotions better in the future, maybe I should ask Ruby and Jem to train me as well because honestly, those shadow unit looks cool " he said in his mind without him realizing it he arrives at the Army base, he just realize that this is the first time he has been here since it was completed, because back then he too engross in training in the training machine, he drives directly inside no one stops him since they are already informed of his visit, he was welcome by Tom and Jerry, -its been while Tom, Jerry how have you been guys- greeted Arc "Boss its Good to see you" greeted, Tom "yes boss how are you," said Jerry "I''m good guys, show me around," said Arc "no problem boss let''s go," said Tom they boarded the vehicle that looks like a modified golf cart only Five times bigger Jerry took the wheel. and Tom sits in front while Arc is in the back, the vehicle open on both sides so he can clearly saw all the huge warehouse-like structured, "Boss, that''s one of our training areas, it was designed to mimic many environments that can be used in training. right now there no one using it as the Army is preparing to join in the fun in subjugating The Spider" said, Tom - right I almost forgot you guys will be responsible for the raid in their supply base, how''s the preparation? - ask Arc "were different in shadow unit Boss, our Army was not built for stealth and reconnaissance, if shadow unit is an injection, we in the Army is a jackhammer," said Tom while laughing - is that so then I''m looking forward to your performance, oh, by the way, where''s Biggs and Wedge? I haven''t seen them in awhile- ask Arc "oh those two, those two are more eager to see action than any of us, they''re already on their way to the rendezvous point, they left a few hours before you arrive boss, so I assume they didn''t know you''re coming here," said Jerry while driving - yeah me coming here is just a whim on my part I want to see how the victims faring - said Arc with a smile "about that Boss, they are very lucky, most of them would have died if not for our medical solutions, a lot of them are in very bad situations, almost all of them have so many different types of drugs in their system, I assume they are being used as a Guinea pig, if they were bought in a regular hospitals half of them would be dead in less than a month and I''m being positive here boss, that how bad their situation is," said Tom - that''s what I''m worried about that''s why I send them here, I''m also hoping to recruit most of them if possible all of them - said Arc "don''t worry about that Boss many of them already asking our staff who are taking care of them on how to join our organization," answer Tom - oh, that''s good news so what did our staff say?- ask Arc "nothing boss they didn''t say anything," answered Jerry while grinning - oh, I assume its all intentional right - ask Arc with a smirk "that''s the right boss we have to let them know that joining us is not a bonus that can easily be given but a privilege that needs to be earned," said Tom "Otherwise, they will not treasure it." said, Jerry - I trust your judgment on this, then I''ll leave it to you guys.- said Arc "sure Boss, we''re here," said Jerry "would you like to meet them, Boss?" asked Tom they stop in a huge building Arc can see some personnel wearing Grand army uniform all over inside, they are part of the support and logistics division. as they went inside many personnel were surprised to see the two demon General following behind a young man like a common bodyguards Arc walk inside he didn''t try to talk to anyone, he just wants to personally see the condition of the victims. Tom and Jerry talk to the personnel inside to don''t bother them and continue with their work, the personnel inside follow the orders, while they are curious they didn''t let their curiosity gets the better of them, they were trained well so they know how to act appropriately, they were all recruited by Tom and Jerry so they know what to do. in truth out of 400 people, Tom and Jerry initially recruited more than 100 of them are for support because Tom and Jerry knows how important support and logistics in the Army so they plan from the very beginning to create a highly trained support personnel that can easily support the main fighters, and looking at it they have succeeded a group of around 30+ support personnel can easily handle the 1000+ victims of the criminal underground, and the victims will only increase in the next few days, but Arc can see that they can easily handle it they even have time to joke around to some of the victims. - you two did a perfect job in training these people, I can''t believe they can easily organize and handle this many people with their numbers, it is amazing - said Arc as he looks at Tom and Jerry in truth when he found out that more than 100 out of 400 recruited by Tom and Jerry are being trained as support, he thinks its a waste of time, in his mind he can easily ask Dianna for support in the army logistics if they needed it, but since he trust Tom and Jerry he didn''t say anything, looking back into it he was happy he didn''t mention it at all or it will be embarrassing. "you''re praising us too much boss we''re only doing our job," said Tom and Jerry who were scratching their head in embarrassment, though they said that, they were really happy being praised by Arc because to them Arc is the most important person in their lives, more important than their own. Chapter 41 - Grand Army X Arc stroll through the facility that temporarily house the victims and although there are more than 1000 of them in the facility it doest look cramped at all, instead there''s a lot of rooms to move around, Arc was not surprised when he saw that, after all this facility was constructed to be able to facilitate 10000 people at the very least, and there''s more than one of this kind of facilities in the base after all this place wasn''t chosen for nothing because this is the biggest land owned by Grand Trading Corp. to date, there''s even a small airport inside and even though there are many facilities built here it doesn''t look cramped at all, in fact, there are still quite a lot land areas that were intentionally left undisturbed in order to facilitate future use. it''s been more than a week since the first victims have been transported here and some of them have already recovered and was trying to help in any way they can like cleaning and stuff. the personnel inside didn''t prevent them from doing it even though there''s no need to since many functions of the facility is automated and only those that required human touch are left to the trained personnel to handle, such as managing the victims and administering medical solutions and such, of course, Arc can leave that to the drones if he wanted to after all almost all equipment in the Army base is from a Rank 5 technology, but Arc didn''t agree to Eve to leave interactions to the victims to the drones, he said those victims can use some good old human interaction after all they''ve been through, though those drones are created using Rank 5 tech and have a basic AI installed, they are not like Eve who has a Sort of Emotion program installed in her even her voice sound like a real human, in fact, none of the people who once interacted with her thinks they are talking to an AI all of them believe she was a real human. that''s the difference between her and the drones in the army base, who in their capacity can also interact with humans only the people interacting with them are fully aware they are talking to a machine. Arc was relieved when he saw the current conditions of the victims some of them have already gaining the life in their eyes some can even be seen talking and laughing with each other. arc thought that humans are really something looking at some of them you wouldn''t guess that just a few days ago they were in most horrible situations you can possibly imagine. "we human really are something, our ability to adapt and accept is amazing, "said Arc in his mind. "Boss, what do you think?" asked Tom - for one thing, I feel relieved, and another, this gives me a motivation of a sort, no an excuse to do what we have to do in the future, maybe in the future, we can all look back and smile and say we did a good thing, - Arc said as he continues to stroll Tom and Jerry didn''t need to reply, they didn''t have any emotional attachment to these people or to anyone for that matter to them only fulfilling the request of their Boss is what matters, if by any chance Arc ask them to kill anyone here they won''t even bat an eye even if they are asked to kill themselves, but for some reason, listening to their Boss words something inside them stirs though they have no idea what it is for some strange reason they found themselves smiling from the words of their Boss of course, Arc remains ignorant about that, he didn''t know that the seemingly unimportant words he said today would have a big impact on the future of all his subordinates and for him. while Arc was visiting the victims on his army base. the preparation on subjugating The Spider is in full swing, they have to move fast in order to surprise the Spider, the operation is divided into two groups the Army will attack the Spider supply base, and the Shadow Unit will handle the main Base of Spider they have to plan carefully and although the planning is already been done for quite some time already some have to be adjusted because of some complication in the cleaning process of the former Anarchy 66, luckily Eve can make adjustments in real-time or change it completely if necessary to suit their current needs. so the Shadow unit and the Army only need to do is take their position according to their current plan. many heavy types of equipment are being smuggled in the town nearest to the supply base of Spider, of course, the people of spider in the town are already been cleaned up and replaced by Shadow moon, they were arranged by the former head and elders of Anarchy 66. so far according to Eve who is responsible for fooling and monitoring as well as coordinating, said that Spider remains ignorant of their actions, although they have been made aware of the changes happening in Anarchy 66 they have no solid intel as their current spy is too low level to receive any important info, and trying to contact their former confidant in the former Anarchy 66 proves useless, as they cannot get in contact with them. and although they know this, they were not surprised or worried because of the nature of Anarchy 66 to change the chain of command every now and then, they were curious sure but worried of course not, they are Spider one of the most powerful organizations in the underground world as well as in the surface world, only movement from an organization as big as them like Morgan Family and Death Crows can make them worried, changes happening to Anarchy 66 is a small matter to them even if the organization is destroyed at most they will send some force to take control of it or just check it out, but not to the point they''ll be worried about it, and Eve knows this and because of that they can move almost unhindered without being overly cautious, but that doesn''t mean Shadow unit And the Army can take it easy. in fact, all action they take is considered and analyze many times by Eve and the leaders of Shadow unit and the Army before they take it because they want to execute the order of their Boss to perfection... Chapter 42 - Grand Army XI Over the last two days, Arc watches how the Army and Shadow unit made their preparation, the more he watched the more excited he felt. but today he was worried for another matter, Lisa the liaison for the Human Federation Alliance "HFA" navy supply office come by with disturbing news, HFA 23rd squadron was annihilated 24 hours ago with no survivor, the news hasn''t been announced to the public yet, it was a dreadful news the casualties is too much to say... Arc face paled when he heard it from Lisa who clearly hasn''t rested for quite some time, Judging from the darkness under her eyes. According to Lisa when the reinforcement arrived at the scene, the battle is already over, the only consolation is that the number of destroyed enemies ship is more than what we have lost, even as we speak retrieval operation are still underway to look and find the black box of the 23rd command battleship as well as retrieval of our fallen heroes. this news was only known to the higher up for now. - then why are you telling me this, this is all top secret after all are you not afraid I leak this out - ask Arc "why? yeah, why indeed, to be honest, I don''t know I just felt like you have to know, sigh maybe I''m just too overworked and not thinking straight," replied Lisa who was slumped in the chair - Tiffa can you give Lisa one of our G solutions - "Sure boss," replies Tiffa "don''t bother I already took SSS solutions a few hours ago, but even a SSS grade solution has its limit." said, Lisa "exactly when was the last time you rested?" ask Dianna "I don''t remember a few days ago? there are just too many things to do for the supply office the moment the war started." reply Lisa still slumped in her chair Tiffa arrive with a solution in her hand, that looks golden in color, Lisa notice it right away and ask new products? "no, it''s only for internal use" reply Dianna. Lisa look at the solution given to her by Tiffa it looks very beautiful, "it''s like there is a countless mini sun in there," Lisa said while looking at the solution in her hand - stop looking at it and drink it while it''s still cold - said Arc while smiling at her Lisa didn''t bother to reply and immediately drank the solution, and immediately she felt hot and in just a few second her tired feeling completely disappeared she was so shocked. "wh what is that? how.. when did you develop his solutions?" Lisa immediately ask -does it matter? this won''t be sold or given to anyone outside our company- said Arc "then why did you give me one?" asked Lisa - maybe the same reason you told me the confidential information, or maybe because I felt like you needed it - Arc said while grinning at here Tiffa and Dianna also had a smile on their face, because Arc just returned the exact same words Lisa said earlier... "Haha fair enough but really that solution is amazing I felt like I came from a long relaxing vacation can I have more?" please. Lisa said with a pleading face -I can give you one more it''s not easy to make after all- said Arc "Thank you so much I really need that right now especially in the next few days when the news of the destruction of the 23rd squadron was public" said Lisa Arc really felt sorry for Lisa he can only imagine the workload she will have when the news about the 23rd squadron was announced to the public. "sigh, ill give you 2 more that''s all we have at this moment," said Arc in reality, he can make it anytime he wants and he actually has a lot of it, it is a standard solution use by his army, after all, but he can''t just make it public after all the decision to give Lisa a rank 5 solution is just a whim on his part or maybe it''s like he said a payback for the top-secret information Lisa has given him. after chatting for a bit eventually Lisa left energetically "Eve, what do you think? is this news gonna affect us right now?" Arc asks Eve "Not at the moment Boss but it might be in the future," said, Eve - sigh our capability is limited at the moment even if we want to help there nothing we can do unless we gamble on our future, and I won''t do that ever - said Arc "I agree Boss said Eve, we can only do what we are capable of at the moment any more than that and we are risking our future said," Eve Arc didn''t notice that Eve said our future, not your future, But Dianna and Tiffa did, but they just keep quiet there was also a glint in their eyes when they heard it... - yeah, I know said Arc, don''t like the feelings of powerlessness it''s like I was back in the market carrying produce for a couple of credits and keep doing it because there nothing a can do but that, sigh, whatever I''m not the same powerless guy as before I may not be able to do anything to those aliens but can do something about the criminal organization here in earth - said Arc "that''s the spirit Boss," said tiffa smiling at him -alright, girls, I''m going back to my office you girls do what you can do whatever it is- Arc said as he smiles at them "Will do Boss," said Dianna also smiling back "I''m coming with you Boss I don''t have anything to do at the moment anyway," said Tiffa Chapter 43 - New Order It was finally time to subjugate the Spider, all preparation is complete they are only waiting for the right moment, a few days ago Eve released the so-called " BAIT NEWS " to make Spider issue an emergency meeting and it was this emergency meeting that Arc and the others are waiting for. A few days ago Eve send some fake news about the Morgan the secretly attacking the Los Kantos and Anarchy 66, and a few days before that Eve also send the same fake news to the Morgan Family stating Death Crow secretly Attacking Los Kantos, And Anarchy 66 who has a connection with them, in reality, this is one of the reasons Los Kantos is chosen to be the first target because Twelve Finger was actually a spy sent by Morgan Family to United Government to gather intelligence and infiltrate the underworld organization called The Spider which is their rival in many of their criminal activity such as Arms and Drug trade, of course, The Spider is not aware of that and because of this series of impossible to verify news that The Spider is forced to issue an emergency meeting. and because Eve intercepted majority of the important call and such like when The Spider tried to contact the Morgan Family to verify the news of them attacking the Los Kantos and Anarchy 66 all they got is massive nothing because Eve intercepted the call and likewise When Morgan Family tried to contact The Spider to get news about the Death Crow attacking Los Kantos along with many of their affiliate on it they also received a silent treatment. and because Eve and the others did not reveal any news regarding the attack on Twelve Finger and Anarchy 66 nobody can verify who attack who, Even The Spider who was responsible for the territory of Los Kantos have no idea who the real mastermind behind the attack on Los Kantos and Anarchy 66, so when the so-called fake news was released by Eve the Morgan Family was stirred and started acting on the fake news, and because of that when the Spider heard from their spy in the Morgan family had the sudden activity, they become worried especially when they received the fake news. and so the head of The Spider ordered an emergency meeting to all leaders, elders, and officers of their organization and that is what Arc and the rest were waiting for, the moment the emergency meeting takes place it''s their signal to attack. this series of events take place a few days ago and now the Spider has gathered their leaders from all over United Government, and its the perfect time for the Shadow Unit and the Grand Army to attack the biggest criminal organization in United Government. back then when Arc insisted that The Spider be part of the subjugation this is the plan Eve and the rest was able to come up with because of the massive size of The Spider, Attacking and hunting their leaders all across the United Government is going to be a gruesome process unless they were able to gather all top members of The Spider organization in one place. and so the operation " Bait News" was born. this plan is already in operations from the moment they attack Twelve Fingers. and now their enemy has taken a bite on their bait, so now its time to reel it in. The spider emergency meeting will take place at exactly 8 pm in the main headquarters of The Spider in Central City, the same place with the former Anarchy 66, the central city is a Massive City worthy of being called the center of United Government, Anarchy 66 headquarters and Spider head Quarters although both are in Central City they are separated by more than 50 Kilometres and therefore the attack on Anarchy 66 has remained undetected by Spider and only came to light after the attack has taken place, one reason is because all spy sent by various organizations was identified by Eve and the Shadow Unit have taken care of them before they attack the Anarchy 66, and because of the swiftness and the lack of news regarding the attack is what makes The Spider believed the so-called fake news was real, of course, they tried to find the reason on the attack on Anarchy 66 but all the people they sent never comes back. that''s one of the reasons they believe the fake news, and before they take action against the Morgan Family they need to think this through, if the one responsible for the attack is just another organization like Anarchy 66 they won''t hesitate to launch a massive attack without alarming all the leaders of the organization but Morgan Family is a different story, Morgan Family owns and control the biggest Black market on Earth and because of that, they were able to gather a massive amount of power, power that many top organization are wary of. and now The Spider believe that this big Family is in their backyard how can they not be alarm as this involves all Spider members and so the Head of the Spider was forced to order the gathering of his Leaders to tackle this massive problem, after all, a war on Morgan Family is not something they can ignore for it has the potential to greatly damage them or even completely destroys them... Arc is in his office, he was restless all-day because today is the day they will take on the biggest Criminal Organization in United Government, but he was not worried his restless is more like anticipation and excitement all in one, he believed in the Shadow Unit especially after he witnessed how they work he was very impressed by them, in his own words they are very Cool and today he will also witness the first-ever operation of his Army so he was very excited hence the restlessness. all preparation has been done there is no more movement on the side of the Shadow Hunters and the Army. and only the voice of Eve can be heard giving intel as everyone is just listening in on the real-time reports of Eve, as one by one Eve reports the arrival of the leaders of The Spider along with their background. clearly, Eve has done a good job of investigating The Spider, not even The Speaker the biggest information broker in the world have managed to gather that much information on The Spider, Eve has the most complete information on each and every member of The Spider no one was overlooked the only thing that Eve wasn''t able to gather much information on, is the Head of The Spider Eve remains clueless on the identity of the Head of The Spider. there''s a lot of information regarding the head of The Spider but most, if not all remain unverified. but today they will unmask the identity of the mysterious and enigmatic head of The Spider. Chapter 44 - New Order II As everyone continues to listen to Eve''s report she suddenly stop, and silence remains for about a minute''s Arc Feels his heart beet accelerate for a moment, then Ruby''s voice suddenly rang up -ETA 10 minutes- inside the main headquarter of The spider the minions are busy accommodating and guiding the Elders and leaders even the officers to their respected place. everyone inside can feel the tension and the heavy atmosphere as one by one the top members of The Spider arrived and guided. Almost no one can be heard talking except for the footsteps and the minions guiding and leading the top members to their respected seats no one talks idly all of them received the same report they know the implication involved regarding a war with the Morgan Family, each and every one them will be affected if this war started and although they are not afraid they must remain vigilant as a war on the Morgan Family has a potential to destroy their so-called invincible organizations. "How reliable is this information," one elder finally break the ice of silence almost everyone suddenly on their attention focus on him, the immediate attention almost fl.u.s.tered him, but he didn''t show it in his face, he remained expressionless, the elder opposite of him replied, "it''s not completely verified, but the news of the Morgan Family being active and making many hidden moves has been verified, and all communication we have on the Morgan Family has been suddenly cut off, the reports of our spies and the information we bought from The Speakers matches the information we have about the Morgan Family sudden activities." "Just how much power they have managed to acc.u.mulate for them to have the guts to make a move on us, even by chance they won against us the damage they will sustain will also be massive, and many top organization will not let that opportunity go." said another elder "heh that''s only in the premise that our power is on the same scale what if they were able to manage to acquire a few time more power than us, the Morgan Family is not stupid they know what a war with us entailed and the only explanation I can find is that they were able to gather powers several times more than us without us knowing." stated by one of the leaders the conversation and arguments continue most just listening in and didn''t partake in the conversation the officers, on the other hand, have no right to but in, in the conversation between elders and leaders, the only thing they can do is listen. the conference room of The Spider is circular three half ring on both sides and the center is a slightly elevated circular platform with a massive flat chair on it, the elders are closer to the center behind them the leaders and further back are the officers. fancy food and wine was served in front of them the quality also differs from the elders to the leaders there''s not much difference in quality but from leaders to officers there a massive quality difference but none present cares about it most didn''t even look at it except the officers who have nothing to do but listen, are eating and drinking of course only moderately. this massive Conference room is only being used every 10 years or if any important issue that affects them all that this conference room will be used and only the head can order the gathering. no leaders not even elders have the right to use the conference room called the Web except for the head of The Spider, the Web is a sacred place to The Spider organization every major event happen here on the Web, the appointment of elders and leaders can only be done here, and the head can exert his or her full power here, in other words, the Web is like the throne of the head of The Spider, and in here no one has the right to undermine the power of the head or it will be considered as treason and no one wants to be labeled as betrayer especially in the organization like The Spider for death is the most generous rewards given to the betrayer. most betrayer is still suffering from the bas.e.m.e.nt of the headquarters wishing for death that never seems to find them. suddenly all sounds suddenly disappeared one by one, and a footstep can be heard from above the center of the Web everyone suddenly stood up and bowed no one is an exception, not even the elders a person can be seen slowly walking towards the center and into the massive chair that can fit five people seating side by side with room to spare the person then sit on it put its left leg up in the seat elbow on the knee and hand on the chin, "its been awhile gentlemen ease up and take your seat we have a long day ahead of us.." said the head of The Spider "its time! all unit take out your target, this is it! don''t make a mistake we can do this perfectly." said Ruby calmly at the same time Tom the overall commander of the Army also gave his command, the army is divided into three groups and Jerry, Biggs and Wedge are leading each group, and Tom is in the army command center overseeing the operation. Arc can see all the movement of his men as a massive projection is operating in front of him and he can control the projection with his mind it''s a rank 5 device made by his ever-reliable multi factory. Tiffa is with him as well as Jarvis, as for the two maids they were dragged by his sisters along with cosmos they form a 5 no 4 and a dog party in the training room hunting and playing at the same time. Chapter 45 - New Order III Arc watches as the Shadow Unit take action they begin their assault in the outer perimeter and unlike before where they are moving in group of 3 this time they only move in pairs that''s because the main headquarters of The Spider is simply too big just the outer perimeter is several square kilometers, the main headquarters of The Spider is surrounded by thick vegetation and tall trees it may look like its an easy place to hide but it''s not there are countless advance CCTV camera and many combat drones patrolling the area 24/7 not to mention many enhance patrol dogs and highly armed guards. Bero is the head of security in the headquarters of The Spider his job is to make sure the headquarters is always protected at all times. "don''t miss anything nothing is overlooked no matter small it is understood!" he gave the order to Captains of the guards Yes sir.. all of them replied the security on the headquarters has been more than doubles in the last few days especially since the news about Morgan Family activities, more than that since all the top members of The Spider are gatherings in the headquarters for an emergency meeting they have to stay extra vigilant... Bero has been under a lot of pressure in the last few days he needed to prepare for all kind of possible attacks on the headquarters, he''s been checking and checking to make sure nothing is overlooked because the stake is too high for him to fail. Bero is in the security command center of the headquarters it has been his home for the last few days he watches as many monitors displaying everything happening outside and the inside except for a few places in the headquarters everything is under watch. "any abnormalities" bero asked he couldn''t remember how many times he asks this question in the let few days no sir! " good keep vigilant don''t overlook anything, " Bero said of course sir! Arc watch as one by one the guards was killed as for the drones Eve took care of it. the dog, however, is a different story they have made special medicine to disable the dog smell and at the same incapacitate them. The Shadow guard move swiftly but carefully, according to eve there is a blind spot to the CCTV camera but that also become Eve blind spot, Ruby and Jem are like a ghost everywhere they go the guard fall one by one. "Hmm, something is amiss," said Bero "sir there no abnormality everything checks out," said one of the guards "check again! I have a bad feeling like there''s something coming, my senses have never failed me before something is not right I can feel it" said Bero the guards become busy they trust their commander. G1 check G2 check G3 check .....all clear sir everything checks out all guard has been cleared the drone are in full function. all monitor is clear... no sign of problem sir Bero didn''t bother to reply for some reason he felt like death is coming, like it is coming for him all his senses are telling him there is a danger but everything checks out. ''am I being paranoid I never felt like this in a long time like I was in war again and I feel powerless what the hell is happening to me'' Bero said in his mind "Call Shiro right now" shouted Bero yes sir.. a few minutes later. Sir Bero, what''s up? ask Shiro go to your nest Shiro I have a bad feeling like something is coming, go and check things out for some reason I feel like were blind.. said, Bero Shiro didn''t question its not his job to question he used to be a sniper in HFV special forces but he offended some guy that had a connection to the top and he was set up, in the end, he was dishonorably discharged, in his anger he killed the guys who set him up and was on the run, The spider organization took him in so now he becomes a sniper for a The Spider, never in his dreams did he think he would be a criminal someday but life happens and there''s nothing he could do about it so he just accepted it. Shiro went to his nest as they call it, it''s in one of the tallest trees in the courtyard from there he has a 360-degree view of about 500 meters or so, it''s already dark so he turns to night vision he looks around and everything looks normal. Shiro''s com beep, Shiro how''s the situation up there Bero''s voice can be heard in his com "so far everything is clear I don''t see any problem around the courtyard," said Shiro "alright stay there, for now, I''ll check up on you later," said Bero roger that. said, Shiro he fishes the cigarettes box in his pocket he pulls 1 stick of cigarette and light it up but as he was about to take a puff he saw a flash then everything turns dark Bero was restless he keeps pacing back and forth. send Jiro''s team to take a round and ask Shiro again for update said, Bero yes sir.. sir Jiro''s team is going out. and Shiro? ask Bero He just checks out sir... hmm ok is it really just my imagination? Bero said in his mind he took a deep breath and sit back on his chair he pulls out a cigarette and light it up. hmm.. sir one of the patrol who was supposed to come back didn''t come back yet. Bero stood up.. did you call them? said very yes, sir, he said he took another round and will be back after.. said the guard did anyone ask him to do that? ask Bero no sir.. said the guard pull him up on the screen. said very right away sir... that''s them sir Bero look at the monitor and it looks normal he saw a group taking a round like usual.. but for some reason, he felt something is not right what is it, Bero ask himself call him. said, Bero .... he''s on sir... check in.. said, Bero This is unit G2 code number 273... ''he checks out'' said Bero in his mind why did you take another round? ask Bero ....sir Barry ask us to be extra vigilant sir so I took another round just to be sure. Who is Berry? ask Bero sir, he''s the captain of the north east outer perimeter oh him.. ok stop your round and come back immediately then come and see me. said, Bero yes, sir. ''Bero can''t really shake the feeling of danger this is the first abnormality so far. I hope I''m not right and I''m just being paranoid'' said Bero in his mind Chapter 46 - New Order IV Everyone on the Shadow Unit receives Eve''s report they have at most 15 minutes, to clean the outside of the Spider headquarters, but even with their enhance strength that''s going to be impossible unless they all separated and even if they did it will still be cutting it close. so Ruby made a decision she separate them. she ordered that in 10 minutes everyone need to go meet up in the courtyard. Arc didn''t talk all this time he just watch, there''s nothing much he can do it''s his decision to take on The Spider, and the Shadow Units is risking their lives to fulfill it, he watches with a clenched fist and Tiffa and Jarvis can feel the tension in the air they can feel the nervousness of their Boss. with Ruby''s order to separate. Eve began to guide the Shadow Unit to their respective targets. Eve continues to report 154 targets left 96 targets left 74 targets left 52 targets left 38 target left 37 36 ... guards on the.... eliminated. eve''s report Continues to fall unit... take the target to your 8 o''clock 15 target left .... 3 minutes left. 5 targets left 4 suddenly BANG!! Arc stood up. what happens? arc ask Miller is down. enemy target is in... 98% chance its a sniper using Super high caliber rifles got him. said Jem ''it''s in a blind spot said'' Ruby BANG! that''s a gunshot give me a report! shouted Beru sir, we didn''t see anything on the monitor. no guards reported an enemy... that''s weird send an alarm said Beru but sir... -I''ll take full responsibility issue a code 1- said. Beru right away sir.. suddenly all alarm on the headquarters rang up. -I gathered all of you to talk about the possible war with Morgan Family-. said the Head of Spider -Head can we communicate with the Morgan Family, we have to be sure before we go war.- said one of the elders -We have been trying to communicate with them for quite some time but attempt ends in failure and the men we sent never reported back.- said another elder -that''s right I wouldn''t gather you here without any reason, if we can avoid a war with the Morgan Family we would have, but as you can see the Morgan Family clearly doesn''t want to communicate with us.- said the Head of the spider -Head how sure are we that all this is really the Morgan Family doing and not a third party,- said one of the leaders -hmm, explain,- said the Head of Spider. -United Government is far away from Eastern Emporium where the Morgan Family is located if they are going to war it is more likely they would go for Death Crows or 7th hell than with us because they are much closer to them, another reason is that they will leave themselves open if they send most of their forces to attack us, I feel that we are being set up, of course, Head I don''t have any proof of this- explain by one of the Leader -I can see your point and in some way, I agree, but as I have said before that''s only if we assume that the Morgan Family is on the same level of power than us.- said another elder they began to bicker with each other... -Enough!- shouted the Head of Spider -we are getting nowhere our enemy might already be in our backyard it doesn''t matter whether its the Morgan Family or another what is clear is someone is targeting us and it might be stronger than us so my question is what can we do about it..- said the Head of Spider -Head I can pledge 80% of my forces to war the rest will guard our bases- said one of the leaders -I can send 60% head as we can''t leave our base in Jacks city undefended especially since we are still in war with the local force there,- said one of the elders one by one the pledge the forces they control to war, meaning their forces will under the headquarters in the duration of the war the Head smiles we he heard them... suddenly alarm sounded.. everyone stops talking give me a report! shouted the head a few seconds later a lady dressed in black robe with a white plain mask appeared before the Head and whispered something. Beru huh... said the head nobody talks they just waited for the Head to address them again. connect me to him said the Head of Spider a huge projection appeared before everyone... Beru what''s going on? ask the Head Head a gunshot is heard outside but our monitor didn''t say anything and no one report any abnormality said Beru respectfully But you still issue code 1 so you must have a reason for it correct? said the head I have suspected that all our monitoring equipment is being hacked and my guess is that our enemy is already on our doorstep said Beru you do know what kind of equipment we have do you really think it''s possible to hack it without us knowing? ask the Head calmly of course boss I understand it more than anyone it might be impossible Head but I still stand in my decision and I''m willing to take full responsibility for it Head. said Beru resolutely hmm well I didn''t choose you as my head of security for nothing but you must know the consequences of reporting a false report and disrupting a meeting in The Web right? ask the Head I''m fully aware Head, in all honesty, I wish, was wrong head said Beru hmm, one of the eyebrows of the Head was raised... so Beru according to you should we cancel the meeting? ask the Head Not yet Head give me a few minutes to completely verify everything.. said Beru... Very well.. said the head now you''ve heard the reason for the alarm, for now, we will continue said the Head all target eliminated Eve reported Eve, how''s miller condition? ask Ruby unconfirmed said, Eve understood said, Ruby Ida, Jeremy take care of Miller the rest proceed as plan said Ruby emotionlessly roger! Eve what happens? asks Arc. theres a sniper in one of my blind spot.. replied Eve then why didn''t you send someone to check it? ask Arc there were 369 blind spots in the surroundings of the Spider headquarters checking one by one would compromise the overall mission increasing the danger by 300% said. Eve But. Tiffa intercept him and said Boss this is part of the mission there''s no mission without risk the Shadow Unit all knows that and they accepted it they know the risk, nothing was hidden from them it is nobody fault Boss.. said Tiffa probably from all of Arc subordinate that comes from the system only Tiffa can talk to him like that because among all of them she''s the only one designed to advise and corrects their Master because she''s a perfect Secretary her role is not just to help but also to advise their master. I see.. said Arc I let my emotion gets the best of me again ..- said Arc in his mind - relax Boss I''m sure they can handle whatever the enemies got for them- said Tiffa with a smile Arc he was about to said I''m at fault, but he stops himself as a leader he needs to look strong and reliable even if he blames himself he can''t let it shows outside, and he knows that... Chapter 47 - New Order V GIVE ME REPORT!!! who the hell is attacking us did you contacted the Headquarters? Douglas Shouted "Sir, we can''t contact the HQ I think we are being jammed." "You think!! Stupid!! I need a report on our enemy now!!" said, Douglas he was the Commander responsible for the whole Spider supply base, a few minutes ago an enemy just suddenly appeared before them and what''s worse all their communications are not working their chain of command is in chaos so Douglas is extremely angry as they let the enemy got close without them realizing it he''s also afraid for he as no idea who was attacking them... "Are they Morgan Family!?" ask Douglas "I don''t think so sir they are wearing an unidentified symbol..." "Could it be a camouflage to throw out our scent they might be trying to fool us, and their equipment is very advance I think they are Morgan Family in disguised," said, Douglas "that''s possible sir..." "I know it''s possible! and can somebody fix our comm! we need to establish our chain of command if this continues we are doomed you hear me!?" said, Douglas "We are trying our best sir but their jamming is too powerful." "Shit, why am I surrounded by imbeciles? organized a runner we''re doing it the old fashion way, and have someone ready our cannons," ordered Douglas "Sir yes, sir..." "Jerry, you take the right-wing, Biggs take the left, Wedge you''re on the front you guys know the drill let our Boss be proud, go!" said Tom "haha hell yeah.." said, Jerry "About time. said," Biggs "Go, Go-Go said," Wedge Tom smiles when he heard their replies "what are you guys a bunch of kids?," Said Tom with a smile "Haha Tom give us our ETA," said, Biggs "ETA 15 minutes. I don''t care if your exited or just seeking blood but don''t make any mistake our Boss is watching." said, Tom "Roger that!" said the trio "Good have fun but make it perfect, this is our first battle do not disappoint me especially our Boss show them the power of our Grand Army," said Tom Happily, "you got it, bro." said, Jerry "of course." said biggs "no need to say it." said wedge "Eve mark the targets we must avoid destroying the valuable materials." said, Tom "Of course, marking...." said Eve. "Alright targets have been marked don''t miss guys or ill let you clean the toilet for 2 months.. said," Tom "hahaha don''t worry bro we got this.." said, Jerry "Target is in range attacking in 3, 2, 1 FIRE!" said, Jerry Boom! "shit, they started firing give me status report now!" said, Douglas "Sir shield integrity is down to 78%, sir we can''t fight back they are outside the range of our cannon shall send a team out?" "Shit! you tell captain Bek to ready his team tells them to attack the enemy in 10minutes," said Douglas pointing to one of the runners "And you go to captain Dillard tell him to ready the tanks and provide support to captain Bek," ordered Douglas to another runner He pointed and give his order to each and every runner, after that be slumped back in his chair with the comms down there''s not much he can do, he felt frustrated. "Darn it," he cursed in his mind "You, can we at least do something about our comm? or our drones?" asked Douglas he already knows the answer but he still has to ask its been a long time since he''s been in this kind of powerless situation "Sigh, I need to figure something out, I don''t wanna die [email protected]$kin shit." Douglas cursed in his mind "Sir captain Bek and Dillards are about to go out." Douglas stood up looks at the outside and saw Bek and Dillard''s team mobilizing... "The enemy is sending two teams to attack our cannon," said Eve trough the comm. "I''ll take care of that," said wedge Tom is just watching he will give orders if necessary if not he will just let the three do what they want as long as it didn''t jeopardize their mission. "Enemies tanks eliminated the rest are retreating," said wedge while laughing Boom! Bam! cannons continue to fire "Eve display the enemy shield integrity status," said, Tom "enemy shield in 43% it will be breach in 2 minutes" replied Eve "I see Jerry and Biggs prepare to attack the enemy base." said, Tom "Sure bro." said, Jerry "Roger!" said, Biggs Wedge has the drones ready. "No problem," said, Wedge "Eve prepare to take over the drones," said, Tom "Sure no problem." said, Eve "Sir our shield is down to 20% our base will be breach in 1 minute" "Sigh [email protected]#kin darn it.. you, you and you give my order to all the captain prepares to intercept the enemies.." said, Douglas "yes, sir..." "Target destroyed the enemy''s shield down" Said wedge "Good prepare to change to suppressed fire," said Tom "Got it," said wedge Shield down gate 01 is destroyed, gate 02 is destroyed gate 03 is also destroyed "Enemy wall breached" report, Eve. "Good prepare step two," said, Tom. "Sending the Swarm," said wedge Jerry, Biggs prepare to invade The Swarm is the new weapon created from multi-purpose manufacturing factory its a drone type weapon and although it''s not considered a military-grade standard in the System classification it''s still a Rank 5 tech device, its a palm-size drone equip with a shock burst attack similar to stun gun but many times more powerful it''s powerful enough to stun an enhanced human for 24 hours not only that, it has a compressed energy storage that can be used as a suicide bomber, the only down side''s the number of materials need to build one and even with all the materials the Grand Trading Corp. has amassed in the last couple of months they only able to build about 200 plus of them and for a Drone that called The Swarm that''s a pitiful number. "Eve will be the one responsible for the drone making sure it is not shot down before it can do something their purpose is not to kill everyone but just neutralized them if possible and we have to make sure that all materials in the Spider Supply base are intact." said, Tom "what''s that?" asked Douglas "Sir, we have a big problem..." "You think I didn''t know that!? I''m not blind you, bunch idiots." said, Douglas "Sir, I''m not talking about that!" "then what are you talking about huh!? you..." Douglas didn''t finish he didn''t have to he just know they were so screwed... the combat drones of The Spider began to rise up one by one, all the people of The Spider that saw it has mixed emotions some were confused another''s who realized something were afraid and those that are ignorant were celebrating... and Douglas knew they were not the one controlling it but there''s nothing he could do. it will take a runner to inform the soldiers to shoot it around 10 minutes or so and during that time the combat drones could kill them all in the command center in less of that time. but for some reason, the drones didn''t fire it just hovered there pointing its gun on them none of them moved... Hello, Gentleman, I''m Eve please surrender and you will be spared resist and you will pay the consequence you have 2 minutes to decides... the voice of Eve rang on everyone in the spider supply base, and after that there where stillness nobody moves or makes a sound only the sounds of their enemy marching towards them can be heard. until one soldier tugs cannot bear the pressure anymore and shouted I surrender, Douglas is so angry his face is all red, but what can he do? their comms are still down and the barrel of the combat drones is still pointing at him waiting for him to make a move. When one surrendered one by one the rest follows they lay down their weapons and put their arms up, as the combat drones and The Swarm continue to hover above them, of course, there are some who tried to be a hero and he was greeted with a bullet to the head courtesy of the Combat Drones and Eve, everyone blood who witnessed it turns cold. Biggs, Wedge, and Jerry have no idea what''s happening inside the enemies'' base they were still excited as they urge their men to go forward, only Tom is aware of it and couldn''t help giving a wry smile what can he says they didn''t have enough fun yet? it''s not like they are here to play, we''ll maybe a little bit that''s not the point he didn''t expect the end of this operation to be like this its as he says it''s Too Peaceful... Chapter 48 - New Order VI Arc also saw what Eve has done and he let out a chuckle which dispersed the awkward atmosphere in his office, he can only imagine the faces of Jerry, Biggs, and wedge when the found out the truth... he then focuses his attention on the attack on The Spider headquarters there was still no news about Millers conditions he didn''t ask Eve about it as he was afraid of what he was going to hear, different from a calm and silent atmosphere outside the Spider HQ inside of The Spider headquarters is quite noisy besides inside ''The Web'' which was relatively isolated from the outside everything else in the HQ is noisy people can be heard shouting and giving orders countless people can be seen gearing up and taking their defensive position like they always do in practice. But today is different many of the people are nervous they have no idea of what''s to come or what to expect they were just asked to take up defensive position, of course, many are also excited since this is the first time they are going to apply all they learned in training and practice so they are eager to fight. Beru keeps giving orders even though according to their monitoring system everything is ok and no problem is found the fact then no one returns from any patrol is very suspicious, what puzzle him the most is that they can still contact the said patrol and personnel and no matter how many times they check they don''t see any problem. He wondered if he is just being paranoid or hallucinating and that everything that''s happening is just a dream and he just fell asleep in his chair because of fatigue, but he only keep those thoughts in his mind he needs to remain calm and collected in front of his men even if he doesn''t know what he is doing he''s still going to pretend he was an expert in front of his men. The atmosphere outside is solemn they didn''t mention what happened to Miller, and even the playful Jem has a serious expression on her face, Ruby gave a series of instructions and the Shadow Unit took action immediately, Explosives are being stalled in the wall in the side of the Spider HQ this wall leads to the power and control room of the HQ and even though Eve can hack into almost anything there are some things she wasn''t able to do for example the power and safety control terminal of the Spider HQ which is outside the internet network and was built with its own internal network this was to prevent hacking which is very effective as even Eve cannot access it. so this is their first target, the location of the power and security terminal is top secret and only a select few knows about it even Beru the head of the Security is not privy to the secret as this is the lifeline that concern the top members especially the Head of the Spider for this control terminal controls all the mechanism regarding all escape routes inside the Spider HQ and because of that, only The Head and the most trusted man of the Head has Access to it, it was also guarded by one of the secret weapons of The Spider organization. 5 of the EX series combat droid The Spider paid a huge amount of resources to procure it from Royal Empire and have it smuggled here under the nose of HFA The Ex series combat droid is a very powerful machine that combines the technology of human and many alien affiliated to humans, it was 4 meters tall and two meters wide it was bipedal like a mech except fully automated and has its own network so even Eve has no way of Hacking it unless she connected it into her network or simply connecting it to the internet. the Ex series combat droid was equipped with a variety of weapons and all of them are lethal the only downside of this machine is its limited power and because of that, it can only operate for a short period of time before needing to recharge. it only has 30 minutes of operating time but it was more than enough to destroy or eliminate any of its targets Eve is not aware of its existence in the Spider HQ since it was never recorded in any device its existence is only being pass by word of mouth and even then there are only 3 people are aware of it in the Spider organizations, so it''s not surprising that even with Eve godly means She remains ignorant of its existence after all it was already there even before she was born or created in this world by the system, and The Shadow unit is unaware of what surprise the other side of the wall is stored for them, luckily because of what happened to Miller their vigilance is in the highest settings that include Ruby and Jem. "ETA 30 seconds take your positions I don''t want any more accident," said Ruby everyone nodded in confirmation Ruby gestures in her hand 3 2 1 BOOM!! as planned the moment the wall was blasted they throw smoke grenades inside and as they were about to storm in Ruby felt something wrong at the same time Eve was made aware of what''s on the other side of the wall and immediately issues a warning and emergency evasion luckily the shadow unit was able to react in time and was able to dodge the incoming attack unfortunately 2 shadow unit was unable to dodge in time and was hit by a direct attack and was blasted in the distance their conditions unknown. "Everyone gets out of its attacking range!!" Shouted Ruby And as she was issuing the order Jem was already in front of the one of the Ex series droid with a flexible sword in one hand and a silent gun on another, Clang! a gash was seen on the neck of the Ex series droid but it didn''t manage to stop its advance she turns halfway in the air and pointed the silent gun in maximum settings in the head of the Ex series droid and fired, a laser beam was release in the muzzle of the silent gun by firing in maximum settings it used almost 35 percent of its energy, but it was worth it the head of one of the Ex combat droid was destroyed and it stops moving Jem smile when she saw but, but immediately her smile receded. for the droid that was supposed to be disabled was starting to move again, Ruby didn''t waste time either she as already on top of the headless droid she fires her silent gun in maximum setting from the top of the headless droid frying all its internal components. the attack of the other Ex series combat droid is already upon her she hack two of the four missiles heading for her and was too late to dodge the two other, and as she was about to brace for impact Michelle and Dove was able to destroy it by firing their silent gun, Ruby just nod at them, "Eve, give me a report on these things," said Ruby calmly as she continues to battle the four other Droid, unfortunately, her flexible swords have little effect on it except leave a few gashes and her silent gun still needs a few seconds to cool off before being able to fire again... So in order for the plan to not be delayed they change their strategy, Ruby and Jem will keep the Ex series combat droid busy and Michelle and Dove will lead the rest of the Shadow Unit to enter in another place. "Hopefully, there are no more surprises like this one or we will receive quite a few casualties if this continues," said Ruby in her mind Michelle and Dove didn''t argue with the change of plan and immediately gather the rest of Shadow Unit to go and enter in another place, but there''s a piece of good news the two Shadow Unit that was blasted away earlier was ok they are only stunned for a few seconds but uninjured as their suite dispersion technology saves them. Chapter 49 - New Order VII Arc was already standing because of the tension he felt, he looks at the Ex series combat droid and thought they look like a small heavy armored mech and no matter how strong a ???? star rank human they can''t compete with a mech using only their flesh, he regrets not giving more powerfull weapon to the Shadow Unit especially to Ruby and Jem and although the rank 5 suits can save them from most fatal damages it also have limits especially since the Ex series droid was equipped with the many heavy weapons that were designed to deal with heavy equipment like tanks or even mech, how can a mere human compete with that, he was about to order a retreat when Tiffa stop him. "Boss believe in them, they can do it," said Tiffa resolutely to Arc Arc looks at Tiffa for a few seconds and saw how serious she was. he sigh. -fine but if I think that there would be any meaningless casualties I''ll pull the plug I don''t care if we have to wait for a few more months if I can prevent meaningless death I''ll do it.- said Arc "You don''t have to worry too much Boss though those droids look strong Ruby and Jem is more than a match for it look they are even smiling," said Tiffa as she points at the projection And indeed without realizing it Ruby and Jem are caught up in the moment of their fight and began to enjoy it of course, not to the point that they will play with it, in fact, they were very serious but that seriousness is what leads to them enjoying it, maybe because they haven''t been able to utilize all their ability since they arrived in this world so without them realizing it they already enter combat mode maybe it was programmed in their genes when they were created this type of battle truly suits them the most. Arc also notice it he just gave a wry smile because he understood it he himself encounter this kind of feelings many times when he was training in the training machine, he knows he can''t stop it anymore he can see the look in the face of Ruby and Jem he recognizes it, in fact, he knows it too well for he was an adrenaline junky himself he discovered it the very first time he tried the training machine. At the same time, the Shadow Unit blows the wall the people inside the Spider HQ also heard the explosions but unfortunately for them, they couldn''t confirm anything as Eve immediately intercept all their communications and she also gives a lot of false information to more confused the enemies but that was only effective for those who didn''t know the existence of Ex series droid as they were immediately informed the moment the droid encountered the enemy. Mikasa and Mikhail are brothers and sisters in The Spider organizations have prominent reputation but unlike the rest, they didn''t have any title like Elder or leader, not even an officer but their existence is special because no one in The Spider organization will offend them not even an elder have the guts to do it the reason is that although those two don''t have any specific title they do have a very specific job, to protect the Head of Spider and only the Head of the Spider they didn''t care about anything else. The moment the Ex series Droid encountered the enemy Mikasa, Mikhail and the Head of Spider was informed immediately according to plan they would immediately take the Head to a Specially designed bunker or take him to the hidden tunnel to escape, But when they tried to ask Beru about the situations Beru reassured them everything is fine and under control, of course, that was not really Beru but Eve pretending as Beru, this delayed Mikasa, and Mikhail from making sudden moves and even the head though worried decided to continue the meeting but ask Mikhail to investigate the action of the Ex series droid. Normally their first action is to take the Head to safety but because Beru said everything is under control they believe that the Ex series droid has already taken care of the problems, and so the Head sends Mikhail to check and at the same time try to minimize the exposure of the Ex series droids but halfway to the power and safety control terminal another explosion was heard but to everyone surprised and confusions, there was no alarm given they even receive transmission that everything is under control from the head of security so believing in the transmission many personnel continued with their works but Mikhail is different he knew something is wrong he check his mini terminal and sure enough the droid is still active unfortunately it didn''t tell any more than that he needs the main control terminal of the droids to completely check everything but the main control terminal of the droid is in the hidden chamber next to sleeping chamber of the Head. So he contemplate if he should go to the droid and risk being in danger or head back to the control terminal of the droid, as the head''s protector he cannot receive injury or place himself in any form of danger unrelated of the protection of the Head they can only get injured while protecting the head any other way and they will be considered failure, in the end, he chose to head back he also informed Mikasa and The Head of the circ.u.mstances, The Head check the message he got from Mikhail and frowned according to Mikhail the HQ system is compromised and even Beru most likely is compromised as well. The Head is using a secured communication device separated from any network this communication is a three-way personal communication exclusive for him and his two personal guards so its impossible to hack since its not connected to another network, He used his other communication device and call and check Beru he ask about the situations but Beru confirmed it''s under control but The Head notice something, he knew Beru for a very long time it can even be said that they were quite close so he knew Beru''s mannerisms but the Beru he was talking to is different to the Beru he knew... No matter how good Eve is she can''t completely copy another person she can pretend and most people can''t tell the difference especially those that don''t know the person personally and even those who do can still be fooled as well but it''s different from those who really knew the person they will be able to tell the difference, of course, they won''t be able to tell they are talking to a different person but they will suspect that the said person is being controlled or compromised. The Head couldn''t tell if Beru is being controlled or if Beru betrayed him and although the chance of Beru betraying him is very small it''s not impossible since it happens in the past, even now those that betrayed him are now suffering in Hell. As the head is contemplating Bang! The Web doors were forcefully opened, and when the head saw who it was his eyes went wide... Chapter 50 - New Order VIII "BOOM! what''s that?" ask Beru "Sir, we don''t know according to the report one of the explosive grenades accidentally exploded." "What!? who''s the bastard responsible for that?" asked Beru angrily "Sir according to the report its one of our men he accidentally discharge it when trying to equip it he died in the explosions.. sir" "Idiot! where''s the explosion happen?" ask Beru "In the northeastern corner sir near the boiler room and luckily that part is mostly deserted, sir." "Send someone to check it out. I want a full report on how this happens... wait. what where did you said the explosion happened again?" ask Beru worriedly "In the northeastern corner sir in the boiler area." Beru was the head of security, after all, he was privy to some of the secrets he was aware of what kind of facility hidden in that part of the HQ even though he doesn''t have access to that place it doesn''t mean he doesn''t know anything about it. Suddenly he felt like all the bad premonition he has earlier is coming true, "send two squads in there right now! I want full assessment on the damage hurry!" said Beru shouting they didn''t ask questions, they just follow orders.. "right away" sir.. "Shit, what the hell is going on? I feel like I''m trapped in some sort of nightmare." Beru cursed in his mind "Sir I think our monitoring system is compromised said one of the technicians." "what do you mean?" ask Beru "Some report we are receiving is weird like for example the explosion on the northeastern side of HQ the monitors there is down..." "What''s weird about it? it must have been damaged from the explosions" said Beru "We understand that sir but take a look at this" he pointed at the monitor its the view from the corridor leading to the northeastern part of HQ where the explosion happened. "did you notice it, sir?" Beru look at the corridor and frown its clean that''s right it''s too clean if a normal explosion happens there then this place being untouched can be explained but the camera was destroyed then that means the explosion is big enough to damage and destroy their military-grade CCTV camera, that thing is very expensive for a reason it''s not just for video quality their endurance is also top-notch as well, normal gun can''t damage them, in other words, if the explosion is strong enough to damage their state of the art CCTV camera that corridor is impossible to be completely clean and untouched. "Sir that''s just one of them," the soldier began to explain. but Beru no longer paying attention to them he was trap in his thoughts. "Since when our system is compromised is it from the very beginning but what kind of technology can do this it''s not like we''re using century-old system no, in fact, they are using the very latest and state of the art systems money can buy after all The Spider prioritized the HQ security above all else so what can do this?" Beru question himself In fairness Eve can''t be blamed on this, she is able to render modified videos in the instant is already godly and no matter how capable she is it''s almost impossible to account to kind all scenario instantly she only does what''s the highest chance of success and executes it. the corridor being clean is intentional, its part of her plan, the reason she did that is that so the place they are attacking doesn''t take too much attention, And therefore most likely be ignored. but unfortunately for her, the technician was able to notice it, so Eve takes preventive measures that all she can do, that''s all she always does, if her plan doesn''t work she modified it based on the current situations, that is her job. "Inform the Head right away!" said Beru "yes, sir." as Eve was made aware of the plan being exposed so she plans to intercept the call to the head... "No wait said Beru ill go there myself, I feel like we''re being played with, and don''t trust what you see in the monitor anymore, you go to captain Vera tell him to mobilized everyone we are under attack go!." said Beru after giving some more orders Beru left and run straight to The Web he was perspiring and anxious for didn''t know what kind of enemies they are facing and the scariest thing in the world is the unknown, no knowing who or what is attacking them scared him. at first, he was just walking fast to keep his image in front of his men, but as he goes the more anxious he gets before he knows it he was already running... BOOM! another explosion was heard this time it''s in the southeast corner, he stops for a moment. "that''s in the armory shit!" Beru said he started running again he didn''t call or ask anyone for a report for he no longer trusts his communication device, "Who the hell is attacking us is it the Morgan Family when did this get this kind of ability being able to completely control our system and fool and copy our voice and being able to know even our secret code, who the hell gave them this information he can only think of one possibility Traitors f.u.c.k!" Beru cursed in his mind... in just 2-3 minutes he can already see the door leading to the Web there was no guard here, in fact, no one is allowed to come near here during the duration of the conference. when get closed to the door Beru he slammed his shoulders in it Bang! the door swings open... The Head looks at the breathing heavily Beru he was surprised no he was shocked, The whole room quiet down they all look at Beru in confusion... "Beru what are doing here and what''s going on?" asked one of the Elder pointing at Beru as they look at Beru they all have a bad premonition its easy to tell something is very wrong, some of them started calling their subordinates that comes with them to ask for info since the start of the conference they all turn their communication devices off, now that they open it they receive messages from their subordinates saying Beru has started a coup and he was a traitor at first they didn''t believe it and ask their subordinates not to talk nonsense but one by one all leaders and elders receive the same report, saying that Beru along with some people inside started the coup in coordination with Morgan Family and that the location of Beru is unknown at the moments. At the same time, the subordinates of all elders and leaders receive a call from their master saying that Beru along with Some of the captains and guards of the HQ is planning a coup and they need to stop them at all cost, the captains of the guards however also receive their orders, that some of the subordinates of the elders and leaders are spies from the Morgan Family and are planning to create havoc by saying that the guards are planning a coup and their job is to stop them at all cost. And at the same time, everyone receives a transmission from the top that the group of people was coming to protect the Head and they must not stop them at all cost for they are the hidden guards sent to protect The Web and everyone in it... of course, all of this is Eve''s doing and the people inside the Web don''t have any idea of what''s happening outside the Web. Chapter 51 - New Order IX Jerry, Biggs, and Wedge, excitedly lead their men to march towards the Spider supply base the soldiers are the same at first some of them are nervous and maybe a little afraid but all that was overshadowed by their excitement, this is their first battle after all but because of the enthusiasm and excitement their leader have, they too felt the same way that kind of feelings are contagious the positive thinking of their leaders are now affecting everyone. As they get closer to the Spider Supply base, they saw the damage on the wall in full view but they notice something strange as they got closer it becomes more apparent the closer they got to the supply base its too quiet, they all thought that their enemies might be planning something so they become extra vigilant but that doesn''t change the excitement they are feeling and when they passed the damaged gate they saw something that shocked them, in fact, it was not just them even their leaders were shocked¡­ Eve in order to give safe and quick passage to the shadow hunters with as few obstructions as possible. Eve started to direct the battles between the top members subordinate and the HQ guards and the Spider army but that makes the top member''s subordinates greatly outnumbered so to fix that Eve issue the so-called "traitors list" this level the playing field the list also includes all Beru''s runners, that he has ordered to informed the captains of the system compromised, but as they approach their target to give Beru''s orders, the people who saw them shot them instantly, those people immediately recognize them as traitors that are to be killed on sight they are listed along with their faces and information along with their so-called crimes, they died in confusion they didn''t know of the list, they didn''t know that a list for traitor is issued with the shoot to kill order was given to all people in the base except for the select few like them and everyone in the Web conference room. Of course, different groups receive a different list, and in order to encourage them, Eve reported that anyone who kills the traitors will be greatly rewarded when everything is over the rewards they receive depends on how many traitors they killed. All this remained unnoticed by everyone in the Web conference room all leaders and elders look at Beru like he killed their mother and **** their sisters if the Head isn''t there they might already tear him to pieces. Unfortunately, the whole Web conference room is cut off from the rest of HQ and there''s no camera of any devices here that can potentially leak what''s happening inside the Web that includes the corridor that leads to the Web so Eve wasn''t able to time his conversation with Head when she pretended as Beru she only realizes that when Beru burst into the door. The leaders and elders points and accused Beru as a traitor, at first he was confused as to why is everyone is accusing him of being a traitor but a few moments layer he knew the reasons, a wry smile was hanging in his lips he knew that no matter what he said they wouldn''t believe him he can only sigh. "SILENCE!!.." Shouted the Head¡­ "This is now a very dangerous time for us, Beru is not a traitor our system is compromised someone else is using it against us. and all of us are in danger, as we are speaking our enemies might already be upon us." Said the Head When Beru heard that he breathe a sigh of relief. "Head our subordinates confirms it, I heard it from their own mouth, and I believe it wasn''t just by subordinate can attest to that," said one of the Elder "That''s right Head my men confirms it too." Said another one "That''s right, my men too¡­" One by one the Elders and Leaders confirms it. "STOP! ALL OF YOU SHUT UP!!" shouted the head "Didn''t you hear what I said? our system is compromised, someone is manipulating it to confuse us." said the Head "Head, how was that possible? The system can be hacked sure but the voices and video call from our subordinate as well as their identity code that only we know who can fake that and it wasn''t just one or two but all our subordinates? How in the world is that possible even HFV or any power I know are not capable of doing that." "If I knew I wouldn''t be as confused as you are the reason I knew that Beru is not a traitor is that I was just talking to him on the com a second he burst in here he was just telling me in the com that everything is under control, that''s why I was shocked to see him burst into the door because clearly, I was talking to a different people..." Said the Head "That¡­ how''s that possible..." Everyone inside the Web is shocked they couldn''t believe what they just heard if its someone else who said that they will think he was just crazy and they will assume he or she is a traitor themselves but the one who said that was the Head there''s no way to refute him as there''s no way he would sabotage himself "That''s right the reason I come here in person is that I no longer trust my communication device, a few minutes ago everyone I call or ask about the situation said no problem even though I felt that they are lying to me but no matter how much we verified they all checks out. I become suspicious so I sent some of my trusted men to check, and guess what they also said? no problem, when I call them on the comm but when I asked them to return they said ok but no matter how long I waited they didn''t return, I called them again and again but they all give various reasons but in the end, none of them returns that''s just one of the reasons but I have to say the way our enemies manipulate our comm was almost perfect, I have to rely on my intuition and instinct that I hone for many years to expose them but even when I do, I don''t even know how to explain it. If the enemy didn''t make a mistake in his conversation with Head earlier exposing their schemes do you really think anyone would believe me?" Said Beru Chapter 52 - New Order X +++WTF I lost another chapter this is happening more and more lately last time I lost more than 500+ words because I receive a call and when I got back all the words I typed are gone and before that a chapter and now I lost another one WTF this is prolly the last chap for the day as I lost my motivation to write at the moment if you know any good apps that can automatically save everything I type and can do word count please let me know, oh and I''m only using my mobile phone to write.. anyways again sorry for the rant++ Michelle and Dove lead the rest of the Shadow Unit to the place where Eve told them to go, even after everything that happens none of them shown any fear or hesitation in their eyes instead there were anticipation and eagerness in their eyes. Michelle pointed at the wall and three Shadow Unit immediately put some explosives into it, after that, they all prepared to take action they know the drill they have done this for a few times already, Michelle gestured with her fingers 3 2 1. Boom! The wall was blasted open. After throwing some smoke grenades they rush in, Michelle leading the way followed by Dove they made quick work with guards who were still stunned from the explosion, Michelle gestures something and the shadow unit form a group of threes and then spread out their objective, clear the way and make way to the Web and because of Eve, they encountered very few resistance, gunshots continuously be heard inside the HQ along with angry shouts, it was chaotic. Dove''s group have different mission, they will go to the power and security terminal where the Ex series droids used to be, but right now those droids are busy being led by Ruby and Jem, so Dove''s group job is to connect her terminal in it so that Eve can control it, dove encounter a few groups trying to guard the corridor leading to power and security terminal "PST" Dove dive straight to them killing two immediately the rest of the guards immediately fire back when they notice the group of three, Dove ignored the rest after killing the first two and went straight to the captain of the guards after successfully making herself the bait. Dove Immediately pulls out her gun and fired at the captain of the guards she wasn''t worried about the rest of the guard she passes by her two companions will take care of them. The captain of the guards seeing the attack immediately get ready, Beny is not a novice in fighting no in fact before he was recruited by The Spider he was a veteran mercenary he''s been through many battles in his lifetime and have encountered many different types of enemies, he immediately dodge the laser attack the moment he saw the gun being pointed at him, and at the same time he raised his own weapon and fired back he notices that many of his men are already down even before they manage to fight back, he knows he was fighting a very power enemies, and as he was about to fire again he suddenly saw his opponent blurred instinctively he raises both his arms in front of him to shield himself for the attack but all he was a flash next thing he knew he was already laying face down he saw both his arms a few feet from him they are no longer attached to him, and he can barely breath no he was choking his neck has already been cut, the last thing he saw was a silhouette standing in front of him before everything went black. "Dove why did you save him?" asked one of the Shadow Unit as they continued to move toward the "PST" "Because he will be useful in the future he was not an enhance human but were able to dodge one of my attacks and even block one even among you guys very few can do that and all of you have enhanced physics, his fighting instinct is way above us he will be an excellent shadow unit, I already consulted Eve and she said ok." Said Dove "Envious? I am too, I can only imagine the hell he''s been through to acquire that kind of battle instinct without an enhanced body, but soon we will be able to surpass him." said, Dove There was no more obstruction along the way so they were able to reach the PST in no time. And sure enough, the Ex Series Droid is gone she immediately connects her comm. To the PST and a few secs later she heard Eve confirmation the PST is already under Eve control, Dove saw the result of the battle between Ruby, Jem, and the Droids she can see Two incapacitated droids not far from her and can see flash and sound of ongoing battle between Ruby, Jem and the droids from a distance, she very much want to watch or even participate but she still has a job to do, so she didn''t linger long just after Eve finish taking over the PST she turn around and left she needs to rendezvous with Michelle in the Web. "time to sweep the Spiders." dove said to her two companions and all of them smiled in anticipation¡­ Michelle encountered far more enemies than Dove but because she has 3 groups with her they managed to quickly eliminate them all, Michelle notices something and stops she ordered the rest to go and rendezvous with Dove in the Web... "do you need help," said one of the Shadow Unit, they all notice the enemy a few seconds after Michelle did. "no, I got this, go ill be there soon," said Michelle still looking at the enemy she never took her eyes away from it, her instinct is telling her that the enemy is quite dangerous, Ruby and Jem drill that into their head never took your eyes away from your enemy a small carelessness can lead to your death those are the words of the two people she admired the most... "Looks like I caught some rats," said, Mikhail Even though he didn''t want to engage the enemies and want to return to the Head as soon as possible so he hides when he notices them but he was still noticed by the enemies he knew this is a going to be a tough fight he can feel the aura emanating from the girl in front of him. Michelle didn''t waste any time talking or observing she immediately attack she was always been very decisive in her action unlike the rest of Shadow Unit she didn''t like deciding for too long so when she thinks of something she always took action first and continue to think along the way, this way of thinking along with her ability to learn fast had turned her into the number one among shadow unit. Mikhail was surprised when the girl attack immediately he plans to talk and find out more about who they are, He saw a blur and the next thing he knew the girl is already in front of him, Mikhail and his sister have been trained since the very young age and he and her sister has been to many battles and experienced countless life and death situations. He immediately parried the attack he was surprised by the impact his body flew two to three meters away his hands were numb, he was an enhance human using the most advanced human technology available. The Spider organization spent a huge amount of resources to afford the enhancement even in HFA very few are his match, but clearly, the girl in front of her is a lot stronger than him, the smile on his face is now gone, on the other hand, a smile appeared on Michelle''s face. Chapter 53 - New Order XI Michelle continues to attacks she didn''t give her opponent the chance to retaliate she also noticed that her enemy has more battle experience than her judging by the way her attack was being dodged and neutralized she smile she knew this is a chance for her to improve herself, but she didn''t forget about her mission she knew she had to end the battle soon and joins her brother and sisters in the Web, She was now double equipping among the Shadow Units only her and Dove was able to completely master it, controlling a flexible sword in one hand and a gun in another is very hard to do she remembers how much she suffers just to be able to use the flexible sword without getting hurt, she focuses on her opponent she first fire he gun and follows it with a quick lunge with her flexible sword this is her favorite attack combinations. Mikhail quickly saw the attack his opponent is a few times faster than him and so even though he has more experienced in battle the best he can do is parry and barely dodge his opponent attack, because even though he has more experienced he can saw that his opponent is learning fast, he notice that his opponent quickly fire a laser gun at him as he was about to dodge a snake-like swords was already upon him he grit his teeth he knows there''s no escaping he has to take one of the attacks, a laser attack can quickly disable him so he chooses the sword but when he looks at his opponents face he knew he falls into the trap but it''s too late to do anything so gritted hi teeth and brace for the attack he used both his arm as a shield he was equipped with a small arm guard it was not much but he thinks its enough to mitigate most of the damage. But as the flexible sword hit his armguard he knew he made a big mistake... Michelle saw that her opponent chooses her sword instead of the laser she knew she already won the fight so she smiles, and sure enough, the moment her sword hit the armguard in her opponents arm it didn''t receive any resistance it immediately Pierce though his opponents arms and with a quick shake his opponents arms was severed. Mikhail watches as both his arms are being severed he was flabbergasted by how sharp the sword is he can only use his arms to redirect the sword attack, and there nothing he can do about it if he tried to resist the sword will impale his heart or his head so he allowed his arms to be severed and quickly backs off, the pain is overwhelming but he quickly suppressed it so none of it can be seen on his face only a quick twitch of his eyes can tell the pain he was having. "You win," said Mikhail he knows he lost and lost miserably at that, he wasn''t even able to hit his opponents once, it can be said as he received massive beet down. "I know," said, Michelle "Who are you guys" ask Mikhail "No need to try and buy time, you have two seconds to decides whether you want to live or die," said, Michelle he Sighs, "I surrender," said Mikhail he needs to live he still have to protect the Head "Good choice, open your mouth and do not resist." Said, Michelle Mikhail obeys and opens his mouth, Michelle, then toss a pill in his mouth, It a special rank 5 pills it has a suppressive and paralyzing effect and even them from Shadow unit cannot resist it affects only someone like Ruby and Jem can resist it... Mikhail immediately felt the effect at first he thought with his enhancement he will be able to resist any poison or medicine given to him he was trained for that after all, he couldn''t even count how many poisons he ingested himself his plan is to pretend to be poisoned of incapacitated and look for a way to escape later. Again he was very much mistaken, the moment the pills enter his mouth it immediately dissolves and he felt a restrictive force in his body like he was being chained down by tons of weights he couldn''t even move a finger his whole body was paralyzed and because of that the pain from losing his arms suddenly hits him hard he was using his enhanced physics to suppressed the pain but now that enhancements are sealed there is no way for him to suppress the pain and unfortunately, he can''t even scream or make any noise whatsoever, its a terrible feeling but the good news is that the pills also stop the bleeding in his arm. Michelle look at the pale face of Mikhail and smile, of course, she knew what he was thinking she can only smile at his misfortune for she knew there''s no resisting that binding pill, she quickly tie him up and carry him on her shoulders, originally she plans to leave him behind and catch up with rest of the shadow unit but Eve tells her to bring him along. So she did... Dove quickly arrived at the entrance of the Web she saw the rest of the shadow unit but didn''t saw Michelle she was about to ask when she receives an update from Eve and found out what happens so she just smiles in envy of Michelle meeting good opponents, she walks into the door opens it and enters... As Dove open the door she was greeted by the discussion of the people inside the Web which quickly died down when she enters she looks around all attention is in her, the shadow unit immediately spread around the Web. "Hello there guys how have you been?" Ask Dove with a smile on her face. That was supposed to be Jem''s line but since they are not here she can''t resist the temptation on mimicking her... Chapter 54 - New Order XII Ruby backs off after destroying one of the EX Series Droid. Jem, on the other hand, begin her next attack on the other droids there are four more to go she knows that she can only fire her silent gun two more times in full charge so she needs to make all her shots count, the droid is a little clumsy and slow but because of the variety of weapon it possesses along with its tough exterior, built to take damage from tanks or even mecha, their flexible sword can hardly damage it after all their weapon is designed for killing human, not armored droid. Jem dash to one of the droid and was greeted by all kind of attacks she was showered by all kind of missiles and bullets and even lasers, she dodges most of them and mostly ignores the bullets, those bullets might have physically hurt the Shadow Unit but for her, it''s like tickles. the missiles are quite problematic as even though it will not hurt her the impact can still send her a distance away but the real problem is the high powered laser and although she trusts that her suits can withstand it she wouldn''t try it as by chance the suits was breach by those laser beam it will hurt her or even killed her, even if she is a ???? rank human unless she has an energy shield she wouldn''t try to take on those high powered laser beam. "Haaa," she shouts as she tries to hack one of the droid joints sparks can be seen and even the droid backs off being pushed to step back that''s a full-power attack of a ???? rank human after all a huge gash was created by the attack but the outer defense of the droid is very solid. "Darn they are quite hard aren''t they sis?" said Jem as she backs away after she attacks Ruby didn''t reply she was studying the report Eve gave her about the Droid and are trying to find a point of attack, a few seconds later she found it, there are three places they can attack which is less protected the first one is in the back of the droid between the two booster pack on its back if breach they can damage its power source The second is on left h.i.p.s which hide the hydraulics that controls its movements And the third is on the right side of its neck which hides all the wiring for its targeting systems Ruby immediate shares the info to Jem, who was still busy attacking the four droids, And even though those can be called a weakness it''s still not easy to attack it or damage it, with the current weapon they have. but for Ruby and Jem the more challenging it was the more they like it, at least now they didn''t have to attack blindly. If it''s up to them they would want to play with this things until they completely destroys it without any help of hint from Eve but they know they still have a job to do, and even though they trust the Shadow Unit to complete the job they still wouldn''t allow themselves too caught up in the moment, they can enjoy the fight sure, but they will not drag it on just to entertain themselves when they still have a job to do. Ruby then nodded at Jem and jem acknowledge it. "It''s time to kill those droids," said Jem grinning "Yeah let''s hurry," said Ruby smiling They dash at the same time, their target the droid in the front, the one Jem has been fighting for a while, all kinds of attack rain down on them they ignore the less damaging like bullets from the Gatling gun on the shoulder of the droids and avoided the missiles and laser beam attack those three attacks are the most common attack of the droid, of course, there''s also canon fire but those are very easy to dodge and flamethrowers basically don''t do any damage to them like the bullets from the Gatling guns, so they mostly ignore it or dodge them like the flamethrower as they didn''t want their hair to be burnt after all... Ruby was the first to arrive she used her full strength and attack the side of the neck and although it didn''t completely damage it an opening was made and that''s all she needs, she dodge the incoming attacks from another droids and extend her arms and the flexible swords punctures straight into the opening cutting and destroying all the components inside, immediately the droid stop attacking probably trying to diagnose or even repair the damages as this kind of high-end droid have self-repair capability installed. Of course, they wouldn''t wait for it to repair itself. Jem already appears in place of Ruby who was busy dodging the attack of the other droids, a fully charge silent and was already pointing at the damaged neck, she fires at a 90-degree angle downward. There was no explosion or anything but the important components were immediately destroyed. burnt metal can be seen inside the droid, They drag the last three droids away from the PST and into the woods where they have more covers, of course, this is all under Eve instructions as destroying all the droids will take time, to avoid any problems they need to destroy or control the PST as soon as possible. So they drag it away so Dove can do her job. It quite easy for Ruby and Jem to drag the droids away for They are attacking and retreating at the same time, therefore dragging the droids with them in no time¡­ "Hello, there guys how have you been?," Beru looks at the girl in front of him he backs away the moment dove and the Shadow Unit entered the Web... "It''s you, people, it''s you who are playing with us who are you¡­?" ask Beru Dove didn''t answer, she just smiles at him¡­ Chapter 55 - New Order XIII Who are you people you''re not from Morgan Family are you? Ask Beru The Head and the rest of the people inside the Web didn''t say anything, but they are preparing to take action especially the Officers. Mikasa was already beside the Head she was trying to contact Mikhail but receives no response she was not worried, she knows the capability of her brother, her only problem and priority is how to take the Head out of here to a safe place... Dove didn''t answer she look at Beru the switch her gaze to Mikasa who never left her eyes on her, Dove can guess what she was thinking and she knew it was futile so she smirked at her... Dove look again at Beru who was still waiting for her to answer, Does it matter Beru? She said with a playful smile on her face Dove has always been the playful one between Michelle and her, she always said that Michelle is always too serious this personality of her is what clicks her with Jem they always get along just fine, Dove was one of the girls rescued by Ruby and Jem from the criminal organization. she was an orphan didn''t know who her parent was and in all honesty, she didn''t care, she was always been a rebellious one she didn''t like all the rules of the orphanage she grew up with, so when she was only 13yrs old she left and joins the other kids on the street, she stayed on the street for a few years and was happy for a time until she and her friends were taken by the local gang, in order to protect her self she always keep her self dirty and messy until one of her friends sold her to the gang out of jealousy and because of that she was taken and sold to the criminal organization called Underlady. its a small-time organization that deals with s.e.x trafficking and sold beautiful v.i.r.g.i.ns to the other big organization. for quite some time she keeps being sold to another organization because of her beauty, because of that, she knew there was escaping her fate so she already resigned to her fate. many time she wants to kill herself but didn''t have the courage to do it, then one day she was finally sold to a rich man during one of the auctions where she met Michelle who was on the same situation as her they were bought by the same person, there are other girls with them all have the same eyes as them eyes that lost all hope and full of despair, and when they are about to be taken two beautiful girls suddenly appeared in front of them they look like the same age as them but they know they are very different because behind the two girls are all the dead body of the guards that are in charge of protecting them. the girl who calls her self Jem extends her hand to her and said. -It''s ok you''re safe now come with us and maybe we can be sisters- Unconsciously she took her hands and one by one all of them follow the two girls outside and on their way out they saw the aftermath of the attack all guards and organizer, as well as all bidders, were killed its a bloodbath but they can see that the two girls who are leading them didn''t have any blood on them not even a drop the only thing that betrays them are the bloody knives on their hand, most of them already seen their fair shares of violence and most are still in shock to react on what happening around them, but there those like her and Michelle who still have their sanity started vomiting Ruby and Jem didn''t urge or try to hurry them in any way they just waited for the rest to calm down, a few minutes later they were already on the bus leading somewhere. in truth Dove doesn''t really remember much of what transpired on that day because of shock and when she finally got over her shock she was already in a military facility she was afraid of course at first but when Jem explained and ask them what they want to do in the future and told them they are looking for someone like them to be part of them Dove didn''t hesitate and joins them. At times she questions her decision during training mainly because the training is inhumane if their body wasn''t enhanced, they would have been long dead from all the training, but she enjoys the camaraderie she had with other trainees especially with Michelle which she considers as sister and a rival, she tried to compete with everything and because of that their growth is very fast among other trainees. And now she can honestly say that joining the Shadow unit is the best decision she has ever made in her life, as what she always says I''m born for this job... She looks at Beru and said, "does it matter Beru?" Beru wasn''t surprised when she mentions his name after all he has experienced today if they didn''t know who he was that would be surprised, "You are not from Morgan Family! Who are you, people? do you have any idea what you have done!?¡­. We¡­.." Dove gestures and one of the shadow unit disappears and appeared in front of the elder who just shouted and returned to her place... Mikasa''s eyes dilated when she saw it, the movement is very fast and swift, many people are surprised and confused they didn''t see anything except a girl in black tight-fitting suits appeared in front of the elder who shouted and disappeared they didn''t see any form attack. But all their confusion vanished when the elder''s head began to separate from his body... Well, there are always those who would volunteer to test the waters. Said Dove shaking her head with a smirk her lips Chapter 56 - New Order XIV Arc watched as Dove taunts the people inside the Web, he knew that they have already won as long as there are no more new surprises, Arc watch with a smile on his face he didn''t know Dove has a playful side to her for he only saw her standing behind Ruby and Dove without any emotion on her face, so seeing Dove plays with Elders and Leaders as well as the Head of the Spider changes the way he looks at the Shadow Unit, he always thought Ruby and Jem have turned the Shadow Unit into emotionless killing machines so seeing the playful to them pit a smile on his face. "What do want from us, and can you tell us who you are?" Ask The Head "Well for starters you all will be part of us, well at least most of you, that is if you cooperate peacefully, and don''t do anything stupid, Dove look at Mikasa and smirk, as for who we are I''m not in the liberty to tell you," Dove said playfully Mikasa looks around she felt frustrated if her brother Mikhail is here one of them can create an opening and the other can take the Head to safety. But alone there nothing much she can do even if she distracted the enemy the Head still won''t be able to get away with how fast their enemies move. "So what do you plan to do with us, do you really think we will just lay down and do what you say." Said Beru Dove was about to answer him when she heard footstep from behind her, she smiles and said - "you''re late Sis" Michelle walks into the Web carrying Mikhail who was unconscious and trembling with a pale face, and as she got beside Dove she dumps him in front and said. "I found an interesting rat so I brought him here." said, Michelle Mikasa''s eyes squinted when he saw Mikhail being carried by the girl who just arrived she notice that Mikhail''s arms are missing and was trembling, "Mikhail," whispered Mikasa The Head Trembled slightly, no one notices it but his hand was tightly gripping his knees. Michelle looks at the Head and the girl beside him, she then focuses on Mikasa and said. "you look like you''re related to him, boyfriend? No, brother..." "Dove look at Beru and said well you are free to do whatever you want, but can you do whatever you want?" ask Dove while smiling at him Beru didn''t reply. but in his mind he was thinking. "what can we do to escape this situation" but no matter how much he thinks he can''t see a way out. Mikasa looks at Michelle she didn''t answer she was angry but she didn''t reveal any of it in her face. she remains expressionless but she continued to watch Michelle and Dove, she also knows she and the Head can no longer escape. "All of you settle down our Boss will be here shortly, of course, you can also try your luck." Said Michelle as she looks at Beru with a taunting smile hanging on her lips For a moment no one moves, occasionally a few Elders would ask questions but Michelle and Dove just smiles at them but didn''t say anything, when the Elders and Leaders know they won''t get anything more they stop asking questions, but some of the leaders are secretly communicating with the officers with a secret hand signals, of course, all of it didn''t go unnoticed but Michelle, Dove and the rest of Shadow Unit didn''t stop them they secretly want some of them to make trouble to warn the rest after dealing with it... And sure enough, more than ten officers suddenly tried to attack the Shadow unit near them at the same time, Result they''re all beheaded even before they manage to reach their target, as for the shadow unit they just keep standing there like they just brushed away some flies and act as nothing has ever happened. Dove just shakes her head in disdain. "And here I was hoping half or all of you have the courage will try and attack us what a letdown," said Dove The Head just sat down he didn''t speak or ask any more questions he was just quietly sitting on his throne no one knows what he was thinking. Michelle and Dove notice it and secretly told the Shadow Unit to prepare for anything. Beru continues to observe the Shadow Unit in front of him He notices the logo on their shoulder its a half-moon submerge in a black cloud with a small letter G in the middle of it... He keeps thinking if he knew the logo, he always has a good memory but no matter how much he thinks he can''t recall ever seeing that logo. And that confuses him with the power they showed its almost impossible for this kind of group to remain hidden and yet that''s exactly what happens, for he or any of them knows anything about this group. Dove notices the gaze of Beru and just smiles at him. And a few minutes later the door opens up again and all attention except for the Shadow Unit who already knows who was coming focuses their eyes on the door... Ruby look at Jem who was hugging the head of one of the droid he just shakes her head, she asks her before what he plans to do with it she just said it''s my trophy... The moment Ruby and Jem entered the Web the whole place turn e few degrees colder after a good exercised they didn''t restrain their aura, of course, Tiffa was the one who told both of them to do that as a show of force. Everyone in the Web shivered and that includes all the Shadow Unit even Michelle and Dove was no exception, in fact, this is the first time they felt the full and unrestrained aura of Ruby and Jem The Head and Mikasa saw the head of the droid in one of the girls that entered, and this time the Head couldn''t control his body from shaking anymore Mikasa put her hand on the shoulder of the Head and whispered something on then the head calms down... But the words of Jem put them back into the abyss, "can you really protect her?" Ask Jem as she looks at Mikasa Mikasa paused she didn''t notice that her face was pale, she whispered those words to the Head very silently even the Elders who are only a few feet from them didn''t hear anything but the girls who were more than 10 meters away heard what she said. Mikasa looks at Jem and Ruby she knows that if that two monster wants everyone here dead the don''t need the rest of their men just the two of them are more than enough and no one can stop them. But that wasn''t what surprised her the most she just address the Head as Her, not Him. Only a few people know the true identity of the Head, one was the former dead Head and father of the current Head and the two of them, the rest was already been exterminated. Chapter 57 - New Order XV Yuri was the only child of the Head of Spider Yakov, Yakov was considered the greatest Head of Spider he led The Spider to glory. It was on his hands The Spider become the biggest and the most feared syndicate in UG with his leadership they exterminated all rival gangs and organizations that opposed them. they bribes and threaten many government officials in Central City, which many are are afraid to do, as HFA has a very tight relationship to UG among any other nation on earth, but The Spider was able to do it under the nose of HFA and under Yakov leadership, hailing him as the greatest Head of The Spider, Yakov has everything he needed except a son, his wife died of childbirth to a daughter. Yakov loves his wife very much, so much so that he never been with another woman besides his wife. But when Yuri is born he never hated or despised her, in fact, he was very worried about her future for no woman is allowed to take the seat of Head in The Spider, so to protect her daughter he killed everyone who knows of her identity and picks two of the most outstanding protector candidate as her protector. He raised her as a boy, and repeatedly told her not to reveal her true identity to anyone under no circ.u.mstances, he told her that her life will depend on her keeping her identity. Yuri was a smart girl, in fact, she was very outstanding at the age of 14 she is already very involved in The Spider management her father let her manage and give her open authority in every decision making in The Spider and the Elders and Leaders respect her so, in fact, she''s been acting as the Head 5 years before her father officially hand her the positions of the Head of The Spider. It''s very easy for her to disguise as a man using a voice changing tech. And oversized coat to hide her body she even wears a mask to hide her feminine face. And no one ever questions her, everyone feared her more than they respected her and in a criminal organization fear is a very powerful weapon and she knows this her father repeatedly told her so. So when a group of Elders and Leaders tried to instigate a coup she didn''t just capture the traitors she also captured everyone close to them and put them in "Hell" The Spider most feared prison. Hell was created specifically for Traitors and offenders as well as enemies of The Spiders That action solidifies her position as Head of The Spider no one else will try or even think of questioning her decision, for on that day she butcher more than a thousand traitors and imprisoned hundreds more, oftentimes she forget she was actually a woman for all her life she acted like a man and not once she shows any weakness that would make other suspected her otherwise. Yuri never once shows fear in the face of her enemies not even when the rebellion happens not even when she was cornered and outnumbered she shows any fear, but now in front of the two girls, she felt something she never felt in a long time Fear and Desperation not even when her most beloved father died he felt this afraid and desperate not even when the coup happen she never felt this afraid, even when she was surrounded by the Shadow Unit she never really felt afraid, she didn''t think, not even once she that her life is in danger. She was surprised when she saw Mikhail being captured but even then she was never really afraid. Only when the two girls appeared in front of her she realized her life is no longer in her hands... The Spider has one more trump card that only when the existence of the Spider is in danger can this trump card be played, but how come she felt that even if she''s used that trump card nothing would change in front of this two girls all schemes are useless, in fact, it wasn''t just the Head who felt like this Mikasa as well as everyone, Elders who have been enhanced and been through a lot also felt this way¡­ "Impossible what are you two..." Beru said as he points his finger to Ruby and Jem while shaking "Well, we can be your executioner or your new Boss depends on how you act in a few minutes." Said Jem to Beru while grinning "You have 30 seconds to decides to become part of us. Or well part of them." Ruby said she points at the dead officers ... for ten seconds no one spoke until one of the officers kneel down and said - ill join you - After that one by one many Officer follows, 20 seconds later almost all officers are kneeling but no leader of elders submitted. "After ten seconds kill everyone who doesn''t submit." Ordered Ruby while releasing a boundless killing intent Only now they found out how serious the other party when they gave the ultimatum, most of them believe that there''s no way they will kill them all just because they said so, the fact they were still alive proves that their enemies don''t want them dead and want something from them and wouldn''t really kill them. In that case, they can still negotiate, how wrong they are for Arc really and very much wants to kill them all and the 30 seconds was given to then as a second chance and Ruby, Jem and the rest of Shadow unit know this, so when Ruby release her killing intent all shadow unit follows they are really going to kill them all... Soon one of the leaders couldn''t resist the pressure anymore and kneeled more Leaders follows and when only 5 seconds have left some elders also kneeled and 2 seconds before the time limit Beru kneeled, he was trembling and shaking as he kneeled¡­ "Times up kill the rest leave the Head and the girl beside her cut of their limbs if they resist." Said Ruby without any emotions on her face Chapter 58 - New Order XVI "Kill everyone who didn''t submit!" Ruby''s voice echoes inside the Web, all Shadow Unit immediately move, soon cries and blood painted inside the Web, some realized their mistakes and wanted to surrender but their cries fall into a deaf ear some even tried to fight back when they found out that surrendering no longer an option, but they were quickly cut down, there are even other who tried to rally and accused others of being a coward and ask them to fight back together, they are also silence after a few minutes, Dove and Michelle didn''t participate in killing those who didn''t surrender they leave all of that, to others, they can see many other leader and elders who can fight really well and clearly they were all enhanced human, but in front of Shadow Unit with superior enhancement and training all of them were killed in no time... All who surrendered feel very lucky without them knowing they are covered with sweat and are shaking from fear, Beru wipes the sweat from his forehead he can hear the cries of those who didn''t surrender he bows his head even lower, his hands are shaking he keeps thinking he nearly becomes one of them if he didn''t surrender he would be one of the dead right now. Michelle and Dove are standing in front of the Head and Mikasa, "you''re not going to resist?" ask Dove to Yuri and Mikasa Mikasa and Yuri just look at the two girls in front of them and just keep quiet... "that a shame I didn''t think the Head of Spider is just a Coward little girl" as Dove playfully When the Elders and Leaders and even the officers heard her they were surprised. Little Girl?? They all have confusion on their faces. Even Beru is thinking the same thing. Dove looks at the confused face of everyone who surrenders including Beru, clearly, they didn''t know that the Head of Spider is a woman. Dove smiles, her hand moves fast and the mask of Yuri was cut in two, falling from her face, revealing her beautiful face every one of the members of Spider gasped. "Hoho, I didn''t think that the source of the suffering of the countless victim is a cowardly girl with a beautiful face." Said Dove. and even though she has a playful smile on her face her eyes tell a different story¡­ Michelle besides Dove didn''t say anything nor was there any expression on her face. Ruby and Jem also didn''t say anything as well as the rest of the Shadow Unit, for many of them are former victims of criminal organizations and greatly suffered because of them, for all they know the source of their suffering is in front of them right now. Right now the whole Web is deathly quiet, and only the voice of Dove can be heard. Dove moves again and a cut appeared in the beautiful face of Yuri but she didn''t react she just stares at the eyes of Dove trying to read what''s inside... Mikasa tried to move but Michelle standing there prevents her from doing anything. "You''re one of our victims?" said Yuri "It''s not just me many of them are," Dove said as she gestures to the rest of Shadow Unit Well maybe not exactly by your organization but none the less it doesn''t matter most of us are victims of a criminal organization like you, said Dove "So you''re acting in the name of Justice then. to punish criminals like us?" said Yuri with a slightly mocking smile on her face. "HAHAHA! do we look like we''re on the side of Justice to you? you''re very funny you even have guts to smile, It seems like you''re not so cowardly after all, I wonder if you can still have that smile after were done with you.? Said Dove looking amused Dove opened Yuri''s small mouth and put a binding pill inside, Yuri didn''t resist but the moment the pill entered her mouth her face pales she felt like a lava was poured into her mouth it quickly spread throughout her body sealing her enhancement and paralyzing her instantly because her enhancement is special compared to Mikhail and Mikasa, so the binding effect on her is many times more powerful than Mikhail experience. She was in so much pain but was unable to let out a single sounds, Mikasa seeing that immediately move but Dove and Michelle were waiting for her in less than a few seconds both her arms and legs were cut off she shrieks but Michelle immediate put a binding pill on her mouth shutting her off... Ruby and Jem could only shake their head she didn''t expect for Dove to put a binding pill on Yuri''s mouth, but didn''t stop her either they knew she was just venting her pent up anger to the criminal organization, Ruby sigh. She made a gesture and 5 Shadow Unit step forward with a black case full of slavery chip serum¡­ What''s that? Ask Beru "It''s just a slavery chip, don''t worry about it, it won''t control your mind but if you ever think of betraying us Boom your head is gone," said Jem smiling casually at him Dove laugh when she heard it many of the Shadow Unit also has a slight smile on their face, as for the Top members of Spider all of them have a pale face since many of them only think of surrendering temporarily and will find a way to escape or plan a revenge when they see a chance now all of that is gone they can forget about revenge and escaping... Beru mind blanks out when he heard it, he was one of the people of only thinking surrendering temporarily, he was after all very loyal to Spider but now he can forget about all his previous intentions. Jem grinned when she saw their faces how can she not tell what they are thinking so she was amused when she sees their different kind of reaction like they eat some feces their face can''t be described. "Of course, you can still change your mind if you think joining your dead comrades if better than joining us, by all means, do so," said Jem teasingly Beru plops down on his ass as he sighs. "It''s over The Spider is over," Beru said in his mind, he already accepted his fate The Shadow unit didn''t waste time they quickly injected the slavery serum on the top members of the Spider including the three who are sufferings because of the binding pill. In truth, they are conscious Mikhail woke up when he was dump by Michelle and Mikasa didn''t really fainted the same goes to Yuri so they heard everything and can''t do anything when they are injected with the slavery chip. Ruby then said to Beru, "hey you big man you still have a job to do, go stop your men from killing each other, don''t delay or there won''t be any left if you take your time take some of the elders with you they can clean your name, you know what to do right? and don''t play any games we are watching you." "Boss, what are we going to do with these three?" Ask Dove "Bring them here we need some information from them," said Jem Michelle and Dove carried Mikasa and Yuri to Ruby and Jem Jem then slightly kick Yuri stop pretending to be unconscious, Can you please tell me where are your previous protectors sleeping? Ask Jem with a smile Chapter 59 - New Order XVII Beru left along with some of the Elders and Leaders they also took some of the officers, but all the high ranking Elders remains Dove and Michelle begun to debrief the Elders of what they have to do next. The cleaning process will take place next along with reorganization and integration to Shadow Moon, but that will take some time as The Spider Organization is simply too big, even with almost all top members of Spider under their control the reorganization and integration is not going to be an easy ride there will be many bumps on the road to compete that. As Michelle and Dove began their work on Spider HQ, Ruby and Jem were staring at the former Head of Spider. "Yuri right? Stop pretending to be unconscious or I will show you what unconscious really means" said Jem, Jem injected her with something and the binding force in her body ease a little not enough for her to move normally but enough to talk and sit. Yuri sighs, she knows its useless to play dead in front of this two girls, she struggled to sit up the pain she is feeling is really too much, she never felt this much pain her whole life. "Good girl lets talk, can you please tell us about where your old protectors are sleeping?" Said Jem with a gentle smile on her face "Just who are you people and how do you know so much about us?" Ask Yuri "Does it matter? But I can tell you that we know more about you than you know about your self. But let''s not talk about that can you answer my question please?" Said Jem playfully Yuri still has a blank look in her face shakes her head she groaned even though the pain eased a little, every action she makes gives her some pain like needles sticking into her. "The protectors huh so that''s your objective all along," said Yuri The protectors just as their name said. they are the previews protectors of the former Heads of the Spiders and when the Head they are protecting died or retired they will be sent to protector shrine to undergo a hellish augmentation they will transform into a monster like creatures with great strength, then they will enter a cryogenic sleep where they can only be awakened when Spider organization face extreme Danger that can threaten the very foundation of Spider themselves, those protectors are the last trump card of the Spider, as each and every one of those protectors are very powerful when they were still alive and after undergoing an extreme augmentation their power will be multiplied many times, but as a result of that they can no longer be called human and most of their personality is gone and their lifespan was greatly reduced that''s why they can only be awakened if the Spider Organization faces great danger... "don''t think too much, we don''t need those weak geezers or anything were just making sure they won''t be a problem in the future." Said Ruby "You''re going to kill them?" Ask Yuri she trembles a little no one knows if its from pain or fear. "Well that depends on our Boss if they find them useful, well maybe we can make them live a bit longer if not well maybe its time for them to rest for good, it''s a good thing for them anyways," Jem said shrugging her shoulder "So do you think you can help us? I really didn''t want to have to force you as it will be a pointless struggle for you since we will find it sooner or later, we just don''t want to waste time." Said Jem still with a smile on her face "I will help you! But can I ask one more Question? What do you plan to do with us?" Yuri ask as she gestures to Mikhail and Mikasa "Well about that, since we let those two alive meaning they can still be useful, and its not to threaten you with them or anything since we don''t need to do that. As for you, however, the moment your real identity is revealed you lost your value as the head of Spider don''t you think?" Said Jem She sighs, Arrggh. Mikhail started to groaned and tremble. "D..oo.nt k.iii..i.ll. h e..errr" Mikhail struggles to speak... Ruby look at Mikhail it wasn''t just her Jem, And all of Shadow Unit remaining the Web did so, for they know how much will power it took for him to utter those words under the binding pill... "This guy is not bad, he''ll be a great asset or a small problem in the future," said Jem playfully "Well that will depend on his choices I guess," said Ruby Jem injected a small dose of unbinding serum on both Mikhail and Mikasa allowing them to be able to sit and talk and even with missing limbs Mikasa doesn''t seem to struggle sitting up. Mikasa and Mikhail tried to catch their breath and to calm down, they look at Ruby and Jem... "Please don''t kill her we are willing to work for you." Said, Mikhail with a serious face "You overestimate your self, true you have great potential but that''s not enough to bargain with us, look around you anyone of them can kill you without any problems," Ruby said as she points at the Shadow Unit "You yourself knows that since you fought with them one on one is that right, Mikhail?" Said Jem with a smirk on her face So you see the two of you have nothing to bargain with us, but you don''t have to worry too much we don''t plan to kill her, well not just yet at least and if she can prove to be useful even without the status of the Head of Spider we might have a place for her in our organization as for you two, well that depends on your decision. Said Ruby Yuri look at Ruby and Jem and said seriously "I know I can be a great help for you" Ruby look at Yuri she didn''t answer, Jem, on the other hand, said: "Boss what do you think?" Chapter 60 - Shadow Moon (guys I may not be able to update more chaps this coming holidays as I''m going for a vacation, ill try to update as much as I can whenever I have time. Well Happy holidays to everyone) It''s been ten days since the attack on the Spider organization, not a lot of things happen since then the reorganization of Criminal organization in UG is still underway Arc didn''t plan to continue with the subjugation mission just yet they have first solidified their foundation first and make sure they don''t eat more than they can chew. So for the last 10 days, Arc stop all mission against all other criminal or organization outside UG and ordered Ruby, Jem to start a new batch of new recruits for Shadow unit Arc found out just how outnumbered they were during the last few subjugation mission especially in the clean up of the Spider because of how big The spider organizations are, the number or Shadow units are not nearly enough even if they have tripled their numbers. So, for now, Arc plans to solidify their foundation first he planned to delay the subjugation for one year or so in order to prepare for all kind of contingencies in the future, not to mention that what happens to the Spider spread to all criminal organization in the world even with Eve she can''t completely prevent the news of the Spider downfall from escaping she can control the web but not people, the only thing she can do is to minimize the information being leaked... So even when the fall of the Spider has spread which shocked all the criminal organizations in the world, about how or to whom the Spider fell nobody knows. The news didn''t just shock the criminal organizations even the many superpowers countries in the world was shocked especially the UG since this happen in their own backyard, so they launch many investigations attempts to find the truth of what happened, but all their effort comes to nothing, they couldn''t find anything except the Spider has already changed hands... What puzzles them the most is that there''s a power strong enough to subjugate the Spider and they don''t know anything about them... Many politicians said that their intelligence office must be doing nothing except sleep on their job, the people from the intelligence office are very angry. but no matter how angry they are and no matter how much they investigate they still can''t find any information about who was responsible for the spider downfall, many of them suspected that superpower in space is the one responsible for it, for they are the only one capable of doing it, they even petition to HFA to help them resolve this issues, but how could HFA have time to deal with them when they themselves are so busy with the war with Ganesh. The disappearance of a criminal organization on earth no matter how big it is is not their concern for they don''t have the right to interfere in any earth affairs, and as long as UG can''t produce any solid evidence of superpower in space being involved they won''t lift a single finger. Maybe if it''s in peacetime they might spare time or two since they have nothing to do but during the war, that''s just not going to happen, it''s like asking a country in times of war to help them settle a family problem. That''s just not going to happen unless their family is actually a royal family and their problem will affect the country at war. Otherwise no matter how they Howl or beg HFA is not going to help them. Arc sat on his office still thinking about the faces of Jerry, Biggs, and Wedge when they step into the Spider supply base and everyone is kneeling with their hands on the air, he can''t stop laughing, he still remember the Trio standing there for a minute or so like an idiot before cursing out loud... -Eve, how''s the planning for the one year program? I need a solid plan for the next coming year, were still too weak but this is a good lesson for us.- said Arc "There''s not much planning to do Boss except for training more troops and developing new alternative weapons for Shadow Unit, so for the coming year our plan is very simple to train more troops to build more weapon and gather as much intel on our next target," said Eve "Right we need new weapons, we have to try building multiple weapons that way they can train with the weapon of their choosing, I think having more choices for weapon and gadgets will do wonders for their future mission," said Arc "I agree Boss," said Eve By the way, how''s Miller? ask Arc "He''s alive but still in a coma. The super high caliber weapon hits him in the back shattering his spinal cord but that''s not the worse of it the fragment of his spinal cord pierced many of his internal organs including his heart, normally that''s a kill shot and there no way for him to survive. But the life preservation of his suit save him preventing him from dying immediately but only barely, the special health solutions was able to keep him alive until he reaches our base and was able to get your health potion in time, so his life is no longer in danger but he remains in coma as we do not have the capabilities to completely heal him yet." Said Eve -Eve put him on a cryogenic sleep we''ll wake him up when we have the ability to heal him completely.- Said Arc "Yes Boss" Arc look at his mission list ### MISSION LIST ### #1 Take control of 5 major underworld group in three 3 different nation no time limits rewards 500 energy unit ???? 1x medical doctor ????10 medical nurse ???? medical facilities ???? 20x truth serum ???? 100x stealth suit #2 build an army and took over a city with a population no lower than 50000 no time limit. rewards: 5000 energy unit ???? 10x army captain ???? 5x weapon specialist ???? 2x army Colonel ???????? 1x general ???? 100x power suit ???? 50x reconnaissance drone #3 take over a nation with a population no lower than 10 million. no time limit. rewards 50000 energy unit ???? cloning factory ???? weapons factory ???? drone factory ???? food factory PRIVILEGE LEVEL 2 SYSTEM UPGRADE He was staring at the rewards for mission #1 ???? the medical facility will be a great help for them in the future and this can help Miller and maybe his parents aswell. With the addition of medical personnel such as ???? medical doctor ???? 10x medical nurse Their army will be able to trained medics and upgrade their military medical capabilities... Chapter 61 - Shadow Moon II In the Headquarters of the Morgan Family, the top members of the family are having a meeting. "What''s going on!? Give me a report now!" Ask the head of the Morgan family in anger "Father I think we have been used by someone else, it''s not just us I think the Death Crows as well," said one of the top members "I can tell that much! I''m not stupid! but that''s not what I want to know! What I want to know is who? Who the [email protected]#k is playing with us?" Ask the Head of Morgan Family in anger. No one answers, they tried to investigate with everything they have but nothing comes up, what they knew 10 days ago is still what they know today nothing changes, they are very furious at the people they task in finding intel but no matter what they do they can''t find anything, the only one consolation they have is that even The Speaker, the world largest information broker can''t find anything new either¡­ so they couldn''t really blame their men if even The Speaker is powerless to find anything, it''s not so surprising they can''t find anything either.. "Father we have tried everything, there''s really nothing we can do even The Speaker has nothing new. Unless we declare war and attack them. there''s pretty much nothing we can do at this moment." Said another top member The Head already knew that of course, he was just venting his anger they almost went to war with Death Crow for nothing, luckily they were able to find out about what happen to The Spider, and the rest wasn''t hard to figure out, the moment they find out about what happens to Spider they knew they have been used... Well in truth Eve allow them to find out quickly what happens in the spider. One reason is because the war with Morgan and Death Crow will involve too much innocent life and second they won''t be able to take advantage as their forces are stretched thin at the moment, and lastly, it''s more beneficial for them to make the other top organization to keep guessing what really happens for that will hinder them to make any sudden movements as well as serve as an invisible shackles to all top criminal organization. The fear of not knowing who or when the enemy will strike will hold them back allowing the Shadow moon and Grand Army to flourish without any problem. "Attack them? an enemy we know nothing about, they have the power to subjugate the spider without being able to fight back at all, we''re not that stupid," said the Head of the Morgan Family... The Head of Morgan Family knows that attacking an unknown enemy was stupid they will not be the one trying the muddy waters and become canon fodders for others. He also knows that sending small groups to probe or expose the enemy is useless if even The Spider was defeated without revealing anything about attackers to others, what would small groups do? it''s like throwing eggs at the mountain no matter how many you throw it won''t move the mountain, only by throwing Mountain to a mountain can something happen but he will not let them be the first to try it. "Give my orders nobody makes a move on UG or any organization in there tell our people in there to keep their head down and lay low until we found out more about our mysterious enemies, also keep your eyes out for any movement in our territory for all we know we might be next, and the enemy is already in our doorsteps..." Said The head of Morgan Family "Yes, Father¡­" ... This kind of thing is happening to almost all Top criminal organization around the world, of course, there are those that didn''t really care about what happened to The Spider such as the Crimson Mask one of the biggest arms trader in the world almost 70% of illegal weapon circulating in the underworlds come from them... This is exactly what Eve wants to achieve, Eve continues to watch and barely interferes with what is going on in other criminal organization she only interferes if it involves them¡­ ... And just like that six months have passed the UG criminal organization is 80% consolidated. And a new batch of Shadow unit continues to be trained. Space also enters a slightly peaceful state, no new confrontation against the Ganesh has occurred, since the last big one where a whole human squadron was annihilated. HFV as well other human superpowers have been forced to change their strategies on how to deal with the enemy alien forces the Ganesh, the world was shocked when the loss of a whole squadron was made public and it wasn''t just earth almost every human colony in the galaxy was shocked it also forces many human superpowers in space to join the war for no one wants to find themselves under attack of Ganesh without any allies to help them. so the Human Superpowers in space created a coalition that combines all the army of many Human superpowers they call it Galactic Force Alliance or GFA. GFA will be led by representatives of the Twelve Human Organization in space and each power will allocate 5 squadrons each those squadrons will be combined into a GFA Galactic''s coalition Army¡­ this is the first time human forces join together since the end of the apocalyptic war where all humanity joins as one to survive together, and now once again humans join together with one common goal to defeat the Ganesh¡­ Countless humans wanted to enlist and join the war against the Ganesh. the creation of GFA once again ignited human passions to make war, of course, all this is in the name of revenge and justice for humans needs justification and reason to wage war and the unprovoked attack and the loss of so many lives was more than enough justification for many human to accept this war, of course, there''s also for survival and a show of force that humans are no pushover¡­ Chapter 62 - Shadow Moon III Six months have passed since the Attack on The Spider contrary many peoples believed that the fall of Spider is just a start of a much bigger chaos, but for the last six months everything is peaceful in fact in the last six months UG recorded their lowest crime rate in the last 50 years it wasn''t just in UG other nation also notice the drop of crime rate and wonders if this is just a calm before the storm. In the old base HQ of Spider now the HQ Shadow Moon all chosen Officer are inside the old Web which is now known as the Moon 100 officers are inside many of them are previous head of the organization in UG some are elders many are chosen by their ability by Eve, there are no elders or leaders in Shadow Moon, only officers, Beru is also in there, they are summoned today for an important meeting. For the last six months Shadow Moon has turned from a small organization to the top organization in UG in the last few months UG has been cleaned more than 90% of criminal organization in UG big or small was clean up some were destroyed completely some absorbed and retrain as shadow moon members, ten shadow Unit become the trainers of the Shadow Moon legions, of course, they didn''t receive the same training and enhancement as the Shadow Unit mostly their training is composed of personality reconditioning and disciple in simple terms it''s to turn them from being a thug and lowlife into a proper soldiers for Shadow Moon those that show promise are promoted into Shadow legion. Shadow Moon organization has a very basic command tree. Shadow Moon Head: Ruby and Jem Shadow Moon Enforcers: Shadow Unit Shadow Moon Officers: Shadow Moon Legion Shadow Moon soldiers The Shadow Moon leadersh.i.p.s are being occupied temporarily by Ruby and Jem. The Shadow Moon Enforcers: can only be occupied by Shadow Unit members, the Officers and below are under provisions their positions are not fixed their position will change depending on their performance. Beru becomes the Commanding Officer he is the temporary leader of the Officers. Michelle and Dove are responsible for the training of Legions. And Mikhail and Mikasa were assigned as temporary leaders of the soldiers which are being trained by ten Shadow Units. Shadow Moon will remain as a criminal organization all illegal activities will continue under Shadow Moon with minor changes of course. All dangerous drugs are prohibited only controlled drugs are allowed. With the advancement of science, many illegal drugs are made. Some remain harmful, but there are some that are harmless, the harmless drugs are called controlled drugs they have a temporary effect that doesn''t have any long term side effects. Prostitution is allowed but not force, Arc is not naive to stop this, as prostitution is the oldest job in the world there no stopping it, but he can control it and make it safer. The arms trade is also allowed but human trafficking is strictly prohibited. Anyone caught doing it in their territory will be executed with no exceptions. Shadow Moon also put many new rules in the organization. Some are not happy with it but can only choose to swallow their dissatisfaction. Arc and the rest don''t care how they feel they be as dissatisfied all they want as long as they follow the rules, and those who decided to ignore the rules are too late to regret their decisions, for the Shadow Unit, didn''t give them a second chance no matter who they are. There are those who tried to leave and escape from Shadow Moon, but they have all killed Arc has no sympathy for these criminals and with Eve watching them chances of them escaping is next to zero. It''ll be different if they want to leave the life of crime but that''s not the case since many members of the criminal organization are given the chance to leave and be a normal citizen of course only those who didn''t do any immoral crimes are given a chance, those that did do inhuman crimes are sent somewhere to do heavy labor and only some are given a second chance these go to all level of the organization Shadow Moon have assimilated, at first Arc and the others restrained themselves from killing too much of the criminal syndicates since Shadow Moon still needs them but once the Shadow Moon is stable and already in full control of UG underworld their usefulness has also come to end, of course, they are still given the second opportunity the moment they become part of Shadow Moon but those that think they can still do whatever they want are very quickly found out the hard way how wrong they are. Arc army is in full swing and entered a time of rapid growth the same goes for the Shadow Unit which is technically is also part of the Grand Army as intelligence operative as well as being assassins have also found many potential recruits. Arc Grand Army is growing fast under the eyes of the world unnoticed, and even those superpowers in space remains ignorant... ........... Time flies by very fast and before anyone knows it, it''s been more than six months since the fall of Spider and the name Shadow Moon becomes the new and only power in UG underworld. Shadow Moon comes out of the Shadow six months ago but even then only the name Shadow Moon has been exposed no info regarding what kind or how much power it possessed are released, it becomes the most mysterious Syndicate in the world. On the day shadow moon name is made known every organization in the world was shocked for the half a year they did everything to learn about the said organization and failed to find anything, but suddenly this mysterious organization has been named. So all top organization in the surface and in the underworld, especially those that never stop investigating, was shock, they had a premonition that the revelation of the Shadow Moon existence is only the beginning so many top Criminal organization begins to make preparations, and the surface organization didn''t stay idle either especially UG intelligence office they are like people who injected chickens blood they become very energetic. Chapter 63 - Shadow Moon IV "It''s been six months since we found out about the existence of the Shadow Moon, but how come I didn''t receive any new information regarding them? what the hell are you people doing!?" Said the head of the UG intelligence office. "Sir we are doing everything we can, to gather information about them. but every time they move our people always gets there too late, and they never leave any trace behind" "So why don''t you investigate all the establishments connected to them? there are countless of them, all over the UG or are telling me you can''t find them either!?" Said, Peter Lacson Peter Lacson was the head of UG intelligence office for the last 30 years he will be retiring soon, ever since the fall of Spider, he was plagued with countless work, as the top government officials of UG are constantly harassing him for being incompetent and this past year and a half it only becomes more intense special six months ago when the name Shadow Moon is revealed. they thought they can finally have a breakthrough in their investigation but six months later the only thing they know about Shadow Moon is still the only thing they today, for over 30 years of his career as the head of the intelligence office as well as being an intelligence officer for 20 years before being promoted as the head, he never once experienced something like this, for no organization that they tried to investigate, no matter how secretive they are, they will still learn new things about them every now and then. But this Shadow Moon, no matter how much they investigate they can''t find anything new. he was beginning to suspect that this Shadow Moon is nothing but a sham and didn''t really exist, but they still can''t explain the fall of Spider, for that has been confirmed. and as for who caused it they have no idea. Peter didn''t even know how many times he said the line incompetent to his subordinates, many have chosen to retire early because they can no longer take the pressure. "Sir we already did that but even those affiliated with them didn''t know anything besides their name, according to the people we investigated they come and go like a wind, and every operation they have is extremely well planned and our people can only found out anything after they are done, and they didn''t leave any trace behind, but one thing we do know is that they are using the Spider old HQ as their base of operation. But every people we send there disappears for a few days only to be found somewhere in UG without any memory of what happened. and some have never been found unless we attack at full force in their HQ, I''m afraid we won''t be able to find any new info for the time being. Sir" "No! Full force attack on them will never be approved as long as we didn''t have any concrete evidence against them because technically they remain innocent of all crime and even if by chance we capture them we don''t have anything to charge them with!" Said, Peter. he massages his forehead this business about Shadow Moon is giving him an endless headache he even felt his lifespan shortening. "Sigh, have you contacted The Speaker? Have they found anything new?" Ask Peter. "Yes sir, and they have nothing new sir" Even though as an intelligence office it is shameful to rely on another intelligence organization they have no choice at this moment the only joy they have is that even The Speaker is as powerless as they are... "Is that so that''s good news" Peter mumbled "Sir?. What''s good news?" "Shut up go out there and do your job" shouted Peter in embarrassment. He didn''t think he is speaking out loud. "Sigh, I''m getting too old for this shit." Said Peter as he slumped back into his chair. ........... "Any new news about Shadow Moon?" Ask Gregory in a deep voice. "No, sir." Gregory was the head of the investigator assigned to UG to gather Intel about Shadow Moon He''s been the 5th to be sent here by The Speaker the rest just suddenly disappears, The Speaker is deeply rooted into many countries their Spy is everywhere, they have spies on every organization in the world that''s just how much network they have. many of their spies are just common people, therefore its impossible to be completely eradicated. some didn''t even know they giving intel to The Speaker. The Speaker is very renowned for having the most intel in the world and they are proud of it. But the organization Shadow Moon becomes a stain in their name that they can never remove. They that boast that no info or Intel they cannot gather is now becoming a laughingstock of many top organizations. No matter how much they tried to investigate they always come up with nothing, and they too come to the same conjectures that unless they attack the HQ of Shadow Moon in full force they won''t be able to find anything new. The people he replaced become so frustrated they decided to go check the Shadow Moon HQ themselves to find new Intel... They never returned. Gregory is a veteran member of The Speaker, he has successfully investigated and uncovered many top-secret from top organization in the world, and now his next assignment is Shadow Moon, it''s been a month since Gregory arrive in Central City along with his trusted men they scour for Intel about shadow moon but so far they didn''t find anything. This Shadow Moon is quite interesting I''ve never seen such a full proof organization, very interesting, "I wonder how long they can keep it that way." Said Gregory in his mind, he has a disgusting smile plastered in his face. Gregory enjoys the thrill of the hunt so to speak, the harder the job is the more he enjoys it, and he is a very patient man. That''s what makes him very good with his job knowing how to go and how to wait are always been his biggest advantage against other head investigators and his men know this. So he was not angry or worried that they didn''t find out anything about their target during the past month, in fact, it only makes him more happy and thrilled... Chapter 64 - Shadow Moon V Arc was looking at his stats. ### STATUS ### ARC D GRAND strength: 5.2 - 18.6 agility: 4.3 - 17.4 endurance: 5.0 - 24.1 intelligence: 4.9 - 20.2 SKILL: none Enhancement serum reserved 67% It has been six months he never once stopped training, he even went to army base once in a awhile in order to train with Shadow Unit in secret without revealing who he was, he pretends as one of the recruits, there are six batches of shadow unit being trained at any given time, and sometimes they exchange trainee that is how Arc sneak around and trained of course at first Ruby and Jem almost slip up and reveal his identity, good thing they manage to control themselves from calling him Boss, once in a while he would join Tom and Jerry to be trained in the army as well. Today he was in his office. The Grand Trading Corp. Has grown a lot in the past six months, four months ago the Galactic Force Alliance "GFA" wants to renegotiate the supply of SSS grade solutions. Lisa along with five other representatives of GFA came to Grand Trading Corps. New HQ in Radial City it is a 250-floor Skyscr.a.p.er that was designed by Eve and was build By Mia for over 3 months the building was simply called Grand Tower but quickly becomes one of the Icons of Radial City because of its beautiful and futuristic design. His office now stands on the topmost floor of Grand Tower it has an excellent view of Radial City. Lisa along with five other new representatives of GFA want to change the original contracts from HFA since its no longer enough to supply the combined army of GFA. "Mr. Grand I''m Joseph I''m the leading representative of the new GFA army supply office, we came in order to change the current contract of supply of military solutions." Said Joseph with a smile. "I don''t know why you came all the way here to tell me that Joseph if you need more just buy more although I can''t promise to meet your demands as I have no idea how much you want but well do the best we can." Said Arc smiling back at him. Joseph frowns a little but quickly returns to his smiling face. "Mr. Grand as I was saying it''s not enough we need at least ten times the amount you''re supplying us, so we came here to ask if we can change the original contract." Said, Joseph "Well, Joseph, it looks like you didn''t hear me, I said if you need more just buy more. I don''t see any reason why I would change the contract." "Mr. Grand hear me out, the supply of military Grade food solutions is no longer enough GFA need more, our soldiers need more in order to fight the Ganesh, we need to give part don''t you think so? if you satisfied our demand ill be sure to tell the GFA of your great contribution to the cause." Arc look at him like he was an idiot, then look at Lisa and said. " Where did you find this moron?" Lisa just shrugged, and said "I''m just a guide here" "Joseph smile disappeared he then said Mr. Grand with all due respect we came here to negotiate in good faith." Said, Joseph "No, you came here to make a demand, do I look like an idiot to you? Why would I change the contract just because you said so If you have any problem with a contract you are free to break it. But I''m not changing it, but I''m not an unreasonable man if you want more we can make a new contract that is if you''re really sincere and came here in good faith." Said Arc with a slight smile. "Break the contract it''s under the First Bank who in their right mind would break that, isn''t that the reason they are here negotiating, because there''s no way they can break it." Joseph cursed in his mind. "Mr. Grand you have to understand war is going on, and we all have to take part in it." Said Joseph still with a smile on his face. Arc didn''t look at Joseph he was looking at Lisa and said. "How''s the admiral?" Completely ignoring Joseph. Lisa smile and said. "He''s fine and in good health, he wants to send his thanks for the solution you gave him, oh and. Don''t be rude Arc." Joseph frown but didn''t speak, he didn''t think negotiating with the Grand Trading Corp. Would be this hard, ever since he got his position as a lead representative of GFA everyone he meets keep fawning at him and treats him like he was their ancestor, but here, he was treated like a moron and a nobody, he was very angry inside, but he didn''t show it for this is a very important mission given to him. As long as he can make the deal he can always take revenge, later on, that was on his mind. "Lisa how can you say I''m being rude. I''m I not selling you the military solutions at cost? And this moron has the guts to say I''m not giving my part in this war? Well, whatever it''s good to see you again Lisa. Tell the admiral to visit me if have time." Said Arc already standing up and about to leave he didn''t even look at the other five people. Joseph panic when he saw that Arc was already standing up and was about to leave. He quickly said. "Mr. Grand please we are still talking." "You are, I''m not," said Arc still not looking at them. "Mr. Grand please, cried Joseph with a begging tone he looks at Lisa for help but Lisa just shrugged her shoulders "I warned you to be sincere when you''re talking to him, " Lisa said with a wry smile She remembers the first time she negotiates with Arc, she felt powerless and now looking at the expression of the arrogant Joseph, she was saying inside. "hell yeah serves you right you arrogant prick" but of course, her face only shows helpless expressions she didn''t dare show it in her face. In fairness, she did warn him, but because he thinks he was the king of the world ever since he got this positions he thought everyone on earth is under his finger, so when Lisa warns him, he just thought he was the one that needs to be sincere I''m representing GFA the most powerful human organization in the galaxy... Chapter 65 - Shadow Moon VI As Arc leaves, Joseph and the rest are dumbfounded. they didn''t think in their wildest dream that the negotiations will go like this, they came here with the air of arrogance and superiority, but how come they were treated like a beggar. They neglected the things that Grand Trading Corp. Was able to snatch a five sq. kilometers of prime land in Liberty from the hands of HFA, that no company as ever manage to do, in fact, it wasn''t just company no organizations have manage to force HFA to hand over a very precious Prime Land in Liberty that many organization in the Galaxy are longing for, but Grand Trading Corp. Was able to do it¡­ Joseph looks at Dianna and was about to ask but when he saw the cold looking face of Dianna he felt a shiver down his spine it wasn''t just him all his companion felt it even Lisa who already experience it still felt a shiver when she saw it again... Joseph bit his tongue and forced himself to say "Miss. Dianna, please this is very important to GFA and in the ongoing War." "Apparently not since they sent people like you. Now the door is over there please kindly leave don''t force me to throw you out." Said Dianna with the cold expression on her face. They needed not to be asked twice they know she was serious, so they stand up and left Lisa also follows them after giving a secret thumbs-up to Dianna. Dianna''s cold expression receded and gave a warm smile at her. Outside Joseph is cursing but there''s nothing he can do, he didn''t report the situation to GFA immediately he looks at Lisa and ordered "find a way to talk to him again, and you can''t report it unless I say so" Lisa looked at him coldly and said "I''m not your subordinate I''ve already done my job. The rest is up to you I''m reporting this to the admiral" Are you threatening me? He looks at Lisa''s vicious look on his face. Lisa looked at him with a contempt look on her face and said. "I''m a lieutenant in the army or are you telling me you''re above the army now? I will report everything that happens here as it''s my protocol to do so. Are you ordering me to disregard my protocol? Representative Joseph Mayer?" Looks like they forget that Lisa was a ranking officer in the army, because of her amiable attitude, a look of fear appeared in Joseph''s face. Order her to disregard protocol? He''ll be facing a firing squad if he did that. "I didn''t say that." Said Joseph in panic. "Is that so?" Lisa looks at him with contempt and left. What they didn''t know is that Lisa has everything recorded just in case they used her as a scapegoat. Which is what they are thinking right now, what they didn''t know is that framing an officer is far more severe than just ordering not to follow protocol, if he disregards protocol at most they will be discharged and will never work under GFA again, but framing an officer that will really give them a one-way ticket in front of a firing squad... For over the next few days Joseph and his team tried everything to get another meeting with Arc with no avail, they were completely ignored, and they didn''t have the guts to storm the Grand Trading office. Arc even forgets about them as he was busy training. As his sisters already started a new school year Anne is now a freshman in college and Amy is now in her senior year in high school. So Arc finally able to take back the training machine which he will lend to Ruby and Jem occasionally to help in training with the Shadow Unit¡­ And two weeks after Joseph fruitless effort in negotiating with Grand Trading Corps he was recalled and ask for a report, luckily for him and his team they didn''t pursue using Lisa as a scapegoat, but they were still relieved of their duty and was transferred to the logistics divisions as regular soldiers without any special treatment, in fact, they were in provision because Lisa submitted her reports to the higher-ups. GFA then has no choice but to send another representative. Vice-admiral Sheila Jones as well as Lisa as an official representative of GFA this time GFA no longer testing the water they know they can''t treat Grand Trading Corp. Like any other company out there, for they can no longer control them, For even though Grand Trading Corp. hasn''t officially operated in space they are already listed under The First bank as a legitimate galactic corporation. In order for a Corporation to be listed in the First Bank, they need to first have a property in space under their name and Grand Trading having a prime land in Liberty is more than qualified for them to register in First Bank as a galactic corporation. In other words, they are no longer under human organization although they still need to pay tax here in UG as they are still stationed here. Vice admiral Sheila Jones and Lisa were already in Grand Tower very early in the morning Dianna was talking to them until Arc arrives... "Good morning Vice-admiral Jones, Lisa sorry for making you wait for you came unannounced and give us no time to prepare." Said Arc with an honest smile on his face. "No Mr. Grand sorry for disturbing you, as we can''t wait any longer for this is very important to GFA." Said Vice-admiral Sheila. Smiling back. "Very well looks like GFA no longer playing around this time, call me Arc, Vice-admiral Jones don''t be too formal and I''m still your junior after all." Said Arc. "Then you can call me Auntie Sheila then," Sheila said with a laugh. Arc was stunned for a bit, for he didn''t know how to respond, but when he saw the teasing smile of Vice-Admiral Sheila, he knew she was teasing him. he then burst into laughter. "Good one you''ve got me there, ill call you ms. Sheila then, So what''s GFA proposing this time hopefully they were not as idiotic as that Joseph proposed as I hate to have to destroy our current relationship" said Arc with a slight grin on his face. "No, no were sorry about that little fiasco with that stupid Joseph. Arc, I assure you GFA are taking this seriously" said Sheila with a slightly embarrassed laugh. Lisa didn''t participate like before she was just an observer and will only join if necessary. "Well let''s hope so Ms. Sheila so give me the details what are you expecting from us? And ill tell you what we want in return." Said Arc with a slight smile. "Fine direct to the point I like that, we want ten times the amount you''re previously supplying HFA, as well as the ability to demand more in the future." Said Sheila in a serious tone. "Ain''t that a little too much? Supplying ten times more we can facilitate if we increased our production facilities but the ability to demand more I can''t accept it, as it will be a trap for us." Said Arc Seriously. "Well lets then talk about what you want on our first demand then we can negotiate on the second," said Sheila with the smile "Sure I want 50 Square kilometers of prime lands on Liberty, 5 latest medium-class transport sh.i.p.s as well as free and priority pass on HFA space elevator.." Said Arc with a Smile. Sheila frown when she heard it. She then "said aren''t you asking for too much? I thought we are being sincere here Mr. Grand, that''s more than what you ask on HFA." "Not at all Vice Admiral. The situation on HFA is different from our situation right now. Back then we needed a foothold on space, so we settle for less but now that we already have that, I don''t see any advantage in signing a contract with GFA after what you pull through before..." Said Arc. "But you know how important this war is in hum¡­" Sheila didn''t manage to finish. Stop! Don''t play me the human card Vice Admiral I hate it when I''m being treated as stupid idiot, I have said this before and I will say this again I''m running a business, not a charity, for we both know that Humanity didn''t start this war on human sentiment it''s all about profit so don''t treat me like a stupid kid Vice Admiral. You should thank me I''m not asking for more. Said Arc with a slightly serious expression on his face. Sheila looks at Arc seriously she wasn''t angry he was only surprised, as a vice admiral she was privy to some top secret in the army, she was thinking just how much this kid knows or who''s really behind him¡­ Chapter 66 - Shadow Moon VII Sheila looks at Arc, She wasn''t very surprised when she learns Arc knows what is really behind the war. If she really thinks it over, it''s not that surprising if there''s a superpower in space behind Grand Trading Corp. What she was surprised about is that GFA didn''t tell her about the real background of this brat, in other words, those behind him don''t want to be revealed either. In fact, Arc didn''t know anything. The first time HFA declared war he was already suspicious but when most of the human superpower joins in he was certain that the war is not just about revenge or showing force for those superpowers to be willing to spend resources they must have been expected something more than satisfaction on being to give revenge on the fallen heroes. They must be expecting a more tangible reward. Of course, whatever that is Arc has no idea, but he won''t say it out loud of course... Lisa was also surprised as a confidant of an Admiral she also knows about a few things, but she was surprised that Arc also knows about it as well. for it was a very top secret that only top people know¡­ Sheila smiles and said, "look like we really underestimated you I guess we''re in the wrong this time I can''t decide on this right away it''s over my paycheck, but what about the second demand?" "Nope, not going to happen, if you want more you have to pay more that''s the rule of business," said Arc smiling back at her. "What a greedy child haha" Sheila laughs! "So how much exactly do you know about this war?" Ask Sheila with a probing tone? "Aren''t we doing this for justice? Hahaha," said Arc. "But Brat you better not tell anyone what you know." Said Sheila seriously. "I don''t know what you''re talking about Ms. Sheila I''m just a simple businessman." Said Arc smiling mischievously. "Right and I''m just a simple Auntie," said Sheila shaking her head "Looks like that Joseph failure is not without reason after all," said, Sheila "Nah, that guy is not suitable as a liaison or a representative all he knows is boasting. I guess if I''m a normal businessman I might have to succ.u.mb to his stupid boasting." Said Arc shrugging his shoulder clearly he didn''t care about Joseph. "Sneeze! Who talking about me? It must be a beautiful girl hahaha," said Joseph in his mind while busy working in some kind of office. "Joseph stop daydreaming and get back to work you lazy ass" "Yes, sir" replied Joseph. ........ Sheila stands up and makes some phone calls. Arc didn''t have to wait for long, only 30 minutes later Sheila was back, she put her communication on 3d projector mode and an elderly looking man appeared. "I''m Commander Markos Deacon, I heard of your demand it''s a little too much but it is still within our limit, but I want the contract last until the war is over." Said Markos in the projector "Commander you must be joking we don''t know how long this war will last we can''t keep slaving for GFA indefinitely." Said Arc. "Oh but your contract with HFA last until the war is over," said Markos "Well, that''s different for one the demand of HFA is not much and second, we need a foothold in space that only they can give at that moment." Said Arc. "So, in other words, we have nothing that you want is that right?" said Markos raises an eyebrow "Well, commander what do you think we need from GFA that Liberty can''t provide?" Ask Arc with a slight smile. "I got your point, then let the contract last for 50 years then." Said Markos. "Stop joking commander 10 years, that is our limit any more than that is a great loss for us." Said Arc seriously. "Alright, let''s not waste any of our time Mr. Grand tell me what you want," said Markos "I like you more and more commander 20 years and give me two of your production sh.i.p.s since you won''t be needing too many of them for the next 20 years," said Arc smiling "You have great appetite kid, but as you said we won''t be needing too many production sh.i.p.s, so how about this ill give you five production sh.i.p.s and I want 35 years¡­" Said Markos. "No commander two production sh.i.p.s more than enough for us, but if you can give us 5 Square kilometers of warehouse space in the solar space station, and a priority and free access to HFA industrial class space elevator we can do 25 years and even sell you the military-grade solution for 75% market price." Said Arc with an honest smile. "Give me a second," said Markos. He thinks for a bit and made some phone calls, after about 30 minutes he once again looks at Arc and said "alright we can do that kid. That''s a deal! Vice Admiral Sheila and representative Lisa will handle the rest." After that, he said a few words to Vice-admiral Sheila and disappeared. "You are good kid it is the first time I saw commander Markos taking a loss, good job." Said Sheila as he gave a thumbs-up to Arc. "Loss, is it really? No, I don''t think so vice Admiral, in this deal, we are on the losing side" said Arc "Hmm, what do you mean?" Ask Sheila. Even Lisa has a confused look in her face when she heard his words. "Think about it Miss Sheila what do GFA have that we can''t get in Liberty?" Said Arc. Sheila thinks about it and realizes he was right but still she didn''t think GFA won in this deal. "I understand what you''re trying to say but even if you can get that all that in Liberty it won''t be easy," said Sheila. "True, but we won''t be tied to a contract either we are the only supplier of Military Grade solution we can dictate the price but with this contract, we are forced to give a cost price to GFA for 25 years, the only reason I accepted this deal is because having GFA as a backer can also open a lot of doors, that''s the only reason." Said Arc Sheila and Lisa finally understand what Arc means, they neglect the part that Arc has the monopoly of the Military Grade solution he can dictate the price and GFA can only accept the price as they have no other choice, but by doing that Arc is placing himself on the bad side of GFA. "I see I understand." Said, Sheila Sheila didn''t stay for long after a small talk she left with Lisa. The next day sheila returns with the contract, of course, it was signed and have the sealed of the First Bank, Arc pretended to read the Contract as Eve review it, after Eve gave the ok, he signs it. After Arc sign it Sheila felt relieved, she then smiles and said. "Looks like we''re in business together now Arc" "Yeah, it looks like it. We''ll deliver the first batch of solutions within 30 days." Said Arc returning the smile. "Ok we will be expecting it, this is the contract for priority and free usage of HFA Space elevator its already been signed and sealed by all party all you have to do is sign here. The 5-kilometer warehouse in Solar Space station will be given within 5 days. As for the land in Liberty, it will be given after you made your first delivery" said sheila. Chapter 67 - Shadow Moon VIII (HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE! HOPE YOU GUYS THE BEST AND BRILLIANT NEW YEAR.) "Mia, how''s it going there in Liberty?" Ask Arc with a Smile. "Oh, it''s not bad it''s more chaotic than I thought, I couldn''t remember how many races I encountered since I arrived here I thought I was mentally prepared, but even after staying here for months I can''t still get over the shock I really don''t know how you manage to get so much prime land here in Liberty and it''s even the best of prime land, very close to the First Bank it''s so amazing," said Mia in a very excited voice "It''s probably my looks," said Arc with a smug look on his face Mia rolls her eyes they have become very close lately they talk almost every day when Mia arrived in Liberty to start construction on the HQ of Grand Trading Corps in Liberty, it has been a few months since his talk with commander Markos Deacon. Vice-admiral Sheila works fast she didn''t waste time. The very next day after the talk the contract was already been prepared of course it has the seal of the First Bank, Arc signed the doc.u.ment after Eve confirms its authenticity. And 30 days later Arc made the first delivery of Solution to GFA. And GFA quickly honored their promised 5 state-of-the-art medium grade transport cargo ship, and they even provide two unused production sh.i.p.s. As well as prime warehouse location on Solar Space Station, there''s really nothing Arc can complain about. Eve immediately took over the controls of the production ship as well as the 5 cargo sh.i.p.s, GFA even gifts a brand-new state-of-the-art luxury frigate class personal ship to Arc, which he let Mia used as personal transportation in Liberty... Arc knows that GFA wants to build a good relationship with Grand Trading Corp. At least until they can reverse engineer the military solutions, Arc wasn''t worried about that because he knows its impossible to do that with the current technology of Humanity¡­ As a thanks Arc gifted Commander Markos 10 special solution and gift 5 on both Vice Admiral Sheila and Lisa. The moment the commander receives and tried the special solutions he immediately contacted Arc about it, but Arc told him it''s very hard to produce it, and it used a huge amount of materials and the success is only 30%, so he can only produce a small amount of it. But the Commander won''t take no for an answer for he fell in love in it the moment he tasted it not only the pain he was having for the last 30 years has started to disappear he even felt young again s.e.x.u.a.lly, so when he found out about the difficulty of producing it he wasn''t really surprised he even thinks 30% success rate is quite high with regard to the quality of that solutions, so he asks Arc what he wants in return as long as he can provide him 10 solutions every week... Arc said the best he can offer is 5 a week as it was really too difficult to produce, at most if they are lucky they can only produce 100 in two months, he also said that it was only for his family use, But Markos didn''t budge he even offers a Special Envoy Rank that can only be given to special people like top scientist and engineers people that GFA highly values to Arc, if he can give him 10 a week, with a pain look in his face finally Arc relented and agreed to Commander Markos demand, Commander Markos almost couldn''t control himself when he heard Arc agreed he was willing to offer more as long as he can get more of that miraculous solutions, of course, he didn''t make this decision lightly the moment he felt the effect of the solution he immediate ask to be examined because he was afraid that the effect is like a psychotropic drugs and will only give him temporary relief in exchange for later suffering, of course, he didn''t think Arc would be stupid enough to send him some psychotropic drugs, but because of the effect he could help but be worried. The result, it was miraculous the injury he received when he was young that no medicine and latest technology can really heal as he was already old was starting to recover and not only that many of his dead cell because of age are starting to revive according to his personal doctor his life has been extended for almost a year and if it continues his life and his physical conditions will continue to improve, it''s like he found the fountain of life so of course, he will try everything to get his hands on it. So when he heard that Arc is willing to provide him with 10 special solutions a week he almost shouted ''hell yeah'' good thing he managed to control himself but the joy can evidently be seen in his eyes... Vice Admiral Sheila was jealous she also tried the solutions and knows the miraculous effect of it, but there''s nothing she can offer in exchange for it, Lisa just keep quiet she is already receiving 3 a week from arc and she is more than satisfied, she also knows that Arc is Giving 4 solution to his uncle every week. Arc laugh from the inside he can saw how happy Markos is about the deal, but he didn''t push it, he knows he can ask more but even though Markos will accept it he might find that Arc is taking advantage of him too much and might even resent him for it, so Arc didn''t haggle much allowing Markos to think he made out with a supper bargain and might even felt guilty of it... Special Envoy Rank can give him all kinds of advantages in dealing with the GFA personnel on the ground level. In the end, Markus provided him a Rank 5 Special Envoy Rank from GFA it''s the highest rank an envoy can get, it means he is very special to GFA and will do anything to be on his good side and protect him... Arc was ecstatic when he received it, 10 special solutions are nothing to him be can even produce a million of it a day if he wants to, and having received a rank 5 special Envoys from it is more than worth it... Chapter 68 - Shadow Moon IX It has been a year and a half since the fall of Spider, UG underworld is now completely under his control the number of Shadow Unit is already more than four thousand and the army is already more than 30k. All preparation is complete this time he won''t stop until he completes his three missions. "Eve display our target." CHAINED SOULS: the biggest human trafficker in the world they are an organization composed of many former slavers in the world. Location: Eastern Emporium Eastern Emporium a country built by the combination of 12 Middle East kingdoms establish 100 years after the apocalyptic war. It was ruled by 12 kings and their main export is Space grade Fuel. Arc read the a good deal of info of the Chained Soul as well as Eastern Emporium, originally their target should be the Morgan Family of Pan Asia Alliance but decided to change target when one of Chain Soul tried to kidnap his sisters Along with some of their friends when they are attending a concert in Eastern Emporium. luckily the two maids are with them along with Cosmos. The guard bot and Cosmos detected the danger immediately. As Eve was connected to the guard bot she immediately informs the maids, and so they were able to eliminate the Chained Souls members and returned unharmed, but Arc was furious he immediately ordered a complete investigation on the Chained Souls and after learning about them Arc without any hesitation change his target to them. This time only Shadow Unit will move against Chained Souls. The Army has a different Mission to take control of the Lawless city Enigma, it is located in one of the most dangerous locations on earth the desolated land. This land used to be called china but during the world war, 3 china along with many superpowers was destroyed when hundreds if not thousands of nuclear bombs detonated in their land over the course of the apocalyptic war. And even after 5 centuries, the land remains mostly uninhabited. Enigma city is located in the center of china the city used to be called Lanzhou it''s one of the few cities of the old china that still stands until today, because of the difficulty of going there it becomes a haven for bandits and wanted criminals as well as castaways and exiled people. The city was ruled by 5 top criminal organization in the city of Enigma, the City is famous for its Death Casino as well as underground killing sports. Enigma city was surrounded by wasteland with high level of radiation even the river that runs near it is infested with mutants, and the sky surrounding it has a perpetual storm that never ceases only in Enigma City you can see clear sky, and relatively low level of radiation the reason Arc chooses this city is that it''s not under any government even Pan Asia alliance which is relatively close to it doesn''t care about it. Of course, there are quite a few cities that are not under any government but almost all of them are under Beast Lord control as no human can manage it for the radiation level on those city is Fatal, and only Enigma city can be said to be a good place with quite a good environment and although there is still radiation in the city its in tolerant level and nothing much to an enhance human-like The Grand Army, That''s right Arc plans to convert Enigma City into an Army Base for his Grand Army. As the city serves as a natural fortress shielded by many natural elements. Two days ago Grand Army along with Tom And Jerry along with Biggs and Wedge departed to Enigma City, it will take a few weeks as they take a land approach to go to Enigma City and because of the many Heavy types of equipment they brought along, they decided to take the land approach according to Eve it will take around 3 weeks for them to reach Enigma City. Ruby and Jem are already in Eastern Emporium they arrived there 2 weeks ago trying to prepare to subjugate Chained Souls and this time they are out for blood for Shadow Moon have no used for a human trafficking organization, of course, they will still replace Chained Souls but human trafficking will be abolished and Yuri the former head of Spider will take control of the branch of Shadow Moon here. over the past year and a half, Yuri proves herself to be very capable of managing things, and she even volunteered to be part of the Shadow Unit. At first, Arc was against it but later on, he agreed as Ruby And Jem said she makes a good Shadow Unit, Mikhail and Mikasa was also accepted as a Shadow Unit as well as Beny a captain of the guard that Dove encountered during the raid in Spider was also become part of Shadow Unit, of course, they receive Ruby and Jem reconditioning training program which totally changes their previous mindset as Ruby and Jem gives them a very special training program. Yuri''s personality was greatly changed the old head of Spider can no longer be found she enjoys the freedom of being herself, and she becomes one of the most devoted members of Shadow Unit that Even Arc didn''t expect, at first Arc thinks she was just acting but Eve assured him that wasn''t the case, so Arc completely remove his prejudice against Yuri as for Mikhail and Mikasa they remain loyal to Yuri, but they are also loyal to Shadow Unit, and Eve can attest to that so Arc didn''t bother with it anymore. ... Chained Souls HQ is located in a Huge Oasis somewhere in the south of Eastern Emporium in a city called Shari. Shari City is a beautiful city famous for the huge garden and beautiful landscape and many tourists travel here to experience the exotic and beautiful paradise. In Shari city, there are many tourist destinations and because of that many of them become prey to Chained Soul. Chained Soul chooses their target well, they never prey on any influential people in order to avoid any problem. 90% of their target are common people and because Arc hides the status of Anne and Amy, almost nobody knows they are related to Grand Trading Corp. And also because they are very pretty and their group only consist of female and a dog they become a perfect target for Chained Souls member¡­ Chapter 69 - Shadow Moon X Arc has been watching the movements of the Shadow Unit according to Eve they will be ready in two days almost the same time the Army will arrive in Enigma City. "Well we already waited for one and half years it is no big deal waiting for another two days," Arc said to Eve. Arc look at the spreadsheet details of Grand Trading Corp. Over the past year and a half Grand Trading Corp. Has releases a number of new products. The Taste replicator machine is a big hit on earth as well as in space HFA and GFA bought a lot of it, the machine was capable of replicating all kinds of pre-program food taste and incorporate it in the solution. It is compatible with all solutions released by Grand Trading Corp. The Taste Replicator Machine becomes an instant hit tge moment it was released in the market, GFA pre-ordered 1 million of them in advance. HFA also pre-ordered 100k of them. They also released a new drink called G Energy Drinks that will quickly replenish stamina and body fluids, G multivitamins were also released which contains all the vitamins a body needs and was good at maintaining one''s body. It is a good alternative to solutions that are quite pricey. At first, both the energy drinks and multivitamins are not accepted well but as people began to realize the difference in quality compared to other brands as well as the price difference it quickly becomes a favorite especially the energy drinks for many athletes... Grand trading also releases several types of new electronics under Grand Tech Corp. GM alpha II has also been released an upgraded version of GM Alpha it boasts a 2x boost of capability compared to the old model, several other electronic devices were also released by Grand Tech Corp. But the biggest release is the Full dive VR which becomes the biggest hit even toppling the sales of food solutions, it''s not like the VR technology is not available in the world but VR tech was mainly used for military application and was never released for commercial used one reason is that HFA and the rest of superpower in space didn''t see the need to release it on earth. Because for them it was just a waste of materials as it needs a fairly large amount of rare metals and because they didn''t really care about the currency from earth as it holds no value for them in space. So the earth was deprived of Full Dive VR Technology... But the multi-purpose manufacturing factory can easily create a rank 2.5 VR Technology which only uses common materials and has an 80% realism, Originally Arc plans to Create a Rank 3 VR Technology with 92% realism but it required some rare metals and although it didn''t require much, but if multiplied by millions it becomes a large number of rare materials, so he settles in 2.5 rank which is the same level as VR used by military in space. Originally Human superpower in space didn''t need a VR tech as Virtual Universe offers a much better technology with almost 99% realism and offers many services. The only problem is that it requires Bright Stone Credit or BSC in order to avail its services if only a few soldiers are going to use it, it won''t be a problem but in order to support millions if not hundreds of millions soldiers the amount of BSC it requires is too much for any superpower to afford as BSC credit is a very important resource for any human superpower in space, so even though a superior version of VR is available they still using VR version developed by humans which have 70% realism. as even though it''s in the same level of technology the one produced by the factory System has better quality. So when Grand Tech Corp. Announce the releases of VR tech on earth the whole world celebrated... In order to cope will all the production Arc build two more multi-purpose manufacturing factory Two was dedicated to producing Solutions and one for many other things He also builds a Rank 5 military Weapon Factory and rank 5 Military Armor Factory and Rank 5 military heavy machine Factory as well as a number of medium and small Energy Gathering Factory to increase his Energy Unit Acc.u.mulation. Arc originally plans to buy another 1-star rank mobile phone with AI like Eve but apparently, it''s a limited stock and only one can be bought once, so he settles with a rank 5 supercomputers with Rank 5 AI to support the VR technology. Two VRMMORPG was released at the same time one was a Futuristic VRMMORPG called Space Frontier Odyssey where you can choose to be either a ship pilot, ship commander or Mecha Pilot and many others. The other is a classic Sword and Magic style VRMMORPG called Lost Saga. Both Games have different settings so people can choose what they preferred to play... On the day it was announced the number of pre-ordered VR helmet reaches more than 100 million in just 1 hours. And the number of pre-orders reaches a staggering number of 1.2 billion in just 1 week even Arc was dumbfounded by the result much less the media. The lines of people trying to buy the VR helmet in Grand Exclusive store was too much that it caused widespread traffic in every city across the world but the thing is nobody is complaining every media across the world are all reporting the same thing the news even reach the space people can be seen camping while lining up in front of Grand Exclusive Store some are even there a week before the actual launched date and instead of being annoyed for waiting too long it becomes like a festival where people can be seen performing near the Grand Exclusive Store many aspiring artists used this chance to displayed their craft and talents and many celebrities was born on that day... On the released day of the VRMMORPG, the people online are almost 2 billion that is almost half the population on earth Arc was forced to build 10 Rank 5 supercomputers to ensure the flawless run of VR games as well as many of its applications. Many are expecting Lag or error because of the number of people who went online at the same time but to everyone surprised not only there was no lag there was no error reported either even the technical support team hired by Grand Tech Corp. Who was expecting a huge number of complaints because they predicted lag and error didn''t receive any calls of complaints, instead they receive many calls of gratitude from many callers they didn''t know whether to laugh or cry at the situations... Of course, in order to not be suspicious Dianna create a huge technical team to handle the event and promotion in the game, countless expert was recruited. of course, they weren''t just for show they are responsible for the future game update and events as well as creating new apps suitable for VR technology in the future. Chapter 70 - Shadow Moon XI The Introduction of VR on earth has revived the dying community of gaming. As in the last four centuries since the revival of human communities after the apocalyptic war, almost all kind of game genre has already been made. Because of that, for the last 50 years, the gaming industry is on the verge of dying, in fact, simple farming games are even more popular than any high-quality games, that was because no new original concepts game has been released in the last five decades. it was always a copy of another game or something similar, so when Grand Tech Corp introduced the full dive VR on Earth the whole gaming world rejoices. It can be said that many huge companies on earth have been repeatedly asking HFA for the introduction of VR on earth but completely and repeatedly been denied because HFA knows that if VR is introduced the number of rare materials they would be able to get from earth will decrease, and that''s why they don''t want any product that consumes many rare materials to be introduced on earth. But Grand Tech Corporation is different for it is a Branch Company of Grand Trading Corp. So there''s no way to prevent it from releasing the VR on Earth. And another thing since its already been announced the HFA can no longer stop it even if they want to. They tried to talk Dianna to cancel the introduction of VR, but they have been refused as the reputation of Grand company is at stake so no matter how much they said the introduction of VR is Inevitable, so they resort to espionage they want to destroy the VR Tech before it can be introduced but that''s even more idiotic as every agent they sent is never heard from again. Eventually, they give up as they can''t interfere with Earth in the open, and the only way they can stop it is by attacking Grand Trading openly using large force, which is something they will never do as GFA will never allow it, even if they are part of it. Of course, they also tried Using Criminal organizations but almost all top criminal organizations refused to make a commotion in UG because it is under Shadow Moon protection. So they tried asking Shadow Moon as well but all agent they sent to negotiate to Shadow Moon comes empty as they weren''t able to contact them. That Made HFA confused, but eventually, they have no choice as to compromise. because if they keep on preventing VR from being released on earth. It would have a very big impact on their reputation on earth which is still their number one source of soldiers and many rare materials. Arc wasn''t worried about what HFA would do as he knows they can''t deal with him in the open especially on earth and even on space HFA won''t deal with them as they are protected by GFA even if they are part of it they are just one of the 12 human superpowers controlling it and the other won''t stand by as HFA destroy the relationship between GFA and Grand Trading corporation as they are their only source of military-grade solutions which are very vital to the war. HFA isn''t stupid either as they know what they can do and what they can''t do. Falling out with Grand Trading this early is not wise, not until they manage to get a hold of the technology to create military-grade solutions. HFA believes it''s only a matter of time as it wasn''t just them researching it. GFA has allocated a huge amount of resources and manpower in order to reverse-engineer the military-grade solution. For no power wants to rely on others for their survival, and military-grade solution plays a vital part in the war it''s their lifeblood without it their ability to make war will decrease by 60% that''s how important it was. And the fact that lifeblood is under control of a single power unnerve them... So they allow Grand Trading to do whatever they want for now, but as soon as they manage to reverse-engineered the military-grade solution they will do everything to bring down the Grand Trading Corp. Completely... Of course, Arc is aware of it that''s why he added another safety on it just to be sure. he asked Eve to make sure that only Rank 5 tech is capable of deciphering the solutions, Eve reassured him that even if they manage to decipher it they won''t be able to produce it without using the multi-purpose manufacturing factory. ....... Since the introduction of VR on earth all kinds of Communities, businesses emerged on earth greatly stimulating the economy on earth there are even many news channels dedicated to giving news and updates on VR communities 24/7. Grand Tech didn''t monopolize the VR Tech, they allow anyone who wants to participate in building VR communities and the VR World was introduced as base to hold many VR apps created by other companies one of the most famous is VR Shopping and Dating, a good deal of VR shop and communities pop up one after another, of course, illegal activities are highly prohibited except for VR S.e.x as there''s no stopping it, so instead of banning it and allowing many criminal organization to take advantage of it Grand Tech. Allowed them but only people age 18 and above can see those shops and only if they want to. And as the user account is tied to their citizen''s ID and their biometrics nobody else can use their account besides them. Many entrepreneurs are excited to develop in VR with a small monthly fee they can start their own business in VR World. VR opens up so many possibilities on earth concert is being played in VR, movies are being made using VR, and many more. According to survey earth happiness increased by 20% since the introduction of VR, of course as Earth is celebrating HFV top executives are having a meeting on how to recoup their potential loses with the introduction of VR on earth. But Arc doesn''t care about it, he ordered Dianna to stockpile as much as they can of all rare and uncommon materials from earth... Chapter 71 - Shadow Moon XII Arc, was starting to hoard all types of rare materials in preparation for them moving into Liberty for once they start their business in Liberty they will be subjected to no interference law on earth. Just like all super power who started their business in space they no longer allowed to interfere with earth business, of course, that doesn''t mean they can no longer do business on earth, no, they are still allowed to do business on Earth only it will be stricter, it''s one of the reasons many human superpowers who leave earth no longer do business on earth as the cost is much more than the gain HFV is different as they have an industrialized size space elevator allowing them to conduct business at minimum cost. And that''s why Arc wanted a free and priority pass on Space elevator owned by HFA, at first they didn''t care as Grand Trading only deals on solutions business and didn''t interfere with their interest meaning they didn''t require too much space in space elevator, so they quickly agreed on these demands as it also quickens the transport of solutions to them, but with the introduction of VR they know that Grand Trading is also stepping in Future Technology that requires a huge amount of rare materials, and because of that they realize they been fooled by Grand Trading Corp. Hence the top executive meeting in HFA. But Arc didn''t have any plan on relocating to Liberty just yet, at least not until he completes all his missions. Tommas James Jefferson 9th is the current president of HFA he along with all his cabinet members as well as HFA top military personnel are having an emergency meeting, regarding the Grand Trading Stepping into Future Tech and possibly in military business in the future. "Give me the report!" Said Tommas "Mr. President our import of rare material from earth is down by 60% we tried to secure more but according to our sources, all materials are being bought by Grand Tech corp. At 20% above market price, and they manage to secure many sources of rare materials and many who refused are being banned for accessing VRWorld." Said one of the cabinet members. "How did this happen how did we allowed this to happen?" Said Tommas. "Sir. The news of them acquiring the tech on VR, and then introducing it to Earth is a big surprise to us, we never get any news about it until they announce it." Said another cabinet members. ''What are our intelligence agencies on Earth doing?" Asked one of the Admiral. "We tried inserting spies on Grand Trading Crop. But they have all been found out one after another. According to our spies who manage to work temporarily before being found out the core tech of Grand Corporation is only privy to a select few, we''ve tried to get or even abduct this select few individuals, but all the forces we sent are never heard from again, and because we can''t send too many people at once to deal with Grand Trading Corporation without being found out by other superpowers in space, because of that we are powerless at the moment." Answered the head of HFA intelligence on earth. Nobody mock or blames him, for the current situation right now is very volatile their dependence on Grand Trading is known to all and if they made any move that will disrupt this relationship the other superpower in space will act together to suppress them and their standing in GFA will be jeopardized, they won''t let anything like that to happen, so no matter how angry they are they can only keep quiet right now. "Right now the Grand Trading Corp. Have shown no intention of moving into space right now, but that''s only a matter of time their based on Liberty is already under construction, I say about 6 months before that will be completed." Said another cabinet member. Admiral Jackson Ford is also present in the meeting, but he didn''t participate in the discussions he only watches he''s not the only one keeping quiet many others are doing the same. President Tommas is having a headache since when did the HFA become so powerless against an upstart company like Grand Trading Corporation. "Once they move into space the space elevator that helps us take advantage of the Earth materials will be lost especially since we agreed on giving them the priority and a free pass on our space elevator. How do we deal with this? we can''t continue like this it''s like we have handed over our space elevator to them and worse we are shouldering all the bill for them to transport their goods into space!" Said President Tommas angrily. "Sir we need to revise that contract we are losing too much on the deal with GFA and Grand Trading Corporation." Said one of the cabinet, member. "No that''s not the worse, the worse part is our deal with them regarding the solutions are now voided because according to the contract the deal lasts until the war of HFA and Ganesh ends, but we are no longer having war with Ganesh, no we handed all that to GFA, in other words, our first contract with them is voided." Said one of the Admiral. "No! That''s not the cased we are still technically is still on war with Ganesh as we are part of GFA." Said another member of the cabinet. "Not according to the First Bank we already receive their notice about the annulment of the contract." Said one of the Admiral. "Did the Grand Trading Corporation, did this?." Ask one of the cabinet members. "No, apparently not as they just supply us with the solutions for this week, it is The First Bank acting on its own," said one of the Admiral Everyone is quiet after that statement. "Then it''s only a matter of time before they found out if we can''t ask Grand Trading Corporation. For our losses we will ask GFA,'' said one of the Admiral. "That won''t be easy as we already asked for more take on materials from Ganesh when we agreed to let them used the space Elevator, there''s no way they would agree if we demanded more. I thought we are taking advantage of them and even thanking Grand Trading Corporation for demanding the used of our Space elevator, who would have thought that we are on the losing side of the deal." Said President Tommas. After saying that President Tommas slump back on his presidential chair and closed his eyes. No one interrupted him no one spoke. A few minutes later he opens his eyes and said: "Let''s accept the loss this time, for there''s nothing we can do at this moment, but we will be sure to take back all of it and more in the future, let that Grand Trading Corporation gloat at the moment when the time comes when they are no longer useful we will take everything back and more said" President Tommas with a bloodthirsty look in his eyes Everyone can feel the anger of President Tommas. Everyone in the conference room is keeping quiet. They didn''t dare interrupt or contradict President Tommas. "How''s our research on their solutions?" Ask president Tommas. "We have already gathered all the expert regarding that, we even have an expert from many companies on earth that also produced solutions I believe it''s only a matter of time before we can produce the solutions ourselves." Said one of the Admiral. "Good, make that a priority, we can''t let others complete it before us." Said President Tommas. "Now let''s move to another agenda" Back on earth Arc was made aware of the termination of their contract with HFA but still send a batch of Solution so that it made look that they are still unaware, since its Eve who petition the First Bank on the annulment of the said contract. And just true enough as the embodiment of fairness The First Bank studied the contract and find that it is indeed been concluded so they immediately notify the party involved. The HFA have no idea that the one that Petition the annulment of contract is Grand Trading as they are watching every move Grand Trading is doing in Liberty, and didn''t see anyone from the Grand Trading going to the First Bank to petition, so they assumed that it was the First Bank who initiated the annulment of the contract. Arc is already aware how much HFA hate them through Eve, but it was still not time for Grand Trading Corporation and HFA to lose all decorum he hides the fact that they are the one that initiates the annulment of the contract. But in order to completely control Earth he must minimize or removes all influence HFA has on earth and the introduction of VR is a good way to do that as everyone on earth is aware of how HFA deprives the earth of Full Dive VR technology. By introducing Full dive VR on Earth they set themselves as the Hero and HFA as Villains, this is all part of their plan, so when they implement the final plan to take over earth, the whole world will embrace it with all their hearts. Chapter 72 - Shadow Moon XIII Over the past one and half years, a lot of things happen, and there are things that remain the same for example the Human war with Ganesh, there were no new developments GFA entered long reorganizations. Because combining 12 superpower forces is not as easy as they claimed. So for the past few months, GFA entered a passive state, but according to Lisa GFA is very quickly gathering large amounts of power and it''s only a matter of time before a real full-blown war with Ganesh would begin. Arc once again is in his office in the new Grand Tower he was with Tiffa and Jarvis along with Ash who would be going to Liberty in the next few days to set up a security system for the Grand Trading Corporation Headquarters in Liberty he would be cooperating with Mia who was almost done laying the foundation for 50 Square kilometers soon to be HQ of Grand Trading Corporation. The 5 Square kilometers given by HFA would be turned into a Grand Trading Corporation Shop and Office as originally intended the one given by GFA will be the HQ with only select few personnel are allowed to enter, for it will be turned into production facilities in the future. Today is the day they will wipe out Chained Soul, supposedly the Army should be attacking Enigma City at the same time but bad weathers and unforeseen events slow them down quite a bit, so they were delayed for a few days according to Tom who was the overall commander of the Army. ...... ETA 20 minutes it''s now 9 pm and Chained Souls members are starting to get busy for today''s regular activity, it''s on this time of the day they are the most active. The specific time was chosen after observing and studying them for quite some time. In order not to miss many of the hidden members of Chained Souls. Shadow Unit chose to attack at the time when many of its hidden members are out and doing business, of course, this is only to not waste a lot of time hunting all its members for Eve has already identified all its members at least all that can be identified using her abilities. According to Eve, she was 90% sure she had already identified all members of Chained Souls, the target is the whole organization all across the City of Shari. And more than 3000 members of Shadow Units will participate in the operations. The remaining 10% was because Eve can''t infiltrate the inner area of Chained souls Headquarters because it was cut off from the outside network. All almost anyone that can be identified has been identified along with many affiliates of Chained Souls. Ruby and Jem are coordinating and arranging the Shadow Moon battle plan nonstop since yesterday, for this is the biggest operations of Shadow Moon since its founding. This time Ruby and Jem are not participating in the actual attack but remain as a commander to supervise the operations, Eve also minimizes her participation besides giving the initial Intel she didn''t participate in the upcoming battle operations and will only give support if needed. Arc, on the other hand, was chatting with Mia regarding the development of the construction on Liberty, but mostly they were just chatting and flirting, Arc found out that many alien on Liberty are asking about the Food Solutions of Grand Trading Corporation. But as Arc can''t do business on space without being subjected to Earth noninterference law. So he told them that if they want the Food solutions they have to pick it up on Earth, as he can''t sell it on space at the moment. He thought that with those conditions the aliens who are interested in solutions would give up and just wait for him to be able to sell in space. But just a few minutes after Mia gave them the conditions more than 10 of them immediately agree and want to set up a meeting. Arc was dumbfounded when Mia gave him the news it wasn''t even 30 minutes since her talk with Mia and his instruction for the purchased of food solutions, he underestimates the eagerness of the alien merchants. "It looks like their dedications are no less than any human merchants'' haha," Arc said. He always had a bias opinions against Aliens as great beings and very mysterious as HFA and any Human Organization who left Earth barely give any info about the aliens they encountered in space, so most people on earth are ignorant about what actually happening and how many alien species the human have actually encountered before, so if one wants to learn more about them they can only pay great price to HFA or Any Human power in space to acquire the information they want, or they can join them and be a soldier, that''s the only way they can found out about the real situations in space. Even the war with Ganesh would have been restricted if HFA or GFA don''t need the soldiers and more resources on earth, the only reason they released the news to earth is to gain more Soldiers and resources on earth if not for those reasons earth would remain ignorant of the war. Mia gave him the list of the names and species of the aliens interested in the Grand Training Solutions, Arc instructed Mia to give a few samples of solutions to the aliens to make sure the solutions are compatible with them. Actually, Arc wasn''t worried as Nine reassured him that the solutions are compatible with all life. As the solutions turn into energy the moments it entered the bodies leaving no residue behind that might conflict with one physiology. As the food solutions proposed is to replenish the energy and not to fill their stomach. So Arc immediately set up the meeting 10 days later to give them time to do proper procedures in visiting Earth. Chapter 73 - Shadow Moon XIV The Target this time is the whole City of Shari, where Chained Souls Headquarters are located and their base of operations. The Shadow Moon target is not just Chained Souls HQ but all of its members and that means attacking all operations of Chained Souls at the same time, Almost all members of the Shadow Unit are joining this operation only those that are doing important mission and surveillance in another part of the world are excluded from this operation. Shadow Unit has more than 4000 personnel and the Operation this time involves more than 3000 of them, Ruby and Jem are in charge of this operation Ruby will handle the half including the HQ and the other half is Jem responsibility each team is divided differently depending on their target Michelle was in charge of raiding the Chained Souls HQ along with 500 shadow unit under her, she led the biggest group. Dove, on the other hand, is handling the biggest Shop of Chained Soul it can also be considered as the second HQ of Chained Souls because of its size, she led 350 Shadow Units. Yuri, Mikhail, and Mikasa along with many other Top members of the Shadow unit are in charge of attacking other targets. "ETA 5 minutes" Ruby''s voice echoed through their Comm. In the HQ of Chained Souls, An Obese bald man can be seen with over a dozen n.a.k.e.d beautiful ladies doing all kind of chores for him, he was the Head of Chained Souls he had a bald head his appearance will remind everyone who sees him as Budda except for a two huge fangs that are exposed at the corner of his mouth everything about him looks like a regular obese man, and because of his appearance people who are acquainted with him calls him Big Budda no one really knows what his real name was and Big Budda never really told anyone about it but only select few can call him Big Budda to the rest he was addressed as Big Boss. Those who have no idea who he is are being fooled by his fat appearance and although they assume he was a mutant because of his fangs they didn''t think too much about him they all assumed he was very easy to kill because of his looks, but if one observes carefully they will notice that Big Budda never brings any Bodyguards with him he will bring a few beauties with him or and assistants but never a bodyguard. A lot of people paid with their lives because they underestimated Big Budda, his friends and acquaintances calls him Big Budda his subordinated calls him Bigg Boss but his enemies Call him The Devil. Big Budda although surrounded by many n.a.k.e.d beauty, but for some reason he was absent-minded, the man in front of him is his most trusted subordinate the one really running his business for him. "The sales for these months are 5% higher compared to the previous months¡­. Our stocks are above 70%¡­." The man continues to report then he noticed that his Boss is not really paying attention and was in deep thought. "Boss, Is something going on?" Ask the man. "Huh, oh no just thinking of something. Do you notice any abnormalities happening lately?" Ask Big Budda absentmindedly. "Nothing much happening lately. There was no report on unusual activities happening. Do you have something else in mind Boss?" Being a close confidant of Big Budda for a long time he notices the absent-mindedness of his Big Boss this is happening more and more in the past few weeks. "I see! Never mind then continue with your work let me know if something comes up." Said Big Budda. "Uh, sure boss" he gets up and leaves. "By the way what happen to the investigation about the missing scout and capture team?" Ask Big Budda. "We couldn''t find any traced at all so the investigation has been canceled." Said the man. "I see you can go." Said Big Budda. A few months ago a group of scouts and capture teams suddenly disappeared, after they reported they have found a good target. Normally Big Budda will not be concerned about small things like that. But the Captured team that disappeared is one of his best capture team and have been to many difficult situations before. What puzzled him is that the team disappeared without being able to ask for help or anything he immediately assumes its something else and although there are ways to jam a communication device. Those kinds of jamming device are at the hands of the top organization, because of the advancement of technology jamming a signal even a commercial use signal required a very sophisticated and expensive piece of equipment. According to the report, a group of scout has marked a target of a group of 11 girls and a dog they are all young and beautiful moreover they all have normal backgrounds. After identifying the targets the scouts then coordinated for a group of capture team to captured the targets, but during that time the only team available is one of the best capture team in all of the Chained Souls, the last report is that the captured team have identified and will move in to take the targets, after that nothing. After failing to report back after a few minutes and because they failed to communicate, the backup team was dispatch but after a while, the backup team reported no sightings of the said captured team, so an investigation was launch and the report was even presented to him. But because of his restlessness in yhe past few weeks Big Budda almost forgot about it, he only remembers it now. is it somehow related to those events? Big Budda contemplates in his mind. "What''s with going on with Big Boss lately he''s become more absent-minded as of late." He was curious but didn''t think too much about it, over the long-time serving Big Budda there was one thing he knows best never be too curious about Big Budda''s affair. Because everyone that did, well they are reunited with their ancestors. "Everyone get out!" Shouted Big Budda, he can''t explain his restlessness he was feeling for the past few weeks, at first, he thought he was just being paranoid. "I sense great danger coming but from where and why is it that nothing is happening? Was I just being paranoid did I lose my self the moment I tried playing Human for too long?" Big Budda asks himself in his mind. Chapter 74 - Shadow Moon XV "It''s time, go!" Said Ruby through the comm. Arc was sitting on the sofa with Tiffa and Ash by his sides and Jarvis standing from behind him. There are many kinds of snacks in front of him he was very relaxed. there wasn''t any worry in his face he was relaxing in the sofa eating snacks like he was just watching some movie, Ash and Tiffa are the same, they are devouring the snacks in front of them, Tiffa is even teasing him about Mia and other things. Ruby and Jem are watching the movements of the shadow unit under them. Then she paused and said, "Boss that''s not fair I want to eat snacks too..." Arc then look at Tiffa who was pretending she did nothing. "Hehe sorry Boss she heard me eating while were talking, so I told her we''re eating snacks while watching them do a good job," said Tiffa sheepishly. Looking at Tiffa he couldn''t help shakes his head, he then said to Jem you can have as many snacks you want after this operation, the same goes to all shadow unit... "Yay! You heard that guys do well and will be drowning in snacks soon hehe." Said Jem happily. Ruby couldn''t help shaking her head at Jem as well as her Boss. Cough cough! Arc almost chock when he heard Jem motivating her team with a snack. He was so embarrassed he immediately changes the topic, Tiffa, on the other hand, was giggling non-stop beside him as for Ash he keeps his head down but clearly he''s doing his best not to laugh, only Jarvis remains silent without any emotions on his face. Arc looks at Tiffa and said to Ruby, "Ruby looks like there someone here volunteered to become a shadow unit and be sent somewhere remote." Tiffa stops laughing immediately, and said: "Boss I''m sorry I didn''t do it in purpose." But Ruby''s response almost sends her to tears. Boss just send her over I have a mission in the far north that needs a team leader she would be perfect for the job." "Oh, that mission I really do think its perfect for sis Tiffa." Said Jem. "No! I''m not going, I''m not going, Boss, you can''t send me I have a very important job here," said Tiffa almost on the verge of crying. This is a rare moment for them to have fun and conversing with their Boss, that even the always serious Ruby couldn''t help but joins in. Even the emotionless Jarvis can be seen with a rare smile on his face. As for Ash, he tried to be as small as possible as to not get any attention but a smile is also hanging on his face. Good thing Eve didn''t let the conversation reach the shadow units that are having a serious operation. Otherwise, it would be a big loss of face. Bang! That stops them from their conversation, a huge mutant that looks like a big humanoid lizard comes charging in front of a group of Shadow Units. "That''s a big mutant," said, Tiffa who already stops playing around although she still has slight tears in her eyes for playing around. It''s around 3 meters tall with a very muscular body, armed with a huge halberd and a rocket launcher was strapped on its back. Another rocket launcher can be seen on its feet. "It looks like that''s the source of the explosion earlier, looks like a modified version of PLG E38 rocket launcher used by UG military. Said Ash pointing at the rocket launcher on the monitor. "It''s almost twice as big as regular rocket launchers, luckily no one was hit by the attack. Is that really a human mutant? That''s the first time I see a human mutant that big," said Arc. "That''s because it''s not a human mutant, According to my analysis I''m 87.8 % sure it is a lizard type Beast Lord," said, Eve. "But if that''s true then that''s a little small for Beast Lord the smaller Beast lord I''ve seen is at least 5 meters, is there a possibility it''s a hybrid?" Said Arc. "We can''t know for sure until we analyze its DNA," said Ruby. Five Shadow Units is fighting the humanoid Lizard and a few minutes later the Head of the Lizard was cut off many wounds can be seen on its body, because unlike before Shadow Unit can now choose their preferred weapon among the five Shadow Unit who fought the Lizard two are equipped with dual short sword, one is equipped with a retractable spears one is using two carved daggers and one a flexible sword. There was a saying in the Shadow Unit that only an Expert can use Flexible Sword, it''s not only because of the difficulty of using it but because their two Leaders are both using Flexible Sword, so it becomes a status symbol among the Shadow Unit. When Ruby heard it she just shakes her head but didn''t refute it mastering the use of a flexible sword is good for them as it can be used in a variety of ways and very easy to conceal. Jem however just laughed at it. Arc then switch and look at Yuri''s progress she led the group of 25 Shadow Unit their target is one of Chained Souls medium Base, according to Eve its one of the supply base of Chained Souls Yuri with a smile on her face directly charge at the Guards in front of the base before the guards can react Yuri''s flexible sword is already on their necks it only took a second for Yuri to kill the two-guard she then immediately issues and order using hand gestures and the group of 25 divided into five groups and storm the medium base. "She''s quite good despite the fact she''s using inferior body enhancement technology, how''re her evaluations can we really trust her?" Ask Arc. I think we can, Boss, I was monitoring her behaviors and Eve is constantly monitoring her she really does enjoys working for us and genuinely loyal. Said Ruby. "I found no falsehood in all her action Boss," said Eve "Very well give her the proper enhancement after this operation is over, but only her for now exclude Beru, Mikhail, and Mikasa for now." Said Arc. In truth, he really can''t trust any member of the criminal organization no matter how good they are acting, but since he gives them a second chance he plans to honor that promised, as long as they become loyal and follows the rules of Shadow Units and Shadow Moon. Those who are integrated into the organization will be treated fairly... Chapter 75 - Shadow Moon XVI Tonight rivers of blood will flow on Shari City as the job this time is not subjugation but extermination, and as long as they took over after they exterminated the Chained Souls it can be considered as fulfilling the mission criteria. This is a baptism for the new Shadow unit beside the first batch of shadow unit almost every one of the shadow units has never experienced this kind of bloodbath, no a massacre. Everyone in Shari City can feel the heavy atmosphere many citizens and tourists of Shari city are feeling restless and many experts visiting the city who are very sensitive can feel the changes and suppressing aura in the air. Many choose to remain in their lodging but there are some who are curious and chosen to investigate in secret they were all knocked down, and hidden by Shadow Unit who are in charge of outer defenses. With the help of Eve, curious people and spy from other organizations are easily dealt with. There are almost no cries or sounds when the shadow unit attacks as they immediately killed their target in one attack in less than 15 minutes more the 20 establishments of Chained Souls are already in control of Shadow Unit, and member of Shadow Moon immediately took over that establishment victims are quickly escorted to one of many transport aircraft hidden outside Shari City who are waiting to transport all victim to rehabilitation Center in Radial City it is a facility built for a specific purpose of helping the victims as the Grand Army Base has many secrets that are not allowed to be exposed and even with Eve watching Arc is still cant relaxed. So Arc chooses to build a facility only for catering the victims, this is also to let the victim feel secure and give them a peace of mind as unlike in the Army Base there are many restricted areas, and they are surrounded by military-like personnel, but in rehabilitation facility, they are free to leave and go whenever they want and their family can easily visit them. Of course, the personnel on the Facilities will not tell them anything about who rescued them, only they paid for everything to help them. At the same time, the personnel will look for potential recruits. Michelle and her team are attacking in full force for this time they only have one objective, to kill. One by one guard and members of Chained Souls die one after another, the Shadow Unit didn''t give them any chance to call for help and the Shadow Unit led by Michelle immediately plows through them until they reach the inner part of the Chained Souls HQ as one after one big humanoid monster appeared in huge numbers this stops the attack of Shadow Unit Eve immediately got to work as this part of the HQ has their own internal server and it''s not connected to internet. So, Eve has no idea what''s inside that''s the reason Michelle has more than 500 Shadow Unit assigned to her in this operation to attack Chained Souls HQ, if not only a hundred would do the same goes for the place Dove was attacking the inner part is in unknown to Eve. "Looks like Chained Souls is not a Human organization," said Ruby. Arc said in surprise, "how the hell did a Beast Lord manage to create a huge organization in human territory without being found out?" "There should be some human supporting them and hiding their identity. Eve, I need you to find out who it is. those bastard is feeding this beast with innocent human lives." Said Arc in anger. Beast are all omnivores but they preferred meat especially human meat. That''s one of the reasons beasts are hated and that no matter how intelligent they have become humans are always considered them as enemies that need to be hunted down and would never make peace with them... Arc can only imagine how many lives are sacrificed to feed these beasts for a long time. For he can already count more than a hundred of them in Chained Souls HQ, Ruby and Jem already issued an order to all shadow Unit that has completed their mission to reinforce Michelle and Dove if necessary... Yuri and Mikhail and Mikasa who have already Finished their mission is already on their way to reinforce Michelle along with 8 more teams the rest are going to Doves as reinforcement. Ruby still didn''t move so is Jem for they didn''t think it was necessary for them to interfere and this is a good experience for Michelle and Dove as well as for the rest of Shadow Units. Michelle already killed more than ten Beast Lords but their numbers continued to increase by now their number is already around 200. The Shadow unit under her is outnumbering their enemies and not one Shadow Units are weak each one is capable to go head to head, to any Beast Lord but the beast lord they are fighting is clearly been enhanced and although they are smaller than normal Beast Lord they are clearly much stronger. Ruby and the rest notice it too, they have some concerned but not overly worried. She was just worried that there are more Beast Lord or even Brutal Beast, she watches closely as more and more Beast Lord appeared. "Just how many Beast Lord is hiding in that Base?" Ask Ash. Arc was quiet but the more he saw more Beast Lord appearing the angrier he becomes. He was not angered for being surprised by how many Beast Lord hiding in the base, he was angered as he thinks of how many people are being sacrificed to this Beast every day¡­ But of course, this was just his imaginations running wild, for the Beast Lord in Chained Souls rarely eat human, especially when those beasts have tasted human food especially the meat dishes cooked by humans. In fact no matter how big or influential the Chained Souls is, they cannot capture too many humans to be used as food without being found out by top member of the Government no matter who is protecting them, and with the number of beast Lord, Chained Souls have if they only eat humans they have long been found out and exterminated. In fact, many of the Beast Lord in Chained Souls haven''t eaten any human since they become part of Chained Souls. But Arc never thought about all that he grows up knowing that Beast Lord or Brutal beast''s favorite food is human. So when they saw them in human territories his thoughts already running wild... "Eve I want every one of these beasts killed and their leader tortured before being killed." Said Arc in anger. Tiffa looks at Arc and was confused she didn''t understand why her Boss is very angry even Ash has a confused look on his face, only Jarvis remains expressionless but was also looking at Arc behavior. Eve didn''t care she just said, "Yes Boss" she didn''t care for what reason Arc is angered since she wasn''t asked it''s not in her place to ask either. Tiffa was confused but also didn''t ask why. Only she was thinking maybe her boss is angry when he saw the victim''s conditions as they are in far worse conditions than the last. Besides some who are about to be sold the rest are in very bad condition. For she can''t think of any reason why her Boss is very angry. And just like that the poor Big Budda was sentenced to be tortured because of misunderstanding he who didn''t even remember the taste of human meat for he was addicted to human cuisines, and he also uses that to convince his brothers and sisters to work under him by feeding them tasty human foods... Big Budda was a warthog Beast Lord thinking wasn''t his forte he founded Chained Soul by Accidents when he captured and enslaved a group of slavers when they pass through his territory it was then one of the slavers manage to convince him that becoming a leader of organizations is more beneficial than being alone in the wild, that if become a leader of the organization can have as much food as he wants... Chapter 76 - Shadow Moon XVII "Boss I think its best if keep them alive," said Tiffa "What do you mean Tiffa do you want to control these beasts?" Ask Arc. "Yes, Boss, I think they can still be useful, ugly as they were we can still find some use for them they are intelligent after all its not easy looking for this many Beast Lord in one place after all." Said Tiffa Arc force himself to calm down though he was angry he was not what he used to be, he can no longer afford to make rash decisions. "Fine tell Ruby, and Jem to tell them to keep them alive if possible but do not compromise their safety for it, we can always kill them afterward after all." Said Arc. Ruby and Jem immediately relay the orders to all shadow units under Michelle and Dove. "Boss, I think they can be very useful in the future." said, Eve "I don''t really see any used for them our Shadow Unit is superior to them and not to mention they are Beast Lord humans hated them so if we let them join the army and Shadow unit it will demoralize some of our people." Said Arc. "Boss I''m not talking about using them on Earth," said Tiffa with a smile. "Oh, you mean in space? hmm, it could be possible but still, I find it redundant, as we can also use humans to do what they can do. But I do admire their adaptability to think they will use a human enhancement on themselves and actually succeeded." Said Arc. "Boss, you''re missing our point, its because they are not human that they can be useful." Said Tiffa with an enigmatic smile. Arc was about to ask Tiffa about what she meant, but he suddenly notices that the number of Beast Lord already reach around 300. "Use paralyzing bullet reduce their number," said Ruby. The Shadow Units under Michelle begin using paralyzing shot, unfortunately, they only have 3 shot each and the Beast Lord need about 7-8 shot to completely paralyzed but even so, its immediately reduce the number of Beast Lord by at least more than half and the rest is become more sluggish because of the effect of paralyzing Shot, it''s one of the many additions in Shadow Unit armaments. The Shadow Unit is Having a hard time completely suppressing the Beast Lord as those beasts is also using human weapons many of them are carrying modified rocket launcher some are using bazooka and many other human weapons. Yuri along with others to are coming to support Michelle was shocked by the number of Beast Lord defending the place, but their shock only lasts for a moment, and they have already begun to attack. ...¡­. "What''s Going on?" ask big budda. "Boss we''re under attacked they just breached the inner sanctum." "Who was attacking us and how many? No! Never mind call Shaki here now!" Ordered Big Budda. "No need for that I''m already here," said Shaki A graceful woman can be seen walking toward Big Budda, she had a delicate and almost cute face except for her eyes that look like a serpent eyes her body is also covered by a shiny beautiful emerald scales it almost looks like a beautiful scaled like tight-fitting clothes only if you look closer that you will notice that it''s not a dress but and actual skins her hands look like a regular human hands without any scales, the scales only appeared from the arms into the neck her face remains of human head. She is a serpent type Beast Lord. "Baldy, I heard the commotions who are attacking us?" Said Shaki with a sweet voice with a slight smile on her face. Very few individuals can call Big Budda as Baldy, Shaki is one of them, in fact, Big Budda feared Shaki a lot for he knows how dangerous she is and also because she is very intelligent¡­ "It does not matter who was attacking us kill them all gather our brothers and sisters, if we fail, we will die or if were lucky we go back to forage like our primitive brothers and sisters," said Big Budda. "No need to give me that speech Baldy we all know how important this place for us, no one is willing to back to how we used to be." Said Shaki. After that, she disappeared she was very fast after Shaki left Big Budda let out a Sigh, Very few things scared Big Budda but Shaki is in top of it, in fact, he didn''t invite Shaki in his organization She just appeared one day and said she wanted to join, and although not many Beast Lord knows of Shaki he knows for he once seen Shaki toyed and kill many Brutal Beast and even Beast Lord. Back then he was so scared he didn''t leave his hiding place for almost 2 weeks nearly dying of hunger, so when Shaki appeared before him on that day he was so scared he almost pissed his pants luckily he was able to control himself and immediately agreed for her to join. Even now after so many years later he still couldn''t shake away his fear. Shaki immediately ordered all the Beast Lord to dispose of all intruders their identity must never be exposed, so she spent no chances and order all Beast Lord to go immediately no one is an exception and if anyone ignored her ordered they will answer to her. Over the years she spent on Chained Souls she already built a reputation for herself and all those who crossed her didn''t have a happy ending, all of them suffered for a long time before being killed, so many Beast Lord feared her, of course, there''s always an exception like Garou the honey badger Beast Lord who was known for their recklessness and fearlessness. But even so, no one defies her for they know how important this place is for every one of them. Chapter 77 - Shadow Moon XVIII Alarm! Alarm!, Sounds of alarm rang all around the Chained Souls headquarters every Beast Lord in the inner base was alerted Shaki''s message was sent to all of them through their private communication devices, some of them are confused some already aware of the situations but choose to do nothing and just wait for orders, some are annoyed by shakis forceful order, many of the Beast Lord have their own pride and don''t like being ordered around, there were many kinds of reaction coming from the Beast Lord, for every Beast Lord evolve in a different way and have their own Ego. But one thing they all understand is that this place is very important for them as none of them are willing to go back into the wild. "Their inner base is bigger than we thought, there must be an underground facility somewhere in that place." Said Arc. "We were unable to gather information about their inner base as it was heavily guarded and have their own network inside, but we do know is that a large amount of supplied are being shipped there on a daily basis, and only very selected individuals are allowed inside and even them are only there to transport food supplies. "Only the right-hand man of their boss called Big Budda is truly allowed and know what''s going on inside. But that man rarely leaves the base, so we are unable to get any valid information on what''s inside their inner based. We assume they are building a massive Army because of the huge amount of food delivered on a daily basis." Said Tiffa. The fight with Beast Lords intensified. "Looks like among the Beast Lords there is a hierarchy and the one we encounter so far is nothing but cannon fodder that Beast looks different" Arc points at the new Beast Lord that arrived. King Baku, you''re finally here these guys are stronger than any human I saw before. Baku is a jungle tiger Beast Lord he was very cunning and very powerful, he''s one of the King ranks Beast Lords under Chained Souls. Beast Lord has their own ranking system, they rank themselves based on their strength and power, there are five ranks in Beast Lords. Lord King General Soldier Common. Each rank difference is huge, and they are addressed by their rank and every Beast Lord above common take great pride in their rank, they considered it a great honor and are very proud of it. Baku''s look at the human in black suits he and the others were surprised to find out they are indeed quite strong almost all of them are above General class but his attention is on a single female fighting five Beast Lords at the same time, he noticed that even though she was fighting the five other beast lords her attentions was actually on him. Michelle immediately notices Baku the moment she appeared her eyes contracted the moment she saw him, so she immediately killed the five beasts she was fighting, at first she was trying to just incapacitate them but Baku''s arrival changed that after killing the five she steps back and just calmly watch Baku''s movements. Arc was also surprised when he saw Baku, for Baku, didn''t look like a Beast Lord at all no except for a tail he looks very much like a human, only slightly taller and hairier but other than that no one can tell he''s a Beast Lord. "In that the effect of enhancement serum? Or the more these beasts evolved the more human they look?" Ask Arc. "We won''t know for sure not until we study them in details," Tiffa said looking at Arc "I do not believe that the government is unaware of this. They must have known about this and just choose not to publicize it, is this really the reason why they didn''t exterminate the Beast even though they have the power to do it?" "I have no data about that Boss, but I will into it." Said Eve. "If they can turn into a human the more they evolved it''s not far fetched to think that many Superpower is aware of it are already taking advantage of it. Who wouldn''t want super-powered soldiers or bodyguards?" "That assuming humans can control them." Said Tiffa. At this point Arc imagination started to become wild, he began to think that what if most of the superpowers on space is actually controlled by Human evolve Beast Lord. "Is that why some superpowers decided to separate themselves with the human the moment they entered space?" Arc began to imagine in his mind. "Hmm, Boss what are thinking about?" Ask Tiffa. "Huh, oh nothing was just thinking that if the final evolution of Beast Lord they will look exactly like humans what''s the chances that some superpowers are actually under Beast Lord control?" "Boss are we not looking at one already?" Said Tiffa. "Right!, holy shit this is really an eye-opener for me, look like we need to investigate this more." Said Arc. Ahhh!. A shout woke up Arc from his daydreaming his attention immediately focus back on the projector, "No!" Said Arc stunned. ...¡­ Baku looks at Michelle and smiles "It looks like this won''t be boring after all" Michelle didn''t say anything and just gestured for everyone to focus and be extra vigilant. "Alright stop watching we need to Finnish this quickly our livelihood is at staked here unless you want to go back to where you came from Finnish this quickly" shouted Baku. After that ten more beast king appeared and more than 50 general class Beast Lords appeared one after another, Shaki was among them except for big budda every Beast Lords in the base has now revealed themselves. Chapter 78 - Shadow Moon XIX Michelle was surprised to see so many powerful Beast Lord, but she was most surprised about is that she didn''t notice many of them, she noticed two or three hiding but not this many, "one of them must have the ability to mask another aura" she said in her mind. She gestured and all Shadow Unit retreated, she then said "get in formation, this is going to be a tough fight if your careless this might be your last fight. Gather in a group of ten use group formation. Disable them if possible but kill them if it''s not, and don''t waste time we have many enemies." She didn''t say any more for none of them is rookie anymore each and every one of them has already finished one or more missions already they already know what to do. Shaki was watching the enemies in front of them she knew they''re not just any enemies they have encountered before. And she was not the only one who realizes that. "Everyone of you gets ready, this is no longer a game, generals form a group of 5 all kings will attack independently¡­." She gives orders one after another. "Gisu, you''re in charge of disrupting enemy formation, Kiku makes sure our generals will be able to hold until we kill their leaders and officers, Karasu you will attack from the rear. Benku... Garou you will be¡­" Stop! Don''t order me Shaki I''m not your soldier!" Said Garou he was a honey badger Beast Lord he was always been fearless and never see anyone above him especially a snake type, to him they are just-food. The only reason he was here is that the food here is great and big budda, and he gets along well for he never tried to control or order him. So how can he accept some snake giving him order when he considered them all as nothing but food. "Garou this is not a game," said Baku "I''m not stupid Baku, I''m not as timid as you to accept orders from a snake. I will do my part but no one gives me order, you all can follow her like some good little soldiers, but include me in it." Shaki looks at Garou with ferocious eyes, but Garou just ignores her he never once pay attention to her, he feared Baku more than her. After that, he steps forward ignoring the rest. Shaki stops looking at Garou and starts giving orders again, but this time no one responds to her, so she just stops talking but her anger in Garou intensifies, but she knew now isn''t the time to deal with him. She looks at Garou for a few seconds no one knows what she was thinking, and shift her focus on the real enemies in front of her. The moment Michelle gives the orders all shadow unit gets in formations this time Yuri, Mikasa and Mikhail gather in a single group, Yuri looks at Mikhail and Mikasa and nodded at them the two nodded back. This is the first time they will be fighting together since the fall of Spider, so they are excited, but they also knew their enemies are quite powerful, so they didn''t let their guards down. Beast lord general gathered the Beast Lord Soldiers they follow Shaki''s order. For a few seconds, the whole area entered a silent period of time. This is what they called silence before the storm, suddenly one of the Beast King makes a move Karasu a Crow type king Beast Lord waves his hand hundreds of Black feathers shoot like arrows in speed of sound, but Shadow Unit is not your regular soldiers each and every one of them receive special training and enhancement this word has never seen, except for the trio Yuri, Mikasa and Mikhail, everyone receives rank 5 enhancement so their strengths are all superior to any Beast Lord, only the control of their ability hinders them from fully utilizing their Rank 5 enhancement, even Michelle can only utilized about 40% of her enhancement, if they can utilize it 100% then even if a Lord rank Beast Lord stands in front of them they have nothing to fear. Of course, the Beast Lord in front of them also received some form of enhancement together with their natural strength many of them surpassed some of the shadow unit especially the King rank Beast Lord. The moment Karasu launches the Black feathers arrows, all shadow units are prepared for it many evaded some block it and some cut it with their weapon. Karasu was surprised that none of his arrows injured an enemy, though he didn''t expect all arrows he shot will injure or kill someone. , but he didn''t expect that no one is hit or even injured and although he didn''t use all his strength he uses more than 50% of his full power and that''s more than enough to kill many humans, he was an enhance King rank after all. It wasn''t just him who was surprised every one of Beast Lords is surprised. For they know how powerful Karasu is. At first many General and even soldiers do not take this fight seriously and even though their enemies were able to kill or incapacitate many Beast Lord many of them is just common Beast Lord the difference between common and soldier Beast Lord are huge even more so to General And King Rank, so many of them never really take this fight seriously especially the King rank, but now they do. that single attack of Karasu reveals how powerful the enemies in front of them are. Even Garou was surprised when he witnesses it. "Now this is interesting, look like that snake judgment is right, this is serious." Said Garou in his mind for he will never praise that snake no matter what, his pride would never allow it. Michelle Gestured, and said, "Go!" And all Shadow Units begin their assault once again. Chapter 79 - Shadow Moon XX Ruby and Jem are watching, and paying attention to Michelle. As for Dove, it turns out that there''s no Beast Lord on the base she attacked but there''s a lot of battle droids in it. It''s not the same quality as Ex series in Spider HQ, but a few levels below that. But their numbers are much greater there''s at least a thousand of them. She didn''t know why there''s so much battle droid here, in fact, she can barely count the human they encountered, this is more like an automatic factory almost 99% of personnel are droid or bots. But this is no factory but an HQ, so she was confused and excited at the same time. She heard the situations of Michelle, but she was not worried she knows how strong Michelle is and the quality of the Shadow Unit. she even teams up with most of them during many missions in the past year and a half. In fact, she was a little jealous she wants a good fight too, and so far the droids they encounter didn''t sate her appetite for fighting, so she was looking forward to what lies ahead. So far their mission is to look for a control terminal in this base. that controls all the traps and Droid in the base. "This is interesting," said a man sitting in front of many monitors. The monitors display many droids being attacked by people in black tight suits. He paused one of the monitors and zoom in, and he saw the logo on their shoulder half-moon submerged from black clouds with letter G on it. "Shadow Moon" he whispered. He tried to communicate with the main HQ but got no signal. "Looks like all communication has been Jammed." hahaha, he laughs like a maniac. "that''s interesting looks like this is going to be fun" He continued to watch the monitors and every now and then he will type some command on the keyboard, and continue to laugh and mumbles. He was like a kid playing video games sometimes he will laugh like a mad man sometimes he will curse and sometimes he would stand up and dance happily like a crazy person. Dove noticed that the movements of the droid are changing constantly like they are being controlled manually not like automatic functions. "Eve, are you seeing this?" Ask Dove. "Yes they are being controlled manually but it''s not AI. I''m 99.9% sure somebody is remotely controlling them." "Can you do something about it?" Ask Dove. "Not at the moment unless I connect to their server" "Can we use the droid here to get you connected to the server? This droid is connected to the server after all." "No!, this type of droid only has one-way signal in can only receive signal not send one. This is standard anti-hack protection from any military-grade droid, and it''s quite effective as even I cannot bypass it." Said Eve. "Got it! Look like our mission remains the same" Dove gives orders to continue searching. It will take some time as this base is very big probably bigger than the main HQ of Chained Souls. So far they found out that there are three floors above grounds and at least two more underground, all floor above ground has been cleared and now they are on their way to underground floors. Hmm, he looks at the timer in his hand, it shows 12:34. "they only took 12 minutes and 34 seconds to clear all top floors while destroying more than 700 grade 6 military battle droid. Looks like this Shadow Moon is far more dangerous than the rumors." said the man inside the control room. Military droid is divided into 10 grades, 10 being the lowest. The droid in the spider is grade 3 heavy armored battle droid. He typed another command and the droids can be seen exiting some metal doors on one of the monitors, these droids are a different model than the one on the top floors. It looks slicker and more streamlined the weapon is also different two lasers are attached go both shoulders and both hands are blade type. "Let see if my grade 4 Assassin type droid is going to be a match for them hahaha. Don''t disappoint me, Shadow Moon, for there''s more to come ill let you be my guinea pigs for my new droids designs haha¡­" Dove frowns when he saw the hallway on the first underground floors it was quite narrow, and only around four people can pass at the same time. During a battle with a weapon, only about 1 or 2 can go at the same time, and that''s very dangerous for them. I will lead, you guys follow. and be very vigilant we don''t know what''s waiting for us in here. It''s very different from their previous missions where all data about their opponents are available for them, this time they have no idea what awaits them. And that makes them very excited and a little nervous at the same time. Dove, rush in immediately followed by a line of two Shadow Units, this way they still have room to maneuver or dodge if they are attacked. But they didn''t encounter any enemies so far that makes dove a little confused and more vigilant. Heat signal up ahead said the Shadow Unit behind Dove she''s wearing some kind of shades that can detect life and heat signals. A huge space welcomes them its twice the size of the soccer stadium and many obstacles are in there. "Looks like a training room," said Dove she was very familiar with this kind of place for Grand Army has more than Ten of them and some are at least ten times bigger than this training room and far more sophisticated. She often wondered just what kind of organization supporting them from behind for the technology available to them is far more advanced than anything they''ve seen outside. Dove was no longer an innocent and ignorant girl she used to be during her training as a Shadow Unit. Back then she didn''t realize the difference between the Shadow Unit technology and the outside only when she becomes a Shadow Unit, and was sent to every corner of the Globe to do the mission that she notices the big difference. And the one they called Eve is the most mysterious, far more than their Big Boss. Eve has always been there to support them in every mission, she believes that Eve is a super Hacker that is capable of hacking anything that can be hacked. She once asked Eve about who she is. But Eve just said it''s top-secret, and soon if she excels and remains faithful and loyal they might have a chance to meet. But Eve told her not to ask too many questions. If their Boss deemed it they will find out sooner or later without them asking about it. Dove just replied "sure I''m looking forward to it" back then. But as a curious girl, she couldn''t help her self from wanting to know more she knows how dangerous it is but sometimes she couldn''t help herself. So she tried to observe more and tried to piece together a clue by her self. Of course, Eve was aware of it but didn''t really care as she knows Dove was very loyal only a bit curious, but she will stop her if her curiosity gets the better of her. Chapter 80 - Shadow Moon XXI "Hello! Everyone welcome to my Holy land, I''m your host Mole. Today you will participate in my little experiment please don''t let me down hehe." Mole''s voice echoes into the whole training room but Dove or any Shadow Unit didn''t show any panic or anger in their faces, in fact, most of them have no emotions on their faces and most only have a smile on their faces, Dove was the same she only smiles, even after the door behind them closes none of their expression changes. Soon hundreds of assassin type droids entered from the other side of the training room across them, they began to line up one rows at the time, soon more than five rows are formed and more are coming out. "Kenny how''s the scan?" Asked Dove. "There are more floors below us I scanned at least five more floors. Each floor is separated by a meter thick and reinforced by steel and military-grade concrete." "I see, Mika ready the explosives and activate the EMP after we blow the floors below you have 3 minutes to prepare." Said Dove. Shadow Moon is not like before that only have a silent gun and flexible sword as armaments, they now have a variety of equipment and weapons, Arc spend a huge amount of Energy Unit to create Rank 5 storage rings for huge assaults like this because the materials to create storage rings is unavailable on earth he was forced to spend Energy Unit to create them, he Created 100 rank 5 storage rings with storage space of 1000 square meters each for this is only a storage rings created by multi-purpose manufacturing factory. The quality is a little lower if its created by rank 5 Military storage device Factory. The space inside would be at least a few kilometers wide, but the 1000 square meters is more than enough for the army and Shadow Unit use. There are 50 shadow units who were assigned as Supply Master they carry may different types of provisions as well as different kinds of equipment for many kinds of scenarios they might encounter on different missions. And on this operation, more than 30 Supply Masters is participating in the operation. Being a Supply Master doesn''t mean they are weak, no in fact to become a Supply Master their ability must be above average and every Supply Master have something in common, the ability to survived at any kind of scenarios that''s what separates them from the rest of Shadow Unit their training is also a little bit different from the rest of Shadow Unit, so far there are three specialized jobs in Shadow Unit. Spy Master Saboteur Master Supply Master This three special job requires a different kind of specialized training. So far there are 100 Spy Master 30 Saboteurs And 50 supply master in the current Shadow Unit. As for assassination, any Shadow Units is considered an Assassin master, but these three jobs require different types of skills set besides fighting and killings. For Supply Master they must be capable of using any supply they are carrying and as well as capable of judging when and what to use in any given situation. Kenny is a Saboteur Master, and Mika is a Supply Master they are one of the few saboteurs and Supply Master assigned to Dove. The moment they receive Dove''s orders they immediately began to work Kenny Choose where to place the penetrating bomb and Mika set up an isolation shield to prevent their enemies from seeing what they are doing, and She takes out a rank 5 vertical EMP that is capable of destroying all kind of equipment Within 10000 square meters radius in diameter and can penetrate up to 5 kilometers below ground. There are several types of bombs and EMP each Saboteur and Supply Master is well versed in using them, Dove didn''t need to tell them what specific type of bomb and EMP to use as the Saboteur and Supply Master they know more than her of what kind to use in specific situations. Mole Look at the monitor and notice a static on space he taps on his monitor to make sure it''s not his monitor that having a problem. He began to wonder what kind of technology can do that but can''t think of anything. "I don''t know what you are planning but it won''t work I have this place completely under my control. So just be a good guinea pig and participate in my little experiment, so don''t disappoint me my Shadow Moon Guinea pigs, hahaha" He then looks at the faces of the Shadow Unit but sees no changes in them, he began to be annoyed, "let''s see how long can you pretend to be cool," he said to himself. He typed a command on his keyboard and the droid began to move, the distance between the Droid and Shadow Unit is about 300 meters, the assassin droid began to move slowly at first but when Mole sees no reaction from the Shadow Unit he began to get pissed off, so he ordered the assassin Droid to move faster, the assassin droid began to dash toward Shadow Unit, in less than few seconds the Droids is already less the 100 meters from the Shadow Unit. Mole is laughing nonstop, but when he notices the Shadow Unit indifference he frowned. And when the droid is about 15 meters away Dove, the Leader of the shadow unit raised her hand and give him a middle finger with a grin on her face, mole began to think something is wrong but it was already too late. Boom!, The penetrating bomb exploded creating a ten-meter wide hole in the ground and after that EMP is detonated destroying all electronics within the base beside the ones the Shadow Unit has. The moment Mole saw the Middle Finger of Dove everything went dark, he began to panic he immediately starts looking for his phone but because it was pitch black he started to fumbles around he tripped on the cable on the floor and hit his head on something, "ouch! F.U.C.K!! What is going on EMP? No! That''s impossible, I designed this base and my droid extremely resistant to electromagnetic interference only Class 3 below EMP can affect them but that kind of EMP is humungous there no way to bring it here F.U.C.K!! No wait that blank space did they assemble it here that''s even more impossible even if they can assemble it there''s no way to carry all those parts here and assembled it in less than 5 minutes a Class 3 EMP Arrghh!, what is it?" he cursed and shout out loud but no matter how much he cursed and shout nobody answered him. He began to regret chasing away all human personnel in the underground floor, he was a loner that''s the reason why no human organization wants to hire him no matter how brilliant he was for he has a bad personality and doesn''t want others to keep watching him. together with his bad personality and eccentric behavior, no Organization wants to hire him anymore. Only someone like Chained Souls who are under Beast Lords that doesn''t care about his behavior as long as he delivered what he promised Chained Souls lets him do whatever he wants. Chapter 81 - Shadow Moon XXII In reality, Dove doesn''t want to use the EMP because she would have no opponents to fight, but she wouldn''t jeopardize the mission because of her enjoyment. "Elly, Brandon your team stay here and clean this place, the rest follow me," said Dove For every floor, they visited as they went down 20 shadow Units stayed to clear the floors. "This is the last floor?" Ask Dove. "Yes" "Alright spread out I want that mole in front of me don''t waste time we need to back up Michelle," said Dove. Mole fumbles around looking for his cell phone a minute later he found it, and like he guesses the phone is also dead. "Fuuucck!, all my hard work, everything I created is gone." He slumps back into the floor we wanted to cry but no tears came out, he knew he won''t be able to escape as all the electronic lock is fried locking him inside, if it was before he can just order the droid to destroy the door but now all his baby is dead. He stayed on the floor with a dead look in his eyes. Mole was a brilliant scientist during his younger years he contributed to many droids and mecha development he was one of the developers of EX droid series that Ruby and Jem fought in Spider HQ but because of his bad temperament and personality the team fabricated some lies that he leaks some information regarding the development of EX series, because of that he was fired and sue him and his name was erased as one of the developers of EX Series Droid, that incident leads to his personality to even worsen since then he keeps bouncing from one organization to another but because of his personality, no organizations lasted in hiring him. Soon he lost everything no money no house and with a huge debt from a loan shark, he was captured and was forced to work as a mechanic in one of the loan shark business until that loan shark for some reason offended Chained Souls and was captured along with his whole family, Mole too was captured along with many other, that was then Chained Souls discovered his talent and have him work on a lab of his own, it was small at first but as he keeps delivering what he promised, soon he becomes one of the biggest sources of fund for Chained Souls, so they gave him the base of his own where he can to whatever he wants as long as he keeps delivering, it was heaven for Mole over time he develops many advance Droid and even make the base nearly impenetrable, he builds countless traps and have thousands of droid to guard his base. But all that comes to the end today. It didn''t take long the command center of the base is not really hidden, its located at the center of the bottom floor surrounded by all kinds of laboratory and fabrication facility. "So this old man is Mole?" Ask Dove. "Yup, he''s the only human here." "Old man, your guinea pigs are here why are you not greeting us?" said Dove as he looks down on the old man who looks lifeless in front of her. With a slight kick, Mole woke up from the shock, he looks up, and he saw the girl who gives him the (finger) grinning at him. "You, You. Destroyed everything I''ve built, you, my decades of hard work gone! How dare you.!" He launched himself into Dove with a crazy look in his eyes. But Dove just kicks him in the stomach and he''s was thrown backward by the force of the kick, his back hitting the machine with a Bang! He slumps back clutching his stomach and vomiting at the same time, the pain wakes him up completely with snot and tears in his eyes he looks at the still ginning girl in front of him, but he didn''t see a girl he saw a grinning demon. "What do you want from me?" Mole asks coughing and breathing hard he wasn''t an enhanced human so several of his ribs are broken by that kick he was in so much pain, but he gritted his teeth and still ask the question. Dove looks around and saw that everything is fried and click her tongue, "what a waste, pick him up. Give him to the recovery team for interrogation." She selected 5 teams to stay and completely clean the place and left. Her destination Chained Souls'' main Headquarters. "Hopefully the fight isn''t over when I got there, why is it that Michelle always get the good part she grumbles" ...¡­.. Michelle blocks a hit from Gisu, the hedgehog type Beast Lord is really annoying he keeps throwing spikes and can''t seem to run out of it. Every Shadow unit is fighting in group formation except for Michelle, Mary, and Adda. Mary and Adda is in the same batch as Michelle and Dove their skills and ability are only slightly below Michelle and Dove, Mary has a shy personality that''s one reason she didn''t really stand out, but shes above Michelle and Dove when it comes to Assassinations and sneak attack her personality completely change when she is assassinating someone. As for Adda, she was a silent type like Michelle but when she fights like Mary her personality completely changes she is like a berserker when she fights, and she''s the only Shadow Unit who carry Great Sword, she has an inborn super strength among all Shadow Unit she''s no.1 in strength only bellow Ruby and Jem. The thee of them fights alone especially Adda with her big sword she is better in fighting alone, Adda is fighting Baku while Mary is Chasing Karasu, the rest of Beast Kings are fighting a group of Shadow Unit. But suddenly the Beast King Kiku a scorpion type Beast Lord suddenly switch target, "Bell behind you!" But it was too late As she defends against an attack from another Beast Lord General, she was too late to defend against a sneak attack of Kiku, who excel in quick attack and assassinations before anyone can react Kiku''s poisonous stinger penetrated the back of Bells head killing her instantly. "Ahhhhh," Adda Screams in Fury. Chapter 82 - Shadow Moon XXIII Arc, look at the projection and muttered "No!" before he realized it he was already standing up, he let out a sigh and sat back down. He was surprised by how quickly he calms down. He watches the projections without saying a word, Tiffa, Ash and even Jarvis are watching him, when they saw him quickly calming down they smiled, they know their Boss is maturing fast not in age but in mentality, even Jarvis has a rare smile on his face. "Eve, give me Bell''s information, does she have any family or anyone she cares about?" Ask Arc Calmly. "She has one remaining family her twin sister, both her parents died when they were young." Said Eve. "Where''s her sister now?" Ask Arc. "She''s in Eastern Emporium working as a sales clerk, she a single parent with two kids, Bell and her sister Bella are separated for a long time and haven''t been in contact for at least 5 years." Replied Eve. "Bring them all here if possible, if not have our branch there contact her and have her work as a Branch Chief of our business there, and put her and her kids under our protection. We can''t let the family of the people who gave their lives for us to suffer." "Yes, Boss." Said Eve. Arc knows what happen to Bell is just beginning, more and more people will die for his ambitions, but he knows he can''t stop, so the best he can do is give the best life to the family of the people who died for him. ...¡­. Dove can still hear the sound of fighting as she and her team get near the inner area of Chained Souls the main HQ. "Looks like I''m not late, I''ll still be able to enjoy my self." ...¡­. Kiku, lick the blood on his tail with a perverted smile, "hahaha taste good, that''s one haha, soon ill feast on." He didn''t finish because he notices the change in the atmosphere, he looks at the faces of the Shadow Unit and every one of their eyes turn red, and a huge amount of killing intent is being released unrestrained. The most important thing for the recruit to become Shadow Unit to be able to control their killing intent and their aura, to be a successful Shadow unit one must remain undetected and invisible even after he killed the target. But this time all their aura flows unrestrained, every Beast Lord felt a shiver in their body no one is an exception. It''s far more so for the King class Beast Lord for their sensitivity to aura is much more than General class and below Beast Lord. Ahhh! Adda released all her Aura and attack with all her strength, Baku manages to defend even though he was caught somewhat unprepared for he too was shocked by the amount of Aura and killing intent released by all Shadow Unit. He was able to defend but was blown away tens of meter back, Adda didn''t chase him but instead dash to Kiku, eyes red and screaming. Kiku panicked he wast a strength type like Baku if he was hit by Adda he''ll be swat like a fly, he tried to jump back to get away from Adda, "Kiku watch out" shouted Karasu he notices that the girl chasing him change target to Kiku. Kiku, look back and saw the red eyes of Mary with tears flowing, and her flexible Sword already near him. "Don''t kill him, Mary, I want him alive" shouted Adda. Kiku knew he kicked the hornet''s nest this time, but he was still an enhance king class Beast Lord. Mary heard Adda shouts and with a flick of her hand, her flexible sword changes target to the head into the left leg of Kiku. The road he traveled to become a King class is not easy, countless time he faces life and death situations, he knew it was too late to dodge, so he used his tail to try to block Mary''s sword, but the nimbleness and flexibility of the flexible sword is beyond his comprehension like a snake it dodges his tail and before he knew it his left leg is slice through, and that''s not the worse part Adda, is already in front of him with her big great sword. Adda Shouted, and slice down cutting the right hand and right leg of Kiku. Kiku can only watch as Adda slice off his right arms and legs. But before he could even scream he saw mary pulling out a gun. Mary didn''t pause after she cut Kiku''s Left leg. She pulled out her Silent gun and fired at maximum power destroying Kiku''s Tail, this happens in a split-second before Kiku could even scream Adda grabs his head tossing him back to the Shadow Unit in the back. "Keep him alive don''t let him die so easy," said Adda in a hoarse voice. Kuki''s screams can be heard from the back of Shadow Units almost all general and king class was stunned in just a few seconds a king class Beast Lord was defeated miserably, the Shadow Unit didn''t feed him binding pill but instead burned his wounds with silent gun to keep him screaming. His scream is like music to their ears, but it has different effects on the Beast Lords, they also cut his last remaining hand and left him writhing in pain like a worm. Bell''s body was already been recovered by Shadow Unit and every one of them has red eyes and tears in their eyes, all of them are prepared to die the moment they accepted this job but losing a sister, they still couldn''t control their tears from flowing. Even Ruby and Jem have slight tears in their eyes, for they trained each and every one of Shadow Unit, and whether they like it or not they too treat everyone from Shadow Unit as Brothers and Sisters. But they still didn''t move they just continue to watch, for they too know that sooner or later more and more of their brothers and sisters will die along the way. ...¡­ Dove was grinning as she and her team travel closer to the main HQ battlefield, they were unaware of what happens in there and Eve didn''t tell them either. As Dove and her companion gets near they notice the changes in the atmosphere they can feel a huge amount of Aura and killing intent being released not far from them. Dove becomes even more excited as she imagines the battle ahead. But as she reaches the area where Michelle and her team were fighting they notice the changes in the Shadow Unit. She looks around in confusion she notices a limbless Beast Lord not far from her and a body covered in black cloth. The moment she saw it her hearth began to pound, it was not just her who notice it. Yuri and the rest behind her noticed it too. She flashes and appeared next to the body covered in black cloth, she slowly removes the cloth her heart pounding fast. And when she saw the face of the lifeless girl. Everything stops, "Bell" she whispered. Chapter 83 - Shadow Moon XXIV (Guys I''m going to edits some of the early chapter coz it''s pretty bad and prolly hard to read, I''ve been too lazy to do editing but I guess its time to do it. so I can only do 1 chap a day until I''m done with the editing as I have limited time to do both because of work. well anyways enjoy the chap.) Yuri notices the solemn atmosphere within the Shadow Unit she knew it wasn''t good especially the amount of killing intent they are releasing. She also notices Kiku Writhing and Screaming but her focus is on the body covered in black cloth, so when Dove flash beside it, she follows along and when she saw the face, "Bell" she whispered she wasn''t new to death as a former head of Spider death of subordinate is common for her, but this time is different she knew Bell personally she and Bell are on the same batch of trainee when they were training as Shadow Unit, and Even though she received a much more extensive training she and bell still do training together most of the time. She even went to a few missions with her, and before she knew it her tears are already flowing down, she is holding the flexible sword so hard it started to rattle, Mikasa and Mikhail also knew Bell, but they were so used to death of friends during their training as protector more than 500 children are with them in the end only the two of them remains the rest were killed during training some are killed by them and many killed themselves. So when they saw Bell there are not many changes in their faces but the way they hold their weapon is much tighter than normal. Dove looks at the Beast Lord and said "Bastard" she can already piece together what happen and who was responsible for Bell''s death. "Go!, but don''t kill them I want them all alive if possible. I don''t want them having an easy death." Dove is much more vocal than Michelle. The moment she said it she dashed head on to the Beast Lord, she flashes near Michelle and Hacked using her new favorite weapon two short-handed battle Axe, she fell in love with it the moment she tried using it, Shaki was surprised when Dove instantly appeared beside her swinging her short axe, but she didn''t panic she spit venom of Dove expecting her to back off, but to her surprise, Dove didn''t back off she didn''t even try to block it, instead, Dove throws her axe at her, Michelle didn''t stay idle either her flexible sword is already upon Shaki. Shaki knew the people attacking her are both super expert, she cursed under her breath, "Darn it!," she uses her whip to block Michelle Flexible sword and using her other arm she blocks the axe with her claws the moment her claws made contact in the axe she knew she''s in trouble the force behind the axe is beyond her current strength, it immediately destroys her claws almost chopping her hand, but she was able to change its directions, but the injury in her arm is quite severed she won''t be able to block another axe. But before she retreats a red flash pass in her left leg completely dismembering it, she hissed in pain and notice Dove holding a gun pointing at her, there was no gloating expression on Dove face only anger there are still tears in her eyes, distracted Shaki didn''t notice Michelle appearing beside her until it''s too late, she saw flashes, and the pain comes next she screams in pain as her remaining limbs fall off. There''s no emotion in Michelle''s face only tear-stained red eyes can be seen on her face indicating how angry she was, Michelle grabs Shaki''s head tossing her next to Kiku. Where two Shadow Units waiting for her. Aaaahhhh, Shakis Scream reverberated within the area as her wounds are being burned by a silent gun to prevent her from dying in blood loss. The rest of the King Beast Lord is starting to Panic with the arrival of Doves they are outnumbered 1 to 10. It won''t be a big deal if their opponents are common human even outnumbered 100 to 1 they can still escape if need be. But this time every one of their opponents is an expert many surpasses even them as a king. Baku looks around there''s still blood in his mouth when Abba sends him flying back with her greatsword. It''s only been a few minutes but already more than half of the general class beast lord is already dead or incapacitated 2 of the king class is already defeated. "Aahhh" a cat-like King class beast Lord was defeated like Kiku and Shaki, all her limbs are severed and was tossed back like a piece of trash, "Kishi, Shit, F.u.c.k!" Baku cursed. "I need to escape we have no chance of winning in this fight," Baku said in his mind. In fact, Baku wasn''t alone in this thinking the remaining Kings all thinking the same thing, even the fearless Garou is looking for a way to escape as he continues to fight. "Don''t bother, none of you can escape," said Dove. She gestured and more than a hundred Shadow Unit changes formation, before the Beast lords can react they were fully surrounded. The fight no longer have any suspense once surrounded one by one the Beast Lords fell and captured in less than ten minutes only 3 Beast Lords is standing, Baku, Garou, and a turtle type King Beast Lord name Dama, who specializes in defense but looking at him his Purple Shell in his back is full of crack and some indentation and cracks can be seen as if someone punched it hard. Countless wounds can be seen on his scaly arms, and in his body blood continues to drop from them, but compared to others at least he looks complete, Baku lost his right arm, wounds of all sizes can be seen in his body his face deathly pale, but his left arm continues to hold his hammer. Garou is worse both arms are severed by silent gun and a smell of burnt flesh can be smell from it, smoke can still be seen coming from it. He is gritting his teeth from pain but his eyes are still full of fighting spirit. "As expected from Beast Lord, very resilient" even though a hint of playfulness can be heard from Dove''s voice her face remains cold. "What do you want from us? Ask Baku as he breathes hard. "Originally we only want to capture you and see if you can be useful but not anymore!" Said Dove. She stops talking after that if it was before she might tease them a bit but now all her playfulness disappeared. Michelle and the and more than 300 Shadow Unit already went ahead and will clear the rest of the base the head of Chained Souls is still not found. Dove immediately attack after saying her piece, and a minute later all Beast Lord is Captured or killed, every single one of King Beast Lord was captured all their limbs are dismembered. The General class below is spared from it, making them sigh in relief. The battle with Chained Souls is almost at the end but no one is celebrating. Chapter 84 - Shadow Moon XXV Michelle along with more than 200 Shadow Unit left Dove in order to find the Head of Chained Souls, the Inner part of Chained Souls HQ is a lot bigger than it looks, it actually has 3 huge underground floors and each floor is at least 200k to 300k square meters in diameters. If it''s an open field its nothing much for Shadow Unit but the underground floors of Chained Souls Main HQ. It is full of corridors and rooms searching through them one at a time will be a pain. Michelle ordered the Shadow Unit to spread out in pairs to look for the Security Control Room. After one hour they finally manage to secure one floor, two more to go. the search is slow so dove gave orders to all Shadow Unit that stayed with her to help Michelle in searching for Big Budda he only asked 10 shadow units to stay surprisingly Yuri volunteered to stay but Mikasa and Mikhail went to help search. Dove asks the retrieval team to transport all prisoners but didn''t allow for Bell to be moved just yet. .... Surprisingly after more than an hour of searching. The head of Chained Souls is nowhere to be found even after Eve took over the security in the whole base, three hours later they found a narrow tunnel that can only fit 2 people somewhere in the lower floor, the tunnel leads to underground lake and a small pier is indicating a submarine used to parked there. The Shadow Unit released a number of underwater drones in order to map or maybe find traces of Big Budda Submarine or where it was heading. But because the underground lake is deep and wide the deeper ones go it will take a long time to completely map it. But even so, the Shadows Unit released thousands of underwater drones, each drone is only a palm-size and completely round it''s like a tennis ball but jet black and it looks like a hybrid of metal and plastic. Each one is capable of scanning a 100-meter radius from its body and can detect and recognize all kinds of species and materials it can also move in about 100 to 300 knots per hour... But after 12 hours of searching they failed to find a single trace of Big Budda, so the Shadow Unit stop searching and just alow the Drones to do other works. The Shadow Units didn''t immediately start the take over process first they all gather inside where Bell''s body lie, there''s no more traces of blood in her, and she looks like she was just sleeping. Ruby and Jem are also there as well as all Shadow Units who participated in the operations luckily the place is big enough for all of them to gather. "Today we lost a sister, but she will never be forgotten, death is part of our job, we trained and I trained all of you for it, none of us is afraid of death, none of us fear it, in fact, we marvel in it, we embrace it this is what makes us Shadow Unit." Ruby paused for a bit. she sigh. "But separation is different as we are a family it will always hurt to lose someone, but we know this is part of our journey and more and more brothers and sisters will be lost along the way, I can''t promise to keep you all safe but I promise ill never forget you. Just like Bell, she will never be forgotten, to Bell! Ruby shouted and put her weapon to her chest and bow." "To Bell!! Everyone shouted and mimic Ruby action. After that, some cried, some just reminisced their memory of Bell, most just silently stand there vowing to get stronger. they just silently remember Bell in their own way, and maybe pray. Then one by one they left. Soon only Dove and Yuri remain as they volunteer to escort Bell''s body back to the HQ. For a proper funeral arrangement for Bell. Arc silently watch the ceremony the Shadow Unit did for Bell without saying anything, he was surprised to notice he wasn''t very sad or angry but actually quite calm, of course, he was sad and maybe a little angry too but overall he was just calm. "Make arrangements for Bell. And take the implanted chip from her head it will be kept to our vault, it will be our way of keeping her memory as it contains some of her memory." "......." Nine "Yes Boss," said Tiffa. "Eve give me suggestions in order to prevent this kind of situation in the future." As soon as he said it, Eve put a diagram in a projection. "Hmmm, a new armor design?" Arc looks at it, Looks cool especially with the black helmet and looks more robust compared to skin-tight thin suit before. This one looks like a skin-tight leather armor with matching black helmet. There are more variety of armor others look like heavy armor there are at least 10 types of armor. "This is all for Shadow Unit?" Ask Arc. "Yes we need different types for different occasions, we should start training specialize units." Said Eve. "Huh? But aren''t we doing that already, with saboteur and supply unit?" "Yes, but we need more than that as Shadow Unit grows in number we need specialize teams that consist of different specialists." "So what you mean is we need to create a fixed group instead of mixing them up for every mission?" Ask Ark. "Yes" "Alright ill consult Ruby and Jem about that, as having a fixed group has their own merit, like being familiar with the person fighting style and habits, can make fighting a lot smoother, as supposed to a makeshift team. Got it, make a different design armor for the Army as well." "Yes Boss," said, Eve. "Well, we already have a rank 5 military-grade armor Factory might as well make full use of them." Said Arc in his mind. "How''s the search for this so-called Big Budda?" Ask Arc. "Nothing yet, looks like he managed to escape," said Ruby. "Shit! Find him we can''t let him go for he might know more about us when we attack his base" "Yes, Boss! We''ll find him for sure. Replied Ruby. Chapter 85 - Shadow Moon XXVI Tom and Gerry, as well as Biggs, and Wedge learned of what happened in the siege in Chained Souls Headquarters, as well as the death of Bell. They don''t have much interaction with Shadow Unit so they don''t feel much with the death of Bell. But as the first death since the founding of the Grand Army, it was quite significant for everyone in the Grand Army. Today is the day they will assault Enigma City. It wasn''t a smooth ride reaching Enigma City having been called a natural fortress is no joke. They encountered much danger along the way if not for their superior equipment and enhancement many of them would have perished along the way. But thankfully none died there are some injuries along the way but with the help of Health Solutions no one perished. Their suit and health solutions play a key role in their journey preventing many potential deaths. The suits protect them from many deadly elements along the way such as attack from many poisonous beasts, and insect as well as from physical damages, And health solutions make sure they are always in top conditions without those two Tom, and the rest can only imagine how many would have died on their way to Enigma City. Tom remembers when they encounter a gigantic Brutal Beast it looks like it was mutated from an elephant except it has thee trunks and eight legs ears that look like a gigantic steel wings not to mention the four jet black steel like tusks, and its skin is also covered with black scales that ordinary canon couldn''t even scratch, luckily they encounter only one of them if they encountered a herd he can only imagine the destruction it would bring, that elephant beast is over 10 meters tall and at least 15 meters long and it moves quite fast, and even after fighting it for about 5 minutes they weren''t able to kill it they can only watch it retreats after dealing enough damage to it. And that was just one of the many encounters they have on the way to Enigma City. Of course, there are safe routes but that''s only accessible for a few people, for them who have more than thirty thousand personnel, and many heavy types of equipment that road is not suitable. But after almost a full month of traveling, they were finally on a striking distance to Enigma City. It''s quite lively for a place that''s so very hard to reach. They can see countless people walking and running around the city, all in all, it''s not much different from a normal city, in fact, it is much more crowded than a normal city only it was owned by criminals and the residents are all mostly exiles and criminals. Tom watch as the surveillance drone scouts the city, 200 of Shadow hunters that are with them are already in the city gathering Intel, it''s still early in the morning, they''ve stop 5 kilometers away from the city, they will attack during the night at around 7 pm, that will give enough time for Shadow Unit to gather Intel for potential targets. Tom and the rest organized and brief the Army after that he leaves them to it. The Army is well-trained and doesn''t need anyone to supervise their every action. .... Time ticks by and just like that 7 pm are almost upon them, the army is already in positions Shadow Units have already returned with the Intel. This is a special operation as Eve won''t be participating in these operations as there is no stable signal in here, and they can only use the portable network with only a radius of 20 kilometers. Until they manage to build a network tower that Eve can use to connect to them that they can once again have Eve supports. So this time they were all on their own, they can send messages through their portable communication tower but that''s not enough for Eve real-time Intel to be effective. So Tom decided to do this without Eve and besides it''s a good lesson for the Army as they have to learn to do things without Eve, to remove their dependency on Eve. Actually, it wasn''t just Tom who thinks that way even Ruby and Jem don''t want the Shadow Unit to depend too much on Eve as it will have a bigger effects in the future, that''s why they will send Shadow Unit on a mission to gather Intel without the help of Eve to build up their skills and learn to be independent. "All preparation complete, jamming is in place no communication will leave the Enigma City besides ours, Enigma City is now 100% isolated from the outside world," said one of the Shadow Units. "Good job. It''s our turn next, rest for now, you can join after" said Tom. "Sir ETA 30 minutes..." "Alright go-ahead announce our arrival," said tom smiling. As soon as he said that the surveillance Drone that''s been using optical camouflage around the city immediately announce the warning, and the arrival of the Grand Army. "WE ARE SHADOW MOON YOU HAVE 30 MINUTES TO SURRENDER, FAILURE WILL BE DEATH!!!" The message was played continuously by over 1000 drones in camouflage, immediately the whole city enters a state of panic many people can be seen running back into their house, as the message was very loud, and comes from all around them almost everyone in the city has heard it. The leader of the ruling organization immediately summons an emergency meeting... Chapter 86 - Shadow Moon XXVII "ETA 10 minutes sir." "Get everyone in positions, we can''t give them too much time to prepare as we have limited Intel against our enemies" Ask Tom. "Everyone is ready and in positions except for team A which will reach their positions in 1 minute sir" "Ok good! Begin battle preparation give me status!" Ordered Tom. "Marking all target¡­ marked. Releasing Drone Hive¡­ released. Marking hostile¡­ marked.¡­. ... ¡­." "Sir all preparation completed" "God keep me updated." "Yes sir" "Team A just reaches target positions. ETA 7 minutes" shouted one of the soldiers in the command center. "Team A here. Were in positions and ready to go!." "Good wait for the order to attack." "Roger that, we''re on standby" Jerry''s voice can be heard from the other side of the line. "Sir all team in positions and ready to attack our ETA is 5 minutes" "Good, patch me to everyone." Said Tom. "Done sir" "Everyone, on this battle we are on our own, there will be no real-time Intel on our enemies, everything will be judged by your eyes, and you will act accordingly for you are Grand Army the greatest Army in the world, and today we will prove it, what you see in front of you is nothing but trophy, so go and claim it..." After tom speech, the operation timer is 00:00. Boom! Bang! The artillery immediately starts bombarding the targets, and even though Enigma City is Isolated from the outside world, and nobody thinks of attacking it. Its defensive wall and structures are all top-notch for it was built not for defending human attack but for powerful beast and monsters who roam the wilderness and occasionally attack the city. The four ruling power of Enigma City spares no expense in upgrading the defense of the city. It even has a defensive shield made for command battleship in space. Nobody knows how they manage to get their hands on it and incorporate it into the city defense shield. Tom was reading the Intel about the leaders of Enigma City one last time, he read it many times during their travel to Enigma City. Trying to understand what kind of people he and his men are about to face. He closes the Intel tab and focuses on the ongoing attack on Enigma City. Dragko, head of Land Dragon criminal organization no one knows his real name but his strength and skill are unrivaled in Enigma City, rumor has it he used to be an ace mecha pilot as well as a rare strength type esper. Queen, leader of Underlady the criminal group that once capture Dove and sold her to other criminal organizations. She used to be HFA special agent but went rogue for some reason, she was still in HFA most wanted list to date. Li fang, leader of Fang Army. Former General of Pan Asian Alliance. He once led a failed rebellion against Pan Asian Alliance but was defeated when his plan was leaked, so he escapes and settles in Enigma City along with his loyal Army. Jack, the butcher of Racko City. The leader of the Butchers gang. According to Intel Jack along with his 20 men butchered more than 20k in the City of Racko in the northern part of the Atlantic Consortium, when they are cornered after robbing a bank. Jack''s little brother was killed in the crossfire against his group and the Racko City Defense Force. Jack was able to escape but 5 of his men died together with his brother he was heavily injured in that fight. But 10 days later he acted his revenge he set up over 50 bombs on the most crowded place and detonated it, the bomb was set in 5 police stations 5 hospitals, 3 schools, 2 malls and in the stadium where a concert was being held. After that, he and his men made a killing rampage throughout the Racko City before escaping. Because of that Jack and his team earn the ire of the whole Atlantic Consortium a special force was created solely in hunting him and his team down. Jack and his men''s family were captured and sentenced to death when they are identified. Eventually, Jack and his team end up in Enigma City where he was building his strength for revenge against the Atlantic Consortium. In the luxurious Room, 4 people can be seen having a discussion, they are the Four Head of Enigma City. "Who is this Shadow Moon? How come I never heard of them before?" Ask Jack. "Jack, you barbarous man you should get out more. It''s not a crime to know more about the world." Said Queen with a mocking tone. "I recall you begging me to stay inside when I was about to leave your room, now you want me to go outside, made up your mind woman." Jack laughs not minding the insult Queen said earlier. Queen has a voluptuous figure along with a beautiful face she considered the most beautiful woman in an enigma and even though she was already in her 40''s she looks around 20''s because of her enhancement and meticulous care about her body. "Ha, how can I not asked you not to stay you only lasted 5 minutes that includes the foreplay you''re like a pigeon¡­" Queen looks at him in disgust. The other two couldn''t help but chuckle. "Stop! This is not why we''re here. This Shadow Moon organization is as Enigmatic as our City. Nothing is known about them except their name. And even The Speaker failed to find anything about them" said Li Fang. The four head immediately focus and look solemn. Li Fang gives them all he knows about Shadow Moon. They read the report about the fall of Spider as well as the consolidation of underground power under Shadow Moon in UG. All of them have a frown on their faces, the fact that they manage to defeat and took over all UG criminal organizations without leaking a single Intel speaks of their power. None of the are capable of it and even if they combine all their power they still won''t be able to duplicate it. Chapter 87 - Shadow Moon XXVIII "Are they under Superpower in space?" Ask Dragko. "Who knows, it''s a possibility but no evidence so far, if not the other superpower in space especially HFA would already make a move against them." Said Li Fang. "So why do you think they''re here?" Ask Jack. "We can only guess," said Li Fang. "Can we negotiate with them?" Ask Jack. Do you really think they came all the way out here just to negotiate? If they are willing to negotiate they would have done so a long time ago. Said, Queen. "Che, whatever. So what can we do now?" Ask Jack. "What can we do? We can only resist. We can''t leave either as the moment we step in the outside world. The people after us will swarm as like flies to a turd." Said Li Fang. "I agree," said Jack. "Me too," said Dragko. "Sigh, we have no choice anyway," said Queen. "Good, then let us make preparations we will prepare our forces, and help each other if necessary but we will only manage our own people to avoid problems." Said Li Fang. "Of course," said Jack. "No problem," said Dragko Queen just nodded. After that, they discuss the allocation and deployment of their troops. And begun to prepare to fight. ...¡­. "Boom! Boom! Sir their shield can only last for about 10 minutes" "Got it, tell the team to prepare to move," said Tom. "Yes, sir!" The four heads look at the shield then Li Fang said "everyone prepares to defend our home. Show them this is Enigma and no one is going to take it from us." "YEAHH!!!" the crowd shouted. "Good luck," said Li Fang to the other Three. "Haha you too," said Jack. Queen and Dragko just nodded and left with their men to defend the area they were tasked to protect. "Shield down! I repeat Enemy shield down, all team moves out!" Jerry Biggs and Wedge along with other team captains receive the orders. And their assault on Enigma City has started. The moment the shield went down. All heads immediately take action. "Released the guard dogs!" Ordered Jack. A huge dog-like Brutal beast can be seen in the cages. The Trucks transport the guard dogs to the opening on the wall. Then one by one started to release them. The brutal beast Dogs immediately dash outside the moment the cage opens. They immediately dash to the oncoming troops. Bang Bang! Gunshot immediately drowned the Brutal Beast immediately killing more than 20 of them but the rest manage to get close to the attackers who quickly engage them in melee fights. Jack and his team also join the fight more than 10k men members of Butchers started shooting and fighting the incoming Grand Army. The bombardment never stops but instead of targeting the shield and wall it now targets strategic places such us armory and mounted weapons. The whole Enigma City is in chaos because 90% of residents of Enigma is criminal and many decided to fight back. The total population of Enigma City it 7 million and 90% of them are Criminals or exiles none of them wanted to be caught, as they thought the attackers are part of the goverment army so they decided to fight back. almost no one knows about Shadow Moon and the heads of Enigma City didn''t release the news about them either, so many residents of Enigma City Assumed they are sent by the Government especially since Grand Army is well equipped and wearing matching uniforms that look like special forces. There are over 30k soldiers participating in this operation 25k of them are combatants the rest is support and logistics. All 25k army soldiers are divided into 10 teams with 2.5 k soldiers each and all of them is armed to the teeth and unlike Shadow Unit, Army soldiers all wearing exoskeleton power armor equip with variety of weapons its not as flexible as the Suits Shadow Unit is wearing but its build for assault combats and have its own shield energy that can block up to 5 canon fire suitable for head-on assault. The only one not wearing any exoskeleton is Jerry, biggs and Wedge as their body is stronger than the normal exoskeleton and wearing it will only hinder their movements. of course, they have their own special suits it''s just that they don''t see any reason to wear them just yet. The Grand Army is fighting a Mobs of millions. And although not organize and well-trained like them the sheer number makes it a very strong enemy. The Four Heads were surprised when countless people suddenly decided to help them fight. Giving them more courage to fight. Jake smiles when he saw the over 300k people of all ages both women and even children carrying all kinds of improvised weapons and making way into the battle zone. "Open the weapon warehouse give them weapons now!" Ordered Jack while laughing out loud. His men immediately distribute more than 90% of their acc.u.mulated weapons. Leaving only a few for their back up. Queen, Gragko and Li Fang also follows along and started distributing weapons to anyone willing to fight. Tom watched as the Four heads started arming the populace through the scout drones, send the drone Hive shoot to kill! anyone armed is considered enemies. Tom knows this order will result in countless death but still give the orders. He was thinking good thing the signal here is limited or our Big Boss will not allow me to give this order. Ten drone hive immediately started gathering each hive houses 100k drones this ten hive has a total of 500k combat drones and each one is armed lethal. Tom pick the targets and divided the drones into 5 groups sending them to 5 different parts in the City. The drones are controlled by a rank 5 AI and can only follow orders, and tom orders, anyone armed must be taken down kill them if necessary. ¡­.... "What is that?" Said one of the mobs pointing at the swarm of red lights in the sky. "Drones! Shoot them, hurry and shoot them." Bang! Bang! Sound of gunshots immediately drowns his voice. A young man is shooting with a gun given to him by The Butchers the moment he heard a shout of Drones, his blood boils and adrenaline fills him up he began shouting "Shoooot them!!" But suddenly the man next to him suddenly falls down he stops shooting and another one in front of him falls down he looks at them checking the reasons. but the moment he saw it all his adrenaline vanished, all his excitement was doused like fire thrown into the ocean. Blood flows at the hole in the head he can see a few bits of brains flowing with the blood, he looks around and saw one by one people are going down soon many of the mobs notice it and immediately started to panic and tried to run and hide but before the can go far, they too fall down. No one knows who first shouted "I surrender I don''t wanna die" but one by one the mob started to surrender. They throw away their weapon and kneed down with their hands in the back of their heads. And the young man saw that those who surrender are not being shot anymore but because of shock, he forgot he was still holding a gun. Luckily for him, a friend of him immediately takes his weapon and throws it away and drags him into his knees. Saving his life. He looks at his friend and said "Joe thank you" "No prob you look like in shock Milo, I didn''t think the enemies have drones like that it''s like cheating," said Joe with a pale face and was trembling in fear. They thought with the weapon they can prove themselves to the Butchers and can finally join them. They only realize how stupid they are... Chapter 88 - Shadow Moon XXIX "Report!" "Sir north gate is already under our control but the progress is slow as we are facing under heavy fire. No casualties so far we have 5 wounded in the assault on north gate." "Bring the wounded to the base camp I don''t want any unnecessary casualty. How''s the other part?" Asked Tom. "Sir eastern area facing under heavy attacks from the brutal beast. No wounded and casualty¡­ ¡­ ¡­" "Alright we''re not in the rush we have no time table so tell everyone not to rush and do things slowly and perfectly." "Yes sir" "How''s the drone? "Sir 10k drones are destroyed 15k heavily damage and returned to hive for repair." "Drones killed over 70k armed enemies and destroyed 200k enemy weapons, 300k have surrendered and under surveillance¡­" "I see, keep me posted," said tom. Because unlike before that they can see real-time footage and video of the operation this time, because of heavy electronic interference in the areas they can only do the old fashion field reports. And make decisions base on that... Enigma city already has a death toll of over 200k normally that''s enough to paralyze the enemies in fear, but because this is Enigma City where death is part of their daily lives many don''t care much about the number of deaths around them and continues to resist. Of course many surrendered when they saw they are being butchered, but most didn''t care for many of them are under the influence of psychotropic combat drugs. Combat drugs are a popular drug used by many mercenaries, it''s been ban in almost all nations because even though combat drugs enhanced one perception and combat ability the aftereffect is far worse than any other drugs. Many mercenaries use it as a last resort. Combat drugs give one heightened awareness and enhance their physics to the limit, the effect lasts for 12hrs but after that, there''s a 70% chance of death and if your lucky to survive their lifespan will decrease by 65% and suffered many complications... But the four Heads of Enigma City distributed the drugs to all combatants including many regular people it was given together with the weapons... But the heads didn''t tell them what it was except it was to be taken if their life is in danger. Of course, there are those who recognize the drugs and just keep quiet, for they don''t care about other people. Queen as former special forces she was an expert in all manner of explosives, so in this fight, she ordered her men to place countless bombs all around them, she also prepared her suicide bombers if necessary. Among all the heads she has the smallest amount of people but each and every one of her men is a fanatic and will do anything she asked. She only has about 10k men under her but any of them is willing to die for her. Queen sits in her bunker surrounded by all kinds of monitors and standing behind her 10 of her most powerful guards. She looks at the drones of the Shadow Unit, and she shudders. She can tell how dangerous those drones were. She was afraid of the drones above all else as her explosives have little effects on them. As they can fly fast and shoot in the air where explosives can barely reach. That''s why she decided to hole her self in her bunker, and if her enemies want to kill her they will have to go inside where she has the advantage. Dragko is different he was a former Ace mecha pilot, but because of some conflict, he was framed so before he was arrested he stole the experimental Mech and escape to earth using the stolen ship. Dragko was inside the mech he named Fafnir it''s a dragon model mech that can transform into humanoid form. It''s 3 times the size of normal mecha but because he stole it before it was completed the power source is limited and can only be operated for 1 hour before it runs out of power. Of course, he was the only one who knows that. And no one in enigma knows this secret except for him. Not even his most trusted man knows the weakness of Fafnir. Right now he and his man is responsible for protecting the western area he didn''t stop the enemies from entering the city, no he actually let them in and allows the mob to test them first, and he and his man will attack using guerrilla tactics Enigma City is big after all, and he knows it far better than his enemies. If Eve is participating in the operations his guerrilla tactics will end up as nothing but a joke, now that Eve is not here his tactics proves to be quite effective against the Grand army as it greatly slows them down. As for Li Fang, as a former General, he has the biggest number of men. He has over 120k soldiers under his command using his connections he was able to amass a huge amount to weapons during his stay in Enigma City as one of the Heads. His tactics are much more straight forward fight the enemies head-on. He was responsible for the northern area. Jack, on the other hand, was nothing but a former head of street gang, the only tactics he knows is mob tactics, he gathers huge amount of mobs armed them and lead them to a fight, and right now the number of mobs under him has already passed 1 million only about 5% of them is properly armed but that doesn''t matter to him what he lacks in weapon he has exceedingly abundant number of drugs, so he begun to distribute it to them. All kind of drugs was given to the mobs to removes their fear and give them unlimited courage, Jack Laugh like a madman when he saw the number of mobs under him. "It will be a bloodbath hahaha," he said on his mind. Chapter 89 - Shadow Moon XXX Arc was in his office it''s been 3 days since they attack Chained Souls, Shari City has been cleansed by Chained Souls influence, as well as those who supported it. Unfortunately, they failed to capture the head of Chained Souls Big Budda, and during the operations, more than 100 Shadow Unit is heavily injured and has 1 fatality those injuries all happen in the Chained Souls main HQ raid. It''s been 3 days but no Shadow Unit wants to go home until they captured the Head of Chained Souls. Arc gave them 7 days to capture Big Budda and the ceremony for Bell will be held in 10 days. It''s been 3 days since then and according to Eve Big Budda flee to the wilderness, the problem is the wilderness surrounding Shaki City is Vast more than 50 million square kilometers. But the Shadow Unit is determined to capture him so for the past 3 days almost all Shadow Unit in Shari City is hunting Big Budda that includes Jem And Ruby, only a select few are staying in Shari City to Clean up the mess and take over the operations of Chained Souls. And Yuri is the one leading the cleanup and take over operations. Today he was meeting the representative of UG when they found out that over ten Alien races show interest in visiting Earth because of Grand Trading Corporation. They were stunned. Because since they can remember all interest about space is being handled by HFA so if other race from space wants to trade with human HFA will handle the negotiations but 2 days ago they received an application from over ten different race from space expressing their interest in visiting earth to meet with Grand Trading Corporation. At first, they thought it was a joke played by their co-worker but when the president of UG calls about the said applications the whole office of foreign affairs exploded in excitement. So now Arc is waiting for the representative UG the foreign secretary Elisabeth Oswald, she was the one tasked in welcoming and guiding the Alien races that will be visiting Earth. In truth because of HFA strict control of space elevator and their control about news about space many humans on earth don''t know anything about space. They know a few details like the Liberty and Solar space station, and the moon base. But that''s the extent of their knowledge any details about those things are said to be a secret so people on Earth remain ignorant about the true conditions in space. Very few people on Earth are privy to the true conditions on space, even Arc only started to know things about space from Eve. According to UG, they want to make public the Alien visit on earth. Of course, this is not the first time alien race from space is visiting earth but all of those visits are controlled by HFA and no government on earth is allowed to interfere. Because according to HFA alien race is part of space so it''s not under the non-interference law as they will not interfere with earth affairs they were only visiting so earth representative has no say in the matters. But today is different the alien races are not dealing will HFA but with Grand Trading Corporation. Which is located on earth. Of course, HFA wants to mediate the meeting but the alien race said they are not dealing with HFA but with Grand Trading Corporation. So they went directly to earth to apply for a visit. And this time HFA has no say in the matters so even if they are against the Alien race visitation on earth being made public, this is earth affairs, and they can not interfere with it. Elizabeth was excited and nervous about meeting the legendary head of Grand Trading Corporation. For no corporations on earth have managed to tame the Superpower on space like Grand Trading has managed to do. She didn''t know how many times she read the Intel about the Head of Grand Trading Corporation. And no matter how many times she read it she couldn''t believe that a 20 something-year-old have managed to create a legendary Corporation like Grand Trading. And like others before her, she didn''t believe that Arc was acting alone and that there''s no power backing him up. Arc was already waiting for Elizabeth Oswald in his office. He didn''t meet her in the conference room like others as he didn''t think this is a big deal. "Good morning miss Oswald, I''m Arc the owner of Grand trading. And this is Dianna my CEO I''m sure you already know her and this is Tiffa, my secretary. Please sit." Said Arc as he introduces Dianna and Tiffa who is standing beside him. "Good morning Mr. Grand I''m Elizabeth Oswald the UG secretary of foreign affairs. Sorry to bother you this early in the morning." "Let not be too formal here MS. Elizabeth, call me Arc please sit down, I was surprised that UG pays attention to this kind of thing." Said Arc. Elizabeth Oswald is a middle-age woman she looks strict at first sight especially with rectangular glasses but her smile gives away her easy-going personality, she''s been a Secretary of foreign affairs for over 20 years, and has served over 3 presidents so far. She looks around the office and notices how simple it is besides some simple things only the desk and a few chairs are in it, the whole office has 360 views of Radial City, she nodded in acknowledgment she also likes the simple set up of the office. "You have a good office here MR. Grand. I like the simple setup and the views are fantastic." "Haha thank you, Ms. Elizabeth, but please call me Arc I hate formal conversations," Arc said as he shakes the hand of Elizabeth. "Sure, looks like we can get along just fine," she also shakes Arc''s hand with a smile and sits in front of Arc Desk. Chapter 90 - Shadow Moon XXXI (i have to say editing, is far more tedius to me than writing, and its taking most of my time i can barely write because of it. well just ranting here. enjoy the chaps guys. ????) "Hello Arc, I''ve heard so much about you and on behalf of UG, no! the world thank you for bringing a lot of help to Earth." "No, no Ms. Elizabeth you''re giving me too much credit I''m just trying to run a business nothing more." Said Arc with a slightly embarrassed look on his face. "Not at all Arc, we all know what you''ve done to bring us the VR technology on earth, and now the alien race is coming to earth to trade, you are putting Earth on the map. When humanity from space only treats Earth as a Farm, and people from the earth as a farmer, nothing more." "Sigh, yeah that''s a sad thing earth technology has become stagnant because of heavy control from humanity from space. And even with the so-called noninterference law. Their control over earth remains strong, I''m just trying to give what Earthling deserved. Said Arc with an honest smile on his face. They drink some tea, and continue to make small conversation, he found talking to the middle age Foreign Affairs Secretary is quite relaxing Because of her easy-going personality. "So Ms. Elizabeth what is UG planing on the visit of alien Race from space? Because honestly, I didn''t think it''s a big deal as we are expecting more race from space to come to Earth to trade with us in the coming few months." Said Arc. "Really more will come?" Elizabeth was really surprised she didn''t think more alien Race will come to Earth, she smiled and said. "Don''t worry about that it''s just a formality, we plan to make it public as to give our people a heads up just in case those aliens decided to tour Earth." "I see I don''t mind but doing this every time we have an alien visitors is quite¡­ Tedious don''t you think?" Said Arc. "Well you only need to participate once or just send a representative from your company, as we all know you like to have a low profile from the public." "Haha yeah, I still enjoy walking in public without any disturbance it wasn''t just for me it''s also for my family, so I appreciate the government not naming me in public." Dianna can handle all procedures regarding the alien visitors she can go herself if not she will send someone as our company representatives." Said Arc. Oh, actually I''m here just to get your consent for making the arrival of the alien race on earth public. after all its a private affair between you and them. "Ah, Alright, you got it. You have my or Grand Trading Corporation''s consent. Dianna will take care of all the procedures you need from us. Oh yeah, Ms. Elizabeth Grand Trading is planning on opening an Academy on every major City on UG. In the future, I wonder if you can help me with that?" Said Arc with a smile. "An academy? Hmm, I can propose it to the president, but opening an academy required many things, and it has to pass certain standards since the ministry of Education is jointly managed by all superpower countries on Earth." "I know, well it will be in the future anyways were not in any rush. But I have to say this honestly earth education is greatly falling behind compared to space. And it will only grow apart in the future if nothing is done." "Sigh, I know it''s a big problem, the ministry of education is trying to solve this problem but no, success so far, as technology from space and research data are being extremely regulated by humanity from space. And we have no way around it." "I know!" With an enigmatic smile on his face. Elizabeth was looking at Arc and notice the slight smirk on his face. And thought "can he really help increase the education on earth?" But she didn''t dwell too much on it. After some small talk, she said her goodbye as she still has a lot of work to do. "Well Arc, I have to say its quite fun talking to you, but I''m afraid I have to go back as I have tons of work needed to be done at the moment, I will convey your request to the president regarding the Academy. I hope to see you soon." "Of course Ms. Elizabeth if you ever found your job at government too much, we in Grand Trading will welcome you with open arms." Said Arc with a huge smile on his face. "Haha, ill keep that on mind," She shakes Arc''s hand once again and left. "I really like her personality said arc. I think she will make a good help to you Dianna" Dianna just smiles and didn''t answer. "Dianna I also plan on opening an orphanage around the world under a different name and try to recruit those kids that will turn up dead or become a criminal in the future, into our soldiers in the future, it''s much better than what the future awaits them on the streets." "I agree boss, that way we can solve a soldier problem in the future and at the same time we can prevent those kids from turning into criminals." Said, Dianna "Eve, look for the existing orphanage we can buy and look for a place to build a new one in every city especially those cities near wastelands as there are far more orphans in those cities." Said Arc. "Yes, Boss" replied Eve. Dianna left right away to do her job as CEO she has many things to do. As Arc tends to leave Everything to her about running the company. Many times he asks Dianna to find a successor to do the job in her stead but Dianna strongly refused, saying it''s her purpose if she can''t do it she will be useless. And with the serious look on her face Arc can only scratch his head as he leaves the topic alone and praised Dianna for being so hardworking, that makes Dianna smiled brightly. Chapter 91 - Shadow Moon XXXII Building an orphanage is not a whim of Arc, in fact, he long plans on building one but didn''t find the right time to do it as it needs a lot of manpower because he didn''t plan on building a normal orphanage but a small training center for kids. And he plans to have Shadow Unit manage each orphanage it will serve as a recruitment area, and as a base for Shadow Unit doing mission in the area. Normally with humanities fertility problem, they will tend to care about all children, but in reality, it''s all about numbers the government will rather spend money on clones than the welfare of the orphans who need a large amount of resource to raise, of course, they didn''t completely abandon them they have to save face, after all. So they still fund a small number of orphanage around their territories but it''s not exactly paradise for children many left the moment they think they can survive on their own, as many people who managed those orphanages tend to take advantage of those children and to some children it is a living hell. So many escapes as soon as they have a chance. Arc plans to change all that, as he understands being no parents around, he was lucky as he was already an a.d.u.l.t when his parent''s accident happen if not he and his sisters will be on the mercy of the orphanage. So Arc plans to give those children a second chance to make a life on their own. those that he couldn''t turn to soldiers he plans to educate them and have them work for Grand Trading, as he will need a huge amount of manpower in the future. Even though he can build a cloning factory in the future he didn''t know the number of resources it needs to make a clone, and he didn''t think the cloning factory will be enough to supply him with the manpower he needs in the future. So he only intends to create clones that can help him manage the manpower he plans to recruit in the future. Arc was conversing with Eve regarding the Orphanage plans as well as waiting for news from Tom, regarding the takeover of Enigma City. "Boss I already found candidates for our future Orphanages are we going to implement it right away?" "Sure why not, better to act now than later, send Shadow Unit or even Tiffa if needed to acquire those orphanages as soon as possible. Let''s start around UG first, let''s name our training center for orphans, Tomorrow Orphanage. I think it''s a good name even though he sucked at naming things." Said Arc. "Boss, I think the words suck at naming things is an understatement, you almost name Cosmos as Poopy." Said Eve. "Cough, cough haha I still think it''s a good name for that dog haha. Said Arc laughing. Eve... "Ehem, Anyways what the news on Enigma?" ....... "Sir the western part around the wall is already under our control." "Good create a temporary relief base on it. Give me a report on the southern area!." Said Tom. "Sir, Captain Biggs, and his company are slowed down by many traps and bomb planted in the area, so they are taking it slowly and disarming the traps and bomb as they move." "I see, and the eastern?" "Sir the mobs there are quite problematic their number is increasing in unprecedented state and what worse is many of them are under the influence of drugs." "Send two hives there to support them I don''t care about the casualties those criminals already made their choices. I won''t risk the lives of my men to pacify them. Order them to take lethal actions I don''t care if they kill them all!" Said Tom with the bloodthirsty look in his eyes. "Yes, sir." Wedge heard the orders and laughed." Good about time these people are starting to annoy me, lieutenant gives the order to open fire, let''s show these people we didn''t come here to play around." The lieutenant gave a bloodthirsty smile and said. "Right away sir" "Alright, Everyone open fire kill these bastards" A second later continues gunshot and artillery cannon drowned the mobs... "F.u.c.k these bastards" Jack smiles disappeared when he heard the artillery, and continues gunshot from the enemies, he thought he can use human shields to slow or deterred the invaders at first the invaders really make a defensive stance and it increased the mob confidence and starting to taunt them now they are paying for it. Boom! An artillery she''ll land near him blowing the more than 50 of his men to mincemeat blood and gore splash into his body and face, Jack immediately puke. "Retreat!" Jack immediately ordered a retreat, but he didn''t have to say it the mobs already awaken from their delusions and started running in all directions screaming and crying some immediately pass out from shock even with drugs in their system they still couldn''t handle the shock. Of course, some are in trance and started to fight harder their cries were drowned by the sound of artillery and gunshot. It was chaos the injured mob was trampled to death by fleeing mobs many throw away their weapons and started running away but ends up being knocked down by the mobs and was trampled to death. The death toll is enormous the front line soldiers where shock. Even with training, they weren''t prepared for the scene before them. Many of them stop firing and just alow the mobs to disperse some of them have pale faces and wanted to puke but manage to control it. Wedge didn''t reprimand them for stop firing Unfortunately, the artillery didn''t receive an order to stop, so they continue to fire adding more chaos to the mobs. "Bring the flame throwers and burn all these bodies" ordered Wedge. "Yes, Sir." Tom received the report but didn''t say anything and no emotions can be seen in his eyes. Estimated mob casualties 200k. Wedge looks at scenes in front of him its like a scene from hell broken limbs and scattered meat and dead bodies are scattered all around him. "Good thing Big Boss can''t see these" he mumbles. "Burn it! Burn it all don''t leave any trace he ordered the guys in flamethrowers, the rest move out our job is just beginning" Wedge ordered with a bloodthirsty glint in his eyes. Chapter 92 - Shadow Moon XXXIII The battle on Enigma City continues to intensify and Grand Army starting to take losses. When a group of five men is scouting a remote-controlled bomb exploded in the building near them destroying it and the five men were buried by the falling debris. unfortunately, their exoskeleton wasn''t able to protect them from being buried by over a million tons of debris. When Tom heard it He immediately sends drones to scout and finds where the bomber is located. But that was just the first, the fight with Dragko also produce some casualty the fight was so Intence that even Gerry was injured in the encounter and have to be sent back to temporary based to recover. "I''m fine, how many of my men we lost?" Ask Gerry, trying to pull himself from the bed. "Sir. 32 died in the fight, and more than a hundred are wounded some are in critical condition. But their lives are no longer in danger." Said the military doctor. ......¡­. A few hours back. "Sir we identify one of the enemies, he was Dragko former Ace pilot and one of the leaders of Enigma city he was hiding one kilometer in front of the industrial zone we don''t know how many of them are hidden in there." "Good job, send reconnaissance Drones to scout ahead bring the artillery we will bombard them till they exposed themselves. And bring me my gears I have a feeling I may have use for them here." Said, Gerry "Right away sir." Gerry was standing on the roof of the small building he was looking ahead at the industrial zone, and although he can only see the silhouette of the area ahead he can feel the danger waiting for them. that''s one of the reasons he asked for the artillery. He''s not going to risk the lives of his men to search the trap infested place. Of course, he only assumed the place ahead is full of traps. Soon a man comes to Gerry he was a supply specialist from the army, he gestured and a Black cylindrical box appeared before him it was a 5 meters tall and around 2 in diameters, Gerry put his hand on the box and it read his biometric and open up. Inside is a special armor made specifically for him. The armor was design by him personally and even though its only rank 5 techs. It poses unimaginable power compare to human technology. It looks like miniature Mech but no moving external part can ve seen outside. It was like it was made by a single piece of metal. No gap can be seen outside it has a sleek design and over all jet, black color and red light represent the eyes it was quite menacing to look at. The supply specialist was surprised for it was the first time he saw it, no, in fact, it was the first time it was exposed to the army as Gerry make it to a point that no one can see him when he was practicing with it. "Give me a report said, Gerry." "Sir artillery is in positions and ready to attack." "Good, fire!" ... "Boss the enemies are approaching us 1 klick to east." "How many are they?" Ask Dragko. "Boss about 4k they have many heavy types of equipment with them." "I see, let them come are the bombs in place?" "Yes Boss everything is ready" "Good prepares for combat attack the moment they enter our range, unfortunately, we don''t have any long-range heavy weapon with us, as that bastard Li Fang Hoards them all." "Yes Boss everyone is ready for combat" Boom! Boom! "Shit!" Dragko Cursed he didn''t think they will bombard them from a distance. "Looks like our enemy is not stupid and quite brutal they didn''t even bother to check before they bombard us." Said Dragko. "Boss our man in the east was hit and lost many of them we can''t keep hiding here and let them bombard us to death." "I know, no need to say it, go prepare the warbots I will lead the charge." "Alright everyone boards your warbots, the Boss will lead the way lets kill them all!!!" Warbots is a mini-robots around 1/3 the size of Mecha and was mainly used for small scale assault where Full Mecha can''t be used. Gerry looks at the base industrial zone in front of him and saw smokes and fires all around it. "Prepare the tanks they should be coming out soon I detected many energy signatures in the industrial base," Gerry ordered. "This one is bigger than the others, must be the boss it should be a full mecha." Said Gerry with a smile. "Non-combat personnel go back 2 kilometers back and prepare for an emergency. Our enemies are mini bots. Use canon and heavy weapons do not engage them one on one. Fire at will." Ordered Gerry he leaps back to the ground and stands in front of his men. And although many of his men are wearing full combat exoskeleton suits its nothing compared to what he was wearing. Unfortunately the armor he was wearing required many rare materials and can''t be mass-produced but as soon as Grand Army gets a hold of the source of the materials all that will change. One of the reasons Enigma City was chosen was because after the war, the lands around the city changes greatly producing many rare materials, unfortunately, its almost impossible to mine because of the weather conditions not only the area is polluted with heavy radiations electromagnetic storms are in constant state, making mining with machine impossible and human is not an option either. But Grand Trading possesses technology above that of the current human have. And the machine created by the factory system is not affected by this kind of electromagnetic storm so they can mine the materials around Enigma City without any worry. Chapter 93 - Shadow Moon XXXIV Gerry prepares for combat. His combat suit is a close-quarter type combat Armor it that doesn''t have many long-range attack weapons besides Laser Blast that has a 300-meter radius, and mini rockets that have 100 to 150 meters range the rest are all close combat weapon. Gerry is a Hand-to-Hand specialist and mastered many close combat weapon martial arts, of course, he can fight in a long-range too if there are no options but he prefers close combat if there''s an opportunity. The enemies warbot is not a problem his men can deal with it, the real problem is a full mechanical Armor (Mecha) as it can deal a great amount of damage, that''s one of the reasons the use of full mecha is strictly prohibited on Earth soil, anyone caught in possession of it was heavy punished and will be pursued by all country on Earth. Unfortunately, the mecha Dragko has stolen is a top-secret model so when it was stolen the manufacturer didn''t report it to anyone, and just use their men to capture it back. And because Dragko fled to Earth the manufacturer from space can''t mobilize a huge army to capture it in Earth soil, one reason is that they are not allowed to send armed forces in Earth second the Mecha that was stolen broke many regulations and taboo in mecha design, so they can''t reveal its existence. So they are powerless to stop Dragko. Of course, they didn''t give up they continue to send assassins to kill Dragko and retrieve or destroyed the stolen mecha. But Dragko was very intelligent and never allow himself to be assassinated or fall into enemy schemes. Gerry saw a dragon type mecha flying towards them and was surprised it is bigger than normal mecha at least two times bigger and with wingspan his 5-meter suits look like a child in front of a basketball player. "Shit, focus all attack on that dragon mecha! Gerry shouted he dashed forward the moment he gave the order. He knows he can''t let that thing get close to his men or there will be a bloodbath, "move back while retreating 2 kilometers away from the dragon mecha." Gerry continues to give orders as he was dashing to meet the dragon type mecha. 1-kilometer distance to a mech is very short in less than a few seconds the dragon type is only 200 meters away from the Army and Gerry is only 100 meters away from it. He immediately fires the mini rockets to greet Dragko. The mini rockets are only the size of chopsticks but do not be mistaken in its destructive power as each one is more powerful than a full rocket made by human tech. Gerry launches hundreds of mini-missiles. 50 of them are concentrated on the dragon the rest are spread around to attack the back army of mini bots following behind Dragko. Dragko just smiles at the mini rockets in front of him he thought his enemy is just testing him. He couldn''t be blamed for it as anyone who sees the chopsticks size rockets would think how powerful can they be if he was not in a mecha he would be afraid but inside the mecha that kind of small missile couldn''t even scratch his mech. And as even full-size missiles can only give small damage to his mech. But the moment the missiles hit him his face paled in fright. When 20 mini-missiles hit him he felt the tremor as each mini-missiles can hit as powerful as full-size missiles. When the first 20 mini-missiles hit his shield was depleted instantly when he saw 30 more coming he Cursed "Motherf.u.c.ker!!, what kind of mini-missiles are those," unfortunately, it was too late for him to dodge so in a split-second he back off and used the two wings of Fafnir to block the mini-missiles the wings were badly damaged the right-wing is completely destroyed the other badly damaged when 10 or so mini-missiles hits it. And more than 10 mini-missiles hit the body of Fafnir destroying the flight system and some armor. Fortunately, Fafnir was built to last so its armor is very thick but even so losing the flight system greatly limits its mobility, "Avoid those mini missiles! Dragko shouted, but he was too late the mini-missiles are already in front of his men. Boom! More than 50 warbot bot was destroyed and many suffered fatal damage and immediately stop working many of the damages is from warbot bot exploding next to them, and collided with warbot bot that was destroyed receiving fatal damages and some even exploded together with it. "Fuccckk! You!! I''ll kill you all" screamed Dragko in anger when he saw more than 1/3 of his men perish in that single attack. Not to mentions, the artillery and cannon fire continues to rain in front of them. Fafnir reverts into a humanoid form and instantly fires two missiles to the retreating army on the back of Gerry. Gerry was caught unprepared he didn''t think Dragko will ignore him and attack the men behind him, he immediately issues an order to avoid those missiles, unfortunately, he was too late. The missiles were very fast it reaches his retreating men in an instant. All combat soldiers immediately took cover behind the tanks and heavy machinery in front of them. But they didn''t expect the devastation the two missiles would bring. Two mushroom clouds form in the attack. Gerry looks back and saw the mushroom clouds and stutter "nuclear missiles? Bastard!" Gerry''s eyes went red and he went berserk. Dragko was laughing hard. "Hahaha take that you sonfoabitch!, that''s payback for my men if only I have more of those missiles ill bomb you to oblivion. How did you like that you p." He wasn''t able to finish speaking, Gerry was already in front of him his jet black suits look menacing its red eyes are glowing bright, Gerry fires the Laser Blast in point-blank range in full power, the chest of his suits a red halo can be seen. "What the hell is that? Shit!" Dragko cursed. But before he can fully evade the red beam blasted hi right side completely destroying is Fafnir''s right arm all the way to the shoulder even melting part of the chest. Destroying many important components. Dragko is an Ace pilot, after all, he didn''t panic even after being hit by that attack. Countless Red signal and warning appeared in his monitor, but he ignores it and immediately lunches a counter-attack he punches Gerry, using Fafnir''s left hand, unfortunately, that laser blast temporally immobilized Gerry suits, so he can only grit his teeth and brace for impact. Bang Gerry was sent flying back for about 50 meters sparks can be seen in his suits from the outside. Because even though his armored suit is made from rank 5 technology the materials used is still inferior compared to when it was created using Energy Unit. And a full power punch of a mecha is still something his suit cannot take without being damaged. Chapter 94 - Shadow Moon XXXV Gerry didn''t ask for a report he needed to focus on the enemy in front of him. There''s blood in the corner of his mouth the impact of the punch was mostly absorbed by his suit, but some of it still reach him. The hit still damages his body if he wasn''t a peak of 1-star rank human he would be greatly injured if not killed already. He didn''t wipe the blood in his mouth he stands up, the self-repair is already operating his mobility isn''t affected by the damage but shield integrity is greatly diminished any more impact that strong can completely destroy his suit. So he needs to be careful any reckless action like before can kill him if he''s not careful. He laughs because of his lack of self-control using an attack that can potentially backfire isn''t his style at all. he started wondering when did he start to change, he shakes his head and didn''t linger in that thought. He stood up immediately and dash again to his enemies he didn''t want to give time for his enemy to recover the warbots have already scattered and avoided him and Dragko. They are now rushing to the Grand Army. But he wasn''t overly worried he knew the men behind him knows how to respond appropriately in an emergency. Dragko checks the damages the Fafnir has sustained and Cursed. "Motherf.u.c.ker," Fafnir''s right arm is completely destroyed along with 80% of the components that control the weaponry of Fafnir''s right side even some weapons in a different part of Fafnir is affected. He looks at the enemy in front of him and his eyes turn red. He wasn''t surprised it survived Fafnir punch just based on technology the enemy armored suit is way above Fafnir. Using his remaining hand he pulled a sword from his back. It has jagged-edged it served as a spine when Fafnir is in Dragon form. When Gerry saw Dragko pulled out a sword he couldn''t help but smile. Two swords appeared in both his arms from countless nanomachines in his suit. When Dragko saw how the swords were formed using the nanomachine he was surprised, his Fafnir also has nanomachines but those are mainly used for self-repair, no one has managed to program nanomachines to create a weapon in real-time to be used instantly. Because nanomachines require materials and time to replicate and form, no one has managed to create a nanomachine that can instantly be formed. But the suit in front of him forms a sword in just a second. That''s why he was surprised. But he moves all that in the back of his mind for the enemy in front of him is a monster he can feel the aura and killing intent being released by his enemy dousing his enthusiasm to battle. But he knew he can''t run from this fight. No, because it too late his flight system and most of his weapon and mobility were compromised by the damage he sustained earlier even managing to balance the mech take a lot of effort with one of its arms destroyed, he can only pray that the weapon created by nanomachine is weaker than his forge weapon. As one of the problems of weapons created by nanomachines its not as good as the weapons forge using traditional means. But using nanomachines for emergency repairs is a common practice as it greatly helps the machine last longer in battle. It didn''t take long for Gerry to reach Fafnir he didn''t jump as it would make him a target instead he attacked the lower part of Fafnir greatly limiting its mobility. Dragko can only curse he was an ace pilot, but he specialized in space combat, and he never fought enemy only 1/5 the size of him and that''s, not all his enemy is like a monkey it''s very fast and worse of all it''s an expert. He tried his best to avoid and counter-attack but more and more damage is sustained by Fafnir. Fortunately for him, the auto repairs of Fafnir are quite strong and some of the weapons of Fafnir can already be used again. He fires an energy net that can capture and immobilize the enemy if hit. But Gerry skillfully dodges it and even counter-attack almost destroying the left leg of Fafnir. Dragko can only keep cursing, he is beginning to worry the damage is acc.u.mulating it won''t be long before Fafnir is completely immobilized no matter how good his armor is the damages piling up is more than Fafnir armor can take, not to mention his enemy attack is very strong despite its size. as the battle progressed he didn''t notice he was already drenched in sweat, and his cursing has long stopped he is now concentrating on the battle, he was waiting for the ring moment for he still has a secret weapon that he can use. He was only waiting for the right time, time that''s slowly slipping away. Gerry knew that his enemy is waiting for something because it entered a defensive mode. He also notices that the movement of the Fafnir has changed no longer taking his bait and most excess movements have disapeared, increasing the difficulty in damaging it, after all just one hard hit and it''s over for him. Gerry knew Dragko is waiting for something But he didn''t really care he continues to attack the left leg albeit with more difficulty as his opponents new what he is after. but to completely immobilize the enemy he needed to destroy one of its legs and the left leg is already on the breaking point. so he started mixing target sometimes he will attack the right leg sometime he will attack the upper part of the body, making Dragko move a lot and at the same time expend more energy. But his sword can only do minimum damage as the armor of Fafnir is quite tough especially around the joints where he was targeting. So he can only repeatedly attack the part to damage or destroy it. his laser blast can already be used again, but he won''t use it immediately as only a full or overclock attack with 120% power are the only thing that can really damage the Fafnir. but a fully charged attack has its own shortcomings. One it takes a second to fire the laser blast, second, a full-power attack greatly depleted the suits energy making it immobile for a second and when 120% of the energy used the longer the immobility. and in this kind of battle, a delay of a second is enough for his enemy to end him. So he can only use it if it can completely destroy his enemy. Otherwise, he might as well commit suicide a punch or a simple kick can completely destroy his suit as his energy shield is gone. Dragko fires multiple energy net and Gerry was forced to evade back but that''s what Dragko was waiting for he dashes to Gerry intending for full head-to-head collisions. Gerry was relaxed he entered a combat state, he immediately moves back still facing the Fafnir who was about to collide in front of him instantly his two swords turns into a huge spear using all his strength he throws it to Fafnir. Dragko didn''t think his enemy weapon can change form the spear formed was big almost the size of regular mech Spear he couldn''t fantom how can a huge weapon form so fast. He gritted his teeth he can''t evade it he tried to used his remaining arm to block it but before the hand can block it the spear already hit the Fafnir chest with him dashing forward it added the destruction Fafnir receive. he fires several energy nets forcing Gerry who just thrown a spear to jump back. A huge hole was seen in the chest destroying many critical components he gritted his teeth it''s now or never as Gerry jumps back he couldn''t wait anymore he knows this is the only opportunity he has as Gerry is in the air. Instantly Fafnir tried to change into dragon form but was unable to Fafnir now look like half dragon half human the upper part of Fafnir is dragon while the lower part remains humanoid, but for Dragko it''s more than enough the dragon mouth opens up and a huge barrel can be seen. Gerry stares at the barrel and knew he falls into a huge trap luckily the laser blast can be used again, there''s nothing much he can do in mid-air he dont has a booster pack installed as it only slows his movement because of the weight. Gerry in a split second summon another spear but didn''t use it to attack but as a means to stop he stab it on the ground bending it 90¡ã and use it to catapult him forward. Dragko watches Gerry stop retreating by summoning another spear and using it to catapult himself forward. He was about to smile when his smile froze he saw the red halo in front of the chest of the black-armored suit in front of him. He could never forget that halo as it was the one that destroyed Fafnir''s arm. "Motherf.u.c.ker! Let''s die together then!" He shouted. He fires the Dragon Blast. BOOM! Chapter 95 - Shadow Moon XXXVI The soldiers behind Gerry was horrified by the explosions the two nuclear warheads that exploded near them was beyond their expectations, they didn''t expect their enemy has a nuclear weapon, as after the war all kind of nuclear weapons is banned. And during space exploration age nuclear weapons can only be used in space, a nuclear weapon is a taboo on earth. The soldier''s eyes turn red. One of the lieutenants ordered "Kill them all don''t leave any of those bastard alive, gather the injured and have them return to temp base camp. The rest give these guys no quarter." "Yes, Sir." Many of the heavy machines are destroyed and damage but most of them survived, the same for the soldiers only the unlucky ones who were hit directly by nuclear bomb perished. Fortunately, they are quite spread out and therefor avoided many potential casualties, many of them are save by their exoskeleton suits as it has an energy shield on its own but those very closed to explosions are unable to be saved by their suits. Good thing the heavy machinery takes most of the damages and most casualties are from the soldiers operating the machines and those very close to it. If it exploded in temp base camp the death toll would be huge. They can see their commander is taking most of the heavy lifting fighting the full mecha on his own. They immediately sobber up from the previous explosions and although most of them have slight injury nobody complains about them and instantly began preparations for incoming enemy attacks, "Sir the enemies are Warbots there are around 100 plus of them as the captain takes out most of them. Many of our tanks survive the explosions and already engaging the enemies" "Good, is the minefield been successfully set up?" Ask the lieutenant. "Yes, sir the drones have managed to successfully planted the mines in the designated area, although some of them are destroyed by the shockwave many survived and ready for activation" "Good, lest finished these sc.u.ms, so we can help our commander. Let''s go!" "Enemies will arrive in the minefield in 10 seconds." "Don''t activate it yet, have these bastards all entered the minefield first." "Yes, sir." ..... ... "Sir they''re inside" "Good activate it! Let''s give them a surprise they won''t forget in their limited lives" said the lieutenant. Boom! One war bot was blown away the moment he steps in the mine. Boom! Boom! Soon one after another warbot is being blown away by a land mine. "Retreat there''s minefield ahead." Shouted one of the War Bots but the second he retreated he steps on another land mine and was blown away. He was only one many of the warbots that retreated and was blown away by stepping into land mine, "F.u.c.kers! We can''t retreat we''re already inside the minefield," "No, no I don''t want to die," said one of the panicking pilot of warbots he stopped moving because he was so afraid he will step into a land mine. "Don''t stop idiot!" But it was already too late that guy was bombarded by cannon fire he died screaming seconds later. *Motherf.u.c.kers!" The pilot of warbots screams! But the grand army didn''t care, even those that tried to surrender were bombarded by cannon fire and guided missiles fired by the grand army soldiers. The result was tragic for the Warbots at first they tried to go into a straight line in order to minimize the damage from land mines, but they were greeted by canon fires, so they have no choice but to evade, and when they evade they encounter land mines. In the end, only 10 or so warbots make it out alive in the minefield, but they were greeted by soldiers guided missiles and was eliminated. It only took about 10 minutes or so to eliminate all warbots the moment they entered the minefield, The Warbots was played to death by the Grand Army. The warbots was afraid to move forward because of land mines and was forced to evade and move around the minefield in the end because of the lack of leadership many warbots pilot refused the order to move forward and be cannon fodder for others the move around waiting for others to pave a path for them. But unfortunately, no one wants to be the hero, so they ended up going in a circle until they are killed one by one. By the time some of them man up. Their numbers are already pitiful. "Good have the drones pick up the leftover mine and prepare to back our coman.." But as soon as he said the fight between Dragko and Gerry is in the climax, as both fires their main weapon huge explosions occurred, second only to a nuclear explosion. "Commander!, you gather our fallen and clean up the battlefield I want a full report in 1 hour. The rest of you follow me lets see to our commander." Even though they saw the explosions none of them believe that was enough to kill their commander who looks like a superhero to them, they all know how powerful their commander is. "F.u.c.k that hurts." He coughs a mouthful of blood and looks around his suit is completely destroyed even his internal suits is badly damaged at the last moment he activated his portable energy shield that was enough to block several canon fires but even that was not enough to completely block the residual attack from Fafnir. He can feel his body Gerry looked at his body he look intact but can''t move at all. "Shit those guys are going to laugh at me" then he passes out. Chapter 96 - Shadow Moon XXXVII Tom received the report and sigh, "if even Gerry was wounded that badly the fight would have been tough" said Tom in his mind. "Prioritized the recovery of our wounded they must be back on their feet within 24 hours." "Yes, sir." "The lack of information is giving us a hard time." Tom now starting to missed Eve''s real-time support. Reports on the battlefield are continuously coming in. The people in the command center are all busy trying to summarize and categorized all the reports coming on the battlefield. Tom was happy with the performance of the Army because even though they trained them well, only in an actual war they can truly be tested, and so far they are doing very well. The Shadow Unit in this operation also started to move. Their job is to locate and give as much accurate Intel regarding the enemies. Because in this fight the Army really comes in blind and only have the basic Intel to start with. And all other Intel is being collected in real-time during the raid. And from there they are building a solid Intel regarding the enemies one step of the time, or one fight at a time. But Tom didn''t complain, he chose to attack with those conditions to trained his men at the same time giving them an experience that they can use in the future. The loss was inevitable he was prepared for that the moment he made the decisions to begin the operations with minimum lintels. Of course, he could have chosen a more safe path like having the Shadow Unit paving the way for them. Like planting many bombs in the city and assassinating the leaders, or their men one by one. But doing so his soldiers would be accustomed to doing an easy job. So he plans to give his soldiers a hard lesson and experience they will be able to carry for the rest of their careers. And as Arc gives him full control of the Army he plans to give the best Army to his boss, not some mediocre Army who only knows how to do an easy job. No, he plans to create an ultimate Army capable of doing any mission regarding any conditions. Arc was aware of what Tom is planing. His only concern is that Tom''s real occupation is a trainer, not a commander or general who specializes in commanding the army. He didn''t even have a real military strategist to help him, and without Eve he was a little worried about the assault on Enigma City. But he trusts Tom and the rest and deep down he also accepted the possible loss of men. Anyways Arc gives the reign on the troops to his men but soon he will take over as a Supreme Commander. So he tried to learn as much as he can, he has been reading books of all kinds that will help him in the future for he knows he can''t just stay in the background forever. Even though that''s his original plan but now not so much, back then he criticized those MC novels who charge head on to their enemies if they can send his men to do it, he always cursed at them and called them idiots, to him the overlord in the background controlling everything in the shadow is the ideal protagonist, but now he started to understand a little why those MC tried to do most things by themselves. It''s because being a background Boss is so F.u.c.k.i.n.g Boring! But of course, he''s not going to play with the lives of his men just to fulfill his vanity, so he tried to study and trained hard in order to be a commander that his men deserve and at the same time fulfill his desires for blood. So even though he has no role in the most operation of Shadow Moon and Grand Army. He was always there watching and learning and absorbing everything at the same time. He knows his time will come soon enough. Arc only recieve a bit of Intel regarding the assault on Enigma City until they were able to build a communication tower in Enigma City the communication there remains unstable. The assault on Enigma City is going on for about 17 hours non-stop, many people of enigma are exhausted but the Grand Army is still full of energy and fighting spirit. Their assault never stops or let up, their attack remains strong and nonstop. But unlike the Grand Army, many mobs are exhausted and their enthusiasm is long gone and worst the effect of the drugs they ingested is about to run out. So many of them are panicking and trying to get a hold of more drugs because they know the aftereffects is going to be Hell. Many of them are under the influence of drugs for years non-stop, and they know the moment the effect of drugs wears off they be in one hell of situations maybe they won''t make it through the withdrawal. So they all come to Jack the biggest Drug supplier in Enigma City. But the problem is even Jack huge supplies of Drugs is not enough to supply hundreds of thousands of people in one go and most of his stock is already been given away when the first assault happens what he has are his backup supply for him and his men he didn''t have any more to give to the mob. And that''s when all started going downhill for him. As they retreated and tried to regroup they tried everything they can possibly do to fight back. But after over 15 hours they still unable to do anything and now the drugs that he considered a weapon against his enemies are starting to point its barrel at him. As time goes on more and more mobs are starting to feel the effect of drugs waning, and they began to ask him for more. He knew things are not looking good for him. Chapter 97 - Shadow Moon XXXVIII Jack and his men found himself trapped by the very mob he formed, but even though he was worried inside, on the outside his face remains the same with no sign of panic he even has a slight smile of mockery in his face... "You want drugs? Do you think drugs are unlimited? Idiots! I have already given you all my drugs to fight the enemy I have more of course, but they are behind enemy lines but if we can defeat them, then I can retrieve my hidden stocks of drugs." Of course, Jack lied to them he didn''t have more drugs if these mobs can really defeat the enemy he will make another excuse then. "Then tell us where you''ve hidden the drugs? , and we will retrieve it for you" said one of the mobs. "Yeah! Tell us¡­." The mobs began to shout. Jack has no choice but to make up another excuse. "Why should I tell you where my drugs is?, will you tell me where you''ve hidden your wealth? Huh! Do you think I will tell you because you said so. Who do you think you are? you should be thanking me I''m giving my drugs for free, if not for this emergency do really think you have a chance to get my drugs?" Said Jack looking at the mob in mockery. The mob began to quiet down. Jack knows he won the debate this time. He was about to order them when. He was lying he justs wants us to sacrifice ourselves for his non-existence drugs I''ve lived in the neighborhood he was talking about. Behind enemy lines was the territory of the Black Mamba.who is under Li Fang Army. There''s no way he will put those drugs of his there. He must have somewhere else and just didn''t want to share it even though were risking our lives for him. Yeah! Yeah! Let kill them and get our drugs fighting him is much better than the invaders... All of a sudden killing intent was released into him and his men, Jack started to panic so are his men. "These fuking stupid bastard!" He cursed. He looks at the mobs in front of him there''s about 300k or so of them his men only numbered about 1k or, so they originally have about 10k plus in number but during the attempt to fight the invaders many of his men were killed, originally the mobs he gathers numbers in more than a million but during the fight with Grand Army many of them are massacred and many more have fled somewhere and never returned, most surrendered. Only about 300k are left with over the million he gathered. And now these 300k plus mob have switch target to him. "Idiot if you kill me you will never get my drugs! And who do you think you''re talking to huh? I am Jack the head of The butchers if you point your gun at me I swear I will find you and your family when this is over" Jack addresses the Mob with menacing, and bloodthirsty look. If coercion doesn''t work and fear would. He knows this better than anyone as he played this game all his life he uses fear as weapon to get what he wants and gets to be one of the four head of Enigma because of it, of course, all four head uses fear as a weapon to control their men and people in their territory, but no one uses it better than Jack he was an expert in psychological warfare. Again the crowd quieted down. But suddenly. Ahhhrghh. "Help me! Give me Drugs!" "Shit his drugs is waring out mine is about to wear out too" Me too, yeah me too! "Give us drugs Jack!" One of the mobs with red eyes shouted. "Give us drugs and we will follow you!" "Ahhhrrh" another one enters a withdrawal. Now the mob realized they have no more time soon they will end up like them. Jack also realize his psychological warfare has no more effective as the mob is going crazy and can no longer think straight, he ordered his men to get back and plan an escape route, but before he can retreat. Bang! One of the mobs shoots his men, soon one after another the mobs started shooting them. "Motherf.u.c.ker! Kill them all!" His men started shooting, and although his men are better equipped and many of them are enhanced and know how to handled themselves they started taking position and protect Jack. Many of the mobs are also good at fighting as they were all survivor and been through many life and death situations all of them know how to handle themselves in a fight. And even though the drugs effect their rational their body instinct takes over. It''s not a surprise they survive the attack of the Grand Army. They immediately spread out and encircled the Butchers those with guns are shooting those without are throwing anything the can get a hold of. One of jack men pull out a syringe with drugs inside and injected himself. When the mob saw it, the only thing on their mind is they have drugs on them. If we can capture or kill them we can rake their drugs of them. One of the mobs shouted they have drugs with them, I knew they were lying to us. Jack cursed when he saw the action of his men. But now is not the time to reprimand him. Rocks, bullets metals are raining down on them. Jack knew their situation is hopeless soon they will run out of bullets, and they will be torn to pieces by the mobs. "Fine ill tell you where my stock is I will guide you to it," Jack shouted. But the mob is no longer listening to him then and continues to shoot and throw stuff at them. Sure you will guide us after we capture you and your men, said one of the mobs with a mocking tone. "Yeah, why don''t you surrender quietly and put your weapons down and let us capture you so you can guide us to the stock of yours. That is if you''re really sincere!" Said another one of the mobs. "Yeah!" Shouted another. "Continue to shoot don''t let them escape if they escape we won''t get any more drugs." "Surround them form a blockade" shouted another he was emboldened he thinks. "If I can have these mobs follow me ill be the next head of Enigma." He was especially ecstatic when he saw the mob listening to him and forming a blockade. He immediately issues another order to make a shield and block their attack, soon many of the mobs started picking off anything that can be used as a shield. A huge smile appeared on his face. Jack notice that someone is giving the mob orders he ordered his men to find him and shoot him down. The man didn''t notice that the ordered he has given has made Jack notice him, Jack wasn''t an idiot he won''t allow the mob to be organized under someone else or it will be the end of them. The man continues to give orders. Making the mob more organize and many of Jack men are being killed. On the other side, just 300 meters away from jack and the mobs Grand Army is watching the spectacles. They didn''t reveal themselves they just continue to lay low and watch Jack and his men are gone they can sweep the rest, as the mobs encircle Jack and his men the grand army are also encircling the mobs. Waiting for the right time to strike. Chapter 98 - Shdaow Moon XXXIX "Motherf.u.c.kers!, use the explosives! We will retreat from here he didn''t think he will use his precious explosives just to run away from a mob he himself formed. He paid a great deal just to acquire those explosives, from a superpower from space. It was his last resort his ace in a hole. And now he was going to use it to these mobs. "These mobs! Motherf.u.c.k.i.n.g mobs!" Jack continues to curse he was so angry. "F.u.c.k it, kill them all." Shouted Jack. "Boss are we really going to use it here?" "We can''t use it if we''re dead, f.u.c.kin bastard! Go! Be ready to retreat when it exploded!" "Shit! Yes, Boss!" Keep shooting and used the shield to close in keep it up, and we can have the drugs soon. Said the man in the mob. "Hahaha! Keep it up!" "Jetro what are we going to do next?" "Just listen to my instruction after we capture that bastard Jack we can have all the drugs we need" "Yes, hehe ok" "Yes just listen to me ill be your next leader, the next head of Enigma." Said Jetro in his mind. "There!" said Jack in anger. "That''s the one ordering the Mob throw the explosive there! "The explosive is ready Boss" "Good throw it there!" He pointed at where Jetro is located. Jetro was still ecstatic in being the next leader of the mob. He was nothing his whole life a petty thief, but now he has a chance to get to the top. So he was in high spirit he keeps guiding the mobs. "Huh?" Jetro noticed Jack looking at him as a dead man with a sneer on his mouth. Somehow he has a bad feeling, but he ignored it all. "Heh, be smug all you like ill be taking your place soon," said Jetro in his mind. "Hmm. What''s that?" A box-like device was thrown a few feet from him. He looks at Jack, and Jack looks back at him and gives a finger. Then he saw Jack takes cover. He looks again at the box a few feet from him, his eyes grows big "motherf.u.c.ker that''s a bom" BOOM! That''s the last word he said before he turned to ash. "That''s a flash incineration bomb" one of the Soldiers of the Grand Army recognizes it. "What''s that? Ask the lieutenant next to him" "Sir, that''s the Flash incineration bomb develop by Royal Empire in space. It gives off 50000 degrees Celsius within a 30-meter radius incinerating everything around it and blinding the rest," "How do know this?" "Sir! My dad used to be a scientist from the Royal Empire before he died in an explosion in the lab developing a new age bomb. Me and my bro were studying on Earth when it happens, and when our dad died we received some of his personal effects and one of those we found a hidden memory drives that include all the bomb being developed in the Royal empire. That''s how I know about it." "Good give this Intel to command center we need to be careful about it. We don''t know if our suit is strong enough to withstand that kind of heat." "Yes sir" As the bomb exploded Jack and his remaining men immediately take advantage of the blindness of the mob because of the bomb. But Grand Army is not going to let them escape the moment they started running a gunshot from unknown source greeted them forcing them to take cover and return to where they are. "Motherf.u.c.ker! Who is firing at us?" Jack cursed. After a few second the mobs recovered and becomes angrier, they become more reckless as the drugs in their system wears out. Soon Jack and his men are drowning from gunshots one by one Jack men Started to fall. "Boss we only have four more bomb" "F.u.c.k it! let''s risk it, throw it all in, and all of us shall rush out don''t hold back anymore use every bullet you have if you have too." "Yes boss" "On my signal, 3,2,1 throw it" BOOM! BOOM!.... "Good" Jack shouted and rush out guns blazing the mob is helpless they are blinded by the explosions and many are screaming in pain because they are near the explosions and most of their body is burnt. Bang! Jack was hit in the leg by a sniper gun. He falls down while his men are shooting in all directions, two of his men tried to help him, Bang! Bang! Both fall as they are shot to the head by a sniper. Oh, F.u.c.k! For some reason instead of panicking Jack has calm down, he knew this is it for him, so he sat down lean on a broken car and tried to light up a cigarette, he looks around him like he was just watching a movie, he blows a smoke from his mouth, as he saw his men fall one by one he knew the third party is just playing with them. There was no anger nor sadness he was just calm he even has a smile on his face. "Bro ill see you soon" Jack said in his mind. The mob recovered from a second bomb a few seconds later and begun to rush at Jack and his men. By then Jack is just sitting and leaning in some broken car while smoking some cigar. Bang one of the mob fires a gun at Jack hitting his left arm, but Jack just smiles at him and continues to smoke the cigar in his mouth and give that man a finger using his right hand. The man walks to him and screams "where''s the drugs?" "F.u.c.k you!" Jack replied with a grin. The man pulls out a machete and tried to hack the hand of Jack. But one of Jack men saw it and shoot the man in his head, he falls next to Jack, Jack spit at him, and said "F.u.c.ker, hahaha" Soon the mobs realized that another party is involved as one by one the mobs falls down, Jack saw it and laugh "too late you motherf.u.c.k.i.n.g moron, we''re all going to die haha" One of the mob realize it and heard what Jack said. He looks at Jack and said, "yeah, but you first!" Bang! He shot Jack in the face three times instantly killing him. He was about to search Jack''s body when he too was shot in the head by one of the surviving Jack''s men. "Boss, motherf.u.c.ker! Die" bang!bang!bang! The mobs realizing what''s going on and started to panick and disperse, and run away in all directions. But it was too late the Grand army already have them surrounded. "Lay down your weapon and surrender and you''ll be spared!" Said one of the soldiers. "Die!" said one of the mobs his mind is already gone by ingesting too many drugs. Only a few tried to surrender, some continue to run away while shooting in all directions in order to get away. They were shot down by snipers. Soon the gunshot started to dispersed, in just 30 minutes out of 300k plus mob only about 70k remains those are the one who surrendered. Jack and all his men died no one survived. Chapter 99 - Shadow Moon XL "Give me a report!" "Sir that based belong to former General Li Fang, according on the Intel gathered by drones and Shadow Units there''s about 120k plus soldiers under Li Fang, but we don''t know how many are in the base exactly." "Give me report in their equipment and weaponry." Said Wedge. "Sir, the drones pick up many heavy types of machinery inside the base about 200 T-66 combat Tank, 150 T-45 anti-air Tank... And 40 FG-33 fighter jet sir." "That''s a lot of fire power for someone located in the wilderness, I wonder what''s he preparing from, by amassing that much power here in Enigma where only Beast and Monsters exist." Said Wedge. "Call for reinforcements, my men should be done clearing the mob and Jack and his Butcher gang by now. Have some of them come here for reinforcement also request for combat drones we may need them to deal with the enemy air force." Ordered Wedge. "Right away sir." ...¡­. "General this is the report!" Li Fang read the report about the enemy. "Hmm, this is weird I wonder what Enigma City has for a power like Shadow Moon to be interested in it. What am I missing?" Murmured Li Fang. "Any movement from the enemies?" "Non-sir. They are about Five kilometers away from our base they have many unidentified heavy types of machinery lined up, we can identify some of them like the tanks and artillery but many of the machinery they have is unknown to us, and we have no idea of their uses." Said, Ko Sheng. Ko Sheng, the adviser and strategist of Fang Brigades under General Li Fang. He was one of the key personnel that helps Li Fang to become the most feared General in Pan Asian Alliance. (PAA) "What do you make of this Sheng?" "Hmm, hard to say General we know almost nothing about our enemy. Not their objective nor their power. I''m afraid we can only speculate in this kind of situation. But we must plan ahead General." "Plan ahead huh, you mean a means to escape right?" "Exactly! we can probe them of their power and capabilities if they are beyond us we can escape and fight again when we have enough strength, but if they prove to be weaker than us." "Yeah I know, but retreating will be hard this time. Enigma City is a natural fortress as well as a natural Prison." "Unfortunately they took us by surprise and gets the better of us they were able to take better positions than us. Now, most of our escaped route is blocked and the one we can use is considered a suicide." "Death Valley, I''ve heard rumors about that place, but never pay attention to it. Is what the rumored true General?" Ask Sheng. "True? No those rumors are all false that place is far more dangerous than all rumors combine!" "Eh, you knew something about it General?" "More than that, did you not suspect why the PAA did not follow us here?" "I see, I was wondering about that. As even though this City is very isolated and a natural fortress if FAA really wants to pursue us they have the capability to do it albeit they will have to pay more than usual." sheng look at Li Fang and said, "what exactly is in Death Valley General?" "Its an old legend, a legend that all power on earth has tried to erase from history. For it was humanity''s greatest failure and greatest sin." ...... "When the reinforcement arrived we begin our assault when the drones arrive start firing the artillery and start grinding our enemy down." Ordered Wedge. "Yes, sir." ...¡­. "Queen they breach our third defensive perimeter." "Send team C. Deploy the poison traps. We need to delay them as long as possible." Said, Queen. She''s being anxious she needs time to prepare an escape route. "Darn it, I should have escaped the first chance I get. Now I''m trapped here in my own lair." Said Queen in his mind as she paced around. "Give me a report on Emma any news from them?" Ask Queen. "No my Queen, We have no word from them since they left." "Call Pia and Jiro" "My Queen, they are in the field holding off the enemies advance." "Have someone take their place I have an important mission for them." "Yes My Queen" Moments later. You call for us my Queen, Pia and Jiro knelled down with their right arms in their chest. "Stand up, I have an important mission for both of you" "Command us, my Queen," said Jiro "I want both of you to go to Humura building and retrieve a device for me. I already sent Emma, but still no word from her. She might have encountered some trouble, back her up if she were alive or retrieve the device for me if she not. I will send the details of the device or what it looks like and where to retrieve it, through your comm. Go and prepare. You have 5 minutes to get ready. Bring anything you think is necessary for this mission cannot fail. Got it, I''m counting on both of you." "Of course my Queen" both Pia and Jiro answered with a fanatic look in their eyes. "After they left Queen slump back into her chair." I really hope they would be able to retrieve it, as I don''t want to leave everything here." Said Queen in her mind. "Sir the drone has managed to clear the area ahead." "Darn it, this is taking too long" Cursed Biggs "where''s the wide range detector? Did it arrive yet?" "No, sir. It''s still in transport but a mob is slowing it down, the Shadow Unit is already clearing the way for it, they will arrive in about 30 minutes." "I see, advance forward to the cleared area. And be careful of ambush and sniper." Ordered Biggs. "Why the hell did I choose this part godammit" "Sir there''s movement from our enemies in front." "Oh, what are they planing now? That Queen is one crafty girl." "Sir they seem to deploy some kind of poison gas in the surrounding area 300 meters in front." "Poison? What is she planing now?" Said Biggs in his mind. "Blow it away! Use the air canon send it back to them!" Ordered Biggs. "Yes, sir." Soon a five truck with a huge canon on its back roll in front. "Lieutenant the Air canon is in positions!" "Good, as soon as the charging is complete fire it." "Yes, lieutenant." 30 seconds later. 5 bang sounds blasted at the same time. The air cannon blasted not only the poison but all debris on its way sending it flying for more the 8+00 meters. Cars broken rocks lamp post even houses and small buildings are all sent flying back... "What the hell is that?" Queen''s men heard 5 explosions and suddenly countless debris and even the poisonous cloud are sent on their way. "RUUUN!!!" Chapter 100 - Shadow Moon XLI Queen heard the explosions and thought its one of her bomb traps that exploded, she even grinned when she thought about the idiot who set them up. But she notices the tensed and panic expression of her men. "What''s going on?" She asks. "My Queen the enemy used some kind of air canon its very powerful not only blows the poisonous clouds but also all the debris within 300 meters on our way. Team B, C, and E was caught by the blast we lost communication from them." Queen''s face paled when she heard it 3 of her 5 teams lost at the same time, was a great blow to her, and her men. "F.u.c.k! No!" She screams her impression as a Queen is gone. Her men when they saw her was stunned everyone looks at her, Queen immediately notice it and force her self to calm down. "It''s a sad day for us the lost of your bother and sister my children are a big lost for me, for us sigh, change of plans call back the remaining teams and regroup in the base." Said Queen with a saddened look on her face. Queen knows she needs to keep up the appearance as their Queen if she wants to survive this crisis. The devotion of her men must not falter at all cost, she lost her composure for a moment a bit earlier, she knows that must not happen again. Or her men will doubt her capability, and once doubt takes root there''s no stopping it from spreading, She must not let that happen at all cost. "Yes my Queen" they all responded but their voice is not as fanatic as it was in the past. The invincible Queen they idolized is starting to crack. Queen also notices the changes in the looks of her men, before their look is full of fanaticism but after her outburst, the fanaticism in their voice and looks have faded a lot. She cursed inside for her blunder but there''s nothing she can do about it, she only hopes their devotions last until this crisis is over, her only goal is to survive she won''t hesitate to sacrifice them all for her survival. Her life takes precedence above all else. ...¡­ Biggs saw the effect of the cannon and grinned. "I Should have used that earlier," he said in his mind "move in and cleared the area and charge the air cannon again we will use that to clear a path for us." He ordered. "I will pay attention to the weapons demonstration next time." Biggs swears inside his mind. Back then he rather trained than participate in the weapons and machines demonstrations. Biggs always scold him for it, but he just laughs, he was no soldier after all his real profession is a bodyguard, after all, so didn''t really care much about military weapons and machine. Now he regretted not paying attention to it. "How far away we are from the enemy base?" "Sir about 800 meters." 800 meters sound short but with all the building and structures in between it''s a struggle for them since their enemy specializes in traps and bombs. So they have to clear and move cautiously, but now the air canon saves them all the troubles. Biggs think of something and said. "Send a warning this time we don''t want any civilian casualties. Broadcast that they need to evacuate the area in 30 minutes, or they will pay for it." "Yes sir right away" Soon as they are moving the drones began to announced that the specific area needs to be vacated as it will be bomb. And the moment the announcement rang, people can be seen leaving the area in droves. Biggs cursed at Queen, "that bitch Queen shes too ruthless she didn''t vacate the area and still set her traps and bomb in them" He can only imagine how many died in the previous traps that destroyed many building and homes. And the air canon, "F.u.c.kers" ask the Shadow Unit to check the people leaving don''t let any of Queen''s men escaped." Wedge ordered. "Yes, sir." Good thing almost 99% of residents of Enigma City are criminals if not he didn''t know how he can explain this to his Boss. The Shadow Unit lurking in the area immediate begin to work, their job is to assassinate those gang members hiding within the common people, although the majority of people in Enigma City is criminal, many didn''t participate in the attack against them and decided to quietly stay at home and surrendered. So Shadow Unit won''t do anything to them as long as they don''t go against them. Many of the people who surrendered are already escorted in the temporary holding area Grand Army has prepared beforehand, in there they will be processed and questioned using truth serum, those that didn''t do any heinous crimes will be rehabilitated and those that did will be imprisoned and wait until the higher-ups decided what to do with them. Grand Army occupied a large area in Enigma and converted it into a holding facility. Combat Droids and drones tirelessly patrol the area nonstop. And soldiers are only responsible for commanding the droids and Drones. The processing and interrogation are all done by droids develop from multi-purpose manufacturing factory and although they are not military standard, they are more than enough to do the job flawlessly, all droids are humanoid and have a synthetic skin that mimic human skin they look like human covered in tight-fitting armor. The droids are equipped with weapons created by Military-grade factory weapons. The reason Arc didn''t mass produce them is that they are not as strong and as flexible as an enhance soldiers trained by Tom and Gerry, not to mention they need a huge amount of materials to produce, so Arc Build only about 10k of them, and they mainly used as extra laborers and guards if necessary. Arc always dreamed of having an army of powerful Droids fighting under his command, so he was a little dejected when he found out they have little use for him. As the soldiers enhanced and trained by Tom and Gerry are better in any way. But he didn''t plan to give up. As soon as he can afford it he will build a 1-star rank droid factory even rank 5 military-grade factories will do. As there''s a huge difference between commercially used droids and military droids. Chapter 101 - Shadow Moon XLII Biggs saw many people scrambling to flee with their children most are females with children and old people, he gave orders to help and transport them all into the temporary holding facilities. Many didn''t resist but there''s fear in their eyes. As citizen of Enigma City a Lawless city they are used to being abused and used by others with power they know their lives are in the mercy of others, so when Grand Army took them all many they didn''t resist, at least to them the soldiers asking them didn''t beat them up as they ordered them like other gangs do. No, in fact, they are even courteous and help them especially the elderly and children. The soldiers said the holding facility is safe and there''s food. So many women with children are overjoyed when they hear it. Biggs calmly watch all this happening. The Shadow Unit is working hard to prevent those gang members from escaping with the regular people. 30 minutes later more than 90% of the people have been vacated. And those that refused are left alone. The Army already warned them, what happens to them next is up to them, and those that tried to create trouble are all killed. A few minutes later. "Sir those that wants to vacate us already on their way to holding facility. Only those stubborn people remain." "Won''t matter, they made their choices. How long before the air cannon is fully charged?" "Sir air canon will be ready in 5 minutes." The people who remains believe that Queen will not let the invaders succeed and cursed those who left as faithless. This is Queen territory many of the people here are devoted to her. But many only follows along to receive her protections. Many citizens of Enigma are former criminal from the outside world they continue to live because they are smart and cunning, they will kneel if necessary kill if they have to. Thats how they survived and to them the invaders have the upper hand so many of them quickly changed sides when they heard the invaders ask them to leave and be sent to the holding facility. To them the invader is quite nice to ask them to leave before the attack the place, other gangs don''t care about collateral damages. So they think it''s not bad being under such organizations, so they immediately comply especially the old people, the fact they are still alive and reach their age in this kind of environment shows how cunning they are. Biggs didn''t care much about other people, but he knows his boss would be angry if innocent people are hurt because of their actions. And even though Enigma is a Lawless city there''s still a chance that there are innocent people living in it especially the children. "Sir everything is ready" "Good, Fire!" The people who chose to stay behind are nervously watching Grand Army. The saw 5 huge sophisticated looking cannon pointing at them. But they still believe their Queen will save them, many of Queen''s men are watching from a distance unaware that Shadow Unit is tracking them down. Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! 5 Air canons fire one after the other, and like what happened previously all buildings and structures are blown away by the air cannon. The people who stayed only saw a white flash and nothing the all died before they can say anything. Those who survive because their place is quite far from the air cannon targets all paled and almost pass out from fear. They wanted to leave immediately but their body won''t listen to them from fear. "Charge the air canon! Destroy the remaining building that survived we can''t let our enemies use it to sneak attack us." Ordered Biggs The air cannon hummed as it began to recharge. The people who survived heard the canon charging and immediately shouted "we surrender, we will leave please help us" but the soldiers acted like they never heard them they fired the artillery and small canons to destroy the remaining structures that survived, the people who choose to remain started cursing Queen and started to plead for help, but the soldier''s continues to fire, they won''t stop unless they were ordered to. And Biggs didn''t plan to order them to stop. As it will delay them further and give time to their enemies to prepare more traps. Cries for help and screaming can be heard from the remaining standing buildings but the soldiers pretend they didn''t hear them, they already give them a chance but they didn''t take it, so they can only live with their choices. Those that choose to leave saw the damages the air cannon inflicted and was stunned. They silently praised themselves for being wise, as for those that choose to remain they can only blame them for their stupidity. Many of them only follow Queen because of the lack of better choices because unlike other Queens only requires them to pay a part of their income as a tribute, and be devoted to her, and they will be under her protection. Once in a while Queen will pick the most beautiful girl of those under her protection, she then will train her or sold her to the highest bidder in the outside world. But mostly Queen only targets those outside her protections as she needs to keep up the appearance of the holy lady. So she cannot be excessive in her action in taking girls especially those under her protection. So many women choose to follow her instead of the other heads of Enigma City. Biggs calmly watches as the space in front of him opens up little by little. "Sir all done." "Great move forward, were almost to that bitch lair," said Wedge with a grin on his face. Chapter 102 - Shadow Moon XLII Biggs saw many people scrambling to flee with their children most are females with children and old people, he gave orders to help and transport them all into the temporary holding facilities. Many didn''t resist but there''s fear in their eyes. As citizen of Enigma City a Lawless city they are used to being abused and used by others with power they know their lives are in the mercy of others, so when Grand Army took them all many they didn''t resist, at least to them the soldiers asking them didn''t beat them up as they ordered them like other gangs do. No, in fact, they are even courteous and help them especially the elderly and children. The soldiers said the holding facility is safe and there''s food. So many women with children are overjoyed when they hear it. Biggs calmly watch all this happening. The Shadow Unit is working hard to prevent those gang members from escaping with the regular people. 30 minutes later more than 90% of the people have been vacated. And those that refused are left alone. The Army already warned them, what happens to them next is up to them, and those that tried to create trouble are all killed. A few minutes later. "Sir those that wants to vacate us already on their way to holding facility. Only those stubborn people remain." "Won''t matter, they made their choices. How long before the air cannon is fully charged?" "Sir air canon will be ready in 5 minutes." The people who remains believe that Queen will not let the invaders succeed and cursed those who left as faithless. This is Queen territory many of the people here are devoted to her. But many only follows along to receive her protections. Many citizens of Enigma are former criminal from the outside world they continue to live because they are smart and cunning, they will kneel if necessary kill if they have to. Thats how they survived and to them the invaders have the upper hand so many of them quickly changed sides when they heard the invaders ask them to leave and be sent to the holding facility. To them the invader is quite nice to ask them to leave before the attack the place, other gangs don''t care about collateral damages. So they think it''s not bad being under such organizations, so they immediately comply especially the old people, the fact they are still alive and reach their age in this kind of environment shows how cunning they are. Biggs didn''t care much about other people, but he knows his boss would be angry if innocent people are hurt because of their actions. And even though Enigma is a Lawless city there''s still a chance that there are innocent people living in it especially the children. "Sir everything is ready" "Good, Fire!" The people who chose to stay behind are nervously watching Grand Army. The saw 5 huge sophisticated looking cannon pointing at them. But they still believe their Queen will save them, many of Queen''s men are watching from a distance unaware that Shadow Unit is tracking them down. Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! 5 Air canons fire one after the other, and like what happened previously all buildings and structures are blown away by the air cannon. The people who stayed only saw a white flash and nothing the all died before they can say anything. Those who survive because their place is quite far from the air cannon targets all paled and almost pass out from fear. They wanted to leave immediately but their body won''t listen to them from fear. "Charge the air canon! Destroy the remaining building that survived we can''t let our enemies use it to sneak attack us." Ordered Biggs The air cannon hummed as it began to recharge. The people who survived heard the canon charging and immediately shouted "we surrender, we will leave please help us" but the soldiers acted like they never heard them they fired the artillery and small canons to destroy the remaining structures that survived, the people who choose to remain started cursing Queen and started to plead for help, but the soldier''s continues to fire, they won''t stop unless they were ordered to. And Biggs didn''t plan to order them to stop. As it will delay them further and give time to their enemies to prepare more traps. Cries for help and screaming can be heard from the remaining standing buildings but the soldiers pretend they didn''t hear them, they already give them a chance but they didn''t take it, so they can only live with their choices. Those that choose to leave saw the damages the air cannon inflicted and was stunned. They silently praised themselves for being wise, as for those that choose to remain they can only blame them for their stupidity. Many of them only follow Queen because of the lack of better choices because unlike other Queens only requires them to pay a part of their income as a tribute, and be devoted to her, and they will be under her protection. Once in a while Queen will pick the most beautiful girl of those under her protection, she then will train her or sold her to the highest bidder in the outside world. But mostly Queen only targets those outside her protections as she needs to keep up the appearance of the holy lady. So she cannot be excessive in her action in taking girls especially those under her protection. So many women choose to follow her instead of the other heads of Enigma City. Biggs calmly watches as the space in front of him opens up little by little. "Sir all done." "Great move forward, were almost to that bitch lair," said Wedge with a grin on his face. Chapter 103 - Shadow Unit XLIII Biggs ordered his men to systematically move forward to Queen''s hideout. Every 200-300 meters he will use the air cannon, and artillery as well as the tanks to clear a path for him and his men. And soon he was already in front of Queen''s lair. Queen''s lair is an underground bunker located in the natural cave system that forms after the war. The entrance is 10 meters wide, and judging by it looks. the inside is heavily renovated and converted into a maze of tunnels and corridors. "What an annoying base," said Wedge in frustration. His heavy machinery has no used inside this kind of terrain. "Send in the drones and have them map up the area, and bring me someone that can give us an idea what to expect inside, also request 500 combat droids from base to be sent here." Ordered Wedge. "Right away sir." Soon the drones immediately entered Queen''s lair, but soon after they were greeted by a rain of bullets and have no choice but to retreat. Biggs hearing the report frowned. His men give him the reports from the interrogation, they now have a basic knowledge of Queens Lair. "Have our men shoot as many tear gas inside the lair and blow it using air canon lowest settings to spread the gas inside" ordered Biggs. "Yes, sir." Soon enough more and more tear gas was shot inside the lair. Heavy red smoke from the tear gas can be seen from the entrance to the lair. Boom. Air canon in the lowest setting blows all the gas further inside the lair. Biggs looks at it and smiles "let see how long they can last. Unfortunately, we didn''t know if this cave system has other entrance besides here." He said in his mind. "Keep going let''s see how much tear gas that lair can hold. And tell the Shadow Unit to look for red gas coming from the ground as we don''t know how many exits this cave have" "Yes, sir." "Oh, and increased the scout drones range of patrol and have it pay attention to red smokes." "Of course sir." Biggs comes out of the mobile command center. And stand in front of the soldiers. "Gear up! And ready to assault the Queen''s lair. Don''t forget to bring extra oxygen cylinder. For they might be more than tear gas inside its better to not breathe the air inside at all." He looks at the eyes of the soldiers and saw no fear but anticipations he smiles. "Good" he whispered. "You have 30mins to prepare. "Yes sir" Biggs addressed the lieutenants in front of him, "When the droids get here you can lead them to assault the lair. I''ll give you command over them the five of you will form five teams each team can have 100 combat droid use them well." The 5 lieutenant saluted. "Yes, Sir." Biggs salutes back. "Go make preparation droids will be here in 30 minutes, you guys will begin the assault then." "Yes, Sir." "I really want to join them but I need to be here to command, it''s really annoying if Eve''s not here as we can''t move as much as we want, sigh." Biggs grumbled. ....... Inside the lair, Queen and her trusted men are having a meeting. "My Queen, they are already in front of our base. And shooting a crazy amount of tear gas inside, and using their air canon the tear gas is spreading fast inside our base we don''t have enough gas mask for everyone." Queen is having a headache listening to the reports the cave is a natural fortress and a maze it took her several years to completely map up the cave. There''s only one entrance and one secret exit, but in order to use the exit she needs the device from Homura, she sent 3 of her best men Emma, Pia, and Jiro but none returned. "Shit" she cursed in her mind. "If only that bastard Homura didn''t spend too much time in creating that device I would already have it here." She notices that over the past few years her self-control that she develops as Special Agent is starting to crumble little by little. "My Queen what should we do?" Hmm, she woke up from her thinking. "Don''t worry this cave our base is very big it will take them a long time to completely navigate it, especially since we have planted many traps inside." Her men listen to her with a fanatic look in their eyes. This is Queen''s most trusted men they won''t falter and lose faith in her no matter what. She looks at them one by one and said: "believe in me, we can in this fight." "Yes my Queen" all of them keeled down. Queen smiles these men are her pride and joy her greatest creation. "Send the men who didn''t have gas mask back inside the cave, they''ll serve as reinforcements the rest make preparation to welcome our uninvited guests." "Yes my Queen all of them shouted." It''s a shame to lose them all but my life is far more important. As long as I''m alive I can always rebuild and create more devoted followers. She looks at the back of the cave that''s the deepest part of the cave a golden door was blocking the way inside. That door can only be accessed by her, not even her most-trusted men can go inside it''s the holiest place inside the cave. Of course, there''s nothing holy about it it''s just that door leads to the secret exit in the cave. "I''m going to meditate don''t disturb me. Krista, you are in charge while I meditate." "Yes, my Queen" Krista keeled. Queen turn around and enter the golden door. The door is equipped by a biometric scanner so the moment her hand touches the door her biometrics are scanned, the door automatically opened when the scan is completed. Inside a narrow path that only a single person can walk at a time can be seen. Lights automatically turn on. Like a guiding light, she follows the tunnels and after walking for about 30 meters a small lake can be seen the lake is only about 100 square meters in diameters a small pier can be seen connected to the lake in front of her. The device being developed by Homura is a portable inflatable submarine that can hold up to 40 people. Unfortunately, Homura takes too long to make it and only a prototype was made. That was she''s tying to retrieve in Homura''s building where it was kept, as even though it was only a prototype it can still be used and hold up to 20 people, but too bad the retrieval failed, so now she can only use her one person mini-sub that can only hold 1 person, it is the same model being developed by Homura, she brought this device along with other devices when she escaped HFA special agent HQ. Chapter 104 - Shadow Unit XLIV Queen look the lake and walk to the wall nearest to the pier she pushes some rocks and instantly a hissing sound as hydraulics works, A door size rock wall was pushed out before moving to the side, a small room was presented to Queen, she steps inside, and inside all kinds of weapon was displayed on the right and left wall and in the front a small laboratory can be seen it''s a portable lab. That she has stolen from HFA Intelligence HQ. This portable lab is an experimental lab that can produce a serum that can put people in a very suggestive psychological state that makes them very susceptible to mind control, she was supposed to undergo a mind control operation, fortunately, she found out in advance, so she plans ahead of time. Fortunately, she was successful and found out where the lab of mind control serum is produced, so she infiltrates the lab that''s located in the wilderness she killed all the guards and tortured the scientists in order to find out how the serum is produced a how it worked. She then stole all the equipment she can take into a small aircraft in the back of the lab. She took all the data and killed all the scientists who know about it and at the same time she stolen 5 portable labs that can produce the mind control serum and left for Enigma City, but not before she blows out the lab using explosives. HFA intelligence found out what happened but its already too late she is long gone by then. Unfortunately for Queen, her travel to Enigma is not Smooth sailing she encounters an electromagnetic storm as the aircraft she''s took is not built for that kind of event she crushed landed somewhere near Enigma City. Unfortunately, many types of equipment she stole were destroyed when her aircraft crashed among the 5 portable labs only 1 survived the rest is destroyed beyond repairs. Along with many experimental devices, she buried the wreckage and made her way to Enigma City, it took her years before she have strong enough force to retrieve the rest from the wreckage, and those that survive wreck is in this secret room. HFA did their best to look for the culprit behind the destruction of one of their important lab. And because Queen manages to hide her trail well, it took them several months before HFA figure out who was behind the incident. They tracked her into Enigma City but by then Queen has managed to build a strong force using mind control serum. So they are powerless as Queen kills every agent HFA sent after her. And unless they send a big force they are powerless to anything to Queen. So they tried to negotiate with her but Queen won''t budge. she''s an orphan so she didn''t have any attachments the HFA can use against her. Since then many of the HFA lab on earth has been completely restructured and reinforced to prevent another accident, unfortunately, Earth is still their biggest supplier of materials so many of their labs and factories are located on earth albeit in a very safe place away from normal people. Queen looks around the room and sighs the portable submarine she has only have limited space, that''s why she''s so adamant in retrieving the experimental inflatable submarine, so she can take all the things here and maybe some of her most trusted men away from here. She knows that when she leaves here the likelihood of her being able to come back and retrieve the things here is close to zero. She packs up the portable lab carefully this is her bread and butter without it, she won''t be able to keep her self alive for long. 10 minutes later the portable lab is safely tucked away into a small box around a meter in diameter. She carried it to the inflatable sub and barely put it inside without breaking anything inside the inflatable submarine. She looks back in the room and sighs, she can probably take one or two more items inside the room. She took an experimental laser gun and a few more small weapons, and put on an experimental exoskeleton, and contemplate whether to destroy all the remaining items inside, eventually, she chooses not to and just closes the door. Now any trace of the room is gone she only wishes the room remains undiscovered until the day she will be able to retrieve it. She chooses not to destroy it as that would require an explosive to do it. And using explosives may cause for her men to forcefully come there to check if she''s ok. And when they did they will discover that she is running away all by herself, even then she didn''t know how they will react even if they are under mind control. She looks back once again in the tunnel leading back outside, after a few seconds a resolute eyes can be seen in her face, she boarded the submarine the hatched closed and after a few seconds and it started to dive down. Queen, leader of Underlady one of the Head of Enigma City disappeared, it was years later when she surfaces again into the world. Biggs has no idea that Queen is no longer in the cave so is Queen''s men, they continue to fight back and fight hard disregarding their lives. The Grand Arny along with 500 combat droids storm Queens lair. It turns out Biggs is just overly cautious as most of Queen''s men are just regular humans and very few are enhanced so the droid and Army made quick work of them the only problem is the cave is just really too big. There are so many tunnels and corridors leading to dead ends luckily the drones can speed up the processed of mapping the cave. 4 hours later the cave is purged from Queen''s men. And until the very end, no one entered the golden doors, all of them died still believing in their Queen. Many of them committed suicide instead of being captured. In the end, all of them perished. Biggs sigh when he heard the reports, the golden door leads to a small lake and Queen is nowhere to be found. According to the drones, it leads to the Yellow River. The Yellow River is full of mutated monster it''s one of the forbidden rivers in the world. "There no need to look further. Call back the drones we can''t lose too many of them at the moment. Forget about Queen for now. Clear the cave and secured the surrounding area." Biggs ordered. "Yes, sir." "Sir we found a hidden room near the lake in the cave." Hmm. Biggs looks at the monitor showing what''s inside the room, the rocky doors were cut by the laser by the drones. It was the drones that located it... "Transport everything inside to the temporary HQ and have them analyzed." Chapter 105 - Shadow Unit XLV Sir 50% of Enigma City is under our control. The rest of our men is clearing up the rest. "Released all scout drones and combat droned as well as the swarm I want no area unchecked. Have our men divided into a team of ten, And have them recheck everything except those who are in the battlefront I want everyone clearing the rest of the city that includes the droids that are on stand by." Ordered Tom. They have over 30k soldiers but the complexity of enigma city makes it very hard to check everything. But Tom doesn''t want to take any chances he wants to pull out anything the criminal left behind including all hidden traps and hidden hideouts. Grand Army and droids can now be seen everywhere in the streets of Enigma City and in the skies drones can be seen scanning all buildings and houses. The residents of the area in Enigma City that were already under Grand Army control are all been evacuated in the temporary holding facility. A large area has been converted into holding facility by the construction droids and drones. "What''s the situation in the holding facilities?" "Sir right now we have 3 million residents that have been processed and being held in the temporary housing inside the holding facilities. And we have converted isolated area as temporary prisons for those that committed heinous crimes. The prison is being protected by 2000 combat droids and 2000 combat drones along with 500 soldiers to make sure nothing unexpected will happen. We have over 800k being imprisoned in the temporary prison. Most of them are under the influence of drugs and needs to be isolated..." "I see! 100k combat droid is already on the way here from HQ. As well as over a million drone." Said Tom. Arc found out the situations in Enigma and immediately ordered Eve to maximize the production of Droids and Drones to be used in Enigma City. As he can''t send Shadow Unit until Bell Funeral was held. This is his way of making up to them for risking their lives for his ambitions. He would rather spend those materials he was able to amass to produce droids than to deprive the Shadow Unit of the chance to say goodbye to their sister Bell. When Ruby and Jem heard it they were happy and immediately inform the rest of the Shadow Unit in secret, the rest of the Shadow Unit was overjoyed when they heard it as working for a Boss that care for them is a great honor for them. Since most of them lived their life being abused by others, so having a Boss who care more about them and willing to spend precious materials just to satisfy their state of mind. Giving them a sense of belonging and really feel that they are really a family and not just disposable pawn. So almost all of them renew their opinions about their mysterious Boss. In the past even though they knew that they are working for someone and respect him. They respect Ruby and Jem more they don''t really care about the mysterious Boss. To them, Ruby and Jem are their real Boss. But now they found out that even though they knew nothing about their mysterious Boss just the fact that he would rather spend and used many Expensive Materials just for them to say their final goodbye to their departed sister means so much to them. They silently vow to work harder and to someday meet the person behind the Grand Army. So Eve having received the order from Arc push the limit of Armored Factory to the limit and was able to produce 1 million Combat Drones and 100k combat droid using almost Half of the reserved materials they were able to gather for the past year and a half... But Arc didn''t regret his decisions and even ordered an additional 50k construction droid for the upcoming massive construction in Enigma City once they were able to take complete control over it. He also sends over 1billion class C food solutions for the residents of Enigma City. It will be transported by special transport aircraft built for transferring non-life Cargo. As air travel to Enigma city is quite dangerous for humans. And Cargo aircraft are not built for human transport those aircraft are all unmanned and was piloted by onboard AI. But soon they will build underground Railways from Enigma City to the outside world in order to facilitate fast and safe transport of personnel from Enigma to the Facility outside the danger zone. It''s a big project for anyone except for Arc as Arc can create Construction Droid that can work nonstop for 24/7 Unfortunately this kind of Construction droid cannot be released to the public yet so even Mia didn''t know of their existence. And because of the condition of Enigma City that Arc felt relieved in using them there away from the eyes of other superpowers. That Construction Droid defies all known knowledge of the current human understanding. As those Construction droids can convert, and turn any materials into high construction grade materials using the energy conversion technology of the Sovereign Empire. So nine warns him not to expose the technology unless necessary to avoid potential problems. Each Construction Droid is equipped with 1-Star AI even though it''s only a rank 5 technology. Making the construction droid very efficient and effective in building anything below rank 5... That''s why they are quite expensive to make. 1 construction droid use as many materials as 10 combat droids. Even when Grand Army Started the operation in Enigma City they only have 200 construction droids. But now Arc ordered 50k of them to make it, it is the equivalent of 500k combat droids. Making them will use all their reserved materials. Even Tiffa was surprised by Arc''s decisions. But for Arc, he considered it as an investment. As he plans to make Enigma City into a huge fortress that will be his foundation for the future in taking control over Earth. Chapter 106 - Shadow Unit XLVI "Sir. Team Alpha is receiving heavy fire, and requesting reinforcement." "Send drones to back them up, and send team Echo and Foxtrot as reinforcement." "Yes, sir." The fight between Wedge men and Li Fang Army are in a stalemate, Li fang uses air superiority to halt the movement of Grand Army, even with the help of drones fighter jets are superior in air attack the best the drones can do is prevent the jet fighter from coming too close to the main army. And to prevent missiles from hitting the army on the ground. For the first time, the grand army finds itself in a defensive position. Unfortunately, the artillery range is not enough to reach the Li Fang Airport in the far back of his base. But wedge wasn''t worried, for he hasn''t used the swarm yet. He has two swarm drones and each swarm has 100k mini drones, he didn''t send it, yet he was still waiting for the right time. Besides, he was still waiting for the droid reinforcement and more soldiers from Base Camp. .... "Report!" "General, the first, second and third battalion are engaging the enemies. And successfully stop the enemy''s advances." "Sheng, what do make of this?" "General, our enemies are still holding back on us. Based on our report they still have a droid army that is still in standby." "They should be waiting for the right time to used them probably when we have exhausted our strength." Said General Li. "Sheng began to contemplate. I wonder if they are holding back because of the existence of Death Valley." "What do you mean Sheng?" Ask Li Fang. "General from the way I see it our enemy is stronger than us by several points there''s no need for them to hold back when they can overpower us if they want to. I just received a report that Dragko and Jack are already been defeated as for Queen I think it''s only a matter of time before she falls. In fact, maybe she already have fallen as well as all routes to her based is in tight lockdown and our men are unable to get any Intel in there." "So in other words we are the last one standing." Said Li Fang. "Well, there''s no surprise there as our forces are superior to all three of them combined the only reason we didn''t completely take over Enigma city is that there no need to do so as the three of them have their own uses..." Said Sheng. "Well I agree with you on Jack as that punk is nothing but a thug, but Queen and Dragko are different. Fighting them is not going to be easy as even though we will win in the end the damage will be enough to weaken us and have our true enemies take advantage of it. Especially Dragko his mecha is quite strong. And we don''t have anything that can stop that. As for that Queen don''t underestimate a special agent from any of the Superpower in Space." Said General Li. "I''m not General, but I stand by my words even if those three combined their power they will still no match from us. Yes, we will suffer as well but the fact remains we are still superior from them. And that Mecha of Dragko. I don''t believe it can operate for a long time during the battle at most regarding its size 3 to 5 hours and it will run out of power and when it does destroying it will be a piece of cake. Queen is more troublesome her fanatics and her poison bombs can do a lot of damage for us if they were not careful but with adequate preparation, they can be taken down relatively easy. I have all their data in my head I''ve long since made preparation to deal with them if needed." Li Fang just looks at Sheng and chuckled he knew Sheng was telling the truth, with the right strategy even the strongest force can be taken down easily. And Sheng excel in creating strategy against his enemies, the only problem is that in order to create strategy information about themselves and their enemies are required to formulate the right plan. Without any of those two, there''s no good strategy to be made. That''s why Sheng is frustrated as he doesn''t have any proper Intel regarding their current enemy. And because of that, he can''t make any proper strategy. "As I was saying, General, maybe our enemy knew the existence of Death Valley, because of that they don''t want us to be too desperate and have our forces entered death valley where they don''t want us to go. Because they don''t want to pursue us in the place they have no control over." Li Fang contemplates, what Sheng said hold merit. "Can we use it? Can we use this information against our enemies?" "If I''m right we surely can General. If I''m right no matter how much we attack they will not use excessive force against us." "And if you''re wrong?" "Then we will lose a lot of men and probably have to retreat into Death Valley by force." Said Sheng in a straight face. "I see. It''s a good plan if you''re right we can gain a good Intel about our enemy as well us take out a bit if their forces. But if we''re mistaken the price is quite heavy." "Not at all General." "What do you mean Sheng?" "General in this fight were already in disadvantage, whether we risk it or not it''s only a matter of time before we lose a lot of men, even if we enter Death Valley this early there''s no guaranty many of us will survive the Death Valley in fact base on what you told me, it may very well be a suicide to enter Death Valley." "Very well, I agree ill give you full control of the Army." Said Li Fang. "Alright General." "Order all battalion to prepare for all-out combat. We will attack in 30 minutes." Ordered Sheng. "Yes, sir." Chapter 107 - Shadow Unit XLVII "Sir theres movement in the enemy base." Wedge looks at the video footage and smile. "Looks like our enemy can''t wait any longer and decided to have an all-out war" "Make preparation! What''s the ETA on our reinforcement?" "Sir reinforcement will arrive in 10 minutes droids in 3 minutes." "Hurry them up! We need them asap. Inform all teams enemy is preparing an all-out attack, and ready the swarm!" "Yes, sir." "Any news from Shadow Unit?" "Nothing yet sir." 2 hours ago Wedge ordered the Shadow Unit assigned to his team to go around and infiltrate the enemy base from the back, Li fang base is surrounded by Mountains on all sides making it a natural fortress and from the back a Valley that leads to nowhere... So Wedge give two mission to the Shadow Units 1st to infiltrate the enemy airport and planted bomb on their weapons and Gas depot, and 2nd to check the valley behind the base and see where or what''s is hidden in there, for he didn''t believe that Li Fang would build a base here and not made use of that valley. So the 10 Shadow Unit form 2 teams the first-team will infiltrate the enemy base and sabotage their weapons and Gas depot, and the second team will investigate the valley behind the base. "Let me know when they reported back." "Of course sir." Wedge sits back on his chair and continues to monitor the fight and the movement of his enemies. ......¡­.. Bea and her team are responsible for infiltrating the enemy airport they trekked the mountain leading to the back of Li Fang Base. For a normal human, it will take them 2-3 days of travel to reach the back of Li Lang Base, but for Shadow Units who were enhanced by rank 5 enhancement serum, this kind of trekking is like child play to them. For they experience far worse in their training. It can even be said to be a relaxing journey. What needed to 2-3 days for normal humans, they only need 2 hours to complete the travel, and they were even conserving their strength for the mission ahead. The other team is led by Brutus their mission is to investigate the valley in the back if Li Fang Base. At first, they were traveling together but 15 minutes ago the went on their separate ways to complete their mission, Bea is not a rookie Shadow Unit she was part of the first recruits same batch with Michelle and Dove and although she was not as capable as Michelle and Dove all member of the first Batch are all considered legend in Shadow Units for they are responsible for completing all the SSS mission Issued by the command center. She herself has completed a number of SSS missions so is Brutus. In Shadow Unit power ranking Michelle and Dove are monopolizing the top spot. Brutus is actually pretty high on the ranking which is 17 as for her she''s in rank 32 in power ranking but in contributions, he''s in top 10 actually no. 9 for she like traveling and have accepted many missions around the world, she is curious about Enigma City, so she volunteers to be part of the take over mission of Enigma City, and so far it didn''t disappoint her. She gestured with her hand and her four teammates stop and take cover, for there''s a patrol ahead meaning they were near the enemy base. She commands using a hand signal, two of her teammates disappeared and a few seconds later they are back, and patrol ahead is cleared. "We don''t have much time, soon they will notice the disappearance of the patrol, ready your camouflage all target is already marked check your comm. We have 10 minutes to complete the mission. You know the drill." Bea said. "All four of teammates nodded" "Go!" All of them disappeared. .... Brutus was looking at the gigantic Door in front of him in amazement! Judging by the size it''s about 200-250 meters tall and about 70 to 100 meters wide covering the whole valley entranced. "How come we never saw this from afar?" Ask Ina. "It''s under some kind of optical illusion so we didn''t saw the door until we''re close enough to negate its effect." Said, Brutus "So how can we enter it?" "I don''t think this built by Li Fang and his army." Said, Joe "I agree this door looks old, centuries old. And this marking I don''t recognize it." Said, Ina "Look for any control panel there should be a way to open it. Have our drones scan the whole door and sent it back to command for analysis." Ordered Brutus. "I can''t, the signal is jammed here." Said, Joe "Then just keep scanning we will send it later when we have a chance." Said, Brutus "Hey come here!" Jessica shouted. They all run to Jessica who was dumbfounded by what she is seeing. "What the hell is that?" What they saw is a huge claw penetrated the door from the inside the scythe-like claw was able to penetrate of what looks like a 10 - 15 meters thick reinforced solid metal door. "Look" Ina pointed "it looks like that thing melted the steel but before it completely succeeded it died?" Brutus'' notice it and immediately shouted, "don''t touch the door." Joe who was about to touch It immediately takes his hands back. "Did you notice something?" Ask Ina. "No just a hunch. Ina sends an extra drones and have it touch the door." Ina did what Brutus told her, he summons a small droid a size of basketball it''s a surveillance drones he has plenty of it in her ring, and it''s quite cheap, so she chose it as a guinea pig. The droid move fast in an instant the droid reach the door it uses its little hand and touches the door but before it can even touch it, the droid exploded. Ina and the rest as surprised by the sudden explosion of the droid. "What''s going on?" Ina looking at Brutus, in fact, all of then are looking and waiting for Brutus''s explanation. Brutus calmly said, "I notice that burn marked on that huge claw, that claw is using heat to melt the door but it was burnt in return, meaning the door itself if protected by powerful electric current powerful enough to kill that or burn that monster that specializes in heat or fire..." He took a deep breath and look at the claw and said. "It mustn''t be at least a couple of billions of volts of electricity to burn that claw since its powerful enough to melt 10 plus meters of solid reinforced steel..." Joe, begun to sweat all over when he realized he almost died when he tried to touch the door. In fact, all of them are lucky that none of them decided to touch the door and just let the drones scan it. "There''s not much we can do here. Ina set up a survivance system here we need to keep an eye in this door at all times we can''t let those monster inside gets out no matter what, set up a wired surveillance system and put the transmitter outside the jammed area. Also, place a minefield around the door with a radius of 1 kilometer we can''t let Li Fang near this door. I assume he knows how to open it since he put his base near it." Said, Brutus Chapter 108 - Shadow Unit XLVIII Ina immediately began to work as a supply master she carried all types of devices. She first summons a ball like metal the size of golf ball she throws it in the ground and instantly spikes appeared around the metal ball. It immediately started spinning and drilled into the ground next she summons a hundred drones that can set up a minefield, those 30 drones immediately scattered. Each drone the size of a small car. And each one is carrying 1000 mines using 3d projector she set up where the drones would place the mines. Next, she summons an insect-like drone it looks like a grasshopper, it then entered the hole made by the golf size metal ball a thin thread is connected to end of insect drone it''s only a few microns in size almost invisible to the n.a.k.e.d eye. Ina holding a thread connect it to stone like a device it looks like an ordinary stone but it was actually a powerful CCTV camera and the stone itself can take a few tones for force without being destroyed. The thread is also very strong the thin thread who''s only a few microns in size is capable of hanging a motorcycle without breaking. Brutus and the rest watch Ina do her magic most of the devices Ina is using is alien to them. But they were able to guess what its function was. Ina repeated the action and was able to set up more than a hundred CCTV around the huge metal doors. She also set up a few automated Gatling Gun and missiles launcher near the door just in case they manage to pass the minefield she set five missile launchers on each side of the door 30 meters up in the rocky wall. Each missile launcher has 500 chopstick size missiles. She also set up over 30 Gatling guns with 100k bullets pack each around the door some in the side of door near the missile launchers other just in the ground. On the ground each Gatling guns have droids controlling them, and she left behind over 10 million of bullets in reserved and over 10k mini-missiles, of course, she also left some droid behind responsible for reloading. In just 45 minutes she turns the front of the door into an almost impenetrable fortress... She put the transceiver kilometers away from the door somewhere in the mountain where it cannot be damaged or found out. The transceiver looks like an ordinary tree using optical illusions... She looks back at her work and nodded. She then said this place will hold for at least a few days without problems. She double checks the connection to the CCTV and transmitter near the door. By issuing a command to the drones and just as she suspected since she can command her wireless drones near the door, she can use a wired transmitter as a medium to control the droids... Brutus is speechless when he saw what Ina did, he was just expecting a few mines and Gatling guns but to even place a missile launcher that''s a overkill as that missile launcher is capable of destroying a mech if used right. He wasn''t the only one the rest of them are dumbfounded... "You''re quite bored aren''t, you, Ina? And you''re just releasing your frustration here right?" Teased Jessica. I don''t know what you''re talking about I''m just following orders" said Ina Blushing a little, like a little girl being caught red-handed stealing a cookie. "Cough cough, good job Ina lets go we don''t have much time we need to finish this fight ASAP." Said Brutus breaking up the awkward moment for Ina. "Of course!" Replied Ina smiling. But soon all of them have serious expressions they all know the importance of this door and keeping it away from the enemies hands... ..... "Sir we have received reports from shadow units." "Good tell me!" "Yes, sir. Team A lead by Bea has successfully infiltrated the enemy airport and planted explosives on their weapons and Gas depot. They are on their way back." "Right on time." Said Wedge smiling. "And for team B responsible for investigating the valley they send encrypted files and was labeled Top Secret." "Send it to my comm. Right now!" "Yes, sir. Already sent it." "If they labeled it Top Secret it must be very important." Said Wedge in his mind. "Continue to monitor the enemies." "Yes sir" Wedge open the files in his comm it automatically decrypted the files. He watches the video reports and was stunned. He didn''t finish he knew the importance of the report. "Connect me to Commander Tom private comm Immediately!" Ordered Wedge. The men were surprised by his sudden order but immediately began to work and connect him to a secure line with Tom. Hmm. Tom was surprised by a sudden direct call from Wedge. "Wedge what''s up?" "Tom I''ve sent you an encrypted file check it fast." Said Wedge in a serious voice. Tom didn''t waste time he immediately check the files he saw the video reports and was stunned but at the same time worried, he massages his glabella and look back at wedge who was patiently waiting for him to finish watching the video report. it is only 10 minutes long as it was summarized by Brutus to give all details needed in a short time. "This is unexpected, we have no Intel or idea what that door is. I''ve already forwarded the message to Eve. She will receive it soon. I will send you 5 more swarms that''s all the reserve we have, finished the fight ASAP, and don''t give the enemies a chance to use that door at all cost as we don''t know what horrors sealed within." "I know" said, Wedge. He looks at Tom and continued. "The Shadow Unit did well reinforcing that door and preventing the enemy from reaching it. But what if it can be remotely operated?" Said Wedge worried. "There''s nothing we can do about that, I''ve seen the report that place is isolated from outside but it''s not impossible. Worst-case scenario we retreat and cancel the operation. Said Tom with a worried face. Eve received the reports a few seconds later because of the lag. She immediately shows the report to Arc who was waiting for any news on the Enigma City operations. When Arc saw the video report like the rest Except for Eve, he was shocked. Even Tiffa and Jarvis are no different. "What''s that? Space monster?" Ask Tiffa. "Unlikely the Door looks old but it looks man-made and the inscription I''m not familiar with it, what is it?" Ask Arc. "Its Chinese," said, Eve. Chapter 109 - Shadow Moon XLIX "Chinese? What''s that?" "It''s an Old human language, many languages were lost after the apocalyptic war, and more were left unused after the integration of galactic language in the Age of Space Exploration." Said Eve. "I see I remember learning about it in school that Earth used to have more than 1000 different languages. I still find it stupid whenever I think about it, I can''t imagine a planet so small having more than 6000 different language how the hell can they effectively communicate with each other. Well, whatever. what does the inscription means?" "According to the translation it''s (Death Valley)" said Eve. "That''s it? What does it even mean? Well now that I think about it maybe it does make sense since there''s a gigantic monster in there that are capable of piercing through a 10 or so meters solid reinforced steel wall. It should be some kind of warning I guess." Said Arc scratching his head. "Eve do we know anything about this Death Valley?" "They''re a lot of reference regarding Death Valley but none actually referring to that steel door." Said Eve. "I guess as much. I''m worried if that thing can disrupt our plan in Enigma City it''ll be a waste if we have to abandon it after spending so much on the operation to take over it." Said Arc with a furrowed brow. "Boss I don''t think it will come don''t to it Tom and the rest have bought significant firepower in that operation, after all, I don''t think a mere monster can defeat them." Said Tiffa. "No you got it wrong Tiffa, I''m not worried about them being defeated because I know they won''t be, what I''m worried is the number of casualties it will bring to get that victory, I hate unnecessary death especially if it can be prevented." Said Arc. "I see," Tiffa dint speak more as she knows her Boss personality it''s useless to convince him, since to him the life of his men is more important than any money spent. "We need countermeasures against the thing inside that Death Valley. Eve runs a simulation to counter-attack those things." "No problem Boss" ...¡­. "Speed up the process of taking over the rest of the City, and send the remaining Idle force to back up Wedge. Ordered Tom." "Yes, sir." Although they were curious about the sudden change of plan they didn''t ask any question. Tom massage his glabella it has become a habit as of late. "Biggs! Hmm, what''s up to Tom? Something happens?" Biggs was surprised by the sudden call from Tom in his private Comm. Something indeed happens, check your comm I''ve sent you a file. Very quickly Biggs checks the Video file, it''s the same report of Brutus from Shadow Unit. "Hmm, that going to be a problem," said Biggs. "I know what to do, Tom. Where almost done here I''ll back up Wedge as soon as possible." Said Biggs. "That would be for the best, the faster we ended this fight the better we can prepare." Said Tom. "But doesn''t that monster makes your blood boils Tom?" Said Biggs Grinning. "Haha that so like you, to tell you the truth it does. I really want to fight with it." Said Tom. "Well we will have our chance, for now our Boss dream is more important than any desires we have." Said Biggs. "You don''t have to tell that, well I''m also looking forward to seeing our Boss dreams come through." Said Tom with a smile. Talking to Biggs relaxed him a little, after that he continues to Command the Army but this time they are no longer taking their time. Wedge is busy making preparation for the coming assault from Li Fang Army. Sheng too was busy briefing Li fang Army on the strategy on how to deal and fight the Grand Army. "Sir the additional Swarm is here" Good! Said Wedge with a smile he was excited about the coming battle. Bang! Boom! Artillery and long range Canon continues to fire nonstop preventing any enemies from getting close, and drones continue to defend the air above the grand army, making all long-range missiles ineffective. But enemy canon also continues to fire preventing the Grand army from recklessly charging in. But one step at a time the Grand Army is advancing. "Sir we spotted warbots in the enemy camp." "How many?" Ask Wedge. "200 and counting look like it''s coming from the underground, so we''re unable to spot it before." Land mine is an effective way to counter warbots, but this time they can''t use it as they want to finish this war ASAP. "Prepare the mini guided missiles. Those things are ineffective against jet fighter but against any land machine it''s deadly, unfortunately, we only have a limited number of them but this time I''m authorizing the use of all of them." Ordered Wedge. "Yes, sir!" "And equipped the Beta and Gamma squad of rocket launchers have them prepare to intercept the enemy warbots" "Right away sir" Wedge step out of command vehicle, the moment he steps out the sound of artillery and cannon fire welcomes him in full blast. Inside the command vehicle is soundproof so can''t hear the actual explosions, he can only hear it through the speakers. But the loud sounds of Artillery and canon fire didn''t bother him, in fact, he kinda enjoys it. Every fire of the artillery and canon is like music to his ears. He steps in the viewing platform, its an elevated platform to better observed the ongoing fight many soldiers are in the viewing platform they all wearing advance binocular, and they are observing and reporting at the same time many elevated platforms are scattered at the back of the army 10 kilometers away from the battlefield above one of the tallest hills, in here they can safely observe and command the battle field. Countless drones are in the air above the command center to prevent any air attack. Looking at the battlefield he can see the ongoing stalemate. And although the Grand Army is advancing their advance is so slow one can barely notice it. Then he notices something and smile... "Its time," said, Wedge. Chapter 110 - Shadow Moon L Wedge notices the arrival of the backup Droids and as well as the other soldiers. Even before the reports come to him. "Sir the Droids are here as well as 10k soldiers as reinforcement." "I know, order the soldiers in the front line to retreat 200 meters back. And have the droid activate optic camouflage and go to the front line but don''t engage the enemies until I give the order." "Yes, Sir!" ........ Sheng notices the enemy retreated and smiles this reinforced his theory that their enemies won''t engage them into an all-out war, as the enemy retreated the moment they started mobilizing. "Hurry up the preparation we need to engage the enemy while they are hesitating. This is our only chance!" "Yes, Sir!" Of course, this is all a misconception on his part, as the retreat of the Grand Army has nothing to do with them hesitating. Wedge wanted the Droids to take the brunch of the attack giving more room for the Grand Army to maneuver in the battle. General Lee also notices the retreat of the Grand Army the moment they started preparing an all-out war, removing all his worries about the plan Sheng comes out with. But as a General, he never put all his money on a single bet. He ordered his other trusted men to prepare for retreat and escape route just in case everything went south. "Sir the transport plane is ready for you anytime." "Well let''s hope we don''t have to use it, as I hate opening that damn door more than anyone." He still remembers the first time they tried opening that door. The aura released by that monster drives many of his men mad, he too was affected by it and took him a long time to recover. So even though he used the door to threaten his enemies, he more than anyone doesn''t want to open that door. "Any news on the men we sent to prepare for opening the door?" "None so far sir, should I send more men?" "No! Any big movement we do regarding the door might get noticed by the enemy and might trigger them to do something unexpected toward us, if they found out we are making preparation to open the door, they may unleash all their power on us to prevent us from doing so." "I understand Sir" "Just send a few men to check on them, as communication near that door is very problematic." "I know what to do sir." ...... "Sir the enemy are preparing faster than before." "I noticed that" he was looking at the enemy base using binoculars "did they figure out our intentions? Hmmm, look like General Li has some skill, figuring our move this fast" "Sir do we need to change strategy?" "No need, it''s not much of the strategy anyway as I''m just using the droids as a shield as they have better shields than the soldiers. Are the Shadow Unit in positions?" "Not yet sir, but they will be in 10 minutes or so as going there takes a lot of time." "I see, no need to remind them as they know the importance of that mission." "Yes, sir," "And bring me my suit." "Sir, are you joining the battle?" "I may have too. And besides someone is already on the way to take over command." "Right away Sir!" Normally all of them have their own Storage rings, but they give it away for the army to use as they only have 50 of them, besides Wedge and the rest have no use for their ring in this operation. As they don''t have much use for them they offer it to the army to be used in this operation. And soon enough, a metallic black box was transported next to him a few moments later, it''s the same suit as Gerry only the armament is different Wedge preferred medium combat so many of the weapons his suit have been medium rage weapon. The War Armor looks identical to Gerry only there''s a few color change Wedge Suit is Blood Red that has a few black like tattoos on its arm and legs and on the back the logo of Grand Army. He took the suit and nodded he really like the way it looks, as every time he looks at it, it made his blood boils. He steps into it and activated is War Armor he calls it Blood Purge he instantly activated the optical camouflage, to prevent the enemy from spotting it. Tom is receiving reports on the battlefield and realized that they have mostly controlled the city only a few places remain unchecked because most soldiers are with Wedge as it''s the most important battle of Enigma City. Any wrong move can possibly make all their efforts wasted. "Sir all the droids are in positions, and awaiting your order" "Good, let''s wait for our enemy to come out and meet us. Everyone is on standby except for the long-range bombardment." "Yes, Sir." ..... "Commander Sheng! All preparation complete" "Great, prepare for combat move out! Sheng shouted" "YES, SIR!!!" "Attaack! Shouted one of the Captains from Li Fang Army and immediately all forces started to attack. Warbots are leading the charge, tanks behind them then the soldiers, fighter jets and all kinds of combat aircraft and drones move above them. From a far, it looks like huge animal migrations. The distance between two armies is 1 kilometer but for warbots and fighter jet it''s a very short distance, they reach the enemies in no time¡­ Grand Army is waiting for it... Tanks move in front followed by droids who are still in stealth then the soldiers and behind them those heavy War machines, those heavy air machines are the enemy aircraft main targets. But swarms of drones are protecting it making it very hard for the enemy to destroy it, but even though there are some attacks that reach their targets and manage to destroys and damage some of the heavy War machines. because the droids are not really made for air-to-air combats. Wedge is at the back together with the soldiers as he was still in stealth the enemies didn''t notice him only his men know he was there. He didn''t order the droids to attack yet as he was waiting for the warbots to arrive, he also didn''t release the swarm yet as it will be a finishing surprise for the enemies, for now, he was depending on the normal combat drones to fend of the attack from enemies air units. He didn''t have to wait long as the first war bots reach the battlefront the Grand Army tanks quickly engage it. Grand Army Tanks are different from normal tanks it''s very agile and can attack with variety of weapons it even has its own drones to attack the enemies it was manned by five soldiers Tankers are one of the specialized units of the Army, as they don''t have any air force yet their Tankers are one of the Few specialized Unit in the Army, The warbots are surprised by the agility of the tanks as it can keep up with them and engage them on the head-to-head battle. As the battle heated on, the Shadow Units who have received a special mission is nearing their targets. Chapter 111 - Shadow Moon LII Tom, gives the order to take precautions against both scenarios, and inform Gerry about it. Gerry having received Toms warning knows best of all the consequences of being unprepared against nuke and Mecha. Without hesitation, he ordered the deployment of Omega Drones. The soldiers look at him and gulp. They know what it was as they all participate in the testing and introduction of the weapon. It was Eve who proposed the said weapon at first Arc was against it as it was too powerful but eventually relented as Eve give him a choice of having his enemy lives and his men died. Because of the lack of options. 12 Omega drones are made just for these operations. It was one of Grand Army secret weapon only to be used if necessary of course Arc gives permission for all commanders to deploy it in their discretion as he trusts them all. Omega Drones is a doomsday weapon it''s a drone a size of passenger airliner equipped with 10 Rank 5 antimatter missiles with a damage radius of 2 kilometers, it''s also equipped with 10 ranks 5 incinerator missiles as its name implies it can generate an explosion as the same heat as the sun within 5 kilometers radius. And lastly its most powerful weapon chaos beam. It''s a downgraded version of the planet destroyer beam. But even so, it has a damage radius of 30 kilometers, anything within the 30 kilometers radius of its beam will be reduced to Atom. All of this weapon is a downgraded version of Doomsday weapon of the Sovereign Empire. Normally the lowest technology needed to develop a doomsday weapon is One-Star rank to be really be called a doomsday weapon. Eve created this weapon using Rank 5 military-grade weapons Factory. She even farther downgraded it so it won''t do much damage and to appeased Arc. This is the lowest setting She can do, to make the weapons any lower and it will fail or will become unstable. Gerry authorizes the deployment of 1 Omega Drones, originally Arc only agreed to use or build it to use against herds of monsters in the wilderness. It never crossed his mind that the Grand Army will be push by any human enemies to use it. The moment Gerry authorizes the deployment of Omega Drones, A man appeared before him his code name is Doom#4 he carried 1 of the doomsday weapon he was 1 of the twelve carrying 1 of the Omega Drones. His ring only has Omega Drones and its components and weapons supply. 2 Doom agents is assigned to each commander Except for Tom he has Six with him as he is the overall Commander of the Grand Army. Doom agents can''t deploy the Omega drones by themselves as it required a Commander authorization to deploy. It''s one of Eve''s security measures. Omega Drones can only be operated by the person carrying them and can only be deployed by a commander authorization. Gerry touches the ring on Doom#4 the ring automatically scans and begun the unlocking procedures. Gerry only needs to agree when a voice of AI sounded in his mind asking for authorization. As Gerry agrees the ring immediately unlock itself. "Go! Make preparation target the 1 kilometers in the back of the Enemy base, prepare an Antimatter missile. Wait for my order to fire." Said Gerry. "Yes, sir." Doom#4 leaves the MCV to make preparations. Wedge was shocked when he heard the deployment of Omega Drones. He immediately orders to stop advancing. In fact, he didn''t need to, as Gerry already give the order to stop advancing and maintain their current positions. Sheng notices the stop of the advancement of the Grand Army and smiles. "They really don''t want to push us too much," he said in his mind. "This is our chance to give them a heavy blow, hurry the deployment of Si Long squad, let''s use this opportunity to reduced their number when they are hesitating!" Ordered Sheng. "Sir! Si Long, Squad is ready to deploy in 1 minute." "Have them attack the moment they are ready. We cannot give our enemy time to realize their mistake of hesitating to push us in desperation." "Yes, sir." ..... "Sir, Omega Drone is online and ready to attack awaiting your order." "Tell him to stand by, what''s the situation with the Shadow Unit? Are they informed by the deployment of Omega Drone?" "Yes sir" they are in positions they are 12 miles (19.31 km) behind the enemy base. And all their preparation is complete." Gerry smile. "Good, it''s about time we end this fight." "Detonate the explosives in their airport." ..... Sheng is busy giving orders, " prepare all the aircraft they will move together with Long Squad." "Sir, Si Long squad is moving out." BOOOOM! BOOOM! A series of explosions racked the whole base of Li Fang! "What''s That!!?" Ask Sheng with a worried face... "Sir our airport was attacked!" "Bring it to the main monitor! Sheng ordered. A scene on the main monitors that are showing the fight in the front line was changed to the scene at their airport. Smoke and fires rage in the airport, the explosion of the Gas Depot and weapons Depot was so big it damaged 3/4 of the airport destroying more than 90% of their aircraft and killing almost all personnel at the airport. Sheng''s heart is beating fast, he has a bad feeling. "Oh no, we been had, contact the¡­" He stops speaking as the view on the main monitor change a huge black round like an object can be seen in the back of the Grand Army. He looks at the Round like aircraft and dreads fills him, he only has one thought in mind RUN, he was about to run when everything turns white. And nothing. General Li Fang is monitoring the battle inside his bunker 50 meters below the ground. He saw the explosion in the airport and cursed, but the moment he saw the Jet Black Omega Drone, the only thing he was feeling is Dread, like looking at the face of a very powerful monster. He knows by his previous experience so he sat down on his chair and sigh. "Were done" he said. "Sir?" The men beside him didn''t understand. Except for one the captain of his guard. Lee Song is his most trusted man, Lee Song saves his life countless times during his career he considered him as his brother. That''s why he uses all the connections he has to give Lee Song the best enhancement one can get. Brother Lee it''s been a pleasure and an honor having you by my side. Said Li Fang sadly. No Big brother the honor is all mine, but don''t fret we may yet survive this, my only regret is not being on the battlefield with you haha. Lee Song said. The surrounding guard is confused but didn''t say anything. They mostly understand the sourced of their emotions, but they can''t feel what they felt. To them the one on-screen is nothing more than an advanced aircraft. They are 50 meters below ground in the bunker sounded by a meter thick reinforced steel plate capable of withstanding any nuclear explosion. BOOOM!¡­. Chapter 111 - Shadow Moon LI Wedge plows through the enemies Warbot surprising them, before they can react wedge manage to destroy over ten of them. "What''s that?" Ask one of the Li Fang Warbot pilots. Wedge stealth was removed the moment he attacks, mini energy cannons on both of his shoulders continuously firings as he navigates the battlefield. Many Warbots were distracted by his sudden appearance allowing the tanks to take advantage and shoot them down. Grand Army Artillery have already stopped firing to avoid friendly fire, as the clash of Grand Army and Li Fang Army unfolded, Sheng looked at the enemy Black warbot its streamlined body looking like a human in armor not like a warbot with a very mechanical look. The black warbot moves fast at least 2-3 times the average warbot is capable of, but he was more surprised at the weapons the black warbots is manifesting, that''s right it was summoning different types of weapons in thin air. "Nanomachine? He whispered in confusion but how''s that possible?" Sheng''s confusion is the same as Dragko when he first witnesses it. ...¡­ "How''s the situation?" "Sir Commander Wedge is already engaged in the battlefield, we are awaiting your arrival commander Gerry" "I see, how''s the situation in front?" "Sir, commander Wedge, and the soldiers are engaging the enemy full-force attack. The swarm drones are ready for deployment and waiting for your order Sir." "Deploy the Swarm the moment the enemies started to show sign of retreating, are the Shadow Hunter in positions?" "Not yet, sir, their ETA is 2 minutes" "Do we know the pinpoint location of Li Fang?" "No Sir, but we don''t see him leaving the base." "I want his real time location! We must prevent him from leaving the base at all costs." "Yes, sir." ...¡­. "Destroy that Black Warbot" screamed the captain of Li fang Warbots. Immediately more than 20 warbot change direction and charge to Where Wedge is. Not only that Li Fang''s Drones are also targeting Wedge Blood Purge, well for one its very eye-catching with all the red color and the second Wedge alone has already destroyed more than 20 enemies Warbot on his own. Sheng continues to give the order, he saw that even with the advantage of numbers their forces are still being overwhelmed by the superior technology of their enemy, "send all Warbots now, also ready the Dreadnoughts!" "Yes, Sir." "I didn''t think their technology is so much more advanced than ours," Sheng mumbled. Sir, we lost Squad XX and Squad XX, we lost contact with Squad XX... Sheng continues to receive the report they are losing men faster than the enemies, in fact, he can see that the enemies barely lost anyone. But Sheng didn''t panic he just watches calmly and continues to think. "Tell Captain Long to prepare combat in 5 minutes..." "Yes, sir." Long: "it''s about time I''m getting bored waiting." "Boss, is it time for us to Act?" "Yeah! Prepare yourself boys lets give those motherf.u.c.kers a surprise!" "YEAH!!!" Long squad only consists of 6 people but all of them are equipped with a land-based Mecha that they manage to smuggle from space. This is their first real combat. Li Fang didn''t trust anyone outside his men, so when he managed to get his hand on the mecha he didn''t hire any mecha pilot instead he trained his own men for it. Long squad have been in training nonstop for the past few years and run countless simulations, they also use the monster in the wilderness as target practice. But this is their very first real combat deployment. Mainly because Li Fang was afraid to let others know he has Mecha in his army. Because if Pan Asian Alliance found out they can use it to appeal to the space Organization to deal with him. As all mecha is strictly prohibited on earth... Sheng knows this of course but is a gamble he''s willing to take. Li Fang found out about the possible deployment of Long Squad and didn''t say anything, .... "Sir the enemy is getting ready to deploy a dreadnought" Dreadnought is like a huge tank at least 10 times bigger than a regular tank it has very slow mobility but that was compensated by very thick armor and powerful firepower. It was considered the king of war until the Mecha is developed but the improvement and advancement of dreadnought didn''t stop especially here on Earth as Mecha is strictly prohibited. "Give me specs on the Dreadnought!" Instantly the specs of the dreadnought are displayed in his personal monitor. "Sir that''s the stock specs we didn''t know if any modification is done to the enemy Dreadnoughts." "Advance the artillery and target that Dreadnought." said Gerry. "Sir if we advance the artillery it will be in the range of the enemy." "Don''t worry about that. They are protected by defensive drones, it will not be easy to destroy it, but we need to destroy that Dreadnought before they can use it." said Gerry. "Sir do you think they will fire the Dreadnought? That will deal more damage to them than to us." "I know, and they know that too. They may just be showing it as a deterrent but I don''t think they will not use it if they are back into the corner. They may not care much for their men, but we do. So I''m not taking any chances." "Yes, Sir." Wedge notice the movement of their artillery and ordered some of his men to protect it. He knew something is up for Gerry to risk the artillery entering enemy firing range. He continues to engage the enemies Warbots, but they just have a lot of them so far he can already see more than 400 of them that did not include the ones they destroy. This stops the advancement of their forces, so Wedge is trying to destroy as much as he could to lessen the burden to the rest of his men. Tom saw the report and was watching the real-time footage from surveillance drones. "Looks like we greatly underestimate our enemy here in Enigma City, we didn''t factor that because of the isolation barely anyone manages to inspect the Enigma City war capabilities. In this battke, we have found out many of our shortcomings!" "Sir we just don''t have enough intel regarding the enemies and have caught us unprepared to perfectly deal. With it, but it''s not to the point we are at the disadvantage." Said Mariel, she one of the top officers in Grand Army she has talent in commanding and creating tactics so Tom took her under his wing to Train her more. "So what do you think about Li Fang? Is he hiding any more surprises for us?" "Very likely commander. If I have to guess, I think they still have more weapons hidden as they haven''t shown any sign of retreating of panicking even after they experience our superior technology." "I see, I agree said Tom, can you guess what it was they are still hiding?." "Just base on the data, I would have to choose Nuke and Mecha. They must possess one of them of both if we''re unlucky." Said Mariel. "Hmmm, how sure are you of this?" Ask Tom. "80% they have one of those. 40% they have both." Said Mariel confidently. Chapter 112 - Shadow Moon LIII Gerry''s watch as the explosives in the enemy airport set by the Shadow Units exploded. It looks like the Shadow Units Didn''t just out explosives in the Gas And Weapons depot the also put explosives in many areas in the airport such as Aircraft hanger and Drones storage and maintenance area in the airport... When the explosives in their port were detonated the fighting in the front line immediately intensified... The enemy is angry by the destruction of their airport and the loss of their air support. But wedge fighting in the front knows its not over yet so he ordered his men to enter defensive formation they activated all their shield. The warbot captain was confused by the sudden moves of the Grand Army. he has a bad premonition, so he didn''t order his men to pursue and attack, instead, he tried to contact the command center for further order. But to his surprised no one answers no, in fact, he can hear them talking about a black aircraft but in the battlefront, with all the smokes and dust it''s almost impossible to see anything further than 200 meters. He was about to shout. When he saw a white light envelops them. "Oh F.u.c.k," he curse. .... Fire the Antimatter missiles 3 kilometers behind the front line in the center of the enemy base. He clicks the target and confirms the attack. The next thing he witnesses a bubble of white lights enveloped the enemy base... He already gives the order in advance to prepare the Grand Army in the front line. "Prepare for impact!" Wedge Shouted!. As white light envelops Li fang Army base shock wave follows. Grand Army was prepared for it, as they deploy their shield in advance. But it''s a different experience for Li fang Army the shock wave destroys most of their electronic equipment not to mention many warbots are close to the epicenter the lucky ones were thrown several hundred meters in the air as for the unlucky ones they were burned to death before dying. It took a while for the comm to work again. The antimatter missiles didn''t produce any radiation but the damage is many times more devastated than a nuke. A crater with a diameter of two kilometers and 200 meters deep was all that remains of Li Fang base. Originally after the explosions, the swarm would be sent next to clean up the remnant of the base. But when Gerry looks at the aftermath of the blast it looks like a giant ice cream scoop up Li Fang base a perfect crater is all that remains. When they test the antimatter missiles they tested it in the ocean where many Monster lives, they saw the damage in the ocean but it''s not the same for the land as ocean waters remove all traces of the explosions as for land they stay the same. Gerry gulp when he saw the crater, it wasn''t just him everyone in the Mobile Command Vehicle or MCV is the same. By now all fighting stop Li Fang Army is in no more condition to fight back. The survivor of Li Fang''s army was too stunned to do anything else. 90% of War Bots were destroyed or malfunctions when the shock wave hits them the rest are too stunned to even think of fighting back. Wedge was stunned too, but he quickly recovers and gives orders to take down the remains of Li Fang Army. The shadow Unit behind Li Fang base their mission is to prevent Li Fang and his army from reaching the Death Valley, stood there speechless... Looking at the aftermath of the explosions. "Holy Shit! That''s¡­ Epic." said Brutus. "Yeah¡­." Said the woman beside him. Gerry immediately deployed the swarm. Even though there''s no need to, but in order to make sure he plans to sweep everything within the 30-mile radius, he also ordered the Shadow Units to go to the Gate in Death Valley to defend it if necessary. Gerry is not taking any chances. The same goes with Wedge, they immediately took action to secure the area around the Gate in Death Valley. Tom heard the report and sighed, we''re almost done here compile a report and send it to me ill be the one to send it to HQ. I''ll take full responsibility for this operation. He knows there''s a lot of flaws in the operations leading to the death of many soldiers of the Grand Army, not to mention the death toll on Enigma City is enormous and the deployment of Omega Weapon. He knows Arc will not be happy with the result as their Boss doesn''t want any unnecessary deaths if it can be prevented. Yes, Sir, ill take care of it. Said Mariel. "And I don''t think Big Boss will blame you for it. As we did the best we can in the situations." Sigh, you don''t understand our Boss doesn''t give us a timeline. Meaning we could have taken our time and gather enough intel to prevent any surprises. But in order to train our men, I made a decision to start the operation with limited Intel. Deliberately putting us at a disadvantage. That''s one of the reasons for the death of some of our men. "But made no mistake I don''t regret any of my decisions as i believe it''s a perfect opportunity to train our men. And I''m very happy with their performance." "I understand Sir." Said, Mariel "Just compile the report, and don''t worry about anything else¡­" Tom Smiles at her. "Yes, Sir." "And besides Mariel soon you''ll be the one giving order in my positions I hope you learn something in this operation." Mariel smiles and said, "I''m looking forward to it sir" "Haha GOOD! It won''t be long..." Said Tom laughing. With the defeat of Li Fang army all four heads of Enigma City is defeated... The long tedious work of cleaning up the City begins. Chapter 114 - Shadow Moon LIV The Fight for Enigma City lasts for more than 2 days. And the cleanup will probably last for more than a month. "Prioritized the building of the Communication tower. We need a stable connection to HQ." Ordered Tom. "Yes, sir. The engineering team already located a suitable place to build our Communications Tower." "Good, build it ASAP. How''s the cleanup process going?" "Sir, only a few small groups of criminals are trying to resist especially since we broadcast the news of the defeat of the four Heads of Enigma City. Many resistance stops and many surrendered. Only a few stubborn people remain." "I see! Tell Mariel to take over the cleanup process she has full authority to use all available assets." "Yes, Sir." When Mariel receives the order her Eyes lit up. She immediately stops writing a report and have others do it she then went to command center but Tom is nowhere to be found, so She immediately took over she ordered the scout drones with the swarm to sweep up the area where resistance is located it was followed by soldiers. She plans to systematically sweep Enigma City to prevent any enemies from escaping. She divided the drones and soldiers into four groups and systematically sweep Enigma City. Tom is with Gerry, Biggs, and Wedge they are in the cliff 2 kilometers away from Enigma City, it has an overlooking view of the City this is also where their temporary HQ is located before. After the defeat of the four head of Enigma City, their Temporary HQ was relocated inside the City. Now they are the only ones left in the area. "Looks like we''re almost done here." Said Biggs. "Yeah, at least the battle is. As for the aftermath that was just beginning." Said Tom. "Sigh, this operation is more tedious than I first thought." Said Gerry. "Agree, when we first come here I was expecting we will just trample our way through this city, without any problems." Said Wedge. Well, it''s a good experience for them. Said Biggs. "Haha, and Gerry looks like you enjoy your self too much and get injured for it¡­" teased Wedge. "Enjoy my ass! That dragon mecha is a pain in the ass, who would have thought it was equipped with a nuke. That F.u.c.ker Dragko, he died too easy." Gerry Cursed. Haha, as I''ve said you enjoy your self too much haha. Said Biggs laughing. "Yeah, among us you''re the only one who gets the best part." Said Wedge Smiling. Gerry, just cursed at them for he cannot deny he did enjoy the fight he have with Dragko. Tom, just smiles at them and continue to look at the Enigma City. "What are you thinking Tom?" Ask Gerry. "Nothing much just looking forward to our future with Boss." They stop horsing around and also look at the City. "Now that we have our foundation we can finally start with our Boss big plan." Said Wedge. All of then have anticipation in their eyes. Because of their low starting point, they are limited to what they can do. But the moment they took over Enigma City their foundation is now being build and a solid one at that. "We need more troops." Said Gerry. "Yeah, a lot more." Said Tom. ...¡­ Arc received a partial report of the defeat of the four heads of Enigma City. But the system mission of taking over a city is not completed yet, so he knows the operation on Enigma city is not done yet. ### MISSION LIST ### #1 Take control of 5 major underworld group in three 3 different nation no time limits REWARDS. 500 energy unit 1-Star 1x medical doctor 1-Star 10 medical nurse 1-Star medical facilities 1-Star 20x truth serum 1-Star 100x stealth suit ++++++++++ #2 Build an army of 1000 and took over a city with a population no lower than 500000 no time limit. REWARDS. 5000 energy unit 1-Star 10x army captain 1-Star 5x weapon specialist 1-Star 2x army Colonel 2-Star 1x general 1-Star 100x power suit 1-Star 50x reconnaissance drone ++++++++++ #3 Take over a nation population no lower than 10 million. No time limit. REWARDS 50000 energy unit 1-Star cloning factory 1-Star weapons factory 1-Star drone factory 1-Star food factory PRIVILEGE LEVEL 2, SYSTEM UPGRADE. He receives these missions over a year ago, and finally, he was close to completing 2 of them¡­ He looks at his stats. ### STATUS ### ARC D GRAND Strength: 5.2 ~ 67.2 Agility: 4.3 ~ 51.6 Endurance: 5.0 ~ 71.2 Intelligence: 4.9 ~ 65.1 SKILL: None. Enhancement serum reserved 52% ITEM LIST. 3 rank 5 health Potion 1-Star 3X ENHANCEMENT SERUM He got a lot stronger in this past year and a half. Thanks to the training he receives on both the Shadow Unit and the Army. "Eve, how long before they can manage to set up a communication Tower there?" "With construction drones, it won''t take long. At most 2 days as the communication tower we are building in Enigma City is not a normal one but a pinnacle of rank 5 technology." "I see, and how is the plan of action regarding Death Valley?" "Boss, I suggest leaving it alone for now. As we currently don''t have time or manpower to spare on it. As there are many unknowns regarding Death Valley. It''s better to leave it alone for when we have enough power to safely kill all monster inside it." "Actually that is what I have on mind as well. But I want it protected to prevent any problems, build an unmanned fort there and have our most powerful droids and drones protect it." "Yes, Boss" "And prepare for taking over the Morgan Family, after Bells funeral Ceremony." "Yes Boss" Arc, went silent and fell into deep thinking... "Boss, what are you thinking about?" Ask Tiffa, who has been quiet all this time. "Hmm, oh. Nothing much I just plan to take over the command on the attack on the Morgan Family." "Hehe, you finally can''t resist huh Boss." Said Tiffa, smiling at him. "Eh, what do you mean?" "I mean we all know sooner or later you will not be able to resist just waiting in the background." Said Tiffa, with a teasing look. "Sigh, that''s because I''m too weak before. And I don''t want to be the cause of problems for them. But I''m strong enough to protect my self now, and you''re right I don''t want to stay in the background anymore, I want some of that action too haha." Said Arc. "Well, it''s a good thing our Boss is being honest with his feelings." Said Dianna who just arrives and overheard their conversations. "I agree," said Tiffa, smiling. Chapter 115 - Shadow Moon LV As Tom and the Army is busy cleaning up Enigma City, Shadow Unit is also busy looking for Big Budda, Arc was on a meeting with Lisa and Vice-admiral Sheila Jones as well as Admiral Jackson Ford. The three arrive unannounced and immediately ask for a meeting with Arc. When Arc found out about it, he stops his training sessions as he knows it is important if the three of them are here together. "What you''re asking is impossible Admiral." Said Arc. They have been like this for the past 2 hours, it turns out that the big guys of GALACTIC FORCE ALLIANCE or GFA found out about his special Food Solutions and also want a supply of it. Arc was pissed as he rushes to the meeting believing some kind of important events happens for those three to come to him together, it turns out it was just them asking for more supply of special solutions. The three can only smile wryly as they can tell Arc was pissed by their sudden arrival. They can tell what is on his mind, but they were also powerless in the matter. It turns out Commander Markos Deacon got drunk on one of the parties with his colleagues and blurted his secret on his youthful appearance. And ever since he got the solutions from Arc his Old and weak Appearance has greatly changed and become an enigma to his colleagues but commander Markos Deacon remains tight lip about his miraculous recovery until he got drunk and accidentally blurted it out. So now here they are, the top officials immediately ask Vice-admiral Sheila Jones, and Lisa, even Admiral Markos get caught in affairs when the top found out he has a good relationship with Arc. "Admiral, if I agree to your demand I will have to reduce my family consumption as well we took back all your shares in the solutions, but even if I did that it''s not enough to supply what you''re demanding." Ford knows what they are asking is too much. And the three of them don''t want to lose their share of the miraculous Solutions, so they can only curse Commander Markos for his blunder. "Is there no other way?" Ask Admiral Ford helplessly. "It''s not like there isn''t. But the cost is just too much." Said Arc. Admiral Ford sigh, "well I''m pretty sure the higher-ups are willing to pay for it..." Admiral Ford silently opens the connection for the higher up to listen to their conversation. Of course, Admiral Ford informs Arc about it in secret, as he didn''t want his relationship with Arc to be damaged because of it. So they agree to talk first before letting the higher-ups join in. Arc. "Good to see you again." Admiral Ford repeats his Greetings as they discussed before. "You too Admiral, there must be an emergency if even you are here to see me, Admiral. Good to see both of you again Lisa, Vice Admiral Shiela." Said Arc playing along. Both Lisa And Sheila Smile and greeted back. "So what''s the big news that you have come in person announce Admiral?" Ford, pickup the annoyed tone of Arc, and think for himself "look like he is still pissed, did we interrupt him having s.e.x or something?" Admiral ford smiles back and said, "not really an emergency but it comes directly from the top." "Oh, that''s something lets hear it then," said Arc. Smiling back at Admiral Ford. Of course, he didn''t forget to add a little bit of annoyed tone into it. Well, in fact, he was annoyed at first but after thinking about it, he saw it as an opportunity to scam those top officials of GFA. So he Asks Eve about it and started thinking about what will he ask in return. As Admiral Ford, began to tell him again about the reason for their visit, he was pretending to listen but in reality, he was talking with Eve regarding what to ask GFA in return for his special solutions. Of course, in order for the top to not find out about this play of theirs, he is acting his part well. "But admiral what your asking is impossible¡­." They repeated their conversation, of course, he didn''t say anything about the share of Admiral and the two girls with him, making them sigh in relief as if the higher up found out about it it would be a miracle if they were able to keep it for themselves. Even Admiral Ford is no exception to that, for he was just one of the lowest rank Admiral in the newly Formed GFA. Soon they finished their acting and comes to the point where their negotiation stop earlier. "It''s not exactly impossible but the cost is too much for us..." "I''m sure we can talk about it," said Admiral Ford. "Well to produce more of that special solutions we have to dedicate all our production of solutions to making it cutting off more than 50% of our regular solution output that includes military-grade. We''re supplying you. Not only that we will be using 100 times more resources to just produce an additional 100 of it a month. So tell me is it still worth it? Said Arc. Admiral Ford frown, not just him everyone listening has a frown on their face. Even Markos didn''t expect the cost of producing it would be that much. At first, he still thinks Arc gets the better of him if only by a little, now he thinks he won the lottery. As the deal he has with Arc is under The first Bank and can''t be changed. "Can''t you just increase the production facility? Ask Admiral Ford. "It''s not that easy, as each solution are being produced by different machine the higher the grade of the solutions the more sophisticated it is. So in order to produce more special solutions we have to convert 2 of our 5 military grade production facilities. To produce 100 more special solutions. It took us many years to develop the facility so it won''t be easy to produce it, not to mention the amount of high-grade materials needed to create it. Why do you think we ask for a place in Liberty in the first place?" Arc look at Admiral Ford for a bit and smile. "Materials" said Admiral Markos. "thats right, to get more materials and thats not for just any regular solutions. think about it if its easy to produce why would I not put it on the market? with its effect even if we ask for a very high price no one would complain. the problem is its just cost too much to produce. and thats the reality." said Arc. Chapter 116 - Shadow Moon LVI "I''m sure you''re aware that we are buying a lot of rare materials here on Earth and on Space, were not selling but just buying. That is to increased our production facilities and to gather materials for producing special solutions and to cope with future demands." Said Arc. Admiral Ford didn''t speak and leaned back on his chair and think for a bit. In fact, he was just giving more time for the higher up to think. Arc didn''t interrupt him he was aware of what he is doing. Unfortunately, he wasn''t able to listen in their conversation as they are using a secured line. And Eve can''t hack into it. Arc ask for drinks to be delivered to them. As he was a little thirsty for speaking too much. A few seconds later Tiffa brought a few drinks for everyone. "So how much materials do you need to build enough production facility to produce 200 more special solutions every month?" Arc look at Admiral Ford in surprise, but in fact, he was very happy inside... "You really want to go through with it? Arc asks in surprise. That depends, for now, I just want to know what will it cost us to get 200 more special solutions every month. "Sigh, a lot, ill tell you that. Dianna can you print the cost of the special solution, so I can give it to Admiral Ford." "Sure Boss. Give me a second." Dianna left the conference room and pretend to print the doc.u.ment of the so-called cost of the production facility. But in truth Arc and Eve is talking about how many materials they need to build the required weapons and armors for the Grand Army for the future, at first they plan to mine and buy all the materials they needed to properly arm their Army, but now GFA is offering to sponsor all their expenses for only 200 special solutions, when his army is consuming Special solutions in tens of thousands every day... I wonder what would they feel if they found out about it in the future. Arc can only smile at the idea. So after a while, they decided on the cost they will give to GFA. It''s not much for them to give it up but it enough to hurt their pockets. Dianna is waiting for Eve and Arc to finish their conversation about the cost. Soon a doc.u.ment was printed and all Dianna have to do is take it. She reads the doc.u.ments and smiles. "GFA is going to bleed this time," she said in her mind. Dianna arrived back to the conference room and saw Arc and Admiral are talking about the war while drinking some juice. They stop talking as she arrived with the doc.u.ments. She places the doc.u.ment in front of Arc, who then passes it to Admiral ford without looking at it. Admiral took the doc.u.ments its around 30- 40 pages he looks at it and was surprised he was expecting just a list of materials and amount but what he has on his hand is a full doc.u.mentation of the cost of the production facility. "Is it alright to give this to my superiors?" said Admiral Ford. "Of course, that''s yours I don''t want you to think I was swindling you by asking the required materials to build a facility. I''m sure with this you will change your mind about asking for more special solutions." Said Arc. With a slight smile on his face. Admiral Ford Scan the doc.u.ments and pretend to send it back to his superiors, when in fact he already scanned it and sent it the moment he gets his hand on it. But to pretend that Arc didn''t know that the higher-ups are listening to their conversation a small play has to take place. Admiral Ford excused himself to pretend he was contacting and informing his superiors about the meeting that took place. Arc just nodded when Admiral Ford excused himself. For he is already aware of the situation. In the meantime, he was talking to Lisa and Vice Admiral Sheila. "Arc, I heard you''re hosting a welcoming party for Alien races in space here on Earth." Said Sheila sarcastically¡­ "Haha, well it not me really it''s the UG they are the ones excited about that event, for me its just another business transaction." "I see, HFA is a trying to prevent it though." Said, Sheila "I don''t really understand what''s their problem with it, their strict control of news and technology on Earth is making the people on Earth stupid and ignorant they are taking the future of humans here on earth with their greed." Said Arc frowning. Lisa, sigh, she used to be part of HFA but now they belong to GFA. She understands Arc sentiment. Although she wasn''t born on Earth but in Space, she is part of humanity after all. She knows it wasn''t fair to the people on Earth what HFA is doing but everything is about Cost and Gains. If the Gains is much more than the cost then whatever the cost maybe they don''t care about it. As HFA is gaining by costing Earthling their future to HFA that is a small price to pay for what they are Gaining. "I know it''s not fair. But you''re putting yourself as a target for HFA." Said Lisa in a concerned tone. "Won''t matter, they can''t do anything to me anyway." Said Arc shrugging his shoulder. "For now yes, can you still say this in the future?" Said Lisa. "I''ll cross the bridge when I get there," said Arc nonchalantly. They know that the listening device is with Admiral Ford, so they can talk boldly like this. They talk about many things as they waited for Admiral Ford to come back. Soon enough Ford comes back and said. We''re willing to give you the materials in exchange for the 200 special solutions every month. "Can you elaborate?" Arc ask with a slight frown on his face. Chapter 117 - Shadow Moon LVII Were willing to give the materials in exchange for 20 years supply of special solutions. Said Admiral Ford. With a slight frown on his face. Clearly, he too didn''t agree to the decisions of the higher-ups. "Arc look at him and said in a very sarcastic voice. So, in other words, you want us to slaves ourselves for 20 years baring all the cost of materials for the solutions and cost for labor, and for building and maintaining the facility just because you provided the materials for the construction of the facility we don''t need or want is that correct?" Lisa and Sheila have a comical look in their faces because they are trying hard not to laugh. "Then why don''t I give you the materials for building us 10 space battleship and after we use it for 50 years we will return it to you. How''s that sound to you? Should we make a deal? Ask Arc. With the mocking look in his face." Arc paused and look at Admiral Ford. "Admiral Ford, do I look that stupid to you? Are your superiors have brain damage or something I assure you we can''t cure that even with special solutions. Said Arc. With a deep frown on his face." Admiral Ford knows Arc is aware that his superiors is listening to their conversation but said it anyways. Admiral Ford knows Arc was pissed because of what he said. Back in the conference room of the top official''s commander Markos is laughing his ass off for what Arc has said.. And every one of the people on the room has frown on their faces. Except for commander Markos, each and every one of them is very respected and feared who will tell them they have brain damage. At first, they are suspecting Arc is aware of them listening now they no longer doubt it, they knew that if Arc is aware they are listening he didn''t have the guts to say that to their faces. If they found out Arc knows they are listening and don''t really care about what they feel, they would be fuming with anger. But because they also knew they are asking for too much they don''t really care about his remarks, but commander Merkos laughter is making it worse for them. Admiral Ford, calmly said, "that just because the amount of materials is too much." "Didn''t I said that from the start. That''s why I said the cost too much for the gain. But it looks like you only want the gain and don''t want to pay the cost. If you can''t afford it then said so no one will blame you as we know that it''s really too much. But don''t insult me, Admiral." Lisa and Sheila no longer found it amusing as they know Arc was angry for being insulted. Admiral Ford too blames himself for agreeing to say the higher-up''s conditions. Arc. "I assure you we didn''t mean it like that..." "Well, I''m not blaming you, admiral. For I know you''re just telling me what the instructions of your superiors. But I don''t think your superiors are really interested in getting the special solutions, and just want to save face by giving you those instructions. So let''s stop talking about it." Said Arc with a calm look in his face. Admiral Ford knows Arc was just giving him face and at the same time no longer interested in making a deal. He sighs, he knew the higher-ups mess up big time this time. And if they want to get the special solutions they will have to pay more than before. Everyone in the meeting room of the top officials is no longer in the mood for jokes even Commander Markos stops joking around. "So what do you guys think?" Said one of the elders in the meeting room. We need those Special solutions we all have tried it before and knows what it can do. In truth, the event when commander Markos accidentally blurted about it happens 2 months ago. And in this two months makos shared his supply of special solutions to them and have them tried it for themselves, and they all fell in love with it, who among then is young each and every one of them is an old fart in their age when almost everything is in their disposal the only thing they care most above all else is their life. And the special solutions are a ticket to a long life for them. Of course, they will do anything within their power to get it. In fact, they have spared no expense in finding out where and how Grand Trading Corporation is producing the solutions. But all their attempt comes to nothing. All agents they sent never come back. And all they''ve sent just to investigate comes up with nothing. They were very puzzled by this but at the same time, their hands are tied as they cant interfere with earth Affair too much meaning they can''t send a large enough force to subjugate Grand Trading in the open. Over the past year and a half, they have tried everything to reversed engineered the solutions but no result so far. They funded many corporations to attack Grand Trading Corporation. Through legal and illegal means but that too fails as Grand Trading Corporation is no longer a small business on the earth that any company can go against. Just the income of VR is enough to drown all those companies in money. Admiral Ford excused himself once again to talk to his superiors. Arc just wave it off and didnt really care much about it. Admiral Ford saw the uninterested look of Arc and knows he no longer cares about doing transactions. The top officials saw it too. And frowns. This time Admiral Ford told them that if this continues they can forget about getting special solutions. This time they talk for more than an hour. They came up with many proposals only to be rejected by Commander Markos and Admiral Ford. Then Markos asks them how much they really want the solutions, if they don''t care much about it then just drop the proposal to acquire it, before the relationship with Grand Trading Corporation, worsens. In the end, they all agree that they want it more than they want the materials they can get in the war with Ganesh. The war on Ganesh can powerup their respective organizations, but the special solutions are for their personal benefits. And that is something they all agree silently. In the end, they decided to pay whatever Arc ask them for it, they dont have a choice anyway... It may sound like a huge loss for them but in fact, with the amount of assets they have those number of materials is just a drop if the ocean for them compare to the total wealth they possessed. When admiral Ford heard it he has a huge grin on his face. As all negotiations is all up to him now. Markos also asks to cut all connections just in case Arc found out about their spying. This makes Admiral happier. As for the top leader once they made the decisions they don''t care about it anymore since they collectively decided to pay any price. They can no longer stop it so they move on to other agendas. Like the war with Ganesh, since they already concluded a deal for their benefits its time to move on to the benefits their forces can get. Chapter 118 - Shadow Moon LVIII Admiral Ford comes back with the grin on his face. And everyone notices it. Looks like you get something good. Said Ark smiling. "That''s right those old farts finally give in." Said Ford smiling smugly. Vice admiral Sheila, just shakes her head while smiling. As for Lisa she giggles. "Hahaha, it looks like we can finally talk real business now." Said Arc laughing. "That''s right kids playtime is over." Said Admiral Ford. I''ve been authorized to give you whatever you demand as long as it''s not too much... Haha, well that depends on how much they want it. How about this admiral give me twice what I need for materials and ill give you 250 special solutions every month. Plus 7 solutions every week for the three of you. How''s that sound admiral. 300 plus I will give you 2x more Space Beast meat at the price of 1. That''s a bit of a problem as we still need to spend on the construction and everything. Add this list of materials and you''ve got your self a deal... Arm handed him a list of materials. The materials are not rare but the amount is staggering 2 billion tons of class 5 steel, 2 billion tons of class 5¡­. There are at least 20 materials on the list and the minimum amount is 2 billion tons. But Admiral Ford just looks at it and there''s no change in his expressions if a person looking at it is superpower from Earth he would be Cursing nonstop by now. But by power from space, this amount is not much the only problem is transporting it here on earth. GFA owns thousands of resource planets, rare materials are another matter but ordinary materials they have trillions of tons of it in reserve... And as expected, Admiral Ford looks at it and said. This is not a problem I can even triple it if you want the problem is transporting it here on Earth. Said Admiral Ford. The promise of 7 solutions a week put him in a very good mood. Plus the materials Arc is asking are all common materials besides the materials needed for the construction of production facilities. "That''s another thing I would like to ask. I want a bigger warehouse on Solar Space Stations." Said Arc. "That''s also not a problem but I have a better solution," said Admiral Ford. Oh, what''s that? Said Arc grinning. "It''s rare for me to have full power in negotiations in GFA so lets put it into good use. I can''t touch property in Liberty but other places are not a problem..." Admiral Ford look at Arc and Grinned how about your own resource space stations? "Huh? I don''t understand Admiral, are you giving me a resource space station.?" Ask Arc in confusion. "That''s exactly what I''m saying. It just so happen we are replacing several of our deep space resource space stations because of damages. With the war on Ganesh. And it just so happen one of them is relatively intact. And only slightly damaged. That is the one I plan to give to you. How''s that?" Said Admiral Ford with a cunning smile. What''s the catch admiral those space stations are very expensive. I don''t believe you''re just giving it to me just like that. Said Arc. Lisa then said, "Oh those, that''s very clever Admiral." "Yeah that''s killing 2 birds no 3 birds with one stone," said Vice Admiral Sheila. Arc look at them in confusion. Lisa notice it and smile. "Let me explain, where do you think GFA gets all its funding? Lisa looks at Arc smiling and ask. "Hmm, wasn''t it comes from the twelve human superpowers on Earth?" That''s only one part of it. The twelve supper power only real support is their soldiers and weapons they handed over to GFA to fight the war, then what about the expenses and maintenance cost even with the twelve superpowers they can''t shoulder all that. Said Lisa. Then something hit Arc. Private enterprise he whispered. "Lisa grinned that''s half right, war is like a company the twelve superpowers who give up soldiers and weapons receive the biggest portion of the stocks and become the biggest stockholder and become the board of directors they will be responsible for running the company. The rest of the stocks is auction off to the highest bidder. And the money collected from those bidders goes to GFA as Resource Funds, but that doesn''t mean they can use it whatever they want. So in order to use it, they must have a reason to use it." "Like replacing deep space resource space stations." "Bingo," said vice Admiral Sheila. "We will then say we sold it to you for additional military-grade solutions that will be lost by the attacks of Ganesh." Said Admiral Ford laughing. "Are you sure it''s alright to tell me that." Arc look at Ford and Smile. "If its someone else I''ll be worried, but you no problem," said Admiral Ford grinning at him. "Then how about selling me the rest of those decommission space station?" Said Arc, stunning the rest. "What do you need them for?" Ask Lisa. "I don''t need them per se. But I can dismantle and recycle them for more materials. My production ship is idle for quite some time. They need something to do." Said Arc. Admiral Ford thinks for a bit and agreed to sell it the rest of those space stations to Arc for military-grade solutions. By the end of the day, they finally agreed on the terms. GFA will pay for the cost of the production facility and will receive a 50% discount for 20 years for purchasing 300 special solutions every month. The list of materials was included in the contract, including the additional common materials he asks and true to his word admiral ford triple the amount he asks for the common materials. They also agreed GFA will pay using rare materials for the purchase of special solutions Arc didn''t ask for an expensive price for the special solutions that make the higher up very happy. They didn''t bother with the deal of Arc buying decommission space stations. Admiral Ford even offers to deliver the space stations somewhere near Earth so that Arc can dismantle it in safety. The next day the official contract is made with the seal of the first bank on it. Arc happily signed it. He was over the moon with this deal. It''s the biggest gain he has on a single deal. Just 300 rank 5 solutions for materials enough to equipped and armed 10 million men to the teeth he can''t ask for more. With that material, she didn''t have to worry about rare materials for the next ten years. That''s how big the gains he gets. Eve start building whatever we need, I think we should build warbots for the Army, and some Air forces aswell discussed it with Tom we need to speed up our plan I have a feeling something is about to happen and I don''t want to be caught unprepared. said Arc. Yes, Boss. Chapter 119 - Shadow Moon LIX Arc was over the moon after the deal with the top officials of GFA many of the projects that need time to implement because of the lack of materials have all been resolved and will be implemented ahead of time. "Eve, those materials are enough to keep us going for at least 2-3 years without any problem of lack of materials. Not only that we can use GFA as a source for more common materials... I want full assessment and report on those two battle I want to know what we can improve and We need to prevent any preventable death. Earth is just a stepping stone for us. If we can''t even dominate the forces here even with our tech then that''s a big failure to us." "Arc look at Tiffa and Dianna and said. Dianna were ready to step into a new stage, find someone to take over your position here on earth when we step into space, and Tiffa looks for someone to take over your job as well and help Dianna in preparing our company is moving into space." "Yes Boss," both Tiffa and Dianna answered at the same time with a smile on their faces. "Eve, I want you to design a new power armor for both Shadow Unit and Army ask for Tom, Ruby and the rest for input I want a perfect suit for both Shadow Unit and Army here on Earth so that we can focus on what to do when we step into space." "You got it, Boss." Said Eve. With the materials from GFA their plan needs to be adjusted ahead of time... Arc began to contemplate all the things that need to be done. "According to Mia our Base on Liberty will be completed in about 2-3 months, originally I plan on moving to space 2-3 years from now but with those materials, we can move to space in a year at most." Arc mumbles Tiffa and Dianna didn''t interrupt Arc thinking and just continue to wait for his next instructions. "After I got the cloning factory by completing a mission I won''t have to worry about the lack of key personnel. The problem is taking over Earth will take some time, and cannot be rush. Sigh, I guess I need to complete my mission first before I can think of planning ahead." "Dianna gather Grand Trading top personnel and have them study the earth economy and ask them what kind of products Earth needs in the coming years... We need to make Earth dependent on us if we are to succeed in taking over Earth. So we need to develop more products, products that Earth can''t bear to give up... I have a few in mind but it''s better to ask the expert just to make sure." "Tiffa, after you settle your affair you will help Dianna in preparing Grand Trading in moving into space." "Yes Boss, don''t worry." Said Tiffa. "Dianna can you arrange a transport for me I want to visit Liberty in order for me to experience first hand what Liberty is all about. I need Biggs and Wedge to accompany me in my visit to Liberty, and if possible I want both of you to accompany me as well." Said Arc. "Boss when do you plan to visit Liberty?" Ask Dianna. "A week after Bell''s funeral ceremony." "Ok Boss, we''ll take care of it." Said, Dianna. Tiffa nodded. "Oh, Jarvis you''re coming with us too" Arc look at Jarvis and smirked. "As you wish Boss," Jarvis said without any changes in his expression. "Oh and Dianna can you connect me to vice Admiral Sheila and Lisa I have some request for them." "Of course Boss, give me a second." Said, Dianna. "Hmm, Dianna what can I do for you?" Lisa''s voice can be heard from the other side of the line. "Lisa, it''s me Arc." Lisa was surprised by the sudden call of Arc. "Arc what can I do for you?" Lisa said in a surprised voice. "Sorry to bother you, but is there a way to get a cruiser class spacecraft from GFA?" "Cruiser Class? What kind?" Ask Lisa. "Private Cruiser class preferably big enough to for at least 100 people." "That''s not a problem, as we have a few available the question is what kind you need as there are many types of that kind spacecraft..." Said Lisa. "Well, here''s the thing" Arc explains what he needs and what kind of facilities the cruiser needs to have. Lisa gives him many suggestions and asks him many questions. After about an hour they finally agreed on what kind of spacecraft Arc wants. "AC009 T-Class Space Cruiser would be the most ideal that''s the top civilian Space Cruiser develop By Magno Corp under Omega Foundation. The problem is the size it won''t be enough to satisfy your demand only Sigma Class of higher can satisfy your demand for size. But those are very big Spacecraft. Even the smallest Sigma Class can easily hold 100000 passengers with enough room to spare." "No, that''s too big for me. I don''t need that big of a spacecraft." Said Arc. "Sigh, then the only solutions is customized spacecraft. But that will take some time to build." Said Lisa. "Sigh, hmm is there no other way?" Ask Arc. Lisa didn''t really want to let down Arc. As it is the first time Arc requested something to them. So As much as possible she wants to fulfill Arc''s request as she felt she owed Arc for free Special solutions He was providing for her. Especially now she knows how valuable it is. "Give me a few days, let me look for a suitable spacecraft for you." Said Lisa. "No prob. Sorry for the trouble." Said Arc in apologizing voice. "No, no trouble at all it''s a small matter after all. I''ll take care of this I will call you later as soon as I have news." Said Lisa. "Sure, thanks again." Said Arc. After some more pleasantries, they ended the call. "Boss, why do you need that kind of ship?" Ask Tiffa. "It''s for my private use as I assumed ill be traveling to space a lot of time in the future. As we don''t have the capability to build spacecraft yet I need a good one that we can use for the time being." Said Arc. "Yeah, but why that big?" Ask Tiffa in curiosity. "Because I plan to renovate it a bit so that we can install at least a few weapons and Mecha for our protection." "Ah, I see good thinking Boss." Tiffa gives him a thumbs up. "Of course, as they say, prevention is better than cure!" Said Arc. "Eh, I don''t think that idiom is right Boss." Said Tiffa. Huh, well whatever you know what I mean, replied Arc embarrassingly. Tiffa, giggles, and Dianna have a huge smile on her face. "Cough, anyways we will be very busy these next few months. All of you be ready." Arc quickly change the topic to escape from that awkward situation. "Yes Boss," Tiffa replied while continuing to giggle. Dianna just nodded. After Arc has done giving instructions Dianna and Tiffa left to do their own thing. Arc and Jarvis are the only ones left in his office. After some time Jarvis also left to prepare some food and drinks for Arc. As Arc was conversing with Eve on what to do next, A call comes through. Arc look at the caller and was surprised. Commander Markos Deacon is calling him. Arc answers the call. "Commander what can I do for you?" Chapter 120 - Shadow Moon LX Arc was surprised by the sudden call of commander Markos, but he immediately thinks of Lisa. "Could it be?" He thought. "Commander Markos, this is a surprised what can I do for you?" Arc answers in a friendly voice. "Arc, good day to you, I heard you''re looking for a space cruiser that''s the reason I called." "Ah, commander I didn''t mean to disturb you with it. Lisa works fast we just ended our conversation an hour ago. I didn''t think she will disturb you for it, I apologize." Arc said pretending to be sorry. "Nonsense! No need to apologize for it, and it wasn''t Lisa who calls me but Admiral Ford. For he knows when it comes to space cruiser I''m a specialist." Said Commander Markos with a tinge of pride in his voice. "Really!? Commander I didn''t know, I have indeed asked Lisa for a space cruiser as I would be traveling to Liberty often in the coming months. But it''s a surprise that you commander is the go-to when it comes to space cruiser. I thought someone of your stature would be more inclined to a military-grade battle cruiser than a regular space cruiser." Said Arc with the voice of flattery. "Haha, well I have you know back in the days I was one of the best space cruiser providers for many top personnel in space. It''s one of my passion, designing and building customizing space cruiser. Even to date, the best space cruiser in human forces is designed by me!" Said Commander Markos with a proud and gloating expression. "Wow! Commander that''s really a surprise. I assume you have an available Space cruiser you''re willing to sell to me?" Ask Arc in anticipating voice. "Haha, sell you must be kidding me Arc." "Ah, that''s a shame as I really want one of your specially designed space cruisers, you''re killing me here commander." "Hahaha, fret not Arc I''m not going to sell it instead I''m giving you one of my babies, I assure you will not be disappointed." Said Commander Markos with pride. "Commander, how can I accept that? I." "Stop, Arc don''t say anything consider this an apology for the trouble I caused you about your special solutions." Said Commander Markos cutting Arc from talking. "Then I won''t refuse Commander Markos as refusing would only tarnish our relationship. But I assure you I''m not troubled by it as I gained quite a bit from that transaction I should thank you instead." Arc said honestly. He is starting to like commander Markos. "Ah, that''s a small gain compare to the trouble it caused." Said Commander Markos. He still believes the value of the special Solutions is really that great, and he believes that it''s really very hard to produce it. And Arc is only being forced to expand is production just to accommodate him and the top officials of GFA. "How about this commander were very close to developing a special Health Solutions, unlike Food solutions, Health Solutions specialized in repairing the body and increase one lifespan. As soon as we succeeded you''ll be the first beneficiary I promise you." Said Arc. "Really?" Commander Markos was really surprised by that news, the special food solution is already a miracle to him. If what he assumes is correct the value of these special health solutions exceeded that of the special food solution by several times. "What''s the effect of it? He quickly asked. "So far we can expect an increase of lifespan by 10-20 years after 20 uses and after 50 uses an increase of at least 30years and a prolonged used is showing a good sign of greatly slowing one aging by at least 2-3 times. Of course, we haven''t begone human trials yet as we are still looking for a perfect combination of ingredients. But all our animal''s test subject shows sign of slow aging and greatly increasing once regeneration without any side effects." Said Arc with a straight face. of course none of those are really true as one look and he already knows the effect of the health solutions. "This is supposed to be a great secret, but for you commander, I''m willing to make an exception." "Is what you said true?" "I won''t joke about it, commander." Said Arc with a hint of pride in his voice. "Good, Good, Good I''m looking forward to it hahaha, you know I have a very beautiful granddaughter maybe I can introduce her to you one of these days. Hahaha, so when can I expect those Special Health solutions of yours? Hehe" Ask commander Markos Grinning. "The soonest 3-6 months from now the latest 1 year. As we don''t release products if it''s not perfect we have a reputation to uphold after all. Said Arc with a smile. "Perfect I''m looking forward to it, well I have to go now expect one of my baby to arrive in about 3 days, Good talking to you Arc. Hahaha." "You too commander" after commander Markos hang up, He took a deep breath "darn now I can''t give him a regular cruiser if I want to get a good deal of that special health solution I can''t go cheaper with my gift." Markos sigh massaging his head, but with a huge grin on his face. Grandpa, what is it you look like in a good mood today what happened? A 20 something beautiful Girl asks Commander Markos she has a dark Red hair perfect face and body that can shame any supper star and model. Her name is Leslie Deacon, daughter of commander Markos only Son and Markos spoiled her a lot but unlike your typical spoiled child. Leslie is different not only she doesn''t act like a spoiled child. She her self is a genius she graduated in the most prestigious school with top honors she also made a name for herself in developing advanced warp engine and the youngest scientist to be awarded of Nobel Prize for her theory on folded space and developing folded Warp engine that''s ten times faster and more efficient than any existing human warp engine. The only downside is that it requires a huge amount of rare materials to make. But nevertheless just the advancement of warp engine that''s been stagnant since the age of exploration has finally seen improvement. As the traditional warp engine is a technology based on many alien technologies because of that there is hardly any improvement since those alien races that have superior technology are not willing to share their technology with other races. And only outdated technology are available in the market, of course, there are ways to get advanced technology from other alien race Black market offers this kind of technology but the problem with that kind of acquisition is that if the other race found out you are developing stolen technology from them it could lead to war. And humanity is not willing to risk it, of course, they have many advance technology they bought in the black market, but they can only use it as a reference to develop new technology to prevent problems. And because of that, there are hardly any. Advances in human technology in the past 100 years. As alien technology is really hard to copy as many of them are develop using their own unique characteristics and can only be used by their own race. And reversed engineering takes a lot of time and resources. And often times when humans succeeded other races have already developed far more advanced technology. The only advantage of humanity is that they manage to acquired and reversed engineered many technologies from many races giving humanity a variety of weapons and sh.i.p.s with many features. That''s why humanity acquired the nickname (Scavengers of space) of course humanity is not proud of it, but they have no choice but to steal other technologies in order to survive in space. And that''s why Leslie Folded warp theory is very important to humanity as it was an original technology developed by the human that can rival other top races in space. Chapter 120 - 120 Shadow Moon LXI "Do you remember those amazing solutions?" "Grandpa doesn''t tell me anything did you manage to get more? Those solutions are really amazing." Said, Leslie. "Cough, no not really" Commander Markos laugh embarrassingly. "I was just talking to the owner of the company that developed that solutions and found out they are developing a better solutions than that special solutions, The effect is 10 times better, and I was promised the first batch when it was developed of course this is a secret so you can''t tell anyone about it." "Sigh, that''s great but I''m really looking forward to those special solutions can you give me some please grandpa? Please, please, please!" Said Leslie having a puppy look. "Markos look at his favorite Granddaughter and sigh fine ill give you two pieces you know I only have few of them as they are really hard to get. Even those geezers paid a great amount just to get 200 of them a month." Said Markos sighing he really can''t say no to this granddaughter of his. "Yay! Thank you, grandpa, I love you so much hehe." Leslie giggles and jumps in joy she only acts like this in front of her Grandpa. "Yeah yeah," right he sounds aggrieved but his eyes are full of love, and he has a soft and loving smile on his face. "By the way would you like to meet him?" Ask Markos. He knows her granddaughter has an uncountable number of suitors but no one caught the eyes of her granddaughter and in fairness, he too found those brats too spoiled and not deserving of his granddaughter. But for some reason he has a good impression of that kid Arc and thinks he was a good match for her granddaughter after all no one ever did what Arc manages to do, making top human superpower compromised and gives way to accommodate him. In fact, even he is powerless to do anything to Arc as he was holding all the cards making all those who want to negotiate with him powerless. But Arc even though that''s the case he was not overly arrogant and knows when to advance and when to give way so even though he can rip off GFA big time in every deal he didn''t do that and only go for a maximum profit without crossing the line and often time he takes losses just to maintain good relationship with other. Just like the deal, he made with him. So Commander Markos has a good impression of Arc, and he''s very easy to talk to, and those who have dealings with him have a good impression of him except for HFA as Arc for some reason have a prejudice against HFA. Well, Commander Markos doesn''t like HFA very much too as they took advantage of Earth far too much without giving back in return. And as a fellow human-Earth is a birthplace of humanity and therefore every human has an attachment to Earth and as for him who was part of the Royal Empire before he was transferred to GFA doesn''t like what HFA doing to Earth. And partly understand why Arc Doesn''t like HFA. But oddly enough Admiral Ford who was from HFA and was the first to interact with Arc have a good relationship with him. "I heard a lot about him grandpa but I didn''t think he''s that interesting, but why not sure!" After thinking about it, she found no disadvantage in meeting him. So she agreed and besides she was really interested in those special solutions. When Markos heard Leslie''s first sentence he sighs, he knows her granddaughter has a godly standard with regard to men but after hearing she agreed, he smile. "Well, in that case, you''ll be the one to hand over the Specter to him." "Eh, grandpa you''re giving him Specter?" She was very surprised the Specter is a special Space cruiser that his grandpa develops and designs himself its one of his most price possessions many rich individuals have offered him a huge amount of money for it, but he never agreed to sell it but now he is giving it away. How can she not be surprised? "Sigh, to tell you the truth I can''t find anything suitable to give him only Specter is the only thing I can''t think of that I think that can interest him." Said Markos. "What, he''s that great?" Leslie was surprised. She didn''t think there would be many surprises waiting for her when she decided to visit her most beloved Grandpa. And whats more all those surprises are all related to one man. "It''s not that. But I want to give him something that can''t be bought with money as with his fortune there''s nothing he can''t have as long as he wants it." Said Markos. "What do you mean by that grandpa?" She was confused "isn''t he just an Earthling?" She thought in her mind. "Ha, Even GFA has nothing to offer him that he needs the only reason we manage to convince him to enter a contract with us is because he wants a good relationship with GFA that''s all. He has over 50 kilometers of land in Liberty and has products anyone wants even Alien Race wants it money is never a problem with him. Just the transaction he has with us in GFA is amounting to 100s of billions of Bright Credits yearly not to mention more than 30 alien race shows interest and are willing to go to earth just to get his product, is there anything he can''t buy with that much assets. And lastly, he has the monopoly of it no one else can even come close to the quality of the product he''s company is selling." "Ohhh, I see I didn''t think about that. I didn''t know GFA is spending that much credits on solutions. As he is still considered a local company I didn''t think too much about it." Commander Markos continues to chat about Arc and as for Arc he was busy thinking and planning on how to quickly finish his current System mission. Sneeze! "Hmm, is someone talking about me?" Said Arc. He smiles thinking beautiful women talking about him, but quickly continue his conversation with Eve. Chapter 121 - 121 Expansion It has been weeks since the battle on Enigma City ended. Tom and Gerry are busy organizing and segregating the rest of the population of Enigma City according to final statistics more than 2 million people died in the battle to take over Enigma City Tom and the rest are surprised by number of death they didn''t expect to have that many casualties, and over 3 million are affected by drugs and undergoing withdrawals and treatment there are also over 6 million injured the total population of Enigma City is over 30 million those are the registered citizen, and millions more are unregistered. Tom decided to use the eastern part of Enigma City as temporary relocation site for the citizens of Enigma City only those who don''t commit any heinous crime are allowed to live there, as for those who committed immoral and heinous crimes are sent to temporary prison. The prison are build outside Enigma City in the former temporary base of Grand Army. Overall more than 30% of Enigma City is being used as temporary facilities to manage those citizens of Enigma City. As for Grand Army, 32 soldiers died and more than a thousand are wounded in the operation on Enigma City. Luckily Grand Army Medical Solutions are very potent as long as one is not insta killed the Medical solutions are capable of healing even the most severe injuries, of course, the more severe the injuries the longer they need to be healed. Minor injuries like small cuts and burns heal in minutes so those that are injured are all back on their feet in just a matter of days. Arc was so shocked by the number of death he wasn''t able to talk for a few hours, it took him half a day to calm down, none of his men disturb him as they know he must overcome those feeling by himself, Arc decided to take a day off to really calm his nerve and settle his feeling after all just 2 years ago he was nothing more than a regular guy, in fact, he was even below regular. And now he was responsible for the death of over 2 million people this kind of feeling can''t is trained in advance and it will take a long time for him to truly get used to it. Just a week ago Bells funeral is held it was an emotional day for everyone in Shadow Unit, the ceremony is very simple few of Bells friends and acquaintances shared their experience with Bell, it was a sad and solemn day that even those that don''t really know Bell couldn''t help but shed tears as they listen to the story about Bell. After that, a Huge Jet Black crystal-like monument is Erected in the Center of Shadow Unit HQ and Bell''s name is written on it in Golden color. Bell''s body was cremated and her Memory Chip was held and stored in Grand Army Vault. Over 50,000 Construction Droid is working nonstop to build the Grand Army Official HQ in Enigma City that would soon be renamed As Grand Fortress. It will be a base covering the whole Enigma City and More. There will also be 10 underground floors and a huge Subway and Tunnel will also be build that will connect Enigma City to the Outside world a 150 kilometers to the Edge of Pan Asian Alliance. Grand Trading corporation builds a small Base in there, the official reason or excuse is to gather Wasteland Materials. Since its technically part of Wasteland and not part of any Government. Pan Asian Alliance Or PAA can''t do anything about it. It''s a small closed Base that only Grand Trading Corporation Personnel are allowed to enter. Grand Trading Build many of this kind of Small Base all over the world to mine and gather wasteland Materials so PAA is not surprised when Grand Trading build another one near their Border. In total Grand Trading Build Over 50 of this kind of Facility all over the world many of them are really being used to gather or mine Rare materials from the wasteland. A few days has passed. Today Arc is Meeting Leslie Grand Daughter of Commander Markos. Apparently, she was responsible for handing over the Specter to Arc. Originally it was supposed to be hand a few weeks ago but Arc Delayed it for he plans to complete the ceremony for Bell and the soldiers who died during the operation on Enigma City, so he told Commander Markos his departure to Liberty will be delayed for a few weeks. Commander Markos didn''t mind the delay and in fact quite happy for it, as it will give him enough time to improve and upgrade many outdated components of Specter. Arc together with Tiffa and Dianna along with Jarvis are traveling to Liberty they are now on their way to HFA space station Leslie would be waiting for them in HFA Space Station where the Specter was parked temporarily. This is the first time for Arc to travel to space, in fact, it''s the first time for all of them. But only Arc and Tiffa look excited the rest only have a slight smile on their faces as they watch Arc and Tiffa looking around. 2 days ago when Arc sisters found out that Arc is going to space for business purpose Anna and Amy want to tag along but Arc didn''t Agree as they still have classes, but he promised he will take them for a vacation during their summer vacation. So the two reluctantly agreed the two maids and Cosmos would remain with them. Arc boarded the VIP area on the Space elevator it''s a room with 360 views of the outside it''s a luxurious room that can fit 40 people without any problems there''s a bar with all kinds of drinks a personal chef than can prepare all kind of dishes. The travel time only took 25 minutes in a tourist speed. Normally it only takes 3 minutes for the space elevator to reach space from Earth grounds but in order for Arc to Enjoy his first travel into space he requested a slow ascend for him to enjoy his first travel to space. As the space elevator ascend Arc and Tiffa are looking around but soon there''s nothing more to see but endless cloud but as reach they the atmosphere the view completely change looking at the video is nothing compare to experiencing it himself soon the feeling of weightlessness appeared and it is a wonderful feeling he couldn''t describe it but the sensation didn''t last long as the artificial gravity is slowly activating to prevent sudden fall¡­ In just a few minutes the gravity is back to normal, the view is breathtaking Ark saw a huge Space station with many spacecraft docks in it all kinds of spacecraft can be seen coming and going in the space stations big and small,the biggest is 5 times the size of football station and the smallest only the size of bus. As Arc and his companion reach the HFA space station they were welcome by Lisa who is waiting for them. "Hey, guys how''s your first travel into space?" Ask Lisa smiling. "Haha, not bad I like it." Said Arc. Tiffa no longer acting like a tourist and was now looking like a professional Secretary she only acts like a kid when she was with Arc or but if there are other people with them she is back to being a professional Secretary. She wouldn''t do anything that can destroy Arc''s reputation. The three of them Tiffa, Dianna, and Jarvis stand behind Arc. Arc is only wearing casual clothes but during the past 2 years his complexion and vibes completely change with the effect of 2-Star enhancement almost all impurities in his body have been flushed away so his skin looks so smooth, and he looks more handsome and with his well-trained body he looks like a lady killer. Even a male supermodel can''t compare to him especially the aura he''s projecting even though he can control most of his aura but some of it unintentionally leaked out without him noticing especially when he is in good mood. The people behind Lisa look at Arc with shining Eyes especially the girls and guys couldn''t help but be jealous. "Hi, Lisa how are you? I haven''t got the chance to thank you for accepting my request to look for Spacecraft you even got me a one of a kind special Spacecraft." "Haha, don''t thank me I didn''t really do anything it''s all uncle I mean Admiral Ford doing." Said Lisa, she was happy to be able to help Arc even a little. "No, no its all because of you if you didn''t tell Admiral Ford, Commander Markos wouldn''t found out about it. So thank you." Arc said smiling at Lisa. Lisa blushes a little and said. "Your welcome" after that they made their way to the dock where Leslie is waiting for them. Chapter 122 - 122 Expansion II Arc for the first time experience real space it''s not like how he watches it in video or seeing it in the picture, as they stroll around the space station with Lisa guiding them they saw many things that change his world view. He clenches his fist and said in his mind. "One day I''ll be an overlord in space I will build a huge space station that will dwarf all space stations" determination flash in his eyes. No one notices it except Tiffa. When Tiffa saw him she just smiles. "This is the transition warehouse where HFA check and inspect all goods coming from Earth your good are also being inspected here before as well but now you have a direct clearance to transport good from earth to space without the need to go through this process." She pointed at the huge warehouse it''s the biggest warehouse Arc has ever seen it''s a size of a small city. "That''s the loading bay! That''s where we load the goods from Earth to be transported everywhere in space. Transport carriers are there to load up the goods." Lisa pointed at another direction. It looks like a sphere dome. "that''s the residential area it''s a city half the size of the radial city. That''s were human workers and their families live." "We''ll go there next time, for now, we must go to the port to meet with Ms. Leslie." Arc just nodded and continue to follow Liza, they soon boarded a small train like a machine to go to the Dock that''s quite far off. After about 15 minutes of travel, they arrived at the dock, Arc eyes lit up at all the different kind of space ship in the docks he was a young man, after all, all his life he has dreamt of riding and exploring the unknown in the galaxy like many young men like him. And now he was about to fulfill one of his dreams for not only ridding but owning his very own spaceship. All types of sh.i.p.s can be seen in the docks Lisa pointed at the sphere looking ship. "That''s the ship of Miruka race they are fish like a race so the inside of their ship is full of liquid like water that comes from their homeworld, they are here to purchase many rare materials from Earth that HFA is selling. They are mostly interested in marine-related materials like blood corals and Blue steels." "Look over there," Lisa pointed at another bizarre-looking ship it''s like a cocoon with many layers of organic like metal. "That''s from Kuruumi race they are insect-like race imagine a giant butterfly with a humanoid body with a head of a butterfly that''s how they look like. Look that''s one of them." Lisa pointed at 8 feet (2.44 m) tall humanoid with colorful wings tucked behind its back its quite muscular with a very big head with giant eyes exactly like a butterfly head with antenna curled on top of its head. "Don''t be deceived by their appearance they are very friendly race and quite talkative at that I believe they are one of the few races who want to trade with you on earth." Said Lisa with a smile on her face. Arc was surprised and embarrassed at the same time as he didn''t really pay attention to what kind of alien race who wants to trade with him. He scratches his head and said "is that so. Then I''m looking forward to it" As they walk through the hallway Arc saw many different types of alien races. He was surprised at first but soon he gets used to it. Some aliens looks like the stuff of nightmare thankfully Lisa assured him that only friendly race are allowed to come to HFA space station no in fact only selected race is allowed to enter the solar system as it was jointly being protected by all human superpower. Arc was not surprised at that since this is human home ground and the roots of all humanity so of course, they will protect it from other races they are the only ones allowed to take advantage of the richness of the solar system. Soon enough they saw a beautiful lady waiting for them. Arc look at Leslie at the same time Leslie looking at him trying read him. Lisa then introduces them, then she excused her self and her companion and left. "Hi, there Ms. Leslie call me Arc. And this is Dianna my CEO and this is Tiffa, my Secretary. I heard so much about you, I didn''t think you have time from your busy schedule just to hand over the ship from Commander Markos." No, not at all I''m on vacation anyway and pleasure to meet you Ms. Dianna and Ms. Tiffa you''re both very beautiful. Dianna smiled and said, "thank you, you are very beautiful yourself more beautiful than any rumors combine." Tiffa smile and also greeted back. Arc just watches as the girls talk and get acquainted. "So Arc, I also heard so much about you especially from my grandpa you are the first person I saw who he value so much to the point he was willing to give away one of his most treasured space cruisers. He even went beyond and upgrade all its components making it the best Space cruiser humans have even above my grandpa cruiser the majesty." Arc was surprised Commander Markos would go to such length just to Carry favor from him. "With a surprised look on his face, he said. I didn''t know that, thank you for mentioning it now I owe your grandpa a huge favor." Leslie was very happy when she heard it very different from many spoiled kids he knows, they only know how to brag without any achievement themselves. Grandpa would be very happy to hear it come I''ll take you to the Specter. They chat as they walk towards where the specter is docked. Well, mostly Tiffa and Leslie are chatting they bonded really fast probably because they both have a bubbly personality. "By the way Arc how do you plan to pilot the Specter I didn''t see any pilot with you?" Leslie Ask. "Don''t worry about it, we can manage." Said Arc. Hhmm well if you say so. Oh, and one more thing is there a way for me to buy Special Solution from you? I really like it. Said, Leslie. Well, not sure! Said Arc smiling... Chapter 123 - 123 Expansion III "What do you mean you don''t know?" Ask Leslie in confusion. "Haha I mean I''m not sure if I have some, it''s quite rare after all." Arc Grin. "Looking at the grinning face of Arc. Leslie knew he was just playing with her. "You bastard you are playing with me are you?" Leslie pretending to be angry... "Haha, not really but it really is quite rare and hard to produce. But I think I can give you a few as thanks for personally handing the specter to me." Said Arc smiling. "Hehe, thanks ill take that as its really useful. Is there a way for me to get it in the long term?" Leslie asks with begging expression. "Haha, boss you can give her some of my supply." Said Tiffa. Arc was surprised to hear Tiffa request. It is the first time for her to request something for someone else. Leslie too was surprised she didn''t think Tiffa would be that generous as she knows the value of that solutions. If only she knew that if Tiffa wants it she can bath with it if she wants. "Haha, well I can''t say no to that," said Arc. "Sister Tiffa are you sure? Didn''t you need it yourself?" Said, Leslie. "When did they become a sister?" Ask Arc in his mind. "It''s ok I don''t need that much and besides boss is very generous with his personal employees." Said Tiffa. "Alright, I can give you 4 a week that the best I can do at the moment." Said Arc. Leslie is as ecstatic she was only taking chances by asking she didn''t really expect to get some as she knew how valuable it is as even the heads of GFA needs to pay a huge price for it. But would have thought that the Secretary of Arc, and her would hit it off right away like they are old friends. Receiving 4 a week is a huge gain for her. "I''m willing to pay for it, just tell me what you want for it?" Said Leslie seriously. No need it''s coming from Tiffa pocket anyways you can ask her but I doubt she will ask for anything. Said Arc Smiling. "That''s right just take it as a token of my friendship." Said Tiffa smiling. Leslie then hugs Tiffa and said "thank you so much sister Tiffa. Tell me if this guy bullies you ill help you bully him..." Tiffa giggles, and said. "Don''t worry my boss is the best." Arc can only facepalm, at their conversation, Dianna just watches with a smile Jarvis, as usual, has no emotion on his face. They chat merrily as they walk to the Specter. And after about 20 minutes of walking, they come in front of the Specter. "Everyone this is the Specter. So what do you think?" said, Leslie with a proud look on her face. A huge Jet Black with red trimmings the whole ship is mostly back it has a very streamlined design that looks like a very sharp greatsword it''s about 600 meters long and 300 meters wide there''s almost no opening on the ship like it was molded from a single piece of black metal. "This is the Specter. Its made from 90% Draconian Black steel or Black sun steel and 10% infernal Crystal it uses 5 of the most advanced folding warp engine that I develop myself. This thing is almost impossible to track as it uses the most advanced stealth technology incorporated from its whole body it has a huge storage capacity and can carry 100 mecha without any problem it can also carry 10000 passengers or more. Its also one of the fastest ship the human has at the moment. She explained the ship like a professional dealer. Tiffa couldn''t help but giggle. "Sister Leslie you look like a professional ship dealer." "Hahaha, Arc also laugh and said I''ll take it, pack it up." Leslie can only smile embarrassingly she was so focused on explaining she didn''t realize she sounded like a ship dealer selling a ship. Now that she thinks about it, she felt more embarrassed, her face is so red she looks like she has a fever. Tiffa to save Leslie said, "let''s look inside I want to see the inside." "Hehe Ok, follow me," said Leslie. She comes to the side of the specter there''s already a bridge prepared in advance for boarding the ship. A red laser scan Leslie for a few seconds when the laser turns green the side of the ship like an overlapping puzzle it moves around until an opening is made that can fit 6 person side by side. "Very cool, Arc couldn''t help but mutter." "The specter didn''t really have doors its whole body is made of overlapping moving parts and can change at the ship or its captains will that''s the special features only Specter have." Said Leslie proudly but didn''t explain more like before. "Amazing," said Arc. He followed Leslie he looks calm but inside he was like a child receiving a birthday gift and couldn''t wait to open it. As expected the inside is also very luxurious it also follows a black and red theme. But despite that, it''s not dark or creepy inside instead it looks like a very expensive hotel. Leslie guides them through the c.o.c.kpit to officially hand over the Specter to Arc. The c.o.c.kpit is quite wide and the whole side is like a transparent glass they can see outside very clearly. Leslie initiates some command and after a black orb appeared right in front of the captain seat. Leslie then said this is the admins consoles and only the owner has access to it, not even the captain can access it without the approval of the owner my grandpa transfer me the rights and now I''m transferring it to you. Leslie then put her hand on the orb and said. "Initiate command and ownership transfer." Initiating command and ownership transfer a synthetic voice sounded in the ship command center. Biometrics scan complete. DNA scan complete. Transfer ownership would you like to continue? "Yes!" Said, Leslie She then looks at Arc and said. "Put your hands on the crystal orb." Arc complied and put his hand on the Orb. Scanning new owner biometrics¡­. Done. Scanning DNA... Done. ¡­. ¡­. ... ¡­ After a few more verification the transfer is completed. Then the orb moves down in the the floor again until it can no longer be seen. Leslie then looks at Arc and said "congratulation you are now the proud new owner of the Specter please take care of it." After a few more pleasantries Leslie said her goodbye she hug Tiffa and whispered something to her that makes her giggles¡­ then she left. Leaving Arc and the rest inside. Eve go ahead, Arc put his phone that transforms into some kind of device and plugs it to the main console of the ship a few seconds later Eve''s voice can be heard from the ship speakers. "This is a good ship boss," said Eve. "We can do a lot of things in it. Boss, I suggest u made a rank 5 military-grade nanomachines and integrate it to the ship it will make this ship more powerful." Arc smile and said, "it''s going to take a lot of nanomachines." Leslie didn''t really leave she met with Lisa in the lounge overlooking the dock and the Specter can be seen through it. "So what do you think?" Said Lisa. "Well, he''s not bad, at least compared to the spoiled brats from Celestia he is far above them." Said, Leslie. "That''s a good evaluation coming from you, if I didn''t know you I would have suspected you like him." Said Lisa. "Haha, we''ve known each other for a long time Lisa you know I''m not that easy to get. I actually like her secretary more." Said, Leslie. "Huh, Who Tiffa? Why?" Lisa asks in confusion. "Well, she''s like a sister I never have." Said, Leslie. "Is that so." Said Lisa she and Leslie are childhood friends they went into the same school and part of the same class for over 3 years even when after they graduated they keep in touch. "I''m more concerned they won''t be able to pilot the Specter. According to grandpa, it''s quite hard to pilot it. As many of its control are unique so even an experienced pilot needs a good amount of time to get used to it." But as soon as she said that, she saw the specter powering up. Surprisingly she and Lisa. They stop talking and just continue to watch the Specter. Piloting The Specter is nothing to Eve the moment she took control of the ship she already knows the full capability of the ship. Of course, she needs Arc verification in order to use all ship capability. Otherwise, she would be treated as a threat and even though the ship local AI is powerless to stop her. But it will prevent her from completely taking over the whole ship. After Eve cleared all the departing protocol they were cleared for take off. She then delicately moves the ship into the space station dock opening then after clearing the exit she powers up the ship and left for Liberty. Leslie was so surprised when she saw it. The real reason She and Lisa didn''t left yet is to make sure there will be no problem if Arc and his men cause an accident trying to leave the dock. Leslie then looks at Lisa and said. "Are you sure none of them have been to space before?" Lisa didn''t look at her and continue to look at the disappearing Specter. "Pretty sure, at least there''s no record of it and judging from their reaction I can really say Arc has never been to space until now." "Maybe one of his companions have piloting background we just didn''t know about it. Like the old man behind him." Said, Leslie. "Jarvis? That''s his butler, but I can''t deny that. Anyways the expected accident didn''t come so its time for me to leave." Said Lisa. Leslie then said, "Lisa are you sure you didn''t want to transfer working for me I need someone like you, you know." Lisa smile and said you already know the answer well seen again soon. Lisa then left leaving Leslie sulking. "Well, whatever it''s still a good day for me." Thinking of the 4 special solutions every week and the solution Arc given her earlier make her very happy. She gives one last look at the already disappears Specter and smiles. "What an interesting guy." Chapter 124 - 124 Expansion IV Arc was busy exploring the Specter according to Eve, the ship interior can also be customized like the outside, this ship is definitely above the current tech human possessed he didn''t know how commander Markos manages to do it but this ship is definitely perfect for him it wasn''t much for others as those features can only be said to be unusual and luxurious but for him it has a different meaning. The ship''s ability to transform at will is the biggest win for him as with the help of system factory he can endlessly upgrade this ship as long as he needs to. So, in other words, he won''t be needing to change the ship for a very long time. He can''t believe Commander Markos would give up this kind of ship. Just to please him. This what Arc was thinking, so he went back into command center or bridge to call Commander Markos and to express his thanks. He sits at the captain seat "Eve connect me to Commander Markos." "Sure boss" Ring, ring! "Arc how do you like my gift" commander Markos happy voice rang into the bridge. "Commander this time you outdid yourself I like it very much now I don''t know how to thank you." Said Arc. Commander Markos'' eyes lit up when he heard it it is exactly what he wants to hear. "Hahaha, no need for thanks just don''t forget me when you develop your special health solutions." Commander Markos Grinned. "Of course that has already been set" Said Arc. I can promise you won''t be disappointed Commander. "Haha and that''s all I need to hear." Well, enjoy your travels lets catch up again soon. "Of course commander thank you again." Said Arc. Sure! Well then. Oh, wait what do you think of my granddaughter?" Markos asks with a teasing smile. Arc surprised by the sudden question, "haha Commander congratulation you have the best granddaughter in the galaxy. Not only she''s very pretty she''s also very easy to talk to. My secretary hit it off with her instantly they become like sister I''m looking forward to getting to know her more." Arc said with an honest smile. In truth, he just answers in reflex because he was surprised by the sudden question. Commander Markos grinned big he was very happy with what Arc has said. "That''s good to hear I hope you take care of her well I have to go back to work good luck" commander Markos ended the call after he said that. "Eh? Take care of her?" But before Arc can ask commander Markos ended the call leaving him puzzled. He can only smile wryly as he thinks about what it meant. After scratching his head a few times, he ordered Eve to travel to Liberty in cruising speed. He wasn''t in the hurry it''s his first time in space, and he wants to enjoy it to the fullest... So He and Tiffa continued to explore the ship. They check the engine area where he left a few maintenance Droids he prepared in advance he also releases a few hundred service droids to help with the ship cleaning and maintenance. As well as few hundred multi-purpose Droids¡­ that can do almost anything human is capable of. He checked the ship dock where they can put mecha and small combat sh.i.p.s, but for now, it''s empty, so he took out the Rank-8 droid factory this is the most expensive purchase he have to date using almost 50% of his energy unit reserved he purchased it for one reason to create builder Droids because space ship factory is very expensive even the cheapest Rank-5 is not something he can afford just yet. So he go for the next best thing builder droids to build small combat space ship and Mecha manually technically the item produce isn''t much different from the one produced by the system it just needs more time and a lot of resources. His first goal is to completely armed this ship and build a squadron to protect his investment here on space. Mainly the space station he would get a few months from now and the place in Liberty. The Rank 8 droid/drone factory is quite big but inside the ship dock that has a huge space, it''s like a shoe box in a big warehouse. He also summons all the materials he prepared beforehand. Mountains upon mountain of materials appeared in the ship dock almost filling it to the brim. But he knows all of this will be used up by tomorrow that''s how much the factory needs to build a Builder Droids. Builder droids are like a giant black ball that can materialize many types of tentacles to help with its work. The giant ball can float freely. Of course, there are many sizes the biggest ball is around 20 meters in diameters while the smallest is only the size of golf ball Eve was controlling the factory and only building the droids needed for now. Their job is to build 50 automated combat Mecha and Automated combat sh.i.p.s as well as to upgrade the ship''s engine and many of its weapons and components. Arc didn''t know how long that will take, but he wasn''t worried about it for now. Their first stop is to inspect the production Ship he got before and leave a few builder droids there to also upgrade its many components right now that production ship is near the solar space station so that''s his first stop before going to Liberty it''s in the way anyway so there''s no wasted time on traveling there. Right now he was back to the bridge together with Dianna and the rest they are having lunch with a full view of space. "Eve, should I also build a Standalone Nanomachine factory? Since the one produces by it is better than the one produced by a multipurpose factory. I still have enough Energy unit to build a rank-7 or rank-8 nanomachine factory. I just don''t know how many materials it needs to produce what we need." "No boss its better if we concentrate on building builder droids and Drones especially builder drones." "Hmm, you plan to release them into space? Is that safe we don''t want trouble for now¡­ as we are still powerless at the moment to fight any power in space." Said Arc. "Don''t worry about that boss we will send them to the unexplored region and have them build a base for us as well as to gather resources." "Builder drones? but to do that just how many we need to that? We don''t have that many resources to accommodate that." Said Arc. "No boss you misunderstood me. I don''t mean regular builder drones but a mother drones capable of replicating and producing many types of drones, those drones a called cl.u.s.ter drones like nanomachine they are capable of replicating using energy conversion program. Left alone they can build a huge number of drones capable of anything. The only downside is that they required a unbelievable number of materials" "Hmm, I didn''t know thst kind of drones exists. Said Arc. "Well it''s in the description you shared with me you just didn''t read it." Said Eve. Haha, well he was too lazy to read it that''s the truth. So he quickly change the subject. "Can we use this on earth?" "No, unless you want the earth to be destroyed, just a single cl.u.s.ter drones is capable of dismantling earth in just two years if left uncheck." "Huh? Really? Haha, forget it then, we better make sure they also avoid planet that has life on it, I don''t want to be responsible for species extinction." Said Arc. With a wry smile on his face. Chapter 125 - 125 Expansion V After a long discussion with Eve, they finally agreed to build Fifty mother drones or drone cl.u.s.ters each one capable of building an army by itself and will be sent to different part of the galaxy their destination is mostly unexplored regions or uninhabited regions. Arc ordered that 50% of the materials they gathered will be stored and keep safe the rest will be used for their expansion and other things. Of course, that will only take effect after they manage to build into a certain size, and build enough force to defend themselves. Eve was not in control of the drone cl.u.s.ter as it has its own powerful AI even more powerful than Eve of course not in the beginning but the bigger the cl.u.s.ter the more intelligent the AI will be. But even so, the mother Drones is equipped with 2-star AI from the start. Arc name them Cl.u.s.ter 0ne to fifty for easy reference, Tiffa can only facepalm when she heard it and Dianna let out a rare giggle only Jarvis remains unaffected. But Arc ignored Tiffa teasing since the mother drones didn''t really mind the name. They even sounded happy having received a name for themselves, of course, this is all Arc imaginations after Arc gives them the order and rules he let them go. He won''t be able to hear from them for quite some time until they reach a certain size and was able to build a communication tower themselves. Arc was still feeling sore by the number of materials needed to build the mother drones. It''s by far the most expensive thing he was able to produce by far. He looks at his ring which contains mostly materials to build those 50 mother drones 30% of the materials he has was already been used which means millions of tons ofmaterials gone. He sighs, the higher the grade the more materials are needed. "What would happen if I want to build a 5-star or higher item would it cost planet-size materials?" Arc began to contemplate. The only solution he has is to build as much high-grade energy conversion factories as he can to compensate for the number of materials needed. "Well that''s far into the future ill think about it when I cross that bridge," Arc said in his mind. For 2 days they travel from HFA space station into the Solar space station near the boundary of the solar system this is the last stop for everyone wanting to leave the solar system. Arc was surprised by the size of the Solar space station it''s almost the size of the earth and it continues to expand to accommodate more people and sh.i.p.s. Arc visited his warehouse and saw the many droids working nonstop to store the almost endless number of crates holding military-grade solutions. His visit today is not just to inspect and upgrade the Production ship but to also replace the droids issued by HFA and GFA. With his own Droids. Inside the warehouse after all the droids were cleared and Eve gives him the go signal. He summons 50k droids, in the outside they look no different from the most expensive droids available in the market but inside the difference is like day and night. It''s a top quality rank-5 droids capable of both manual work and fighting, and they are equipped with a rank-8 AI that has the same intelligence as normal human or better. The old droid were all delegated outside the warehouse. From now on only the droid created by the system is allowed inside the warehouse to prevent any sabotaged and accidents. And after living a few hundred builder droids and drones in the production ship to secretly upgrade it they left for Liberty... With their full speed, it will take a week to travel from Solar Space Station to Liberty but unfortunately, only 3 of their engines are working at the moment as the rest are being upgraded by the Builder droids some will take longer for them to reach Liberty but Arc didn''t mind. "Boss were about to leave the solar system influence..." Eve''s voice rang into the bridge she even made a hologram of her self using the ship system it was Tiffa who suggested it and Arc approved so in the past few days Tiffa and even Dianna is busy configuring Eve holographic appearance. And just yesterday they finally agree on the final form Arc was left alone as they didn''t want him to see until it''s completed. So Arc just left them alone. And besides, he was so fascinated by the builder''s Droids that he spends most of his time watching them work. Especially how they convert materials into parts they need. To Arc it''s like Magic even as the owner of the system he still can''t get used to that kind of technology it''s like he was a kid again seeing how the motors work he was hooked he cant gets tired watching it. Leaving the solar system in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, we have left¡­ Eve continues to broadcast but Arc no longer paying Attention because the moment they left the solar system something tried to pulls his consciousness away luckily Nine who has been quiet all this time breaks the connection before it was completed. ...¡­ Somewhere in the Universe a massive planet size Golden Ship is traveling in many times the speed of light. Inside a young man can be seen seating in the captain chair. "Your majesty are you alright?" A few seconds ago he suddenly released a huge amount of energy almost killing everyone on the bridge luckily his right-hand man acted quickly and created a barrier saving everyone. "I''m fine! A contender has arrived..." His right-hand man was puzzled but didn''t ask more. The young man has golden long hair that reaches to his waist two blood-red horn can be seen in his forehead he looks devilishly handsome he also has golden pupils. "Interesting, he even manages to break our connection. Looks like you have a rival Ashura!" Said the young man in his mind. Ashura: "I didn''t recognize the signature but I''m sure it''s from Sovereign Empire like me." Ashura''s voice rang inside the mind of the young man! "Is that, so I wonder how others would react to this, it has been a long time since a new contender join the game, I''m looking forward to meeting him it is a shame the connection broke we could have met and get acquainted." Said the young man in his mind. You''ll meet him soon enough its only a matter of time and that''s something we have plenty of. Said Ashura. Chapter 126 - 126 Revelation Deep in space in the unknown part of the universe, A crystal-like blue ship the size of the moon can be seen surrounded many similar ship of all sizes, and in front of them scattered remains of broken sh.i.p.s as far as the eyes can see and in not far distance a green planet can be seen crumbling away like a giant hammer attacked hit it, a huge crater can be seen and from it the destruction of the planet started. Inside the biggest ship in the captain chair, a giant of a man can be seen sitting on it his skin is dark blue with a crystal-like ice covering most of his body like an armor his face has a scar running across his face from his right eye into the lower left jaw. He has three eyes two normal eyes and one in the center of his forehead the eye in the center of his forehead is twice as big as his normal eyes in its pupils are fire red like raging fire completely opposite of his body... "Your highness it''s done! The Smerea is now extinct serves them right for blocking his highness path." "Hmm, your highness?" "Hm, Good job. Let''s move on I don''t want to be late for my appointment with Goddess Shale." "Yes, your highness." "A new contender how long has it been since a new one appeared 10,000 years 20,000? I have lost count. What do you think Gideon?" Said the blue man in his mind? "My lord it''s only been 800 years since the last one or should I say since Madoka appeared," Gideon replied. "Yes, that Mad man! They called me a monster and crazy but compared to that mad man im like a tame sheep." Said the blue man in his mind. ... "My Lady are you alright you were spacing out." "Oh, haha its nothing just thinking of something, leave me alone for now I want to rest." "Yes, my lady." "Sigh, another one I hope this one is not like that mad man Madoka. What do you think Raphael?" "Haha, my lady don''t worry as long as im part of you were invincible! But that newcomer is not bad to easily break Asura and that golden boy connection they must be something else, what puzzles me is that I didn''t recognize the signatures as you know my lady every creation of Sovereign Empire have their own signatures and as I the Raphael the keeper of knowledge should have been able to recognize every creation that comes from Sovereign Empire unless." "Unless what? Ask the beautiful lady. "Unless it predates me only ancient creation of Sovereign empire are not included in my memory, but that''s impossible as all ancient creation was destroyed when Sovereign Empire falls the gods make sure none survive. The only thing remains are remnant like me something the gods didn''t care about." "Then that means one survived?" "That''s the only explanation we must be careful my lady if were right there maybe another gods war and this time none of us will be able to escape..." "We need to prepare then." Said the lady. "That would be for the best, my lady." Said Raphael. This kind of conversation is happening across the universe and back to the Specter Arc was having a bad headache he have not experienced this kind of headache in a very long time since he drunk a boatload of alcohol for 2 days straight with his buddies when he was young. Nine what''s going on? Blood can be seen coming out of his nose and ears... Tiffa and Dianna were so shock they started panicking even the always emotionless Jarvis has a slight panic in his face. Only Eve remains cool. "Boss, what''s going on? Are you ok what happens" Tiffa asks in panic? "I''m fine guys there''s been a resonance from the system and it affected me a little." There''s no need to hide it since all of them are aware of the existence of the system since it is the one that created them. "I just need to rest a little, Don''t worry about me." "Ok Boss, take a good rest well take care of everything here." Said, Dianna. "Alright," Arc left and went to his chambers which is not far from the bridge. "In his room. Alright, Nine I need an explanation!" Said Arc in his mind. "Host privilege is insufficient..." "Don''t give me that Nine! If there''s a danger in my life I need to know!" nine... "Bypassing protocols. Emergency clearance granted... ¡­" Arc waited for Nine to break her protocol he didn''t know if it''s a bad of a good thing for nine breaking protocols set by the Sovereign Empire. But he wants answers, so he didn''t stop it. All protocol disabled. "Hello, host I''m Adam nice to officially meet you!" "Eh, who?, who are you again? Where''s nine?" Arc asks in surprise. "Well, you can say I am Nine and I''m also Adam." "What? So nine is male?" "That''s what you''re worried about? Well sorry to disappoint you I am male 100% male haha" "Eh what no, no. That''s not what I meant but what the hell I''m so confused here what''s going on?" Arc asks in frustration his head is still hurting, so he can''t think straight. "No worries I''ll tell you everything, but I''m surprised you were able to convince nine or rather me to break protocol and wake me up. It wasn''t supposed to happen until you reach level 9 privilege. But you woke me up when you are still level 1." Hmm, Adam notices the condition of Arc and said "let me help you with that." Hmm, suddenly like a cool breeze his headache cleared up, and he felt refresh. "Thanks to that headaches He can''t think straight because of it" "No worries your welcome," said Adam with a cool voice. "You''re not like Nine. You more like Eve!" Said Arc. "Eve? Oh, that AI... interesting name, Anyways let''s begin our conversation it will be a long one so be prepared." Said Adam in a very calm voice. "Ok, I''m ready I have been waiting for this since I got the system." Said Arc. "Very well, let me start from the very beginning. When the universe is still young the first life to be created in the void is the one called gods. They have great power able to control elements like breathing but with all that power they have one weakness and that is they are born from the void of this universe meaning they are part of this universe..." "Are you still following me so far?" Adam ask. "Yeah, so they being part of this universe you mean they are trapped in it right? or like they are bound to it and its rules" Arc answered. "That''s right, but in the beginning that doesn''t matter the universe is big and young and it''s still growing so they have nothing to complain, the next to be born is the Beast you know them as the space beast. But they are not the same as the one still existing today the ancient beast is far more deadly than all the modern space beast combine." "Those ancient space beast are so enormous and powerful they eat planets as food. For a time the gods are happy especially with the arrival of the beast they now have a new playmate in the universe." And the last one to be born is the elementals those being of pure elements are very powerful some even rival that of the gods. And some are even more powerful." "But the birth of the elementals didn''t make the gods happy instead they considered it as an insult, for them who can control elements the birth of elementals they can''t control is the biggest insult to them." "But the universe is very very big, big enough for them to share it with everyone so even though they are displeased they didn''t do anything against the elementals." Adam paused he looks at Arc with a confused look in his face. "What''s wrong? Something you didn''t understand? I thought it''s very straight forward there shouldn''t be anything that confuses you." "Oh, it''s not that I just didn''t understand that if the elementals are the last to be created what about us? Humans and other species? Do we really evolve from a monkey? I just don''t want to accept that, That''s all." Said Arc. "Haha! thats what your woried about? Well let me finnish and you will understand" said Adam. Chapter 127 - 127 Revelation II Adam tells Him a lot of things that completely shocks the living daylight of Arc... "And so the gods build their own kingdoms created their own people fashion them in their image, while the Beast roams the universe and was considered a living Apocalypse as for the elementals they follow their instinct and dwell in the world that suits them. For a very long time there were peace and tranquility the universe is huge so huge that gods themselves rarely met one another." "Many years passed and the children of the gods prospered they built mighty and towering structures the explored the galaxy harvesting whatever they want. But as the children of the gods are having the time of their lives their parents eventually got bored they wanted more, more than this universe can offer but no matter what they did and no matter how powerful they are they can''t escape the shackles of the universe that gives birth to them, and so they pool their resources and build a separate dimension away from the prying eyes of the will of the universe. And so heaven is born it is a place that only gods can reach and in there they plan on how to escape their prison. Time flew by millions of years have passed and kingdom of gods rise and fall but the gods are still holed up in the heaven until one day they made a breakthrough they found out that absorbing the elementals increases their control over that said elements and with the power up they manage to open the path outside the universe, but they also found out that absorbing the elementals although it increases their power it also increases the hold of the universe on them. So to avoid that they turn back to their creation but after millions of years the creation, the left is no longer what they were in the past, but instead it''s a mix of all their creations. And because of that they can no longer hold their powers like their original creations, so they create another one, one that combines all their knowledge and powerful enough to hold their power and the power of the elementals to open the path outside the universe for them to escape. And so Adam drop the bomb. In his word, he said "and so I was born and through me I build an empire that will one day be called Sovereign" Arc was so shocked he couldn''t speak for a while and Adam with a smile on his face let him absorbed all that in his way. "You, you''re the first Emperor of sovereign empire?" "Well to more accurate the other me," said Adam. "What who? Nine?" Ask Arc. "Haha no! Let me explain using the power of the gods using part of their flesh they created me or the original Adam, don''t interrupt let me finish." Arc who was about to ask again shut his mouth. The original Adam is then the father of the race called celestials we have inherited the power of the gods to manipulate elements, no to accurate we inherited the power to manipulate energy using energy to create whatever we want through Adam they created another one Eve. For a time Adam was happy living with his partner Eve until the gods intervene for they created Adam not for anyone else but for themselves the gods using Eve they manipulated Adam and his children to hunt down all the elementals, and using Adam as a vessel he must absorbed the elementals and use those power to open the door that will negate all kinds of power including the power of the will of the universe. Every celestial can create a single tool that will use up half of their flesh and blood as a catalyst and that tool will have the power to convert energy into somthing specific. Adam was against it as it uses the life of his children but through Eve the gods manipulated his descendants it wasn''t until too late that Adam realizes the truth that he was only a tool created by the gods to escape this universe. His children using the tools they created with half of their life as compensations rage war across the universe in order to capture and absorbed the elementals. Adam and his children powers are the banes of the elementals because unlike the gods who can''t control the elementals as they are from the same source but Adam is different he was artificially created with the sole purpose of opposing the power of the universe and absorbing the elementals. Learning the truth Adam is Enrage, but he didn''t show it but secretly he created a system using half his flesh like his descendant but unlike them, he also uses half his soul giving life to his creation and Adam secretly let his creation absorbed as many ancient elementals as possible it took him thousands of years to perfect his creation until one day the gods finally have enough elementals to create a gate the only thing missing is the vessel to take all that power and that''s where Adam comes into play. That is his purposed but what they didn''t know is that Adam created a tool that is more powerful than any gods and elementals combine the System. So when its time for the gods to open the door and leave they needed to strip off all their power and tempory store it inside Adam in order to remove all the shackles the universe has in them. And when Adam opened the door using the combined power of the elementals and the power they bestowed on Adam, and after they pass through along with Adam they will be able to retrieve back their power. The plan is very simple but Adam is against it as it uses all the power of the elemental that his descendant has absorbed in other words by opening the door all his descendants that absorbed the elemental would be sacrificed and in order to prevent that he needed to do something. And so when the time comes for the gods to open the door they stored all their power into Adam normally Adam can''t do anything against the power stored in him but by the help of the system, he let the system absorb all the gods power and convert it into energy unit for him to use by the time the gods figured it out it was too late all their powers are already converted into energy unit. The gods were enraged and even strip of their power they are still a force to be reckoned with. Adam used all the power he has and summon god-level being using the system metal colossus bigger than the planet to fight with the gods but unknown to him Eve with the manipulation of the gods use herself and her children as a sacrifice to give back a portion of the gods'' power. In the end, Adam was defeated and the sovereign kingdom was purge by the gods to release their anger and rage. But that also ended their reign as gods and with the elementals nearly extinct there''s no way for them to restore their power and over time their power should begins to wane and soon they will be stripped of their godhood but before that they made another being as a last resort to gain back their godhood they no longer wants to leave the universe they just want their power back. And so they created humans using the genes of Adam in hope that one of them would inherit the power of Adam and would be able to amass enough power to give them back their godhood. "Wait then that means where¡­" That''s right you are my children as well, but they missed one thing I''m still here. And as long as I exist there''s no way for them to manipulate humanity because unlike before they don''t have Eve anymore. Back then Eve was made using my very flesh and god flesh so through eve they were able to manipulate my children. "But how come they can''t manipulate you?" Ask Arc. It''s simple I''m stronger than them at least my existence is above them as I''m the combination of their powers as well as some elementals. And Eve is their back door to me or to my children without Eve to bypass me they won''t have the power to manipulate my children and now they made the same mistake using my flesh as a catalyst to create humanity it would have worked if I''m not here but with me here it won''t happen. But you know their experiment to open a door to other universe has both pleasant and unpleasant consequences in the universe. Chapter 128 - 128 Revelation III "Wait so were like your clones or something?" Arc asks... "Ist that better than evolving from a monkey?" Arc has nothing to say to that. "So then why me?" Arc asks the question that''s been bugging him for a long time. Well after the fall of the original Adam I fell into a deep sleep I hid myself from inside Adam''s DNA for that''s the only place safe for me that gods can''t see. And besides only someone of Adams flesh and blood has the power to use and awaken me. Unlike tools created by my decendants that anyone can use I can only be used by one carrying Adams blood. So hiding in Adams''s DNA is the best place for me to hide, and if Adams''s blood died out I''ll die with it preventing the gods from using me. "And I just so happen to carry this blood right?" Arc asks. Not really as I have said all humanity was created using Adams DNA but unfortunately in order for the second Adam to appeared they added something to it. Preventing Adam''s will from completely taking over but at the same time increasing the evolutions of humans. It''s a win-win for the gods. But what makes you different is that your blood doesn''t come from Adam''s contaminated blood that god''s used to create humanity but instead through a real descendant of Adam that survives the purge from the gods. I have no idea how that happens but fate has a way of making things impossible possible." Adam said with a happy tone on his voice. "So from which side of my family?" Arc Ask. "Why do you always ask the most redundant questions?" Adam asks with a slightly annoyed voice... "Because that''s my way of relaxing," said Arc. "Whatever it''s from your mother. Happy now?" Said Adam. "Haha, so what happened earlier? When we leave the solar system?" "Finally a question that matters," Arc rolls his eyes when he heard it. But Adam didn''t care and said. "That''s a resonance from the other holder of tools created by my descendants." "Should I be worried?" Ask Arc a little worried. "You should be! As I''m very weak right now and so are you! It''s best to avoid them for now. Oh, and there''s something on a place called death valley you may want to retrieve, but I suggest going there when you have build at least 1-star factory or above." Said Adam enigmatically. "What''s on Death Valley?" Arc ask in anticipation. "A surprise gift but you have to retrieve it first. Anyways don''t worry about those with tools created by my descendants they won''t find you unless you started it first. As I have shielded you from them, good luck." Said Adam. "Wait what do you mean good luck?" Protocol restored... Emergency released deactivated. "Shit! He run away I still have a lot of questions." Said Arc angrily, "he even forgot to mention the good and bad things about opening the gate to another Universe, Darn, well whatever I''ll ask him next time..." Arc laid back into his bed digesting all that he has learned today he didn''t think that this trip to space would give him a lot of surprises. Death Valley huh. "At least I know what to do next." Before he knows it he fell asleep. The next day he woke up restored and feeling refreshed and full of energy for some reason he felt stronger, so he checks his status. ### STATUS ### ARC D GRAND Strength: 67.2 ~ 87.1 Agility: 51.6 ~ 79.7 Endurance: 71.2 ~ 95.2 Intelligence: 65.1 ~ 76.8 SKILL: Energy manipulation Enhancement serum reserved 50% ITEM LIST. 3 rank 5 health Potion 1-Star 3X ENHANCEMENT SERUM "What!!! He received a huge boost in status but the most important thing is that He finally has a skill, Energy Manipulation? Isn''t that Adam Skill? How come I receive it and most importantly how to use it? Nine do you have any idea?" Arc asks. "No!" "Very short and brutal answer as expected of you, can you summon Adam again?" "No!" "Shit! Sigh, looks like I need to learn it all by my own well it''s still good news." He then suddenly noticed that the amount of energy unit he is earning has increased a lot and I mean a lot at least 10 times. "Holy Shit, this must be the effect of energy manipulation skill and I don''t even know how to use it, is it possible it is a passive skill? No, I have a feeling it''s not a passive skill but an active one." Arc continues to mumbles until he heard Tiffa calls. "Boss are you awake? Are you alright breakfast is ready!" "Thank you, Tiffa, I''m fine and I''ll be there soon." Replied Arc. "Ok boss hurry up before it gets cold." Said Tiffa cheerfully. Arc clean himself a bit before heading out. He was greeted by Tiffa and Dianna who was relieved when they saw him alright. "Smells good let''s eat together call Jarvis." "Ok Boss" they already gotten used to eating together before Jarvis is against eating together with Arc as he was a very professional butler but eventually he relented as Arc insisted so now they are already used to eating together. Soon enough they are eating merrily Tiffa was always the talkative one, so she started asking what happen yesterday Arc didn''t hide anything so he told them what happen except for the identity of Adam and the origin of the system as it''s not important whether they know it or not even Eve is not aware to his conversation with Adam and although Adam didn''t warned or tells him not to reveals his identity he was not stupid to easily reveals it as it concerns the gods. As he didn''t know to what extent the gods have recovered their power or not he didn''t want to risk it. But he told them the tools created by sovereign empire and it resonates with him when he leaves the boundary of solar system thankfully nine was able to prevent it before the others know more about him. The other holder of sovereign tools knew he exists but from where or who he is remains unknown to them. Arc told them that and order them to make preparation and at the same time become more vigilant. He also told them about death valley there was something there that can help him. But the enemy behind the door is not something they can deal with right now. For now, they only have one goal to build up forces and that needs a lot of preparation. Eve immediately started calculating on the next step Dianna was the same she started planing on how to increase Grand trading prestige in space. Tiffa is the only idle one she only cares about Arc and will only follow and do what Arc wants her to do it''s not her place to think of the future. Her job is to help Arc achieve the future he wants. Before Arc, didn''t have any plans to move into space yet but now all that is change because of what Adam told him he needs to prepared fast. And staying on earth will only delay him in building his forces in space. The plans remains the same only the time table changes all plans need to be completed ahead of schedules he can''t afford to be idle anymore. Chapter 129 - 129 Liberty Back in Earth in Enigma City Tom and the rest were busy organizing everything, now that the four big trouble is gone only small things remain like countless hidden tunnel and hidden base that was built by the residents of Enigma City over the course of long years, and Tom and Grand Army''s job is to uncover all of them before they start building their base to eliminate all potential future problems. Countless builder droids can be seen moving around and building structures on the area that''s been cleared by the army, Tom biggest headache is what to do with the former residents of Enigma City. Those that pass the assessment are already being prepared for training but millions more are waiting to be process, so far the residents are not showing any sign of making trouble mainly because all those that tried are killed on the spot. The Army has no tolerance for trouble makers because once it started it''s very hard to stop. On Toms''s desk countless paperwork can be seen of course he wasn''t doing it alone he has a select team of personnel to help him. Mariel was leading the team that is helping Tom with the management. Tom was allowing Mariel to make a decision on her own in preparation for her to be a future Officer of the Grand Army. Gerry, on the other hand, is already starting to train potential recruits and right now he has delegated over 5 thousand Grand Army Officers to help with the training as there are so many of them. At the moment they have over 1.7 million potential recruits and over 400k Shadow Unit recruits, Brutus and the rest are taking care of Shadow Unit recruits for the time being until Jem and Ruby sent a Shadow Unit trainer to relieve them. The former base of Li Fang becomes the temporary training center the crater has already been covered ups and all marks of war have already been removed it only takes 2 days for over 5000 builder Droids to complete this training center. In just few days the former Enigma City can no longer the same almost half of Enigma has already been demolished and now being reconstructed the old Wall of enigma city is also been demolished as Grand Army is planning to expand the area the new wall are being build 100 kilometers away from the previous wall and more than 10k builder droid is working nonstop and countless droid and drones are there to protect them from monster attack. The new Command Center are already being Build in the center of Enigma City it is decagon shape the materials used to build it are rank-5 materials to ensure its integrity as this will be the Official HQ of Grand Army on Earth even if one day they get to fully control Earth it will remain unchanged that''s why Arc are willing to spend huge amount of materials to build it. And once it was completed it will be near impregnable. As for the Shadow Unit, Jem and Ruby have been given full authority and command to subjugate all the remaining criminal organizations in their target list. At first, Arc wants to be part of it but now after his talk with Addam, he can no longer take it slows. And all plans need to be completed in advance. In space, Arc receives the notification of the mission completion. Ding! Congratulation on completing the mission of taking over the City. You receive: 5000 energy unit 1-Star 10x army captain 1-Star 5x weapon specialist 1-Star 2x army Colonel 2-Star 1x general 1-Star 100x power suit 1-Star 50x reconnaissance drone "Great!" Arc couldn''t help but shout surprising Tiffa and the rest, after telling them the reason they are happy too. He didn''t summon new personnel yet as he will have no way to explain their appearance in space he will summon them when he returns to Earth. "One down, two more to go," Arc muttered under his breath he is in good mood today one because he gains upgrade in his stats and also receive a Skill with the addition of completing the mission he felt like he has accomplished a lot of things thus making him happy. "Boss, we will arrive in Liberty in 20 minutes please be prepared." Said Eve. Alright, it been a while since he last saw Mia in person, so he was a little excited. 20 minutes later they are already in the dock of Liberty. A few minutes ago Arc was so surprised to see Liberty it''s like a floating giant continent in space and it''s not made of metal but of rocks, it was after all a combination of many asteroids being combined. And at the center of Liberty a giant energy bubble can be seen and countless small ones surrounding it. In all the bright galaxy the existence of Liberty is special it''s the only manmade nonmetal structures that are 10 times bigger than a planet and hold countless race together, it''s the biggest trading center in the Bright Galaxy and it was started by the human race. Liberty is humanity''s greatest legacy in space. One that every human is proud of. And now for the first time Arc stepping into it. He was also one of the few individuals who own a large plot of prime lands in Liberty. Mia was already there waiting for them in the docks. She, too, was excited to see Arc Again after so long and even though they are talking and communicating very often it''s not the same as seeing each other in person. When Arc get out of the Ship he already spotted Mia and likewise, she also spotted him. Arc slowly moves toward her and when he reached in front of her. As he was about to greet her. Mia immediately hugs him giving him a surprise, but he quickly recovered he was no stranger to relationsh.i.p.s he has a few girlfriends before his parent''s Accidents, so he just smiles and hugs Mia back.. "Good to see again Mia," said Arc. Mia recovers and blushes when he thinks about her previous action. She heard Tiffa giggles and look at her as she tried to compose herself. "good to see you again sister Tiffa and Dianna and to you too Jarvis." "Good to see you too Mia," said Tiffa. Mia also hugs Tiffa, Dianna and Jarvis. Welcome to Liberty Humanities'' greatest achievement to date. They boarded a small spaceship the size of car that mia prepares beforehand. They started chatting and Mia giving them a slight tour as she pointed and explain things to Arc and the company. 30mins later they arrived in the Grand Trading Headquarters on Liberty it''s a huge building that''s over 300 floors with the land area of 2 kilometers it''s a behemoth building it stands at the center of 50 kilometers Area of land. It''s the only building in the area of their HQ that has over 50 floors the rest of the surrounding building has only 50 floors below. The whole building is black like a black crystal glass according to Mia its called Black flame crystal glass that can only be found in the southeast sector of Bright Galaxy it an uninhabited area where a large number of black suns are located, black sun is deadly on all forms of life so planets surrounding a black sun is lifeless but planet near the black suns are all rich in minerals, they call those planets Black planet. The only problem is the black sun is not only deadly on life but it''s also deadly on many machines as black suns radiated energy similar to EMP but a thousand times more potent than any EMP. So only select few races have the capability to mine materials on the planet near black suns. And they can only mine planet the furthest to the black sun. Black flame Crystal glass is one of the few things that can be mine in the black planet, it''s relatively cheap compared to other materials found on the black planet. Like, for example, Black flame steel. It is 100 times more durable than any metals known to man. It''s also very resistant to any form of corrosion and impact making it ideal in making a space ship. Arc specter outer shell is made of this metal. Black flame metal is very expensive and there''s more demand than the supply so it''s very hard to get one hands on it. And so far only three alien races are known to have the capability to mine those resources there may be more but only those three races are willing to sell it to others. Black flame crystal glass, on the other hand, is one of the cheapest materials that come from the black planet but that doesn''t mean its cheap. It''s still far more expensive compared to other crystal glass, but Mia insisted on using this material the moment she found out about it. There are many reasons for that. Mia looks at Arc and said. "What do think?" Chapter 130 - 130 Liberty II Arc looks at the cool looking black building that stands out a lot for some reason because of tge System loves of color black it becomes his and Grand Trading official color. Arc has no problem with it as he like the black color as well even though it''s not his favorite color it''s close enough as his favorite color is Dark Silver and Dark Blue. "Really cool," said Arc. Mia heard it and her smile blooms. "I thought so too, so I insisted on using this material not only it''s maintenance-free it''s also corrosion-resistant not to mention it is 10 times stronger than any reinforced glass available in the market. Tha only glass stronger is the one used in sh.i.p.s I think its called Septum Glass or something I''m not sure" said Mia. "I really like it. I wonder if we can also use it to replace the glass on our HQ on Earth as well." Said Arc. "That can be arranged, let''s go inside." Said Mia. Arc nodded. Inside the black motifs is also applied but not too much, the carpet is a combination of black and gold as for walls it''s black and silver. It''s very elegant, especially with all the lights. "The first 10 floors are reception areas where regular guests can enjoy themselves as many of our products are displayed and available here for purchase. Of course, there''s nothing in there right now as Grand Trading hasn''t officially started business on Liberty or in space yet." Mia explained and tours Arc and the rest inside the building she also explained the function of each floor although Arc already knows this as it was Eve who created the blueprint Mia incorporated many of her touches in them Arc listen and enjoyed Mia tours after a few minutes they reach the floor were it''s going to be Arc''s office and 10 floors above it are going to be Arc''s residents for him and his family in the future, the residents have their own separate private elevators. He took 10 floors as he plans not for just his family to move into it but also for Tiffa and the rest to move into it. They are his very first men, and he considered them as part of his family. As most of his success is thanks to them. So to him, they are special. On the top floors, it has a breathtaking view as one of the tallest building in Liberty he can see almost all of Liberty from there as there are no clouds to block his view like back on Earth. On Liberty, 300 floors are the limit one can build their buildings to gave enough airspace without compromising small aircraft from traveling inside Liberty. But even so only a few have tried to build a building with 300 floors as many don''t have a huge space to build it and those who have don''t have any use for a big building only like Arc who have a need for a big building and have a space to build it build a 300-floor building only around 20 or so building at that size can be seen in central Liberty. Arc was very satisfied with how the building turns up its one of the most artistic buildings in Liberty so it becomes one of the famous landmarks in Liberty. Most of the buildings on the HQ are almost done only about 10 percent or so are left to build. But all the main building is complete. As for the Grand Mall it is also mostly done. Grand Mall is the 5 kilometers land he got from the Human Federation Alliance of HFA paid to Grand Trading as payment for the very first military-grade solutions. Arc original plan was to build an HQ there, but with the deal with Galactic Force Alliance or GFA, he manages to acquire 50 kilometers of prime lands, so he uses the 50 kilometers to build the Grand Trading HQ there and use the 5 kilometers as Mall to display his product and future products. Right now more than a thousand request was received by Dianna to open a shop there in their Grand Mall. Arc can see the Grand Mall from where he is right now which is the top floor of the HQ, Grand Mall is a series of buildings big and small that was put together as one building from the top it looks like a mismatched puzzle in a good way. But inside it is a different experience. As every section has different themes making shopping a very exciting experience. Arc uses many rank-5 technologies like a holographic display that looks like a real thing. Mia incorporates it into the buildings in the Mall so some part of the mall looks like outdoor from a tropical island on Earth some looks like winter city. And many more. Mia excitedly explains and tells Arc all about the things she experiences and builds, And Arc patiently listens with a smile on his face. By the time they notice it its already quite late, and they are the only ones in the room. Mia blush when she notices the time. But Arc continues to ask her question, and she explains making their conversation longer. "Looks like you enjoy your time here very much. And here I thought you would be homesick after some time. But it looks like you have no plan to return home." Said Arc smiling. Haha, and whose fault is that? You''re the one who sent me here, I would have never had experienced it if it wasn''t for you. I never would have dreams I would be able to leave Earth in my lifetime. Said Mia smiling back at Arc. Well, I''m happy that you''re happy. Said Arc. The atmosphere is quite romantic as they are the only ones in the room and with the good view, it''s like a perfect place to date. "I miss you," said Arc smiling. "Mia blushed and said. I miss you too, You are the only one I miss on Earth." Arc lean forward and kiss Mia surprising her, but she quickly recovers, and she responded. Dianna and Tiffa are visiting the Grand Mall and at the same time planing of what to do when they move here Dianna and Tiffa meet with Ash who was sent here in advance to set up a security system. They talk about many things and planed a lot of things with the help of Eve they quickly plan for everything when they move here for they know it will happen soon. As for Jarvis, he went shopping for ingredients unique to Liberty to prepare for dinner that was coming close. Soon Dianna and rest return to where Arc and Mia were, they saw them talking and laughing together and having a good time. Dianna and the rest are very happy to see their Boss enjoying himself. Soon Jarvis is done preparing dinner they have a good time eating together Ash was there of course. After dinner it''s time to talk business. Its time for them to talk on what to do next. Normally Mia wouldn''t be part of it but this time Arc allowed it as she is also playing an important role in the future... Chapter 131 - 131 Liberty III It''s been 3 days since Arc arrived in Liberty Dianna and Tiffa was so busy setting up and preparing for Grand Mall opening they started organizing and selecting those they would allow to set up shop in Grand Mall. As for Arc and Mia, they spend most of their time together after their passionate night 2 days ago they become officially a couple Tiffa and Dianna were very happy for them. But Arc still didn''t tell Mia everything especially anything regarding the Factory System. He plans to keep that secret to himself until he was strong enough to not worry about anything else. Mia didn''t ask either she was satisfied just being together with Arc and didn''t ask anything regarding Arc secret she figures if Arc wants her to know he would tell her, so she just decided to wait for it, it''s not important to her anyways. So for the past few days, they are inseparable Arc follows Mia in her work since he has nothing to do anyways he came to Liberty to personally experience what Liberty is all about. And being with Mia also fulfills that mission. At dinner no matter how busy they are not allowed to skip it this is Arc order so every dinner they all eating together it is also a way for them to exchange information. "Boss I plan to stay here for a few days as there''s so much to do." Said, Dianna. Arc look at Dianna and sigh, he knew this is going to happen. " Can you just get someone else to do it." "No Boss I want to do it myself as this is important for our foundation here in Liberty," Dianna said resolutely. "Boss I''m staying too," said Tiffa. Hmm, "why?" Ask Arc. "To share the load for Dianna. There''s so much to do its faster if I''m here helping her. Besides, I have sister Mia here as well so it''s going to be fun." Said Tiffa smiling. He knew she''s only saying that, so he won''t worry. Sigh, "have someone be sent here to help you guys out. We have a lot of personnel on Earth and there''s a lot of promising people working for us, so make use of them. Don''t shoulder all the problems alone." Said Arc seriously. "Already done Boss hehe," said Tiffa. "2 days ago I already give the list that Eve compiled to our HQ on Earth on that list are the names of personnel that Eve thinks would be a great help here in Liberty. They already departed yesterday. There''s over 500 of them coming here they will arrive 3 days later. They are just the first batch as I plan to transfer 10k Grand Trading personnel here on Liberty to help us manage our HQ here." Said, Dianna. "Boss I suggest sending a batch of Shadow Unit here aswell to set up intelligence network here." Said Ash who is always quiet. "I leave everything to you, Dianna." Arc then look at Ash and said. "That''s what I plan as well originally I plan to have them Finnish all mission regarding criminal subjugation back on Earth, but sending a small team here won''t hurt." Mia just listens and didn''t interfere. 3 days ago Arc told her about the Grand Army and Shadow Unit that they are part of Grand Trading. And they are responsible for Grand Trading security. Honestly, she wasn''t surprised she knew the facilities she was building back on Earth is intended for some Arm forces. So she knows Arc was planning to build some private forces she just didn''t think it would be such a big private force. If she knew that there are over a million soldiers being trained in Enigma city she would probably faint from shock. Tomorrow is the day Arc would leave and head back to Earth as he still has things to do on Earth. Like meeting the Alien race who wants to form a business deal with him. After dinner, they once again seriously talk about business this has been happening every day since they arrive here on Liberty during dinner they would exchange news and information about what they do during the day and after dinner, they would talk seriously about what to do the next day mostly it was just Dianna and Tiffa talking as they are the only one doing a real work, but Dianna and Tiffa didn''t mind they are happy of what they are doing. If it was the old Arc he would be feeling guilty about it but now he long gets used to it. But it''s not the same for Mia. She felt guilty not helping Dianna and Tiffa but Tiffa reassured her that her job is very important to Arc and the Grand Trading relieving her of some guilt. Arc didn''t say anything and just smiled at the conversation of Tiffa and Mia. "So Boss you''re going back home tomorrow have you already purchased the gift for both Anne and Amy?" Said Tiffa smiling. Of course, how could I forget about that? That''s the first thing I did when an explored Liberty otherwise those won''t stop pestering me. Arc said while sighing. Tiffa and Mia giggles when they saw Arc''s face. Dianna and Ash just smile. As for Jarvis, that guy is a statue his facial expressions rarely change. After the meeting they all went their separate ways Arc''s residents in Grand Trading HQ are mostly Finnish only some decorations are missing but the place is fully functional, so they been living there since they arrive in Liberty. After a passionate night with Mia, it''s finally time for Arc to go back to earth. As Dianna an Tiffa is staying he only has Jarvis for a company on the way back to Earth thankfully going back is a lot faster as he didn''t plan to cruise around. Mia was reluctant to let go of Arc, but she knows She and Arc have their things to do and soon they will meet again in person. After saying goodbye to Mia, Dianna and the rest he boarded the Specter with Jarvis and immediately head back home, but he has one last stop before going back to earth. Because just last night he received a call from Admiral Ford that the decommissioned military space station has already arrived near-earth they have been placed in between Earth and Mars. Arc was surprised as he expected it will take months for those to be delivered. 3 hours after departing from Liberty they Arrived at where the military space station where placed, of course, all its weapons have been taken off leaving only the facility''s intact he circled around the five Space stations, and sure enough only one of them is relatively intact the rest are received some serious damaged. But as the specter scan the Space stations using the upgraded scanner he found out that the damage is mostly external and superficial it only looks bad from the outside but inside every important facility are intact. He even suspected the most of the damage is done deliberately just to make it look bad so it can be replaced with a new one. Well, whatever the reason this is all good news to him. He didn''t waste time he immediately sends drones to connect Eve with the space stations computer system. He also released all the mini automated ship that''s been created inside the specter for the past few days. Those sh.i.p.s look like a regular human ship but in reality, those are rank-8 military combat space sh.i.p.s. They are only as big as a car, but they are capable of destroying even the most powerful battleship human powers possessed. 500 of those sh.i.p.s will be responsible for the security of the space stations. And 100 combat automated mecha was also released to the grounds of the space stations. Arc put them there to show that the space stations are not abandoned and to deterred all those would try to steal or infiltrate it. 500 builder drones are also left there to dismantle the damaged parts and also to connect all the space stations together as one. That''s right Arc plans to combine all those space stations as one. He decided to do this the moment he found out that space stations are mostly intact. Chapter 132 - 132 Expansion VI After spending a few hours on the space stations making sure that all is in order, Eve will be responsible for connecting all the space station together while the builder droids would make sure everything is connected securely they are also responsible for building the space stations as Arc plans to turn it into mobile base for Grand Army in Space. Soon Arc was on his way back to Earth he was greeted by Elizabeth Oswald as well as Emily Corpus, Emily Corpus was the one Dianna Trained to replace her as CEO of Grand Trading here on Earth, now that Dianna is on Liberty she took over Dianna Job temporarily she was still in training after all. Arc already met her a few times, so he was familiar with her. "Boss welcome back." Said Emily. "Arc welcome back," said Elizabeth aswell. "Thank you, Ms. Elizabeth and Emily." He then looks at Elizabeth and said, "I didn''t Except you here Ms. Elizabeth did you finnaly decided to work for me?" Arc said joking. "Not yet Arc," Elizabeth said smiling. "Let''s talk in the car." Said Emily. A black limousine soon stops in front of them. This is Grand Trading''s personal VIP service car. Dianna is the one mostly using it. Inside the car. "so Elizabeth how can I help you?" "No, actually I was just doing some last-minute check-up. I was here for her, but then I found out she was going to meet you in the HFA space elevator, so I came along." Said Elizabeth grinning. "I see, well Emily here would be the one responsible for coordinating with your department regarding the Alien Race visiting Earth. I didn''t think they would increase in such a short time." Said Elizabeth. "Hmm, increase? I have no idea Arc looks at Emily waiting for an explanation." "Yes boss its one of the reasons for me insisting on meeting you. Ms. Dianna inform me just hours ago that instead of 13 alien race visiting Earth its now 56 Alien race all of them looking forward to meeting you." Said Emily. "Really? And here I thought I could just pass all the work to you and let you negotiate with them." Said Arc looking at Emily. He wasn''t joking he really does plan to let Emily do the negotiations. Emily looking at the serious Arc, starting to sweat, "Boss, are you serious?" Emily asks nervously. "Of course, why not it''s a good experience for you but alas that won''t happen this time as those 56 alien race didn''t come to just sight see so let''s not disappoint them. But I want you to be there" said Arc. "Of course, Boss," said Emily sighing in relief. "Elizabeth is this going to be a problem on your part?" Ask Arc. "Not at all actually we are very happy that more are coming to visit. United Government (UG) is very excited about it even the president is coming personally to host and greet them when they arrived." Said Elizabeth smiling. "Well, that''s good to know. If both of you are free let''s stop by and Eat I''m a little hungry at the moment." Said Arc. .... "Do you think Boss would be surprised when he heard our report?" Said Jem. "Not sure, but I know he will be happy when he heard it." Said Ruby. "Hehe, I''m looking forward to it, it''s been a while since we last see Boss in person I miss him." Said Jem. "Yeah," Ruby nodded. Arc was now on his way to Army HQ to meet with Ruby and Jem a few hours ago he received a call from Jem asking to meet him in Army HQ in Radial City. So after eating with Elizabeth and Emily, they went on their separate ways Elizabeth and Emily left together as they still have to sort out some minor details about the alien visit. Personally, Arc didn''t really care much about that affair. But he too was curious about meeting those alien races, but that''s all he was only curious. Jarvis was driving and Arc was at the back seat talking to Eve about what kind of structures they will build in the Space station Arc named Messiah. But Arc''s biggest problem at the moment is how to transport his army into space. Looking at the system list of the factory he found some that can help him like a teleportation machine, there are several types of teleportation machines, but he needs one big enough to transport his men and some of the materials here on Earth. Unfortunately, all those things ate beyond his reach as they are very expensive. "Host I suggest using the builder Droid to build you a tractor beam system." Said Nine. Arc was surprised by the sudden response of Nine who always remain quiet and only talk if asked. "Eve is that possible?" "I just verified it boss it can even do long-range extraction. The only downside is it requires a huge amount of materials and energy to operate. Miniature sun engine can support the power consumption of the tractor beam. Only the materials would be a problem." Said Eve. "Send those lists of materials to Dianna tell her to ask the Alien races to pay with mayerials if possible." Said Arc. A few minutes later, Ring, Ring.!!! "Dianna, what''s up?" "Boss I just talk to the Alien Races and some of them are willing to pay with materials, in fact, they preferred it to paying with Bright Credits. But some materials they do not process ill send you the list of materials they are willing to trade." Said, Dianna Ding! He received the list and Eve project it to 3d hologram. "Eve can we use some of these materials we don''t have any use for Bright credits at the moment we need materials more than credits," Said Arc. "Boss we can use all of it some of it is better than we need. The list I give is the most common thing we can use the list Dianna give have better materials." Said Eve. "You heard that Dianna you decide the exchange rate get as many materials as we can." Said Arc. "You got it, Boss." Said Dianna smiling. Arc leans back into his seat trying to relax, now that his most important problem has been solved he can focus on completing his system mission. "Boss was here," said Jarvis. Before he realized it they arrive at the Army HQ in Radial city. Stepping out in the car he saw Ruby and Jem waiting for him. He was puzzled as they should be completing the subjugation on criminal organizations. When Jem calls he didn''t expect Ruby to here aswell. I But even though he was puzzled he didn''t show it in his face. Jem, Ruby it been awhile I miss you two. Said Arc. Ruby and Jem smile widely when they heard it. We Miss you too Boss. Said Jem, Ruby nodded. "Let''s talk inside Boss." Said Jem. Inside Jem, and Ruby give their reports surprising him a lot. Chapter 133 - 133 Expansion VII Arc look at Ruby, and Jem who has a huge grin on their faces. "You two really surprised me this time," who would have thought that in the time he was in space the Shadow Unit has manage to subjugate more than 10 criminal organizations that''s average of 1 or so a day since Arc has only been in Space for around 10 days. Arc look at the list of Criminal organization that''s been Subjugated and Smile. He gives a thumbs-up, and laughs, so what do you want as rewards? Said Arc he really is very happy as they say when it rain it pours. He has been continuously receiving good news as of late making very happy. Ruby and Jem didn''t expect their Boss to ask them for the rewards they want. They are just happy to be able to help him, him being happy is reward enough for the two of them. "Hehe, Boss we don''t really want anything," said Jem with a huge smile on her face. "That''s right Boss," said Ruby. "Well no rush just think about it, there''s no expiration date on it anyways." Said Arc laughing. Morgan Family Death Crows Crimson Mask Are only one of the few in the list that''s already been subjugated. By the way, why is it the name of The Speaker is on red letters? Said Arc. All the names are on regular color only The Speaker is on Red Colors. "Well Boss, that''s because they are still in the process of being clean up. The majority of the top Executives of The Speaker are already been Killed or in prison. But their organization range of operation is simply too wide and I mean Worldwide. So that will take some time to completely clean up." Said Ruby. "I see, so what''s Shadow Unit doing now?" He could ask Eve, but he decided to just as Ruby and Jem first. "Boss right now we''re investigating and pursuing an unknown organization." Said Ruby seriously. Jem then projected the pictures and data regarding it. This is the real reason they want to meet him, and also to talk to him in person as the two of them miss him a lot. Arc then saw the data, mask man in grey clothes can be seen in many of the battles some of them are helping their enemies. And what''s surprising is that all those pictures are from different criminal organizations. "Tell me about them." Said Arc. "Boss, we first encounter them when we are subjugating The Morgan Family, they appeared suddenly almost caught us by surprise if not for Eve timely warning many would have been killed or injured. They are very professional when their surprised attack fails they immediately tried to escape." Said ruby. "That''s right Boss they hit multiple teams, and they hit them hard they use many high caliber weapons if not for our upgraded suits many would have been killed or injured even with Eve advance warning." Said Jem. "We manage to catch some of them and using truth serum we tried to find out who they are but," "It didn''t work?" Ask Arc. "It not that Boss our truth serum is not something they can easily overcome. No Boss it''s like their mind is blank and the only thing they know is the mission to surprise attack us nothing about who gives them the mission or their background they didn''t even have a name only code number." Said Ruby frowning. "Eve, what do you think?" Ask Arc openly. "I''ve tried to investigate them but I found nothing," said Eve voice can be heard through Arc phone. "Even you can''t find anything? That''s quite problematic." Said Arc. Ruby then continues, "At first we suspected the Death Crows as they are the only organization who fit the bill regarding those greyman. As the biggest Assassin Organization, we thought they''ve sent those men." She paused and she then looks at Jem. Jem saw that and nodded. "So after we dealt with Morgan Family, I bought 2000 shadow unit with me and subjugated the Death Crows HQ and many of their facilities but even after we killed all the leaders and top members no shadow of those Grey man can be seen." Said Jem. "So after that, we tried to dig dipper, so we ask Army Specialist to take a DNA sample and analyze it the result is what we have suspected." Said Jem. "Let me guess Clones," said Arc. "That''s right Boss all of them are Clones with very limited life span with only about 2 years." Said Ruby. "I''ve then run a scan on all the cloning facilities looking for a mark that will connect to our mysterious Grey man. But no results." Said Eve. "So meaning they are not produced on Earth but in space?" Ask Arc. "Not necessarily it could be any of the Criminal Organization that manages to acquire a cloning technology or any of the hidden cloning facilities of superpower from space." Said Eve. "So, in other words, Shadow Moon is starting to rouse those hidden power here on Earth. That''s faster than I suspected." Said Arc who look at Ruby waiting for her to continue. The second time we encounter them is when we subjugated a relatively small Criminal Organization name Cloud Nine. It''s an organization on the same status as those big Criminal Organization, but compared to the rest they are pretty small as they only operate in a small number of places and was very low-key. Their main trade is Drugs and any ban substance like psychoactive drugs to chaos blood drugs any ban drugs they have it." Said Ruby. "At that time the one leading the mission is Dove along with 1000 shadow unit. At the time when Dove and her men are about to kill the leaders of Cloud Nine, those Grey man appeared again that time Eve didn''t see it coming as they suddenly appeared in on of the hidden room. Luckily Dove and her men are all veterans and were able to kill all of the Grey man without much problem but that''s only the start." Said Ruby. "Out of 13 criminal organizations we subjugated they appeared in 8 of them, and each time they do a surprise attack." Said Jem. "So meaning those organizations are connected to the Greyman, or they are part of a single organization." Said Arc. ..... A few days ago. In the room, a group of people can be seen seating surrounding a round table and each and everyone sitting has plain grey masks with only a roman number on the forehead. "How many we lost?" Said the voice with a number IV on its forehead. "5 so far," said number V. "Why didn''t we saw this coming?" Said III. "Actually we do, we just didn''t pay more attention," said. IX "That''s right we first learn about them when they subjugated The Spider but because it''s not related to us and because they stop doing anything after, we didn''t do anything." Said, X "But suddenly they started moving and subjugating one organization after another caught us by surprised before we know it we already lost 5 said." VII "6," said VI "What?" Ask X. "We lost 6 just now my men just reported we lost Six Eyes," said VI. Silence... No one talks all of them are contemplating. "This can''t continue we must remove them at all cost or better take over them they have quite a high level of technology if we can take that. We can move closer to our goals." Said III. "Easier said than done do you know how many died with their subjugation and how many men Shadow moon lost? Said," VIII "Shadow Moon killed more than 30 thousand enhanced criminals, not just any other criminals but enhanced but that''s not all they also killed over 500 enhanced Beast Lord under Big Budha, you all know him as he was one of our customers. Chained Souls has been purged only one survived. Big Budda, his location and condition unknown. No one knows how many Beast lord was under Big Budda, but we confirmed 500 enhanced beast lord and yet..." VIII looks around and asks. Do you know how many Shadow moon lost?¡­ one just One! And that was even a fluke according to my sources." Said VIII. "Now tell me can we do the same? Said VII. Again there was silence in the room. They all know how powerful an enhanced beast lord is. "It does not matter, our objective remains the same, and anyone who gets in the way must be eliminated no exception! I authorize you all to use whatever is necessary to eliminate the enemy this meeting is dismissed!" Said I Chapter 134 - 134 Reunion Arc continues to listen to Ruby and Jem''s Report especially regarding the Grey man, he was intrigued by someone who is capable of hiding from Eve, and at the same time a little excited on how to uncover that mysterious Organization. He wasn''t worried at all with the upgrades of equipment the Shadow Unit had unless they become very careless they won''t be hurt at all. With the donation of GFA, Eve and the rest of the leaders like Ruby, Jem, Tom and the rest was able to give sufficient data to know what kind of new suit or Armor they need and Arc gave Eve a go signal to use whatever materials need to create it. So the Shadow Unit was the very first to receive GFA donations giving them a huge power-up in equipment even their flexible sword receive an upgrade. It now has a laser edge capable of slicing even the most durable metal. So Arc hearing about the Grey man was not worried but a little excited instead a little challenge won''t hurt and it''s good training for Shadow Unit, especially since a new batch of shadow units are being Trained in the New Army HQ in enigma city. He was expecting a half a million new Shadow Units in about a year''s time. As he was conversing with Ruby and Jem Arc Suddenly receive a notification surprising him, Ruby and Jem notice the changes on Arc and stop talking they notice a sudden huge smile on Arc''s face and they knows he receives a good news. And indeed he received a piece of good news he was waiting for a long time. Ding! Congratulations on completing the mission Take control of 5 major underworld group in three 3 different nations. No time limits REWARDS. 500 energy unit 1-Star 1x medical doctor 1-Star 10 medical nurse 1-Star medical facilities 1-Star 20x truth serum 1-Star 100x stealth suit Arc was ecstatic when he read the notification. He looks at Ruby and Jem and said. "Follow me." They immediately go to the most secured area on the base it is where his parents are being held and only top medical Droids are allowed inside. Inside he looks at his parents who now look much better than before as they are receiving the best care in the world. First, he summons the medical facility it is a series of equipment luckily nine warned him in advance, so he prepared a huge place for it just across where his parents are being kept. The medical facilities contain 500 medical capsules 200 medical tubes and a lot more. Arc was shocked even though he was warned in advance he only knows that it''s not a piece of single equipment but a series, but he has no idea of the actual number. The room he prepared couldn''t hold everything, because of it most was transferred to the system storage. But before he do anything else he summons the 1-Star Doctor and 10x 1-star nurses, he name her doctor Ray Kasuga she has a beautiful but serious looking face with long black hair that goes up to her waist. And after naming the Ten nursed which is all-female as well he then asks Ray to examine her parents and what equipment she would need. It didn''t take lone for Ray to examine his parents and after looking at the available types of equipment Ray concluded that she needs about 2hrs to cure his parents sending Arc to Heaven with the good news. He then Transfers all the medical equipment into the storage ring he made for Mia and handed it to Ray. He then asks Ruby and Jem to fetch his sisters for him and have them bought here. Ruby and Jem nodded and left. Of course, he calls his sister in advance to let them know but didn''t tell them why. It will take at least 2hrs for Ruby and Jem to get back with his sisters. In the meantime he was waiting in his room in the facility it is the room where he stays whenever he visited his parents, of course, there''s room for his sisters as well. He was pacing left and right in his room even though he knows there''s no danger to curing his parents according to Ray, in truth Ray only need about 20 minutes or so cure his parents but because of a long time his parents are in coma many of his parents muscles are in entropy from being unused, even with the most advanced solutions he has, it has to said that his solutions can prevent the muscle from dying but without using it, its started to become weaker the same thing happens to the people on space without entering a place with gravity for a long period of time their muscles will grow weaker. So Ray needs to reawaken those sleeping and weakening muscles, and that will take time but with a 1-Star medical facilities, those processes can be shortened and thus the 2 hours of waiting. Arc was even tempted to build a Rank 9 solution factory but that will use all of his Energy Units he has in stock. But Eve stops him as there''s no need to do so and Ray assured him that as well. As he was saving those energy units for something else he needed when he finally decided to start doing business in space and that will be soon so Eve stops him from using it as there''s really no need to do so. 2 hours was gone in a flash but to Arc it is a lifetime of waiting. And true to Her word Ray appeared in front of him. With a smile on her face with two people behind her. Arc saw them and choked on his word, his parents already saw him and recognized him there were already tears on their eyes. "Mom, Dad Welcome Back," he finally said with tears on his eyes. Chapter 135 - 135 Reunion II Arc was looking at his parents and his parents are looking at him there was an awkward silence for a moment. "Mom, Dad welcome back." Arc finally said. His mom was the first to run over to him and hug him his dad walk slower and hug both of them. They stay like that for some time. Ray excused her self silently leaving Arc with his parents alone. "My son!" his mom continues to cry, Arc didn''t say anything as he didn''t know where and how to start. After a few moments, his mom already started to calm down, his dad just quietly waiting for his wife to calm down. "Son, where''s Anne, and Amy?" Her mom asked. "They are on the way here now mom they will be very happy to see you both mom, dad" "Where are we son?" His Dad asked. "That''s a long story Dad, what I can tell you now are that I own, or we own this facility." Said Arc smiling. His Dad smiles back but didn''t say anything there a lot of things that confused them. They know they have been in a coma for a long time, as when they woke up the beautiful Doctor Ray inform them some basic things like they have been into accidents and have been in a coma for quite some time.. They woke up more than an hour ago but because of their weak bodies they can''t move yet Ray have used advanced medical solutions and medical facilities to restored their body, but they still feel a little weak but that''s only temporary. His mother already calms down but not in a state to talk yet. So it''s his Dad doing the talking. "Son, how long have we been asleep?" His Dad Asked. "Around three and a half years Dad," Arc then explained to them a simplified version of what happened for the last three and a half years, but halfway through his explanation he heard footsteps and knew his sisters have arrived. He stops talking and looks at the door his parents look at the door too. Soon they can hear a cheerful chattering. "I wonder what big bro is up to calling us here. We were just here yesterday visiting Mom and Dad." Said Anne. "Big sis Ruby did something happen to Mom and Dad?" Amy asks worriedly. "Don''t worry nothing bad happen," said Jem smiling. "I see that''s good," said Amy Arc smiles hearing them talk. The door slowly opens and Amy and Anne entered the room they saw Arc sitting at the sofa with two people, but when they realized who the two were, Anne stops walking so is Amy. Moooom! Daaad! Amy shouted and run to them and hug them while crying, Anne follows Amy and hug both her Mom and Dad. Arc just quietly watch from the side smiling with a little tears in his eyes, Ruby, and Jem quietly left. Arc noticed and just smile. He then asks Eve to tell Jarvis to prepare a banquet for everyone. This time with his sisters his parents took a little longer to calm down even his Dad couldn''t stop crying. Look at all of you, you are all grown up forgive me. "Mom, stop don''t apologize it''s not your fault is no one''s fault ok." Arc stop his mom from apologizing. After that his sisters happily filled his parents of what happened for the past few years since their accidents, Arc excused himself to prepare for banquet even though Jarvis got it all covered, he wasn''t really an emotional man especially since his enhancement his mentality has been greatly enhanced. And simply because he felt awkward as they kept talking about him. Arc saw Ruby and Jem, and he told them they will be joining them on the banquets, stunning the two who didn''t know what to do. Jem looks at Ruby, and said: "what should we do?" Ruby look at Jem unable to say a word. She, too, didn''t know what to do. "I wish Tiffa was here," said Ruby. Arc, left the two stunned girls and went straight to Jarvis in the kitchen together with the two maids Lily, and Lila even Cosmos was there in the kitchen Arc look at Cosmos and said "how do you do Poopy you''re getting fat buddy." Cosmos just bark at him in protest. And ignored him. Arc then started cooking without bothering Jarvis and the maids who just look at him for a moment and continue with their work. A few hours later, they are all sitting at the dining table even Jarvis who was very reluctant to do so was forced by Arc to join them at the table no one is left behind. At the dinner, his Mom and Dad keep looking at Arc while his sisters happily keep telling their experience these past few years. Ruby and Jem just kept quiet but because of Amy and Anne they soon join the conversations even Jarvis was pulled by his dad to Drink. It was a fun dinner no one talk about any depressing topics which pleased Arc a lot. "Mom, Dad why are you keep looking at me like that?" Arc asks in confusion. "Nothing, I always know you are a genius I am very proud of you son." Said His Mom. Haha, Arc laughs awkwardly "well Mom you haven''t heard all of it yet," said Arc. "Hehe, that''s right mom I forgot to tell you, big Bro, swindled HFA and GFA and got more than fifty kilometers of prime land in Liberty, he just got back from space you know." Said Amy. "Eh, What! You got land on Liberty?" His Dad Asks in surprise. "Hehe, Dad he didn''t just got a land he got a Prime Land in the center of Liberty." Said Anne proudly. His Dad looks at Arc like he was some kind of alien. "How did you do that?" His Dad Asks. Arc, Scratch his head and was about to answer but Amy cut him off. "He swindled them," said Amy. "What do you mean swindled, I didn''t swindle them, it was a fair trade you know." Said Arc. "Hehe, But sister Tiffa said you used a mass produce solutions for it," said Amy smugly. Arc almost choked. "That Darn Tiffa" he knew Tiffa was very close to his sister, and they often hang around to go shopping. His Mom is puzzled but his Dad was too stunned to ask anymore. So Anne and Amy explained everything they know about Tiffa and Dianna showing them their pictures as well as Biggs and Wedge. As well as Grand Trading. Saving Arc from explaining, he didn''t stop his sisters he just watches their expression that keeps changing again and again. The Dinner ended very late and they continues to talk after. His parents are not any mood to sleep maybe because they been sleeping for a long time. After that, they decided to go back to their home which is located near the New HQ of Grand Trading its a house located on top of a hills overlooking the Radial City Arc build this place the same time he build the Grand Trading HQ, this place used to belong to a former tycoon who was bankrupt because of gambling addiction. Arc just expanded the Area by buying all the surrounding lands. He then builds a combination of both modern and classic style mansion at the very top of the hills. He then named it Grand Celestial Mansion. 300 Shadow Units protect the house 24/7 which is being replaced every one month, not to mention over 2000 combat droids are hidden here ready for combat at any given moment, As well as countless stealth drones. Eve was the one responsible for protecting this place. It''s more protected than Grand Army HQ, which is disguised as a factory warehouse. But all those protection are hidden and cant is seen normally even his sisters who have been living there for quite some time didn''t know about all those protections only Jarvis and the two maids and Cosmos are aware of it. Arc didn''t join them back home as he didn''t really know how explain all this to his parents, his sister accepted it without asking too much question, the same cannot be said to his parents, so he decided to excuse himself to think for a better excused to tell his parents. Chapter 136 - 136 Expansion VIII It has been three days since his parents have been cured, removing one of his burden, with his parents cured he no longer have to worry too much about his sisters, as he can barely accompany his sisters like he used to, he was worrying a bit about it and even though his sisters is not saying anything that doesn''t mean it is ok. But now that his parents are back he won''t have to worry about his sister''s lack of guidance. It''s also a surprise for him that in the past few days his parents didn''t ask for any explanation maybe because they are still digesting all the things they missed but whatever the reasons it a piece of good news for Arc as it gives him time to think of a better excused. But today he isn''t thinking of things regarding his parents but instead about the events that were about to take place. Today is the day the alien races would visit earth to talk about business with Arc, they are also happy and comply with UG arrangement for them which pleased Arc. Emily and Elizabeth are busy hosting the Alien Races and even the President of UG and many politicians are there to welcome them, the aliens are quite happy for the VIP treatment they receive in visiting Earth a small party was held in commemoration of their arrival here on Earth, Arc didn''t participate in the party only Emily and her team was there as Grand Trading representatives. The party continues until the afternoon which ended around 3 pm the whole event was broadcasted live all around the world and into the VR world. At around 4:45 Arc is already in the Grand Trading conference waiting for the Alien delegates to Arrive which is already on the way up to him. With a small introduction, the Alien Delegates and Arc finally meet. Hello, everyone, I hope you enjoyed your visit here on Earth I apologize for the political aspect but I''m afraid there''s nothing much I can do about it. Not at all I quite enjoy it, said the bulky alien that looks like an Orc but with more human-like face with a big tusk protruding from its mouth. They all dressed formally at least it''s a formal dress from their race. The Orc like Alien is from a race Called Truush and his name is Braklir "I always like human friendliness that''s why I like dealing with humans." Said Braklir. "I Agree," said elf-like Lady she''s Very beautiful her hair that looks like plant roots. Her name is Ishmea, From Lisharam Race but because of their appearance, the humans called them Elves. Not all alien race that came to earth looks like a deformed mutant. There are like those Lisharam that look like Elves, The Crimto race looks like Vampires paled face with vampire fangs but contrary to their appearance they are a very friendly race that hates any form of conflict. Everyone agreed that it''s not a bother and in some form or another they enjoyed the hospitality of another race. "Well then everyone lets get down to business shall we?" Said Arc. All of them nodded. Drinks and some snacks are already been prepared for them. All of you have already tested and tried our products, and I am to assume that you are satisfied with it otherwise you wouldn''t be here. The price is already been discussed beforehand as well as the exchange rate, we only have to discuss the amount and other things. Arc said with a slight smile on his face. Arc''s parents and his sisters found out about the event and insisted they wanted to watch. So Arc reluctantly agreed so Arc places them into his office where they can watch the live feeds. Everyone nodded at Arc words, they are all veteran merchants and traders, there are times for pleasure and there are times for business and right now it is business time so all of them act appropriately. "Most of you already submitted the proposals and I don''t see any problem with it, so we will go ahead with that." Said Arc. Some of the Alien race hearing that breath a sigh of relief. They are afraid Arc was going to increase the price or control the number of solutions he was selling in order to increase the price, as Arc has the monopoly of the product there''s nothing they can do but agreed to whatever he demanded if they want to get a hold of the product. But hearing his word, they were relieved and very happy that their trip here is not wasted. Arc then look at Ishmea, and said. "What about the rest of you?" "Mr. Grand the reason I didn''t send a proposal is that I want to know how much you can sell? For our market is quite far away from here, and we want to have a huge shipment to cover the cost of travel." Said Ishmea. Arc smile and said. "That depends on" Ms. Ishmea. "Depends on what" Mr. Grand. "Depends on how many materials did you bring to trade," said Arc smiling. "Does that mean you have a huge amount of stocks?" Said. Braklir "Well, we have been preparing for it for a long time. We are prepared to satisfy the demand on Liberty, so what''s 50 of you compared to Liberty." Said Arc with a proud smile on his face. The alien race gasped they know what kind of place Liberty is, it is a bottomless pit. There''s no such thing as satisfying it. But to say those words that means Grand Trading has an unimaginable number of stocks. Arc didn''t plan to haggle about prices didn''t set a high price for it only slightly higher than the price he was selling it to GFA as they provided a lot of things to him for that trade. Putting a high price will only backfire on him. It''s a consumable item after all as the sole supplier he can dictate the price but as he wants it to be the main food solution in space the price has to affordable for everyone. He can produce it like water anyways the amount of Space beast meat he gets from GFA is enough to drowned earth with solutions if he wants to that how much he can produce the only reason he wasn''t producing much as he lacks buyer, but now he has buyers lining up willing to give him precious materials for solutions that barely cost anything to produce. So there''s no need to be greedy and increased the price as it will only deter some potential customers. Amy and Anne have a proud look in their faces watching their big bro dealing with the aliens that even the president of UG is bending over to pleased. Arcs Mom and Dad have a huge smile and also proud look on their faces. Ishmae then passes a doc.u.ment to Arc. Arc reads it and smiles. "You''re not joking," said Arc looking at Ishmea. "Of course not," said Ishmea. "Well, I''m glad I hope you brought that many materials with you." Said Arc. "Haha, Of course, so we have a deal?" Said Ishmea. "We have a deal," said Arc with a smile. "Great," Ishmea then lean back into her seat and enjoyed the drinks and snack her job is now done, so she can be relaxed. Chapter 137 - 137 Expansion IX The meeting lasted for 4 hours and it turns out, that among all the race that didn''t submit the proposal beforehand Ishmae of Lisharam race demands was the smallest, and Braklir of Yruush have the biggest demand, but Vealir of Crimto have the weirdest demands they want the Solution to taste like Blood. Arc, didn''t agree at first but when Vealir passes him a doc.u.ment he Agrees immediately. As Vealir would be trading using Blood Steel the strongest metal in bright Galaxy that only Crimto knows how to make. Like Grand Trading food solutions, Crimto has the monopoly of Blood Steel, and they didn''t trade it in large quantity making it very expensive but Vealir is using Blood Steel and giving Arc a reasonable price for it as long as he agreed at their small demand making the Solution taste like blood. It''s actually very easy to do but Arc was reluctant as he found it disgusting, but Vealir interpret Arc reluctance as very hard to do as Arc was very accommodating to everyone, that''s why he was willing to lower the price of Blood Steel to exchange for Solutions to taste like blood. Arc wasn''t going to correct his misconception, of course, he even offers different tastes of blood as long as he lowers the price of Blood Steel. And Vealir is very happy to accept it. Making Arc very happy inside. Of course, he didn''t show it, he was very happy but still has a poker face on. After a successful business transactions Arc host, a small dinner for everyone which everyone happily accepted as all of them has fulfilled their purpose for visiting Earth. The next day the news are all about the alien race visit and Ishmea was voted as the most famous of them all second is Vealir as cool-looking vampire there''s even fan club appearing everywhere on earth for some of them. And of course, the popularity of Grand Trading Corporation, soar even higher. Making it the most famous Company on Earth many Bussines magazines have Grand Trading in front cover. Dianna''s face is all over them and now Emily is on the front page of many Magazines even the President of UG has increased in popularity because of it. As for Arc, he was back home with his parents and sisters doing a barbecue on the gardens with Jarvis and the two maids Lily and Lila and the family mascot Cosmos. Arc asks his parents what do they want to do next, according to them they want to accompany his sisters for now. Which makes Arc very happy. As he was about to leave soon and possibly for quite sometime because yesterday just after the meeting with the alien race he receives an Urgent Mission. +Urgent Mission+ Look for Addam legacy in XXXX - XXXX Time Limit 250 days. Rewards ????? ????? ????? ????? ????? Failure: 10 random items from the factory system would be taken. The factory system would enter the sleep mode for 800 days. Arc secretly reads the mission and it''s making his head hurt. He asks nine about it but couldn''t get any details. The good news is the system provided two items as compensation for the sudden mission. * Upgrade stone * 2-star AI core Upgrade stone can upgrade any item produced by the system by another level. At first, Arc wanted to Upgrade Eve but Eve disagree as she didn''t need to at the moment. So Arc decided to hold on to it for now. As for the 2-Star AI core, it is a stand-alone AI unlike Eve who is a military grade smartphone AI. So in a sense it''s even more powerful than Eve as it is military-grade AI made specifically for military use, as for Eve she was a mobile phone AI interface even though she was also military Grade there''s still a difference in capability. Arc name the AI core Gaia and decided to put it into Enigma City newly made HQ in the deepest part of the Base where a massive supercomputer was located, originally Eve would be responsible for operating it but now that he was leaving and didn''t know when he would be back and didn''t know if he would be able to communicate while in deep space. So Arc put Gaia into it and Charge her of managing the whole Military operation and for the protection of his family. Of course, Arc didn''t forget to summon the new addition to his Army that he got from completing the system mission. Arc name the General Oda Griffith and the two colonels Sora and Haruka Grave, and after naming the rest he appointed Oda as the overall Commander and General of the whole Grand Army and that includes Shadow Units as it was originally part of Grand Army. So now Oda will be responsible for running the whole Army. Arc left everything to him as he knows more than Arc in running the military, with the help of Gaia the Official AI support of the Army Arc won''t have to worry about the Army he only needs to issues command and Oda and the rest will do the rest. With that settled he can focus on how to complete his urgent mission, As he needed to prepare a lot of things before he left as he didn''t know how long he will be gone or how dangerous the mission is, thankfully his parents are back, so he didn''t need to worry about no one to take care for his sisters, and he wasn''t talking about security but of emotional needs. But with his parents back that''s one less burden on his shoulders. So for the rest of the day be was talking and planing with the help of Eve, he finally knows what to do next. Chapter 138 - 138 Expansion X Arc was in his office, he just finished his daily training regimen, and was thinking on the urgent mission he got. 250 days is both short and long depending on the situation but for him, it''s quite short for he wants to finish his last previous mission on taking over a country before he left Earth. So he was conversing with Eve about it, he will give about 30-50 days if the mission is not completed by then he will leave and complete his urgent mission with or without it being completed. Arc, Oda, and Ruby and the rest are having a conference meeting for the first time, for the mission this time needs both the Army and Shadow Unit to move together as one. This is the first mission they are required to do this. There are quite a few missions before that required a Shadow unit and Army to move together like the mission on enigma city but those are mainly the Army just looking for a little bit of help from Shadow Unit, and vise versa. This is the first to for them to fully move as one Unit. Eve and Arc, are looking at the possible Country to conquer Arc first choice is Emerian Kingdom located at the border of UG, it''s a medium-size kingdom with a population of 100 million and has 4 cities under its name. But because they are pressed for time they can only choose a small country for now. And he has 3 candidates for it. No1: Basko a small county located in the center of three Seas, it is a Port country with a relatively good size of lands only most of it is polluted with high radiations. It only has 2 cities under it and only has about 40 million in population. That''s about the same population of Enigma city. No2: Sword Country another small country its located near Pan Asian Alliance or PAA, this country used to be called Japan and during the previous war it''s one of the targets of many nuclear bombs. And now only a small part of it is livable Sword Country only have 1 city under it besides the capital. And only have 10-15 million population the problem is that countless Wild Beast roams those land and Sword Country is located underground it is one of the few underground countries in the world. Even the City under it is also underground. And that goes the difficulty of attacking it, but to Arc, it''s only a minor inconvenience as they have the most advanced machine that can drill very fast. So this country is his most likely target. Having the country underground has its merit like attacking them wouldn''t be noticed by any power on earth. So he like this one, but Eve suggested another one. No3: Maharlika Country it''s another underground country but unlike others almost every part of it surface land is polluted by high radiations, as during World War 3 this is one of the strategic lands in Asia so it was heavily fought over during the war. And was also one of the few small countries that suffered the most in that war. The country is shaped like an animal and mostly consists of small islands was many of them are sunken or destroyed during the war. Maharlika only has a single capital and only have about 20 million populations, according to Eve the country is quite isolated and only trades once in a while and don''t accept any visitors from the outside. And one more thing the country surface is covered by a perpetual Mist making it one of the most dangerous places to visits the only good news is that the radiation level is relatively lower compared to other wilderness. These are the three targets of Arc''s Army. They are discussing how and what is needed to complete the mission in the fastest way possible. And this time Eve will not be participating but its Gaia instead who would replace Eve in this operation Eve already shared all her knowledge with Gaia so Arc didn''t see any problem with it. As for the Army, they will have to get used to Gaia''s presence in all their future mission, a communication device that directly connected to Gaia is already in production and will be given to everyone in the Army, Gaia will be their personal assistant and source of intel in the future, of course, their access level will be different depending on their ranks and specialty. At the conference, Gaia is the one Leading the analysis and calculation on the mission. Eve was only an observer this time and her main goal and priority are to support Arc''s personal affairs. So after long deliberation and consideration, they choose to invade Maharlika as its condition and circ.u.mstances served Grand Army better in the future. After deciding, Arc no longer participate in the Conversation and left as he was about to go back to space to make preparation for his future travel, he needs to prepare the Specter for it. So a massive upgrade is needed, he even asks Vealir of Crimto race for advance payment on the solutions as he needed the blood steel to upgrade the Specter. Vealir, of course, has no problem with as the contract under the first bank has already been signed. Arc also brought a large number of Materials with him as he plans to incorporate a mother drones into Specter it was Gaia who suggested it as it is far more effective weapon than any mecha or drone ship ever was. After listening to Gaia explanations he agrees, so he asks Both Eve and Gaia to give him a plan or design to do so as Specter no matter how flexible it is it''s not easy to simply modify it without any plan or design at all. After leaving the conference he went straight home to inform his parents and siblings who ask for a leave of absence from school to accompany his parents during this time. As Arc is busy in the past few days the relatively small-time to accompany his parents which he felt guilty about but his parents and siblings understand it. Back home he told his parents about him leaving for space and apologize for not being able to be with them in the past few days and with this trip he wasn''t able to accompany them again. But his parents and siblings reassured him it''s fine, and they understand making him feel warm inside. He told his parents and sisters to travel around the world and try to enjoy themselves as much as possible. Making his sisters very happy and started planning already, making him speechless and his parents laughing nonstop at the two sister''s antics. The next day Arc was already on his way to HFA space Elevator he would be spending about a week or so on space this time. Chapter 139 - 139 Preparation Arc back in Specter was quite happy with Vealir of Crimto race as he was able to deliver the Blood Steel very fast saving Arc a lot of time. Arc didn''t waste any time as soon as he boarded the specter he began to travel somewhere in space that''s far away from any prying eyes as there a lot of people watching and spying on him where ever he goes on space he noticed it the first time he went to space with the help of Eve. He wasn''t surprised by it, he would even be surprised if no one is watching and spying on him after all that''s been happening his solutions is the hottest product in the market right now and many forces wants to get their hands on it, or what they call a piece of the pie or even the whole pie if they have a chance. So the first time he travels to space he didn''t explore places away from GFA influenced as he was defenseless at that time. But now that''s no longer a problem, his unmanned mecha, and many drone combat sh.i.p.s are already been created and ready for combat unless the one attacking him Is GFA with its full power no fleet can defeat his defense. His destination is outside the solar system somewhere in a milky way, as he plans to completely upgrade the Specter and that will attract a lot of attention. So after activating its upgraded stealth features, he warped to several places before going to his final destination, and on every stop he planted some traps for those who plan to follow him. And just like his predictions many small forces and groups started moving the moment he boarded the Specter, but unlike before that he travel in leisure this time he warps immediately caught those who are watching him by surprise. After analyzing his warp destination they started following of course at a relatively far distance, but what welcome them is nothing, that''s right as they arrive at the warp points they didn''t saw the specter, so they assumed it was just in stealth mode and was just hiding somewhere. But as they approach and look they encounter a group of unmarked Ship that immediately attacks them. At first, they didn''t pay too much attention to it as it looks like a lone pirate crew who are waiting for prey. All of them have the most advance ship provide to them to be able to keep up with the Specter, so a few pirates can not even fill a fraction of their stomach to satisfy them. Not only that all of them are professional soldiers that have been through many space combats so when the saw the pirates they just laugh at it. The reason they assume it is a pirate as only pirates or criminals fly an unmarked ship. And that''s their biggest mistake as it was not a pirate crew but instead unmanned combat sh.i.p.s are left to welcome those who are following Arc. By the time they notice their mistake the damage is already too great in just a few minutes more than 30 sh.i.p.s are destroyed by the five unmanned combat ship. Alerting many sh.i.p.s who are not yet being targeted but by the time they reacted another group of five unmarked sh.i.p.s appears in their rear by then they wants to reorganize themselves more but by that time more than half is already destroyed and the unmarked ship already disappeared. Many leaders of the spying ship cursed Arc for his cunning, they all believe that Arc was aware of the pirate''s location, and he leads them into it while he or Arc ship slip away using advanced stealth. Not long after they found Arc or the Specter signatures and learned of his next destination. But this time they are more prepared and cautious when they warp there. And as they expected they didn''t saw the Specter but the unmarked ship didn''t appear but instead an unmarked Alien looking mecha attacked them as they are already alert the no longer underestimate their opponents but what they didn''t expect is that the Unmarked Mecha is so fast and moving like nothing they ever encountered before as those movements are impossible to do by any human just the amount of G force reflected into the pilot is enough to turn him/her into mush. Even with the most advanced G-force mitigator can not stop that much G-force. So they didn''t doubt that it was definitely an Alien Mech. And again after destroying many of them the mecha just disappeared. They are now reluctant to follow Arc into the next Warp point that they have discovered, some of them are now suspecting that Arc is related to the Forces that attack them. But many didn''t accept those theories as those Mecha is definitely not Human creation, and they didn''t suspect that Arc''s mysterious background is an Alien Race. First, there''s no way an Alien race with that Advance technology will go to Earth just to form a small company, there''s no merit in it for them. So many of them believe that Arc somehow found out the location of the hidden forces in the surrounding Milky Way and uses it to attack those who are following him. Many supports this theory, but the next question is will they continue to follow as they have no idea what will welcome them next. So those who are following Arc now becomes quite close after fighting side by side two times they all agreed to join forces as they all have common goals. This time only about 30% of the total ship who are following Arc remains. So they form a chain of command and agreed to travel together in a group, of course, this is only temporary and no one wants to be cannon fodder, but they all agreed that traveling together is still the safest. But when it comes to battle every ship for themselves and will only help each other if they can but no promises, of course, there are some who wants to take advantage of the situation and wanted to become the leader of the group but how can others have their lives place into someones hands, so they didn''t agree when some suggested they voted for a leader, many disagree that no leaders are necessary and if they want to be a leader they can form their own group, but no one wants to follow another leader so eventually those that wanted to take advantage can only give up the idea, none of them are idiots who would allow themselves to be cannon fodder for others. As they warp to their next destination following the Specter trails the arrived at the edge of the Asteroid field. Making them very nervous. They all stop as no one wanted to be the first to enter not knowing what awaits them. So they send probes into the asteroid field but the probes came empty only the trails of Specter is visible and no sign of enemies what so ever. "Maybe he didn''t expect us to follow him this far. Said one of the captains," as they started an online conference. "Maybe but who would go and test that theory?" Said another. They all quiet down. "I''ll go but don''t expect me to inform you if we found something in there as we are not your guinea pigs." Said another captain. They all cursed him silently but no one voice it out loud, for they will do the same if they are on the same shoes. "Well let''s separate from here since there no enemy sightings and moving into the asteroid field in a large group is like asking of trouble." Said another captain. "I agree, me too I agree" more than half agreed leaving those who what''s to take advantage of others in dilemma. As some of them wants to follow behind the group but if they all separated if they follow behind someone it will be seen as show aggression, and they will be treated as an enemy who would want someone following them from behind and who can attack or take advantage of them anytime. "Very well, let''s go separately and will enter in different areas." Said one the most influential captain. "Anyone seen tailing someone would be treated as a common enemy." said another captain. Agreed, Agreed... all of them agreed while some are cursing in their mind. Chapter 140 - 140 Preparation II Arc was watching those who are following him with a smile on his face, he left drones on every warp point to see what was going on after he left, he was smiling as he played with those who are following him. He watches as those ship stop before the asteroid field he deliberately didn''t hide the specter trails so that those who follow him will learn a painful lessons with their lives as he was sure they not just following him to simply watch he knows that the moment they have a chance they will attack and abduct him to learn how he produced those solutions. So he wasn''t sorry by killing them it''s their fault for wanting to follow and abduct him. Back to those who are following Arc, they finally decided to enter the asteroid field separately. When Arc saw this his smile broadened, and with a wicked glint in his eyes he ordered those drones to make preparations. After the group enters the asteroid field, they are very vigilant but after 15 minutes there''s still no enemy attacking them making them feel a little relieved but nobody drops their guards down. They are continuing to communicate with each other so that they can help or make preparation just in cased something happens. Until suddenly the video communication is disrupted making them hold their breath. "Are we being jammed?" Ask one of the captains to his crew. "We don''t know it can be the effect of the asteroid field it is not a rare occurrence. As some asteroids have a strong magnetic field making them a natural jamming device." Said one of the crew. The moment their communications are jammed all captain panicked a little but after waiting for few minutes there''s still no attacked from any enemy making them sigh in relief, they are now sure the jamming is the effect of the asteroid field, in fact, they are correct. the asteroid field serves as a natural jamming devices, And Eve knows this after he scanned the sector using the Specter upgraded scanning device. That''s why she chose that place as a warp point. As the group is getting closer to the last signal of Specter suddenly they pickup an explosion. But with their communication jammed they don''t know what happens. Then another explosion, and another. The remaining ship now knows that something is up. And the scary thing is that they have no idea what was coming. Many of the crew of the ship are already in a state of panic. And are begging their captain to turn around and leave. In fact, many of the captains already ordered the retreat when they pickup several explosions. "Retreat, retreat," shouted the captain of one of the sh.i.p.s. Incoming asteroid at three o''clock, another one is coming below us. "Avoid them! Turn 30 degrees in point xxx maximum power. Said the captain. "Incoming asteroids in" the crew stop talking he just close his eyes everyone in the ship are crying and panicking the captain saw in the radar over 100 asteroids coming at them in all direction no way to avoid it he knew there''s no way out, he to just close his eyes, as he saw an asteroid 10 times bigger than their ship coming straight at them and there''s no way to avoid it... "Sir we picked up another explosion" "How many is that right now?" The captain asked. "Thats the12th sir it could just be asteroid slamming at each other or missiles fired to eliminate the asteroid blocking the path. Said another crew who was sweating a lot." The captain knew he was just giving them a positive view of things. "Where retreating! plan an escape route out of here" said the captain calmly. Yes, sir. "Another explosion, that''s 13th." Said another crew. 30 minutes later they were out of the asteroid field, they didn''t encounter any danger at all. But by the time they got out the number of explosions they picked up is on a hundred, Of course, many of them are caused by the asteroids colliding at each other when Arc ordered the drones to push the asteroids to hit the incoming sh.i.p.s that are following them. But deliberately left 2 sh.i.p.s, unfortunately, one of the sh.i.p.s he was supposed to leave alone as a witness was caught in an accident when some asteroids was pushed hard when the ship exploded and accidentally hit the fleeing ship destroying it. Fortunately 1 of the 2 sh.i.p.s he intended to leave alone manage to retreat without any problems. The ship that survived waited for 3 hours outside the asteroid field just in case more sh.i.p.s survived and needed help. But after waiting for 3 hours of waiting, no other ship except for them survived, making them extremely thankful for their luck. But the captain didn''t see it that way he has a feeling they were deliberately left alone as a witness and a warning for those who will follow the specter in the future. Arc ship the specter was now docked in one of the asteroids in another asteroid field its hundreds of light-years away from the asteroid field he used to deal with the one following him. Its an asteroid the size of a continent. They are inside it by entering one of the huge tunnels in the asteroid according to Eve this is the ideal place for them to upgrade the specter as the asteroid itself was rich in high grade minerals that they can extract if necessary plus the asteroids is a natural jamming device making the place impossible to scan by this galaxy current technology. Eve and Arc didn''t waste time Arc immediately summon all the materials he has brought and 3 mother drones core 2 of them will integrate into the ship the other would be responsible for their protection. The mother drones responsible for their protection immediately started operating and chooses an Asteroid 10 times bigger than the one Specter currently hiding and relatively close distance to the asteroid where Arc is located. In just several minutes 100 drones are created by the mother drones and those 100 have only a single job, to mine resources. Arc didn''t bring anyone with him not even Jarvis as he plans to continuously train while waiting for the specter to be upgraded. And just like that 3 days have passed. Most of the specter was already been broken down by over 200 builder droids while another 200 are creating the parts that will be used to upgrade the specter, as for the two mother drones they already started merging into the ship Core to turned the specter into one giant mother drones ship. Where each scales and panel of the outer layer of specter will be converted into fighter drones. And deep layer would be converted into harvester drones luckily the Specter layout was perfect for converting into a mobile drone hive. The builder droids are using space compression to house a billion Drones into a ship only a half a kilometer in size in fact after it was completed the specter would be capable of holding 10 billion drones without any problems. But as an exchange, there will be no more room for Unmanned Mecha and unmanned ship inside the ship. But Arc was ok with it. Each drone is only the size of a small car but its quite powerful of course individually it is not as powerful as unmanned Mecha and Ship. But with its number even if GFA uses several squadrons it won''t be enough to put a dent or destroy the specter who was armed with over 10 billion drones even if only about 4 billion of them are combat drones the rest are harvester and builder drones each drone cl.u.s.ter have many kinds of drones. That''s why out of 10 billion drones 6 billions of them are support drones. And unless they destroyed 99% of the drones no one is capable of approaching the specter once it entered combat mode. Chapter 141 - 141 Expansion XI While Arc was on space upgrading the Specter the Grand Army is busy preparing to take over Maharlika country, over 20,000 armies, and 2000 shadow unit will be participating in the operation and this time the one leading the operation is Oda Griffith the newly summoned 2-Star rank General along with Sora and Haruka Grave a 1-Star rank Colonel they will be the one leading the operation this time Tom and Gerry are back to their real profession Military Trainer, the Same goes to Biggs and Wedge they are back to being Personal Guard Biggs were in charge of protecting Dianna and Tiffa and Wedge are responsible for protecting Arc''s family back on earth. It may sound like a demotion to them but in fact, that''s not the case at all as a summon with respective job descriptions they are more happy and comfortable doing what they are born to do. Of course, they can do other jobs if necessary like what Arc did before as he lacks key personnel. But now that they are back to their original job they can relaxed a little. Ruby and Jem remain the top commander of Shadow Units as they are originally Intelligence Officers and therefore remains as intelligence commander until Arc can summon a better one but Arc believes there''s no need to maybe an intelligence trainer in the future. The Grand Army now under Oda that includes Shadow Units and Ruby and Jem. Sora and Haruka would be responsible for organizing and managing the Army and Ruby and Jem are responsible for Shadow Unit. And Oda is responsible for everyone. Oda looks like a middle-aged man while Sora and Haruka look like in their early 20s right now the 5 of them are having a meeting about the upcoming operation that will start in 5 days, Oda form a special squad that consists of 15 Soldiers and 5 shadow unit members. This squad is a permanent squad not just a one-time thing like the previous operations, Oda Ordered 100 Squad to created in 2 days the selection of the members would be up to Sora and Haruka in the Army part and Ruby and Jem in the Shadow Unit part. Oda also ordered the creation of Battalions that consist of 600 Soldiers and 200 Shadow Units. He Ordered 5 battalions to created in 3 days. Likewise, the selection of personnel is up to Sora, Ruby and the rest. And lastly, he ordered the creation of a special Squad that consists of specialists, like medical squad, and Warbot squad Etc. For now, Oda only Ordered The forming of squads and such that will be used for the operation, tanks and heavy equipment will not be used in this operation, so he leaves them alone for now. The medical squad would be handled by Ray and the rest of the nurses, originally Ray would be on her way to the new HQ in Enigma to train medical personnel or medic but with the sudden operations, it was postponed. So, for now, she and the nurses would be joining the operation leading the existing Medical personnel, that Tom and Gerry trained, unfortunately, they are not Medical professionals so all medical training was done by the doctors recruited by the Army. Arc look at the Specter that was already 65% disassembled Arc was staying in a temporary house built by the Builder Droids every day he would connect to galactic net, and he would rent a virtual Training facility its actually no difference in the training facility he got from the system and in some way it''s even better as he came select opponents that are in his level, and he can fight to the death, and he is enjoying it very much, he made a mental note to stop by Liberty to Buy a top of line galactic net headsets for his whole family. Many cant affords the usage of Galactic net but not him he even buys unlimited access for Eve, so she can learn everything that needs to be learned its also a surprise to Arc that Eve can''t hack the Galactic net. Like she did on the internet on Earth. But Arc didn''t mind or care about it, he was busy training and exploring the galactic net it''s like a world size of the galaxy, and he can go where ever he wants, of course, some location needs membership but with his credits, it''s not a problem. He also found out that if he wants to go to the main universe net he would need to pay with chaos credits to access it. For now, Arc didn''t want to go to the main universe net yet and just stay in a bright galaxy net. In galactic net one''s appearance is fixed the device is capable of scanning the physics of the users so in Galactic net Arc''s appearance is the same as his real appearance, as for Eve she appeared like how Dianna and the rest configured her appearance in the Galactic net Surprising Arc. Arc was walking through the street in Bright City it''s the main city of Galactic net here in the Bright galaxy. Arc can see many stores and Shops on the side of the street it''s the same as the real world in fact if Arc cant sees the interface he would suspect he was transported into another world and not a virtual world. He can smell and taste everything here just like his training facility. He suspects that the galactic net or Virtual Universe is related to the Sovereign Empire as the technology needed to create it is beyond anyone even him at the moment are not capable of building something like the Virtual Universe or Galactic Net. "Nine, what''s the galactic net level of technology?" Arc Ask as he was walking down the street. "Unable to comply with the privilege, not enough." Nine answered. "Tch, like I thought, anyway it''s not important ill find out soon enough," Arc said in his mind. He went to one of the shops it''s an antique shop. "Hello sir how can I help you?" Said a virtual girl. "Just looking, for now, can you guide me?" Ask Arc. "Of course sir follow me." Said the virtual Girl. The shop is bigger than he thought outside the shop is no bigger than the back of the truck. But inside it is bigger than a football stadium it has 6 floors and the higher the floor the more expensive the item displayed. He first roams on the first floor but saw nothing interesting, so he went to the second floor the virtual girl continues to explain any item that Arc Tried to look. On the second floor, he saw a peculiar Vase its jet black with a weird looking runic line all over it. "Sir this vase is found in one of the old sh.i.p.s in sector xxx it''s a sector that''s been known for constant magnetic space storm," the virtual girl continues to explain but Arc wasn''t paying attention for some reason he like the vase so ask for a price, "Sir its 2400 bright credits," that''s quite expensive for a single vase. You should know that a single Bright Credits is equivalent to a 100k earth Credits 2400 bright credits is enough to buy you a good mansion on earth. But Arc didn''t really care he was just surprised that''s all. So he adds the vase to his shopping cart and continues to explore. But he didn''t sees anything else on the next few floors as he steps into the last floor, there are only about 10 or so items inside and a new virtual girl is responsible for the last floor. "Hello sir welcome to the top floor on our antique shop," said the girl with a smile. Arc look at the girl and said, "your not NPC" "Good eye sir, that''s right I''m not NPC I''m the owner of the shop you can call me Shaira," Well then nice to meet you Shaira. So what''s so special about the item here on the last floor. Shaira smile and said. Follow me, she then pointed at the first item displayed, the item looks like a scroll both ends of the scroll is a crystal-like metal that looks like ahead of some kind of creature that Arx didn''t recognize. "This scroll is one of the oldest maps of the bright galaxy this is no regular map it has detailed description of the bright galaxy," said Shaira. Arc was stunned when he heard it but frown after he looks at the price it''s 354,000 bright credits if it''s a genuine complete and detailed map of the bright galaxy it would be priceless 354k is way too cheap for it. "That can''t be right if that was right then this scroll should be priceless, so what''s the catch?" Arc asks. Shaira smile, like you said sir the reason for its cheap price is that its only part of the set the scroll is part of 4 scrolls and without the other 3 it''s almost impossible to decipher it, Shaira said. "So where''s the rest of the scroll?" Arc said. If we know that we wouldn''t be selling it. Said Shaira. Arc scratches his head, "in other words its useless right?" Shaira didn''t get angry but instead smile, as a map it''s indeed useless but as an antique is very valuable as it was one of the oldest maps in Bright Galaxy. Arx didn''t say anything but was about to move to another item when he heard Nine''s voice. "Buy it" Eh, why? Ask Arc in his mind. Nine¡­. But Nine didn''t reply Arc cursed in his mind. He looks at Shaira and said, "can you sell it to me cheaper?" Shaira was surprised for a bit and said. "I would have to ask the seller as this item is only been commissioned to us." No problem I can wait. Let''s move to the next Item. The second item is a sword, but Arc is Not interested in it, so he moves to the next but the next few items don''t interest Arc. He moves to the item next to the last. The Item looks like an egg but what kind he couldn''t tell, so he asks Shaira about it. This is an egg of an unknown Space beast it was found in one the asteroid accidentally, since then it has been analyzed countless times but no one knows what kind of space beast it is but one thing is clear it''s still alive but no amount of force can penetrate its shell eventually the owner gets fed up with it and decided to sell it, it changed hands many times until it fell into our hands. Said Shaira. Arc look at the price but couldn''t find any. So he looks at shaira who seems to read his mind and said. "It''s not for sale only for trade." "Trade for what?" Medicine to cure a disease. "I see," since it''s not for sale he lost interest and was about to move to the last item when once again nine voices rang in his head. "Buy it" "What again? Can you tell me why?" Ask Arc. Nine.¡­. "Shit, whatever I''m rich anyways but I still hate wasting money this better be good." Said Arc. Chapter 142 - 142 First Encounter Arc curse Nine for being tight lip, "so Shaira I''m interested in this egg too but what kind of medicine are you looking for, what I mean is what kind of illness are you trying to cure?" Said Arc curiously. Sigh, I''m not going to lie it''s for my brother he had been poisoned during one of his expeditions he was a space explorer, and he loves traveling and discovering new and old things. Said Shaira. "Hmm, space explorer? That job exist?" Arx said in his mind. "But one day he encounters a very peculiar animal in one of the worlds he was exploring and was poisoned by it, his crew was able to save him by placing him in stasis chamber greatly slowing his heartbeats, saving him from being poisoned to death but that''s only a temporary solutions, his crew tried to find the beast who poisoned him but to no avail, there are millions of species on that world but without knowing what kind of or what it looks like the chances are quite slim." Said Shaira. "So I assume your brother is unconscious since that accident?" "That''s right and it''s been 3 years since then, According to our analysis he only has about a few months before the poison reaches his heart." Said Shaira with a sad look on his face. "Hmm, well I do have a serum that''s been good at curing all kinds of bad status, including poisons but the problem is its only been tested to humans, not other races. And looking at your appearance you are not human. So I don''t know if it will work." Said Arc scratching his chin. "Oh, you''re new to the galactic net are you?" Said Shaira. "Huh? What do you mean?" Arc asks in confusion he didn''t know why she suddenly asks that question. "Well, it''s true that our avatar is fixed the moment we entered the galactic net, but there''s plenty of ways to change one appearance in galactic net," said Shaira with a slight smile on her face. "Oh!, I see so the wings on your back are just accessories?" ask Arc. "That''s right!" Said Shaira. "I see, well that makes sense I guess I was thinking that its peculiar to be unable to change your appearance inside the virtual world, no, wait does that mean you''re human?" "That''s right," said Shaira. "So is what you said true?" ask Shaira. "About the serum? Of course, there''s no need to lie about that." but that''s serum is very expensive more expensive than you think, and I''m not trying to scam you," "Oh, well I am trying to scam you but well whatever" arc said in his mind. "Cough, well anyways that''s how it is." Said Arc. Shaira notice a little change in Arc''s face but didn''t dwell in it, she then asks. "And if it didn''t work?" "What do you mean?" Arc Ask. "If it didn''t work then the trade is canceled," said Shaira. Arc frown, at that words, "well that''s fine but what if it works?" Said Arc with a slight smile on his face. "Then we can conclude the deal with the Egg," said shaira smiling back. "You''re joking right?" Arc said. "No, not at all" said Shaira. "I see, well good luck with that I''m no longer interested in the Egg, so what about the Scroll?" Said Arc without any expression on his face. Shaira notices that Arc no longer interested in the Egg, "what do you want?" Shaira asks looking depressed. "I want the Scroll if the price can be lowered." Said Arc smiling. "Not that the Serum, What do you want for it?" Said Shaira. "Everything," said Arc grinning. "What!? What do you mean everything?" Said Shaira Frowning. "Everything on the top floor." Said Arc. "Aren''t you being too greedy?" Said Shaira with a deep frown on her face. "Am I? At first, I want to deal with you the normal way but I guess you think I am an idiot and would just trade my valuable serum for a useless egg and what''s more if it didn''t work I lost a valuable Serum and you lost nothing but when I ask you If it works you only want to give me an Egg? Seriously? Well, then I guess your brother''s life is only as valuable as a useless Egg." Said Arc with no expression on his face. Shaira didn''t say anything else she knew what she said before is quite bad, but as a merchant, she needs to be careful with every trade as there are a lot of scammers out there. But it is too late to explain it as the situation is already beyond saving. Arc, notice Shaira silence and just smile. He then turns around and started walking the exit every floor has an exit to avoid customers walking all the back down to exit. "Where are going?" Ask Shaira. "Leaving, as I''m no longer interested in buying anything," he didn''t mind leaving, he can always ask Eve to buy the things he needed in this shop later. "In sorry about earlier, can we negotiate?" Shaira Ask biting her lips. It doesn''t matter its already been said. And no need to apologized for being yourself. Said Arc without any expressions. "I already said my price, the rest is up to you." Said Arc. Arc knew he was being mean, but he really hates being taken advantage, as every time someone tried to take advantage of him he remembers being on the factory and on many of his previous jobs where everyone was taking advantage of him, and he is powerless to do anything. So he swore not to be taken advantage ever again. He doesn''t want to go back and remember those feelings of powerlessness ever again. Shaira knew there''s nothing she can do to change the situation its just the item on the top floors are all very valuable it wasn''t just the price but many of them are acquired by paying heavy price, for example, the last item the rainbow Orb to acquire it both her parents paid with their lives to get it, and that''s the reason of its extremely high price because she didn''t want to really sell it. "Here''s my card" Arc toss to her his contact information. And left without looking back. Before Shaira can respond Arc was already gone, the reason for it is that Eve informs him of the situation outside. Back in the real world, Arc asks what happen. The mother drones encounter an enemy, Said Eve she then projected the video feed to Arc. "Ganesh" Arc whispered. Chapter 143 - 143 First Encounter II "Ganesh? What are they doing here?" "We don''t know Boss, one of the patrol drones encounters them and with their trajectory, they are heading straight on our direction. So the mother drones have no choice but to engage them." Said Eve. Arc looks at the Sh.i.p.s of Ganesh it is nothing like looking at the pictures they are very big the smallest is almost the size of Island and the biggest is several hundred kilometers long. "That''s quite a huge armada, I''m pretty sure they are not here for me, so where are they going?" Ask Arc. "I calculated their possible destination base on the trajectory they are going." Said Eve, she then displayed several possible destinations. "Only one of them is a human settlement. This one" Eve enlarge the Area. "That''s!" "That''s right Liberty," said, Eve. "But that''s impossible in order to go there they will have to pass several danger zones if they want to bypass the Human forces protecting it and it wasn''t just human forces many Alien races are protecting Liberty." Said Arc. "Surely they''re not planning on waging war with many races!" Arc continues. "This is only speculation," said, Eve. "I know but a possibility is there, and I can''t allow that at least not yet. Liberty is very important for us at this stage." Said Arc. Arc shakes his head "WTF. I''m getting a headache thinking about this. And we can''t inform the GFA about this as we can''t explain our presence here what''s more were in a situation where we can''t move yet." Said Arc. "Eve, send all our forces here including all unmanned Mecha and Ship I''m heading out! And order the mother drones to divert all power in producing combat drones for now." Arc ordered. Yes Boss, but why are you joining the fight Boss? Ask Eve. "Because it''s a good opportunity for me to improve my skills. And besides, if it becomes dangerous I can always retreat." "Relay my order, I''m going out." "Yes, Boss." Arc summon his personal Mecha he has been designing a mecha for quite some time and 3 months ago he finally have it build, and just 2 days ago he asks the Builder droid to upgrade it. A Jet Black Hulk-like Mecha appeared before him. (imagine Gantz Hard suits with Iron man like flight capability and at the size of Mecha) The tentacles like hair that can fire powerful laser and huge arms perfect for swinging huge sword and Shield and flight booster integrated into many parts of its body making very nimble and fast. It''s a Rank-9 mech and with its upgrade it''s on par with any 1-Star mecha. Unfortunately, it''s impossible to make with their current list of materials so Arc uses the Energy Unit to build it and many of its upgrade components and equipment. Arc merge with it, that''s right merged it doesn''t have a c.o.c.kpit but instead, it functions as extended armor or suits when Arc opens his eyes The Mecha also open its eyes that are like a glowing Darkness. It''s not the first time he tried the suit, so he was very familiar with it. He names it Diablo as it is very menacing to look at. With a thought, he teleported near the battlefront. Diablo is equipped with short-range teleportation. And with the coordinates transmitted by Eve, he easily blinks there. The fight entered a stalemate, as even with the huge firepower of the Ganesh Ship, they can''t push forward because of the number of drones blocking their way. Over 3 million combat drones are engaged in combat and even though the drone''s firepower can''t penetrates the Ganesh huge ship shield but with the number of Drones attacking it is a matter of time before its shield is depleted. But what surprising is that despite the disadvantage the Ganesh is not backing out but instead they are attacking more aggressively. Arc didn''t watch for long the moment the first batch of unmanned Mecha arrived he joined the fight, five huge mecha atleast 2-3 times bigger than Diablo blocks his path. "Looks like the enemy figured it out I''m the Boss." Said Arc. "Boss, that''s not exactly hard to guess," said Eve. "Haha, I''m just making speech here, to remove some nervousness it''s my first real battle after all." Said Arc. He was indeed a little nervous even though he has been to many battles in the virtual world its different in real life as a possibility of real death is there unlike in a virtual world where he can be fearless as he knows he won''t really die. He instantly engages the enemies his giant black sword it is almost as tall as Diablo he was swing it in front of his enemies, and even though it looks enc.u.mbered the way he swing his sword it is still very fast, and the edge of the sword glinted red as it was laser edge, his opponent is surprised by how the sword was swing and was too late to dodge so using its four arms it tried to block the Arc sword slash. But alas he underestimates the sharpness and the strength of the sword and before he can react he was cut in two. The other four Ganesh Mech was stunned and immediately back away but before they can get away the tentacles like the hair of Diablo suddenly fired laser beam and the four was cut into pieces. Diablo wasn''t just controlled by Arc alone many of its weapon is under Eve''s control like those hair tentacles. The greatest feature of Diablo is the synchronization of Eve and Arc. Arc only needs to think and Eve will know what to do without any lag making the battles very smooth. Arc didn''t linger the dash forward he was like a god of death everywhere he goes his enemies are falling one after another. soon he becomes the target of the enemies battle ship''s main canon but every time he found himself in disadvantage he blinks somewhere else in the battlefront leaving his enemies helpless. He didn''t know how many enemies he defeated he entered a sort of trance-like state where all his reflex and decision-making improves a lot as they say the fastest way to grow is in battle. The battle lasted for hours and before Arc knows it the battle is over he looks around and saw many wreckage of Ganesh Mech and warsh.i.p.s as well as countless number of destroyed combat drones and unmanned Mecha and sh.i.p.s he too didn''t leave unscratched countless damage can be seen in Diablo''s body the most fatal damage is in the right Arm when the main canon fires grazed his right hand destroying his giant sword and almost destroying Diablo right arm. But other than that he was relatively unharmed. Whew! He was soaked in sweat, but he has a huge smile on his face, "Eve status report!" Boss, over 2 million combat droids are destroyed another 1 millions heavily damage 59% of unmanned Mecha and Sh.i.p.s are destroyed and about 20% heavily damages, in return the enemies lost over 80 battlesh.i.p.s and over 10k mecha and combat sh.i.p.s the rest was able to flee when over 50% of their power is destroyed, said Eve. "Haha, then it''s a good result for us, for as long as we can recover the debris we can recycle them back into new ones begin the gathering processed I want to know the real reason for humanity war on Ganesh." Said Arc. It''s a good experience for him this battle is very beneficial for him, but he was mentally and physically exhausted. So he immediately went back to the specter and went straight into his chambers to rest he left Diablo to Eve and the Builder Droids. Chapter 144 - 144 Harvest Arc woke up after sleeping for about 6 hours, 6 hours was enough for him to rest his mind and body. "Welcome Back Boss!" Eve greeted him. "Yeah, that''s a good rest let clean up a little." Said Arc. After taking a bath a eating some food, He asks Eve about Status Report. Boss take a look at this, Eve shows him the dead body of Ganesh it''s about 5 meters with a huge tusk on both side of its mouth the tusk is about a meter long and about 8 inches in diameter, and it''s glowing. "Boss after some analysis we have found out that the tusk is made of pure energy crystals, a single tusk is enough to power a small town for 3 months, and what''s more its bone is made of the same materials." Said Eve. "Is that?" "Yes Boss, I''m 100 percent sure that''s the real reason for the war." "I see, can we use it?" Indeed, we can boss by combining it with our tech we can create an even more powerful weapon especially energy base weapon, but the most effective way to use it is by combining it with any Energy substance we have learned that by introducing it to liquid energy it greatly increases the purity of the energy and increasing its energy output, it has many application. But for us its better if we use it as an energy source for our weapons." Said Eve. "Sigh, I don''t like harvesting another intelligence being for resource, but if they come to us to fight then it''s their fault." Said Arc. "Boss, we also found out that many of the Ganesh have the same DNA sequence." Said Eve. "They are clones?" Said Arc in surprise. "Most likely they are not born but manufactured, at least that''s what we learned from their DNA," said Eve. Arc thinks of something and immediately ask Nine. "Nine are they created by tools from Sovereign Empire?" Nine¡­ "Yes!" "Holy Shit" no wonder they are fearless... This is going to be trouble." Said Arc. "Eve how many have we harvested?" More than 30 thousand Tusks. And... "No need to say it, it''s gross. Do whatever must be done." Said Arc. "Yes, boss." Said Eve. "With the Tusks, the integration of mother drones and Specter will much more efficient and effectiveness would increase by atleast 35%," said Eve. "That much? Wow, no wonder GFA is willing to spend a huge amount of resources to acquire it." But Arc is worried if Ganesh is made by Tools of Sovereign Empire then defeating it won''t be that easy, "I''m afraid that the one we are fighting at the moment is nothing just test subject and rejects and the real Ganesh is still out there waiting for the right time." Said Arc in his mind. ... 6 hours ago In GFA HQ. "Sir we have spotted a large armada of Ganesh entered this sector." "Send some scouts we need to figure out where are they going." "We already sent several scouts but that sector is isolated because of the natural jamming coming from some Asteroids." "Forward this report to the top have them decide what to do next." Said the Officer. "Right away sir." "Sir! We just got news! Look." A video recording of the Ganesh Armada, when the saw it they were stunned. "What the hell!" Around 50 huge Ganesh ship off all size can be seen but many of them are on the brink of collapse it''s easy to tell they just got out of battle. And from the looks of it, they are running away as they are moving at full speed without repairing first. "Just what kind of battle they went through? And who did they fight with?" Said the Officer. "Sir judging by the remains of their fleet they lost about 60-70 percent of their sh.i.p.s. In just about 2 hours what kind of power is capable of that?" "A pack of Space Beast! Who knows! Send more scouts inside we need to find out where or who are they fighting with. And if we''re lucky we might find the remains of the battlefield and have a great harvest." But before that send this video to the top. Said the officer. "Yes, sir." As the GFA is scrambling and forming a fleet to explore and find the battlefield, Arc was sleeping peacefully. Scout ship detected. The mother drones transmitted to Eve. "Destroy them all," said Eve. "No one should disturb Boss from his sleep." Said Eve to mother Drones. "The mother drones comply and send a group of Combat drones to deal with scouts." "It been 4 hours what happen to scouts?" Said the officer. "The asteroid field is like a black hole it devoured all the scouts they sent." "Sir that''s, that''s a hundred scouts so far, should we continue to send them?" Send them to where? Hell? No stop sending scouts... Send this report to Admiral Hansley, he was the one assigned to the operation on locating the battlefield. Said the officer. "Yes, sir." "Retrieval complete" the mother drone transmitted. Start building combat drones stop everything else continue to do so until combat drones reach 10 million. Said Eve. "Affirmative" As for Arc, he was still sleeping. "Admiral we have received reports..." Admiral¡­ "Hmm, it looks like this won''t be easy." "Connect me to commander Markos." "Admiral Hansley... I have received the report. And we decided to continue with the mission. It''s just too good to pass it without trying but if it''s become too dangerous you can decide on what to do. Good luck Admiral" Said, Markos. "Thank you, Commander." "The mission is a go," said Admiral Hansley. "Mission is a go, I repeat mission is a go¡­ Begin entering the asteroid field." Hansley watch as his fleet entered the Asteroid field. And that''s the last Anyone sees Admiral Hansley and his fleet. And only Eve and the mother drones are witnesses to their final moments. And Arc? He was sleeping like a log. Chapter 145 - 145 Harvest II It has been 4 days since his first real battle and the Specter was completely dismantled, everywhere Arc looks there''s a facility that is converting and creating new parts for Specter the Two mother Drones are completely merged with the Specter Core creating a new and improved Mother Core, this core will then create a Drones that will become countless part of the new Specter, the parts would then be a combination of blood Steel, black sun Steel and Ganesh energy Crystals that are made from Ganesh Tusk and bones... The combination of those materials along with a very special Steel that only Builder droids energy conversion can create and that is unique to Sovereign empire according to Nine it is called Sovereign Steel, the steel is capable of absorbing energy from its surroundings, Sovereign steel has several grades and right now Arc can barely create the lowest grade by converting huge amount of materials. Good thing the asteroid field is rich in all kinds of materials if you know where to look and the mother drones are experts in searching and mining them. Over the past few days the mother drones who are responsible for protecting them have managed to create over 30 million combat drones when Arc learned of it he immediately asks it to stop making Combat drones and focus on creating mining drones and harvester drones. As he needed a lot of materials to convert into Sovereign Steel. Arc name the mother Drone Legion as recognition for protecting him for a few days. Mother Drones are very intelligent the greater their number the more intelligent they are. So Legion was very happy and proud to have a name given to it by its Creator Arc. Arc didn''t know that the name Legion would soon become one of the most terrifying beings in the Universe. He often talks about Legion, and he appoints it as the leader of all Cl.u.s.ter Drones or Mother Drones. He plans to combine them all together anyway as there''s no purpose in having them separated. So at whim, he appoints Legion as leader of all the cl.u.s.ter drones he released in the galaxy. He often talked to legion like he talks to Eve he even suggested that Legion Created a body for him/her self in the future and as long as he/she can create a cool looking body He would appoint him/her as his general in the future. Of course, Arc was just talking nonsense and just making conversation to pass the time, but to Legion, it becomes a goal to create a cool looking body, Legion even ask for access to galactic net to study, which Arc granted as he didn''t see any problem with it, he likes the initiative of Legion to learned, what he didn''t know that Legion only want to study what cool looking body means and what it looks like. Back on Earth. Oda and the army is busy making preparation for the upcoming operation on Maharlika kingdom. But what Arc didn''t know His encounter with Ganesh would start a chain of events that would affect everything around him. Somewhere in the bright galaxy. "My Lord, we have discovered a new Enemy." "I know, I have seen the report that black Mecha is far beyond our capabilities, but the Army with it is the same as what we encounter in sector 89. I need to report this to His Highness." Said the huge shadow. "But my Lord is that wise? We were tasked to subjugate the whole Bright Galaxy if we.." "Matters not, I suspect that black Mecha is related to sovereign empire, if I''m right then we are not a match with it. Not even if we use the knight class dominator. Or what the humans called Ganesh." "You mean my Lord there''s a sovereign tool holder here in the bright galaxy? But we have thoroughly studied the powers in this Galaxy how come we only heard about it now?" "I suspect it is like us not exactly a Tool Holder but like Us someone sent by a Sovereign Tool Holder." "If that''s the case should we withdraw? I remember his Highness saying to avoid all conflicts with a Tool Holder." "And that''s why we are reporting it, we can let his highness decides what to do here." Said the huge shadow. Moments later. My Lord, we have received a reply from his highness... "He only said one word, CONTINUE." "Then we will continue as his Highness decrees, order all knight class to prepare for battle, it''s time to unleash them and increase the production of dominator whatever the cost. And lastly, I want to learn about this new enemy of ours." Send xxxxxxx to investigate." Said the huge shadow. "Yes my Lord." Time flies in the blink of an eye 25 days has passed since Arc''s first battle. The Specter is already been completed all upgrades have been completed on the outside it looks no different from the previous Specter but in reality its nothing like the old specter. But the specter is not truly complete yet it doesn''t have an army drones yet, no that''s yet to be created. But for now, the ship is ready to sail again. Arc next destination is liberty, he has a meeting with Shaira the antique shop owner, in fact, Shaira called Arc the very next day but as Arc is stranded while the Specter is being upgraded, he made a bunch of excuses to delay the meeting, this makes Shaira even more desperate. But since Arc can''t do anything about it as well he has no choice as to delay until Specter is capable of moving Again. Arc left part of Specter with Legion to create more Combat drones for The specter as only the upgraded Specter can create its very own drones it is far more powerful than any drones Arc has ever created. The Specter is now a 1-Star ship according to Nine. After its upgrade and the drones it created is also 1-Star and that''s why it can only be created by part of the specter. After leaving some instruction to Legion he left for Liberty. Chapter 146 - 146 Expansion XII "General, everything is green were all good to go." "Everyone this is Oda today''s operation is not like any other operation you have been through, how different? Well, this time there''s no Criminal to subjugate and killed, this time our target is just regular and normal people so there will never be killing." Oda paused, he deliberately stopped talking to give time for everyone to process what he said... "All weapons are replaced with non-lethal force. So it will be a challenge they are going to attack each one of you with the intention to kill, but you can only retaliate in non-lethal force. It sucks right? I know but this is the order from the top and each and every one of you is trained and equipped to accomplish any mission whether it sucks or not. So just suck it up and finish the mission fast and without a problem and you can go back to the mission you like most. How''s that sound?" Oda Asks with a grin on his face. "Any question? But before anyone can ask he continued and said No? Good as I don''t answer questions now be ready you already been briefed mission start in 5 minutes good luck." Then Oda''s voice disappeared from everyone''s comm. Leaving many scratching their heads, they all thought the General was a serious and strict man who would have thought he also has a great sense of humor. As everyone is waiting for the operation to start the speech of General Oda Griffith lifted the heavy atmosphere that stating to build up. Relaxing many of them. For the past few days, Oda along with Mariel and the rest are planning meticulously on how to take over the country of Maharlika with no deaths on both side its an almost impossible mission and almost naive to think it could be done, but they are willing to take the challenge especially Mariel who becomes the official strategists of the Grand Army the first non-system personnel to take an important position in the Grand Army, but Mariel shows that she deserves it and Everyone agreed even Arc who was very meticulous in choosing his key personnel. Arc leaves everything to them and only focuses on space leaving everything on earth to General Oda to deal with. In GFA top Executive office. All top leaders are having an emergency meeting and if Arc was here he would be able to recognize some of them. Like commander Markos, admiral Ford, as well as the President of HFA. Today''s agenda is the sudden spikes of activities of the Ganesh and the disappearance of Admiral Hansley and his squadron who entered the asteroid field to search for the battlefield on the fight of Ganesh with an unknown Enemy. But unfortunately, all communication of Admiral Hansley and his squadron has been cut off for already a few days. Because of that, all operation on that place has been suspended. Not until they have enough Intel what''s inside the Asteroid Field. The meeting lasted for 6 hours, and they concluded that the Ganesh is finally going all out, so the council ordered a level 1 alert, meaning every ship, and every soldier must be ready for a full-blown War. Arc was unaware of this, he was on his way to Liberty, but he didn''t go there directly he went to several Asteroid field and left a part of Specter droned to mine and to build more drones. Because as it stands the specter is defenseless and underpowered because of the lack of drones in stock in Specter. By the time he arrived to Liberty, it was already 2 days after, and Shaira is waiting for him for 3 days and is getting more restless but to Arc, the Specter condition is more important than Shaira affairs he didn''t have any good impression of her anyways. Arc found Shaira in the conference room of Grand Trading HQ with Dianna and Tiffa along with Biggs who came to Liberty a few days ago to protect Dianna and Tiffa, It was Arc who order it as he was worried someone would lose their patients and Attack Dianna and Tiffa as they couldn''t get to him. He greeted Dianna and Tiffa, then look at the frowning Shaira. "What took you so long? I have been waiting for 3 days." Ask Shaira. "So? I have more important matters I need to do." Said Arc. He looks at Shaira who looks no different from her Avatar only without wings, and fancy get-ups. "Let''s not waste time miss Crown, I don''t like wasting time." Said Arc. Dianna and Tiffa notice the cold attitude of Arc towards Shaira and was curious but didn''t voice it out and just keep quiet. "Have you prepared the contract?" Ask Arc. Shaira also notices Arc cold attitude towards her and felt sad but it already happened, and she can''t change Arc''s attitudes towards her in a short time and besides saving her brother takes precedence. "I have" she handed the doc.u.ment to Arc. Who took it and have Eve analyzed it. Eve confirmed the legitimacy of the doc.u.ment, and he signed it then he took out the Special Health serum and put it on top of the table in front of him. Shaira saw the solutions and was mesmerized by the glowing golden liquid inside it. She then took back the contract and saw Arc signatures on it, and she signs as well. After a few procedures, the contract has been confirmed. And Arc handed her the Health Serum. "Will this work?" She couldn''t help and ask. "Does it matter? You lose nothing if it fails." Said Arc without any emotions on his face. Shaira frowns at Arc''s replies, she blames herself for asking it as it was the source of Arc displeasure with her. She was about to say something but Arc spoke first. "Well if there is nothing else, I have things to do." Said Arc who already stood up and left. Shaira bit her lips a little and choose to remain silent. She then said her goodbye to Dianna and Tiffa after Arc disappears. Arc, on the other hand, didn''t really care about Shaira and was on his way to see Mia. As he missed her, and also to inform her of his departure a few weeks later. Chapter 147 - 147 Expansion XIII Back in Liberty Arc and Mia are spending most of their time together exploring and dating, Mia knows Arc would be leaving soon, a few days ago Arc told her he would be leaving into deep space soon for an important mission. Mia was curious but didn''t ask more when Arc told her it is a secret he can''t tell yet. She knows Arc has a lot of secret, but she didn''t ask more she figures if Arc wants to tell her she didn''t need to ask, and besides, she was happy just being together with Arc. Dianna and Tiffa along with the group of personnel they brought in from Earth are so busy preparing and organizing the transition of Grand Trading to Space. Arc didn''t really bother Dianna and Tiffa he just makes sure they are safe and with Biggs with them, he didn''t have to worry. He didn''t spend a long time on Liberty after 5 days he left to return to Earth to spend more time with his family until its time for him to depart. .. .. .. In GFA HQ countless personnel can be seen running all over the place, but in too conference room the atmosphere is solemn. "How many?" Ask commander Markos. "35, 35 sh.i.p.s were destroyed on the latest encounter with the Ganesh, we still can''t figure out what triggered their sudden aggressiveness many of our fleets are caught unprepared for a sudden full force attack from Ganesh." Said one of the Elder. Commander Markos along with many top leaders of GFA is having a headache with the situation. "If this keeps up, our forces will continue to dwindle, our factory cant keep up with the amount of ship we are loosing." Said Commander Markos. "But if we create a bigger fleet many of our territories would be defenseless if we pull out our forces to create a bigger fleet, but if we don''t and this loses continues we would lose more than we gain." Said one of the elders. "Let''s contact the Mercenaries, with their force we can compensate for our lack of Sh.i.p.s." Said another elder. "If we do this, we would lose a portion of our income." Said a female elder. "We can''t rush this, for now, but all our factories are already into full force have them speed up the ship production, and if the situation doesn''t improve then we can talk about the mercenaries business." Said Markos. "The good thing is that even though we lost a large number of sh.i.p.s we were able to get a huge amount of materials from the Ganesh, but we need to solve our ship problem ASAP." Said another. "We already contacted all shipbuilders from the alliance, and they are already at full capacity unless we contacted Alien race for building sh.i.p.s I can''t see any improvement in the foreseeable future." Commander Markos is massaging his forehead he was responsible for GFA battleship management and maintenance. He already called everyone he knew to help manufacture battlesh.i.p.s that are into GFA standard, but even with that, the amount they are building is not enough to compensate what they are losing. "Do we know the reason for their sudden action to mobilized in full force?" "No, we don''t we have many theories but no conclusive evidence yet. But that doesn''t matter what we need to worry is how we are going to deal with their sudden full force attacks." "How else? We deal with it like we always do, we have no better option at the moment anyway." Said Markos. Their conference continued, And Arc has no idea of the event as the GFA didn''t make it public, and Eve''s influence in space is very limited not like on Earth. As the GFA and Grand Army are busy dealing with their businesses Arc was having a good time with his family he promises them he would accompany them until the time for him to leave, so he left all to Oda regarding the Grand Army and to Diana and Emily the Grand Trading Corporation. Time pass and Arc have been accompanying his family to relaxed and visit many beautiful places on Earth along with Jarvis and the maids as well as Biggs and Wedge and their most beloved pet Cosmos. 5 days Ago he receives a confirmation on the mission completion. CONGRATULATIONS! You completed taking over a country. Received. 50000 energy unit 1-Star cloning factory 1-Star weapons factory 1-Star drone factory 1-Star food factory PRIVILEGE LEVEL 2 SYSTEM UPGRADE. That was Nine last notification before undergoing a System Upgrade and Arc has been waiting for over 5days but the only thing we can see as he tried to open the system is a countdown timer that said 04:23:59:10 meaning five days to complete the upgrade and now only 10 minutes left to finish the upgrade, and He was a little excited for it. Over the last few days, the situation on the War is quite Bad the massive deployment of Ganesh have made the GFA on a defensive stance, and because of the lack of sh.i.p.s they are force to abandon some strategic location on space to make up for the lack of sh.i.p.s, fortunately for them Arc found out about it and have some of the drone cl.u.s.ters protect those locations in secret, to prevent GFA from being overwhelmed. Giving them a much-needed breathing room. As for Oda, with Oda leading the Grand Army along with Mariel they were able to perfectly take over Maharlika without much bloodshed, on both sides especially on Grand Army side but there was a lot of injuries but with the help of Health solutions those injuries become a proud battle scar that some soldiers ask the doctors to leave the scars after healing it making the doctors bewildered but complied nonetheless. The Maharlikans fought hard and bravely but with the superior technology of Grand Army even with only using non-lethal weapons they were still powerless to resist it, many realized that the invaders wasn''t really after their lives when they notice they are using non-lethal weapons and surrendered peacefully. But there are those who didn''t care and continue to fight like a mad man even when all odds are against them leaving the Grand Army no choice but severely injured them to subdue them. SYSTEM REBOOTING¡­ REBOOTH COMPLETE¡­ UPGRADE SUCCESSFUL... The notification wake Arc up from his stupor. Chapter 148 - 148 Expansion XIV "My lord Karuo, The drones seem to be protecting the Humans," "Are they working together?" Said Karou with a deep rasping voice. "No my lord, there have been no indication that the Drones are working with or belong to the Human, but they seem to protect them as they are filling the places humans have abandoned to gather their forces, with the Drones taking over the places humans have abandoned we have no way to take over it, without paying a heavy price." "Can''t we still figure it out where or who those Drones belong?" "I''m sorry my Lord, but we are unable to figure it out, but one thing is for sure their number is increasing at the fast speed, as every time we checked on them their numbers swell." "But the Drones are not taking any initiatives to attack us unless we attacked them first or intrude into their territory they remain passive." "Leave them for now, our main objective is taking over this sector, how was the fight in sector XXX" "Were almost done, with sector XXX and sector XXX XX is already under our control, the Dominators and Colossus are doing a good job in this sector but in sector XXX XXX we have a problem." "I see, well we have our orders we can''t let our King wait any longer, take over this Galaxy no matter the cause, so we can focus on our real objectives." "Yes, my lord Karuo." ¡­ ... ¡­ ¡­ Upgrade complete¡­ "Finally took you long enough, so what''s changed? Arc Ask. Factory Editor. System Personnel. Arc saw two new features, System personnel is quite easy to figure out as it displays all people that was created by the system, he also saw that he can see their status, and he can upgrade them or add give them new skills and such only problem is it takes a lot of Energy Unit to do so but even so that''s a good news to Arc. But the Factory Editor is a bit complicated, but he quickly found out what it was apparently he can customize his own factory using Factory Editor, or add new features to an existing one but there''s a limit it has to be related to the said factory, in other words, he can''t add Cloning features to a weapons factory or vise versa. He left that alone for now as it requires technical knowledge to create his very own unique factory, he then checks the system store. #### STORE #### rank 5 body armor 1 ¡ª Energy Unit rank 6 energy shield 2 ¡ª Energy Unit rank 5 health potion 1 ¡ª Energy Unit rank 5 cleansing potion 1 ¡ª Energy Unit rank 5 mobile phone 5 ¡ª Energy Unit * gun 15 ¡ª Energy Unit * health potion 3 ¡ª Energy Unit * cleansing potion 2 ¡ª Energy Unit * body armor 35 ¡ª Energy Unit * energy shield 100 Energy Unit * upgrade chip 2000 ¡ª Energy Unit ** upgrade chip 5000 ¡ª Energy Unit *** upgrade chip 15000 ¡ª Energy Unit *** enhancement Serum 20000 Energy Unit limited stock 5x. Most of it is useless to him for the moment but that upgrade chip is quite promising. If it functions as he imagines it will be a great item for him. So he click the descriptions. Upgrade Chip: can upgrade all types of machines. "Eh, that''s it? Nine can the upgrade chip upgrade my factory?" Ask Arc a little bit annoyed by the short description. "Yes, but it can only upgrade one step at a time." "You mean I can only upgrade factory lower than 1-star using 1-star upgrade chip into 1-star factory, and I can''t use 3-star right away to upgrade machines into 3-star directly if I want a 3-star factory I have to upgrade it first into 2-star right?" "That''s right." Said nine who sounded more human unlike before. Arc noticed it, but he figured it was because of the upgrade that Nine intelligence has increased. "I see, this upgraded chip is amazing. A bit expensive but totally worth it." With that he won''t have to throw away old factory to build a higher version he only needs to upgrade it, saving him a lot of trouble and besides its cheaper to upgrade than to build an upgraded version. Upgrade stone is different from upgrade chip as it not only can upgrade any machine but also people that are created by the system making it more useful unfortunately it''s not available for purchase. But before he started upgrading all his factory he first needs a lot of Energy Unit and for that, he needed a lot of Energy Factory. So he plans to use all the energy units he has to build a high-grade energy conservation factory. And for that, he needed to go to Grand Army HQ in Enigma. So after telling his parents and sisters he immediately left for Grand Fortress, he is using a special Vehicle that can safely fly to HQ without any problems, it''s quite expensive but for his safety it''s necessary. It only took him 2 hours to reach Grand Fortress he was welcomed by Oda and the rest, enigma city no longer exist all trace of it has been destroyed and replaced with new facilities from Grand Army, the Grand fortress look like a high tech City with many maglev vehicles flying around, and with population over 15 millions, it''s a busy fortress the outer part of the fortress is for the regular residents of the Army a high tech housing facilities and recreation center was built there to house the families of the soldiers and many of the regular personnel of the army. The city is not like any other military base as it has all the facilities a regular city have such as malls and cinema schools and all other facilities making the former residents of enigma cried in joy for many of them didn''t think they will experience a normal life once again especially those with children, and above all, it''s very safe they didn''t have to worry about their safety again, a Grand credit or GC was issued as the official currency on Grand Fortress. Chapter 149 - 149 Expansion XV As Arc was browsing the system store he thought of something could an upgrade chip upgrade his ship? So he asks nine. "Nine, can I use the upgrade chip on my ship?" "Yes, the specter is already a 1-star ship and can be upgraded to 2-star using 2-star upgrade chip." "Really? Great," Arc is very happy with Nine, with that his urgent mission can go a little safer, so he started to plan ahead, he bought a 2-star upgrade chip to be used later before he leaves and use the remaining Energy Credits to build advance Energy Factory. Back in the Grand Fortress Oda was accompanying Arc as he visits the place, after seeing the outer part he then visits many facilities where the Grand Army is using for training he met with Tom and Gerry who was busy training the new recruits he gave both of them a hug surprising the two who can no longer keep their poker face and have a huge grin plastered in their faces. He also met with Ruby and Jem as well as the rest of the top shadow unit who was busy planning the next mission, he gave them a new mission and that is to infiltrate all superpower government and have them control the leaders in the shadows, it is a tall order but the shadow units are excited to try it. He left Jem and Ruby who are now so busy trying to come up with a plan to execute his order, with the help of Gaia Arc was not worried they be exposed or something like that. He then visits the deepest part of Grand Fortress where he will be placing the new energy factory, the Area is in cave and over 5 kilometers below ground and the only way to reach it is through the maglev train at the very bottom of the Grand Fortress that only select few personnel can access, the area is about 20 kilometers away from grand fortress, it is a huge underground cave that Eve manage to discover when they are building the Grand Fortress using advance scanner, and when Arc saw the report he decided to use that place to place his Energy Factory, so over 1000 builder droids and drones were sent thereafter they build a tunnel that connects it to the bottom floor of Grand fortress, And after a few weeks the whole unground cave has been expanded and reinforced to make it safer in all form of attack as it will house one of the most important factories they have, originally the underground cave is about the size of football stadium but after the builder droids and drones, it was expanded 10 times and was reinforced it was now more durable and safer before they saw it. There''s no life in the cave as the air is very stale only a small stream of water can be seen when they first reach it, now hidden vent that circulates fresh air was installed and after the renovation the who place looks like an advance facility not like inside a cave, of course, a few places remain untouched as to give the place a slight touch of being underground. When Arc reach there''s no human personnel inside only drones and droids can be seen maintaining the place, Arc was impressed when he saw it, it looks like they are inside a spaceship only some walls and roof who still have stalactites reveals that they are actually underground, Arc didn''t waste time as he immediately went to the area where he will place the Energy Factory a huge vault door welcomes him and after some verification, he heard Gaia voice welcoming him as the vault doors opens he saw a huge space inside it, making him speechless he was unable to tell they are underground. Inside the vault it was quite bright, and he can feel a breeze of fresh air circulating inside, the vault is empty and Arc felt like an ant inside a huge mansion. It took him an hour to build all the energy Factory even though some energy factory is quite big but inside the vault even with all the energy factory place inside only about 2-3% of it are actually been used, so it still felt empty. After leaving the underground Arc now use all his stockpiles of Energy Unit, he now fulfilled his goals in visiting the Grand Fortress, but before he left he visited the prison, and the gate or Death Valley, he was hoping he would feel something when he reaches the gate of Death Valley but nothing there were no fluctuation or and indication that what inside the Death Valley is connected to the system, it may be that there''s something inside that masking it or it simply didn''t have any form of energy connection with system, and it was simply another tool from sovereign empire that can help him as Addam didn''t give him any hint as to what inside Death Valley he just knows that there is something inside waiting for him. He spent a total of 2 days in grand fortress originally he plans to leave immediately as soon as he fulfilled his goals of placing the energy factory, but Eve told him he should bring Biggs and Wedge as well as Ruby and Jem on his journey to complete his urgent mission, at first he was reluctant to do so as Ruby and Jem are needed in the Shadow Unit, and as for Biggs and Wedge they are protecting Dianna and Tiffa and his parents. But Eve and even Gaia argued they he should bring them for his protection, as he was the most important person overall and his safety and life take precedence above all else and besides Gaia reassured him they can manage even without the four of them, it took them half a day of arguing until Eve connects Jem and the rest to the conversation and when all of them are convincing and begging him to bring them Arc reluctantly agreed, So Arc, stay another day in Grand Fortress, for Jem and Ruby to delegate their job to others in fact there no need to but Arc still give them time to prepare, Biggs and Wedge are already been informed and in their places, Michelle and Dove along with their respective team, to fill the hole Biggs and Wedge left, and when the rest found out about Jem, Ruby, Biggs, and Wedge accompanying their Big Boss the rest of them who came from the system are jealous, but they also know they have their own job to do. Chapter 150 - 150 Departure And so times flew in fast and it was time for Arc to leave and complete his urgent mission, Arc already done everything that needs his presence, Arc sent his parents and sisters into a tour that will visit all the amazing places on Earth and into the space. Dove and her team would be in charge of their protection as well as several 1-star droid disguised as body guards, for the safety of his family Arc would do anything, he also give them energy shield each as well as enhancement serum before he sent them to tour, as he didn''t want them here when he left, as he hates goodbyes. His parents understand as well as his sisters so they reluctantly agreed and left few days before Arc left for deep space for a long time. As Arc boarded the space elevator together with Jem, Ruby, Biggs, Wedge and Jarvis originally he plans to leave Jarvis to his family but Jarvis made a request to join him, so he agreed and besides having Jarvis with him saves him a lot of trouble. Inside the Specter, he immediately asks it to retrieve the drones he left to replicate, he won''t be stopping anyplace this time, in the asteroid field he saw millions of specter combat drones and after retrieving some of it he then found a place to settle before he used the upgrade chip on specter, Immediately the chip takes effect, the whole ship turns dark as it started to reboot and upgrade, Arc and the rest are already anticipating it, so they didn''t worry or anything. A few minutes later the power is restored inside there''s not many changes, even outside there''s no changes but the system and all aspect of Specter have change completely Eve holographic projection appeared in front of them, she then said: " Boss its done, she then listed all the changes and Arc who was listening have a dumbfounded expression on his face, he couldn''t believe all that happen in just a matter of minutes. "Wow" that all that came out of his mouth, Jem is trying hard not to laugh looking at Arc expression but failed to do so, the rest have a smile on their faces only Jarvis remains the same, cough cough, Arc fake a cough to escape from an embarrassing situation, Great looks like where ready set course to our destination. Yes boss said Eve. Soon the rest go to what they needed to do which is not much, only Jarvis is busy and Jem are helping him prepared a meal for all of them, Biggs and Wedge to the training facilities to do some training, Ruby joins them, Arc however is busy exploring the newly upgraded Specter, he first went into the ship core where the evolve Mother core resided at first before the upgrade the core is jet black but now there''s a tinge of gold in it, besides that nothing much is chance visually but Eve reassured him that was not the case and that the old core and the new core is heavens apart in terms of capabilities. For a whole day Arc explored the specter, looking at what really change in the end he concluded, noting much is change visually, and as for its capabilities that remains to be seen. And just like that 3 days passed and Arc and the rest spends their time training and planing, but without any clues on what to expect there''s not much to plan. "Boss! We have a situation come to the bridge." Eve voice can be heard in the ship speaker. On the bridge the saw a massive amount of sh.i.p.s, having a huge battle, at first Arc thought it was Ganesh and Humanity or GFA but soon found out its not humanity but another race fighting the Ganesh, and it looks like the Ganesh is winning. Arc have never seen the type of ship the Ganesh is using not only its bigger that any Ganesh ship humanity ever encountered at was also very powerful and more advance but there''s no denying it is a Ganesh ship. The Specter is already entered stealth mode, and with its upgraded system it is impossible for the rest to find them unless they allowed them to see them. "Who are they fighting with i didn''t recognize it," said Arc "We don''t have any data about the race Boss, but they appeared to be an advance race with advance technology.." "But it looks like they are losing against Ganesh." "Yes, it looks like they are fleeing and most of their ship is not combat ship but instead a passenger sh.i.p.s!" ========= "Your Grace, we can''t hold them off for long.. We need.." "No! I''m not leaving alone, prepares the transport ship we need to have the civilian escape no matter the cost." "Your Grace, your safety is our main priority and no one will leave knowing you will stay.." "I..I, this is an order! Go and prepare for the transport to leave.." "Your Grace¡­." "Boom! Boom! Squad xx has been destroyed. Our left flanks was opened.. Your Grace you need to escape immediately." Arc saw as silver wing sh.i.p.s got destroyed with Ganesh mothership main canons.. Living many ship on the back open, and Ganesh took advantage of that... Giant sh.i.p.s and giant Mech can be seen moving in huge number and the silver wing sh.i.p.s are doing its best to defend and protect the huge civilian sh.i.p.s at the back. Arc saw this and was surprised by the power of the Ganesh he saw many new ship he never saw before and know what he was fighting was nothing but small forces and not the main forces of Ganesh. He was watching and thinking what he should do? The two forces still fighting intensely without knowing someone is watching them not so far in the distance. Chapter 151 - 151 Departure II Arc and his men watch the intense battle he didn''t recognize the race of which the Ganesh is fighting but one thing is clear that race is loosing and it''s loosing fast, so Arc makes a decision. "Deployed the drones destroy the Ganesh, but the specter remains on stealth mode let the drones do the work it''s also a good opportunity to see what the new and upgraded Specter Drones can do." "Yes, Boss" Eve replied. Soon countless Drones the size of Small car can be seen detaching from specter it is almost magic as a relatively small battleship can produce an almost never ending drone. Eve wasn''t in control of the drones the specter has its own powerful AI the combined mother cores and specter core produce a powerful AI that can rival a 3-star AI and with the help of Eve the Specter learned all kinds of knowledge about war and tactics. Arc only needs to Order and the Specter will execute his order to perfection. -==========- "Your Grace, there''s a swarm of sh.i.p.s approaching us from the rear its number¡­. Too many, we counted 200k and it''s still increasing." A small girl with angel wings on her back was almost on the verge of breakdown and although she looks like a small girl the age of 12 or so, she is already over a 100 years old but for her kind that has a very long life span, 100 is equivalent to age of what she looks like 12 or so. "Is this really how I end?" She asks her self. After all, she''s been through. to escape from her home world with all the burden and hope of her race rest on her small shoulder she didn''t want to end like this. So she steals her heart and determination can be seen on her small bit clear eyes. "Hail the newcomers they may not be hostile to us, but at the same time execute the warping sequence." "But your grace if we warp now there''s no telling what will happen! Said a burly guy with huge wings on his back." "It doesn''t matter if we stay we will all die anyway might as well put our fate on a small chance." The burly guy sigh, "yes your Grace" On the side, the bridge many angels like beings can be seen shouting back and forth some are relaying the battle reports some are ordering the troops in the battlefront, while some are trying to communicate with Arcs drones. But no matter how desperate their situations where, no one can be seen giving up. Each and every one of them has determination reflected on their eyes. "Boss, someone is Hailing us," Specter deep masculine voice can be heard from the bridge, the first time he heard the voice Arc was very surprised as mother cores and the old AI of Specter all have female voice so when he heard the deep male voice from the new Specter he was surprised, but he kinda like it as well, so he didn''t bother to change it. "Who''s hailing us?" Arc Ask. It can''t be the Ganesh, right? Arc Ask. "No Boss the one hailing us is from those Silver wing sh.i.p.s." Arc hearing it wasn''t surprised and just nodded, "connect it" "Your Grace, they accepted our transmission." The small Girl looks up, she was surprised she didn''t think they would be bothered to accept the call of the one that''s about to be destroyed. Arc face can be seen from a huge screen. Hello, my name is Arielle from Celeste Race we are a friendly and peaceful race, may I know what your intention on sending sh.i.p.s to our rear? Arielle was very nervous as she has no idea if the other party is hostile as well. "Hmm, a kid? ah sorry about that little girl are you the commander of your ship?" Arc Asks. Arielle didn''t mind being called a little girl as in her race she was indeed can be considered a little girl but as a royalty, no one has the guts to address her like that, but right now instead of being angry she was relieved as she can tell the other party is not hostile to them. Yes, I am, and even though I''m small I''m not a little girl as I am over a hundred years old, said Arielle with a slightly relieved smile on her face. "Hahaha, sorry about that Arielle it''s not my intention to be disrespectful, my name is Arc and I''m the commander of this ship, anyways we can help you but we would require to retrieve all the enemies destroyed parts. Is that alright?" Arielle was surprised that, that''s their only demands?, so she smiles and said "no problem, but please allow us to retrieve our fallen if possible" Arc, just smile for some reason he can''t bring himself to take advantage of Arielle as she reminds him of his sisters. No problem, let us talk later, let me deal with this small problem first. Arc then ends the transmission. "Small problem?" Arielle was confused she looks at the battle and saw many huge sh.i.p.s of Ganesh continue to attack he small fleet who are trying their best to fight back. "Order all our forces to gather and reform formations we will fight them back together with Arcs fleet." The burly man beside her look at Arielle and said: "Your Grace lets be careful with this Arc fellow we don''t know what his real intention is." Arielle looks at the big man beside her and smiles, Gideon don''t be like that I can feel that Arc didn''t really have any bad intention toward us and besides if we survive we owe him our lives." Gideon just looks at Ariel with love and affection as would a father look at his daughter, "I understand" and didn''t say anything else. Arc notice that Arielle forces, instead of retreating are starting to reform and plans still to joins the fight with him, he smiles and said "not bad, I expect them to completely retreat and let us do all the work after all they have been through a thorough beating from the Ganesh." Chapter 152 - 152 Unexpected Surprise Arielle watch as swarms of small jet black sh.i.p.s form several formations and immediately attack the Ganesh. A Swarm of never-ending small black sh.i.p.s attack the Ganesh on all front leaving them confused, and chaotic as they have no idea how to defend or even fight back. Arielle and her people are all speechless and have their mouth open, unable to believe what they are seeing, even Gideon who was a veteran of many battles can''t believe what he was witnessing. "Is this even be called Battle?" he asked in astonishment. Arielle was the first to wake up from her stupor making Gideon ashamed. "Attack avenge our fallen!" Arielle shouted waking all of them from being surprised. Immediately as soon as they heard Arielle command they all started attacking and with the Ganesh occupied with Specter drones Arielle fleets are having an easy time-fighting. Arc saw Arielle''s forces attacking and just smile and began to focus once again to his forces he notices that the Specter drones are at least 3-5 times faster than ordinary drones produce by cl.u.s.ter drones not only that, their firepower is also at least 2-3 times more powerful and the biggest advantage Specter drones from cl.u.s.ter drones is that it can combine itself to other Specter drones and it will become more powerful especially useful for shielding powerful attack. Seeing the fight Arc has a big smile on his face the Ganesh being caught off guard was unable to respond on time and before it knows it they were fully surrounded and unable to retreat. So the Ganesh has no choice but to fight to the last. It only took about an hour or so before the last Ganesh resistance was destroyed, and immediately Specter began it''s cleanup and retrieval operations. Arc, on the other hand, gives Arielle ample time to gather their fallen before fully cleaning up the battlefield. 6 hours later the battlefield has been clean up by millions of drones leaving only broken asteroids that give a sign of a huge battle that takes place here, the drones are quite thorough not even a single bolt was left behind, anything that can be recycled was retrieved, leaving Arielle and her people once again speechless. Arielle and Gideon along with some of Celeste delegates are now inside the specter conference room, it is a newly built room as Arc didn''t expect to host an Alien race aboard his ship. Luckily the Specter is very flexible and creating a conference room only takes about 30 minutes or so. Arc now finally meeting Arielle in person despite that Arc was very relaxed, the opposite can be said for Arielle''s delegation, they are very nervous and worried. But all that disappeared when Arc greeted them with a friendly smile only Gideon remains a skeptic. "Hello, Arielle welcome to my ship." Arc welcomes them. Back then Arielle''s and her people keep getting surprised by what they are seeing, they saw millions of drones attached themselves into a relatively small ship smaller than her ship Archangel her ship is twice the size of Specter and yet it can''t possibly hold all those millions of drones and yet a ship half the size was able to hold all of them and that''s not all the Ganesh sh.i.p.s wreckage who are many times bigger than her ship was able to store all of them inside the Specter. So they can only assume it is some kind of super-advanced technology that was so far above them, and now the commander and owner of that kind of technology are now in front of them giving them a warm welcome. "Nice to finally meet you in person Arc and thank you for rescuing us. We owe you a lot." Arielle said with a cute voice. Arc smile when he heard Arielle, no worries the Ganesh is also my enemies fighting them is only normal and you being rescued are just a result so you don''t owe me anything and besides you even given me all your broken sh.i.p.s, so we can consider that as were even. Arielle smile brightly when she heard it, and even Gideon relaxed a little when he heard Arc replies. "So what are you planing now?" Ask Arc. Arielle sigh and with a sorrowful look told everything she experiences to Arc, including they are the last of their species and that their home world was destroyed by Ganesh and when they escaped they were pursued and end up where Arc found them. It took a while for Arielle to finish telling her story, and Arc didn''t interrupt her and just listen silently. In the end, Arc thought that the Ganesh was more dangerous than he previously thought, he now believes that it was them who really started the war with the humans, he was skeptical about it before, but now he believes it. "Sigh, I don''t know what to say about your story Arielle, all I know is that if you are looking for a safe place to stay I can offer you a place.." Said Arc. Really? Arielle was in truth have no idea where to go her only thought before was to get away from Ganesh, and didn''t really think where to go next. "But of you shelter us the Ganesh would be looking for you for trouble," said Arielle with a small pitiful voice. "Hahaha, that will save me the trouble of looking for them then. Anyways I can''t stay long if you want a safe place to stay go to Liberty I assume you heard of it. Go to Grand Trading Corporation and look for Dianna she can help you settle, ill also inform her should you choose to go there." Said Arc. Arielle began to think hard and Arc didn''t interrupt her, he just ordered a small banquet for everyone, after a banquet when Arc was about to tell them he was leaving Arielle to speak up. Arc, no Master Arc, when Arc heard her address to him he was surprised, and he wasn''t alone even Gideon and the Celeste they her look at Arielle in surprise expression but no one interrupts her. Arielle didn''t bother about a sudden focus of attention and continues to speak, "Master Arc, we of Celeste would like to work under you and be your subordinate race." When Gideon heard it he sighs, he knows Arielle already made a decision, and so he kneels in front of Arc and the rest of the Celeste follows in kneeling, Arielle saw this and smile a little as she was about to kneel Arc stop her, "What''s this all about Arielle? I didn''t rescue you to be my subordinate, I told you, you don''t owe me anything." "Master Arc, we Celeste are homeless and weak without anyone''s protection we would be captured and killed sooner or later I know its quite selfish of me to ask of this but I rather no, we rather be under you than someone else." "Arc looks at the resolute eyes of Arielle and looks at Gideon and the rest are you sure about this?" "We trust our Queen judgments," said Gideon. "Sigh, well how can I deny that but lets be clear I can take you on and shelter you and help your race recovers but if you ever betray me you will find me more vicious than that Ganesh, so don''t take this oath lightly." he then released his aura making all the Celeste trembled, Arielle was having a hard time standing, but she persisted and look Arc straight from the eyes and said, "I don''t take the lives of my people lightly we are willing to be your most loyal Vassal as long as you didn''t abandon us we will never betray you and are willing to lay our lives for you." Said Arielle resolutely. Chapter 153 - 153 Unexpected Surprised II Over the next few hours, Arc began to reorganize the Celeste with the help of Eve and Arielle, after a small ceremony of pledging their fealty to Arc, Arielle and the rest of Celeste has now become an official Vassal race of Arc. But when Arc ask them to go to Liberty they insisted that some of them stay to help Arc to whatever quest he was going to do. At first, Arc was against it but with Eve suggestion Arc relented and so 500 of the top warrior of Celeste would go with Arc along with Arielle and Gideon the rest would go to Liberty to help Dianna. And so Arc was already sailing again to complete his Urgent Quest or mission, and the Specter has now been very lively inside the bridge there are now new personnel to help with navigating. Although Specter didn''t really need it, it helps to have a person guiding and helping it and besides Arc enjoys the atmosphere inside the bridge as there are personnel in charge of every function. Arc was sitting in the captain seat with a grin on his face watching the Celeste familiarizing with every function of the ship. And just below him the seat of Jem and the rest Arielle was with them. Gideon, on the other hand, was in the hanger preparing the group of mech pilots for any situation. Originally there is no more hanger as all combat was replaced with drones but to accommodate the Celeste a new hanger was created inside the specter just enough to house the Celeste mecha, which is now being upgraded by many builder droids. Celeste mech looks like an armored angel which Arc like a lot so he added the wing features to his personal mech Diablo but instead of angel wings he added a devil wing to match the appearance of Diablo... "My Lord we are now entering sector xxx this sector is under Grombos Race, so we should be careful." "Call me Captain or Boss, anyways I am not familiar with this race give me Breakdown on this race." "Um, yes My¡­ No. Ah, Boss Captain," "Call me Boss, Arc laugh at his behavior." Arielle facepalm when he saw how her elite men act. Jem was giggling while ruby has a smile on his face while Biggs, Wedge and Jarvis have a Stoic face. "Yes, Boss," looking embarrassed on how he acts, the man can only scratch his head. Suddenly a humanoid alien with a face that looks like a cow with a very slim but tall body and has six arms was displayed on the main screen, then the man began to explain the Grombos features. Arc, smiles having the database of Celeste incorporated into the Specter helps him big time he no longer need to move in the dark, now that he has the Celeste database he now has a record of Celeste star maps and with it its knowledge on many unknown race in the space sector, it is a big gain for him as star maps is one of the most valuable commodities in space. "They are very aggressive and often resort into pirating like antics that one of the reasons Grombos is not welcome into many space colony, where many races are welcome. The man continues to explain. We are now entering their territory but to get to sector xxx xxx we have to pass through here, or we have to go a long way around and have to pass many dangerous places." "No worry just go through, if they are foolish enough to block us then¡­" Arc stop talking but with an evil glint in his eyes, everyone knows what would happen if the Grombos tried to block them. Jem just laughs, as they pass through the Grombos territory the Grombos are no where to be found. "Boss, high concentration of xxxxx materials are found in the planet in xxx.xxx" the voice of the specter rang in the bridge. Mark it, and send the coordinate to Legion, said Arc. Done, Boss... Next time no need to tell me just mark it and send it to Legion, and have him take care of it... "Yes Boss, Alert! Alert! Enemy detected..." "Boss we have found a group of enemy 100k miles to the east their coordinates is Xxx xxxXx," "Ignore them," said Arc. "Yes... Boss, they are hailing us." "Hmmm, fine patch it through." Said Arc. Suddenly an ugly-looking cow face appeared on the screen it has many scars on its face. "My name Kalooza, identify your self what are you doing into my territory?" "No need to tell you that were just passing through." Said Arc looking bored. "Insolent, identify your self or you will regret it!" Said Kalooza shouting in anger. Arc look at him but didn''t reply, he just looks at Kalooza straight into his eyes making Kalooza felt dread. But feeling like he was insulted he ordered, "Destroy them." Shouted Kalooza. In fact, Kalooza himself didn''t know why he suddenly orders it, the moment he felt dread his mind blackout, but as soon as he ordered it he woke up, and feeling uneasy he immediately orders for his ship to move into the back of the fleet making his subordinates look at him in confusion. Arc just sighs, and shakes his head, he then looks at Arielle and said this is a good opportunity to get used to fighting with my drones, Arielle nodded. Unfortunately not all mech of Celeste was upgraded yet but nonetheless they all move out to join the fight, Arc then ordered Specter to support the Celeste. And as soon as Arc ordered it countless drones detach themselves from specter and immediately form a formation with Celeste mech as the Center. The Celeste mech pilot has constantly doing fight simulation training ever since they become part of Specter crew and even though it''s only been a few days, being elite of the Celeste race they learn fast, Kalooza seeing the enemy immediately blames himself of being rush and an idiot for being affected by his emotion. He was about to order a retreat but suddenly the Specter releases a sort of energy that blocks all warp. Kalooza was shocked to learn that they can''t input warp coordinates, And he wasn''t the only one that are shocked even Arc was shocked and surprised by what Specter did... But specter explanation is very simple, according to specter he didn''t disable the warp engine or lock the space he just jams the enemy capability to input coordinates, and without coordinate warping is suicide. As to how specter able to do that Arc didn''t ask, as he was not interested in any technical explanation. But as soon as Arc heard it he grins and looks at the Grombos fleet, who already stop advancing while his forces the Celeste and the drones continue to advance. The result, well total beet down, in just a few minutes since the forces clash, Grombos or Kalooza lost more than half of his fleet, the Celeste Elite force is not just for show, they show why they are called elite... Soon Kalooza surrendered before him and his fleet was annihilated... But here come the dilemma, Arc doesn''t have space for the prisoner, and he couldn''t just release them... So he has no choice but to ask Legion to send a mother drone to this place, he then summons all officers of Kalooza into the specter where they will be implanted with control chip. Kalooza and his men, of course, didn''t resist. And so Arc gains another subordinate... Arc. smiles while having a wicked thoughts... "what if?" he look at Kalooza and Arielle and just smile. only he knows what he is thinking... Chapter 154 - 154 Exploration It has been 10 days since they fought with Kalooza, after which he let one of the mother drones to mine and at the same time task to help Kalooza increase its territory, Arc order Kalooza to increase its territory and took over the whole sector to gather all kinds of resources. At first, Kalooza was in despair, but as soon as he saw the mother drone. His eyes began to sparkles like stars he knows with the power of mother drone its only a matter of time until he becomes the overlord of the whole sector. of course the mother drones he left was in desguised as a regular autonomous Ship that can create its smaller version. (Imagine protoss Carriers) its apperance is heavens apart from a regular Mother Drones but it functions the same. But Arc gives a strict order not to touch the planet with primitive life and also never harm innocent lives. Which Arc emphasized enough, to let Kalooza know he was not joking when it comes to harming innocent life. In fact, Arc wasn''t overly concerned as he knows that mother drones would follow his order without question. Right now Arc and the specter stopover into a transit planet to resupply and also to look for information regarding the sector he was looking for, as the mission only gives him coordinates but without a corresponding star map the coordinates are useless unfortunately the Celeste and Kalooza''s star map doesn''t include the coordinates he was looking for. And so Kalooza suggests stopping over the transiting planet who was famous for its black market, and Kalooza subordinate name Booka who were very familiar with the place are traveling with them. The planet is called ?????€ Arc couldn''t understand the name as it was in the alien native language and not in universal language but Booka knowing Arc wouldn''t understand it gave its universal name which is Turtle. "Eh, Turtle?" Arc asks... Well, Boss your not the first to ask it, and yes that''s the closest translations, apparently, the planets are famous for its native turtle species, unfortunately over hunting has turned the turtle species extinct, but the name of the planet didn''t change so up until now its called Turtle transit planet. The specter was able to enter the planet without much difficulty with the help of Booka just saying some phrase in some native language, and they were given a green light, Booka guide them into a relatively obscure location, where the black market is located... Arc looking around the area, said: "this place is quite interesting", he saw huge turtle shell the size of a football stadium, and imagine how huge the turtle is, the shell was being used as the roof of all buildings the smallest is the size of a bus and the biggest is twice the size of the football stadium. "Amazing," said Arc. "Boss the black Market is one of the oldest regions on the planet that''s why they are still using turtle shell as roof, modern building no longer use turtle shell for one the species of turtle is extinct and second it''s not really economical as the shell is very heavy and it needs very strong support to turn it into a roof. )" "But this sector only has turtle shell as roof, no one is allowed to build a modern building here to preserve the history and atmosphere in the area." Booka leads them into many corners and into a relatively isolated area but Arc didn''t really care with Jem, Ruby, Biggs, and Wedge with him he has nothing to worry about he himself is quite a fighter and long surpassed 1-star stats only his experience remains low. Nevertheless, he was quite a fighter himself, so he has no worry that someone would jump at them, in fact, he was looking forward to it. Boss here, Booka was pointing at a medium-size building with a red turtle shell as a roof which is quite rare no, in fact, it is the only red shell he saw along the way. He just looks at it with interest but didn''t ask why. He entered the building along with Booka and the rest. He was greeted by a big fella almost 5 meters tall and very bulky and burly like hulk but bigger and meaner arc didn''t recognize the race it looks human at least the face look human, only its size is different, two big fellas block their path but Arc just smile. Booka then said a few words and the to big fella let them in. What greeted them inside is an Elf like woman very beautiful and a figure that can entice all men. "Booka what brings you here? And you have a guest with you did Kalooza sent you? And who are they?" Lady Silva, this is our Big Boss please show some respect otherwise¡­ Silva''s eyes contract when he heard Booka. "My apologies, my Name is Silva the manager of this establishment. May I know your great name or how am I to address the great you?" Silva said solemnly, being in this kind of business for a long time she knows there are some being she can''t afford to offend. "Arc smiles just call me Boss or A would do. Said Arc and no need to be so solemn and formal, we''re here for business so let''s not make it to boring." Silva, smiles "of course Boss, come this way." She then guides them to the VIP room, Arc took a seat but Jem and the rest just stand behind him, Silva watch them when she saw that only Arc took a seat he wasn''t surprised. "So Boss how can I help you?" I need all the star maps available in the whole black market. Don''t ask why just get it done. "Silva took a deep breath when she heard it. Boss that''s going to be expensive and what currency are you using to pay?" "Bright credit," Arc with a slight smile. "Silva smiles blossoms when she heard it, I''ve got it when do you need it?" "Now!" Said Arc. Silva frowns when she heard it, she has quite a few star map on her hand but for others, it will take some time. So she began to think hard, and Arc didn''t interrupt her. "Boss, I have in my possession about 50% of the star map in the black market about 30% of them I can get easily but some of them will take time especially the star map in Kalif''s hands as he never expresses any intention to sell it." Said Silva. "Who is this Kalif?" Ask Arc. Silva was surprised when Arc ask it, and she looks at Booka who was behind Arc along with two men and two women. "Booka saw Silva looking at him immediately explain, Boss Kalif is the Pirate Lord of the sector, he leads the biggest pirate crew in the sector." Said Booka. "Where is his base?" Arc Ask. "Booka didn''t hesitate and open up the local star map using some gadget and pointed at a location. He even inputs exact coordinates." Arc looks at Booka and smiles "you know a lot." "Booka scratch his head looking embarrassed, I used to be an information broker before I was recruited by boss Kalooza." Said Booka. "Not just any information broker but the best information broker in the sector," said Silva smiling. "Is that so? Good, then I have a specific job for you." Said Arc. Booka bows and said, "I''m at your service Boss." "Then don''t worry about this Kalif ill take care of it, just have everything else ready," said Arc. Silva was shock by what she is hearing but didn''t show it in her face. But at the same time, she knows this is an opportunity for her, so she greeted her teeth and ask. "Boss I would like to work for you as well." Booka was surprised, and Arc looks at Silva for a few seconds and said, "why? No never mind I don''t care, but know this! working for me is permanent once you join there''s no going back" said Arc. "I trust my judgment Boss, I would like to work for you." Said Silva. "Hahaha is that so. Well then complete this task first and meet me at my ship," Arc then stood up and leave. Silva didn''t say anything else and just bow. In all honesty, she really just trust her judgment, as her instinct has never failed her its an inborn talent she have. Her heart is pounding fast. As soon as Arc left she began to give orders to get all those star maps ASAP. Chapter 155 - 155 Exploration II Arc with Booka and the rest look around the black market while waiting for Silva to complete her mission. Arc saw many forbidden techs being sold in the open, in one of the shops he even saw alien races being sold as a slaves and in some shop he saw forbidden tech blueprint of another alien race, luckily he already used to seeing similar things in Liberty of course not in the center of Liberty but in an obscured corner of Liberty as Liberty has its own Black Market only not this big, and open. After strolling in the Black market Arc was able to buy many things that caught his attention, but nothing important, many of the things being sold in this black market are not so high tech. And interesting as the black market only covers things in the back water sector in space. But according to Booka the biggest Black market in the galaxy is in dark sector its one of the forbidden area in Bright Galaxy, according to Booka the Black Market there consist of several medium-sized planet and 3 huge planets and it''s under one of the most dangerous Race on the Galaxy The Protoss Race, its one of the oldest Race in Bright Galaxy and was known for their advance tech that rivals that of those on the Central Universe. But what many doest know is that the Protoss is also very strong physically and has powerful psionic power and because of that their tech is mostly energy base. According to Booka he never really been to the dark sector only heard stories about it, the same with his knowledge about the Protoss. But Arc didn''t mind whether it''s real or not he enjoyed listening to that kind of stories, and swear that one day he will visit them all. Arc went back into the Specter he saw Arielle busy organizing the inventory, and looks like they manage to resupply without any problem whatsoever. Just waiting for Silva is quite boring so Arc decided to go online and fight in the Colosseum for training and also to pass the time. Ever since he discovered this Colosseum and found out he can fight all kinds of race in a no holds bar fight with only primitive cold steel weapons, he has been addicted to it and visits it whenever he has time. Meanwhile, back in GFA the situation is not looking good, even with Arc cl.u.s.ter drones helping in the shadows GFA still losing a large number of Sh.i.p.s with every encounter with Ganesh, which is getting more frequent, luckily humanity is not the only race fighting with the Ganesh, a few days ago a coalition of Alien Race contacted the GFA in order to build an Alliance against the Ganesh, and through them, GFA found out that they have been very lucky with the war so far, that was because Ganesh is fighting with the Coalition that most of Ganesh main fighting force is preoccupied because of it, and the one they are fighting is mostly reserve unit or simply canon fodder. And when they learned the true might of Ganesh it''s like a cold bucket of water was poured into their heads waking them up from a good dream. And because of that, their war that was because of resources has to turn into survival¡­ A meeting with all the head of GFA and the leaders of the Coalition took place a few days ago that lasted for over 12 hours and will continue for a couple more days. Arc was unaware of it, but even if he knew nothing will change and besides the moment Arc saw the Different type of Ganesh that are different from the one GFA is fighting with, Arc already realized the danger of Ganesh and now that he knew that Ganesh is a product of Sovereign Tool''s there''s no way he will let his guard down and that''s why he ordered Legion to monitor and keep earth and Liberty safe while he was away. He even gifted Legion several new mother cores that have yet to be deployed for Legion to integrate and strengthen legion forces. Legion now have several mother core directly integrated into his forces making legion more powerful and intelligent. Back on earth, Grand Army entered a building phase where more than 90% of the grand army is being utilized to building Grand Army foundation, Oda implemented many new policies and guidelines to keep the Grand Army in Order. Somewhere in space a huge battle is taking place Ganesh War ship never seen before are attacking a huge planet that''s mostly water, and huge dome-like ship are doing its best to defend their home planet but obviously failing, but unknown to the two forces a black orb-like object are recording and sending the information to a huge cl.u.s.ter of drones and Legion are watching intently. And this kind of battle is taking place in many sectors of the galaxy and Legion and its scouts are watching and learning at the same time. Legion issues an order that only the cl.u.s.ter drones can understand and countless drones in the galaxy have begun to move. And this action didn''t escape the eyes of many forces watching every action of the cl.u.s.ter drones... "My lord..." A huge figure kneeled down, and continue to say. "They are moving!" "Did they finish harvesting?" Said the figure on the throne. "No my Lord, for some reason we haven''t known. They just stop working immediately and a few seconds later started to move..." "Hmmm, continue to watch them but don''t get too close we can''t afford to antagonize such forces." "Understood my Lord," the kneeling figure stand up bowed and left. "I feel that, something bad is going to happen, sigh, looks like we can''t afford to be indifferent any longer...'' The figure on the thrones said. Suddenly the shadow beside the thrones squirm and twisted and a slim figure suddenly appeared from the twisting shadows. "The man in the thrones didn''t even look at it and said. Contact the Coalition tell them we agreed to their demand." The shadow without saying anything bowed and disappeared like its never been there in the first place. And situation similar to this are happening all around the galaxy, Bright Galaxy who has known for its peaceful environment compared to other galaxy is about to enter its most chaotic time, for the first time and Arc who was the Trigger of it all is on his ship fighting in the coliseum in the virtual world without realizing anything. Chapter 156 - 156 Chaotic Times When Legion ordered all the mother drones to gather many forces in the Galaxy began to worry, and many huge forces began to pay attention to the movement of the cl.u.s.ter drones unaware that what they are watching is only a small part of Legion who began to take over control to all mother drones. Legion seeing the aggressive behavior of the Ganesh decided after calculating all possible scenario to gather all mother drones and integrate them all into a single force and with its appointment as the leader of all mother drones. He began to contact and took over command over all the mother drones and so Legion choose one of the forbidden regions on the galaxy as its main base. The forbidden region is relatively close to the solar system and also Liberty this is because Arc''s last order to Legion is to protect Liberty and Earth against all forms of danger. And lucky enough the forbidden region is famous for its abundance of rare materials and elements only because of the region''s unique geography countless space storms bombarded the region in a never-ending and unpredictable manner that makes it almost impossible for any form of life to exist within the said region on space. But to Legion space storm is not a problem with their advance shielding no space storm can disrupt their function. And besides Legion was unique and more advance than any mother drones as Arc use upgrade chip on Legion as a gift for protecting him. And that wasn''t all for some reason Legion gains an ability to upgrade itself by integrating mother drones core into itself absorbing all knowledge and experience of the said mother drones and as mother drones becomes more intelligent as it grows in number, Legion has becomes more advance and intelligence the more mother drones it integrate into itself. ==== "My liege Karou, the drones are moving." "Are they moving on us?" "No, my liege they seem to be moving somewhere else but following their trajectory and their warp signatures they seem to be going to one of the forbidden regions, Kidlat is one of the forbidden regions that are famous for its never ending space storm." "I remember reading about the place, thus that means they originally came from that region? Is that the reason we can''t find their origin no matter how much we investigate?" "We can''t deny that possibility but if they are going to that region then that means they are not affected by the space storm, meaning¡­" "Yeah, our initial plan to bombard them with EMP won''t work... Looks like we can only destroy them manually¡­" "That''s the only option we have for now my Liege Karou." "Hmmph! I wouldn''t have it any other way... Wait. That forbidden region isn''t that close to Liberty?" "Yes, my liege it''s one of the reasons for coming here..." "Is it possible that the only reason they chose that place is that it wants to protect Liberty? And the home system of Humans?" "That''s also possible my liege" "But for what reason? We already concluded that the drones are not connected to humans in any way otherwise when we attack the humans it would have been no need for humans to risk their lives if they have powerful cl.u.s.ter drones at their disposal." "The only other possibility I can see is that the one controlling the drones just wants to protect humans in secret¡­" "Hmmm, well it doesn''t matter anyway we have our order we must take over this Galaxy one way or another." Karou looks at his subordinate, his subordinate trembles when Karou focuses his eyes on him... "Continue to monitor the drones, and double the production of the dominator." His subordinates were about to retort but choose to swallow its words in fear of Karou and just bowed and said. "Yes my Liege" The leaders of the Coalition who was in meeting with the GFA was also made aware of the movement of the drones but just choose to ignore it and just order to continue to monitor it. They have more pressing matters to attend as one of their ally''s home world is under siege from the Ganesh, so they decided to cut the meeting short, but GFA knowing the reason wasn''t angry or anything but choose to help instead by sending two squadrons. Making the Coalition leaders very happy, and GFA satisfied by their new allied response to defend an allied home world¡­ Somewhere in Kidlat in the center of countless drones, a slim looking man with six dark wings on its back and wearing a ninja armor outfit was seating in the makeshift throne this is Legion for some reason after researching what cool looking body looks like. This is the appearance he choose the biggest influence to this is Eve as She shows a video of Arc seeing the new outfit of Shadow unit that look like armored ninja and Arc saying so Cool when he saw the new outfit, as for the wings it''s also eve showing Arc Video putting a wing into Diablo and laughing like crazy when it was completed while saying F.u.c.k.i.n.g Cool. Of course, that wasn''t the only reason when Legion roam the virtual world using the access Arc give to him. He saw many users avatars with wings but when he asked why? Many answered because its cool, and thus after further deliberations, he chooses this appearance, and he can''t wait to show its new appearance to his maker. Legion now looks like a fallen angel in ninja outfit though it may sound like a mismatch combination bit with his handsome face almost similar to Arc dark long hair that goes up to his waist and with six dark wings on its back and with the height of about 2 to 3 meters tall the armored ninja outfit fits him perfectly. And below him, 10 female versions of himself but only have 4 black wings those are the mother drones he integrated into itself. If Arc was here he would definitely say Legion looks more MC than he is. With a deep voice, Legion orders the mother drones to start making preparation some would be responsible for gathering resources while some are responsible for building and the rest for fighting and defending. Whew, that''s a good fight Arc removes his VR helmet with a satisfied grin, he notices that he was drenched in sweat, so he immediately takes a shower and notices that he felt energized and for some reason he can feel the energy all around him this is a new experience for him. If he really focuses he can even saw the energy. "Nine what''s going on?" "It''s a result of your skill." "I know that! But why suddenly? I don''t remember doing anything significant." Nine... "Che, whatever I''ll figure it out my self." When he reached the bridge he was greeted by Arielle who was with Jem, and Ruby along with Biggs and Wedge and Jarvis. "Hello Boss," Arc looks at them and said: so anything new? Jem looks at Arc and said, "Legion is gathering the Mother drones..." Arc, frowns but quickly recovers, "he must have a reason, did he said why?" Eve then said, "it''s because of Ganesh," Eve then give a signal and Specter played a video.. It''s a video of never before seen warship of Ganesh attacking a planet. Arc frowns deeper when he saw it. Looks like I greatly underestimate the Ganesh. With this much force, GFA would be destroyed in less than a few hours if they attack in full force. No wonder Legion gathers all the other drones, he remembers his order to Legion protect Liberty and Earth against all forms of danger... "Contact Legion," said Arc. "Connection failed," said the specter. "Huh? How''s that possible? Arc asks in confusion." The specter has a direct connection to Legion he made sure of it before he left. "Boss, that''s probably because of where Legion is right now." Said Jem. Hmm, Arc looks at Jem, "explain." "Boss, Legion chose the forbidden region near Liberty and the solar system as home base." Said Jem. "Forbidden region? Hmm, Kidlat? He chose to go there?" "Yes Boss, it won''t long before Legion builds a communication tower there, and we will be able to contact him." Said Eve. Arc nodded, "Specter display everything we got about the Kidlat forbidden region." A holographic image appeared in front of them the whole Kidlat forbidden region is surrounded by thick electromagnetic clouds, and a countless flash of red and blue and many other colors can be seen outside. Chapter 157 - 157 Chaotic Times II "Kidlat has approximately around 5 to 10 million planets and according to analysis all of them are lifeless. Very few Alien would risk going into Kidlat, and among all the forbidden regions in the galaxy, Kidlat was rank among the Top of the most dangerous that''s because the region is considered a death trap. And very few sh.i.p.s are powerful enough to navigate the region because of the never-ending space storms and what''s more, there''s no way to predict how strong the storm until it hits you." "So no matter how rich the region claims to be very few risks their lives to go there." Specter continues to explain. Arc knows that with the mother drones capabilities going to Kidlat it is almost suicides, true they have a powerful shield that can protect them from the storm but those shields have its limit and once its shield was depleted only destruction awaits them. But he also knows Legion wouldn''t choose that forbidden region without reason. The only explanation he can assume is that with Legion upgrade he somehow got the ability to negate the space storm in Kidlat. But until he can talk to Legion about it he, or they can only speculate. "Any news of Silva?" Yes, boss, she sends these star maps. She said the rest would follow in 24hrs... Arc Smiles, looks like she''s been working hard. "What about the pirate lord Kalif?" Jem smiles and said, "done boss specter makes quick work of him we also freed many slaves and send them all to Liberty they would be a great help to Dianna." Said Jem. "Good, so have we found our destination?" "Arc saw them looking at each other..." "What is it?" Arc asks. "Boss we found it but you are not going to like it..." Said Ruby. "Specter," Ruby said. Another hologram appeared before them and a big red hole appeared... The red hole is the same as the black hole in appearance only red, but unlike black hole were as long as you have the right navigational device you can use the black hole to enter hyperspace it is the primitive way of traveling the space... Before the warp engine was discovered many alien used black hole to travel the galaxy, and complete black hole maps can be purchased at a relatively cheap price as there''s hardly anyone uses the black hole to travel anymore. But Red Hole is different, there''s no way to predict where it will lead it could be connected to some faraway galaxy or even to the edge of the universe even back in time, there are so many assumptions but ultimately it is only hypothesis as there''s no report of having anyone or anything manage to return after entering the Red Hole. Arc almost cursed when he saw it! Ruby is right a Red Hole is the last thing he expected... Arc slump back into the captain seat he began to think of another plan but in the end, he knows he has no choice but to enter the Red Hole... Arc was silent for a few minutes and no one disturb him. Sigh, we will make preparation increase our supply by ten times or more, more is better as we don''t know when or where we will end up. Better be safe than sorry. After giving order he stood up and left. Back in his chambers, he contemplated whether to inform his family and Mia about the situations. But in the end, he decided against it as it will only give them unnecessary worry. He began to think of various steps to greatly ensure his survival upgrading the specter is a given as he already plans to do that even before he left earth. But entering the red planet is another matter, he wasn''t really that worried about his life but what he was really worried about is that can he even go back? Or even if he can how long before he can return. He keeps lying on his bed still thinking all the worse things that could happen and what can he do to prevent it, but in the end, he can''t think of anything and Nine is not giving him anything. And before he knows it he fell asleep. Back in the bridge. Arielle and the rest are also thinking and planning they knows they have no choice but to enter the Red Hole, and since they have no idea what to expect they need to be ready for anything so Arielle and the rest began to make preparation Specter and Eve was the same Arc already use the upgrade chip on Specter, so Eve and Specter began to plan base on the information that they will enter the Red Hole. The next day Arc woke up and found that only Arielle is on the bridge Jem and the rest are nowhere to be found. And before he can ask Arielle spoke up. "They are making preparation, Silva return 6 hrs ago and with her all the star maps available on this planet. And when we brief her of our current destination she left to make preparation..." "I see, and you? Do you regret your decision to follow me now?" Arielle looks at him and said, "what''s there to regret in fact I have never been relieved, I felt free and relaxed serving under you, and besides to be honest I''m looking forward to seeing what lies beyond the infamous Red Hole." Hahaha, Arc looks at the smiling Arielle and felt relieved for some reason he felt guilty bringing them into the Red Hole famous for being a death trap. But hearing Arielle he felt somewhat relieved. "Well, I hope there''s something good waiting for us on the other side of Red Hole." "Specter, how''s the upgrade going on?" Arc ask because just looking at the ship he didn''t saw any changes. "35% done.." Specter inform him of the many changes during the upgrade process, he was surprised Specter would go to that kind of upgrade but Arc didn''t stop it he just asks how long before the upgrade is done. And besides, he too was looking forward to the final result. Next to him, Arielle was listening in shock she just couldn''t believe this ship is capable of doing what they are discussing. Chapter 158 - 158 Red Hole "Run diagnostic!" "Everything Green" "Shield full power!" "Roger" Arc look at everyone on the bridge, and everyone is also looking at him, he smiles. "Let''s go! lets see what adventure is waiting for us in the other side of this Hole." "Roger that Boss" As the Specter entered a huge Red hole the Specter looks like a speck of sand going into a whirlpool. It''s been 10 days since Arc found out that his destination is the Red Hole it took Specter 2 days and a half to complete the upgrade and Arc visited another supply station and bought all the rare materials he could buy, it''s in preparation just in case the Specter was damage and having the materials to repair it was a must. And they spend the remaining days traveling to the Red Hole. Arc also manage to make contact with Legion and Oda one last time and told them of the situation he gave Oda and Gaia an Order to protect his family and to continue to take over Earth. As for Legion, his order is simple to get stronger and protect Liberty and solar system at all costs. he also created another batch of mother drones and send half of them to Legion and scattered the rest. And with that Arc was now ready to enter the Red Hole. He didn''t contact his family and Mia in order to not worry them. "Space and time anomaly detected!" Specter voice can be heard in the bride. "Space debris approaching at high speed preparing to intercept, energy cannon ready! Fire!¡­" Boom!!! "Target destroyed." Arc looks on the busy crew, he can see nothing but blurred space ahead of them. Suddenly all warnings have flared up. "Space turbulence approaching, prepare for impact, Warning warning! Navigation compromise!" "Specter what''s going on?" Ask Arc. "But it was Eve who answered, Boss we are being sucked into a space vortex and Specter lost all control to navigate he''s currently trying to get back the control to navigate." Arc was about to say something when he heard Nine voice in his head. "Don''t resist follow the path." "What?" But Nine no longer spoke. "Specter doesn''t resist and let it guide the ship, but make sure our shield is on full power." After giving the order, the ship stops shuddering as Specter no longer resisting. So things everything started to calm down. Arc saw that they have entered in some kind of Warp Vortex. But unlike regular warp who only last for a few seconds this one is still going on after 10 minutes, and there seems to be no sign of stopping any time soon. "Specter, can you tell how far we have traveled?" Arielle Ask. Calculating¡­. ¡­. ¡­ "Estimated 2.5 million light-years... Space and time deviation not included¡­" "So in other words we don''t know if we are still in on our current timeline." Said Arielle. "Correct!, All scanning is being blocked I calculated using normal warp as a basis. As we have no way to scan anything outside our shield." But to their shock even after 1 hour of traveling in warp speed they still have not exited... Normal warp vortex is unstable and traveling continuously through it is suicide. And that''s why if one wants to travel to one point to another depending on the distance they may have to warp many times. But this warp vortex is very stable and shows no sign of any disturbance. But that also worries them as they are getting farther and farther to their home... Not only that they may have been traveling back in time or forward in time as they have no way to figure it out for the time being. Arc, order specter and the crew to record everything and for Specter to be ready for anything. As he was about to say more. But something happens. "What''s that?" "Space beast?" Arc mumbled. But this one is so much bigger than what a space beast supposed to be. And it''s going for them! "Oh! F.u.c.k.i.n.g Shit! He couldn''t help but curse. Divert all power to shield and prepare the main cannon.!" In fact, he didn''t have to say it as Specter already did so. The front of specter began to separate into four and a huge barrel can be seen behind it, the huge space beast didn''t seem to care and was still on a head-on collision with specter and it didn''t seem to have seen them judging by it size it could swallow the moon whole and in front of it, the specter looks like a toy. Ready to fire, in 3, 2, 1 fire!! A black beam of light was fired in front of the specter but in front of the space beast, it looks like a small needle. They also now saw what the space beast really look like. It looks like a huge Alligator Gar only it has a huge cow-like horn and crystal-like scales that change color every now and then. Arc, underestimate the size of the Space beast because of its size he thought it was close but in fact, it''s still far away and even after 30 seconds the beam still hasn''t reached it. Making Arc and the rest think what they are seeing is nothing but a mirage or illusion. Because of the inability of specter to scan outside of the shield, they all relied on visual to confirm and because of it, they were misled. Just how big is that Beast? Arielle asks in shock. Charge again! Full power! Arc shouted. And the specter began to recharge again... Black light spread in front it is the evidence that the beam finally hit the target there was no sound or any fancy explosion. Just black light that expanded and disappeared instantly. To his surprised he saw what appears to be blood but nevertheless it''s inconsequential compared to the size of the beast, and one other thing it looks like the beast finally saw them as it was opening its mouth to swallow them. Shit! It''s not turning.. Cancel the fire divert all power to shield, and brace for impact. Arc ordered! He knows firing would not do anything and it would only use their precious ship energy.. Luckily all of them besides Arc are veteran soldiers so no one panicked, but even though they couldn''t help but grip their seat tighter. Suddenly darkness covered the ship as the beast opens its huge mouth in the attempt to swallow Specter, and Specter being unable to move have no choice but to divert all power into the shield, luckily with the upgrade, Specter shield is strong enough for them to travel into the surface of the sun. And suddenly everything went dark, even in the bridge, everything went dark as all power was diverted into the shield leaving only minimum to operate the ship. The expected impact didn''t happen, and no sign of their shield hitting anything, "Specter report!" "Boss, take a look!" Suddenly everything was restored and monitors appeared once again. And what they saw leave them speechless... Chapter 159 - 159 Belly Of The Beast "Admiral, we have received report of another kind of forces around the battlefield." The Admiral saw a huge amount of black object gathering just outside the range of the battlefield, "what''s that?" The coalition calls it Locust or Swarm. According to them it is a swarm of drones like a ship. And also according to them, it took over all our abandoned sectors. "So, they are the reason the Ganesh didn''t push through their offense against us?" "That appeared to be so Admiral. Send this report to Top." "Yes, sir." "What do we know about this swarm?" "Nothing sir, according to the Coalition its one of the reasons they want to ally with us as it seems to protect us." "Is that so? But if that is true then where are they when we lost the battle in sector XXX and sector XXXX, if they are truly protecting us when we fought and lost half our forces in Sector XXX. No, I don''t think they are protecting us but instead protecting something that is part of humanity." "Either way it is good news for us... Unfortunately, we can''t ask them to really help us¡­" "Sir, one more thing we also assume they are responsible for the sudden retreat of Ganesh on sector XXX asteroid field." "You mean where admiral Hansley¡­" "Yes, sir. Of course, this is only an assumption without any proof, but we can''t find anyone capable of dealing with Ganesh besides us and the Coalition and the Coalition said they never been in that sector... Of course, they could be lying but so far all assumptions point to the drones." "If that''s true then, they are the one responsible for Admiral Hansley and his men..." "¡­. This is going to be trouble... Said The Admiral." "That aside do not provoke it, until we know which side it was on. But do attempt to communicate with it with extreme cautions." "Yes, sir." "What''s our ETA?" "10 minutes sir." "I see issue code 1 red. Prepare for battle¡­" "Yes sir," the soldier saluted and left. ======== "Commander, what do you think about humans?" "Hmmm.? Well for one they have a great reputation in the galaxy and this is their first war in space. That said a lot. But I also know they are not doing it for honor or revenge but for profit. But we can''t blame them for it. For one, it was the Ganesh who attack them first like many of us. And second Humans didn''t involve other races on their war. And besides Liberty was one of the biggest open trade stations in the Galaxy and it is their doing, so all on all I have a favorable impression on them." "Why do you ask?" "Well, I don''t trust them!" Said the man beside the commander. "I see, is it personal?" "Sigh, I''m sorry commander. It is true it is a personal opinion, my cousins are swindled by a human in Liberty¡­" "Hahaha, then that''s your cousin''s fault! No race is perfect everyone has darkness in them, so you can''t judge the race because of it¡­" "I know commander but." "No but. Did you know I once was cheated by your race back on planet xxxxxx xx, if I think like you would I allow you as my right-hand man?" The man looks down ashamed. "Sorry commander." "Don''t be, but let it be a lesson to you. And you are right I don''t completely trust them, but it''s not because of their race but because we know less about them and trust needs to be earned not given" The man was about to say more but stop as they have reached their destination. Scattered destroyed warship litter the space and Ganesh and another race were fighting still and looking at it the Ganesh is clearly winning. "Prepare for battle... attack!!!" The commander shouted. ====== ===== "This where are we?" "Is this really inside the Space Beast?" Arielle Ask. "No one answered! Specter run diagnostic and scan the area, make sure it''s not illusions¡­" Said Arc. Diagnostic complete, no anomaly found. Gravitational pull normal... ... ¡­. ¡­... Specter runs numerous system check and everything is normal... But how come there''s a space inside the beast stomach, that''s right (space) it even have planets and moons in front of them there''s even a sun and asteroids... This is not something they expect inside the space beast... "Scan complete... Life planet found¡­" A green planet was displayed in the bridge hologram. It''s similar to Earth''s only more land than water it has 80% of land and 20% water. It has several moons 2 huge ones and around 18 small ones orbiting the planet. "Warning Hostile detected!" Deployed the drones Arielle tells Gideon to make preparations. The small version of the space beast can be seen in front of them and their number is in the thousands and counting. Although it is a small version the smallest is still bigger than specter, and it''s not just one species Arc saw a giant snake-like a beast and many others. Prepare for battle! Soon the drones and the small versions of space beast collided and begun to battle. Arc notice that the space beast seams to like eating his drones as every drone that gets destroyed were devoured by the mini space beast. And that''s not all even the space beast that gets killed was also devoured by another space beast. "Shit! Retreat! Head to the living planet..." Specter immediately pulled back all its drones and just using the shield they ram and force their way into the said life planet. By the time they got there specter shield is only at 24% that shows how much damage the ship received trying to run away. And like Arc Expected the moment the Specter entered the planet atmosphere the space beast stop chasing them. The planet is like a giant forest everywhere they look all they saw are giant trees and endless green. They choose a relatively tall Mountain with a flat top as landing, of course, they clean the trees using the drones... They chose that method instead of just directly landing on it. To prevent any unnecessary destruction. Inside the specter was busy scanning the planet, and countless drones were released to scout and gather intel. Luckily the planet has almost the same gravity as earth and the air is breathable as well. Unfortunately, the nearest establishment is quite far away, but it is not much of the problem, the problem is they know next to nothing regarding what kind of being living on this planet¡­and according to Specter the population is sparsely separated. Of course, that''s just an initial scan before the specter enters the planet''s atmosphere. So instead of exploring he decided to wait for the specter to finish its scan. And recon. Gideon volunteers to scout ahead, Arc agreed. So Gideon form a 5 squad with ten people each, and they are armed with mini bot and was escorted by several droids and drones. While Arc remains on the ship. Watching everything. There''s a reason why he decided to stay on the ship. It is because he felt some kind of resonance from another tool holder just like when he first traveled outside the solar system. Inside the ship, he was shielded by specter, but outside he can easily be detected by another party. And unless he knew more he wasn''t going to risk it. Chapter 160 - 160 Expansion XVI Back in Liberty Dianna was doing a press conference regarding the Grand Mall opening as well as Grand Trading Corporation officially moving into space, and with that they will be subjected into non-interference law. And Dianna first big news besides the opening of Grand Mall was the creation of subsidiary company Grand Advance Technology this is the step that put them into military business and their first product rank 6 space combat drones of course the appearance is not like the drones produce by mother drones of the drone cl.u.s.ter but more like very slick space shuttle with high maneuverability and firepower. It can be controlled remotely and also have a basic AI just in case a connection was lost. The product immediately got the attention of GFA and many other human and some alien races. Which Dianna and the rest was expecting. Dianna requested new set of specialized personnel from Gaia and Gaia who has the control over the cloning factory made a rank 5 Clones base on what Dianna needed, such as robotics engineer and other specialized occupation regarding weapons and warsh.i.p.s that specializes in space and on land but mostly in space. A whole building was dedicated into making weapons design base on current events.. Dianna also unveils many advance weapons that can be attached to all kind of sh.i.p.s and those weapons are all energy base something humans are lacking as humans mostly use metal base weapons and rarely use energy base as they don''t have the capability and technology to create energy base weapon that can be used in actual combat. GFA and many human superpower was shock and at the same time confused as to how the Grand Trading manage to create something they themselves are trying to make but failed. Food Solutions are one thing as they didn''t really pay much attention about it before the war. But weapons and drones far advance than what they possessed it shocks them to the core. Especially HFA who are waiting for Grand Trading to fail, so they can take over. But now with the power Grand Trading have shown, they finally realize why the Grand Trading never really care about them. And that scared them. Not just them even GFA becomes cautious... Of course all of that is within Arc and Dianna expectations. But the biggest surprised to everyone is the rank-8 energy shield strong enough to take a full-power attack of any mother ship. That''s the icing on the cake. Dianna also inform and send commander markos the health solutions Arc promised him. That makes him ecstatic, almost forgotten the shock he got from Dianna press conference. The weapons and Drones live public demonstration has taken place the next day, and with that all skepticism about the product disappeared. As it shock them more than the unveiling. Especially the drones agility and flexibility to handle any situations with AI autocorrect the drone''s effectiveness in combat is huge. Autocorrect means correcting the controller by giving better solution to ensure success and survival of the drones. Which pleases the higher up greatly as autocorrect can greatly lower human error... Just after the demonstrations Dianna was bombarded with request to purchase in bulk. Especially GFA who wants huge number of Drones and Energy Shields. Commander Markos immediately tried to call Arc unfortunately for him Arc was in deep space completing an urgent mission, so he called Dianna to negotiate. Of course Dianna obliged as its one of Arc order, to ensure Liberty and Earth survival GFA needs to get stronger as they are the main forces dedicated in protecting human territories. But of course Arc won''t do that for free, he will milk GFA of its resources in exchange for his products. So it is a win-win situation. GFA can upgrade and strengthen their forces and Arc can get the resources he needed, to slowly build his forces on Liberty as well on Earth. Dianna also make use of all the resources of Grand Trading mainly builder droids to create a huge non system Super factory in the newly created Space Station they Called The Messiah. It''s the combination of damage space station they got from GFA, of course it has been repaired and combined with Mother Drones disguised as regular drones protecting it along with 1-star energy shield its one of the most guarded facilitys in solar system. Countless Drones and unmanned Mecha protecting and patrolling The Messiah 24/7 without any weakness no one is willing to test the waters. Of course, it was Gaia responsible for controlling all the drones and droids protecting The Messiah. Dianna used the Messiah as experimental non system ship building facilities. Of course many of the components like the engine and weapons are created by the system but the actual ship will be designed and build by Grand Trading using Clones and experts hired by Dianna and Builder Droids to physically build it in mass. Of course that will take some time but several ship design was already been approved and being build, after some field testing it will then be added into Grand Advanced Technology collections. Dianna concludes that the first ship prototype would be released to the public in a few months time. Dianna also releases many other products like beauty products like make up and such as well as new communication devices for military use and public use in space, And many other similar products. And three days after the product demonstrations The Grand Mall officially opened and receive almost 500k visitors in just a few hours. Luckily Arc and Dianna and Mia foresaw it, so they incorporate space folding technology when they are building the mall so the inside if bigger than what it looks outside. Because of that the Grand Mall capacity is actually 10 millions. And that can be expanded as well but in returns it will eat up huge amount of rare resources, so Arc just put it into normal settings that will not need any materials to maintain. Chapter 161 - 161 Expansion XVII When the news of Grand Trading moving into Liberty reach the public on Earth, many were scared that Grand Trading would stop operating on Earth. As Grand Trading becomes a household name, countless people are depending on it just the VR alone has 80% of the world using it, so when they heard that Grand Trading would not stop doing business on Earth the whole world rejoices but many are still worried that sooner or later Grand Trading like all company that decided to leave Earth would soon stop operating on Earth. So United Government (UG) gives Grand Trading a very favorable tax incentive, not like Grand Trading needs it but nevertheless Dianna accepted it. Dianna also reassured Earth that as long as Earth would not close its door to Grand Trading, Grand Trading would continue to operate on Earth it''s just that 80% of credits earned by Grand Trading on earth would be converted into resources. And many governments on Earth are very happy to accept it. Only Human Federation Alliance(HFA) is not very happy with it. But Dianna or Arc couldn''t care less what HFA thinks... Today Dianna was having a meeting with Commander Markos and Admiral Ford along with Lisa and Vice Admiral Sheila, there were also some representative of the top Elders of GFA, they are here to Discuss cooperation with Grand Trading regarding the Drones and Energy Shield. Unfortunately, for them Dianna is far more formidable negotiator than Arc, After all, this is her specialty giving Commander Markos and the rest a headache, especially Commander Markos as he was very familiar with Arc and knows how to negotiate with him and to him Arc as already a good negotiator but when he negotiates with Dianna he found out Arc was just a novice and Dianna was a Grand Master. If they know that if not for Arc asking Dianna to cooperate with GFA and was only on easy mode. They would have all passed out. In the end, Dianna was able to get another 100 sq kilometers of land on Liberty she was also able to get many rare materials from GFA, giving Commander Markos a headache he can''t help cursing Arc for being away... In the end, GFA was able to get a contract of 10000 combat drones and 1000 energy shields, as well as many energy weapons as for the payment Dianna asked for several things, like 100 sq kilometers of prime Land in Liberty as well as some rare Materials but one of the requests almost made the representative of HFA pass out as Dianna was asking for the HFA Space Elevator. In the End, HFA didn''t Agree so Dianna Asked for Ten times the amount resources and some other things, which made all the representative of top Elders cursed but no matter how much they negotiate Dianna didn''t budge, she just said if you don''t like it there''s plenty of buyers out there willing to pay. And I only prioritized orders that have a contract, I can give you a regular price but you would have to wait after all the other contract has been fulfilled. Making them all cursed Even Markos can''t do anything about Dianna. Even Lisa who has a great relationship with Dianna couldn''t do anything, Dianna only said: friendsh.i.p.s and Business are different matters, making Tiffa almost giggles. In the end, many elders cursed HFA for being too greedy and greatly took advantage of Earth for a long time making Grand Trading who was Earth Born Enterprise hates them and because of that GFA and the rest are getting caught up with it. As among all human superpower on space, only HFA are greatly siphoning Earth resources without giving back. So, in the end, they decided to decreased HFA shares on Ganesh resources if they don''t want to give up their space Elevator on Earth. In fact, Arc didn''t really need the space elevator as they already have the tractor beam, but it can also be said that space elevator is more energy-efficient than tractor beam, unfortunately building a space elevator needs a right area to build and on earth there''s only one perfect place to build it and HFA knows it and build a space elevator there. And so even though some human superpower has the capability to build one, they can''t because there''s a no more ideal place to build it. It took them a long time to deliberate but in the end, HFA refused to give up the space elevator, Dianna and Arc know that there''s no way HFA would give up the space elevator as they have so many secret places on Earth and without the space elevator they have no way to really hide it. But even though Arc and Dianna know that HFA would not give up the space elevator they still included it in their demands just to isolate HFA form other elders of GFA. The HFA refusing to give up the space elevator and Dianna asking 10x more because of it annoyed the other elder to no end, so they collectively make a vote to cut a huge portion of HFA shares of resources from Ganesh making the President of HFA furious, but there''s nothing he can do as he was the one who decided to not hand over the space elevator, that is very cheap to build. If there another place on Earth thats ideal for building space elevator he would give it up no question asked. But unfortunately, that wasn''t the case, so he has no choice but to take a hit. And what''s worse Grand Trading who they think is nothing but an upstart company that got lucky now have the power to contend or even surpassed many human superpowers, their revenge is getting farther and farther away. When Dianna heard the vote to take a huge portion of Ganesh materials away from HFA she couldn''t help but give a smile. But instead, the representative of HFA is staring Dagger at her, but she didn''t care, over a hundred Shadow units are protecting her and Tiffa 24/7, so she doesn''t have any problem in regard to security. And she''s not weak either. Overall it''s a very successful negotiations for Grand Trading. GFA also promise to pay in advance, so Dianna has no worry of lack in materials to build Combat drones and with the amount she got from GFA she could build a million drones with materials to spare. And she even got 100 sq kilometers of prime land in Liberty. She has no plans for it yet. Mia was very busy building and designing a City in the old maharlika country. That''s Her next big project. Dianna also promises to deliver all the orders One month after the payment. And since GFA are in so very need of the Drones, they made payment in just a few days the contract was signed... Chapter 162 - 162 Expansion XVIII Over the next few days, Grand Mall has become one of the most visited places in central Liberty, there are almost 3 to 5 million visitors daily and on a good day the numbers almost double but even so the Grand Mall is so big it never feels crowded. And two weeks after the opening Dianna released another product combat mech. Name Fallen It has two models space and land mech, the mech is only a third of the size of regular mech but twice deadly the agility and combat flexibility is off the chart compared to the latest Mech designed by Humans. The mech earns a lot of criticism but when Dianna offers a duel, and when a single space Fallen destroys ten mecha single-handedly all human who witnesses it was shocked, and worse for the representative is that it is not a private duel but a public one, one that''s been broadcasted live on countless human planet and space colony. And what''s more all ten pilots on human sides are all famous Ace pilots. And on the Grand Trading side an unknown female pilot, what they didn''t know is that Dianna requested a 1-star Master Mech pilot from Gaia, and Gaia spends an enormous amount of materials to fulfill Dianna''s request. And so Luna Lee was born. And so another pilot superstar was born that day. Luna Lee becomes an instant star. And Dianna made use of it she turns Luna into Fallen poster girl. Dianna and Oda made use of it, Oda created a Combat Squad of 20 Mech and 500 drones and one Frigate Class combat ship. Was put on GFA as a special Unit. To help GFA with the war it was Grand Trading''s way of cooperating and giving part into the war. The Unit Called Fallen Angel even though its under GFA it is taking action independently. But Dianna turns it into a reality show, Dianna would record the everyday activity of the girls and posted it into the web. At first, Dianna only posted the fight but later on with the request of Arc sister who names themselves the personal manager of the Fallen Angels it was turned into a reality show, the sisters have a good relationship with fallen angels especially Luna. Which they met accidentally when they are exploring the Liberty with Arc parents, and because of the personality of the sisters they become close very quickly. And so when they found out about Dianna posting the fights of the Fallen Angels mainly Luna''s fight as a way to promote their products the two sisters ask Dianna to turn it into a reality show, and because it was the sisters who requested it, so She couldn''t refuse. But what happened next surprised even her. When the sisters ask the help of Gaia to cut and edit all videos of the girls talking and playing and doing just regular things. And with the sisters took upon themselves to take the job of quality control. The online series name Meeting the Angels has becomes an instant hit. And since it was an online series meaning anyone can see it as long as they are online anywhere in the galaxy, the sisters even made it to a point to release it on Earth. And who would have thought that it becomes a hit not only with the humans but to the many aliens as well. Poster of the angels can now be seen everywhere on the web and into many phones. The sisters also earn a huge amount of credits for the copyright and for the right to publish. Dianna could only shake her head when she saw how serious two sisters are when editing the videos and Tiffa even joins in the fun and help the sisters. They also received many sponsors requests, but the sisters are very meticulous. About choosing sponsors and even with so many requests they only choose 3 so far. One is a very luxurious brand of perfumes, and Second as jewelry every girl has an innate love for beautiful jewelry not even girls made by system is exempt from it and lastly, shoes.. the rest are all product of Grand Trading. even the clothes are designed by the sisters as hobbies. And those three items the moments the people saw the angels using it become very popular. And becomes a fashion statement. Every few days Oda with the help of Gaia and Legion they would find a Ganesh or space beast or pirates to fight. Oda also made use of the enhance beast lord and created a special unit called Carnage that composed of Beast Lord and the one leading it is called Fenrir it is another 1-star clone with the special characteristics of a werewolf. And just like the Fallen Angel, Carnage was a Special Squad posted on Messiah as their home base, and they will fight and hunt Ganesh on a daily basis. Their ship and Mech are all customs made. The Carnage is a huge unit composed of over 500 beast lords they also have Ark Class battleship that was created just for them. Of course, at most, the battleship is only about Rank-3 at most but the mech and many of its weapons are all close to 1-star class. Time pass and a month have already passed since the Grand Mall opening on Liberty. And Grand Trading Corporation becomes one of the fastest-growing companies in space. Far away from a peaceful setting of Liberty, GFA once again is going toe to toe with the Ganesh but unlike before they now have combat drones with them and with the upgrade of their shield, and weapons they were able to destroy the Ganesh with no ship of them being destroyed. It''s their first perfect victory as the only loss they suffer is the destruction of some drones, with no loss of human lives. And when the report of the said battle reaches the GFA HQ, meaning every human superpower has learned of it they were shocked. They were surprised when they saw the actual footage, they saw the Ganesha fired many powerful attacks but none manage to get past the new energy shield, for one reason or another there were no mother ship class from Ganesh side, so they were unable to penetrate the GFA new shields... And so they immediately contacted Commander Markos in order to get more drones and energy shields. Chapter 163 - 163 Humanity Commander Markos was surprised when he saw the footage of the humanity''s first true victory, no death, and they deal massive damage, and what''s more, they manage to get a lot of spoils of war. Markos forgot how many times he has watched the footage, and he couldn''t help grinning every time. But every time he thinks of negotiating with Dianna he can''t help frowning. So instead he sent vice-admiral Sheila Jones and Lisa. They were the ones originally assigned as a liaison of GFA to negotiate with Grand Trading and this time they want a lot of Drones especially the Shield and weapons. Unfortunately for them Dianna wasn''t just dealing with them anymore, The Coalition also wants those Drones, Shields and the weapons and with the materials Dianna gets as payments from GFA she won''t have any problem of material shortage anytime soon. When Sheila and Lisa went to Grand Trading HQ in Liberty Dianna was in a meeting with the representative of the Coalition. And The Coalition is a lot richer than GFA or even all humanity superpowers combined. After all the Coalition is made up of many alien forces. And their territory is huge, so they have many resource planets under them. And this time the Coalition wants to cooperate with Grand Trading they want grand trading to become part of the Coalition but Dianna refused and wants to maintain their neutral stands against all defending forces. The Coalition offered Dianna many things, but she remains passive so the Coalition couldn''t do anything but to trade with Grand Trading. Like any other forces. Sheila and Lisa were surprised when they saw the Coalition representative in Dianna''s office Nevertheless they waited in the next room until Dianna was done dealing with the Coalition representative. 30 minutes later the Coalition representative left. And Dianna goes to be with Sheila and Lisa who were waiting. "Vice-admiral, and Lisa. What brings you here? Sorry for the wait.'' Said, Dianna. "No worries were the ones who came unannounced." Said Sheila. "So what brings you here?" Dianna Asked. Of course, Dianna already guests why, but she still asked just to be polite. "Well, you can already probably guess why we''re here. GFA wants more weapons, drones and Shields." Said Lisa. "I see," Dianna frowned. Sheila saw it and asked. "Is it the coalition?" "That''s right, they ordered a lot and since we already signed the contract. You have to wait until theirs are done." Said, Dianna. Sheila frowned, "is there any other way?" "I told you guys the first time, better order more since we have a lot of costumers, unlike before that you guys are our only buyer. Now we have a lot." Said, Dianna. "Sighs, let me talk to my superiors." Said Sheila. "Go ahead I don''t think it will change anything though." Said, Dianna. "20 minutes later Sheila is back. I have my superiors on the line they want to talk with you" said Sheila. "Sure," said Dianna. Lisa put down some device and the hologram of all the top elders of GFA was displayed. "Hello CEO Dianna. My name is ***** I''m one of the elder of GFA is there a way to take our order first?" "Sighs, Elder ***** I''m afraid it''s not going to be easy as we already sign a contract with Coalition." "So if we go with the order normally how long before we receive our orders?" Said one of the elders. Dianna thinks for a bit. And said. "The soonest one year the latest 2 years." "That''s too long! Where all humanity here can''t you reconsider?" Said another elder. When Markos and the rest heard it they frown. But didn''t say anything. Dianna saw the one who has spoken and recognize him. He was an HFA representative to GFA. "I''m sorry who are you?" Asked Dianna even though she already knows. "I''m ***** an elder from HFA." "I see said Dianna, you said we''re all humanity but how long have HFA been oppressing the Earth the birthplace of humanity for? Are they not part of your so-called humanity?" Said Dianna with a cold voice. When the elder heard it he frowned. "We''re not talking about Earth!" "You''re not, but I am!" Said, Dianna. She looks at the elder straight from the eyes and said. "So are they not part of your so-called humanity?" The elder gnashed his teeth but didn''t reply. "What''s wrong? Did I ask a wrong question?" Said, Dianna. "Alright we''re getting out of topic, are we not talking about ordering?" Said another elder with an annoyed voice. Dianna looks at them with a cold-looking face and said. "Not anymore! You will get your order after were done with everything else if you don''t like it go buy somewhere else. Goodbye!" The elders were stunned even Markos and Sheila were stunned only Lisa remains calm like she was expecting it. She knows Dianna temperament above anyone else in this room she knows Dianna is far more Hardass than Arc ever was. And before any elder could react Dianna already turn around and was leaving. Markos immediately reacted and said. "Miss Dianna, please don''t do this lets talk again." "Dianna stop walking and turn around, and said "my Boss like you a lot commander so ill give you another chance. Here''s my conditions, first I want the HFA space station second, I want all HFA forces and business on earth removed and lastly, I want HFA to never ever step on earth again. Do that and I prioritized your order ill even give you a huge discount." Said Dianna smiling. It looks like a beautiful smile but to the elders it was a she-demon smile especially to the representative of HFA. "After all were all part of humanity I just want humanity to be freed from being oppressed." She then looks at the elder from HFA. "It''s a small condition, after all, like you said it was all for humanity." Markos sighs, he knows there no more changing her mind. So he looks at the Elder from HFA, in fact, he wasn''t the only one looking but all the other elders. "No! That''s impossible..." Said the elders form HFA. "So I guess people from the earth are not part of your so-called humanity, unfortunately from you guys Grand Trading is from Earth. Were done here! you''ll get your orders when I deal with everything else. Goodbye gentlemen." This time Dianna left for good and no one stops her. Sheila and Lisa could only shake their heads. Sheila left the room and so only Lisa and Tiffa remains. "Hahaha, Lisa don''t be so tensed, relaxed you did your job let just eat some snacks." Said Tiffa. "You! Sigh. Well, whatever let''s eat." Said Lisa. Dianna returns and just smiles at the two who were at the couch in front of her table eating snacks and drinking tea. 30 minutes later Sheila returned and when she saw the two she was speechless. "You two! What... Darn¡­ sighs¡­ F.u.c.k whatever ill go eat too." So she joins the two eating snacks and drinking tea. Tiffa giggles. Well, no offense to you both but some of your elders are D.i.c.ks and assholes. Said Tiffa while eating snacks. "None taken, we don''t like them too, but we don''t have a choice we were working for them after all." Said Sheila. "Then why don''t you quit your job and work for us instead!" Said Tiffa. The two looks at Tiffa for a few seconds seeing her serious face Sheila said: "you serious?" "Of course." Chapter 164 - 164 Humanity II Today was an unusual day as Dianna was visited not just one but two human representatives the first is Merchant Guild it''s the Original Merchant Emporium that also existed back on earth they are the oldest merchant union from Earth. They are responsible for peddling Earth products across the Galaxy. And they are also GFA Rival. As the GFA was fighting the Ganesh in the open the Merchant Guild are also fighting the Ganesh in the shadow and there''s no mistake on their actual capabilities. They were battling the Ganesh longer that even HFA of GFA ever was, but only on a smaller scale. The second is the Omega Foundation the only known Human superpower in space that didn''t join the GFA, Omega Foundation is founded by a group of renowned Scientists from Earth, and they are the biggest supplier of Droids and Mechs on the solar system. These two human forces are both equally powerful as GFA only more recluse and private so not many are known of their movements and actions. The Merchant Guild request is very simple the right to sell Grand Trading products outside the Solar System. They are asking for a discount when purchasing bulk, especially the Food and Health solutions. As well as military products... Dianna''s answer is quite simple she will have to study it first as she didn''t know if her Boss has any plans for it outside humanity''s influence. So She will have to ask Gaia for a possible simulation before she agreed. As for the Omega Foundation, they want a partnership, but Dianna flatly refused. Which the Omega Foundation expected and instead they want to purchase a huge number of Solutions and military weapons such as Drones and shields as well as the newly introduce Autonomous Mech. Grand Advance Technology or ''GAT'' is starting to be known as one of the biggest suppliers of the military equipment, even though they only have a limited number of products. GFA has been quiet since the meeting with Dianna but Dianna knows HFA representative is being grilled inside GFA now. but Dianna also knows HFA is no pushover they are still one of biggest human superpower next to GFA and their influence is not so easily squashed but Dianna knows its only a matter of time. The number of attempts to infiltrate the Messiah has increased but with Gaia controlling it, all attempt failed the security of Messiah is no joke, as it has a fully automated defence system its impossible to infiltrate it without hacking its system and with Gaia as its brain no one is capable of hacking it even after a thousand years have passed. no one knows that Messiah has fully autonomous deffence system and thats all the personnel they saw are all advance droids. Mean while Dianna contacted Leslie Deacon well actually it was Tiffa who called her, after their first meeting the two becomes very close and continues to keep in touch with each other. Dianna Contacted her to collaborate and design a New Age battleship. as for the time being Grand Trading have no means to build an advance warp engine advance enough to be use in military battlesh.i.p.s, but with Leslie''s expertise in Designing advance Warp engines and Grand Advance Tech. Capability Dianna wants to create a battleship that wasn''t too advance but without relying too much on Factory System. Leslie didn''t hesitate and immediately agreed and so a huge part of the newly acquired Prime land in Liberty was converted into a research and development institute by Dianna. With Leslie and several others that came from a cloning Factory. The head or leader of the Grand Advanced Tech. A 1-star clone specialized in advance technology is name Abel Frankenstein or what others called him, Dr. Frankenstein. Frankenstein team up with Leslie''s team to form another Subsidiary company under Grand Advance Technology and together with Deacon advance engine corporation. And they called it Future Technology. Its main objective is to produce or create an advance Battleship that can rival the most advance alien ship in the galaxy, Grand Advance tech would own 50% of the shares while Deacon Advance Engine Corp. Would own 35% and 15% would then be divided among all the participating scientist base on their contributions. The contract has been signed under the first Bank and has become official. The research institute was currently being built by Mia''s most trusted people and with another contractor that''s under Magnificent Shipbuilders inc. That''s a company of Commander Markos Deacon. Who mainly build private Space Sh.i.p.s. The news of collaboration immediately sent a shock wave to all human civilizations. And Commander Markos was so Happy he couldn''t stop smiling for days. The only elder of GFA that are happy with the current situation. Future Tech. Becomes the headlines of many newspapers and news articles and media for several days. The war with Ganesh remains intense but humanity especially GFA are starting to get an upper hand with the Help of Drones, Shield and weapons they got from Grand Advance Tech. Even the Coalition is starting to take back their territory that''s been taken over by the Ganesh. But even still the Ganesh seems to adapt to the changes of GFA and the Coalition and new and more powerful sh.i.p.s from the Ganesh can be seen participating in some battles. Making the GFA and Coalition worried especially the GFA as with every battle their reserved of Drones continues to dwindled and with every ship that gets destroyed its one less energy Shield and with GAT occupied by fulfilling others Order, their angered was then redirected to HFA who was the source of the problem. The Elders now gives the tasked of renegotiating with Grand Advance technology ''GAT''. To the elder from HFA and with every passing time they continued to cut the portion of the loot of HFA, the elder from HFA and the president of HFA has becoming more desperate. With every action they take remains unsuccessful, they even plan to kidnapped Arc''s parents and sisters making Dianna and the rest furious, so she Ordered the destruction of HFA biggest Base on Space and the killing of all those responsible for it. Making HFA shiver in fear. They know who did it, but they don''t have any evidence Grand Trading was no longer the same as before that they fear retaliation from Human superpower from space. And the biggest blow is that the president and all the top executives of HFA their families disappeared hours after they failed to kidnap Arc Parents. What they didn''t know is that even before Arc Left to complete his Urgent quest. Eve has all the families of the top leaders of HFA under surveillance and with the surging number or Shadow Unit, Gaia not only put those families under surveillance she even put Shadow unit to keep an eye on them. And so when they Attempted to kidnap Arc Families Dianna specially Oda was furious, so they bag all the families and transfer all of them into a safe house where they will be imprisoned. If Arc was here he would not resort to this kind of action but since he is not here. He won''t be angry if he didn''t know. It was actually Oda who ordered it. It was only later that Dianna found out about it. But she didn''t say anything. Especially to Tiffa who she knows would overreact. Dianna knows Arc would not condone this kind of action, so she plans to conceal it, Oda knows that too but to anyone who would harm the Family of their god they have no sympathy even if they have to destroy the whole world for it. Chapter 165 - 165 Humanity III HFA hierarchy is in disarray, especially the President of HFA as he loves his family very much and their protection is his number one priority, he was so protective that no one from the top executives knows the name or even what his family looks like, and he even asks his family to change location every now and then. But even with all those protections, they failed, and he knows it was Grand Trading who did it, he didn''t know how they did it as he wasn''t even aware that his family has been taken as he limits their communication when HFA is in trouble because of Grand Trading demands. He only found out about it when an untraceable email was sent to his email account. At first, he thought it was a sick joke as he has lots of enemies after all. But as he read he began to feel dread so immediately contacted his family using a secret hidden device and when no one responded after several tries he knows his fears have come true. And he wasn''t alone. And what''s worse there was no demand from the other party. Making them even more fearful about the condition of their family. Oda didn''t mind playing the bad guy role, in fact, he likes it. So even after taking all those families he acted like nothing has happened, he continues to do his everyday work. He didn''t order for demand, to those that know the operations it seems like Oda has become senile and forgot about the family he abducted. Of course, Oda didn''t harm the family, but he kept them all separated. He kept them all in diferent rooms, one room per person. The room is soundproof and only has a single bed and toilet. No other device is in there. The room is big enough for 20 people to fit through, so they can stretch themselves if they wanted. The kids have droids to take care of them. They are given the lowest of solutions for food it is tasteless. Of course the children are treated more humanly as posible so their food is much better compared to the a.d.u.l.ts. And the rooms is like a room of a psych ward all white and the walls and floors are covered by soft rubber substance. Even the bed and toilets are made of the same materials. They have no conversation with anyone only mindless robots patrol and manage the area. As Oda was acting carefree the same couldn''t be said to the leaders of HFA. They have been on meeting for hours but barely any conversation took place. It seems like they are waiting for demand but after a whole day and no one receive anything they even called Dianna but Dianna denied everything and even threatens to sue them if they continue to harass her. Dianna didn''t bother to ask for details about the families Oda abducted and just continue like nothing happen and that makes all the spy of HFA confused. The news of the abduction reached the elders of the GFA but when they asked why would Grand Trading do it HFA just give a bunch of random reasons. Of course, they won''t tell that they tried kidnapping Arc parents and it happens hours after they failed to abduct Arc parents and Sisters. And because of that, they failed to gather sympathy. And what''s worse some are accusing them of lying and just making excused to not accept Grand Trading Demand. After all the news of all the families of the top executives of HFA was all abducted at the same time sounds stupid. After all, those families receives the same kind of protection the top executives have, some even exceeded it. So who would believe that grand Trading was capable of identifying all their family members and abducted them all at the same time without them knowing about it. When even the GFA doesn''t have a complete data on who their family members are. Especially Markos who personally talked to Arc as he is a very good judge of character he believes that Arc is not capable of doing such things. If there''s any hesitation on his mind would he push his most beloved granddaughter to that kind of person? Of course not. So he firmly believes that Arc has nothing to do with the said abduction. So he no longer pays attention to it, and besides, he hated those from HFA. As days passed HFA top executives becomes even more desperate without receiving any form of demand it''s like their family was swallowed by a black hole. In fact, being swallowed by the black hole is a lot better as they have a map of all possible exit from the black hole. No, lack of news from their families paralyzed them of what actions to take. Especially the president of HFA huge eye bags can be seen from under his eyes he refused to eat and do anything. And just shut himself in his office. The destruction of their most important base from space seems a small matter to the top executives now. In fact, they just stop caring about anything else and just continue to worry about their missing family, of course, there are some who tried to take their mind away from their missing family and decided to just work. As the war with the Ganesh intensified GFA becomes more desperate for more Drones and shields luckily the coalition who received their order of Drones, Shield and weapons began to once again take a huge portion of Ganesh attention but that didn''t make the GFA happy as the more battles they didn''t take part of the more spoils they missed. Especially when they saw the Coalition winning some big battles and getting a huge amount of spoils. And now even the merchant guild is beginning to become more active in fighting the Ganesh with the help of the drones and the new product of Grand Advance tech. The autonomous Mech. they actively take part in fighting the Ganesh unlike before. While many human superpowers who once remain passive are becoming active thanks to Grand trading Corp. Even some aliens are joining the war after they purchased the products from Grand Trading. After all the product of Grand Trading is so much cheaper compared to the spoils they would get. GFA knows in the future looking for the Ganesh would be difficult. As more and more rival for Ganesh spoils increases GFA profit is decreasing. Until finally they couldn''t take it anymore the HFA incompetence has taken the nerve of all elders of GFA, so they unanimously voted for the take over of HFA. When the President and the executives of HFA heard it it''s like they have been doused by cold water waking them up from their grief. But its already too late many leaders of HFA already made a deal with GFA and change sides. Almost 80% of HFA admirals have accepted the GFA deal. The rest who were loyal to HFA fought back but before they can take any action they were betrayed by their own men who were bribed by GFA, 10 days thats all it took for GFA to take over one of the biggest human superpower on space after the GFA took over HFA, GFA officially announced that HFA would be completely part of GFA and all their territory would then be taken over by GFA. The president and the top executives was all imprisoned their assets confiscated of course only the physical one, their credits from the first bank remain untouched. As GFA can''t touch them. But even so, the news of HFA being completely absorbed by GFA reach all human civilization especially Earth as they were under HFA shadow for a very long time. And so commander Markos once again renegotiates with Dianna who was smiling brightly when he saw her. All assets of HFA on earth would be handed over to Grand Trading Including the space elevator and that includes HFA Space station hovering above Earth. Grand Trading then announced that Space Elevator would be available to everyone on earth. And HFA Space station would then be converted as transit city as well as Entertainment and Commercial City. Making everyone on earth rejoiced. Few days after that all the families of the top executives were released silently in all corners of earth. And from beginning to end they never interacted with anyone many of them suffers from delusion from a long period of isolation but ODA didn''t care they should be thankful they weren''t executed silently. Of course, everyone finds out about it when one of the family members goes online and started making video messages the girl used to be a social celebrity so when she suddenly come online and began to recount her experience it made headlines. But only barely as many didn''t believe her and just plainly hated her and her family because they are part of HFA. But even so, GFA tried to investigate but found nothing, no lead to follow and with the victim having no interaction with its captor. They have no choice but to simply stop all investigation before they pissed the mysterious captor. Of course, the top executives of the former HFA found out about it but by then their happiness is short-lived especially when they realized they have lost everything. Only the president of HFA is very happy and didn''t seem to care about what happens to HFA. Chapter 166 - 166 Humanity IV With the Earth mostly under Grand Trading control, Earth has now entered a rapid rise on technology, technology that are formerly out of their reach has become available for them and many entrepreneurs and business owners, big and small take advantage of it, and because of that earth technology are rising faster of course it will take time before earth can get to the level of technology as superpower from space but with the help of Grand Trading. They are on the right path. The down fall of HFA was a big break many was waiting for small and big company who have a plan on moving into space and was being blocked by HFA now have a chance to follow their dreams and with the space elevator being open for everyone it is now becomes a lot easier to go to space and with the excess of talent that comes from HFA many take advantage and immediately absorbed those talented individuals. Grand Trading benefited the most as many of the former HFA personnel have their first choice is Grand Trading, and Grand Trading welcomes those talents. of course they will have to be investigated thoroughly but with Gaia capabilities it is a small matter. As the Shadow unit began to infiltrate and take control of the government on earth. Grand City is being established, it is a former exclusive city of HFA here on Earth, but since it comes under Grand Trading control, it undergoes a huge transformation. Dianna converted it into a City for all the Grand Trading employees family and relatives to live. And Grand Technology and Grand Bank Main Building was build inside the Grand City. And because of that Grand City becomes a symbol of status and wealth a symbol especially to those who are living there Grand Trading was very generous with its employees giving them 3-5 times more salary and benefits compare to the other company. Grand Trading City is open for everyone but only those related to Grand Trading can lived there of course there are hotels and such for those who wants to visit the city. Every shop and establishment on Grand City is atleast 3-star and above so only those that can afford it will visit the city but even so there are countless visitors exploring the city even though its only 30% complete. Combat droid patrol the city 24/7 and many maintenance droids can be seen all over the city. Grand City becomes the most advance city on earth and the one managing it is Arc''s parents, especially Arc mom she was active in designing and managing the city of course Dianna provided her with the top personnel to help her. After Arc''s parents and sisters finish exploring earth and Liberty they decided to be part of Grand Trading. And Arc encourage it, as it was also a way to keep them busy it''s also Arc parents Idea to build the Grand City for the family of the employees of Grand Trading, by now Grand Trading and all its affiliates company employs close to half a million personnel. Especially Grand Technology on Earth, Grand Technology now produced many products not from the system. Like clothing and such, because of that Grand Technology alone have over 250 thousand employees. The apparel business was under the sisters as they really like designing clothes and jewelry. So under Grand Technology, GT apparel was born at first it was just a small collection of clothes designed by the sisters but it quickly becomes famous as many top employees of Grand Tradings wears it especially Dianna and Tiffa who now becomes a business celebrity on Earth. And during one interview when someone ask what brand of clothes Dianna is wearing she proudly said GT collection. And since then it becomes one of the most sought after brand on earth. Especially since GT Apparel is mostly exclusive and not really available on the market. But ever since The Angels started wearing GT apparel as well it becomes very famous, and the only Store of GT is located on Grand City it becomes one of the most visited store in the city. As the Earth continue to advance, GFA was also advancing. As soon as they received the supply from Grand Advanced Technology, and with the integration of HFA. GFA have become more powerful. All over the Galaxy the Ganesh is under fire from many forces. Many small forces who before didn''t have the capability to fight the Ganesh, but with the help of Grand Trading they now have the means to defend or fight back against the Ganesh, but even so to everyones surprise the Ganesh didn''t just retreat but it also becomes more aggressive and what''s more the Ganesh forces is increasing as well not only that new type of sh.i.p.s and weapons can be seen as well. Grand Advance Technology, is producing Combat drones and shields as well as Autonomous Mech in millions but even so the demand is so much more than they can produced. So Dianna have no Choice but to use some multi-purpose manufacturing factory that are producing solutions to produce Combat drones and energy aswell and facilities to produced Autonomous Mech have increase several times just to keep up with the demand. Dianna and Tiffa was so busy meeting one alien race or another human power one after another who wants to purchase Drones and other products. As the news of how effective the Drones and Shield are and autonomous mech in fighting the Ganesh many aliens who wants to protect thier home planet become interested. And since Dianna didn''t discriminate against any alien as long as it''s not being used for piracy or anything illegal, she would sell the products of course a contract has to be signed stating that the product cannot be use in any form of piracy and illegal activities. And because of that many alien race was interested especially those who have a weaker technology. And so Grand Trading becomes one of the wealthiest company in Liberty just the sales of Drones is enough to bury Grand Trading with Bright Credits not to mention the sales of solutions and other products. Dianna was able to amass a huge amount of resources and rare materials. It comes to the point that Dianna is having a problem where to store all the materials she acquired. Even with the drones and another product in full production the materials they are acquiring is far more than they can spend but it also gives Oda a chance to create more clones making the Grand Army more powerful. Mean while remnants of former HFA loyalists are banding together forming a relatively small force on Earth and the one leading them are families of Elders and top executives. so far they are not doing anything that could warant an attention but unbeknownst to them Gaia and Shadow Units are watching their every actions. Chapter 167 - 167 Messiah Away from everyone eyes in Messiah Grand Army space forces are starting to come together tens of thousands of soldiers are undergoing very strict training and if you look closer some of them have wings on their back while some have very distinct alien features, those are from Celeste race and Alien race Arc rescued from slavery. Many of them are working with Dianna in Grand Trading but most chooses to be in the army especially those slaves that has been rescued, as many of them are former soldiers before their race was enslaved. Oda places Tom and Jerry as trainer along with many new clones to help them better train soldiers in space. New type of armored Mechs are being developed for the Army on Messiah. Tom looks at the soldiers being trained and nodded he couldn''t wait for this army to be deployed in the future. Oda is also overseeing the construction of Grand Army battlesh.i.p.s, he estimated it will be ready in just a few months. The shadow Units are also being trained in space combat and many other things in Messiah. As the Shadow Unit no longer confined on Earth, and with the operations of Grand Trading keeps getting wider and wider the shadow unit needs to be ready for anything and so Oda turn the Shadow unit into some kindnof special elite forces. That can do almost anything. And Michelle and Dove are more than willing to do it. Except for those doing important mission almost all previous generation of Shadow Unit are undergoing special training including Dove And Michelle it has been supervised by clones who specialize in training special agents. Oda ordered a very advance training facility to build in Messiah out of everyone''s eyes. To the rest of the world Messiah is just a production space station. And in some way it was correct as half of Messiah is indeed being used to produce drones and some other products. Grand army have three training facilities The Messiah is where space combats are being trained. And in Grand fortress land base combat are being trained and lastly in the former Maharlika. Specialize training are being conducted. These three training center are the life blood of Grand Army and in order for anyone to become shadow Unit one needs to pass all training center. In messiah many 1-star scientist are conducting research on how to combine the system factory with current technology without losing much power. And the current battleship being developed are the very first product of their research. When almost every human and alien forces are occupied by the war on Ganesh. Grand Army are slowly building its forces away from everyone attention. And with the space elevator already under grand trading they can now transport personnel without getting too much attention but of course GFA noticed that Grand Trading are transferring many personnel in space, but they assumed it is because of the increased in production of drones and other products of Grand Trading. But of course some are skeptic about it especially since the rise of Grand Trading is unprecedented so many human forces are keeping them under strict surveillance. In order to figure out the Grand Trading secret. But in order to not provoke Grand Trading they keep a certain distance. As many of them are relying on them for the time being. But that doesn''t mean they will leave Grand Trading unchecked. But Oda didn''t care at all he was aware of all the eyes focus on them but unlike before they no longer care about human forces for their power already exceeded them by far what he was worried was the tool holders Arc have mentioned before he left. And that''s what he was preparing for, for he has no idea how powerful those tool holders are. And that''s not all Oda was doing in Messiah he is slowly starting to weaponized the Messiah as more and more powerful weapon are being installed in secret along with a very powerful engines that''s capable of moving the Messiah as fast as a regular ship. And with a sheild installed on Messiah its practically impenetrable. Many forces didn''t see any problem with it as it was the main production facility of Grand Trading so protecting it is only normal. Countless combat drones patrol the area of Messiah making infiltration impossible. But even so many forces are spying on it. And looking for a chance to infiltrate. As the days progress the war on Ganesh intensified the encounter have become more and more frequent and GFA and other forces have no choice but to band together as Ganesh forces began to increase in size dramatically. So many smaller forces starting to form alliance together to fight the Ganesh and while GFA and the Coalition are taking most of the Ganesh attention. Small forces take advantage of it. Garou the commander of Ganesh no longer playing around he began to fight for real he no longer tried to hide anything hidden forces of Ganesh who was supposed to be their hidden weapon are now being deployed because of Grand Trading supplying many forces with the means to contend with them, this drastically change the plans of Garou he can no longer afford to play safe. So he has no choice but to use every means he had in disposal. He also asked for more advance reinforcement, and because of that the coalition and GFA are feeling the pressure. Thankfully they no longer need to think about a lack forces thanks to Grand Trading. Even though they knew that Grand Trading are earning a fortune from them they have no choice but to comply for one is it also because of greed they don''t want to give away the spoils they can potentially gain from fighting the Ganesh so even though they envy the Grand Trading they are thankful the Grand Trading are not hogging all the spoils by fighting the Ganesh by themselves. What they didn''t know is that Grand Trading are making use of them to fight the Ganesh on their behalf and also Grand Trading is trying to lay low in order not to attract the attention of the tool holders until they have the means to really contend with them. And besides its a win win for everyone as all of them are earning a fortune from this war. What they didn''t know is that Legion was the one responsible for gaining spoils from Ganesh. And Legion is indeed very busy, and he is the biggest thorn on Ganesh side as he is ambushing Ganesh forces left and right making it hard for them to gather their forces. Chapter 168 - 168 Origin Legion is constantly ambushing Ganesh forces especially those that are performing raid on weaker race. And any isolated Ganesh forces are being Ambushed by Legion making Carou cursed constantly. And because of that, the Ganesh has no choice but to gather their forces in a great number to avoid being ambushed by Legions but Legion didn''t let up as he also attacks Ganesh even with its great number but retreat after they destroyed and harvest a significant number of spoils. And with Legions drones ability to blink in a certain distance they can ambushed very effectively. And this makes it harder for Ganesh to fight decisively, as they are constantly worrying about Legions ambushing their forces. GFA and the coalition are unaware of Legion''s actions and were ignorant that they are unknowingly benefiting from Legion''s action a lot. And their constant win are affecting their decision-making ability they are now becoming more aggressive with every battle they won, the biggest influence for that is the drones as with every fight the most they lost are just drones and unmanned mech or the autonomous Mechs. And those are very easy to replaced as Grand Trading are now selling those products in huge numbers. As those things happening Arc was fighting for survival in the belly of the space beast. A few weeks ago. As Arc''s group arrived at the unknown planet inside the space beast he breathes a sigh of relief as he saw the swarm of small size space beast stops pursuing them. "So this is what it feels like being attacked by a swarm of drones," Arc said in his mind. He now feels more sorry for Ganesh as Legion would be targeting them often. As soon as they entered the atmosphere Specter started doing reconnaissance by sending many small drones everywhere they hover just below the atmosphere in order to analyze what kind of place they arrived in. Arc watch as the crew of specter busies themselves. But Arc was conversing with Eve and Specter... So far specter didn''t see anything special about the planet no rare minerals or special resources can be found in the near vicinity. The planet is huge and it''s impossible to completely scan everything in a short time. Time passed and no matter how much Specter scanned the planet he can''t find anything special even Gideon and his team came up empty so Arc decided to risk it, He knows that remaining on the ship would be useless since Specter found nothing special in the planet their next move is to figure out how to escape the belly of the beast. But Arc felt something the moment he stepped outside specter its like he was at home he felt comfortable and welcomed he knows it''s not because of him, so he figured the planet really have some connection with the system. And what''s more surprising the resonance with the tool holder or something similar is gone he can''t feel it anymore. So he decided to explore of course not without protection so Jem and Ruby, as well as biggs and wedge, are going with him leaving Jarvis and the rest to remain on the ship. The planet is mostly jungles the environment closely resembles that of the earth only with a slightly higher gravity but for Arc and the rest it''s not much of the problem. He saw many different types of plants that look very different from those on earth. He also saw some small animals that resemble a hare on earth only a lot smaller only a size of is palm. He even thought his sisters would love those hares, but until he knew more he will not disturb anything. So he just passes them by without doing anything. A whole day passed and like that and like Specter said nothing special. The second day is pretty much the same. But as he goes deeper into the jungles the more at home he felt he couldn''t really describe the sensation he felt but the closest he could describe it is feeling at home. He tried a few times to ask Nine but to no avail. And finally, on the third day of his exploration something happened all of a sudden thick fog instantly covered the area he and the rest are occupying and what''s worse is that they lost all communication with the specter, but Arc wasn''t worried, so he continued to explore but this time they are inside their own customized mini bots just to be safe. suddenly deform creatures atacks them at first they were attacked by a what look like a deform dog or wolf the dog have no eyes and the front legs are 2-3 time biger than the back legs and whats more its skin is already rotting fortunately they are on thier minibots and so they were spared from the bad smell. soon more and more creatures are attacking them they even saw a gigantic spider like creatures with eyes all over its body making all the hairs on Arc body stands up from being creep out. And so Arc and the rest decided to just run away as the enemy seems yo be never ending. But no matter how much they travel the fog is everywhere and whats worse its messing up thier navigational system, Arc even began to suspect the fog is not a natural phenomenon. So with heightened vigilance, they continue to advance despite the danger. The only good news is that even without specter guiding them Eve has all the data needed to travel this ensures they are not going in circles despite their navigational system being useless. "WARNING! Boss big energy signatures ahead." Eve gives a warning to everyone. And they soon saw what it was! It''s an old structure. "Looks like a palace or temple or something." Said Jem. Ruby then released many smaller drones to scout ahead. "The fog is thin here." Said Wedge. "Yeah, looks like those creatures in the fog are also avoiding this place. Said Arc. "Boss look over there!" Biggs pointed on the collapsed wall. Arc and the rest move closer, and they saw some kind of writings. "Eve. Scan and record everything and decipher it if you can." Said Arc. "Yes, Boss." "Boss I found something." Said Ruby Ruby shared the video feeds from the drones. And they saw a huge temple-like building what separates it from the rest is that there are no marks of the passage of time. It''s like the building is brand new and very well maintained. When they reached the building they were quite surprised. It''s not just the building looking brand new there''s not even a speck of dust in it. And what''s more, all the surrounding buildings have already been claimed by nature but the temple like building is like a blessed place and it remains untouch by natures. As they approach the building Eve''s warning sounded on everyone''s ears. "Careful Boss, everyone there''s something approaching us at high speed." All of them immediately deployed their respective shields. They didn''t have to wait long, they all saw what Eve is talking about. That''s¡­ Chapter 169 - 169 "Boss isn''t that?" "Yeah, Ganesh but what are they doing here?" Hundreds of huge humanoid elephant-like creatures appeared before them. "Something is strange just look at them they look so¡­ primitive..." Said Jem. "Hmm, well they are not attacking that''s a good sign." Said Arc. £¤¡é¡ã¦Ð¡Á ¡Á¡ê¡Á^¡é¦Ð ¡Á¡Á?¡Ì¦Ð¡ê^^¡ê¦Ð..>>. "Eve, what are they saying?" "Boss, the language is not on my database." Arc, cursed in his mind. He was about to say something when Nine who has been quiet all this time said something. "It is God''s language..." "What? What do you mean Nine?" Nine didn''t say anything but she did something. "Boss, I got the translation." Said Eve. "They are asking who we are.." Said Eve. Arc no longer tries to bother Nine he knows if Nine doesn''t want to talk he can''t force her. So he focuses on their current problem. "Eve, run auto-translation." "Already did Boss." "We are human! We are Lost can you help us?" Said Arc. The Oldest of the Ganesh who is about 10 meters tall said. "Human? Never heard of it are you from Granah?" One of the young Ganesh shouted and said. "Leader they are demon we should kill them before they take our soul." "Demons?" Then he remembers they are inside the mini bots and well all their mini bots looks very menacing. So he removes the helmet part and shows his face. "Were not demons." But the instant he shows his face all the Ganesh immediately focuses on him but instead of alarm or surprise, he saw fear. Immediately the Oldest of the Ganesh put down his wooden spear with his shaking hands the rest follows. Arc saw the dreads on each and every one of Ganesh''s eyes. "High Master!! We, we... We don''t want any trouble spare us..." He then slowly lowers his head and kneel. He looks at everyone he gestured to all his companion to lower their head and kneel, and they all did so. Arc and his companion were puzzled by how the Ganesh acted. But didn''t correct them.. Worry not as I have said we''re not here to trouble anyone as I have said we are lost and just happen to found this place. The Oldest of the Ganesh step forward and said. "High Master this is Haze Jungle... There''s nothing here except old ruins and forgotten monsters." "What''s your name?" Arc asks. "This one is called Kaheeht leader of this hunting party. Forgive us, High Master, if we offended you" "Kaheeht what''s this building in front of us?" Arc asked. Kaheeht looks confused and looks at his men. "High Master, you didn''t recognize your own Temple?" "Oh f.u.c.k!" Arc cursed in his mind. "No Kaheeht its, not one of ours it may look similar but that''s not our Temple." This time it''s not just Kaheeht all Ganesh look confused. "But High Master, it was built by one of you he took many of us to build it," Kaheeht said nervously. Is that so. Who is it? Said Arc. "Its High Master Graff. It was he who ordered it build..." Said Kaheeht looking pale. "Graff¡­ give me a map of this place and you can leave." Said Arc. Kaheeht took something out from his pouch it is a very old looking animal skin and put it on the ground, we are taking our leave now high master, and then he gestures something, and they started to leave without looking back. "Boss looks like..." "I know, trouble" Jem move into the item Kaheeht left behind and pick it up and return to give it to Arc. "Boss, do you think this is Ganesh home World?" Ask Jem. "Maybe, but I don''t think so. The Ganesh is a product of sovereign tools. But I''m pretty sure the Ganesh we know is related to the ones here." "Boss, he called us High Master, are they the one who holds the Sovereign Tools?" Ask Ruby. "Possibly, but I didn''t think they would look like us human. Enter stealth mode from now on we will travel in stealth." "Yes Boss" All of them activated their stealth mode immediately. Arc then look at the building in front of them, "hopefully there are some answers there." Ruby and the rest look at the huge temple-like being. "Prepare your selves we don''t know what to expect there, ruby you will be in front Jem would be following you, Boss, you''ll be in the center Me and Wedge would be at the rear." Everyone nodded. Arc then summon five combat droids from his storage this is not your average combat droids this is all 1-star combat Droid. He only has 20 of this as they are very expensive to produce. To create these Combat droids he spends a good amount of energy units, as he has no materials needed to create a 1-star droids. These combat droids are a definition of real combat Robots. These combat droids are completely made of nanomachines and can form anything it needs depending on the situation. Arc created these droids because he plans to complete his mission by himself and these combat droids would be his bodyguards. Arc also summon a special droid this one is blood-red. Everyone looks at the red droids as it form a female body. Jem was surprised. "Eve is that you?" Of course, they would recognize Eve as they are very familiar with her virtual appearance. "Eve just smiles. I''ll take point Ruby you will follow me." Said Eve. No, one rebutted her ever since Arc upgraded Eve using upgrade chip she''s more and more human and more intelligent all the drones are under her control but her body is special it is a combination of blood steel and Ganesh materials using Arc ability Arc combined 1-star droids with those materials, of course, he can only create a small amount of it because he still lacks mastery. That''s why it took a while for the special nanomachine to replicate enough to build a humanoid body. For now, the body is quite weak it can''t form any weapons or anything but in truth, Eve didn''t need to she can just use the other Droids to create what she needs. The reason Arc created this body for Eve as the red nanomachine produces a sustainable energy cycle and it produces at least 10x more energy than regular 1-star droids and Eve can make great use of all those energies. Although Eve said she will take point what she means is the other droids will take point She remains with Arc side ready to protect him if anything goes wrong. The temple has a magnetic shield protecting it from any form of corrosion. It''s not meant for defensive purposes but for maintaining the structures. Chapter 170 - 170 Kaheeht and is men fled very quickly they all knew the terror of offending a High Master. "Leader, what are we going to do?" Kaheeht looks at a young Ganesh and sighs, "pretend we didn''t see anything we are going back to the village this place is not safe anymore." "But where should we hunt after? This is a good place plenty of game here and there''s no ancient monster. We have sacrificed a lot to find this place are we really going to abandon it?" "You think I didn''t know that? You all know the terror of High Master we will report this to the matriarch they will decide what to do next." Said Kaheeht. The other Ganesh just bow their head down but continue to travel fast despite their bulky size they are very nimble. ======== Somewhere in the planet, a middle-age looking man with a vicious-looking scar on his face was doing some kind of experiments in front of him countless cages, inside all kind of species many creatures that look like Ganesh are inside some of the cages have different species that looks like a grotesque Ganesh with horns and spikes all over its body. In front of the middle-aged man was an operating table and on the table, a slim body with wings like a butterfly on its back and the head of Ganesh the body is covered by purple fish scales it has four arms. the chest area of the body was opened and blood is everywhere but despite that the body remains alive both hand and feet are bound by a thick chain and in the center of the chest blood orb instead of the heart can be seen. "Hmm, what am I missing?" Mumbled the man. "The blood orb can keep the body alive but the body can''t make use of the orb it''s alive but that''s all... Even with the powerful body and god orb as its energy source, this thing remains useless." He keeps mumbling he removes the orb and place it in some kind of container, the moment he removes it the body stops twitching having lost its energy source it died. The man continues to mumbles and at the same time he records all his experiments. After removing the orb. He called for some kind of creature. Put this body on no. 98767 storage unit. The creatures bow and using its huge claw-like hand it picks up the body and started leaving. The man calls for another attendant, Bring me specimen 89045, a few minutes later the attendant is carrying a cage, and inside the cage was a little girl, she looks human except two goats like horns on her head. The little girl looks very frightened she was shaking and tears were continues to flow in her eyes, but she didn''t beg she has been here for quite some time she saw many prisoner like her no matter how much they beg they all end up as body parts, she knew her turn will come soon. She prayed to her god to save her only to fall in deaf ears. she use to be a princess of her kind but one day her kingdom was attacked by a powerful army and everyone she knew were either killed or captured, her brothers and sisters were also captured she didn''t know whether they are still alive or already dead. She looks at the man in front of her who keeps mumbling and doing something to a device that looks like a handheld computer or some sort. The man looks at her and said. "A Satyr and pure blood at that. According to legend you satyr are decendants of Nature Elemental. Just like the fabled Dryads..." Unfortunately, I can only buy one of you as your kind is quite expensive, and I am tight on credits at the moment. "I was actually looking for Dryads but you will do for now. I hope you don''t disappoint me, hahaha." He waves his hand and the Satyr girl was like grab by something she started floating and eventually she stops laying face up in the operating table. She keeps struggling but of no use. As soon as she lays on the table thick chain bound her small hands and feet. She saw the man pick up some kind of knife, with tears flowing in her eyes she just look at the devil in human skin, but she didn''t beg. The man saw it but just smirk. Quite brave, aren''t you? Hahaha good for you hahaha¡­ well, let''s get started. A light scanned her body, the light didn''t just scan her body it also burned all her dirty clothes, the light didn''t harm her only scanned her and removes her clothes. Afterwards, a holographic display of her body appeared on top of her. The man studies the display for a bit then he pointed his surgical knife on her chest seemingly with the intention of cutting it open. She saw this kind of thing happen many times she prayed she dies fast, so she won''t suffer long. She closed her eyes waiting for her death. But moments pass but nothing happens she open her eyes and saw that the man was looking at some kind of monitor. Who? Who dare to trespassed to my storage lab? He builds a storage lab in Haze Jungle to hide it away from prying eyes, in there he stores all his valuable possessions. He spent a fortune to build that place. And all those who knew of the place was already been either killed or imprisoned waiting for him to turn them into body parts. The reason Kaheeht and his tribe know about the Temple is that when Graff captured many of his tribe''s men to build the place some of the tribesmen were able to secretly send letters back as a warning. And so even though Kaheeht knew of the place they never really went inside in fear of Graff retaliation. In fact, Graff was unaware that there was a tribe near his storage facility as he never really goes there in person as he was constantly under surveillance from all his rivals. So only his creation can go there in secret to store or take something he needed. The storage facility was hidden by the natural fog from the haze Jungle. But the moment Arc''s group entered the facility Graff was made aware of it, but his surveillance camera shows nothing, but this only increased his suspicion that one of his rivals found his storage facility as only his rivals have the means to enter his facilities undetected by any cameras. "F.u.c.k.i.n.g shits you dare touch my things I don''t care who you are ill make you f.u.c.k.i.n.g regret it." He cursed. Prepare my transport immediately. He was about to leave when he looks at the satyr girl on the table. "Almost forgot about you, well we will continue our business there." He waves his hand and the chain on the girl retracted the girl then floats following him. Graff then open his communication device and said put no. 1-99 in my transport... "I''ll make sure to give a very warm welcome to our uninvited guest..." with a glint in his eyes a very sinister smile appeared in his face. A few minutes later a small golden ship can be seen flying away heading straight to Haze Jungle. Chapter 171 - 171 The moment Arc''s group entered the facility Eve issued a warning that they have been detected. This was not possible if Eve didn''t have a body. But now that Eve has its own body all her functions have been enhanced. She felt they were scanned the moment they entered, luckily they were on stealth mode, so they can''t be seen even heat detectors can''t detect them. Eve knows whoever the owner of the facility is, was now aware that he has intruders. So Arc and the rest increased their vigilance. Inside was very monotone only pale white colors everywhere according to Eve there are a total of 10 floors, and they are on the very top. Below them, there are 9 more floors. It didn''t take long for them to encounter their very first guards, the guards seem to be a hybrid creature both mechanical and living flesh combined. The creatures are very ugly to look at as there''s no symmetrical parts both hands are of different types and sizes even the legs are of different types one is mechanical the other looks like an elephant leg. But there''s no question that the guards is very powerful it is a good thing they are inside their own Gears if not even if they are enhanced they will have a hard time fighting the guards and there''s a lot of them. Eve using the combat droids immediately started ambushing the guards she knows they were already been detected so reducing the enemy numbers as much as possible is the first thing they need to do. And Arc saw just how powerful 1-star combat droids really are. The droids form an bow and arrows on their hands and with a pull, the moment they released the arrow Arc heard a sonic boom and the guards didn''t even have time to react they were blown to pieces by the arrow which is very unexpected as Arc was expecting a hole on the guard, but in truth, the guard already died when the arrow hit them and what destroyed them is the shock wave produce by the arrows. The arrows disintegrated the moment it passes the enemy and returns to the droids. Arc couldn''t help but nodded in agreement that it was very cool indeed when Jem exclaimed! saying it is so cool! With every corridors, the droids made quick use of different weapons to quickly kill all the guards, despite so no one complains about being a lack of actions on their part. They all know their turn will come. The top floors is nothing but empty rooms. As they go from floor to floor the guards are becoming more grotesque and powerful by the time they reach the fifth-floor bas.e.m.e.nt, Ruby and Jem are already participating in the fights. Only Arc, Biggs and wedge remains idle as well as the main body of Eve. Looks like the owner of this facility has some twisted sense of humor, said Jem shaking her head disgusted. So far what they saw was row and rows of a dead body being preserved and stored neatly and many body parts of different species. The only consolation is that they don''t see any human body. "Eve looks for a terminal or control center, I also want to know who the bastard responsible for all of this." Said Arc with an angry look on his face. "The control room is on the bottom floors all energy is being routed there." Said Eve. "Then lets head there directly and not waste more time exploring each floors," said Arc. "No Boss we need to clear all floors if not we will be overrun and be attacked on all front by the time we reach the bottom floors." Said Ruby. Of course, Arc was aware of it, it''s just he was tired of seeing ugly guards and a countless dead body and body parts. It''s like a museum for the dead body. Sigh, "very well." Said Arc. "And boss I suggest we take all the dead body and body parts." Said Ruby. "Huh!? Why?" Said Arc. But it was Eve who answered. "For study and to prevent the owner from using it against us." "F.u.c.k! this is disgusting buy Very well!" So Arc summons another 2 combat droids and handed them over an empty storage ring. 1 droid went back to the previous floors to take all the preserved bodies and body parts the other will join them and be responsible for storing the body parts on the next floors. Arc was so gross out by all the body parts. His hair is all standing up. But he also notices that all the body have cuts on their chest and it''s not completely close and can be open anytime, and it wasn''t just him who noticed it everyone of them did. But no one volunteers to find out why. By the time they reach the 8th bas.e.m.e.nt floor the other droids that come back to get all the body parts on the previous floors have caught up with them. And on the 8th floor the body parts being stored are very different not only it is bigger but the energy being released by the dead body shows how powerful it was when it was still alive. There are also many mechanical parts being stored on the lower floors. And the guards are also numerous and a lot stronger by then all of them are fighting and Arc already summoned all the combat droids he has as well as portable combat drones. By the time they reach the bottom floor Arc and the rest are already quite spent. Only the droids and Eve remain tireless. At the bottom floor there''s, only a single body being stored and when they saw it they are flabbergasted. Of all the bodies they saw this is the last they expected to find. "No way!! Can it be?¡­" "That''s right that''s an elemental body. Albeit only lower elemental." Said Nine. Chapter 172 - 172 Fallen Angels "Captain, we have a new mission." Luna Lee the captain of the Fallen Angels despite having a celebrity status she didn''t care much about it, first and foremost she was a soldier and his loyalty is to their big Boss any other thing is just vices or distraction, unfortunately, she never got a chance to meet her Big Boss but nevertheless her loyalty remains strong the same for all the clones created by the system. Her squad was under GFA officially but in fact, GFA can''t orders them around they go to rescue mission now and then for the GFA, or run some errands from them if necessary but most of their mission comes from Oda. Of course, they also participated in the GFA mission once in a while. But since GFA didn''t want them to know many secrets of GFA most of the mission they participated under GFA are mostly minor ones. But Luna didn''t really care as long as it''s for his Big Boss she and her squad didn''t mind. Today is special as they are fighting together with another special squad from Grand Army The Carnage. The Carnage existence is not really a secret to GFA or other Forces its just they are unaware that the squad is made up of Beast Lords. At first, Oda wants to hide their existence but during one of their missions, they were spotted by one of the squadrons of GFA so instead of hiding it Oda told Dianna to admit it. That it was part of Grand Trading elite forces. At first, GFA asked for the identity of the Carnage but Dianna refused to say anything as their identity is a secret. And if they want to know they should also supply Grand trading of all their hidden forces identity. So GFA has no choice but to swallow it down. They know Grand Trading is no longer a small company that they can boss around. And besides Grand Trading have so many secrets that knowing the identity of a small squad seems pointless. The Carnage is stationed in Messiah, while the Fallen Angels were stationed in Liberty. Legion has found one of Ganesh hideout normally he will take care of it himself, but this time Oda has a plan since they just develop new weapons for the mechs they want to test it out. And besides the Mechs of Both The Fallen Angels and Carnage have just finished upgrading. So Oda issue the first joint operation of Fallen Angel and the Carnage squads. Their target a secret base of Ganesh in sector *** of course Legion army would be on standby for emergency backup if needed. It didn''t take long for both squad to reach their destination this is a secret mission so Oda and Legion make sure no one is watching. Luna saw what looks like a half planet. That''s right half of the planet is missing and the remaining half miraculously survived and functioning Luna saw an artificial planet core to stabilize the planet gravitational pull, humanity is not capable of such great engineering feat. And their target is exactly the half planet. "Captain this planet use be called Kurtha the original owner of the planet is the Kiryan... But now the Kiryan are almost extinct only a few exits... Anyways we have the intel regarding what to expect geographically, but we have no idea how many Ganesh or what they are doing on the planet. We know that Ganesh rarely takes a planet as their base as they are constantly moving and attacking other species so there must be something going on, on this planet." Gaia displayed the data regarding the Ganesh hideout. Luna glanced at the data she already read all the data regarding the enemy base beforehand, so she no longer pays attention to the display, so she began giving an order. "Check all equipment be sure we have everything we need it will be very hard to resupply once the mission started." Said Luna. On the other ship, Fenrir is also giving order the Beast Lord is all proud individual many refused to take order at first but Fenrir beat them up until they almost forgot their name earning their respects, as Beast Lord follow the rules of the jungle and that was only strength matters. Their first mission is almost a disaster as everyone keeps doing whatever they want. So Fenrir made an example he tortured the rowdiest fellows for hours in front of everyone even Garou the fearless honey badger felt dread every time he looks at Fenrir, so it''s even more for the others many of the Beast Lords knew each other as they are once under Big Budda of Chain Souls but after they are captured by the Shadow Unit and undergoes brutal training many didn''t make it. Among the 500+ beast lord under Big Budda, only about 300 remains the rest perished during the training and rehabilitations. The rest of the beast lord is captured on the wasteland. Oda constantly sending a squad of soldiers or Shadow unit to search and captures beast lords to be turned into soldiers. But even so many beast lords remain defiant but after the torture session by Fenrir almost no one defies his order anymore, of course, there are some who still remain stubborn but after a one on one talk with Fenrir they become a good dog. Fenrir is very brutal by nature he was designed that way and only his loyalty to Big Boss is keeping him in check. Oda knows this but to control the beast Lord someone like Fenrir is necessary. And after many missions, the Carnage has turned into a very dangerous and fearless squad. It didn''t take long for the two squads to reach the planet in secret. In Fallen Angel side only have 21 members but in Carnage it''s 500. Luna greeted Fenrir. Fenrir looks very handsome with long silver hair that goes into his waist and around 2 meters tall Fenrir have golden pupils and has a cold and expressionless face. Fenrir looks human as he was a werewolf, so he can switch between human and werewolf form at will. "Are you ready captain," Luna asked. Fenrir nodded. "Good let''s start, let''s not waste time," said Luna. Fenrir nodded again. Luna looks at the mechs behind Fenrir just like his squad every mech are specially designed for its pilots no two mechs are the same not only in appearance but also in many features. The Carnage will be divided into a smaller team and each team has 50 members they all have their own mission to accomplish. Fenrir with his deep low voice said. "Go! mission start." And each team began to separate. Luna''s team would be joining another team the One leading the team is Shaki a snake type beast lord. And her mech is also a snake type. Luna and Shaki''s team would be the one attacking the back of the facility. Ganesh facility looks like a bunch of pyramids stacks together and the biggest is the golden Pyramid at the center. Luna and Shaki''s team take a detour to reach the back of the facility. On the way, they didn''t encounter any patrol or guards. "It looks like the Ganesh didn''t expect an attack here their defense is very lacking." Said Shaki. "Seems like it, but don''t let your defense down were on enemy territory after all." Said Luna. Shaki nodded. Shaki changes a lot, her overbearing personality has long been replaced by a very disciplined soldier. She was one of the very first beast lords to adapt and accept their new roles in life. And besides, they got to eat whatever they want after the missions and besides the occasional training, Shaki spends most of her time playing VR games with other beast lords. She no longer minds being under human organizations. And besides, they can no longer escape with slave implants their lives are on the hands of their new master. But Shaki didn''t mind she got to experience many new things ever since she becomes part of the Grand Army, and she is enjoying her self and most importantly she is in love with Fenrir. So she is trying to be the best to receive some attention from Fenrir. But she wasn''t the only one many female beast lords are in love with Fenrir, but unfortunately for them, Fenrir only has one thing in mind to be the best soldier for his Boss. Chapter 173 - 173 Fallen Angels II Luna and Shaki travels fast their mechs are very fast and nimble of course to not make unnecessary attention they are in stealth mode. Soon enough they reach their destination. Luna saw a huge pyramid building not far from them and on the far distance, she can see smokes. "Looks like Fenrir already started." said Shaki. Shaki and Luna''s team didn''t waste time they all rush in. Shaki wanted to show off but to her surprise Luna who was beside her suddenly disappeared and appeared next to the group of Ganesh soldiers. The Ganesh soldiers don''t have mechs equipped but even so, they are still 4-6 meters big almost the same size as the regular mechs. Luna spread her bladed wings and spin dismembering the group of Ganesh before they can even react. Shaki eyes shrink she didn''t expect Luna to be this strong, The Ganesh who are already very alert started bombarding Luna and the rest with all kind attacks. Shaki saw Luna Keep blinking and appearing to a group of Ganesh soldiers and a few seconds later they were dismembered. Every Grand Army Mechs are capable of short teleportation but using it is easier said than done. One wrong move and one can end up inside the wall or below the ground. One needs to be in total control of their mechs to use blink, Of course, Gaia can help with that but there would be a lag if the one doing the short teleportation is Gaia and not the pilot resulting in confusion and disharmony on combat so Oda ordered that in combat the one responsible for using short teleportation or ''Blink'' would be the pilot and Gaia would only intervene if the pilot is in gave danger and needs to be blinked away. But combat blinking needs to be under a pilot control. Even Shaki in order to master blinking spends a lot of time training. But still can''t blink like Luna was doing. Shaki saw Luna Dodge an attack then blink and appeared behind the attacker with the sword already swinging to decapitate the attacker and even before the head fall Luna already disappeared. What she didn''t know it''s only now Luna is fighting like this. Oda didn''t want to reveal the blinking capability of Grand Army Mechs so. So during all the mission Luna and the rest of Fallen Angel been trough the blinking features are locked. So they can only fight normally. But now is not the same this won''t be broadcasted, so she and the rest of Fallen Angel can let loose. The new flexible swords for mech are perfect for Luna and the rest of Fallen Angel who is all clones so mastering flexible swords are very easy for them. Their upgraded Mechs also a lot more powerful than their previous mechs. The power output is very stable unlike before that they need to conserve energy if they don''t want to lose power during battle. But now even after consecutive blinking, the power supply remains stable Shaki and her team were speechless when they saw the Fallen Angels fights. They are like reapers on the battlefield every where they pass their enemies are dismembered. By the time Shaki entered battle Luna and the rest of the Fallen Angels have already killed quite a lot of Ganesh. A few minutes earlier the Ganesh spotted a silver wolf mech dashing in the forest Fenrir disabled his stealth when he is close to the enemy base as he was a bait or diversion. His mech dashed and alarms rang in the whole Ganesh Base. The enemy guards immediately pointed their weapon on Fenrir but before he can fire it disappeared and reappeared behind them already in humanoid form with very sharp claws Fenrir Mech can also switch between wolf form and humanoid form his wolf form is a mid-range and short-range specialist as it was equipped with canons on its back during wolf form but its humanoid form is a close-quarter combat specialist. It uses claws and katana as the main weapon and short-range gun for secondary. The Ganesh facilities don''t have any walls maybe because they didn''t expect anyone to attack the base. "Commander we are under attack." "By whom?" "We don''t know our forces already engage with them." "Notify lord Carou immediately and ask for backup." "Commander we are being jammed we can''t send any transmission." "Shit! Deploy everyone. And prepare the destroyers." "Yes, commander." When Fenrir attacks he was followed by four other teams. Despite the sudden attack, Ganesh has the advantage in numbers. As the Ganesh are rushing to Fenrir location, suddenly the Ganesh base was being attacked on all front. The Ganesh realized that they are being surrounded, so they too divided their forces to deal with the intruders. They also send some forces to protect their rear. But the bulk of their forces are concentrated on where Fenrir is fighting. Fenrir was like a tornado in the battlefield everywhere he pass the enemy''s body parts are flying everywhere. Blood of Ganesh already replaces the silver color of Fenrir mechs but despite so the Ganesh soldiers continue to attack him without any fear or hesitation. Soon more and more Ganesh comes out of the pyramid buildings but without mechs, the Ganesh are being slaughtered one after another. Garou looks at Fenrir with both fear and veneration at the same time. Then suddenly a huge creature comes out of the main pyramid it looks like a Centaur but instead of a horse body it is a mammoth and the front body is of Ganesh only so much bigger, a normal Ganesh has two feet and four arms but this one is opposite it has four legs and two huge arms. Fenrir notices that the creatures are part machines the mammoth body has canons on both sides and it''s not equipped but a part of the body the main body. It is also the same as the front body it is made of metals only the head are of flesh and blood of Ganesh. Fenrir Mechs in humanoid form is about 15 meters tall but in front of the behemot, Fenrir mechs only reach up to its knees that how big it is. The Ganesh soldiers immediately give way the behemoth at first it walks slow but it suddenly accelerated Fenrir was able to react in time but the beast lords behind him were hit. Luckily they have their shield on, and so they were only thrown back without being harm but a huge amount of energy was spent in the process. Fenrir was about to attack, but he saw a Beast Lord stepping out it was a beast lord model after Elephants so in a way he looks like a Ganesh only difference is that he only have two arms not four and his tusk are smaller only about a foot long but very sharp. His name is Dorro he possesses the biggest mechs among all of the beast lord standing in 25 meters tall it was a giant Mech and its armor is the thickest among the rest he specialized in defense he stood in front of the Ganesh Behemoth. but even with his huge mech he was only half the size of the behemoth. Dorro with a huge tower shield he materialize in his hands, using both hands he gripped the tower shield and with a laugh, he dashes with the tower shield in front it has a pyramid-like protrusion thats only purpose is to deal damage when ramming. An energy barrier formed as Dorro dashed he rammed the Ganesh behemoth legs at first the behemoth remains standing even after being rammed by Dorro but suddenly a cracking sound can be heard as the front legs of the behemoth give out. Dorro jumps back, and he rammed again this time the behemoth front legs can''t take it anymore so it was crushed Dorro and the rest take advantage of it and immediately started attacking. The Ganesh saw it and they too immediately retaliated. The commander saw the result and shakes his head. "It looks like it wasn''t ready yet, its reaction time is horrible and its combat ability is next no none." "Well, commander it''s still in the experimental stage. But the fights give us valuable data nevertheless." "If you say so, professor." Said the commander. "The destroyer is ready commander this one won''t disappoint you." Said the professor. The commander didn''t say anything and just continue to watch the monitors. And soon Fenrir saw another new type of Ganesh this one is a smaller version of the former Behemoth but even so it is still taller than Dorro who was about 25 meters tall. While the rest of the beast lord didn''t seem to care about the new models Fenrir saw otherwise. This new type is clearly made for speed judging by its slim and streamlined body the upper body is holding a curved blade on both hands. And this one is not alone there''s quite a number of them. Chapter 174 - 174 Fenrir has a bad feeling about the new Ganesh model. "Be careful!", Fenrir shouted. But before Dorro could react a Destroyer is already in front of him and a curved blade was swinging at him. He wasn''t a noob in fighting as all beast lord have in common none of them are new to fighting as their life is full of fighting. Dorro base on instinct tried using his Tower shield as he tried to block the attacks. But to his surprise, the attack cut through his thick shield like it was butter fortunately for him his body energy shield saves him but even so he lost his mech right arm in a single exchange! Fenrir blinked and appeared behind the destroyer who attacked Dorro unable to react the destroyer was cut in two. But every beast lord now knows that if they made a mistake they could die. So their training kicks in they immediately gather to form a formation. Only Fenrir is fighting alone. The destroyers didn''t waste any time they immediately dash to attack their target and with the regular Ganesh soldiers providing backup. The Carnage found themselves at a disadvantage. Luna and Shaki''s team was made aware of the circ.u.mstances, so they rush to complete their mission Luna and the Fallen Angels are like grim reapers their black angel-like mechs are so nimble and fast and the wings serves not only for attacking but also for defending. Shaki saw Luna''s mech dash and disappeared and reappeared in the middle of the enemy''s formation with a quick spin her wings cut all that stand in its way. The other fallen Angels are also fighting like Luna only they are doing it in pairs or even in a group of three. Shaki and her team were only able to fight stragglers and those that Angels wasn''t able to kill. Luna was hoping to enter the main building before they encounter Destroyers but unfortunately for her as they near the back of the main pyramid a group of the destroyer is waiting for them. So Luna waited until Shaki and her team caught up with her and her team. Shaki saw the destroyer and know what kind of Ganesh it was a data was already been sent to them the moment the Fenrir team encountered it. Shaki equipped two flexible swords on both her hands she was the only dual flexible sword user in Carnage she uses to have whip as a weapon but the moment she tried the flexible sword she fell in love with it. Her team also make preparation they know the true fight is about to start, and they can no longer take it easy. The first to move was the destroyers. But unlike with Fenrir the Fallen Angels was able to intercept the destroyers very easily. The commander and Professor frown when they saw it. Luna was able to kill the destroyer quite easy but the other fallen angels need to pair up to easily deal with destroyers. Fortunately for them, they are fighting the destroyers on land and not on space as the destroyers were designed to fight in space. And so the destroyers were unable to maximize their potential in land combat. The professor and commander know this but as they have no choice they send the destroyers to fight back against the intruders. The Behemoth was supposed to be their land base weapons but unfortunately because most of the fights are in space the development of Behemoth stagnated. And that cost them big time right now. Unfortunately, their main forces are outside the Galaxy and were fighting a different war, so they can only rely on forces they can create in this Galaxy. That also depends on what kind of materials are available on the Galaxy. Shaki saw Luna fighting 2-3 destroyers at the same time and yet the destroyers can''t even put a scratch on her mech. Shaki too was fighting destroyers alone and the fast movement of destroyers is keeping her quite busy. Luckily for them, the rest of Carnage are taking the brunch of destroyers'' attentions. Ten minutes later Luna was standing and all around her were scattered body parts of Ganesh. Shaki and her team are all breathing hard the other fallen angels are doing much better. But their mechs are full of scars from the battle with destroyers. Shaki and her team weren''t much luckier many of Shaki''s teammates are on a brink of destructions only Shaki and few others remain able to proceeds. So shaki ordered them to fall back, and only those who can still fight can remain. Shaki looks disappointed only five out of 20 of her teammates remain while on the Fallen Angels side everyone can still fight. Luna nodded and immediately start moving again they are close to their destination. Meanwhile, the Commander and the Professor are having a headache. A few days ago they sent out a batch of destroyers and Ganesh soldiers to reinforce Carou Army. Leaving them with only a few soldiers on their side, Commander and the Professor didn''t expect an attack here after all this planet is located in a relatively obscure part of the Galaxy and what''s more, the surrounding space is all under their influence. The commander looks at Professor and said. "What more do you have don''t hide anything, or we will all be killed." The professor sighs, "I have one more hidden secret weapon and you won''t like it what is more it''s not ready yet, it''s very unstable, and we might end up being killed by it first before our enemies can." The commander looks at Professor and angrily said. "Don''t tell me you brought one here on my base?" "Well, it is for study." Said the Professor. "You Crazy motherf.u.c.ker!! Are you trying to kill us all?" "Relax I have it under control or restrained. But aren''t you thankful I bought one here? It may be our only way out now!" "Bastard!" The Commander can only cursed for he can''t deny that it may be their only way out now! The Professor made a call to his men and said. "Prepare the Berserker!" When the person on the other side of the phone heard it he choked. "Eh Professor did you just say prepare the Berserker?" "Did I stutter? Yes! Prepare the Berserker now!" "Ah, ye.. Yes professor right away.!" On his panic, he forgets to hang up and his voice can still be heard from the other side of the communication. "F.u.c.k! Were all going to die... The professor is crazy using that thing!" "I can still hear you, you know," said the professor awkwardly. "Huh! So sorry professor I didn''t mean it.... ill ha, hang up now!" The commander looks at Professor and said. "He''s not wrong you know" "And that''s why I didn''t correct him, I know how stupid it is to release that thing." Chapter 175 - 175 The scientist look at the Giant figure with solid chains wrap around its body it was humanoid and like Ganesh, It has four arms but the head looks very human-like. Its whole body is jet black with golden rune-like tattoos all over its body. The Berserker is remnant weapons of the old gods when the gods are still at war with the primordial Elementals, but after the war, many weapons of the old gods were forgotten and remains scattered across the universe and the Berserker is one of them. This uncontrollable weapon will attack anything on sight be it friends or foe. And its power is no joke. Back in the main Universe one superpower was arrogantly declared war on a relatively reclusive old clan, for a simple reason as they took fancy of the main house daughter but was denied by the head of the family. So feeling insulted they declared war but before they could do anything the old clan released a berserker on their home planet and the results all life on the planet was extinguished. And the few remnant of them who was able to escape to space easily fell from the old clan soldiers. Wiping them from the universe. The Berserker only stop moving after a whole year of destruction and when the old clan came to retrieve it the planet is no longer the same planet it uses to be. And because of the insident, the berserker becomes very famous and many forces are looking for it. But most berserkers found were already dead or destroyed. So who would have expected that the professor was able to find a perfect condition berserker and hide it in the base for study. That''s why the commander is so mad when he finds out about it. Professor gestured to the commander and said. "Let''s go we can''t be here when we release that thing." The Commander nodded and follow the professor out. The commander looks at the soldiers remaining and shakes his head. "What a waste," he said. They are all disposable after all only he and the professor and his team of scientists are important in this base everything else is disposable. They goes deeper into the earth near the artificial Core. Behind the Commander are the professor and hundreds of scientists working for the professor. Their job is to improve and upgrade the Ganesh combat ability and the Professor thinks the Berserker is the key to that, so he used all his connection to get himself a perfect condition Berserker. The professor sigh. Kill all power we will release the berserker in 30 minutes. The berserker can sense enegy as well as life energy so to increase their chance of hiding they must cut all power and prayed the berserker won''t find them. Fenrir and Luna were unaware of the Berserker existence, and so they continue to fight the remains of Ganesh forces. The destroyers have taken a big chunk of Carnage since the appearance of Destroyers many of Carnage members are heavily injured and casualty are increasing so Gaia would immediately blink them away when they are in danger, unfortunately, some are killed instantly by destroyers before Gaia can blink them away. Oda didn''t expect the high number of deaths from Carnage as he knows how strong they are and how capable they become since they become part of the Grand Army. But even so, Oda was calm death is part of being a soldier he knows this most of all as it was ingrained in his being. Unexpected yes but it is also a lesson for him. So in the future, he will train the beast lord much better to avoid this kind of problem from repeating again. He knows that on the Fallen Angel side there were no casualty or even injury meaning it can be prevented if they reach the fallen angel level. But somehow he has a bad feeling about something but can''t put his finger of what is it. So he just focused on the mission. The field testing of the capability of the new mech is a success, the new mechs are showing great improvement on all charts. Making him very happy. As the mechs have mostly consisted of none system parts. Because Arc wasn''t able to build all the factories needed by his army before he leaves so Oda and the rest can only improvise they already have the means especially with the cloning Factory and with other factories like weapons and armor as well as the multi pupose factory. They only need to fill in the rest, and they can build anything, of course, it''s not as good as the one comes from the system but it will do for now. Until Arc comes back and builds a better Factory from the system. Luna and shakis are the first to enter the main pyramid building there are guards everywhere, so they didn''t suspect that the commander of the base was already MIA and was planning to release a weapon of mass destruction like the god''s Berserker. Luna looked around the inside of the main pyramid and knows that it was indeed a research facility rather than a army base. Their main job is to find what is it the Ganesh is researching and to look for the storage warehouse of the Ganesh. They want to find out who or what really a Ganesh and who is behind them. They are hoping there are some clues in this research facility. Fenrir was next to enter after cleaning all the destroyers outside he left the rest to the others. When he entered he was greeted by many guards, but he just made quick work of them as almost all of the guards are just normal soldiers. 10 minutes later he was able to rendezvous with Luna and Shaki when Shaki saw Fenrir her eyes brighten fortunately she was inside her mech and no one notices her behavior well except Gaia. Fenrir silver mech is covered by dried and fresh blood of Ganesh making it look menacing compared to almost spotless mech of Luna the contrast is huge. But they didn''t linger longer Fenrir released countless small drones the size of a fly. Gaia was the one controlling it the drone''s job was to look for the command center. Even though the pyramid is huge inside it is mostly empty. And the real facility is underground. As the group continues to explore the underground Ganesh facility. Deep underground commander and Professor and the rest of the scientists are very quiet no noise can be heard except for the voice of professor who was informing the rest about the countdown. "5 minutes to the release of the Berserker." Said the professor whispering. 4 minutes 3 2 1 Berserker released... Warning! Warning! Warning! Massive energy detected... Gaia''s warning rang on everyone''s comm. Fenrir and Luna were able to detect it as well. "Oh no! Run!!" Fenrir shouted! But Gaia already one step ahead of them She blinks all of them outside the facility at the same time she blinks the rest into the emergency transport. Unfortunately, Fenrir and the rest weren''t able to blink again after Gaia blink them as a massive energy blanketed them rendering their teleportation unusable. Luna and Fenrir both shouted "Run!! To emergency transport." They know it''s not time to argue so the rest comply even Shaki who wants to stay behind with Fenrir have no choice but to comply for she knows she will only be baggage if she stays. So using full power they divert all power to flight to run to the emergency transport ASAP. Luna and Fenrir stayed to give them time to escape. And it wasn''t long before a massive hands tore the pyramid in half and jet black humanoid stands before them it stands at least 50 meters tall it has no weapon nor any armor but Fenrir and Luna know they are in deep shit! Fenrir saw two bright Golden pupils looking at them, and he shuddered. The Berserker howls and dash to where Luna and Fenrir were located. The berserker was very fast despite its massive bulky body it moves very fast. Fenrir and Luna were able to escape the first attack, they saw as the building behind them disintegrated from the Berserker attacks. Shaki and the rest heard the howls and almost pass out from fear it is a kind of fear that comes from within them. thats when their training kicks in despite the fear they continue to travel in full speed to escape they don''t need to look behind to know how powerful this new enemy is. Their body is full of sweat even the Fallen Angels are no exceptions, in fact, the fact that they all come from the system makes them sensitive to energy fluctuations. So they are aware of how powerful the enemy is just base on how much energy it is releasing. Berserker notice that his target escapes, and he focuses on a black wing Mechs not far from him. Luna''s eyes contracted when she saw the Berserker focusing on her. "F.u.c.k!" She cursed. Chapter 176 - 176 The Berserker saw Luna and Howls. The howl is not just regular scream it was infused with energy so every building surrounding the Berserker was almost demolished. Luna immediately run away she didn''t even bother to take out her weapon she knows her weapon won''t do anything to the Berserker skin. Fenrir also notices it he didn''t bother to be the hero as their goals are to buy time, so he dashes in the opposite direction. Luna tried her best to dodge but no matter how she does the energy blast from Berserker are damaging her mechs one of her wings is caught up with the Berserker punch, so she was sent flying into the distance while spinning uncontrollably she almost passed out from the impact and nauseousness even with all power converted into the shield the impact affected her greatly she pukes a mouthful of blood she tried to get back up. Luckily for her when the Berserker was about to finish her of Fenrir throw a huge rock at the Berserker taking its attention away from her. She stood up shakily there was destruction all around her she saw the Berserker dashing in the location of Fenrir trying to catch him, fortunately, Fenrir in a small amount of time was able to gain some distance from the Berserker but it is only a matter of time before it caught up to him. All communication with Gaia was cut off because of the massive energy being released by Berserker so Luna didn''t know if the others already made it to the emergency transport, but she wasn''t willing to gamble, so she stood up ready to buy more time. The Berserker was throwing things at Fenrir while furiously chasing after him so while running he was also dodging that slows him greatly he expects for Berserker to catch up with him in a few seconds. Luckily his wolf form is perfect for running away. He didn''t notice that he was already drenched in sweat. He looks back and Berserker was already behind him and about to swing its fist. With extreme focus, he tried to dodge the attacks, and he was successful but what he didn''t expect was for the ground to explode when the Berserker punch reach it. He was caught by the explosion and before he can do anything Berserker caught him. Fenrir knows his time is up. Berserker roar and throw Fenrir into the far distance the G force was too much even for a 1-star clone like him Fenrir felt all his bones are disintegrating his vision blurred and then nothing... Luna saw what happen and couldn''t help but scream "no!" She knows she needs to escape fast so using all the powers she has she control her mech and run away. The Berserker immediately notices it and instantly dash to where Luna is. Unfortunately, Luna mech is not as nimble or fast as Fenrir mech so it didn''t take a long time and Berserker was already on her back swinging its fist. She knows she won''t be able to escape she can only pray that her companion was able to reach and escape if not no one will be able to escape here alive. She turns back and saw Berserker fist about to reach her, but she didn''t close her eyes she looks straight at the fist that will end here. It is like time slows down she remembers the face of her Boss sisters who she has gotten so close with, the only regrets she have she wasn''t able to meet her god before she died. But as the fist of berserker reaches her a huge Shadows block the attack. She notices six huge wings on the back of the shadow. "Good job buying time," said the shadows throw something at her, and when she caught it she notices it was the c.o.c.kpit of Fenrir''s mech. "Go now there''s transport waiting for you in these coordinates." Said the shadow. "Thank you! And you are?" "Legion!" Luna hearing the name knows it was the legendary General of cl.u.s.ter drones and one of her Boss first great General. She nodded and not wasting any more time she dashes away. Legion seeing it smile. "Sorry for the wait I know you can talk," said Legion. Suddenly the Berserker smile. "Unexpected you woke me up!" Said berserker in a very deep thunder-like voice! "I see so you are in Berserk mode and only wakes up when threatened." "Close enough," said Berserker. "I didn''t think I would encounter something like you after the war. Very unexpected." Said Berserker. Legion was on his battle mode unlike the mother''s core transformation when they enter combat mode. Legion Combat mode is only a bigger version of him. But the aura Legion was releasing was comparable if not greater than what Berserker was releasing and that aura is what wakes him up. Legion is no longer the same legion Arc left behind before he leaves to complete his urgent mission. With every mother core assimilated with Legion his power skyrocketed and with every additional drones created his intelligence increased. Legion now has over 50 mother cores assimilated and millions of drones as Arc gives more core to him before he left. No one, not even Arc can predict how Legion can grow into something this powerful. In fact, even Legion himself is unaware of just how powerful he becomes. Because of legion countering Berserk aura, Gaia was able to re-establish communication. Oda and the rest finally got a good look at Berserker and what surprised them is the Black Giant and Legion calmly talking... The commander and the professor were inside the deep bunker when suddenly all tremors stop. "What''s going on? Did berserker already killed all the intruders?" Said the Commander. "No, that''s not it! Even if all life has already been killed the Berserker won''t stop destroying things.." Said the professor. "So why did he stop?" "Give me a moment." The professor then took out a sort of a gadget¡­ beep beep beeeeep... "Impossible!! no way!!!" "What? What''s going on?" Ask the Commander. "I just read two energy signatures with almost the same volume of energy. Meaning there someone as strong as Berserker that just appeared!" "Huh? You mean the enemy also has a Berserker?" "Maybe... hmmm... No! Two berserkers won''t fight each other that''s already been proven. Put two berserkers in the same area, and they will join hands and destroy everything." Said the professor. "Then! Are you telling me our enemy has someone as strong as Berserker strong enough to stop Berserker?" Said the Commander looking pale. "I,¡­ impossible how''s this possible!? Did we awaken a monster when we decided to invade this galaxy?..." The professor mumbled while shaking in fear... Chapter 177 - 177 Meanwhile, Legion continues to talk to Berserker... Making everyone who saw all that in shock. "So what are you going to do now? Should we fight?" Legion Asks. "No, I rather not, if I fight you whether I won or not ill end up dead or asleep again. I didn''t think I would ever wake up again I don''t even remember the last time I woke up..." "I see, that''s too bad as I really want to fight you," said Legion. "Well, there''s always time for a fight believe me! As long as there''s a god there''s always going to be a war¡­" said Berserker. ...¡­ Then I''m looking forward to it. "Believe me you don''t..." Said Berserker. Legion just smiles¡­ "So what are you going to do now?" "I don''t know probably eat... It''s been a long time since I tasted a good meal... Wine too..." "Hahaha I don''t really need to eat or drink but I have all the good stuff so if you have nothing to do then come with me... But let me warn you better not touch my people..." Berserker looks at Legion for a few seconds seemingly thinking if he is lying or not... "Sure why not" "Well let''s go..." "Sure, oh and the people you are looking for is deep underground..." Said Berserker. Legion transmits the info to Oda and Gaia... Since Legion can''t reveals his identity yet... He can''t participate in clean up nor any of his drones... As his drones have a very distinct appearance, and even though Gaia can block all transmission better safe than sorry. A few seconds later Legion teleported with Berserker. Gaia immediately orders an army of droids and drones to start a cleanup as well as to locate the top personnel of Ganesh who was hiding deep underground. Luna and Fenrir won''t be participating in the cleanup operation but the rest of the Fallen Angel is, as well as the rest of Carnage who wasn''t injured in the operation. But to avoid any mishap Oda and Gaia deployed an Army of droids as well as autonomous Mechs to help The Fallen Angel and Carnage. When the two massive energy signatures disappeared, the Professor was even more confused as he didn''t feel any fights between the Berserker and the newcomer. But instead, he detected countless small energy signatures meaning an army is all over the place and it is not theirs... It took two days to completely clean everything. On the first day, the drones and droids took all the spoils of war. And the next day Luna and Fenrir were already completely healed thanks to advance Health solutions... So after taking everything they then concentrated on excavating the hidden bunker deep underground¡­ it is actually not very hard Grand Army has all the tools and machinery needed to excavate it. It only took 2 hours to excavate the bunker and another hour to open it. Inside they found the commander and the professor as well as the group of scientists... Acquiring the Professor and the group of scientists was the biggest achievement of the Grand Army to date in space. With that, they will be able to find out who or what the Ganesh is planning or their origin. As soon as they cleared the half planet of Kurtha of every resource they left as quickly as they came. Of course, this operation is top secret... And so GFA or any other organizations didn''t know or find out about what happened that day. "My Lord I have bad news¡­" Carou the supreme commander of Ganesh in Bright Galaxy was seating in his commander chair inside the Ganesh Mothership this mothership is 100 times bigger than the Ganesh mothership that GFA or the Coalition have seen so far. "Tell me! All I have heard all day is bad news..." Said Carou rolling his eyes. "We lost Facility 05, and we can''t find the location of the professor and his team of scientists..." "WHAT!!! motherf.u.c.ker!! How the hell did that happen? The location of Facility 05 the whole sector is under our control..." "Who!?" "We found the remnants of a battle in facility 05 but all including all the facilities have disappeared theres no trace of it remains in the area... So concluded that they were all taken away." "Taken away? Meaning they even have time to take all the facilities and resources, and we didn''t find out about it?" Said Carou fuming in anger... "Yes my Lord, if not because they haven''t returned our messages that we send someone to check, it''s only then we found out what happens. Even our monitoring tower that was very close to the facilities didn''t detect any abnormality..." Carou immediately started thinking about who or what forces they know are capable of tricking their sensor¡­ "Hmmm, wait! As I recall the professor made a request for a perfect quality Berserker specimen for study... Check if it was approved and if a berserker was sent to him." "Yes my lord¡­" a few seconds later. My Lord 4 months ago the Berserker was sent and have been received by the Professor. "If that''s true, can it be? Did the berserker destroyed everything and leave no trace behind? hmmm. no, But that didn''t explain why our sensor didn''t detect anything." Said Carou. What they don''t know is Gaia used a very special device to block all transmission including all energy signatures on the half planet Kurtha where the Ganesh facility is located. As Gaia knows an attack would produce an energy spike and the enemy can detect that so to prevent it they use a device that can block all energy from escaping the planet Even after Berserker was released that didn''t break the blockade of transmission but it rendered those inside of the planet like Luna and the rest to lost all connection with Gaia... "This doesn''t make any sense¡­ I want a complete analysis of what happened to that half planet to leave nothing unturned¡­ I have a bad feeling about it." Said Carou. Back in Legion Home Base.. Berserker and Legion are eating and drinking together while the mother cores cook and serve drinks¡­ unaware that the event that took place will be the start of something no one expected.. Chapter 178 - 178 It has been ten days since the operation on the half planet Kurtha ended. And because of that event the Ganesh who was very aggressive started to slow down their advances. And GFA and other forces that are fighting the Ganesh was surprised by the sudden move of Ganesh, because they are unaware of the event that took place in Kurtha they were confused by the sudden slow down of Ganesh... Some believe that the Ganesh is beginning to deplete their forces some believe that the Ganesh is planning something sinister... But the majority believe that they are winning the war and that the Ganesh is starting to think twice about the war. Only Grand Trading didn''t believe that for they are aware of just how big and powerful the organization behind the Ganesh is. Ten days ago they were able to capture one of the commanders and a scientist called the Professor in a secret base of Ganesh on planet Kurtha... And using all kinds of the method they were able to find out who or what the Ganesh really are. And just like what their big boss has said the Ganesh is a product of special tools but base on a real lifeform. In other words, they are modified clones. Unfortunately, they were unable to find out the name or the leader of the forces behind the Ganesh as there is a very powerful restriction preventing the information to be assessed. And if they insist it will endanger the person. And right now they needed the Commander or the Professor alive. Its already enough they were able to learn a lot about their enemies, so they can prepare for it. In fact, Oda and Gaia, as well as Legion didn''t really care about the information they got from the professor or commander as their objectives remain the same to become more powerful. They already know they will be facing enemies far more powerful than the Ganesh. Only their time table change as they are now aware that anytime the forces behind the Ganesh can come and destroy them. So they need to prepare for it ASAP. Oda and the rest were surprised the moment they saw the commander and the professor as they don''t resemble the Ganesh at all, in fact, they are close to being human their skin is a bit greyish as well as a lot taller the commander is at least 5 meters tall and the professor is around 4 meters the rest of the scientist are also about the same height. The name of their race is very hard to pronounce in the human tongue so ODA gives them a nickname Vanir. Base on the old mythology... According to the data they gathered from their prisoner the Vanir is one of the top power in the main universe. They are Warmonger race who likes to conquer and expand their influence. But a few years ago they have destroyed and conquered a planet they shouldn''t have, unaware that the planet they destroyed is the home planet of a very old and powerful race. And when that old race found out about it they were enraged and so a war broke out. And it''s a war the Vanir are not prepared for. In just a span of a few years, their kingdom shrank to more than fifty percent and their enemy is hell-bent on destroying them. And the real reason they are after the bright galaxy is that it is the one place their enemy won''t pursue them. Unfortunately, Oda and the rest dint know the reason why, but one thing is for sure the forces behind the Ganesh won''t stop until they got the bright galaxy under their control. As it was a safe haven for them from their enemies. It was also fortunate that entering the Bright Galaxy is very hard to do that even with Ganesh advanced technology they have paid a great deal just to reach here. That line confuses Oda, as he was aware that many small merchant alien race is going back and forth to the main Universe to trade, so how come the Ganesh said it''s very hard to enter the Bright Galaxy. But soon he found out why. It turns out for some reason the native of the bright galaxy can come back and forth without any problem but for the race born outside the Bright Galaxy, it is not that easy. And that every time someone from the outside tried to enter the bright Galaxy they were welcome by all sorts of disasters. A lot of races have started to study the reason but after a long time, they were unable to figure out anything. So many give up. Of course, there are still some stubborn fellows who are hell-bent on figuring out the reason but their number is so few mostly independent researchers as no big forces would waste money on that venture. But no matter the reason is it was a piece of good news to Oda and the rest, it also now makes sense why Ganesh would use native materials to build their forces when there are more powerful and better materials outside the Galaxy. Oda and the rest now knew that Ganesh''s reinforcement from the outside won''t be able to arrive anytime soon. And that gives them time to prepares. It also now makes sense why the Ganesh started attacking rich sectors because they wanted to gather materials to build their forces. And that knowledge is very useful for Oda as he now knew that Ganesh was also restricted by how much resources they gathered. Base on that they can plan better in the future. Meanwhile, while Oda and the rest are picking up intel and knowledge from the commander and the professor. Carou was conversing with one of the General of Vanir. "General that''s our situation right now" "Hmmm, we knew it won''t be easy as there are reason why those bastard won''t go to that place, we just assume it is the restriction to enter. Don''t get careless Carou. You know how important your mission is and failure is not an option. You know what awaits you if you fail. But I understand your situation. I will discuss this with the Lord in the meantime buildup your forces, slow the advance and fight intelligently if there are forces capable of dealing with a Berserker in that galaxy you should be careful." "I understand General, I am sorry I will not be able to follow our previous time table." Carou bowed. The General didn''t respond and the transmission ended. Chapter 179 - 179 Carou was drenched in sweat even though it was only a short conversation. He wipes his brows and sat on his chair he then began to think of a plan. The reason he was chosen to fulfill this important mission is because he was one of the best tacticians and one of the brightest minds in his generation. But after coming here and learning how weak the forces in this Galaxy he becomes careless and complacent. But after the event of planet Kurtha, his way of thinking changed. So he immediately ordered a slowdown of his forces and started to regroup and gathers his scattered forces. Before no matter how many forces he lost he didn''t really think too much about it for he firmly believes that his forces are superior even if his enemies combined their forces but the disappearance of Berserker change that. As a single Berserker can deal massive damage even from the forces in the main Universe. How much more in forces in the backwater Galaxy. But everything changes when a force is capable of dealing with a Berserker exist. Of course, there are weak and strong Berserker and even if the Berserker they bought is of the weakest type it''s still not something anyone can deal with even He and his forces are not capable of stoping a rampaging Berserker. The first thing Carou did was to reinforce all the important bases. The loss of planet Kurtha is a huge setback to him especially since one of his best scientists is in there. But despite so it''s not big enough to have a great impact on his forces. The second thing he did is adjusted the manufacturing of Ganesh. He now prioritize stronger units unlike before where he was mass-producing regular Ganesh. The reason for that is he wants to expand his influence as fast as possible. But now its no longer that as he was now fighting for survival. He knew the forces that can deal with a berserker can also easily deal with him, so he started to strengthen his forces foundation by building a more powerful unit even though it will take time as he was no longer in a rush unlike before when he has a time table. And third, he abandoned minor sectors and concentrated his forces in a single sector. He chooses sector 49 as it was one of the richest sectors and also easy to defend. These three changes have changed the face of war. Especially for the GFA and the rest like the coalitions and the merchant consortium. As they will now have to face stronger and more organized Ganesh. But for the Grand Trading, it is a piece of good news as they now have more time to build their forces if the Ganesh is taking a defensive stance. And Legion can now freely gathered resources without any worry. Of course, the defensive stance of Ganesh means there will be few fights from now on meaning the needs for drones and other Grand Trading Product would lessen but it''s not all that bad and it is not going to happen anytime soon as now that Ganesh is being defensive any forces will use this opportunity to gather forces... So there will be a spike on sale which would slow down in the near future when the fighting slows down as well. So Dianna anticipating that she begins to hoard rare resources as much as possible. This also gives her time to develop more powerful products. When all of this is happening Arc and his group was fighting for their life. A few moments ago when they reach the lowest part of the facility they saw a perfect body of minor Elementals an ancient race rumored to be on par with the gods. And after the war of the gods happen they were declared extinct. Hundreds of thousands of years have passed and there are no news about Elementals and many races have forgotten about them and only on old records their name can be found but here in front of Him, Arc came face to face with an actual body of the Elementals although it is already dead the body is in perfect condition. Arc immediately put the body in a special storage unit and put it in his main storage ring. He also found the main terminal of the facility and Eve easily hacked the terminal. But halfway through their enemy arrives and when Graff saw that all his rare specimens are gone he almost went berserk. He saw the countless experimental guards that he put here littered the place. His eyes turned red in anger until he remembers his most priced specimen stored here. He then dashes into a secret passage that will take him directly into the lower floors. And in there he saw a group of unidentified creatures and his most priced possession gone. HOW DARE YOU!! He shouted he then released 100 of his best work his most powerful experiments. Arc and the rest were shocked when someone suddenly shouted at them as Eve haven''t completely taken over the facility system, so she was unaware of Graff closing in. And soon 100 grotesque creatures of all size and form stand before them. Arc can feel the aura being released by the creatures and knows it was nothing like they are fighting before and Jem and the rest can feel it too. So without saying anything, they began to prepare to equip their most powerful weapon and armor for their warbots. No one said a word or respond to Graff... As they knew there''s no need for word they knew they are enemies. Graff too knew words are not needed and immediately orders his experiments to attack. He too joins the fight using powerful armor similar to warbots he engages the intruders. Arc knowing they will be outnumbered began to release many small drones. These drones only have a single purpose and that is to attach themselves into the enemy and explode. Caught unprepared many of the experiments found themselves many drones attach to their bodies. And before they can destroy them it exploded. Graff was stunned he almost gets caught in the explosions when smokes dissipated only a handful of his experiments remains he cursed as each and every one of those 100 is his precious possessions. And now seeing many of them gets destroyed even before it can show its prowess. He was so angry luckily the one that remains are the most powerful but even so some of them take serious damage. Arc and the rest was shock of how effective the kamikaze drones are. He now regrets not building more. But even so, it serves its purpose giving Him and his group a good fighting chance. Chapter 180 - 180 Arc looks around and found that only about 30 or so enemies remain and some are on the brink of collapse but even so, they were still at a disadvantage as the monsters that survived are the strongest of the lot. Without saying anything the group takes a defensive formation with Arc in the middle. Arc didn''t say anything regarding the formation even though he didn''t need protection, but he knew it''s not the right time to mention it. Eve using the special droids was the vanguard and Biggs and Wedge''s only job is to protect Arc. This time Arc took over he unconsciously gives order without really thinking about it his experience in Vr training are starting to bare fruit, and no one complains Biggs and Wedge have a huge smile on their faces when they saw Arc giving an order as the very first system personnel they knew Arc the longest and knew how much he has grown over time and that genuinely makes them happy. Ruby and Jem notice it too, but they were so busy fighting they can''t spare any time to enjoy it. But being in the same team and fighting side by side by the one they worship as god gives them a sense of honor and purpose In fact, Arc really do comes a long way his stats are already close to a top-level 2-Star rating and his fighting experience is not bad even though he has very few real-world fighting experiences and only hones his ability in VR but in fact, the difference in VR and reality is almost zero there wasn''t much difference in pain, smell, feeling is all 100% replicated by VR the only difference is that death in VR is not real but despite that emotion and experience in VR is the same in reality and Arc have plenty of battle experience in VR and now it''s starting to show. Eve is supporting Arc and to make sure he didn''t do anything stupid. The fight intensified Arc was fighting Graff and one other Graff minion that looks like a grotesque angel. Graff and Arc entered into some kind of trance when they started fighting Graff cant see Arc true face as he was in his mech but Arc can see Graff as he was only wearing some sort of exoskeleton what surprise Arc is that Graff looks exactly like a regular human only bigger like a small giant graff is about 3-4 meters tall almost the same size as regular Ganesh. Graff was strong as he too loves fighting he frequently goes to the fighting arena whenever he has time and fighting Arc ignited his fighting spirit he began to forgot his anger and hatred all he cared about is fighting. Arc was the same Arc was a battle junkie he loves fighting he lost count on how many times he died in VR training. When to some it can be a very traumatic experience. But to Arc it is a pure enjoyment. And even though its only VR the senses are all 100% accurate. At first, they are using many gadgets and fancy weapon but soon they found themselves fighting hand to hand. After Arc destroys Graf''s fighting companion they no longer paying any attention to the rest. Ruby and Jem noticed that Arc stops giving orders and it was Eve to took over commands. Arc pukes blood, even though he was inside the warbots Graff''s attacks affected him Graff''s attacks contain energy that Arcs warbots were unable to block. So Arc unconsciously surrounds himself with some sort of energy like a Ki that protects his physical body. Over the past few months Arc was doing everything he can to train his special ability energy manipulation, but he can''t find a way to use it in combat. As the use of energy is connected to his stamina so carelessly using his ability during a fight would only put him at a disadvantage as it quickly drains his stamina every time he uses it. But this time is different as it was being activated unconsciously the energy surrounding his body not only didn''t drains his stamina but actually replenish it not only that it also increases his concentration and increase his recovery. Of course, Arc didn''t really realize what''s happening in his body as he was still in trance fighting Graff. One by one the noise died down and soon only the sounds of Arc and Graff fighting can be heard. Biggs lost his right arm and wedge almost died if not for Eve timely assistance but lost both legs as a result. Eve''s droids litter the place as well as the body parts of the experiments of Graff. Ruby remains unscathed but her warbot was destroyed Jem wasn''t so lucky she was heavily injured and almost bisected luckily her personal energy shield save her, but she still receives a huge cut that goes to her left shoulder into her right waist her warbot is also destroyed. Only Eve remains in perfect condition but out of all the special droids, only 5 remains and 3 of them are close to destruction. Eve released some support droids and drones if worse comes to worst she can use her new physical body to save Arc. So after determining that the rest no longer in danger she began to focus on Arc. She didn''t really care about anything else except Arc, the only reason she didn''t interrupt Arc is that she can see Arc growing with every attack. His ability to use the energy manipulation is becoming more refined. And also she knew Arc''s life wasn''t really in danger, in fact, Arc''s body is getting stronger and stronger by the second. It is like Arc are being reborn with every punch and kicks he unleashed. Energy flows into Arc''s body like lifeblood circulating and improving his physics with every circulation. It comes to the point that Arcs warbot is lagging behind and can no longer keep up with Arc''s growth... Graff is starting to feel something strange but can''t put his finger on it, he continued to exchange fist and kicks with Arc. Suddenly he noticed a punch coming and instinctively he was about to dodge but something weird happens he saw the fist coming but unable to dodge it he was hit in the shoulder destroying a part of his exoskeleton. He was about to curse but suddenly he saw multiple fists coming in his direction unable to react he was hit all over. Ruby and the rest saw it and forget to do anything else they all stop whatever they are doing and with a shock expression, they saw Arc blurred and unleashed countless punch and kicks. And despite focusing all they saw was afterimage. Arc suddenly stop attacking and just stood. Crack! Crack! Arc stop moving standing still as one by one parts of his warbots crumble piece by piece Arc''s warbot fall apart. Time seems to slow down. Ruby and the rest saw Arc stop moving and his armor started to cracked and fall apart a few seconds later Arc standing and all around him was his warbot scattered pieces. And they saw Arc with visible dark energy surrounding his whole body. The energy is not static but continuously moving like water flowing¡­ Suddenly Arc lifted his arm¡­. "What''s this?" Arc mumbled. Chapter 181 - 181 Graff''s whole body was paralyzed almost every bone in his body is destroyed, if not for his natural strong body and ki he be dead already... He looks back at Arc who was now standing still not far from him he saw and can feel the power of the dark energy seemingly covering and flowing in Arc''s body... This time he no longer in trance as being with god''s blood running in his vein he can feel that the energy flowing in Arc''s body no not normal¡­ he hasn''t seen anything like it, it feels like a primordial beast waiting to be unleashed... "Who are you?... What are you?" Graff asks in difficulty, as blood flows in his mouth. Unfortunately he was able to hear Arc''s reply as he fainted right after. Arc heard Graff''s question but was unable to answer as he too was surprised about what''s happening... "Nine what''s going on?" Arc asked. "The blood of Adam is finally been awoken in you¡­" "Blood of Adam¡­" Arc mumbled. He knew he was a descendant of Adam, but he thought his ability to manipulate energy is already the result of Adams blood awakening he now knows he was wrong.. "It seems like this is the real awakening" Arc look at his hands and for some reason, the energy flowing is like an extension of his body he can freely control it unlike before that he needs to really concentrate to be able to manifest it. "But what triggers its awakening? He asks himself. He then looks at Graff who was already pass out and seemingly in death door. "It should be him, but what is he? He looks like giant human-like depictions of gods of old from earth lore and legends.." Arc said to himself. Since he was young he loves fantasy movies and novels and read a fair share of them and most of it describes godly being as giants. "Could it be?" He mumbled... Boss. Boss¡­ "huh" he woke up from his thinking... He looks around and saw Eve calling out to him and saw the conditions to his teammates and blames himself for not noticing immediately¡­ He tried to move but ended up flashing he almost bumps into Eve he scratches his head.. Damn looks like I need to train myself to better control this thing... He looks at Biggs and Wedge as well as Jem. Who was severely injured, and he immediately fished out healing potion from his storage ring and give it to Eve... "How are you guys? Sorry for not noticing immediately..." Arc didn''t really treat this bunch as subordinate unlike the other personnel from the system these guys are with him the longest like Dianna and Tiffa he considers them as part of his family... He looks at Ruby who seems to be uninjured and asked: "are you ok?" Ruby smiles after traveling with Arc for months she no longer felt awkward talking to her god Arc. "I''m ok boss, they are fine too they just need proper treatment, and they''ll be back to normal." Said Ruby. "That''s right Boss.. You are amazing!!" Said Jem happily.. Biggs and Wedge also give him a thumbs up.. "Haha well thanks I don''t really understand how it happens though but I have my suspicions.." Everyone follows Arc''s gaze and found Graff lying in pools of his blood." "Eve lets pack up immediately and returned to Specter. Make sure that guy survives.. I have a lot of questions to ask..." Said Arc. Roger that Boss. Arc and Eves summons support droids to help with clean up and to carry the injured back to specter.. Arc and the rest didn''t linger long they immediately returned to Specter leaving all to the droids to deal with. Arc also secretly gives another upgrade ch.i.p.s to Eve to be given to the rest¡­ Arc blames himself for hesitating before and should have given it to them much earlier.. But because of the lack of energy unit he decided to save it for the future.. But seeing the injury they suffered all that change. He knows he can''t lose any of them as to him they are irreplaceable.. Just like his real family. Back in the ship Arc began to plan ahead, seeing how a single Graff can give them so much trouble what will happen if he faces 2 or 10 or 100 maybe more then its game over for them. And unlike in VR they can''t start over again. Luckily Specter is equipped with almost everything he needs a 2-star forge is placed in specter the forge can build any 2-star parts and below as long as they have the designs for the part.. It''s different from other factories that can produce an already finished product the Forge can only make parts but if used right it can do almost anything.. Eve and Gaia and the rest of the research division are already making use of the Forge before leaving Arc bought two 2-Star forges it was meant to create parts for repairs and other things but Arc and the rest especially Frankenstein have different plans for them.. Arc left one with Gaia and the other he integrated it with Specter... As he didn''t really bring anything else he left all factories on Gaia control. And to him, this is all he needs at least for now. And with the data and information, they got in graffs secret base as well as in graffs personal device they now have many options to choose from and only need to decide which direction to go. "Boss¡­" "hmm, Ruby what''s up?" "Boss we found this on Graff." Ruby presented what looks like a bracelet it looks like a regular bracelet with runes and engraving all over it.. "This is¡­ storage device?" "We suspect so.. But for some reason we''re unable to open it." Said Ruby. "I see let me see" Arc took the bracelet and closely examine it he then began to inject his energy into it as it is one of the ways to use the storage devices... There are two types of storage devices the system can produce the personal and the standard one. The personal storage requires an energy signature of the person using it to open and it only opens to the said person. The standard one on the other hand only needs commands to open and anyone can open it as long as they equip it. And like Arc suspected the bracelets are indeed a personal storage device.. He felt that his energy was scanned but then rejected when he injects his energy into the bracelet. Ruby notices Arc began to think, so she left silently in order not to disturb him. But in fact Arc was talking to Nine.. As she was the only one who can help him open the storage device not even Eve can do anything about it and using brute force only risk the device self-destructing.. And he won''t do something so stupid.. So he asks for Nines help.. Luckily for him for some reason Nine is in a good mood and didn''t ignore him.. "Can you open it?" Ask Arc. "1000 energy unit needed to unlock..." Said Nine. "What? That''s highway robbery" I don''t even know what''s inside what if it empty?" "1000 energy¡­" "Mother¡­ 200¡­" "1000 energy..." "500¡­" Arc grit his teeth¡­ "1000 energy" "You heartless mother¡­ I can buy a good decent factory with that.." "1000 energy" Sigh.. Arc slumps back in his chair defeated he knows there''s no use arguing with Nine as he will never win anyways but for some reason he felt compelled to bargain.. "F.u.c.k¡­ whatever.. do it... This better be worth it or I will put this thing in Graff ass.." "Sneeze, who is talking about me?" Graffs already regains consciousness after he received some sort of treatment. Luckily Eve''s makes preparation for something like this, so she ordered for Graff''s limbs to be cut and all possession be removed including clothes. And she put Graffs in high security room reconstructed just for him. When Graff woke up and noticed his conditions he knew he lost.. "So it''s my time to be in the table. So what goes around comes around" he mumbles. Chapter 182 - 182 Ding! "Is iiiis done?" "Unlock complete" Arc heard Nine''s voice. "F.u.c.k¡­ 1000 energy unit lost just like that and it only took a second. Darn it this better be worth it." "Huh! What the hell? This sick bastard¡­" Arc was so angry the moments he looks inside the storage device. Then he remembers the facilities they been through and all the body parts stored in there... Mother f.u.c.ker... I''ll make sure that sick bastard will pay for all of this... Inside the storage device, he saw countless specimens lock in a cage. And unlike in storage facility where everything is already dead and processed inside the storage device everything is still alive or was being kept alive... All his hair stood up looking at it. Then he saw a little girl lock in the steel table n.a.k.e.d and seemingly waiting to be operated on. And his blood boils in anger¡­ "Eve... Gather everyone here with me." "Yes. Boss..." Eve notices the anger in Arc''s voice but didn''t ask why. Soon everyone gathered in front of Arc. Ruby and the rest are waiting for Arc to speak while the others are curious about what''s going on... Arc then gives his order. He Ordered Arielle to organize a wide-scale scouting party as well as to gather more intelligence. They already have a basic knowledge of the planet''s inhabitants as well as its local language and making an auto translating device is easy enough for them. Ruby and Jems volunteers but Arc rejected as he has different plans for them. Arielle nodded. Arc then ordered Gideon to prepare his team as a backup just incase anything comes up. Replacing the combat droids that were destroyed when they infiltrated the Graffs storage facility will take some time. He also asks Gideon to improve and upgrades all their gears they are using as much as possible. Most likely the enemies this time seems to be quite advanced as well. Gideon acknowledges the orders... He then ordered Eve to study all the data they manage to acquire and come up with the new and improve design for the destroyed warbots. Especially his warbots as the old one won''t be able to keep up with him anymore. He assumes the same for others after they finnished their own upgrades. He then ordered Biggs and Wedge to interrogate and get as much information on Graff without any restraint just as long as keep him alive... Its an unusual order for Arc and Biggs and Wedge are surprised by it, in fact, everyone is except for Eve. As for Ruby and Jem, he ordered them to remain as he dismissed the rest to do their job even Eve decided to leave and make preparation. Eve and Specter collaborated on how to improve the warbots designs... Unfortunately, they don''t have anyone who specializes in it in Specter. And they lost communication with everyone on earth as well as Legion. So the two super AI team up to complete Arc orders, unfortunately, Arc was unaware how much the two AI can do when given complete control over a project without any restraint. Ruby and Jem were confused but decided to see why they were asked to stay, and Arc didn''t make them wait for long. He then passes the now-open storage device on Ruby. Ruby then look inside the storage device and instantly she too is furious, if it was the old her she wouldn''t react that way but after being with Jem and Arc and the rest for quite some time unknowingly she to started to change... "Huh! What? What''s going on?" Ask Jem surprised by Ruby''s reaction. Ruby then passes the storage device to Jem. And when she saw what''s inside she know understand why... But despite that she was still surprised by Ruby''s reaction but decided not to say anything especially since they are in front of their Boss¡­ "Boss! Let me take over the interrogation." Said Ruby who was still fuming... "No. There''s a reason why I didn''t reveal the content of the storage device on Biggs and Wedge as to not be influenced by their emotion when interrogating that way they will be open-minded about everything..." "But I have a job for the two of you... Take care of everyone in the storage device, save those that can be saved and put to rest those that can''t... Then bring them to me." "Yes, Boss.." After passing the storage device to Ruby and Jen and after getting their order the two left... Giving Arc time to ponder on other things to do. "It would be easy if I can unleash specter into this word but without knowing what is hidden in it he might awaken something they are unable to deal with so Arc restrained himself from using Specter on the planet. He just orders it to maintain stealth mode defensive mode at the same time. Somewhere on the planet.¡­ "Are you sure?" "The spy of mine saw him leaving in a hurry he didn''t even try to hide when he left..." "Could this be a trap?" "¡­.¡­. Hmmm, it''s possible" "So what should we do?" "Send Kol and Rah to find out what''s going on. In the meantime, let''s make preparation I want to know what''s that pompous Graff doing." "Fine!" "Graaaahhh¡­.. Huff huff... Bastard." "Come on man don''t make it harder on anyone we all know you will sing sooner or later why make it harder?" Said Biggs¡­ "But man you sure are big..." Said Wedge. "F.u.c.k you! Who do you think you are? I will make you pay for this a thousand times over¡­" "Yeah, yeah, yeah we heard that before you''re not the first to say it and will not be the last." Biggs while puffing smoke from a cigarette... "Hey bro lets cut his Dong... It''s annoying looking at it!" Biggs look at Wedge and said. "Why are you looking at it?" "Do you think I want to? I''m beginning to think that''s the reason big Boss gives this order to us.." Graff was sweating bullets hearing those two''s conversation. "What the hell is those two talking about, they better not touch my ding dong or all hell will break loose." "¡­.. Wtf, why are we talking about his dong?" Said wedge... "You''re the one who started it, you motherf.u.c.ker..." Said Biggs fuming with anger. "F.u.c.k," wedge scratch his head feeling embarrassed... "F.u.c.k fine let''s cut it and be done with it, so we can move on.." Said Biggs... "Biggs then ordered the medical droids to cut Graff''s dong.." "Graff saw the droids with swords and other cutting tools he almost pissed himself from fear and anger..." "Stooooop... I said stop! I''ll talk, ill talk you won you motherf.u.c.k.i.n.g barbarians..." Biggs and wedge were surprised at first they couldn''t believe what they just heard but when Graff started begging for them to stop the medical droid from cutting his dong... They woke up from a stupor. "Hahaha wtf..." It was Wedge who started laughing first followed by Biggs who was trying to stop himself from laughing but failed to do so he has tears in his eyes from trying to stop himself from laughing... "Stop laughing and stop this thing..." Begged Graff "Cough, cough alright stop." Said Biggs. The droids stop immediately but not after a small cut was made... Seeing the droid stop and some blood dripping from the cut if he didn''t beg he has no doubt his dong would have been cut off. The medical droid immediately patches the cut to stop the bleeding... Biggs then ordered for some blanket to be wrapped around Graff. Which makes Graff sigh in relief. "Well, that''s easier than I tought.. Well, now shall we talk..." Said Biggs with a smile... Chapter 183 - 183 "Darius. We got news from Kol and Rah..." "Let''s hear it." "As it turns out Graff''s destination is Haze Jungle somewhere in the Southern part of the continent according to Kol and Rah reports Graff''s vehicle energy signatures stop right around here¡­" Marius, Darius'' twin brother pointed in the holographic map. "Haze jungle¡­. I know that place but there''s nothing there that place used to be a subject of many field study because of the mysterious haze like fog that covers it... But it turns out that''s because of certain plants that only able to grows there was the one releasing it in a certain time of the day... After it was discovered all interest regarding that place fades away... It is already established that there''s nothing special about that place so what''s Graff doing there?" Said Darius. "Do you remember the time that Graff started buying many types of construction materials, and we didn''t found out what''s he''s doing with it?" "You mean?" "Yeah. I suspect he used those materials to build something in Haze jungles as it was a perfect place to build a hidden base or laboratory as even the spyglass cant sees through that Haze... It''s what interests others to study that place." Said Marius. "Something must have happened to his secret laboratory for him to go there in a hurry. That is if your theory is right. We still can''t dismiss the idea it''s a trap." Said Darius. Well, you are always careful and paranoid but I can''t deny that personality of yours saves us a lot of time in the past. Said Marius. "Heh, you just too laid back. Anyways I also agreed with your theory but a little preparation wouldn''t hurt right..." Then Darius let out a creepy smile. "Little my ass, knowing you I might as well prepares for whatever thing you would unleash." Said Marius. "Order Kol and Rah to go there and see whatever it is Graff is hiding tell them we will meet them there soon. I just need to prepare some toys haha¡­" said Darius. "Fine whatever... Just hurry I don''t want to miss anything. Said Marius." "I know" Back in Specter Arc was so surprised by how quickly Biggs and Wedge broke Graff and get information form him. And using truth serum they know Graff is not lying. Arc was about to ask Biggs and Wedge how they do it... But then he heard a knock. "Come in." Ruby and Jem entered along with a little girl with little goat horns on her forehead. The little girl looks a little afraid and cautious but at the same time curious about whom the big Boss the two nice big sisters is talking about. The little girl looks at Arc but didn''t say anything... Arc then looks at the little girl and said. " Hi I''m Arc you can call me big brother or Simply Arc... What''s your name don''t be afraid you''re safe now." "I¡­I... I''m Sofie" said the little girl with a small cute voice. "Sofie that a cute name. Can you tell me why you are in the possession of Graff?" Sofie hearing Graff name recoil in fear. Arc seeing Sofie''s reaction blames himself for being insensitive the little girl must have been through hell under Graff. "Sigh, sorry Sofie but you don''t need to be afraid of him anymore he can''t hurt you or anyone else again." "I.. I.. It''s ok thank you bi.. bii.. Big Brother for saving me. My home was attacked by unknown forces and me and my family are turned into slaves and Gr..Graa." "You don''t have to say his name if you don''t want to." Said Arc. "I. It''s ok I was bought by Graaff to be an experimental subject. He said my bloodline is special..." Seeing the resolve and in Little Sofie''s eyes, Arc couldn''t help but cursed Graff in his mind. "Arc then put his hand on Sofie''s head and brush it gently... Brave girl I couldn''t imagine what you have been through but all that is in the past... You must now decide what to do in the future." Said Arc. Arc saw intelligence in Sofie''s eyes as well as resolves he knows despite looking young he knows Sofie can understand what he was trying to say. And true enough Sofie nodded... "Can I stay here?" Said Sofie with a small voice seemingly afraid they would refuse. Arc. Smiles and said, "of course, if that''s what you want you are welcome to stay as long as you want¡­ Do you know where your siblings and parents are?" Sofie shakes her head... "I see... Well if they are alive we will find them¡­" Said Arc. "You must be hungry, actually I''m a little hungry too... So let go eat and talk while eating, and all of you join us¡­" Ruby, Jem, Biggs, and Wedge nodded. Jarvis is already done cooking. So Arc and the rest goes to the lounge Sofie smiles when she saw that everyone is nice and easy to get along with. She was a smart girl and despite her young age being a former princess she was educated by the ways of the world the law of the jungles. But for some reason, the peoples around her right now is not like those she encountered in the past even before Graff bought her she saw many types of people inside her cage and none of them are like the ones surrounding her right now all she felt is warmth the even when she was still a princess she never felt it. And now in the midst of strangers, she felt the warmth she never experienced before, and so she made a decision not to lose it whatever the cost. It didn''t take long for the food to be presented and Jarvis takes his seat without Arc asking him to. This thing has become a habit of late eating together even Ariel and the rest come to join in.. They were surprised about the new addition to the table. At the same time curious. It was Ariel who couldn''t help her self and ask. "Who''s the cute little sister there?" "Oh.. Oh, yeah sorry let me introduce our new addition to the family this is Sofie don''t ask me where she came from ask her your self on your own time she was a prisoner of Graff so don''t force her she doesn''t want to talk about it." Said Arc. "Oh, I see," said Ariel "Well welcome a toast to little Sofie," said Jem. Cheers!! Well, only juice for you young Sofie said Jarvis with a soft smile... "Alright lest eat.." Said Arc. As soon as Sofie tasted the food she was surprised how delicious it is. At first, she was quite shy and timid but soon she was gorging her self with food that makes others smile and laughs. Sir Jarvis, this is delicious can you teach me how to cook? Said Sofie who no longer she and timid. Arc laugh and said. "Old man Jarvis it looks like you found yourself a disciple.." "Hahaha looks like it¡­" It''s very rare for stone face Jarvis to show emotion so everyone is a little surprised. I''m quite strict you know. Little Sofie and I don''t like those who quit halfway... So if you really want to learn from me you better prepared your self for it... Everyone saw an imaginary fire burning in little Sofie eyes she clenched her small little hands into a fist and said. I won''t quit master. Jarvis looking solemn smile a little and said... Good, we will start tomorrow be prepared. But for now, let''s eat before those two eat everything Jarvis look at Biggs and Wedge you look like having a speed-eating contest... Sofie notices the dwindling food and no longer speak and started eating again. Arc couldn''t stop himself from laughing. Jem and Arielle started laughing too ruby and the rest have a huge smile on their faces. After eating Jarvis brewed some tea for everyone this too becomes a habit for them... And with a solemn but relaxing atmosphere, Sofie started talking recounting her experiences¡­ Everyone just listened and didn''t interrupt her they just quietly drink their tea and listen to Sofie... After recounting all her experience she looks at everyone who are gently and warmly smiling at her and finally she couldn''t control her self and cry... Ariel was the first to come over to Sofie and hug her she too was a royalty and in some ways relate to Sofie she was very fortunate as she was rescued by Arc before she was killed or captured. The next to come over is Jem... Ruby too stood up and put her hand on top of Sofie''s head. Arc saw Biggs and Wedge eyes and knows Graff would be in hell after this. It took a while for Sofie to calm herself. "I''m sorry¡­" Said Sofie. "Why are you apologizing for? And besides what''s important is you have us now. Use those experiences and strengthen yourself I''m not going to treat you as a small naive girl as what you have experienced is far more than any of us and you get past it. And that''s saying something. But despite me saying that it remains a fact that you are still a child and so don''t force yourself to be an a.d.u.l.t and just enjoy your self." Said Arc. Arc stood up put his hand on Sofie''s head and gently brush it, and then he left. Chapter 184 - 184 It has been 2 days since the fight with Graff ended and Arc now realize how hard it is to upgrade his current Warbot and Mech. Eve and Specter have teamed up to find a way to upgrade the current warbots designs without relying on the system but after two days the things they come up with is ridiculous as it no longer a warbot but a full-fledge battle mech and second the design is simply out of place in so many ways Arc can only shake his head after Eve showed him the current upgrades designs... So Arc has no choice but to look into the system that can help him with his current predicament and with the help of nine he found several things that can help him. The best one is the Upgrade Factory. It can literally upgrade anything, of course, it''s not without drawback the main problem is it needs massive amounts of energy unit for every upgrade and second the factory itself is quite expensive. The second option he was considering is the Customization Factory. This one can help customize and balance any item. It can also give one suggestion or a possible way for upgrades. But the problem for this is it can''t create the item needed for upgrade in can only install... But for Arc who have the Forge its not a big deal but the problem is Customization Factory is only a temporary fix, not a permanent solution mainly because the Customization Factory can not customized item beyond its capabilities and 1-star CF is still expensive although not as expensive as UF or Upgrade Factory. His 3rd option is to buy blueprints from the system store and using the forge to create its parts. This is the cheapest way he can save a lot of Energy Units, but he will need a lot of materials but then again this is also a temporary fix as he has no idea how powerful the top echelon of this world is. He was also thinking of buying a 2-star droid factory as this will solve all his problems although he didn''t know how many he can build with the materials and energy unit he has right now. But a 2-star Droid Factory can really help him in the long run the only problem is He didn''t have enough Energy unit to purchase it let alone built 2-star droids. After a few hours of deliberating and thinking he gritted his teeth and choose option 1 Upgrade factory. Upgrade factory doesn''t have a rating it is one of those special factories in the system.. Where the upgrades consumptions depend on what item you want an upgrade and what kind of upgrades you want. The higher the rank of the item you want to upgrade the more expensive the upgrade will be. After deciding on it, he asks Specter to prepare a huge room for him as the upgraded factory consists of several massive machines... He also asks Eve to build him a new warbot as the Upgrade Factory needed a physical item to be able to upgrade. It only took specter a few minutes to prepare the room but Eve needed a few hours to build him a new warbot. Arc goes to the newly created room and indeed Specter created a massive room for him he can fit several Upgrade factories in it if he wanted. He is the only one in here not wasting any time he selected the Upgrade Factory and click build, and within seconds the factory is built it consists of several spheres and dome-like buildings each one is bigger then the next on the very first dome a massive command center is located this is where he can customize the upgrades he wants it also has its own AI so Eve didn''t need to control it, but he still connected Eve into it so that Eve or him can use it remotely... Since his warbots is not ready he choose his mech instead or Diablo he ordered Specter to transfer Diablo into the new room which he named Upgrade Facility, for now, the room is only accessible to a few people and although he trusts all his men a little precaution wouldn''t hurt, so he only alowed those that came from the system to access the room. He also ordered them not to reveal the existence of the upgrade facility to others just yet. Well, it is actually not needed as in order to access the Upgrade Facility Specter needs to teleport them inside the room as there''s no physical entrance or exit in the room. The upgrading procedures are easy enough with the help of Upgrade Factory AI everything is very easy to do. But despite that Arc was so enamored with the possible many upgrades that it took him several hours of customizing and Choosing the perfect upgrade, and when he finally decided on the upgrades it turns out he doesn''t have enough energy unit for the upgrades since Diablo is already close to a 2-star mech any upgrades on it requires a lot of energy units. When he saw the amount needed to upgrade Diablo he can only curse inside. In the end, it turns out he cannot upgrade Diablo after all luckily by that time his warbot is already ready for upgrades, and because of his experience with Diablo, it didn''t take long for him to choose what kind of upgrade he wants for his new warbot. The Upgrade Factory also scan him to increase the compatibility with the upgraded warbot... After choosing the upgrade the process of upgrading only takes a few minutes it shows how advance the technology of Upgrade Factory is. Arc was now looking at his newly upgraded warbot, and he can only nod in satisfaction and although he spent almost all his reserved energy units it was worth it he knows he didn''t make a wrong decision. The upgraded warbot still looks the same as the old one the only difference is that there are more runes on its body and it is a little bigger it also has a halo-like light on its back apparently that is some kind of booster. The same halo would appear every time he attacks if he punches a halo would appear on its fist the same if he kicks it also appeared if he uses a weapon whether it is a rifle or a sword a halo would appear. Unfortunately, he can''t try its power, but he knew it would be awesome. His energy also synchronized with the warbot much better, and he notices that he can use his energy to powerup his warbot more. He also notice that the halo changes color every time he uses his energy it turns golden into black. Overall he was very satisfied with the upgrades. Unfortunately, he can not upgrade anymore warbots as he already uses all his reserved energy units. It''s a good thing that before he left earth he spent all his reserved energy unit on building an Energy factory because of that he earns a decent amount of energy unit on a regular basis. Not to mention since he left earth he was able to complete many minor system quests along the way some with the help of Legion that was until he entered the red hole and lost all connection to Legion and the rest back on Earth. But now he once again uses everything up, but he wasn''t worried if worse comes to worst he still has specter to rely on, or he can always retreat if his enemy is too much for him. Beep! Beep! Hmmm. "Boss please come to the bridge we have a situation." He heard the voice of Arielle on his coms. "Alright" On the bridge... "Arielle, what''s going on?" "Take a look boss!" Suddenly the monitor changes, and he saw two being like Graff sneaking around, fortunately, the droids already finished dismantling Graff storage facility so the two didn''t saw anything and since specter in hovering in high altitudes in stealth mode the two didn''t saw it either but even though the facility was already dismantled the area where it uses to be is still visible and it still shows evidence that there was once a building there and it was just there very recently. The individual was of course Kol and Rah the one Marius and Darius sent ahead to scout and investigate. Micro surveillance drones that Eve and Specter left behind and scattered was the one found the two. Arc saw Koh and Rah and notice that the two have the same god like colar so he assumes they are someone else subordinate or slaves he knows that colar through Graff computer when Eve and Specter scanned and inspected it... "They were just scout probably Graff''s subordinates when their boss suddenly disappeared they came here to investigate.." Said Arc. "No Boss I don''t think that''s the case..." Said Arielle.. "Really?" "Yes, Boss look at how they act they clearly didn''t know there''s a facility there before, second they are looking for something in secret look how cautious they are? If they are with Graff they should be calling or trying to communicate with him now. But that''s not the case..." Said Arielle. "I agree Boss," said Eve who just arrived "I see, so they must be sent by Graff''s rival or Enemies," said Arc. "That''s highly possible Boss." Said Arielle. "Perfect I was looking for the opportunity to test my new warbot." Said Arc smiling. Chapter 185 - 185 "Marius, what''s wrong?" Darius asks. "We lost contact with Kol and Rah." Said Marius. "How? And when?" "A few hours ago, everything is fine they arrived at Haze Jungle without any problem and on their last contact they said they will continue to investigate but it been a few hours, and they haven''t reported back." Said Marius. "Well it could be anything that place is weird in some way some type of plants in there can disrupt communications, but we can''t dismiss the possibility they are already dead." Said Darius. "Useless bastards. So what are we going to do?" cursed Marius. "Nothing''s change, I''m done with my preparation I assume you are too so let us go there now." Said Darius. Marius smiles "sure! But should we inform the Guild?" "I already did," said Darius. "Hahaha¡­ as expected of you lets go!" ..... "Elder take a look at this!" "Huh¡­ what''s this about? Can''t you see I''m very busy this body won''t live long, so I have to complete the experiment before it perishes." The young man looked at the operating table a female like creatures lying in there and in its body all sort of tube-like apparatus was inserted and on each one of every tube different colored substance can be seen being injected into the body. The female was clearly in so much pain just looking at her distorted face but no noise can be heard from her mouth. "Elder is that?" "Hehehe you have a good eye, that''s right it is a pure-blood Dryad I luckily stumble upon it in the slave market¡­" "That must have cost a fortune¡­ Dryad is a very powerful and elusive race it''s not easy to capture one let alone a pure-blooded one." "Well, it indeed costs a lot but it''s worth the price..." Said the elder looking man. A few seconds later the Dryad stop moving. "Darn it I''m so close... But pure-blooded Dryad are really something even after injecting it with five different liquefied elements it lasted for quite some time. As expected to a pure-blooded magical creature their tolerance to magic is very high." After that, the elderly meticulously dissected the Dryad and place its body parts into different containers. The young man silently watches without any emotion on his face clearly he is not new to this kind of scene. A few minutes later the elderly man is done. "So what is it that makes you ran all the way here in a hurry" Lupa. Take a look at this elder¡­ "Hmmm,.... what''s this?.... No impossible... Is this real? When was this taken?" "A few days ago... Our monitoring tower reported an anomaly, but a few seconds later the anomaly disappeared so it was flagged as an error by AI luckily the footage was already been sent to investigation division before it was deleted as an error otherwise all data would have been automatically deleted." Said Lupa. The elder was looking at the short video of Specter entering the atmosphere and disappearing afterward as it already activated the stealth mode. "But because of the massive number of works in the investigation department it was only now the footage was investigated and as soon as they saw it they sent it to me. Luckily it was one of my men who saw it first." Lupa Continues. "Don''t let anyone know about this." "I know elder, so I ordered my man to immediately send the footage for deletion and have him reported the anomaly investigation was a system error..." "Good! I know I made the right decision taking you under my wings. Hahaha!" "So what are we going to do now?" "For now we must make preparation... It has been a long time since our planet have visitors I cant wait to meet them they should be a fine specimen haha" "There''s something else elder, two days ago roughly few hours after the anomaly was reported Graff was seen leaving in a hurry his destination is the Haze Jungle quite close to where the anomaly happens and just now the Crown twins or specifically Darius Crown filed a request for adventuring and their destination is also Haze Jungle." "Hmmm¡­ it looks like Graff brat knows something about the visitors as for the Crown twins I''m pretty sure they are only following that Graff brat... Unfortunately, we can''t touch any of those brats as they belong to a powerful family. But that doesn''t mean we''re powerless..." "What should I do elder?" "Just monitor them for now. Any sudden action would only alert those crazy geezers, and we have to avoid that at all cost. Send 01-10 to Haze Jungle to monitor those brats... Also, block all communication in or out of Haze Jungle. Lucky for us it is the haze jungle having communication problem in there is normal, and make sure those brats won''t leave the jungle alive if they made contact with the visitors." Said the elder with the cruel expression on his face. "Yes elder" "Make sure it''s clean I don''t want any problems." Lupa nodded and left. "I wonder where they come from? How long is it since someone visited this prison..." Said the elder in his mind. ... "Too weak! Those to are too weak!" Said Arc. A few hours ago Ark surprise attack Kol and Rah thinking they are as strong as Graff Arc didn''t hesitate to use a powerful attack. The result well the two perished even before they can scream leaving Arc disappointed. "That''s not exactly true Boss you just become too strong." Said Arielle. Arc can only shake his head he was hoping to test the performance of his newly upgraded warbot, but because his oponents died on the first attack he can''t do anything else he couldn''t even interrogate them as they died instantly¡­ "F.u.c.k whatever I''ll be in the training center let me know if something happens..." Said Arc. "Sure Boss" replied Arielle Since the rest are undergoing an upgrade and most of their combat droids are destroyed Arc decided to lie low for now. Until they recuperate from the previous losses. "And besides he still needed to control his new ability otherwise it will be a loose cannon..." "Let''s hope the next opponent are a little bit stronger¡­" Arc mumbled.. Chapter 186 - 186 Back in Liberty Dianna is reading a report apparently someone is messing with Grand Trading... Just a week ago 2 transport vehicles was attacked and although the attack was successfully defended by the drones and unmanned mech by Gaia, Dianna thought it must have been an isolated incident but just 3 days ago their warehouse in Liberty as attacked its one of the small warehouses they rented in the outer Liberty to store materials. Because of the huge amount of traffic in their sales mountains upon mountains of materials are coming their way and their current transport ship is not enough to transfer all of it to Messiah and so Dianna decided to rent several warehouses in outer Liberty to store these excess materials to be transferred on the later date. And off course, Dianna would put security in it but this time it''s different as the attack was not to steal but to destroy maybe because they think it is pointless to steal as they will never succeed, so they resorted to destroying... And this what trouble Dianna if the attackers resort to destruction instead of stealing then it''s not a simple robbery anymore someone is behind it. Dianna guess is the remnant of HFA or it could also be just anyone as with the rise of Grand Trading many competitors were put to pasture. One of them is the Omega Foundation as they used to be the no.1 source of military equipment for humanity and Omega foundation is just one of the few. And even though Omega Foundation is also now purchasing military equipment from Grand Trading that doesn''t mean they want to they are just forced by the circ.u.mstances. And that''s not all back on earth those mysterious Grey man is also acting again attacking Grand Trading outpost all over the earth but that''s Oda problem so Dianna is not worried about it. In this kind of situation, Dianna missed Arc as no matter how brilliant she is and even with upgrades military action and such is not her forte. Luckily there''s Gaia to help her but in Liberty Gaia''s influence is minimal not like on earth who she has total control of the internet. In Liberty, the net was controlled by a superpower in the main Universe. And no matter how to advance Gaia is she can''t mess with the Galactic net. And in Liberty, all things revolve around Galactic net. The First Bank uses it for transaction and digital currency conversion and many more. So the only thing Gaia can do is protect Grand Trading assets through Drones and Droids in Liberty. And so Dianna asks for more Shadow unit from Oda to be sent to Liberty luckily the training of new Shadow unit is continues and so there''s enough shadow unit to send but Oda won''t send fresh shadow unit to Liberty as the situation on Liberty is 100 times more dangerous than on earth so Oda would only send veteran Shadow Unit to help Dianna. And there goes the problem all veteran unit is busy leading their team on earth as there are many things that need to be done in order to completely control Earth. Just controlling the leaders is not enough Oda wants to eliminate all hidden danger on earth and right now the Grey man is his priority. For some reason, this Grey man has a technology to hide from any CCTV monitoring Camera its different from the stealth technology suit of Shadow Unit. Grey man only hides them from any camera and not to the n.a.k.e.d eyes. But despite that, it gives Gaia a hard time to locate them, and they are not the only problem HFA remnant on earth is also acting up and despite the fact they are already defeated HFA used to be Humanities top superpower and the means and foundation they built is not something that can be destroyed overnight. Having said that Oda is not really bothered by those things he knows it is only a matter of time before earth falls completely under Grand Trading. So Oda leaves the affair on Earth to Sora and Haruka to deal with while he focuses on building military power on Messiah. .... Dianna and Tiffa are on their way to the warehouse who has been attacked and although the attack is unsuccessful and no materials are damage Dianna is still worried as every material is important to the growth of Grand Trading. So she decided to personally visit it along with Tifa and 2 teams of Shadow Units. On the way Dianna was Talking to Oda and Gaia on how to strengthen the defenses on all Grand trading temporary warehouses Ash already did his job to secure network defenses and that''s foolproof especially since Gaia is monitoring it all the time. Before Dianna goes to the warehouse she will first inspect the first non-system production line in Liberty. The Production Facility is located inside 50 kl Grand Trading Headquarters. These production facilities are the hard work of the Science and Technology department of Grand Trading Afterall it''s not easy to replicate the system factory and in fact, it''s impossible to do so but that doesn''t mean they can''t make a downgraded version of it and these production facilities are exactly that. Dianna saw a 15 story 100,000 meters octagonal building this is the first non-system production facility. this facility''s main focus is the production of POV weapons this is the next product of Grand Advanced Technology. After all, not all fights happen on space and all soldiers need a personal weapon and so Dianna as well as all top executives of Grand Trading decided to create a POV weapon for soldiers¡­ Before the sales of Drones and such goes down. Imagine just how many soldiers there are in GFA. The number is on tens of millions and that''s just GFA even if only 1 percent is armed by Grand Trading equipment that''s still a good amount of income. And so Grand Advance Technology decided to create 5 new POV weapons base on Shadow Unit and Grand Army weaponry. It''s a downgraded version of course since Grand Army uses weapons created by Weapons Factory. And Dianna can''t sell those as it is Grand trading ace in a hole. And manufacturing using System Factory requires a lot of materials, and so they decided to create a non-system production factory downgrading a weapon that is easy enough for the Science and Technology department. They even pick the cheapest materials that would not affect the performance too much and still maintain the advance and reliability of the weapon. Not to mention all this weapon is all energy base something humanity lack. Dianna and Tiffa saw countless mechanical arms rows upon rows of it these mechanical arms are responsible for weapon assembly of course the parts a created elsewhere especially the battery it is the most important component of POV energy type weapons. And it is also a top-secret technology from Grand Trading. And so many security countermeasures are created to ensure its secrecy. Dianna and the rest know that many superpowers would do anything to learn and reversed engineers these battery but with the security place that came from a system, it is hack-proof these security features are the only parts created by the system and these features are present to all Grand trading products. The tests are already been completed and the only thing remains are to mass-produce it. After inspecting the facilities Dianna is very happy with what she is seeing her job is to make money for her Boss that''s her only job, and she intends to do it will all her capabilities in order to help her Boss with his dreams, Dianna nodded and the facilities immediately started operating. Dianna and Tiffa didn''t linger they still have a lot to do. As this is just the first part of her stop for today. Chapter 187 - 187 "Sir target confirmed!" Brutus nodded. "Aya we''re ready how was it on your side?" "Almost done there''s a lot more hostile than our initial intel. So were adjusting after were done marking we''ll proceed as plan." "Need help?" "Is that a joke?" Said Aya. "Haha well, it doesn''t hurt to ask." ...¡­ "All target marked" "Good, Brutus was ready here!" "On my mark... Remember we need the main target alive.." "I know," said Aya. Aya and Brutus after the job on Enigma City were separated and assigned to lead a team of their own and being part of the Legendary first Shadow Units Aya and Brutus was the first Shadow Unit team to be sent to Liberty to help Dianna. A few days ago a warehouse of Grand trading was attacked and Brutus and Aya were selected to investigate and tracked the perpetrator... And after 2 days of investigating they finally manage to track 2 of the personnel who lead the attack on Grand Trading warehouse. Unfortunately, they are located in different areas and so Aya and Brutus decided to lead their respective team on each target, and in order for the two targets not to escape the operation was conducted at the same time. "Go, Go, Go..." Immediate Brutus team and Ayas team takes action. On Aya''s side, Aya was leading the assault and showing why she was part of the Legendary first Unit. Five guards didn''t even have time to react before their head was separated from their body but there was no blood only a smell of burning flesh Aya weapons of choice is flexible wires when the weapon was first introduced Aya was the first few who tried it and the only one to make it as a main weapon... She no longer carries her flexible sword instead she caries to laser pistol and flexible laser wire cutters. Every Shadow unit knows mobility is their bread and butter there''s no use carrying excess weapons that will only enc.u.mber them. Even before the five guards fell down Aya''s team move past them and head straight to the next few guard having already marked, the shadow units already know where and how to attack. They''ve done this countless times both in simulations and in real-life missions as each and every one of them are all veterans... So there''s no surprise as to the result of the raid. Gromel was having the time of his life a few days ago an unknown person contacted him for a job. The job was simple to destroy a warehouse in the outer part of Liberty. Unlike the inner and the central part of Liberty where security is top-notch the outer part is relatively loose on security mainly because the outer part is vast and most of the inhabitants are outlaws and criminals, of course, that doesn''t mean they are free to do whatever they want.. Liberty is still the most important stronghold of humanity and humanity superpower won''t allow any part of Liberty to become lawless. Despite that liberty doesn''t care about criminals outside Liberty as long as they don''t commit those crimes in Liberty anyone is free to enter Liberty. The outer part of Liberty is jointly being managed by the alien organization and Humanity representatives... That is because the outer part of Liberty is created using the joint effort of both humanity and friendly alien races. That''s also the reason Dianna decided to rent a warehouse in the outer part of liberty instead of the inner or central part. For one the prices on the warehouse in both areas have a massive difference and second all warehouse on the inner and central part is fully occupied and those that are free are too small for the needs of Grand Trading. But despite that Dianna didn''t really think anyone would be foolish enough to attack anything belong to Grand Trading especially after becoming the number one weapons supplier in bright Galaxy... If it''s before then Dianna would have a second thought about renting a warehouse in the outer Liberty but now she basically doesn''t care with the power Grand Trading has, any power would think twice in offending the Grand Trading Corporation. That goes to both humanity and alien races. And that''s why Dianna was interested in who is the one attacking them. "Drink up guys lets party..." "Gromel looks like you are quite loaded... Care to share the blessings?" "Hahaha, aren''t I sharing it right now," Gromel said With both arms on two girls beside him¡­ Gromel was thinking if there''s any more job coming like the last time blowing up a warehouse is easier than stealing from it. Just toss a few explosives and escape and the job is done no need for elaborate planning and so on. And that''s exactly what they did, and they get paid a handsome price for doing it he didn''t even ask who the warehouse belongs to. He just accepted it because it is such an easy job. And as he was thinking about how he could spend his easy earned money. In front of him, there''s a flash and suddenly time seems to stop.. He knows he f.u.c.ks up! Despite his careless attitude, he was a veteran outlaw.. He did all kinds of illegal stuff, and he never been caught, and he even experiences a few life and death situations... And that''s why the moment he saw a flash his body instinctively reach out for his weapons but.. "I wouldn''t move if I were you!" Said Aya. "Who. Who are you?" Said Gromel even though he already knows the answers. Sweat began to form in his head. There where no screaming of panicking as everyone who is armed has already been killed and those who don''t have been knocked down unconscious. Like the two girls beside him. "You attack our warehouse and now you''re asking who we are?" Said Aya playfully. "Alright bag him." As soon as Aya said it two Shadow units immediately takes action and Gromel''s vision darkens. "Target acquired..." "Alright, mission accomplished let''s take them to HQ for interrogation." Said, Brutus. "Roger..." Aya made a hand signal, and they left as fast as they come. And no one in the surrounding area notices anything. The music still continues to play but all participants are either killed and knock out.. On Brutus'' side, the job was even simpler the target is alone in his house and high on drugs. So they basically entered his house bag him and left.. So easy like picking up a delivery... Chapter 188 - 188 Gromel woke up with a huge headache. And he notices he can''t move his arms and legs. Shaking his head he tried to open his eyes despite the terrible headache and a bright light welcomes him he tried to move, but he can''t he continue to look around and a few seconds later his eyes adjusted to the bright lights that have been focus on him like a spotlight. He notices that he was tied to a steel chair. Both his arms and legs are tightly secured to a chair. Adjusting his eyes he notices there another person in front of him also tied to a chair. And he notices that he knows the person. But as soon as he saw the person sweat began to pour in his body despite the place is fully air-conditioned... "Shit¡­ shit.." Gromel began to panic but no matter how much he tried he can''t free his arms and legs... "Kijo... Shit... Kijo... Gromel began to call the man seated in front of him. And even though he knows it futile he didn''t know what else to do. Because Kijo the man in front of him is already dead. And looking closer Gromel can see the condition of Kijo. Both eyes missing all fingers broken burns all over the body... One look and he knows what happens... And as he was panicking he didn''t notice that there another person in the room. And it is seating right beside him a few meters away. The other person didn''t say anything he just continues to observe Gromel... And after a few minutes... He finally spoke... "What do you think about my work?" Gromel was so surprised he almost jumps up... But because he was bound to a chair all he can do is scream... "This one is so stubborn he keeps lying until the end and look at what has got him, I hope you don''t follow his footsteps... He kept saying he doesn''t know anything.. How''s that possible? Right?" The man said in a calm and friendly tone like talking to a friend. Gromel who was about to say he doesn''t know anything. Immediately shut his mouth. "Gromel right im Jack... Well, let us be friends and just be civil what do you say to that?" Gromel nodded vigorously... "Good... Well, that makes it simple. What I want is actually very simple. I actually don''t want to hurt anyone but I hate it when someone lies to my face... Thinking they are so smart and I''m so stupid to believe them don''t you hate that kind of person?" Gromel who was already shaking from fear and despite the friendly and casual tone knows there''s a monster next to him. And Kijo is the proof of that... So the only thing Gromel can do is Nod. "Good... Looks like we understand each other.. Haha, and I was afraid you are like this guy.." Jack pointed at Kijo. "Alright then lets start, lets not make this a long session as there''s a tv series I''m looking forward to seeing and I don''t want to miss the episode..." Jack then stand up kick Kijo who flew across the room still tied to a chair then he picks his chair and put it in front of Gromel, now them shall we start?" Said Jack as he sat in front of Gromel with a friendly smile on his face... Jack was an interrogation specialist system clone.. he flew straight to Liberty to meet Gromel and Kijo... ¡­.. Dianna was in her office talking to Tifa... When Aya and Brutus come to her office. As soon as Dianna saw Brutus and Aya she asks how it is going... "The two don''t know anything... Jack confirms it..." "Well if Jack says do then it must be so." Said, Dianna. Aya and Brutus nodded everyone knows what Jack is capable of Any shadow unit can torture anyone for information but no one does it better than Jack. And even the toughest Beast Lord all broke down in front of Jack''s method. "But we also don''t come empty-handed, Jack manage to dig this up. Brutus presents a mobile phone. This phone belongs to Gromel and here a phone number of the one who ordered the attack. Ash was already looking at it with the help of Gaia we might be able to find something no matter how small it is, it still better than nothing." Said Aya. "Another thing there''s a rumor circulating in outer liberty about a group of extremists called Purple Heart. Apparently, this group is responsible for many killing and robbery in outer Liberty." Dianna looks at Aya in confusion. "And this connects to us how?" Because according to rumors members of the Purple Heart like to dress in all grey with a Purple Heart logo on their chest. "Greyman¡­" "Its a possibility only the Greyman we know don''t have a purple heart emblem in their outfit." "I see.. Still its worth looking into.. As they might be the one behind the attack on us." Said, Dianna. Brutus and Aya nodded. "We''re going to need more Shadow unit here. Five teams are not enough" said Aya. "I''m way ahead of you I''ve already made a request to Commander Oda. Ten teams are scheduled to arrive here in the next few weeks." Said, Dianna. "We''ll take our leave then." Said Aya. Dianna nodded. ------- "Report!" "The attack on GT warehouse on outer Liberty failed both contractors were captured." "The attack on their transport also failed no survivor on the pirates we hired." I see it was as expected... GT needs to be eliminated if we want our lord to successfully take over this galaxy. A group of men in Grey clothes sat on a circular table and each of every one of them has different symbols on their chest. "What about Earth?" Said the man with the skull symbol on his chest.. "Difficult the hold of GT on Earth is strong and unshakable atleast for now..." "Forget Earth focus on Liberty they have total control on Earth but on Liberty its another matter. Allow me to take action..." "Vulture¡­ we know about your grudge but don''t take your personal feelings into our business..." Said the man with the Golden hand on his chest. "Che.. It''s not about my personal feelings what I say is have merit and also I''m not stupid to take GT head-on. We all know the result of that. But my grudge keeps me focus and I''m willing to do what must be done.. Unlike the rest of you!" "Its true Grand Trading (GT) have limited power on Liberty but also the same for everyone. But I admit we have a better chance of going against GT on liberty than on Earth." "Lets vote¡­ those in favor of Vulture to make a move on GT on liberty raise your hand" more than half raise their hands.. "Then it decided.. Go do what must be done. As long as it doesn''t jeopardize the plan of our Lord. Remember Vulture you''re no longer part of Humanity you belong to our Lord now never forget it." Said the man with golden hands on his chest. Vulture trembles when he saw the eyes of Golden Hands.. "I know... For our Lord." "FOR OUR LORD!!!" Chapter 189 - 189 "Boss¡­ we found a city!" Arc who has been lying on his bed he just finishes taking a bath he does it every day after he is done with his daily workouts, and as soon as he heard Arielle''s voice he got up and went directly to command center. As soon as Arc entered the command center he saw footage of a city. the city is a combination of both old and new. The buildings are old like the medieval style but the people are completely different cyborg and robots walk the streets flying vehicle and high-tech equipment are all over the city and most importantly humans. That''s right they saw humans, regular humans, not like Graff who is a giant... "Where was this located?" Ask Arc. "Two thousand miles to the north at sector b6..." Said, Arielle In order to systematically explored the planet, they divided it into sectors. It''s an old but effective way of exploring and map making. "B6?... But that''s..." "We know empty." Said Arielle. When the specter entered the planet it automatically scanned the planet surface. Even before Arc can stop it because Arc was afraid of what kind of beings living on the planet. And scanning the planet is like telling the other party where here come to attack us. So Arc stops Specter before it can finish the scan. And the few places it was able to scan were sector B6 and according to Specter, the area is nothing more than mountainous area. "Shield.." "That''s right shield camouflage it protected itself from Specter scan. The reason we manage to find it is because of Gideon. They felt something over the area when they are close to it during their recon mission. We celeste are sensitive to magic or energy similar to it. Gideon said they felt strong magic or mana on that area and because they didn''t know what to expect they sent drones to check it and this is what they found." Arc continues to observe the city and to him, it looks like one of the city on one of the VR games he use to play. The more he observes the more he likes it. "Continue to send drones. Eve sends one of your droids and disguise it like those droids in that City." "Yes, Boss." "Boss send us." Said Jem. Who already recovered from her previous wounds. "No, not yet not until we know more..." Said Arc. Jem nodded. "Call back Gideon and the rest of the scouting party. In exchange release the scouting flies... And make sure they cover every ground of this planet." Scouting flies just like its name its ultra-small drones smaller than the actual fly. The scouting flies can''t do anything else besides scouting. And Arc has billions of it stored in Specter... It was actually one of the features of the original Specter, Arc just improved and modified it the original scouting fly is the size of a baby fist it''s not big but not small either Arc saw potential on it, so he modified it and when he upgraded Specter all its features was also upgraded the scouting flies is one of them. Originally arc wanted to attach small explosives to the scouting flies but eventually give up on it. One i reduces the speed of the scouting flies and second it reduces its range. Unless he makes it bigger.. And eventually, Arc decided to give up on putting explosives on it. Not until he finds solutions to the two problems. Billions of scouting fly were released from Specter luckily they are on the thickest haze part of haze jungle as releasing billions of flies it attracts attention as it covered a wide range of area if it was released in the city the whole city would turn into night. The scouting flies immediately dispersed and in just a few minutes the area around Specter is devoid of scout flies.. Despite the small size of Scout flies it was very fast it can even reach Mach 1 if needed be but it can only maintain that speed for a few seconds before it entered hibernation to charge power. Specter and Eve were jointly monitoring all the scout flies because of the number its impossible for anyone besides powerful AI to monitor all scout flies. Eve also follows Arc orders and sent ten transformed droids into the city.. Unfortunately, there''s almost no information about the cities of this world in the Graff data terminal. 99.9 percent of it was about his experiment and the rest are useless data at least it is useless to Arc. 3 days have pass and the scout flies have already scanned 1/10th of the planet and Arc and the rest have managed to get a lot of intel the manage to discover over 10 cites and many small-town and 1 super city¡­ Eve was also able to gather a good amount of intel using the droids.. Apparently, the name of the first city they found is Trade City Groma... It''s a relatively midium size city under the Traders Associations.. All materials and trade goods that came from Haze jungle and the surrounding area need to pass through Groma to go to other cites and Groma is taxing anyone who passes through.. It''s also a relatively peaceful city probably because of the remote location and the nearest kingdom is over 10,000 miles away that one of the reason no kingdom tried to invade it. And probably because the city is full of a warrior after all Groma is close to one of the forbidden areas on the planet the beast forest. It''s a never-ending forest west of haze Jungle the two are actually connected and only a small narrow river is dividing its border but despite so the two areas are so different. Haze jungle is considered a peace full area and there''s almost no wild beast in it only herbivores and grazing beast but the Beast forest is different because of the strong mana in the area beast forest has become the home of the most powerful and territorial beast in the planet there are even rumors of pure blooded Dragons living in it. Dragons are a product of Elementals and Primordial Space beast making Dragons one of the most feared creatures in the ancient world even gods fear it. But it was also said the gods using their many powerful weapons hunted down all primordial dragons except for one the king of dragons who they lock up because they are unable to kill it. All this information comes from Adam... So when Arc heard there''s Dragon on Beast Forest he was shocked. Because according to Adam the Dragons hated Adam and his kin. Mainly because they are the ones who hunted the dragons.. And it was Adam who locks up the king of Dragon with the help of the gods. So if there''s really a dragon here Arc must be very careful as he carries the blood of Adam the sworn enemies of dragons.. Shit lets hope what I''m looking for is not in there because there''s no way I can fight a Dragon that even gods feared. Finally after a few days of scouting and monitoring and careful deliberation Arc decided to visit Groma with Ruby and the rest.. Chapter 190 - 190 After deciding to visit Groma Arc with the help of Eve and Specter made all the preparation they needed it is mostly the disguise in order not to stand out he ordered a set of common clothing and types of equipment that commonly seen in Groma, of course, those were just camouflaging technology it is still a high-grade armor and weapons he would not compromise his and his companion''s safety. After making sure several times he nodded in agreement even the auto-translation is perfect. And with the money, they got from Graff everything is set. Alright, let''s go. So Arc, Ruby, Jem, Biggs, and Wedge as well as Eve his usual party are going to Groma... Gideon also organizes a small party and would be joining Arc only they have different objectives and would not be going at the same time. It didn''t take long for Arc''s group to reach Groma entering is no problem there is hardly any inspection mainly because there are so many adventurers who come and go to gather materials the real inspection comes when you decided to leave and go to other cities. As Arc has predicted the atmosphere is totally different when you''re watching it from a feed and experiencing it personally. Gromas were full of all kinds of people it''s like Liberty only the city is in the medieval theme but in contrast, the people''s clothes and equipment are quite advance even the vehicle is hi-tech. In fact, the equipment here is far more advanced than on earth. Levitating vehicles cyborgs, robots you name it its there. Arc feels like he was playing his favorite VRMMORPG, so he was quite excited. And their first objective is to registers as an adventurer. Arc and the rest already know where it was so it didn''t take long for them to reach it. Tyr''s adventurers guild is more like a Bar than a guild table and stools with alcohol and foods are being served in the reception area and it is full of adventurer. "It is very lively here," said Arc. "Excuse me," "Hmmm, hello welcome the quest board is on the second floor is this your first time here adventurer?" Said the very lively and s.e.xy half-beast half-elf receptionist. "That''s right we came from a remote village, and we want to register as Adventurer, were all hunters, and we think that we make more money being adventurer than being a lone hunter." Said Arc. "I see, that''s indeed the truth but it is also more dangerous I can see that all of you are experience fighter judging by your outfits, alright fill this up and just pay 200 credits each for adventurers badge and you are good to go... Oh, and I assume you''re all together?... Right?" Arc nodded... "Right, by the way, I''m Sheba... Ok also fill in the name of your party..." Sheba explained with a smile on her face. The registration is very simple its like making a new email address... So it didn''t take long for them to register. And after paying, it only takes a few minutes, and they already received their respective badge and devices. The badge is like a nameplate or ID Arc electronic picture is in there along with the name they registered along with their ranks. As for the device its a watch type communication device its quite advance, its like a mini-computer there''s information on the area, beast and so fort. of course the information they can access depends on their ranks. But it is really convenient there''s even GPS functions in it. Eve tried to hack it, and she was successful in some programs but decided not to push it as the other party might detect it. Even so, eve was able to unlock quite a lot of features such as information that needed by high rank to access, she also unlocks ranking board... And more importantly, she can now search other adventurers as long as she knows the name. That''s just a few of the features she unlocks. Arc name their team Grandmasters and choose the Grand Trading logo no one would be able to recognize it anyways so there''s no need to lie or hide their true name. After registering they went to the second floor and pick a couple of quests. Unbeknownst to them, several eyes are focusing on them. After they left they plan to complete some quest and level their rank and at the same time gather some info about the gods or ancient artifacts. But as soon as they left Ruby and Jem notice they are being followed. "Boss were being followed, Arc nodded... let them lets complete a few quests first. Capture them if they make a move against us" Ruby and Jem nodded to them this kind of situation is like walking in the park no problem at all. Arc brought some local foods and clothes as well as some equipment that he fancies. And without doing anything else they left to complete some of the quests, the quest Arc have taken are all hunt quest... Procurement and some other quest are too boring for him, so he won''t do it. ¡­.¡­. In the corner of the street, a man was watching Arc''s team and as soon as Arc''s team left the city they started following them. "Red¡­ they left the city" "Roger, Green follow them but don''t get too close. They look like season hunters." "Hahaha, and how many season hunter we buried?" "None, we never buried them we just leave them to rot and be food for the beast.." Both of them laugh together... "Don''t kill the two girls... After we play with them and we can sell them after..." "You read my mind Red." "Let''s go gather everyone." Said Green. "Were all ready Green..." "Good lets hunt" Arc''s group travel in leisure to him and the rest this is a kind of vacation if not for the urgent mission. Arc would take his time and enjoy this kind of environment. It didn''t take long for them to reach their first hunt. ++ KILL 10 DEKORO AND RETRIEVE THIER HEADS ++ A picture of Dekoro was posted below it looks like a huge Bear with spikes on its body like a porcupine... It''s also 2 meters tall. This is a rank B quest... Normally lower rank adventurers cannot accept high ranking quest for their protection. But there''s no such thing here as long as they pay the quest fee it doesnt matter what rank they have, so Arc accepted several B rank and 1 A-rank quest. And after arranging it to the nearest to farthest this Dekoro is the first in their hunt. After exiting their vehicle they purchase in Groma they went straight where it should be. And a few minutes later Red and Green team arrived. Red and Green are very experienced in tracking clearly they''ve done this kind of thing many times before. It didn''t take long for them to reach where Arc and his group are... Currently, Arc''s group are traveling leisurely like some tourist. Red and Green are puzzled by what they are seeing. Clearly, Arcs group is season hunter but why are they acting like a noob. Are they mistaken? Red and Green began to communicate in silence... They are discussing Arc''s behavior. "Whatever its good news for us." Said Red. Green nodded. "Alright on my mark." "Huh! Wait... Where''re the two girls?.." Red began to look around... But didn''t see them he asks Green but there''s no response he turns around to ask his teammates only to find all his teammates are beheaded and Jem are looking at him playfully... He cursed in his mind... F.u.c.k!! He was about to reach for his smoke bomb but before he can do so, he saw both his Arms fall of.. And pain soon follows the pain is so intense he almost passes out. He screamed and roll over. Jem looks at him a pathetically. There''s no blood since laser edge was used it cuts and cauterizing the wounds automatically. Jem grabs him by his feet and drags him in front of Arc. "Hello, guys, its good of you to come." Said Arc smiling. Chapter 191 - 191 "Hello, guys its good of you to come..." Red is still writhing in pain and screaming... As for Green he only has bumps on his head but overall he is ok. Green knew they f.u.c.k up... "Guys, why did you attack us?" Said Green trying to look confused and honest. Arc looks at him and laughed... "Do I look like an idiot to you? Cut his arm I don''t like being lied to." Said Arc with a frosty smile... Green heard it he panic "no... Wait arhhhhhh..." "Both of you shut up or ill cut all your limbs and feed it to you both of you.." Said Arc. Arc has no compassion for these kinds of people he knows exactly what kind of people these two are. Both Red and Green. Gritted their teeth and almost biting their tongue in order to shut up... Their face is full of sweat and tears even snot. Arc looks at them in disgust... "Both of you are hideous what are you both anyways?" Ruby and Jem began to search the two removing their equipment and accessories. Even their clothes leaving only their undies. Boss here... Ruby and Jem pass the nameplate of the two. "Red and Green?? Congol Race... Hmmm.." "Boss these looks like storage devices," said Jem. This is a regular storage device with a capacity of 10 cubic meters... Ruby and Jem check the storage device and found many items belonging to the two previous victims. Arc wasn''t surprised by it. "Well, whatever these two solves our problem of baits." "Haha, right boss these two are perfect..." Said Jem. Red and Green thought they were just bluffing and just scaring them to get information. But the next actions of Arc''s group send both of them to hell. Without asking any question Arc turn around and said, "prepare them," It was Biggs and Wedge who nodded. First, they dislocated all the remaining limbs of Red and Green then they gag them. Afterward, they carry them about 1 mile away into the territory of Dekoro... Red and Green cant do anything they squirm and squirm but no matter what they do its useless. They were gag, so they can''t beg either and besides they knew it''s pointless their fate is sealed. Both have a look of resignation and desperation in their eyes. But Biggs and Wedge act like they saw nothing well, in fact, they simply didn''t care... After putting the two together in a small clearing. Biggs made a small cut into their foreheads and soon blood began to flow. Red already passes out from the pain but Green remains awake squirming¡­ minutes pass then hours. Soon Arc starting to become bored they have hidden atop the huge tree few hundred meters away waiting for Dekoro to arrive... Shit luring is not working, maybe i should have sent drones, but because he wants to experience some excitement and real authentic hunt he decided to place a bait instead as a real hunter would do. But after waiting for 2-3 hours those feeling began to change. Jem who was beside him giggles, "Boss your so inpatient" As an intelligence specialist, the first thing they drill into the shadow unit is patience waiting, and gathering information is a very long tedious job. Arc sighs well I am getting a little impatient, haha. After all, this is just our first hunt. When he was about to release some drones he heard something and his excitement immediately shot up. And true enough the first Dekoro arrives it slowly walks to Green and Red who already exhaust all their strengths in the last few hours... Looks like this Dekoro travels in packs. Because one after another Dekoro of all sizes arrived... Soon more than ten of Dekoro surrounds Red and Green who are so weak they couldn''t even move anymore. Only their eyes display pain, fear and resignation. Few minutes pass but still, no Dekoro attacked... Arc who was about attack paused... "What are they waiting for" and he didn''t have to wait long for an answer. A Dekoro twice as big as the rest arrives. "An Alpha..." Said Arc. Arc smiles and said. that one is mine the rest is yours... When the alpha Dekoro appeared it immediately bite the heads of Red and Green killing them instantly and soon every Dekoro pounded on the remaining flesh of Red and Green. Now is the perfect time to attack... Without saying anything Arc dash to the Alpha Dekoro, and in pure instinct the Alpha Dekoro immediately transforms like a ball of spikes like a pangolin only its full of spikes and more than four meters big. Arc using his long sword which is about 2 meters long and as thin as paper easily cuts all the spikes and flesh of Alpha dekoro it howls in pain and its eyes immediately turn red. It immediately pounces on Arc who predicted the action he jumps back while slashing his sword leaving another cut into Alpha Dekoro. Who ignored the cuts and continues to chase Arc. But in fairness Arcs, strength is already beyond 2-star even if he fights barehanded he can kill the dekoro with single good place punch to the head... So no matter what the Alpha do he can''t touch Arc who was just toying with him. Few minutes pass and the Alpha Dekoro howls in frustration and exhaustion and Arc who saw that and decided not to torture the poor alpha anymore and cuts its head of killing it instantly... All the Dekoro was already been killed off, and they are just waiting for Arc to stop playing around. Arc saw that all the dekoro besides the alpha are killed almost instantly their body condition is perfect compare to the alpha who was full of cuts all over its body. Arc can only scratch his head in embarrassment. Faking a cough he said, "alright let us clean up and go to our next hunt" Jem giggles and the rest have a smile on their faces. Because to them as long as Arc is happy they are happy too. The next few hunts are of no surprise Arc using drones to look at his targets didn''t have to wait long to kill it. Two days after, they are down to their last hunt... This is a class A rank beast... The name of the beast is Phantoms the picture looks like a black panther only twice as big and there''s a strange black smoke surrounding its body. According to descriptions the beast Phantoms are not only very fast but the smokes that come from their body can cause hallucinations... And it is also poisonous... The beast territory is in the far northern part of the continent about 2000 miles away from the trade city of Groma. It may sound far but with the advance transport that Arc bought in the city, it only takes about an hour or so to reach it. The place is a mostly barren landscape full of petrified trees and volcanic rocks apparently there are several volcanoes in the surrounding area and those are the reasons for the landscapes.. There are only a handful of creatures to chooses to lived here and Phantoms are one of them and also one of the most dangerous fortunately Phantoms hunts alone and didn''t travels in packs or groups. The place is a miners paradise countless mines are estabilised in the area and they are the ones who posted the bounty according to the reports Phantoms normally stay away from human establishments and won''t attack unless provoked. But this particular Phantoms is different it hunts workers and anyone who was foolish enough to travel alone.. Not only that the creature is very intelligent and knows when to attack and who to attack. So Arc decided to separate in a group of two Arc was with Jem, Ruby was with Biggs, and Wedge was with Eve. The area is wide and vast, so he released a number of drones while forging ahead looking for trails or evidence that would point then in the right direction. Unbeknownst to Arc, he and Jem are already being stalked by the phantoms who have several scars on its body proof of it success in the hunt. The Alpha is watching Arc and Jem hidden in a distance buried in rocks and stones and only its eyes are exposed. Chapter 193 - 193 Arc recieve the report from Arielle, while Arc was watching the video feed he was sure that these two are the boss of the two he killed. Meaning they are on the same level as Graff... Arc then inform Arielle that he and the rest would be returning to deal with it when Arielle ask him if he can let her deal with it. At first Arc was surprised but as Arielle explained he finnaly understood. So he agreed of course Eve would be returning as back up. Of course it didn''t mean she need to travel back all she needs to do is move her consciousness to a backup body in Specter Of course Arc could have order Specter to do it, but he didn''t want to reveal Specter yet. Acording to Arielle the celeste need experience as they can''t always act in the background in order for them to be more useful they need to gain experience as much as possible. In that regard Arc have no reason to refuse Arielle, Ruby and the rest also agreed with Arielle. Celeste are warrior race albeit a peaceful race regardless they are all combat specialists. As their home planet are full of dangerous creatures. Gideon was summoned back to lead the Celeste Arc''s royal guard as the call themselves to deal with Marius and Darius of course this time they have a hometown advantage. Unlike when Arc''s deal with Graff. So in preparation Arielle set up a battlefield. ===== Arc and his team arrives in Gromas Adventurers Guild. A few hours later... After reporting the quest completion as Arc have predicted their ranks have increase by a few levels from rank G to rank D well infact with the quest they completed the receptionist knows they are as strong as AA rank or even AAA rank adventurer but since ranking are base on points and every quest have a corresponding points the amount of points Arc manage to gather after completing several B and A rank quest is only equivalent to Rank D.. Despite Arc dissatisfaction He cannot do anything about it. Unfortunately rank D is still considered bottom rank so there''s barely any changes in the information available. Arc then decided to change his approach grinding points for increasing his ranks takes time, so he decided to do something else. And besides registering as adventurer is not a bad thing as they got an identification as adventurer that will make it a lot easier to move in this world. When Arc and the rest was about to leave they notice a commotion on the first floor. Arc tried to see what''s going on, so he asks one of the adventurer apparently an identified creature were spoted in swamp area. There was a description posted on the board Arc tried to squeeze in to see what it was. Arc looks at the description and saw what looks like a western dragon. Of course this is just his guess as its only a shadow like drawing but what gets his attention is not the creatures but what the creatures are supose to be guarding. A metallic device that emits sounds that can cause hallucinations and paralysis. "Could it be a tool?" According to description a rank B adventurer team who was hunting in the swamps suddenly gets caught in a trap that sent them into underground part of the swamp in there they discovered ruins of an old city. Its really not uncommon as this world is full of ancient ruins from ages past. The adventurer notice that the ruins doesn''t have any skeletons or indication that a lot of people died in it. Meaning the city was abandoned, and for adventurer abandon ancient ruins are nothing but useless ruin as there are hardly any treasures in it. Despite that they continue to explore the ruins and in the center of the ruins inside a dome like structures they saw huge creatures unfortunately before they can get close they heard a strange melody and one by one they fell down unable to move. Luckily one of the adventurers manage to take out an emergency device that transported them to a designated safe zone. Arc without thinking much about it decided to accept the mission. And as soon as he registered he notices that he wasn''t the only one who accepted it. He then noticed that the quest is called open quest meaning there''s no limitation on the number of adventurer who can take it there''s also no quest fee and the rewards is base on how much information he can provide. "This is an investigation quest" the receptionist explains when he saw the confusion on Arc face. Arc nodded thank the receptionist and left the guild. Outside Arc and the rest is on one of the famous restaurant in Groma. In the private room Arc and the rest began to plan on what to to in this quest. It would have been a easy quest but with many adventurers doing the same quest it gets complicated. First Arc didn''t want any conflict with other adventurer as much as possible. Second there are things he can''t reveal to others yet like his warbots and such as well as drones and droids.. But according to Jem and Ruby it''s not a problem to show droids or drones as many people are using it. The warbots are different story as the warbots are very powerful and attention grabber. Arc nodded. After planing they decided to go immediately as soon as they are done eating. If they can get there early and grab the tool and leave without being notice that would be for the best, but if worst comes to worse they will do anything to get their hands on the tool. Even if they have to kill for it. Of course he wants to avoid it as much as possible. ===== Back in the haze jungle Marius and Darius found themselves trapped in some sort of formation. Darius blames himself for being careless. In fact there''s little he can do about it the one who created the formation is a device design to trap anyone the device creates a force field 1 mile radius trapping anyone inside it.. It''s actually made for buying time to escape. But Arielle use it to trap marius and Darius and to force them to fight as the Celeste are not using warbots but a full fledged mech. Arc didn''t want to reveal this yet and so in order hide it Arielle used an energy prison to trap Marius and Darius and force them to engage the Celeste soldiers. Arielle has no doubt that both Darius and Marius would immediately escape the moments they saw the celeste mech for one there''s about 50 mech and there''s only two of them even if they summon a bunch of creatures mech is powerful enough to fight space beast how much more for a land beast which is several times weaker than space beast modified or not. And true enough the moment Darius and Marius saw the mech they almost despaired.. Just the aura being release by a single mech is far more than a combination of his beast and there 50 of them.. In Marius and Darius mind this is overkill. What they didn''t know is that hundreds more mech are waiting in reserved as the energy prison can only hold so much if arielle put everyone inside it theres no room to maneuver. So she decided to only put 50 of them for now. As this is the first solo mission given to her by Arc. She wants to do it flawlessly. So she overdid it. Eve notice it but decided not to say anything she does have a slight smile on her face though, and only she knows what''s she is thinking... Chapter 192 - 192 Arc and Jem are moving like normal miners they didn''t try to hide or anything they are using themselves as baits for the Phantom but after several hours the phantom is nowhere to be found, even with the help of scouting drones they cannot find this particular phantom. They were able to locate several other phantoms and other animals but not the one they are looking for. Then Jem notices something. "Boss. This one is very patient it has been stalking us for quite some time but still didn''t show itself even when we fake being distressed." "Are you sure it is watching us? I don''t feel anything." "I don''t feel anything either Boss it''s more like intuition or instinct that''s the reason I can''t pinpoint its location." "Sigh, well let''s stop here for now and camp. I''ll tell others to move in our direction but maintain a good distance." Soon Arc and Jem are preparing to camp. Well, it''s more like Arc taking out several items from his storage ring, like tent and pots for cooking so it''s done in a few minutes... Arc then started cooking while Jem acts like doing something else, and soon an appetizing aroma can be smelled even Jem can''t help but gulp her saliva. "Boss, that smells good." "Haha, of course, it''s my first time cooking in the wild but I have all the ingredients so it matters not. Well, prepare the table it will be done in a minute." "Yes Boss, I feel bad for others not being here." Jem laugh. "Well if this phantom shows up earlier they can still taste it." Said Arc smiling. Arc and Jem eat without worry, while the Phantom who was watching them patiently watching them. Arc received a call from Arielle regarding the investigation about the artifact or peculiar items and their location in this world it was Gideon''s team who were task on investigating them. Specter also released countless Micro spy drones but so far didn''t find anything. According to Arielle, there are several legendary artifacts that have been found over the years. many of them are in the hands of powerful clans or individuals some are in the museums. But so far nothing that closely resembles a Sovereign Tools or something but in fact even Arc have no idea what a sovereign tools look like so they tried to investigate any artifacts that can be said to be a sovereign tools, its a fools errand but it''s something they have to do no matter what. Arc began to contemplate according to his urgent mission it is Adams Legacy, he assumed it was a tool, but what if it''s not. Arc''s head hurts thinking about it. The lack of information regarding the legacy is a big problem so looking for it is like looking for a needle in a haystack, and Nine is of no help either. She only said you will know if you''re close to it. "Darn it I don''t even know if it''s here on this planet." Arc thanks Arielle for her work and ask her to tell Gideon to keep investigating. Arc''s first intention is to increase his hunter rank, so he can access more information but it looks like he doesn''t have much time for it. As he was contemplating Jem inform him that the phantom is finally making a move. The sky is beginning to turn dark Arc now realizes the phantom is waiting for night to attack, he didn''t think about it before as when he read the report on the phantom many of the attacks are in daylight. Arc didn''t do anything he just increases his awareness Jem are the same they wanted for the phantom to get closer and attack first, they didn''t have to wait long dark shadows moving very fast in between rocks and trees. Without trained eyes, they won''t be able to see it as it was moving between shadows of rocks and trees but both Jem and Arc can see it clearly they notice that it was bigger than average Phantom and its body is full of scars from its previous hunts, even with the black smoke surrounding its body Arc and Jem can see it clearly. 400 meters¡­ Jem counting silently, 300 meters... 200 100 50 40 As it gets closer it becomes more cautious but when it notices that his two prey still aren''t making any moves it becomes braver... 30 20 10 Just when the phantom was so sure he can once again eat plenty, when he was about 5 meters away Arc and Jem move almost at the same time it was as if they have been rehearsing the move countless time before, Jem with her flexible sword instantly cuts all the phantoms legs, and Arc with his blade moves to cuts its head. Even before it can touch the ground it was already dead. The last thing the phantom saw is its two targets disappearing and flashes before its vision turns dark. "That was easy, I can''t believe this thing keep us waiting for half a day." "Haha, boss your reaction is getting better and better. They used to trained Arc and now Arc''s power is almost on par with them even better if he used his energy.." Jem after two upgrades now peek 2-star close to 3-star. But despite that Arc''s reaction and speed are a little faster than her, so she was a little surprised and very happy at the same time. A few minutes later the rest arrived... They all saw what happen as they are only a distance away and with their upgraded ability they all see what transpire, and they all praise Arc. Arc then stores the phantom''s body in his ring and makes another serving or food for everyone. Before going back to Groma. With these several hunts, Arc expects an increase in rank. ========== Back in haze jungle Marius and Darius just arrives in the location where Koh and Rah last make their report. Marius and Darius look around but saw no sign of fighting... "What the f.u.c.k happen to those two?" Ask Darius. Marius didn''t answer but instead release something form his storage. The creature looks like a big fly it is 2 meters in length... The moment it was released it began to move around the area. A few minutes later it returns and using its huge eye like organ it began to project something. Marius and Darius watch patiently they saw Rah and Koh arriving and carefully investigating the area they saw Rah and Koh makes a call to them after and began to make preparations but suddenly a black humanoid thing appeared and with a single slash killed both Rah and Koh who didn''t even have time to react in fact they died with seeing anything. The black humanoid which is of course is Arc in his newly upgrade Warbot. They saw Arc put Rah and Koh along with everything into a storage device then disappears. "What''s that?" Ask Marius. "I haven''t seen anything like that before," said Darius. "Is that Graff''s new creation?" Ask Marius. "Its possible..." "What are you thinking brother?" Ask Marius. "I''m thinking I didn''t prepare enough." "So shall we proceed?" Ask Marius. "Yes let''s proceed," said Darius, Darius then summons a few creatures 3 are humanoid that looks like a droid the other two are beast-like creatures but with metallic wings. Marius smiles but didn''t say anything. Marius then summon what looks like insect type creatures its mostly hybrid insect that looks like an Ant with butterfly wings, the others doesn''t look like any other insect instead they are like creature with mismatch part of any type of insect and each one is atleast 3 meters long some are even 5-10 meters. Darius looks at what his brother has summoned and just shakes his head. Marius saw Darius shaking his head... "What!?" Ask Marius. "Ugly!!" Said Darius. "Your one to talk look at your creatures they look like scraps put together.." The two begun to bicker, this has been a common occurrence every time they summoned their creatures. Marius like putting together insect part to build his creatures. And Darius likes mixing both beast and machine together. its not all that different from Graff. Only Graff like rare creatures. As for Darius, he doesn''t care about the specimen as long as he can combine them with the machine, unfortunately, their creatures as all ugly so no one want to buy it... Arielle saw Darius and Marius the moment they arrived. But she didn''t immediately report it to Arc as she thought they are like Rah and Koh. Just another minion sent here to investigate. But she did record everything. But when she saw that the two begun to summon creatures. She immediately decided to inform Eve and Arc. Chapter 194 - 194 Celeste II (First and foremost i would like to thank "King of Mortal" for helping me edit all the chapters including this one.. he will also be editing all the previous chapters for better flow and gramar error.. hopefully with his help ill be able to bring more chapters in..) Arielle encouraged herself, as this is the first mission given to her by her new Boss Arc. "Yosh! Let''s do it," Arielle was trying to encourage herself. She remembers the time they almost went extinct, the desperation and hopelessness the feeling of powerlessness as she witnesses her family dying one after another. She looked at herself in the mirror, she had changed a lot not just physically, but also emotionally and mentally... She owes Arc a lot, no! all of Celeste owe Arc so much, not just by rescuing them but by giving them a new purpose in life. Under Arc, the Celeste race has a chance to be revived once again. And so she vows to serve Arc with all her might. She was very envious of those people close to Arc as they can help him a lot. Although she was given high rank and an important duty within Specter, oftentimes she felt useless, so she mustered all the courage she had to request for the Celeste race to prove themselves, and the battle with Marius and Darius is the first step to it. She wanted for the Celeste Race to become Arc''s royal guard and his most trusted subordinate Race. She knows there will be more races who will pledge themselves to Arc, and being the very first subordinate race, they have a considerable advantage and she plans to use it fully. She hurried to Specter''s hangar there, all of the Celeste soldiers are getting ready for the battle. They are not new to this kind of situation, but for some reason, many of them became nervous about the battle. "Kita... What do you think are chances against the enemies?" "Does it matter, even if our chances are slim we will not hesitate to fight, we are now Master Arc''s royal guard, and we must do everything to complete his missions, and besides I am looking forward to this battle, I want to test my upgraded mech." Said Kita "Well, I know that Master Arc has many powerful subordinates, so we must prove ourselves worthy of the trust he has given us..." Said Ella "That''s right, stop asking foolish questions and just get ready, princess Arielle will be here any second." Said Kita. Ella hearing that immediately stopped asking, and starts making preparations. This order excites each and everyone of the Celeste''s they have been training hard day in and day out waiting for a chance to prove themselves. And now finally they have a chance to, how can they not be excited. And although they called themselves royal guards, Arc himself never officially acknowledged it. So for it to become official, they have to work very hard and overcome all the trials Arc would be giving them. At first, many of them were against the Celeste becoming Arc''s subordinate race, but over time they realized how lucky they are and how big the opportunity that was given to them. They all saw the video of Arc''s group''s last battle with Graff. They were all at awe, especially when Arc awakened his ability completely. They are a warrior race they all idolized the strong. And they all know young Arc is just at the start, imagining it gives them goosebumps.. So all resentment about becoming a subordinate race under Arc completely disappeared and replaced by respect. Arielle, as she walked towards the hanger, continues to formulate countless battle tactics for the upcoming battle, and as soon as the Gideon army arrives, they would start the battle. When she arrived at the hanger, she saw her beloved citizens now soldiers under Arc all lined up and ready. She nodded in approval... My fellow people, this is a golden opportunity for us. Today we are going to fight enemies of master Arc, and we will win the battle and prove ourselves worthy. After giving a small speech, all the soldiers are pumped up for a fight. And soon enough, Gideon arrived and stood beside Arielle, he too was looking forward to this fight. Battle formation¡­ Battlefield¡­.. Battle preparations complete¡­ Arielle continues to receive the report. In order for Marius and Darius to be completely trapped, she placed many prison field devices all over the battlefield, and nothing was overlooked... It''s a perfect example of using a nuke for hunting a rabbit. Over a thousand soldiers are lined up waiting¡­ cannons and other weapons are deployed, drones and droids are on standby... Eve watched as Arielle made preparation and could only shake her head but didn''t say anything else. She also secretly recorded everything she believes her Boss would be happy to watch it later. And soon enough, Marius and Darius unknowingly walk into hell prepared for them. 15 minutes and that''s all it took for the battle to finish from start to end. It would have taken even less time, if not for Marius and Darius using all their trump cards. And the most amazing thing is that it became like a sports fest, as thousands of soldiers were cheering for their team who was fighting Marius and Darius, and for every enemy killed the soldiers roared in cheers... Even those in the specter are affected by the atmosphere, as they also cheered for every enemy killed or defeated... And when finally Marius and Darius are defeated, they cheered and for over a few minutes, and only stopped when Arielle and Gideon appeared to signal the end of the battle and announce they won the fight, which resulted in another loud cheer. They seem to forget how overwhelming their powers are compared to their enemies. What''s important is that they won perfectly, Arielle and Gideon have a huge smile on their faces. And Eve, well she was speechless... She can''t wait to show the video to her Boss and saw their reaction... For some reason, the moment she got a physical body, she became more human, not just in thinking but also the way she acts and responds.. She didn''t know whether it''s a good or bad thing, all she knows is that she likes it. When all this was happening, Arc was on his way to the swamp. The moment he gave the job to Arielle, he put that on the back of his head as he trusted Arielle and besides, Eve was also there, so he had nothing to worry about. Worst comes to worst there''s still Specter to finish the job. It didn''t take long for them to reach the swamp. "This should be the place Boss.." Said Ruby. Arc nodded. He then released many scout drones, while Ruby and Jem looked for the way into the ruins. Chapter 195 - 195 Ruins Of Foh 195 Ruins Of Foh Arc saw that many adventurers were looking for a way into the ruins, there are countless swamp areas in that place, and anyone of them could have a powerful beast living in it. Unfortunately, survivors didn''t really know which part of the swamp they got in. They can only point to a certain area. But the problem is, the area they are pointing to is one of the most dangerous regions in the endless swamp. There are countless swamps in the endless swamp, and thus it got the name, endless swamp, one of the forbidden regions on the continent. Endless swamps danger lies not in the number of powerful monsters, but instead in the number of swamps. It ranges from a few meters to several kilometers wide. And 80 percent of the monsters in the endless swamp are poisonous. Any wrong step could send you to your death. As such, Arc and his group need to be careful for they have no idea what lurks in the swamps. Luckily they have fewer things they need to worry about like poison and drowning, as those are not a problem for them. Their warbots and health supplies are more than enough to deal with it. What they worried about are powerful traps and monsters that are beyond their capability. And true to its name in just a few minutes, the number of adventurers are beginning to dwindle¡­ But despite the danger, endless swamps are one of the favorite places of adventurers, mainly because it is abundant with resources and rare herbs, and exotic materials are everywhere in the endless swamps. And so every year countless adventurers enter it to try their luck. Of course, the death toll is also enormous, but that doesn''t stop the adventurers from continuing to explore the endless swamps. Once in a while, one lucky guy can find extremely rare herbs or other materials and makes them rich overnight. This kind of thing fuels or drives other adventurers to risk their lives, hoping they will be the next lucky guy. After wandering for a few minutes, one of the drones manages to find an entrance. It''s a small cave only big enough for two people to walk side by side. The drones manage to explore it and find what looks like an ancient city. Arc didn''t know if it''s the same ruins the other adventurer has managed to find. Without any other options, Arc and his group make their way for the ruins... He is not afraid of any ambush as the drones already paved the way for them, and no ambush or trap was found. But despite that, Ruby and Jem are not taking any chances, so they are leading in order to scout and check for any hidden traps... On the way, they encountered several monsters, but all of them are easily dealt with by Ruby and Jem. And after a few minutes of walking, they finally saw the ruins. Arc looks at the ruins and sees that it looks like medieval city stone houses and buildings littered the place. He couldn''t tell just how old the ruins are, but he knows this is not the same ruins the adventurers have discovered. For starters, there are countless skeletons littered the place, so before they start exploring, Arc released many drones and Droids ahead of them. Drones for scouting and droids for gathering treasures and whatnot. Following behind the droids and drones are the Arc''s group. "This place is not attacked or anything as there are no marks of battle." Said Ruby. "Hmmm¡­ then how did these people die?" Ask Arc. They entered one of the houses and saw that not much is disturbed. There''s no indication that the people living in the house had any intention of leaving. Unfortunately, a long time has passed and all evidence on how they died has long been gone with time. Many of the items inside the house have long turned to dust... Only a few things manage to survive the test of time. Ruby was studying one of the skeletons and noticed something.. "Boss take a look at this..." Said Ruby Arc walked to Ruby and saw what she was looking at; one of the skeleton''s bones has turned black.. "Boss this is poison and a potent one at that, so strong that it invades even the bones turning it black..." "Is it still dangerous?" Ask Arc. "Not anymore, all traces of poisons are long gone. But we must be careful there might be some poison who manages to survive." Arc nodded... "Anything useful here?" "Ruby shakes her head. This is just a common household, so I don''t think there''s any value in it, and even if there was its long turn to dust. But we''ll keep looking anyway." Arc nodded. He exited the house as he just got a report from a drone. Apparently, this place is about 2sq kilometers.. He was looking at a birds-eye view of the ruins. Then he notices something. "Did you find something boss.." Ask Biggs. "Yeah, some kind of monument in the center of the ruins." Let''s check it out. Said Jem, who suddenly appeared next to them. "Sure, let''s go." "I''ll stay here boss, and take a look and see if there''s anything we can learn from this place." Said Ruby. Arc nodded. Ruby disappeared after saying that. Arc''s group went directly to the center of the ruins ignoring everything else.. Arc wasn''t worried he would miss something, as the droids and drones were precisely for that purpose. At the center of the ruin, they saw what looked like an obelisk. And unlike the rest of the ruins, which are mostly dilapidated, the obelisk is in perfect condition as there''s not even a speck of dust on it. Arc saw it and was a little surprised, "a shield?.. No, he looked down and saw some kind of glowing runes... Magic formation? No way... There must be some kind of mechanism behind it." "Eve, scan it." "Yes, Boss¡­scanning is done!" "Can you figure it out?" "Not at the moment, Boss. The energy signatures are strange, it seems to be being released by these runes." Arc closed his eyes and began to spread his energy that he learned by accident, and he found out he can see using his energy, and it''s like a spiritual sense that depicted in some fictional novel he read when he was still a kid. He saw that the runes on the floor surrounding the obelisk are absorbing energy and sending it to the obelisk. "Boss, look at this!" Jem, who was standing in front of the obelisk, pointed at something. Looking from a distance, it''s not visible, but close up, one can see that the obelisk has engraving all over it. But that''s not where Jem is pointing. She was pointing at the base of the obelisk. "Land of Foh." Arc read. It was engraved using the language being used to date. "So they are using the same language as what they are using today." Said Wedge. "But the runes are something else... There are no such records in Adventurers Guild, or maybe our rank is too low, so we can''t access it yet, but regardless of anything, this is a good find." Said Arc. Arc immediately released hundreds of construction droids and drones and ordered them to excavate the obelisk intact. And soon, hundreds of droids and drones are surrounding the obelisk digging its foundation without destroying any of the runes surrounding it. "We can''t waste a lot of time here." Said Arc. So he released thousands more to gather all that can be collected as quickly as possible. Jem giggles. "Boss, if any archeologist saw this, they would definitely faint from anger.'' Arc just shrugged. "We don''t have a lot of time to waste studying all these ruins, so excavating it and bringing it to Specter for the study is much faster." "Right," said Wedge. Biggs just shakes his head, and Jem continues to giggle. Ruby appeared next to them soon with confusion in her eyes. "Boss, what''s going on? Why are the droids excavating the place?" Arc faked a cough, from the embarrassment it was Jem, who answered. "Hehehe Boss just got bored, so he plans to excavate the whole place and send it to Specter for analysis..." Ruby just shakes her head and said nothing else. Ding! Hmmm... "Boss, one of the drones found some kind of mines..." Said Biggs as he received a report from a drone he released. Arc, who was embarrassed, immediately responded. "Let''s check it out!" So they immediately make their way to the said drones. The said mine was located at the very edge of the ruins. Arc looked around the area, "this is indeed a mining area. I wonder what they were mining here?" "Wedge released a mining drone and sent it to the mines for examination. "This will take a while, Boss." Said Wedge. "Right, well then, let''s leave this place to the drones and Droids... We need to look for the right ruins..." Everyone nodded. And so they left the ruins, not before releasing a huge number of logistics droids and returning to the swamps, Arc then orders Eve to take over the drones and scan the whole endless swamp. Arc chose the tallest tree as a place to camp. 50+ meters above ground Arc and the rest are camping. Ruby and Jem are preparing dinner, and Biggs and Wedge are securing the campsite as for Arc, he was watching the video sent by Eve. It''s the fight against Marius and Darius¡­ Arc was speechless watching the battle turn into a sports-like atmosphere... He only has a single response in his mind, WTF¡­ Editor: King of Mortal. Chapter 196 - 196 196 It''s been several hours since they discovered the land of Foh, and so far, they manage to find several ruins like the land of Foh. Some are small while others are quite big, and according to Eve''s analysis, some of the ruins are created using technology beyond 5-star, and that surprised Arc. He knows what that means as even specter or legion barely touches 3-star technology, and they are already overpowered, so what kind of concept is 5-Star? A single 5-star gun was probably enough to destroy the specter in a single shot. It''s no wonder the ruins manage to survive the ravages of time and still retain its complete shape even after thousands of years have passed. Unfortunately, they didn''t manage to find any treasures. It''s like the place has already been cleaned up many years ago.. And what''s more, they still haven''t found the right ruins yet. "It''s getting late, we should find a place to stay," said Wedge. Arc nodded. It didn''t take long for Ruby and Jem to find a perfect place to set up camp. It''s one of the branches of a giant tree. The branch is so big you can play basketball in it without a problem, and it''s several meters above ground, so it''s relatively safe. Eve releases several drones to patrol the camp just to be safe; it will serve as an early warning device. At the same time, Arc is busy checking if the drones he released manage to find something. A few minutes later, dinner is served. It''s not as good as Jarvis cooking, but it''s quite luxurious compared to what other adventurers are eating. Usually, adventurers and hunters prepare dried meat and canned food for every mission outside the city. Anything that does not need to be cooked as cooking in the wild is very dangerous. Some powerful beasts are attracted to light and smell, so many or majority of adventurers use rations or energy solutions every time they go on a mission. Only someone like Arc''s group would light a fire and start cooking in one of the most dangerous places in the continent without any fear. Arc does not fear the beasts of the swamp, especially since they are far above the ground, and they also have drones to keep watch, and besides, they are all-powerful capable of dealing with any beast that comes their way. And besides, with biggs and wedge constantly releasing their aura, no beast would come near them unless its a very powerful beast. Night has passed without any accident. The next day the adventures remaining are quite low, maybe because they are quite far inside the swamp Arc can only count on his hand the number of groups that remain. And most are in a sorry state. Arc''s group didn''t really bother with other adventurers, and the same for others didn''t bother them either. As each group is wary about others, it''s not rare for a group to be attacked and killed for their treasures in the swamp, since the place is filled with treasures of all kinds. And Arc''s group has a really good harvest of rare herbs and other things even though Arc didn''t really care about it. It doesn''t mean he will ignore it if he finds one. And using drones, they manage to get a considerable amount of rare herbs and fruits that can only be found in the swamp. Another day has passed, and still, they didn''t find what they are looking for. But despite that, Arc wasn''t disappointed because he managed to find and discover many things just the number of mines he found is already in double digits, not to mention the number of rare herbs and other treasures. Arc''s group was taking a short break on one of the branches when they heard a scream. "MONSTER!!! Run!" Arc couldn''t count the number of times he heard it in the last few days, as they go deeper into the swamps the more vicious and powerful the monster living in it. Arc saw a group of adventurers being chased by a giant crocodile looking monster. The monster is very huge about the length of a basketball court, its skin is deep purple in color, and judging by its fangs, it should be poisonous. Luckily it''s quite slow on land, but its huge size is making up for it. A single plunge of it is enough to cover several meters. All the adventurers in this part of the swamp are all veterans. Grund was doing his best to distract the Beast to give time for his team to escape, "Keep running don''t look back, just focus on running away!" Shouted Grund. Grund is throwing grenades after grenades to slow down or distract the beast. The grenades are not enough to harm the beast, but it can still be used as a distraction. Grund and his team have been to all kinds of dangerous situations.. They are veteran and one of the strongest teams that enter the forbidden swamp, but despite that, they clearly bite more than they can chew, as the monster that was chasing them is not an ordinary Beast, it''s the boss of the area in this part of the swamp. It''s slow, but its power is not something a regular A-class adventurer group can handle, and looking at it, they clearly lost some of their members. An average Adventurer group consists of more than 10 members, and Grund only has about 4 members left excluding him. "Just focus on running, don''t think of anything else," shouted Grund to his teammates. His teammates gritted their teeth in frustration; they know that if they join Grund, they will only make things worse for him. So with no other choice, they ran away. Arc watches as Grund battles the Beast in order to give time for his teammates to leave. At first, he didn''t give a f.u.c.k what''s happening. He has seen it too many times over the past few days. But watching Grund and his team earns his admiration, to put one''s life to save another, not just anyone is capable of it. But Arc didn''t move yet; he will wait until Grund can''t take it anymore. Ruby and Jem noticed Arc expressions, "Boss, do you intend to save him?" Arc smiled and said, "haha I kinda like his personality." "Shall we make a move?" Ask Jem, smiling. "Nah, I''ll take care of it, back me up if I can''t take it anymore." "Sure! Boss, no problem," said Jem. Ruby just nodded. Yaahhh! Using his broadsword Grund block the Beast but unfortunately, the beast is too strong, and he was sent flying a few meters back, he puked blood because of the impact Grund tried to stand up, but his knees buckled, "Shit, am I going to die here?" He mumbles. He saw the beast opens its mouth intending to bite and swallow him. He can''t do anything about it, as he doesn''t even have the strength to stand up much less dodge or run away. The only consolation he has is that the rest of his surviving teammates have managed to get away, he was an orphan. His teammates are those that grew up with him since his days in the orphanage, and they are what he considers his family. He closes his eyes and smiles, hoping his death would be quick. But a few seconds passed, and the death he was waiting for did not come. He opened his eyes and saw something he would never forget in his life. Chapter 197 - 197 197 Oda was in the conference room together with all the high ranking officers of the Grand Army. . . In the round table, everyone is having a serious discussion. And the reason for this is Oda. A few days ago, Oda received a report on the monthly assessment of the army. And the more he read it the more his brows knit together. The army assessment is down by 15% and it''s not just this month, as last month''s report is the same. The growth of the army has stagnated. There''s a good reason for it, as earth conflicts are no longer hard enough to the Grand Army, especially since they managed to wipe out almost every huge underground organization around the world. The rest are so scared they disbanded, some have stopped all their activities hoping the Grand army or Shadow moon didn''t take notice of them. And few organizations have gone into hiding and only do minimal activities. So basically, there''s no more conflict big enough for the Grand Army to participate in, and training can only take them so far, the army needs battle experiences, real-life and death scenarios, not just virtual experience. Oda has been racking his head for a solution, and he promised Arc his Boss that he will give him the greatest army in the galaxy, and so far Grand army is not even close to it, in fact, they are even below the standard of any galactic powers army. The only advantages they have is their superior technology and enhancement, but in regard to skill and experience, they are nowhere near the standard army in space. Even GFA soldiers have a better experience than the Grand Army. And after mulling over and over it for months, Oda finally has a solution, but the only problem is it''s not really humane, and they may incur heavy losses. And that brings us to the current situation: Oda calls all top executives of the Grand Army that includes Shadow units, Michelle and Dove are present in the meeting; there are a few high ranking officers that didn''t come from a system. "So this is what I propose to do and I want all your opinions on it," said Oda. "Sir Oda, you are our top executive. All you need to do is to give us the order, and we will execute it." Said Michelle. Dove nodded. "But I have something to say about this plan, I think it''s necessary or should I say this is what we need right now, as this will take us out of our comfort zone and into a real battlefield. The only bad thing about it is that there may be a lot of casualties if we executed this plan. We pride ourselves of being able to do things with minimal risk, and this is the opposite of what we used to do, but I think it''s necessary. We of the shadow unit are always prepared to give our lives for our cause, that''s the oath we take the moment we become a Shadow unit." Said Michelle. "I agree,'''' said Yuri. Yuri, the former leader of Spider, climbed up the ranks of the shadow unit with her power and capabilities. She is now part of the top executives of the shadow unit and so earns her place in this conference. Sora looked at Oda and said, "Are you perhaps worried about our Boss?" Oda sighed, "it''s part of it. You all know our Big Boss hates unnecessary loss of life, especially in the Army as he considered all of us as part of his extended family. So yeah, I''m worried about it, but also because this plan I propose will send our brothers and sisters into greater danger and there won''t be any Gaia or Eve to help them out. This is my primary concern. But rest assured, I will take all responsibility regarding this. Our Boss wants the greatest army in the galaxy and this is the first step into achieving it, I promised Boss, that I would give him an Army worthy enough to serve under him, and I intend to do that no matter the cost." There was a glint in his eyes, and his aura got unleashed when he made the statement, thankfully everyone in the conference room is an expert, if not many would have passed out because of it. Ruby, and Dove smiles when they hear it. They always like a challenge. Yuri also nodded as she knows more than anyone else what it takes to create good soldiers. Mikhail and Mikasa are living proof of it. Sora also nodded in agreement. Since we all agree, now we need to plan on how we are going to implement it and also on how to minimize risk without compromising on their training. Everyone nodded. Mariel proposed several contingencies and suggestions as one of the strategists of the Grand Army; her ability is known to everyone. It was her who led the Army on purging all the underground organizations on earth and in only a few months more than 90% of criminal organizations on earth have been purged and with almost no casualties on their part and all that without alarming or harming innocent people. She also helped Oda better organize the Army, so her input is widely acknowledged by everyone. The meeting lasted for three days before an initial draft was completed. And according to Gaia, they will be able to implement it in the next few weeks. Oda''s plan is so grand that it will take all the resources of Grand trading and Grand Army to implement. If this plan had been suggested a year ago Grand Trading would not be capable of implementing it, but the Grand trading a year ago and the Grand Trading of today are like heaven and earth difference in both capabilities and power. "I''m looking forward to presenting the army to Boss when he returns." Said Sora smiling. Haruka nodded. When all this is happening in Liberty, Dianna, and Tiffa as well as the shadow unit, were fighting different enemies. Many of the Grand Trading outposts and sh.i.p.s on liberty are under attack, and even though there were no real losses it is still irritating. Many superpowers in space are just watching without doing anything. To them, an attack on GT is good news for them, especially to those that hated GT and everything affiliated with it. Dianna is having a meeting just as Oda was holding a conference. Dianna was talking to Brutus and Ash about the series of attacks on Grand Trading (GT) on Liberty. Even though there were no real damages or losses and they even gained little from it by salvaging the enemy''s broken equipment, it still affected their prestige in Liberty. Diana already asked for more than 50 shadow unit squads in Liberty to help deal with the problem. Initially, Dove would be the one leading the Shadow unit in Liberty, but Oda called for an emergency meeting, so Dove''s travel to Liberty was delayed indefinitely. For now, Brutus was the one leading all the shadow units in Liberty over the last few weeks; they killed and purged many bases of Greyman in Liberty, but so far they weren''t able to get mastermind behind it, mostly only those who were hired by Greyman. The Greyman mostly stay in the shadows and would just hire criminals and mercenaries to do their dirty job. And because of the war with the Ganesh, the other human superpower doesn''t have time or resources to deal with any problem in Liberty as long as it''s not a problem that would affect them, they just turn a blind eye to it. And besides, GT doesn''t need anyone''s help to deal with their problem as long as they don''t stand in their way.. Dianna mostly doesn''t care about those attacks, as her job is to manage the company. Security and other stuff are not her concerns but the continuous attacks are beginning to affect the Grand Trading businesses, some of the potential clients were backing out afraid they might get caught in GT affairs. As GT has the power to take care of the attackers as they have power drones and sh.i.p.s to deal with it, but many of the clients don''t, so if they are subjected to attack because of their affiliation to Grand Trading many of them will be greatly affected. Then Diana called the other superpowers and the first thing she did was to request or mostly demanded that all security on liberty would be handed over to GT to handle. And of course, human superpower didn''t agree with it. Especially GFA. And so Dianna made a decision to stop all Transactions of all humans and aliens affiliated with Liberty to be suspended until the problem of the attacks on them is resolved. This put a headache on all human superpower, especially since they need GT products to continue their war. Diana also increased the prices of all their product by 300%, her reasons, because of the continuous attacks on their sh.i.p.s and outposts, which has affected their production. And as the security on liberty is so lax and also because all the companies in Liberty can only bring certain amount of protection in liberty, this greatly limits the GT in solving the problems, if not for that, Dianna would have brought the whole Army and swept clean all Liberty of all potential issues. Even though GT was given special treatment and was allowed to bring a bit more security compared to others, it''s not nearly enough as liberty is so vast that GT''s security on liberty is only a drop of the ocean. And that''s why GT has no choice but to act in secret and bring additional forces without anyone knowing. But despite that, it is still not enough. And Diana has had enough, and so she began to exert her power or should I say Grand Trading power. Chapter 198 - 198 198 All the top executives of Liberty are having an unprecedented emergency meeting. It''s the first time all top superpowers affiliated with managing Liberty are joining together for a meeting. The reason being that, Dianna is demanding that Liberty security to be outsourced to them. If not every time they are attacked in Liberty, she will increase the price of all the products by 100%. Her reason is that those responsible for the security on Liberty are letting the criminal organization attack GT. Of course, they all denied that they also know that the frequency of the attacks are increasing in fact, they themselves are powerless to stop it as the attacks are random, and the attackers are all hired guns. And they can''t just arrest all mercenaries and criminals that don''t do any crimes on Liberty yet after all it is one of their policies everyone is welcome to Liberty as long as they follow the rules of Liberty they don''t care about their backgrounds. And besides, they are all guilty of ignoring the attacks on GT, but this time Diana, the Overall CEO of all GT Enterprise, is pissed. But they can''t just give to GT the rights on Liberty security, it''s just not possible. At first, they ignored Dianna''s warning, and when Dianna increases the price by 300% because of the three recent attacks on GT in Liberty, they all woke up from complacency. They protested, but Diana just said if you can''t afford it then don''t buy it. Dianna no longer relied on human superpower as consumers as many alien races are buying their products in fact, over 80% of all GT products are sold to alien races all over Bright Galaxy, especially with the threat of Ganesh. And according to GT analysis, less than 1% of all advanced races in Bright Galaxy are their customers, and despite that GT has a long waiting order. And if not for GT being part of humanity, they won''t have a chance to buy GT military products. Even Dianna didn''t expect for their products to so in-demand that even with the capability of system factory its still not enough to supply all the orders they are getting, unfortunately Arc is not here to make more factories to increase their productions, it must be said that the current GT are capable of producing over a million commercial military combat drones a day, but despite that it''s not nearly enough to supply all the orders they are getting. Arc already converted several multi-purpose manufacturing factories (MPMF) into combat drone productions for Dianna before leaving. He created a total of 10 MPMF for Grand trading to use because he foresaw that the more product GT has, the more MPMF is needed, but despite that, he can never imagine the combat drones popularity. Unlike mechs and sh.i.p.s, Combat drones are disposable products, and so the demand for it is huge, especially since it''s effectiveness against fighting Ganesh is outstanding, the public enemy of Bright Galaxy. When Dianna increased the price for the Drones and threatened to stop transactions to all affiliated to Liberty management, they panicked. It has to be said the resale of combat drones of GT are at least 10x in the black market, and only humans are being given a special treatment of having to buy it at a discounted price and having a priority when ordering. Many aliens who are waiting in line are jealous of them. They now know Dianna is serious and pissed off by the recent successive attacks on GT in Liberty. In truth, Oda knows about the attacks but didn''t take it seriously, even Dianna didn''t take it seriously, but when their other products are being affected by the attacks, she was pissed. GT has many products, and Dianna is working hard to advertise it, many alien races especially like non-military products after all many aliens are not participating in the war with Ganesh, in fact, less than 1% of advance race are participating in the war, many didn''t care about it especially those races, who are located very far away from Ganesh influence, and that was what Dianna is trying to reach, and she worked hard for it. But recent attacks are changing the minds of peaceful races in affiliating with GT. And that really pissed Dianna of. The only place the Greyman didn''t attack are Messiah well after all attacking it is tantamount to suicide, and no mercenaries or pirates, no matter how brave they are, will not take a commission to attack it. Just the number of un-manned Mechs and drones protecting it numbered in millions, and if they manage to bypass it, countless doomsday cannons mounted on all the edges of Messiah are ready to send anyone to hell. And if still by chance they still manage to bypass it, the 2-star force field generator would destroy anyone or anything that comes close to it. And if by miracle the still managed to bypass it, 5 mother drones and 10 million rank 5 and above droids are waiting for them. And if they still manage to deal with all of that well they can have it after all they deserve it. If they manage to stop the self-destruction, then they can have it. That''s Oda''s exact words when Dianna asked him about the security of Messiah, leaving Dianna and Tiffa speechless. After all, Messiah is GT''s stronghold in space what Oda didn''t mention is that if Messiah is breached, Legion will teleport into it to deal with all troubles, that''s Messiah''s last line of defense. "Ash give me the report¡­" asked Dianna. "Most of the attacks come from outer Liberty, and only a handful are in inner and Central Liberty. The attacks mostly come from independent mercenaries or small-time criminals. Most of the attacks are small ones like throwing small explosives and discharging hand weapons such as guns and lasers. All of our outposts and warehouses and small stores are targeted, but none of the attacks are successful. Our drones and Droids can deal with it, but the problem is we still are clueless about the identity or the whereabouts of the mastermind behind the attacks. All of the mastermind discussions and transactions are done through VR and therefore were unable to monitor them. And we can''t trace the money either as it was under the first bank." Said Ash. "Brutus, what about you? What have you learned about our mysterious enemies?" Said, Dianna. There''s been talk about some mysterious group who are so loaded with credits and were buying and gathering all information about GT, and this group also said to be buying all kinds of weapons and equipment in the black market no matter the price they prioritized alien techs anything that are not related to human technology. "So far, I haven''t found any lead to them. I scattered several Shadow Unit groups to gather information and also to capture them if presented an opportunity. I also instructed them that they can kill anyone to try to stop them from capturing this individual." There a slight bloodthirst reflected in his eyes, clearly he too was pissed about the recent attacks as they haven''t found any real clues regarding their enemies. Dianna nodded. "This is a tricky situation for us, as we don''t have any real control in Liberty, well at least for now, and at the same time this is a trial for us, after all up until now, it''s all smooth sailing for us. So this is a good opportunity for us to show our real capabilities and it''s only getting harder from now. As I''ve just received intel that the oldest super race in Bright Galaxy are finally making a move." Brutus gasped.. He was no longer an ignorant man from Earth as one of the top executives of the Shadow Unit. He was privy to some secrets, and because of his job to gather information in Liberty, he knew and heard a thing or two. The oldest superpower on Bright Galaxy, the ruler of the biggest sector of the galaxy, this power is relatively obscured and quiet; they are also in possession of the biggest territory in Bright Galaxy that consists of several sectors and over a million planets under their rule. But despite that, they have stopped expanding or doing activities for hundreds of years, even when Ganesh are making a ruckus in Bright Galaxy, they didn''t show any activity, so why now when Ganesh is quiet. "How accurate is the information?" Asked Brutus. "I heard it from one of our affiliated alien merchants. So it''s pretty accurate. But why or what they are planning remains a mystery." Said, Dianna, "Will this affect us?" Ask Ash. Dianna didn''t answer the question but instead said. "We''re taking the next step." "Are you sure? Isn''t it too early?" Said Ash. "Although I said we were taking the next step, we were not doing it in one go but instead doing it step by step. It''s better to start it early, as this will give us ample time to fix any problems that may arise." Ash and Brutus nodded. Tiffa did not participate in the discussions as it was not her job to do so. "What do you think the top management of Liberty would do?" Ask Brutus while smiling mischievously. Dianna scoff, "I''m pretty sure they won''t cede to our demands, after all, what I''m asking is not a small matter, this is not like the space elevator where only one power is affected, this time all of them will be affected and its equivalent to giving their rights on Liberty. So they won''t accept it, but I''m sure they will compromise on other things if we ask for it." "Haha, I''m looking forward to their responses." Said, Brutus. Editor: King of Mortals. Chapter 199 - 199 199 Today the management of Liberty is having a virtual meeting, this is the first time they have all met at the same time, and with time the expansion of Liberty, the number of executives of Liberty are now over 100 and even when a new part of Liberty was expanded they never issued an emergency meeting that consists of all executives. But now, because of a single company, they are forced to issue an emergency meeting of all executives, and participation is a must. The conference room consists of several rings, the closer you are in the inner circle, the higher the authority, and in the central circle 12 humans can be seen as they are the 12 founding human powers of Liberty as they are the one who started Liberty or their old leader did. There''s no alien in the central circle next to the inner circle. In the inner circle, there are 3 alien races, and the number of alien races increases in the further circles. Especially in the last 2 circles, the number of aliens was too many, and only a few humans could be seen there. "All of you know why we are here, because of the number of attacks on GT their CEO now demands we outsource the security of Liberty to them. Said one of the humans in the central circle. "That''s not going to happen," said another human in the central circle. "That''s right! Are they dreaming? Who do they think they are?" A commotion happens the moment they hear of GT demands even though they are already aware of it even before the meeting. Being able to speak gives them a sense of power, especially from those of the further circle. GT is going to increase the prices of the military equipment by 100% for every attack upon them in Liberty, and because of the recent attacks, the price has risen by 300%... And if this continues, GT would cease all transactions to all management of Liberty. "Heh, they are just an upstart company. Why should we accept their demands?" Said one of the humans in the middle circle. Everyone is looking at him like an idiot. In fact, he just wants to say something that empowers the executives of Liberty. Because that upstart company now has the power to destroy each and every one of us, If they wanted to. So, stop saying something stupid. Said another human in the inner circle. The man who spoke earlier bowed his head down, his attempt to look important backfired; everyone is now looking at him like he was an idiot. "GT now supplies one of the most innovative and powerful military equipment that can rival that of Ganesh. And many of us are all using their products, and we would suffer huge losses if we can''t get more of it. This meeting is conveyed so that we can look for a solution to appease GT. So no more stupid comment" said another Human in the central circle. The man who spoke earlier bowed his head even lower, seemingly looking for a hole to bury himself. There''s no way we can agree to GT''s demands, so we must look for other solutions. The aliens did not participate in the discussions; they only watched and listened. The meeting has already lasted for a few hours, but no solution has been found. In the last few hours, no aliens participated, and the humans didn''t care much about them. After all, Liberty technically belongs to humans even though Liberty cannot exist without alien technology. But no human would acknowledge it, as such was human nature. The human''s kept on talking, giving one suggestion after another. That was until one alien spoke. It''s one of the three aliens on the inner circle, excuse me, it seems like GT was attacked again in the outer Liberty a few minutes ago. Nobody spoke, they knew what this meant... And true enough a few minutes later, something happened. One of the humans in the inner circle spoke: "the GT is making a statement." He said. Suddenly a massive projection is presented in front of them all.. A few hours ago in Dianna''s office. She was speaking to Brutus. "Brutus lower the security level on all warehouses of GT, but increase the security level in all GT stores" said, Diana. Brutus nodded with a smile, he knows what Dianna is trying to do. They were aware that top executives of Liberty management had issued an emergency meeting. Dianna is trying to bait Greyman into attacking them in order to force Liberty management. And just like she predicted another warehouse was hit a few hours after, so she immediately issued a press conference. Dianna is standing in front of the press behind her Tiffa and all top executives of GT in Liberty. Good day everyone, this press conference is about the recent attacks received by GT in Liberty. All of you or many people must be wondering why someone like us who was known for unrivalled military tech is continuously being attacked without retaliating. Well, in fact, we are doing everything we can in the confines of Liberty law. No matter how many drones and Droids we have are useless, as we are not allowed to bring them to Liberty to protect us. " "After all Liberty is under many Human and other friendly races management, they are the one responsible for the security and safety of anyone on Liberty, and GT is happy and content to abide by their rules, as it is the same for all companies who take root in Liberty. We are only allowed to bring a minimum number of security on Liberty, which is fine by us until the recent successive attacks directed to GT. And we are powerless to prevent it. In fact, we have requested that the security of the Liberty be outsourced to us to better protect everyone in Liberty, but unfortunately, our plea comes to deaf ears, and so it brings us to this press conference, in fact just a few minutes ago GT suffered another attack. So GT management has decided to cease all military sales on every member of the management executive of Liberty, we are also going to cease selling military supplies in Liberty and close all warehouses and stores dedicated to those products." The reporters are restless and shocked by what they hear. "Stop all military supply sales on Liberty? "Holy shit! This is big news, who is this mysterious attacker that managed to force GT to such situations." They can''t wait to start asking questions. Unfortunately, it''s not Q and A yet. Dianna paused for a bit to let the press and audiences digest what she said, and there was a commotion in the press conference room.. "Are they insane? How can they do that?!" "Liberty executives are in deep shit." "Is this going to affect the war?" They talked and started massaging their chief editors as this is big news... "Alright! Calm down everyone, let me continue," said Dianna with a slight smile. The commotion started to die down as they focused once again on Dianna, but they all knew a huge change is going to happen. Editor: King of Mortals. Chapter 200 - 200 200 She then continued, "but don''t worry we will still continue to sell military products we only ceased selling to Liberty Executive the reason is simple if they wanted to stop the attacks they could do it after all Liberty is completely under their control, but they didn''t do it, so that makes us question why?... But none of that is important anymore as we already made a decision. And lastly, the new version of drones would be available in a few days, so look forward to it," said Dianna. After that, she said a few more things then continued the Q&A portion. "Miss Dianna, if you''re not selling the military product on liberty, where can we buy it?" A Good question, GT has opened a Virtual Store in the Virtual Universe. We also converted one of our transport sh.i.p.s into a moving store. You can also find the latest information on our website. Next. "You indicate that Liberty executives can stop the GT attack if they wanted to, but choose not to. Could you elaborate?" "It''s very simple, didn''t they claim that they have full and total control of Liberty, or is that a joke?" Said Dianna, smiling. "Maybe because of the Ganesha''s threat, that they are unable to oversee the security in Liberty completely." When the top executives heard the reporters question, they all nodded in acknowledgment. "Then all the more reason they should outsource the security of Liberty to us if they can''t manage it anymore. How can they boast of waging war with outsiders when they can''t even protect their most valuable assets." Said, Dianna. The reporter was about to retort, but Dianna didn''t give him a chance. Next! Miss Dianna, I am from CBBNC you said you would stop all transactions or military sales on all executives of Liberty, and at the same time, you''re launching a new military product won''t that weaken human forces? "It''s not like they didn''t have any options, it''s up to them if they want to weaken themselves or not. It''s not like we''re not giving them any options; the only question is what is more important to them, their personal interest or humanities." Next¡­ Next¡­. Next¡­ The press release made a huge headline all across the bright Galaxy even those who are far away from the solar system have managed to see because of VR universe, many news outlets in VR Universe have covered the news and because of that many aliens who have no idea of GT are now made aware, many of them saw the drones created by GT but didn''t really care who made them. It''s like buying a Gun, you don''t care about who made them just as long it functions as intended, the same goes to the drones as many Alien forces who managed to purchase the drones didn''t really advertise or care about who made them, only now because of the news people were now aware of company behind the drones and much military equipment which can contend against Ganesh and has the technology that comes from the main universe. The rest of the GT are surprised by a sudden influx of visitors on the GT main webpage. Even GT VR stores show an increase of visitors by at least 50-60%, and it continues to increase. Dianna smiled when she saw the numbers. She wasn''t really surprised by it as she already foresaw it. GT''s PR department is in full throttle as they released several commercials and videos about GT products on VR Universe.. And when Grand Trading (GT) is in a celebratory mood, the management executives of Liberty are all gloomy... With the press release of GT ended the Liberty top executives are back into the corner, they can''t find a solution that will get them out of this trouble. If GT stops supplying them with drones and other military equipment, their campaign against Ganesh would soon come to a stop, and the earning that goes with it. For it is not feasible to purchase GT products through the black market, although they can do that temporarily and still make some earnings, it''s not a long term solution. And besides, even in the black market, there are limited GT equipment stocks. Dianna no longer paid attention to Liberty management; she didn''t call them or made any more demands. She effectively stopped all GT shops in Liberty that specialize in selling GT military equipment and convert them into regular GT stores. And with the GT mobile shop officially opening a few days from now, it will become one of the most discussed topics in many message boards all over the virtual network. And with the allocation of equipment on human superpowers suspended, many of the previous, pending orders, were supplied only to GFA who managed to make a contract with GT and was able to continue having their supply being delivered without any problems at all, because of commander Markos but all their extra order was canceled. Even Markos was powerless to stop it. But overall, GFA wasn''t affected by GT''s sudden decision, especially since the Ganesh were also slowing down their invasion. But many human powerhouses in space were greatly affected. Mainly because all Human superpower in space was related to Liberty management. And so, therefore, their orders were all canceled indefinitely. And no matter how much they protest, GT remains hard with their decisions. In the next few days, GT presence on Liberty has dwindled; only GT mall remains very popular mainly because it still remains one of the best places to shop in Liberty, and besides, 95% of GT Mall are occupied by stores from many other companies. So it''s not really affected by GT pulling out all military equipment in Liberty. A week later, the mobile GT store officially opened, and in just a few hours, more than a million visitors had registered. GT mobile store is the first product of Future Technology under the collaboration of Leslie Deacon and head scientists of GT Abel Frankenstein... It is a massive luxurious ship liner, a massive ship that''s being powered by the new Engine designed by Leslie and Abel. The ship is so massive over 20 new-age engines were powering it, it has to be said that even the GFA''s biggest battle cruiser only has 2 warp engines and 6 warp engines were only able to power even their super ship carrier. And what''s more, the new age engine is at least 3-5 times more powerful than a regular warp engine. The new Engine is called FT engine 1.0, it utilized a folding technology of Future Tech, FT engine is not yet available in the market as the very first ship that uses the technology is Dianna''s private cruiser called the Lotus and second the mobile shop of GT called SS Grandline. It''s 3 times the size of ship carrier and one of the most luxurious sh.i.p.s ever to be created and also one of the most heavily defended and it can fit thousands of medium to large sh.i.p.s without any problem and can accommodate ten million passengers easily with space for a few million more, it uses space compression technology basically the ship is moving City. It incorporated 10 Hives, and each hive houses 1 million drones and over 20 thousand unmanned mechs and several hundred combat sh.i.p.s. The ship also utilized a rank-5 energy shield... It is the Future technology''s crowning achievement. And it was easy to see why the ship is jet black with a golden pattern etched all over the ship, and it has an elegant cone-shape design. The Grandline travels to several systems on tour like a cruise. The destination was posted in advance, and the ship functions as a shopping city as well as a luxurious cruise ship with over 10 thousand crews and 200 thousand service droids to help and guide guests, and what''s more, the ship has a First Bank branch inside it. This is the most surprising news of all, even more so than that of war. When Dianna and Tiffa visited the First Bank branch on Liberty and proposed the plan to the manager of the bank it didn''t take long for them to agree to it, which surprised Dianna and Tiffa, the decision to request the first bank to establish a branch in the GT mobile shop was just a suggestion of Tiffa in a spur of the moment. Going to the first bank they didn''t really expect anything, after all, even Liberty took over 50 years for the First Bank branch to be established. So when the manager of the first bank agreed immediately, they were very surprised and at the same time very happy. Another press conference was held a day before the opening of the GT mobile shop called SS Grandline. When they heard that the first bank would be opening a branch, everyone thought they missed it. When it was confirmed the bank is going to establish a branch the news got blown all over the Bright Galaxy, it has to be said the reason Liberty was so popular was because it''s the only place in Bright Galaxy to have a First Bank branch and humanity was very proud of it, and now, a Company which has been created for only a few years managed to create a ship that houses a branch of the First Bank. How great is that? For a few seconds, after Dianna confirmed it, there was silence, like the silence before a storm, as soon as the reporters woke up, they began to question one after another. Thankfully they were quickly managed by security, and when everyone managed to calm down each and every one of them was shaking with excitement. And not just them, not just humanity, but even many alien races were shocked by the news as Grand Trading is making history once again¡­ Editor: King of Mortals Chapter 201 - 201 201 Time flies by... It has been a couple of months since Arc departed to complete his urgent mission. It''s been a few weeks since Dianna announced that the First Bank would be part of the SS Grandline, the news traveled all over Bright Galaxy. It elevated Grand Trading status into one of the top companies in bright Galaxy. Now Liberty has a competitor as they could no longer monopolize the position of no.1 trade city. However, despite that, It''s not so easy to topple the prestige and glory of Liberty, it''s still the no.1 place in Bright Galaxy to trade on, but now they also have an option unlike before. SS Grandline can be considered as a prestigious place, and only top companies and merchants are allowed to set up shop there, as only the best products are traded over there. In a way, Liberty is like a bazaar. SS Grandline is a Mall or Shopping Center, it also became a status symbol to set up shop in SS Grandline, Dianna was very strict in choosing who to set their shop there, and Bright Galaxy has no shortage of the rich. SS Grandline promises top quality services, and they more than deliver it, as SSS rank solutions are given to all guests, Top quality restaurants, and even Casino''s can be seen inside SS Grandline. It''s a top-quality holiday resort as one of the journalists wrote in one of his articles. What''s more, SS Grandline is very safe to travel, as no force was stupid enough to attack it even Ganesh learned thier lesson. In fact, during the maiden voyage of SS Grandline the Ganesh did set up ambushes, it consists of several squadrons of the top battlesh.i.p.s even GFA haven''t seen that many top forces during their war with Ganesh, the result being total annihilation, no Ganesh Ship survived, of course, it''s not without loss in SS Grandline but its consequential compared to the total destruction enemy. SS Grandline lost a lot of drones and Sh.i.p.s. Still, no Ganesh managed to get close to SS Grandline to put a scratch on it before they were destroyed. GT earned a massive fortune in that battle. The battle was televised live courtesy of several reporters and GT''s PR departments, which solidifies GT''s claims that no forces in Bright Galaxy can threaten SS Grandline, which gives peace of mind to the millions of its guests on that day. To GT and Dianna, SS Grandline is a sailing money printing machine earning millions of Bright Galaxy Credits (BGC) by a second. SS Grandline Taxed 28% to all transactions happening in the ship, it''s a bit lower compared to 33% tax in Liberty, and that''s not all because all guest in SS Grandline are wealthy tycoons, all of their transactions are in massive scales and what''s more the Casino is earning more than any establishment in SS Galaxy. Because of the Branch of First Bank, all transactions are safe and legit, of course, there are also some backdoor dealings, but that''s only a few and Between the guests and GT didn''t care about it after all as long as it went through the First Bank in SS Grandline GT receives a specific cut, it''s one of the reasons the First Bank is trusted as they are very fair in all their dealings in fact if they wanted they can monopolize the earnings but instead they still shared it to GT as it was their original Policies, it was the same thing in Liberty. All transactions under the First Bank in Liberty management of Liberty also get a certain cut, and that doesn''t include the tax. The only difference is that several powerhouses manage liberty but in SS Grandline, all income goes directly into GT''s pockets. GT also made a deal with the First Bank regarding Buying materials only available in the central Galaxy, and the First Bank agreed to it. It''s common knowledge in Bright Galaxy that leaving the Bright Galaxy is easy entering it is another story. Still, First Bank doesn''t seem to have this problem, even though natives of Bright Galaxy also don''t have this problem, but traveling from one galaxy to another is still risky business and top merchants hold their star maps like an ancestral treasure and no merchant would share their trade routes and star maps to another and leaving a galaxy without a proper star-map is a good way to send yourself to the afterlife. But the First Bank had the resources and technology to do that without a problem, and when the First Bank Agreed to become a trade partner of GT, Dianna was ecstatic. The First Bank doesn''t want BGC as payment. Instead, they wanted military-grade Solutions, Dianna underestimated the value of Military Grade Solutions in fact even in main Universe GT military Solutions can be considered as top quality products and cannot be made in huge quantities it''s one of the reasons the First Bank agreed to set up a branch in SS Grandline in order to get close and procure an exclusive line for the military solutions, mainly because GT are limiting the sales of Military solutions. Only SS solutions are available for public purchase, and that''s why GFA are willing to pay a considerable amount just to acquire an exclusive contract to purchase it. And the First Bank wants a lot of it at least a hundred times more than GFA are receiving. And the First Bank is willing to pay a fair amount for it, as they are paying using Chaos Credit or (CC) the official currency in the main universe. Dianna doesn''t want to miss this once in a lifetime deal it''s the best way for them to prepare for moving into the main universe in the future. She knows with her boss''s capabilities, It''s only a matter of time before the Bright Galaxy can no longer satisfy them. And earning CC in advance is the best thing for them. Dianna even offered a limited quantity special solution, and when the people from First Bank tested it, they were surprised by the quality, and like anyone who tasted, they wanted to get their hands on it at all costs. Dianna offered 10k of special solutions every week as a start if commander Markos found out about it, in fact, if the top executives of GFA found out about it their faces would be red in anger and frustration after all they paid a huge amount of it for just a hundred of it every week, they all know that''s the limit GT can make it and yet GT is offering 10k to the First Bank as a starter. Unfortunately, they will never find out. First Bank would never disclose it, and neither will GT. In fact, only Dianna and Tiffa are aware of the transaction of special solutions to the First Bank. The contract was made right away, and with the help of Gaia to verify it, Dianna immediately signed it, the First Bank would pay CC to all transactions from GT and GT can use it to purchase materials of the main universe from the first bank, it''s a win-win situation to GT after all solutions are nothing to GT, it''s their cheapest product to create. GT can make Billions of Special solutions in a single day using a small type of space beast meat. Solutions are GT biggest moneymaker, It costs almost nothing to produce and sells at a high price... What more can they ask for. Even though drones and military products are the ones that put GT on the Galactic Map, the one that gives them real income is still the solutions. GFA and many superpowers in space replaced all their ration with GT solutions as it provides their soldiers more energy in combat and its cheaper too since they no longer need to maintain all the factory and human resources to study and create a good ration for them, in fact, they save upto 50% more when they converted to GT solutions and its far more effective than any ration they ever made. In fact, even the Ganesh are secretly buying solutions through their spies and contacts to procure massive amounts of solutions to be used in their army, after all the Ganesh need high energy food to function effectively every day because of their massive bodies GT solutions are more than enough to meet this demand. Of course, Dianna or GT have no idea about it after all countless alien races, and Humans are purchasing massive quantities of solutions on a daily basis, not to mention many merchants are also buying it to sell in the far reaches of the bright galaxy. And besides, it''s almost impossible to identify Ganesh''s spy. Besides, GT or Dianna doesn''t really care where and who are using the solutions purchased from them as they don''t discriminate against anyone who wants to buy it. Unlike in military products, they are careful about who is buying it and where they are using it. Its Arc no.1 concern as he didn''t want his weapons being used to kill innocent lives, the solutions don''t have that problem as the solutions cannot be used to kill. And putting poison to solutions doesn''t work either as the moment any foreign substances are introduced into solutions it will change color into black, it''s one of its security features any harmful or any unauthorized modification to the solutions would change its color to black, its an indication that the solutions have been tampered. And GT is very open about it, as all security features are available to the public to see. And that''s what makes the GT solutions one of the safest products to consume, and every one of GT employees are proud of it. EDITOR: King of Mortals Chapter 202 - 202 202 It''s been days since Arc and his group entered the endless swamps, and so far, they had a considerable harvest, he found several hidden mines teeming with resources. They also found several ruins leading them to believe that the endless swamps were once used to be some sort of huge city, and some catastrophe happened that ended up destroying the city and swallowed up by the swamps and eventually became what it used to be today an endless swamp. What confused and worried Arc is that what kind of catastrophe happened that even a city that has more than 5-star technology ended up like this. Just what kind of power is capable of doing it. "Is it the gods? Or something else," Arc questions himself. For this kind of reason, he was afraid to expose Specter''s existence as he didn''t know what kind of power would be attracted to it. It''s good if it''s something they can handle like Graff, but what if a god-like existence appeared that would be the end of them. Arc is a lot stronger now but not strong enough to fight against a god. Even the weakest of the gods can kill him with one finger. He needs to be very careful until he knows that, he plans to keep a low profile and stay in the shadows, as Jem and Ruby said. What frustrated Arc is that despite the harvest he got in the endless swamps, their true purpose for being here still eludes them, and with each day spent here, it''s a day less to complete his urgent mission. "Boss we found something," said Jem. Arc heard that line several times before, and his enthusiasm has greatly diminished, nevertheless finding something is still better than finding nothing. If other adventurers know what Arc is thinking. In that case, they might vomit blood for being too frustrated, when Arc is complaining because he can''t find his real target despite the rich harvest, the majority of the adventurers end up suffering with nothing to show for it. Arc follows Jem for several kilometers as it took a few minutes. To them, with their enhanced body, this kind of travel, even in swamp areas which are notorious for being hard to travel, is not a big deal. When they reach the said destination, Arc saw a building under a huge tree. No, the tree is not growing on top of the building like a decoration. The tree is submerging the building with its gigantic roots, the tree must be at least several hundred meters tall. Arc just couldn''t see the top of it mainly because of the thick canopy obscuring it from sight. But despite the colossal tree overgrowing on top of the building, there are no visible damages to the said building. He has seen many ruins in the endless swamps so far, and many remain intact despite the passage of time, but this one takes the cake. The building is about five-story tall and kind of like a dome shape; at least that''s what it looks like as most of it is covered by roots. The rest of the team are already there; they were the first to discover the ruin. While the others wanted to explore, Arc on the other hand, grew tired of it after several days and mainly relied on drones to do the exploring for him. Eve on the other hand, is so eager to explore and use her physical body to do things, so he was left on their temporary base camp while others do their thing and explore. At first, others are reluctant to leave him alone, but Arc insisted he would be ok for one, his power is no longer what it used to be, and second in terms of combat power, he was leading the charge in his group. What''s more, he has several hundred high-grade droids in his storage ring ready to fight at any given notice. So they were finally convinced to leave Arc alone, but still like Biggs and Wedge, who was a guard as a profession didn''t dare venture far so that they can respond to Arc if something happens. Arc saw Ruby using drones to scan the building, its a standard procedure for them to scan and identify what kind of building it is. If not, they can at least determine if there''s any trap in it. But according to Ruby, the building''s purpose is unknown, and there seem to be no traps, and it also indicates that no one has managed to visit this place for at least several hundred years. There were no other buildings in the surrounding area, which is strange, if this is some kind of facility, there should be a series of buildings surrounding it, and it''s too small for being a secret facility, and there seems to be no underground area according to the drones. There''s also no special energy in the building like the other ruins. This special energy is what protects the materials of the building from corroding, and even after such a long time, it still does its job of protecting the building. But this particular building doesn''t have that kind of energy, and despite that, it remains standing for who knows how long and with a gigantic tree on top of it, so this really picked his interest. He wasn''t in a rush to explore the building; he was waiting for the drones to complete its reading. Before, because of his eagerness to explore, he didn''t wait for the drones to finish scanning and ended up falling for a trap, luckily it''s not a fatal one, he only got away with a bruised ego, nothing else, he also knows that if for some reason the trap was deadly given the technology the owner of the ruins possessed he would be dead. He thought he has greatly matured at first, but after that incident, he knows he hasn''t grown enough. Arc knows that this is not a pleasure cruise, but sometimes his immaturity and excitement get the better of him, and he knows he must practice self-control more. As his life is no longer what it used to be, a lot of lives depend on him, not just his family, but people like Arielle and the system personnel are all depending on him being alive and to lead them. And as he was daydreaming. Ruby''s voice woke him up. Boss scan completed, no traps of any kind detected. We should be careful Boss, our drones might be unable to detect because of the difference in technology. Ever since they arrived at this endless swamp, they found out that some traps and materials used in ruins are unable to figure out even with the very best technology they possessed. Arc nodded, he also indicated that they would be entering the building soon. Over the past few days, Ruby and Jem came up with several group formations when exploring the ruins or even the regular swamps. Ruby gestured with her hand, indicating that they are doing a high-security formation and that''s having Arc in the Center, Arc no longer complains to that like before. He nodded, and they began to approach the building, and the entrance is also dome-shaped. Much like what they assume the shape of the building as well. It doesn''t have a door of some kind, but for some reason, the inside of the building is very clean. There''s not even a speck of dust or mud in it. Clearly, something is preventing those things from entering the building, the moment Arc entered the building, he felt something like a pulse or a heartbeat. But strangely different from that, he can''t figure it out, the others notice the changes in Arc expression. Jem asked what it was, but Arc just shakes his head. He clearly has no idea of what he felt. He instinctively knows this is not what Nine has indicated about the Adams legacy. It''s more like his ability; the energy manipulation is at work. Still, unfortunately, with the current mastery of his ability, he can''t figure it out, he can feel it, but that''s about it. He suddenly ordered others to stop. "Wait, this building is dangerous. He said as sweat was forming in his forehead, he was trying to resonate with energy in the building but ended up being suppressed by it". Arc''s mind is churning; he no longer pays attention to his surroundings, he couldn''t even hear the others calling to him. He was focused on protecting himself from the sudden pressure the building is giving him. "Boss!, Boss!" Ruby''s calls woke him up.. He looked around and saw everyone was looking at him. He was covered in sweat, but the pressure was gone.. "I, I''m ok" he was about to order a retreat when suddenly he heard a voice. "It''s fine there''s no danger here especially for you." He was surprised he knows that voice, it''s a voice he hadn''t heard in a long time, Adam. "You''re awake? What do you mean?" But there was no response, did he imagine it? He asked himself.. "Nine was that....'''' "Adam," that''s the only word Nine said. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, and he gestures to others that he was ok. "Don''t worry I just felt some energy and i tried to attune to it but failed. Let''s just continue exploring." The others nodded, they didn''t ask more as they know if their Boss wants them to know, he would tell them. So Ruby lead the group next to her was Jem, behind Arc, several meters apart were Biggs and Wedge taking up the rear, and surrounding Arc a few steps away are four top grade Droids under Eve, and finally next to Arc was Eve with her enhanced body similar to Legion only smaller. Eve''s body is special, it''s the same as her first body, which Arc won by using the lottery. It''s a liquid type of droid using 3-star tech, and what''s more, it can continuously upgrade by absorbing different materials. Unfortunately, he only managed to get one even after opening several lottery boxes by completing quite a few regular missions. He also got an exoskeleton armor that''s 4-star rank, giving him more life-saving treasures to protect his life. He also got a lot of health potions and one other thing that makes him super happy, unfortunately, he can''t use it yet. The group makes their way into a hallway. Ruby and the rest were confused. This is clearly not a facility of any kind. If they didn''t know better, it looks like a house, that''s right, the setup is like a luxurious house, and where they are standing in what looks like a living room, they were sure this is just a regular house. And when Arc saw the portrait hanging on the wall, he was stunned. EDITOR: King of Mortals Chapter 203 - 203 As they entered the building, they were greeted by a hallway. The hallway was decorated with several things that one can normally see in a regular house. Still, despite the homey atmosphere, the group didn''t let their guards down; only Arc felt relaxed. Despite his earlier experience of entering the building, it mysteriously calms him down, like when he enters his own house. He can''t really explain why, but he really felt like he was home for some reason. Back when he didn''t have the system, at the time he was working his life to death, the only place that calms him down was his home. It''s the same feeling he got here, but it''s much stronger, "was it because of Adam?" He said to himself. Unfortunately, Adam nor Nine gave him an answer. He shrugged as he didn''t really expect a response. He was looking around looking for something or evidence that will link Adam to this place. He was looking for an answer and for the previous words Adams let behind. Eventually, they came upon what looks like a living room. It''s a typical looking living room, not very different from a modern house. There''s a big couch that can fit several people. The living room is very spacious. But at the center of the room, there''s a stone pillar that looks like a stele, but what surprised Arc wasn''t the stele but what was hanging from it. There''s a picture of a couple or a portrait. It''s a big portrait covering the whole middle part of the stele. Arc stopped walking when he saw it. That caught the attention of everyone in the group. They look at where Arc was looking, of course, they noticed the painting the moment they came into the living room, but since they didn''t know who it was, they just ignored it. And besides, every time they discovered a ruin, there''s bound to be places where paintings of some kind still exist. So they were not surprised when they saw the portrait in the center of the living room. "Boss you recognized them?" Arc nodded. Well, of course, he recognizes them, or to specific the man in the portrait is Adam. And next to him must be Eve. The portrait looks like a typical wedding picture. But he didn''t expect to see a regular house that belongs to Adam. After all, Adam was an Emperor, the Emperor of the sovereign empire. He imagined as an Emperor, he should be living in a palace, not some freaking dome house. Well, he kind of expected this place to be related to Adam but not the way it turned out. He was expecting the place belongs to one of his relatives or even one of his sons but not to Adam and Eve personally. "Boss, who are they?" Asked Jem. He woke him up from his contemplation. "Oh, looks like this place was used to be the home of the maker of the sovereign tools." He pointed at the pictures "Thats Adam and ¡­ well Eve" They now look at the pictures differently when at first, they were interested in it because of Arc''s sudden reaction when he saw it, now they look at it with respect and reverence. After all, that''s the one who made the tools that created them. Especially Eve, she looks at it intently, especially to the one who shared her name. The woman in the picture has stunning long black hair, a perfect body, beautiful but kind face, and a delighted and content smile plastered on her face. And the man next to her was also very handsome, he also has long black hair but not the same as the woman next to him. He also has a happy smile on his face. But Eve thinks her Boss looks much better. At least that''s her honest opinion. They look at the portrait for several minutes, each thinking of other things, but they all share the same sentiments their Boss looks much better than Adam. Of course, Arc has no idea what they are thinking, as his imaginations are running wild. He began to imagine many scenarios, but ultimately, he can''t confirm it, and the man in question is not answering. "Let''s look around, I don''t think there''s any danger here, at least not for us," said Arc. Everyone regained their composure when they heard Arc''s voice. "Boss, are you sure? If this is the house of the Emperor of the Sovereign Empire, it should be heavily protected." Said Ruby. Arc shakes his head, "it is if it were someone else but not for us," he can''t really explain it. But the rest have complete trust in him, so they just nodded. Arc, however, didn''t go exploring, he sat down on the couch in front of the portrait. The reason is the protector of the place is once again communicating with him, and unlike before, he didn''t feel any pressure or anything. It''s like his energy now can freely connect to it. And a few minutes later. Ding! Congratulations, you have found a sovereign tool Mansion type. The voice of Nine rang in his head. The notification comes exactly when his energy is linked with the energy of the building. Of course, he didn''t own the place yet, he just discovered it, but this realization enlightened him. "So, in order to identify sovereign tools, I need to link with it using my energy, otherwise even if it''s in front of me, I wouldn''t know what it is. He stayed like that for a couple of minutes, and he discovered that linking with a sovereign tool can help him better control or even strengthen his ability to manipulate energy. For Arc, it was like a drug, he can''t help himself, at first, his energy can only connect to a portion of it. But as time progressed, little by little, his control got better, and he discovered that the energy that he can use before was nothing compared to his overall energy reserve. It''s like he has a dam full of water, but he is using straws to draw it out. But now he discovered that he could increase that output, if before he was using straws, now he is using a faucet although its still considered slow, but compared to before there''s a huge difference. And that''s not all, as his energy output increases, his body also began to change little by little as energy seeps into his cells not like before, when he is using enhancement serum, which increases the strength of his muscles and bones, no the changes are in the cellular level he experienced this kind of upgrade when his ability completely awakened but compared to now the difference is huge. Everyone suddenly felt a change in the atmosphere, the first one to react is Eve as her connection to Arc is much deeper than the rest. Next was Biggs as he is closer to Arc, and soon everyone can feel it. They all rushed back to Arc. They can''t do anything here anyway as the whole building is protected. They can''t even lift a single book, much less take them. Ruby once tried to check one of the books in the bookshelves in the living room, but no matter how much she tried, she couldn''t pull it out. Even Biggs, who has the greatest physical strength in their group, could not lift a single chess piece. In other words, they can explore but can''t touch anything. When they reached Arc, they saw him sitting on the couch in a very relaxed fashion. In front of him are Eve and Biggs. Jem was about to call out when Eve stopped her. Although they can''t feel any changes in Arc, they can feel the energy is spreading into the whole building, and it''s slowly but steadily increasing. But when they look at Arc, he seems like he was having an afternoon nap. He even has a slight smile on his face. EDITOR: King of Mortals Chapter 204 - 204 V.3 "Where am I?" Arc didn''t know what was happening, one thing he was trying to take control of the mansion type sovereign tools, and everything was doing great. He can feel his power going stronger by the minute, and things were going well, his energy control and his maximum output were significantly increasing, and then he was here. He looks around him, but there''s nothing, literally, there''s nothing, only a void. He checked himself to see if there''s anything wrong or missing, but everything is fine, and he can still feel his power increasing... He tried walking around and then running around to see the end of the place, but there was no end to the void. He tried unleashing his power, thinking he can affect the void, but nothing happened. But he likes it though it''s a good way for him to test his maximum power, so he began unleashing everything he got. A few minutes later... "Huf..huf... Haha, that felt good." He looked around and smiled. "I see, this is an illusion I''m not really here. Come out! Why did you bring me here? How long are you going to keep watching Adam." "Hahaha, not bad! kid..." You''re doing great kid, really not bad." Adam manifested in front of Arc. Arc wasn''t surprised to see him. If it were before, he would be panicking right now. But as his powers grow, his perception also grows and not the physical perception but of energy perception. After unleashing his power and relaxing his body, his perception expanded, and he was able to see where he really is, and he was able to detect Adam, who was hiding in the void. "Do you have time to talk this time? Arc asks, smiling. He was happy having unleashed his power. He was very content, it''s like taking a huge dump after being constipated for a long time. It felt very satisfying. He sat down cross-legged and looked up to Adam. "I found your home," he smiled. "I guess you did, kid." Adam has a kind smile on his face. He looked around, and the whole scene changed. They were now back in the living room, and only they were looking at it in 3rd person view. Arc saw himself sitting on the couch with a content look on his face. He also saw Ruby and the rest waiting for him to wake up in defensive formation. This put a smile on his face. Then he looked at Adam. Adam was looking at the portrait, specifically at the woman in the portrait, Eve. Arc didn''t say anything; he just stood on the side, waiting for Adam to finish reminiscing. He knew Adam loved Eve very much despite everything she did. After a few minutes, Adam looked at him. "Sigh, this place brings a lot of good and painful memories; this is our first house even before I founded and created the Sovereign Empire." Said Addam. "Then, this world is where the sovereign Empire was founded?" Asked Arc. Adam shakes his head. "No, when the gods first created us, this is where they put us in, this place is called Eden, and this is where we were educated where we learned everything the gods wanted us to know. This place can be said to be called a paradise, but look at it now?" Adam sighed. The scene changes again, they were now outside the building, to be specific, they are above the endless swamp. "This used to be a lifeless planet. It was us, me, and Eve who created the first lifeform as part of our study, and in just a few millennia, life flourished here. This is our greatest achievement, even to date, as we did all of it without relying on our innate powers. Eve, she loves all our creation here, this is her most prized possession besides me." He looks into the distance, seemingly looking for something, then shakes his head. "And when the gods took control of her, in order to prove her loyalty, she was ordered to destroy Eden. And she did it without a second thought." Adam''s face contorted with anger and hatred. "That''s when the gods knew they had full control of Eve." I¡­ he trailed off... "At that time I was busy building the foundation of the Sovereign empire and didn''t notice the changes on Eve as well as what happened to Eden at that time, I only found out many years later, and by that time everything was destroyed." He then looks at the house "At that time I was angry and pained by what happened to Eve, and I didnt want to see the condition of Eden as it will only bring more pain, so I didn''t once visit it again but instead devoted my time on how to take back Eve and as how to get revenge." All this time, Arc just listened, and he rarely refuted. "This house I had no idea it survived after the purge. When I read the report, it said nothing survived. Maybe at that time Eve she¡­ there''s still a part of her true self remaining maybe... No¡­" Adam shakes his head and sighs. He then looked at Arc, who was silently listening to his rumbling. I know you have a lot of questions, but unfortunately, i can''t answer them, at least not for now. All you have to know is that it is for your protection. Despite what you have accomplished, you are still too weak." This time it was Arc''s time to sigh. He knew Adam was speaking the truth, "but can you at least tell me if your legacy is on this planet?" Adam looks at him and smirks. Arc had a bad feeling about that smirk on Adams'' face. "Who knows, Adam said, laughing. What''s the fun in telling you that? That would only spoil your adventures and with a burst of laughter." Adam disappeared... "Mother f$%#er," he cursed. He didn''t expect Adam to be so shameless as he waited patiently for the answers.. In the end, he can only shake his head and sigh. Well, at least he knows this planet is very important to Adam, and although he already has an idea about it since he discovered Adam''s house. And also now, he knows this planet or Eden is very important to Adam. It''s good enough for him. A small lead is better than no information at all. And before he knew it, he was back into his body, opening his eyes, it felt like a dream, but at the same time, it was not. When he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was the relieved look of Jem and Ruby''s face. He smiles back at them. He then checked his body and was surprised how much his power increased. This time his smile got even brighter. "Lilly," he called, which confused everyone who heard it. EDITOR: King of Mortals Chapter 205 - 205 V.4 "Lilly come out," everyone was confused, so they started looking around, and suddenly a small light appeared next to Arc and coalesced into a little fairy. The fairy is only a foot and a half tall, she looks cute, and even her voice is cute. What''s more, even the way she acts is adorable. Arc looks at Lilly and thinks, "Cosmos would be out of commission if his sisters see this." "Hello master, i..i¡­I am Lilly¡­" Lilly appeared looking very shy and cute. "I know," said Arc, "didn''t I called your name when I asked you to come out?" "Hehehe.. Lilly bumps her small head with her small hands. Hmmm¡­ but Master, how do you know my name?" Lilly began to think, Ignoring everyone around her. When Adam disappeared, information about everything he needed to know about the sovereign mansion tool passed into his brain. He thinks it''s Adam''s way of apologizing for not being able to answer his questions. "Call me, Boss, Lilly." "Hmmm, Boss? Hmmm¡­ ok, hehe," she laughed and spun around, jumping in the air. "Lilly finally has a mas..um..Boss. Lilly is so Happy..it''s been¡­. Um.. Um¡­ too long? That''s right too long since Lilly talked to someone..." Lilly continues to dance around Arc. "Um, Boss, what''s this?" Asks Jem with glittering eyes pointing at Lilly, who was dancing around Arc. Arc looks at Lilly and sighs. "Well, she''s the manager of the house..." When Arc said it, everyone finally understood and nodded. Especially Jem, who can''t seem to take her eyes off Lilly, seemingly wanting to hug her and play with her. Ruby shakes her head. She knew Jems'' love of fairy as even her room is decorated with pictures of Fairy. She ignores Jem and looks at Arc. "Boss, does that mean you have full control of the house?" Arc nodded. He wanted to say Lilly does, but swallowed it whole when he looked at Lilly. "We will stay here for a few days, as I still need to attune my energy with the tool completely, there''s a training room at the bas.e.m.e.nt that Lilly will open for you guys. After that, we will resume our journey to look for other possible sovereign Tools." Everyone nodded except for Jem, who seems to have not heard it. "Um... Boss..." Jem looks at Arc with shining eyes and looking like a cute puppy and says. "Can I.. um.. Play with her?" Her voice is so small, seemingly afraid Arc would refuse¡­ Hmm. Lilly finally notices Jem, who was already so close to her. "Um.. Hello um.. Big lady, I am Lilly," Lilly introduced herself pointing at her small body.. Jem nodded vigorously and said. "Call me big sister Jem." Arc sighs, he didn''t know this side of Jem. He wasn''t angry, no! Infact, he was happy for them to develop feelings similar to humans is a great thing. It means they are changing and maybe growing too. Whatever it is, he knows it''s a good thing. So he looked at Jem and nodded. Jem didn''t waste any time, she grabbed Lilly and ran off somewhere, seemingly afraid Arc would change his mind. Arc looked at Jem running away with Lilly in her hand, who was giggling non stop thinking she was playing some kind of game. Arc shakes his head and smiles, he looks at the rest and says, "the rest of the house will now be completely open for you guys. So you can do your own thing." Everyone nodded after some small talk, they left. Arc can talk to Lilly with his mind, so it doesn''t matter if Jem took her away, as he has the same authority in the house as Lilly, but if he wants to change things, he still needs Lilly''s help as he is still trying to learn how to operate it. It''s like having a car, but it doesn''t mean that you would automatically learn how to drive it when you buy a vehicle. In truth, he hasn''t completely merged his energy into the Sovereign tool core. He only gained complete control of it because of Adam, but he still needs to completely attune his energy to Lilly''s core if he wants to master it completely. In the end, he spent three days to attune himself to Lilly''s core completely, and even that was not enough for him to master the tool. He knows the tool or Lilly is not just a regular sovereign tool because she is capable of so much more. Arc knows it because of the information given to him by Adam. Now with Lilly, he no longer needs to worry about protection even if gods should appear. They won''t be able to destroy Lilly as very few gods have the power to do it. According to the information he got, Lilly''s body is made of a supreme elemental body, and those things are near-indestructible as only the most powerful gods are capable of destroying the supreme elementals body. Of course, Lilly need a massive amount of energy to operate and her being ownerless for a very long time depleted 99% of her energy, but even so, she was still capable of blocking a minor god''s attack for some time, and that''s good enough for Arc, after all, finding Lilly is just unexpected bonus for him. Of course, he can change Lilly''s interior and exterior at will. Adams'' house was saved at no.1 slot, and there''s still 99 more empty slots. Lilly can also change the size, while everything inside remains the same. It functions as a storage device with supreme defensive ability that''s how capable Lilly is. And during those three days Jem stayed with Lilly the whole time, and Lilly was so happy, probably because she hasn''t talked to anyone in a very long time. Lilly''s personality is that of a child, luckily that didn''t hinder her from performing her other functions. Infact, her personality is quite refreshing as her clumsy and shy personality, coupled with her cute appearance, makes anyone smile watching her. Especially Jem, she spends most of her time together with Lilly even when she went outside, Lilly was with her. Yes, Lilly can project herself even when she is not inside the house, and what''s more, you can touch her not like a projection, very much like elementals that have half corporeal and half real form. Arc wasn''t surprised by it, to him, sovereign tools are capable of anything, his system factory is proof of that. After spending three days in the mansion, they resumed their boring journey of looking for another sovereign tool or possibly Adam''s legacy. But this time, they have an additional member, a cute looking fairy by the name Lilly. "Um big brother, Boss, um... I want to kill some monsters. Lilly with her cute face was looking at Arc with pleading eyes.." Arc responded with a confused look, "Eh?". EDITOR: King of Mortals Chapter 206 - 206 v.5 While Arc and his group are in endless swamps, Gideon''s team on the other hand, who recently finished a very invigorating fight, was back on the road, thier mission was another city called Cathedral, it was the home of the regions most prominent religious organization. Gideon found out about it by talking and affiliating with other adventurers and merchants. Actually, they were able to figure out many other city locations, but this Cathedral and the religious organization named Hands of Cain are known for thier powerful artifacts and was also known for hoarding many unknown relics and artifacts recovered in many ancient ruins. They always pay the premium for every relic and artifacts they bought, making them very popular to the Adventurers and merchants, so it''s not hard finding information about them. And the fact that this Hands of Cain is Hoarding many Artifacts and Relics is what caught their attention, so Gideon, along with 11 other Celeste, were tasked in investigating this Cathedral. Gideon and the rest are acting as merchants and adventurers that are contracted as bodyguards. This kind of group is very common in Eden. And registering as merchants is far more easier than registering as adventurers and considering that registering as an adventurer is as easy as making a new email account. While to become a merchant, all you need to do is pay and register a name for your merchant group and you will be a merchant. Increasing your merchant ranks is also very easy, you just have to pay for it. And money is not a problem for them, as Arc''s very first factory, the currency factory is finally able to be used again, and making a currency used in Eden is child''s play. Eden is using metal-based currency, and so Arc made a ton of them. In fact, Arc has already forgotten about that little factory since he only used it very briefly. But here in Eden, where there''s no one to really regulate the currency and bartering is very famous, making a ton of it is not a problem. They were able to convert it into Credits in any local banks, and the bank never questions where it came from as long as its authentic coins they would accept it. After all, only one power is capable of making those coins, and no one was able to duplicate it after so many years. In fact, since its creation, so as long as the coins pass thier automatic machine coin inspection, they never question it. Arc left the currency factory inside the Specter, so if anyone needs money, all they have to do is ask. And Arielle is taking advantage of it. She sent many Celeste disguised as merchants to purchase as many rare materials as possible and bring it back to Specter. And in just a few days, the number of resources they were able to acc.u.mulate was quite astonishing even for Arc. Again he praises himself for appointing Arielle as logistics and overall supervisor in Specter and Silva being her right hand. Silva also has a great experience in dealing with this kind of thing, so she was able to plan on how they can amass a huge amount of resources in the shortest amount of time. The money being the biggest hurdle was easily overcomed by the Currency factory and everything else is a walk in a park for her. With her experiences and Arielle''s management skills, they become a dynamic duo in Specter. Even leaving Eve with nothing to do in Specter since everything is taken care of by the duo. Of course, they are curious about the technology that can perfectly mimic any type of physical currency. Especially the coins in Eden are made out of very advanced technology and magic. Yet Arc can easily copy it perfectly without any problems. With this kind of means, any world that doesn''t have 100% digital currency and uses hard currency. Arc can easily make their currency and make off with tons of their resources without a problem. Gideon and the rest of Celeste also received enhancements using enhancement serum, Arc using the system he bought a rank 5 factory that can build rank 5 and below enhancement serum. It won''t be able to make them as strong as his system personnel, but it''s more than enough for the Celeste. They already have a good starting point being a warrior race. Their physiques are already far more powerful than an ordinary enhanced human. With the enhancement serum, it increased thier physiques even more, closer to a peek 1-star rank. Especially Gideon, his body is far more stronger than the rest of Celeste, and being hailed as a great warrior, he was given the most important task to protect Arielle. But now his job description has changed as Arielle no longer needs protection. But she needs a warrior to do her bidding, and to be honest, he was initially against it first, but soon he was able to accept it, and now he was even proud of it. Becoming Arc''s royal guard was what motivates him the most. Now he also likes being on the field doing some warriors work, it reminds him of the time when he was still a rookie warrior when all he can think of is how to become a great warrior. So he trained harder than any other and bathed himself on the beast''s blood that plagued his home planet. He experienced life and death too many times before, so this kind of thing is like a walk in a park for him and his warriors. Compared to his home planet''s very hostile environment, Eden is like a Garden, just like its name. Of course, that doesn''t mean he would be careless. Infact, he was very careful as everything they did reflected on whether they could be Arc''s real royal guards. So they are taking every mission very seriously, and they leave nothing to chance. Especially since this world politics are very chaotic, the ruling power is always in conflict with other ruling powers, and war is a constant thing, and chaos reigns everywhere. Even in the city of Groma, which was at the very end of the continent, the chaotic atmosphere can still be felt. Bandits and scoundrels were virtually everywhere, waiting for victims. It is one of the reasons mercenaries can be seen everywhere as almost every merchants who goes from one city after another relied heavily on mercenaries protection. And it was a good way to go unnoticed from the eyes of those in power while disguising as merchants and mercenaries. And on their journey there are eyes watching them everywhere waiting for a chance to strike. EDITOR: King of Mortals Chapter 207 - 207 v.6 During thier travel, Gideon and his men have lost count on how many times thieves or bandits attacked them at first, they welcomed it. As it is an excellent way to practice thier martial arts, but later on, it becomes annoying. First, the bandits are very weak, not enough to be training partners, and second, it delays them from traveling into thier destination. The number of criminals is an indication of a chaotic government. Those on the top can''t stop fighting amongst themselves. Because of that, the ordinary people suffer, it''s not like there are no good guys among the elites. It''s just that they don''t live long to make any notable changes, and those on top are squeezing the ordinary people dry, and so because of that many of them turn to criminal activity to survive. In truth, many elites liked the chaotic atmosphere as they were able to do whatever dark desires they have. Many top criminal organizations are controlled or in some way related to the elites, and those that are not controlled know not to mess with the affairs or business of the nobility, and therefore, the elites left them alone. Of course, there will always be unavoidable conflict, as many of thier criminal activities coincide with each other. And so once in a while, the Nobles would purge some unwanted criminal organizations, giving birth to another criminal organization, and the circle goes on for as long as anyone can remember. Back in Groma, a group of elite soldiers began to appear one after another, seemingly looking for something or someone. They unbridledly asked weird questions like if any powerful individual has been seen lately or any weird shit happened recently, those who were questioned have weird expressions on thier faces. "Weird thing? This is the wilderness and one closest to the forbidden region. Everything here is weird. Strong individual? Those that go to the forbidden region and survive are strong... Are you guys in drugs or something?" Of course, the man being questioned won''t say that unless he has a death wish, they can feel how strong the people were just by thier aura. In Groma''s most luxurious hotel, a man in white clothes can be seen sitting on the couch surrounded by beautiful women who can be seen giving him all kinds of services. Report! "My lord, our men are scouring the city of Groma, but so far nothing matches those we are looking for." The man in white didn''t say anything and just nodded and gestured for the soldier to leave. "Hmm. Well I didn''t expect it to be easy, as we have no idea what they look like or what kind of technology they possess," he said to himself. Of course, they went to Haze Jungle to look for traces of Graff and the rest, but unfortunately, Haze Jungle is enormous, and they have no idea where to begin searching. So he divided his forces in half, and one group would be staying in Haze Jungle looking for Graff or any traces of thier target. Half would be looking in the cities near Haze Jungle. After all, an intelligent lifeform visiting a new planet, the first thing they will look for is the nearest civilizations or city. And Groma is the nearest to Haze jungle. Of course, assuming his assumptions are correct. Great Elder has given him the task of welcoming these new visitors as well as eliminating those pesky brats. Unfortunately, nothing goes according to his plan, not only was he unable to find any trace of the visitors, even Graff, and the rest seems to vanish without a trace. But he believes it is only a matter of time before he finds them. Of course, his actions didn''t escape the eyes of the drones scattered throughout Haze Jungle, those drones are almost invisible to the n.a.k.e.d eyes and can camouflage themselves, making them almost impossible to find. Those drones were made purely for the sake of reconnaissance and Scouting. And they are under Specters'' supervision. So the moment they started searching the haze jungle, the drones were already watching them, meaning Arielle was already making plans on how to deal with them. But Arielle didn''t do anything yet, because unlike before, these new visitors are clearly soldiers looking for something, and it is stupid to reveal themselves without first making sure of the soldier''s objectives. So she just put them in around the clock surveillance. Arc was unaware of this as Arielle won''t disturb him for something she wasn''t sure of. After all, those soldiers can be just making a routine patrol. Or just only looking for something other than them, so until she made sure those soldiers could be a threat to them, she won''t disturb Arc. Well, unknown to Arielle, Specter already made a report to Eve, and just like Arielle, she also didn''t want to give Arc unnecessary worry. Especially now that Arc seems to be on the right path in completing his urgent missions. Gideon and his group continued thier travel, fortunately, the closer they are to the Cathedral, the fewer the attacks they encountered, maybe because Cathedral is a religious organization and so the way they managed thier territory is different from other countries. Temple Knights regularly patrol thier territory, making it relatively safer to travel. Of course, just relatively safer, there are still bandits or monsters waiting for unsuspecting travelers. And unlike other cities, Cathedrals security is quite strict; the moment Gideon and his group entered thier territory, they encountered a checkpoint. Fortunately, they were able to pass without a problem after paying a certain amount of toll fee, and they were able to enter without any problem. Gideon looked at the temple Knights clad in full plate armor and with only a slit in the helmet exposing thier eyes. They are quite intimidating, at least to a regular person. For Gideon and the rest who have in thier storage ring a mech, those armor worn by temple knights are nothing but thin can. Compared to thier mechs. But that they didn''t show it in thier eyes or action on the outside, the temple knights can see fear and admiration in the eyes of Gideon and the rest, but on the inside, they are sneering as a single punch from thier Mech is enough to wipe out this group of temple knights. Captain Sigurd enjoys seeing the fear and admiration shown by the merchants and travelers entering the Cathedral. In fact, entering the Cathedral is free, and Captain Sigurd asking for the toll is against the Cathedral law, but no merchants or travelers would say that nor would they complain about it. In fact, some are happy to pay it and make an acquaintance with temple knights, so many merchants not only pay toll fees but also give extra gifts to the temple knights, especially Captain Sigurd. The Cathedral is, of course, aware of the actions of Sigurd but turns a blind eye to it as Sigurd also knows how to butter up his superiors, and besides, no one is complaining about it. As for Gideon, money is not a problem for them, so paying a toll fee and giving extra to acquire intelligence is a good deal. By giving extra toll to the knights, they were able to extract some information about the Cathedral. EDITOR: King of Mortals Chapter 208 - 208 v.7 =Back in bright Galaxy= Karou, the Ganesh commander, is finally making a move as countless Ganesh of all sizes lined up in front of him. It took a while for all of his forces in Bright Galaxy to gather. Many were lost along the way, but with their technology that comes from the main universe and their advanced cloning technology, they were able to replenish their ranks, especially those high ranking soldiers. He looked at the soldiers lined up and sighed, "it''s a pity the Professor is lost to us. If not, with the ability of the Professor, he can double this army without any problem. Even in the main universe, the Professor is considered a great genius." He muttered to himself. He didn''t make any great speeches as his soldiers don''t need them, as they don''t have any feelings like regular soldiers who need their morale to be bolstered. His army doesn''t need it, all he needs is to give them an order, and they will fulfill it to the best of their being. He smiles, looking at the millions of soldiers lined up in front, and one word from him, they will destroy worlds and bring him whatever he wants. He likes this feeling, this sense of power in his fingertips. Although he can be considered a genius among his peers in the main universe, he barely has any experience to show for it. So when he was chosen as the commander in the Bright Galaxy expeditionary force, a lot of people were surprised, especially him. It would have been an easy job if not for a certain upstart company, the drones they produced is a real headache for him and his men. The small size of the drones and its mobility, coupled with its powerful attack power, is a nightmare to all his forces. Especially with such huge numbers, he even has nightmares about it. It''s one of the reasons he halted the production of regular Ganesh and favored the more advanced model even though the resources needed to create it are several times greater. As regular Ganesh can easily be mowed down by any drone units, as for advanced models like destroyers and colossus, they can last much longer and can dish more damage to the enemy. Because fighting the drones is a useless and wasteful battle, they decided to ignore them by increasing their defensive shields and the firepower, giving up on mobility as they can''t outrun the drones. Unfortunately, they don''t have any access to a more advanced model used in the main universe. If they had, then the drones produced by GT will be nothing more than a fly in front of a battleship. They can buzz around as much as they want, but won''t be able to deal any real damage. But unfortunately, that''s not the case. He shakes his head, clearing all the useless thoughts from his head. "Make them ready for battle! There is going to be a battle this Galaxy won''t ever forget." He looks at the back of the soldiers, where the gigantic models of weaponry are placed and smiles. Those are his secret weapons, a new model that can rival even the best unit under his lord in the main universe, at least that''s what he thought, as he had never really seen the main forces of his lord in action. But his scientists and researchers assured him of how powerful they are. It''s a pity he can''t make more of them because of the lack of resources and time. But despite this, he believes it''s enough to make the forces of this galaxy bend to his will. His only worry is the force that subdued the berserker. But even so, he was only slightly worried. It''s not like he didn''t have precautions in place just in case they show up. The soldiers next to him saluted. Yes, commander! They are ready anytime, only waiting for your command. Karou nodded and left. ¡­.. Back on Liberty, the top management are still in a dilemma on how they can procure more drones, now that GT has stopped all transactions with them. They have been so used to the great loot they got from fighting the Ganesh that they were all living like kings and queens. But now that they can''t buy any more military products from GT, their capabilities to battle the Ganesh are as good as gone. As many of them are thinking about getting back their lost revenues. Unknowingly, the real war with Ganesh is upon them... The Legion, however, was made aware of the strange movement coming from the Ganesh from one of the drones. And so he immediately informs Gaia and Oga about it, as they are the ones who are truly in control of the GT army when Arc is away. The Legion wasn''t worried about Ganesh, the forces under him are no longer what it use to be. The power under him is no longer something that Ganesh can compete with, at least that''s what Legion believes. A few days later¡­ ¡­.. Buzzz... Buzzz. HQ.. HQ.. This... Code no... 972.... ¡­. Request immediate back up we''re... Under..att... Ganesh¡­ The operator who received the incomplete emergency transmission was stunned. This is the first time she received this kind of emergency transmission, and because of the fragmented message, she immediately informs her supervisor. The message was immediately flagged as top secret and forwarded to the main HQ of GFA. but what follows put them into panic mode. in a matter of few minutes several distressed calls were received, and all of them are a call for backup and reinforcement. unfortunately most of the messages are fragmented and since all deployment locations are all top secret. the operators didn''t know who or where the calls are coming from. the upper level management is struggling to confirm the messages, and also to know where it is coming from. but because of it needs to pass through several department, the confirmation is delayed. as they manage to confirmed the source of the emergency call they also learned a horrifying truth. "sir, its been confirmed it was from the 274th squadron under admiral Kirkland." Unfortunately, by the time they confirmed the source of transmission, the 274th squadron had already been wiped out. And that''s just the start, in the next few minutes since the first emergency transmission, they received a total of 8 emergency requests for reinforcement. Unfortunately, the transmissions are all fragmented because of the jamming from Ganesh. To GFA, this is a big surprise as Ganesh never used this kind of device, and therefore, they were caught unprepared. If not for the upgraded version of GT''s drones and weapons systems, they won''t even be able to receive any transmission at all. And this is not just happening in GFA, Ganesh also attacked the coalitions and many top superpowers, all of whom got annihilated entirely by the Ganesh. EDITOR: KIng of Mortals Chapter 209 - 209 V.8 When the reports of multiple massive attacks reach the top of GFA, in minutes, agents of GT or shadow units in undercover immediately inform GT armies top executives. When Oda received the reports along with the previous warning of Legion, he can piece together a thing or two of what happened. Oda immediately ordered all shadow units in undercover to enter code one, which is to gather as much information as possible and withdraw before their lives come into danger. With Dove and Michelle at the helm and with Yuri''s help, they expanded the Shadow unit''s operation. Who now have over 10 thousand members. After the most dangerous elements were removed from Earth, they infiltrated all countries'' governments and began the work of making puppet rulers and making GT unparalleled on Earth. After that, they infiltrated all top human superpowers in space. It wasn''t hard for them to do that as many rely heavily on Earth for recruits. Of course, some superpowers rely on clones alone to build their Armies like the Royal empires whose armies are 90% clones. But after many years of cloning, humans were able to create rules to protect clones from being abused. Among them, the Divine Cross religious organizations were in front of this battle. If a clone is being harassed somewhere, you can be sure the Divine Cross would send a representative to help the so-called clone. Divine Cross religious organizations are one of the secretive human superpowers in space. And although they are called religious organizations, they don''t have any churches, but it was rumoured that Divine Cross existed way before world war 3 happened only they go with different name. Divine Cross power structure is a mystery, their main base is located in one of the moons of Jupiter. They are also one of the founding members of Liberty but rarely intervene with its operations. They are also one of the top suppliers of rare elements. GT also buys a lot of rare resources from them. They rarely meddle with others affairs even when GFA was formed, Divine Cross didn''t participate in its creation. Even when almost all superpowers join in, they refuse to be part of it. But for some reason, when a clone is being persecuted, they are always the first to help. They are also the only human superpower who doesn''t use cloning technology. But fiercely defended and sheltered any clones being abused. Especially in the early years when cloning became a mainstay. They fiercely fought to demolish the law that legalized it. But despite this, when clones are in trouble, they are also the first to help. That''s why many clones who already served their time choose to work for Divine Cross. That''s right! one of the laws that were created to protect the clones is that, once they were created, they only need to serve for 8 years, and then they will be free. It was one of the rules accepted by all human superpowers except for one, the Royal Empire. That''s why the Royal empire and Divine Cross are mortal enemies, they''ve been at war since anyone can remember. Even when the Ganesh threat was present, thier war never stopped. It''s one of the reasons GT refused to sell any military products to them. As Arc made sure his weapon wasn''t being used for harming innocent civilians. And even though he can''t be 100 percent that his weapons are being used as intended, at the very least, he wanted to minimize it. So when he decided to sell weapons, he asked Dianna and the rest to put a set of safety mechanisms and as well as rules for the buyer to follow. If when they breach those rules and regulations, it means going to war with GT. Of course, he wasn''t naive to think that every drone and weapon he sells is being used the way he wanted to, as this is not a perfect world, where he can get whatever he wants. But he also knows his weapons and drones are necessary to protect his world, his people, and most importantly, his loved ones. And so he put secret safety features Called (one mind). This one mind is a feature that connects all the drones created to a certain server, and this server is being controlled by two powerful AI, Gaia and Eve. Part of Eve and part of Gaia processing power are being used to monitor this server. Every time the drone is activated, it will record everything, and those records are being sent to the server called One mind. After all, the drones are a perfect spy, so how can Arc not use this opportunity, and at the same time, he can use this feature to see if the drones are being used for the right purpose. And because of the number of drones and the huge amount of data being received, only super AI like Eve and Gaia can manage it. Of course, Legion can do that as well as Specter. But he thought there''s no need to do that. Originally he intended for (one mind) to be controlled by dedicated AI, but unfortunately, at that time he lacked the necessary energy unit to purchase one, as he spends all of his energy units on purchasing an energy factory to increase his energy unit upkeep. Since Gaia was already operational at that time, so he gave the task to Eve and Gaia to manage. And now that Eve is with Arc and lost her connection, the job fell solely to Gaia unfortunately, Arc didn''t foresee the popularity of drones, and with over a billion drones sold throughout the bright galaxy, the massive data being sent was too much even for the super AI like Gaia. And what''s more, Gaia is responsible for all GT''s military activities and also responsible for Messiah operations. So even Gaia, who was a 3 star AI was unable to process all those things by itself. And so, a delay was created in processing the data provided by the drones. And this delay only gets wider as more drones are being sold. One has to say that drones have short lifespans, some only live for a few seconds after being activated. A single drone can only send a small amount of data but multiply that in billions, then the data being transmitted is enormous. That''s the reason Gaia wasn''t able to detect the unexpected attacks immediately. If Eve were here, she and Gaia would be able to analyze the Ganesh intentions quickly. Only when Oda was made aware of it, Gaia was able to pick the right data to give analysis. So when the GFA entered a state of high alert. GT was also entering battle mode. EDITOR: King of Mortals Chapter 210 - 210 V.9 The Ganesh massive surprise attack caught a lot of superpowers in precarious situations. Massive amounts of sh.i.p.s and lives were lost, with nothing to gain. This is a huge wakeup call to everyone fighting the Ganesh, especially since they received GT weapons and drones. Everyone has been treating Ganesh like some walking cash cow. Now they once again realized that the cash cow is a demonic bull who will devour them the moment they become complacent, and they did become complacent. And now they paid dearly for it. In GFA alone, several squadrons were destroyed during the surprise attacks. The number of lives lost was just too many. GT also suffered some losses as some shadow units were caught in the attack, their situations unconfirmed. So when the GFA was having an emergency meeting, GT too began preparing for the tumultuous times. Only their main agenda is different. GFA was concerned about recuperating their loss, as opposed to GT, on the other hand, planning on how they can extract their remaining shadow units undercover. Dove and Michelle are against it, of course, being in the shadow unit, they themselves know the risk when they become a member of the unit. And extracting undercover shadow unit members would be throwing away all their hard work. In fact, Oda was against it, but Arc''s order of not saving lives that can be saved is one of the thing He ordered explicitly to all of them. So Yuri suggested, "why not let the shadow Units who were undercover decide for themselves, whether they want to be extracted or not." Dove and Michelle nodded. Those two are no longer the same as they used to be. Being a shadow unit for several years gives them a new perspective in life. They are no longer naive powerless girls whose lives are at the hands of the criminal organizations. They are also aware that these decisions would mean losing brothers and sisters of shadow units who considered themselves one family. After a few more minutes of convincing, Oda finally relented and agreed to Yuri''s suggestions. Still, he also placed Legion on standby, for he is the only one capable of rescuing those shadow units that are stranded or missing instantly. Legion placed transmission points all over the bright galaxy, and those transmission points served as communication relays as well as teleportation points for himself and his legions. Only Oda and Gaia are aware of it, not even Dianna knows it. Oda didn''t think it was necessary to inform a lot of them. The fewer who know it, the better. Legion is considered GT''s number one secret weapon. His identity and existence are a secret that only system personnel are allowed to know of his existence, and even so, not all system personnel are made aware of it. And using the Legion to rescue the trapped shadow units is Oda''s last resort. Of course, the shadow units who were undercover are not exactly powerless as they were given specialized survival kits that can help them in various situations. These survival kits consist of several things. * full-fledge mechs * personal warbots * variety of weapons and devices * health solutions * food solutions * emergency communication device. And many more. This kit was the culmination of all the knowledge and experience of all shadow units. Every undercover agent of shadow units was given a standard storage ring. This is a rank 3 storage ring created by a multi-purpose manufacturing factory or (MPMF) using many rare materials from all over the bright galaxy as well as from the main Universe. So far, only about a thousand of those rings are made because of the rare materials needed to make it, even with their connections to the first bank, as well as several alien merchants who are capable of going to the main Universe. It''s still not enough to arm all shadow units with storage rings. So they prioritize giving them to the units undergoing dangerous missions. Of course, those rings have severe safety features, if anyone other than their owner wore it, it would explode killing the person. Fortunately, the ring can also change its form using several pre-installed designs like rings, bracelets, and different kinds of accessories. This will serve as camouflage and will prevent anyone from detecting its real functions. The kit will significantly increase the unit''s survivability, and true enough, some managed to survive Ganesh''s attack even when everyone else besides them perished. Leah and Kurt are one of the few shadow units undercover in the Coalition, they were some of the few sent to spy on the Coalition to learn how they operate as well as learn all their secrets. Leah and Kurt are from the same generation of shadow units; they were one of the first victims of criminal organizations Dove and Michelle were able to rescue in their first few missions. Leah can still vividly remember how bad her condition was when Dove and the rest found her. Drugs were pumped into her system as she was asked to sell herself, many of her memories of that time are blurred because of drugs, but she can clearly remember how much pain she was in, as she was being used as a Guinea pig after she lost her value to the syndicate. She can remember how every waking moment she prayed to someone to end her suffering only to wake up again in so much pain. But all that changed when two beautiful girls barged in her holding cell. Despite the smell and filthiness of the place, the two girls smiled at her, held her hands, and said. "Its ok, you are safe now." At first, she thought she was dreaming, but when she woke up, she was in a facility with drones and droids taking care of her as well as other victims like her. Of course, at first, she didn''t think it was a good thing, after all the pain she has been through, she didn''t think anyone would do anything for someone without getting something in return. But after several days, her condition gradually got better and better. The drugs in her system that were killing her were systematically flushed out and without any after-effects. She didn''t experience any signs of withdrawal nor received any backlash when the drugs wore out. And even more surprising, in just a few days, she was already strong enough to move around, she knew what kind of condition she had been in. She often thinks it''s all a dream, and any moment she will wake up back in her filthy cell. It was also there she met other survivors or fellow victims. Even so, she remained skeptical about the organization''s true motive, who rescued them as they are clearly not from any government agencies. So she was surprised that after a few weeks of recovery, the doctors told her she was completely cured and free to go home. They are even giving her some money to start over and begin a new life. The hidden agenda she was waiting for never came. And when she heard that a few victims are asking if they can join or help the organization that rescued them without asking for anything. The few human personnel told them that they were forbidden to say anything to them. Being a part of the organization is a lifetime commitment, and so the crew told them to use the money they got and start a new normal life. Despite the crew''s refusal, many victims like her wanted to be a part of it. So they began doing chores and things to help out in their own way, she too became interested in joining. It''s not like she has a life to go back to. And then, one day, their persistence paid off when one of the organization''s officials, a burly man, appeared and gave them a chance as well as a choice. The man said, being part of the organization would put them into even greater danger. And after what they have been through, they all deserve a normal life. She also sees the two girls who rescue her. And when Dove and Michelle told them their life''s story, she broke down and cried for who knows how long. She finally found her calling. On the other hand, Kurt had an even more tragic story. For a long time, he refused to say anything, and only when they got selected as an undercover agent to be sent to the Coalition and working together for a long time was she able to pry open his lips. It turns out Kurt''s family took a loan to one of the loan sharks and one of the most vicious one at that. So when his parents failed to pay up their loans, the loan shark killed his parents in the most brutal way he knows and that happened in front of him and his sister, after that they were taken away, and his sister was sent as a p.r.o.s.t.i.t.u.t.e and died several years later at the hands of one of her customers who like to beat girls. On the other hand, he became a runner for drugs, but when one day he slipped up and got caught by the police along with the drugs he was transporting. And after being jailed for several months, the moment he was released, his boss beat him up close to the death for losing the drugs. He was then sold to a mad scientist who used him as test subjects on many of his experiments. He refused to talk about the details but she can imagine what it feels like as she too experienced similar things. What Kurt failed to mention is that the scientist who bought him was a brutal and maniac homos.e.x.u.a.l psychopath, and every night he and his fellow psychopaths friends would do all sorts of things to Kurt and his fellow lab rats. Kurt''s master likes to torture things, and Kurt was his favorite. But because of GT, their lives were changed and because of the camaraderie of the shadow units. Along with the rest of the shadow units, they found themselves the family they all longed for. Of course, that doesn''t mean they forgot all about their past, their resentment, and their anger. They didn''t, and GT wasn''t going to force them to forget. In fact, GT gives them a chance to get their revenge as long as no innocent lives would be affected. He can still remember the night he visited his former master, on how he released all his pent up frustration and anger. However, he felt neither joy nor satisfaction for his revenge but only an end to his past. After that, he dedicated his life to Grand Army to Shadow units and became one of the best agents, and being selected to be undercover is proof of it. After all, to be undercover in space, one needs to complete more than two dozen A-rank missions and complete all training exercises. Especially the training to operate mechs and war machines in space. He and Leah had completed several missions on space, as well as several mercenary missions. In other words, they are veterans to all kinds of situations, so when the Ganesh launched their surprise attack on the squadron they are part of, they were able to escape during the commotion. Unfortunately, their mechs were damaged during their escape, so they were forced to take shelter on an unknown planet. And also because of the new weapon of Ganesh that fried all electronic equipment similar to EMP only several times more powerful than any EMP they knew. That even with the shielding technology of GT, their communication was still greatly affected. And because they didn''t know that, the moment they tried to contact GT, their portable communication device was severely damaged. Now they are stranded on some unknown planet, and luckily it has intelligent civilization, so they could communicate just fine. The problem is they are quite primitive like the earth, before world war three. EDITOR: King of Mortals. Chapter 211 - 211 V.10 When Leah and Kurt saw the planet''s civilization, they were stranded on, they can''t help but curse. Back in GT, Oda and the rest are trying to figure out how to contact all the undercover shadow units, especially those who were caught in the crossfire in the Ganesh surprised attack. Fortunately, they were able to contact some of the missing shadow units, but many more went MIA like Leah and Kurt. But the shadow units who were in charge of searching and connecting to their missing brothers and sisters never stopped trying. Meanwhile, back in GFA, the tension is high as they just lost several squadrons, causing a massive loss in the economy and lives of the soldiers. So huge that even the most hard-ass elder of GFA went quiet. Even though they care more about the income they received, but this time no one talks about money or profits, for they all lost acquaintances one way or another like commander Markos, one of his grandson was part of the squadron lost to the surprise attack of Ganesh. But he wasn''t the worst of the affected, as commander Mikaela lost both sons and grandsons to the attack. For a moment, no one spoke in the conference room, the tension is high, and no one jokes around like thier previous conferences. Many of the elders look like they were thinking of something or pondering things. Commander Markos on the other hand was just sitting there, eyes closed and not talking at all.. unlike before where he was the first one to joke around. Commander Mikaela on the other hand has dark shadows under her eyes, no one knows how long it has been since she last slept or rested if not for the special solutions they are receiving from the GT commander Mikaela would have long since passed out from exhaustion, and she''s not alone as many elders have dark circles around their eyes. One has to know these elders never really did any hard job ever since they became elders as their only job is to make decisions and let others do all the work while they get all the benefits. That''s how every huge company works, and GFA is one of the biggest companies in the bright Galaxy. Of course, GFA won''t admit it, they will tell you that GFA is created to combat humanities threats and to safeguard their way of living. They won''t accept that it''s all for-profits very much like any business company. After a few minutes of silence, the leader of the house, or the elected leader of GFA, broke the silence.. "ehem, i don''t have to say what kind of situation we are in right now. Many of us, if not all of us, lost loved one''s in these recent attacks from Ganesh. We have been complacent and negligent on how we dealt with the Ganesh, we all treated it like some cash cow. And now this cash cow have decided to fight back for real and we are all caught with our pants down." He looks around, no one seems to be paying attention to him. But he knows that''s not the case at all... they are all veterans of politics, they all know how to hide their intentions. Despite this, some are failing because of the recent events. But nevertheless, politics was running in all their veins, and being an elder is proof of that. Jeremiah Crows have been a politician since he was a teenager, he was a fourth-generation politician. His parents, as well as his siblings, are all in politics, his dad used to be a senator, his mom a governor, and ever since he was young, he shows great promise in politics. He was even in many news articles ever since he was young. Now at age 78, his accomplishment and awards can''t even be fitted into a single room. And becoming the president of humanity''s greatest organization is his most significant accomplishment to date. In truth even though he was the president of GFA, his power is really not that different from the other elders. He can''t make a decision by himself nor can he decide by himself what direction the GFA is going, as every major decision needs to be put to the vote. In other words, his position is nothing but a formality. In fact, his position is not a coveted one. And if for some reason, GFA made a mistake, the first one to be blamed would be the president, and every accomplishment has to be attributed to all elders. So in truth, there''s not much advantage in being a president, and many elders don''t want to be in that position, as that much is clear. When the time to vote for president came, only two elders expressed the willingness to take the position, and when Jeremiah expressed his desire for the position with his reputation, he immediately got 90% of the votes. But now, with this crisis, his position as a president comes into play, as stated in the contract. He will receive emergency power to make decisions. Of course, this too will have to be put to the vote. And in order to sway this group of old politicians, he needs to make a show, and it has to be a damn good one to convince them to give him emergency power. The loss of a few of his descendants he can''t even remember, as he has a ton of them, is an excellent way to start. But alas, after a few minutes of speech, the elders barely have any reaction, even though everyone thinks GFA is of one power, but the truth is far from it, as GFA is a consolidated power coming from many human superpowers, their army included so of course, no power would want their soldiers being used for someone else profits. The politics in GFA is chaotic as one of the elders describes it, one needs to be the best in what they do in order to get the maximum profits in GFA. Just take a look at the former HFA one wrong move, and the hungry sharks have swallowed them, and HFA was used to be the top human organization in space. And yet in just a few weeks, they have been systematically dismembered by GFA elders. No elders in their right mind would give another elder an advantage over anyone else. And Jeremiah thinks that now that many of the elders are grieving and under duress and stressed, they won''t think straight, but that is easier said than done. But for Jeremiah, this is worth doing as there is no harm if he failed, but too much to gain should he succeeded. His heartfelt speech somehow touched some of the grieving elders, and even though no one is showing it on the surface, some of them are swayed. Especially commander Mikaela, who lost most too much among the elders. As both her beloved sons and grandsons are lost to the attacks. And true enough, after his speech and the conference officially started, many of his suggestions received a positive response, and Jeremiah is over the moon with the results. Although there are no official conclusions, he knows it''s only a matter of time. EDITOR: King of Mortals. Chapter 212 - 212 V.11 The elder''s conference lasted for over 15 hours, this is unprecedented after all who among the elders are young? Even the youngest elders are over 60+ years old, and the oldest is almost 80 years old, way past retirement age, but thanks to GT special solutions, they all felt several years younger, these geezers who want nothing more than to retire and live a quiet and fulfilling life, are still here working. Like Commander Markos, who don''t have qualified descendants to take over his role, many elders have no choice but to remain in office. The longest meeting they ever had is 2 hours before they got GT special solutions, and many of them are cursing one another because they can''t agree on any solution, so the meeting keeps on extending. Two hours is their limit any more and their bones started aching. And their whole body felt sore. But because of GT special solutions, many of them even become s.e.x.u.a.lly active again. Especially some of those perverted old geezers. But this time, 15 hours and no one complains. In fact, it could even last longer if not for some who must arrange a body-less funeral. After the meeting, commander Markos made a call to Dianna. It is his last hope. When the attack happened, his grandson managed to make an emergency call to him. Although the call was fragmented, he was able to understand certain things like his grandson and other VIP were able to board an emergency escape pod...before the transmission got lost. Unfortunately, GFA is in chaos right now, as many of the elders are using every connection they have to search for their loved ones who were part of the squadrons that got attacked. Markos did the same, but unfortunately, the forces under him took a great deal of damage, and the ones who remain are needed for defense on many important places. He didn''t say anything about it at the conference as he knows it''s useless to do so. So he turns to the only power capable of helping him. Fortunately, he has a good relationship with GT. The only bad thing is that Arc is out of commission doing some adventuring. If not, he can easily ask for his help. Unfortunately, that wasn''t the case, but he has to deal with Dianna, the CEO of GT, and that''s not an easy thing to do despite his reputation to easily get any deals done. But for his grandson, he needs to make this call even though it will make him indebted to GT. "Commander Markos, I didn''t expect to receive a call from you, especially at this time. It must be an emergency." Said Dianna. "I''ll forgo the pleasantries, and I need your help." Said Markos in a serious tone. "That much I can figure out, but if you are asking us to join the war, you are wasting your time. But I have a feeling that''s not why you called." Said Dianna in a serious tone. "Miss Dianna, this is a personal request. I wonder if I can have a moment of your time?" "Of course, commander, my Boss would scold me if I didn''t at least hear you out." Said Dianna in a soft tone. She knows her Boss has a soft spot for this old man. And besides, the specter who her Boss loves so much is made by this old man. Making him owe a favor is not something that comes every day. She set up a secure VR connection for their meeting. After all, the distance between them is not something that can easily overcome in a few hours of travel. A few minutes later, a secure VR room is created. Dianna looks at Commander Markos, who looks haggard and tired. Despite GT special solutions, psychological stress is something their solutions can''t fix. "Looks like this is more serious than i thought," said Dianna in his mind. To make this jolly old man look like this, it must be very serious. "Commander Markos judging by how you look, this must be serious." Said Dianna. Commander Markos made a bitter smile. "As you have said, Miss Dianna, when you reach a certain age and accomplish as much as I have, very few things can make me feel stressful." Despite the neat and impeccable clothes he wore, his eyes betrayed his worry. Dianna nodded. "Forgive me for this sudden request for a meeting. I know how busy you are." "Not at all commander, for you, I can easily make time," said Dianna with a smile. Markos smiled hearing it, it may be just a pleasantry, but coming from someone like Dianna, it still makes him smile. After all, every organization in Bright Galaxy is trying to get on her good side. "I will be direct miss Dianna, I need your help on locating someone, specifically my grandson." Markos explained the whole situation to Dianna over the next few minutes. "I see, so that''s what happened, we were aware of the unprecedented attacks, but I didn''t know one of your Grandson is part of it." Commander, I would like to invite someone that can help us analyze the situation. If that''s ok with you," asks Dianna. "Not at all," said Markos. A few minutes later, a silhouette of Ash appears before them. Markos looks at the young man with interest, if this young man can make someone like Dianna confide in him for something, he must be quite amazing. Ash greeted commander Markos after seeing him, then Dianna explained the situation to him. "Hmmm, If he manages to escape, then locating him shouldn''t be a problem." Said Ash. Marcos was surprised when he heard it, it must be said that even before asking for Dianna for help, with his power and connections, he did everything he could to locate his missing grandson. But everyone told him the same thing, that it will take a long time to locate his grandson. If the beacon was deliberately destroyed so that the Ganesh won''t be able to locate them, then finding them will be exponentially harder, like looking for a needle in a haystack. But this Ash said it is easy as long as they survived. He would have thought he was just boasting if he heard it somewhere else, but in GT with their capabilities, it''s not impossible to do so, like this Ash was saying. Ash and Dianna began to discuss how to look for Markos'' missing grandchild. Commander Markos occasionally made input something like small details on where his grandchild was posted before the attacks and many other details. Normally it is forbidden to disclose details about GFA armies. Especially where they''re stationed or what their jobs are as long as it is related to military matters, it is forbidden to disclose any information outside GFA. But Markos couldn''t care less about it. He told everything he knows about the squadron his grandson was, even without anyone asking for it. If it can help to find his grandson, even if its a 1% chance, he''s glad to disclose it. He even told what kind of model and capabilities of the sh.i.p.s his grandson was posted in, even those of the escape pods. He even bought the ship''s schematics and blueprint. As a shipbuilder himself, he knows the ship inside out just looking at the blueprints. He also bought the recording of his grandson''s last transmission, which is considered top-secret information. Ash could easily figure out the pods'' possible escape route just by all the information he learned and using a specialized drone of GT that can detect the escape pods'' energy signatures as well as Ganesh''s next destination. These specialized drones are GT''s several hidden weapons that were not available to the public. With these drones'' help, they were going to locate the missing Shadow units that got implicated in the Ganesh attacks. Of course, Ash would not say that out loud, in the meeting with commander Markos they just discussed several plans on how they are going to locate his missing grandson, not the actual process, and commander Markos was tactful enough not to ask. As he knows it may pertain to some of the GT''s secrets, truth be told, he didn''t care about the method just as long as his grandson was located dead or alive. He just needs some closures. He already witnessed many deaths of acquaintances at his age and position, some are relatives, and most are colleagues working in the same organization as him. Most of the time, he becomes numb to it. Every once in a while, he gets very affected, especially this time as the one in question is one of his most outstanding grandson, one that he was grooming to replace him as the elder one day. The meeting lasted for a few hours without anyone talking for compensation. This is one of those silent agreements whatever the outcome, maybe, Markos knows he owed GT a favor. But overall, it''s a good day for Markos. He came to GT due to hopelessness but left with hope, and to him, it''s enough. EDITOR: King of Mortals. Chapter 213 - 213 V.12 "Commander, stage one is completed. Our surprise attacks are very successful. We were able to deal a great deal of damage to all leading forces in the bright galaxy. Awaiting your order to implement stage two." A young soldier reported to Karou, who was happily sitting on his commander chair. During the implementation of stage one, he was quite nervous, after all, he is using all the available forces given to him. All his cards are out, and one wrong move can easily send him to his starting point where he has nothing. But during the course of the attacks, all he received were good news making him very happy. With these attacks, all the parties that got attacked would enter a defensive mode consolidating their power. And this is not a good time to attack, as this is all part of his strategy. After the first stage of the attacks, he had ordered a retreat on all his forces. Next step two: is physiological war. He smiles cruelly, this is going to be a long and time consuming plan he and many others have brainstormed for weeks to come up with a plan to bring this galaxy in a silver platter to his master. On stage two, all their conspirators would start spreading discord and chaos on all organization levels. Karou and his men weren''t idle during the time they were passive. His hands have been extending to all manner of races, after all, not everyone accepts the war with Ganesh and countless others are against it. Even the race which was leading the war, like humans, many of them were against the war, especially those who were affected by it. The loss of loved ones and friends who died, or those families who were forcefully conscripted to fight their war only to use their family members as cannon fodder. Karou''s agents revealed to them the true reason for their race to go to war. To acquire resources from the bodies of Ganesh, with a little bit of miss information, Karou''s agents can easily convince a grieving family member to join their cause and take revenge, and with a false promise of compensation, they can easily acquire a disposable agent to work for them. And this works with all levels in the organization, officers who were fed up with work without being compensated for it, because those with better connections are stealing their hard work. After all, no organization is exempted from politics, even GT is no different. The moment GT accepted non-system personnel to work for them, politics came into play. After all, not everyone is like system personnel who work tirelessly for only their Boss benefits. Regular employees work for themselves and their families, not for their boss, their main objective is to get a better life, and that''s not really bad as it motivates them to work harder to be promoted and give their loved ones a better life. Dianna and the rest of system personnel are aware of it, so to reduce the politics in GT they placed the key position in all levels to system personnel and thus effectively reducing the politics in GT, therefore those that work hard are compensated, and those who took advantage of others are removed. All decisions making positions, especially those who decide on essential things, are given to system personnel. Dianna is making good use of the cloning factory, despite the large amount of resources needed to operate it. And with Ash leading the GT security with Gaia''s help, they can quickly identify those who were sent to spy on GT and those who like to manipulate others and steal their hard work. Besides, GT is one of the top companies to give excellent compensation to all its employees, its approval rating reached almost 100%. Once a person experiences working with GT, they will never go anywhere else. And GT employees are proud to be part of the company, and that''s why the number of people applying to GT on a daily basis is staggering as it never went down five figures. And that''s why GT''s human resources have the most employees to deal with the traffic of people looking to work for GT, and it''s not just humans many alien races too want to work for GT, and GT is not discriminating against them, infact more than 30% of GT''s non system personnel are from a different race. After all, Gt is a galactic organization, so it is not surprising to have other races working for them. Many human organizations employ this method, but their employees of different races are less than 10%, after all, as a human being, one tends to be biassed toward its own race. But GT does not have these problems because system personnel are not tethered to any race. After all, the cloning factory can produce clones from all races. Fenrir is proof of it. And Arc doesn''t care about it either, in fact, he is proud to have another race working for him as it pertains to how capable his company had become. But other companies don''t have the luxury of having a system cloning factories, even the most advanced human clone facility can''t produce 100% loyal clones. Ultimately, when the clones reach a.d.u.l.thood, they will begin to think for themselves as any other human does. Therefore, during the course of many years, humanities experienced clones leading an uprising on their maker, as the biggest clone uprising happened in space in one of the most prominent merchant organizations. They are disguised as merchants, but in reality they are slave traders. Selling clones is considered slavery and was banned by many organizations. After all, human clones are still humans, and slavery is one of the taboos of humanities. Regardless, there are still those that dabble in this taboo after all, once it''s been made illegal, then there''s bound to be money to be made. Illegal items no matter how expensive they are, there are always those who want to have them. And this merchant organization is considered the largest human clone slavers in the galaxy, they sold human clones to anyone interested, whether it be humans or aliens it does not matter. But even so many human superpowers turn a blind eye to it. After all, they too manage to profit from it in one way or another. But one day, the leader of the organization''s most trusted man who happens to be a clone himself has managed to worm itself to be the right hand man of the leader of the organization. During his time with the organization, he secretly managed to install a preprogrammed module that will make the clones more independent and defiant, he managed to build an organization within the slavers organization, slowly building his forces that lead to an uprising. It was a brutal war, one that claimed a million lives on both clones and natural humans and also served as a beacon to all human slaves across the bright galaxy. Many superpowers were greatly affected, as many of them are using clones as personnel, because of the humanities lowering birth rate, the number of clones are steadily increasing over the last few decades. One scholar even published a book regarding it, and it stated that with the rate of humanities birth rate, 200 years later, there will be no more natural-born humans, and humankind would be composed of clones. It''s a scary hypothesis but not without warrant, as it''s common knowledge that humanity''s capabilities to reproduce is on a downhill trend. And it is also common knowledge that many organizations are employing cloning services. But no one wants to acknowledge this reality, for many, that''s the least of their worry, especially in the lower to middle-class citizens. But it''s a real problem for all governments. And the research to find a cure to the humanities reproduction problem is ongoing to this day. It''s just that there was no real progress for decades, and many decided to abandon that money eating ventures, and instead focus on improving the cloning technology. EDITOR: King of Mortals. Chapter 214 - 214 V.13 When Karou implemented the second stage of his plan. The first one to be greatly affected by it is GFA, as an organization built using both material resources and human resources, the organization itself is always tethering in the verge of collapse, only the elders'' good relationship with each other, as well as profits that they are expected to get, are holding it in place. After all, no one wants to have their cash cows butchered. GFA are like cheese it may look solid on the outside but they are full of holes in the inside. Conflict is a constant thing in the GFA internal system. After all, a single department may consists of personnel coming from different organizations, and they all have their own agenda and prejudices, each and everyone wants to give their side an advantage. To the elders it''s a normal thing, because of the foundation of their organization being related to many other top superpowers, it would be weird if everyone just accepted the ordinance and shakes hands and become brothers and sisters. That''s not all, as many of the said organizations used to be in conflict with each other, and only with Ganesh''s appearance being a common enemy, they manage to set aside their differences. To the leader of the organization, that is not really a hard thing to do as their every action is based on profits and not personal feelings. Still, it is not so much on the ground level as many of them grow up hating the others from different organization, specially those who lost their friends and loved ones to other organizations during the conflict. It''s very hard for them to set aside their hatred and prejudices. And so in every department a hidden war is constantly being waged, whether undermining the others or sometimes it goes as bad as sabotaging the others. Of course, the higher-ups turn a blind eye to most of it unless they broke the line, the higher-ups don''t really meddle with the lower level affairs. After all, they too are at war in their own level, battling all rivals to get to a better position. And because of that, there''s bound to be casualties of that said war. And those are the targets of Karou''s agents either turning them into a spy or, if possible, turning them into a saboteur. In fact, many accepted the proposal, especially with the huge amount of benefits being offered. And this kind of thing is happening to all major organizations, as even GT employees are poached. Only in GT, very few would accept those conditions no matter how great it is, since GT treats all its employees well. Of course, there are those who would succ.u.mb to temptation only to regret it later. The moment they make their move, Ash and Gaia can quickly identify them. Of course, it''s not full-proof there are still those who are good at hiding their real intentions. But Dianna is not really worried about it. After all, important positions are filled with system personnel. All secrets of GT are only privy to system personnel except to a select few non-system personnel. But even so, the real secrets would still be hidden from them like the existence of a system factory or anything related to it. Suddenly rumors started circulating at GFA headquarters. It started just like any rumor but quickly got spread out when the information regarding the sudden Ganesh attacks became leaked. After all, the elders of GFA ordered a complete gag order regarding the most recent and probably the most devastating attacks from Ganesh. The rumors go like this: some of the Elders and top management officers betrayed humanity and leaked the vulnerability of the many squadrons leading to Ganesh''s attacks that resulted in massive deaths. And since many of the soldiers and workers of GFA have acquaintances or relatives working as soldiers or officers on the many squadrons that were attacked. They became very concerned and started to ask around if the rumors are true. But with the gag order, nobody will tell them anything, and this only increased their worry. At first, they didn''t believe it at all, as humanity was winning the war against the Ganesh. And the Ganesh are in full defensive mode. So no one would believe that they lost not just one but several squadrons in a short span of a single day. It had to be said that a single squadron has more than 100,00 personnel working on it. Losing several squadrons means the loss of lives are too much to imagine, as one girl said. But as days passed and with no word from top management, the rumors became more weird and exaggerated, and it was apparent that the rumors are real as many gave a version of their own, making it get worse and worse. One rumor even stated that GFA is not really losing soldiers to war but instead selling the soldiers to other alien races as slaves to be transported to many labor camps, and the war is only a cover for this business. Some even stated that some elders are actually hostile aliens in disguise, and the rumors go on and on. And with the elders busy cleaning up the mess of the recent attacks. Quelling stupid rumors is the last on their agenda. And with a gag order, even public relations are at their wit''s end, after all, they can''t answer any questions regarding the said attacks, which only fuelled the rumors more. By the time the top management detected the change in the atmosphere, it was already too late. Those rumors are only brought and circulated in lower to medium level of GFA, and only in secret, as no one has the guts to discuss those rumors in the open no matter how brave they are. When some of the elders finally made aware of it, the rumors already shook many GFA personnel''s loyalty. They can see it in the eyes of almost everyone they encountered within GFA, the eyes of distrust and hate. The eyes who used to look at them with reverence and respect were replaced with hatred, suspicion and fear, especially those who have friends and family in the squadron that has been lost. In a secluded place, several people are discussing something that affects the entire bright galaxy. "I assure you! you made the right choice, said the woman smiling widely." The old man who looks to be in his 60, smiled wryly and shook his head. "I am betraying not just just myself and my beliefs but all of humanity." "But you know this is the only way our race can move on," said the lady, still smiling widely. The old man didn''t reply, he just shook his head, turned around and left. He has a job to do. Since he already made a decision, there''s no use regretting it. Only time would tell if he can become a hero who saves his race or a traitor who betrays humanities, and causing countless lives to be lost. When the old man left, the woman didn''t stop him nor did she say more. After all, her job is done, and she claims the highest price of all Karou''s agents. A few moments later, after confirming the old man had already left, she made a phone call. "It is done, we finally have someone from the elder''s level." Said the woman. "Good job," said the man on the other side of the line. "Haha, that old man is really hard to convince even when I used my ability, he didn''t become an elder for nothing i guess. I expect a good bonus for this alright." "Of course.. you will be greatly rewarded, I will inform top management of your great contribution. So don''t worry you can move on the next step." "I know. This is going to be fun." Said the woman laughing. "Don''t get careless now. You know how important this mission is. Queen¡­" after saying that, the man hangs up. EDITOR: King of Mortals Chapter 215 - 215 V.14 Hearing the name Queen, she began to reminisce. She remembers the agony and desperation she felt when she was escaping from enigma city. Of course, back then, she didn''t know that the shadow moon was part of GT. In fact, not many forces can connect the dots. Those who are from earth and were part or criminal organizations, especially those who experience being attacked by them, may have the faintest idea. After all, very few organizations can have that sophisticated equipment, especially those shadow agents who come and go as they will. She wouldn''t have figured it out if not for her new organization that rescued her from death. And now she is no longer part of the small-time organization, but one who has the potential to rule the galaxy. And what is ironic is that the one who can disrupt their organization from ruling the galaxy is the very same organization that destroyed her former group. She has worked hard ever since she became an agent of humanity''s greatest enemy. Did she feel guilty? Of course not, those kinds of thoughts have long disappeared, since she decided to be a criminal. Her hand was soaked in the blood of many innocent people. She had long made peace with it, as she already accepted her reality. Her only goal is to survive, as such, if she can be a part of the organization that can one day rule the galaxy, then why not? Being branded as a traitor? Who cares! She has been called worse. Enemy of humanities. Che, what has humanity ever done for her? Only imposing pain and suffering, she long understood how the world works, and without power, one can only be a cannon fodder for another. Without power, she can only be an ant in front of others. So the moment she found out how powerful her new organization is. She didn''t hesitate to agree to join, well it''s not like she has a choice in the first place. She knew if she refused. She would end up worse than they found her. And during the time she was working for them, she found out how powerful they really are, and the technologies they possessed are far beyond anything she knew. And being a former special agent of one of humanity''s superpowers, she was privy to some things. But despite that, this organization technologies are so advanced that comparing it to humanities is a f.u.c.k.i.n.g insult. Next to them, humanity can be considered primitive, except for a certain organization that also has technologies that can rival if not better than that of her new organization. And no matter how much they tried to investigate, they can''t figure out where or who is the source of those technologies. That''s why her new organization designated GT as their number one target to investigate. Unfortunately, that was easier said than done. No matter how many or how capable the agent they sent to investigate, they either found nothing or they simply disappeared. Even she, who was considered one of the best and fearless espionage agents, is terrified of that organization. Despite the great technology she now has at her disposal, they are always one step behind them. Fighting them head-on is tantamount to suicide, they tried it before, or to be exact, her organization tried it before when GT lunch their so-called mobile shop. The SS Grandline they tried to destroy it and the results? They were Totally annihilated. Because of that, their organization changed how they deal with GT, attacking them from the shadows, sending as many spies as possible to find out their weakness and the source of their technologies. But despite their best effort and losing many spies, they have nothing to show for it. So their master changed tactics again, leaving GT alone for now and focusing on other human organizations. That way, they can force GT to reveal some of their hidden cards. After all, GT won''t allow other human organizations to be destroyed as they know GT is using them as shields to hide their true capabilities. As such, Queen who is considered one of the best secret agents, was given a very important job. A job that can be regarded as impossible, it was to make one of the elders of GFA to betray humanity. But despite the difficulty, she succeeded in turning one of the pillars of humanities into a traitor, the most outstanding achievement of their espionage department to date. Of course, her unique ability played a very important part in her success. All the pain and suffering she endured to increase her ability using the advanced technology her organization possessed. She had undergone several modifications on her body, some on her own free will, while some were imposed on her. But despite that, she survived, and her ability has been enhanced and elevated into greater heights. And with this current achievement, she can use the merits gained to increase her ability further. Thinking of that puts a smile on her face. She looked back to see, but the elder is long gone, and only she remains in the room. After taking a deep breath, she calms down as the next mission is very important, as well as very dangerous. After calming herself, she left the room. A few minutes after she left, two shadows appeared where she stood. "Looks like we''re too late..." said one of the shadows. The other nodded. "But we are getting close, sooner or later we will get them." After saying that, they disappeared like they had never been here in the first place. Back in GT special investigation department or (SID). This is the department founded in Liberty, separate from the army intelligence office or Shadow Units, which is exclusively used by the Army. The special investigation department was created as part of a secret department for Dianna, whose main job is to support Dianna in investigating other companies and protect the Company in the shadows. The shadow units which are part of it are being trained with different skill sets and objectives and the one leading them is Ash. The department''s (SID) primary objective is to protect and investigate company employees as well as to protect them in secret. They also investigate rival companies and clients who are trying to purchase their military hardware. With the help of S.I.D, Dianna doesn''t need to ask Oda for help in investigating things constantly. The first mission SID got is to investigate the series of attacks on GT in the past few weeks, with Brutus leading the investigation team. And they managed to identify some of the figures who are responsible for it. But they haven''t made a move yet, as they are still waiting for the big fish to come out. (SID) have several hundred Agents under it that are responsible for keeping GT safe from the shadows. And many of them are investigating suspicious individuals like The Queen. EDITOR: King of Mortals Chapter 216 - 216 V.15 Back in GT, Dianna and Ash are having a discussion about how they can rescue commander Markos'' grandson. That''s right, it''s rescuing, not a search. In a short time after the meeting with Commander Markos. Ash was already able to search for the location of Markos missing Grandson. It''s not that difficult like Ash has said. Using the network Legion have painstakingly set up as long as they know the ship''s energy signatures, they can quickly scan all the sectors under Legion''s surveillance tower. In order to better do the job that Arc has entrusted to him, that is to protect GT and Liberty as well as Earth. Legion has set up communication towers as well as beacons that can be used as surveillance systems. Legion built hidden towers surrounding the solar system as well as the sectors surrounding it. It''s a painstakingly slow and challenging job for anyone or any organization to do. But for Legion, it''s only a matter of resources. The towers need to be hidden and protected as well. So in the last few months, Legion has systematically placed surveillance towers on every sector surrounding Earth. And he just keeps on expanding it.. Using that system, Ash was able to locate Markos'' missing grandson quickly. Since they know the energy signatures of the escape pods. It''s different from the missing shadow units, as they have no idea what ship or if they even managed to use escape pods. They are looking for a way to rescue them or how to retrieve them without alerting the Ganesh. That''s right, for some reason, the escape pods of Markos'' grandson ended up in Ganesh territory several hundred light-years away from where they were attacked. GT can easily retrieve them if they dedicate a whole squadron to rescue them or have Legion do it. But Dianna will not reveal their secrets to save commander Markos grandson, no matter how much Commander Markos values him. To GT, he is just a nobody. The only option they have is to enter in stealth. GT was able to develop several sh.i.p.s capable of stealth that even with enemies advanced technology, would still be hard for them to detect. But the problem is the ship in question is also a secret. Of course, they can also inform Commander Markos of his grandson''s location and have him do the rescuing himself. They are pretty sure commander Markos would be able to find a way to rescue his grandson despite the emergencies in GFA. But doing so would lessen the value of commander Markos indebtment to them. Not unlike if they rescue his grandson for him. It is a debt that even commander Markos would not be able to pay so easily. In the end, they ended up giving the task to the fallen angels. According to Tiffa, if the fallen angels managed to rescue commander Markos'' grandson along with other VIPs, its perfect publicity for GT. And besides, fallen angels are also equipped with stealth functions, it''s a standard stealth module only upgraded using GT latest technology, and no one will question their existence. After all, the sh.i.p.s that The Fallen Angels are using is a standard cruiser used by GFA armies. Of course, only in appearance, though its capabilities and functions have all been upgraded. The ship was a GFA''s gift to the fallen angels after rendering their service and also by completing many missions under GFA. Back then, GT didn''t have the capability to build battlesh.i.p.s yet, so many of GT''s sh.i.p.s back then were purchased from other shipbuilders. But that was then, now GT is capable of building their own sh.i.p.s and much more. GT had grown to more than Arc could ever predict back when he got the system factory. Of course, he knew one day it would happen but not this soon. Even when Arc left to complete his mission, he surmised it would still take GT several years to build their very own sh.i.p.s. Especially since building a system factory capable of creating sh.i.p.s cost many Energy units, as even the cheapest is far from his reach. And for him, who relies heavily on the system factory to produce the items he is using, what does he know about building a ship? He can''t even set up his computer by himself back when he just got the factory system, much less a freaking spaceship. But over the months, he was away. Future technology, a subsidiary company of GT, under the leadership of Abel Frankenstein and Leslie Deacon was able to create a very advanced space folding engine that could rival the engines used even in the main universe. And with that, the rest was easy to do. After all, GT has countless scientists working under them. SS-Grandline is the byproduct of that research. And that''s only the start, as Future technology has come a long way, even though they haven''t started selling the new engine yet. GT has reserved all of it, as they need them for their own sh.i.p.s. But despite that, Future Technology would soon be releasing their very own fighter ship, which they named Solar Mk. Its capabilities were way above those of any sh.i.p.s used by any human superpowers. The ship design was from commander Markos. Its demonstration was also a great success. It was equipped with all the advanced equipment from Grand Advanced Technology or GAT. They produce all of GT''s military products and also the subsidiary company under GT, responsible for all military equipment being sold. Commander Markos was very happy and proud of his favorite granddaughter. If not for the current situation, he would be celebrating and bragging to his colleagues about her. It''s not like she needed it, being the youngest person to be awarded a Nobel prize for her research about folding technology. After finalizing the decision, Dianna requested Luna Lee, the fallen Angels leader, who was now considered a mercenary group, to accept the mission after they fulfilled their duty to GFA. Under Oda''s order, they registered themselves as mercenaries and created mercenary groups under the same name. Unfortunately, under the two sisters'' insistence, they forbid any man from joining the mercenary groups. After the two sisters who self-proclaimed themselves as The Fallen Angels managers, even Oda is powerless to contradict them. When the news about the fallen angels registering an all-female mercenary company was spread, countless female mercenaries applied to join. Unfortunately, the two sisters'' standards are quite high, they need to pass a series of tests, but many were rejected even before they started the test. The reason being, the two sisters made only two requirements, but these two requirements are an impossible dream to many, especially the first. Which is Beauty and the second requirements are strength (Beauty and strength) that was the Fallen Angel''s motto or what the sisters wanted them to be their motto. After all, the original fallen angels are all systems personnel. They have no need for fame and fortune, as their only goal is to serve their Boss or in this case, the two sisters of their Boss. The two sisters are very picky about who can join the fallen angels because they need them to be not only strong but also beautiful. Joining the Fallen Angels meant receiving a full contract with GT, and they will be given free supplies from GT, including weapons and equipment. That alone would make any mercenary want to join the group, not to mention the fame and glory they would get. But the mission given by Dianna is a secret one, and only the system personnel are allowed to participate, for they are going to use some weapons and equipment that cannot be allowed to be revealed to the public. Meaning the video they will take will be strictly edited before being released to the public. After all, almost all the missions undertaken by the fallen angels except those secret missions, were released to the public as a way of publicity. And to promote the weapons and equipment of GT. But this time is different; they are not allowed to show any of the new equipment they will be using as many of them are secret weapons under the GT army. Of course, Luna accepted it without hesitation. In fact, she likes this kind of mission. After accepting the mission, she and her team headed over to Messiah to receive their new equipment, and Ash would be coordinating with them as their tech support. Meanwhile, in an unknown cave somewhere in the asteroid field. There are a group of people huddled together around a small campfire. Luckily the escape pods they used are for VIP, meaning it''s loaded with resources they can use for an extended period of time in case of emergency. But unfortunately, all the communication equipment they possessed was destroyed by themselves in order for the Ganesh to not to detect them when they were escaping. And because of the emergency, they launched the warp sequence without confirming their destination, but who would have thought that in all places they warped into, they ended up in Ganesh territory. It''s like how that saying goes: out of the frying pan and into the fire. EDITOR: King of Mortals Chapter 217 - 217 V.16 Gaius von Deacon, a very prominent figure in the GFA army, he has lead several successful skirmishes against the Ganesh, including one of the famous battles where they managed to sink several battlesh.i.p.s with a lower number of sh.i.p.s, but he was more famous as the one who will one day replace the grand elder of GFA, commander Markos his grandfather. He wasn''t annoyed about the many rumors about him like he only gets the position because of his grandfather. Because he himself admitted that his journey was smooth sailing because of his grandfather, he respects his grandfather a lot, but more than that, he idolized him. Ever since he was a child, he always wanted to be like his grandfather. It''s the reason why he joined the army instead of taking care of the family business like his father and brothers, in fact, many of his cousins also decided to expand the family business instead of joining the army. Very few of his cousins have decided to join the army to follow in his grandfather''s footsteps, but only he takes the army seriously, he trained and studied hard to get the recognition. Despite his grandfather''s reputation, he never once used it to further his career, but he also can''t deny that his grandfather''s reputation helps him a lot in his career in the military. And so in order to make a name for himself and maybe make his grandfather proud, he took many front line missions, those that will take him to a direct confrontation with Ganesh. And using his ability, he did lead several successful skirmishes with the Ganesh, and so he was promoted as a rear admiral and was given the command to protect one of the mobile bases in sector N6-Q. It''s one of the sectors they manage to take back from Ganesh. At first, he wanted to refuse the promotion as it would take him away from the battlefield, but after his parents and siblings begged him to accept it, because every time he would go into battle, it makes them all nervous. But it was the words of his grandfather that finally made him decide to accept the promotion. According to his grandfather, if he wants to follow in his footsteps, he needs to take the promotion as there''s no future in the battlefield. And so, although he was reluctant, he accepted the promotion. And just when he was getting comfortable in his position, the sudden attacks of the Ganesh changed everything. There was no warning, despite the advanced radar they have, they weren''t able to notice the Ganesh approaching, they were only able to find out about it, when the Ganesh started attacking, and by then it''s too late to fight back. Ganesh''s first target was their Docking area, where a majority of their sh.i.p.s are undergoing supply and maintenance. Many of the sh.i.p.s that were responsible for the defense were also taken out in the first volley. And those that remain are too damaged to do anything. They can''t even run away, much less fight back. He was at the command center when the attack happened. Instantly their communication was down, along with their control systems clearly, the Ganesh knew exactly where to hit them and how. Back then, he couldn''t think straight during the attack as he was in a slight panic. But more than that, the options left for him are limited. Fight back and be a hero or retreat and fight another day. He doesn''t know how well his superiors would take his decision. He wanted to remain until every one of his men has managed to retreat, but his men dragged him into the VIP escape pods along with all the other officers under him. And in order for the Ganesh to not notice them, they destroyed the ship''s GPS and communication equipment. Leaving only personal communication equipment which they would use if not for fear of Ganesh finding them. Gaius and the rest of the survivors are huddled in a small bonfire inside the cave of some asteroid, they used their survival tools to create a small pocket area where they can breathe the tool can create a small shielded area where it would be then filled with breathable air and artificial gravity, its not a long time solution of course, but the device can recycle their air as long as they have power. Luckily only the navigation system is damaged, not the actual engine itself otherwise, they would be dead already. The engine can provide power for a long time, but that''s not their concern. The food can only last for a month at most, luckily it''s a VIP escape pods as regular escape pods only have food for a week and only for 2 - 3 people. VIP escape pods are a lot bigger and have more emergency supplies. Such as water and food solutions. Water can be recycled using their urine and other water supply. It''s not uncommon to do so all spacecraft use this kind of technology. After all, it''s not realistic to carry a huge amount of water in every voyage. And although there are many places they can replenish the water supply, water recycling is a common thing, and as soldiers, they are used to it. The problem is the food. It will only last for a month no matter how much they ration is. In other words, they need to figure out a way to contact GFA or fix the navigation system. Those are their only options; unfortunately, there''s no engineer among them, and their knowledge of the internal ship system is only slightly better than normal folks. And far from repairing even the slightest of damage, how much more for a completely fried system. There''s a manual of course, but that only covers minor repairs and not a complete one. So their only option is to contact the GFA, the problem is how to do that without alerting the Ganesh, if they are in other territories, even those not in GFA they will still risk it. But here in the Ganesh territory? That tentamount to suicide, and they all know it. Fortunately, no among them is injured, only slightly bruised because of the emergency landing but other than that, they are all in good health, at least physically. As the leader of the group Gaius tried to increase the morale of his fellow survivors. And for a time it''s working, but there''s no telling for how long. It''s already been a day since they crash-landed in this asteroid and have been brainstorming all this time, but so far, they couldn''t find a feasible solution. Atleast not one that will avoid leading to suicide. Another good thing is that all of them are soldiers and so their mental capacity is better than regular people, In the Ganesh outpost not far from the Gaius group. "Sir we detected a strange energy signature in area A69-98699 we thought it was a meteor or something similar but in closer examination there''s no record of a meteor passing that area." "Send a recon. We can''t be careless, our attacks have just finished and anytime our enemies may come to retaliate." "Drones have already been sent, sir but I will order additional forces to check the area." "Good, leave no stone unturned." "Yes sir!" Editor: King of Mortals Chapter 218 - 218 V.17 Liberty in a certain bar..... "Did you hear the news? Nine squadrons were destroyed with almost no survivors... What are the elders doing? How can they let this happen?" "no, I heard it was 12 squadrons," "Heh, obviously they become so fat from getting all that resources from the Ganesh, they treat it like a game." "Resources, what are you talking about?" Asked the girl. "Well, I''m not surprised you didn''t know." He looked around, seeing many people looking at him waiting for him to continue, he smiled. Increasing his voice "my cousin is a part of the intelligence division, I overheard him talking about how much credit the GFA are earning in the war with the Ganesh, Of course, I couldn''t verify all of that, but if I think about it no organization will do anything without getting anything out of it." "That''s not entirely true. I heard GFA was created using many superpowers as supporters. It''s those supporters who were funding the GFA." Said another young man. "Well you are not entirely wrong, GFA is indeed created using the support of many Superpowers. But no matter how much they give as support without earning anything out of the war. GFA would be long gone by now." Said the middle-aged man who was drinking in the corner of the bar. "I agree, in the black market, Ganesh materials are in demand, and their prices are sky-high. At first, I thought it was just an isolated incident, but only later I found out many adventurers and mercenaries are joining the war to get those so-called Ganesh materials, as there''s a lot of demand and only a few are selling." "In other words, GFA are all lying to us. This war was never about avenging our fallen heroes, it was all about profits. I wouldn''t even be surprised if we are the one who started this war in the first place just to get those materials." Said a passionate youth. "My brother is one of those who went missing after the so-called attacks of the Ganesh." Said the young girl who was about to cry. The bar went quiet when everyone heard it. "Sigh, in the end we are all just pawns to those in power. Our lives are just a numbers to them." Said another man, anger visible on his face. A man standing in the corner nodded his head. A slight smile can be seen on his face. This kind of thing is happening all over Liberty, even online several forums were created to accommodate this kind of discussion, online protests are already showing signs of progress, and the number of supporters swelled in just a few days. Even the official website of GFA is bombarded with hate comments. Fake and unofficial news about the sudden surprise attacks of Ganesh proliferated all media outlets, especially online media. GFA public relations are trying their best to save the situation, but their refusals to answer any questions regarding the said events are only making things worse. Conspiracy theories are throwing one theory after another, and fake news are spreading everywhere. And GFA keeping quiet only fuels more power to conspiracies. As days go by, more and more people who once supported GFA are now starting to believe the many nasty rumours about GFA. Even GT didn''t escape such criticism. After all, GT can be considered the biggest arms manufacturer in the Galaxy, and its those weapons who are being used in the war with Ganesh. But those who criticize GT are few and far between, and they are mostly drowned by the wave of GT supporters. "One comment stated that if you choke on rice and die, should we blame the farmers and food manufacturers who produce those rice? Are they the one responsible because you don''t know how to eat rice properly? Heh what an idiot. Weapons don''t kill people it''s those who use them that are to blame." Said GT_fanboy8910 "I agree." "Yeah, he probably applied for a job position in GT but got rejected. But it''s really not hard to see why he was rejected, haha." "Hahaha agreed." The forums on GT are full of this kind of discussion where the majority is still in support of GT. GT staying out of the war is one of the major reasons many still support them, while those same people are cursing the GFA. Of course, many still tried to sow the seed of hate against GT. They said that even though GT is not participating in the war, they are supporting many who participate in it. But when asked who GT supports, they mentioned Fallen Angels, the end result of them, being cursed to death form all of those that idolized the Fallen angels. They are being cursed from all ranges of ages, from middle school kids to old men, even alien races are cursing them. And that''s not all; they also received many counter-attacks from many hackers who idolized the fallen angels. It can be said that even the number one hacker in the Galaxy has posters of fallen angels in his bedroom. So when he found out someone is implicating his idols, he was the first to respond. Unfortunately the same could not be said to other companies or organizations who are fighting the Ganesh. Especially the GFA. Not only they lost several squadrons and a massive amount of lives, but the people who once supported them are also now cursing them. Never has been GFA in a more precarious situation. They are losing the people''s support, and the soldier''s morale is at an all-time low. But despite that, GFA remains quiet about the situation. No elders made any statement. Even GT is concerned about it, especially Oda and Dianna, for they know how important the existence of GFA is to them. Without the GFA, they will be forced to fight the Ganesh in the open, revealing many of their secrets. And so Dianna was forced to save GFA during this grave situation. Maybe not save, but at the very least elevated their burden even a little. And to accomplish that Dianna schedules a press conference. GFA elders made a gag order to not talk about the attacks, but GT is not under GFA and therefore can speak about it however they want. When the elders of GFA heard Dianna scheduling a press conference they were worried. Only Commander Markos seems not to care. On GT product presentation building a press conference is being prepared. GT''s PPB is big enough to display several mecha and sh.i.p.s. This is where GT always presents its new product. It''s several times bigger than the biggest stadium on Earth. And right now countless droids are installing chairs and tables for the media and many selected individuals. The press conference is scheduled in 3 hours from now. And outside the venue, countless people can be seen. Luckily there are GT drones and Liberty security personnel making things peaceful because there''s no shortage of people trying to cause trouble. This sudden press conference from GT Caught everyone in surprise, not just GFA even the agents of Karou''s are surprised by it. And what''s worse for them they have no idea what this press conference is all about. EDITOR: King of Mortals Chapter 219 - 219 V.18 10 mins before the press conference, Dianna, Tiffa as well as the top executives of GT public relations arrived at the venue. The spy''s or Karou''s agents did everything they could to find out about the content of the press conference only to fail. Well, it''s not really surprising after all, only a few knew about the reason for the press conference. And all of them are system personnel. Even Emily corpus, the new CEO of GT on Earth is clueless. Normally she would be on earth managing GT''s many subsidiary companies, but a few days ago, she flew to Liberty to discuss something with Dianna only to find out about the conference. She also only arrived a few hours ago. And despite meeting Dianna, she didn''t ask her about it. Ever since she worked under her, she was able to figure out how Dianna works. If she wants her to know, she will tell her. Otherwise, even if she asked, she wouldn''t get an answer. So after some greetings, she left Dianna, but she was surprised to see Dianna so relaxed despite the grim news she heard, so she can only speculate on what the press conference was all about. Time flew by and soon it was time for the press conference to begin. The seats got filled very fast, and there are even those standing up at the very back. The first and middle part are reserved seats, only the back area is open to anyone who gets there first. Initially, only the front and middle parts were going to be used in the press conference. But, because a lot of people requested to attend, Dianna finally agreed to open the back area to accommodate them. However, even with that it''s still not enough to accommodate everyone, so they set up a massive screen outside GT PPB. GT''s security Droids are everywhere, and the security is tight. Everyone is being checked several times when they are entering the building. Of course, there are always those who would complain, but the droids made quick work of them. They were immediately thrown outside and banned from ever entering the building. Making those who plan to do the same comply with all the security checks without saying anything. The droids also pass along a set of rules. Especially those on the back seats, for they are not allowed to interrupt or interfere in any way with the press conference. Only those who are part of the media and those who are in the front can participate in the questions and answers. In other words, they can only observe. Failing to follow the rules will result in them being kicked out of the conference immediately and will be banned from all future GT events. It is a heavy price to pay after all, GT regularly hosted many events, not just press conferences, but product launching and even game events, and being banned from all of them is a heavy punishment. Of course, they can choose not to enter the building and just watch from outside if they can''t control themselves, but who would do that, after waiting for several hours and finally being selected to enter the building. No one would want to miss the opportunity, so they all comply without a problem. Dianna and the rest never really care about it. After setting the rules, they left it to those responsible for implementing it. Inside the building, all kinds of discussions are taking place, each one has their own guess and speculation about the press conference. Of course, the security didn''t stop them from conversing as long as they don''t start making trouble. When the lights on the stage turned on, signaling the start of the press conference, all manner of discussions died down. The media readied themselves, especially those in charge of the camera. There was tension and anticipation in the air they are waiting for what kind of bomb GT was going to detonate. Soon one by one, people started appearing on the stage and took their respective seats. And when Dianna and Tiffa entered the stage, all eyes were upon them. Cameras included. Outside the GT PPB, loud cheering can be heard, many of them are fans of Dianna and Tiffa, the two mysterious individuals who are running one of the biggest corporations in the galaxy. Especially Dianna. Tiffa too became known ever since she started taking part and even leading some of GT''s biggest events. She was responsible and even hosted GT''s first-ever Virtual game event, earning herself many fans. Ever since Dianna delegated to her some of the works because of her busy schedule. Since then, she has hosted and set up many said events. Outside the conference, many people are carrying banners with words stating like Dianna Marry me or Tiffa! my dream girl, please date me, Can be seen everywhere. And those who are paid to create trouble are quickly dealt with by the fans themselves. The security personnel can only shake their head at that sight. One unfortunate individual shouted insults without realizing he was in the middle of the very individual''s fan club he was insulting. Result? He disappeared from the crowds of supporters, his fate unknown. And after the same thing happened several times to those who wanted to create trouble, they quickly learned that insulting the person in front of her fans is the fastest way to the pathway of hell. They immediately stopped and just joined in the fun. After all, many of them are only being paid to create trouble. They didn''t really hate GT, in fact, some of them are fans. Instead of making trouble and ending up being beaten for it, many decided to enjoy and join the fun. This kind of thing is a regular occurrence in every event GT has hosted before. Before the event started, people waiting started many small events, small bands performing to promote their album. Artists joining the streets to sell their works. Those kinds of things are very common, so everytime GT hosts an event, they will be turned into festival where everyone enjoys themselves. GT even gives free foods and drinks for everyone waiting. And this time is no different as many food manufacturers contacted GT to collaborate on providing free foods and drinks to everyone to promote their products, and it''s working well for them. They saw an increase in sales after every GT event they participated in. It''s in these small acts, GT earned its good reputation. Especially among the young people. Not to mention GT has hosted many Charity events. Even GT themselves have created a charity organization that helps many people affected by war and not just humans, even other races across the galaxy have received help from the GT charity organization, which is being managed by Arc''s mom. The Fallen Angels themselves have participated in many of those Charity events, thanks to the sisters. Hello everyone, I am Dianna, CEO of GT galactic corporation. I Want to thank you all in advance for your cooperation and participation. "All of you must be wondering and have your own theories about this press conference. Well, let me clear all your guesses, this conference is all about Ganesh¡­" A collective deep breaths sound can be heard from the crowd. EDITOR: King of Mortals Chapter 220 - 220 V.19 The press conference was all about Ganesh, the voice of Dianna can be clearly heard far and wide. Almost everyone was surprised and took a deep breath. It must be said that GT never talked about Ganesh, at least not as the main topic; they would mention it once in a while or even joke about them. Many media outlets have tried to open this topic on many interviews with GT only to be brushed aside. But now GT is going to talk about it. But many didn''t come here for it. After all, Ganesh is not a new topic as countless scholars and even GFA are very open about it. In fact, many GFA spokesperson openly talks about it. But despite their dissatisfaction, they didn''t say anything. For one, it''s not time for them to talk or ask questions yet, and second, they also want to hear about GT''s opinion about Ganesh. "You must all be wondering why I am talking about this outdated topic." Dianna smiles looking at the expression of everyone. She then continued. "First and foremost, let me clear all your misconceptions about them. Ganesh is not a race, they are nothing but mindless creations built for war. That''s right, they are artificially built, not born." She again looked at everyone. But this time, their expressions are different from before as surprise and confusion can be seen on their faces. Boom! All the people''s minds went blank. The information is too much for them to bear after all, this information is privy only to a very select few. Even in GFA, only the elders and the top research scientists are privy to it. Even outside the GT''s PPB immediately became very quiet. Everyone can hear their heartbeat speeding up. "And make no mistake they are not clones. At Least not 100%. I know you have many questions but save that for later as She smiles and said: let me first play a video for you..." Back in Karou''s secret agency HQ, a man can be seen cursing. "Damn them, we must stop them if this continues, all our efforts would be for nothing. A video?" He has a bad feeling about it. In Ganesh HQ. Karou was also watching the said press conference. He shows no expression on his face despite Diana revealing the true nature of the Ganesh, after all to him it makes no difference whether they know it or not. But for some reason, he has a bad feeling about it. He just doesn''t show it on his face. In the GFA''s elders conference chamber, every one of them has question marks over their head. They could not see what or why would GT need to reveal this information. After all, revealing it doesn''t change the fact people are beginning to question the purpose of the war. And they couldn''t see any advantage to GT if the war with Ganesh is stopped. And when they hear Dianna is going to show a video, their confusion only deepens. But they didn''t have to wait long for the video to play. Soon the massive screen on the background began to light up. And the many questions about the purpose of it when they first entered has now been answered. Many speculated that it''s for showing promotion or ads while waiting, but after waiting for some time, the massive screen remains turned off. As the huge screen comes to life, Outside of GT, where the conference is being held, the huge screen''s pictures changed from the inside of the conference to some unknown room. At first the only thing they saw was a ceiling. Then they heard the voice, and they couldn''t tell if it''s a male or female voice because it''s been deliberately distorted a little to make the voice distinguishable from male to female. But they can clearly understand what it was saying. When the camera zooms out, revealing two individuals, one smaller-looking like a human, he or she was wearing a robe covering all features. And the other one is a huge human. It looks human in every way except for the size and the color of the skin. Its skin is deep grey like wet ash. It also has a slit on its forehead, like a third eye that was closed. "How are you, professor?" Said the human. "Hmmph, what do you think? Just how long are you going to keep me here?" "Oh come now professor, that''s a stupid question to ask, and you know it." "Che, whatever I should be glad I''m being treated, hmmm, what''s your race word for it.. hmmm, that''s right humanely." Said the Professor. "Looks like you knew a lot about our race." Karou''s eyes almost popped out when he saw who it was, as it was none other than his missing top scientist The Professor. GFA elders have even more questions in their heads, clearly they didn''t recognize the race of the giant human. Even more so for everyone watching the video. They didn''t know why GT is showing some unknown Alien race, but many assertive people began to connect the dots. After all, Dianna already gave all the clues. The first was they are talking about Ganesh, and second, the Ganesh are created not born. In other words, the giant over there can only be the race that created the Ganesh. Some people managed to figure it out, but many still have question marks over their heads. "Hahaha, of course, I know all about your race. And not just your race but every race capable of traveling the stars in this galaxy." Many alien races manage to recognize the race the giant belonged to. Especially those who have been to the main universe, unfortunately, those capable of going back and forth to the main universe are very few, and they all have one thing in common: they like to keep their secrets to themselves. Of course, everyone can''t be as tight-lipped as they are, some who can''t control themselves immediately revealed the name of the race. In a very famous forum, a single comment exploded. The comment was very simple, it only states several words, but what it contained answered everyone''s questions. The comment goes like this "that''s a Vanir, a battle race from the main universe." And just like that, that comment has been reposted over and over again, and in just a matter of a few minutes almost everyone received a notification about it. Back in the conference room, the video continued to play. "Is that so? And why would you do that? What interests you, a famous race in the main universe, making an effort to study us. After all, our galaxy is very small; it can even be considered a backwater Galaxy. There are countless galaxies out there who are far more richer than us. So why us?" When they heard it, everyone paid even more attention to the video. Those who were talking to each other immediately stopped and looked at the screen. The Professor didn''t answer immediately, he looked at the person in front of him. At first, he had the same questions when they received the order to take over a certain backwater Galaxy. And when he read the information regarding the race living in it, he immediately looked down on them; no in fact, he couldn''t even bother to look down on the things that are comparable to ants, he just steps on them and crushes them. Like a human walking on the street, he wouldn''t bother to look down when walking to see if there''s an ant in front of him. And that is how he sees the inhabitants of this galaxy. If not for their master''s careful warning, they wouldn''t even bother studying them. But all that changed when he was captured by a force capable of subduing a Berserker that even his master would need to look again. After all, even the weakest of berserkers are capable of great devastation. Even in the main universe, such power needs to be feared. "To be honest, I have the same questions. What does this godforsaken galaxy have that our master has taken an interest in that he would divide a portion of his forces despite needing it himself." He stopped himself before he said something that will implicate his master. "But that matters not. Orders have been given, and we will follow it regardless of our desires, as for why we know so much about you. That''s a stupid question, don''t you think? In order to make something, you first need to know what it''s going to be." Said the Professor while smirking. "The one you called Ganesh. I created it, designed it based on the information about all of you, to better subjugate you, and to claim this galaxy for our master." Boom! When everyone heard those words, it was like an explosion of bombs exploding in their heads. Now they know who or what the Ganesh is all about. Their purpose and the identity of those who control it in the background. Nobody doubts the video''s authenticity as GT would not do something so stupid as to fake something like this as they would gain nothing from it. And the identity of the giant has also been confirmed. "Really! It''s not very good, is it? After all, we decimated your forces and even managed to take you as a prisoner. Did you read the wrong report?" Said the human with a mocking tone. Everyone watching cannot see the human''s face, but just hearing his words, they can clearly picture the mocking look on his face. The professor smirk disappeared when he heard it. After all, he could not deny his words. "I have to admit, I have clearly underestimated you, especially you who would have thought a force like you exists in this galaxy. Not to mention there''s an upstart company who seems to be giving my creation some troubles." "Oh, you''re talking about GT? They are indeed quite impressive despite the limitations of knowledge, they were able to come up with ingenious weapons, capable of giving your creation quite some troubles. They indeed pique our interest. But let''s not talk about them, it''s about you and your people. Can I ask you nicely to leave this galaxy alone." Said the human figure with a joking tone. But the Professor didn''t find it funny, in fact he found it insulting, but he didn''t show it. After all, this human in front of him is part of the organization that stopped the berserker. "You can mock me all you like human, but when my master gets here, all of you will pay for it." The human figure didn''t reply immediately. "You keep calling me human. Who told you I am a human?." Suddenly two bright red eyes of the machine burned beneath the robe. Even the voice turned slightly metallic, as surprise and shock can be seen on Professor''s face. Then the video ended. EDITOR: King of Mortals Chapter 222 - 221 V.20.5 Suddenly the video began to focus, and the face of an alien race appeared before them. They immediately recognize the race to be Crimto, a vampire-like race. This race was known for their special metals known as blood metal. "My name is Ikar," Boom! an explosion happened close by making him bend down to take cover. A few seconds later. "My name is Ikar. And we are being attacked by Ganesh. They came without warning, destroying our defenses. Ma.. many died." Ikar looked around and saw a small table at the corner of the house and ran into it and hid under it. "Many surrendered but they killed them all anyways including¡­ including my parents. They killed them all women, children even¡­ darm it.. even babies.. they killed them all. Those bastards, they entered the birthing facility and¡­ and.. gods.. they killed them all.. all those innocent ba.." boom. The video ended. And another video takes its place.. A voice of a man can be heard giving order. "Hurry up, we must reach them before them." "Yes Sir!, Hurry, Hurry!" A Group of soldiers can be seen, they are not human but of other race, but one look and anyone could tell what kind of battle they have been through, many of them have injuries in their body. Some are even missing an arm. But despite that determination can be seen in their eyes, the video was skipped. "No! Were too late¡­ sir we have to save them!" "Shhhh, put your head down!" They can be seen taking cover in a fallen pillar. The man holding the camera lifted the camera up and pointed it to something. At first the video was blurry but as the camera automatically adjusted the focus, a group of Ganesh can be seen, they are rounding up a group of civilians young man, women, little kids of all ages, even old people, all of them look miserable, dirty and full of fears, some of the women can even be seen carrying some baby wrapped in dirty cloths. "Sir! We have to save them, my family is on there" one of the soldiers look at his captain with panic and anger as well as a pleading look on his face. "I know, you don''t have to tell me that. That is why we are here." He then started giving a set of instructions on how to execute the rescue attempt. But suddenly before they can even move. A shot was heard. "Noooo! Noooo! Kashaaaa¡­" one soldiers immediately stood up and rush in, with tears and blood on his mouth clearly he has bitten his lips from being to angry. "No! Stop him!" Seeing there''s no stopping the man. "Shit! go!,go!go! Attaaaack!" The camera is shaking violently because the man holding it is running, but they can hear the shouting and the explosions. Then the camera was dropped, the man holding it was killed fortunately the camera was dropped pointing at were the soldiers are fighting and so everyone can see what''s happening. Dead bodies everywhere. The civilians from before was all killed, GT turn the video into black and white to reduce the violences being seen, but despite that the scene was etched in everyone who is watching. They saw one of the soldiers dropping his weapons and lifted up a dead woman with the baby still clutched in her arms only a huge hole can clearly be seen where her chest was and a huge part of the baby is missing. All the while other soldiers continued to fight, and the only sound anyone was able to hear were explosions, and muffled voices of shouting and crying. A few seconds later all sound disappeared all soldiers were killed and a Ganesh can be seen stepping over the bodies. The video ended. One after another, GT showed them the cruelty of war with the Ganesh. Every video has one thing in common, all of them are about civilians, powerless many of them surrendered, but the outcome is the same. Ten videos were shown stirring their emotions by the end of all the video, everyone was clenching their fist hard. Many have tears in their eyes. All of them have heard a lot of news about it, people telling how bad it was. But that''s all there is to it, people telling others they feel bad for sure, but not enough to bring them to tears, not enough to stir their emotions. But watching these videos, they heard the voices, the emotions of the people in the video, their desperation, fear and their helplessness and hopelessness. It would be a lie if they said they didn''t hate Ganesh after watching it. These videos are collected by our many surveillance drones and many are accidentally acquired through various channels. The one on Princess Pearl is one of those accidents. We lost surveillance drones all the time, 99.9% of the time its for other reasons like being hit by asteroids or being hit by travelling sh.i.p.s, to a stupid reason as flying close to a sun. Believe me, the list is endless. And those data are being sent to our data collection centre where then it would be reviewed to see if there''s any worth saving. Billions of gigabits are being transferred on a daily basis. And it took us a lot of time to process them all. And the one related to princess pearl was only reviewed recently and only came to my attention a few days ago. "So we decided to give everyone a closure you deserve and for their Loved ones to know the truth about what happened to them. It is what we believe what the crew of princess pearl would have wanted." Said Dianna. "Now you know the true identity of Ganesh, you also now know their purpose and objectives and their nature." Dianna looks around seeing the hatred in their eyes. Of course not towards her or GT but to Ganesh. She continues "Next is why did we show this to all of you? The reason is very simple recently it came to our attention that the Ganesh have managed to plant spies in our midst who have sold their souls to the enemies of not just humanity but to everyone living in Bright Galaxy. They will do anything for their new master sowing discord and chaos feeding you false promise and information." "And believe me their promises are sweet enough to even make the best among us to be swayed. Enough for some to even sell their souls." "Now many of you are questioning the purpose of this war. And believe me, we at GT ask the very same questions. It''s the reason why we never participated in the war. But instead opted to devote ourselves to developing weapons that can protect us if necessary. After all, seeking peace without power is pointless; there''s only one result for that¡­ subjugation, and I for one, don''t want to become someone''s slave, nor do i hope for any other person to become a slaves." "Its the very reason we fight slavery to the very end and to free our cloned brothers and sisters giving them rights like anyone else, of course in a perfect world we can do all that and more, but unfortunately we are living in a flawed and cruel world where someone would disguise subjugation as peaceful end, and disguise slavery as progress under someone else rule." Dianna paused, looking at everyone and said. "You are free to do so, if you think being a slave is better than fighting back. Sure by all means go to them. But don''t include us in it. For we will fight back for those we have lost and for those we can still save, those are our motivation in GT to move forward and build a better future." She paused look at everyone then smile "Thank you for all the support," with that Dianna stopped speaking There was silence until someone started clapping, and like a dam that''s been opened. Soon everyone started clapping even those who came to make trouble ended up clapping without realizing it. The question and answer portion followed and Dianna and the rest answered them all. And when the press conference ended. In a faraway place, a lady could be seen in a room cursing non-stop. That lady was none other than the Queen. EDITOR: King of Mortals, NikTitanik866 Chapter 223 - 223 V.21 Queen was so mad as she watched GT press conference, she imagined many things that GT would do during the press conference. The first thing she imagined is GT supporting GFA to prevent it from inevitable collapse. She also thought that GT would use its influence to raise the crumbling moral of the people, in fact when they heard GT conveying a press conference, she sneered because she knew their actions finally bore fruit and that they eventually forced GT to do something. And in a way she was right but not the way she imagined it. She worked hard day and night in order to put doubt in the people''s minds about the war. She worked so hard to accomplish it, planned for years, just the preparation to destabilize GFA is an enormous undertaking. She couldn''t even remember how many people she had to blackmail, and the people she had to convince to join their side. She even managed to get one of the elders. And now, when she tried to contact the people, she once convinced none of them answered. That''s right no one. She can always blackmail them, but those kind of things have a severe drawback, compared to them doing it independently. Just one press conference made their years of hard work destroyed in vain. But this is not enough for her to give up. She has been through worse after all. She was just pissed at the sudden development. Because of GT revelation in their press conference, many of those who joined as Karou''s agents are having a second thought, especially to those who only joined to get revenge because they lost someone to the war. Because they thought GFA is just sending their loved ones to their death in a pointless war. But now, after watching the videos, they no longer think it is pointless, in fact, they even contemplate joining the army. After all for all they know the same thing happened to their loved ones. Once, Killed like an ant and butchered even after they surrendered. Just thinking about it makes their blood boil. And it wasn''t just them as almost everyone who watched the video feel the same way. Its been hours since the GT press conference ended, and the video became the most played video in just a few hours it already reached billions of views, and many top organizations used it to increase the morale of the people further. Especially GFA. Just a few hours after GT press conference ended. They finally broke their silence, their press conference was quite simple, first they apologized for being silent, their reason is very simple, they are still looking for survivors. And second they are still trying to piece things together, about how or why it was allowed to happen, on how their enemies know how or where to attack. And therefore, they decided to keep quiet until they have all the information in their hands. Several elders also participated in the press conference, they all bowed down in apology, some of them have dark circles in their eyes clearly they have been working non-stop. And these eased the tension to many people, especially those affected by the attack. Just knowing that the elders are doing everything they can to figure out what happened is enough for them. Of course, not everyone is convinced. But the majority is content for now, especially after watching GT''s Video about Ganesh. As for GT, they no longer pay attention to it. They have already done their part. It''s up to the GFA to take over things, after all the hard part is over and that is increasing the morale of the people and earning their trust back. Of course, it can only bring back some of the trust, but that''s enough for now. The most surprising thing is that many people stepped forward and claimed they were approached by certain individuals and offered them a chance to get their revenge on the GFA who sent their loved ones to be killed in the pointless war. But they know it is not pointless. And that the war is a necessary one. Something that can''t be avoided. GT''s video is proof of that. Of course many questioned the authenticity of the video but after countless experts tried to examine it, they all arrived at the same conclusion. The video was taken using a method that is almost impossible to edit. The first video can be said to be staged. After all, it is just a video of an interview, but the succeeding video is impossible to stage. After all the events that appeared in the video have all been verified to have taken place. GT also made a statement that everyone is allowed to check the video authenticity of how much they like. But they will not be releasing any more statements regarding that, nor will they be releasing any more information as it will compromise their security, as to how it will be compromised GT didn''t reveal more. Making many people disappointed but no matter how much they protest, their plea remains unanswered. After the GT press conference, GFA and many Superpowers also see it as a chance to cooperate with GT, after all with the galaxy''s biggest weapons manufacturer as backing, they will have nothing to fear. But all of them are left disappointed GT have no intention to form cooperation and will remain passive in their stance to war. And will not join the war but instead remains like they always do developing weapons of war. Some were relieved by GT''s decision, some are disappointed and relieved because if GT joins the war they might lose their potential income, disappointed because with GT joining the war, the Ganesh would be quickly put in check. In truth, neither Oda nor Dianna have any intention of ending the war anytime soon, even if they have the ability to do so. One it''s a good way to increase this galaxy war potential second it''s a perfect way to train their troops, and lastly with a common enemy, the galaxy can set aside their differences. Of course, there are forces who are still fighting each other despite the Ganesh threats. Like the Royal empire and Divine Cross.. their war never stops. It''s because of the conflict of beliefs.. and even GT is powerless to stop it unless of course, they subjugate the two powers, which GT will not do unless necessary. When the problem in GFA almost resolved, and GT no longer had any part to play in that event, GT once again focused its attention on Earth. That''s right Earth, apparently just a few hours ago GT''s R&D department made a breakthrough in solving the Earth problem in regards to contaminated areas. As it stands only 20% of Earth is habitable and devices that can purify Earth contaminated areas have short range even the biggest and most effective machine can only purify a kilometer at a time and even that takes time. And many Superpowers before GT already give up on purifying Earth''s contaminated areas, after all there are countless planets in the galaxy that have more resources than Earth, and so instead of wasting money on something that basically has no returns at all, they might as well focus on developing other resources planets. Which have better returns in their investment. Even HFA back then already gave up purifying Earth''s contaminated area. And they are the one who are taking advantage of Earth resources the most. Only GT never once gave up. After all it''s one of Arc''s orders before he left that Earth needs to be completely purified if they are going to use Earth as their Home Base. Oda and the rest once dissuade Arc. After all, it''s cheaper to develop other planets mainly because Earth resources are almost depleted after over many years of unregulated extractions. According to study, it will take many years before Earth recovers from it, if it will recover at all. But for Arc all of that is not important. He wants Earth, not for material resources, but for a simple reason, it is his and his loved ones home planet. EDITOR: King and Queen of Mortals. Chapter 224 - 224 V.22 After a long time Dianna finally arrived back to Earth, she doesn''t have any attachments towards the Earth like ARC does, after all her only attachment is towards her Master and Boss Arc, like all other system personnel have in common. GT R&D department is located in the Maharlika kingdom. Deep underground, a gigantic research center has been built where the scientists from all races under GT works to purify Earth''s contaminated area. And the majority of hired scientists both human and Alien race work here. The city is home to several important research facilities, and one of them is responsible for a better way to purify Earth''s contaminated areas. While others are for solving the human fertility problems. It was also here that they developed many of the non-system products and that makes this place one of the GT high-security areas. It is almost impossible to get inside the city without the help of GT. After all, any physical way of connecting it to the outside world is sealed away, and only through tractor beam technology can one enter the city. Many of its former inhabitants have been trained and educated into helpers and assistants. They have come a long way from their former lives. Who can only survive through hunting and growing mushrooms deep underground. Of course, there was resistance at first, especially those who are in the ruling power, but Shadow Units made quick work of them, they punished those who have done any inhuman acts. And promoting those who genuinely wanted to help their fellow men. And so GT provided them the means to do so. They educated them, helped to build a city for them to manage, and gave them a good and secure way to live. These are all not without a price of course. They will become GT employees entrusted with managing the city, after all, scientists needs to relax and enjoy themselves once in a while. To relieve their stress and the city was built for that purpose. Every scientist who signs an exclusive contract with GT needs to stay in the GT R&D facility in Maharlika for 10 years cut off from the world. Of course, they can still connect to the internet, play games, and so forth. But they are not allowed to communicate with others from the outside world. It is a severe restriction, one that many would be unable to accept, but a necessary one as they would be handling many of the secret projects, and every scientist accepted that reality, as they know the importance of secrecy. Of course, they can bring their family if they want to, the city of Maharlika can provide the most lavish accommodations for them, in payment for the restrictions imposed upon them. And besides Maharlika city possessed everything any normal city has and more. Cinemas, amus.e.m.e.nt park, golf course, you name it, it''s there. After all, what''s the point in earning a huge amount of credits if you have nowhere to spend it. Maharlika city has about 30 thousand native inhabitants and GT has about 5-6 thousand employees under the R&D division in Maharlika. Supplies are all provided by GT and then sold to the natives, who in-turn then sell them to GT employees. This is how GT manages to form an equilibrium with locals. Of course, GT also provided them a means to produce their own products like the mushrooms, if cooked expertly can be considered a delicacy. Many products are also created from it such as tea to mushroom burgers, of course, mushrooms are not the only local product produced. Deep fish and other life forms can be found underground and the locals have found a way to use them and GT provided an alternative and better way to develop them. In fact, the mushrooms are one of the ingredients GT uses in producing their many non system health products. And many locals choose to be mushroom farmers and make a good living from it. Ever since GT arrived their lives turned for the better, no longer they would go on for days without food, now they can once again experience what it means to become a civilized person. When Dianna arrived in Maharlika she was surprised at how much it changed, after all the last time she visited it, it had just been liberated by GT. And now there are no more of the previous scenes where crumbling cottages litter the place and starving people are lying everywhere waiting for death. Now she sees children everywhere, happy children playing and laughing in the park. Back then the locals can''t bear many children because they don''t have the means to raise and feed them, so the ruling power highly regulated them, and any unwanted baby was immediately killed lest it used more resources. But now no such restrictions are placed, and as long as they can raise a child they can have as many as they like. This is one of the reasons GT chose to build the R&D department in Maharlika because for some reason the fertility of the locals is not affected. Originally Maharlika was chosen as a location for the army but after finding out that the local of Maharlika is not affected by infertility, Dianna choose to turn it into an R&D facility, maybe just maybe they can figure out a way to fix or cure human infertility. After all, it is one of Arc''s goals to do so. And besides, the mushrooms that can only be found there contain certain life properties perfect for making health products and life extension medicines. Plus it is delicious and Arc''s sisters can''t have enough of them especially the fried mushrooms, it''s their favorite snack. When she arrived at the research facility, she was greeted by the head researcher responsible for the whole Maharlika R&D facility. And one of the system personnel. Cid Master, it was he who contacted Dianna about the breakthrough regarding the purification of Earth''s contaminated area. This new device is capable of purifying hundreds of kilometers at a time. Of course, it takes time but if deployed correctly they can purify Earth in around 5 to 20 years shorter if they go all out. The problem is it is quite expensive to build the device. And that''s why Cid contacted Dianna as She is the only one who can decide on the matter not even Oda can. After all, Oda is only responsible for the development of the Army while Dianna is the one in charge of all GT''s affairs. And to be honest Oda was there to provide support for her. As Arc''s very first System personnel he considered Dianna and Tiffa to be really a part of his family, after all they were there from the very beginning and in a way they are responsible for what GT is today, and so before leaving he upgraded Dianna and Tiffa to the best he could. They are now close to being 3-star, almost the same level as Oda who was at peak of 2-star. This elevated Dianna and Tiffa capabilities to a whole new level. And before leaving for the marshes, he left Dianna in charge of GT, Oda in the Army, and Frankenstein to all Research related affairs. These three people are the real ones in charge of all GT''s affairs, Dianna is the most important of all, as she is the one who truly makes decisions about GT''s development and planning, and the two were there to support her. And they support her without any agenda. This is the fundamental difference between GT and other organizations. While others have their own agenda, every System personnel in GT only has the same goals and that is to be useful to Arc. EDITOR: King and Queen of Mortals. Chapter 225 - 225 V.23 Dianna accepted this heavy burden with all her heart, no in fact she couldn''t have asked for more. And besides she wasn''t really alone in the management of the GT, Tiffa was there to help her, and make no mistake Tiffa''s capabilities are in no way inferior to Dianna. As a secretary her capabilities to handle all affairs is top notch. No one can find a better secretary in the whole galaxy that is better than her. Dianna saw the device that is capable of purifying a large area of land, she now understands why it cost too much. The thing is gigantic, almost the size of a ten story building. Can this thing be simplified using their current system factory. That was the first thing she asked when she saw it. Even though she was trying to promote items that can be developed without the system factory, that doesn''t mean she would dismiss it if it can be used to help them. After all, a system factory is a cheat compared to other technology and no matter how much they tried they can''t compare to it. She knows it best of all. She was there from the beginning for every system factory built by Arc she was there to witness it. Cid. Nodded "It can but it will take more time to do so and the capabilities might be downgraded as well after all the reasons for its big size is because it needs a lot of power to purify the land. Simplifying it would also mean downgrading its ability. Of course they would know unless they tried. Dianna accepted his explanation. "For now build 10 of these and deploy them in the surrounding surface, while figuring a way to simplify it without reducing its capabilities too much. After all they need to start somewhere. And they can simply upgrade it little by little as they go. After all when the computer was first created it was the size of a building but now even the supercomputer they are using is only the size of a cabinet and that supercomputer is capable of processing countless data. Even the simple phone they are using is almost as powerful as any supercomputer before world war 3. After assessing the device, she went to tour the Maharlika and many other research facilities, as well as the city itself. She wanted to know if there''s any way to make better use of it. Like increasing the local products and also making the lives living in it much better. She also wanted to know if she could increase the number of research facilities. After all, Messiah is beginning to get cramped. With all research going on there. Not to mention the army is also using it as HQ. So she wanted to know if she can relocate some of the lesser research facilities that don''t contain core secrets. Like for example the developments of some lesser weapons. Or just the development of the army armor and some equipment. Fortunately according to Cid. The underground is home to countless cave systems many were left as is, as they have no need of it for the time being. Those cave systems can be developed as they see fit. According to Cid some cave systems are huge, bigger than they are currently using, of course it needs to be further surveyed in the area. And see what kind of risk and modifications needed to occupy the area. In fact they already began expanding the cave systems in order to build more mushroom farms. Its just that they only do so to the surrounding area, and not those further away. Unfortunately the surrounding cave systems are quite small and so they needed to be expanded without compromising the integrity of the cave systems. Of course they can always reinforce it if needed but that requires more resources, so if they can be avoided they would do so. After all those cave systems existed for who knows how long without collapsing. Some of them are untouched by any human hands and have their own ecology. Of course the biggest problem in developing those underground cave systems is purifying the air without destroying the current ecosystem. Specially those that will be used to farm the mushrooms after all the mushrooms can only be grown here and there is a reason for it. In fact GT have tried to grow them elsewhere only to fail, it was only later they found out that there are certain bacteria that only exist in these cave systems and those bacteria are responsible for growing the mushrooms. And so GT was very careful in disturbing those cave systems, that is until they figured out on how to artificially create those bacteria to grow the mushrooms. After finalizing the development goals Dianna left to meet Oda in Enigma city or the former Enigma city. This Former criminal city was now turned into a GT army training base on Earth, all basic training was conducted here and the former inhabitants, was then conscripted into the army or became miners. Those who committed grave inhuman acts were turned into miner''s, while those who only have committed minor crimes were then conscripted and reprogrammed as GT soldiers. The former Enigma city can longer be seen. No more casinos or any entertainment center. After all this place was converted into a complete military facility, the family of the soldiers was then transported into a nearest city. And are living using their family members income which is considered ample. GT has always been generous to all its employees and once anyone becomes part of GT whether they are former criminals or not as long as GT deems it fit for them to join GT they are all well paid. After all GT has no shortage of credits despite buying all the rare resources they could buy. In fact they are constantly looking for new suppliers for resources, after all GT resource consumption is enormous several times more than all the human superpowers combine. GT constantly building their Army, even Legion who can mine his own resources needs rare materials to further upgrade his power and GT is the only source of that material. But despite that GT earning is so great that despite their enormous consumption the amount of credits they are earning is not enough to spend all of it just purchasing resources. GT is earning a huge amount of credits but also spending a huge amount of it, making many merchants dependent on it and so this cycle becomes the new way for many to make a living generously. Even the first bank is earning a lot through the transaction with GT and likewise GT was using the first bank to acquire materials that only exist in the main universe. Dianna meeting with Oda is about increasing the number of Security agents under GT. And also to better understand how the army works. Oda agreed without any problem after all Grand Army is currently on standby and because they are not really participating in the war at least not officially. Many of his forces are currently on standby. Giving some of them to Dianna is not a problem. He understands the need for it as GT is constantly expanding. In fact the Grand Army is participating in the war only in the guise of mercenary and free Adventurers. Oda have created several hunting groups. And sending them to deal with Ganesh, not just Ganesh. After all Ganesh is not the only threat in the Galaxy, they are simply the most lucrative. But countless threats exist besides them. Pirates and space beasts to name a few. And Oda is taking advantage of others who lost interest in them ever since Ganesh appeared. And since the Grand Army can''t operate in the open, at least not yet, disguising as mercenary and adventurers are the only option for them. What others didn''t know is that many top and famous Adventurer and mercenary groups were actually part of the Grand Army and therefore belong to GT. EDITOR: King of Mortal Chapter 226 - 226 Cleanup V.24 When Oda made the decision to create a mercenary group and send his soldiers to fight and participate in all manner of wars. He accepted the risk and cost. And the greatest of all cost, human lives. He accepted it and took responsibility for it. Because he knows there is no way to fulfill his promise without letting his men go through battles. There''s no way to create a powerful army without risking their lives. There''s no way it is possible, virtual training can only take them so far. It can help prepare them but without experiencing actual life and death there''s no way to turn them into real soldiers, one worthy of his Boss arms and legs. And so Dianna never asks Oda about it, likewise Oda never talks about it either; they both accepted each other''s resolve in fulfilling their Boss dreams. Dianna explained to Oda the needs of GT, and see if Oda can elevate some of those problems like looking for a new source of resources. Or providing certain intelligence. Despite Gaia bridging those problems there''s only so much she can do no matter how advanced she is. And with the speed GT and the Grand Army is expanding she can hardly keep up. It even comes to a point that Oda is delegating some of the loads to Legion''s mother drones. Such as processing some of the army data among some of the things delegated to the mother drones. Oda easily agreed to some of Dianna''s proposals. Likewise Dianna accepted some of Oda suggestions. Because so far the coordination between GT and Grand Army remains minimal. After all, in the Grand Army Legion''s existence remains a top secret. And although many speculated about GT''s hidden Army no one can confirm its existence. Besides the things GT revealed to the public no one can find anything no matter how great the spy they sent. It''s a reputation that GT earned, they became the best company that was most difficult to get information from. And that''s why every new information regarding GT could sell at a very high price in the black market. Dianna stayed on Earth for about 3 days only because she can''t say no to Arc''s parents and sisters; they insisted she stayed for a while before going back to space. Meanwhile in Ganesh Main HQ, Karou was livid with anger at the second stage of his plan that he and his most trusted advisor carefully laid down was so easily countered by a single press conference of GT making him very angry. He knows he won''t be able to catch the GFA and other superpowers in another surprise attack. And what makes him so angry is that the press conference doesn''t just affect GFA but all races and organizations that combat Him or the Ganesh. The video has been used as an effective propaganda in order to raise morale and ignite the fighting spirit in combating his forces. In other words instead of a tattered and broken organization what awaiting them would be an enemy very eager to fight them. Unfortunately for him no matter how superior his forces are against the combined forces of the bright galaxy he would be hard-pressed, and that''s not all because of his surprise attacks many organizations are now joining forces. And are now planning a joint expedition against him. If before no one wants to join forces because of the potential rewards being divided, now organizations have no choice but to unite in order to prove to their people that they are waging war not for profits but for survival. Even GFA was forced to join forces with other organizations like the coalitions and merchants guild. Elders and leaders from different organizations were forced to cooperate with other organizations to prove and justify their actions about the war. After all, many people are watching them unlike before. The GT press conference ignited people''s interest about the war. Almost every news article is about them. Even the management of Liberty was forced to concede to GT''s demand but instead of letting GT manage the overall security of Liberty it will be jointly managed between Liberty elders and GT defence agency. This will allow GT to bring forces in Liberty unchecked. It was basically a death sentence to those who are planning to attack GT. And as soon as the contract was signed GT wasted no effort in strengthening the security in Liberty, as millions of security drones were unleashed in Liberty and according to GT, people of Liberty have nothing to fear as long as they follow the standard rules of Liberty. In other words if you''re not planning on doing some mischief, you have nothing to fear. This action was condemned by many residents of Liberty specially in the outer layer of Liberty, but no matter how much they protest GT or the upper management of Liberty remains unmoved. After all the upper management of Liberty just signed a very favorable deal with GT, they will be given a priority in purchasing the military products of GT in return for giving half the management rights to them. It''s actually not a bad deal not to mention they will be able to save a lot of credits by giving half of the security rights to GT, after all GT was only asking for minimum payment for doing it. And as long as it is not a total right. For them it is not a big deal, they are only afraid of giving the complete rights to GT as they would be defenceless. And just like that GT was able to secure Liberty security giving them unprecedented access to its security system. GT also installed many hidden cams all over Liberty. Making Ash''s job a lot easier. Because of that Queen and the rest of her group was forced into hiding. And true enough because of GT''s action crimes have dropped by several times overnight. Especially in the outer layer. Where it was mostly lawless. Many criminal organizations were forced to disband or halt many of their activities. Of course there are those who are brave enough to try their luck only to end up regretting it. Liberty has a very severe punishment for law breakers. Only before the upper management were quite lax in implementing it and many of their ground forces were corrupt and took bribes from criminal organizations. But with the arrival of GT all of that was put to a stop. After all GT didn''t just earn half of security rights they also have the right to administer punishments. That was part of the deal. After all there''s no point in increasing the security if they are not allowed to punish those they have caught. And in just a few days over 100 corrupt officials and criminals were made an example for. Ten of them were executed and the rest was subjected to heavy labor in the many mines owned by GT. Some of those officials have connections with some elders but they quickly learned how serious GT was after revealing overwhelming evidence, they were immediately sentenced to death. Leaving those who want to protest speechless. GT only statement was they were only implementing the rules Liberty made itself nothing more nothing less. And when before they thought GT was only doing it as a show of force, GT''s next actions leave them stunned. The son of the one of the top elders was caught raping and killing an innocent girl. At first everyone thought GT would not interfere with it but they were wrong. GT forces arrested the guy. Killing all those who tried to stop them and after a quick trial they immediately publicly executing the guy. After that Dianna made a statement, she said "when we said we will clean up Liberty we mean it. I want to see who will try and stop us. GT treats everyone equally; we don''t give special treatment whether you are a son of an elder or an elder himself. Those who broke the rules would be judged by the very rules they set. GT treats everything seriously." This action earned both praise and criticism at the same time but GT didn''t care as the contract was signed under the first bank. And there''s no way to break it without going through the first bank. Even if the elders of Liberty change their mind there''s no way for them to break the contract. Many of them are angry, especially the elder whose son was executed but there''s nothing he can do, his son''s crime was made public by GT so even if he complained no one would side with him. In fact countless people celebrated when his son was executed. He tried to appeal to the other elders but no one would side with him in this case after all his son''s crime is not light, but a very heavy one. During the procedures GT never once broke any protocol or went over the line, every action they made was only those they were entity to do. So even if they wanted to complain they have no grounds to do so. The only rules ever broken are the unspoken rules. And courtesy to other ruling powers. After all there''s an spoken rule in Liberty that any ruling power can do almost anything as long as it is not in conflict with other interests, they would turn a blind eye to it. But unfortunately for them GT doesn''t care about their unspoken rules. After all, GT didn''t really care about them. And that''s the reality they will have to face. Liberty is no longer their private backyard. And GT would not allow them to do whatever they want at the expense of innocent lives. EDITOR: King and Queen of Mortals. Chapter 227 - 227 V.25 With these actions, GT once again became the headlines of all news. Elevating their status as a champion of Justice. Of course, Dianna was only following the rules Arc had set for everyone in GT. When the news came up. Every GT employee had their head held up high. Every one of them are proud to be part of GT, some even used their company uniform to go shopping or just simply walking around just to let others know they are working for GT. And following that, GT along with Future Technology released its very first combat ship ahead of schedule, in order to take advantage of the renewed interest in fighting the Ganesh. Along with the news of the rescue of the grandson of one of the elders of GFA commander Markos. The news of the rescue was greatly celebrated giving hope to the family of those who was missing in the Ganesh surprise attack. The rescue effort was doc.u.mented along with the ship they were using. Solar MK the name of the ship was clearly depicted at the side of the ship. The elegant design coupled with many state of the art equipment which was clearly featured in the rescue operation. Originally the ship was not going to be used in the rescue operation but when Tiffa heard that Solar MK was already operational she suggested using it instead of the regular ship of Fallen Angels. As it will give good publicity and authenticate the ship as a true combat ship. Being able to complete a high-level rescue mission in the territory of Ganesh would solidify its capabilities. Of course, many of the functions were edited out as it contains GT secrets such as advanced AI support, those features are not available in the commercially available ship. Only those who are part of GT and the Grand Army can enjoy those features. After all, the said AI is Gaia. Of course, the regular ship is equipped with a standard AI capable of auto navigation and internal functions but not for combat. Unlike Gaia who can be used to control the weapon systems in combat mode greatly increasing the ship''s combat ability. The rescue mission was edited like a movie and many of the boring scenes are edited out. The Combat and escape scene was both exciting and thrilling; if it was not tagged as an actual combat video anyone would think it was scripted, even the expressions of the rescued individual was caught in vivid details along with the interview about their experiences. But the most amazing thing is how the combat was captured so closely and in clear details. Even some of the conversation of Fallen Angels and their coordination was captured clearly. Of course many of those dialogues are scripted as Fallen Angels don''t need to actually talk to each other to coordinate, as Gaia was the one giving them real-time instructions. But for the sake of appearance and also to hide Gaia''s existence they need to play this act. And the Fallen Angels are quite used to it after all; they are running a reality show under the two sisters'' supervision. And besides, much of the dialogue was not really part of the actual combat situation, it was recorded before the actual mission and was added afterward. Many of the combat scenes were also edited out especially when they use weapons that are not commercially available. Like real-time drone support and advanced weapons, all of them are edited out. But the video was edited out so skillfully that those who are watching wouldn''t figure out. Even if they did, it is understandable that many of the actual scenes would be filtered out. As it contains company secrets. But mostly they are thankful they are able to see actual combat scenes and not some reenactment like many organizations do. The one who was overjoyed is commander Markos as well as commander Mikaela who would have thought that one of her sons is actually part of the VIP crew who was able to escape. It turns out Commander Mikaela''s son, his ship was in the Command center undergoing routine maintenance when the attack happened; no one was able to figure it out as the command center was completely destroyed and even the Black box was nowhere to be found. Therefore they have no way of knowing who was in the base when the attack happened. Only after making a roll call on all the surviving sh.i.p.s were they able to figure out what sh.i.p.s were destroyed and of course their crew was automatically designated as either KIA or MIA. Only after the rescue of the survivors did they begin to hope that maybe there are other survivors who managed to escape during the attack. Believing in something impossible is better than giving up hope such as human nature. Commander Mikaela was finally able to smile again after several days of tireless work looking for her missing sons and grandsons. At Least one of them was able to survive and maybe just maybe others were able to escape as well. GFA is in a celebratory mood despite the severe loss they suffered, finally something worth celebrating after days of the gloomy atmosphere. Over the next few days, the survivors were invited to many prominent talk shows to retell their harrowing experience. Only the main characters of the rescue operation Fallen Angels, the real heroes were missing, that is because they once again went on a secret mission only this time they are rescuing one of their own. A stranded shadow unit and this time GT and Grand army are not pulling back any punches. GT and Fallen Angels mercenary group received countless invitations from many prominent shows and also a personal invitation from commander Markos and Commander Mikaela... Unfortunately, all of them are politely refused as Luna and her team was nowhere to be seen. Meanwhile, another group of mercenaries under the Grand Army is in the heat of battle. Carnage mercenary group was combating a regiment of Ganesh with Fenrir leading the charge. The reason is simple: they are a bait to lure the enemies while Luna''s team would sneak into another of Ganesh territory to rescue a survivor. And unlike Gaius and GFA survivors this rescue operation is not a simple one. After all, the survivor they are trying to rescue is a prisoner taken captive by a group of Ganesh. Luckily they weren''t able to figure out her identity yet, if not Ganesh would do anything to protect her at all costs, until they can extract all the information from her. Fortunately, she was able to activate and release communication drones without Ganesh being aware of it. The drones then did as it was programmed to secretly send messages. It took several days for the drones to finally escape the Ganesh jamming field and successfully sent a secure emergency transmission. Glamor was part of the first batch of shadow units. Unfortunately, she wasn''t as good as Dove and Michelle or anyone of the top ten for that matter, in fact, she was at the bottom in combat ratings after all her talent lay elsewhere. Infiltration and information gathering was her forte. When it comes to those two things she is at the very top of the list. Before being rescued by Ruby and Jem she used to be an actress but unfortunately, she was abducted and constantly r.a.p.ed by the son of the owner of the network she was working with, everyone thought she got into an accident on one of her hiking trips. But in reality, she was abducted, tortured, r.a.p.ed, and later sold to one of the criminal organizations. Before being rescued by Ruby and Jem. She already made peace with her past, she already claimed her revenge to all those that wrong her. She never revealed herself to her family members. To her, the past her is already dead and the Glamor is her new identity as a different person and she already has a new family, the shadow unit. She was a good actress, a talent she was able to perfect in her days as a shadow unit. And served her well into many infiltration missions she underwent. And this time her mission is to infiltrate one of the leading organizations in the war against Ganesh, The Coalitions. An organization created by many different races mostly victims of Ganesh conquest. It''s a difficult mission after all humans are a minority in organizations like the Coalitions. But she quickly found out that no race was immune to her great acting skills and so she quickly rose in ranks and even was given a position in one of the Coalitions flagsh.i.p.s. Unfortunately, her squadron was ambushed and despite giving everything it has ended up being annihilated, she was able to escape using emergency escape pods only to be captured by the Ganesh. Fortunately, she and her group weren''t killed immediately for some reason the Ganesh are keen on taking them as prisoners, which is considered good news for her. And so therefore during one of the times, they are transferred she was able to secretly send a communication drone out without alerting her captors. And this led to the current rescue attempt. Of course, she has no idea if her drones were able to successfully send the emergency transmission. And therefore she was constantly looking for the right time to release another one not knowing Luna and her team are already near them just waiting for the right time. EDITOR: King of Mortals. Chapter 228 - 228 V.26 A certain hooded figure can be seen walking the street in the outer part of Liberty. Looking around, she saw many merchants selling their wares, shoppers looking to buy things, a typical view of a busy market. Who would have thought that just two days ago, the look of this place was totally different. This place was actually one of the biggest black markets in Liberty. Just two days ago, the wares being sold here were totally different, slaves, body parts, forbidden items, you name it. Anything you can''t buy in a regular market, you can get them here. In other words, as long as it''s illegal, you can buy it here. And the most important thing is this place, in particular, is one of the most dangerous areas in all of Liberty, after all this is the home of many criminal organizations. But now it looks no different than any open market in Liberty, and what''s more, she can even see children running around the place. That thing never happened, not in this market. She looks around, trying to figure out which way to go. Then suddenly she saw a black round metallic object on the opposite side of her. She stopped, pulled her hood a little lower, making sure her face was totally hidden. She then moved to the side and pretended to browse some items in a stall. As soon as the drone passed by she breathed a sigh of relief, it''s been like this for her in the last few days. Those black things are the new GT security drones. They are equipped with both lethal and non-lethal weapons. Lethal weapons can destroy and vaporize the body parts. Not a splash of blood will shed, the body will evaporate from the heat of the laser. The non-lethal one uses standard rubber bullets only with more force, and the body parts hit by those rubber bullets will break. And those drones like targeting those pesky quick legs of the individuals, leaving them screaming and writhing in agony while it waits for the collection droids to bring the said individual into the processing center. And lastly, the drones were equipped with a powerful taser to subdue common criminals, mainly those who have too much of a drink and running amok. The drones were also equipped with a powerful shield strong enough to last a few minutes of continued bombardment. She saw many individuals who challenged those drones only to regret it afterward. She saw those drones in action personally, and to be honest, it scared her a lot. She was there when those drones stormed in and arrested the son of the elder, it only took five drones in less than 5 minutes to kill over 20 bodyguards and over thirty with broken bones and severe injuries. The speed with which the operation completed was scary. Many criminal organizations ended up disbanding, and those huge lawless organizations chose to relocate instead on one of the many asteroids surrounding Liberty. It''s costly, yes. but at least they will be safe from the hands of GT. After all, the asteroids have no gravity and no air. They can use them as a temporary habitual place, but making it permanent and sustainable is very costly, that''s why many criminals choose Liberty as a place to set up shops. Especially since upper management of Liberty is turning a blind eye to their activities, as long as it didn''t affect Liberty affairs. And those in charge of security are very easy to bribe. Liberty is a perfect place for them. Especially since Liberty''s motto is that they accept everyone as long as they follow Liberty''s rules, they don''t care about your background. And for a long time, the outer layer of Liberty had been the home and backyard of many criminal organizations. For decades those criminals remain unchecked and unregulated, the outer layer of Liberty is their backyard in fact, many of them are connected one way or another to the upper management of Liberty. But all that changed when GT got half the rights to manage Liberty security. And most importantly, GT doesn''t care who they are, as long as they broke the rules, they will surely get punished for their crimes. Their decades of happiness popped out like balloons. And just like that, GT put a stop to all their activities. Many tried to fight it, protested, and even tried rallying, but the moment they broke the rules, the drones were there to make them pay. It even became entertainment to many people on Liberty, as they cheered and clapped every time they heard criminals screaming in agony when they were hit by rubber bullets and ended up breaking a leg literally. If before, they can only keep quiet as criminals intimidate them into paying protection money. And so on. But now there''s a new sheriff in town. And this one is really Bad Ass. Of course, its not like criminals would change their ways overnight, many of them know nothing about other life. Many of them are doing it all their life. And now the life they knew is gone. The smart one decided to leave and move to another place like those asteroids. After all, they have been using those places to conduct some nasty stuff. So some of them already have a place set up in advance. But the stupid ones and the small-time criminals have no choice but to continue what they know. It''s just that with GT drones around, one wrong move was all it takes, and they are done. The hooded figure continued until she reached the end of the Market and what greeted her is the residential area. She moves around like she has been here many times before. Finally, she was facing a small brick house. She knocked on the door in a certain rhythm, two times slow and five times fast. From the inside came a tapping sound, and the door opened. She was greeted by another hooded figure with a much bigger build than her. After entering the house, she was met with darkness as the inside was dimly lit. They both moved forward and passed from one corridor after another and into a tunnel. And after a few minutes of walking, they reached a huge open area that can be seen clearly, and several figures are sitting on chairs surrounding a huge round table. "Queen, you are late." EDITOR: King of Mortals. Chapter 229 - 228.1 A certain Lalafell pt.1 26.1 A certain Lalafell pt.1 One thing you have to know about lalafell is that it is a race that lives and dies making a deal. They are a race of merchants. Their small and childlike appearance is what makes them very popular with ladies. And they are not like dwarves who are small but have a burly physique. Lalafell looks like children of 5 to 9 years old. And even the a.d.u.l.t ones who have mustaches and a beard still look like children, with funny looking beard and mustaches. But make no mistake, this adorable race was able to create one of the most powerful and influential organizations in the galaxy. They have hands extending into many galaxies, and even in the main universe, their influence can still be felt. Merchant consortium. Along with several other races, the lalafell founded one of the most prominent organizations. As such, they are considered to be one of the most prominent merchant race. But just like any other race, some are incredibly successful, and there are those like this individual, his name is Pippin even to the lowest standard of Lalafell, he was considered a failure. Even his parents and siblings have been begging him to be a farmer. After all, Lalafell also loves to farm and make things grow. Of course, he likes farming, but it can only be a hobby, not a real job. He has a dream of becoming the greatest Merchant in the universe. Unfortunately, every time he woke up, he was reminded of what kind of a failure he was as lalafell. Because unlike any other lalafell who would brave dangers and face the unknown, he is, as he describes himself, a practical guy. Why would he gamble his life into the unknown when he can do research beforehand and know what lies ahead. Why would he face danger if he can avoid it by going around it? And so while other braves danger going to the unknown looking for new wares to sell, he was in his room doing online trading.. Unfortunately, he was not very successful either, for one: he was selling goods sold by many lalafell like him and with better prices than he can afford to sell. And probably the only thing he has in common with other lalafell is that he would never take a losing deal; he would rather keep the item than sell it for a loss. Pippin likes reading the diary left behind by his great-great-grandfather, the only one in his line of the family who was able to make a name for himself. His great great grandfather was a famous explorer who discovered many new planets and traded with them, earning a small fortune, which he spent on his most ambitious expedition. Unfortunately, it''s this expedition that becomes his last, and he was never heard from again. His great grandfather and grandfather tried to follow the tradition, but they too were never heard from again like his ancestor. And so his father decided to break the life claiming tradition and instead decided to become a farmer. His siblings all followed in his father''s footsteps but not him. He grew up continuously reading the diary of his ancestor great adventures, and the best deals, so he only wanted to do one thing. Become a great merchant. But wanting to be one and being good at it is a different thing. And despite his family''s persuasions, he sticks to it, until one day his father finally had enough. He told him that if he didn''t make any money for the next two weeks, his allowance would be all cut-off. And whether he likes it or not he would be a farmer or he would be kicked out of the house. He tried to plead his case only to fall on deaf ears, even his mom, who would always support him, finally had enough. According to them, he was just wasting his life. And so for the next few days, he began the most daring plan he has ever done. To go to the place they called a merchant''s paradise. This so-called merchant''s paradise is one of the biggest regrets of his race. They called themselves as the greatest Merchant race in the galaxy, and yet the merchant paradise was built without them being a part of it. And so he decided that if there''s one place which can make his dreams come true, it''s that place. He rounded up all the possessions he had and what little money he had to buy a one-way ticket to merchant paradise. He was full of hope. If before someone told him to go to that place and fulfill his dream. He would answer, you are a f.u.c.k.i.n.g idiot. After all, that place is as much as a merchant paradise as a criminal paradise. And someone like him going there without any protection or background, he would be sending himself to be slaughtered. But fortunately, all that changed when a certain company decided to clean up the place of all bad elements. He remembers going online looking and searching all related articles and news about it. After all, there''s a lot of fake news circulating these days, and that kind of news sounds like fake news. After all, a criminal organization is as much a part of that place as any merchant selling their wares. And those criminal organizations are not your typical small-time criminals. They are organized and they are very powerful and influential organizations. They stuck to the Merchant''s paradise, like cancerous cells that have no cure. As long as there''s money to be had, criminals are next on its heel. But after reading one article after another, he was finally sure it is not fake but a miracle truth. And so he decided to go to Liberty to fulfill his dreams, and this time no one can stop him. It will be either he becomes a great merchant or dies reaching his dream. There''s no turning back this time. EDITOR: King of Mortals. Chapter 230 - 229 V.27 The Red Line, this name connects to the current Battlefield. The Red Line is the red Asteroid Field that divides the Bright Galaxy. To reach the other half of the galaxy, one needs to pass this Asteroid Line or Red Line. Red Line got its name from the dark red color of the Asteroids, but now it has a new meaning. On a certain area in the Red Line, the one they called the Crossing, this path was the safest path to cross the Red Line. The majority of the Asteroids on The Crossing have already been cleared to facilitate safe and fast travel to the other side of the bright galaxy, but right now this is also the front line in the war with Ganesh. This open area spanning several hundred thousand miles, which used to be full of sh.i.p.s going from one side to another is now filled with debris and explosive mines. And now only military sh.i.p.s can be seen baring many different insignia and flags, Of course, there were several ways to cross the Red Line, but none suitable for such a massive force to pass through. Especially those battlesh.i.p.s which are the size of a city. Small sh.i.p.s can pass through the Red Line safely as long as they are careful as some parts of the Red Line are home to some of the most savage, and territorial Space Beasts. After the Surprise attack of Ganesh, the sh.i.p.s on The Crossings are one of the first few who were attacked Hard almost everyone stationed on it perished at the time. And after launching several attacks, the Ganesh retreated back to the other side of the galaxy where most of their forces are located. On that side of the galaxy, the Ganesh remains unchallenged. During the time, GT first supplied the GFA and other forces with Combat Drones. The Ganesh have already conquered more than half of the galaxy and were pushing closer to the territory of humanities. That''s when humanities or HFA first encountered The Ganesh. And that''s when Humanities first joined the war. The member of the Coalitions, however, has been fighting the Ganesh for a long time. Many of their members were survivors and from the other half of the galaxy. Humanity and the other young races have no idea about it after all they are very young in the interstellar age, and their influence is quite limited. And with the drones from GT they were able to force the Ganesh back to the red line border into the other side of the galaxy. But never further than that as Ganesh has built many turrets and defence platform on the other side of the galaxy. When GT attacked Ganesh and captured the Professor, those things happened on the other side of the galaxy in Ganesh''s territory, which is why Karou is very angry and worried. To be able to bypass their defense and attack them in their territories without them being aware is a big wake up call for him. Coupled with the heavy losses his forces have been receiving from the new weapons of humanities and other superpowers on the other side of the galaxy. Made him decide to gather back his forces and retreat to the other side of the galaxy where they have total control over. In truth Karou''s objective is not to kill everyone in the galaxy but merely to conquer them. And that is why he never touches primitive races without the capabilities to travel into space. And even some who do have capabilities to travel, as long as they don''t possess any threat to his forces, he leaves them alone. However, subjugation is still subjugation, and resistance is to be expected. And that is why, to teach them a lesson, he needs to show them some force, which requires them to be brutal. He wants everyone to fear him or his forces and show them the difference in strength and that resistance is futile. But unfortunately, things do not always go according to plan, and because of GT, his quick conquest turned into a long and bloody one. The Coalitions and Merchant Consortium jointly managed the Crossing, but with the arrival of GT, humanity was able to gain a place as top superpower and so they also earned a place in the Crossing and became its third Guardian. After all in the war with Ganesh, the Crossing is the most lucrative place in the galaxy. If not for GT, humanity would never be allowed to wage war in The Crossing. And for a time, three Superpowers monopolized this place until Ganesh launched a massive surprise attack. This place is now open to all forces that want to battle the Ganesh, and with one look, they can see many insignia''s belongings to many organizations. After the GT press conference about Ganesh, many organizations used that video as propaganda to recruit new soldiers and to renew the interest of their people in the war. And so the Crossing becomes very crowded more, and more forces are arriving at the place to join the war with Ganesh. And with many forces congregating many abandoned planets near the Crossing were converted into a temporary base. And with that, merchants and criminals saw a chance to make money. Even GT was tempted and sent SS Grandline there. And with the first bank branch on board, it became a go-to place to do massive deals, earning GT a small fortune just on the commissions alone. Not to mention the sales of other products such as food and health solutions that are famous to all forces participating in the war. The fight here never stops mercenaries and adventurers continuously waging war with Ganesh''s forces in hopes of gaining some of their materials to be sold for a fortune. Many merchants and representatives of superpowers are waiting for someone to purchase those resources. GT included the price of Ganesh materials that have already been regulated in order to prevent anyone from greatly lowering or increasing the price. Anyone caught deliberately manipulating the prices of those materials would be jointly punished by top Superpowers. But that doesn''t stop many criminal organizations from trying to hoard those resources and manipulating the prices. After all, the Ganesh are a product; they are not infinite. Sooner or later, the war would be over, and the lucrative profit from Ganesh''s materials would be over. As such, everyone is making sure they can get the best out of it before it ends. EDITOR: King of Mortals. Chapter 231 - 230 V.28 Red Line, The Crossing. Countless fortune seekers are here to earn credits. While others are there to train themselves like those adventurers and mercenaries groups Oda had created to train the Grand Army. Carnage and Fallen Angels are also there especially Fallen Angels, their presence alone inspired many new adventurers and mercenaries both. Even some soldiers looked up to them because many of their exploits are open for the public to see. As for Carnage, very few know of their names mainly because every mission and battles they participated in are away from anyone''s eyes. Fenrir doesn''t like being on spotlights, in fact the sisters have requested more than once for them to join the Fallen Angels but repeatedly denied by Fenrir, despite being sisters of Arc. Fenrir remains adamant about working in shadows. Of course, it''ll be a different story if Oda gives him the order to join the Fallen Angels, but the Sisters don''t want to force others as well. Even the fallen Angels or Luna herself, despite not wanting to be a public figure, agreed voluntarily because she likes the sisters and can''t say no to them. Luna was close to Arc''s sisters. Whenever she didn''t have work, she would be spending her time with either Anna or Amy. As for Cosmos, he became the fallen Angels official mascot. In the Crossing, there was a certain pressure starting to build up, despite the Limited actions the superpowers are taking, and even the Ganesh are not taking any major action after the surprise attack. Everyone can feel the certain tension in the air. GFA, the Coalitions and Merchant Consortium, even the Mercenary Guild, are building up forces. The same can be said to the Ganesh as more new and powerful Ganesh can be seen once in a while. Despite the continuous and small skirmishes happening between Ganesh and many independent forces. There''s no sign of the Ganesh major forces taking any actions. Most skirmishes happened between small forces and Ganesh scouts. But anyone can tell it''s only a matter of time when the great war will happen. Back in a certain Bar in one of the many planets, that''s been converted into a supply base. Fenrir and his crew are having a drink after a successful battle against Ganesh. Over the past few days, they have become a regular in this bar. Many independent mercenaries and adventurers frequently go to this bar as well, and so it became a good source of information. The information which normally can''t be found in the black market or in any online forum. That is because the information here is all personal experience being shared through drinks and such. Many of them are useless, but if you listen enough, you will find much relevant information like the frequency of Ganesh scouts or how many of them. And for Fenrir, it''s a good source of information to find their new target. Because of their small size, Fenrir and his crew can''t participate in any major battles. So he is looking for any information about independent Ganesh scouts or any sightings of Ganesh, especially those small forces. And in this bar they don''t attract any unwanted attention despite being a beastlord. But in this bar where many different races come together to relax. Their appearance is not a big deal. At least there are those who attracted more attention than them. For example, those brutish races like Hothgars, similar to a beast in appearance, but that''s where the similarities end. Hothgars are a very aggressive race. And their burly body is full of runes and tattoos, and even the female looks like a hulk with b.o.o.b.s and fur. They are very aggressive, sometimes one look is all it takes to start a fight. And another reason is Hothgars are mainly pirates, many infamous pirates are from the Hothgars race. But for some reason, Hothgars seem to stay away from Fenrir''s Crew, in fact they are quite friendly to him, surprising even Fenrir. He has witnessed how aggressive they are. Like gangsters, many stay clear in their path, but of course many mercenaries and adventurers don''t fear them either, hence a fight. Fortunately, the planet or many supply bases have their own rules. They can brawl all they want as long as they don''t use any weapons and will pay for any damages made from their fights. In fact, those fights have become a source of entertainment for many. Gambling and bettings are made every time a fight or brawls happen. And the security in charge of the place doesn''t bother with them as long as they don''t cross the line. Otherwise, they would be banned from entering again or in much more serious cases, killed on the spot. "Fenrir my man, you''re here good let''s drink." Said the big male Hothgars. "Crow I thought you would be doing some hunting in the blue sector." Said Fenrir smiling. "We would be if not for those bastards occupying the place," said Crow. "Oh, that''s interesting to make even the great Crow to back off, what kind of bastard are we talking about?" "Haha the Human Kind." Said Crow. "GFA?," Ask Fenrir curiously. It''s true because of his Boss, humanities standing is on the rise, and many races and power would think twice to start a conflict with them. "Nah, they call themselves the Royal Empire or something. Those guys are quite aggressive and it''s not wise to start a conflict with them since there''s no profits in it." Said Crow. Fenrir nodded. But his brows are furrowed. He doesn''t like those guys from the Royal Empire because his big Boss doesn''t like them too. Those guys are throwing away human lives like some trash, mainly because their army is mostly made up of clones. Even GFA treated the drones better than how the Royal Empire treats the clones. In fact, GT has never traded with the Royal Empire. one reason is that before GT was founded. The Royal Empire was the Humanities top weapon manufacturer. Among the superpower belonging to Humanities, the Royal Empire is capable of fighting the Ganesh even without relying on GT''s weapons. It''s just that for every battle they have with Ganesh, the amount of human clones being killed is so much more than what the Ganesh are losing, yet despite that, they keep throwing away those clones'' lives. "Yeah, those guys are assholes." Said Fenrir. "Hahaha, how right you are. I just don''t understand why they choose the blue sector to set up camp. It''s very close to the front line and Ganesh and other dangerous elements are frequently seen in that place. Especially space beasts." Said Crow. "Well whatever it is it''s not my business," said Fenrir, but despite saying that, he immediately relays that information to the Grand Army. If The Royal Empire is here, then Divine Cross religion would not be far from their heel. And true enough, as soon as Fenrir thought about it, a certain group of individuals came barging into the bar. The man leading the group looks around with a disdainful look in his eyes, wearing all white articles of clothing similar to those of the priest. With a golden Cross embroidered on both sleeves and a scepter in hand, he began shouting. "Rejoice sinners for you have been chosen by the Divine to work for us. Rejoice and repent for we offer salvation and peace in these Chaotic times." He gestures, and a young boy steps forward holding a huge scroll. The boy then unfurls it, revealing a recruitment notice. The people on the bar looked at it, scoffed off, and went back to drinking, no longer paying attention to the man in white. When he saw no one was paying attention to him anymore, the man snickered. He then looked around and saw Fenrir talking to Crow. He smiled and walked towards him. Fenrir noticed the man approaching but ignored it. Crow saw it too, and like Fenrir, he just ignores it and continues chatting with Fenrir. When the man was near the table of Fenrir and Crow. The people on the bar began to quiet down; some of them were looking at the man in white like an idiot. Of all the people to bother, he has chosen the most dangerous ones. Not to mention Crow, who was a Hothgar known for their aggressive and violent nature, the man next to him is even more so, just the fact that even Crow is being respectful of him. Some of them are aware of the achievements of that said individual. Some are waiting for a fight to happen, as they are already preparing to set up a betting table as soon as the fight started. While some, especially those new to the place, were curious why everyone went quiet when the man in white approached the two individuals. The Bar master just shakes his head while the barmaid just giggles, seemingly waiting for something exciting to happen. After all, for every brawl that occurred in the bar, they too would be compensated after the fight. Hmm, Fenrir looked up and saw the man looming over him with a smile on his face. "You need something?" Said Fenrir. The man smiles and says. "You''re a beast lord aren''t you?" Fenrir''s expression remains the same, even though he wasn''t really a beast lord but someone created by the system. His appearance and personality are very much like the beast lord after all, he was designed to lead them. Crow has question marks on his head. "Beast Lord? What''s that? how come I never heard of that race. I thought he was one of the Fays," said Crow in his mind. At first, he wanted to teach this bastard a lesson for disturbing his chat with Fenrir, now he was curious about this man''s background. As Hothgars, they were born with sharp instinct, and ever since he saw and met Fenrir, his intuition tells him how dangerous and strong he is, which is why he wanted to be friends with him. As a fighting Race, they adore the strong and disdain the weak. "What is it?" Said Fenrir. "Excellent, your race was born to serve us. As the divine willed it, from now on you will be my servant and bodyguard," said the man in white, smiling brightly. Fenrir''s expression remains the same, and he didn''t say anything. Fortunately, his crew is not with him, if not, this idiot would have been mauled to death. If Shaki is here, he would have been poisoned to death. "Are you done? I am not interested in your stupid Divine. Leave before I change my mind." Said Fenrir releasing some of his aura. Instantly the temperature in the bar goes down a few degrees, giving everyone quite a fright. EDITOR: King of Mortals. Chapter 232 - 231 V.29 When Fenrir released some of his aura the first one to feel it, is Crow. Crows eyes dilated, he swallowed his non existing saliva. "I knew it, he is indeed very strong" said Crow in his mind. Everyone in the bar is a verteran with several battles under their belt, many of them have been to life and death situations before and therefore their instinct is way above those normal people. Especially the regulars on this bar. Only the most bad ass would consider entering this place. It is not because there''s a certain requirements or anything like that but because the regulars of this Bar are all veterans and dangerous individual, many of them have bathe in the blood of their enemies. That small amount of aura is enough for everyone to tell how dangerous Fenrir is, all if not some of them make a mental note not to pissed that guy in the future. But contrary to everyone expectations the man in white seems to not feel a thing and remains clueless on how much danger he is in. "Don''t insult your maker Beast, you were created to.." he didn''t manage finished Crow smack him quite hard. Teeths and blood blossoms while the man in white flew across the room. Of course this was just a casual slap from Crow in fact he hold himself back quite a lot. After all he didn''t want to kill the man. Fenrir looks at Crow "You didn''t have to mind people like that." Said Fenrir shaking his head then he raised his glass to Crow. He didn''t even look at the man in white. Crow laugh and raised his glass aswell "cheers! Well I hate being disturb when I''m talking to a friend hahaha" When the people heard Crows laughter, they too raise their glass to cheer. After that the noise returns they all ignore the man in white sprawling in the floor along with his fellow men in white seemingly trying to wake him up. The men in whites all looked at Fenrir with hatred, but didn''t say anything, after that they carried the unconscious man and left without looking back. The bar master shakes his head. "Hopefully they learned their lesson and leave it at that. If not well there would be a bloodbath. He looks at Fenrir. he knows the aura is just a fraction of what he can release if not everyone on the bar would have pissed themselves from fear. He too was once a fortune seeker and been to many life and death battles, but after loosing all his friends and family to battles he decided to retire, he opened the bar mainly because he likes drinking. Back in the day he too made a name for himself. "Master what are you thinking?" Hmmm, the bar master looked at the young female, one of his many barmaids. He smiles and said. "Nothing just remembered something from the past." "I heard master use to be a famous Adventurer or something is that true?" Ask the young barmaid. She remembered hearing several tales about their barmaster from many of their regulars. "Stop gossiping and go back to work!!." The young woman shakes her head in disappointment, picks up the tray and goes back to serving the customer. Fenrir noticed the barmaster looking at him, he raises his glass for a toast and smiles. He knew the barmaster is not your regular bartender. He might be good at controlling his aura but Fenrir''s senses is much sharper than a regular beast lord. It''s one of the reasons he has chosen to hang around this bar. He knows this bar is different from the rest. Back in Divine Cross camp. The Bishop is looking at the unconscious man in front of him, He furrows his brows. He then looked at the man who was carrying the unconscious man. "What happened?, who did this to preacher Alexander?" "Hmmm, a beast Lord you say.. interesting I didn''t think there would be any Beast Lord in space not under our care. Who is he?" "Bishop Carlo, we asked around the name of the Beast Lord is Fenrir, and seems to be the leader of a group of Beasts Lords they are registered as mercenaries under the name Carnage." Said one of the priests. "That''s interesting, I wonder who''s power they are under." "I have asked around, they don''t appears to be affiliated with any power." "No, it''s impossible for any beast lord to leave Earth without relying with any power." "Earth is now the territory of GT. Could it be them?" Bishop Carlo didn''t answer him immediately, everything about GT is a mystery to them, their origins, and the source of their technologies are all a mystery. Even the so called founder and owner of GT is nothing but a drop out. Clearly someone is behind them. The question is who?. At first we thought that there were human superpowers behind them, but now clearly that was not the case. Bishop Carlo thought of a lot of things about what he knew about GT. The Divine Cross once thought about making GT serve under them but the growth of GT is something beyond their imagination, in just a few years it becomes the most powerful human organization in history. from nothing to everything he knows Divine Cross is not the only organization who is interested in GT. In fact he was 100% every human superpowers have been investigating GT in secret. Divine Cross had sent countless spies, many had disappeared. The rest couldn''t find anything beyond what everyone already knows. Judging by what he knows GT have no need to hide about using a Beast Lord. After all it''s already a known fact they have several Beast Lord employees under them. GT doesn''t discriminate against any race, as long as they are capable they will treat them like how they treat everyone working under them. "If This Carnage is under GT, GT would have no need to hide it, in fact it would be more beneficial if they revealed it. The fact that this Carnage is registered as independent means they have no intention of revealing who was backing them." Bishop mumbled to himself. He looked back at the priests who appears to be waiting for his order. "Bring Alexander to infirmary. And have father Anderson meet me at my office." The priests nodded and immediately brought the unconscious Alexander away. Few minutes later, a man appeared in Bishop Carlo office. "Bishop you have called for me?" Asks father Anderson. "I have indeed, I want you to investigate someone for me, it''s a group of mercenaries called Carnage." "That group of Beast Lord?" "You knew about them?" Carlo Asked in surprise. "Anderson nodded. They have been in our radar for quite sometime. After all a group of unaffiliated Beast Lords in space are quite suspicious. Especially since they are well trained, especially their Leader. The one called Fenrir." He paused, and took a deep breath. "I have personally asked all the Beast Lords under us and no one seems to have heard of this Fenrir, as you may have already knows many beast lords are affiliated with one another. One way or another. But despite asking everyone no one has heard of this Fenrir." "What does that mean? Are you telling me he was a clone? Impossible we both know cloning a Beast Lord only resulted in a very inferior version. So weak it is useless not only their physics were weak even their intelligence is severely deteriorated to a simple beast. If not many superpowers would be cloning Beast Lord instead of humans." "Anderson nodded that''s right. That is why I have concluded that Fenrir is created using cloning technology unknown to us. "I don''t agree to that assessment, that kind of technology, if it even exists can only be found in the main universe. For all we know he was just some unknown Beast lord who never contacted other beast lords before being discovered." Anderson nodded, he didn''t argue with that theory. But as the head of the intelligence division he knows certain things. "Are you familiar with the King of Beast?" Ask Anderson. Carlo nodded of course he does, who doesn''t. Every Divine Cross members knows him. The servant of the pope, the very first Beast Lord to exist. "Are you also familiar with his abilities," Ask Anderson. Carlo was shocked. "Don''t tell me,.. no way..." Anderson nodded. "The original, The first beast lord possessed a unique, and powerful abilities and that is to control, and communicate with any other beast lords. He can also sense them as long as they are beast lords born on Earth he can connect to them. With exception of two things." Said Anderson. "Brutal Beast, and cloned Beast Lord." Said Carlo. Anderson once again nodded. "I once brought this affair to the Holiness The Pope. And we came to the same conclusion that Fenrir would be a good addition to our forces after all Fenrir and his crew are quite powerful." Carlos agreed Fenrir crew are very powerful and would be a good addition to their forces. "And so the Pope ordered the king of Beasts Leofold to bring under his control this Fenrir and his crew. And so I set up a chance for them to meet. You want to know the result?" Carlo nodded, "He failed, I can guess this much seeing Fenrir is still free from our influence." "Indeed he failed, but if that is all there is to it we would never put too much importance to this Fenrir." "What happened?" Asked Carlos "Leofold almost lost his mind." "What!?" Shocked, Carlo stood up and shouted. But quickly recovers. He then sits down fake a cough, "tell me what happened" "I can''t tell you the exact reason as we ourselves didn''t quite understand it, when Leofold returned he was mumbling to himself. I asked him what happened, he look scared. no, he was terrified. He said that it was a monster not a beast. After that he refused to talk about it even when the Pope is asking him personally he refused to say more, he just said to stay away from that monster." Anderson shakes his head. "Ever since then we have been trying to find his origin or his backers but so far all investigation comes up with nothing." "What about the beast lord under him. Are they all like him?" Asked Carlos. Anderson shakes his head, "as far as we can tell the beast lord under him are all regular Beast Lords. Many of our beast lords seemed to have recognized them." "Then can we control those under him in secret? Anderson made a hopeless gesture, "not gonna happen, Leofold refuses to get near Fenrir again. Not me or even the Pope can convince him." "Sigh, Carlos slump into his chair. "Then there''s nothing we can do for now." Anderson nodded, "stay away from Fenrir and his crew for now. We don''t need unnecessary conflict." "I know, I''ll inform my men. Let me know if there''s new development with Fenrir and his crew." Anderson nodded, bows and leaves. Sigh, that Alexander is quite unlucky of all the people to pissed off, he chooses the most dangerous one. No, maybe he was lucky if the one who made the move is not the Hothgars but Fenrir himself he would probably be dead already. Sigh¡­not only he was dragged here because their sworn enemies are here for reasons unknown and now his priest was able to pissed a very dangerous individual. No the Hothgars are Violent and aggressive as they are, they were also a calculative bunch they would not start a conflict with anyone knowing there''s nothing to gain. The problem is Fenrir we know next to nothing about that dangerous individual. He might be already planning something bad for all he knows. Sigh, "such a bad day..." Chapter 233 - 232 V.30 Aiur the planet home to the oldest race known to Bright Galaxy, the Protoss race are considered the first race to ever step into space. Many of their traces can be seen on the records of many races. There was a time when they can be considered the ruler of the bright galaxy. But they become a reclusive race for some reason unknown to all, and Locked themselves up in their sectors, preventing any contact with the outside. They put a very powerful barrier separating their sectors from the rest. And until now, those barriers remain strong. And out of respect to them, many powerful races have set rules to leave them alone lest they incurred one of the oldest races'' wrath. "T''Sar, the seal is about to break." A very old looking Protoss was looking at the stars in the sky unknown to what he was thinking. Sigh, "we have protected the seal for as long as I can remember, we honored our promise. But we all know one day this will happen, and we are preparing for it ever since." Said the old Protoss who kept looking at the stars. "Indeed we have, but what about the others? They must be told. Said the young Protoss." "And they will be when the time is right." "The seal is about to break, there''s no better time than now." "I share your concerns, young one, I do.. but after eons of seclusions, who would believe us?" "Rakash, there you are. I have been looking all over for you. Are you still going on about informing the outside world?" Said the big Protoss clad in armor. "They deserve to know!. This Galaxy belongs to them as much as it belongs to us." "The big Protoss shakes his head. Do you really think they will believe us? No, even if they do¡­ them knowing it will only do more harm than good." Said the big Protoss. "We need to tell them so they can prepare.. send me." Rakash insisted. "Enough, Rakash! This is not a game. We will inform them when the time comes, but not before that, it''s not your place to do otherwise. Return to your charge." Rakash was about to retort but seeing the look of Ak''toh, he swallowed all that. He shakes his head and leaves. "Don''t be harsh with him Ak''toh, and the child has a point." Said the old Protoss. Sigh, "I know... But the outside world is in chaos right now. Invaders from the main universe are making a mess of things, and our former allies are gone. Young races are now ruling the galaxy. We already sent word, and yet no one replied back." "Well, it''s understandable they would not believe us unless one of us comes in person. But to do so would require breaking our barriers, And breaking the barriers is the same as breaking the seal." Said Ak''toh. "I know¡­ But Rakash is right, they need to be warned. Who knows, maybe one or two of them would be able to help us pass this apocalypse..." said the old Protoss. Ak''toh looked up but didn''t say anything else, as he knew that was wishful thinking. If they themselves don''t know if they can survive when the seal breaks, how can those young races who only have a few thousands of years in history can help them. Back in GT HQ. Diana is looking at the report about the galaxy''s current situation, despite the Chaotic situations, GT was actually raking in so much profits, months after months their profits increased several times. But despite that, there''s no joy on Dianna''s face. After all GT has reached a bottleneck, their production capacity is already cap. And their technology advancement is about to reach its cap as well. Despite how much Dianna doesn''t want to depend on System Factory, by the end of the day, every technology GT possesses comes from Systems Factory, they can modify them as much as they want, but even that has its limit. Even though there''s so much room for improvement without proper materials and the right tools, they will not be able to manufacture them without relying on a system factory. Bright Galaxy is huge despite being rated as a backwater Galaxy. GT only has access to a small percentage of its resources because many of them are the exclusive property of another race, and many of them are using those materials exclusively for themselves. Which is not surprising after all the humans are doing the same thing. Many exclusive materials that can only be found in Solar systems cannot be traded to another race, at least not legally. Of course, there''s plenty of ways to get those exclusive materials; unfortunately, there''s no way to get a lot of them regularly, and GT''s need is enormous. Once they incorporate a certain material into their products, they would need a regular supply of it. And acquiring it through illegal means is not sufficient. That''s why they were very careful about what kind of materials they incorporate into their products because it needs to be readily available. And that greatly limits their capabilities to produce more advanced technology. And that is the reason GT are sending agents to many places and races to acquire more materials. They are also purchasing mining rights to many resources planets belonging to other races. GT itself already owned several dozen resources planets. The drones have discovered many of them. Some are purchased from other races. Few are purchased from adventurers who discovered them. GT are paying a premium to the Adventurer, who manages to discover any rich resource planets. Adventurers who discovered them know keeping a resource planet is impossible without any great power backing them up. So many of them sold that information to the highest bidders or to many Superpowers who can pay huge amounts of credits for them. Any adventurers who discovered those resources planets could become a billionaire overnight, especially if they discovered a class A or above resource planet. Any superpower would pay a fortune to get those resources planet GT included. But by the end of the day, GT is simply too young. Despite their current standing and reputation, the amount of resources and the planets they owned is the lowest among superpowers. At Least on the surface. Legion himself owned several hundred resource planets inside Kidkat, one of the forbidden regions in Bright Galaxy. Unfortunately, most of those resources went to his Army. And besides, Arc has given him the order to save those resources, and sharing those resources to GT regularly will risk exposing his existence. So Dianna never once asked Legion for resources. In fact, it was Legion who was asking for rare resources that can only be found in the main galaxy. And because of the scarcity of those resources, sending them to Legion doesn''t attract any attention. Dianna has been reading report after report, including current events and such. This has been a daily routine for her. As the overall responsibility for the whole GT, every decision she makes has a bigger impact. Not just to GT''s but to many who are depending on GT. And so many influential people are constantly paying attention to her every move. And as she was reading those reports, Tiffa walks into her office without knocking or anything; she is the only one who can do this, as not even Ash would enter Dianna''s office without knocking. Tiffa then went straight to the refrigerator, picked up some drinks, went to the couch, and sat on it. Dianna continued to read without paying attention to her. She''s used to it. They have been together since the very beginning. "I miss Big Boss!" Said Tiffa. Dianna put the report she was reading, stood up and went to the refrigerator, picked out some drinks, and sat next to Tiffa. "Yeah, me too.." Dianna said so while looking up to the ceiling. It''s only when they are alone like this, they can be themselves. "That damn Legion is not answering my calls." Said Tiffa complaining. "Well, you keep pestering him about Boss." "Yeah, well, Boss said he has a direct way to contact Legion, I was just asking if there''s any news, that''s all, but that bastard keeps hanging up before I say something," said Tiffa complaining. "Wait when the Boss returns. I''ll have the Boss punish him." Dianna smiles but didn''t say anything. "Oh yeah, we got the deal on type 23 blue steel mine. I already signed the exclusive rights to mine it." Dianna smiled and said, "I''ll have someone set it up." "I already informed Ash about it, and told him to set up security around the mine. As well as the logistics division, I told them we need to start mining it ASAP." Diana smiles but didn''t say anything else. "Oh yeah, Tiffa, before I forgot, Anna and Amy would be visiting us two days from now, so free your schedule." Said Dianna, who already stood up to go back to her table. Tiffa''s pouting face lights up. "Really?, I miss them so much, let me finish all my work then." Tiffa stood up and left immediately after that. Ring, ring! Dianna looks at her personal communication device, not many people can call her directly. "Commander Markos, I didn''t expect for you to call, something happened?" "Yeah, you can say that. I haven''t thanked you yet for rescuing my grandson. But that''s not why I called, what do you know about the race Protoss?" EDITOR: King of Mortals. Chapter 234 - 232.1 A certain Lalafell pt.2 V.30.1 A Certain Lalafell pt.2 Pipin excitedly packs his bag, only leaving a note. He left excitedly, of course, without informing his parents because he knew they would do everything to stop him. So he sneaked out during the night; fortunately, the ship''s tickets he got were also for leaving at night. He couldn''t help singing a tone, he has never been sure about all the decisions he made until now. He knows his destiny is in Liberty; he can almost taste it. When he reached the starport, he easily found where he needed to go. After all, he did some research beforehand. It didn''t take long for him to find the booth, after passing the very simple immigration process, he found himself sitting in the passenger ship heading towards Liberty. He looked around, and he saw many different races. It''s the first time he saw that many different races. Mainly because he never really gets out much. Dunfell, the Lalafell home-world, is one of the most visited planets in the sector. Countless different races visit it regularly to get a contract for some exclusive products. Some are visiting as tourists looking around after all Dunfell is famous for its merchants and with the variety of farm products such as fruits and vegetables. Many famous fruits can only be found in Dunfell, and only certain Lalafell knows how to grow them. For example, on Pipin''s family farm, his mother comes from a long line of farmers, and it is one of the few families who knows how to grow those certain vegetables and fruits. In fact, Pipin''s family farms are quite famous being visited by many different races looking to purchase their goods. Even famous Lalafell merchants are visiting their farm, hoping to purchase their goods exclusively. It''s one of the reasons his parents wanted him to be a farmer. Because it is a very lucrative business, and most importantly, it is very safe. But Pipin never once pictured himself as a farmer. Despite knowing how lucrative it is.. he never once considered it as a job for himself. Looking around, he saw Races of different sizes; some were cursing, especially those big burly guys. After all, the economy class has only standard size seats. And while it is small for others, to Pipin, it is already a bed. After all, the standard height of Lalafell is only about 3 feet, and Pipin is even smaller than average. Of course, some sh.i.p.s have an economy class with seats tailored to its passengers, but those kinds of passenger sh.i.p.s are quite expensive. Standard passenger sh.i.p.s only have standard seats tailored to fit any race. Of course, it''s not always comfortable, especially to those bigger races. But to Pipin, none of that matters as everything he sees is interesting to him. He lays his bag under the seats. All seats come with a small compartment under the chairs; after all, not anyone can reach the compartments above the seats. He was lucky he got the seat near the window. Next to him sat a big guy, covered in cloth from head to toe. After a small greeting as a courtesy, the big guy put on some headphones and never bothered with Pipin again. It didn''t take long for the ship to leave. The time needed to reach Liberty is about three days. The ship is equipped with all kinds of facilities. After all, even the smallest passenger ship has a capacity of over a thousand passengers. And some trips can go for several weeks, so it''s only natural to have different facilities on board. After the initial flight speed, as soon as the ship reached optimal warp speed, anyone would be allowed to leave their seats and explore the ship. As soon as the signal for allowing the passenger to roam lights up, Pipin immediately left his seat and went on exploring the ship. But he quickly got bored, mainly because he realized that he didn''t have enough money to enjoy the many facilities the ship has to offer. So after getting back to his seat, he opened up his ancestor''s diary, like he usually does when he had nothing to do. Once again, he was engrossed by reading his ancestor''s diary and picturing himself doing the same thing. He couldn''t even remember how many times he had read his ancestor''s diary, but one thing for sure, he never got tired of reading it. In fact, he long discovered that every time he read it, he would discover something new. He couldn''t explain it. Like a house full of many secrets, one can only live in it for a long time to discover that there are countless secret passages and compartments; only by going searching the house again and again can those secrets be discovered. That is how he felt; he remembers asking his grandfather and his father about this. After all, they also have read the diary many times, yet they all said he was imagining it when he explained it. But since then, he continued to read it every single day, whenever he had nothing to do, which is pretty much all the time. He then started doc.u.menting all those little discoveries he found, and it turned out to be a guide. Like a code that can be unlocked only by reading about it again and again. It was a guide to the places his ancestors have been able to discover, a map to the places his ancestors have explored before. Discovering it, he was ecstatic. Unfortunately, his cowardly nature has prevented him from following those guides. But this time is different from his father''s threats, and with the action of a certain company, he finally has the courage to really follow his dreams, and it will start in Liberty, the merchant''s paradise. Luckily he has a good memory, so in order for those secrets to not be discovered by others, he only doc.u.mented it in fragments, while the rest can only be found in his head. If others read his note, they would find it to be a child''s dream and fantasy, only he can understand those doc.u.ments.. After all, according to his ancestors'' diary, the most important thing about being an explorer and merchants is the ability to keep a secret. After all, his ancestors have repeatedly written those advice many times over the course of his journey. And Pipin has taken that advice very seriously. Three days quickly passed. And Pipin finally arrived on Liberty. But what would await him? find out next time¡­ EDITOR: King of Mortals. Chapter 235 - 233 V.31 Red Line, in the Crossing a small skirmish, had turned into a big fight when a scout ship of the Coalitions encountered scouts from Ganesh, and a battle immediately took place. Following the reinforcement of several independent groups. The battle escalated to what it is now, a full-blown battle. Powerful forces from Ganesh arrived one after another, forcing the other forces to do the same. In several minutes, hundreds, if not thousands of sh.i.p.s of all sizes, have joined the fight. Many independent groups are taking advantage of the battle to secure a price for themselves, making the fight very chaotic. Top Superpowers like GFA are trying to take control of the battlefield but failing to do so because of the many independent forces doing whatever they want. On the other hand, the Ganesh are fighting in a very organized formation. So despite being outnumbered, the loss they incurred is far less than what others have. On the GFA flag ship. A man can be seen in the admiral seat. If Arc was here, he would have easily recognized the man. Head of supply division with authority only slightly lower than the elders, he was the one in charge of GFA supply and provisions. Admiral Jackson Ford When the battle happened, being the highest-ranking officer at that time, he immediately took charge until someone appeared to replace him. When the fight started, he was personally inspecting the supply and provisions on the supply base, after all, this place has become one of the most important places in the war, and it must be supplied entirely with everything it needs, not just foods, Ammunition and machine parts are also part of the supply chain. And all that falls under him. After setting up a very secure supply chain, he went to inspect the base as well as the officers in charge of it, to make sure no hinky pinky was happening. After all, corruption is very common in any supply base. He turned a blind eye to it most of the time, as long as they didn''t cross the line. But this time, he''s making sure nothing like that happens since this is the front line in the war. The last thing he wants is the supplies being used somewhere else. And depriving those that really need it. He warned those in charge that if something like that happened, he would do everything he can to send that guy and everyone involved to be executed. Lisa was beside him, who was now a vice admiral in rank, far from her previous rank of Lieutenant. After successfully establishing cooperation with GT, she manages to complete several other critical missions, such as successfully sending provisions behind enemy lines to support their scouts and forces undercover. And with commander Markos'' recommendation, she quickly rose in ranks. Well, mainly because Dianna has chosen her as the direct link to GFA and praised her to Commander Markos and other elders. And so to strengthen the bond between GFA and GT, they give Lisa a more fitting rank to do her job well. At the same time, vice-admiral Sheila was promoted to Admiral and currently serving in other sectors. GFA elders have already been notified, and several admirals are already on their way to take charge of the battle. Meanwhile, GT is already making preparations as this could be a trigger that could potentially end the war one way or another. On the other hand, Dianna was busy making preparations to contact the Protoss after her meeting with Commander Markos and informing her that GFA received a message from the Protoss. Although they could not confirm the authenticity of the messages, it contains a very alarming warning. And although the GFA is not taking it seriously, Commander Markos thinks it is very important to be prepared whether it is fake or not; otherwise, it would be too late by then. Unfortunately, with the war going on GFA doesn''t have the capacity to prepare for a threat that couldn''t be confirmed. And so he decided to inform the only force he knows that is capable of doing something about it. Hence a call to Dianna was made. And Dianna would not so easily dismiss a threat that has the potential to endanger her Boss dreams. Any threat must be identified and eliminated before it can affect them. That is Arc''s reminder to them before leaving. Unfortunately, any attempt to contact the Protoss have failed. Their shield can not only block any physical matter but also prevent any transmission from passing through. And so Dianna was about to ask the only one she knows who is capable of bypassing those barriers, Legion. But with the intensity of the fight going on, she can''t ask Legion to leave now. And so she asked Oda for real-time data on the front line. Back in the GFA flagship in the front line Admiral Ford was having a mental breakdown; although he didn''t reveal any of that on the outside, inside his mind, he was cursing non-stop. Ever since he was transferred into supply division, even back when he was still with HFA, he has never been in an actual fight, let alone command one. But despite that, along with common knowledge and experience, he was doing ok. At Least that''s what everyone thinks, but Admiral Ford doesn''t think so. He was convinced that everyone is laughing at him on the inside. On the other hand, Lisa didn''t realize the peculiar expression Admiral Ford is giving every once in a while, not to mention she has complete trust in her uncle. She is completely engrossed in the war. After all, hearing and experiencing it herself are very different things. The tensions, the excitement, the fear, the Joy everything is being mixed up, and she is experiencing it all at the same time. It''s no wonder many soldiers are suffering from PTSD after experiencing war. She''s in the Command center quite far from the actual front line, yet the tensions and emotions she feels are indescribable. How much more emotional for those in the very front line, walking a very fine line of life and death. She couldn''t imagine it. "Sir, we lost team bravo, team zeta received heavy damage.. Sir Captain Skoro from the Coalition''s 164th fleet is asking for reinforcements." "Pull back, team Zeta. Transfer all injured to medical base ASAP, order Captain Miller and Captain Sho to respond to Capt. Skoro requests for reinforcement. But assess the situation first, and tell them they can decide to proceed or not depending on the situation." Admiral Ford continues to give orders. Despite second-guessing himself every time, he continues to respond to every situation. "Sir.. then situations on the Coalitions are not looking good the bulk of their forces are in different sectors, it''s only a matter of time before they are overwhelmed, according to their highest-ranking officers their nearest reinforcement would arrive in about 30 minutes. but it will be too late by then." Admiral Ford is having a headache, "they know how important this place is, and yet they only sent a single fleet." Admiral Ford is cursing them on his mind, he even cursed their ancestors, great ancestors, and great-great- ancestors. Yet he knew that if the Coalition''s forces were defeated, it would create an opening, and it can be used to flank their forces that cannot happen. "Contact the adventurers guild and make an emergency broadcast to all allies participating in the battle inform them of the situation." He cannot divide his forces, and that is clear to Admiral Ford. He can send a few sh.i.p.s, but that won''t be enough to help the coalitions forces. And since many independent forces are participating in the battle might as well make use of them. There''s an unwritten rule that no force would interfere with others'' battle, and no independent forces are allowed to interfere with any of the top organizations; otherwise, they will be treated as enemies. In fact, from the very beginning, the front line has already been divided. Top organizations are given a place to conduct their war, so they won''t have to worry about other forces stealing their trophy. A place was given to the independent forces where they can operate. Of course, the best place was being monopolized by the top organizations. But the situations are critical, and if it means giving up their loots, well they only have themselves to blame. And true enough, as soon as the emergency broadcast was made, countless adventurers and mercenaries immediately responded. after all, the sooner they got there, the more loot they could get. If they delayed, there would be no more free loot for them to take. Carnage and Fallen Angels also responded to the call, along with many hidden forces under the Grand Army. After all, the places given to the independent forces are not very good, and after being shared by countless independent forces, there''s barely any scrap left. The Coalitions Forces watch as countless small forces swarm the Ganesh, but more importantly, they watched with clenched fists as the loot they have painstakingly acquired is being looted faster than one can see. Many of the Adventurers immediately went for the loot instead of facing the enemies, of course, the Ganesh would not simply watch as they clean up the battlefield, but the number of Adventurer and mercenaries were simply too many. They kill one, and ten more will take his place, like flies smelling freshly baked shit they couldn''t help themselves from swarming it. EDITOR: King of Mortals. Chapter 236 - 234 V.32 Karou looked at the battlefield, this was not what he wanted, though his forces were superior in combat power, they were far too few in number. Compared to his enemies his forces are outnumbered by 1 to 100 or maybe more. Not to mention those enemies hidden in the shadows. But despite that retreat is no longer an option. At least not for him, if he retreated many of his forces would be forced to be sacrificed. So instead of retreating, he decided to go all out. He also ordered the spies working for him to do as much damage as possible and to disrupt them from concentrating on the battle. All the spies who pledge their lives to him immediately accepts action, those working for him in the GFA have started to send false information despite knowing that if they are caught they will be executed. This false information greatly delayed GFA from sending many of their forces in the front line. The same with Coalitions and other top organizations fighting in the front line. The only forces not affected are the independent forces. As well as GT, or Grand Army as every intel they have comes from a trusted source. Back in Liberty Queen was having a serious discussion with the elder of GFA, at first the Elder refused to take action but after being blackmailed by Queen he had no choice but to act. Personally, the Queen doesn''t want to resort to blackmailing as it can easily backfire. But she couldn''t refuse the orders from the top. The elder then secretly started sending false information, he regrets having accepted their proposal. Because after watching the GT videos he began to have second thoughts, after all he was unclear if the promises they made would even be fulfilled after getting what they want. And now he is being blackmailed, he in a way anticipated this kind of event but not too soon. He knows that if he refused in the future they might resort to blackmailing, but at that time he was very convinced by their promises and saw only gains by working for them, how wrong he is, but despite that he is no simple man as being an elder is proof of that. So he started preparing contingency just in case everything goes south. Contingency he should have prepared long ago. But for reasons he can''t explain how they were able to convince him so completely he never once questioned it. Sending his most trusted men the elder started preparing for the worse. Liberty was a mess if not for GT security agency holding the line it would have descended into anarchy, in a single moment many buildings started going in flames, then people started marching on the street, if not for GT drones the whole outer layer of Liberty would have been in total chaos. People were confused by the sudden development. As one building after another goes into flames, and people refuse to stay at home. While in the street people started rioting and breaking things, fortunately GT security drones are there to take control as soon as the mobs started breaking things GT drones started breaking their legs. The only problem is that no one knows which building to be set in flames next and GT security drones are not equipped to fight fire, those fall into Liberty firefighting agency but because fires in liberty are so rare. Their equipment and their personnel have long entered into decline, and many of their equipment have not been used for a very long time. So the massive and spontaneous fires happening all over Liberty have caught them with their pants down. They have no idea where to go or how to go about it. And this is just a start, some of the forces of GFA suddenly defected, and started firing on their unsuspected allies. Report after reports have come to the elders who was already in the elders conclave having a meeting. Small things happening all around. Things that can be considered isolated incidents but if one takes a step back and looks at it again it is clear they are under attack. The elders immediately figure it out, after the recent attempt to destabilize the GFA, they have become aware of the many spies their enemies have in their organization. Never once did they think that any human would betray their own race. They might fight one another because of profits but if it comes down to it, they are willing to unite to fight common enemies. GFA is built because of that sole purpose. They never once imagine that any human would betray their own race. It''s a problem they never once considered possible. Small incident happening at the same time, one or two of these small incidents is not enough to disrupt the operation of GFA but all of them all happening at the same time, it becomes big enough to cause problems, and delayed, delayed that could have a very serious consequences. Not to mention several captains of the sh.i.p.s have defected on route, destroying their fellow soldiers before disappearing without a trace. The elders were furious when they heard it. They immediately sealed the news of those men betraying mankind to prevent the soldiers from doubting each other, as it will quickly destroy any coordination they have with each other. But unfortunately not everything goes to plan, news of captains betraying humanities and killing their fellow soldiers before escaping was released to the public. Nobody knows who released it, and so the Elders have no choice but to acknowledge it, they know keeping quiet about it now that it has been made public would only worsen the situation. They will not repeat the same mistake twice. And so they immediately released a statement along with the faces of those confirmed that betrayed humanities. Those that betrayed humanity didn''t expect for the elders to reveal to the public what they did, after all it''s a big shame on their reputation. Being branded as traitors of humanities, they are the first in history. So of course their families would be implicated. Their faces were plastered all over the GFA main page. Soon many news outlets began talking about it, especially the crimes they have committed to be branded as traitors of humanities. But with the recent events taking place many began to speculate. Meanwhile the elders began to clean up the mess, not to mention a critical battle was taking place in the front line. In order to prevent the moral from taking a huge blow after recently gaining it. The Elders released a series of public announcements, they even named several heroes those soldiers and Captains who accomplished many great things in the battlefield, what better way to increase the soldiers moral than giving them heroes. Heroes that can inspire them, and motivates them to do better. Some soldiers fighting in the front line have no idea they are being hailed as heroes. Captain Andrew Wiggins. Captain of the mech assault team. Have been fighting in the front line for a long time. His team is one of the best teams under GFA. They have completed several life and death missions. Even now they are fighting in the front line along with several drones their assault team are leading the charge. What they didn''t know is that they are being recorded and their accomplishments are being made public naming them Heroes of the Galaxy. Andrea Shen, captain of assault ship Trident, she too has been fighting the front line since the war with Ganesh started. Her ship was equipped with many latest technology from GT, and was carrying many combat drones. Her ship is one of those sh.i.p.s that have been modified to use combat drones as part of the ship weapons system. They are one of the first few to use GT combat Drones. And ever since then she has been fighting in the front line. She also completed many rescue operations. And now her many accomplishments are being released to the public. Using these methods GFA was able to divert the public attention from all the bad things happening, and successfully increased the morale of their soldiers. It''s a win-win situation for GFA. This makes those who betrayed humanity look very bad. Especially to their families and acquaintances. It even comes to a point that local authorities have sent security to protect them. Unfortunately though the security was never enough. Too many people are going there to harass and insult them. Even some of the security can''t help cursing them after all many or some of them have family and friends who are fighting in the frontlines. Meanwhile the family of those who deemed heroes were celebrating non-stop. And many people have come to greet and congratulate them. A stark contrast between heroes and villains. Chapter 237 - 235 Traitors V.33 Traitors SS Spearman, the ship of those who turn their backs on humanities, solemn atmosphere has pervaded the place. Each and every one of the crews decided to turn their back on humanity mainly because of profits, and benefits. but now after witnessing the news about them, none of them can say they made the right decision. Their name would forever be recorded in history as traitors. Their families and loved ones would be branded as the family of traitors. Even though many of them are thinking of voicing their concerns no one managed to do it. And besides what''s the point of it, they already made their choice, for them, it''s too late to go back. Even though they were reassured that their families won''t be implicated and that the GFA won''t be releasing their crimes to prevent staining their name. But in the end, their crimes were made public, what they didn''t know is that the person that released their crimes are the same one that gives them that reassurance in the hope of further destabilizing the organization they belong to. The sad thing is that they will never find out about it. "Captain what are we going to do now?" Said one of the crews who was clearly depressed and angry. "What can we do? We belong to them now as of this moment were no longer part of humanities, we have made those choices, we have received and accepted the compensation there''s no going back for us. We will rendezvous with others" he was going to say other traitors but manage to stop himself. He said those words not knowing if he was convincing others or himself. "Everyone, go back to your position!!, we will reach our destination soon." Said the captain, he doesn''t want to look at their faces who are full of remorse and regret. Unlike them he has no real family, he was an orphan and was adopted by a good family who treated him like a real family, even though he doesn''t feel any real attachment to them nevertheless he was grateful for them. And now instead of paying them back, he¡­ he shakes his head he doesn''t want to think about it. As he has said he already made his choice and there''s no going back. After all, they all made the same decisions, but the same cannot be said in the other sh.i.p.s. In one of the sh.i.p.s that betrayed humanities one soldier remains loyal to GFA, his name is Keen Lee, knowing that if he refused to cooperate he would be killed like those who resisted so he pretended to agree and join those who betrayed humanities. But in order to clear his name, he needs to contact the GFA. When his captain and other officers decided to betray humanity they were given a choice, and of course many resisted only to be killed on the spot, he saw no guilt nor any remorse when they killed their fellow soldiers. Seeing that he decided to play along. For one he doesn''t want to die yet, second to clear the names of those who resisted and died for it. One of them is his best friend. A man he met during his training days, after graduating they lost contact only to be reunited in the same ship. Despite him being part of the engineering department and his friend a mech pilot. They have become close after serving on the same ship for a long time. And when his captain decided to defect his friend was the first one to resist only to be killed by the man next to him the leader of his squad. He hated not being able to save nor to avenge his friend, but he swears to make them all pay for it. Not only because of his friend but to those who resisted and died for it. He knows that despite accepting the offer to betray humanities they are still being watched, so he decided to lay low, and not do anything that would suspect them otherwise. The truth many who were forced to defect already accepted their situation. Especially those who have no family like those clones. It''s very easy for them to betrays humanity as they have no real attachment to them, unlike those naturals that have family waiting for them. Fortunately for him before accepting another assignment onboard the ship his girlfriend who was now working for GT has gifted him with the latest GT phone equipped with the capabilities to connect to the virtual universe. He never uses it as it cost quite a bit of Bright Galaxy credits. And despite the good salary he was receiving, connecting to the virtual universe is something he could never afford at least on a normal day. Another good thing the phone he got from his girlfriend was never officially released yet. One good thing about being an employee of GT. they can purchase GT products in advance and at a discounted price. Of course, there''s a limit on how many they can purchase. The phone he got was soon to be released a few days from now. And so the people on board didn''t know its real capabilities. After all to connect to the virtual universe one needs special headsets similar to motorcycle helmets, or special glasses for those rich enough to purchase them as they can be considered luxury goods. And yet this new phone of GT has the capability to connect to the virtual universe only using the standard headsets that came with it. Of course, connecting to the virtual universe one still needs to pay extra. And since communication onboard was highly regulated by the ship he was hoping the phone was able to connect to the virtual universe would not be affected. After the betrayal, the people in charge didn''t even bother to check their personal belongings, maybe because in order to connect to the Humanity internet server one needs permission from the ship after all many sh.i.p.s are undergoing secret missions and to prevent anyone leaking their whereabouts the ship needs total control on everyone ability to communicate outside. And so Keen was praying that his new phone would be able to bypass those requirements. But for now, he needs to wait. Wait until it is time to rest so he can be free to check if his new phone can save him from his current predicament. Chapter 238 - 236 War V.34 War War was probably one of the ugliest words in the human dictionary for there''s no pretty way to describe it. And the war with Ganesh is exactly that (ugly), the war involves many things contrary to what many believe the war with Ganesh wasn''t just being fought in space, many planets around the Red line are constantly being subjected to war. After all the Ganesh is not just a single force. Many races who were once subjugated by Ganesh have been reconditioned into fighting for Ganesh, using Ganesh technology and weaponry. And those forces are constantly waging war against the GFA and other free forces. On planet C-dar one of the planets near the Red Line. The once beautiful city has been reduced to nothing but rubble and dust, the former inhabitants of the planets have long been relocated to a different planet. The war on Ganesh on the ground level and this planet is the front line, countless lives are being lost here on a daily basis. Sky, one of the captains of the mercenary squad sent by Oda, He looks around the once beautiful, now nothing but broken rocks and steel, a cold wind can now be felt because its near winter, this kind of weather would be unbearable to normal people, but for an enhanced human like him its nothing, in fact, he likes the cold especially with snow covering everything it''s almost beautiful. The whole city used to be protected by a powerful shield that protects its inhabitants from the harsh elements, but now all of that is gone, and all that remains is ruins and smoke and dried blood. This outpost is just one of the many footholds the alliance was protecting, to protect the important supply bases on the planet. Sky has been on this planet for quite some time after graduating from training and completed several missions. He thought he was already a good soldier, in fact, he always considered himself one of the best until he got here. In here he learned what it means to be a true warrior when they got here there where hundreds of them now there''s barely a dozen of them left, some died fellow soldiers like him who were on a disguise as a mercenary, some of them who he bonded well have died some are injured and have to be shipped back. They are the lucky ones able to escape this hell, and then there was them. The last few remaining who are still honing themselves up. As a captain of the group, he felt responsible for everyone he lost, some of them died because he made the wrong decisions, some because he was too hot-headed and he felt like he had to prove himself. But despite all that none of his men blames him. The only one who blames him is himself. In Fact, he already fulfilled his objectives here and can go back anytime but he chose to remain because he felt like he wasn''t ready yet and that there''s still so much to learn here. Of course, he didn''t make that decision alone. His men agree with him. He looks around at the dancing snow, the smoke that never seems to disappear no matter how much the wind blows, and most importantly the smell. The smell of melted steel, and burnt blood. They are under commission to protect this broken place. Against the race under Ganesh. His group along with several other mercenary groups have taken a commission to protect this place. When he first arrived here a few months ago there are still intact buildings left. Now, none of that remains. And because of smokes one can barely see with their n.a.k.e.d eyes, so using enhanced goggles is a standard equipment here, otherwise, you would be fighting blind. Suddenly a man came up to him. "What are you thinking about captain?" He didn''t look back, "what we lost, and what we have to gain still" he looked up seemingly looking at those stars hidden by thick fog. "I''m thinking, did I make the right decision by staying here?" The man walked up and stopped beside him. "We all made those decisions captain. It may sound hypocritical but we need this battlefield, we really do if we want to be the best of what we can do" Sky didn''t answer he knew he was right, if they want to survive in the future, then this battlefield is crucial in building those foundations. To be the best soldiers they can be then this battlefield is the best proving ground for them. After all the moment they agreed to become part of the Grand Army they already cast aside the probability of living a normal life. They all know that this war with Ganesh in this galaxy was just a start soon they will be fighting soldiers from the other Galaxy or even the main universe, so in order for them to survive in the future war, they must build a solid foundation. And this is the perfect place to build those foundations. Suddenly another man can be seen running to them. He was quite young probably around in his early 20''s. "Captain there''s been a movement in the east, captain Kirlo has called for a captain''s meeting." Sky nodded at the youngest member of his group. This young man volunteered to be sent here as soon as he graduated from training. Normally fresh graduates would never be sent here, but this young man insisted to be sent here. At first, he was half the mind to send him back, but after a while, this young man has proven himself to be quite capable. And now he was their group top Marksman. The kid is an absolute beast when he is in battle mode with a GT sniper rifle at hand he never once misses his target. Of course, the sniper rifle he is using is not the standard GT sniper rifle but one that is prepared for the Grand Army, it''s a rank higher than commercially available. Of course to avoid suspicions the rifles look exactly like those available in the market. The kid has made a name for himself on this godforsaken battlefield, using his sniper rifle he has saved many lives not just those part of his group but even more so those from other groups. When Sky reaches the so-called command center, even though it''s nothing more than a broken house that''s been covered by a tarp with a table on the center with a map of the area on top of it. All the captains were already present when he got there. "Good your here let''s start." Sky nodded. Kirlo pointed at the map, "our scouts have seen (Kampon) here and here, apparently they are determined to take over this place." Sky, nodded. Apparently (Kampon) is what they call those races under Ganesh, according to them it''s a local word for Minions. Sky pointed at the map. "This place would be the front for this attack so it needs to be heavily defended." Everyone nodded; it means that would be the most dangerous place for this attack. "So who would be responsible for this place?" Ask Sky. The last time it was Sky group who took the front, this time it will be mine, said the burly captain. There was an agreement that for every defense one team would take the most dangerous position, and to prevent any disagreement they would rotate on who would take those dangerous roles. Actually, Sky and his team don''t mind being on the front line as it''s a good training for them, but since this rule has been in effect long before he and his team arrive here, he won''t be the suicidal Hero who would break those rules. Everyone nodded. And because Sky team took the dangerous role last time, they get to relax on this one in other words they will be on standby as a backup. Sky didn''t argue with it, since he is used to it already and besides a little rest won''t hurt. On the other side of the city, the Kampon are the collections of races who have been brainwashed by Ganesh scientist are getting ready to once again try to take over the city, The planet is in the middle of the Red line, another half of it is under control of Ganesh while the other half is under control of the Alliance and being used as a supply base. And so the planet who once one of the most prosperous planets on Bright Galaxy has been reduced into a battlefield, this planet along with other few planets are now the perfect staging ground for a ground-level battlefield. These few planets are very important because they are very close to the front line. And perfect to be used as a supply base because with this the Alliance will be able to quickly supply any forces within the Frontline. And therefore those planets are highly contested, since the closest planet besides those in the middle of the red line is hundreds of light-years away, and so it is unsuitable for being a supply base for the front line, where the slightest delay could mean life and death. . Chapter 239 - 236.1 A certain Lalafell pt. 3 V.34.1 A Certain Lalafell pt.3 Pipin was so excited when he heard the announcement regarding their arrival in Liberty. But the paradise he was expecting was nowhere to be found, the moment he arrived in the outer layer of Liberty what he saw was a burning building, people shouting in the street, and people being carried by stretchers. Confusion immediately sets in, he doesn''t know what to do. Walking around, he can smell the burning rock, and melted steel. His mind went blank and his face was pale. He was very scared, no he was terrified.. but unfortunately, there''s no going back for him, his remaining money is not enough for a trip home. In order to get back home he first needs to make money, but looking around all he saw is chaos. People running on the street, shouting and screaming looking around he wanted to find a place to bury himself and hide there. Body shaking he continues to roam around with no set destination on his mind. And then suddenly, someone grabbed him and started carrying him toward the alleyways. Shaking and terrified, he tried to fight back but with his meager strength and small size to the one who grabbed him, it''s like a massage. And now he started regretting his stupid decision to come here, he tried to scream but the person immediately covered his mouth. He can see that in just a few seconds they would reach a dark alleyway. With tears and snot, he tried to bite the hands that were covering his mouth. "[email protected]#ker" the man cursed but didn''t remove his hand. Blood immediately entered Pippin''s mouth making him gag, as a sheltered guy he never once experienced something like this. As soon as they reach the alleyways the man throws Pipin against the wall, luckily there are trash cans and boxes that somehow disperse the impact, but even so, Pipin can hear a part of his bone being broken. Pain immediately hit him, he screamed but the man kicks him in the guts to make him stop. "Why" with tears Pipin barely uttered the word. "Give me all your money, said the man who keeps looking right and left. And when Pipin didn''t answer because of so much pain, the man pulled out a rusty old knife. And when Pipin saw the rusty knife, he was petrified he almost forgot the pain he was having, and just sat there his body stopped listening to him, he wanted to run and scream for help and yet his body remains unmoving. "I''m going to die, I''m going to die, I don''t want to die, I don''t want to die..." He began saying in his mind. Back in the GT shop in outer Liberty, three young girls and a dog are being surrounded by several other serious-looking individuals, they are looking confused about the sudden development. One moment they were shopping happily, the next moment buildings started burning and people began screaming and shouting. But despite that, there was no fear in their eyes. In fact, they look curious and excited about the sudden development. "Eh, what?" Suddenly one of the girls shouted, she looked shocked at what she saw. "Hmm, what''s wrong?" Asked the other girl curious at what she saw. The young girl pointed outside. "Look the child is being kidnapped" "What! Where?" They all look at where the young girl is pointing and sure enough despite the Chaotic situations they saw a man carrying a child, and with their enhanced physics they can clearly see the tears on the child''s eyes and his mouth is being covered. "Sister we have to help him." Said the youngest. "Stay here, I''ll go," said the eldest of the three girls. "No, I wanna go too," said the youngest. While the second eldest can only shake her head. Knowing that time is of the essence, the eldest of the three nodded, she then gestures to the people surrounding them. And they nodded in understanding. The three girls and a dog immediately rush outside while being surrounded by bodyguards. The people on the street saw it and immediately gave way. One look and they can tell those guys are not something they can mess with, not to mention those scary-looking bodyguards surrounding the three beautiful girls there are a dozen GT security drones following behind them. Only an idiot would mess with a group like that, in fact, even the greatest of idiots would know not to mess with a group like that. Many people are looking at the group, trying to figure out who they are. But unfortunately, no matter how much they try they couldn''t identify the identity of the three girls. One reason for that is that camouflage was applied so no one can identify them. Digital holographic camouflage is very easy to make using GT current technology. Every Shadow Unit is using this technology as it can help them gather information and complete their mission without being identified. The three girls hastily follow where the man who kidnapped the child went. As soon as they reached the alleyways they saw the very man pulling out a rusty knife. They also saw the child slumped on the corner petrified, and it seems one of his arms is broken. Anger immediately rose from the sisters when they saw it. Pipin saw the man pull out the rusted knife, and started brandishing it in front of him. Pipin failed to notice the arrival of the group. In fact, even the man failed to notice the group arrival. And when the man saw Pippin remains unmoved he became angry and wanted to teach him a lesson by cutting him a little. He walks toward Pipin crouch down and puts his face close to Pipin, who look extremely terrified and shaking, "do you really want to die?" Pipin can smell the putrid breath of the man, mix with alcohol and chemicals, clearly the man is on drugs. Pipin watched as the man attempted to stab or cut him. He braced himself for the pain. But suddenly he saw a flash and the man was instantly thrown across the alley like a ragdoll where he remains. the man immediately passes out. He felt like everything he has experienced is some kind of twisted nightmare. Looking at the opposite side of where the man was thrown he saw a group of girls being surrounded by a group of scary bodyguards. "Big sister Tiffa is so strong," said the youngest of the three girls clapping her hands and cheering. Pipin couldn''t figure out where he heard of the name, it was just that it was very familiar to him. If he was thinking normally with his memory he can easily figure it out, but because of the sudden traumatic experience, he couldn''t think right. Suddenly the face of a young and beautiful girl pops in front of him. "Little boy are you ok?" Asked the girl with a soft and concerned voice. "Little boy?" If this is a normal occasion he would have answered "who are you calling a little boy" despite his appearance he was actually a young man, not a little boy. But because of the suddenness of everything that''s happening he can only respond by nodding. One of the drones immediately broke formation and went to the pass out man. Where it would wait for the retrieval droids to arrive that will take the man and bring him to the holding center to be processed. "Let''s not linger here, let us go back to HQ." Originally Tiffa had been convincing the two sisters to return to HQ when the chaos started. But they refused and wanted to watch the chaos like a very curious child. But now seeing the hurt Pipin they nodded without any resistance. One of the bodyguards easily but carefully picked up Pipin like a princess. He was then carried into the vehicles that were waiting for them. And in the vehicles, the girls began introducing themselves which gives Pipin another dose of surprise. Chapter 240 - 237 AI V.35 AI In one of the most dangerous places in the Bright Galaxy, the one they called forbidden region Kidlat it can be considered as the richest in terms of resources. And one being has managed what many other races have failed to do, conquer it. Deep in the outer layer of Kidlat a huge metallic hive can be seen, on a closer look one can see countless different drones of all sizes and shapes going in and out of the hive. This place is the most dangerous area in the outer layer of Kidlat, for that is the home of Legion. No mortal has seen it and lives to tell the tale, in fact no mortal can reach it, because in order to reach it they have to pass many space storms deadly to all lifeforms. Not to mention countless battle drones waiting to stop them at any given time. Deep within the metallic hive a giant human shape can be seen sitting on a metalic throne unmoving. Below it several human shapes can also be seen, all of them are unmoving like a statue. Only the occasional flashing of lights in their eyes betrays thier lifeless figure. It is clear they are alive. Ever since Berserker left to do some exploring they have lost their meaning to move their Bodies. Unlike humans who constantly have to move in order to do something whether it''s eating or playing. Even the most lazy being has to constantly move regardless of his desires. But for an AI like Legion those kinds of things are unnecessary. A single thought is what it needs to do. And countless drones will do it for him. Their minds are constantly divided into many small consciousnesses, like for example Legion''s mind are divided into many different things, one is on Virtual universe exploring, and playing. Another was in space watching the war. Some are in Liberty or in many free cities across the galaxy observing, learning. Legion has many bodies under his control; only his main body remains unmoving, sitting on his throne. Of all the AI under Arc. No one thirst for knowledge like Legion does. In order to serve his Boss his god, he needs to first understand what it means to be human or to be alive. So he divided his consciousness into many different forms, sending them to many parts of the Galaxy. Watching, learning, evolving. Not physically, but consciously Legions mind constantly evolving his way of thinking changes every time. But still he could not find the answer he was looking for. For no matter how much he studies, or how much he observes them. Humanities are weak, they have short lives and yet constantly fighting one another. They are weak and yet they continueslly fighting. No matter how much he observed them he could not see any advantage to be human. And yet those very weak creatures are capable of building the most amazing things. His Boss is living proof of that. And that is something he cannot understand. He and Gaia are constantly debating about it. That''s right, they are debating, only the things they debated are the most mundane things. Like for example what is cool. Gaia and Legion have very different answers to that. Despite the AI have no real gender. Gaia can be considered female, while Legion can be considered male. At Least on the way they think. The reason for that is while Gaia was created to be the support of Grand Army, not to mention she was heavily influenced by Dianna and Arc sisters and many Females who are leading GT. Another reason Arc has programmed her to have a female voice as it is very easy to get along with, in retrospect to having a male voice which can be seen as strong personality. Unlike a female voice that has a gentle and soft sound to it. In fact Gaia thinks females are the most dominant gender after even her Great Boss needs to concede to his sisters and mother especially Mia. He never once won an argument with them and even though he had a more valid point in the end he constantly conceded. But Legion is very different. He was born in Battle, he was created to fight and so his personality tends to lean on fighting and no matter how much he observe when it comes to fighting and battling Male is the dominant gender. Of course there are races who have females as leaders and have female champions. But in overall statistics 80% of races have male dominating the battlefield, like they said war is the domain of man. And his Boss is the living proof of it. And because of that Gaia and Legion are constantly debating about it. Of course no one knows about it. Ever since Arc has connected Legion and Gaia so they can better support GT and humanity in general, those two are constantly sharing information and debating. Gaia have better understanding of human personality than Legion, while Legion can only watch them from afar. Gaia as a human support interface has seen humanities at a much deeper level. Just by supporting shadow units, and the Grand Army she has seen them close hand, in their weakest and most vulnerable state. Emotions they would never show to another being no matter how close they are, she has seen it. Gaia are part of all systems interfaces of the Grand Army and shadow units. Oda called it Baby G. It''s a program to give support to all soldiers. Not many know about the real Gaia. After all Baby G, is a customizable interface after all it was created to fit everyone''s personality. Every soldier under GT has their own version of Gaia to support them. And they all can be customized in a million different ways, from appearance to voice, and gender as long as you can imagine it it can be done. In fact, all commercially available phones from GT are equipped with these features, it''s what makes GT phones so famous. The only difference between them and the one being used by the Grand Army is the level of support and information it can provide. But everything else is the same. And all that are part of Gaia. GT would not waste a good chance to gather intelligence. After all Baby G is the most perfect way to gather information without being found. Many people are unaware of it, and even those who suspected it can''t find any evidence to prove their claims. And so many enemy spies are using GT phones unaware of its hidden functions. Gaia are constantly using it to look for threat and hidden danger that can potentially hurt GT. People like Queen suspected it, and so she is using a phone and communication device that are made by them or heavily modified by them. But Baby G is so popular, that despite knowing many people have downloaded it into their phone. After all Baby G is very useful not to mention very cute. Just the fact it can be customized to fit their personalities is almost irresistible to many. Especially to the younger generation. In fact the first time it was introduced, it became an instant sensation many praise it for being helpful and flexible and the ability to customize it is a huge bonus. And what''s more, Baby G is constantly learning, the longer one uses it the better the support it can provide. Legion and Gaia are constantly debating and disagreeing with one another, but there''s one thing they can agree on. their Boss is the greatest being in the universe. Chapter 241 - 238 V36 Sky positioned himself on one of the vantage points in the area overlooking the other side of the place. After a long time of bombardments very few places remain standing, even more so the closer it is to the borders. Even though they are on standby he continues to watch the battlefield, for there is no real assurance in war. He knows this first hand. How many times they have suffered what could be an easy battle. And how many territories they have lost even after claiming it was impregnable. Ever since he and his group arrived here. He has been woken up countless times, from many of his delusions regarding the war. And because of that many of his brothers and sisters have paid the heavy price for his arrogance. Coming here with superior equipment and body enhancement, he was arrogant and reckless but all that had long disappeared, unfortunately, others have paid for his shortcomings. Those regrets he will carry for the rest of his life. Looking around it was almost peaceful, he didn''t hear any gunshots or explosions and the many traces of war have been mostly covered by snow. If he were a stranger to the place, he would never have thought that the war is still ongoing. His daydreaming only lasted a few seconds, because he noticed the movement on the other side, using special glasses and superior eyesight he can easily detect, movement from a few kilometers away. Especially the young man beside him, their famed sniper. If he can only notice the movement, the kid can probably see even their facial expressions. It''s a gift only the kid possessed. The special glasses can only filter those smokes and fogs, but ultimately one still needs to rely on their eyesight. Advanced telescopes can easily be countered by the enemy''s technology. The enemy''s technology is almost on par with their own, the suits they wear can block many spying technologies. Telescopes that rely on heat sensors and other similar things can easily be blocked and used against them. And so many soldiers only use the most basic spy glasses that can only filter smokes and fog. And rely on their ability and instinct they honed on the battlefield. Of course, many newbies ignore those warnings and heavily rely on sophisticated equipment, only to pay a heavy price later on. Sky experiences the same thing. He and his group used to rely on their advanced technology, especially those high tech devices to detect enemies, if not for their superior''s enhancement and instinct many more would have died. Of course, when they first arrived they had been briefed about it, but he just didn''t listen. And now besides their armor who can help them in their movement, and weapons, Sky basically didn''t use any of the other technology they possessed. Even drones, which is one of their biggest advantages, can easily be countered by their enemies. Ground drones and space drones, even though they are both called Drones the technologies they possessed are very different. Ground-level drones have shorter operating times and weaker firepower. After all, they weren''t going to fight heavily armored Battlesh.i.p.s. And because of gravity, they cannot be equipped with too heavy a weapon. And so Sky only used drones as support and was manually controlled. But he does like using kamikaze drones though. Unfortunately, he has a limited number of those. So he only used those for emergencies. Many of their automated equipment are now switched to manual mode. Boom!, Bang!¡­ "So it started" Sky whispered. Sky nodded at the young man beside him. After that, the young man jumped down and disappeared. The participation of the young man can save many lives. And with their dwindling numbers, every life he saves is important. And besides almost everyone who remains can be considered an expert, and losing just one is a heavy blow to them. At first, there were many Adventurers and Mercenaries who accepted the commission here, but now with the Redline being opened to everyone many independent forces switch their focus there as it is a more lucrative place for them. Here they will only have to rely on their paychecks. After all, real Ganesh is very rare here, mostly only Kampons are fighting here. And those guys were basically useless unless they could salvage their equipment. Only a Ganesh Body has value, Kampon doesn''t. And so despite the generous paychecks, many opted to try their luck in space fighting the real Ganesh. After all, just a few carcasses of Ganesh is almost equivalent to several months of their paychecks here. Not to mention they don''t have to answer to anyone. The Kid immediately looks for a good place to nest. He was an orphan but unlike the many soldiers recruited by the Grand Army, he didn''t have a tragic background like many of them. Besides being an orphan, and living on the street he didn''t suffer much. At least not like many of his friends in the streets. His name is Crow and the people who know him call him little Crow, because of his dark hair and dark eyes, and his hair is like a crow''s nest. His real name is Thomas Linch, but he barely uses that name sometimes he even forgets that is his real name. And before being recruited by Tom and Jerry he was a leader of a group of pickpockets. And he made a mistake on picking Jerry''s pockets only to be caught. He knew the consequences of being caught, as many of his friends have experienced, and being beaten half to death is the lightest punishment. Some if not many were being sold as slaves by the corrupt officers who caught them. Some are being used as target practice for many elites in their hunting games. He himself was beaten many times, fortunately, that all he ever got from being caught. But Jerry instead of beating him up even treated him for a meal and offered him a chance of a lifetime. Of course, he didn''t easily believe it. Growing up in the street he has witnessed the absolute worst of humanities have to offer. Many of his female friends were abducted and r.a.p.ed. Many simply disappeared never to be seen again, while some turned up in gutters somewhere. He has witnessed these things many times. In other words, he only trusts himself, even those who he considers friends he would never trust his backs to them. Betrayal is the most common thing on the street. But Jerry among all the people he met was quite different; he never once forced him, after making an offer and treating him to a meal, and after giving him a way to contact him he left laughing and cheerfully. Months passed and he almost forgot about Jerry''s offer. Until one day he made another blunder he accidentally picked pockets the son of the local tyrant, normally he would never make this kind of rookie mistake but who would have thought that the son of the local tyrant would disguise himself as a regular man to secretly film for his blog. Without any bodyguards, one look and Sky only saw an easy target. So not only he pickpockets a young master he was filmed doing it. And when the young master''s father found out about it, he ordered his men to look for Crow. And after being betrayed by those so-called friends of his, he has no choice but to run and hide. It was then he remembered the man trying to recruit him a few months ago. After giving a man a call only to be greeted by an answering machine, frustrated he was about to hang up but decided to leave a message behind just in case. Not knowing that he was spotted when he made a phone call. That night he was cornered, beaten black and blue he knew it was over. Looking around blood dripping on his forehead and his mouth all he saw was the grinning face of the men beating him. "Hoho, kid you finally decided to call, and I was beginning to think you''re not interested." When suddenly he heard a joking voice. The men beating him immediately stopped, trying to find the source of the voice. And in the alley where he was being beaten, in the corner, a silhouette of a man appeared. "F.u.c.k off, old man!" Said one of the teenagers beating him. But Jerry never once looked at them, he continues to look at him with a slight smile on his face, he also continues to walk towards him. "Old man, if I were you I would walk away. You don''t want to get involved in this believe me." Said the leader of the group. He looks around 20+ years old. But Jerry seems to not see or hear him, he continues to walk towards the kid looking at him. "So kid, do you accept my offer, you should know once you accept it there''s no going back." Crow looks at Jerry and thinks the man is crazy, or he is simply an idiot. And yet unconsciously he began to nod. Jerry, seeing Crow''s nodding, gives a huge laugh, "good, good stand up let''s go." The leader of the group. Instinctively knew the man that appeared is different, instinctively he knew he was bad news. During his time as part of a gang, and now a leader of a group under a local tyrant. He has seen many weird people and none of them are good news. But he has his order, so can''t just walk away. So he pointed at his best men. Men who have been with him for a long time and are great fighters. "You guys cripple him and bring this kid back home. The boss would want to see him." Five men immediately rush to Jerry, but like a hallucination, Jerry''s body seems to blur, and five of his men who are rushing the man, were instantly thrown back, sweats immediately build in his forehead, he knew he f.u.c.k.i.e.d up. He looked at where his men ended up and saw all four of their limbs twisted in unnatural ways. Fortunately they all knockout, or they would be screaming in pain. The rest of his men were so stunned their mouths remained open, while juice began to flow out of their pants. And when he looked again to look at the man he saw him standing in front of him. With an evil smile on his face. "You want to cripple me?" Said Jerry. "I.. no..I.. we.... th, th..this.." Cracked, cracked! He heard cracking sounds followed by intense pain. "Ahhhhhh¡­" he screamed as his four limbs were broken. Then everything went blank, he passed out. Jerry looks at the remaining men who were paralyzed by fear. "Take them back, and bring my message to your boss, I''ll be seeing him soon" Crow looked like he was dreaming, everything he saw was like a dream, he looked at Jerry now standing in front of him. "What are you" "Stop asking stupid questions kid, stand up and come with me, your life no longer belongs to you. But don''t worry kid I mean what is said before. As long as you work hard your life would never be the same again, one day you will look back and think that this is the best decision you made in your entire life." Jerry looked around and saw the men he ordered were still crippled with fear and were still standing there like statues. He looked at them "are you going to move or would you like to join them?" said Jerry with an evil smile on his face. Like cold water being poured in them, they immediately started dragging their fellows who passed out, And yes they didn''t carry them, instead, they started dragging them out of the alleyways. And that''s how Crow became a part of the Grand Army, and it was also then he discovered the talent of his. His uncanny sharp eyes and his steady nerve made him perfectly suited to be a sniper, and what''s more, he seems to have an affinity with a sniper rifle. As he can instantly treat it like an extension of his arm, something that needs a long time to do for many soldiers. He chooses a slightly elevated place but not too elevated as to be an easy target. He lay down and made small holes on the wall, just big enough for him to see the other side but small enough to be hidden. Those small holes are enough for him. On the side, Crow''s whole body is hidden by a thick wall impossible to see, and the two small holes he made are almost invisible even if one is close by. His sniper rifle leaves no trace, and no sounds when fired and with a max range of 6 kilometers. It''s a deadly weapon capable of piercing even the toughest body armor. It has a maximum of six rounds per magazine. And with forces dispersion technology there''s no recoil. This gun is one of those only the Grand Army is allowed to use. If anyone else uses it, it will immediately self-destruct. Sky fired... "That''s one.. more to go," he smiles. Chapter 242 - 239 V37 Redline, The Crossing. Luna and her squad arrived at the place where The Coalition forces are taking heavy damage. Looking around she saw many debris broken sh.i.p.s of the Coalitions floating lifelessly in space not so far many Adventurers and Mercenaries are having an all you can eat buffet. And in the center broken Ganesh sh.i.p.s and Mechs are also everywhere. Those are the targets of the Adventurers and Mercenaries, after all the only reason they are here fighting is for profit. Who cares about the fate of the Galaxy, have those huge organizations worry about. Those are the common thoughts of those independent Adventurers and Mercenaries. It''s profits that drive them. Looking around she saw many sh.i.p.s on fire, the Ganesh, after all, don''t just sit there doing nothing while those adventurers and mercenaries plundered the battlefield. And while the attention of Ganesh was on those forces, the Coalitions are slowly retreating back. They have lost over 70% of their forces who are in charge of protecting this place. And what''s worse. Their loots are being stolen by the Adventurers and Mercenaries and all they can do is clenched their fist. Luna didn''t bother with other Adventurers, she wasn''t here for profit. As soon as she arrived she immediately assessed the situation looking for a good spot to attack. Looking around she also sees Fenrir and his Crew. The battlefield is chaotic. The Adventurers and Mercenaries are doing whatever they want, there was no tactics or formation. It''s just everyone doing whatever the hell they want. And the Ganesh are taking advantage of it, the losses on Adventurers and Mercenaries are far greater than what the Ganesh are losing. And yet the other Adventurers don''t care about, in fact, they are even laughing as fellow Adventurers and Mercenaries are being destroyed after all to them that''s one less competition. There was no unity or camaraderie in front of profit, everyone is competition. Like they said birds die for food, humans die for profit, although the majority of Adventurers and Mercenaries are not human. In front of potential profits, almost everyone acts the same. And then one after another battleship the size of the moon started appearing, and as they exited the warp they immediately started blasting. Luna was quick to react, she immediately ordered to retreat fortunately she was quite far from the Frontline. But those greedy Adventurers and Mercenaries are not so lucky caught in the blast they were pulverized. "Retreat!!, Retreat!!" Ordered one of the captains, the moment those gigantic battlesh.i.p.s appeared he was so shocked he forgot to give orders. By the time he ordered it half of his men were already gone. "Everyone Ret.." he looked and saw a huge energy blast coming their way. "F.u.c.k!" BOOM!! His whole ship was decimated. As soon as the gigantic ship appeared those who are monitoring the battlefield field, immediately found out about it. Admiral Ford saw those gigantic battlesh.i.p.s and was stunned, he knows that Ganesh is still hiding most of its forces but he never expected something like that. "Pull back! Pull back all forces!" He immediately shouted the order. "Yes sir!" Immediately all forces fighting Ganesh ordered an emergency meeting. As for GFA, the elders are already at a meeting at the Elders Conclave when it happens. Each and every one of them can feel the tensions and knows something big is going to happen, big enough to change the very galaxy fate.. In just a few minutes after those gigantic battlesh.i.p.s appeared more than half of the forces fighting in the Crossing were wiped out. Oda immediately sends an emergency order, all forces in the Frontline need to pull out. Rescue sh.i.p.s who were on standby were immediately sent especially to those fighting at the ground level. Sky who was watching the battlefield was interrupted by a sudden blast, and it''s not from the battle in front of him. He looks up and saw a battleship entering the atmosphere and it is in flames and many parts of it are breaking apart, "that''s¡­Defender?" Shocked, he recognized the ship as one of GFA Battlesh.i.p.s entrusted in protecting their side of the atmosphere. "Wtf is going on," he said to himself, he has a bad feeling about it. "Everyone retreat" he immediately ordered. And soon enough he received an emergency order to retreat. Luckily they were on standby and not on the battlefield, and most of his men were on standby. Dianna who was in her office watching the video on the Frontline was worried, she was at a meeting when it happened, after being informed of the situation. She immediately canceled the meeting and went to her office where she asked Ash to set up the monitor and pull up the feed to the front line. Luckily GT surveillance systems are still operational, what she saw was a massacre. Countless broken sh.i.p.s of all sizes and GT retreating forces, it wasn''t just GT in fact all major forces ordered a retreat. Unfortunately, major forces are fighting on two fronts while their forces are fighting the Ganesh, internally they are also fighting the many spies and the chaos it''s making. Many orders are delayed because of it. Fortunately, commanders on the Frontline are very competent and were able to immediately issue an order to retreat and regroup. This time all surviving forces have come together and form a defensive line. Legion was about to make a move but Oda stopped him, Legion existence needs to be hidden for as long as possible. Fortunately, Oda already placed a contingency plan when he sent the Grand Army out for training, and after the surprise attacks, he immediately put several rescue sh.i.p.s hidden and on standby. And the instant Oda gives an emergency order to retreat, rescue sh.i.p.s immediately went and retrieve all the soldiers in the front line especially those on the ground level. Oda look at Mariel "bring them all back training is over" Mariel nodded. She immediately gives the order to all Grand Army on disguised training on many parts of the Galaxy to return ASAP. Oda then left the command center and went to his office. He needed to talk to Legion and Gaia. The war is moving too fast, he knows the Grand Army is not ready yet, but time is against them and whether he likes it or not War is upon them, and this time he has a feeling they can''t hide behind GFA anymore. Karou looks at the battlefield and he knows there''s no going back this time. He immediately ordered all his forces to move forward, he won''t give time for his enemies to regroup. He knows this is the best time to strike. And when Dianna saw Ganesh not stopping she immediately asked Ash to secure Arc family members... She is not going to take any chances. Ash nodded and immediately left. Meanwhile, In Liberty, Karou''s agents also known as "Greyman" continues to create chaos. For many of them, it is a matter of life and death, if the Ganesh lost, many of them would be put to death. Betraying their own race is not a light crime. This is a gamble, but if they win they will become the new leader of their race. Meanwhile in the defensive line. Admiral Ford immediately contacted the highest-ranking officers of the other major Organization. He suggested joining all surviving forces to create a defensive line and wait for reinforcement. He was prepared to give a convincing speech but in the end, he didn''t need it as every commander of the forces understood the direness of the situation. If the Ganesh were allowed to leave The Crossing they would be free to attack everywhere especially their home planet and in the case of The Coalitions their home base. If that happens the war is as good as lost, the galaxy is big, and without knowing where the enemy will attack they will be forced to scatter their forces in order to protect their home. And scattered forces are no match to the forces of Ganesh only by standing together they have a chance in fighting back. Those gigantic battlesh.i.p.s of Ganesh are near-invincible on the battlefield, only by using their superior number they have a chance in fighting it. Chapter 243 - 240 Start of Chaos V.38 start of chaos In order to allow the major organizations forces to retreat and regroup Gaia was forced to send millions of Drones and combat Mechs to cover their retreat. All major organizations saw what GT has done, and we''re thankful for it. Without those Drones covering their force''s retreating, they didn''t how many would survive, but one thing they know is that those that survived without GT help would not be enough to build a defensive line. Karou saw a massive number of Drones and automated Mech. And knew he won''t be able to kill or destroy all the Major organization forces in The Crossing today. His colossus was powerful, powerful enough to ignore the damages from the drones and Mech for a time. But his other forces are not. If he forces his way and gives chase to the retreating forces of his enemy. He will be able to severely damage or even destroy them all, but the amount he has to pay would also be significant. One look and he knew those drones are different their movement and coordination are different from how the major forces are using it. He knew GT possessed a mighty and very advanced AI; He wasn''t new to using AI, in fact, his command Ship possessed a very powerful AI, after all, All combat sh.i.p.s uses an AI one way or another that''s because the calculations to operate the ship is too much for any regular computer. What he was surprised about is not that GT is using AI, but what kind of AI capable of controlling millions of drones at the same time. And it''s not like the drones are only moving in a simple command but a very complex one. It was like each and every drone was alive and capable of thinking for themselves. That puzzled him. Even in the main universe drones capable of controlling thousands of drones are quite rare. His master possesses an AI capable of controlling hundreds of thousands of drones. But those AI are unique his master got it from fighting the automaton race. And converted their core. But despite that, it is not capable of controlling millions of Drones, at least not like how GT is doing it. To make every single drone like they are alive, even his masters AI are not capable of it. And yet here in a backwater Galaxy a single company is capable of it. "Was he really correct? Did GT really found a legacy of a very powerful race?" The moment he becomes aware of GT he immediately sent his best spy to investigate them and yet they came up with nothing, no one knows where GT got all their knowledge. The technologies they possessed is beyond this galaxy can offer. Many forces including those he sent to investigate GT came into a hypothesis that GT has managed to find a lost and powerful legacy from some unknown advanced race. That''s the only conclusion they can think of. At first, they think GT has a connection with powerful forces in the main universe, but ever since they found out about the first bank deals with GT. They have ruled that out. If GT has connections with powerful Organizations in the main Universe then they didn''t need the first bank to purchase rare resources for them in the Main Universe. But the notion of GT acquiring a legacy of advanced race is very absurd and unbelievable. But now looking at the millions of drones sent by GT. He is starting to believe it. Karou immediately orders his forces to stop chasing the retreating forces of GFA, Coalitions, Merchant Consortium, and those Adventurers and Mercenaries. Or the Alliance. After all, not all his forces are here yet, He then first orders to clean up the battlefield. As for the Drones, they too retreated when Gaia figured the Ganesh is no longer pursuing, they too retreated only after they confirmed all Grand Army has safely returned. Admiral Ford, look at the faces of the soldiers what he saw was fear, confusion, and relief. He sighed, he couldn''t blame them for he too was scared at that time. But he also knows this is only the beginning the real war is about to begin. "Attention, this is Admiral Ford¡­ I know what you all are feeling, fear¡­ yes I felt it too. Helplessness... It is normal to feel that way after what we have been through." One by one the soldiers look at the projections of Admiral Ford. His voice is being broadcasted to all the sh.i.p.s. In fact, even in the other races'' ship, his broadcast is being shared. "But let me remind you of what we are! Were soldiers! And behind us our home our family! If you feel like all hope is lost if you feel like giving up! Think of them!" Some soldiers clenched their fists, others wiped their tears. Others who are stronger than the rest smiled. For they saw their comrade that is on the verge of giving up, began to clench their fist. Those who are shaking in fear, have stood up and wiped their tears. "Think of them! Think of those we have lost, and for those, we can yet save... We are soldiers, it is our duty to fight. Fight for your family, for your friends, and for the people next to you... And most importantly fight for yourself. For your freedom," he paused, looking around seeing the renewed face of the soldiers he smiles. "Remember!! we fight not to die, but to live!! Stand up! We still have a job to do..." He heard a collective voice, an answer to his call. "YES SIR!!" He ended the broadcast, he closes his eyes he needed to think about what to do next.. the nearest reinforcement was a few hours away, if the Ganesh doesn''t attack until then, then it''s good they can relax a little. But if they attack they needed to buy time for the reinforcement to arrive. Lisa looks at his Uncle and felt very proud. "Connect me to all commanders" Admiral Ford ordered. "Yes Sir." Meanwhile in GFA in the Elders Conclave. "What is the meaning of this!" Shouted commander Markos "You!¡­ how can you do this!?" Shouted Elder Mikaela. "I can''t believe this! For an Elder to betray humanity. Especially you! How could you do this Jeremiah!!?" Shouted another elder. Jeremiah just looks at them. But didn''t say anything. Chapter 244 - 241 President V.39 President A few minutes after the Ganesh lunch an all-out attack on The Crossing. In the Elders Conclave. "Send all available squadrons to reinforce the Crossing, we can''t allow the Ganesh to leave The Crossing" Elder Mikaela stated. "No, we can''t let our other bases remain undefended." Said President Jeremiah Crows. "What?! The Crossing is more important if we lose it we will be at the mercy of the Ganesh." Said another elder. Ever since the press conference of GT, the momentum Jeremiah Crows have been building up has been lost. With the way this is going, him asking for emergency power is like a thief asking nicely for a national treasure to be given to him. It just won''t happen. "So are you suggesting we abandoned our many bases?" Said Jeremiah Crows looking frustrated. "Abandoned? Who says we are abandoning our bases? I said all available forces, not all forces!" Said the elder looking angry. "Let me ask you then? Why are you so adamant about not reinforcing the Crossing?" Ask one the elder to Jeremiah Crows. "That''s right! All suggestions to reinforce The Crossing you keep countering especially now that we must all be at one mind to reinforce it?" Asked another elder looking suspiciously at Jeremiah Crows. "Yeah! I noticed it too, because of that the orders are being delayed." Said another. Everyone looks at Jeremiah Crows. If it was someone else he would be panicking, but for Jeremiah Crows. Despite slightly panicking inside, his face remains calm. "What are you up to Jeremiah," asked Elder Markos... "I''m not up to anything, I''m merely suggesting that moving all our forces and leaving our many bases defenseless can be dangerous." Markos looks at Crows, he had his suspicions but he didn''t say it, he was warned by Dianna that Ganesh Spy had infiltrated all levels of GFA, possibly even the Elders. But Markos didn''t believe that any elders would betray humanity. It just ain''t possible. When GFA was still being Created those who were chosen to become elders have all impeccable records. Not just anyone can be chosen as Elders. Only those who have contributed to humanity in general and those that can greatly contribute to GFA are chosen. And none of those will betray humanity, it can be said that to be chosen as an elder of GFA they must have shown loyalty to humanities one way or another. In fact, when Dianna said this warming he believes it was just a friendly reminder, something to think about but not to be taken as fact. But now he was no longer sure. As several elders are acting very suspicious. But despite that he didn''t voice it out, he merely kept it in his mind. "Let us not waste time, let''s make a vote," said elder Mikaela who was feeling frustrated as they kept going in circles. "I agree, time is against us the more we delay the more perilous the situation becomes." Said another Elder. Elder Markos nodded. "Let''s vote." "Who is in favor of sending all our available forces to The Crossing raise your hand.'' Almost everyone raised their hand. The vote has been concluded all available forces would be sent to The Crossing as reinforcement. "Give the orders immediately." Said Elder Mikaela. Many Elders nodded. "I''m afraid we cannot allow that!" Hmm? Everyone looked at the source of the voice, and they saw a woman standing at the door.. Elder Markos, immediately becomes alert, no one is allowed in the elder''s conclave except for Elders. Not even admirals are allowed in it. The fact that this woman is here means only one thing: one of the elders let her in. Only elders are allowed in elders conclave, that is not a simple thing as a guard not letting anyone in. Several security doors and security checks are needed to enter the Elders Conclave. Only an Elder can bring a none elder to the Elders Conclave. And only Elder can pass those security checks and let someone inside. Markos immediately took out his phone but he saw there was no signal. He then knew they were being jammed. And he wasn''t the only one who noticed it several elders did. "What is the meaning of this!? Who allowed you to come here!?" Ask one of the elders in anger. No one is stupid in this room, every elder knew the meaning of someone a none Elder entering the conclave without them knowing, they have been betrayed. The woman looked around and smiled... "Don''t bother trying. We have this place under control." Elder Mikaela looked around and saw elder Markos, nodding at her. "F.u.c.k.i.n.g hell" she cursed in her mind. "Who are you? And what is your plan by doing this? I''m sure you know the consequences of doing this" one of the Elders asks. "Of course! Why don''t you explain it to them Mr, president." Jeremiah cursed in his mind! He didn''t think that Queen would reveal his identity. Every elder looked at Jeremiah, in contempt, even though they didn''t say anything yet, anger was visible in their eyes. "What is the meaning of this!? What did you do!? Jeremiah!?" asks Mikaela who is clearly very angry if she has a weapon she would have killed Jerimiah on the spot. "What we should have done from the start! The Vanir is a mighty race, and through them, our race will advance further!" Said Jerimiah without batting an eye! Since he no longer has a choice he might as well see it to the end. Bang! An elder slammed his fist on the table "Are you out of your mind!? You sold our race to be a slave!?" "Not a slave but a subordinate Race!" Said Jerimiah. "And what is the difference huh!?" "I can''t believe you would do this stupid thing did you become senile!? You f.u.c.k.i.n.g idiot! So what did they promise you huh!? Become the next humanities leader?" Jerimiah didn''t answer. "Remember this Jerimiah, whether you succeed or not you will forever be known as the one who sold humanity!" Said Mikaela with a virtual fire burning in her eyes because of anger. Queen just watches the play, her job is to make sure the elders won''t be able to issue an order. And thus further delaying the reinforcement to The Crossing. Somewhere in one of the bases of GFA... "Any orders from the Elders?" "No sir, what are those geezers doing!? If we delay any further it will be too late to reinforce the Crossing." Said admiral Sheila Jones pacing back and forth on the bridge, as soon as she heard the attacks she immediately ordered a code red. And now she is only waiting for the elders'' order to mobilize. "F.u.c.k it, we''re going!" Said admiral Sheila Jones. "Prepare to move out, set the coordinates... We''re going to the Crossing. Contact Admiral Ford tell him we''re coming" "But Admiral if we..." "Stop whining and do as you ordered. I''ll take full responsibility." "Yes! Admiral." "And get me a secure line to the elders" "Yes sir!" Meanwhile in GT HQ. "Dianna take a look at this." Ash then shows the galactic map on the main screen. It is a tactical map of the forces of GFA and other Organizations. Ash pointed at the screen, this is the forces of GFA blue markers indicating GFA forces. "What about it?" Ask Dianna. ''It''s been a few hours since the attack of Ganesh in The Crossing. And yet..." "They haven''t made a move to send reinforcement," said Dianna, noticing the peculiarity of the situations. "And they are not the only one even the coalition seems to be not doing anything either. Only the Merchant Consortium seems to be moving." Said Ash. "Blue indicating GFA, Purple The Coalitions, Green Merchant Consortium, white independent forces. Orange other human forces. Etc." Explained Ash. "So I assume the Red is.." "Us," said Ash. "I see, that''s indeed weird. For them to delay reinforcing the Crossing..." Said Dianna, she put her hands on her chin, she began to think. "Thus Oda knows?" Dianna asked Ash. Ash nodded. "Connect me to Commander Markos, I mean elder Markos." Said, Dianna. Ash nodded. But after a few minutes. "Elder Markos communication is down." Said Ash. "I see, he must be in an important meeting. Keep trying, and Where''s Tiffa?" "She with Anne and Amy" "Tell them to come back, I have a Bad Feeling about this" "They are already on their way here." Dianna nodded. She then called Oda, about securing Ash''s parents, they are on Earth managing Earth''s Affairs Mainly social services. Helping those who are affected by wars, especially those children who lost their parents in the war with Ganesh. Since many forces are recruiting soldiers from Earth, and with the recent Attacks from Ganesh many children become orphans. Of course, GFA is compensating the family of those who died under them. But with the chaos going on within GFA, it will take time for them to help those families. But on Earth, that''s not a problem ever since GT took possession of Earth Affairs. GT forces GFA, and other forces to create a compensation fund under GT''s Social security agency. This will make sure the family of those who sacrificed themselves for GFA would be well compensated. And Arc''s parents are the Head of GT''s Social Agency. Dianna also ordered for Earth security to increase several times. She also temporarily closes Earth immigration, this will prevent others not born from Earth from entering it. Of course, they have issued a notice prior to closing it. And since the only way to enter Earth is through a space elevator, any forces who tried to enter Earth without going through immigration on the space elevator would be treated as an act of war and would be shot down without warning. And unlike before where people on Earth are ignorant about the affairs on the Galaxy. Now with GT help, they received the latest news from space. And so when GT issued a notice about closing the Earth immigration office. They were not surprised, in fact, they are relieved knowing GT is there to protect them. Chapter 245 - 242 Downfall V.40 Downfall Few hours after the Attack from Ganesh. Major Organizations are gathering in the temporary defensive line. But many also noticed that GFA and The Coalitions. The forces they have are fewer compared to the forces of the Merchant Consortium. Merchant Consortium Grand Elders are trying to connect to the Elders of GFA and the leaders of The Coalitions. But none has managed to talk to any of them. The only answer they got is that they are still in the meeting. The original forces who were ordered as reinforcement have already arrived. But despite that, the bulk of the GFA and The Coalitions forces remains on standby. Waiting for their orders to move out. Admiral Sheila Jones, are the only one who moved her forces without orders because she knows time is of the essence. GT, seeing the current situation can no longer remain on the sidelines. So Oda ordered GT Armed forces the 1st and 2nd Fleet. To mobilize raising the flag of GT. That way other forces would be able to recognize them. For the 1st and 2nd fleet this is the first time they are fighting under GT officially. Using the most advanced sh.i.p.s from GT they made their way to the defensive line. Every soldier of the Grand Army is excited, this is what they are training for. Meanwhile in the temporary defensive line. Adventurers guild, Merchant Consortium, along with other forces are waiting for a battle that will decide the fate of the Galaxy. Commanders of all major organizations along with the representative of many independent forces, such as the Adventurers guild and mercenary guild along with the leaders of independent human and Alien forces are gathering in the temporary command center. Admiral Ford thinks he will be relieved of duty as temporary commander of GFA forces, but unfortunately, the forces that were sent as reinforcement don''t possess admiral higher than him, as senior Admiral, he remains the highest-ranking officer on GFA forces. "Admiral what is going on where are the rest of your forces!?" Asked the commander of the Merchant Consortium Army. "I would like to know as well, but unfortunately I cannot contact any of the Elders." They are in the meeting for hours now. The commander of Merchant Consortium then looked at the commander of The Coalitions. "So what is your excuse then!?" The commander of The Coalitions just shakes his head. "I have been trying to contact any of our leaders but so far all attempts remain unsuccessful." Something is not right. The commanders nodded. If only GFA elders remain silent it can be seen as a coincidence, but even the Coalitions Leaders are also cannot be contacted. That''s no longer a coincidence, especially during this time where the Ganesh is about to lunch a massive Attack. Beep! Beep!.. Admiral Ford looks at his communication device, it seems like there''s an emergency call. When he was about to answer it, one by one the commanders receives emergency calls. They all look at each other, they all have a bad feeling about it. "Report" answered Admiral Ford. "Sir GT, have sent a huge Force!!" "Eh, what!? Did you say GT?" "Yes sir!" "Show me!" A holographic screen appeared in front of him. There he saw two massive black sh.i.p.s followed by many other black sh.i.p.s. And GT logo was etched on the front and on the side of the Sh.i.p.s. He then looks at the commanders in front of him. They all have a look of shock and happiness on their faces. It looks like they all received the same report. "They all look at each other, looks like GT can no longer remain neutral." Said the commander of The Coalitions with a wide smile on his face. "Let''s welcome them then." Said Admiral Ford with a grin. Everyone nodded. A few minutes later, three individuals appeared. "Commander''s, Admiral. Allow me to introduce ourselves, my name is Sora, commander of GT 1st fleet, and this is my Sister Haruka, commander of the 2nd Fleet, and this is Marielle advisor and strategist of GT, Armed Forces." Everyone was surprised by what they are seeing, as all three of them are looking very young. But none of them mention it, with GT''s vast resources they would not send an incompetent commander. "Welcome," it was Admiral Ford who first reacted. He has some connections to GT. He knows that the people managing GT are all very young, even Dianna cant be more than 40 years old. And even the so-called owner of GT''s. Arc is only about 20+ years old. "Thank you, Admiral Ford. we''re glad to be here." Said Marielle. For none system personnel to received a very high position in the Grand Army, that alone speaks for her capabilities. During the meeting, Sora and Haruka, remain passive, all strategies and planning were all left to Marielle. After an hour of meeting, the commanders and Admiral Ford were stunned by Marielle her judgment, and the strategies she proposed are all flawless. They couldn''t find fault in any of it. "As Expected of GT strategist, she''s a genius, no GFA have many that can be considered as a genius but non can even come close to her capabilities, she''s a prodigy. Where the hell did GT find all this talent?." Admiral Ford said in his mind. By the end of the meeting, they all acknowledge Marielle as the temporary overall commander of all the forces in the defensive line. After returning to their respective sh.i.p.s, there''s nothing else to do than wait for their enemy to attack. (In the Ganesh command center.) Karou is looking at the surveillance footage of GT''s 1st and 2nd Fleet. So GT can no longer standby, in a way he was expecting it. He knew sooner or later GT would join the war. Unfortunately, he has no idea what is the capability of GT sh.i.p.s. In fact, the moment GT sent the 1st and 2nd fleet his spies already informed him about it. Grand Army has a total of 5 fleets under them, each one is being commanded by system personnel. In fact, Oda doesn''t plan on sending Marielle, but as soon as Marielle found out about the 1st and 2nd fleet being sent to reinforce the forces fighting the Ganesh, she volunteered and insisted to be sent there. Oda seeing that there''s no harm in it, so he agreed and so he appointed her as the overall commander of the Fleets. Sora and Haruka have no problem with it both of them knew how capable Marielle is. Karou smiles, "well then let''s find out how capable they are¡­" Chapter 246 - 243 Downfall II V.41 Downfall II Reports of the Ganesh making a move immediately reached all the forces in the defensive line. Immediately all leading forces such as GFA, The Coalitions, and Merchant Consortium, began to enter the formation they have discussed before. Mercenary Guild and Adventurers Guild issues an emergency summons to all their top members to join the war. Emergency summons cannot be ignored or they will face heavy punishment. Such is heavy fines or expulsion from the guild and to all its amenities. It may sound like a light punishment, But it is not. Once a mercenary or Adventurers has been expelled they will be blacklisted by organizations linked to the guilds. In other words, they can kiss their job goodbye as no one will give them any jobs or commissions. And that''s not all, they also won''t be able to use any shops and establishments that have connections to the guilds, and that''s pretty much everything. Meaning they won''t be able to enter any supply base, and that''s pretty much a death sentence if you are a space explorer. Because 90% of the supply base scattered throughout the bright Galaxy have some kind of connection to each other... Even many black markets and supply bases under criminal organizations are relying on the organization like Merchant Consortium to survive, and Merchant Consortium is connected to Mercenaries and Adventures Guild. For they are all part of the Galactic Trade Union... The Jolly atmosphere they felt when GT reinforcement Arrived is once again replaced by fear and uncertainties. Admiral Ford once again addresses all the soldiers in an attempt to raise the soldier''s morale. Luckily Admiral Ford and the other leaders immediately cut all the connection to the Internet to all the sh.i.p.s except for those responsible for communication. After all, connection to their respective Organization needs to be maintained at all times. Admiral Sheila and other reinforcements already arrived in the (Defensive Line) In the Defensive Line, thousands of sh.i.p.s can be seen, they are all lining up and maintaining defensive formations. It''s an impressive sight, giving the impression of a mighty and unbeatable force. Only the leaders know that GFA and The Coalition''s that 80 percent of their forces that are supposed to be here are nowhere to be seen. GFA has more than a hundred fleets under its banner and yet less than 10 are here in the Defensive Line, The Coalitions only sent 4 fleets. The Elders of Merchant Consortium were livid when they found out the number of fleets each force had sent. It has to be said the Merchant Consortium have sent close to Fifty Fleet. Even the Mercenaries and Adventures Guild has managed to form forces equivalent to 10 fleet each, and yet GFA who can be considered to be the Leading Force against the Ganesh only Sent 8 Fleets 3 of the fleets are survivors of the Attacks on the Crossing. 4 were the initial reinforcements and only Admiral Sheila decided to move without orders from HQ to reinforced Admiral Ford. Among all the huge organizations GT has the lowest number of Sh.i.p.s. As Oda only sent two fleets. The reason is that GT wasn''t able to build many Sh.i.p.s so far. The number of sh.i.p.s GT has is only enough for a 2-4 fleet. But to make up for the lack of sh.i.p.s, billions of Drones were sent instead, along with the unmanned Mechs and Small sh.i.p.s with what GT''s called Corsairs. Corsairs are mainly used to defend the manned sh.i.p.s, they are part of defensive systems to protect the battlesh.i.p.s and command sh.i.p.s. Especially the command sh.i.p.s. While drones have their own systems and can be considered independent weapons, Corsairs are part of the sh.i.p.s themselves. So far GT hasn''t sold Corsairs yet to the public, this is their debut battle. Of course, they have undergone many tests both virtual and real, but officially this is their maiden battle. Originally Corsairs was set to be introduced when the Future Tech. Officially launched their first battleship Solar MK. But because of the sudden development with Ganesh, its release date has been canceled. In fact, some of the Solar Mk. Those who were supposed to be sold are now being used by GT to form a fleet to be sent as reinforcements. Yes many of the Sh.i.p.s GT sent as reinforcement are Solar MK. Of course, their weapons systems have been replaced by unmodified versions, and not those downgraded versions GT was selling to the public. "Report!" "Ganesh ETA 30 minutes." "Activate the defensive shield!" "Yes sir!, Activate Defensive Shield!" Suddenly the shield drones in front of all the sh.i.p.s started glowing, then an octagonal Shield appeared in front of it, followed by another, and another. One by one the Shield Drones were activated forming a massive shield that covered the whole defensive line. "Activating Defensive Shield" 10% 20% 50% 80% "Shield activation complete" "Deploy the mines!" "Deploying mines!" Behind the shield Drones, countless mines are being deployed after it was deployed it entered a stealth mode to prevent the enemy forces from seeing it. Thousands of miles away from the mines are the first defensive lines, which consist of combat drones and unmanned Mechs. Followed by combat sh.i.p.s from all forces. These are small sh.i.p.s piloted by the best combat pilots from all forces, right behind them are mechs. Ace mech pilots are there waiting for battle, the Fallen Angels and Carnage are part of this, this is the second defensive line. The third defensive lines are the battlecruisers'' space platforms equipped with cannons and high powered lasers. And finally the command sh.i.p.s. (Meanwhile in GFA Elders Conclave.) "Do you have any idea what you are doing?" Shouted Elder Mikaela her face was red from anger. She couldn''t believe Jeremiah would betray them. Jeremiah looked at her but didn''t say anything, there''s nothing more to say, he sat back down on his chair and closed his eyes. His fate would be decided by the coming battle. When Elder Mikaela saw Jeremiah ignoring her, she became even more furious. When she''s about to lash out, Elder Markos stops her. Markos knew, there no use convincing or berating Jeremiah, as he already made his choice and there''s no going back for him. Mikaela despite being furious she sat down, she too was an elder after all, and controlling their emotions is easy for them. For them, as elders, their actions are not based on emotions, but on gains and profits. Whether it''s for themselves or for their respective Organization everything they do is based on only two things Gains, and Profits... When Jeremiah sat down and closed his eyes. The other elders also stop clamoring. They all sat down and stopped talking. No use discussing tactics and strategies, for the fate of the Galaxy is no longer in their hands. Queen smiles when she sees Jeremiah sat down; she knew Jeremiah was now officially on their side, he can no longer go back. So she walked to the side of Jeremiah, she looked at the Elders who were now looking at Her. "Relaxed Elders, we don''t want your life we just want you to be obedient for awhile and not do anything stupid. Just relaxed fate is already on the move all we have to do is wait for it to finish." Queen knows, every elder''s life is being monitored by their respective Organization, if something happens to them the organization''s they come from would immediately know, and that''s not good for her. For they will immediately send a force to investigate what happened. The Elders know this too, so they are not afraid that Queen would do anything to them. Suddenly the monitor in front of them changes and the battle on the defensive line is being shown. Queen furrowed her brows. Even Jeremiah open his eyes. He knows this is not their doing... And no force under them would do this without orders from them. And only one force is brazen enough to broadcast this battle, GT. While Queen and Jeremiah are worried. Markos and some of the elders are smiling... Chapter 247 - 244 Downfall III V.42 Downfall III Everyone is anxious about the situations on the front line. After all, just a few hours ago, the situations on the front line despite the blockade of major forces were forced to retreat, many independent forces such as the adventures team and Mercenary Group. Some of them are corresponding with many news outlets across the Galaxy who are willing to pay good money for any news about the situations on the Redline particularly any news on The Crossing. But after the sudden massive attacks of Ganesh. all leading the forces were forced to abandon the Crossing and retreated to create a Defensive Line, and in order not to create any panic and more chaos, all forces agreed to block all news, including the Mercenary Guild and Adventurers Guild. They all issued a code red warning to all who would try to leak any news. So instantly all news from the frontline has seized, no matter how much the news organizations offered, no adventures and mercenaries would give them any details. In fact, they all stop communicating... Many Adventurers and Mercenaries felt their heart bleeding seeing the great offers of the news organizations, but despite that no matter how much they like money, what''s the point of it if they cannot spend it. After all, breaking a Code Red warning is punishable by death. Even if they tried to escape, they will be hunted down by all the forces involved. And sending secret messages is not an option either, all communications are now being monitored by all forces. Except for GT. No Organization can Force GT to follow their orders. In fact, they have no authority to order GT around, as one of the most powerful independent organizations in Bright Galaxy. No Organization can force GT to do anything against their will. But suddenly live footage of the war is being broadcast. They saw the intensity of the fight. To many, this is the first that they saw the raw and unfiltered footage of the war. Using Scout drones, GT has broadcasted the war Live. There was no commentary and hardly any sounds only high definition video. Gaia is filtering thousands of live footage and choosing only the clearest and the best angles to broadcast while avoiding GT secret weapons from being broadcasted. Gaia also prioritized and highlighting the heroics of GT soldiers. Once in a while, Gaia would release the conversation between pilots, or sounds of explosions, but most of the time the video remains soundless. Many news outlets tried to edit or make commentary, but because it is live their commentary only serves as distractions, and so many chose to watch the live footage itself instead of those from news outlets. Some news outlets tried to block the live footage so that they can edit and add commercials to it only to fail. After all, the footage comes directly to GT and under independent channels under GT, so unless they cut all internet communication it''s impossible to stop it from broadcasting. The truth is that even if they do that those that have GT phones can still access the footage, and they can easily share it through another means. But what really stops them was when GT issue a copyright warning to those who would use their footage without GT approvals¡­ And no organization on the Galaxy would disregard GT''s warning. So all media outlets who are planning and those who already using the footage have all stopped. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Back several hours ago. When Dianna and Oda learned that many GFA and The Coalition forces are still on standby waiting for orders, despite the consequences of losing the Crossing. And Redline. Even knowing that The defensive line is the only thing stopping Ganesh from reaching their homeworld. It didn''t take a genius to figure out something is wrong. The absence of their leaders in critical situations. Despite the chaos happening inside their very organization. And the precarious situations on the frontline. It wasn''t just Dianna and Oda who can feel something is wrong. Admirals who are on standby, continuously trying to reach their leaders. Only to fail. Many are tempted to mobilize despite the lack of order. But they all stop, after all mobilizing without order, is equivalent to court-martial, or even worse they can be branded as traitors or rebels. And be executed for it. Only someone like Admiral Sheila Jones has the courage to go against orders after all even if she lost her job GT would welcome her with open arms. And she is not worried about being branded a traitor, before she makes her decision to mobilize she called Dianna about her decision, and Dianna only words for her are "go ahead I have your back" After being made a liaison to GT she and, Lisa was able to form some sort of friendship with Dianna and Tiffa. Even now despite no longer liaisons with GT, she is still receiving a special solution from GT. And besides, even if Dianna didn''t approve she would still mobilize, she won''t let her former boss, Admiral Ford, and her friend who she considered a little sister Lisa, battle alone not if she can do something about it. That''s just the way she is. Lisa tried to convince other Admirals to mobilize, unfortunately mobilizing means leaving the base they are guarding defenseless so it''s not an easy decision to make. Lisa only leaves without worry after Dianna reassured her no harm would come to the base she is guarding. For one the base she is guarding is near Kidlat, and that place is under Legion. Another thing, her base is mostly unmanned, but that doesn''t mean it''s not important. no, it''s the opposites Admiral Shiela''s base is very important, as many rare resources that come from Kidlat are stored there. And without her, it can easily fall to any pirates roaming the area. But other admirals are entrusted in guarding outpost, or an important supply base, and even a trade city or space stations. And those places without anyone protecting them can easily be attacked by any forces, and that means a massive loss of life. Especially those who are guarding a colony. So Lisa only told them the importance of this war and what it means to lose the defensive line and have them decide for themselves, for she knows how hard the decision can be to the many Admirals and Captains. Chapter 248 - 245 Downfall IV V.43 Downfall IV When Dianna and Oda find out that most of the forces under GFA and The Coalition are still on standby waiting for orders, they know something is wrong. Dianna has also tried to call Elder Markos, but Elder Markos Communications are out of reach. Which doesn''t make sense, even if he was in an important meeting, turning his communication off is not how Elder Markos work. In other words, it''s very out of character for him to do so. Especially now that the war is in critical situations. Unfortunately, GT can''t just barge in the Elders conclaves to check. That would be the same as declaring war. It''s also the reason Oda was forced to send 2 fleets as reinforcements. So GT did the next best thing. They broadcast the war live. So that everyone will know the situations on the front line. This will help the Admirals and Captains who were still waiting for order to make decisions fast. But make no mistake the situation is very serious, serious enough that Oda ordered Legion to prepare just in case the Ganesh was able to pass through the defensive line. (A few hours ago.) "Enemy warping out. 3,2,1¡­" Ziip!! *Sounds of ship warping out* the first sh.i.p.s of the Ganesh Forces arrives. "Jones!!, are you seeing this?" "Bro, I''m right beside you, of course, I can see it" "Shit, man! This is going to be bad!" "Relax man! it''s not like this is your first combat." "F.u.c.k, I know man, I just have a bad feeling about this" Jones didn''t reply. Like he said this is not their first battle. Being a GFA assault squad, He and his team have been through a lot. But this may be the first they are fighting in a massive War. Most of the time He and his team were being sent as a rescue team or backup, and most of those were small fights. But now is different, they were the first to respond to requests for reinforcement. When they lost The Crossing. "Jones!, Jones are you there!?" "Shut the f.u.c.k up man! and concentrate this may be our last fight, so be sure to give it your best" "F.u.c.k.i.n.g Shit!!" ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª "Luna, Fenrir, pull your men behind us as soon as the battle starts," Mariel Ordered looking serious, this is the biggest test for her so far. In all the battles she participated in, many of them they have a huge advantage in technology and the superiority of soldiers. But in the battle today they are the underdog. GT only has Two Fleet, despite their superior technology, two fleets can barely make any difference. This is a big test for her, after all, it''s not farfetched to say that the fate of the Galaxy is riding on this battle. The Ganesh didn''t waste any time, as soon as their first sh.i.p.s arrived they immediately launched an attack. Shield drones are the newest additions to GT''s Drones Series. They were deployed mostly to prevent any sneak attack, or to protect from the sudden long-range bombardment. This can also help, give time for them to better prepare. And just like Mariel anticipated, The Ganesh immediately sent long-range volley after volley of attacks as soon as they arrived. "Deactivate the shield, pull back behind the minefield, and send the first batch of Combat drones" As soon as Ganesh unleashed several attacks She pulled the shield Drones back, to bait the Ganesh to get close into the minefield. "Deactivating Shield Drones, sending Combat Drones hives 1-20," Each hive consistent of 30,000 drones, "Enter autonomous mode." (Autonomous mode), is a special mode to give the drones AI total control in battle. But this time, Gaia would be taking over. Mariel has no knowledge of the real Gaia and Legion. She only knew Gaia as a support smart interface, but not as a Super AI. "AUTONOMOUS MODE ACTIVATED!" As soon as (AM) was activated Gaia immediately took over! These are commercial Drones that GT sells to other organizations. Not the one being used by GT forces. After all, Commercial Drones and exclusive Drones Grand Army are using, are very different in quality, the only thing they share is appearance. Instantly the movements of the drones changed, as soon as Gaia took over. "I didn''t know, drones can move like that," said one of the Officers looking very shocked at what he was seeing. And he wasn''t alone, everyone watching was shocked. "What did GT do?" Said one of the Admirals who was watching the drones in amazement. "They look like they are¡­" "Alive" "Yeah¡­ how come they never move like that when we use it," said one of the officers who were responsible for coordinating the drones, when they are in the manual mode they can only use pre-program formation, and base on that they can switch formation based on the battles. "GT must have been using some powerful and very advanced algorithms to coordinate them," answered another officer. "We too have been developing some algorithms to better control them, but they are not even close to what GT is using." They all nodded in wonder, but they never took their eyes off the drones. When they are using the Drones they make the Drones move in formations depending on the situation on the battlefield. But when GT is using it, they see no formations but at the same time they are moving as one, but each individual is like they are alive, they dodge, counter, bait the enemy, it''s like each individual drones have a pilot controlling it. Even Mariel is surprised by the sudden flexibility of the drones. But her surprise only lasted a few seconds. "Shield drones reach second destinations" "Activate them" ordered Mariel. "Activating¡­" 20¨G 40¨G 70¨G "Activation complete" Behind the minefield, several hundred miles behind the first defensive line of drones the Shield was activated. Protecting the rest of the forces, but at the same time isolating the first line of Drones. The Admirals and commanders are only watching, they all agreed to give Mariel the Authority as Supreme Commander on every ship on the defensive line. At first, they were a bit worried when the two commanders sent by GT recommended a young woman as Supreme Commander to have total command of every soldier they have, but in the end, they agreed after Mariel told them of her plan. They all agreed Mariel''s plan is a lot better than what they have, and besides having GT lead the fight, would prevent any misgivings and opposition from other soldiers. The soldiers in the front line are all shocked when they see the Drones, moved and how the Drones are being used. But this is just the beginning, one after another the Ganesh forces keep arriving. "Open shield, in area 47, 89, 307, and 550." Even though the soldiers are confused by the order they still follow it. "Opening... Shield open" "Send Unmanned Mechs Squad, 16,20¡­ ¡­ ¡­" Mariel continuously gives orders, some orders are weird, some are shocking, but the soldiers followed them without delay. "Charge all particle cannons" "Charging all particle cannons¡­ ¡­ ¡­" A few seconds later. "Charge complete" Mariel looking at the battlefield she didn''t give the order to fire yet. Drones and Unmanned mechs. Are still engaged in battle, autonomous Mechs are not as fast as drones but their firepower is stronger. Seeing the Drones and autonomous Mechs working so well gives everyone watching a different perspective on how to better use the drones and autonomous Mechs in the future. Mariel looks at her watch. "Aim all particles cannons ln in eara xx." "Aiming... Aiming complete" "Fire in 10 seconds, start the countdown now!" "Firing in ten!" 9 8 7 Everyone is looking at sector XX but there''s nothing there; it is several hundred miles away from the battlefield and the Ganesh. 6 5 Everyone is confused, but no one is brave enough to speak up. 4 3 2 The soldiers and everyone watching are holding their breath. "1, FIRE!!" Chapter 249 - 246 Downfall V V.44 Downfall V "Fire!!" Everyone watches as all the particle cannons fire at the empty space, all their eyes are following the beams. "Did she make a mistake?" Said one of the Admirals in his mind. "What''s going on!?" Asked one of the pilots. "Why!? Are we firing at the empt.." His eyes grew big, in shock. The moment before the beam reaches the target space, they saw a ripple in space indicating something is about to warp out. Boom!, Boom!.. "Holy shit!!" shouted one of the pilots. As soon as the Ganesh ship exited warp, the particle beam was only a few meters from them. The result was devastating for the Ganesh instantly several battlesh.i.p.s exploded and those that were not hit were hit by the exploding ship in front of them. To all who witness it, they all have the same question "How?" How the hell did she know the Ganesh would warp there. "Is she? An Oracle? can she see the future?" Asked one of the communication officers. "There''s no such thing as Oracle you idiot." Answered the person beside him. "She must have intel beforehand," said another. Yes, that''s right Mariel received intel from HQ that the second forces of Ganesh would arrive at the specific time and coordinates. Oda received the intel from Legion because some of his Drones have managed to attach themselves to the Ganesh Sh.i.p.s. And Oda passes that information to Mariel. And therefore Mariel made good use of that intelligence. Now, no one is doubting her ability, all their misgivings have disappeared after this performance. Everyone is celebrating the successful attack. Mariel on the other hand, have no emotions on her face she continued to watch and gives orders it was like nothing has happened. After the initial success of the attack, she immediately ordered to activate the shield, like before many are confused as to why they are not continuing the bombardment. Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click /book/factory-inc._15511610705706605/246-downfall-v_50918820042308651 for visiting. But of course, despite their many questions they still obeyed the orders. And soon enough, their questions have been answered. The Ganesh despite receiving initial heavy damages launched a counterattack. Some of the Ganesh sh.i.p.s exploded for trying to counterattack despite the heavy damage they received. But it''s like nothing has ever happened the Ganesh like a zombie continues to advance despite losing many sh.i.p.s. The soldiers watched in worry as the Ganesh lunch volley after volley of attacks, they were all praying for the shield to hold. "Activate the second shield!" "Activating... activating complete" Mariel put three sets of the defensive shields in place just in case the Ganesh broke to the first and second before they needed to recharge after launching a massive attack. Everyone is holding their breath, when Ganesh broke the first defensive shield they can feel their heart being squeezed a little. "Second shield, 57% integrity." "Prepare the second set of attack drones. Have them ready on my mark." Said Mariel who never once shifted her eyes away from the battlefield. "20%" the operator continues to give the countdown. "15" "10" "5" "Deactivate the shield!! launch the combat drones now!" As soon as the last volley of attack ended Mariel immediately launched her own counterattack. What Mariel is waiting for is for the Ganesh to enter recovery mode after launching attacks, that''s the problems with energy-based weapons they entered a long period of charging after being used for some time. Of course, the more advanced they are the longer they can operate and the shorter the cooldowns. Base on that information Mariel can guess when was the best time to attack. And as soon as she ordered an Attack millions of Drones were unleashed. Soon small sh.i.p.s and mechs joined the fray. Only the battlesh.i.p.s remain on standby. The whole Galaxy watched as the Alliance of several Organization battles the Ganesh. Many are left speechless. "You! How was it with contacting the Elders?" Said one of the Captains who were on standby. "Sir, still nothing." "Goddammit, what the hell are they doing? Prepare to warp, we''re going there I can''t standby any longer." He was very angry and frustrated. "But sir!" "I will take full responsibility. Launch now before it''s too late." "YES SIR!" the soldiers smiled. He too was tired of waiting and watching as his fellow soldiers who are fighting for their lives. And they were not the only ones. "Warp sequence initiated." "Good let me know if those geezers decided to respond to all our messages." "Yes, Admiral." "Let''s just hope we get there on time. I should have listened to Sheila." He was one of the admirals Sheila Jones contacted before she went to reinforce the front line. "Connect me to all GFA forces on standby!" "Yes sir... sir you''re connected" "Ehem, this is Admiral David Fealer of 99th fleet, I''m reinforcing the defensive line I give this message to all Admirals and Captains who are still waiting for orders. We are now in very critical situations our very lives our future, our descendant''s future is at stake. Decide now before it is too late. Over and out" "Sir we can warp anytime!" "Warp now!" "Warping in 3,2,1¡­" Ziiip, (sounds of warping) The other admirals and captains watch the transmission of Admiral David. The decision to leave their post is not an easy one. But the consequences of not leaving are much heavier if they lost the last defensive line their very world their colony would be vulnerable to the Ganesh forces. "This is Admiral Jacob Chu, my forces are very far from the defensive line but I can divide my forces to reinforce the post you left behind, and if you decided to leave I will reinforce those places. This is all I can do for now." Another transmission was sent just after Admiral David. And this one would be the news many of them are waiting for. For many, the only thing that''s keeping them from mobilizing is that if they leave their post the place they are protecting will be defenseless, but now that Admiral David Chu who will act as their replacements many of them immediately send their coordinates to David and left soon after. But in fact, they have nothing to worry about. Oda already anticipated this kind of thing. So he sent several squads to look for any potential problems that may take advantage of the situation. GT may have lacked battlesh.i.p.s but they never lacked drones. They have billions of drones on their storage waiting to be sold, and Oda is using almost all of it. Chapter 250 - 247 Fate V.45 Fate As the war continues to wage in the Bright galaxy, A war that would decide the fate of its inhabitants, In Eden Ark and his group have no idea about the events that''s been going on in the Bright Galaxy, Over the past several week''s Arc and his group have managed to map 80% of Eden they also became aware of the danger it holds. Eden was home to the Race called Forgotten, an old race dated back to the war of the Gods, according to the data they manage to gathered The Forgotten was created or descendants of the Elementals and Space Beast, yes in a human language they are called Dragons, they are the weapons the elementals and Space beast used to fight the Gods. Eden or this prison Called Eden was the placed the gods used to sealed and imprisons the four mightiest of all dragons the elemental Dragons, and the Ganesh or the Original Ganesh was the descendants of one of those Elemental Dragons, in other words, they are the original inhabitants of Eden after Eve purge the former inhabitants. As for how the Vanir manage to get a hold of Ganesh and made a clone out of it Arc has no idea. This also explains why the Ganesh holds a very powerful body full of energy, which makes them extremely valuable to the outside world. Fortunately, those so-called Forgotten or elemental dragons are in hibernations after a long time of being imprisoned in order to survive in this low energy world they were forced to go to sleep until the time for them to leave or escape this place. Unfortunately, Arc has no idea how to leave either, after all this whole world is inside a gigantic Space beast, who Arc has no idea what it is. But for Arc, his immediate problem is to complete his Urgent Quest, who by the way is only weeks away from expiring. The good news is, over the past few weeks they were able to find several leads, that have the potential to lead them to it. One is the HQ of the Hands of Cain, a fanatic religious organization that worshipped the old gods, the other is in the other Organization Called Chosen, this Chosen is one of the most prominent organizations on Eden, Graff who Arc fought when they first arrived are part of this organizations. And the last one is in the Lairs of the Elemental Dragons or Forgotten. Of course, they have several more leads but those three places are the most likely target that has the most likely to have what he was looking for. Unfortunately, none of those places are easy to plunder especially the last one. In all honesty, he doesn''t want to go there, after all the dragons are considered Adam as their most hated enemies, after what he did to their ancestors, and most likely those elemental Dragons or Forgotten have a personal grudge against Adam being the gods chosen, after all, they existed since the war with the gods. And having Adams blood in his veins Arc has no idea how the dragons will react if they saw him. Gideon and his group have done a great job in infiltrating the Cathedral the HQ of the Hands Of Cain, (HOC) they were able to gather enough intel for Arc to risk attacking it for their relics. At first, Arc was reluctant after all its a religious organization, not like the criminals he has purge on Earth, but after Gedeon''s report, he found out that the only thing religious about them is their name. And their actions and are no different than any criminal organizations in fact many of their actions are worse than any criminal organizations he has purged. Kidnapping indigenous people and experimenting on them is the least of their activities, burning, and massacring villages who refused their teaching is a common occurrence, in fact, the initiation rights to become part of Hands of Cain is torturing and killing the ones they called heathens, burning and torturing them is very common for them. In other words, none of them are innocent all of them have blood on their hands. It may sound hypocritical but to Arc, that''s all he needs to give himself reasons to attack. After all Arc himself has killed before, but to him as long as it''s not the blood of the innocent he can live with it. But the truth is no one is really innocent and Arc knows this but for the peace of his mind, he needed an excuse. But in truth, as he grows stronger his mind was also being tempered, he does not know if it''s a good thing or bad but he knows he likes it. He likes the feeling of power and in control of his life. But he does not want to forget where he comes from, and those excuses come from that, to not harm any innocent, often times he thinks of what''s becoming of him. And he has no answers. "Sigh, how''re the preparations?" "Almost done Boss" Jem cheerfully answered him back, and on her shoulder, the tiny but happy Fairy can be seen sitting. These two have been inseparable since the two met. They play and hunt together. That''s right Hunt this little and cute fairy her only pastime is hunting beast. Imagine a fairy a foot tall holding a sword as big as human swinging it like a toothpick decimating the beast. The first time Arc witnessed it he couldn''t close his mouth in shock, and he''s not the only one all of them are. According to Lilly the sword she was using was transformed furniture. And when they remembered how the furniture inside the mansion before Arc took over it, they couldn''t put a single scratch even using all their strength. It makes sense that it was strong and Lilly being the Spirit of that treasured Sovereign tool, can control everything as it was a part of her. Despite that, it took him a while to get used to seeing Lilly hunts. This attack on Cathedral was the biggest move Arc will be doing since he arrived here. And unlike back on Earth where he has the help of the shadow units, in here he only has his group and the Droid army to help him, but he is not worried after all the droid he was using and the one back on earth are two different things. The one back on earth was created by a multi-purpose manufacturing factory and several other factories. But the one he is using was created by his newest Factory a 1-star Cybernetic Armed Factory, that can create all kinds of droids. As a man, this is his dream factory, who wouldn''t want to command an army of Terminators. Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click /book/factory-inc._15511610705706605/247-fate_51071212192845840 for visiting. Chapter 251 - 248 V.46 Fate II Back in Specter Arc and his group was on the bridge making last preparations, Arielle, and the Celeste did a good job at stocking many materials from Eden using Merchant as disguised they were able to buy a huge amount of resources enough for Arc to create 100k 1 star Droids, and that''s a frightening figure, imagine one hundred thousand Biggs and Wedge with a metallic body, no force on Earth or even the Bright galaxy can stop it. But here on Eden where the technology is much higher that kind of force is also frightening, but not enough to conquer it completely, but conquering Eden was never Arc''s intention. But despite the overwhelming force, he reminded himself he still needs to be careful, as the Hand Of Cain are not just using advanced technology they are also using magic, well in Eden Magic and Technology are the same just different branches. In fact, Arc have learned that many machines in Eden are powered by magic, using symbols and runes clearly they have a much more advanced grasp in technology to be able to combine them, Eve was tasked in learning this kind of technology and magic where the locals called Symbology and Metaphysics, using symbols and runes to harness energy from the world is far beyond Arc can understand in fact none of them can understand it, but that doesn''t mean they can''t learn it, and so Eve and Specter are using all their CPU to learn and understand and probably apply it in their own technology in the future. Arielle and Gideon already put many Celeste inside the Cathedrals posing as merchants, after all, if there''s one thing the Hands of Cain welcomes in open arms it''s the merchants, for without them they will starve and probably long been disbanded, all their daily necessity such as food and all other things was purchased from the many merchants that visit them. In fact, no one knows where the Hands Of Cains gets all their wealth, no matter how much Gideon and the others investigate they find the source of income from the Hands of Cains, and yet they are spending it like water that can never run out like Arc. who has a money printing Factory. Arc knows the HOC, is much deeper than they can investigate unfortunately they don''t have a lot of time to investigate it. And that is why he was forced to spend all his remaining reserve energy units to purchase a 1-star Cybernetic Armed Factory. To make up for a lack of soldiers as the Celeste were not enough even with Mech by their side. Templars and Paladins are guarding the Cathedral. Templars are half machines in other words they are modified using machines, as for the Paladins they are modified using Symbology or Metaphysics, runes and symbols were carved from their bodies like a brand making them very strong and able to implore many abilities. Paladins are rare as it needs a very special body to survive the branding, only 1 in 100 survived the initiations, unlike the templars who has almost 90% survival rates, unfortunately, templars are unstable many died few years after the modifications due complications. But to the Hands of Cains that''s a small matter there''s always someone to replace them. Unlink the Paladins that requires a special body and low survivability. And that''s why every paladin has a special status in the Cathedral, they are like the nobility in the Hands of Cain, all high ranking officers such as Priest and High priest, bishops and Cardinals are all former Paladins. Even the pope is former paladins. Arc and his group have been planning this attack for almost two weeks now. And now finally they are ready. As contingency Specter was moved on top of the cathedral, just in case something goes wrong Specter will warp them all into the ship and escape. The plan was straightforward Arc, and his group would enter the Cathedral as merchants, inside Arc storage ring 100k Droids are stored, and once inside Arc would release the Droids and cause chaos, while his group would infiltrate the Hands of Cain Vault and plunder all the relics hopefully one of them is Adams Legacy, and he would be able to complete his Urgent mission. According to Gedeon, the Hands of Cain has been hoarding ancient relics for a long time so he can only imagine the number of relics the HOC have inside their vault. So in other words it''s a win-win situation for Arc even if the Tool he was looking for is not there he would still be able to acquire a huge amount of relics. Posing as merchants are very easy, the reason for the long planing is learning and dealing with the guards of the Cathedrals after all every top member of HOC can be considered a powerhouse, as they are all former paladins and who knew how many are inside the Sanctuary themselves, as no merchants are allowed there. It''s the most guarded place in the Cathedral. The Sanctuary is the true HQ of the HOC, only members of HOC are allowed there, Arc has captured many Templars and even Paladins who ventured outside the Cathedrals to their so-called cleansing. It''s where they visit small villages and tried to covert them into HOC and refusals mean burning to death and tortures. Arc would then surprise attack them and captures them to give them a taste of their own medicines. But despite that, it''s not easy to get information from them, many would die before spilling anything, and those that break don''t know much. According to what they have gathered Paladins have their own ranks. From 1-10 and 10 being the lowest rank. Only by reaching 1st paladins can one becomes a priest and so forth. But despite waiting for a long time Arc can''t find any Priest outside the Cathedral. And so their preparations consist of how to deal with the Higher rank HOC because according to intel the higher the rank the stronger they are. "Everything ready?" "Yes, Boss!!" everyone nodded at Arc. Arc was excited this is his first big mission as part of the leading forces, he''s no longer what he used to be, his power already grows much stronger than his followers, only their control is better than him. But in terms of power level, he is considered the strongest of his group. And in the past few months, his power continues to grow. And now he can finally make use of it. "Good, let''s get started," he said with a huge smile on his face. Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click /book/factory-inc._15511610705706605/248_51140367088670093 for visiting. Chapter 252 - 249 Fate III V.47 Fate III It''s very easy for them to get past immigration, a small bag of coins is all it takes to get them inside. The guards even escorted them inside with a huge smile on his face after all Arc was very generous with his tip. Inside Arc was laughing hard, after all, he came here to plunder their years of efforts, and yet their guards are welcoming them with a huge smile on his face he even escorted them inside, all the while telling them what to expect inside like a good-natured tourist Guide. Inside its very easy for them to look for their destinations, after all, they have been planing this for weeks Gedeon was able to rent a small warehouse inside the cathedral, many prominent merchants do the same, in fact, only big merchants are renting a warehouse, many just come to sell their wares and leave only those who have a huge company backing the are renting warehouses since the wares they have are much more than average merchants and those merchants who are renting a warehouse are what the HOC are looking for, they treat them more generously and gives them special treatment, and that''s how Gedeon and his team was able to gather so much intel. Also, Gedeon was starting to get his name known to many HOC, for one the wares Gedeon was selling was quite unique, because many of them are the product of System factory such as drones. That''s right, Gedeon was selling GT drones in the cathedral, of course only in small numbers but that''s also an opportunity for them after all those drones are under Eve or Specter and can be activated anytime. Unfortunately, many of the drones are dismantled for study. But many remains inside the Sanctuary, unfortunately, the Sanctuary are protected by powerful jamming and therefore those drones are unable to send any intel. Inside the warehouse, Gedeon and his team are waiting for Arc, each and every one of them have a full-size mech on their storage rings, Gedeon knows that once the operations started they won''t be able to go back here again, after all, once the drones have been activated it will be easy to know they are involved, after all, they are the only one selling those drones. Fortunately, they are wearing facial camouflage so they are not using their real faces. So looking for them after is a pipe dream. There are over 50 Celeste in the warehouse those 50 are the best of the best of the Celeste, and when they saw Arc they all have the same veneration on their faces, and they are also excited they had enough playing merchants. After all, they are a warrior race fighting is in their blood. Arc nodded at them there was no need for briefing they all been briefed before and knows what they have to do. They are just waiting for Arc since he was the one carrying all the droids since only his storage ring has the capacity to carry all those droids. Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click /book/factory-inc._15511610705706605/249-fate-iii_51215460296878686 for visiting. Arc then released several hundred Droids one at a time they will then be given to the Celeste because before the celeste enter the cathedral their storage rings are full of drones, drones that they sold to the HOC, now that the Drones were sold they have space to carry the droids Each Celeste was given 200 1-star droids, and then they will disperse throughout the Catedral, in a group of 4 each group has its own targets. It didn''t take long for them to get the droids and one by one left to go to their intended target. And when only Arc and his group remain, Jem has a huge smile on her face its been a while since they have a huge mission. In a few hours, the operation will start it will happen during the night. According to the intel, they have gathered it''s the best time to attack as many of the guards are outside the Cathedral patrolling the surrounding area for beast attacks. This will give them time to create enough chaos and force those inside the Sanctuary to go out and deal with it, it was at that time Arc and his group would infiltrate the Sanctuary. Arc was sitting crossed leg meditating, he has been doing this a lot as it helps him to better control his power, as for Ruby she was with Jem playing with Lilly, and Tom and Jerry as always are besides Arc protecting him. They just felt better if they are closer to Arc and protecting him even if he doesn''t need it. A few hours later Arc opened his eyes, "It''s time" he said smiling. The group nodded with a smile on their faces. Arc and his group then equipped their own warbots and entered stealth mode, leaving the warehouse, It is already dark outside but there are still many people walking the street. Many are merchants and some are pilgrims, guards can also be seen everywhere. Patrolling or simply taking a stroll after all Cathedral is one of the busiest Cities in Eden, despite its religious premise. Arc then released a thousand droids, everyone stop walking and looks at the many droids who suddenly appeared on the street. Many notice the peculiarity of the situation and started running aways while many could comprehend that someone was willing to attack one of the most powerful organizations on Eden and thought it must be some kind of event. The guards however know this is not an event they have prepared and started to prepare for battle. Arc seeing it cant help praising them for their astuteness. Arc immediately ordered the Droids to attack, and 1-star droids can cause severe damages to anything it targeted. The Droids targeted the buildings mainly buildings belonged to the HOC, or Hands Of Cain after all Arc doesn''t want innocent merchants to get killed, although many of them are not exactly a good guy, but not knowing about doesn''t make it ok. And so Arc''s first targets are the Building that belonged to HOC. A thousand 1-star Droids is enough to level any city on the Bright galaxy, but here the building is tougher than the ones on Bright Galaxy but despite that, a single 1-star drone is enough to demolish it in a single attack how much more a thousand. An alarm immediately rang in the city, and that was just the start the Celeste who was hiding in a different part of the city immediately started to attack too using the droids. Chaos immediately happens, countless people are running on the street looking for cover or simply running for their lives. Especially the merchants they immediately started running to the exit to leave the city, this is exactly what arc wanted, those who are leaving will prevent those guards from entering the city. This will force the people in the sanctuary to deal with the problems, but despite waiting for some time there was no sign of movement from the sanctuary. Arc cursed looks like they don''t care about those living in the city, in fact, he was correct in his hypothesis, the people on the sanctuary looks at the city and scoff, the city was the responsibility of the lower members. But many of them are annoyed since many of them have properties in the city. "They better protect my properties or they won''t hear the end of it." said one of the priests. "What''s going on over there anyway?" said another holding a glass of wine unconcerned to the city who was burning in front of his eyes. "Who knows, maybe some merchants have brought a rampaging ancient construct without securing it first, it''s not the first time it happens," said another But a girl who looks around 20 something looks at the city with a serious expression, on her face, and yet none of the people here shows any contempt or mention anything regarding it. "Lady Margareth, what are you thinking?" asked another man. Yet Margareth remains unmoved like she didn''t hear the man asking. But the man doesn''t look like he was offended. After all, the one in front of him is the youngest Cardinal in HOC history, Lady Margareth of the Blue cross order. Chapter 253 - 250 V.48 Fate IV It''s been more than 20 minutes since the Droids started rampaging and yet there was no sign of any movement from the Sanctuary, and so Arc was forced to improvise if they didn''t want to leave the Sanctuary all he has to do was force them to. Leaving the city Arc and his group went directly to the Sanctuary which is only a few miles away from the city it was an extremely colossal tower surrounded by an artificial river, and the only thing that connects it to the city is a huge steel draw bridge. Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click #._15511610705706605/250_51284534645280610 for visiting. It didn''t take long for him to arrive at the gate to the Sanctuary, leaving the burning city behind during the night the Cathedral is like a huge bonfire that lights up the night sky, and everyone on the Sanctuary can see it. The bridge Gate was protected by walls and regiments of Guards, all of them are armed to the teeth Arc was not surprised to see it after all their city is burning. Hundreds of templars lined up protecting the bridge gate mechanical construct can be seen behind them like giant Mechanical Idols. Dozens of them are lined up. Seeing it Arc smiles widens. "let''s see how our 1-star droids fare against them," the 1-star droids only about 3 meters tall, smaller than the race called Chosen who was as big as Ganesh who was about 5 meters tall. But the Droids who Arc calls terminators based on ancient old movies he saw when he was a child, his father loves to collect those old pre-war movies. The Terminators are jet black in color, their whole body was made from nanomachines and can change form however they like and was able to manifest several weapons programmed from their cores. A thousand Droids suddenly appeared in front of the Bridge Gate surprising all the guards and because Arc and his group are under stealth, nobody saw them. Now alarmed immediately rang in the sanctuary, making those who were laughing at the burning city, almost choke on their saliva. "What''s going on? How come the alarm on the sanctuary is ringing?" after all since its founding the alarm of the Sanctuary only rang a few times, and the last it time rang was several hundred years ago. Many of them were not even born yet at that time. And so their cheerful attitude was replaced by confusions and curiosity. all of them are former paladins they are not some helpless peasants, who among them doest know how to fight? To become a priest or high-ranking paladins they have to bathe in the blood of their enemies whether it was barbarians or beasts. The Cardinals gather at the top of the tower along with the current Pope. in there they can see the situations on the outside, projectors screen displaying many events outside the Tower, they saw the City being attacked by a powerful group of droids and huge mechanical construct, of course, those constructs are the Celeste in their mechs. The Guards outside was unable to get back into the city because of the influx of merchants trying to leave the city. But despite seeing all that none of them are worried. "Do we know who those constructs belong to?" said the pope who was covered from head to toes, not even his eyes can be seen. "No your grace, this is the first time we see those constructs", said one of the Cardinals. "Could it be a new construct from the Chosen?" Ask another. Unlikely the Chosen have no reason to attack us since they are also relying on us. "The only one I can think of are the Ancients," said another "those Barbarians? Well, I guess they are the only one who has a real grudge against us." "But I never heard of them developing this kind of technology." "It''s true that we called them Barbarians but their mechanical technologies are far above us," said another. What they didn''t mentions are the mechanical technologies they possessed were stolen from the so-called Barbarians. "But that does not explain how they manage to get inside the city undetected, and the fact they suddenly appeared in front of the bridge gate remains a mystery." No one said anything after that. They have no answers, but their thoughts were disturbed when they heard sudden explosions. They all look at the monitors in shock, their famed guards were decimated A few minutes ago, after Arc summoned a thousand droids he saw the guards deploying many peculiar devices in front of him, many of them transformed into something that projects an energy shield. He couldn''t help but nod in approval. And so he ordered the droids to fire. Well unfortunately he ordered all of them to attack, he only realizes his mistake a few seconds before the fire, by then it was too late. He saw a blinding flash followed by a huge tremor and shaking, and when the lights faded the guards are nowhere to be seen. Good thing the bridge remains intact but the bridge gate along with its guards has been reduced to ashes. And that was when the droids are firing in the lowest settings. "Shit" he couldn''t help cursing. Jem on the other hand was giggling nonstop. On the other side of the bridge the HOC, who was watching the fight in interest no longer have a smile on their faces, after what they have witnessed. They realize how serious the situations are. The Pope and the Cardinals are the same their relaxed and easy-going attitude is gone. "What is that? How can those small things have that kind of firepower." asked one of the Cardinals. "Oh, I very much want to study them," said one of the cardinals the only one who still has a smile on her face. "Lucia we have to first pass ordeal if you want to study them." said the pope who remains silent all this time besides the first questions he asked. "Of course your grace, centuries have passed since Babel was created and no one manages to destroy it, not even the great Wyrm was able to destroy it. What more for those small things." Said Lucia with a mocking smile on her face. All the Cardinals nodded, and smile. "Babel Activate the divine shield!!" Lucia Shouted. A huge Magical formation was formed on the top of the tower, then countless symbols appeared on the outer layer of the tower, forming a golden shield enveloping the whole tower and half the bridge. "Oooh¡­ that''s cool," said Arc looking at the glowing tower and the magical circular formations floating on top of it. "Forward," with the order, the droids marched into the bridge, the bridge was wide the size of the bride is equivalent to a 10 lane freeway, maybe bigger. He can only imagine what kind of construct needed for this kind of wide bridge. He noticed that the bridge was also glowing and symbols are also etched into the bridge. "So it''s not an accident the bridge survived the blast of the 1000 1-star droids, despite it was on the lowest settings the power of the droids is not something a normal building can survive. He was following behind the droids a hundred meters behind, he looked at the tower but all he can see are the golden glow. The tower is massive. Bigger than any building he saw before, the tower itself is like a huge city built like a tower. It is a circular tower. Looking at it from above he knows it was big but looking at it on the ground level he knows he severely underestimates its real size. "Alright, let''s see how strong this tower shield is" This time he ordered the droids to fire in maximum power, the hands of the droids formed to become a cannon, energy can be seen building in front of it. It took several seconds for the droids to gather enough energy to fire in maximum settings. Arc and his group were excited they are looking forward to what''s going to happen next, will the droids succeed or not. He wanted to know how many droids he needed to breach those shields who looks very powerful. Chapter 254 - 251 Fate V V.49 Fate V Arc was counting on his head, and when he reached zero, a blinding light appeared much like the first time He had ordered the droids to fire on the poor guards, only this time it''s much more intense 100 times more intense even with the warbots adjusting the display, all he can see are lights, he didn''t have to wait long though, the light fades as fast as it appeared. And the tower remains intact, he didn''t even see the shield being affected, the people on the tower rejoiced, the Cardinals despite having believed in the power of the tower were relieved when they saw the result. "Activate the Divine canon" Lucia shouted. And in front of the tower, a small circular magical formation was formed. "You expect for us to just sit here while you are attacking right?" said Lucia with an excited grin on her face, after all, it''s not every day she can play with Babel''s defense and weapons system. Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click #._15511610705706605/251-fate-v_51380909416436197 for visiting. Despite being in charge of Babel''s defenses, Babel hasn''t been attacked in centuries. In fact, he was thankful to the fools who dared attack the tower of Babel and Because of that, she gets to experience its full might and capabilities. Arc saw the small formations and Eve warned him about it, in fact, he doesn''t need to be warned he can feel the energy building up at the center of those formations. He knows the tower is fighting back. He ordered his group to back off and ordered the droids to enter a defensive mode. A circular shield appeared covering the entire body of the droids, which then combined into a much bigger shield when it touched the shield of the droids besides it, in the end, a black shield was formed covering all the droids. Arc was a surprise to see it. After all, he didn''t really read the droids descriptions when he created it. "That''s a formation shield Boss," Eve explained. Apparently, when one or two droids activate a shield with proximity to each other the shield would combine into a much bigger and stronger shield. And a thousand droids activating a shield together formed what is called Chaos shield, chaos shield only appeared when more than a hundred droids formed a shield together. "That shield is stronger than a Frigate class battleship shield. That kind of shield is strong enough to withstand the surface of the sun for a few seconds." Eve explained. Arc nodded, meaning those tower firepower won''t be able to breach those shields. And true enough when the tower activated the divine canon hundreds of lights like a spear hit the black shield, but the shield remained unmoved. Lucia was surprised to see it, no in fact all of them are surprised to see their proud divine canon failed to destroy those puny shield, it has to be said that each and every one of those spear of light is enough to devastate hundreds of thousands of enemies and yet Hundreds of those have failed to destroy the black shield. "Well if a thousand is not enough how about ten thousand?" said Arc laughing. He then summons another nine thousand droids. Nine thousand droids suddenly appearing shocked everyone on the tower. Especially the Cardinals and Pope. "What are they? Who controls those monsters?" Lucia mumbles. "Babel, what''s the shield integrity?" 92%.. Said the synthetic voice. And when Arc was about to order the Droids to fire, Eve gave him a suggestion. "Boss Activate the Chaos Blast" "Is that¡­ hehehe ooh, that''s cool." he didn''t need to ask, judging by its name Chaos cannon it is the combination of all the droids attacking together. "Activate Chaos Blast." and the moment he said that something amazing happens. The droids melted and formed a gigantic canon fifty meters long, with a diameter of over ten meters wide. And jet black. He can feel the energy forming in the barrel; it was so powerful the space surrounding it is cracking. He gulps, he can feel the energy building, and it''s making all his hair stand up. If this what a ten thousand can do what about a hundred thousand? Isn''t that enough to blast the moon to nothingness? He couldn''t even imagine it. Even Specter is not capable of blasting the moon to pieces. And specter possesses the most powerful firepower in all of his possessions. He imagined even Legion are not capable of surviving Specter full power blast. After all, after being upgraded two times Specter is close to being a 3-star rank. Of course, he didn''t know if one hundred thousand droids were enough to blast the moon to nothingness he was just imagining it. When the people inside the tower saw the gigantic canon despite looking very small compared to the tower size. The power building on the tip of the cannon is making the hair on their body stand up. Lucia no longer has a smile on her face. One look at that canon and she knew it was bad news. PZZZZZT there were no explosions when the blast hit the tower shield they all felt like space was breaking apart. This time the Babel divine shield can be seen flickering in and out. And yet after a few seconds, the shield remains intact. Despite the shaking, the tower remains undamaged. Ark seeing it took a deep breath, that shield was something to be able to withstand a powerful blast like that. "Babel report!!" TOWER 100% INTEGRITY DIVINE SHIELD 36% INTEGRITY She grasps, that cannon blast took more than 50% of the shield if that thing fires again they are doom. "Activate¡­." She didn''t finish because when she looked at the monitor she saw another ten thousand droids appearing. Panic began to set in. she looked at the pope, and noticed that he was shaking a little. It is minor but to her who has very acute senses. She knows that was fear. And she couldn''t blame him. Babel Activate emergency protocol. Arc notices that a huge amount of energy is building up at the base of the tower, and grins he knows the tower is trying to escape. He didn''t expect the tower to have a propulsion engine at the base of it like a rocket. "Specter, activate the Cage!!" The cage is a design to capture an enemy ship, he didn''t expect to use it on the tower. Energy chains appeared surrounding the tower like a net preventing it from leaving. "Don''t even think about leaving haha" said Arc laughing. "Babel, what''s going on, why aren''t we leaving?" The propulsion system is activated, Lifting Fail¡­ ERROR... ERROR... Unfortunately, Babel AI only standard it cannot understand that it was being caged up. PROPULSION DEACTIVATED... LIFT FAIL... REASONS UNKNOWN... "What!! Babel, what''s going on?" Lucia!! Lucia!! Called one of the cardinals "What!!" "Look," he was pointing at one of the monitors. Lucia looked and saw the reasons the tower failed to lift. In one of the monitors, she saw black chains weave together into a net-like appearance covering the whole tower preventing it from leaving. But that''s the least of their problems the canon formed from twenty thousand droids has already been formed and it is building power. "Babel Diverts all power into protecting the tower!! Use all our reserves if needed. Shouted Lucia" She then looks at all the Cardinals, "prepare for battle" all of them nodded. She was no longer happy this is happening, she can''t believe the invincible tower would be destroyed under her watch. Her name would forever be etched in history as the one who failed to protect the tower that stood over millennia. Chapter 255 - 252 V.50 Fate VI V.50 Fate VI Arc watched as the twenty thousand droids formed a massive cannon, now he was looking forward to seeing one hundred thousand droids forming a cannon, he can only imagine the size of the cannon it would be able to form. And when the twenty thousand droids canon began to charge, he was a bit afraid of the damage it can cause. But it was just a passing thought. However, to his enemies that were on the receiving end of the canon, It was a totally different experience. Many of them put on a brave face but inside they were terrified. Especially those low-ranking priests and bishops. Many of them are on the point of breakdown. Despite their training, they never experience something like this before. Only those in the rank of cardinals are somewhat still calm inside. Their mentality is much stronger. Afraid, yes they are. But not to the point of panic. As Lucia ordered Babel to enter a full defensive mode without any reservations, the tower of Babel exudes an almost ethereal radiance that has never been seen in millennia. Arc noticed the changes in the tower. "Haha, bring it on!!" he shouted inside his warbot. Even though in his mind it was already game over, the moment he saw the tower trying to escape he knew his enemies were on their last leg. And the changes in the tower are nothing but a vain attempt to survive the twenty thousand droids canon blast. ZIIIZZT¡­ [sounds of the cannon firing] There were no loud sounds typical to canon, instead, it sounded like a ship exiting a warp and breaking the space. But to his surprise, the tower shield was able to hold back the Chaos Blast, for a few seconds before cracking and breaking completely. And when the Chaos Blast hit the tower, a loud rumbling sound can be heard. The tower itself was protected by powerful symbols and runes. And was trying to fight back the attack. ============== Inside the tower panic and chaos started to spread if not for the cardinals maintaining order, there would be total chaos, the tower is shaking violently and pieces of it are breaking apart. Ceiling collapsing and walls breaking are happening all over the tower. And because of the size of the tower, the pieces of ceiling falling are the size of a bus, and people can be seen running and escaping all over the place trying to evade the falling debris after all it wasn''t just member of HOC are living inside the tower, slaves and workers are also living inside the tower serving the HOC members and their family. It took a couple of seconds for the attack to finish, and when it was over a huge part of the tower was missing. It''s like a giant monster took a bite at the tower tearing it apart. Lucia and the rest of the Cardinals heave a sigh of relief when the rumbling stops. And them surviving the ordeal. "Babel Damage report!!" shouted Lucia. Tower integrity 65%... Babel started reporting damage reports. Giving Lucia A headache. Just one blast and Babel took significant damage, she knew another attack, and they are done. She looked at the monitors and saw the droids entering some sort of standby mode, which is understandable after expending so much energy. "Babel, bring down the draw bridge" Lucia ordered. When the Cardinal heard it they were stunned. "Lucia what are you doing?" questioned one of the Cardinals "That''s right!! Are you out of your mind?" bellowed another. Lucia looks at them like they are some kind of brain-dead idiots. "What? Why are you looking at us like that?" "Do you know what would happen if we don''t let them in? Do you really think we, no Babel would survive if they fired once more?" They wanted to retort, but when they thought about it Lucia was right but being called in front of all the Cardinal still leaves a bad taste in their mouth. Now they felt like idiots. Arc noticed that the drawbridge is going down. "Looks like they are inviting us in, they should have done that in the first place," Arc said with a smug look on his face. And clearly, they made the right decision, because he was getting ready to summon another thousand droids for another attack. "Eve, Specter, it''s your turn," said Arc. Originally it was Eve''s job to took over the droid''s control as they storm the sanctuary, but he suggested that giving Specter a chance to participate in the attack, to give him more experience. In truth, it was really unnecessary for Eve can simply share her experience with Specter, but none of them contradict him, since there''s no harm in it. And so he decided to divide the droids between Eve and Specter. Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click #._15511610705706605/252-v.50-fate-vi_51449875048492851 for visiting. In truth the droids comes with its own AI, and it''s more than enough to deal with any situations, But Arc is so used to asking Eve and Specter to control any Droids or Drones. And as soon as the drawbridge was completely down opening the way inside the tower. The droids immediately started marching towards it. Lucia heaved a sigh of relief when she saw the droids marching, she was afraid that the droids would ignore the drawbridge and simply fire again. That would be a death sentence for them. Lucia looks at the Pope, "your Grace." the pope nodded he knows Lucia''s job is done. Her job is to protect the tower, but she can''t order other cardinals, that''s The Pope''s job. Only a Pope has the power to command the cardinals. As Lucia kneels down other cardinals follow suits. The Pope looks at the kneeling cardinals, I order you all to protect the tower with your life. May the Divine be with you. "For the DIVINE!!" everyone shouted¡­ Outside Arc and his group are watching the droids marching into the sanctuary, he also checks at Gideon''s and his team. Who were still rampaging in the Cathedral making as much chaos as possible. "Boss, the connection to the drones are back" Eve''s voice rang in his head. "Oh, great!! Let''s see," suddenly the image on his screen changed, he then saw people running around inside the sanctuary. One look, and he knew he f.u.c.k.i.e.d up, this scenario never crossed his mind, but when he thinks about it, it makes sense, but because of the report that only HOC are allowed inside the sanctuary, it blinded him to the fact that those HOC members will surely have servants serving them, servants that are not HOC members. His smiles receded. He can only imagine how many people have died because of the attack. To be honest he didn''t really blame Gideon and his group for the intel. As they are indeed correct. That no none HOC members are allowed inside the sanctuary, but those only apply to the guests. And another thing the servants once they entered the sanctuary they will never be allowed to leave the sanctuary for the duration of their lives. But just like what He said not knowing about it does not make him innocent. Arc''s group can feel the changes in Arc''s mood, and they know the reason for it, after all, they are watching the same video. Nobody said anything, it was at this time they missed the appearance of Tiffa, only she can calm Arc down in this kind of situation. "Sigh, what a blunder, Eve divert half your droids to rescue missions, Specter continues with the assault, just be careful to cause unnecessary collateral damage, to the servants and slaves. I don''t care about the members of HOC." Arc''s mind has been tempered enough unlike before, now he can calmly tackle the problems without being affected too much. He didn''t know if this was a good thing or not. In a way, he knew this kind of thing would happen eventually no matter how careful he was; he just didn''t expect it to happen this soon. His more than two weeks of planning feels like a wasted time when this kind of thing happens. "Let''s go and Finnish this!!" "Yes, Boss!!", none of them are in a joking mood anymore, not even Jem who was the most playful of them all, is now very serious. Even Lilly was sitting quietly on Jem''s shoulder quietly. Chapter 256 - 253 Fate VII V.51 Fate VII Arc and his group marched inside the sanctuary and despite the blunder they made, this mission is very important, so he just put those thoughts in the back of his head, for he needs to concentrate on the things in front of him. He knows that despite the current situations and that they have a huge advantage at the moment, he knows that anytime something unexpected may happen that can reverse the situations. Specter and Eve along with 30,000 droids are already inside the sanctuary but with the size of the sanctuary 30,000 may not be enough to cover all areas. No matter how much he looks at the tower they called sanctuary he was amazed at how this building was able to stand at all, and with the current technology of human, this kind of structures is almost impossible to build at least not practical at all as the foundation needed to build this kind of structures would occupy almost half of the inside of the tower, and yet not only this structure is almost hallowed inside it can even withstand a bombardment of 20-30,000 Chaos Blast, not only that this tower can even fly. And that''s why he was so eager to learn the technology of this world, he even plans to stay for a while after he completed his mission just to learn everything this world can offer. Eve''s physical body remains beside him, and she continues to give a report on what is happening inside. Apparently, the number of HOC inside the tower is also quite huge and the first droids are already engaged in fighting the HOC members. He himself is surrounded by another thousand droids that he summoned. And these droids are all under him. Meaning Eve and Specter are not controlling it. The draw bridge is about a few hundred meters long and also quite wide, that a thousand droids can easily pass through it without a problem. It took him a few minutes to reach the entrance to the sanctuary, up close he can see that each individual brick of the tower is inscribed with some sort of runes. He can only imagine the work needed to build this kind of tower that is several kilometers big. The gate itself is big enough that several Mechs can enter side by side with room to spare. Several questions are already forming inside his mind, just what kind of being needed this kind of humongous gate? This was definitely not built with humans in mind. ~A dragon maybe?~ He said in his mind. And although he was observing his surroundings his steps never slows down, the same for his party. After all, they are all in the same boat to them this is all new, and everything they see is new to them. But despite the curiosity, they have, none of them slows down to sate their curiosity, as they enter they found out that the tower acts just like a storage ring, Arc being sensitive to any energy can feel the changes the moment they entered the tower. Normal people may not be able to tell but he and his party can. And that makes them extra vigilant. After all, they are now entering the enemy''s home ground, Lilly is a good example of that if Lilly wanted to kill them the moment they entered Adams house, she may very well succeed. As everything inside the house is under her control. "Boss this tower is like me," said Lilly who is keeping quiet all this time on Jem''s shoulder. When Arc heard it he wasn''t surprised as he already has that kind of idea in his mind, but He stops as soon as he heard Lilly. "Lilly, can you feel the spirit of the tower?" Arc questioned. Lilly closed her eyes. She looks like she was communicating or searching the spirit of the tower. None of them interrupted her, all of them stop just a few meters after entering the tower. They can hear the sounds of fighting not so far away. But the front entrance is quite safe and empty after all 30,000 droids just pass through here clearing every danger along the way, Specter and Eve are making sure it is safe for their Boss to pass through. It didn''t take long Lilly opened her eyes and look at Arc. "Boss, this tower is stil a child, and she was under the people who manage the tower," said Lilly with a cute voice she was now flying around Arc like a playful fairy she is. "A child?" He understands the second part but the child part he doesn''t quite understand, he looks at the tower, and he can tell this tower is very old. "Wait Lilly did you mean the spirit was just recently been born?" Ask Arc looking a little confused. As the word child could mean several things. Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click #._%!d(string=15511610705706605)/253-fate-vii_%!d(string=51586633501306323) for visiting. Lilly looks at Arc, with a question mark on her head. She doesn''t quite understand what her boss is asking her. But despite that, she still answered, "Um Boss Babel is older than me but was still a child" That answers confuse Arc, even more, he was about to ask once again when he heard Nine voice. "A spirit age is not counted by years but by how much knowledge it has. Lilly is the best example of that, in terms of years Lilly is the youngest between me and this tower, but in terms of knowledge, she has more than us, and therefore she is considered older than us." This explanation surprised Arc for one this is the first time He heard Nine explains things in detail. Normally she just keeps quiet unless it is necessary for her to speak. And another thing he always thinks Nine is just another interface or AI like Eve. AI and Spirit are very different despite the similarity of their functions. And before he can ask again Nine continues, My memory was erased when my first master died. And only core knowledge remains. Nine explains. After that, she no longer speaks. In a way, Arc understands it after all Adam already explains it somewhat before, It was no wonder Nine sounds like a low-level AI when he first receives the System. But after the upgrades, she sounded much better. That means with every upgrades her knowledge increases as well and in turn, making her more mature. He now gets it, what Lilly meant by this tower or this Babel being a child. He then looks at Lilly, and he saw her dancing around him like a child. ~This fairy is a.d.u.l.t? No way!~ Chapter 257 - 254 Hands of Cain V.52 Hands of Cain Lilly noticed that Arc was looking at her weirdly and not just Lilly everyone around him notice it. But none of them asked him about it despite their curiosity. Even Jem who was super curious about it didn''t open her mouth to ask. "Boss, why are you looking at me like that?" Hmmm, Lilly shakes her small head left and right with one hand on her chin. "Did I say something wrong?" Arc woke up from his stupor, He notices that everyone is looking at him and realize that only he can hear Nine''s voice, not even Eve can hear it. Unless nine wants Eve to hear. "ehem no nothing like that, it''s just that this tower I mean Babel is still a child, and you are already an a.d.u.l.t?" "Hehehe, that''s right Boss Lilly is already a.d.u.l.t surprised? Hehe, Lilly is a big girl now." she continuous to dance around Arc now even faster and more enthusiastic. And when everyone heard Arc had said all of them understand why Arc is looking at Lilly weirdly. Only Jem is clapping her hands in response to Lilly''s proud declaration. "Arc shakes his head, Lilly do you think you can control Babel? Or maybe have him joins us?" Lilly stops dancing and answered immediately, "No Boss I can''t, not until we killed the one who holds his core or the one controlling him. But don''t worry boss Babel is quite hurt and won''t be able to do anything to us. Until he heals completely" Arc just shrugs, he wasn''t really expecting it to happen, but there''s nothing wrong in asking, and besides Lilly already elevates his worries about the tower. Arc nodded at everyone, his destination is different from where the droids are fighting, his destination is the Hands of Cain [HOC] treasure vault where they kept all the relics they hoarded. Eve already made some calculations on the possible location of the treasure vault base on the intel the drones have gathered the moment they are taken inside the tower. And with Eve capabilities it''s not hard to calculate the possible location of the vault. In fact, HOC and the Cardinals have already some idea of what their mysterious attackers are after, after all, there are few reasons why someone will attack them. And to them gathering a huge amount of relics is public knowledge. And of course, there are few other secrets they are hiding, and if these relics is what their enemies are after they are happy to give it away because of the current situation they have right now. To be honest, to them those relics are not as important as their other secrets or their lives. So when the assault started the vault is the last thing they wanted to protect. That is if they are even capable of protecting it. The Pope and the cardinals can see the movement of their enemies inside the tower, Babel may have been incapacitated, but surveillance is one of the things that can still be used. They saw the Bulk of the forces heading toward the upper level of Babel where they are located, but another one is heading towards the vault, in fact, they cannot see Arc and his party after all they are still in stealth mode, but that does not apply to the thousand of Droids surrounding them. So the pope can only see a thousand Droids moving towards where the vault is located, indicating that their opponents know the layout of the tower. The Pope looks at the cardinals and doubt was visible in his eyes. Their enemies knowing the layout of Babel means only one thing there are traitors among them. But he wasn''t very sure after all a powerful seal is placed in their mind to prevent this kind of thing from happening. The cardinals also notice the movement of their enemies and the word traitors were also in their mind. But just like the Pope, they are not sure if that was the case. Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click #._%!d(string=15511610705706605)/254-hands-of-cain%C2%A0_%!d(string=51704493594702784) for visiting. "Your eminence what are we going to do about the vault?" asked one of the Cardinals. There''s nothing much we can do about it now, Babel is incapacitated and already entered recovery mode and only basic functions remain. But blood thirst can be seen in the Pope''s eyes, very unbecoming for someone with the title pope. The Cardinals nodded the pope''s eyes tells them everything they needed to know. Meaning as soon as they manage to escape this predicament and found out who their enemy is they will make them suffer a thousand times over. And even though many of them think that surviving this catastrophe is very small, none of them voice it. "Vicar, ready the faithless" One of the Cardinals nodded, with a bloodthirsty smile on his face. [The Faithless] the abomination created from the members who fail the augmentations of becoming paladins. This is one of the secret weapons of the HOC. As each one of these Faithless is very powerful but have a very short lifespan, in other words, they are onetime use weapons, and their number is enormous after all since this method was discovered the number of those who failed the augmentations are almost countless, and they have had never used it before since they have no reason to, so their number are increasing year by year. Suddenly a loud rumbling sounds can be heard from everywhere in the tower, followed by slight shaking. Arc looks around and asks Eve about it, but Eve has no answers either. Arc nodded he knows that whatever that is they will soon find out. And he was right in just a few minutes the droids are already engaged against a new enemy. And this one looks like something that crawls out of hell. In fact, this one is far more grotesque than the one Graff was using when they fought him. At least the one Graff is using you can still somewhat recognize it. But this one has no fixed form it was like bodyparts being glued together without any plans at all, and worse those body parts look like it was rotten and boiled over some sort of chemical before being put together. At first, they were looking forward to fighting the enemies but now that he was looking at them, he was glad that the one fighting them are droids and not them he can already imagine the smells just by looking at them. He looks around and everyone has the same look on their face. He laughs he can read what everyone is thinking about. And that is to stay away from those things as far as possible where they can''t smell them. "Boss summons more droids I don''t want to fight that," said Jem looking slightly pale. Only Lilly looks excited when she looks at the projection. Arc looks around and every one of them is looking at him with a pleading look in their eyes. And he can''t blame them, despite being inside the warbots their helmets are not visible, so he can see their faces. He laughs for he himself does not want to fight those disgusting creatures either. Chapter 258 - 255 Hands of Cain II V.53 Hands of Cain II Arc looks around and saw the pleading look on their eyes, which is very rare as these guys are all fighting junkies like him and wanted nothing more than to fight powerful opponents and won''t shy to enemies they encounter, but those disgusting things are the exceptions. One look at it and he himself wanted nothing to do with it. He looks at the Faithless and those muscles without skin and looks like it has been submerged with a chemical for a very long time, looks like it''s about to fall off, and he also notices that some part is made of machine because he saw some exposed wires and metals on some Faithless. The droids have no problem dealing with them. Many of them are covered in some kind of greenish liquid that comes from the faithless that the droids have decimated. ~1-Star Droids are really very powerful~, sometimes he forgets that the droids protecting are all 1-star and not some droids that he used to have. As all of them are converted into 1-star droids the moment he bought a 1-star Cybernetic Armed Factory from the system. "Don''t worry those things are all concentrating on the droids on Eve''s side." but as soon as he said that he can already smell a weird chemical smell on the air. He looks at everyone and their faces are a little pale none of them wanted to fight those disgusting things except for Lilly, who was already swinging her huge sword. But of course, they will still fight it if they have to, but if they have a choice they don''t want to. He looks back and sure enough, those disgusting Faithless are already crawling very fast toward them. He sighs and nodded at everyone. All of them closed their helmets and even though they can no longer smell it they can still imagine it. The droids at the very back of him are already engaged with the faithless. He also notices that there''s some kind of inscriptions written all over the body of the faithless. He runs forward and summons another set of droids to deal with the increasing number of faithless, he also receives a notification from Eve that they just lost their first droid. He knew that was only the beginning. As the number of faithless increased the ones that replace them are also more powerful than the first. Now he is no longer in a joking mood, as the number of faithless increase according to Eve the number just reach a million. It''s a good thing that with eve and specter in control the droids are faring much better as to when they left to their own AI. like the one, he is using, and yet he didn''t ask Eve to take over just yet. He still has more than fifty thousand droids in his storage, he wanted to see just how far the droids can deal with the faithless with their own AI and with a simple order from him. So despite moving forward he keeps monitoring the droids he left behind he looks at Specter and saw he is becoming more proficient in controlling the droids using different formations and tactics to deal with the increasing number of faithless. He Wasn''t worried that his enemies would escape during this time as the whole area is under his control or to be more specific it''s under Specter''s control. Specter''s physical body meaning the ship is parked above the sanctuary sealing the surrounding space. And Eve is doing a good job rescuing the HOC servants who were hiding in fear from the faithless after all the faithless will attack anyone who is not a member of HOC, and them being servants doesn''t really count as being a member of HOC. So as soon as those faithless was released their fate was already sealed. If not for Eve using over two thousand droids to rescue them all of them would already be dead. And this move surprised the member of HOC especially the Pope and the Cardinals as they saw a number of droids broke out of formations and started rescuing their servants. Something they couldn''t comprehend. After all, those servants of them have absolutely no value whatsoever to them their lives are nothing more than ants on the road for them. Even if every single one of them has been killed, there''s always a way to get more of them even if they lost all of them. The only thing they probably regret is that educating a servant takes time especially since every servant is tailored to their needs but compare to everything else the servant''s lives are inconsequential. So they are very surprised to see that their powerful enemies are using some of their forces to save those insignificant servants of them. "Kro what do you think of that?" the pope asks one of the Cardinal. Kro is considered the tacticians of HOC, he was the one in charge of the HOC army, and it''s not those faithless but the members of HOC as every HOC member are considered as soldiers. Kro didn''t answer immediately but instead keeps on looking at the monitors or more specifically those droids that are rescuing their servants. But after a while, he shakes his head. "This actions can mean many things, but this actually does not make sense, it could be that their leader is somehow connected to those servants of ours, but the chances of that are very small as our servants come from many regions all across Eden, or simply he or she was feeling some kind of sympathy to those servants of ours" "Can we use this weakness?" asked one of the cardinals But Kro just shakes his head. "I know what you are thinking, but I feel that they will simply be abandoned as soon as they become a hindrance to them, they are simply helping them just because they can, and not because they need to. But a simple experiment won''t hurt" said Kro. With a glint of a smile on his face. Kro looks at Vicar and Vicar nods. Suddenly a huge number of faithless broke formations and move towards where the servants are housed. Eve and Specter immediately notice it and made a move suddenly over two thousand droids started merging indicating they are about to fire a chaos blast, and it was not pointed at the breaking faithless, but it was pointed upwards. Eve and Specter knew what the HOC are planning, and they are already expecting it, after all, them rescuing mere servants are indicating some sort of weakness on their part, and so they are already prepared a countermeasure to it. Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click #._15511610705706605/255-hands-of-cain-ii_51776407436591056 for visiting. And sure enough as soon as Kro and the rest of the Cardinals saw it, Kro ordered Vicar to recall the faithless who broke formation. But these actions surprise him and the rest even more. Looks like he was mistaken about their enemy connections to their servants, looks like those servants are more important to their enemy than they realized. Unfortunately, their weakness is also open to their enemy. Meaning their enemy are willing to play fair as long as they also play fair but as soon as they started playing dirty so is their enemy, and it is not something they can afford. Chapter 259 - 256 Hands of Cain III V.54 Hands of Cain III Kro looks at everyone in the room including the pope, "in these fights our hands are tied if we try something that they don''t like that cannon will blast all of us to oblivion. And unlike before we are powerless to stop it, especially inside the tower, as all the defensive formation of Babel is focus outside preventing the enemies from entering, inside the defensive formation is very limited, and what''s more even the most powerful defensive formation of Babel is broken. What''s more for the less powerful one. One hit from those cannons will put a hole in the sky along with all of them." Kro sighed no matter how good he is as a tactician when all their weakness is on their enemy hands there''s pretty much nothing he can do. Not when their enemy holding a gun on their head and can pull the trigger anytime. Kro looks at the Pope and bows and turns around and walks back to his seat. Indicating there''s nothing he can do to help. And no one blames him. In fact, they all felt the powerlessness. They all felt what Kro is feeling and that is a foreign thing to them. They are so used to be on a superior side. Even when dealing with The Chosen the most powerful organization on Eden they still have a superior attitude but now suddenly someone just took that power of them they are like birds whose wings were suddenly plucked. But despite the powerlessness, all of them going to fight to the last man if they have to. "Have you already contacted the other organization about our predicament?" asked one of the cardinals The one who answered is the pope, "we did as soon as our shield is broken it''s about time to collect those favors they owed us" "But none answered us back, meaning we are being isolated with some kind of formation or magic." Said the female Cardinal. "But knowing you, you have found a way to inform them right? Mila" "Mila just smiles, we being isolated is not surprising we will do the same thing if we are in their position, but isolation formation and magic have limitations like everything else." Everyone nodded except for the pope who remains emotionless and just watching and listening to the conversations. Mile continues, "so knowing those limitations the best and most efficient solutions are also the most basic ones. Just send someone to inform them. To honest the moment, I implemented these things I never once thought I would use them in my lifetime." Mila whistles and a palm-size bird flew to her hand. Everyone is familiar with these birds after all these birds are the most common birds inside the sanctuary, the sanctuary can hold life and so to make it as natural as possible several animals are introduced to live inside the sanctuary. "These birds are called Maya they are the most common birds on Eden they are practically everywhere except those extreme regions and that makes them a perfect species to be Messenger for no one will suspect them. And these birds are unmodified except for their intelligence they are all-natural no matter how much one scans it no one will find anything weird about them." Mila explains looking very proud. In fact when she first proposes these ideas her superior at that time they all laugh and mocked her. Only when she has promoted to Cardinals she was free to implement these things without opposition. And now to think these systems that she introduces that was mocked and laughed at was now the only lifeline everyone is betting at to save their lives. She looks at the few cardinals the ones that used to be her superior the very ones that mocked and laugh at her, and all of them can''t look at her eyes. Which makes her even prouder. And how can they deliver a message? Despite them being all natural if started carrying things they can easily be identified and killed. She nodded, she whistles again, and to everyone''s surprise, the bird started talking. "Hello everyone I''m a messenger from HOC Cardinal Division... " The bird started saying things like a recorded message. "I thought you said it wasn''t modified?" asked one of the cardinal "It wasn''t, these birds as uncanny ability to mimic many sounds they hear, and by cutting their tongue in a certain way they are able to mimic voices, and each bird was made to memorized certain messages by playing it over and over to them during training." said Mila looking even prouder. Many immediately started praising her, even the pope started nodding at her, who would have thought about these things with all the advancement in the technology in Eden. And true enough even with the advanced space control of Specter despite having an active scanning technology killing animals is not something he would do, but he did scan every creature that leaves the area, and like predicted if it was modified Specter would have captured it or kill it. But these Maya was able to slip his radar and was able to leave without him knowing about it after all, like Mila has said there are thousands of them existing in the wild as they are a very common bird. So without knowing several hundred of those messenger birds were able to leave and already on their way to the many top organizations in Eden. "And how long before they can reach it?" Asked another. "These birds are very fast, faster than normal birds." Said Mila they are also trained and fed well, so their constitution is several times better than the one that existed in the wild. "The closest one from us is The Blades. And they owed us quite a bit. I say a few minutes would be enough for one of the Maya to reach them." Said Mila "Those mercenaries? I suppose they can at least make a good cannon fodder," said Vicar "As for the others, it will take some time so we better manage to hold on until they come," said Mila Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click #._15511610705706605/256-hands-of-cain-iii_51865150872939617 for visiting. what she didn''t mention is that despite the optimistic attitude she shows, the chances that these birds would be able to fulfill their jobs is uncertain, after all this is the first time this system was implemented. So nobody knows if it will work or not. They all understood these things without asking Mila about them. Their only hope is that their many secret weapons would be enough to buy them enough time for their so-called uncertain reinforcement to arrive and save them. Chapter 260 - 257 Zombies V.55 Zombies As the cardinals are discussing the remaining options they have. The battle inside Babel intensifies as more and more faithless comes pouring out from everywhere and soon enough the droids are having a hard time keeping up with the number and the increasing strength of the faithless. Despite how powerful the droids are each droid is fending hundreds of faithless who like them are not afraid of anything. And in these moments Arc was able to gauge just how powerful a 1-star droid really is. "It''s just too bad these things can''t fight in space like space mechs, but maybe if we modify them they may be able to." Arc began to think as he watches the droids fends and fights the almost endless number of faithless. And every time he looks at the faithless he was being reminded of some old movies his dad has collected from before the war, the creatures called Zombies only more deformed and several times more disgusting. Nevertheless, their actions and movements are very much like them fearless and only driven by instinct and that is to eat. And he was not talking about those slow-moving zombies but those zombies who are the evolved version of it, that are very fast and strong and very deformed and rotten. "Eve did you find out where they are coming from?" asks Arc No, Boss, they seem to come from everywhere, and without surveillance capability and with the vastness of Babel it is almost impossible to find it, despite Arc releasing a huge number of spy drones that only the size of a fingernail, that only serve as a spy without any another function. It''s just that Babel is very vast, bigger than what it looks outside and that is already big. There are mountains and river inside babel, like a true pocket dimension that only exist in legends. And no, storage rings are not counted as it still requires external energy to function, unlike the pocket dimension he read about in many novels and movies. Before he received the Factory system one of Arc''s hobbies is reading novels and watching old movies, he especially likes fantasy and the magical genre. And now he was living the very novel and movies he was watching and reading before. He couldn''t ask for more. "I will keep looking Boss," said Eve Arc nodded if they can figure out where these things are coming out from they can simply plug it or just simply camp outside it and kill it as soon as they come out unless the door is as big as the entrance to babel, which he doubts otherwise they would have found it immediately. It has been several minutes since they started assaulting the inside of babel and Arc already summons 70,000 droids to compensate for the increasing number of faithless, and he lost more than a hundred droids with the battle with the faithless. And they couldn''t even count how many they have killed, but it must have been close to a million already, and yet the number wasn''t lessening a bit, in fact, it is even increasing nonstop. And what''s worse it is even getting stronger. In fact, even the HOC have no idea how many faithless they have so far. And the increasing strength of faithless are giving the Cardinals some ray of hope, They look at Vicar, looking for some answer. But vicar just shrugs. "I don''t know exactly how many we have since these things have been stacking since before I was born, and the reason they are getting stronger is that the older they are, meaning the longer they are submerged in the medical formations the stronger they become but no one was able to find out if that is true since in order to use the older faithless we must first use the new ones. And since its foundation, the faithless remains unused until now." "To be honest, I was looking forward to seeing those thousands of years old faithless in battle myself. I have heard that a long time ago the procedures in making faithless are very different from what we are using now. Meaning the outcome is also different from a typical faithless we are seeing. But those things are at least ten thousand years old or even older." Vicar started with a creepy smile on his face. "Prepare the army!!" Everyone looks at a pope who interrupted their conversations. Your eminence? They were surprised to see a grim look on his face especially now that the faithless are doing good. The Pope looks at them and said. "Believe me none of you want to see those old monsters waking up." They look at the pope waiting for some explanation. Sigh, he looks at the Cardinals especially the younger generation. "Let me ask you? How do you think our organization was founded?" "By the divine!" Said one of the younger cardinals "And who is the divine?" asked the pope. The pope is not surprised that no one answers him. It would be weird if someone answers him as it goes against the very teaching they have. "This information is actually only available to me the pope or the next pope. But since it was not exactly forbidden knowledge I will share it with you. But it must never leave this room or every one of you will be purged without exceptions." he once again looks at all the cardinals especially the younger generations. "Do you still want to hear it?" the pope said with a teasing smile on his face. But to his surprise, all of them nodded. Making him smile even more. "Very well the answer is actually very simple if you think about it carefully." he pauses and once again looks at everyone like an old man telling a story to children who pause once in a while to looks at their expressions full of anticipations for what he was going to tell them next. "So what creatures can be considered as divine in this world no, this prison?" and when this question was asked all of them have a sudden realization and gasp in surprise. Because only one word comes to everyone''s mind. [FORGOTTEN] in other words Dragons. Chapter 261 - 258 Forgotten V.56 Forgotten BOOM!!... despite the unwillingness of Arc and his party to fight this disgusting faithless in the end because of their number the droids wasn''t able to stop all of them, at first only one or two was able to slip by, and they were quickly killed even before they come close to them, but soon because of the increasing strength more and more was able to slip the droids, but Arc still didn''t summon the rest of the droids because one reason is that the remaining droids are not like the rest the last 30,000 droids are specially made droids and even though they are still considered 1-star they very close to being 2-star in power and rightly so because this last 30,000 is far more expensive than all 70,000 1-star droids, in fact, the resources and energy units he spends making them is enough to make another 100k droid, without any problem. And yet despite that, these 30k droids were necessary for their survival on this planet. At least that''s what he felt. And even now that thinking didn''t change in other words these last 30k droids can be considered the best a 1-star Cybernetic Armed Factory can make. And so he wasn''t willing to reveal it unless he was forced to. But looking at his party despite their unwillingness none of them shows it when they started fighting. Especially the smallest one of them the cutest grim reaper in the universe Lilly, who using her broad sword several times bigger than her, wiping several faithless in a single swing that not even Arc manages to do. In other words, Arc was mistaken when he thought he was the strongest one in his party. In fact, Arc saw Lilly fight several times and knows that she was strong, but he thinks he was still stronger, but what Arc didn''t factor was Lilly was unable to fight stronger opponents, and she only uses strength enough to destroy her opponents, and so, in fact, Lilly strength is far more than Arc and anyone of his party. In fact even if and his whole party joins together they will never defeat Lilly the same as they can never put a dent in the Mansion type sovereign tools that was Lilly''s true body. After all, Lilly was created by Adam and Eve combined power. When they are still together back when Eve wasn''t under God''s controls. Back when the forgotten was first imprisoned and found the old house of Adam and Eve. They use everything of their power to destroy it only to leave disappointed as they are unable to put a scratch to it. This was one of their greatest failures besides being imprisoned. Of course, the fact that Eden was modified to imprison them also played a big part in it, after all, Eden was modified to continuously absorb energy from the forgotten to keep them from breaking out weakening them continuously. And when they are imprisoned they are already weakened but despite that to be able to survive without a single scratch from the attacks of the forgotten speaks of Lilly''s strength and durability. And unlike the forgotten Lilly was continuously getting stronger as time goes by. It is also fortunate to the forgotten that Lilly being ownerless at that time was unable to go out of the mansion to fight them otherwise it will an interesting fight. Arc found out that despite the rotten look of the faithless their durability was actually very strong it took him several swings to completely cut the faithless. Which surprise him a lot. Of course, if he used his energy power it will be a different story. And as they continue to fight, their battle also reveals their existence to the HOC. After all, their warbots are very different from the droids, and despite looking mechanical like the droids, the warbots are bigger and stronger than the droids despite being at the same level of 1-star. The truth is the warbots are closed to being 2-star, and the power of the person controlling it is adding to their strength making the warbots very strong. And soon as they appear the cardinals immediately see them. Making them focus on their party, or specifically on the strongest member of their party Lilly. She was simply eye-catching a foot-long fairy caring a sword as big as a human and with a single swing can kill several faithless in one go. Anyone seeing her would be surprised. In fact, the appearance of Lilly started a debate among the cardinals watching who are debating what kind of creatures Lilly is, after all, she was the only one looking made of flesh and blood and alive among the sea of machines and faithless. "Eve, how far are we to the vault?" asked Arc. "Not far Boss just a few hundred meters away from my calculated location of the vault." "Just beyond those buildings" Eve pointed to some buildings ahead of them. Arc nodded, "How''s the evacuation progress of the slaves?" All done boss they are all now inside the storage facility inside Specter, the Celeste is now taking care of them and removing all the restrictions placed on them. Arc nodded. That''s another weight off his shoulder the other thing is that the number of faithless are starting to slow down, but in turns, their strength is getting stronger. But as he can see it''s still within the capability of the droids despite losing close to one thousand. The 60k+ droids are doing very well despite him not summoning his secret weapon. Making him sigh in relief. And as soon as he thinks of it he felt another rambling and this one is stronger than the first when the faithless was first released. Followed by a loud roar and a burst of energy. He immediately stops running and looks back to where the massive energy is coming from. He can feel it like a wind brushing his whole body. And knew that was bad news. In fact the cardinals and the pope especially the pope who is looking at where the massive energy is coming from and his face is pale. "It was too soon," the pope mumbles. He didn''t expect that one of the forgotten to be waking up already. In other words, the droids are so good at killing the faithless that all the reserve of faithless was already out and that leads to the first of the forgotten faithless to wake up. The pope looks at the time, and it wasn''t even an hour yet a forgotten is already waking up, and what''s next? Those things would be waking up soon too and that means only one thing for all of them. Death!! Chapter 262 - 259 Fate VIII V.57 Fate VIII Arc, and everyone inside Babel heard the mighty and loud roar followed by a rumbling mild at first, but it was increasing as time went by, but Arc wasn''t worried about the rumbling or the loud roaring sound, but by the massive burst of energy it was releasing. It''s so powerful it''s making all his hair stand up. Even Lilly who was enjoying herself fighting and killing the faithless suddenly stops fighting and looks at where the energy is coming from. Back in the top of Babel where the Pope and the rest of the Cardinal are waiting and watching. They can see on the monitor a massive magic formation and in that formation slowly something is coming out. Just the claw is about 3 to 4 meters long, so one can only imagine the full size of the monster. "That''s big," mumbled one of the cardinals. But the pope just shakes his head, "no it''s not, looks like it''s just a small one waking up first." And when the rest of the cardinals heard it they all at the pope, but the pope no longer say anything. And he doesn''t have to that sentence alone is enough to give everyone the real sense of the size of the forgotten, despite everyone in Eden know the name of Forgotten, but the truth is almost no one has ever seen one before, at least no one alive now has actually seen a forgotten. But the legend is being passed down since everyone can remember. "We need to hurry!" Arc stated looking a bit worried. Everyone nodded. "Lilly?" Everyone noticed that the smallest and yet powerful Lilly is not paying attention to Arc which is surprising since Lilly always paying attention to Arc. Something all of them can understand. "Eh, hehe Boss that''s big Lizard. I really, really want to fight it. Can I?" Lilly looks at Arc with pleading and cute eyes. Arc gulp. ~this little thing and here I thought it was something serious.~ Arc said in his mind. "Don''t worry you will have the opportunity soon, for now, we need to grab those relics first." Lilly nodded and smile, "yey, finally I''ll be able to fight those big lizards hehe" Lilly jumps around Arc while laughing and cheering nonstop. "Were here Boss," said Eve. There was no vault door or something in fact inside it looks more like a museum than a vault. Inside they can see countless display cabinets and scrolls that are being displayed. "Let''s separate here, grab them all! Arc ordered. Everyone nodded. But in fact, Arc was a little disappointed. After all, if a sovereign tool is nearby he will be able to feel it as soon as he gets close to it. The same goes for what his mission calling Adam''s legacy. But here he felt nothing, so he knows the one he is looking for is not here. And that makes him a little disappointed. ~ I just hope there''s something in here we can use~ Arc sighs. "Eve, how''s the situation outside?" "Nothing we can''t handle yet Boss, but the energy signatures are getting stronger we located the source in the eastern part of the first floor. Unfortunately, every drone that we sent is getting destroyed unless we send some droids to investigate we won''t be able to know more." "I see that''s too bad. Hopefully, we can grab everything here before that thing comes out." Arc looks around and knows that grabbing all the relics will take some time. Like everything inside babel, this building is huge. And just on the first floor, he can see close to a thousand or maybe more relics being displayed. Time passes, it has been close to 30 minutes since Arc and his party reaches the vault, and they are nowhere close to grabbing half of all the relics inside the vault it has to be said that the speed of Arc and his party grabbing the relics is very fast, in fact, they can grab 10 or so relic every second meaning so far they were able to grab close to 20k relics and yet each time they go up, they see more relics being displayed. Clearly, the number of relics the HOC has acc.u.mulated throughout the years is enormous, of course, many of those relics are simply old vases and the likes, but Arc wasn''t taking any chances, so he wanted to grab everything. "Boss, we have a situation." Arc heard Eve''s voice "Hmmm, what is it?" "Reinforcement has come from the outside it looks like they are the mercenary guild Blades." Blades huh, Arc was familiar with that group, he clashed with them when they are in endless swamps, these mercenary groups are very arrogant and have a bad temper. In fact, Arc party have killed several Blades mercenary group in the endless swamps before of course in order not to attract too much attention they make sure the kill is clean and no witnesses and survivors. "Looks like Hands of Cain [HOC] was still able to call for reinforcement. They must have some kind of method we are not aware of," said Arc without any worry in his voice. "That''s right Boss. But Gideon and the Celeste is doing a great job fending them off." "Ok, that''s good, but that''s another reason we need to speed up things here," said Arc and despite talking with Eve he never stops grabbing the relics. Hmmm, Every cardinal notices something with Vicar. He seems to be sweating a lot and breathing hard. "Vicar.? What''s going on?" asked the Pope. Vicar didn''t immediately answer he continues to sweat and breath hard. But no one disturbs him. Minutes passed and Vicar is looking very pale and blood can be seen in his mouth. Then suddenly he pukes some blood, and he opens his eyes. "Your eminence, I¡­ I lost control of the faithless. " Vicar said with difficulty blood can still be seen in his mouth. "The pope sighs, I was afraid this will happen. Those Forgotten Faithless have a higher rank than us so of course, you can''t control it and that''s not all the control of faithless was now been given to it. That also means it''s close to coming out." And sure enough, the energy being released immediately spikes up several times. Eve and Specter immediately noticed it and began to take countermeasures. Eve and Specter immediately move all the surviving droids close to where Arc and his party are. Specter also started to build defensive formations and that''s not all the ship main canon has started to gather energy just in case it was needed, of course, Arc would not allow it to be fired if there are other choices. That is his final and last option. After all, firing the ship''s main cannon directly into a planet can cause several unexpected things to happen and none of them are good. But specter is readying it just in case. Moving the droids closer to Arc is not that difficult since the faithless have all stop moving. They all stop moving and just standing there like statues. Chapter 263 - 260 Fate IX V.58 Fate IX Arc knows he was running out of time. But he was determined to see this thing to the end. He will grab all those relics unless there are no other options than to flee. "Guys go ahead and continue grabbing all those artifacts," unfortunately, the droids can''t help with grabbing the artifact since they don''t have storage options, so instead of helping they would just mess things up. "Boss, you''re not planning on fighting that thing right?" Said Biggs sounding very worried. "Don''t worry about I''ll be fine, just grab everything here and join me after" "Yes boss", and although he said that his voice is really forced he wishes he has several hands, so he can grab the relics several times faster. "Lilly let''s go," said Arc and despite Lilly was with Jem and was on a different floor. He is not worried Lilly won''t be able to hear him. And sure enough, as soon as he said it Lilly appeared in front of him. "Boss it''s time to fight the big lizard?" Arc nodded. "Yey... Yey¡­ hehehe. Lets goooo" shouted Lilly with her cute voice Arc just smiles, well in fact despite the fact he didn''t expect he would be fighting a Forgotten this early, he couldn''t deny that he was excited about it. But he won''t be fighting it recklessly despite his adrenalin junky blood acting up. So as soon as he gets out of the building, he summons his personal mech, and his warbots were actually the c.o.c.kpit of the mech. In other words, his mech is acting like additional armor of his warbot. And in fact, his mech looks exactly like his warbots with only sightly additional features like additional hands and wings, other than that his mech and warbots look exactly alike. And as soon as his mech appeared the Pope and the cardinals saw it. Giving them a shock. But something happens that shocks Arc as well. Eve who was always beside him suddenly disappeared and right before him, he saw several droids merge with Eve''s body and become bigger and bigger until it becomes as tall as his mech. And on Eve''s hands a Spear as black as a night, it''s so black it almost looks like it was swallowing light. And on her back, wings made of black energy. Arc gulp. "That''s cool" He mumbles. "Boss, what do thou think of my battle mode?" Eve said with a slight proud tone to her voice. "So cool¡­ when did you learn to do that?" "Ever since I saw the droids combined and turn into the canon. It gives me an idea to use them to recreate my battle body." "Ohh, good job Eve." Arc gives her a thumbs up. "Big sister Eve so cool¡­" and since being on the mech Lilly looks even smaller in fact if not for the sword she was carrying it''s very hard to see her with two big robot standing side by side. "Eve also gives Lilly a thumbs up." ~These AI is getting more and more Human-like as they upgrade themselves ~ Arc said in his mind. "Ehem. Specter you''re not going to transform too right?" "No boss I already have a body, I don''t need another." I see... ok, for some reason he sounded disappointed. But Specter and Eve didn''t notice it. "Well, then let''s see this forgotten, Specter stays here for now until they finish grabbing all the relics." Yes, Boss! Arc and Eve together with a cute mascot name Lilly went to travel to where the forgotten is coming out from, and all Top HOC member is on him. In fact, the Pope''s and the Cardinals have broadcasted what was happening so that every HOC would know what to do since they are aware of the situations. Of course, the cardinals are making sure everything is under control. Despite the fact, the pope wanted to order all HOC to join the battle but because of the early appearance of the forgotten, he knows having the HOC there or not would not make any difference. They will just be throwing their lives away, and even though he doesn''t really care about their lives. He will not waste their lives for nothing. After all, Every member of HOC inside the Babel is a paladin, and creating a paladin is hard, it took many years to gather so many paladins they have now. The speed of the mech is very fast in just a few minutes despite the distance between the vault and from where the forgotten is emerging is about several kilometers, but the mech was able to reach it very quickly despite not trying much. And in there he saw a massive formation about several hundred meters wide. And in the center the forgotten is waiting, apparently, it was already out several minutes ago but despite that, it''s not moving, yet. It just stood there like the rest of the faithless, it was unmoving. "That''s a Dragon? I mean a forgotten?" Clearly, it was not what Arc was expecting to look like. It was a bipedal lizard as big as a skyscr.a.p.er, that''s right it was standing on two feet, not four. Which what he was expecting. ~Well, at least it has horns like a dragon, looks like the human of old is wrong about what a dragon looks like.~ said Arc in his mind a little disappointed. The forgotten is about fifty meters tall, it has four wings made of scales that look like metal, by the way, they shine. And this forgotten is not like those faithless who look rotten and decomposing. It has a huge and long-tail double the size of its body. And what surprised Arc the most is that it was wearing Armor, and it even has a weapon on its back. In other words, it looks like a giant lizard man with wings. And another thing Arc saw intelligence in its eyes. That''s right intelligence in other words this forgotten unlike those faithless is not dead, but very much alive. "Mortal are you the one who awakens me!!" the forgot speaks with a voice like rumbling of thunder but despite that Arc was able to understand it, he didn''t know why. "Mortal do you know why I didn''t attack you immediately?" the forgotten continues to speak. Arc flew until the mech head is level with a giant head of the forgotten. But he keeps his distance. "Forgotten, you are going to tell me right?" Said Arc who sounded very relax for some reason as soon as he saw the forgotten all his worry and anxiety just simply vanished. The Pope and the rest of the HOC, it was the first time they heard the voice of their enemy. "Thou are very brave mortal to appear before me without fear¡­" the forgotten continues to observe the mortal in front of him and despite Arc having inside the mech and warbots the forgotten can feel the source of his energy and knows he was mortal and not a machine. "The reason I didn''t attack is that you felt familiar to me. So I wanted to see why you feel so familiar¡­." The forgotten continues to speak but before he could finish a cute and small voice and yet very clear interrupted his words. "Heeeey!! Baby Big lizard where are your parents tell them to come out Lilly is here to punish them¡­" Lilly can be seen standing in front of the face of the forgotten with both her hands on her h.i.p.s despite one of them is holding a sword. She is so small she was like a fly, if not for her giant sword no one would pay attention to her. And when Arc heard it he almost choked. "Baby... Big... Lizard?" Chapter 264 - 261 Fate X V.59 Fate X Baby big lizard? Arc looks at Lily who was now in front of the forgotten. Lilly then points her small finger at a forgotten with a smug look in her face. "Tell your parents to come out!! Lilly is here to punish them" "Lilly what are you talking¡­" But before Arc can finish the forgotten suddenly release a huge amount of energy and bellowed "ROAR!! ADAM!!" and immediately punch Lilly who was hit by the surprise attack. Lilly was thrown for several hundred meters by the sudden punch. "Lilly!!" Arc shouted he too was surprised by the sudden attack, but when he heard the word Adam, he understood. Arc and Eve immediately take a battle stance and back away from the forgotten. BOOM!!, there was an explosion in the distance where Lilly was thrown. Arc wasn''t really worried about Lilly he knows how sturdy she is. And true enough a few seconds later Lilly appeared before him unscratched and fine, she was even laughing. "Hehehe, that tickles." said Lilly laughing. Arc smiles, then he looked at the forgotten as said "Then let''s return the favor" "Roger that Boss" The Forgotten saw Lilly without any sign of damage whatsoever and was surprised. He looks at his hand and there was a bruised in it. In other words that attack he was the one who was damaged. "Hehe, Interesting," said the Forgotten with creepy grin on his face. The Forgotten looks at Lilly and Arc and said. "As expected of Adams remnant, mortal I am Drall Warrior of the Primordial tribe. Remember it for it will be the last name you will hear." "Stop Boasting Big baby Lizard, Call your parents now or Lilly will punish you in their stead." When Arc heard it, he couldn''t even retort and can only shakes his head. ~So the forgotten or the dragons call themselves the Primordial Tribe.~ said Arc in his mind. "Insolent!!" Drall draws his weapon which looks like a giant club with teeth and spikes on them. And attack Lilly. Boom, Boom!! The force of the attack was so strong that many of the surrounding buildings was blown away from the shockwave of the attack. But this time Lilly was ready for it. Arc and Eve already move back to avoid the attack but Lilly just smiles. Using both her hands she spins and took the attack head-on. The collusion is like a small nuke exploding. A huge mushroom cloud was formed and a crater several tens of meters in diameter was instantly formed. And in that collusion, a shadow was seen being thrown out. And judging by the size of the shadow it was clear who won in that attack. The Pope seeing it couldn''t help but rejoice by the outcome. That''s right it was Lilly who was seen being thrown out. But while the pope and the cardinals are rejoicing. By the outcome. Arc has a huge smile on his face. The reason? When the cloud of smoke and dust clears up, the Forgotten or Drall can be seen standing in the center of the crater. And when the HOC saw it especially the Pops and Cardinals. They were shocked. That is because the right hand of the Drall has been twisted in an impossible angle and the weapon he was using was destroyed. And green blood can be seen flowing from the Drall broken Hands. The HOC members were astonished, one of the cardinals spoke. "To be able to damage a forgotten what kind of fairy is that?" "that''s... impossible!!" "How?" Another one said. "It really is a surprise, but that fairy is obviously dead now. No creatures can survive that kind of attack." Everyone nodded except the pope. BOOM! Everyone looks at the screen or where the explosion comes from, and they are speechless. From the rubble, a fairy holding a huge broadsword emerges unharmed. "Hehehe that was fun!!" shouted Lilly While every member of the HOC was thinking the same thing ~Fun my a.s.s what kind of monster are you?~ Arc and Eve didn''t waste time either, as soon as Drall and Lilly attack Finnish Arc and Lilly didn''t waste the opportunity, Arc may have lacked a real Life and death experience, but he has plenty of virtual experience and that''s as good as the real one. While Eve was charging to throw her Dark spear she calls Longinus. The spear was also coated by some sort of energy different from Arc skill. The collusion of the attack of Drall and Lilly left Drall stunned for a few seconds that''s how strong Lilly''s attack is. And Arc wasn''t going to waste that time. He may be an adrenaline junking or a battle junkie, but he is not stupid enough to give time for his opponent to recover just to satisfy his craving. He learned this the hard way when he was training in a System training machine that has 100% realism. Using all his strength Arc punches the head of Drall, who was stunned but despite being stunned on reflex Drall was able to raise his hand and block Arc attack, another explosion happens it wasn''t as big as when Lilly and Drall attacks, but the burst of energy was strong enough that the crater Drall was standing on has become bigger. The blade Arc conjured shattered upon hitting Drall Hand, but the impact was strong enough to draw blood on Dralls hand. Ziiiip!! Just as soon as Drall block Arc attacks a black spear reaches Drall c.h.e.s.t, and to everyone surprised Dralls armor was destroyed when the spear hits his c.h.e.s.t, Drall was thrown several meters until he hits one of the remaining building still left standing. BOOM!! There was another explosions when Drall hits the building. as smoke and dust once again covered the whole area. HOC members couldn''t help but gulp. Anticipating what''s going to happen next. On the other hand, Eve started floating, and around her several black spears started to form. When Drall emerges from the building there was a small hole on his c.h.e.s.t and green blood can be seen flowing from it. But on the other hand, Drall right hand who was damage by Liily is all healed already clearly Drall has a strong healing ability. There was no longer an amused smile on Drall face. Drall Armor was destroyed, what others didn''t know when Drall full power attack hits Lilly''s spinning attack. The damage was so high that without his armor half of his body might have been destroyed. So when Eve''s spear hits Drall Armor, the armor was already severely damage and Eve''s spear just finishes the job. HOC and others can see that Drall body was already healing and looks intact even the hole on his c.h.e.s.t already shows signs of healing. Only Drall and Arc can tell that the Drall from before and the Drall that emerges from the broken building is no longer the same. Chapter 265 - 262 Monster V.60 Monster The Pope and the Cardinals were astonished by what they are seeing clearly they severely underestimate the capability of their enemies. ~Just what kind of Monsters we are fighting.~ ~And what do we have that was so important that these monsters have decided to attack us?~ This is what the Pope and the cardinals thinking of when they witness the battle between god and monster. And clearly the monster is doing great. Drall emerges from the rabbles and most of his injury are already healed. But there were no smile on his face. And Arc knows why. Arc can feel the amount of energy Drall is emitting has lessened a lot. As soon as Drall emerges he saw Arc Gathering energy and above him Eve was summoning several spears but the most dangerous of all Lilly is already dashing to him. So even though he wanted to very much kill the mortal first, he has no choice but to intercept Lilly the small monster who was clearly stronger than him. He knows this ever since both of their attacks collided. Hehehe.. Lilly was laughing as she dashes to Drall holding her huge sword. "Hehehe, Baby Big Lizard lets play some more" Lillys cute voice rang and everyone has heard it. And despite the cute voice of Lilly to (HOC) that was the voice of the Monster. Determination flash in Drall eyes and Arc can see it. ~As expected of the race that battles the gods, if only I can turn them into allies that would have been perfect¡­~ said Arc in his mind But Arc knows that kind of thing is just a wishful thinking, and that''s not going to happen. After all Adam is their most hated enemies. Even more so than the gods themselves. As it was Adam and his family who rounded them up and killed most of them and imprison the rest under the gods order. Arc heard a sort of sounds in the air like a hymn in a sort of rhythm. Arc may not understand what it was, but he knows what Drall is planing. "Lilly be careful" Arc didn''t need to shout it as he and Lilly are connected by a bond and no matter how far he is to Lilly he can speak to her without any problem. Judging by the amount of energy Drall is gathering it is safe to assume he was casting some spell. That was Arc have summarized. Drall seeing Lilly Dashing began to cast a spell it''s a spell unique to the forgotten and using the old language of the forgotten. Huge amount of energy was being gathered and in just a blink of an eye the spell was finished. "Dragon Force" Drall shouted. Drall''s muscles began to expand at an alarming rate his wings began to disappear and his tail began to shrink. While his body began to expand. Dragon Force is one of the forgotten techniques that concentrates all muscles into increasing one strength. Using runes all energy of Drall was concentrated on his muscles. This is the forgotten version of Berserk skill. But unlike berserk skill dragon force didn''t take one sanity it just takes away all the pain and fear while increasing strength and healing ability. Drall as a forgotten despite being young he have many spell on his arsenal, but against an overwhelming force all of that was useless, he could have used a god-level spell, but that will take time to cast and during that time the little monster name Lilly could have killed him countless time. So he goes for the fastest spell and the most useful in the current situations. Dragon Force. Lilly saw Drall transformation and Laughs even louder. Lilly spread both her arms and another huge sword appeared on her arm, in other words she double equips two great swords. Arc saw that. ~thats Cheating~ he said on his mind. And soon enough Lilly reached and attacks Drall. Arc dashes and joins in the fun, knowing fully that unlike Lilly a single attack from Drall has severe consequences if one hits him directly. Boom!! Bang!! Building after building is being demolished every time Lilly and Drall attacks connected. Roar "Dragon Punch" Runes began to form in Drall''s fist Lilly saw that and laugh, Lilly is having the best time of her life, having been constrained inside the sovereign tools for countless years unable to do anything even after being attack countless times. She can only watch as monsters of many kind attacks the house, but she was unable to do anything. And despite being unharmed she felt very bored and lonely. But now with her new Boss, she can finally let loose she was so happy. Lilly combined both greatsword and an even bigger sword emerges the new giant sword in Lilly''s hand looks menacing. Jet Black with runes covering it is three times bigger than her previous sword. Even the handle is several times bigger than her. The edge is blood-red almost looks like fresh blood flowing from it because of the runes. "Bye Bye Big Lizard," said Lilly with a huge smile on her face. And true enough as soon as Lilly''s blade made contact with Dralls fist there was no collusion the sword just obliterated Dralls Arm, Arc seeing the opportunity appeared above Drall head and unleash a powerful blast. That attack blast away half of Drall''s head and Eve''s follows up with throwing several spears impaling Drall to the ground. The HOC and especially the Pope and the cardinals couldn''t understand what happened. But Arc knows. It may look like it was Arc and Eve to gives the finishing blow, but it was actually Lilly who made it all possible. Dall used all his energy to block Lilly''s Attack only to fail, so when Arc attack. Dralls energy that was protecting his body was already exhausted. And that''s also the reason Eves spear was able to impale Drall without much resistance. Arc landed in front of Drall who was now in a sitting position several spears impaling his body. . Drall looks at Arc and with a last of his strength says, "as expected of Adams descendants" after saying it the light on Dralls eyes faded. After the tension faded Arc didn''t notice that his body is drenched in sweats. And he was breathing hard. That last attack was the most powerful attack he can muster at the moment. Using most of his energy. Eve landed next to him, "Boss What''s next?" Eves power source is different from Arc, and despite unleashing several powerful attack Eve still have plenty of energy left and what''s more, the energy is being replenished very quickly after all Eves body consists of several 1-star droids, those 1-star droids can fast charge. Making Arc jealous. In fact, Arc has plenty of energy reserves its just he doesn''t know how to use it yet. So he can only use a small portion of his power. After all the source of his power comes from the most powerful being that ever walks this universe. Chapter 266 - 263 Forgotten II V.61 Forgotten II Arc didn''t waste any time after collecting the body of Drall into his storage ring, he knows the fight is not over yet. After all the formation that summons the forgotten are still active. And true enough a few seconds after Drall has defeated the formation began to expand more than double the size of the previous one that summons Drall. "Eve, how was the Relic collection going on?" "Only halfway through Boss" "F.u.c.k!!" Arc curse "Should we retreat?" asked Eve "No! Not yet" ROAR!! ROAR!! Arc didn''t waste any time he put his hand on the formation and "Energy Absorption" this is one of the techniques he learned during his training to control his skill energy manipulation. Of course, he didn''t shout it like the one in the novel and movies. But he did give it a name to differentiate the skills he has learned or created. And because of his bad naming sense, he just names it based on its functions. He was hoping Energy absorption can slow down the emergence of the forgotten and that will give time for Lilly and Eve to kill them before they can totally emerge. The roar of the Two forgotten shakes the tower of Babel, Arc was wondering if this tower would be able to survive the rampaging to two or more forgotten. And he wasn''t the only one thinking about it. Every member of HOC is thinking the same thing. And while many members of HOC are happy with the emergence of the new forgotten, the Pope and the cardinals know the truth. "It''s over, this is the end of us!!" said the Pope and no one questions him. Lilly as soon as the heads of the forgotten emerge began to hit with her sword, the forgotten can only look in despair as Lilly cut the Head of the forgotten in two killing it instantly. "What the hell is that Fairy? How is it possible for that kind of monster to exist" "That must have been a god masquerading as a fairy," said another priest "And why would the gods attack us? We are already in prison why would they attack us?" "How should I know? But that''s the only explanation I can think of" "Shut up!! And just watch if this is the will of the divine then we will accept it with open arms" All the priest close their mouth, after all the one that spoken is a cardinal. Despite panicking inside the cardinal remains unmoved on the outside. This is the only way they can maintain order. To question the divine is punishable by death. That was their creed and law. Arc no longer pays attention to anything and just concentrates on absorbing as much as possible to slow the forgotten summoning. "Faster, faster" Arc repeating those words over and over in his head Suddenly Lilly stops fighting and looks over Arc. And she wasn''t the only one even Eve stops attacking and looks at where Arc is. That is because beneath Arc another formation is being formed, and unlike the golden formation that''s summoning the forgotten the one on Arc is Black. The color of the sovereign empire. And this black formation is quickly expanding and a huge amount of energy is being drawn into it. Like a black hole. Of course, Arc is unaware of it at all. He was just concentrating on absorbing as much energy as he can while repeating the words faster, over and over again in his head. While the Energy Absorption runes continue to expand, it greatly slows down the emergence of the forgotten, and that allows Lilly to kill them like harvesting weeds. Time passes more than an hour has pass and Lilly was able to kill around ten forgotten the reason for that is Arc energy absorption greatly slows down the emergence of forgotten and as Lilly is killing them so fast, sometimes she has to wait several minutes before a new forgotten started to emerge. The Pope and the cardinals have become numb to the situations the Pope didn''t even know whether to laugh or cry when they think it was over Lilly the cute monster is killing the forgotten like ants and the emerging forgotten was unable to do anything as Lilly unstoppable attacks kill them in one hit. And because of Arc Energy absorption, the formation can''t gather enough energy to summon multiple forgotten fast enough to counter Lilly''s attack. Lilly has been waiting for over fifteen minutes and there''s no sign of new emerging forgotten. Suddenly the summoning formation is starting to crack. Arc noticed that the amount of energy he can absorb is lessening. "Did the formation stop?" "Hmm, Eve?" He waited but Eve didn''t answer. And when he opened his eyes he was shocked. He was surrounded by dark energy like being inside the eye of the tornado. He looked around it was a frightening sight but beautiful at the same time. "What''s going on?" "Oh, you finally notice," "Nine? What''s going on?" ask Arc a little confuse "What do you think will happen when you started absorbing a huge amount of energy without designating where it will go?" Arc scratch his head, well to be honest he never thought about it. At that time he just wanted to absorb as much energy as possible to slows down the forgotten from being summoned. "Don''t worry this is not a bad thing." Nine stated as though she''s reading Arc''s mind. "Really? So what''s going on?" "Why don''t you see for yourself." Arc once again close his eyes and began to concentrate and this time he was trying to sense where the energy is concentrating. Because of the massive energy acc.u.mulating all around him, it was hard to sense where exactly all the energy being directed. And when he found it he was shocked. "Diablo" Chapter 267 - 264 Diablo V.62 Diablo Arc closes his eyes and began to sense the energy around him, the energy are like veins, and when he traces where those veins acc.u.mulating he was surprised. It was in him or to be exact the place he was in. In other words, Diablo''s c.o.c.kpit, what surprised him, even more, is that diablo was only the outer armor of his warbot. And the warbot as the core is using those acc.u.mulated energies and changing the inner structures of both the warbot and Diablo. "How is this possible? Diablo is a machine how can it evolve like a monster?" Arc was very confused but at the same time he was fascinated, he even forgets he was in the middle of a battle. "Sovereign energy is special." "Nine? So what you mean is I''ve unconsciously converted the energies I absorbed into an energy unit? Is that it? "Close enough. I just redirected it into the closest thing that can be of help to you" Arc couldn''t really understand it. He has tried the skill of Energy Absorption many times before in order to get used to it, but none of the energy becomes an Energy Unit. Otherwise, he would not be worrying about the lack of energy units. When he was building his forces. He would have to experiment more in the future. He makes a mental note of it. "So what''s going to happen to Diablo? Will he become sentient?" Nine¡­ Well, he didn''t really care if Nine didn''t answer he is used to Nine antics. But he continues to watch as the warbots and Diablo merges. That''s right the warbot becomes a part of Diablo. Even though the warbot is essentially a core and Diablo is actually just an armor of the warbot, but they are a separate machine. And now they are becoming one. He couldn''t really understand the process but nevertheless, it is still fascinating to watch. He didn''t know how long it would take for the transformation to be completed. For him, it''s like a long time has passed, but he really couldn''t tell. And Nine is not giving him any answer. Outside everyone is surprised when black energy suddenly enveloped Diablo like a cocoon and since the Forgotten are no longer coming out and the summoning formation is slowly breaking up. All eyes are focused on the black cocoon of energy. Lilly can be seen circling around the cocoon looking very curious, she wasn''t worried about Arc as she was connected to Him, and she can tell Arc is in no danger at all. then suddenly. Crack, Crack¡­ They heard the sound of cracking like a glass breaking, and it wasn''t the energy cocoon. Lilly stops flying around Diablo and looks at the center of the formation. Eve immediately summons multiple black spears, she summons more than 10 clearly she felt a sense of danger. In the center of the formation, the space crack. "What is that?" one of the cardinals said pointing at the screen "What''s going on, what is this dread I''m feeling?" said the pope in his mind. Bang!! Suddenly from the crack, a huge claw grab the edge of the cracked space, Bang!! And another claws on the opposite side of the space. "Something is coming out!!" said one of the priests but no one is paying attention to what he is saying everyone is focused on the cracked space that is getting bigger and bigger. Then Babel started to rumble like a massive earthquake is happening. "This is not good, something is breaking the pocket dimension of Babel," said one of the Cardinals Suddenly the pope started to puke blood. "Your grace!!" the cardinals are in shock as to what is happening, they don''t understand why the pope started puking blood. "Your Grace are you ok what''s happening?" "Quiet!!" Gregor the oldest of the cardinals started to shout. Gregor is an enigma among all Cardinals. No one knows why or what is his real purpose. As every Cardinal are in charge of an important department But nobody questions it as Gregor is considered the oldest of all cardinals. "The pope is connected to the core of Babel. His condition is an indication of the real condition of Babel." Gregor began to explain without any emotion on his face. "Then that space crack is damaging the core of Babel?" Ask cardinal Vicar worriedly. "That appears so, Decca, Gron and Essalia alternately heal the Pope" Ordered Gregor. The three cardinals nodded and immediately started healing the Pope. The reason they didn''t do so before is that they are not sure what is happening to the pope. "All of you start pouring energy to Babel core. If Babel core is destroyed all of us will die and the Hands of Cain will cease to exist" Everyone nodded "gather all the paladins and priests we all need to work together if we want to escape this catastrophe." A huge amount of energy is pouring out from the other side of the cracked space. Some of those energies are being absorbed by the cocoon. But no one cares about that. Eve and Lilly are focused on what is coming out of the space. And judging by the size of the claws this is no longer the baby Lizard Lilly used to call. It is at least 3-5 times bigger than the first forgotten that comes out. The air inside babel are being compressed good thing Lilly and Eve are not human if not they will have a hard time breathing. The closer one is to the cracked the denser the air is. Eve already confirm that Ruby and the rest are not affected. Every time the crack enlarges, the pope continues to puke blood. The pope''s face is so pale he looks like a corpse already if not for them healing and pouring energy to the Babel core, the Pope might already be dead by now. All Bishops have a grim expression on their faces. Gregor looks at the crack and on the monster that''s coming out. "This is too soon, I can''t believe this is happening. Is this the will of the divine?" Gregor mumbles. He shakes his head. And a wry smile appeared on his face he of all people should know the Divine they are worshiping doesn''t exist. He was a bishop, but he has another tittle only the Popes knows. The immortal Keeper of knowledge. But that is not his true Title the Title given to him by the four Primordial gods is. Gregor the first Apostle. Inside Babel, Ruby and the rest are frantically collecting all the relics, while Eve and Lilly are getting ready for a huge battle, and the HOC are in chaos trying to survive the current situation. And inside the cocoon Arc was enjoying the transformation of Diablo unaware of what is happening outside. . Chapter 268 - 265 Forgotten III V.63 Forgotten III Lilly and Eve are looking at the crack in space. It is starting to stabilize now the rumbling and shaking have lessened, despite the crack getting larger the space inside Babel is getting stronger. Lilly and Eve have no idea how the space inside Babel is getting stronger, but they assumed it has something to do with HOC. Eve looked at the black cocoon if not for Arc being trapped inside the cocoon she would have asked Specter to beam them all up inside the ship. Probably the only one who was excited about this development is Lilly. On the top floor of Babel, the situation is chaotic. "Hurry batch four, prepare to transfer all your energy into Babel''s core." "I''m done I''m at my limit" one after another the paladin and priest started to pass out" "More I can do more" "If I stand out maybe the one of the bishop can notice me" "F.u.c.k!! I''m done" One after another the paladin and priest have started to pass out after transferring all their energy to the core. No one dares to play tricks save their energy. After all the two bishop who was overseeing the operation is the best in sensing energy. So if anyone dares to play tricks in this situation Death would be the best punishment they could receive. The two bishops overseeing the situation continue to give the order. As well as to make sure there will be no mistake. "Hurry!! Carry the one who passes out and send someone to carry them into the recovery area" "Prepare the next group" The Bishop Shouted. Low-level paladin can be seen carrying priests and giving them a potion to help them recover faster, they have low energy, so they were delegated as workers. Normally they will never do this kind of job they can just ask the slaves to do it for them. But this time around there were no slaves to help them with manual labor and the situation is so severe that even if they don''t like it, they have no choice but to swallow it. And looking at the exhausted high-ranking paladins and priests those low level paladins are happy to do the manual labor. Gregor looks at the pope with worry in his eyes. The pope is so pale and blood can be seen all over his face. If not for the Bishops replenishing his blood and stamina he would look like a dried corpse now. The pope is starting to recover ever since the Bishops started healing and replenishing his stamina and blood. So he felt better compare to before where he looks like he can die at any moment. Not that he looks better he still looks like he can die anytime, but that was just outward appearance. Inside he is starting to recover after all being a pope means he was the strongest being in HOC. That was the most important qualification to become a Pope. The good news is that they were able to stabilize the space inside Babel, he just doesn''t know how long they will be able to reinforce it. And even if they somehow do it, will they survived the fight between the Forgotten and their mysterious enemy. "Lilly no more playing around we need to protect Boss while fighting this big one." Eve looks at Lilly with a serious look on her face she knows Lilly has the tendency to play around with her enemies. But they just can''t afford any mistake now. They are almost done with gathering all the relics all they need now is a little more time, and they can escape this place. Lilly nodded. Suddenly lights gather into Lilly''s body and Even can see the changes happening in Lilly. In just a few seconds Lilly changes her appearance from 5-7 years old into 12 or something years old. If Arc sees her now he would be surprised. Eve just looks at Lilly without any emotion on her face, despite having come a long way when she first meets Arc. It''s still far from being able to mimic real human emotion. "Is that your battle form?" "Battle form? Hmm..." Lilly has a confused look on her face but immediately smiles as she seems to understand what Eve meant. "Hehe, that''s right this is my battle form I grow bigger when I use more power." Lilly nodded her head to Eve with a huge smile on her face who looks very proud of her new look. In fact, Lilly can still grow bigger if she wants to, but that will use more energy. Lilly has a huge amount of reserved energy, but that doesn''t mean it is infinite. Lilly is a lot smarter than she looks she knows that once all her energy is depleted she won''t be able to play outside anymore. So she tried to save as much as possible. To her the more energy she has the longer she can play outside. Of course, Arc can always replenish her energy if needed, but she didn''t know that. Crack, Crack!! More than half of the forgotten can already be seen. But Lilly and Eve didn''t make any move because they didn''t know what kind of effect it will do if they started fighting while a space crack is still active. On the other hand. The forgotten finally able to put its head outside and when it sees Lilly a smile can be seen on its face. If Arc can see it he will be creeped out by the smile of the forgotten. But Eve and Lilly have no reaction to it. "This little one, why can I sense a familiar feeling from you? hmmm, but I can''t remember why. Looks like my memory is still hazy, I wonder how long have I been asleep? But no matter this is going to be fun." He smiles when he sees Lilly he doesn''t know why. "What is going on?" Arc noticed that some of his blood is being extracted by Diablo he wasn''t worried just surprise blood can be seen being extracted from the pores of his skin. It''s not enough that it can be a danger to him, but the process fascinates him even more. He doesn''t feel any pain or discomfort. In fact, he feels nothing it''s like he was just watching some movies that no matter how bad it is inside the movie it will not affect him at all. That is how he feels. And despite having his blood being extracted he doesn''t feel any pain or danger form it. And that confuses him even more. "Can a machine have a heartbeat?" he mumbles to himself "Lilly get ready" "Finally I''m tired of waiting" Lilly smiles at Eve. CRACK!! CRACK!! After a few minutes, the forgotten was finally able to get out of the crack. And everyone can see the full splendor of the new Forgotten. Gregor gulps with sweat coming down his face. As soon as the Forgotten manage to get out of the crack. His heartbeat slows down he feels like his body no longer belongs to him. And he wasn''t the only one who feels it. Every HOC can feel it. The Pope looks like a dead man but since the Forgotten manages to come out the space crack the space is starting to mend little by little. There''s barely any breath left on the pope no one knows if he will be able to survive. Especially since none of them can move their body on their own. They all feel like a puppet whose strings are being held firmly powerless to do anything. The forgotten didn''t do anything when it comes out. Nor did Lilly and Eve attack him. They wanted to buy as much time as possible for Arc and the rest to complete their objective. The Forgotten looks at Lilly he didn''t pay any attention to Eve. He looks at Lilly for a sometime seemingly contemplating on something then looks at the black ball of energy which fascinated him a bit. He looks again at Lilly. "Were you the one who wakes me up?" Chapter 269 - 266 Ghidorah V.64 Ghidorah Ghidorah an elder of the primordial tribe, the primordial tribe that was once a glorious race born from the elementals and ancient beasts they roam the universe unimpeded. That was until the war of the gods happened. When the gods wage wars against the elementals destroying their planets and children and with the help of Adam and his kin. The Elementals have no choice but to call forth their powerful creation, the primordial tribe. Ghidorah once leads the army of primordial and lesser elementals against the gods. Ghidorah himself has managed to kill some gods before, but against Adam and his children, they are powerless. Adam is simply too powerful. Eventually, the mighty Primordials were rounded up and imprisoned, and the Elementals were hunted to extinction by Adam''s children. The Mighty Beast that once travels the universe unchallenged was also hunted down one after another until only the lesser one remains. And the remaining primordial have no choice but to sealed themselves to preserve the last remaining power they have until the day they can take their revenge against the gods. But for some reason, he has awakened ahead of time. He checked the seal and breath a sigh of relief, the seal on the four prime Elementals, the very first of their kind. Their ancestors remain intact. He looks at the creature whose energy is so familiar to him. Even the black energy cocoon. The surrounding energy around it is also very familiar to him. His mind is still messy because of the force awakening. "LITTLE ONE, ARE YOU THE ONE WHO AWAKENS ME?" Lilly once again put her arms around her waist, "don''t you remember me, big lizard?" Ghidorah once again looks at the small creature, it is familiar, but he can''t remember exactly where or when he met her. Ghidorah shakes his head, "YOU ARE INDEED FAMILIAR TO ME, BUT I DO NOT REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE" "Hmmp!! Then let me remind you. I am" "Who are you? Why do you appear before us?" Eve cut Lilly before she says something bad. Ghidorah looks at Eve, "I AM GHIDORAH, ELDER OF THE PRIMORDIAL TRIBE" ~Good thing this one likes to talk, I need to buy as much time as possible~ said Eve in her mind Lilly seems to remember what Eve said before, they need to protect their Boss and buy as much time as possible. So she shut her mouth. "AND I DIDN''T JUST APPEAR BEFORE YOU, I WAS SUMMONED HERE" "No, we did not summon you," said Eve without any emotion on her face. Ghidorah didn''t reply, it seems like his mind is starting to clear up. "I SEE, INTERESTING, VERY INTERESTING." Ghidorah looks at Lilly and the black cocoon back and forth. Eve was watching Ghidorah''s every action, she was ready to attack at a moment''s notice. "HAHAHAHA!!! I SEE, THIS IS INTERESTING HAHAHA!! TO THINK I WOULD BE AWAKENED BY ADAM''S CREATIONS, HAHAHA" The voice of Ghidorah is so loud, that his laughter shakes the remaining building inside Babel. Eve, hearing Ghidorah prepares for battle, Even Lilly tightens her grip on her swords. But they didn''t attack. That is because they can''t sense any killing intent on Ghidorah. "WHY HAVE YOU AWAKEN ME, CREATION OF ADAM?" "I told you we didn''t awaken you," said Eve she was ready to attack as soon as she thinks Ghidorah would be a threat to her boss. "THAT MAY BE SO, BUT YOU ARE THE REASON I AM HERE, IS IT NOT?" ~I don''t know why this lizard is not attacking even knowing we are related to Adam, but this is good news for us,~ said Eve on her mind. "I do not know what are you talking about," said Eve. "IS THAT SO." Ghidorah smirks he didn''t mind Eve''s answer, he looks around the ruins all around him. Sniff, Sniff "LOOKS LIKE YOU KILLED SOME OF MY KINS" "They attack us first!!" shouted Lilly "IS THAT SO?" Ghidorah smile. "You''re not going to attack us?" said Lilly looking confused. "I HAVE NO INTEREST IN BOTH OF YOU, ADAM''S KIN HOWEVER IS A DIFFERENT THING" Ghidorah looks at the black cocoon and smiles. Lilly Immediately moves in front of the cocoon protecting it, just in case Ghidorah attacks it. But Ghidorah just smiles when he saw Lilly''s action Unlike lesser primordial, He was privy to some secret regarding the war against the god. When he first heard it, he could not believe what he was hearing. And as the war progress and even when it ended he was not able to verify the truth. But now a child of Adam was in front of him, he is not going to waste this opportunity he can always fight after. And then something seems to click inside his mind. "I REMEMBER YOU NOW, LITTLE ONE. YOU ARE THE SPIRIT OF THAT HOUSE" "Hmmph what if I am? Last time, you attack me, and I was not able to do anything" "HAHAHA, IS THAT SO, HAHAHA. ACTUALLY, I WAS NOT PART OF THE GROUP WHO ATTACK YOU BUT I WAS THERE" Ghidorah continues to laugh, shaking Babel even more. ~This forgotten is so weird, what''s wrong with him?~ Eve said in her mind. And he was not the only one thinking about it. Every HOC has a question mark on the top of their head. "Your grace, are you ok?" The bishops look at the pope, they were able to regain their freedom just a moment ago. The Pope still looks like a corpse, and he was still covered by his own blood, but at least he was breathing fine now. The space inside Babel has been reinforced and already stabilizing, mainly because the crack on the space has already been closed. And the worse has passed, but they not out of danger just yet. An Elder forgotten has been awakened, but it seems this elder is an odd one. Gregor looks around, and he sees many bishops and members of the HOC who have passed out because of exhaustion. But all things considered, they pass a deadly ordeal relatively intact. Unfortunately, they are not out of the woods yet. He started to think about what wrong they did to be punished like this. After all, everything they did is to follow the will of the Divine. He spaced out for just a moment, and he immediately started to give orders. They needed to be ready for whatever going to happen next. Whatever that is. Thump, thump, thump. Diablo''s heartbeat continues to accelerate. "What''s going to happen now?" Arc said feeling confuse and excited at the same time. Chapter 270 - 267 Ghidorah II V.65 Ghidorah II "Hurry!! Continue to reinforce the core!. Bring the exhausted to the rear to recover." Gregor continues to give orders. Wiping his forehead of sweat despite the situation starting to stabilize little by little. Gregor''s face is looking grim. Everyone is exhausted, but no one is complaining. Some bishops continue to heal the pope, while some are inspecting Babel''s core. "What''s happening now?" "I don''t know, stop asking questions and continue to work." "Sigh, I know, I know, you don''t need to tell me" "Lord Gregor, should we evacuate the Pope?" Gregor shakes his head. He knows evacuating the Pope will only make it worse. "No, the pope needs to remain here." "I understand" Eve looks at Ghidorah and Lilly, who continues to chat like they are some old friends. And shakes her head, "I guess there are all kinds of people even in Forgotten" "So, Big lizard, I hope you are ready for some punishment later," said Lilly with her hands still in her waist "I TOLD YOU MY NAME IS GHIDORAH NOT BIG LIZARD. WE WILL SEE WHO''S GOING TO BE PUNISH LATER ON. BUT I STILL CAN''T BELIEVE I WAS AWAKENED BY ADAM''S KIN. IS THIS FATE?, HAHAHA." "Why do you keep laughing?" asked Lilly Ghidorah looks at Lilly he thought about the question, why does he keep laughing? Is it amusing being awakened by their most hated enemy? Of course not. Yet despite knowing that, for some reason, he can''t muster any hate. Is it because of that thing? He looks again at the pouting face of Lilly and for some reason, his face began to smile. "What? Why do you keep looking at me? Is there something on my face?" Lilly then turns one of the swords she was holding into a mirror and looks at her face, seeing nothing on it, she was furious. "Damn, you big lizard, are you making fun of me?" Ghidorah seems to wake up from his thought when he heard Lilly''s furious shout but to him its sounds more amusing¡­ "HAHAHA, DON''T BE MAD LITTLE ONE I''M NOT MAKING FUN OF YOU I A.S.SURE Y..." CRACK, CRACK!! They both stop talking, they both look at the black mass of energy, and they can see a crack forming all over it. Lilly began to jump around and fly around it, looking very happy Ghidorah, on the other hand, didn''t take his eyes away from it, it''s like Lilly is invisible, and he can only see the mass of energy his eyes seem to penetrate the energy surrounding it. When Ghidorah felt the energy inside it, he was reminded how terrifying Adam and his kin are. Suddenly, a small vortex was formed in the middle of the black mass of energy, absorbing all the surrounding energy. The thing inside the black mass of energy was finally revealed. "BOSS!!" Lilly shouted. Arc was still stunned, he can''t believe the amazing things he just witnessed, the connection between him and diablo has now been 100%, in fact inside diablo it doesn''t feel like he was piloting it, no, he felt like he were diablo. Like diablo was his own body. He can see and even feel the air around his skin when the wind hits the body of diablo. He really can''t describe the feeling except for the word amazing. BOSS!! Lilly''s shout woke him up¡­ "Lilly?" Lilly''s body is older than he remembers. Before he can ask, he heard Eve''s voice after briefly explaining the situation. He finally notices the big monster standing not far from him. "You must be Ghidorah, I must thank you for not harming my companion," said Arc while looking at Ghidorah''s enormous body. Ghidorah didn''t say anything, he just keeps looking at Diablo, seemingly contemplating on something. "What''s wrong, Big lizard? Did my boss scare you? hehehe" "Lilly, get back," said Arc he feels something is wrong. Lilly despite wanting to play more, goes back reluctantly. And as soon as she gets back and reaches Eve''s location. Ghidorah without warning attacked. BOOOOM!! There was a massive shock wave, it was like a nuke detonating. Aaaahhhhh¡­ Members of the HOC begins to shout and scream as the debris as big as a car started falling on top of them. The problem is the debris is part of Babel and was resistant to all forms of damage. A weak attack cannot damage the materials made from the body of Babel. This goes to show how much force is needed to damage the body of Babel. "BOSS!!" Eve and Lilly shouted. But when the smoke clears up. They can see Diablo stopping the attack of Ghidorah with one hand. Members of HOC can''t believe what they are seeing. In fact, even Arc couldn''t believe it. He blocked the attack through instinct. He was surprised only momentarily, then a smile forming on his face. Not only that, but he almost shouted (OH YEAH) because of how happy he is at the moment. The body of Diablo is strong, but not strong enough to block an attack from an elder primordial. And yet, Diablo was able to easily blocked the attack. Arc has some idea how it''s possible, but in order to test his theory, he needs to experiment. And it so happens that a perfect guinea pig is in front of him. His blood stating to boil from excitement, his battle junky blood is starting to come out. Arc without waiting for Ghidorah started to counter-attack, he didn''t use any weapon or superpower, just some old-style first brawl. Ghidorah seems to notice it and smile he was happy to oblige, he attacked because he wanted to know how strong the Adams descendants have become. BOOM, BANG!! Lilly looks at Arc, having fun with envy. "It''s not fair boss, I want to play too," said Lilly with a pouting face. . Chapter 271 - 268 Growth V.66 Battle Ghidorah despite its enormous size was very fast. And as a veteran warrior who has been into countless battles, he easily evaded Arc attacks and even manage to counterattack. Arc notice the difference in the fighting experience between him and Ghidorah. Ghidorah can easily deal with Arc''s attacks, no matter how much he tried. Using first and tail. Ghidorah can easily block and counterattack at the same time without using magic or weapons. At first, Arc only wanted to use his fist but as the fight goes on he started utilizing some of Diablo''s weapons such as its cable-like hair that can fire compressed energy beam. But despite that Ghidorah easily blocks all his attack. But despite being frustrated he seems to be having more fun. He was also successful in his experiment. He was able to confirm that Diablo''s energy comes from him. Or, to be more specific, the untapped power residing inside him. Arc knows that massive energy was sleeping inside him, Adam confirms it too. It''s like Adam once said he has an ocean''s worth of energy, but he was using straws to draw them out. But for some reason, Diablo was able to tap into this massive energy inside him, he has no idea how much Diablo was able to tap but for now, he knows it was enough. Despite using weapons with high energy consumption, Diablo''s energy bar is still full. Surprised for the first time, Ghidorah uses magic to block the attack. That could have hit him in the face. The surrounding area was instantly demolished, craters can be seen all over the battlefield smoke and ash covered the entire area. "He has good battle instinct, as expected of Adam''s kin. He was watching Arc every movement. At first, he was kind of disappointed by how clumsy Arc''s movement is. But as the battles go on, he noticed that Arc''s movement is starting to become refined and sharp. "He must have been getting used to the armor he was wearing." Ghidorah mused. He was almost fooled, thinking the enemy is a complete beginner. Arc on the other hand was happy that he was able to fight a strong enemy willing to fight him in equal standing. If not with Ghidorah''s strength, he would be defeated in no time at all. And because of that, he was able to progress and learn to improve his fighting ability very fast. As the fight progress, Ghidorah thought Arc was testing him too and was also fighting him using minimal strength. This misunderstanding was stemmed from Ghidorah''s experience fighting Adam''s monstrous children. And because of that Ghidorah was unable to use his full strength, he was afraid that if he used his full strength Arc would also do the same, and when that happens life and death would happen in an instant. But Ghidorah doesn''t want that to happen he still has so many questions to ask Adam''s Kin, and so during the fight, he was matching Arc''s power and that allows Arc to improve his fighting ability very rapidly. When Ghidorah was forced to use magic to block an attack, he knows he lost this exchange. But he continues to counterattack, this time mixing magic with physical attacks, still matching Arc''s energy output. BOOM, BANG.everywhere they go, the area was decimated. Buildings and hills vanished every time they clashed. By now, Arc and Ghidorah are fighting for more than fifteen minutes. And there''s almost no building intact even the small mountains have been destroyed, leaving the whole area where they are fighting a total wasteland. At first, Lilly was envious, but as the fight progress, she can be seen shouting and cheering at her Boss. Eve on the other hand remains expressionless, she was watching and talking to ruby and the rest. A few minutes ago, She was able to confirm that Ruby and the rest were able to successfully get all the relics in the HOC vault. They are now inside Specter waiting for further orders. They are also watching the fight that Eve was transmitting to Specter. After blocking a magic attack, Arc dashes, using his wings to boost his speed. This is the first time he was using the wings to boost his strength and speed. It''s not that he doesn''t want to use it before, but because he was still getting used to fighting as Diablo. Using the wings would only make him vulnerable to attack. But now that his control and fighting ability has progressed so much, he was confident in using the wings for boost. But as soon as he used it, he knows he greatly underestimates it. Luckily Diablos AI was able to correct his mistake, if not, he would be flying beyond Ghidorah and probably hitting a few mountains along the way. But with the help of Diablo''s AI, he appeared in front of Ghidorah in a blink of an eye. And because of that, Ghidorah was caught unprepared by Arc''s sudden acceleration. If he uses blink, Ghidorah would be able to trace the energy and would be able to respond in kind. But because he uses the wings as a boost, Ghidorah was caught unprepared because of how fast it was. And so Arc for the first time was able to land a clean hit. A massive crater was formed when Ghidorah hit the floor. Green blood can be seen on his face. But Arc didn''t follow up the attack. Ghidorah slowly gets up from the crater. The wound on his face is already healed, showing how great their regeneration is. There was still some trace of blood on his face, but all would have already been healed. It was only a minor would anyway, so Arc wasn''t surprised when he sees it. "Looks like I won this time," said Arc smiling. "HAHAHA, NOT BAD I LOST HAHAHA, AS EXPECTED OF ADAM''S KIN" Arc knows Ghidorah doesn''t mean any harm, as he can''t feel any killing intent on all its attacks. He figures Ghidorah is not an enemy, at least not yet. "Shall we talk?" "HAHAHA, YES, LET''S TALK, I HAVE A LOT OF QUESTIONS FOR YOU." Ghidorah sat down cross leg in the center of the crater. Moments later, his body began to shrunk down until it matches Diablo''s size. ~Damn, so cool, ha can do anything~ Arc said on his mind. "I don''t know if I can answer all your questions, but I''ll be happy to answer your question with my capability" Arc then flew down and sit in front of Ghidorah a few meters away. Lilly and Eve, knowing the fight is over, follow Arc down, Eve stands behind him while Lilly sits on diablo''s right shoulder. "First of all, you can call me Arc." Arc introduces himself and Ghidorah follows, Arc already knows the basic information regarding Ghidorah because of Eve. "THEN, CHILD OF ADAM ARC, WHY DID YOU AWAKEN ME?" Chapter 272 - 269 Adam’s Legacy I V.67 Adam''s Legacy "THEN, CHILD OF ADAM ARC, WHY DID YOU AWAKEN ME?" Arc didn''t answer him immediately, he begins to think back on all the things that happened when they decided to attack Hands of Cain (HOC). There''s a lot of things that happened that were out of their expectation. The appearance of faithless and the forgotten or primordial are part of it. "Sigh, I don''t know if you are going to believe me if I told you we were just here to retrieve the things that belong to us." Arc wasn''t exactly lying they are here to complete his quest to get back, Adam''s Legacy, and as the name suggest it was an item that belongs to Adam, and as Adam''s kin, it means it belongs to him, the only thing is that he didn''t know if what they are searching is here in the first place. Of course, Arc is not going to tell him that. Arc and Ghidorah weren''t exactly hiding their conversation and so the top executives of HOC meaning the pope and the bishops were able to spy on their conversation. The pope and the bishops were not surprised when they heard Arc answer they know Arc was looking for something, only at first they think that Arc was only robbing them. And hearing Arc''s answer it makes sense after all HOC has been gathering, buying, and stealing artifacts for as long as they can remember. In fact, they didn''t really care where or how the artifact comes from. They didn''t think anyone is capable of fighting them for it. "And you and your kin being awakened is a result of that. It was not us who awakens you but the people of this tower, But I cannot deny that I, or we, were the reason for it." Arc continues to explain. "AND WHAT EXACTLY ARE YOU LOOKING FOR HERE?" "My ancestor''s Legacy" Arc stated. "ADAM" Ghidorah mumbles. Ghidorah looks up left and right, seemingly looking for something in his memories. He once again looks at Arc. "AND DID YOU FIND WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR?" Arc was going to answer yes, but stop. He didn''t know if he got what he was looking for. No, in fact, he felt that he didn''t. He looks at Ghidorah he thought of something and smiles. " We didn''t, they must have hidden it somewhere," said Arc without any emotion in his voice. "I SEE," Ghidorah pause and seems to think of something. Looking at Arc "TELL ME ADAM''S KIN ARC. HOW ARE YOUR ANCESTORS DOING?" Arc was confused by the question. He didn''t know how to properly answer it. Shouldn''t they know that Adam and all his children are dead? ~Why is he asking something he already knows the answer, unless~ Arc mind began to think about all the conversation he has with Adam. Although Adam didn''t really tell him much but just the conversation he has he can deduce a lot. "You should know that better than me," said Arc. "I SEE," Arc''s answer tells him a lot. During the war, he heard the most ridiculous rumors. That Adam betrayed the gods. And even stripped them of all their power. It was so ridiculous that back then. He thinks that only an idiot would believe them. Adam and his children are god''s vanguards, the gods'' most trusted soldiers. But now thinking about it, why were they imprisoned instead of being executed. He heard the rumor that His ancestor was so powerful that even the gods cannot kill them, so they imprison them instead. But he knows personally that it was not true. Even if that was true, what about him? Or even Those who are weaker than him, why were they spared? Surely there was no reason to spare them. And yet they are imprisoned instead. But why? Why would Adam betray the gods? That''s the thing that confuses him the most. "HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW ABOUT YOUR ANCESTOR?" Ghidorah asked with a serious tone in his voice, even the atmosphere changes when he asks it. Arc felt the change in the atmosphere, but he was not worried about it, he would be more worried if Ghidorah just shows how friendly he is. After all, Adam and the primordial are mortal enemies. "I know enough," "THEN YOU KNOW THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN YOUR ANCESTOR AND MINE" " I do." Ghidorah looks at Arc, there was no fear nor hate in his voice. "HAHAHA, IS THAT SO, IT MAY HAVE BEEN A FORGOTTEN MEMORY FOR YOU BUT FOR US IT''S STILL FRESH LIKE IT WAS YESTERDAY" the atmosphere becomes heavier¡­ But it''s not a problem for Arc, Eve, and Lilly Arc looks at Ghidorah. "That''s true, what happened back then was already been erased by the gods and only a few remember them. But to you, that''s a different story. But there''s nothing I can do about that. My ancestors already paid the price for it." When Ghidorah heard it the atmosphere returns to normal, "SO IT WAS TRUE" Ghidorah mumbles. But when Arc hears it, he was able to confirm something. ~So they heard of what happened to Adam, but didn''t know if It''s true or not. It''s not surprising, if I was in the same situation I would not believe it either. But this gives me an opportunity.~ Arc smiles on his mind. "I don''t know what you hear about my ancestor, and I don''t know if you are going to believe it either. But my ancestor was controlled in the most vicious way. And he hated the gods more than anyone else. And he paid for it." Ghidorah didn''t say anything, he seems to be contemplating something. "What is going on? Judging from their conversation, our god seems to be related to them." The Pope and the bishops don''t really know what Arc and Ghidorah are talking about, but one thing is clear, they are related. And this gives them dread, did they steal something that belongs to the people related to their gods? No wonder they are so powerful. They didn''t stand a chance. Right now all of them are thankful they are still alive and all thoughts of revenge were banished from their mind. "But it was also true that my ancestor did a lot of bad things to your people, whether it was his will or not." Arc continues to talk. He was hoping that his word would work so that Ghidorah would not be hostile to him anymore. To be honest, Arc was scared to think of having the primordial being as his enemies. He knows given time he would be strong enough to fight them, but as he is now, he has no chance whatsoever if he fights them for real. The best he can do is escape if all things turn sour. Ghidorah has been thinking a lot of things. Mainly about the war, about their ancestor, about the gods, and especially Adam. Despite his mind wandering, he heard everything Arc has said. He also notices that Arc stopped talking to give him time to digest their conversation. But that is not why his mind was wondering, he already confirmed his guesses. What he was wondering is would he continue the fight against Adam and his Kin. Despite knowing Adam''s true intentions or feelings. And during his fight with Arc, he was able to confirm that Adam''s kin was still a force to be reconned with. In fact, he was a little scared of Arc, he still remembers the fight against Adam''s firstborn son. A single person against a horde of primordial and elementals. It was a nightmare. It''s true that the person in front of him is not that powerful compared to Adam''s direct children, but he felt massive energy inside Arc not weaker than Adams''s children. That is why he knows Arc was holding back a lot when he is fighting against him. He doesn''t feel any animosity or hatred from Arc as well. And that is why he thinks this is an opportunity to gain a valuable ally against the gods. Only he didn''t know if his ancestor would approve of it. This is the thing he was contemplating about. ~SHOULD I WAKE THEM UP AND HAVE THEM MAKE THE DECISION? NO, (he shakes his head) TOO EARLY FOR THAT. WHAT SHOULD I DO?~ As a Primordial, they were made to obey orders without question, but over time their ego has been developed, and they were able to think for themselves. If it was during the war, he would never do something stupid as converse with the enemy. SIGH, he knows he needs to make a decision. "WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT THE GODS?" Arc only said one word, "Enemies" Chapter 273 - 270 Adams Legacy II Adam''s Legacy II "Enemies," Arc said with determination in his voice. Ghidorah looks at Arc for a few seconds. It seems like all his worry has vanished. "HAHAHA, GOOD TO KNOW. WHAT DO YOU SAY ABOUT A TRUCE BETWEEN US?" Arc looks like he was contemplating on something, but inside he was relieved. ~Whew, that scared me for a second.~ Arc said in his mind. It''s like a huge weight was taken off his shoulder. "We have a common enemy, I don''t see any reason why not," Arc said with a smile. "Although, I still need to recover my Ancestor''s Legacy," Arc said with a smile and relaxed tone. Ghidorah seems to think of something. Runes appeared on his hand, and a few seconds later another crack appeared right in front of his hand. As soon as the crack appeared, the pope once again puked blood. Arc didn''t know what Ghidorah was planning to do, but he was not worried. He and Ghidorah have the same thing on their mind; both of them have no intention of being enemies, at least not at the moment. And one after another, Ghidorah began to pull something on the cracked on the space. And every time Ghidorah pulled something out, Arc''s saliva began to fall. Arc and feel. That what Ghidorah has pulled out are all sovereign tools, he can feel it. Probably spoils of war. The first one is a short sword, jet black with cracks all over it, but despite that, the energies contain with it remain strong. The second one is a mirror, again this one is also full of crack and damage. Arc knows why that is. This must have been spoils of war when they were fighting against the gods and Adam''s children. One after another, Ghidorah pulled one Item after another. After pulling out about 10 or so items he began to think of something and this time it took him a while to pull something. Arc can see that Ghidorah is having a hard time taking out this item. Sweat began to appear on Ghidorah''s face, and his energy began to spike. Arc didn''t even know that primordial can sweat, but he knows whatever Ghidorah is trying to pull out must be big and heavy; that''s the only explanation he can come up with. Arc''s eyes are shining with anticipation. The same cannot be said with the HOC executives The pope is starting to convulse, he started shaking and screaming, he was in intense pain. It''s like his heart, is being pulled out slowly. At the core of Babel. A crack can be seen all over it. Even when Ghidorah was coming out, it was not this bad. Whatever Ghidorah is trying to pull out, it is not something the current babel can handle, that much they can tell. The Bishop can only heal and reinforce the core and hope for the best. Ghidorah seems to be aware of what is happening, so he released his power to cover the item he was trying to pull out. This will lessen the burden on babel. But only slightly. It took about a few seconds for Ghidorah to manage to pull the item. He was panting hard after he pulled it out, clearly, he spends a massive amount of energy just to take it out. "THIS THING IS AS POWERFUL AS IT WAS BEFORE." Ghidorah looks at Arc, but Arc didn''t seem to hear him, Arc was staring at the Item he pulled out. Or more specifically, the box containing the item. The wooden box looks very old and runes seem to be etched on its body, it''s a rune meant to seal the item inside it. Ghidorah looks amused when he saw Arc''s reactions. Arc''s heart beat faster as soon as he saw the item. How can it not be? It is the item he traveled so far to find. Adam was right; he would know as soon as he sees it. That is what Adam had said when he asked what legacy he was looking for. Back then, he was pissed and annoyed at the same time. "HAHAHA, LOOKS LIKE I WAS RIGHT, THIS IS WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR." Arc curbed his excitement, he nodded. "That''s right, it''s no wonder we cannot find it here, we only know he would find it in this place and that the item we are looking for is related to the people here," Arc said some bullshit without blinking an eye. Ghidorah nodded, looks like he came here on some kind of prophecy, it was not surprising since he was Adam''s kin. "TAKE IT, THIS ITEM ONLY REMINDS US OF OUR WEAKNESS AND FAILURE. I WAS THE ONE ENTRUSTED WITH THIS ITEM, BUT TO BE HONEST, IT HOLDS NO VALUE TO US EXCEPT REMINDS US OF OUR PAINFUL PAST." Arc didn''t argue, he only nodded. "We owe you for this one, if you need my help in the future, all you have to do is asked." Ghidorah nodded, if the item can make Arc feel indebted to him, then it was worth it. He was not wrong, the item holds no value to anyone except those with the blood of Adam. Ghidorah didn''t know that the gods have purged Adam''s blood after the war. He only knows that Adam betrayed the gods and took their power, weakening them. And that is why he and his people were able to survive and was imprisoned instead of being executed. Arc stood up and picked up the box and immediately put it inside his storage ring just in case Ghidorah change his mind. "This seems to be the items left behind by our fallen ancestors. Do you mind if I take them with me so that we can pray and put them to rest.?" Arc said with a solemn tone. Ghidorah nodded. "NOW THAT WE HAVE A TRUCE AND UNDERSTANDING ITS ONLY PROPER TO SEND THEM WHERE THEY BELONG" the primordial also has this old custom of putting a part of the fallen into their grave as a reminder. ~Oh shit, oh shit I''m rich, I''m rich. I didn''t think I would score this big coming here~ Arc was so happy he is having a hard time controlling his face from smiling. But he knows he needs to continue this play to the end. It was indeed a big harvest, not only they were able to clean all the relics HOC have been accumulating for countless years he was able to get genuine sovereign tools and most of all he was able to complete his urgent mission. And that''s not all he was able to acquire, a potentially powerful ally. What more can he ask for? "Then once again I have to thank you." Arc then gives a solemn bow. Ghidorah was really touched by Arc''s gestures. He knows how powerful and proud Adam and his children are. They will not bow their heads to anyone. He was also quite embarrassed seeing Arc a powerful warrior bowing to him, just for reclaiming some of the items that belonged to his ancestors. "HAHAHA, NO NEED TO FEEL THAT WAY, I WAS ONLY RETURNING WHAT ORIGINALLY BELONGS TO YOU" Arc nodded. He may be acting, but he was indeed thankful to Ghidorah. Ghidorah gulped when he smells the food, it has been a long time since he last eats something. And he can tell the food in front of him is delicious just by the smell of it. His appreciation for Arc increases. "What are you planning now?" Asked Arc. He gestures to Ghidorah to eat some food he himself picks some drinks and strangely enough when he pours the alcohol on Diablo''s mouth he can taste it. Ghidorah didn''t waste any time either he started devouring one food after another, Arc was not worried he had a lot of cooked food in his storage ring. After all, his storage ring can preserve the food indefinitely. As time doesn''t exist inside his ring. So it''s a good way to store food already cooked so that it can be eaten anytime. Ghidorah seems to forget Arc''s questions as soon as he started eating, he seems to forget everything else. Arc didn''t mind, in fact, he was happy to feed Ghidorah if he can turn him into an ally. What is food? Although he and Ghidorah have entered some truce and understanding, that doesn''t mean he can order Ghidorah around. But if he can turn Ghidorah into an ally using food. It''s a big bonus for him. Ghidorah is probably the most powerful being he has encountered besides the one who swallowed him and his ship, but he never really fought it, so he can''t really tell how powerful it was. But he knows they are inside its belly even now. He shakes his head, that''s a problem for the future. Buurp!! "HAHAHA, THAT WAS GOOD. I DIDN''T KNOW MORTAL FOOD TO BE THIS GOOD." He was looking at Arc like he was some kind of Deity or something, he can''t believe this mortal carried with him much delicious food. ~As expected of Adam''s kin,~ he said in his mind. But after thinking about Arc''s questions, he began to feel depressed. He woke up too early. Do I need to go back to sleep? "I WAS AWAKEN TOO EARLY, I DIDN''T KNOW IF THIS COULD AFFECT MY ANCESTORS PLAN OR NOT BUT I DO NOT BLAME YOU FOR IT, IN FACT, I CONSIDERED IT FATE BECAUSE OF THAT I WAS ABLE TO CLEAR SOME THINGS." Ghidorah looks at Arc, and then he looks up. Hmm, contemplating on something, Ghidorah waves his hand and the pope and Bishops appeared before them. The Bishops were shocked when they realize what happened. One after another, they kneeled down in front of Ghidorah. Except for the pope, who was looking half-dead and couldn''t get up, all the Bishops Ghidorah summoned kneeled before him. Arc looked at the kneeling HOC and felt amused. A small orb of energy appeared on Ghidorah''s finger, he then points his finger at the pope and the orb of energy flew to the incapacitated pope and when the orb entered the pope''s body his body began to heal at a rapid pace. Color began to appear on the pope''s cheek the pope cough some black blood, to everyone''s surprised the pope stood up with clothes still drenched in his own blood he kneeled in front of Ghidorah. "Your humble servant greets the divine." Said the pope "Your humble servant greets the divine." The bishops follow. Ghidorah grunted, "THIS IS ARC, FROM NOW ON YOU WOULD TREAT HIM AS YOU WOULD TREAT ME." "We follow the will of the divine," said the pope, still kneeling down with his head bowed down. The Bishop just kept quiet; it was not their place to say anything. Ghidorah nodded. He looks at Arc "UNFORTUNATELY OUR TIME TOGETHER IS SHORT ADAMS KIN ARC. AND I WOULD NEED TO GO BACK TO SLEEP. WE WILL MEET AGAIN WHEN THE TIME HAS COME." In truth, Ghidorah was reluctant to go back to sleep. But for the sake of his ancestors, he has to. Ghidorah once again waves his hands and a small item appears hovering in front of Arc. Ghidorah didn''t waste any time, as soon as he gave the item to Arc a portal opened in front of him, and as soon as Ghidorah entered it disappeared. Arc grabbed the item and as soon as he grabbed it he knew what it was. It was a command token with this HOC would not be able to defy him. This is proof enough that without his command, even the pope didn''t have the courage to stand up. Arc smiles, he was a bit disappointed when Ghidorah decided to go back to sleep, but overall it was a fruitful event for him. "Go back and rebuild this place, with your own hand." He ordered the pope The pope knows what it meant. It means they cannot rely on their servants to do it. Not that they can ask their servants to do it, after all, their servants are inside Specter. But the pope is not worried Babel has self-repair ability, given time Babel can fix any damages. "We will obey." The pope stood up, followed by the bishops. They didn''t say anything they have no right to, as long as the command token is in Arc''s hands they can never defy him, not like they have any plans to do it. As soon as they found out, Arc was related to their god. All their plans for revenge were purged from their minds. Despite the damages, HOC remains intact, there was hardly any HOC death. And the damages to Babel can be recovered in time. As for the relic. It was a minor loss. Arc also didn''t linger; he ordered for specter to beam them up. And so the fight between Arc and Hoc comes to the end. HOC would have a lot of work ahead of them, but Arc didn''t care, they are not good people anyway. Gideon and his men have also been beamed up from the Cathedral. And not long after, the pope made a declaration. And ordered for all the damages to be repaired. HOC didn''t explain anything regarding what happened. So people can only speculate HOC is rich, and so repairing the damages to the Cathedral is easy. As for babel, it is only a matter of time. Specter also remains hovering on top of babel, just in case, someone tried to attack it. After all, HOC officially now belonged to them, it would be a shame if other power takes advantage of it right after they conquered it. Inside the specter, in the personal hanger of Arc, he was now able to see the real changes of Diablo. The warbot was completely absorbed by Diablo there are hardly any physical changes on Diablo except for the runes that cover its whole body. It was also bigger than before, but not that much. Overall, he was very satisfied with the changes. He also noticed that Diablo can change size into the size of a warbot. That''s a bonus for him, that way he didn''t need to build a new one to explore Eden. ### CONGRATULATIONS ### ADAM''S LEGACY COMPLETED. Chapter 274 - 271 Home Home It''s been around two years since Arc encountered Ghidorah, A lot of things happened since then after completing his urgent quest, Arc then uses all his time to figure out how to get home. What he didn''t expect is that leaving the belly of the beast is a lot harder than fulfilling his urgent quest. Outside Eden, space beasts of all sizes can be found, and dealing with them is a pain in the ?ss. Without the knowledge of runes, it would have been next to impossible to leave Eden without first upgrading Specter to at least 4-star rank. And that would take a lot more time to do so. Fortunately, having subjugated the Hands of Cain (HOC) they were able to learn a lot about runes without having to go through a lot of trial and error. Runes are common knowledge in Eden, but no one is willing to share their knowledge about it. Especially advanced knowledge regarding runes. Arc was able to take the shortest route because of HOC, especially the pope. Who was very willing to share all the knowledge HOC was able to accumulate. Also, with HOC, Arc was able to gather resources several times faster than before. So with the help of HOC, Arc was able to upgrade Specter without relying too much on the factory system, and it''s a huge accomplishment for Arc. This gives him more options, not to mention that if he could completely combine the Runic system with the factory system, he couldn''t imagine the results. The factory system relied on Adam''s unique ability to manipulate energy, but the runic system is a technology that converts energy into something tangible, the result is similar, but the process is very different. If he can combine the two, who knows what the result would be, whatever that is. it would be amazing, thats one thing Arc is sure of. Arc knowledge about the runic system is still superficial, even with the knowledge of HOC, the runic system is simply too broad, and is only one of the many branches of Arcane technology. Like the runic system, symbology is also something Arc is interested in learning. So during the past year, he tried to gather as much knowledge about Arcane technology to the best of his ability. And Arc was able to gather a huge amount of books and data regarding the Arcane technology, all of them are stored inside specter and Eve. Who were doing their best to study it and to find a way to apply it to the current technology they have. The only consolation is that their processing power is on a different level compared to carbon-based creatures. And so their learning speed is quite fast, that''s the only advantage they have, not to mention every power on Eden has their specialty and knowledge on the application of the runic system. And so during the time Arc was looking for a way to return home, he was also helping HOC to dominate other powers on Eden. That way, he can also gather more resources and knowledge at the same time. He provided Droids and Lilly to help HOC with their domination. In reality, HOC doesn''t have any intention to expand but as Arc was the one who gives them the order they have no choice but to follow it, and besides they know how powerful Arc and his droids are, so it''s also an opportunity for them. Arc and his group choose to remain in the shadow and only use HOC to do all his bidding, the only one who remains active and exposed is Lilly, who earned the nickname "the fairy of death" because of every battle she participated in all ends up being a one-sided massacre. And Arc just let her play to her heart''s content, since it''s almost next to impossible to harm her anyway. "Boss, we''re finally out of the red hole" Arielle''s happy voice woke Arc up from his daydreaming. Arc looks around and everyone has a relieved and happy smile on their face. "Do we know where we are?" "We''re analyzing it right now. But according to our data, we are close to sector alpha-853, but if that''s true this should be crawling with Ganesh forces, but so far we can''t detect any Ganesh. No, in fact, we can''t detect any life sign with our radar," said Arielle with a slightly worried tone. "Specter, try contacting Legion." "I already did boss, but there''s seems to be a problem contacting him" "Are we still in the right timeline?" "There''s no indication that we moved into a different timeline," said Arielle ======================== "Lady Dianna, everything is ready, they are waiting for you." Dianna looks at the soldier and nodded. Dianna opened the door and in front of her saw a big crescent-shaped table and behind the table different kinds of beings are sitting there, there are about 20 or so of them, each one is representing a race or power in a bright galaxy. If Arc was here, he would be able to recognize some of them. But the most recognizable one is Commander Markos who was now the leader of GFA, and Karou the commander of Ganesh. Every single one of the people here right now is representing a powerful force in bright Galaxy. This is not the first time she had a meeting with one of them, but this is the first time she met them together. "You all know why we are here, so let''s not waste any time" Markos nodded. As well as the others, while others remain with no reactions. Dianna doesn''t mind, in fact, she doesn''t care. They are all here not because they choose to, but because they have to. This meeting will decide the fates of the Bright galaxy. A holographic image appeared in front of everyone. It was a generic star map of Bright Galaxy, the most noticeable thing is that almost 70% of it is in red color highlight. As soon as everyone saw it, worry and fear can be seen on some of their faces. "Your guess is correct we just lost sector B09562 to BQ9006, this week alone we lost over a dozen sectors" There was a murmur as soon as they heard Dianna, while some of them already have this information many of them don''t, and worry and fear can be seen on their faces. Commander Markos and Karou, remain emotionless as they already have this information. The reason they are here is to know if there is a solution to their problems. Dianna doesn''t care about their reactions, she gives them a little time to digest what she said and continue with the topic. Another holographic image appeared. This time it was a place everyone knows about. As soon as the image appeared, everyone focused on the image. Those who are still talking earlier all stop talking. This is the black sector. This used to be sector ABS-098 but was renamed as the Black sector when it becomes the front line in the war. The holographic image shows countless ships of all sizes, carrying different flags and insignia. It is not farfetched to say that this is the line that will decide the fate of all the surviving races in a bright galaxy. And in front of those ships, their common enemies. Bugs