GONG!

The loud sound of a clock, or was it a bell reverberated through the city and beyond the massive city walls, welcoming the maglev train.

They finally arrived in Leviathan Quay.

Seated on the soft sofa close to the window in the VIP booth in Coach 3, Leon peered outside curiously at the city.

From outside, he could only see vague towering silhouettes inside the city because of the massive city wall. It stood at a staggering 10 meters tall.

The city wall had a metallic rust color, looking thick, strong, and inviolable like it could withstand any disaster and still stand for the next thousand years.

It was massive and long, spanning hundreds of kilometers as it encompassed the whole city.

Just like in Larton Town, the massive city wall was fortified.

There were observation posts every few dozen meters around the city wall, and it was fortified with heavily armed soldiers in brown military attire just like the one Lieutenant Johnmark once wore but was destroyed during the battle.

The wall didn't show it yet but Leon had no doubt that hidden behind the slightly rough brown surface of this wall were weapons and advanced technology defensive measures far eclipsing that of Larton Town.

Leon wasn't inside the city yet but the first impression of Leviathan Quay that he got from the massive wall alone screamed a single word, 'Unbreakable'.

There was a massive black gate a few dozen meters to the right of the train's guideway. The gate had an observation post bigger than all the others, a massive structure that looked like a mini-hotel.

With his perception as an Ascended, even from this distance, Leon saw multiple soldiers manning the post built on top the thick and massive black gate.

The train didn't go through the black gate though. Instead, the guideway was constructed a few dozen meters from the gate and its path seemed to crash straight into the wall.

Despite the fact that the massive metallic rust wall was rapidly expanding in front of the train, the train didn't stop or even attempt to slow down.

Leon knew that the Engineman knew what he was doing and he was not about to crash the train, but he still couldn't help his pulse rising.

And then, just as the train was about crash into the wall, that part of the massive wall where the train's guideway was squirmed, and then it unfurled like a flower, creating an opening for the train to pass through almost like it was welcoming the train.

Whoosh!

The maglev train drove into Leviathan Quay, and then the scenery in Leon's vision changed as a city that felt ancient and futuristic at the same time presented itself before him.

Leviathan Quay was a vertical sprawl of buildings, skyscrapers and massive corporate buildings built in layers.

At street level, the city is cramped and dim, forming a maze of brown-themed aging concrete buildings that were stacked on each other tightly almost like they were leaning on each other.

Neon signs with different advertisements flickered above narrow alleys, glowing in predominant red, orange, purple, and yellow colors.

[Dark Man Sushi]

[Feelin' Good Hotel]

[Azaman Mechanic Workshop]

[Lola's Café]

[Lab Meat Joint]

Leon stared with wonder in his eyes.

The neon signs glowed, cutting through the smog like a samurai blade.

Power lines sagged overhead, tangled and overworked while the streets below glistened with neon lights like fireflies.

Yes, there were streets below!

Just like Leon expected, Leviathan Quay had an entire subterranean empire beneath the surface. What he didn't expect was the fact that it had levels.

The first level of the subterranean Leviathan Quay was visible from the surface.

It felt like about 10 meters to 20 meters underground was leveled, cleared of all sand before building an entire new city on it.

The upper streets stood on massive supportive pillars and machines from underground that created stable electromagnetic and gravitational fields.

The lower streets were clearly more cramped than the upper streets.

And beneath the lower streets, there were corridors and alleys that led further underground into another layer of the underground empire.

Leon was amazed. 'Who even had the idea to create a city like this?'

Whoosh!

The maglev train didn't stop as it continued towards the distant train station.

Leon continued observing, focusing on the massive elevated platforms, skyscrapers, and megastructures of the upper streets that loomed overhead. He also saw entire districts that floated in the sky!

Having seen the lower streets already though and seeing how the upper streets were supported, Leon wasn't too surprised to see floating districts.

There were massive bridges connecting the upper streets to these floating districts, and they were all packed with traffic.

The tallest and most eye-catching spectacles in this city though were definitely the massive floating towers. These were tall megastructures whose peak had a dome-like structure.

The dome-like structures were marked with numbers like 025 and 026.

They dominated the skyline, their smooth, circular forms glowing softly from within. On top the dome-like structures, despite the massive distance separating them, Leon noticed massive military constructs: trucks, helicopters, and supersonic fighter jets.

'Are these dome-like structures the military bases of Leviathan Quay?'

Leon observed the distance between the two massive dome-like structures that he could see, and he nodded in understanding. 'They created just the right distance between the structures to form a perfect air-tight aerial defense grid'.

'How many of them are in the city?'

In the skies of this city below the colossal dome-like structures, different types of air transports drifted lazily through the polluted orange sky.

The atmosphere is thick with dust, smoke, and artificial light though it didn't do very much in changing the city's fate of perpetual evening.

From a glance, Leviathan Quay looked like a city built on vertical inequality.

The higher you go, the cleaner the air became but Leon had a hunch that the same rule applied underground.

The deeper you go, the cleaner it gets.

'What a unique city'. Leon thought as the train finally arrived at the station.

Finally, the passengers started alighting.

Though he didn't know at the time, during their conversations, Lieutenant Johnmark already told Leon previously that the terrorists employed means to cut off their communication with the city.

But when they got closer to the city, they regained communication, meaning the Lieutenant already likely reported what happened to the army.

A lineup of soldiers and doctors waited at the train station and as soon as the train stopped, they helped the traumatized passengers down as emergency treatment immediately started for those that were injured.

While this happened, Leon noticed a sleek fighter jet descend from the massive dome-like megastructure marked 026 before accelerating into the distance outside the city at supersonic speed.

'It's going after the terrorists?' Leon thought as he carried his bag and also alighted from the train.

He didn't leave immediately though as he went to the luggage Coach where he retrieved his bike.

He still didn't leave. He stood with the Karaki CT-3X bike like he was waiting for somebody and about 2 minutes later, 2 familiar faces met him.

The Engineman, Mr. Dave and Lieutenant Johnmark walked towards him. The Engineman had an apologetic look on his face.

"Sorry for keeping you waiting, I had to quickly make a report," the middle-aged Engineman smiled sheepishly. "I also had to talk with my family".

He sighed. "You don't really value something until you almost lose it. After the incident today, I cherish my loving wife and two sons even more".

Leon simply smiled.

The Engineman handed a paper slip to Leon. "Take, my house address," he said. "Whenever you can, please do visit. My wife and boys would like to thank you personally for saving my life".

"There's no need". Leon laughed but he still took the slip.

After that, the middle-aged man hugged him tightly in gratitude before waving at him and the Lieutenant as he left.

Lieutenant Johnmark looked at Leon. "You said this is your first time in Leviathan Quay right?"

"Yes". Leon nodded.

"So what else for you? You have a plan on what to do?"

Leon scratched the back of his head.

Seeing this, the Lieutenant continued. "Like I told you, if you need anything, you can always come to any military base to find me. Also, the Gene Army appreciates talents like you".

Leon could already see where the Lieutenant was going.

He didn't comment on it as he looked at the sky instead and asked. "Those massive dome-like megastructures, are they military bases?"

"They're mega bases, we have much smaller military bases around the city".

"Oh, that makes sense". Leon nodded, then he scratched his head again. "Actually, now that I think about it, I do need some help".

The Lieutenant waited for him to elaborate.

Leon said seriously. "I lost my identification details some time ago and if I'm to operate properly in this city, I need proper identification. I don't know if you can help me, or at lease direct me to where I can get it done".

Lieutenant Johnmark calmly nodded. "You want to forge an identity?"

Leon froze, then he chuckled. "When you phrase it like that, it sounds illegal".

The Lieutenant smiled and nodded. "But that's normal," he waved a hand in a perfunctory manner. "Consider it done".

"Just like that?"

"Of course. Have you forgotten? I'm a Lieutenant in the army".

"Oh right". Leon nodded as he understood. "How long before I get it?"

The Lieutenant did his calculation and answered. "It should be done by evening today. I have your contact, I'll call you to ascertain your location and send it to you when it's ready".

"What name do you want to use?"

Leon was stunned. "Name? I haven't thought of that before". He quickly thought of a name on the spot.

"Let it be Thomas Riley".

Lieutenant Johnmark looked at him deeply, then he nodded. "Thomas Riley it is".

"Thanks". Leon immediately flashed a smile. "You really helped me this time".

"It doesn't matter, we're friends right?"

"Of course". Leon nodded seriously.

After that, the Lieutenant shook hands with him before walking towards his subordinates who saluted him.

Together, they entered light-armored military trucks that were already waiting for them as they drove out of the train station.

With the Lieutenant gone, Leon took a deep breath. After thinking for a few seconds, he pushed his bike towards the garage in the train station.

"Please, can I keep my bike here?"

"You have to pay for safe-keeping". A rugged-looking female Geneform attendant with ridiculous-looking makeup and mascara answered him.

"How much?"

"2 pounds for a night".

Leon opened his mouth but then he closed it back. Quietly and in pain, he accessed his pocket and counted two 1-pound notes before handing it to the lady.

"You can park it anywhere you want". She said idly as soon as she took the money.

Leon nodded and pushed the bike towards a corner of the garage before parking it there.

With that, he finally felt free.

He grabbed the straps of his backpack and with agile feet, he walked out of the train station and into the city.

He already had an idea of where he was going.

Just before the maglev train stopped in the station, he noticed that one of the holo-signs had contents that he was interested in.

He quickly walked towards where he noticed the holo-sign and there, he stared up at it.

[Annual Gene Combat Sports Tournament]

The graphical contents of the holo-sign were not the main content though, it was just the clickbait to attract people to it.

The real contents of the advertisement was an embedded voice message.

The moment Leon got close enough, he heard the voice message.

"Get ready fighters, the preliminaries are here!"

"Come and prove your ability to take part in the finals as part of the top 1,000 fighters in the world!"

"Your race doesn't matter, your nationality doesn't matter, all that matters is proving your combat power in the arena!"

"If you feel you have what it takes, go to Gaethje Lower Street, enter Picasso Lifestyle Club with your identification details and tell them you want to fight!"

"Win 1 fight, win 5 pounds and climb through the ranks!"

"Win 5 fights in a row, win 1 Neo Credit, simple!"

"Come and prove your combat ability and win big!"

Leon clicked his tongue as he looked around. 'All I need now is identification details. I doubt the money on my hand is even enough to rent a room in a hotel'.

'Sigh, I'm really broke'.

At that moment, thinking of what he was going to do, Leon suddenly felt a hand grab him by the wrist.

He looked over and noticed a young woman, a Geneform.

She looked at him with passionate eyes.

"Sir, have you ever heard of Cabin D World?"

'Cabin D what?'

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