Leviathan Quay, Lower Streets.

Far from the heart of the city, at the very edge of this large city in the North, there is an industrial dead zone devoid of skyscrapers and other megastructures that are regularly found in the heart of the city.

There is no Upper Street above this area either, it's like an abandoned pit at the edge of this city.

On one side of this isolated dead zone, there's a massive waste and scrap area where all the waste from inside the bustling city is dumped.

Here, waste are recycled.

There were massive industrial machines and trucks either bringing in more wastes from the city or doing the recycling right there.

HUM!

The loud sound of machinery reverberated, making the ground vibrate.

On the other side of this dead zone after passing through the massive waste and scrap area, small dome-shaped buildings that are built close to the ground sprawled across the horizon.

They rose from the ground like sand mounds instead of buildings.

Each building had a separate compound and they were all surrounded by an interconnected fence of chain-link and razor wire sharp enough to deeply cut flesh.

The wire fence cut into the compounds, demarcating each compound from the other. The fence was surrounded by surveillance cameras that hummed like insects, and pasted on the fence surface were red neon warning signs.

[MILITARY ZONE]

[NO ENTRY, AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY]

This was a restricted military zone of the Gene Army.

Not just a military zone, the whole area comprised the major subterranean gene labs of the Geneforge Clans in Leviathan Quay.

The surface floor of these buildings were just like an observation post, the true structures were massive complexes that were constructed underground.

Each structure was a major subterranean gene lab with multiple Scientists.

Some labs were dedicated for cosmetic surgery, some were dedicated to Neon Beast experimentation, some were dedicated to the fusion study of biology and machinery- bioengineering, and the others all had different study focus.

Unlike the Omnicore Federation who wants to rule the world through control and the Freegrid Collective who fights for freedom, the Geneforge Clans are a major faction of this world that thrive on evolution, research, and bio-engineering.

They're one of the oldest factions in the world and since inception, one core trait pulled them together, biological research and development.

The Mechanists of the Geneforge Clans don't just engage in engineering, they mostly engage in bio-engineering.

They are the pioneers of cosmetic surgery and implant development.

And most importantly, they are the major faction representing Geneforms in the world.

In the territories of the Geneforge Clans, apart from the presence of their powerful army and the military bases, a constant that's found in every city of the Geneforge Clans are subterranean gene labs funded by the government.

History also records that the Geneforge Clans are the pioneer of the Gene Augur Class, their intensive research into ADE and evolution resulted in the corresponding Knowledge Scrolls to become a Gene Augur.

They are also the leading faction when it comes to Artifact creation.

Not just any creator or Mechanist can work with the remains of an Ascended to create an Artifact. First, you have to understand the anatomy of the race of the Ascended corpse, including how to extract its Ascended powers into a tool.

This is also the reason why the Gene Army is one of the strongest armies in the world.

Creating high-ranked Artifacts still relied mostly on probability, but the gene labs in Geneforge territory already perfected the techniques to create low-tier Artifacts to significantly raise the might of the mundane soldiers in the Gene Army.

With centuries of research and work of predecessors being their foundation, though it was still hard to equip high-ranking soldiers with powerful Artifacts that can help them, it was easier to equip mundane soldiers.

The true core of the Gene Army had armories with thousands of F Rank Artifacts. During war time, mundane soldiers gain the privilege to access them.

All these and more are examples showing the reason why the Geneforge Clans put so much importance on their gene labs and research.

This is why in every city of the Geneforge Clans, there's a part of the city designated entirely for their subterranean gene labs that are protected by the military and funded by the government.

The zone where the subterranean gene labs are located is supposed to be one of the most tightly guarded zones of any Geneforge City, and the same rule applied here in Leviathan Quay.

Soldiers of the Gene Army were stationed around the wire fence, armed to the teeth as they patrolled the area.

Patrol trucks with powerful headlights also patrolled at intervals.

If any intruder dared come here, you will be facing a force of not just mundane soldiers but heavily-armored military-grade trucks and Ascended.

Even if every other part of Leviathan Quay become compromised, this zone is supposed to be one of the safest and most secure of the city, and yet, one of the gene labs here was already compromised.

One of the subterranean gene labs in this military zone was now occupied by the Extremist Movement!

For this to happen right in the nose of the army without being discovered, there was only one explanation, someone was covering it up.

Someone covering it up meant one thing, there's a traitor in the Gene Army!

And not just any traitor, this traitor had to be high-ranked enough and wield enough influence in the Gene Army to be able to conceal something of this magnitude in one of the most protected areas of the city.

It was also a psychological ploy.

Afterall, nobody expected the Extremist Movement to have the guts to settle in a heavily guarded military zone in Leviathan Quay.

They were hiding in plain sight.

4 months ago, the Extremist Movement finally got the opportunity that they've been seeking for years as they found a way to infiltrate a major city without being like moths flying towards a flame.

With the Demon of Ozempic at the helm, the operations of the movement became smoother than ever before.

The revolution of his rule became even more apparent after they overcame all odds to get a base of operation in Leviathan Quay.

All the attacks that's been causing ripples across the world for the past few months, all the terrorism, it started right from under the nose of Leviathan Quay.

And nobody knew, at least nobody who was not on their side.

Anybody who knew who was not on their side was already dead.

[11:09pm]

At the other side of the isolated zone, while the sound of machinery hummed even at night, a figure snuck unseen into the waste area.

He slipped like a shadow in between the machines, going to the heart of the waste area where the waste was gathered and thick and the stench was nauseating.

There, he slipped under the belly of a massive abandoned heavy-duty Excavator. The machine had been damaged for months already, but the Mechanists too lofty to leave their subterranean labs kept on postponing the repair job.

Under the belly of the abandoned Excavator was a vent that led into a secret passageway, one of the passageways leading to the already compromised gene lab.

The shadowy figure quietly opened the vent and snuck inside.

He moved through a long tunnel.

….

A few minutes later…

Inside one of the compounds demarcated by the interconnected wire fence, at the corner of the dome-shaped building, a man suddenly emerged from the shadows.

He came from an underground vent at the backyard of the dome-shaped building.

He was dressed in an all-black attire and a half-face mask.

The moment he arrived, he looked towards the nearest soldier guarding the wire fence. Once he noticed that the soldiers were distracted, he quickly walked towards the other side of the small dome-shaped building.

On the other side, there was a stairwell that led underground. Flickering yellow lightbulbs illuminated the handrails of the stairwell.

He walked down the stairs and arrived at an underground complex.

Past the reinforced metal door, there was a large corridor leading through the underground complex, and on both sides, there were doors leading into multiple vast chambers.

He walked through the corridor.

At some point, the corridor widened into a large subterranean chamber housing rows of towering cylindrical capsules, each one filled with glowing green fluid. Inside them floated humanoid figures.

Their heads drooped and their limbs hung slack, their bodies were wired into the capsule walls with cables and needles that pulsed softly with light.

They looked more human than most Geneforms.

Scientists in light green robes, wearing respirators and mirrored visors attended to the capsules.

Guards dressed in black paramilitary armor and full-face insectile masks stood at the edges of this large subterranean chamber, protecting the scientists.

The moment the guards and scientists saw him enter, they immediately recognized the Holy Champion and nodded in a respectful manner as they gestured in a prayerful manner. "Lovet være Gud".

"Lovet være Gud," he answered, then he looked at the towering cylindrical capsules and asked. "How are they?"

The scientists responded in a fanatical voice. "They're closer to the divine blueprint now than ever before!"

"Lovet være Gud". He muttered in a pious manner before walking past them.

After passing the large subterranean chamber with the cylindrical capsules, he soon arrived at the end of the corridor. At the end was another stairwell that led underground.

He climbed down the stairwell, then he finally appeared inside a massive room that could easily be mistaken for a hall.

There were no furniture in this massive room.

And unlike the other parts of this underground base, it didn't look developed. It looked dilapidated with rocks lying around and damaged metallic components and machines occupying the other parts of the room.

At the very end of the room, there was a hyper-realistic statue of a naked human set on top an altar.

Before he came, there were 4 people in this subterranean room and the moment he entered, they all looked at him.

He looked back at them.

Just like him, they were dressed in all-black attire.

The man who sat in the middle of this room on top a small rock, their leader rested his elbows on top his legs, crossing his palms together as his gentle brown eyes welcomed him home.

The others were nowhere as welcoming though.

The oldest of them, a burly middle-aged man with braided black hair sat on the ground just in front of the leader and looked at him with a quiet but burning intensity in his azure eyes- Ramirez.

The only female among them, Xena sat on top a dilapidated military truck. The moment she saw him, her eyes burned, glowing neon green.

The last of them sat on a shaky metallic platform sticking out of the wall of this room at the top and close to the ceiling- Blake.

"Jake, you're back". Xena said in a snappy tone as her eyes glared at Jake.

"Brother, I heard that you suffered defeat," came the teasing voice of Jake's younger brother, Blake as the next moment he jumped down from the high height where he previously sat.

Thud!

He landed easily and walked forward, observing his brother at close range then he chuckled. "They're actually right this time, what a nasty scar you have on your face. Who did it?"

Ramirez didn't say a word but the intensity in his eyes couldn't be mistaken as he also sought answers from Jake.

Jake walked right past his younger brother.

Blake didn't protest as he simply stared at his back in an amused manner.

Seeing that he had no intention of answering, the fiery and irascible Xena easily flared up as neon green ADE flared around her body.

BZZZ!

"Jake!" She growled. "How dare you stay silent after failing a mission? The Lord's presence is the only reason I'm not attacking you yet!"

"The Lord already made the preparations, everything was set, it was supposed to be easy, so how could you fail? How could you fail such a simple mission?" Her eyes were dark with rage and passionate with religious zeal.

Jake finally reacted as he looked at her coldly and retorted. "You'd have failed too". His pride did not allow him to stay quiet.

"What did you just say?" She flared up, but then the voice came.

"Xena, that's enough".

The voice was gentle and soft-spoken, nothing like the rugged and scarred face who had the voice.

"Yes Lord Lucian". She folded her arms and glared at Jake.

Jake walked towards the rock where the Lord sat, and then he knelt on one knee. "Lord…"

"Shhh," Lucian covered his lip with his right index finger, then he looked at Blake. "Fetch me my first-aid kit".

Blake looked at his brother with a teasing smile on his face. "Heh, you even need babysitting from the Lord? What do you need next, a lullaby to help you sleep, or cuddling to sleep?"

Jake glared at his brother darkly but with the Lord present, he didn't flare up.

After Blake brought a unique-looking green first-aid kit, Lucian took it and with experienced and patient movements, he began treating his wounds.

Jake hissed in pain but then he soon started feeling relief.

In that moment as his pain subsided, Lucian finally said in a soft voice. "You can talk".

Jake took a deep breath, then he started. "It's like this…"

He recounted everything that happened during the mission.

"An E Rank Mechanist?" Xena asked in disbelief and rage. "You failed the mission because of a f*cking Mechanist???"

Her ADE was about to flare violently again when Lucian calmly looked at her again, that single glance silenced her.

She fumed quietly, illusory smoke seemingly rising from her now brown hair as her face now red in rage glared at Jake.

Lucian was patient and understanding as he looked at Jake. "Tell me more about this Mechanist".

"Yes, Lord Lucian".

Jake recounted every single detail that he remembered, he didn't shy away from showing his new-found hatred for the Mechanist.

At the end, Lucian stood up and patted him on the head. "It's not your fault". He said in a soft voice before walking towards the statue of a human in the altar.

There were religious brown beads strapped on his neck.

At this moment, he clasped the thick and long beads in his hand as he bowed at the statue, praying in silence.

A few minutes later, he said. "Go rest".

"Tomorrow is going to be a big day".

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