BEEP!

[Credit Alert!]

[Your account has been credited with 97,632 Neo Credits!]

Leon walked out of Grand Mac Casino with a swagger in his steps.

For the first time since he awakened in this world, he no longer felt broke. For the first time, he felt like a true tycoon.

Despite the fact that the casino directly deducted the money for all the drinks that the players consumed during the period of his imperious jackpot reign, it barely made a dent in his overall payment.

Sergeant Tyla and Daren followed him with dazed looks on their faces.

After they walked a sizeable distance away from the casino and they were close to the caravan, Sergeant Tyla found her voice first as she looked at him with a complicated look in her eyes.

"Just what kind of man are you?"

Leon smiled and shrugged. "I'm just a regular guy".

She scoffed, then she smiled. "Typical Thomas," she grunted in a soft voice then she suddenly leaned in and hugged him.

"…!"

Leon froze.

It was only after a few seconds that she finally leaned back from the hug.

Seeing his reaction and the mortified expression on his face, she chuckled. "Don't mind me, I got carried away by my excitement".

Feeling his burning gaze still, she boldly looked him in the eye. "What? Don't tell me you're still a virgin".

'…?' Leon was stunned by her boldness.

Before Leon could reply, her cheeks blushed pink as she turned away and quickly said. "Send me some money let me go shopping for you tomorrow. You have a lot of money now, your wardrobe needs not be one-dimensional anymore".

Leon was surprised. "But won't your job as a soldier…?"

"Do you want my help or not?" She interrupted him in a snappy manner while still looking away. "I'm the one sacrificing my job to help here". She added in a nagging manner for emphasis.

Leon wanted to say 'I didn't tell you to sacrifice your job', but then he thought better of it and chuckled. "Find, I'll send you money now'.

"Ok, bye bye".

She didn't even look at the both of them as she quickly rushed across the street and disappeared before Leon could say another word to stop her.

Leon opened his mouth, then closed it back. He wanted to say 'I don't have your account details', then he remembered that he had her contact details.

'I'll just call her later then'. He thought.

Daren who stood like a statue since quietly looked at the direction where Tyla disappeared in, then he turned and looked at his friend before nodding in approval like a proud dad.

Leon flinched. "What?"

Daren smirked and gave him a thumb up. "Good job, you're doing well".

"What do you mean?"

He chuckled and refused to elaborate, then he said. "Tonight, I want to enjoy myself. Give me some money so I'll go to Picasso Lifestyle".

Leon laughed. "You f*cking pervert, I know what you want to do".

Daren was unfazed. "What do you mean? I'm a man, I do what men do".

He stared at Leon, Leon stared at him, then they both burst out laughing and entered the caravan.

Leon looked at his friend. "Before you go and enjoy your nightlife, I need your help for a few things to complete the blueprint of my projects. I also need a constructive criticism of my robot blueprint".

"Since, I've just been designing and looking at it from my own perspective. I want you to look at it from the perspective of a Cyber Gladiator and tell me if there's anything wrong with it".

Darren nodded readily. "Ok".

With more than 90,000 Neo Credits currently resting in his bank account, Leon was no longer held back by capital.

Now, he could go wild to meet all his creative ambitions.

The moment they entered the caravan and locked the door, Leon instructed his A.I. "Davis, show me all my unfinished projects".

DING!

"Yes master".

A holographic projection was projected in mid-air from Leon's smartphone.

[1. Modified Invisible Sword Drones; also new stronger battery cells and engine]

[2. R9 Energy Shield]

[3. VX-09 Emberfist]

[4. Doom Rover v0.1]

These were currently his 4 main unfinished projects.

Thinking of the money currently in his bank account again, Leon smiled as he clicked on Doom Rover and expanded it to reveal the project details.

Immediately, a black 10-feet tall humanoid robot with 2 thick legs, 2 hands, and a square-shaped head appeared.

Thick red lines highlighted the main parts of the massive robot, and the red lines led to labels with the names of the main parts.

[1. Head Weapon: Terra Nova 71 Rifle]

[2. Arm Weapons: QX-07 Air Gun Rifles]

[3. Legs- Hybrid Mobility System: Wheeled & Normal]

[4. Chest Compartment: Flamethrower]

[5. Crotch Compartment: Grenade Launcher]

[6. Side Rib Weapons: Kinetic Pistols]

[7. Upper Back Area Weapons: Kinetic Pistols]

[8. F*ck You Compartment- Torso Area: Jury-rigged Bombs]

[9. Full Back- Integrated ADE Skill: Pulse Feedback]

[10. Full Body: R9 Energy Shield. Micro-controller: The shield generator can be micro-controlled to focus on just one part of the robot's body.]

[11. Construct Module: ADE Storage Module]

Staring at the projection of the tall humanoid robot, Leon felt a sense of pride but he also winced slightly when he observed all 11 main components of the robot.

All 11 when combined together screamed money.

Individually, most of them were not that expensive but the true cost and difficulty came from integrating all of them into a single working construct.

Leon realized something at this moment. "Um… I think I'm going to go for an even more powerful battery cell and engine or this robot will be a 2-minute man".

He increased the capacity and power requirements of the battery cell and engine that he would go for and then he looked at the newly projected budget.

[Budget: 47,300 Neo Credits]

His lips twitched but then he chuckled as he remembered the money in his account. "So, what do you think?"

He inclined his head to look at his friend but the stunned look on Daren's face and the stars twinkling in his eyes was all he needed to know.

'Yeah, I know, I cooked'.

…

Do you know the process of a volcano erupting?

The first stage is the magma generation and ascent stage where intense heat and pressure deep within the Earth cause rocks to partially melt, forming magma.

Being less dense than solid rock, this magma slowly rises and as it rises, the liquid magma separates from remaining solids and aggregate.

The second stage is the magma chamber accumulation as magma collects in large underground pockets called magma chambers. The pressure builds within the chamber as more magma arrives, causing the rock above to expand and crack.

The third stage is the eruption trigger and ascent to surface. As magma nears the surface, the pressure decreases, allowing dissolved gases to form bubbles which propel the magma upward through fissures and vents.

Then the final stage, the surface eruption which is divided into 2 distinct types: calm and violent eruptions.

In calm eruptions, gases escape easily because the magma is thin, leading to slow, flowing lava.

In violent eruptions though, thick, sticky magma traps gas, building immense pressure until it violently blasts out as ash, rocks, volcanic bombs, and gas.

The Extremist Movement under the Demon of Ozempic is like a volcano.

Their influence in the Southern Biome is insidious, slowly rising and spreading like magma till they infiltrated a major city of the Geneforge Clans, Leviathan Quay.

Their presence in Leviathan Quay and the attack on 3rd July was the catalyst that set the inevitable eruption in motion.

The only question was, would the eruption be a calm or violent one?

The army already started making their move, they were searching for clues, they made arrests, but what exactly would it take to rid the city of the influence of the Extremist Movement?

What would the army do in regards to traitors in their ranks?

GONG!

The loud sound of a bell reverberated as the inter-district maglev train moved, riding underground beneath the Lower Districts.

Leon was inside the maglev train and his destination was Evergreen District.

Evergreen District was the Southernmost District in Leviathan Quay. To residents of the city, it's commonly known as the GRA (Government Residential Area) in Leviathan Quay.

It wasn't known as GRA because it was more developed than the floating districts, it was named that way because it was the most naturally-preserved district in all of Leviathan Quay.

Most military leaders, esteemed and distinguished retired workers, and millionaires in Leviathan Quay lived in Evergreen District.

Sitting close to the window in the maglev train, as it moved, sometimes climbing guideways to the surface of the Upper District, Leon witnessed the insidious influence of the volcano that was waiting to erupt.

The aftereffects of the Massacre of Compton District still lingered.

That night, he saw police officers engage in a gunfight against thugs in an alley before being able to apprehend a Synth who previously hid underground. They took him in for questioning.

In another district, the maglev train passed a train station and there, Leon witnessed a military raid on the train station as Synths who hid there, waiting to secretly travel out of the city were apprehended and arrested for interrogation.

The raid delayed their journey for a few minutes, but then they continued.

Throughout, Leon never interrupted as he wore a hood to hide his face. He just watched, wondering exactly what the motivation of the Gene Army was for targeting Synths.

After a few dozen minutes during which they passed 2 different districts, they finally arrived at the Southermost District, Evergreen District.

The first fact about Evergreen District is the fact that it didn't stand on any Lower District. It stood on solid ground which was the foundation for the flourishing natural district.

Leon alighted from the train, then he took an elevator along a tall concrete wall before entering the Upper District, Evergreen District. He took a cab inside.

Instantly, he felt the ambience change.

This was the only district in Leviathan Quay where there was an abundance of green trees and flowers on both sides of the road. Heck, this was the first time that Leon was seeing so many green trees since awakening in this world.

There were ADE-powered streetlights on both sides of the road, brightly illuminating the night as they drove past.

Driven by curiosity, Leon secretly used Drone Control Matrix and controlled one of his C-5 drone up-high to see the whole district.

There were no skyscrapers here, the tallest buildings were 3-story buildings. The thick and tall verdant trees were the tallest structures in Evergreen District, making it seem like some utopia.

From how lush the trees were despite the fact that sun almost never touched them due to the neon storms that obscured the sky, Leon guessed that they were treated with special fertilizers and growth enhancers from the subterranean gene labs in the city.

The main road led through the whole district in a straight line, while multiple smaller roads branched from it.

The main road ended at the perimeter of the City Wall.

The layout of the whole District was like a single tall vertical tree with smaller branches across its whole body, forming the streets.

As the cab driver drove across the main road while following Leon's directions, Leon was taken aback as a phenomenon that he had never encountered in Leviathan Quay before today occurred.

HUMMMMMMM…!!!

A loud humming sound that made the whole city vibrate suddenly reverberated, making Leon alarmed.

Compared to him, the driver only seemed mildly surprised. Sensing something, they both looked up then they saw it.

Immediately after the humming sound reverberated, a shimmering transparent bluish white membrane rapidly spread across the whole city, encompassing all of Leviathan Quay.

The driver nodded like he expected it. "The City Shield". He muttered.

Leon wanted to ask to clarify his doubts but not wanting to have a deep conversation with the driver that may expose his Thomas Riley persona, he stayed quiet and decided to ask Mr. Dave later.

After confirming that there was no danger, Leon relaxed but he kept his C-5 drone in the sky in an invisible state.

As they drove, he finally noticed something else high in the sky above the shimmering transparent bluish white membrane.

3 strange air transports brazenly flew above Leviathan Quay's airspace.

One of them looked like an oversized helicopter with motor blades on both its front side and back, while the remaining 2 were disc-shaped air transports. All 3 looked like military transports.

They had a bold emblem on their bodies representing what faction they represented but due to the distance, Leon couldn't see them clearly.

'Who are they?' He thought.

At this moment, he regretted not having a pair of binoculars.

After a few more minutes, they entered a street and then they soon stopped in front of a simple 1-story apartment.

It wasn't fenced. There was a pathway leading to the entrance of the house from the street, and on both sides of the pathway was a lawn.

After cross-checking that this was his destination, Leon rang the bell.

Ding! Dong!

Only at that moment did the transparent bluish white membrane covering the sky finally dissipate.

'What was that?'

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