[07:43pm]

An office inside Megabase 023.

This office was plain and bland with no decorations and no window. There was just a desk, a chair, and a wall with 8 different mounted computers that projected multiple holographic HUD screens.

A single air conditioner kept the office ventilated.

There was a brown mug with black coffee on the desk. At this moment, a delicate alabaster arm cradled the mug, taking comfort in its warmth.

While one arm cradled the mug of black coffee, the other arm's fingers rapidly flew through the keyboard on the desk in a blur.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

The scenes in the projected HUD screens kept changing as she typed.

Wearing simple raggedy brown sweatpants and a matching sweatshirt, this Geneform soldier with azure eyes and beautiful long silver hair focused on the multiple HUD screens in front of her.

Her azure eyes squinted as she suddenly focused on one of the holo-screens and then the door to her office opened.

The moment the door opened, she stood up, discarding her laidback attitude as she saluted respectfully. "Major".

Major Roshfield nodded and walked to this soldier's side as she looked at the multiple projected screens with a stern look on her face.

"What's the update?" She asked.

This female soldier turned to face the multiple HUD screens, then she clicked her tongue and said. "They covered their traces perfectly".

"I reckon that they have an E Rank NetRunner in their ranks".

Major Roshfield nodded. "We already suspected long ago that they had an E Rank NetRunner in their ranks, this confirms it".

"What of the suicide bombers?"

"They are all normal civilians". She said. "Before today, nothing seemed to connect them to the Extremist Movement".

"They seemed to have become terrorists overnight".

"As for how, the traces were covered perfectly, there's no footage or sign of any strange meeting with any person, they just seemed to wake up and decided to be suicide bombers".

"The baffling fact is that not all of them believe in the Reclaimer Church and yet, they still did it".

Major Roshfield frowned. "Even you couldn't find anything?"

Her brown eyes turned deep and dark as her brain whirred. Countless thoughts went through her mind at this moment though her thoughts were a mystery to this female soldier.

She quietly looked at the multiple screens for a few seconds before calmly saying. "Get ready, it's almost time to convene the squad".

The silver-haired soldier nodded. "Let me quickly take a shower".

As the Major left, she yawned and rubbed her eyes tiredly before quickly entering the bathroom to take a shower.

…

[07:46pm]

Megabase 023.

Leon sat inside the front passenger seat of a 4-seater military stealth air transport.

The type of transport that came to take him to the Megastructure told him how much importance the Major put into the secrecy of the mission.

After all that happened today, this was exactly what Leon wanted. He no longer wanted to wait, he wanted action and force. He could not wait to take the fight to the terrorists.

And finally, he saw one of Leviathan Quay's biggest landmarks at close range.

HUM!

At close range, a loud humming industrial sound reverberated all around the floating megastructure like it was a living organism and not a building.

From up there, Leon couldn't see the bottom of the floating megastructure, showing just how massive it was.

This was the highest that Leon had ever ascended in Leviathan Quay's airspace.

From this height, the brightly illuminated Upper Districts below looked tiny. As for the Lower Districts, the people down there looked like ants instead of actual people.

Despite the fact that it was already late, the Megabase was still busy as one military air transport after another lifted off from the gigantic dome-shaped structure at the peak of the floating megastructure.

The stealth vessel didn't approach any of the usual helipads at the top of the dome-shaped structure, instead it approached a more isolated helipad that looked like it was newly built in an obscure corner of the roof of the megastructure.

Just as the stealth vessel got close enough and crossed a certain threshold, it jerked as Leon felt a sudden sense of weightlessness.

This feeling was soon dampened but his eyes constricted because he realized what just happened. 'Anti-gravity technology'.

Though he already suspected it, he confirmed it now.

The military Megabases across Leviathan Quay used powerful anti-gravity technology to fight gravity and keep the gigantic megastructures afloat.

Leon simply couldn't fathom the technicalities and logistics in creating and installing anti-gravity systems to make a megastructure this huge float.

The pilot expertly maneuvered closer and landed in the designated helipad.

Here, there was no traffic of soldiers and there were no eyes on him, only a single soldier who stood there waiting for him.

The moment Leon came down, the soldier nodded at him and turned to lead him inside. "This way".

Leon followed him.

The soldier led him through a long corridor that led to an elevator. There, the soldier pointed him to take the elevator while he stayed behind.

With his backpack slung across his back, Leon obeyed and took the elevator.

From the roof of the dome-shaped megastructure, the elevator took him 21 floors down, and when he opened the door he saw a short corridor that led to a thick metallic black door.

Leon walked forward and opened the door, then he found himself inside a highly sophisticated military facility inside the megastructure.

This facility inside the megastructure housed a massive rectangle-shaped gymnasium with no regular spectator area, just an upper spectator balcony area.

The lower area comprised a massive combat arena with the size of 2 stadiums combined with an eye-catching name written in the middle of the arena- [Modular Sparring Arena].

There were 4 tall pillars in the 4 cardinal points at the perimeter of the combat arena. At the top, they bent slightly towards the middle.

Leon noticed the word written on the surface of the pillars- [ADE-Dampening Field Generators].

There were visible CCTV cameras monitoring every corner of this military facility, and there were 3 metallic black doors past the perimeter of the combat arena, 2 on the right and 1 on the left.

Leon looked at the orange words in bold written on the doors starting from the sole door on the left.

[Tactical Briefing Center]

[Recovery Bay]

[Advanced Battle Simulation Room]

The door that Leon walked through led to the upper balcony and from there, he now looked down at the massive combat arena below.

7 people already arrived before him, he was the 8th arrival.

Looking down, Leon saw 6 men and just 1 woman. They also looked at him as they noticed his arrival. Though none of them manifested ADE, the manner in which they carried themselves told Leon that they were all Ascended.

And not just any Ascended, Leon suspected that they were all E Rank Ascended.

'Is this the elite squad?' He thought, already partially convinced.

Among the 7 people standing in the combat arena below, there was a familiar face, Lieutenant Johnmark.

The moment the Lieutenant saw him, he waved at him to come down and Leon obliged, climbing the stairs down and walking towards them.

Leon attracted a lot of attention not just because of his familiar face, but also because his clothes were torn and tattered in several places and there were traces of blood smeared across his face, clothes, and his black hair.

Due to everything that happened and how much it hit him mentally, Leon didn't have the time to bath and freshen up yet.

Tyla forgot to remind him too.

Lieutenant Johnmark walked towards him with a solemn look on his face. "I heard that you were caught in the attack, I didn't expect you to still come, how is your friend?"

"Well, as you can see, I survived". Leon shrugged. "As for my friend, he's currently undergoing surgery but I'm sure he'll be fine," he smiled. "He's a strong and tenacious guy".

The Lieutenant carefully scrutinized his smile, then he sighed. "It must be really hard on you. Watching a friend almost die is not a pleasant experience. Trust me, I know how it feels".

"That's exactly why I'm here". Leon stayed calm.

After that, he didn't engage in any more idle chatter. He simply wasn't in the mood. Instead, after getting confirmation from the Lieutenant that this was the elite squad, he observed his potential partners seriously.

The attack today didn't just burn any potential bridge between him and the terrorists, but it secured a tethered connection of pure hatred and malice.

Knowing just how stubborn he was, Leon knew that at this point there were only 2 options for him- it was either he died, or they died and he was determined to see them dead.

If he was going to hell against the terrorists, he wanted to go there with reliable teammates that could help him, not dead weight.

He observed them with calm and calculating eyes.

Just like him, the others also quietly observed, showing that not all of them were familiar with each other.

They all wore the brown military uniforms of the Gene Army except Leon.

Apart from Lieutenant Johnmark, of the 6 other members of the secret elite squad, the most eye-catching of them was an extremely tall bald-haired Geneform with thick brown beard that Leon suspected to be a Gene Augur.

The sole girl in the group had predatory purple eyes like an assassin, she scanned everyone like she was thinking of the fastest way to kill them.

She wore a black durag on her military uniform, making her look rugged and unhinged.

At exactly 8pm, the door that Leon arrived through opened again as a familiar face entered- Major Roshfield.

The Major wore a familiar brown military uniform but she was not alone. Following behind her was a silver-haired lady with azure eyes, she also wore the same brown military uniform.

As soon as she entered the facility, they saluted respectfully.

Without even looking at them, the Major instructed. "Follow me".

They all did as she instructed as she led them through the door on the left side of the facility- [Tactical Briefing Center].

The Tactical Briefing Center was a room with computerized walls that showed a simple map of Leviathan Quay. The room had very dim lighting, most of the illumination came from the projected map on the walls.

The dim lighting made the room instantly serious.

Apart from the wall-map, the only other thing in this room was a glass desk and a simple office chair.

Major Roshfield went behind the desk and sat down on the office chair before looking at the 9 soldiers standing in front of her, including the silver-haired soldier that followed her in.

Her face was stern and serious as she carefully scrutinized them. "Welcome soldiers".

"The 9 of you are the chosen warriors that I've picked to take on an extremely secretive and equally important mission".

She clasped both of her hands together and placed her elbows on the table as she looked at them. "Leviathan Quay is at war and it is up to this elite squad to turn the tables of the ongoing war".

"We're fighting against a type of enemy that's cowardly and calculating, an enemy who refuses to face us head-on, hiding in the shadows".

"This is why to fight them, I need a shadow squad of my own".

"I need a shadow squad to hit them where it hurts the most, their heart".

"Only by striking at their heart will the terrorism stop," her brown eyes gleamed with ruthless intensity. "The Demon of Ozempic has to die!"

Leon silently echoed this statement.

She continued. "From today, the 9 of you will meet here every night for a joint training to familiarize yourselves and to get to understand your allies, their abilities, and their preferred combat style".

"I want this mission to be perfect, I want no mistakes. A mistake won't just implicate and doom you, it'll doom Leviathan Quay to a war that'll claim tens of thousands of lives or even more".

"This is why we have to stop them before their influence grows too big".

She tapped the glass table with her right index finger. "Every night, I'll set aside time to come and supervise your training".

"Training at night is the only way to ensure the secrecy of this squad and this mission". Her face turned even sterner. "Do not make a mistake soldiers, the outcome of this mission will decide Leviathan Quay's fate in this war against terrorism".

"Honestly, I'll only truly be confident if I lead this squad myself". She leaned back on her chair, her brown eyes growing a few shades darker. "I prefer to do it myself but I have reasons to believe that there are traitors in the army".

The temperature in this room instantly plummeted.

"I don't know who they are, I don't know how highly-ranked they are so I have to tread with caution. I have to move like a thief in my own home," she smiled darkly. "How far we've fallen".

She looked at the 9 soldiers standing before her. "If the traitors are high-ranked enough, they'll focus on my movement in the next few days and if I'm the leader, this may sabotage the mission".

"I can't afford for this to happen". She said seriously.

"As for the clues that I have to the terrorists, though I trust my source I'm still seeking a second-layer confirmation". Her eyes gleamed. "Only then will the mission commence".

"We cannot afford for this mission to fail".

"During this time while I confirm the details, you'll train with the information we already have to acquaint yourself with every of your teammates' abilities".

"This training will last 5 days, you'll attack on the 13th".

Hearing that, Leon's eyelids twitched. '5 days?'

His face turned even colder as he stared at the Major and boldly blurted out. "5 days? We can't afford to waste 5 days".

Major Roshfield was clearly stunned at being interrupted.

She looked at the culprit. "Pardon?"

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