“Alright, this mission should be simple guys. Find the rebel base, capture or kill the rebel leader named Stildar and recover the stolen assets. That’s all we need to do.” Julian said confidently. “We only have five days, so we should act swiftly.”
“Yeah! Let’s burn those rebel bases to the ground!” Thrax shouted passionately.
While the Thracian acted like his brash self, Julian noticed the look on Emery’s face and couldn’t help but say, “What is it, Emery? Something’s wrong? Tell us.”
Emery didn’t immediately answer, as he was still in contemplation. He was concerned about the poor condition of the natives and personally didn’t want them to be ‘used’ by the Nexus faction. “I think we need to approach this mission cautiously. I rather do it right than do it fast.”
Hearing Emery’s words, Thrax suddenly experienced a 180-degree turnaround and supported his opinion fully.
“Yes I agree. The Nexus could be the one in the wrong,” said the Thracian, which made Julian frown a little.
It was at this moment that Klea jumped in and voiced her opinion. “I agree, I think we should not believe whatever is given to us blindly without confirming it ourselves. I’m sure that apart from completing the mission, our test has something to do with obtaining the right information.”
“I understand, but we only have a limited amount of time,” Julian said.
Facing the Roman’s concern, Klea beamed a smile. “Well, if that’s the problem, I suggest we should split into groups to make the progress faster. I could get information quickly with my enchantment ability”
Julian thought for a second”Yes, I think that’s a good idea… Someone should accompany you though, you should not go alone.”
Hearing this Klea quickly gave a cheeky smile, “I choose Emery of course,” she said quickly grabbing Emery’s arm.
Unfortunately, her suggestion was rejected. Shaking his head, Julian said, “Our target is a magus-level figure, so I think it will be better if Emery comes with me.”
Julian then looked toward the Asian friend, “Chumo, your ability with shadow manipulation makes you the best person in our group to gather information, you will go with Klea.”
He then looked at Thrax “As for you Thracian… I’m sure you prefer to go where the action is, so you will come with me.”
“That’s right!”
Klea frowned at the plan but didn’t say anything, since it made the most sense. After some thought everyone, including her, understood the plan Julian proposed was the safest and most efficient to complete the task.
With the matter settled, Julian gave his friends a communication device to be used in this mission. He once again reminded the group to communicate what was happening on their side, before they all went their separate ways.
“Be safe and be careful,” Emery said. Chumo raised his thumb with a cheeky smile, “You can count on me.”
Klea summoned her thunderbird and the two of them went up into the sky towards the third colony, which was located to the south and was the closest to where orcs’ activities had been sighted.
Seeing the figures of the two disappear on the horizon, Emery, Thrax and Julian returned to the spaceship and awaited their escort. A few minutes later, they finally came and, to their surprise, Minister Otto brought with him five soldiers.
“Envoy, I managed to get these five to help us.”
Emery took a look at the five saint-level soldiers surrounding the middle-aged man. Even though they looked ordinary, these soldiers were wearing modern-looking armor and had unique firearms with golden orbs attached to their centerpieces.
Noticing Emery’s gaze, the minister smiled proudly and said, “These are Nexus’ proud creations. The [Solar Armor] and [Solar Rifle], the two pieces of equipment, are classified as Tier 3 artifacts by the Magus Alliance.”
Tier 3 scientific base equipment was certainly more impressive compared to the magical one, as it had minimum needs for the user spirit force and could be used by lower rank fighters.
Although the group actually didn’t need more manpower for the mission, these five soldiers could protect the minister against the upcoming threats, so Julian decided to bring them all along.
They all boarded the ship and swiftly ascended into the sky heading west, towards the settlement where the retired marshal lived.
****
At the speed of an Interceptor class spaceship, they managed to fly across the Nexus border spanning eight hundred miles in just thirty minutes. Emery and Julian’s group quickly arrived at their destination.
Through the window of the spaceship, Emery saw the settlement where the marshal lived. Hundreds of houses made of a combination of stone and clay covered the entire area, which was surrounded by rows of wooden palisades.
With Spirit Reading, Emery could tell there were about two thousand people living in this place, but only about a dozen of them were saint-level figures.
They landed on the outskirts of the settlement, but before entering, Emery opened his Spatial Space and brought out two figures: Chiku and Chiki.
“You two can cover the perimeter.”
With a simple command, the two Chizpur Fangs burrowed into the ground and headed out a dozen miles away, watching the two opposite sides of the settlement for safety.
“Alright let’s enter,” Julian said as he led the group.
The sight of Otto and his Nexus soldiers walking among them seemed to make the natives a bit tense. But for the same reason, they were very cooperative with the group and quickly pointed towards a certain pub that stood prominently in the center of the settlement.
Thrax and the five soldiers remained outside to keep watch, while Emery and Julian alongside Otto entered the establishment.
The bustling atmosphere in the place quickly turned silent as three dozen pairs of eyes turned their attention to the three. While Emery and Julian were observing the natives present in the pub, the Minister of Science’s gaze fell on one person sitting in a corner of the pub.
“Mister Shane.” Otto said, causing the person to turn to see who had called his name.
The retired lieutenant of the Nexus faction was a bearded man, who appeared to be in his sixties. A glass of drink in hand as he turned towards the group of three. Emery could clearly tell the man was merely a saint-level figure, but he possessed a charismatic aura about him as he calmly looked at them.
“Ah… Minister Otto, it’s a pleasure to see you here. How are you? It’s been a while, is it…?” Shifting his gaze to Emery and Julian, he asked, “and… who are these two fine young men?”
Before the minister could say anything, Julian stepped forward and gave a gesture of respect to the man before saying, “Mister Shane, we are delegations from the Magus Alliance. We are here looking for your brother; can you tell us where he is?”
The man chuckled, “Bringing the attention of the Magus Alliance, he must have done something big this time.”
Otto said “Mister Shane, he stole the Replicator machine.”
The bearded man heaved a sigh, “I am just a retired man… I can’t help you,” he then looked toward the bar and shout to the man “Jim, will you get these gentlemen some drink before they go.”
Just as Julian was about to respond, Emery’s Spirit Reading picked up a dozen signatures of saint-level figures heading fast towards the settlement. Immediately, he connected with the two Chizpur Fangs.
[One Mind]
In an instant, Emery could see what was visible from Chizpur Fang’s point of view. Twenty men each riding a flying vehicle and all coming fully armed. Grabbing Roman’s shoulder, he said,
“We got company.”
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