Reborn- Apocalypse 2
Page 16
Having a high ranking Emissary like Heron question the guards was quite natural. Emissaries were enforcers but also investigators, especially Micheal, who's cover story was that he was tracking and hunting down a dangerous criminal.
"Where exactly do you remember getting attacked? What exactly do you remember? Can you tell me what you felt?" He unleashed a flurry of questions and got back a few, disjointed responses in return. His surprise attack had been so abrupt the guards had been taken out before they even really had a chance to register the attacks.
Before long, several more minutes had passed and Micheal finished his questioning. He took a few moments to study the guards and, in particular, Sub-Commander Borial.
The man's face was flushed, anger and worry apparent in his actions. For the base to have been attacked while he was on duty and the Commander was away… it was a stain on his record.
Kathleen, on the other hand, was taking it better. Each Sub-Commander was in charge of a different thing. Borial was in charge of the internal defenses and affairs, while Kathleen was in charge of external affairs and missions, training the rooftop guards or going on expeditions.
As Micheal saw the Sub-Commander reach a peak in his tension, Micheal walked forward. At the same time, he dragged Ryan forward with him, using the pretense that the doctor had finished healing his patients as an excuse.
"Emissary?" Borial stared at Micheal in confusion as he walked forward. Sub-Commander Kathleen stood next to him, as did a few of the various officials that helped run the Branch.
Micheal gave him a slight nod,
"Greetings Sub-Commander Borial. I'm here to share the results of my investigation into this attack thus far." His words carried a smooth, confident air that he projected forward,
"Based on my investigation, the attacker used small, pointed weapons like a dart or needle to poison the guards without killing them. He then used blunt force to knock them unconscious, allowing himself a brief period of freedom." Micheal continued, nodding his head.
Borial glanced at the doctor that was right behind Micheal. The doctor nodded, confirming Micheal's words. Borial looked right back at Micheal as he saw this, gaining a bit of an expectant gleam in his eyes.
"The brief time period he had between knocking the guards unconscious and your arrival must have been enough time for him to have found whatever it was he was searching for here." Micheal paused and then motioned at the Directive Storage Room,
"Do you house any sensitive material or secret intel here?"
"No, nothing here is extremely sensitive. This is just one of many Branches, the only info here is logs on the past movements, past expeditions, general intel on transfers or info the HQ sends out, things of that nature." The Sub-Commander frowned and shook his head as he replied, answering Micheal's questions automatically. The air that Micheal carried himself with was a no-nonsense one that practically screamed 'I am an authority figure, obey me.' Even someone like the Sub-Commander was not immune, especially given his distressed state.
"All that poor data has now been ruthlessly violated..." He sighed morosely, like a teenager that had just been broken up with.
Micheal pressed him, unrelenting,
"You said there are past movements and intel on transfers. Would that include tracking information on Commanders on official duty, Emissaries on internal missions, things of that nature?" Micheal motioned at him.
When Borial heard that, his face paled,
"D-do you think he was trying to target the Commander?!" The Sub-Commander's response was all Micheal needed to hear, a smile appearing beneath his mask.
"It's possible. It's also possible the enemy was here to tamper with records or destroy certain records." He sighed,
"Tracking down targets is my specialty. We have some time until your Commander arrives. Till then, I'll help scan through files to look for tampered with or damaged intel. I'll need a few of your men to assist me." He left no room for discussion.
A reluctant expression appeared on Borial's face for a moment. The man took a single look around, noting that their target was still gone with no leads, before sighing.
"Your work seems like our best bet here, Emissary. We are in your debt." He began to wave Micheal forward and motion for a few of his guards to accompany him.
"Hold a moment," Micheal held up a hand,
"A lot of this information isn't something that just anyone can read. Only assign men that are allowed to view classified troop movements or transfer details." He returned, acting every bit the man of honor.
"Of course." Borial seemed to have recovered from his state of disorder, his face gaining color as he turned to his side, staring at a few officials. Having a concrete plan to work with had filled him with confidence.
"Enforcer Amen, Enforcer Catal, help him search the records. Start with ones that contain recent movements, check for damaged, tampered, or missing files." His words were stern as he continued,
"Obey whatever orders Emissary Heron gives."
"Yes, sir!"
"Yes, Sub-Commander!"
Two of the officials walked up and nodded at Micheal respectfully.
"Thank you for your aid, Emissary." Borial looked at Micheal gratefully, completely won over.
"It is my duty to hunt down criminals that try to disrupt order. If we can find what the person was looking for, we can figure out what or who they are after and track down the culprit. I would do this for any Branch." Micheal humbly replied, decrying the evil-doer that dared break into the Directive Storage Room,
"I will not rest till I find out who did this." Seeing as he already knew who did it, the promise didn't mean much.
The Sub-Commanders and various Enforcer Team Leaders or officials all looked at Micheal, their eyes gleaming. Sub-Commander Kathleen, in particular, blushed again as she looked at him, her heart feeling full.
'This… this is why I joined the Angels Arcadia!' Kathleen looked at Micheal with eyes full of admiration.
Everything that happened here had been a part of Micheal's backup plan. If he couldn't get the information directly by stealing it... his next best bet was to have the Branch themselves give him direct permission to read through their stored data!
He'd micromanaged everything to the smallest detail and, as a result, not a single soul present suspected him of anything at all.
'He's the type of man that you can put your trust in. Solid. Reliable. Strong.' Kathleen nodded sharply, knowing then and there that Emissary Heron was a good man. He would never attack, trick, or con someone.
'Alright! I've managed to successfully attack, trick, and con them!' Micheal stared back, his body posture projecting absolute confidence. He smiled cheerfully beneath his mask as he waltzed into the Directive Storage Room, taking a glance around,
'Let's loot all the info I can!'
.. .. .. .. .. ..
Meanwhile, in a location not too far from Micheal's position within the Main Cluster…
On the bottom floor of a certain skyscraper, a scene of slaughter spread out. Dozens of bloody bodies littered the floor, bits of bone and gore scattered about. Half of the bodies were human, while the other half were Morenkai.
Off to the site, two figures could be seen staring at this mess. Each figure was dressed in long, black robes that obscured much of their body. Their most discernible feature were the distinctive set of white masks they wore.
One of the figures was taller than the other, with a bulky frame, and clearly male. He had a perfectly white mask with the number '11' carved into it in a fancy, golden script.
Standing next to this figure was a far slimmer human, either a man or a woman, it was hard to tell, wearing a mask with the number '14' carved into it.
"Why does the boss want two of us to greet her? She's one of the physically weakest Supreme A Rankers and has only fallen in Rank as time went on. I don't see why we both have to go." The bulky man with the number 11 carved into his mask spoke aloud, his voice gruff and rugged.
"The boss likes to be careful, you know how he is. He wants no mistakes." The speaker's voice was soft and flowing, one that could be either feminine or masculine, wavering back and forth as the speaker continued,
"She's a potential new recruit for the Numbers, so it's not like she's useless. Number 15 is still vacant ever since Anthony got killed by Head Cameron."
The bulky man shrugged back,
"I guess. Leila Almawt… you better live up to your name as the Black Witch. The consequences of lying to the Nightrunners are severe." He spoke aloud to himself as if it was a completely normal thing to do.
"Come on, let's head back up." The figure with the wavering voice returned, shaking his or her head as he or she ignored the bulky man's odd habit,
"The Monster Class Morenkai isn't here anymore. We won't find anything out from staring at these bodies, you know the damn thing is too smart to wait around." The figure continued,
"We'll go find Leila tomorrow."
.
.
Chapter 21
Sophia scrunched her face up as she looked at the online post, tapping on a flat smartphone she held in her hand. She held back a yawn as she focused, reading from it.
"Best method for killing slow Abnormals… No…" She muttered a thread title out loud, tapping it aside,
"Hidden tips for taking care of your hair, the best beauty products to buy from the Shop… Hmm, maybe I should save that one…" She paused momentarily before moving past it,
"Do Morenkai poop? An investigative journey into the bowels of this mystery." She giggled out loud at the title and then covered her mouth, blushing slightly.
She glanced to the left and right, making sure no one had heard before she remembered she was on this journey alone. She sighed at the thought.
Micheal was putting a lot of trust in her, trust she felt like was unwarranted. The man was a few years younger than her, yet somehow always cool, confident, and collected. He seemed to have an answer to every problem and nothing ever seemed to leave him flustered.
He had faith she would be able to achieve this, and she was committed to not letting him down, but she couldn't shake the slight feeling that she would mess up and ruin all of Micheal's plans.
She sighed again and shook her head. There was no point in worrying over things she couldn't control.
She was currently standing in a deserted bedroom, leaning against a wall. She was on the 30th floor of a 40-floor tall skyscraper at the very outskirts of the territory of the Godfather Organization.
The Main Cluster was massive. As a result, no matter how big the godfather Organization was, it wasn't feasible to lock down anything approaching a sizable sector by blocking off skyscrapers.
Thus, it was quite easy to enter the territory of the Godfather Organization. The only issues cropped up if one hunted in any public or obvious place. One was liable to be stopped by patrolling Godfather Organization teams and questioned.
It wasn't illegal to hunt in their territory, but member teams that took refuge in the area were required to pay certain fees, in the form of Healing Pills or other useful Artifacts, and register with the patrols that would wander. The other members of the Big 3 worked in a similar manner.
In return, the Godfather Organization hunted down criminals, provided free food if needed, provided training opportunities, as well as this large-scale online network. They also moderated hundreds of Open Markets, keeping the peace.
It was very much like citizens paying tax to a government that provided public services.
Sophia had traveled here at top speed, moving without pause after she and Micheal split up. Her movement speed was greatly enhanced by the new Ability she picked up, letting her cross a huge distance in a short period of time.
Its name in the Shop was 'Wind Sweeper'. It was rather expensive in the First Layer, at 86,000 Points. However, this Ability resolved Sophia's biggest worry and was one she felt drawn to.
The Wind Sweeper Ability vastly enhanced her mobility, allowing her to manipulate the wind to some degree, creating and gliding upon air currents.
According to Micheal, it was one of the best mobility Abilities one could get on the First Layer and could be removed later. She could achieve actual flight by using it, though the drain on her stamina was significant if she flew without gliding for long distances.
With this Ability, if an enemy was threatening her, she could simply fly away.
She had already tested it and found it was possible to fly more than 500 meters in the air before her soul became stressed. She could then shoot off in any direction, gliding for thousands and thousands of meters.
The view from such a height was incredible. She could see thousands upon thousands of skyscrapers spreading out around her, a gargantuan metropolis filled with both people and horrifying monsters.
The speed at which she flew was not slow. She soared through the air like a speeding car, moving at roughly 80 miles per hour (130 KPH). She'd ended up purchasing a pair of goggles to deal with the rushing wind, though she felt if she got enough practice using the Wind Sweeper Ability, she would be able to push the wind out from hitting her eyes.
Her Mandorian Deflector Bracelet deflected most long-range attacks like regular bullets. Very few people would have anything that could break through that protection, so with her newfound ability to soar through the skies, she was effectively able to escape from anyone that attacked her now, while also greatly boosting her agility.
"I've been searching for 20 minutes already… how many forum posts are there…" She rubbed her eyes, staring down at the webpage in exasperation. The section she was looking at was for English posts, though it was possible to translate any post into any language with near perfect accuracy thanks to the Shop's miraculous functions. This section was actually a subset of the main English section, with an even smaller audience, yet there were still tens of thousands of posts on it.
…25 minutes later…
"Super Ultra Warrior Respect Thread! Yes! Finally!" Sophia's eyes were bloodshot as she stared at a post she'd finally managed to find, almost jumping up and down in joy. She had been looking under a specific section of a giant online forum, thereby blocking out most responses, and even then, it still took her roughly 45 minutes to find his post.
There was no search function that she could find on the public version, forcing her to look manually. The sheer number of people that existed in the Main Cluster, using forums like this, was daunting. Thankfully, Shin was a newcomer, and his post was part of the newer ones, making it much easier to find.
She quickly tapped on it, looking it over.
"Hello, my loyal fans~
"This is Master Shin-obi dropping in~
"As a God-Tier warrior, I will humbly share with you all my great advice!"
Sophia stopped reading the post out loud, staring at it in consternation.
"Huh?" When she had first heard that Micheal had an ally already, she had imagined someone as cool and stoic as him. The silly title of his post must've been a disguise, in her opinion, to help wade off anyone with bad intentions.
She continued to read, her forehead crinkling,
"If you are cracking an egg, use a knife and just chop it~
"If you are chopping meat, have you tried using chopsticks? They don't chop well, but chopped meat is gross anyway~
"If you are planning on going to the beach, bring sunscreen~ Tanning causes skin cancer~ Don't be a Dumbo~"
Sophia stopped again, staring down at her tanned arms.
She then glared at the phone in mild annoyance,
"Anyway, that is all the advice I, the Supreme, Masterful, Elite, Draconic, Godly Warrior have to share today~
"If you're curious for more, check out the central skyscraper 321, the alpha code starting with the first and third letter of my best friend~
"Byyyyeeeeee."
Sophia glared at the phone ag
ain for good measure before she glanced at a few of the replies,
"What kind of advice is this?! Have you ever cracked an egg in your life?!"
"No~cough, I'm lactose and tolerant. My wench made my food for me till we parted, alas."
"It's lactose INtolerant, not AND. Wait, Eggs don't even have dairy in them… And you can't cough on an online forum..."
"I only take replies asking for my autograph, next comment please~"
"Oi hold on! What was that about women!?"
"Mm? I didn't say anything. Next comment please~"
Sophia felt an urge to both cringe and knock her mysterious ally on the head, then and there, her opinion of Shin dropping to rock bottom. She tapped on the reply button, prepared to leave a scathing reply of her own before she noticed that the thread had over 6,000 comments already, most of them annoyed.
Almost all of Shin's replies were wisecracks and jokes, ones that infuriated most of the people replying.
She kneaded her forehead, feeling a headache coming on.
"Micheal… who on Earth have you sent me after…"
After a few moments, she went back over his comment, reading it again. In particular, she noticed the past portion of his comment, and left a reply of her own.
'Check out central skyscraper 321, alpha code starting with the first and third letter of my best friend…' Her eyes flashed,
'So that's MC321, I assume.' She tapped away from this part of the forum, clicking out of it. She then pulled up one of the pictures of the many maps Micheal had provided her with, something they'd obtained from that re-supply station.
She looked over one map in particular, one that listed the territory of the Godfather Organization, labeling each skyscraper with a different value. It was a huge project that must've taken quite a bit of effort to map out, though, considering all the weird or strange Abilities that existed, it might've been easier than it looked.
It only took her a few minutes until she found the section for 'MC' skyscrapers, and shortly after that, the skyscraper listed as 'MC321.'