Chapter 268

◇◆◇

“....Damn you.....”

A strand of gray hair dangled from his brow.

“I kneel..?..me?....to an alien!!!”

Penrose sprang up, his stomach churning with rage.

A dark-haired woman who is heavenly and, somehow, adorable at the same time.

Penrose stares around the burning streets and chews his lower lip in humiliation, attempting to erase the image of the woman in his head.

Then a voice called out to him from behind.

“Lieutenant General! Are you safe?”

“–Rutherford.... what happened to Yasmin?”

Penrose asked as he turned back to him.

“We don’t know where she is, but we can affirm that Director Benedict is still alive. Captain Mclaren is taking him into custody.... and, according to his testimony......”

“Say it.”

Rutherford corrected himself after a slight pause because to Penrose’s unusual attitude.

“—— Secretary General Yasmin is now presumed dead. Commander Dominic is missing and also presumed dead. One decapitated body was found in the warehouse. It is not human, but whether or not it is alien is still under investigation. The corpse of Major Sheridan has been identified. Supposedly that butcher must be.....”

Before he can finish, Penrose looks up to the sky and takes a deep breath. All of those that Rutherford had mentioned were valuable assets to the 88 force.

“According to Captain Agatha, the aliens that had invaded the city have been withdrawn. As for the alien specimens that we were able to partially retrieve will be sent to FORCOM, since all the laboratories in 88 have been destroyed.”

“—-Rutherford. You will take over the Secretary General’s position temporarily. No paperwork is needed. During the war, I make all the decisions.”

“........are you sure?”

“Good. I’ll assign Claudia to you. She’ll handle the details. You’ll be in charge of the Alpha and Beta teams, and quickly rebuild 88’s defenses.”

“What about you, Lieutenant General?”

“Bring Delta and Fox. Organize a Counterattack team. I’ll lead the group myself.”

“The general will personally....”

Rutherford looks surprised.

“Also request an emergency meeting with the surrounding Forts and Stronghold.”

“What’s the objective?”

“All-out attack”

“Wha–“

Rutherford gasped.

Penrose’s face was filled with wraith when he turned around, like a visage of shura.

“.... We will lose our footing if we keep waiting....I’ll get rid of that butcher, female alien, and that skeleton. Knocking at their front door and destroying the alien city that was 89.”

Penrose violently ripped off the medal on his chest.

“Damn aliens!! I’ll drag them all to hell as a souvenir!!”

The lone ferocious tiger was ready to be let out in the wild.

◇◆◇

“—- yes.... yes.... no........”

In a deserted Valhalla, Mashu put her hands over her ears and mumbled to herself.

“Penrose has failed. They are probably going to launch a counterattack, but it is going to fail for sure..... Yes, so I advise..... as an backup...Yes.....”

As she sat on the table, her revealing Valhalla miniskirt show everything the smooth curve of her buttocks has to offer. Not her usual modest gesture.

“With the right touchstone........ Penrose won’t complain.....”

Mashu crosses her legs brazenly and continues.

“At least send an alien execution unit this time.... a tracking beacon on a woman that Logan’s working with......probably near where Echo’s helicopter crashed site!”

Then Mashu snaps out of it and walks away from the table.

With a clack of her high heels, she made her way through the place.

Then the reporter Eugene suddenly appeared at the entrance.

“—- Oh, there you are. I’ve been looking for you.”

But Mashu remained silent, smiled warmly, and placed a hand on his shoulder.

She glanced around.... and traced Eugene’s neck with her fingernail in a seducing way.

“..Wh-what is it? Don’t tell me you have a crush on me?...I don’t know about that, It’s not good for my job to have a close relationship with the people I interview.”

Eugene laughed and scratched his head.

Mashu stares into his eyes calmly, a grin remaining on her lips.

The two stare at each other.

Mashu is the first to speak.

“—-Hmmm, from the looks of it, you seem to be all right. The Valhalla will be closed for the foreseeable future. What are your plans now, Mr. Eugene?”

“Ah, well..... it’s too dangerous to stay here.... and there are not enough of us alive, so I think it’s best to go back to the central and write a book about what has happened here so far.”

“A book?”

Mashu asked, narrowing her eyes.

“..Does Mashu appear in that book?”

“Mashu?”

Eugene paused, then shifted his eyes impatiently and waved his hands dismissively.

“No no!, Mashu has no role in it! It is about the internal corruption of Fort 88 and the girl who is at the center of it all while tries her best to survive. About an inspector on a noble mission trying to bring justice to those around him. And a story of brave soldiers with their fierce struggle against terrifying aliens.”

Crossing her arms, she nodded a few times.

“.... I’m planning to make the main character a Match Girl... Obviously, all of the names will be changed. It’s a documentary-style fiction novel. I’m thinking of using it as a way to raise some awareness of human rights issues on the front lines.”

“—-“

Her eyes roamed over Eugene, as if she were judging him.

Eugene gulps audibly.

Seeing this, Mashu’s expression relaxed.

“–That sounds interesting. When you finish writing it, you’ll definitely show it to me. promise?”

“Of course.”

Mashu then patted Eugene on the shoulder and headed for the exit.

“–Mr. Eugene, your mouth could lead you to disaster. So be careful.....”

Waving goodbye, Mashu disappeared into the early morning light and into the streets littered with debris.

“....”

After he no longer heard her footsteps. Eugene exhaled the breath he had been holding.

“——Puhaaa.......s-scary..”

Eugene had actually been eavesdropping on her call.

Little did he know it was a close call. It wasn’t because of his acting ability, but more like he was let off the hook because of his usual association with her.

He rubbed his bloody neck and shrugged.

“So she’s a spy too? No wonder. I always thought that she had too many connections, and she was extremely well-versed...... so, ‘Let sleeping dogs lie’ I guess.....”

He then paused and shrugged his shoulders.historical

“–But.... there’s no point if the dog is already awake!”

He patted himself on the head and sit on the chair.

“Of course, the story will involves an unknown hero, the Beast of Gevaudan. If I can make a fancy adaptation of the story and tie it in with the current incident and spread rumors on the Internet, it will be a hot topic.....”

As Eugene continues to work out his plan, he doesn’t yet realize that he is about to get himself into a whole lot of trouble.

◇◆◇

In the interrogation room, Benedict and Captain Mclaren face each other.

“—If that report is accurate, the lieutenant general will be disqualified and, more than likely, punished by a FORCOM court-martial.”

Mclaren sighed as he conveyed his thoughts.

Benedict told the whole story.

Mclaren was particularly surprised to learn that the drugs were made from the byproduct of Yasmin’s experiments – the monsters’s cremated ashes – they do it in order to gain the threefold benefit that is, disposing of the garbage, securing new test subjects, and encouraging the soldiers to battle.

“But even so. mankind needs Penrose now more than ever. We need strength right now. No one else in the world can meet that standard but him. It is true that he has taken the most dangerous gamble and has achieved good results. The weapons that are now sustaining humanity’s battle are all the result of that.”

“So you’re saying that the consequences of this 88 disaster will be ignored?”

“Pennrose will declare that the outcome of the war will be sufficient to cover it up.”

“Hah.” Mclaren sighed.

“I guess I can’t just arrest him.”

“Under martial law, not even FORCOM can interfere with him.”

“–And you’re not allowed to die, either.”

Benedict was found in a secret laboratory near an underground weapons depot.

At the time, he was about to commit suicide with a gun.

Benedict was captured at a peculiar place that was not recorded on 88’s map. Inside the tanks which resemble cloning laboratories in science fiction are specimens of creepy creatures. Mysterious equipment. Illegible characters. A variety of magic stones that only aliens can create. Mclaren had finally reached the bottom of the matter.

It was Eugene who provided the information. He had contacted Mclaren regarding a piece of information about 88’s backstage, claiming to be from a reliable source. But that source of the said information was not revealed.

Mclaren had already identified the objective of his investigation based on that information as of yesterday’s debate, he also had information about this mysterious facility. He was going to use it as the springboard into the debate to criticize the current local government regime in front of the public.

However, his plans were squashed when the Butcher appeared on the scene.

With the 88 in turmoil after the alien raid, Mclaren was busy trying to protect the civilian.

During all of this, he received a text message from Abigail on his terminal. It was regarding of Benedict’s whereabouts.

He rushed to the scene and found Benedict with a pistol in his mouth.

After that, Benedict was persuaded by Mclaren to cooperate with him.

“This old man has nothing left he can do. At the very least, let this old man carry this gun and go to the front line as a civilian soldier.”

“....No, I won’t allow you to get away like that. You will help me. First, you need to help the people in the slums with their drug addictions. Then you must turn yourself in and testify to what you’ve just told us. I know that you have an unknown technology in your head that Yasmin has told you about. You have to tell that to FORCOM. Also with UCEG–“

Mclaren shows no sign of condemnation for the old man.

It took till the next morning for the interrogation room to quiet down.