Chapter 33: News

From the very beginning, the sparring session had transformed into a battle—a battle where both sides were evenly matched, at least on the surface. Garen’s mastery of the war hammer in his youth far surpassed David’s, yet in this instructional exercise he could not employ any lethal moves, while David’s responses were near flawless. Unless he resorted to overwhelming force, defeating David in a short time would be exceedingly difficult.

After three minutes of combat, the admiration in Garen’s eyes grew ever deeper. Yet, he suddenly remembered the original purpose of the sparring; a sly smile curved his lips, and the war hammer in his hand struck David’s with double its previous speed.

David felt a tingling numbness in his hand. Though he tried his best to hold onto his war hammer, the blow contained a continuous force, rendering him powerless to resist. The war hammer in his grasp flew out of his hand.

Garen casually tossed his own war hammer, striking the one that had flown from David’s grasp. The two hammers collided in mid-air, then landed silently on the ground, pressed together.

Now it was David’s turn to be astonished. What level of control was required to wield the war hammer with such effortless precision?

“Excellent, David. Your ability to learn is remarkable. If you persist in your training, you’ll become an outstanding armored soldier!” Garen praised him, though he’d already restrained his commendation.

This was not merely a strong learning ability—it was extraordinary, nearly abnormal.

“Uncle Garen, I will work hard!” David nodded earnestly.

He would not grow complacent. Only he knew that, although his mental strength had reached 3.0 and his learning speed was impressive, relying on these alone would never have achieved his current level.

His true progress was entirely due to the fusion of corresponding knowledge orbs.

If Garen had chosen to teach him something else, such as the spear, he would have been utterly lost.

Garen was deeply gratified by David’s attitude. Talent was rare, but David’s humility and composure were even rarer, qualities that would allow him to go further in life.

——————————

In a basement, four mercenaries from the Sirius Mercenary Group sat on the floor. They had been confined here for several days. Though they wished to leave, the recent defenses in Peran City made it too risky to even step outside.

Groups of Interceptor drones patrolled the sky, indicating that Rock Star had increased its aerial lockdown over Peran City.

“Shouldn’t we contact a smuggler? We could spend more credits and get out of here,” Ed suggested.

“The best course now is to avoid any outside contact. Who knows if those smugglers would sell us out?” Fischer disagreed.

“But we can’t stay like this forever. Who knows when the lockdown will end?” Ed replied helplessly.

“Krok, what do you think?” Commander Froman turned to Krok, who had been silent.

“Commander, something feels off. We should leave immediately,” Krok said in a low voice.

His words made the others tense. Krok rarely spoke, but he possessed an innate, powerful sense for danger. This ability had saved them from peril more than once.

No one took Krok’s warnings lightly, including Commander Froman.

“Get ready. Pack your gear—we’re moving now,” Froman ordered with a wave.

As they gathered their things, Froman’s identity bracelet suddenly received a message.

Curious, he wondered who could be contacting him, since few knew his identity bracelet’s address.

He opened it and, upon seeing the message, his expression changed dramatically.

“Commander, what’s wrong?” Ed asked, noticing Froman’s face.

“Our Sirius warship in orbit and all the mercenaries aboard are gone!” Froman said through clenched teeth.

“What?” Ed and Fischer shot up, exclaiming in shock.

“Commander, where did the message come from?” Krok, more composed, asked.

“No idea. It’s anonymous, but it gave the exact position of the Sirius warship, so it’s likely accurate!” Froman replied bitterly.

The Sirius Mercenary Group was his life’s work, his future hope.

He had painstakingly accumulated wealth to enhance his prospects.

For this hope, he would do anything, leading his group through many disreputable deeds, gray and black market operations—all driven by his unwillingness to give up.

Now, with the Sirius Mercenary Group destroyed, he had lost his hope for advancement; his heart was desolate.

“What do we do?” Ed asked Froman.

The Sirius Mercenary Group was gone, but their main force remained. Escaping Peran City and Rock Star was now the highest priority.

“The message says we’ve been discovered. The authorities will likely act at noon, deploying at least eight armored soldiers and numerous aerial drones, plus city defenses. We’ll have no way out!” Froman continued, laying out an even worse situation.

“No way out? Then we fight!” Fischer’s eyes flashed with a savage light.

“Yes, we fight. We’re inside the city; with preparation, it won’t be easy to capture us!” Ed agreed.

“Alright, suit up. We’ll storm the residential area we visited last time, capture David as a hostage, and use him to bargain for our escape!” Froman decided to gamble for a chance at survival.

Krok hesitated. He didn’t want to trouble David again, but he knew it was their only path, so after struggling for a moment, he set his resolve.

Though this safehouse appeared no different from ordinary residences, it had a secret passage below, connecting to the underground pipeline network.

The four mercenaries donned their exoskeleton armor and entered the underground pipeline network via the secret passage. Of course, every junction in the network was equipped with sensors, so they couldn’t travel far.

But they didn’t need to. Their goal was simply to reach a cargo hover truck parked a hundred meters from the safehouse.

This was one of their prepared escape routes. As mercenaries, they always set up contingency plans wherever they went.

The cover beneath the cargo hover truck was opened, connecting directly to an exit from the underground pipeline network. The four mercenaries entered the truck through this exit.

Their exoskeleton armor was the two-meter-tall Black Titan model, with jet-black shells reinforced by secondary Zerg chitin. The critical chest and head areas used materials equivalent to those for tier-one weapons, ensuring user safety.

The core of the exoskeleton was a Krypton crystal-powered enhancement converter, capable of boosting the wearer’s strength tenfold.

In other words, someone like Commander Froman, a disruptive armored soldier, naturally possessed two thousand kilograms of strength. With the exoskeleton, he could exert twenty thousand kilograms.

Such power, combined with tier-one weaponry, could wreak havoc in a city.

Of course, Peran City had its own defense systems, plus drones in the sky and armored soldiers guarding the city. Under the surveillance of SkyNet, few armored soldiers dared to cause destruction within the city.

Were it not for desperation, Commander Froman would never take such a step. Even if he escaped, he would live as a wanted man, always wary of betrayal.

His hatred for David also contributed to his decision.

If not for David, how would the Sirius Mercenary Group have been destroyed?

With the cargo hover truck as cover, the four mercenaries could launch a surprise attack on David, capture him before SkyNet detected them, and use him as leverage to escape.

They believed the safety of a “national soldier’s” child would be deemed more important than that of four mercenaries—at least on the surface.

The cargo hover truck proceeded towards Lanca Street, where David resided, attracting no attention.

Those monitoring the safehouse never expected the four mercenaries under surveillance to take sudden action.

Their arrangements would be thoroughly leaked to the mercenaries, as an unseen hand manipulated events from the shadows.