112 En route to EXO-04

A month ago. Around the time Aiden first saw the ice crystal-skull.

The Space-dock, outside the atmosphere of EXO-04.

The hatch of the ship that carried Lyla and others through the wormhole opened. There were three people in proper military uniforms waiting for them on the other side.

"Welcome, Miss Amberdrop. It's a pleasure to meet all of you." The man with two stars on his shoulders came forward and shook his hand with Lyla, "I am general Ajar. I will be your guide."

"Thank you, General Ajar. To think, a two-star general has personally come to receive us. It's an honor."

The general shook his head and said, "At the age of 16, what you have done is something that any human can only dream of. I have also received the news that the mission was a great success. Thank you all for your efforts."

Lyla wasn't sure if it was because of the mission or her family name. Either way, she didn't care, "This is Elijah, our vice-captain. Sara, our second officer, and healer. And he is Asher."

The general shook his hand diligently with all of them. "Please come in. We'll be going down to the ground shortly."

He led them to a meeting room. Leaving behind the other two soldiers outside, the general also took a seat. "Let me brief you about the situation."

A couple of maps appeared on the big screen of the wall. Someone had marked most of the map with dots. Green, blue and red.

"We don't know where they came from, we discovered their existence about half a year ago. All the red dots are the posts we lost to the monsters."

"What are those two big red ones?" Asher asked.

"The small ones are the outposts or the research posts, and the big ones are the strongholds."

"Why do they need to put outposts outside the strongholds? Can't they just research inside the stronghold?" Elijah wasn't too pleased to see the large numbers of small red spots spread on the map.

"The mana concentration is highest in those areas So the researchers conduct research at those places. They could conduct those hazardous experiments without fear of a problem. Also, we can use them as military outposts."

"Hazardous experiments?" Elijah frowned, "could it be that they resulted from some failed experiments?"

Ajar shook his head with a slight smile, "They perform many weapon testings at those places. So in case of accidents, it won't affect others."

Yet they weren't too pleased with his reasoning, so he added, "the monsters had abandoned a few posts at which they had built bases. Researchers say it could also be because of mana."

The image on the screen changed again. Ajar said, "This is the place that we have recovered from them. As you can see, their advances in the path of civilization are not very commendable."

"The advancement of our society differs greatly from theirs. From what we have seen, it won't be incorrect to call them 'Primitive'. Nevertheless, these primitive beasts are very powerful."

Now the screen showed pictures of dwarves, two different types of trolls, wolves, thin blue-skinned pointy-nosed humanoid monster, and horned monsters with a stone pillar on their shoulders.

"Weakest of them are D grade, and the strongest recorded one is S graded. But all of them are elemental beasts."

"What type of element?"

"Ice."

"Ice?" Elijah frowned, "Is that some sort of joke? Since when ice became an element?"

Ajer had expected the reaction, "The scientists are studying the body of these beasts. We've been able to capture some of them alive. Soon we'll get the results."

A silence enveloped the atmosphere. Ajer looked at the long faces and said, "From the dock, we will take you to the military stronghold no. 1. After three days of seasoning training, we will assign a team of specially trained soldiers to you."

"What are you expecting us to do?" Lyla was sure that the federation didn't bring them here to play mascot.

"The federation had assembled special teams to take back all the outposts we had lost. The soldiers who had taken part in the mission to Earth led or assisted all the teams."

"All?" Asher inquired. It was the question all they wanted to know. Lyla asked directly, "Is there someone named Aiden?"

Ajar thought for a moment before realizing it, "Aiden? Your teammate?" After getting a confirmation nod, Ajar shook his head, "His name was on the first list. But he couldn't find him."

"We've lost contact with him. During that attack, we lost more than a thousand soldiers." Thinking they might get disheartened after losing a teammate, he was quick to add, "But from the last record, we have confirmed that they've actually escaped the monster encirclement."

Looking at their expression, Ajar chose his next words carefully, "because of communication difficulties we couldn't get in touch with him. Even if we continue our searches, there might be a chance that he is dead."

"He is alive." Elijah sneered, "That son of a bitch is more tenacious than a cockroach."

"We are also hoping that he could be alive, but their team was ill-prepared, and his odds of survival are slim. On top of that, it is very hard to find a few people on the entire planet."

Ajar chose the most gentle words possible, yet Lyla shook her head, "He is alive."

Ajar had expected that she would add something else, but she didn't. And he, too, had decided not to linger on the matter. He said, "In the meantime, a team of hundred mages will reach the planet within two weeks."

"And the main reinforcement will arrive within three months. We will release you and others from duty as soon as the reinforcement will reach the planet."

[Please put on your seatbelts. We will enter the atmosphere within two minutes]

The ship sped up a little, as they did as the system had suggested. In the meantime, Ajar removed the cover, exposing the giant floor to the roof type window on both sides.

"There are too many satellites out there."

"They are not ordinary satellites, they are like power stations. They are constantly injecting mana into the atmosphere, producing a controlled atmosphere for the research." Ajar said confidently, but a frightened scream greeted him.

"What is that?" Ajar, hearing Sara's scream, turned in the direction to find that it was just a long stretch of grey cloud.

'What is so frightening about it?' Ajar could help to wonder. But looking at others, he couldn't help but check outside the window. "What is wrong with the cloud?"

"So-called communication problems emerged right after that cloud had appeared, right?" Lyla asked, frowning.

As Ajar nodded, Sara asked, "Did any kind of giant monster appear along with it? Like a giant skeleton?"

"Giant? How large are we talking about?" Ajar changed the image on the screen as it zoomed in on a stone pillar carrying ice -troll. "we measure them to be in meters."

"How about thousands of feet?"

"Huh?" Ajar looked at them in confusion, "How could there be such a huge thing?"

However, none of them answered this query.

****************

"Luke, when are you leaving?" A young man, younger than Luke, sat at the head of the table.

Besides them, there were three more people seated at the table. Even if the food was served in front of them, none of them would dare to eat.

"On tomorrow evening, my lord," Luke spoke with respect.

"Good, have a feast. Don't hold back, eat anything you want." The young man with a pale white face raised his cup and toasted.

And they began to eat, all except Luke. He paused a moment before saying, "My lord, is it okay for me to go there?"

"Why?" The gentle smile never left the young man's extra red lips.

"Aiden knows this face. Won't he…" seeing that the young man was shaking his head, Luke stopped.

"If you really think Aiden didn't realize that it wasn't my original face, you are gravely mistaken. To be precise, he never believed in my face at all. And you are going there to find him, so wouldn't it be better if he recognizes you?"

"That…"

"Don't worry about the little things. Most important thing is to find him." He placed a slice of rare steak in his mouth, cherished the taste, and said, "Charak has successfully created the first human beast hybrid."

It wasn't just Luke. The others stared at him, too. "It is nowhere near perfect enough Aiden had said. But it proves that what he had told us is real. It would be best to locate him as soon as possible. The time is running out."

"But my lord, they could never be as strong as us. Do you need to use such primitive ways���"

"Luke. One doesn't need hundreds of generals. What they need is one good general and hundreds of soldiers that follow."

"I understand" Luke didn't dare to argue anymore.

"Most importantly, the young boy of the Amberdrop family will lead the team. And that Savage guy is also sending his grandchild."

"Others will have a hard time under them." Putting the last piece of meat in his mouth, he took a sip of blood-red wine, "You are the only one I can trust in this situation."

"My lord, I will do my best."

"Sit down. Why are you standing? Eat first." The young man smiled and added, "I know. But you should be careful."

"Careful?" Luke didn't understand from whom he should be careful? The boy from Amberdrop family or the Savage family's grandchild?

"You should be careful from Aiden. He is more dangerous than you can think of."

"Please forgive me, my lord. I don't understand how a human child who had lost his ability to use mana could be a danger to me."

The young man smiled and shook his head, "you will understand when you will see him."