Victory

Streams of blood rushed over Adam, covering his entire body. A few drops fell on his face, next to his cold eyes, while the corners of his mouth slowly lifted upward, forming an enthusiastic smile.

Living String, shrouded in wounds, missing most of its limbs, and with a wide hole in its chest, finally fell to the ground. Its green blood, soaked into the sand, while a strong wind tried to cover the monster, wanting to quickly turn it into another club in the desert.

"Agh... Fuck... That was hard." Adam muttered tiredly, falling to his knees.

The space around him shattered into shards, and he found himself in a spacious room.

The door opened, and Silvana walked toward him. She was striding in high heels with a short formal skirt, holding a clipboard in her hands.

"Damn... Looks like I was lucky to deal with a Green Threat Level Monster last time... Living String turned out to be much stronger than I thought. It's only a White Threat Level monster, I still have a lot to learn, right?" Adam muttered with a bitter smile.

There was no emotion on Silvana's face, no elation or disappointment, just her usual seriousness.

"Well, there is some truth in what you say, but only partially. Let's start with the dry numbers." Silvana said calmly, clicking on the tablet.

"In 8 hours and 35 minutes, you died 74 times, 51 times you managed to wound the monster only slightly, another 22 times you almost killed the monster, and only 1 time you won. I'll be honest, considering it's a White Threat Level Monster that's a mediocre result."

Adam's face darkened.

"However, I took the nerve to deceive you." Silvana said sharply before bowing low, "It wasn't Living String, but a monster much stronger. I will accept whatever punishment you choose."

"What...?" Adam's eyes went wide in a daze, "Wait, then who have I been fighting all this time?"

Without raising her head, Silvana handed him the clipboard.

[Four-Legged Living String (Green Threat Level, Red Book.)]

Perhaps the threat level was only one level higher, so technically Four-Legged Living String shouldn't have been much more difficult than the Anomalous Electric Eel.

However, the White Book and the Red Book existed for a reason. Only rare and therefore extremely dangerous monsters could be included in the Red Book.

Among the millions of monsters, there was a huge number of monsters that were on the same threat level, so it was logical that some monster was much stronger than another even though they were on the same threat level. Also, a lot of things were affected by the terrain and the enemy, so it was situational.

"Oh, I see... Hah, that was my first Red Book monster, albeit one created by virtual reality." Adam grinned, reading the information on his already defeated opponent.

Then, he looked over at Silvana, whose head was still bowed low. 

"Hey, Silvana, I don't think you should take this so personally."

"No. I insist that you choose to punish me. Trust is the foundation of the relationship between Operator and Phantom, I should have warned you, but I followed my selfishness and did what I thought was best." Silvana said quickly, with all the responsibility she could muster. 

"Hahahahahahahahaha!"

Adam's laughter spread throughout the room, confusing Silvana. This wasn't the reaction she had expected at all.

"Fine, like I said I respect your decision, so I will punish you. I didn't have any time yesterday, so I didn't clean my room, get on it." Adam waved his hand.

Silvana raised an eyebrow.

"Wasn't yesterday the first day in your new home?"

Adam shrugged with a slight smile on his face.

"Is that it? Practice was great, but I definitely need to rest." Adam stretched, yawning widely.

Silvana nodded.

"Yes. By the way, how many Harvesters do you need? I'm talking about tomorrow's mission. If you haven't forgotten, it starts at 10 AM."

"Harvesters...?" Adam scratched the back of his head in puzzlement. He had thought he would be going it alone and hadn't thought about it at all.

"Sure. Someone should gather materials from the monsters, as well as you'll be given transportation. Unfortunately, the best I can negotiate for is a heavy truck with supplies." Silvana explained.

"I see... Well, in that case, pick someone up, but I don't want it to be too crowded. After all, in case of a threat, I'll have to defend them, and that could be problematic."

"As you wish." Silvana nodded. 

...

Just as Adam had said, Silvana arrived at his house in the evening with a full sanitary kit.

Gary and Leona were surprised, but Adam simply told them not to worry about it.

"Hah, my son has such a hottie in his charge." Leona smirked.

"Leona... I don't think we should talk about our son's partner like that." Gary scratched the back of his head.

Leona raised an eyebrow, "Come on. Adam's a big boy now. To have a hottie like Silvana at his disposal would be a great accomplishment!"

Adam, who was drinking tea almost choked.

"Mom... Are you sure this is something you should be telling your son?" Adam said with a strange face.

Leona just smirked slyly.

"Mommy! Look what I did!" Trici exclaimed happily, walking down the stairs to the first floor. In her hands, she held a toy castle assembled from a construction kit.

Slap.

Trici slipped and fell, hitting her forehead right on the ground. However, she didn't scream or start crying, but as soon as she saw her ruined castle tears were ready to burst from her eyes.

'Oh, this is bad...' Adam inwardly muttered about to get up and help his sister.

However, before he could do anything a tall silhouette with a calm gaze towered over Trici.

Silvana looked at Trici. She didn't bother to help her up, instead, she began to put the broken pieces of the castle back together, making Trici's eyes glow.

'Hah, is this a punishment or a reward? Well, not that I'm complaining.' Adam inwardly shrugged, not hiding his smile.

...

The next day, one of the gates to Fort Norton - the departure pad for the mission.

Adam was standing next to a large truck. Silvana was in her office, keeping in contact with Adam from afar. 

Step. Step. Another Step.

Two figures approached Adam, catching his attention.

"Hey! My name is Felix!" The young man said with an excited smile, poking himself in the chest. He had black hair and green eyes.

"Good afternoon. We look forward to working with you. My name is Verna." The girl with blonde hair said respectfully, bowing slightly.

Adam raised an eyebrow carefully examining them. He had seen the Harvesters from Fire Fox Squad before, but back then the situation was extreme, and he didn't have much time.

Like Felix, Verna had a case in her hand that held all the necessary tools - hammers, knives, saws, pliers, and more.

On their belts, they had a first aid kit, as well as several grenades and a pistol with prepared mags hanging on the ties on their pants, as well as a walkie-talkie and a taser. On their backs were massive backpacks with supplies and extra gear in case of danger.

"Hah, I see you're on full alert." Adam smirked.

"Sure!" Felix exclaimed.

"Alright then, let's get started." Adam uttered before getting into the passenger seat. Felix got into the driver's seat with Verna in the back.

Adam didn't know how to drive, but even if he had that skill he wouldn't be allowed to be a driver in a group like this where he was the only Phantom.

In case of danger, the Phantom had to react quickly, so there shouldn't be a situation where the Phantom would have to leave the driver's seat. Making Harvester a driver was a popular practice in small teams.

'Are you ready?' Silvana asked. Her voice transmitted into Adam's earbud.

"Yeah, let's go!"