Chapter 19: Retreat

Clark activated another function of the device on his hand again. Subsequently, a penetrating wave of light burst out. If there were any secret rooms or safes there, they definitely would not escape the inspection. 

David watched through the eyes of the Shadow Servant as the device on Clark's hand turned and aimed at the corner where the Shadow Servant had hidden his body. His heart tensed up.

However, he soon discovered that his worry was unnecessary. Clark turned away from the direction of the Shadow Servant without pausing. It seemed that the device did not detect the Shadow Servant at all, let alone David who had been wrapped by the Shadow Servant. 

After checking once, Clark was disappointed, because there was nothing in sight. 

However, the numerous years of being a mercenary allowed him to detect something different about the underground gym. He could tell that there was someone in the underground gym not too long ago. 

Although he could not see David now, the smell of sweat in the underground gym was still lingering after David practiced the eighteen movements of Bodywork for an entire day. With his rich experience, Clark could judge the duration of how long a smell had been present in the sealed environment.

That was the reason he tried to find a secret room or some other passageway in the underground gym because the person that had been here just now couldn't have suddenly disappeared. He felt that there must have been something he didn't know.

In fact, if David used his eyes to observe Clark, he would definitely catch Clark's attention. Then, he would have been discovered by the latter long ago, even if he tried to hide. 

It was the instinct he had as an armorer who had been through hundreds of battles. His instincts would be even more apparent when he was in quiet environments. 

However, the Shadow Servant was a special presence, and it was watching Clark's every move without attracting his attention.

Due to the sudden appearance of Amos who had been monitoring David, the plan of the Sky Wolf Mercenary Corps was ruined. After receiving orders from Captain Feroman, Clark immediately put away his device. 

When he was leaving the underground gym, he indignantly took one last glance at the empty room and scanned it once more before striding away quickly. 

David heaved a sigh of relief as he realized through the Shadow Servant's perception that the danger was rapidly moving away from him. 

At the most dangerous time, he discovered another ability of the Shadow Servant. However, he did not want to use that method to discover the abilities of the Shadow Servant, for his heart could not take it. 

He did not move his body and instead made the Shadow Servant fly out. First, he looked at the situation in the underground gym and checked whether someone was there. 

Outside the underground gym, there was a passage that was illuminated by the light above. The passage was less than five meters long. Afterward, the passage changed from a metal one to a transparent passage that seemed to be built from glass. The position of the glass passage was suspended in the air.

There was a vegetable cultivation area below the passage that was up to five floors. It covered an area of about a thousand square meters.

It could be seen at a glance, whether or not there were people. After discovering that there was no one there, the Shadow Servant flew upwards and passed through the ground to the surface of the earth.

David saw four mercenaries who were leaving, through the Shadow Servant's eyes, only to see that one of them was carrying a mutilated corpse that belonged to a female mercenary. 

As soon as the Shadow Servant appeared, an illusory shadow flew out of the female mercenary's corpse and plunged into the Shadow Servant's body.

Next, another illusory shadow flew into the Shadow Servant's body. It came from the broken corpse of Amos who had collapsed and fallen to the ground.

Although David had been hiding in the underground gym previously and was clueless about what had just happened, he could now see that Amos, who was monitoring him just now, had somehow gotten into a brawl with the enemy who had trespassed on his home.

Right now, he could only be happy regarding the casualties of both parties. His main concern was the two illusory figures absorbed by the Shadow Servant.

That was the first time he had clearly seen the Shadow Servant absorbing souls from corpses. Although there were more casualties at the bookstore previously, the Shadow Servant had already finished the absorption process by the time David walked out.

After the mercenaries evacuated and the police patrol hovercars approached, David knew he was finally safe.

At this very moment, he saw a notebook-like item on the floor, which he remembered very clearly to be the one that the female mercenary held in her hand.

David didn't know who those people were, but he was certain that they were not in cahoots with the same people who were trying to kill him. Otherwise, they wouldn't have fought Amos who was keeping tabs on him.

Perhaps, he could find the reason behind from that item, which was the only one left behind by those people. 

Although the Shadow Servant could not pick up such a heavy object, it could hide it easily. 

Just like when it was hiding David's body, the Shadow Servant flew to the item and wrapped it up. 

"Quickly, notify them to increase reinforcements!" a policeman immediately exclaimed when he saw the corpses on the ground and the machine gun on top of the car that was still firing rapidly, as well as the battle traces that were similar to an explosion.

The policeman himself could see that the battle traces were the result of a struggle involving an armorer, which was beyond the purview of his authority. 

A minute later, a much larger police transport aircraft appeared, and four officers who were clad in exoskeleton armors jumped down while the rest began to cordon off the scene.

Through the Shadow Servant's vision, David could clearly see the strongest armorer in his memory. An armorer clad in an exoskeleton armor would be in his best state. 

From the appearance of the first piece of armor, the Star Federation had gone through ten thousand years of reformations before settling on the final form of the exoskeleton armor that was used today. 

Everything changed due to the appearance of the bugs—from the bulky armor prototype, the robots that were completely manipulated by an intelligence system, to the exoskeleton armors that were controlled by the armorers. 

The original designs had all lost their functions before the bugs. The only equipment that dominated the battlefield was the exoskeleton armor, which utilized the strength of the armorer, amplifying it further.

The speed and fighting style of the bugs dictated the armorer's fighting style. One can only fight with the bugs and move around them skilfully with enough speed and weapons that could break through their shells and kill them.

The weapons used by the armorers were all of Level 1 quality and above. If materials of such quality were made into bullets used for firearms, they could cause damage to the bugs. At the same time, the value of the bullets that were used would wipe out any organization.

Due to the fact that the value of the Level 1 bullets was far beyond that of killing the bugs, which was partly because of the stubborn life of the said creatures, the wounds caused by kinetic bullets were too minor to be lethal.

A large number of bullets of Level 1 quality or above would only be used in some battles where the value of the bullets could be ignored.

Of course, there were also exceptions such as when there were special existences like the Sniper Armorer among the armorers. The essence of a Sniper Armorer was to maximize the use of high-quality bullets while reducing consumption by launching accurate critical attacks.

The four armorers, which appeared now, consisted of a Defensive Armorer who held onto a shield, an Assault Armorer who held onto two swords, and two Offensive Armorers who held heavy axes. It was a standard battle squad. 

As soon as Officer Bob's patrol hovercar stopped two meters above the ground, he jumped right off it and raced to David's residence.

"David, it's great that you're alright!" he exclaimed as soon as he arrived at the front door and happened to see David, who had just come out of the basement. He felt much more relaxed.

"Officer Bob, thank you and your colleagues for arriving in time!" David naturally would not reveal his means to become invisible and simply thanked the other.

"David, don't worry, we'll find the culprit!" Officer Bob assured David.

In fact, even if he didn't say anything, the matter would be taken seriously by the government. 

Although David was only a senior high school student, he was the son of a statesman, Hans. Their attempt to kill the child of a statesman titleholder had touched the government's bottom line.

Having a statesman title meant that he was a hero who had returned from Battlestar and deserved great credit. 

Almost every veteran soldier who returned from Battlestar would go all out to strike against those who offended the statesman.

In fact, in every sector of the Star Federation, the veteran soldiers who had returned from Battlestar were the backbones of it. The same was true for Planet Rocky. 

David's predecessor had always underestimated the influence of the statesmen, and even David, who had access to his predecessor's memories, was unaware of that fact either.

"Officer Bob, can you not inform my father?" David asked softly, not wanting to disturb his father Hans from getting some rest. 

"David, there's no way Deputy Director Hans wouldn't know about this. It has involved too many things!" Officer Bob exclaimed with a wry smile as he shook his head.