Chapter 121: "Company's Decision" - The Impact of Online Public Opinion, Resolute and Determined!

Inside the cell block.

"Hahaha! You're all doomed! The Sovereign will drain every drop of blood from your bodies!"

The dusk store manager, now transformed into a ghoul, struggled and screamed, his demeanor bordering on madness.

However, two ARS (Advanced Response Squad) members holstered their weapons on their backs and quickly approached his position.

"What are you doing? Get your filthy hands off me, take mmm... mmph!!"

The store manager's mouth was soon sealed shut with tape by the two ARS members, forcibly silencing him.

Next, the two ARS members worked in perfect sync, continuing to wrap the store manager completely in tape before stuffing him into a sealed bag provided by the Biotech Division. They then extracted the air from the bag, completing the "packaging" process.

The entire procedure was swift and smooth, taking less than thirty seconds.

"Mr. Vorst, save me, no! Don't! Mmph!"

The receptionist, who had also lost all four limbs, was naturally not treated any differently by the ARS.

Not far away, outside another cell.

Leon was observing a "vampire" huddled in the corner, seemingly contemplating something.

"Are you okay, Leon?"

At this moment, Mike, equipped with a makeshift mechanical exoskeleton and wearing an optical camouflage cloak, quickly walked over to him.

"Other than almost getting drained by two lunatics, I'm fine." Leon smiled at Mike before turning back to the cell and suggesting, "The actual scale of the target location far exceeds our pre-action estimates. I think we should request more authority from the higher-ups. This way, we'll have enough time and space to conduct a thorough investigation, and we'll need the technical support of the Biotech Division."

"I figured as much." Mike patted Leon on the shoulder, "Do you think I spent ten years as an investigator for nothing? After seeing the underground scene at the Dusk Bar, I already submitted a request to the higher-ups. I imagine the company is negotiating with the Syracuse city government as we speak, so there's no need to worry about anything. By the way, is there some internal conflict among them? What exactly are those things locked up in here?"

Mike finished with a puzzled expression, looking towards the cell.

The glasses Leon wore were disposable, concealed recording devices. While they were convenient to carry and disguise, they couldn't record sound, requiring predetermined hand signals for one-way communication. Therefore, Mike had no idea what the receptionist had discussed with Leon.

"Vampires? Humans? I can't figure it out either. It's better to wait for the higher-ups to decide." Leon shook his head slightly.

Although he deeply respected the "vampires" and "werewolves" locked in the cells, especially their determination to refuse consuming human flesh or blood, even at the cost of torturing themselves into skeletal forms for hundreds of years, he couldn't easily draw a conclusion.

As he had just mentioned, it was best to let the company make the decision.

Meanwhile, moving away from the two who were conversing and up to the upper levels;

The surprise attack battle that had erupted here was already over. Dozens of ARS members were scattered around, performing guard duties and basic cleanup tasks.

The marble tiles were covered with bloodstains, flesh, and chunks of meat. The largest werewolves had been reduced to literal "scraps," scattered everywhere.

The ten or so female vampires who had been frolicking in the blood pool were no exception. If they hadn't had half of their bodies melted by plasma, their heads were blown apart by various calibers of explosive and armor-piercing rounds, leaving them in gruesome death states.

However, even without their heads, the female vampires' bodies continued to twitch and writhe.

It seemed that between the vampire and werewolf clans, vampires were indeed much stronger.

After all, werewolves were directly blown apart by concentrated ARS fire, while vampires with their extraordinary regenerative abilities only truly died when their limits were exceeded.

On the other hand, the severely wounded humans who were forced to serve the vampires or werewolves were gathered by the ARS into a relatively comfortable lounge area.

"Please remain calm, cooperate with our operations, and avoid any further harm."

"We are armed personnel affiliated with Atlas and humans as well, so please rest assured."

A few ARS members spoke calmly, reassuring these people while tying them up with plastic restraints to temporarily limit their movement.

This approach might seem "inhumane," but it was actually for their protection.

Even though the situation on-site was under control, if any hidden werewolves or vampires suddenly attacked the ARS, those who were not restrained might panic and try to flee.

In such a scenario, stray bullets, ricochets, and plasma splashes from the ensuing crossfire could be fatal to those already weak.

Moving further up from the bath area, one would reach the main hall of the Dusk Bar;

Although there were signs of battle in the hall, all the bloodstains and corpses had been cleaned up, and the tightly closed wooden doors prevented the crowd outside from peering in.

As for outside,

"Oh my God, what on earth happened?"

"No idea, but it looks exciting, so I came to check it out."

The place was already packed with people.

Even though ARS had set up holographic security lines around the Dusk Bar and were standing guard with weapons ready outside, they couldn't stop thousands of people from gathering to watch.

The crowd was so dense that the surrounding area was completely blocked.

Among the crowd, at least 90% were tourists in shorts, t-shirts, and flip-flops.

Some were taking selfies and videos with their phones, others were holding drinks and snacks, eating and drinking while watching, and still others were making up wild stories, claiming that Italy was about to undergo a massive upheaval or that this might be a military coup.

After all, Syracuse is a city focused on tourism, and midnight is arguably the most lively time.

Moreover, with Leon and Mike deciding to cancel the "quick assault and retreat" plan and instead entrusting the ARS to stay behind and control the scene, it naturally attracted a lot of tourists to gather.

Driven by the "gossip instinct," the once quiet street where the Dusk Bar was located suddenly became lively.

And the local police seemed to have received some sort of notice, not only refraining from confronting the ARS but also trying to disperse the crowd and manage traffic.

This made the ARS the center of attention and discussion.

Among the onlookers, the percentage of military enthusiasts was relatively low, and most couldn't identify the equipment and weapons' actual purposes.

However, as a visually-oriented species, humans tend to analyze and judge based on appearance, and they found that the ARS looked far more advanced than any mainstream military.

One enthusiast in camouflage shorts and a t-shirt was particularly vocal, explaining to those around him:

"Wow! Full-body mechanical exoskeletons and sealed combat suits?! These are way more advanced than the engineering exoskeletons on the market! The firearms are modular, though I wonder what types of ammunition they use."

Hearing this, others remained puzzled, asking, "So what? Is it really that exciting?"

"Dude!" The enthusiast patted the person next to him on the shoulder, "With the current military technology of mainstream countries, producing such a set of individual equipment would cost at least four to five million, and that's not even guaranteed. Does that help you understand?"

"Whoa? Seriously?"

"Four to five million??"

Seeing the astonished faces around him, the enthusiast smugly raised his head and continued, "If it's a country or company that's mastered this kind of technology... well, like Atlas, they might be able to do it for hundreds of thousands."

"If it's Atlas, that sounds possible."

"But why is Atlas' private force in Italy?"

After he said this, almost no one questioned the enthusiast's guess. They were more confused about why Atlas' military force was in Syracuse, Italy.

Ever since Atlas unveiled technologies like maglev, nuclear fusion, and especially the space elevator currently under construction, its image as a "company stronger than a nation" had become deeply ingrained in people's minds.

Online discussions often revolved around topics like "Should Atlas become a nation?" or "Just based on Atlas' visible comprehensive strength, it could definitely rank in the world's top three. I'm talking about national rankings," and "If all else fails, let's make Atlas a member of the Security Council. After all, they built our country's infrastructure."

Not only that, over 60% of the platforms and apps on the internet were created and led by Atlas.

Examples include "Taowo.com," "E-Sell," "Instant Chat," and "Colossus Short Videos."

Moreover, many of Atlas' departments have official accounts on these platforms.

Especially "Atlas Armed Forces," which has over forty million followers across all platforms, with total likes exceeding 3.6 billion.

Atlas Armed Forces often posts videos of AECS (Emergency Contingency Squad/Main Force) or ARS infantry companies carrying out peacekeeping operations in war-torn areas of the Prime Universe.

Of course, the ARS and AECS units that appear in public are always masked, their identities undisclosed. The equipment used is also relatively "outdated," so there's no concern about leaking sensitive information.

One of the most popular videos released by the PR department, titled "Let's Take a Look at a Day in the Life of an Atlas Employee," still holds the world record for most likes, with approximately 51.7 million.

So when the enthusiast mentioned that the ARS units might belong to Atlas, the people nearby felt a sense of relief, instinctively believing that Atlas' military technology must be "the best."

"..."

At this moment, an ARS member on guard

 slightly turned his head, seemingly focusing his gaze in the enthusiast's direction.

On the screen inside his helmet, detailed information and status of the surrounding area were displayed, filtering out irrelevant noise or conversations.

In fact, the ARS member could hear every word the enthusiast said, but he didn't pay much attention.

After all, explaining Atlas' operations within Italy was a job for the PR and news departments, not his concern. The reason he looked over was that the screen had flagged a suspicious individual.

That "person" stood not far behind the enthusiast, wearing a baseball cap and a mask, which immediately heightened the ARS member's vigilance.

Moreover, since arriving, that "person" had been staring intently at the tightly closed doors of the Dusk Bar, without even blinking.

Under normal circumstances, a person blinks 15 to 20 times per minute, but this guy had maintained three minutes without blinking?

This was clearly abnormal behavior!

The ARS member immediately shared this discovery with his comrades in concealed combat gear, preparing to apprehend the target at the first opportunity.

After about ten minutes.

The suspect, possibly realizing there was no chance to infiltrate the Dusk Bar, finally decided to turn and leave, disappearing into the crowd.

However, on the ARS members' helmet screens, the suspect's silhouette was highlighted in bright red, making it impossible to lose track.

As the suspect moved away from the crowd.

Entering a rarely frequented, dim alleyway...

Suddenly!

Bang! Bang!

Several 40mm grenades were fired, followed by secondary explosions in mid-air, releasing multiple alloy fiber "capture nets" that attacked the suspect from all angles.

???

The suspect seemed to have already noticed being followed, so as soon as the grenades were fired, they tried to dodge with speed and strength far beyond that of a human.

But they clearly didn't expect the ARS to be so "unsportsmanlike," catching them off guard with a direct attack. More importantly, the capture nets covered every direction, leaving no room to escape!

"Thud!!"

In a moment of hesitation, the suspect was tightly bound by the capture nets, the powerful impact pinning them to the ground.

The baseball cap also fell off, revealing a cascade of silver-white hair that flowed like a waterfall.

"Ah! Wait! Hold on! Can we talk this out?! I won't resist! Oh, and don't hit my face!"

Then, the suspect's cries echoed through the alley.

???

This time, it was the ARS members who were slowly surrounding the suspect who were confused, questioning themselves in their hidden state.

They had initially thought the target would be extremely difficult to capture and had mentally prepared to do whatever it took to complete the mission. But the target had resolutely...

Surrendered?

Half an hour later.

Universe-06 (Pacific Rim).

In the mid-levels of the branch headquarters building, located in the heart of the Iron City, within a private office;

"..."

Samuel Young frowned slightly as he quickly browsed the action report uploaded by Ada.

Before Leon and Mike stormed the Dusk Bar, Samuel had vaguely suspected that vampires and werewolves were not adversaries. Otherwise, these two groups would have been more likely to be exposed to the public.

Only recruiting wealthy and easily manipulated individuals was their way of ensuring income and internal stability.

However, what truly surprised Samuel was the Roman Glory Legion.

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