ALPHA

After the first rocket passed, two more rockets appeared heading my way. Sweat instantly filled my forehead; I needed to move quickly before those rockets hit the bus. I'd regret it for the rest of my life if a rocket hit the bus. I swiftly moved the bus to the left and descended, causing the two rockets to fly past the bus, exploding anything that happened to be behind us. Explosions and the sound of battle erupted in the distance. It seemed that BtP and security forces were counter-attacking to protect us after those three rockets were launched from the bank building. My heart raced; rockets shouldn't be launched in the middle of the city; this isn't a battlefield. Yet it was happening, and I could see several helicopter wreckage scattered on the highways and numerous people severely injured on the streets. I lowered the bus's altitude so that its wheels grazed the roofs of tall vehicles.

"We'll land there," Kumar said, pointing to a location where I could see several injured people gathered under a simple tent with a red cross on a white background. I also noticed many BtP members around, recognizing almost half of them as patrons of Cafe Eve. Regardless, I needed to flee somewhere until the bus was full before someone recognized me.

"Dr. Kumar, I'll monitor this area. Just honk the horn when the bus is full, and I'll come back," I replied quickly, landing the bus and then propelling myself to fly on top of one of the tallest buildings. I knew Kumar wanted to say something, and it'd be risky for me to listen. I might get stuck below, asked to help him, and risk being recognized by many. Even though I was still wearing a jacket with the BtP emblem, it didn't have the BtP logo on my left upper arm.

He's crazy.

I continued to soar upwards swiftly and landed on a rooftop. I felt relieved seeing the surrounding floor of the building empty. I decided to sit and lean against the building's parapet, which was just a meter high, stretching out my tired legs. The building's floor felt hot through my pants, warming my skin. Hiding here was the best thing I could do; I'd wait for the bus's horn and then go down to escort the bus to the hospital.

The blazing sun shone on me, making me feel thirsty. After a moment of silence, I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself. I could feel my body trembling, whether from the fear of narrowly escaping those three explosive rockets or because I had exerted too much energy. I had never flown with an object that big before; I was clearly a bit exhausted. I took another deep breath to fortify my body. I closed my eyes and told myself that all my tasks would be done once I heard the sound of the horn: glide down, lift the bus away from this place, and shoot straight to whichever hospital he desired.

Damn that doctor.

"Tap.. Tap.. Tap." My ears caught the sound of someone's footsteps approaching me, and my eyes immediately opened searching for the source of the noise. Nothing was there. The surrounding floor looked empty. Nothing was there.

"Tap ... tap ... tap," The sound was getting closer to me.

Am I dreaming?

"Sir…"

This time, it was unmistakable; I heard someone call out, a familiar female voice.

"Sir, can I help you?"

My heart was pounding hard; the voice was clearly that of a woman and very close to my ear. Wherever I looked, I couldn't see anyone. No shadow of anyone. My brain started thinking rapidly; it couldn't be that I was dreaming or going mad from exhaustion and overexerting my energy. Or perhaps I was encountering a ghost in broad daylight.

"Who are you?" I shouted, my voice quivering with a tinge of fear.

"Sorry, Sir, I am currently invisible because this place is dangerous. Enemy snipers will shoot anything in sight, Sir," the voice said reassuringly. At least that calmed me down a bit; so I wasn't encountering a demon or starting to hallucinate.

But I still encountered someone from BtP!!!

"…"

"Is there anything I can assist you with, Sir?"

I didn't know what to answer, because if I were to be honest, I would say that I came up here to hide from people like them. Besides, I also didn't expect the enemy to have snipers shooting from the top of the bank building. It seems I was fortunate enough not to get shot while flying to this place.

"There is a bus that will be heading to the hospital, if anyone needs medical attention, they should go downstairs immediately," I replied, even though I knew this reason was weak. Shouldn't everyone be using radios now, and shouldn't the health department be the ones to announce, not me who is unclear about the situation?

But it's better than having no reason at all. Honestly, I just wanted to get out of here as soon as possible.

My intuition tells me there's more than one person here, and if they all can become invisible, they are most likely members of the hunting squad or BtP's special rapid response team, Ghost Team. They are quite famous online for their abilities to obliterate enemy bases and rescue hostages without ever being detected by the enemy. They consist of individuals who can become invisible and are fully armed, making them the most dangerous and one of the elite teams of BtP. The enemy only knows of their presence when they are being shot at or paralyzed.

The woman's voice whispered for a moment, probably speaking through a small communication device. "Sir, is it a bus, not a helicopter?" the voice gently asked.

"A flying bus," I replied instantly. Whispers could be heard again; I hope they don't have any wounded and will let me escape as soon as possible.

"Sir," the voice sounded again, "The team leader wants to meet with you, please wait a moment."

All my enthusiasm vanished instantly; I didn't want to talk to anyone. Suddenly, a shadowy figure appeared before me, which certainly made my heart race. Beautiful flowing hair, a cute nose, and rosy lips. I felt the voice was familiar, but I didn't expect to see her here.

Nadia.

"I am Nadia, Sir, a copier from the auxiliary unit temporarily assigned to help the Ghost Team," Nadia introduced herself. I just nodded, suppressing the excitement in my heart, with my head looking more and more downward while pulling my cap deeper, not wanting to reply or reciprocate the introduction. I can't risk getting recognized by making up a name or something. And just as I suspected, those here are the Ghost Team, the elite squad I referred to, although I believe this squad won't be much use in high-level missions since heavy adversaries usually have equipment to detect their body heat and will put up fierce resistance. Someone of Michelle's type who can disguise herself would be much more valuable.

In less than a minute, from a distance of three meters, three BtP members dressed in black and fully armed began to emerge, running in a crouched position towards me. Their menacing attire and weapons intimidated me. Whether I liked it or not, I felt myself being pushed back by their aura.

"I am Lee, the leader of Ghost Team," the one in the front introduced himself, appearing to be in his 40s. He had a serious face with two scratch marks on his cheek. I grimaced and my mind quickly sought an escape, for I needed to introduce myself or I would be suspect.

"My name is Alpha, Sir," I replied. This caused Lee and some of his followers to pause, staring at me, seemingly suspicious. "From Olympus," I added, trying to recall if the code I was using was correct. As I daringly used a code I knew from working on Michelle's reports, I hoped everything would turn out alright.

Lee paused, recalling that the "Olympus" code was for international BtP and if they found BtP members using the codes "Alpha, Beta, Delta, Sierra," and "Olympus," it means they were members of the international BtP on undercover assignments, usually from the Intelligence Division. They would also not carry any documents or identification as BtP members since they were spies. Their existence had to be kept secret and only team leaders knew this code.

"Nice to meet you, Alpha," Lee said, looking at his watch which showed a little past two in the afternoon, "Have you had your lunch?" I began to sweat, realizing the code talk continued; when Lee asked if I had lunch, it meant whether I had gathered adequate information about all these events and met the team leaders in the meeting room discussing this robbery, or if he needed to introduce me to those involved in this mission.

Something I definitely did not want to do. "Not yet, Sir. I also don't feel like having lunch now as it might ruin my dinner, but I wouldn't mind being treated to a drink as long as my dinner date doesn't find out."

Lee smiled, extending his hand to me, "I'd gladly treat you to a drink and ensure your date doesn't find out."

I shook his hand and replied, "I'd be happy to, Sir." I felt relieved. I had just implied that I was working on another assignment unrelated to the current one. But I'd be glad to assist with his personal work if needed, as long as I'm not documented in his reports or known to anyone, including the BtP squad, so as not to affect my other job, which, in reality, didn't exist.

Nadia and some Ghost Team members remained silent, not understanding our conversation. I felt grateful for having worked on some of Michelle's assignments related to the Intelligence Division. I'll get her a gift later.

"Alpha, we received a report that you lifted a bus here, what happened?" Lee asked.

I grimaced, "I happened to be at the place where the BtP ambulance helicopter fell, so I saved them," I recounted the incident, obviously without revealing my true identity. "I was even captured by street cameras; can you do something about that?"

"Willy will help erase your traces from those cameras later," Lee reassured.

"Thank you, I would greatly appreciate it," I'd be very grateful if he genuinely did that. "Can you take us to the top floor of that bank building?" Lee gestured towards the terrorist-held building.

I looked at the place which wasn't too far away. It would certainly be easy to take them there. "No problem, Sir."

"We're stuck here because the fliers below can't lift more than two people, and we don't want to make ourselves shooting targets. How many people can you transport in one go?" Lee asked, looking at me. I hesitated. I wasn't sure about the maximum number of people I could carry.

If that bus could hold 40 people, maybe I could carry that many, "Around 40 people, Sir," I replied. Lee's eyes widened slightly, and I could sense Nadia and the members of the Ghost team behind Lee suddenly gazing at me more intently.

"Do you need any equipment to transport us?"

I narrowed my eyes, thinking that directly transporting them would be simpler and lighter without any other equipment, "No, Sir."

Some people there immediately sighed, and one whispered "Dominant" while another responded with "Tyrant". Lee paused for a moment, "How long will it take you to fly there?" I had estimated the building was roughly 100 meters away. If I did it alone, it would probably take around 3-4 seconds.

"Less than five seconds."

"With 20 people?"

I paused for a moment, thinking that when I fly carrying anything, it won't add weight as long as I encompass it with my energy.

"Still less than five seconds, Sir."

The superhumans around me fell silent. I didn't understand why. Lee smiled, but I could clearly sense the burning passion within him.

"We'll depart in ten minutes. I'll call the other members from the neighboring buildings to gather here. In the meantime, Nadia will accompany you if you need anything."