Yamato Empire — Supreme Command Center

Inside the Yamato Empire’s top command hub, the highest-ranking leaders all wore the same expression—brows knotted tight, faces grim.

They were desperate.

The red-skinned monsters were simply beyond what they could handle right now. Even if they threw every last hidden card the Yamato Empire had onto the table, they still wouldn’t be able to do anything to those things.

There were only a few thousand of them, but they killed fast. In a single day, they’d slaughtered more than a hundred thousand people—and that was only because they kept stopping to drink blood and gorge on flesh. If they were just killing for speed, the number would’ve been several times higher.

At this rate, it wouldn’t be long before everyone left in the Yamato Empire was wiped out.

"We can’t just sit here and wait to die," the current supreme commander, Ryuji Takahashi, snapped. "We have to stop them!"

"One of two options," someone said heavily. "Either we lure them somewhere else... or we abandon the Yamato Empire."

"Leaving is impossible," Takahashi said instantly. "But luring them away? Now that’s worth doing."

A sharp glint flashed through his eyes.

"But it won’t be easy," another commander warned. "We’re surrounded by ocean. To draw them away, we’d have to take them out to sea. The sea monsters haven’t come ashore yet, but we all know the mutant beasts in the water are far more terrifying than anything on land. And there’s no guarantee these things will even take the bait."

Takahashi’s mouth curled. "Where there’s a will, there’s a way."

He leaned forward, voice crisp and final. "Send every large warship we have to that region. Announce we’re going in for a rescue. Get everyone there to flee onto the ships."

"I guarantee the red-skinned monsters will chase."

"And once they’re onboard..." His eyes went cold. "We set course straight for the Atlas Federation."

A stunned voice cut in. "B-but... wouldn’t that mean the civilians on those ships are guaranteed to die?"

"Necessary sacrifices," Takahashi said without blinking. "They’ll be honored for serving the Yamato Empire. The Emperor will watch over them from above."

"Hai!"

Someone else spoke up carefully. "Takahashi-san... why target the Atlas Federation instead of the closer Goryeo Republic?"

Takahashi snorted. "That tiny little country can’t hold these monsters back. The Atlas Federation is different—they’ll do everything they can to deal with them. That buys us time to grow stronger."

His smile sharpened.

"And if the Atlas Federation gets wiped out by them..." He spread his hands slightly. "Isn’t that even better?"

"Hahaha—Takahashi-san is wise!"

Back in the Atlas Federation — Atlas City

Ethan and Garrick spent another three-plus hours riding back to Atlas City.

Round trip, it had been over six hours of pure travel time. Add the time they’d stayed in Fallen Star City, and it was pushing seven hours total.

Atlas City was more than 1,200 miles from Redwood County. If they didn’t have Peregrine Falcon Flint, finishing a round trip in a single day would’ve been completely impossible.

By the time they arrived, the sky was already dark. They had no choice but to decide they’d head out tomorrow for the compound Grace had mentioned.

All day, Ethan and Garrick had been running themselves into the ground on the road.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Fallen Star Squad had been living it up.

Chris with Emily. Henry with Vivian. Even Sean and the others had somehow gotten cozy with Grace’s group.

Pairs everywhere.

Ethan looked at them like he’d walked into the wrong room.

So that’s what this is. When I’m around, I cramp your style? The second I leave, everybody’s suddenly got game.

Still... he didn’t hate it.

They fought every day with their nerves pulled tight as wire. Letting off steam once in a while wasn’t a bad thing—as long as nobody "relaxed" so hard they ended up with a baby. Now wasn’t the time for that.

Honestly, whether it was Fallen Star City, Clearford City, or even Atlas City’s compound, there were plenty of women who’d been more than willing to throw themselves at them.

But those were too obviously transactional. Everyone could smell the agenda from a mile away, and it killed the mood.

Vivian and Grace’s group were different. They weren’t so bluntly calculating—and their strength was legit. At the very least, they wouldn’t become a liability. If anything, they might be useful down the line.

Back then, Ethan had told Henry to pursue Vivian because her ability was valuable. At this point, it was more "nice to have" than "must have."

But if they’d actually hit it off for real?

That was still a good thing. Might as well let people be happy.

And Fallen Star City could use it, too. Maybe it was time to build a second-tier force.

Fallen Star Squad would be the first echelon.

The second echelon could be Vivian and the others.

And if they had compounds of their own? Even better. They could be merged straight into Fallen Star City—perfect timing to push Fallen Star City into a true large compound.

As for whether they agreed...

That part wasn’t really up to them.

Seeing there was nothing for him to do, Ethan headed straight for where General Maxwell Kane was.

Miles had dumped a ridiculous amount of crystal cores on him. They needed to be synthesized—and while he was at it, he wanted to see if he could get his hands on Atlas City Compound’s crystal-core synthesis tech.

When Ethan dropped in out of nowhere, Maxwell—who’d been buried in work—immediately paused what he was doing.

"Ethan," Maxwell asked, "what brings you here all of a sudden?"

"General Kane, I’ve got some crystal cores I need synthesized," Ethan said.

"That’s it?" Maxwell chuckled. "Then just go to the back and find Director Caldwell. He won’t dare charge you a processing fee."

"Yeah, and there’s one more thing." Ethan looked at him with open anticipation. "Is the crystal-core synthesis technique complicated? Can you share it with me?"

"This..." Maxwell hesitated, thinking it over.

"Sharing it with you isn’t the problem," he said slowly. "The problem is you might not be able to operate it."

Then he made a decision. "Tell you what. We’ve got a few large synthesis machines right now. If you really want it, take one with you. Just synthesize using the equipment directly."

"Like that?" Ethan’s face brightened. "That’d be perfect!"

Maxwell shook his head, half amused, half exasperated. "With your personality, if I didn’t give it to you, you’d probably just march in and steal it anyway."

"Uh... not necessarily," Ethan said, scratching his cheek. "I can be pretty reasonable sometimes."

The awkwardness in his voice sold him out.

Maxwell clearly knew him too well—because Ethan really had been thinking exactly that. If Maxwell refused, Ethan was prepared to just take it.

"Alright." Maxwell waved a hand. "I’ll talk to the others later, but honestly, if it’s you, they won’t dare say no."

He raised a finger. "But I need to be clear about something. Right now, the machine can only synthesize up to Tier 9 crystal cores. We’re still researching how to synthesize higher-tier cores. We’ve got some leads, but it’s not stable yet."

"So if you want to synthesize higher-tier crystal cores later, you’ll have to bring the machine back here so we can upgrade it."

"Deal." Ethan nodded fast. The fact it could be upgraded made it basically perfect.

"Oh, and General Kane—hook me up with two more satellite phones."

"For that, go ask Director Mercer," Maxwell said. "As many as you want. No problem."

Ethan laughed. "Man, having connections really makes life easy. Alright—then I’ll get out of your hair."

He turned and left Maxwell’s office.

Watching him go, Maxwell shook his head again, unable to help himself.

"That’s not ’having connections,’" he muttered. "That’s you beating your way into a reputation no one dares ignore."