It took two more hours to neutralize all the threats inside, as well as take note of everything inside.

Kael had also warned them about a possible self-destruct button—possibly a hidden one. Kael didn’t know whether there was one, but the warning did remind the personnel on site to look out for it.

There were typical places where buttons were placed, and it naturally wasn’t exposed and accessible to everyone. What if someone accidentally pressed it, right?

With the presence of so many soldiers, they doubted someone would be able to activate it (if there was one). They had also deactivated the signals around so there shouldn’t be remote activation (assuming the bomb existed), but who’d have thought there really was something?

It was in the main administration room, which had fortunately been one of the first places targeted and neutralized, so they managed to prevent a tragedy.

It was hidden underneath the leader’s desk, and his toe print was registered to open the hidden compartment there. The leader, when taken down, was shot in the arms and legs to keep him from moving, so he took a while to remove his shoes and his socks.

Thanks to Kael’s warnings, the soldiers lifted up anything that could block their vision, and they were greeted by the awkward pose of someone without one shoe and one sock trying to reach empty air.

Anyway, with this hidden compartment found, they discovered another hidden safe underneath the floor.

By the end of the mission, they discovered more rooms and warehouses, and the total valuation of the goods exceeded two billion danas.

As people calmed down, the leaders approached Kael in gratitude.

The leader for this mission was a man named Amadeus Smith. He was one of the youngest Colonels in the history of the country, receiving the title in his late 30s. Now, he had just turned 40 years old, but he retained that masculine charm as a middle-aged man.

"Thanks to your warning, we lost this cancerous organization," Amadeus said as he looked at Kael, who honestly amazed him. He was considered a prodigy himself, and at his age, he didn’t think he’d see a young man in his early 20s as his peer.

When he found out about the lad’s experiences, he felt even more admiring of the young man who broke through the mires and entered the sight of the higher-ups within a few months—and that was when he was in a wheelchair.

Now, he was still using a cane, but the progress could only be said to be miraculous.

"If you hadn’t told us, this trash would’ve hurt so many more people."

Kael’s expression did not change, as if things were just how they were. He turned to the Colonel. "Please remember our deal."

"Of course," the man smiled.

As for the deal?

First, 10% of the total earnings were recovered in this mission. And second...

Power in the base is currently being built near the Capital.

...

Other than Kael, Michael was also granted permission to come all the way here at the mission’s Operation Center.

He was still in a daze. He was not quite sure how he got here.

One moment, he was having a meeting with Kael, then he received some sort of notification, and suddenly they were on a military helicopter to the middle of nowhere.

He knew that Kael had established contact with the government in relation to his patents as well as the so-called apocalypse.

About a week ago, Kael had mentioned—with a deadpan expression on his face— that he had awakened the power of precognition, telling him that the world was about to end.

Michael 100% thought he was joking.

At the time, he wondered: Did he not work hard enough? What did he do to deserve this?

That was, until Kael decided to teleport right in front of him!

In the end, he had no choice but to believe it.

It was better safe than sorry, anyway. Besides, he had a family. He would never risk them now that he was faced with the possibility that the world would experience earth-shattering change. Literally.

Michael had a wife, who was a housewife, and they did not have children yet. They were newlyweds and wanted to enjoy the life of couples first, but fortunately, they really didn’t have a baby yet. If what Kael said was true, then they were screwed.

He already made a move and sold everything. He decided he wanted to buy a villa next to Kael. In fact, he was currently in the process of purchasing it.

Kael bought two villas; the new one was opened up through his recent connections. Michael, fortunately, was quite wealthy. It was a combination of bonuses and great investments.

It also helped that his family was well-off and he was the only child, of course.

Michael hoped to buy another one next to Kael’s, and they’d fill them up with a stockpile of essentials after this. Since there’d be an injection of funds, it was no problem to spend it like throwing water.

They would get a lot of money this time. It was another reason why he got dragged into this, though no one understood at the time.

Kael knew this would happen and decided to get rewards, and he, the lawyer, had to supervise it.

Michael was at the side as the two discussed the rewards as well as the next step forward. This also included the ongoing base.

Kael had contacted the government about the upcoming apocalypse. He was, of course, ridiculed by many. He also did not dare teleport, either, in case it would put him in danger instead.

Instead—and Michael did not know how he did this—he performed some magic tricks instead. For example, he pretended to have a precognitive vision but in reality, he was using his true ability to fake some situations.

In the end, this colonel was one of the few people who were willing to listen to Kael’s bizarre words and take action, so Michael particularly liked this soldier.

The final topic was their automatic citizenship in the base. The time to prepare a base was too short, so they could only create a base big enough for a few hundred thousand people to live comfortably. At best, it would probably not exceed one million.

They could develop it during the apocalypse, but it would be slow progress.

Kael was now discussing the residency of not only the three of them but also Naia’s relatives.

After this, Kael stepped out to make a call.

Considering how soft his face got, it was obvious who he was calling.

...

"Are you alright?" Kael asked again, and the person on the other side chuckled.

"Of course I am," she said. Then, after a pause. "What about you?"

Kael’s eyes flickered with warmth, his tense expression visibly softening up.

He called her to pass on some good news, but she detected other emotions instead.

The appearance of the laboratory had admittedly shaken him up. He did not even notice it.

Back in the apocalypse, there was a group of survivors who found their base and eventually took over, killing a lot of people, including their parents. This group was called the Radical Faction who even did experiments on humans and children.

He was seeing some of the initial research concepts in this place.

He wondered: Did destroying this place help get rid of that faction? Probably not; after all, it was very big—big enough to survive when 99.9% of the world had perished.

In the past life, it had messed up his life, his powers, and even the base itself. If he had managed to cripple it even for a little bit, then that move was especially worthwhile—for both of them.

"They’re really part of the same group?" Naia asked after he briefed her about his findings and suppositions. She, too, hated those people to the core.

Had they not messed up the base— creating internal wars, each side damaging each other, and so on—the base would’ve lasted longer. They also lost a lot of technology and data during this battle.

At the very least, the base’s death would’ve been less pathetic. They would’ve been able to cause a lot more damage to those buggers and got their little revenge.

He shook his head. "That faction was too big. It wouldn’t have survived until the end if they weren’t. It’s more like a number of groups working together," he said. He reckoned that at some point, they would get consolidated.

However, with the data gathered here, there should be more of those evil groups falling soon.

He remembered that a lot of people and innocents actually died because of gangs and evil people. How many people did this mission indirectly saved? Probably a lot.

"You’re really great to have detected them," she said.

"They wanted to hurt you."

A pause.

"Did you find them for me?" she couldn’t help but ask.

He didn’t answer for a few seconds. "The enemy surmised you might have something to do with Colden." Meaning: He really did.

He heard a little giggle on the other side. Kael found his face heating up, all the way to his ears.

"Thank you," she said. "Kael is the best."