CLANG... CLANG...

Massive crates were moved by robotic machines and mechanized lifts, assisted by the guards as they were loaded into the massive trucks.

The trucks were lined up orderly in the loading sector, once again showing the scale of operation that was being done here compared to Parasite’s modest Zmer gang operation.

Some trucks were already fully loaded, their engines idling with a low, powerful rumble. Others were still in the process, crates sliding into place via the mechanized lifts.

Leon detected the presence of multiple F Rank Mechanists supervising the process and if there was any jam, they were on ground to fix the problem immediately with either Construct or Deconstruct.

This was truly a mega enterprise, at least on the scale of a Wastes Community.

And then there were the other cargo units that were being loaded by the guards and lifts... people.

Tied in chains, groups of them were being moved in controlled lines, monitored and processed like inventory.

It was an eerie sight to look at, at least for sane people as each one of them were tagged and logged into the system after loading.

Watching it all happen, armed with his side-arm as a regular security guard, Leon felt something cold settle in his chest but he didn’t react.

’Killing everyone here doesn’t matter...’ he convinced himself in his head. ’There are countless other facilities like this that are secretly sponsored by Joe, just like Parasite’s Zmer gang was’.

’Destroying this one won’t kill the problem from the root’.

’Besides, destroying them one by one is not the efficient option,’ his onyx black eyes gleamed. ’The only way to stop this is to go for the head’.

Alongside his allies, Leon maintained maximum composure, acting his part perfectly as a hired security guard.

They all disguised as F Rank Ascended for this phase of the mission.

"Oi!" A voice suddenly cut through the noise like a knife.

Leon looked over and saw a middle-aged man wave from beside one of the largest trucks on the platform.

Lean, dark-skinned, and with augmented arms that were built for heavy-lifting, strength and control, this Geneform looked like a lean Gorilla.

A neural visor helmet rested over his head, covering his eyes with data streams flickering across its surface as he stared at Kade.

Kade stared back at the lean driver who looked like he was made for battle rather than behind the wheels of a truck. "You’re full?" He asked.

The driver nodded, then he quickly sized up the guards that were behind Kade. "Are these the new guards?"

"Yeah," Kade replied, then he grinned. "You always choose first, so choose".

The driver snorted. "Hope they’re better than the last batch, I lost two trucks last week".

He turned, slapping the side of his truck. "This beauty’s carrying premium product," he said loudly for anyone listening. "Drugs up front, live cargo in the back. All high value, which means everyone and their mother will want a piece".

At that moment, Lt. Colonel Umar Farouq finally broke his silence.

"A piece is a piece". He said calmly.

Kade looked at him weirdly, confused by the random comment, while the driver looked at him with a slightly intense but unnoticeable gleam in his eyes hidden behind the visor helmet.

Standing closest to Umar in a circle were his teammates, the driver paid attention to the 5 of them for the briefest of moments.

He yawned, then he nonchalantly swept his gaze across the guards and pointed. "You, you, you, you, you... and you. Follow me".

He pointed 8 guards for his truck, and 6 of them were Leon, Lt. Colonel Umar, Tyla, Daren, Talia, and Brick. He gave them each a number.

This driver was also Umar’s secret inside man.

He and Umar had never met before, but the code to identity each other was- ’A piece is a piece’.

The Lt. Colonel’s connections were rooted deep. Like he told Leon some time ago, in this world, it’s not enough to just be strong. To catch criminals, you don’t have to just know them or to be powerful, you have to be among them.

After that, everything happened fast.

They completed the last protocols for transport on the truck, and then the driver pointed at his guards again.

"Call me pilot Raze".

"You lot are perimeter. No one gets close unless I say so," he said sternly. "If we get intercepted by anything, don’t hesitate".

"Shoot first, ask questions never. Understood?"

"Yes, pilot Raze!"

The middle-aged Geneform finally let all his guards in, sending them to different strategic locations around the truck, and then he switched on the truck and was the first to drive out through the secret tunnel.

VROOM...!

...

A few minutes later, the massive truck stopped in the wasteland in the middle of nowhere beside 5 metallic trucks that were seemingly abandoned.

The driver who called himself pilot Raze instructed numbers 2 to 7 to go out and load the 5 crates into the truck, that they were additional cargo that was logged for his truck to pick up on the road.

The 2 other guards were confused since they didn’t get such information but since it was the driver who gave the instructions, and since he was a veteran, no one complained or asked questions.

The 5 crates were loaded inside the truck, making it cramped but still manageable, and finally they continued their journey.

After about 45 minutes on the road, the massive truck finally caught sight of the distant walls of a massive city.

Due to the fact that it was night, Leon couldn’t see it clearly yet from this distance. Besides, they didn’t try to approach the main road leading to the city.

Instead, they took a different route that led to an underground tunnel.

With how tight and stringent security surveillance in Omnicore territory was, the presence of such a smuggling underground tunnel means the Federation knew about it and were deliberately turning a blind eye to it for some reason.

This was because of the influence of Daddy Puff’s sponsor in the Federation, Joe Curry, and he was exactly Umar’s plan to bypass Omnicore security.

What goes around comes around.

It was the same smuggling route that Joe Curry used for his trafficking activities that his potential assassins used to infiltrate into Omnicore territory.

Hidden in plain sight with high-grade camouflage technology, the tunnel mouth yawned open like the throat of a Neon Beast.

From outside, nothing could be seen.

But inside it was a reinforced access gate with layered steel, biometric locks, and surveillance clusters.

Once the truck passed its mouth, it descended, slow, careful and heavy along a sloped ramp that stretched far longer than it should have.

Built of raw concrete and reinforced with ribbed steel braces, the walls tightened in at first before unfolding into a main artery that was built to accommodate convoys and not just single vehicles.

Lights snapped on in sequence as they advanced, lighting their path.

Inside the truck, Leon stood at his position near the rear access point of the truck, watching the world speed past him while listening.

For some reason, now that he was close to his destination, his heart was no longer beating fast. Instead, it was still, cold, and tranquil like a lake.

Leon’s lips curled in a faint smile. ’It’s funny how the mind works’.

As the massive truck drove forward, it was quiet at first except for the deep, slightly muffled but still thunderous hum of engine echoing through the tunnel.

Then he heard it... the clamor of a big city at night.

In the surface, by now, Leon guessed that they would have passed multiple checkpoints by now, each one being a chance of their cover being blown.

But now, with Joe Curry’s smuggling route, they were in.

Infiltration successful.

For the second time in months since awakening in this world, Leon was in Omnicore territory and this time, he was not locked inside a construction company.

This time, he was in the open.

For the first time outside a Trial, he was in Omnicore territory. The real Omnicore territory and not one conjured in a Trial.

And for the first time, he entered the Megacity of the Omnicore Federation that was in the Central Belt’s western rim, Neo Solace.

...

[Special Appreciation to Yamekekudastop, MackMillin, ImperialJadeDragon, Darks4int, and MachaMarvelous for the Golden Tickets!]