Moments after Valentine left the tent, another soldier burst inside.
"Sir!"
He stopped before Colonel Adrian and gave a salute.
"An incident has occurred at the supply depots."
Adrian frowned.
"An incident?"
The soldier stepped forward and handed him a report. Adrian took the paper. As he studied its contents, his expression hardened.
Several supply depots had been infiltrated. Food. Medicine. Weapons. A massive sum of supplies had vanished without a trace. And at the third weapons depot... Rose had been found unconscious.
Adrian narrowed his eyes.
"Was this planned by the Freedom Convoy..."
"Or was it a solo job?"
A faint smile touched his face.
"But now..."
"I’m getting interested in this guy."
He raised his head.
"How is Rose?"
The soldier answered without hesitation.
"Miss Rose is fine."
"The intruder only knocked her unconscious."
Adrian gave a measured nod.
"Seems like he’s smarter than he looks."
He folded the report and placed it on the table.
"Alright."
"You may leave."
"Yes, sir."
The soldier saluted once more before leaving the tent. Only a few minutes passed before another soldier entered.
"Sir!"
Adrian looked up.
"What is it?"
The soldier wore a grim expression.
"Our scouts have spotted members of the Rizen Group."
Adrian’s gaze sharpened.
"They’re already here?"
"Yes, sir."
Adrian nodded.
"Alright."
"You may leave."
The soldier saluted and marched out.
Silence settled over the tent. Adrian sat in quiet thought for several seconds, then reached for a piece of paper. After writing a few instructions, he rose from his seat.
"Looks like the final moment has come."
He handed the paper to his secretary.
"Go."
The secretary accepted it.
"Sir?"
"Tell Captain Bear to personally go and apologize to the Freedom Convoy."
Adrian walked toward the table.
"Take an appropriate amount of supplies as compensation."
The secretary lowered his head to read the instructions. Then Adrian continued.
"There are additional instructions written on the paper."
"Go with Bear."
"And contact the Freedom Convoy’s information broker."
The secretary frowned.
"Sir..."
"Wouldn’t it be better to discuss this with Lady Valentine?"
Adrian shook his head.
"She’s angry right now."
"Women tend to become unreasonable when they’re angry."
The secretary remained silent. Adrian tapped the table.
"That information broker, however..."
"He’ll understand the value of the deal."
"Negotiate with him."
"But make sure we don’t get completely ripped off."
The secretary nodded.
"Understood."
He turned around, preparing to leave.
"Wait."
The secretary stopped in his tracks. Adrian met his eyes.
"How is the Cloud Engine coming along?"
The secretary answered without missing a beat.
"Sir, it has been operating continuously for approximately three days."
Adrian gave a brief nod.
"Good."
"Tell the technicians to run the machine at full capacity from now on."
The secretary’s expression turned serious.
"At full capacity?"
Adrian walked toward the entrance of the tent.
"Yes."
"We’ll need them soon."
The secretary didn’t ask any more questions.
"Understood."
He saluted before leaving the tent.
Adrian stood alone. His eyes were drawn toward the distant horizon with a serious expression .
"The Rizen Group has finally arrived."
Outside the command tent, the massive machines hidden deep within the military base kept running. Its metallic engines rumbled, sending heavy vibrations through the ground. The air around it grew thick and dense.
Far above Rendell City... the sky began to darken.
Rex stood near the edge of the Freedom Convoy’s camp, shifting his weight as he waited. A few minutes passed before Valentine walked back into view. One look at her tight expression told Rex everything he needed to know; the conversation was a bust.
"Yo, Sis."
Valentine glanced at him.
"Looks like the talks didn’t go smoothly."
Valentine shook her head in silence.
"So?"
She turned to face him.
"What was this plan of yours?"
"I hope it was worth me having to go through all that."
Rex shrugged.
"I don’t know."
Valentine’s eyebrow twitched.
Rex added in a rush, "But we’ll find out soon enough."
Right on cue, the distant rumble of an engine broke the quiet. They both turned as Leo’s truck appeared on the horizon. Valentine kept her eyes fixed on the approaching vehicle before turning to Rex.
"What have you found out about him?"
Rex raised an eyebrow.
"Who?"
"Your new Chummy Buddy"
"Do you trust him?"
Rex remained silent for a moment.
"I can’t say."
He glanced toward the approaching truck.
"But based on our interactions..."
"He seems decent enough."
Valentine nodded slightly.
Rex continued.
"Moreover..."
"That guy isn’t simple."
Valentine looked at him.
Rex narrowed his eyes.
"Even his truck is strange."
"My powers can’t penetrate through it."
Valentine’s eyebrows rose in surprise.
The heavy tires crunched to a halt right in front of them. The driver’s side window rolled down, and Leo leaned out.
"Follow me."
Rex frowned.
"Where?"
Leo glanced at the empty space behind them.
"It would be better if you brought a vehicle."
"Something that can carry supplies."
Rex’s eyes widened. Comprehension dawned on his face.
"You succeeded?"
Leo didn’t answer.
"Wait here."
"I’ll be back."
Before either Leo or Valentine could get a word in, Rex vanished in a blur. Only Leo and Valentine remained in the dust he left behind. Valentine stood with her arms crossed over her chest, while Leo stayed seated behind the wheel. A heavy, awkward silence settled over the camp, but it broke a few minutes later.
Rex drove back in an old courier van. The bulky transport vehicle, once used to deliver packages before the world ended, had plenty of room in the back.
"Let’s go."
The two vehicles pulled out, leaving the outskirts of Rendell City behind as they merged onto the deserted highway. A few miles down the ruined road, Leo brought his truck to a halt on an isolated stretch of pavement. Rex parked the courier van right behind him.
Leo stepped out and moved to open his rear cargo compartment. He reached inside.
One by one, boxes started piling up on the asphalt. Large sacks of rice. Tins of canned fish and meat. Crates of medicine. The pile grew larger with every passing second. Rex’s jaw dropped, and a look of pure shock washed over Valentine’s face.
"How much did you take?"
Leo ignored the question.
Next came the arsenal. Swords, spears, heavy shields, and rifles followed, along with heavy boxes of ammunition. Rex stared in sheer disbelief. He expected Leo to bring back a decent haul, but this meant the man had raided the military depots completely on his own. And judging by the mountain forming on the road, he had cleaned them out.
Once the last box hit the pavement, Leo dusted off his hands.
"That’s it."
Rex finally snapped out of his daze.
"That’s it?"
Leo nodded.
"I could have brought more."
"But there was a complication at the last moment."
Rex shifted his gaze to the mountain of supplies, then back to Leo.
"Oh."
"This is plenty."
"I was honestly expecting half of this."
A grin appeared on his face.
"It seems you’ve outdone yourself."
Valentine stared at the haul without a word. Even she was surprised. There was enough food to feed the Freedom Convoy for quite some time.
Leo looked at the pile.
"You can keep the food."
"The cold weapons too."
He pointed at several of the rifles and ammunition.
"You can take some of those as well."
" Medicines let’s share 50-50"
Rex nodded.
"What about the rest?"
Leo’s eyes narrowed slightly.
"I’ll keep the nucleus crystals."
"The machine guns."
"And those weird cannon-like things."
Rex’s lips twitched. He opened his mouth to negotiate, but Valentine beat him to the punch.
"No problem."
She extended her hand toward Leo.
"We agree."
Leo looked at her hand for a moment. Then shook it.
"Thank you for your help." Said Valentine
"No problem."
Leo released her hand.
"This was the deal."
Valentine shook her head.
"You could have hidden these supplies."
"You could have told us you didn’t get anything."
She glanced toward the mountain of food.
"We would have had no way of knowing."
Her expression became serious.
"You didn’t have to give us this much also."
Leo remained silent.
Valentine smiled faintly.
"You really helped us out."
Leo offered a brief nod.
While they spoke, Rex crept toward the back of Leo’s truck. He craned his neck, trying his best to steal a glimpse inside the cargo compartment. Before he could spot anything, Leo hopped back into the driver’s seat.
"Okay."
"I’m leaving."
Rex looked disappointed.
The truck’s engine started. Leo closed the window.
The truck rolled away down the road. Rex stood glued to his spot, watching the tail lights fade back toward Rendell City. Valentine watched the vehicle vanish into the distance, a faint smile tugging at her lips.
"A decent fellow."
Rex spun to face her.
"Oh?"
His eyes widened.
"Don’t tell me our elder sister has finally gotten her heart stolen."
Valentine narrowed her eyes. Rex’s smile disappeared.
"What?"
Valentine pointed at the mountain of supplies.
"Why are you standing there goofing around ?"
"Load everything inside ."
Rex looked at the supplies and then at Valentine .
" Me alone "
Valentine said ,
" Then do you want a frail woman like me to carry supplies "
Rex shot back ,
" You and frail "
Valentine gave him a death glare.
" Did you say something"
Rex snapped his mouth shut. He hurried over to the crates.
Valentine shook her head.
"These are stolen military supplies."
"We don’t want the military catching us red-handed."
Rex froze.
" I should have bought the captain and Atlas too"
Valentine’s eyebrow twitched.
" So that Cyrus could return everything to the military "
Rex paused
" Ok fair point "
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