"You—you’re alive." The taller of the two straightened first; his expression showed how shocked he was at seeing his commander. "We’ve been waiting for your return. Where have you been?"
They planned to attack one of the empire’s military bases in Sector 08, make it incapable of using the newly developed weapon, and steal the base’s data. Once they were done, they’d pull out and make a strategic retreat before being discovered.
They were successful with their mission. But who would have known that a shifting contaminated zone would appear in one of their escape routes? Coincidentally, their fleet commander was the only one who chose that path.
Having lost contact with him, the entire fleet was filled with tension. They had no idea what had happened to Commander Nykos. The only thing they knew about his whereabouts was his last call, which had been too ominous for them to listen to.
[I’m being pulled into a contaminated zone. You all go on ahead.]
[If I don’t return, Vice Commander Arma will step up.]
Who wouldn’t go insane after getting a message like that from their commander? The instant they knew he was pulled into a contaminated zone, they immediately tried to go to the path Commander Nykos used. But the empire’s army had already been alerted, and a contaminated zone was not one they could ignore.
Thus, the only thing they could do then was to wait for good news from their fleet commander.
It has been three days since he went missing. If there is still no news from him, there’s no guarantee how the Dark Knight Organization will continue forward.
Nykos glanced at the man in front of him, Amar, the vice commander of the Dark Knight Organization.
Wiping away the trace of blood on his face, he said, "After I was pulled into a shifting contaminated zone, it took a long time for me to find its core. Fortunately, I destroyed it before it could expand and escape into another dimension."
The danger of a shifting contaminated zone was greater than that of a normal one. The chances of a living being escaping once swallowed up inside were almost nonexistent.
Thus, the entire galaxy was always on high alert against any signs of a shifting contaminated zone.
"Whew! Fortunately, you survived and got out." Amar patted him on the shoulder.
Nykos looked at him quietly before adding, "The contamination pulled me into a dungeon. A miasma-filled dungeon. But as you said, I was fortunate to come out before it corrupted me. I went berserk the second I did."
Both men went rigid.
"Berserk?" Amar repeated carefully. He poked into his ear as if to clean up whatever was causing him to mishear.
"Are—are you still in that state, Commander?"
Nykos did not respond, staring at them in silence.
The two men reeled backward, putting a considerable distance between themselves and their commander. It wasn’t that they wanted to offend them. They dared not think about it. It was their fear instinctively acting against their will.
Nykos let out a dark chuckle at their reaction and peeled off the ruined tunic from his body, tearing it off in the process, revealing a broad chest and defined torso. Every line of his muscles was carved with explosive strength. The red glow cast across his skin made the deep grooves of his abdomen even bolder.
"What do you think?" he asked, tossing the question back at them.
Amar and the other man exchanged a glance before fixing their eyes on their commander’s bare skin. Miasma corruption wasn’t something anyone in their organization could fight off easily. Once a person was infected, the corruption would spread slowly and erode the person’s body, mind, and soul.
It wasn’t the first time they’d come across it. Too many of their men perished from it, and the people who survived still bore the trace of it—a dark-vein mark like old scars that would never fade.
But their commander had none of it.
The old scars he got from previous battles were still there. But there wasn’t a single trace of the mark a miasma-infected person should have even after being healed.
"How—"
"Someone guided me."
Nykos’s lips curved into a thin, unreadable smile, his crimson eyes gleaming with something they couldn’t name.
"Someone guided you?" The disbelief on Amar’s face deepened in alarm. "Inside a shifting zone? Commander, that should have been impossible. No guide has ever been able to use their ability on you, not even the ones assigned directly by the Association."
It wasn’t an exaggeration. Nykos’s psychic pressure alone was enough to crush the will out of most sentinels. Let alone a guide trying to soothe it.
For years, the Guide and Sentinel Association had sent its best guides to attempt a match with him. Of course, each match ended the same way—the guides ended up receiving backlash, and Nykos didn’t receive any guidance. In the end,
Nykos had stopped bothering with real guiding. He relied on artificial guiding modules instead, machines built to mimic the calming resonance of the purest guiding ability the Association could imagine. It was a poor substitute. It wasn’t enough. But it was able to keep his mental energy from tearing him apart from the inside.
Everyone who served closely under him knew it. It was no wonder that Amar and the other man were stunned when they heard he got guiding from someone.
"Do you know who they are?" Her registration number or affiliation?" Amar pressed on.
Nykos: "..."
"Anything?" Amar asked again.
"I only know she’s a patient at Gaia Hospital."
Amar studied him for a moment, waiting for him to add anything else. But there was nothing to add. For a second, Amar wanted to tear through his own hair and scream. The one who should be searching for that guide frantically and desperately needed to know their identity shouldn’t be him.
"Haa..." Amar released a defeated sigh.
Suddenly, he felt an iciness slice through his neck.
When he raised his head again, he saw Nykos’s gaze fixed on him, sharp and cold enough that it made him shiver. Amar raised both hands in mock surrender, grinning despite the warning glare he received from his commander.
"I’ll find her." Nykos ignored him. "And I’ll bring her with me."
Vince, the first squad leader of their fleet, lifted his brows. "Bring her here? That won’t be simple. The Association won’t hand over a guide who matches with you easily. Whoever they are, they must be the highest-ranked guide with the purest purification value." He paused and added, "How do you plan on doing it?"
Knowing he can’t change their minds, Vince can only follow their plans.
"Nykos didn’t answer immediately. Instead, a slow, wicked pull at the corner of his mouth appeared. Besides him, Amar’s grin mirrored it.
Vince looked between the two of them and suddenly understood something.
"If she won’t come with me willingly," Nykos finally said. "Then, I’ll do what I’m best at. I’ll simply have to steal and take her away."
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