CHAPTER 151: SHERRY

Sherry took a deep breath, blew out slowly, and after she steadied herself, she spoke into her earbuds.

"The awakened teams on the east of the lake, move and meet up with the other awakened teams on the south of the lake.

"As for the awakened teams on the south of the lake, choose the strongest among you to enter the lake.

"The rest of the team members stand by and get ready to rescue the others when necessary."

After she gave her instructions, she glanced over at the pilot.

The pilot nodded and pressed a button on the control panel.

The airplane descended, and the back of the airplane opened.

When Sherry was done putting on her armor and arms, she stepped onto the platform on the back of the airplane and leaped from it.

Her decision was to concentrate the forces and use the awakened teams from the east as the vanguard.

Their performance earlier wasn’t great, and she had to cold-heartedly make them the sacrificial forces to see what the Apex demonic beast was up to.

And with the best from the other awakened teams like Lukas, Terry, Kevin, and Lin Fan behind them, someone like Lukas might be able to respond and adapt in time to save most of them.

But with her making the decision, that doesn’t mean that she would absolve herself from the battle.

Sherry was willing to stake her life and suffer any consequences from it.

The awakened teams who were assaulting from the east side of the Jewel Lake, however, didn’t think much of it.

They thought that Sherry was giving them an advantage to get to the Apex demonic beast.

It didn’t take them too long to arrive at the south of the Jewel Lake where Lukas and the others were.

"Secretary Sherry?"

"Wow. I’ll be so honored."

"Heck. This might be better than the rewards."

When they saw her on the ground getting ready to enter the Jewel Lake with them, they were surprised.

They had never expected her to do so, as from their past experiences, the bureaucrats from the Center Battle Administration Area never got their hands dirty.

This made them give her more respect.

Sherry gave them a nod, acknowledging their arrival.

At that moment, she was standing beside Lukas.

There was so much that she wanted to brief him about.

"The Leader has something else for me?" Lukas asked.

Sherry shook her head, took a quick glance at the awakened teams from the east side, and glanced back at Lukas.

She lowered her head slightly and said, "No, it’s not something from the Leader.

"I’ve seen how you fought and how much stronger you got within such a short period of time.

"All I ask is for you to finish the mission as soon as possible."

Lukas saw what she did earlier and nodded his head.

He wasn’t aware of Sherry’s background and why she was with the Leader, but one thing for sure was that she wasn’t comfortable making difficult decisions.

Maybe the Leader sent her this time for her to go through a trial like this, he thought.

What went unsaid from Sherry was to keep casualties low.

But she wasn’t naive enough to spell it out.

It had always been every man for himself out here.

Lukas wasn’t too concerned as long as it didn’t affect his survival.

He was more than happy to finish off the mission as soon as possible.

And as for the number of casualties, he could try his best, provided it wouldn’t diminish his chances of survival.

He wasn’t about to be some saint, going around trying to save everyone, and in the process risking his own life.

Splash.

The water of the Jewel Lake splashed violently.

As if the Apex demonic beast was telling them that it didn’t have patience left to wait any longer.

"Move out." Sherry knew they couldn’t wait any longer, and she gave the order.

The awakened teams started to advance toward the shoreline of the lake.

Sherry stood behind the awakened teams from the east side of the Jewel Lake.

And behind her were Lukas, Terry, Lin Fan, and Kevin.

The best that were nominated from the remaining few other awakened teams.

Their team members would stay near the shoreline and get ready to move in and rescue everyone.

As they started moving, Lukas glanced back at Riley, Rex, Emma, Harianto, and Margaret, giving them a nod, assuring them that he would be all right.

He was, after all, a much different man than he was before coming here.

...

The initial journey into the Jewel Lake, using the path, was slow.

The cold mud at the bottom of the Lake was soft and sticky.

Tiring out some of the awakened at the front.

Lukas followed closely behind Sherry and the other awakened teams before him.

He had used his Gravity ability, making it relatively easy for them to walk on the soft and sticky cold mud.

Terry, Lin Fan, and Kevin weren’t doing as well.

They had to use their energy to pull their legs out of the sticky mud over and over again many times.

And even so, they barely kept up with Lukas.

Terry, Lin Fan, and Kevin had wanted to approach Lukas to try and persuade Lukas to help them.

But it seemed like it was impossible now.

Lukas, who was twenty feet in front of them, was literally unreachable to them.

"Halt." Sherry suddenly shouted into her earbuds.

They had reached a huge underground cave.

A voice then came into everyone’s mind.

"Welcome... to... my lair."

The voice boomed, and everyone except Sherry felt as if their heads wanted to explode.

Lukas’s eyes opened wide as he had heard this voice before.

The Divined One, or to put it more accurately, the Apex demonic beast that was channeling its thought through him.

"Come in... so that... we can... negotiate..."

Negotiate? Lukas was surprised again by the Apex demonic beast.

He frowned as this meant that the demonic beasts were much more complex than what he had thought.

Sherry thought the same.

But they were too deep in it to back out now.

She spoke into her earbuds and said, "Move in with caution."