CHAPTER 199: A TOAST

The dinner was more sumptuous than the one they had before they moved out.

There were too many dishes, so they were having it in the hotel lobby.

Right in the middle of the dinner table was a roasted suckling pig with all the other dishes like roasted goose, lobsters, crabs and prawns laid out beside it.

"Here you are." Rex greeted Lukas when he saw him and said, "Take this, I’ve reserved the best portions for you."

He passed Lukas a plateful of different meat.

"Thanks." Lukas said and started to tuck in.

After so many days of energy bars and dried rations, it was definitely a refreshing change.

All the other awakened were also busy with the food.

Hazel and the other staff were full of smiles serving and helping them.

They felt that the future for the East Battle Administration Area was going to be bright after the Apex demonic beast was killed off.

Life would be better from now on, all thanks to Lukas and the awakened.

Kevin saw Terry and he wanted to banter with Terry about how he had helped Terry in the nick of time.

"Ho ho..."

He stopped when he saw Terry was behaving differently with Lin.

They were now standing so close together.

Kevin narrowed his eyes and observed Terry and Lin.

His suspicion was confirmed when he saw Terry trying very hard to hold his hand with Lin.

It was a peculiar sight as Terry, due to his condition, had to go against his instinct and not wipe his hands with his handkerchief.

Kevin felt a sense of pyrrhic victory when he saw Terry’s face cringe hard, making his features jumbled together.

"It’s all right, Terry. You don’t have to force yourself." Lin said and she pushed Terry’s hand away.

Terry wasn’t sure what she meant by it, and he got anxious.

Lin burst out in laughter when she saw his worried look.

"No, I didn’t mean it that way. Some things take time." She said as she shook her head.

"That’s good to hear." Terry nodded his head.

He was usually confident enough in other matters, but he wouldn’t know what to do if Lin had rejected him.

Ring.

The phones of all the awakened rang and they picked their phones up.

Lukas saw that it was from Sherry, and he connected the call.

"The Leader isn’t awake from his hibernation yet, so it’s best for you to go back to your hometown first.

"Take a small break and prepare for the next mission.

"I will notify all of you when I am done here in the North Battle Administration Area.

"The reward for this mission has already been credited to your banks."

Sherry said on the other end of the phone.

Everyone cheered when they heard Sherry’s instructions.

They were so tired after taking on two Apex demonic beasts in such a short time span.

It was a much-needed break for everyone.

Lukas nodded and thought about the South Battle Administration Area.

He wondered how the house, Rodney and Bundy were.

It seemed like ages since he last saw them.

"Lukas, time for a toast for the successful mission."

Riley, Emma, Rex, Harianto and Margaret came up to him and proposed a toast.

When the other awakened teams heard it, they also joined in with a drink in their hands.

Hazel and the other staff also joined in.

"Here’s to the success of the mission and a bright future for mankind!"

They shouted and downed whatever they had in their hands in one mouthful.

Hazel looked from afar at Lukas, thinking about the future she might have had with him.

As her vision became blurry, she gave out a sigh, slapped her cheeks with her hands and got back to helping serve the guests.

...

Igor was looking at some of the statistics on the screen as he cursed out loud.

"Ashen and the other two better be back soon."

He looked away from the screen and at the robotic arms that were injecting something into a Petri dish with some flesh inside it.

The flesh twitched uncontrollably after the injection was done.

It thumped and extended out from the Petri dish.

However, it didn’t last long, and the flesh turned brown after a few moments.

And as time went on, the brown flesh darkened into a darker color.

The flesh stopped moving and turned into a putrid pile of dark goo a few moments later.

Igor cursed at what he saw.

He didn’t have much of the tissue and fluid from Athena left.

To make it worse, his experiments weren’t making any progress.

Igor desperately needed new tissues and fluids from either a First Awakened or one of the Apex demonic beasts.

"I swear to God if they don’t return soon..." He mumbled to himself and stopped when he saw the Dark Lord together with his secretary enter his lab.

"I’ve got some news." The Dark Lord said with his expressionless face.

"Yes, Dark Lord. I’m all ears." Igor bowed to the Dark Lord and said.

"Ashen, Risa and Leeroy have all perished." The secretary of the Dark Lord said with her high-pitched voice.

She adjusted her nerdy-looking spectacles before she continued and said, "There isn’t much choice left for us and it’s time for us to show our resolve.

"The Dark Lord has decided to go and take on the Apex demonic beast or the First Awakened in the North Battle Administration Area himself with me.

"We have reliable information that they are bringing the First Awakened in the North Battle Administration Area out of hibernation."

Igor didn’t expect the news to be about the demise of Ashen, Risa and Leeroy.

He knew that the Dark Lord must be getting desperate for the Dark Lord to try and take on the First Awakened in the North Battle Administration Area himself.

His frown was caught by the secretary, and she said, "While we are at the North Battle Administration Area, you have something else to attend to."

The secretary paused and passed a folder she had in her hands over to Igor.

Igor opened the folder and his eyes opened wide when he saw the documents inside.

They are indeed coming.