CHAPTER 70: SECRETARY

Risa was a middle-aged man, but his face was eerily replaced with many electronic parts.

His left eye, which gave out a red glow, turned and glanced at the mechanical snake.

The mechanical snake slithered up onto the body of Risa, and it slowly broke up into many mechanical and electronic parts.

All the parts then joined back into different parts of Risa’s body.

The container with Athena’s flesh and glass tube with her spinal cord fluid was kept in Risa’s chest.

"Time to get away from this forsaken place. And why this trouble to gather the samples?" Leeroy said as he side-eyed Ashen.

Ashen stared at Leeroy and said, "We need her cells to be active, out of hibernation.

"And besides that, isn’t it an honor to witness one of the first awakened in action?"

Leeroy shook his head, shrugged his shoulders, and scratched his waist.

"There are more of these first awakened for us to harvest; trust me, it would get boring soon."

Risa had enough of Leeroy’s banter, and he interjected, "Enough. Time for us to get going."

Both nodded at Risa, and they walked deeper into the woods.

...

"We are safe!"

"My house.... that’s all I had."

"Where is my daughter!"

The civilians that were hiding in the underground shelter came out, and when they saw the carnage, reality set in for them, and their emotions started to flow out.

Homes were destroyed.

Family members were missing.

What they had worked hard for was now gone.

Some started to sob uncontrollably, and some looked at the distance in a daze.

Lukas was busy harvesting the demonic beast core of the Skeletal Tigers.

After this beast horde attack, he expected the price of things to go up dramatically, so he better made sure he had something to get more resources.

When a young girl’s voice called out to him from behind, Lukas turned back.

"Bundy! I’m glad you are all right."

"Same for me, young man."

It was Bundy and his daughter, Cynthia.

Cynthia took out something from her pocket and stretched her tiny hand out to Lukas.

Lukas looked at it and saw that she was offering him a sweet.

"Thanks," he said and took the sweet.

"Daddy says good deeds should be rewarded." Cynthia said and gave a huge smile to Lukas.

"Looks like you’ve put what you learned in the abattoir to good use." Bundy said as he marveled at the size of the Skeletal Tiger.

And to think that Lukas was fighting it earlier.

Bundy glanced over at Lukas with the utmost respect he can give.

"All thanks to you for getting me started." Lukas said with sincerity.

If Bundy didn’t take him in for the job, who knows how he would survive in this Beast Horde Attack without gaining the initial Slaughter Points.

"Nonsense, you did all the hard work. I didn’t do much." Bundy said and gestured for Lukas to stop arguing with him on this point.

Lukas shrugged and sighed.

He then squatted down and patted Cynthia on her head.

While he was talking with Bundy, Rex, on the other hand, was basking in attention from the civilians.

Riley, who wasn’t far away, was on the phone.

A call had been made to him from Rodney, who had been attended to by a healer and stabilized.

Rodney had called Riley to get an update on what happened.

And after Riley briefed him on what happened, Rodney instructed Riley and the other team members to get back to the underground base.

"Sorry to interrupt, but we still have a mission to complete." Riley said with a smile to Rex.

"Let’s get back to the underground base." He said next to Lukas.

Lukas bid farewell to Bundy and Cynthia, and together with Rex, they got onto the armored car and drove back towards the underground base.

...

"Gather into teams. Go through the rubble and buildings and take out any demonic beasts left behind."

Thorne Blackmore was busy organizing the soldiers and awakened teams to sweep the city.

While Rodney took care of getting the injured to the hospitals.

"Clear the routes to the hospitals. Use any vehicles you can."

Things went slowly as there weren’t many men left around.

Thorne Blackmore had asked for more reinforcement, but it would take some time for them to arrive.

When Rodney was done, he picked up his phone and called the Center Administration.

"Who is this?" The person on the other side of the call asked.

"I’m Rodney, Director of the Awakened Center for the Southern Battle Administration Area.

"I request to speak to the Secretary for the Southern Battle Administration." Rodney said.

Air blew at the phone’s microphone.

The person on the call, the Secretary’s assistant, didn’t seem too pleased with his call.

"The Secretary is going to his dinner soon.

"He might not take the call.

"And why isn’t the Governor making this call?

"Don’t you know the chain of command?"

Rodney’s chest went up and down as he tried very hard to contain his anger.

Fire raged within at what he had heard.

What did he mean by going to his dinner soon and not being able to take the call?

The life of everyone here in the Southern Battle Administration Area mattered less than a meal?

Rodney would be shouting at the phone if not for his injuries.

Pain could be felt in his chest, and Rodney calmed his breathing to make it lessen.

"The Governor’s dead and can only call from hell, if that’s what you want to know.

"I am the next authority in line, and that’s why I’m calling.

"Don’t think you need me to recite the section of the Governance Act to you."

Rodney said, and the other side of the phone turned silent.

He continued and said, "Well, if the Secretary deems that his dinner is more precious than the life of the citizens in Southern Battle Administration Area, tell him to go ahead.

"The wall was breached, and we are still tallying the number of deaths even as we speak.

"If the Secretary thinks that his party can get elected again even with this, go ahead; I’ll make sure everyone knows about this."

"No... you’ve mistaken... It was my mistake; the Secretary didn’t say anything.

"In fact, I haven’t spoken to him yet." The Secretary’s assistant knew he messed up and quickly tried to weasel his way out.

A plump man in a suit, with so much fat on his cheeks that it squeezed against his eyes, took over the phone.

"Rodney boy, it’s me."