NOVEL NEXT Chapter 144: Preparing for the Hunt
"I'm Terry from the Center Battle Administration Area. These are my teammates: Lin, Damien, Carlo and Mena." Terry stretched out his hand for a handshake.
"Pleased to meet you. I'm Riley, leader of my team from the South Battle Administration Area. And these are my teammates..."
Riley introduced the others, took Terry's hand and shook it.
"I see that your friend Lukas is feeling better now. Next time you might want to give him a task he can take on safely." Terry glanced over at Lukas and said.
Terry withdrew his hand and took out a handkerchief to wipe it.
"Don't mind me, I have a bit of germophobia," he said with an apologetic look.
Anger rose from within Rex; he pointed at Terry and shouted, "Who the hell do you think you are, telling us what to do? And don't you know that Lukas was the one..."
Riley pulled him back and stared at him.
He wasn't too angered by what Terry had said; they weren't around to witness what had happened.
And as for the bit about being germophobic, he glanced at Terry from top to bottom.
Riley wasn't too sure, but he knew it could be true.
If it wasn't so, who in their right mind would keep his armor impeccably clean and white?
Lukas, who was behind, also thought the same; it's best for him if they thought of him as someone weak.
That might give him a better chance if any of the awakened teams were working for the Shadow Lotus.
Other awakened teams also gathered around Terry.
One of them, with a team of tall and stern-looking men, introduced themselves.
The team's leader, with a muscular bulk and a long beard, placed his huge arms across Terry's shoulders,
making Terry very much displeased.
"Quit standing around here. Let's talk over some beer!" the muscular man with the long beard said heartily.
"Kevin, get your hands off me." Terry shrugged away from Kevin's huge arms and used his handkerchief to wipe his shoulders.
"Ho ho. Silly me." Kevin slapped the back of his head and said, "Sorry, I've forgotten about your germo...what's it called again?"
"Germophobia," Terry said.
"Yeah, that. And come, meet my teammates: Kain, Bjorn, Erik and Astid. We are from the North Battle Administration Area."
Kevin's teammates stood and flexed their muscles at Riley and the others.
Rex looked down at his body and silently tried to compare his body build with theirs.
Riley gave Kevin a smile and shook hands with him, and he nearly coughed his heart out when Kevin gave him a hard pat on his back after their handshake.
Sherry stepped forward and said, "Kevin is right.
"This is not the place to talk.
"Let's get to the Governor's office.
"I need to coordinate the recovery efforts from there.
"I'll brief all of you with the details of your mission to capture the Apex demonic beast from there."
Everyone nodded, and Lin raised her hand and asked, "What about the awakened team from the East Battle Administration Area?"
"Here. We are here." A voice came out of nowhere.
Lukas glanced around and saw bloodied footsteps coming towards them.
A few men and women then seemed to materialize out of thin air.
"Stop scaring us with your invisibility ability," Kevin said.
"Sorry about that." The leader of the team, a man with black hair and black eyes, dressed in a gray robe, shrugged and said,
"I'm Lin Fan, and here are my teammates: Theva, Dan San, Mike and Ross."
Lin Fan introduced his team members to Riley, and Riley also did the same.
Lukas took note of Lin Fan's ability.
It might prove to be a handful for him.
Maybe Shiba would be able to sense him out with his ability? he thought.
He was trying to figure out the abilities of the other awakened teams so that they could work better together and also keep a lookout just in case the Leader was right.
...
They got on armored cars and trucks to make their way to the Governor's office.
Along the way, the soldiers were clearing up the debris and trying to restore order to the city.
Lukas sighed when he saw the number of dead bodies that were all over the city.
This time, even though he was able to stop the Shadow Lotus from getting to the First Awakened and prevent demonic beasts from rampaging through the city, it was not without a price.
When they arrived at the Governor's office, Sherry with the Governor was able to gain access and started coordinating the recovery effort.
Planes started to arrive with supplies.
Soldiers then handed out essentials to the surviving citizens of the West Battle Administration Area.
The city of entertainment was now a thing of the past for them.
What had happened had now shocked them to the core, giving them a stark reminder of how cruel this world with demonic beasts was.
Sherry arranged for Lukas and the others to stay in the most luxurious hotel to rest first before the next mission.
It was a welcomed change for Lukas and the others.
They had gone from being fugitives to fighting for the survival of the West Battle Administration Area within such a short span of time.
For the first night, Lukas took a hot shower and fell asleep within minutes when he lay on the bed.
It felt like ages since he had had such a peaceful rest.
...
The next day.
Lukas woke up early and went down to the cafeteria for his breakfast.
The smell of hot coffee and the spread of food made him feel that the hordes of undead and huge demonic crabs hadn't happened.
Smudges of blood that couldn't be completely cleaned up in the surroundings were the only thing that reminded him of it.
After he got his food, Riley waved at him to join the others at their table.
"And I thought I was early," Lukas said and sat down.
It reminded him of their days back at home.
"Someone was afraid the food would be gone, so..." Emma said and glanced over at Rex.
Rex swallowed the egg he had in his mouth and protested, "It's paid for by Sherry. Why would you want to miss it?"
Riley took a sip of his coffee and frowned.
It was too bitter.
"Seems like we've gotten a bad deal again," he sighed.
Lukas nodded.
So much work for a million.
A pattern seemed to have emerged.
He took a sip of the coffee and thought about the ten million that was promised to him.
"Ho ho, you guys are early." A familiar voice boomed.