NOVEL NEXT Chapter 88: Expedition.
Chapter 88: Expedition.
Inside a large hall, many reporters are waiting for someone.
"Had you heard about the M.O.D. that entered the city?"
"Yes, the starlight guild hunter has already killed it."
A similar discussion can be heard inside the hall; the civilian is not scared. Other than hunters, sunlight can kill any M.O.D. Of course, there is a variance that can survive under sunlight; nevertheless, the hunter can deal with it.
Not to mention the hunter that had fused with the M.O.D. core. Their body is stronger than a normal human and can fight with M.O.D. without a weapon, depending on the M.O.D. core energy that they fuse.
"I heard a rouge hunter is appearing."
"Oh, I know; the rouge hunter's wife is having adultery with his teammate. Because of that, he tries to kill him but fails, and the teammate is the nephew of a top hunter in the same guild. Right now, the rouge hunter is on the run."
Since the M.O.D. hunter is strong, there is a law to protect civilians. Rouge hunters are people who abuse power and don’t follow the law. Once found out, they will be hunted down by the government.
"From what I know, the rogue hunter is already a stage 2 M.O.D. hunter."
"He is strong?"
"Depend, from what I found out, both of the M.O.D. cores that he fuses are rank 1." There are differences between two M.O.D. hunters at the same stage. Depending on the type and rank of the M.O.D. core, they fuse and experience
While they are talking, a middle-aged man with tan skin and curly hair walks to the podium. The people in the hall quickly became silent.
"Good morning, everyone. My name is Professor Ken." Professor Ken is a leading expert in flora and fauna in dark territory. He had done research and documentaries that had been praised and recognized by the countries in the Twilight World.
The reporters listen tentatively and don’t want to miss anything; at the same time, several TV networks start to broadcast the conference.
"Without wasting time, I want to announce my next expedition to the dark territory." Professor Ken declared
Everyone from home and in the hall is shocked. Because the last accident involved a famous and beautiful host and her team. All TV stations and organizations stop any project show that involves dark territory.
Numerous M.O.D. ambush the famous host team without any survivors. The search team manages to recover the video recording of that incident, but the content is gruesome. Once the video spread, the government started to tighten the regulations for non-hunters to enter the dark territory.
"I know what you are thinking, and I will be answering all of your questions." Professor Ken had planned this for a long time. Because of that incident, his plan had been delayed, and he needed to find a new team and sponsor.
After that, the reporters raised their hands to ask questions.
Professor Ken answered the question calmly and told them the details of the expedition. The people are surprised because he manages to hire a team comprised of stage two M.O.D. hunters.
Hired stage two M.O.D. hunters are expensive, and they need to stay in the dark territory for a few months.
He also reveals the new technology that can send messages or videos from dark territory. However, there will be a delay in transmission from several minutes to hours, depending on how deep they enter the dark territory.
People who listen to that, especially the hunter organizations, are excited. One of the problems when entering the dark territory is that they cannot communicate using any device because of the dark territory interference. Now they are confident enough to go deeper.
The hunter organizations began to send people to inquire about the communication device.
Michael at home is watching the broadcast while eating breakfast.
"Can I join?" Michael gazes at his chubby body and sighs.
On the low table, his phone vibrates, and he can see a message from Nicole. [Are you free this weekend? There is a new restaurant open.]
Michael frown. "How can I diet?" While saying that, he types yes.
After sending the text, he was preparing to go to the gym. Although he is still chubby, his stamina has improved, and he also takes a hunter class. There are several private hunter classes in the city to train people to become hunters.
They even train people in dark territory to fight M.O.D.
-
In a secret lab, a man in a wheelchair wearing a white lab coat is watching the screen showing the conference.
"Sir, everything is according to plan."
"Good."
"Sir, why do we need to give Professor Ken the advanced communication device?"
"That is something that you don’t need to know."
"Yes sir."
What they don’t realize is that the device is bait; once they use it, they can control it and gather information in secret. Only the higher-ups know of this secret. This is a long-term plan; if it succeeds, they can attack the government and hunter organizations without worry.
The wheelchair man joined the Veil organization a few years ago. But he still doesn’t know who the true mastermind behind the Veil organization is. Because every time there is a secret meeting, every leader wears a mask to cover their face, including him, and members will vote if they need to pass or order something.
They all had a reason to join the Veil organization. For him, he wanted revenge for his family. A few years ago, there was an escaped rank 2 M.O.D. Normally, there will be no problem killing it. However, the rank 2 M.O.D. had the special ability to camouflage and had been ordered to be captured alive.
Only after there is a public outrage does the government kill the rank 2 M.O.D. Nevertheless, it was already too late; many people died. He wants to kill the people who are responsible, but the culprits are influential.
"How is the experiment?" The wheelchair man asked.
"The human and M.O.D. fusion is stable. But there is a problem controlling the test subject."
"Continue the experiment; after that, we will start the first field test."
"Yes sir."
-
On the outskirts of the city, a man riding a bike is fleeing, and from behind, a few armored trucks are following.
"Damn it, I had no choice." The man rides the bike faster and heads to the dark territory border.
"Quickly stop him!" A man with a bandaged face shouted.
The bike enters the dark territory without stopping.
The armor trucks stop, and a group of people come out.
"Quickly chase him!" The bandage-faced man shouted.
"We need an order from above." Said the bald man.
"I don’t care to chase him."
The bald man spoke in a stern voice. "Who are you to order me around? I am only doing this as a favor to your uncle. I will not jeopardize my team's safety." The bald man doesn’t like the bandage-faced man; if his wife cheats with another man, he will also kill that man.
The bandaged man takes a deep breath. "I apologize."
"Good, let's return." The bald man can enter the dark territory, but why does he want to do something dangerous for free? Even ranks two and three can die in the dark territory.
Once entering the dark territory, Edric quickly stops and leaves the bike behind. The bike noise will alert the M.O.D. He needs to flee from this area. "I don’t have a night." The further he walks from the border, the darker the area.
"Activate stage one." Edric's bracelet activates, and a black tattoo pattern appears on his body. He can finally see in the dark. Other than strengthening the body, most M.O.D. fusions can grant the user the ability to see in the dark or other abilities.
He needs to find a safe place before running out of energy. The M.O.D. fusion power had its limit.
-
A few days later, a group of men and women were preparing to enter the dark territory border.
Professor Ken looks calm from the outside. But everyone close to him knows that he is passionate about dark territory. Most of the areas that had been explored were close to the border; for the deeper areas, only hunter guilds managed to come out alive. However, they will not share the information with the public or competitors.
The humans had tried using satellites; however, the image they got was only darkness. They even used jet aircraft to scan the terrain; however, the jet aircraft went missing. Since they can’t communicate in dark territory, they don’t know what happened to the jet aircraft.
"Everyone, get ready; we will move soon!"
"Sir, Miss Kate still has not arrived."
"We wait for a while." Kate is one of Professor Ken's students. A few months ago, he heard that Kate had become a porter to gain experience and money in dark territory. But her team gets attacked by an M.O.D. colony. Fortunately, she survived.
Soon a pickup truck arrives, and coming out of it is Kate with a large bag.
"Kate, take care!" Maggie shouted.
"Thank you, take care!"
"Don’t worry!"
"You finally arrive."
"Sorry Professors."
"It's fine, everyone; let's enter!"