Chapter 124: Team (2)

Luke nodded after hearing that. The terrain was also a big issue since even monsters or zombies could become many times more troublesome by using them involuntarily. However, something felt off… if Frank truly wanted to save people, he didn't have to start off in difficult areas. The chances of people there surviving, in the long run, were short, but it would be a lot more effective to search for the more accessible ones. Still, even without considering all that, Luke knew that Frank was up to no good.

"By the way, Mom," Luke said. "Who were those people that we rescued before? I heard that they were diplomats, but…"

"Your Dad said the same thing. They were just diplomats," Julia said. "We worked with some of them for a while, but we soon lost too many people in Rome and had to work with few survivors to barricade ourselves."

"I see…" Luke said. "Still, those people that he wants to rescue are big shots of the old world, right? Until now, I didn't see them being useful even once, did they do something special when you were with them?"

"I guess so," Julia replied. "Something special? No, I don't remember that."

Whatever Frank was planning, as long as he didn't put Luke's family in danger, he wouldn't get involved, and he would only work for decent rewards, so it didn't matter to him all that much. In any case, Luke gave his mother, some pointers on how to combine her magic with Arcnine. Using some sort of area of effect wind magic alongside his Flamethrower probably would create one hell of a melded magic. Since Mark and Julia would keep looking for survivors nearby, they would need that type of card against the hordes on the way.

Luke had arrived early that morning, so he thought that he would be able to take it easy for the day. However, his father soon appeared and told him that the deal had been made. For some reason, he didn't mind anymore about letting Luke use his grenades, even though he knew how powerful they could be in his hands. So, that made him frown.

"Why did he agree this time?" Luke asked.

"Maybe he really wants to save the people on the next mission," Mark replied. "He said that he has been planning to rescue them for over a week, but I didn't see him doing anything like that."

Although he said that, Mark also looked a bit surprised, and that was something that rarely happened. In any case, this time, the next group will be made of half of the elite soldiers, and they will depart when the sun begins to set. Weirdly enough, or maybe not, Luke received permission to make Artiuno enter the plane.

"Regardless… the mission this time is to rescue a group of survivors that had an airplane accident recently in the Andes mountain range," Mark explained.

"I thought Frank would give us a briefing or something…" Luke frowned. "Anyway, they fell and survived? Until now?"

"They tried to leave Buenos Aires by airplane, and while that worked in the beginning, they entered the territory of some nasty flying monsters, that was one week ago," Mark replied. "They had gotten a bit stronger, so even after jumping from the airplane, they survived the fall."

"But they are not strong enough to leave the area… or the monsters are still hunting them," Luke said.

It was certain now. Frank wanted to rescue only some certain targets for one reason or the other. Luke sighed while thinking about that, he truly didn't want to waste a single thought on Frank, but he felt like it would come to bite him in the ass if he did so later. 

"I guess I will go and take a nap until the time of the mission, then," Luke said.

It seemed that the more important details of the mission would be given when the airplane approached their destination, so there was no point in wondering about it. Still, before taking a nap, Luke looked for the guys that they rescued before, but he didn't find them. He wanted to check them with Appraisal, but…

"What do you two think of this?" Luke asked. 

"I am not into wondering what small fries think or do," Shalia said. "Those are full of tricks. I just crush them when they start to cause trouble."

"I don't think I have that option since my parents owe him a favor, and they will stay close to him for a while…" Luke said.

"It is obvious that he is planning something, but I can't tell since I didn't notice anything odd with that guy," Rina said.

If Rina didn't notice anything, then Luke probably won't see anything with Appraisal. Nevertheless, if Luke had to deal with Frank in the future, he would have to keep getting stronger since it is hard to imagine his soldiers just watching the whole thing.

"I'd better look for some city with many hordes of zombies once this mission ends to use the grenades," Luke thought before he put his back against a tree and began to sleep.

A few hours later, Luke woke up when things started to get busy around the camp. The sun was beginning to set, so he approached the airplane after Luke said bye to his parents. Much to his surprise, aside from Billy, Amanda and Celia were going as well.

"What?" Amanda asked while frowning. 

"I am surprised… you could help a lot more people while keeping searching on the ground instead of joining this kind of mission," Luke said.

"I want to get used to harsh battles since zombies are no longer a threat," Amanda said while showing a green crossbow.

"Getting carried away, aren't we?" Luke asked.

"Hey, Luke, what do I need to be able to tame monsters like that one?" Celia asked.

"First of all, 32 thousand gold coins," Luke replied.

"And after that?" Celia asked.

"I will answer if you get the coins," Luke replied.