Chapter 237: a curios adventurer and the first vicecommander

“These guys are really some tenacious bastards!”

A man’s deep voice echoed out in the abandoned landscape in a surprised and slightly spooked tone, as he carefully scrutinized the destruction that was before him.

All over his sight, all he could see was a wasteland. This place seemed like a desert that was used as the testing site of a new nuclear weapon of the big 5, his eyes remained wide open like saucers.

From his insight as a high-grade soldier, he easily deduced that this huge expanse of land was once a flourishing landscape, probably a very beautiful one too.

He was indeed the Mariana Captain, and this was the location where Clark and Dickson’s allied squad fought their decisive escape battle with the 2 alpha beasts and their horde of subordinates.

Seeing the still lingering effects caused by the fire that was probably from a big explosion and the depressed landscape that was formed because of the impact pressure of the battle, he sucked in a cold breath of air.

From the little that he could see from his position, he could faintly imagine and picture out what exactly transpired here. He deduced that his targets were the ones who fought this destructive battle.

“What exactly happened here?”

He shuddered for a moment after picturing everything and simulating it through his implant. The fact that his targets could do this left him shocked, he could already feel cold sweat soaking his back.

“How many beasts died here to these guys? And I still actually have the guts to continue my pursuit, am I mad?” He touched his forehead to feel his temperature.

Though this forest and the wasteland that was originally the flourishing animal Kingdom was isolated from other parts of the Himalayan peaks, surprisingly, he still traced his targets here.

This was not due to his competence or genius though; it was all due to dumb luck. Luck was something he knew that he had, that is why he would go on such an unprovoked pursuit.

About 2 weeks ago, the optimism that he originally had that pushed him in going after his targets started waning as despite so long of searching, he still could not find any clue that led to them.

It felt strange to him, it seemed like they just disappeared into thin air. Despite his top-notch military gear, he was still lost and clueless.

After searching for another 2 days but getting no positive result, anger slowly started clouding his judgment as the thought of stopping this brainless pursuit and going back to his comfort zone started coming.

For most parts of the day, he just kept on cursing and cursing. He never seized raining curses at the goddess of luck that was protecting the intruders from his wrath.

In the evening of the next day, as he continued his pursuit with lesser enthusiasm while not forgetting to curse, he fell into a dangerous but strange situation.

He was climbing a glazier-filled slope upwards to cross a difficult pathway that was hindering his progress. The slope looked just like the Khumbu pathways, but much smaller.

As he climbed, to his shock, a part of the glacier suddenly caved in after he stepped on it. He fell immediately into a water body under the glaciers that were flowing rapidly, due to him not being alert.

Before he could react, his figure plunged into the extremely cold water as he was carried away with the rapid current.

He was alarmed, as the cold waves that followed this made him widen his eyes in alert and start looking for solutions to his conundrum. He wanted to find support to stop his swiftly moving figure, but he found none.

The water pathway was too narrow for him to stretch or make any proper moves, its glacier walls made it easier for the flowing water to carry him away. It seemed like a water tunnel.

He could not even grab his oxygen mask to cover his face as it was in his bag, and his bag was stuck in his back. He felt despair for the first time since he started this pursuit.

Why was he so stubborn? Why did he lower his guard and become complacent? Will he die like this, just like a rat? He wanted to start crying as his breathing became a struggle.

As he was dragged deeper inside the tunnel filled with cold water, he felt only regret, fear, and regret again.

He already heard of how people who visited the Everest encountered various unknown situations and died mysteriously.

The thug that he interrogated in the shelter did not inform him about a place like this, this meant that this was a new dangerous water tunnel that was not discovered yet.

The last thought that crossed his mind before he passed out was surprisingly about…, the next day’s Everest news.

“Breaking news from your favorite news station, the face of Everest. A brave young middle-aged soldier has been discovered dead in the North Slope of the 3rd border sector. A promising…”

He could not imagine the rest parts before the darkness of unconsciousness submerged him. Since he was small, he always wanted to be in the news…, but not this way!

The next day when he woke up, he was shocked to find himself in a forest inside the Mountain.

“Am I dead? Is this heaven?”

He was spooked by the sight, making him think that this was the land after death. If this was not heaven, then why the hell would a forest like this be in the cold Mountain Everest.

For the whole day, he went about surveying the surrounding, this was when he confirmed that he was still alive. He felt relieved and at the same time disappointed that this was not heaven.

He resumed his cursing after this before going back to sleep as he could no longer see the water tunnel that carried him here.

The next day, he continued his journey forward across the forest. To his shock, this was not the regular Himalayan ranges that he knew. Shock after shock kept on bombarding him throughout his journey.

He almost died when he was attacked by a mob of animals led by exobeasts. His shock grew when he discovered that this forest was not on the map that he had.

His thought process soon turned from pursuing the intruders to surviving and escaping this forest.

A few days later, he finally found his target’s trail. This discovery made him thrilled and motivated, that all his previous fear and dread of this region disappeared immediately.

“If those bastards could survive here, why could he not?” With that thought, he increased his speed.

From time to time, he located places where Clark’s squad camped to spend the night. A few days later, he discovered a battered Wild Yak exobeast that was hiding underground, licking its wounds to recover.

For a high-grade soldier like him, the first thought would have been to kill, but the sight of this exobeast gave him goosebumps.

He felt pressure like never before in his life from an animal. He was pretty confident, not just sure that if he attacked rashly, being trashed would be the only result that he would get.

He was not a foolish battle maniac. He carefully circumvented the location of the slumbering beast before continuing his journey.

Just a day after, he finally discovered the wasteland that encompassed his whole sight. This discovery was what finally made all the hairs in his body stand erect.

To be sincere, after so long, he already lost most of his original optimism in pursuing Clark’s squad.

When they fought the Himalayan black bears, though he suffered from it, he had the privilege of seeing Clark’s squad fight that day. Since then, he knew that the squad had only one 2nd rank high-grade soldier.

This gave him the confidence to pursue them as he wanted to vent his anger on someone.

Despite being one person going after dozens, he was surprised to see that he could not catch up to them swiftly. Their traveling speed surprised him.

This did not deter him though, rather it seemed like a challenge to him which prompted him to continue. Like that, a pursuit that he estimated to be for only a week already stretched over a month.

When he finally got near them now, he discovered that they may be stronger than he predicted.

“Should I continue?” He felt conflicted and a little afraid.

After going through a strong mental battle, he finally decided to continue his pursuit. Even if he could not defeat them, he was confident that he could escape if the situation became dangerous.

He was now curious to know these guys badly, and the reason why they came to the forest.

“It's my duty as a Mariana soldier to know why they came; I can’t back down now”. Motivating himself with that, he continued forward energetically with renewed enthusiasm.

He estimated that he would catch up to them in at most 4 days.

…

Back in civilized areas in the Reagan republic, Emily sat in the room excluded for her as the Commander, as she gazed outside through her one-way mirror with a nostalgic smile on her face.

She was dressed in a dark green militaristic uniform with brown strips, this was the trademark uniform of the Pendragon mercenary group now.

Today was a great celebration day for the Pendragon Mercenary group that she jointly created with Clark. Today, she was inaugurating the first vice-commander of the mercenary group.

After so long developing slowly, the mercenary group already had a sturdy foundation in the industry. A soldier among them finally broke through, meeting the last requirement to become a vice commander.

Knock!! Knock!!

“Come in”. She didn’t even ask; she already knew who was coming in. She turned with a broad smile to face the door.

“Yes, commander”.

The mercenary behind the door smoothly opened it before coming inside. His boots made steady thudding sounds with a sweet rhythm, as he walked confidently before Emily’s chair.

He made a military salute with a bright smile on his face. “I made it commander”.

“Yes, I know Jack”. Emily smiled back.

“It’s every soldier’s goal to breakthrough, and you are now already a 2nd rank high-grade soldier. You will have a lot more responsibilities now, and you’re now a pillar of the mercenary group”.

“I will never let you down Commander, your guidance for the past few months has been invaluable to me. I already told you before, but I want to say it again”.

“Till I die, my life will always be with the Pendragon mercenary group. I love the family, it’s a privilege to see you and the legendary Major Clark, I don’t want to miss this. Not now, and I don’t think in the future also”.

Jack said smilingly, as the memory of his first encounter with Emily floated past his mind.

Remembering when she crushed the arrogant mercenary and when she became a frightening asura cleaving through terrorists to locate and kill their leader, he felt excited.

“I have a long way to go”. He clenched his fists.

“Ok, we have to go now, the others are waiting for you to climb the hierarchy and become their first vice-commander. Congratulations”. Emily stood up and patted him on the shoulder.

“Thank you, Commander”.

With that, both mercenaries left the room.

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