Chapter 243: a typical standard shelter

“I thought that all 3rd rank high-grade soldiers are always aloof. I can’t imagine how you were patient enough to tail us for over a month, that’s awesome really”. Clark muttered thoughtfully.

“Ha, those guys are just using that to elevate their sorry egos. There’s no difference between you and them, only that they are stronger. Don’t let anyone deceive you, even 5th rank high-grade soldiers are still humans”.

“For me, I think the reason why they act like that is that they are not as handsome as I am”. Josh answered smugly.

Well, Clark had no basis to refute that. Even if he wanted to shamelessly oppose it, the evidence before him was too glaring to slip by it. He would only leave his face burning that way.

Josh was probably the most handsome soldier that he had ever met. Though he never wanted to acknowledge it, this was the indisputable truth.

According to him, he was already 30 this year, which made him middle-aged. Despite this, no signs of age could be seen on him, his skin was so smooth like that of a baby’s despite being a soldier.

His smile was so dazzling, his face and physique so delicately chiseled, he was the closest embodiment of perfection.

Connecting this with his confession yesterday, Clark no longer found it hard to believe his claim that his superior’s wife was running after him. He was really worth running after.

Yesterday was already gone, as every one of them slept due to the exhaustion from the battle. They were currently on their way to the shelter early in the morning.

Because of the humiliation of yesterday, the allied squad’s soldiers still had some animosity against Josh, especially the ones that were knocked out, but they held themselves back on seeing his current relationship with their leader.

Even though they already knew that he was a 3rd rank high-grade soldier, they could not reconcile with the fact. After all their experiences, they already had some confidence in themselves, but this encounter made them waver again.

This morning, after having another thorough conversation with Josh, Clark was surprised to find out that he decided to follow them on their journey.

This decision naturally alarmed him as he associated him with a spy immediately. He became wary, but after thinking about it more, he found it ridiculous for such a soldier to be sent alone to spy on his humble squad.

After having long laps of conversation time, he already grasped the personality of this new soldier that he was traveling with.

According to Josh’s story, he was not a native of Mariana.

Due to the great battle of supremacy, most small countries were absorbed by other stronger countries during the chaotic period of war. His origin was from one of the countries that were destroyed and absorbed.

His parents went through and survived the great battle of supremacy, after which they became citizens of Mariana.

Though they were citizens of the same country in name, the treatment given to them was far different than the pure Marianans. That was the only reason a Captain like him could be so neglected.

To Mariana, no matter how hard he worked, they could never see him in the same light that they saw the natives. This treatment easily led to abuse, but the government hardly cared.

His parents died 7 years ago which made him take responsibility for his life at that age.

He enrolled in the army, where he got his first breakthrough during his graduation training. That was where he first realized his talent.

He thought that he was finally experiencing the good things of life. Everything seemed so as he gradually climbed the ranks of the army to his current rank of a Captain.

All these abruptly stopped though when his superior’s wife crushed on him. Being handsome was supposed to be a blessing, but in his case, it turned out to be his curse of bad luck.

That incident led to a lot of demotions which snowballed him to his current position. At this moment, he no longer had any ambitions, he just wanted to enjoy life as it was.

“I’m not doubting you, but I just want to know. What will you do if we encounter a dangerous situation?” Clark suddenly asked.

“Is that something that you should be asking? I thought you already grasped my personality; I’ll naturally help of course”.

Normally, hearing that would have sounded shady to Clark, but he knew that Josh was serious and was saying the truth.

They both engaged in idle talks to kill time as Dickson soon joined in on the fun derived from blabbering without any care of the world.

As they narrated their stories to each other, not forgetting to exaggerate their legendary moments, they finally arrived before the enormous shelter that loomed before them.

Clark already filtered information to explain their reason for coming here to Josh. He hid all the important information, but the little that was given made the cheerful soldier already understand their situation.

The 3 of them stood still as they gazed at this scene in awe.

“I guess this is what is called a typical standard shelter” Clark muttered in a dreamy tone.

Standing before them was a behemoth of a structure. The enormous shelter felt more like something created by extraterrestrials, than something created by humans.

In the last century, humans would have seen this as a miracle, but there were even better ones in the higher heights of the Himalayan peaks.

“Humanity really keeps advancing”. Dickson sighed in admiration.

“The urge to fight for resources is the only thing killing us, humans are innately greedy”. Josh added, prompting the other 2 to nod absentmindedly.

All the previous shelters that they encountered always seemed like structures that were enclosed in a small space, but this one was the exact opposite. The width of its perimeter alone was over 2 kilometers.

The massive work of architecture was built upon a bundle of protruding rocks that acted as its natural defense against predators.

Its outward appearance was designed like the castles of medieval royal families. Dozens of large settlements were built close to each other, with the largest standing proudly in the middle.

The largest settlement was over 90 feet tall, completely dwarfing the awed soldiers that were admiring it from below. The other settlements that stood around it ranged from 40 to 60 feet tall.

Apart from the settlements which the soldiers recognized as the main shelter, they could see other structures that looked like towers that were manned by soldiers.

Dozens of such towers surrounded the perimeter of the shelter. From their position, they could see the large caliber rifles that were aimed at them from above.

At the foot of the protruding rocks that held the shelter was a finely structured staircase that led upwards. At the top of the staircase stood a large gate, which probably led into the main body of the shelter.

The allied soldiers could not keep their composure in front of this behemoth at all, they all expressed their awe in different ways.

Diana’s eyes glittered like stars, unknowingly to her, she was already holding Benny’s hand in a tight grip. Anna drew closer to Dickson subconsciously, as they admired this scene together.

“Which country bumpkins are these? They’ve been standing there for 15 minutes already”. A voice suddenly sounded from one of the towers that were facing them.

“Cough…, ahem, let’s go inside”. Clark almost choked on hearing the voice as he quickly called out to his soldiers before leading them forward.

Climbing the staircase did not take much time from them, as they quickly scaled it up to the location of the gate. 2 guards that were armed to the teeth came to meet them as a thorough search began.

After making sure that they did not bring any bomb or other harmful substances that could threaten the shelter, they were finally let in.

As soon as they entered the shelter, Clark and his soldiers were even more stunned. An energy shield was activated, isolating inside the shelter from the extreme weather outside 24/7.

They felt like they were just yanked from a refrigerator before being dipped into a boiling hot water pot. The temperature difference made them moan subconsciously in pleasure, they already forgot what it meant to be warm.

“This is heaven”. Benny spoke out dreamily as he admired everything around him.

Inside the shelter was just like a small-scale city, as people of various backgrounds walked around like they were not in the dreaded Everest Mountain. The service here was superb.

“Sirs and madams, welcome to the Comfort shelter. I’m your guide”. An extremely beautiful lady suddenly greeted the soldiers, drawing them from their distraction.

“Oh, ok, lead the way”. Clark did not lose his cool this time, as he smiled and gestured for the young lady to lead them forward.

…

The lady suggested that they should go and check out the wages first, but Clark insisted that she should lead them to have a tour around the shelter. The sight was unforgettable.

The soldiers were already feeling excited. The feeling that they got from here was like they were out for a vacation, instead of a dangerous mission.

After doing a complete survey of the shelter to their satisfaction, they were finally led to the clerk building by the beautiful young female. She always had a smile on her face as she patiently answered all their queries.

“Sir, this is the clerk building”. She spoke softly as her sweet delicate voice left Clark feeling intoxicated.

After the 15-minute tour, she already recognized Clark as the leader of the squad, so she directed most of her words to him.

“Ok, thanks for the hospitality”. Clark smiled as brightly as he could before stepping into the building.

…

“What the heck? 10,000 Mountain credits for a person? This is daylight robbery!”.

The soldiers were startled on hearing their leader's voice, as they turned to look at the building before turning back to look at their beautiful guide. The lady just smiled at them in return.

Nothing was free, high quality is directly proportional to high money, this saying was true and Clark was experiencing it for the first time.

Though he was repulsed by the outrageous price, he still paid as he wanted to meet the king of demolition, and most especially because he could not bear leaving such a place of comfort after all that he had been through.

If they didn’t follow Dickson’s tyrant plan, there was no way that they would have afforded such a shitty price.

After paying, he left the building in tears. Getting outside, he wanted to direct his frustration at the female guide but seeing her brilliant smile made him restrain his impulse.

The lady led them to their settlement shortly after as they quickly settled down.

What came as a relief to them was that, unlike the other shelters that they took refuge in, every customer who came here had a settlement to himself instead of the cramped-up hall that they were used to.

After the lady left, they finally settled down in the shelter. As some of the soldiers' set up the settlement, more than half of the others left to the main hall to search for their target.

Operation find the king of demolition officially began.

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