Despite multiple calls that the old man tried to reconnect with me, I kept turning it down because I was pretty sure he asked me to just put it inside his house. I wouldn't be there to witness it but his head had definitely erupted several times like a volcano, and his immediate victims would be the ones right next to him.
But yeah, without stopping for a single time, we eventually reached our destination but I almost blew my lid when this oh-so-great Marine Base they allegedly cleared for the past two weeks was really just the Main Harbor inhabited by a good number of Oscar's— or should I say Johnny's people.
'Technically a Marine Base but— Fuck...'
While I was having an inner monologue, I just remembered that the actual Marine Base I was thinking of was on the opposite side of the Subic Bay, that would probably take a few more hours, which was something I would decide against regarding the time.
I should've figured out that something was horribly off but this was just too fucking much of a blunder on our part.
But yeah, we were just let in by Oscar himself who was with Matthew, Lois, and Olivia, and they weren't expecting the frown on my face:
"Holdup, why the long face, kid—"
"Cleared the 'Marine Base', really?"
The four looked at me like I was an idiot, "We did, numbnut. The fuck are you talking about?"
"..."
Lois followed, "Yeah, bro. We cleared it with everyone here and—"
Kaley cut in, "I'm confused too, someone needs to explain things here or I might've taken something I shouldn't have."
Furthermore, I had just arrived and I should probably just observe for the moment before being that one asshole that started barking what they should've been doing without an actual idea of their current status.
People could say I held the most power in my compound but this place's situation was a little tricky.
Granted we gave them a huge top-off from our reserves, but they shouldn't be bending over backwards in any of our whims or commands.
Furthermore, they do look thankful and respectful just from the way they were looking and speaking to Oscar and Matthew, but right now, they knew jack shit about me—and not to be that guy—aside from bringing a few civilians like Mark and Unc Zardon, I also brought several Russian soldiers, a giantess, and a bunch of cadets/trainees who hadn't even finished their training with me.
They look confused as I was when I arrived but as we were about to be introduced to this other old-timer who seemed to be running the show with them, let me give a small description about the whole she-bang:
To start off, the Subic Bay was probably an eight of the size of Manila Bay but to be completely honest, it was more beautiful and there was less garbage floating around the waters. Probably due to it being a tourist spot, the budget for maintaining its appeal to foreigners and whatnot was bigger, and then again, it was easier to clean up a much smaller area.
There were even areas further out where a huge floating bouncy castle was set up and people could safely swim on the waters without catching any diseases.
But to be fair to Manila Bay, it encompasses several cities and municipalities—even extending to a different region—and trying to make it keep up with Subic Bay would just make the government bleed out cash.
Even so, most of the blame could be the people's irresponsibility in regards to their wastes, and don't forget about the squatter areas around Manila which had the largest number of informal dwellers in the country.
That was a story for another day—and Iskoh's problem at the current moment—but going back to Subic Bay's topography, think of the place we were in, the Subic Bay Freeport Zone, as one of the three coves inside a cove which was Subic Bay.
Among the three, the Freeport Zone was the most relevant because of its commercial value and all the facilities it could offer compared to the two—which were simply resorts or campsites—which the Freeport Zone also has. Furthermore, aside from the Main Harbor we were in, a few notable facilities were a yacht club, the Subic Bay International Airport, several wharves, malls, delivery hubs, etc.
Just imagine the harbors Iskoh and I owned but put them right next to a commercial area and make the view much, much~ better.