Elric, Darwin, Floyd, and Fancis did not waste too much time preparing. They left as soon as they had everything ready for the raid.
Meanwhile, Cedric and his girlfriends were left to guard the base and their 'prisoners'. Cedric took this time to get context about the situation from the girls.
"Can you tell me what's that about? Captain didn't tell me anything," he asked.
"Well, you've seen those people, yeah?" Erica asked, to which Cedric nodded. "They're from the nearby outpost that has gone MIA; they were our initial targets when we left around a month ago."
"As it turns out, the Outpost they were stationed at was destroyed. They've been scraping by since then, and we found them and saved them from certain death. We were then tasked with cooperating with them and gathering all the intel they manage to preserve, sending it to the HQ for decryption. Because of the distance, we kept on getting delayed.
Add to that the fact that the demons are so active, and we're essentially told to stay here until further notice."
Chrissy continued from here: "We helped them out, gave them shelter, shared our limited resources with them, protected them from the siege of demons...all because we sympathize with what happened to them. However, one of them was particularly demanding. The captain put him on his place because he directly outranks him, but the fool had too much pride."
"A few days ago, we were attacked and that guy was captured. That's what we thought, but we then discovered that he actually willingly went with them; we confirmed this two days ago because we saw him working with them. He was promised a better life and security; I guess corruption got to him."
"We tried to eliminate him, but he was rescued by a pack of Demon Hyenas, probably the same ones you saw. We originally thought that he wouldn't last long because Demons are Demons. We still don't know if that person is still alive, but whether he is or not, it doesn't matter anymore."
"If he's already dead, good. That's what he deserves for selling us out," Erica spat. "If he's not, even better. At least Captain gets to personally kill him for betraying his kind."
"I see." Cedric hummed as he got busy.
This kind of situation wasn't really uncommon. After all, humanity was under too much pressure; there were bound to be some people who would try to search for an easy way out, and demons, the ever-opportunistic race that they are, would latch into that without a second thought. It's in their nature, after all.
"That means that the base is in dire need of an upgrade then," Cedric muttered as he looked around.
"Don't worry too much." Chrissy latched herself on his arms and smiled at him. "Our captain is strong, as are the boys. They could handle whatever's waiting for them out there. If they couldn't, they could always retreat."
"I know..." Cedric replied.
Even before arriving at this camp, Cedric already felt the muted fluctuations of Elric's aura. Despite hiding it, Cedric was aware that the bald captain had already reached the 1st Change Planar Traveler Stage. In fact, he's a smidge stronger than other people of the same strength level as him.
Darwin and Floyd are halfway there; they're just lacking the last push they need to make their breakthrough. As for Francis, he's also Tier 9 like the girls, but in terms of speed, he's unmatched within the team, minus Cedric, of course.
He's working on another formation; he's even creating a separate tent that would contain it.
The girls could only watch as Cedric did the workload of at least 10 people, and not just any people—10 master-level experts—all by himself, and they couldn't even interfere because things were happening way too fast.
They were struck dumb to the point that they even missed the boys' return. And similarly, the boys could only gape at the storm that Cedric was causing.
"Hey, Ced. Got a minute?" Francis, back to his usual tone, called out. The girls hissed at him, but he ignored it.
"Yeah, how's the mission, by the way?" Cedric replied without tearing his gaze away from his work.
"Handled, those stalkers won't bother us anymore," Francis replied. "But, uh, what you got right there? It's huge."
"Bathroom," Cedric replied with a shrug. "Should be usable in...well, now."
Cedric then stepped away from it, and the building flashed briefly with a faint light. He then looked at them and said,
"It's separated by genders; there's toilets and warm and cold showers too. Don't worry about the consumption or the waste; I've already made something to deal with that. Use it as much as you want."
"Ah right, if you have any equipment that's in dire need of repairs, leave them next to the forge over there. I'm a Master Smith; I can repair it for you. Knock yourselves out; I'm going to improve the tents."
After telling them this, Cedric made his way to the tents with the materials floating behind him.
Elric and the boys could only watch him in awe. They were only disrupted by the pitched squeals of the girls.
"Oh my god! Shampoos, conditioners, soaps, clean towels!" Chrissy held them all while vibrating in excitement.
"Shit! It's real! Clean and hot water! Oh my god! This is amazing! Lord, have mercy on any demons who interrupt my bath time because I wouldn't!"
The boys could only look at each other as the doors of the women's bathroom closed.
"Ah, whatever! I'll ask questions later. I'm taking a bath too. I freaking deserve it!" Francis declared as he chucked his equipment next to the forge and marched towards the men's bathroom.
The rest of the boys just shrugged and followed suit. They'd be damned if they didn't take advantage of a luxury like this.