Chapter 46 Possible Lead

Chapter 46 Possible Lead

It's ten o'clock in the evening and darkness enveloped the City of Makati. There was no light aside from the headlights of the military vehicles roaming on the streets. It's been twelve hours since Operation Reclamation started and it's nearing its completion.

He opened his system and checked his status.

[User: Richard Gonzales

Health: 100/100

Age: 21

Level: 22

Experience points: 1,240,095/1,609,877

Skills: Weapon Proficiency Level 2, Melee Proficiency Level 2, Driving Proficiency Level 2. Tactics Mastery Level 1.

New Skills Available:

Available Skill Points: 1

Summoned Troops: 415/850

Current gold balance: 22,270,000 gold coins]

Total zombies killed: 5,789

Total survivors rescued: 412

Total gold coins received. 578,900 + 2,060,000 = 2,638,900

Current gold balance: 23,560,000 gold coins] n-)o.(v))e-/l((b--I(-n

A satisfied smile spread across Richard's lips after seeing the improvement in his status. With the reclamation operation completion within reach, he would be able to expand his base and add more troops and military hardware. He can't wait to spend the bulk of his money on defense, especially after hearing the threatening words of Andrea Mcdonie that her master will come and save her.

About that, he wondered how powerful her master was. Powerful enough not to be damaged by conventional weapons? He doesn't know. He'll only find out about it when he meets him face to face, though he wouldn't want that to happen literally. The reason? Well, he is just an average human that can summon troops and weapons. If her master is capable of doing magic, he is toast.

Ten minutes later, Sara raised a hand and flickered her fingers. "Sir Richard! The Operation Reclamation is completed!"

Richard walked over to Sara's station and saw that the display screen of her monitor was all green, indicating that the square kilometer grid was now free of zombies.

He reached over to his radio strapped to his chest and spoke. "All stations, this is Blackwatch Actual. I am seeing great news from the command center. I told you this will be finished within a day. Now you can rest on your laurels for today, tomorrow we'll start cleaning up the mess."

After saying that to his soldiers, Richard closed the radio channel and turned to Sara with a smile of satisfaction. "Great job, Sara. Now, as for our girl, Andrea Mcdonie. What do we know about her events in China?"

"Well this is the footage that I was able to pick up," Sara said, opening a video file. It's a two-hour-long livestream from one of the attendees of the fan meeting showing Andrea signing posters, taking photos with fans, and answering questions from the audience. The atmosphere seemed festive, and Andrea appeared to be in good spirits.

Richard watched the video attentively, studying Andrea's interactions and trying to glean any clues about her. Sara fast-forwarded the video to a part where something struck as suspicious to her.

"In one hour and twenty minutes, there was this man who approached Andrea. The boy has a thin build, wearing a black hoodie with the hood up, and his face is mostly obscured. As they were shaking their hands, this happened."

Richard's eyes narrowed as he observed the footage. The way the man shook Andrea's hand and enveloped it with his left hand. He didn't find anything suspicious so he turned to Sara.

"What am I looking at here specifically?" Richard asked.

Sara zoomed over to the hand of the mysterious man and Andrea, enhancing the video further. As the image became clearer, Richard noticed something unusual. A faint, crimson glow appeared under the man's hand as he clasped Andrea's.

"What the—" Richard uttered.

"Yes—that red glow is unnatural. Zooming out, we didn't see any kind of lighting in the man's left or right hand. It's possible that this man is the one responsible as to why Andrea turned out to be whatever she is right now."

"Hmm..." Richard hummed aloud as he contemplated. "Could it be some sort of lighting issue? Something from the camera?"

Sara shook her head. "This is not any kind of manipulation sir. The footage is genuine, and I have ruled out technical glitches. This is something unique to that moment, and it's consistent with the idea that the man transferred something to Andrea during their interaction."

Richard's thoughts raced as he considered the implications of the mysterious red glow. "We need to identify this man and find out more about him."

"We have a problem on that part, sir," Sara confessed. "You see, after seeing this footage, I ran through multiple streaming accounts and CCTV cameras to follow the movement of this mysterious man—"

Sara explained as she pressed multiple keys and showed Richard multiple video footage of the fan meeting event.

"The man didn't even enter the main entrance, nor left from it. It was as if he disappeared within," Sara said.

"How about emergency exits or any other access points?" Richard inquired.

"I have also checked on that too, sir. No sighting of him," Sara said.

"Okay, pull up the video footage of the man in full screen and see where he went."

Sara complied and put the specific footage into full screen. There, they saw the man entering a room.

"He entered that room two minutes after shaking hands with Andrea. And stayed there for almost indefinitely. He didn't leave even after the event ended."

"Is there a camera inside that room?"

"There is none," Sara answered.

"Hmm...the man is cautious. He knew every camera angle and blind spot. It's as if he anticipated being watched," Richard mused, his expression growing more serious. "If he has an ability, it's common sense to hide it from the public."

"You are correct sir," Sara agreed.

"Well, at least we have learned something about this apocalypse. One is that there is a man responsible for turning someone into a mutant. Heck, he might even be our patient zero."

"I'm going to keep looking, sir. I will report to you immediately once I find out anything new," Sara assured him.

"That'll be appreciated. For now, it's time that we go eat and rest. It's been a long day. Tomorrow we'll have a fresh start."

"Yes sir."