CH 46

(It's been three days since the previous message from Oracle. The boss has been looking more tired than ever, even his morning coffee has turned to half sugar, half coffee. His pale look caused everyone here suffer from the stress coming from a mile away. The sudden outbursts also didn't help.)

"Hey! Gin! Stop doodling on your notebook and assist me out here!" A voice from overhead had shifted Gin's attention away from his daily journal.

It's been a hobby of his to record every thought he gathered from his stay in the coalition. The days seem to get more interesting when you intentionally search for something unusual to write about so now, he doesn't get as bored anymore. But his hobby has promptly gotten less attention due to an incident that happened a month ago.

'Oculus.'

An encrypted message was directly received by the Coalition one random day. He didn't just mean the boss or even the higher-ups. It was the whole fucking Coalition.

'I remember being so happy thinking that Rangiku finally texted me back.'

Imagine the whole Coalition's surprise when their covert organization gets compromised in one night. The boss himself was said to have stayed up all night trying to figure this thing out with the reconnaissance guys. The problems started from then on, no rest for the burned.

Gin was now standing over an enormous box of junk, at least he thought it was junk. Spare parts of a weapon of sorts, maybe it's from a gun? But it was too gigantic to be a gun. Gin didn't really care as long as he gets paid, so he hauled the thing along with Laslo and they delivered the stuff to the landing bay. That's where the planes are being held so these things might solely be for planes.

"Good, let's go get something to eat! I'm starving for some Wuhan noodles."

Laslo patted his large belly while drooling. His long ebony hair was tied up and didn't hide the large beads of sweat that rolled over his face. The man was someone who looks like they work out in the gym but pig out in the cafeteria. Compared to him, Gin looked a lot less eye-catching.

The two were about to get some rest when an alarm sounded off, it's the first time this alarm had activated but everyone here discerned what it was for. So it was really happening?

"Alert! Alert! Code 32 is in effect! Alert! Alert! Code 32 is in effect!"

The robotic voice had provided no relief or panic in both of the men's eyes. They've already been disciplined to handle this, so they merely needed to perform their jobs and don't get killed. They were far from the front lines anyway, so they didn't need to bother about the latter part.

The two headed straight back to the main hall where the rest of the Coalition's forces have already gathered. Over two hundred men, all professionals in their field. Half of these men are soldiers that answer directly to the Head Commander, Chu Yang. The man himself answered only to the Prime Minister so he remains the most influential and powerful person here, literally. A level 5 ranker, able to deal with half the men here by himself, he strives to show his father just how much the Coalition can bring to Cina. His father being Chu Fan, the Prime Minister.

Gin stood by the sides, not daring to gather in the middle. That spot was reserved for the higher ranking officers, most of them are level 4, needing merely to get some reputation to reach the most coveted Level 5. It seems there's a limit to most rankers and Level 5 can be classified as what most rankers will reach in their lifetimes. Though no one has actually spread information on what the requirement is, some of the higher leveled rankers theorize it's related to the color of your mana.

Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, these represent the known colors of mana that known rankers have been seen and recorded. There's information of an Indigo and Violet being higher tiers too but as of now, Blue has remained the highest tier that's been seen. The owner of that color was none other than Chu Yang, the Head Commander.

"Good! It looks like you have all taken your jobs seriously in the last few weeks. I know it's been hard. It's been hard for all of us. But that's only the start! From here on out, we will be known to all parts of Cina, all parts of the world! Level 4 rankers will get to introduce to the world what they are worth! And most, if not all of you here will obtain the requirement reputation to get to the next level, level 5!"

The men below who were looking at the boss on the stage possessed blazing eyes, eager eyes. They were people who had been blessed with the system, and they thought of themselves as special. After all, if having powers was not special, then what is?

But the world has always been a place where limits exist, if some people are special then there is someone more special than anyone else! Level 1's are better than normal people but they are not the most special, no, far from it. Level 2, level 3, level 4, these represent just the beginning. They've witnessed the power that a Level 5 has, and they crave for it. Some have already given up, knowing they'll never reach a higher rank than level 5, but that's something meant for after reaching that level, not now.

"When the night ends and the sun shines bright again, we will be the heroes of Cina! Long live the Coalition!"

Chu Yang had released his mana to envelop the whole room, all 3000 square meters of it. His mana was not dense, but its blue color had taken the men's attention, making them yearn for the day when they can have the same one for themselves.

"Long live the Coalition!"

Chu Yang bobbed his head in approval. His laborious work will finally have a place to reveal it's fruits. The fight for a place in the world for the Coalition will begin later, when the 'thing' is defeated. He couldn't help but worry though about that 'Oculus' who delivered him the information in the first place. But it is our duty to protect what we can, because that's the right thing.

"Men! Battle stations!"

"Sir! Yes, sir!"

All 207 men responded, vigor was overflowing in the room as they headed out to battle.

.....

"Sigh!"

It was only a few minutes after the fight with Eric that the Eustass couple finally calmed down. They left the kids on their own as they stayed on the living room couch, trying to make sense of it all.

"Was I too harsh?" Sally looked down on her cup of tea while worrying about her prior actions. Her feelings had made her burst out and now she was regretting uttering such a terrible thing to her former friend. Even if he was a dick.

"It's not our place to help out someone who doesn't want any help. But it is our duty to defend what we can, because that's the right thing to do." Johnathan hugged his wife from the back while he pulled her closer. He gave the woman a kiss on her temple while placing his head on her shoulder. He then whispered in a low voice.

"On top of that, we shouldn't have to watch as that man waste his time doing nothing. If he tries to be better, then we will support him, but if he doesn't even try anymore..."

"Boom!" Johnathan wasn't able to finish his statement when he felt the couch shake and the tea spilled on to Sally's shirt. The warm tea didn't scorch her, but the surprise still made her flinch.

"Eek!"

"What happened?"

Johnathan didn't mind about Sally when he saw she wasn't hurt. He headed upstairs to check on his son who was still in his room with the twins. When he perceived nothing even though they should have reacted with some kind of cry, he hurried towards the door and unlocked it without even knocking.

"Henry! Are you al-"

Nothing. The bed was neat and tidy, the toys were still on the toy chest and the TV was not even on. There was no one here and no sign of any activity going on here.

"Shit!"

Johnathan couldn't help but curse when he thought about a possibility. The kids were in danger if they did what he thought they did. He rushed down the stairs, almost tripping from his haste.

The door he left open was now creaking again, perhaps due to aftershocks from the earthquake. But if he had looked over the door and through the window on the right side of Henry's room, he would have seen a gigantic furry arm in the distance.

"Honey! The kids are not upstairs!"

"What?"

Sally, who had been wiping the tea from the couch using her shirt, had let go of the makeshift rag. She had worn another shirt and was distressed about having to clean the couch when she heard his call. She hastily went to the front yard and detects no signs of the bikes being touched. That meant the kids probably left in a hurry.

"Get in the car, they might have gone to Eric's."

"Hurry, honey!" Sally didn't wait for her husband who was still running down the stairs, she had seized the keys from the cabinet near the door and left for their car.

She flung open the driver's door and sat one the seat while already pressing on the brakes. She pressed the start button and only then did the passenger door open. She didn't even bother putting on a seat belt and merely shifted the automatic gear from 'Park' into 'Reverse' and drove backward. It was then they felt the ground shake again.

"What kind of earthquake is this?" Johnathan couldn't help but be confused as the earthquake had been going on for a little too long. It's already been a few major shakes and yet the damn earthquake was still going on.

He put on a concerned expression while looking at the direction where Eric's house would be. He was about to call out the kids when he saw they were standing in the middle of the road, standing like statues. He hurriedly tapped his wife to stop, but he was surprised because of how hard she pressed on the brakes.

"Screech. Bang. Ow!" He held on to the forehead of his that knocked on the thing above the glove box. He looked at his wife with a questioning gaze when he saw her shocked face looking up at something. He followed her gaze and finally, he witnessed it.

"What the hell is that?"

Johnathan looked at the thing floating in the air. It looked like it was floating because it was a gigantic arm covered in fur that stabbed a person with one claw at the other end. The person looked familiar, but the peculiarity of a floating gigantic arm made it hard to think. It was only when he heard the car door open that he realized Sally had abandoned the car.

"Honey!"

Johnathan saw Sally had picked up the children by their arms and forcefully pulled them back to the car. Adam though was not budging, and it held all four of them back. Johnathan removed his seat belt and hurried towards the four when he overheard a voice coming from above.

"Run! Save yourselves! Ahhh! Crunch."

The man who was stabbed by a solitary claw was crushed by the giant hand. The action produced grating sounds that caused chills to appear in everyone's body as they experienced the pain coming from it. The five of them hadn't moved an inch when they saw another thing had come out from the place where the arm was extending from, another hand.

"Oh my god!"

Sally couldn't take the thing without feeling sick, she had spat out a little liquid that consisted of tea and saliva. She subsequently jerked the still distraught Johnathan's hand who then looked at the pile of meat on the ground.

"Eric?!"

He was about to panic when he noted a hand struck him on the face. He looked at Sally whose pale face was looking at him with a determined expression. It was when he knew that he needed to go and take the kids with them.

The five moved to the car without looking back. Sally tolerated no inhibitions as she drove away from the street, all the while she was extensively using her car horn.

"Everyone, get out of here!"

Johnathan had turned to screaming as he had to leave but he didn't want the other people in the neighborhood to be left ignorant. The three kids followed his lead!

"Run for your lives!"

"Everyone, please get away!"

"You will die! Run!"

They passed through the whole street while still calling out to the others. A few houses produced no reactions, but most of them had at least a few people who went out of their houses to identify what was going on.

"Oh my god!"

The rest of the neighborhood had followed the five's lead and informed the others when they examined the floating pair of furry arms. Right now, the two arms seemed to be holding on to where they come from as if prying it open.

The five were still screaming their hearts out when an explosion appeared at the rear-view mirror of the car.

"Boom. Boom. Boom." Three massive explosions appeared near the arms and devoured it in a ball of fire. The fire had left behind a trail of smoke that made it impossible to see what happened next.

"Roar!"                           

A deep and vexed roar sounded out from where the arms were as a enormous eye was directly visible from the hole where it came from.