Following the woman, the crew quickly climbed the upper floors.

"Boss, how did you manage to spot her? The place was full of people, yet you noticed her almost instantly." Richard asked.

Michael shrugged. "I have good eyesight."

There was no need to disclose that he had Perfect Vision that aided him in times like these.

Soon enough the squad entered the woman's office.

"First and foremost, thank you for coming all this way. If my younger sister has bothered to send you the envelope, then it means something dire is happening." The woman said, crossing one leg over the other.

"You may call me Livia." She added a second later.

Michael didn't waste time going into detail about the AIs going rogue, kidnapping humans, and bringing them to underground labs for experimentation.

"Just my luck…" Livia mumbled in dejection.

"Truthfully, I was put in charge of investigating the disappearances happening not just in the capital, but across Venus as a whole. Numerous reports came through my hands, and some of them mentioned things similar to what you're claiming…"

She sighed.

"But with no concrete proof, it wasn't possible to take action."

Ava arched an eyebrow. "But now you have a legitimate reason to do something about it, right?"

Livia's eyes darkened. "Sadly, things don't work that way."

She leaned back in her chair. "The androids… No, AIs have been used on a mass scale by humanity for a very long time. If we were to announce they were responsible for the kidnappings, there would be public unrest and chaos. Something like this happening in a city with half a billion people would be catastrophic."

"But you can at least take measures to limit situations where a human and AI are left alone. Also, you could form teams to investigate beneath the city, as we believe the main lab is somewhere here." Victoria reasoned.

Before Livia could respond, a soft knock echoed on the door.

"!!!"

Instantly the crew began to feel immense pressure.

"It should be better to let him explain." Livia figured, allowing the newcomer to enter.

Obeying, a man with long green hair and violet eyes entered. His face was perfectly sculpted, with not a single flaw visible on his skin.

Michael's eyes narrowed as he sized him up. 'A Lord, one pretty good at hiding his presence. No wonder none of us sensed him.'

"Before you jump to conclusions, this isn't some kind of ambush." Livia reassured. "This person… Think of him as my right-hand man. I judged him worthy of being present in the discussion."

"A Lord obeying a mortal?" Ava mumbled quietly in surprise.

Thanks to his enhanced senses, the Lord heard her clearly.

"Is it so strange?" The man chuckled warmly, unbecoming of the threatening power his body was emitting.

"Not everybody lets power go into their head. Just because I am powerful doesn't mean I think I am worthy to rule. It's simply too much headache, so I let Livia handle it." The Lord said.

"Oh, forgive my arrogance." He extended his arm for a handshake.

"Robert is the name."

'Seems reasonable enough.' Michael concluded, not sensing any ill intent.

"Now to explain why sending teams to search underground will be hard." Robert exclaimed, shamelessly having eavesdropped on part of their conversation.

"I reckon you remember passing next to a lava lake towards here?"

Richard smiled menacingly. "Yes, we did. We also sensed something hiding in its depths. Though we weren't sure what."

Robert's eyes widened in surprise as he revalued the team. "You sensed it? Now that is impressive! Perhaps if we had more troops with your capabilities, we wouldn't be in such a situation."

He shook his head in dejection.

"Sadly, that's the problem. There are aliens living in the depths of the lake. And not just the easily killable ones, you see... We're certain there's at least one Monarch down there, if not more."

"..."

Instantly the crew was rendered silent.

"Excuse me?" Ava's face paled.

"At least one? So the existence of one is confirmed, and there may be more to come?"

Robert nodded somberly.

"That… That is preposterous!" Victoria bellowed. "Why haven't you contacted a King or a Queen to deal with them?! Don't tell me something as ridiculous as the Lords here thinking they can handle it on their own. You do know about the massacre that happened on Neptune not too long ago, right?"

Her reaction was understandable; she had yet to come to terms with how many soldiers had perished in that battle. On top of that, she was reminded of the lie she had told her grandfather to protect Michael.

"Of course we know about it." Robert sighed. "The thing is, we can't contact anybody for help. The situation at the breached asteroid belt appears to be truly dire, with rumors of even Titans showing up."

A grimace formed on Michael's face.

"So essentially, due to the lack of external help, Magmorious is focusing all of its manpower to monitor the lake, resulting in the lack of troops to investigate the tunnels underneath?"

Livia, who had remained quiet until now, nodded. "You caught on quickly. If what you say about the rogue AIs is true, then they really appeared at the worst time. We can't risk diverting our troops from the lake, lest we invite death knocking at our doorstep."

After a brief pause, she added, "The most we can do is rely on semi-independent soldiers like yourself to help us clean up this mess. Of course, I will do everything in my power to assist and spread the word, but don't get your hopes up. Most in my position are panicking about the lake, so they'll keep the truth about the disappearances under wraps."

'This isn't what I expected…' Michael thought. 'Scouting the capital with just us will take forever.'

While he was busy coming up with a plan of action, Robert spoke up.

"Actually, I have an idea."

Livia's eyes narrowed. "You… having an idea? I shudder at the thought… Regardless, tell us what you think."

Strangely enough, Robert didn't seem offended by the tone of the mortal woman, chuckling instead.

"The thing is, while most of us are stationed near the lava lake, a small fraction of us are here to protect the politicians in case something happens."

Robert gave Livia a charming wink before turning to Michael, recognizing him as the squad's leader.

"So, as long as my employer is willing… I should be able to join you in your endeavor."

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