Upon the appearance of the Grandmaster, whispers began to spread.

"Alice? Isn't she a part of the Bloody Rose faction?"

Michael frowned when he heard the news. With Bloody Rose being a female-only faction, it was common for their members to display hostility towards men.

'Not that I blame them since most of them have unresolved trauma.'

"Since this will be your first mission on Neptune, it's mandatory that you follow my orders to a tee." Alice said, observing the soldier before her.

"Fortunately, the rules are simple enough. Don't disturb the cargo, don't go outside of the train unless you are told otherwise. And always be ready for the alerts. Orange alert means that a threat is up ahead. Red alert means that only Masters have permission to go out and face the aliens outside… And if it's black, lock yourself in your rooms and pray."

The spines of the soldiers turned cold. For Grandmaster to say such words, they could only wonder what horrors were waiting hidden in Neptune.

With the formalities over, Alice began to bark orders, splitting the soldiers into teams and assigning a specific part of the train to them.

Cho! Cho!

It didn't take long for the metal fortress to begin moving. Rather than speeding off like a spaceship, it took several minutes to pick up speed. Once outside of the protective barrier of Azura City, its form blurred, its speed accelerating.

Thanks to the supreme design of the train, the passengers didn't feel like they were moving even with the strong winds outside.

"This is relaxing." Michael mused, staring out the window.

The powerful storms that raged outside looked dreadful even when gazing past the protective veil of the train. Due to the harmful nature of the planet, it was rare for mechas to soar in the skies.

Only the most skillful riders could operate the complicated machinery in such deadly climates.

"Now that I think about it. What are we even transporting?" Enzo mumbled. Each city was self-sufficient, so he wasn't able to think of a resource a settlement could be lacking.

"Flesh." Michael answered nonchalantly. "More precisely, alien meat. Since eating their meat for the first time raises your attributes randomly, they want to redistribute it to the weaker bases to raise their overall prowess."

Naturally this was a costly process, and normally each city would demand payment for the meat. Few would prefer to sell the meat rather than save it for themselves.

But with the intensifying alien efforts to conquer the planet, most rules were thrown out the window. The small cities acted as rest points between the major settlements, and losing them would be catastrophic.

'If a city gets isolated from the outside, it will be only a matter of time until it fails.' Michael recalled unpleasant memories with a grim look.

Not paying attention to his leader, Enzo's eyes began to sparkle. He was debating if sneaking in and taking a bite out of the cargo was worth it.

"Don't even think about it." Amelia instantly shut down his plan.

"Reconsider! Even a few bites will help us become stronger!" He tried to change her mind.

Thud!

Still in the middle of their argument, they were almost swept off their feet. The train passed over some kind of bump, almost leading it off the tracks.

"What?" The soldiers were surprised that such fortress could almost fall off from the rails.

Before they could find Alice and ask what was happening, the lights turned orange; an enemy was coming.

"Enemies spotted! Prepare to engage!" Alice's voice commanded.

At the same time, the turrets turned to the side, unleashing hellfire towards the east.

If there were foes waiting next to the rails, they needed to be dealt with. The soldiers here were capable of handling themselves, but if they left these aliens alone, the next train could be caught unprepared and destroyed.

Coming to a halt, several generators peeked out of the vehicle. In the span of a few seconds they turned red, as they released a great amount of white smoke.

With the soldiers fighting outside, it was crucial to ensure that the surroundings weren't freezing.

While there were races of aliens that could operate beyond freezing temperatures, the same couldn't be said about most of the soldiers.

Exiting in a timely manner, Michael summoned Devil's Tongue, getting ready for battle.

'It has been a long time since you called me. Wait, are we on a new planet? Whatever! Just make sure to feed me a lot of souls!' The soul weapon demanded.

"Finally I will test my new technique!" Enzo began to jump from joy. He had been waiting for this moment for a long time. His skin started to harden as he activated his new technique.

A slow smirk appeared on Amelia's face, her body beginning to give off a threatening amount of electricity.

Leo, Ava, and Victoria also got ready for battle.

"After the alert was sounded, it took them less than a minute to prepare." Alice mumbled.

Since the alert was orange, it meant that the most powerful aliens were going to be of the Elite tier. As such, she was going to refrain from entering the fray, both to save her strength if something more dire appeared and to observe how well her troops were trained.

The heating generators forced the cold storms to withdraw, creating a 50-meter diameter on which the humans had clear vision.

Just when the humans got into a combat-ready stance, the first alien appeared over the horizon.

Michael recognized them instantly. These aliens were just like the first Elite he had encountered in this life. The one he and Ava had fought when they entered the geyser to help Victoria.

'Back then we were cautious and ganged up on it. I wonder if we will have an easier time dealing with them now?' Michael mused, throwing a glance to Victoria.

To his surprise her cheeks had turned rosy. It didn't take him long to guess why: she was remembering how after beating the Elite, a slime shot had dissolved her clothes, stripping her naked in front of him.

"This is the time to pay for this humiliation!" She roared, her eyes sharpening like a fearless lioness before pouncing forward.

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