"I think I know how the terrorists planned the attacks".

Immediately, Major Roshfield's breath hitched as she looked at Leon. Captain Ariande also looked at him with interest as her eyes twinkled.

Leon remained confident when subjected to their gazes, then he continued. "Some time ago, my friends took a mission to stop slave trade in the Wastes and I helped them".

"During the course of the mission, one night, we all had the same dream where an Ascended assaulted us in our dreams".

"Later, I found out that Quantum Shapers have ability over dreams".

Seeing the sudden gleam in the Major's eyes, Leon smiled. "Do you realize the point I'm trying to illustrate?"

Major Roshfield's eyes narrowed. "Are you insinuating…?"

"I'm not insinuating, I'm saying that the Demon of Ozempic have been on a missionary job in your city without your knowledge, preaching in people's dreams and proliferating his ideas to citizens in this city".

Major Roshfield opened her mouth to talk, but again Leon rudely interrupted her as he continued.

"I'm not just speculating," he maintained his smile. "I'm speaking based on facts that I just pieced together and certain evidence".

"Why did the Demon of Ozempic not attack immediately after Compton District's massacre if he truly had the ability?"

"Why did he have to wait for 5 days?"

"I believe it's because of the need to quietly preach and proliferate his extreme religion," Leon's eyes narrowed. "From what I currently know, the Demon of Ozempic is not stupid. He's a smart and calculating bastard".

"With how smart he's proven to be, I have every right to overestimate his intelligence. I believe that one way or another, he already predicted exactly how the military would react to his threats".

"Attacking when tens of thousands of soldiers and military transports are deployed around the city is suicide, so using civilians is his counter for this".

"It's also a psychological attack to keep the city in bondage, proving to the civilians that the army cannot save them".

"And before you say I'm just speculating," Leon's black eyes gleamed. "Everything I just said is based on the fact that you still don't know how the civilians were converted, and because I believe I know something that even you don't". He said while looking the Major in the eye.

"And what is that?" Major Roshfield asked.

"I have reasons to believe that the Demon of Ozempic is a Quantum Shaper".

"…"

Major Roshfield let the silence reign for a few seconds as she stared at Leon. "Your logic is sound and all, but where did you get your information from?"

Leon shrugged. "My friends".

"If I may ask, how did your friends get this information?"

"My friends are agents of the Freegid Collective".

"…"

Instantly, the atmosphere in this arena changed, becoming charged with static electricity as the 8 other soldiers, including Lieutenant Johnmark turned and looked at Leon with a hint of wariness.

Unlike with the Omnicore Federation, the Geneforge Clans were not enemies with the Freegrid Collective but they weren't friends either.

Considering that this was also a big faction like theirs, to hear that an Ascended now at the heart of one of their Megabases had ties to the Freegrid Collective left them feeling wary.

What if he was a spy?

While they had these thoughts though, Major Roshfield had another thought entirely as her eyes gleamed. 'The Freegrid Collective?'

This cleared all doubts that she had about Leon's information.

The Freegrid Collective had a reputation, and that was their ability to gather information. Afterall, even if it was arguable that they didn't have the best NetRunners in the world, they definitely had the best hackers in the world.

Heck, the 'Glitch' was their leader.

If this information came from the Freegrid Collective, then it was understandable that Leon knew something that even the Gene Army didn't know.

More importantly though, it meant that there was a 90% chance that everything that Leon just said was true.

Major Roshfield took a deep breath to calm herself down, then she asked. "How sure are you that your friends were not lying?"

"I'm 100% sure". Leon declared confidently.

His confidence was not just because Daren was the one who told him this information, it was because according to Daren, the person that told them this piece of news was a General of the Freegrid Collective, a D Rank NetRunner.

Leon would rather believe a D Rank NetRunner than believe even himself.

The moment she got his confirmation, Major Roshfield's brown eyes narrowed as a multitude of thoughts raged in her mind.

After a few dozen seconds of thinking, she looked at Captain Ariande and ordered in a serious voice. "Verify this information".

"Yes Major". The silver-haired NetRunner instantly turned around and approached the Tactical Briefing Room where she found a computer to work with.

As soon as Ariande left, Major Roshfield looked at Leon and the look on her face turned a bit complicated.

On one hand, this bastard undermined her authority just a few minutes ago and on the other hand, he just did this.

In the end, she let go of her pride and said. "Thank you. If what you said is true, then you just rendered a great help to the army".

Leon nodded seriously. "I just want the terrorists to be dealt with".

Major Roshfield stayed calm as she nodded. "Don't worry, your intentions align with mine".

About 2 minutes later, Captain Ariande returned and looked straight at the Major.

"And?" Major Roshfield asked.

"There's no direct information to support it but once I cross-referenced it with the style of the Demon of Ozempic and certain evidence from his live videos, I believe there's a 75% chance that he's correct".

Major Roshfield calmly took in this information and looked at Leon again, then she took a deep breath. "Thank you". She said again before gesturing with her face towards the Recovery Bay.

"Go to the Recovery Bay and get treatment for your wounds. When you come back, the training will officially commence".

Leon immediately grinned. "Thank you Major".

With that, he swaggered off towards the Recovery Bay as Lieutenant Johnmark followed him.

Captain Ariande watched him leave with a peculiar gleam of amusement in her azure eyes. As he left, Major Roshfield also excused herself and left.

Once they were far away from the others, Lieutenant Johnmark whispered into Leon's eyes. "Don't try that stunt again, you almost gave me a heart attack!"

Leon chuckled and looked at him. "Which stunt?"

"You know what I'm talking about!" Lieutenant Johnmark hissed, then he sighed. "She looks easygoing but she's the most dangerous Ascended that I've ever seen fight, don't provoke her next time".

Leon shrugged. "I didn't want to provoke her, I just needed to make sure that my point got across to her".

…

Inside a massive but laidback office in Megabase 023, the name of the office's owner was written on the door surface.

[Major Roshfield]

The Major pushed the door open and entered before slamming it shut behind her, and instantly she began pacing up and down the office.

"Lucian is a Quantum Shaper? How?" Her brown eyes were dark and filled with confusion. "How did he manage to hide it for so long?"

"I always thought he was a Gene Augur".

She paused in front of her glass table, anxiously tapping its surface repeatedly with her finger. "If he's a Quantum Shaper, then how is his vitality so strong like an E Rank Gene Augur?"

More than that, she had even graver concerns. "How did he become a Quantum Shaper?"

Like any powerhouse in the world, she knew that the only road to being a Quantum Shaper laid in the secret labs of the Omnicore Federation.

Unlike other major factions, the Federation didn't just own the knowledge to becoming a Quantum Shaper, they monopolized it.

Did that mean Lucian had ties to the Federation?

Her eyes darkened even further. 'Is the Omnicore Federation secretly funding and supporting the Extremist Movement?'

If this was true, then this was a truth with far more political ramifications and world implications than she alone was able to shoulder.

If this was true, the Colonel had to know. Not just the Colonel, Verdanthold had to know too.

She cursed. "Those goddamn A.Is!"

Leon's revelation also made her realize something else, and that was the helplessness of the Gene Army in the face of what was happening.

Before now, she still believed that it was the help of some technology that she didn't know of that Lucian managed to orchestrate the suicide attacks, but if it was not technology and it was through dreams, how exactly was she supposed to fight an enemy that moves through dreams?

In all her decades of service as a soldier of the Gene Army, she had never faced a situation where she had to confront dreams before.

'How do I even begin to approach this?' She scowled.

In the end, she left the worries to her superior. She went to the side of her desk and picked the encrypted smartphone there before dialing a number.

Ring! Ring!

[Outgoing call to Colonel Bam-Bam…]

The call rang for a few seconds, then it was answered.

Click!

"Roshfield". A slightly aged voice called from the other end. "It's already late, what's so important that you had to call me this night?"

"Colonel, I've found new evidence that Lucian is a Quantum Shaper". She went straight to the point. "I believe that's how he's able to turn civilians into extremists, he's proliferating through their dreams!"

Her face turned cold. "In hindsight, I believe not all the civilians accepted his preaching. He likely murdered all civilians who didn't accept his views".

"I'll have to personally investigate peculiar murder cases across the past 5 days to confirm this".

The Colonel stayed quiet for a few seconds on the other side, then he asked. "Does that mean Agakin is correct?"

"That the Federation is planning something?" Roshfield was agitated. "I don't know about that yet, but if Lucian is really proliferating through dreams, then there's a 100% chance that more suicide bombings will take place tomorrow".

"Colonel, we need to crack down on them now! We need to mobilize our full force and eradicate the terrorists before the casualties become too high!"

"And expose ourselves to a potential Federation attack in the process?" The Colonel's voice chilled a few degrees, then he added. "For now, we stay calm".

"And let innocent civilians die?"

"If that's what we have to sacrifice, then yes". The Colonel said. "Focus on molding that squad of yours, equip them to complete the mission".

"I want no mistakes".

Major Roshfield hesitated for a few seconds, then she saluted. "Yes Colonel!"

Click!

The call ended and she sat down weakly on her office chair.

When Leon confronted and accused her, she took it so hard because she knew that he was right.

Of course, she was also right when she told him that as a Commander she had many things she was thinking of and could not afford to take decisions recklessly, but the potential casualty list at the end of this whole terrorism still left her biting her lips in anger.

But still, she steeled her heart and accepted the Colonel's order.

'We can't afford to rush this,' she thought. 'The only thing I can do is to drill this squad to perfection to complete the mission with no mishaps'.

'That's the only way to avenge those who will inevitably die'.

She leaned back on her office chair, rocking it slightly in a rhythmic manner, then she muttered. "This is the price of war".

…

When Leon returned from the Recovery Bay, he finally did his own introduction and after Captain Ariande took over as she revealed the training timetable that the Major already drew for them.

Immediately after, training began; training didn't just encompass sparring.

Riding on information that they already had on the Extremist Movement, Major Roshfield designed a timetable to fully utilize the 2 training spaces in this facility- the combat arena and the Advanced Battle Simulation Room.

They were to spar and fight to get used to each other's combat styles and abilities, then they'll fight against scenarios in the simulation room to further improve teamwork against the Extremist Faction.

For the next few days, this was going to be their schedule every night.

And tonight, it started.

…

8 hours later, after dozens of fights against opponents that finally broke his 100% winning streak, the first training session finally came to an end.

DING!

~----~

[You have gained +203 Ascended Essence!]

[Ascended Counter: 1004/2000]

~----~

Sitting in the recovery bay while looking at his System's HUD screen, Leon realized something else that he overlooked previously.

'Fighting against these caliber of opponents every night, by the end of this training, my Ascended Counter will be full!'

His black eyes gleamed. '2 birds to kill 1 stone'. He scratched his hair. 'Uh, is it 2 stones to kill 1 bird?'

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