After a night of acquainting himself with new teammates, provoking a Major and having his ass beaten, and sparring non-stop, despite the fact that all his injuries were healed in the recovery bay, mentally, Leon was still spent.

Despite his exhaustion though, immediately after the military stealth transport dropped him in Compton District around 5:20am, the first thing that entered his mind was going to the hospital.

Before that, since he was no longer in the Megabase where his smartphone was previously restricted and switched off as a security measure, he first switched on the smartphone.

The moment the smartphone came on, Davis addressed him.

DING!

"Welcome master! I missed you!"

Seeing the enthusiasm of the A.I, Leon's lips twitched.

"Master, did you miss me?"

"…"

Before he could reply, the A.I displayed a holographic projection of an unread message from his smartphone.

[NEW! Unread Message from Sergeant Tyla]

Seeing the sender, Leon's heart constricted slightly as he quickly looked at the contents of the message.

It was short and concise.

["The surgery is complete, Daren survived."]

"F*ck!" Leon cursed, feeling indignant. "Why couldn't she use less ominous words like 'he's fine' or 'he's well', why use survival?" He grumbled.

Despite his grumbling though, he felt a sense of relief as the news instantly put a big smile on his face. And then he began thinking of what to buy to congratulate his friend for coming back to life.

'It's not easy to survive such an explosion, heh, I should reward him'.

The first thought that came to his mind reminded him of Lieutenant Jones, the first Cyber Gladiator to willingly break down and explain the abilities of an E Rank Cyber Gladiator to him.

Then he thought of the significance of the next few days.

He already told the Major his thoughts, what happened next was on her. He wasn't sure exactly what steps the army would take, but no matter what happened, Leon was pretty sure that the next few days would be chaotic.

No matter what happens, Leviathan Quay will burn.

And since Daren would most likely still be weak through this period, he thought of getting a gift for his friend that could protect him.

The moment he settled this dilemma, he got several ideas.

In the end, after sifting through all the ideas in his mind, he settled on just 2. 'I'll get him one of my R9 energy shields and a grenade'.

'1 grenade will not do, maybe 3 or 5'.

'I can mix it up too,' he thought. '2 smoke grenades for stealth, 1 flashbang grenade, 1 incendiary grenade, 1 fragmentation grenade, and maybe 1 blast grenade too'.

'That's already 6'. He smiled, but then he suddenly got another idea. 'From what Jones described, Pad Boosters will boost a Cyber Gladiator's combat ability far more than the boost I'll get'.

'I should get him a few Pad Boosters too'.

That settled it.

Instead of going straight to the hospital, he went to his caravan first where he still had a few stash of all the gifts that he had in mind.

…

[06:02am]

Leon was led to the hospital ward where Daren was.

The moment his condition was confirmed to no longer be critical, he was moved from the room where he previously was to a public ward where multiple patients stayed.

This was to keep the isolated hospital rooms for more emergency cases that needed specialized care and attention.

The moment Leon opened the door of the ward, he saw his friend.

Daren was in a bed at the far North end of the ward close to a window. At first, he was looking outside the window but then he turned his gaze and looked at the lady who sat on a chair beside his bed who was now fast asleep, Sergeant Tyla.

He had a complicated look on his face.

Seeing this, Leon smirked and held the box on his hand properly before walking over. When he got close, Daren looked over and saw him.

Leon grinned and winked at his friend before gesturing at the sleeping Sergeant. "Heh, it's not easy to meet women who'll go to such lengths for you in your weak state, have you fallen in love?"

Daren scoffed. "I dare not steal Thomas Riley's girlfriend".

"Eh?" Leon was stunned.

Seeing the frozen expression on his face, Daren laughed.

Hearing his friend laugh, though Leon wanted to press his neck and make him explain what he meant by that, he laughed because Daren laughing meant that his life was no longer in danger.

In that moment, he felt like a big burden finally left his heart.

Their laughing made Sergeant Tyla finally open her eyes. She sat on a chair just beside Daren's bed, and that was where she watched him all night after the surgery while Daren was still in a coma.

Only in the early hours of the morning did she sleep. And somewhere in between, Daren woke up.

When she saw Leon, she yawned. "You're finally back".

With that, she stood up and glared at Daren. "You better take care of yourself next time, stop making grown men feel worried".

Daren froze. 'What did I do?'

Leon laughed. "What she meant to say is that she's glad to see you alive".

Daren looked at him. "Did you think I would die?" He scoffed. "That explosion is far too weak to threaten a chad like me?"

"If I died due to something trivial like that, what would all the girls think?" He scowled like Leon thinking he could die was an insult.

Leon whistled in a proud manner. "I think I'm having some influence on you, damn, am I leaving a legacy already?"

He laughed and lamented. "I really wished you died man. I heard the custom in Leviathan Quay when people die is to throw big burial ceremonies where there are lots of people, and FOOD!" His tone rose at the end for emphasis.

"Free food man, do you know what that means? At least I would be mourning with a full stomach".

Daren glared at him. "What a dry joke".

Leon laughed.

While the 2 friends bickered, Sergeant Tyla quickly arranged her things as she stood up and patted Leon on the shoulder. "I need to go take care of a few things in my base".

"I'll buy you your drink later". Leon promised, then she left.

After that, the 2 friends were left alone and Daren finally asked exactly what happened after he went unconscious.

Leon recounted the full story of what happened yesterday, after that he finally presented the gift that he brought with him.

Daren opened the box and when he saw its contents, he froze. "My man!" He grinned and extended his hand for a handshake with Leon.

PA!

After they shook hands, Daren quickly got acquainted with his new gadgets as Leon told him how important self-preservation was in the coming days. He revealed some of his thoughts and conjectures to his friend.

After that, Daren looked at him and finally asked. "Where did you go?"

"I have a mission that I'll be going for every night". He said in a low voice that only his friend could hear.

Daren looked at him quietly for a few seconds, then he asked. "Is it confidential?"

"Yes". Leon nodded.

Daren hesitated, then he said. "Thanks," he looked around at the other patients around him with no family, friend, or relative staying with them. "Thanks for everything, really".

"Stop it man, that's gay".

Daren chuckled then he looked at Leon. "I know that you have a lot of things to do, there's no need staying here to babysit an old man like me. I'm not a baby, I can take care of myself".

"Don't worry, at least you already gave me things to protect myself". He looked Leon in the eye. "Go and do what you have to do".

Leon didn't answer immediately as he looked into his friend's eyes and instinctively, they understood each other.

After the yesterday's events, both of them were united in their smoldering hate for the Extremist Movement and their desire to eradicate all of them.

If he was not weak and hospitalized, Daren would have already left the hospital to participate in the war against the terrorists in his own way.

Leon bumped his knuckle with Daren's, then he stood up and turned to leave.

"I'll make them pay". He muttered, then he left.

…

Leon didn't go to his hotel room, he went straight to his caravan instead having bathed already in the Geneforge Megabase.

Inside the caravan, he stared at his work table that was littered with different materials, then shifted his gaze to the corner where he kept his finished goods, and finally he stared at the towering 10-feet tall incomplete robot.

Leon took a deep breath and rolled his sleeves up before walking towards the robot, then his ADE stirred.

Construction!

Work continued.

…

For the next 2 days, the terrorists stayed consistent in their approach as they never showed themselves yet Leviathan Quay was rattled.

More suicide bombings took place around the city.

After the first series of suicide bombings on the 8th, the army changed their approach, sending soldiers undercover as sleeper agents in different places in the city where there are large populations to intercept the terrorists.

The result of this approach was mixed.

Most of the suicide bombings still took place despite these measures, but the sleeper soldiers managed to stop a few terrorist attacks.

On the afternoon of 9th July, the first suicide-bombing civilian-turned-terrorist was captured by the military.

Due to the media pressure and the pressure from panicking civilians, the Gene Army was forced to make the interrogation public.

But despite the threat of death and despite his family crying outside his interrogation room, the middle-aged civilian who was once a cab driver showed no remorse as he glared at the soldiers in front of him.

"Our City has no place for sinners!" He declared zealously.

"Our City has no place for heretics, our City has no place for Synths and A.I Constructs!"

"It is God's mandate to eradicate the sinners!"

"Death to all sinners!"

"Gud er større!"

"Gud er større!"

The soldier interrogating him leaned forward. "Sir, what of your wife and your children outside? Don't you care about them? Don't you care about what they think concerning your actions?"

The middle-aged man laughed. "I don't need their praise now, I'm doing this for them!" He declared confidently and with religious zeal. "Later, they'll appreciate the significance of what I'm doing".

"I'm doing this to create a conducive city for my children to grow up in and become responsible children of the divine blueprint!" He extoled.

"KILL THEM ALL!" He roared.

The interrogation on live TV didn't assuage the fear and panic of the civilians, instead it heightened the panic even more.

More protests erupted around the city as civilians urged the army to take comprehensive action and eradicate the terrorists.

Major roads and air pathways were blocked by rioting civilians.

During one of the protests, another suicide bomber took action, wiping out over 300 people in the attack!

Leviathan Quay was rattled.

In another one of the protests, not knowing who was enemy or ally, the paranoid civilians lost their heads, engaging in a large-scale brawl that took over 20 lives and left dozens more injured.

While all these happened, Major Roshfield repeatedly made appearances on live TV representing the Gene Army as she made speeches to reassure the civilians but unlike the first time, it no longer worked.

The civilians no longer wanted speeches, they wanted action.

The city was turning more chaotic every hour like a volcano climbing to eruption, and then on Thursday morning, 10th July, around 10am, Major Roshfield declared on live TV that Leviathan Quay was now in a state of martial law!

The declaration was effective immediately.

Timing it to perfection, just 10 minutes after the city entered a state of martial law, the Demon of Ozempic started another live video!

...

[Thanks Jacee200 for the Golden Tickets, dannyboy9311 too. I appreciate the support.]

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