19th July, Year 714 A.G.

One week later, Leviathan Quay finally seemed ready to let go of the immense dark shadow that was the events of 11th July, the day that was now known as the black day of Leviathan Quay.

Only after the Federation Army retreated did detailed news of what happened in Leviathan Quay flooded the psionic network.

And for the past week, terms like '#Leviathan Quay', '#Federation Army', '#Invasion', '#Lord Zolkan', and '#Thomas Riley' trended on the psionic network.

Somehow, even during the chaos of that moment, NetRunners still managed to hack CCTV cameras to fish out detailed footage showing how the core of the Extremist Movement were eradicated.

And in that footage, Thomas Riley was the star of the show.

When the whole world watched Thomas Riley, the famous Mechanist take on 5 E Rank terrorists and kill them in such dominating fashion without suffering a single injury, the fame of the Mechanist exploded and rose to entirely new heights.

Thomas Riley was no longer a local Leviathan Quay celebrity, his fame became global as the attention brought to Leviathan Quay by the invasion war made him part of the center of attention, catapulting his fame.

For the past week, even as Leviathan Quay focused on recovering from the events of that day, Leon endured the life of a celebrity for the first time as online messages from people across the world flooded his smartphone.

During this time, the tens of thousands of corpses and Neon Beast carcasses were cleaned out of the city.

Large-scale funerals were conducted across the city as those who died were laid to rest.

It was a somber week in the once vibrant city.

Almost 70% of the city was destroyed as a result of the dual invasion, and all 6 Megabases of the Gene Army in Leviathan Quay suffered damage of varying degree in the aftermath.

The hospitals were flooded with the wounded as doctors had their hands full, but the Geneforge Clans were experts when it came to medical services.

With help from the other 2 Geneforge Cities, Leviathan Quay slowly recovered.

Immediately after the disaster came to an end, Colonel Bam-Bam addressed the city for the first time in a very long time.

The martial law in the city was revoked, but transportation in and outside Leviathan Quay was heavily restricted for the first week as the city fully focused on recovering during this period.

Almost the entire city joined the rebuilding efforts in a bid to return Leviathan Quay to its past glory.

Leon was at the heart of this rebuild.

As a Mechanist who already proved himself in several ways and ingratiated himself with the Gene Army in Leviathan Quay, he easily got high-paying contracts to participate in the city reconstruction.

Leon helped Leviathan Quay revive.

And one week later, the city finally looked lively again as multiple new buildings and rail platforms were built, including the foundations for new Upper Districts in the southern districts that suffered the most from the Neon Beast tide.

Throughout this time, Leon was still yet to forget the immensity of the being that saved Leviathan Quay.

The sight of that Red Dragon left a deep imprint in his mind that he would not forget in a very long time, Leon doubted if he would ever forget.

When Leon realized that the Red Dragon was not a Neon Beast, he thought. 'This is the pinnacle of Gene Augurs!'

Later after the war subsided, due to his current connection with the Gene Army in Leviathan Quay, he finally got the full gist.

Through Major Roshfield, Leon learned more about the highest-ranking powers of the world.

Apparently, in the entire world, there are only 8 C Rank Ascended.

The Omnicore Federation has the highest number of C Rank Ascended- 3, followed by the Geneforge Clans and the Synth Order with 2 C Rank Ascended each, and then the Freegrid Collective with only 1 C Rank Ascended.

The massive Red Dragon who saved Leviathan Quay was 1 of the 2 C Rank Ascended and leaders of the Geneforge Clans, General Zolkan.

Major Roshfield didn't tell him more but Leon made the connection himself with his existing knowledge that the General was a C Rank Gene Augur of the Beastframe Specialization.

After witnessing the General in action that day, Leon's yearning for more power exploded.

He was convinced that only with that level of power would he really get the qualification to intervene in the core matters of this world to change the world.

And the first step to that level of power was D Rank.

Talking of D Rank, Leon already learned through subtle clues and investigations that the Geneforge Clans only had 12 D Rank Ascended.

This showed the importance and rarity of the Rank that he was aiming for next, and it also showed the difficulty of the 2nd Ascended Trial.

None of this deterred Leon though, he was determined to attempt his 2nd Ascended Trial the moment that he was done with his current work in the city.

Apart from the payment that he was getting from his current reconstruction works in the city, Leon got special recognition from the Gene Army for the role that he played during the war.

He got a honorary 'Gene Warrior' medal, and with Major Roshfield pushing it, he got a sizeable reward for his actions during the war.

Leon got to choose between a monetary reward, favors, and resources from the Geneforge Clans- he choose favors.

His first favor was negotiating for a 90% discount in every future purchase that he made from the Gene Army. As a Mechanist, Leon knew that his desire for more constructs and materials could never be satiated.

His second favor was for Daren. After the war, Leon was confident that even if Daren didn't fill up his Ascended Counter before, he did it after the war.

Leon negotiated with Major Roshfield and got Daren an opportunity to enter the Geneforge Clan's subterranean ADE fortress in Leviathan Quay.

This was one of Daren's main reasons for coming to the South.

The subterranean ADE fortresses of the Geneforge Clans are made to aid Ascended who attempt Trials. Not only does the fortress significantly suppress ADE signatures, reducing the impact on nature and Neon Beasts, the success rate of attempted Trials in the fortresses are reportedly 30% higher than Trials outside.

Leon's guess was that this increased success rate was because Neon Beasts cannot get to the Ascended attempting the trial, and also because of the effect the sense of safety would undoubtedly have on an Ascended's psyche.

Across the past week, Daren prepared for his Trial even as Leon did his own thing.

And now, a week later after the war ended, it was finally time to fulfill a promise that he made before the war.

BEEP!

His smartphone beeped with a new notification.

[NEW! Incoming message from Sergeant Tyla]

["I'm outside."]

Seeing the content of the message, Leon grinned as he faced the mirror in his hotel room and adjusted his tie.

It was already evening and tonight, he was going on a date.

…

At the same time that he got prepared to go on a date, a prisoner in Megabase 023 was finally being moved after a week of solitary confinement.

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