52 [Bonus chapter]CH52: TO THE SUBURB

Mechanized units, human beings with military-grade prosthetic bodies not allowed to be owned by the public, were an elite group consisting of two divisions: the mechanized division and the cavalry division. The mechanized units comprised men and women with mechanical bodies, while the cavalry units were extremely powerful and dangerous man-controlled machines that were only deployed in escalated situations.

Currently, mechanized units were falling out of airships without any parachutes on their backs, following Dheng Zhao's lead. Once a hundred of them had landed, they formed a V-shaped formation, with Carla and Dheng positioned at the frontline.

"MALWARE UNITS," they both shouted, "TAKE YOUR POSITIONS."

In unison, the one hundred units leaned over with their hands over their heads and their knees slightly bent forward. Their arms started to vibrate with different colors of light emitting from the slits, depending on their design.

"ADVANCE."

The Malware mechanized division units began to run at inhumane speeds, swiftly closing the distance between them and the Gazanerrin frontline which was a good distance away from them. Along the way, they encountered intermediate-tier sandworms that occasionally jumped out of the sand, nipping at a few of them. However, using only one hand, the units blew holes through the worms' heads and extracted the crystals from within while still running at full speed

Meanwhile, Dheng Zhao and Carla Monroe moved even faster than the others, eventually reaching the Gazanerrin frontline. As soon as the enemy caught sight of them, they opened heavy fire and bombarded them with beasts. The beasts were a fusion of wild boars and dogs. Their boar-shaped heads, dog-like legs, and rows of poison-tipped spinal bones around their bodies made them perfect creatures for riders.

[Scan complete] Dheng's AI system announced.

[Beast Name: Hog hound.]

[Weight: 200 lbs.]

[Tier: Intermediate.]

"I'll take care of these ones, Carla," Dheng declared. "You go after the armed terrorists while the others disable their weapons."

"Zhao, wait. That's beyond your jurisdiction," Carla warned, but the blonde soldier was already heading towards about fifty hog hounds.

"Come and get some, you ugly pumbas." With his hands loaded with crystal energy, Dheng struck the foreheads of each beast, instantly killing them before extracting their crystals. The remaining beasts, witnessing their own kind falling, were determined to completely devour the man in front of them.

*ROINK*

One hog hound snuck up on Dheng and swiftly pounced on him, its claws trying to dig into his shoulders. Dheng struggled to break free from the beast's grasp, but his arms and legs were strategically pinned, and the creature's drooling mouth was wide open, ready to bite his head off.

"Oh no you don't." Other hog hounds pounced on the one attacking Dheng, nearly crushing him under their weight. With the palms of his hands still mobile, Dheng focused his crystal's energy on them and released a bright beacon of energy onto the pile of beasts. The resulting blast was so powerful and hot that the creatures disintegrated into black dust. All that remained were their crystals.

"That was a close one," Dheng laughed, collecting all the crystals before regrouping with the others.

----------

"MALWARE MECHANIZED UNITS," the armed terrorists warned their comrades, "BRING IN THE BLASTERS, QUICKLY."

"I don't think so." Carla and her squad of fifty Malwares sped towards the Gazanerrin camps, taking down anyone who fired at them.

[Scan complete. There are approximately five thousand armed targets with intermediate-tier weapons.]

"DISARM AND RESTRAIN ALL THE TARGETS." Carla commanded

"Confirmed!" Carla's squad swiftly disabled the weapons, destroyed Gazanerrin ammunition supplies, and restrained as many of the terrorists as possible.

With the Monroe Squad handling the Gazanerrin, Zhao and his squad of fifty men and women took care of the different beasts which were luckily locked in pens. Some were released and sent to attack them, so they killed them and gathered their crystals as well.

"That's the last of them, sir."

"The beasts and all Gazanerrin have been restrained, Captain Zhao."

"Confirmed. Make sure they stay put. I think Commander Carla has found the man in charge of this Gazanerrin squadron."

"Yes, sir!"

While the Monroe and Zhao squads kept watch over the Gazanerrin, Dheng walked over to a tent where Carla allegedly found the person in charge. As soon as he entered the tent, he was greeted by the sight of Carla pressing her fingers deep into an elderly man's eyes, with the tips being red hot.

"AAHH!!!"

"Come on, who sent you here? Tell us who your leader is?" Carla questioned, her thumbs finally out of the man's eyes, but he didn't say a word. "Answer me, damn it." With an electrical charge emanating from the palms of her right hand, Carla shocked the man while holding his face close to hers. "Who sent you here?"

"Calm down, Carla." Dheng quickly pulled Carla back, fearing that the man would die of shock. "That's not how you get information out of a terrorist like him." Carla stepped back as Dheng sat in front of the elderly man.

The Gazanerrin's body trembled, his gray head hanging backward. His eyes were red and sore, blood dripped from his mouth and nostrils. His breathing was heavy, slow, and unstable.

"I shall never answer to you Neveahian scum," he said in a low tone. "I'd rather have my insides boiled than cooperate with your kind."

"Calm down, buddy," Dheng smiled while tapping his metal fingers together. "Unlike my lady friend here, I'm not Neveahian, but that's not important." Dheng took a deep breath before he started to interrogate the Gazanerrin. "You know that poaching these beasts and using them to cause terror is against the law and therefore illegal, correct?"

Dheng asked, but the Gazanerrin didn't answer.

"It's so illegal that the only punishment fit for you is... I don't know, death... perhaps?"

"I don't care," he answered. "We Gazanerrin know what we are doing. We don't have to answer to you. I would rather die than cooperate with your kind. You kill these animals for their gems, we use them for their rightful purpose. I would rather die for our cause."

"Who said that the punishments' for you?" Dheng laughed, and the Gazanerrin started to worry. "Knowing you, I'd say that you're a family man, correct? You must have a wife and children, correct?"

"I am a Gazanerrin. We do not have children and wives. Families are a distraction to our cause," he responded, making it obvious that he was lying.

[Heart rate increased by 10%]

"Don't lie. I've already scanned you, and I know who you are. I know you have a wife and two sons, and I know exactly where they are. In fact, I've sent five of my squad to kill them right now. It's only fair for the lives of the soldiers you took, yes?"

Carla smirked in amazement as she witnessed the fear in the elderly man's eyes. With her AI, she scanned the man's heartbeat and sensed how worried he became.

"Tough guys like you have soft spots for your families. And may I say, your sons look to be strong young men. They remind me of my family. Too bad you'll never see them again... well, you'll see their heads delivered to..."

"NO, PLEASE!!" The man pleaded with tears rolling down his eyes. "Do not harm my sons. I am doing this for them. I have no choice. If I do not listen, they'll kill them."

"Who will?" Carla asked. "If you tell us, we'll make sure your sons are safe."

The Gazanerrin went silent, ensuring he only looked at Dheng. "Please, do not harm my sons."

"Then tell us who sent you here. Who's the mastermind behind all of this?" Dheng asked, but the man remained in tears, mouthing the word 'please.'

"It's fine," Dheng stood up and turned his back on the Gazanerrin, putting his finger on his ear, pretending to give orders. "Kill them."

"WAAAIIIIT!!" The Gazanerrin cried pathetically and started to talk. "I don't know who they are, but I know one thing. Tomorrow morning. There'll be another attack TOMORROW MORNING!!"

"Where?"

"There's a small suburb eight hours away from here in the east. We have reason to believe that there's a demon-tier beast being protected by the inhabitants of the suburb. The one who'll lead the attack will give you more answers. Just please... don't kill my sons."

Dheng and Carla left the man crying in the tent while they chose to continue the conversation somewhere else. Meanwhile, one of the three airships landed by the Gazanerrinian camp, and soldiers took the captured Gazanerrin, including the elderly man, and would later transport them to Neveah, where they'd be placed on trial for their crimes.

"We now know there'll be another attack," Carla spoke. "So should we move out now and get there before daybreak?"

"No. The man said he has reason to believe that the suburb has a demon-tier beast, which means there are Gazanerrinians feeding their comrades intel. If we show up in the morning with our fleets, they'll warn their people and cancel the attack."

"So now what? It's nearly dawn, and we can't move at night in this desert. The number of ferocious beasts will have tripled by then."

"Scary as it may be, we'll go with only our squads, on foot." Dheng smiled. "It'll be like a little scout trip. We can hold hands and sing kumbaya. Hahaha!!" He laughed. "Jokes aside, once we get closer, we'll disperse throughout the suburb and keep watch for any Gazanerrin."

"What about the beast?" Carla wondered. "With it there, that suburb will forever be hunted."

"What makes you think we can take down a demon tier? If those people somehow know how to keep it at bay, we'll leave it there. Our job is to destroy the Gazanerrins, not capture beasts." With his orders given, both the Monroe and Zhao squads rested for a while and prepared to move out through the night.