THE MEETING

Cillian sat in the helicopter, watching the landscape pass by below through the window. It had been four days since he became a pioneer and made his request to meet the director in person. He was informed that the director was off-planet and would return within a week. Finally, this morning, he received the news that the director had returned. These few days gave Cillian time to think things over, and he was even more assured that the foundation was not involved, which raised the importance of this meeting even more. The only reason he decided to become a pioneer was to get stronger and grow his influence and power so that he could challenge the foundation to its core. If someone could really help him find the foundation, he was more than happy to join the DPMC. But as good as the situation looked, Cillian didn't let his guard down. He had been fooled once and was determined not to become a fool again.

Beside Cillian, Elena was watching something on her comm and giggling and yelling from time time . Cillian couldn't get over the fact that someone like her, who acted like a child, was someone who could pulverize a mountain with a casual punch. After half a day of flying, their helicopter landed in a clearing on top of a small hill adjacent to a small villa that blended perfectly into the forest. For some reason, the elites of humanity really liked their isolated abodes in the middle of nowhere, so in most planets where the rich lived, they were terraformed to create these types of artificial ecosystems complete with wildlife cloned from species of old Earth.

Cillian exited the helicopter and looked around as he breathed in a gasp of fresh air. No matter how clean the climate-controlled air is in the city, there is something refreshing about the forest air. Cillian understood why someone would want to live in a place like this. Elena followed Cillian out and stood beside him.

"What a boring place! I don't get how these moneybags spend time in a place like this with no fun things to do!" Elena remarked.

"Yeah, right. The only thing you consider fun is punching things!" Cillian remarked in his mind. During these four days, he had come to know more about Elena and her attitude. He also heard from the deputy director how she got posted here in the first place. But For all the trouble she caused, Cillian admired her passion for fighting and her openness.

As they stood looking at the scenery, someone called to them from behind.

"Are you going to stand there all day ?"

Cillian looked over to where the voice came from and found a normal-looking man who looked to be in his forties, wearing a formal black and white suit with one hand in his pocket and the other holding a cigarette. Before Cillian could say something, Elena stepped forward and waved at the man. "Uncle James, good to see you again!"

Cillian was surprised by the information of Elena being related to the director. This deepened his suspicion that Elena was more than she let off.

"Elena, I have told you several times, don't call me uncle during official duty! Call me sir or director, understand?" the director yelled back.

"OK, Uncle James!" Elena replied sarcastically.

The director shook his head and changed his gaze to Cillian, who was watching the show with his hands crossed. He dicared his cigarette and walked upto Cillian.

"You must be Z! My name is James Celeste, branch director of DPMC Borderlands branch. Nice to meet you!" Director James introduced himself and extended his hand towards Cillian.

Cillian hesitated for a moment but decided to shake his hand after detecting nothing suspicious.

"Nice to meet you, Director. Thanks for agreeing to meet with me personally. You must be a very busy man, so sorry to waste your time!" Cillian spoke courteously.

The Director just smiled and kept shaking his hand. "No problem at all. If anything, it's my honor to meet a potential S-grade of the future!"

"You think too highly of me, Sir. I am just a newbie D-grade pioneer that just started out. S-grade is a long way to go," Cillian replied with a similar smiling expression that he faked since his face is emotionless as a rock.

They were about to continue their conversation when Elena interrupted them.

"Hello, some people have things to do after this, so just leave the courteous bullshit for later and get this over with."

The director was about to open his mouth to berate Elena but was stopped by Cillian.

"Sir, I think Miss Elena has a point. We're here for important business. There is no point in wasting time on theatrics when there is no one to watch," Cillian explained with his usual emotionless face in place of his fake smile.

The director's Said in a disappointed Tone "Business it is then. It's a shame I wanted to talk to you some more to know you better. Well, there is always time for that if you accept my proposal. Come on, let's go inside."

They entered the cabin and took their seats around a wooden table.

Cillian didn't waste any time and asked, "So, let's talk about your message."

As he said it, he was observing every single one of the director's moves to detect any suspicious movements as possible. For this, he even turned off his

< RESONANCE TUNING> ability and was using his original resonance with his energy detection to the max to find people hiding, weapons, and traps. But so far, he had found nothing. So he decided to get something from the director directly by asking him the crucial point.

The director placed his hands on the table, interlocking them.

"You know very well what I mean in that message, and I can assure you that I will help you achieve your goal if you accept my offer," the director replied.

"Well, I don't understand what your message means; that's why I am here," Cillian was ready to unleash his trump card at the first sign of trouble. He was confident in escaping from the cabin as long as he could make the first move. He had confirmed that the director was a B-grade when he arrived, but through his analysis based on the director's energy signature and physique, he assumed that he was not a combat pioneer. While all B-rank pioneers were capable of flight, its speed was something his plan had already taken into account. In his opinion, Elena, who was sitting next to him, was more of a threat to him than the director, as she was an enhancer with an unknown resonance and hence and variable. Even though his entire plan depended on him being able to escape using his resonance, he didn't have much of a choice, so he anxiously awaited the director's reply.

"Why deny it? I know everything that you are hiding underneath that impassive mask of yours, Z. Or should I just call you Cillian instead?" the director replied with his eyes staring straight into Cillian's eyes.

Even though Cillian had thought of such a scenario happening, he was still a little shocked by the director calling him Cillian directly in front of Elena, who seemed confused at the director's words. This lasted only a moment before Cillian redied his resonance to activate at a moments notice.

The director seeing that cillan wasn't responding continued to speak.

"Don't overthink this, Cillian. I have no relation to the foundation. In fact, we have a common enemy!"

Cillian wasn't convinced at all and asked in suspicion, "I have no reason to believe what you say at all. I have no reason to trust you"

Before the director could reply, Elena interrupted them, "Whoa, hold up! What's going on here? Uncle, why are you calling him Cillian? And who is this enemy?"

The reply she expected didn't come from the director but surprisingly from the hallway behind him.

"I can answer that for you."