Chapter 43 - Preparing For Another Battle

"The internal organs of these dead soldiers have disappeared.In fact, these dead soldiers were still alive and well until the next morning where we'll find them as deflated corpses. So they can't have possibly died from their injuries—"

"Murder..." General Damond uttered the word.

"...yes, the medical staff thought it was murder as well. But it's a mystery how these soldier have been killed with all their internal organs removed without any incision on their exterior body to extract the organs!!..." The doctor even provided photographs to show them what he's talking about, and they were all incredibly disturbed by the morbid images.

"You mean to say that it disappeared like... 'poof'?..." Donelle even made a hand gesture that resembled a puff of smoke dispersing into thin air.

"Precisely! This kept happening for the last few weeks, and we're almost hitting a one month mark. The population of E.D.L. soldiers will rapidly decrease if this keeps up."

"How many cases has it been since then?"

"It reached about 798 cases already, and we're still expecting a rise on numbers."

"What about surveillance?"

"We've already looked into it, but surveillance suddenly blacks out for a few hours, probably when the time of murder happens."

"Damn it, E.D.L. is in such a mess." General Damond sighed with all these stressful situations going on, and it just keeps on piling up like office paper works. "I'll have someone investigate on that. For now, we must first prioritize the dangers at the east coast territory."

The others have also been wanting to raise their own issues during this meeting, but seeing how stressed the General is, they remain silent and had to deal with their problems by themselves. And by the time the meeting was done, Damond still has to initiate another meeting with the military officers that will be sent as reinforcements to the district of Serendipity.

And while heading to the military conference room, Vice General Miguel is quite concerned for the General that just can't catch a break. "...please don't strain yourself, General." He gently reminds.

"Hah, worrying for an old man like me?"

"Not at all, I'm just saying."

"Worry not, Miguel. I'd be more than happy to die in line of duty because I was made for this."

Please don't talk like that, is what Miguel had thought after hearing the General's words. As for the next meeting they shall tend to, all soldiers of high positions have already gathered in the venue. Right when they walked inside, everyone got on their feet saluting to General Damond.

As Damond takes the podium, his face turned more serious than ever. "Gentlemen, prepare yourselves for another battle..."

Meanwhile, at the dormitories of the 3rd platoon from the special infantry troop, a few people were noticing a change on their rankings. "Huh!? Did I just get demoted out of nowhere!?" Said former rank number 95 who is now rank number 96.

"Fuck, I got demoted too!" Another complained.

"Who the hell is trying to get their ranks promoted at this hour?" While complaining about their demotions, a certain someone have just exited through the outdoor vents coming from the medic ward.

This person shook off the dust that was all over her and stretched her limbs and legs after the exhausting escape she did through the vents. Looking at her pin, she was disappoineted that her rank have only got promoted by three times after killing a total of 832 patients from the medic ward.

"Damn it, just how many do I have to kill left to reach the first rank?" Even the instigator of the few rank demotions is complaining, she sighs and decided to call it a night and returns to the dormitories.

And on her way back, she unexpectedly bumps into one of the people she didn't want to see. "...Claire." there he goes again uttering her name.

Still, Claire politely nods as greeting and continued on her tracks.

"...I'm sorry." Raphael repeated, referring to what happened the last time they were together. That didn't stop Claire from leaving him behind.

"Tch, seriously, that guy can't take a hint." She was clearly annoyed with Raphael and his behaviour when he's around her. But she's glad enough that he wasn't as forceful to grab her by the arm and demand her to stay with him, so she was able to return peacefully at the dormitories.

The next morning, everyone was awaken at an early hour for an important announce from Captain Wright Hemsworth, the Captain of E.D.L. Special Infantry Troop. They were all gathered at the assembly hall and got into formation with their respective platoons.

Some were still yawning for being awaken at 3 am, and some were already consciously aware of what's about to happen. A summon like this would only mean one thing.

"This must be what the others are talking about, the words going on about the eastern coast..."

"Damn. It hasn't even been long since the battle at the north west region, now I.E.A. is going on a rampage again."

"Why is it that E.D.L. always have to be attacked by that stupid I.E.A.?"

Claire who have red stingy eyes and a headache from lack of sleep is annoyed by these buzzing noises, but she can't bluntly complain about it since it was her fault for sleeping so late. After her frenzy murder at the medic ward, she decided to train some more for a few hours before going to bed.

"Ugh... what a headache." She got herself massaging her temples to alleviate the ache.

And it didn't take much long for the awaited person to arrive. Everyone fixed their posture and salutes to Captain Wright along with the platoon commanders behind him. When he arrived at the stage, they all can feel the tense pressure of his gaze. "I apologize for this sudden gathering. Tonight, we face yet another trouble with the I.E.A."

Just as everyone suspected, and it was nothing of a surprise by now. This has always been the case ever since E.D.L. and I.E.A. have declared war against each other.

"So I must remind all of you to prepare yourselves for another battle!!"