"The third option is..." Yuanhui reached out greedily to me.

"Give up the Badge of Hope, and you can live the so-called happy life of an ordinary citizen. What do you think?" he asked.

"..."

We both fell into a stalemate. What he said made sense, although it made me uncomfortable. It was a harsh but realistic statement.

"Think about it. It's the era of human warfare now. Our positions will determine the course of events. Do you understand?" he said.

"Hehehe...!"

I no longer pretended to be naive because I finally understood. But my understanding was different from what he anticipated.

So that's it. I finally knew why the Alliance Army couldn't match them. It seemed that Elena was more than just a pharmaceutical corporation!

"The battle between Phantom God and Evil Entity has been going on for two years. Humans have repelled the waves of Evil Entities more than twenty times, but each battle came at a great cost. Do you know that?" he asked.

"....I know," I replied.

"You fool! If you know, why do you continue to act like you have nothing to do with it?!" Yuanhui angrily punched me, but his strength had no effect.

"We have Phantom God, don't we?" I lightly flicked away his fist, showing an indifferent expression.

"Besides, can Evil Entities be scarier than humans?"

"Well... about that?" He stuttered this time. Perhaps he didn't know who had already sacrificed for that.

...

"Welcome to the last safe haven for humans. Elena is opening a new era for mankind. This is the Epoch City we have established in the epidemic zone!" Edward introduced the giant fortress, reaching three hundred feet in height. It was a truly astonishing project.

"If you want to visit, you can do so anytime, but after now, I won't be available... anyway, follow me for now," he said.

"Yes."

"Uh... hey, you two, keep up!" I only took a few steps before I noticed that the two girls by my side hadn't followed me but were instead admiring the magnificent city walls. This resulted in a warning from Edward.

"Don't mistake this place for some kind of paradise... No, the city might be a paradise, but the land you are standing on is still outside the city. You must understand that," Edward's eyes suddenly became stern, and his expression didn't seem like a joke anymore.

He was truly dedicated to Elena, having built such a massive fortress.

Countless cities were suspended in the air, and airships shuttled between the buildings. It was hard to imagine that this was a sight seen on Earth.

Under the protection of hundreds of Elena Heavy Armor mercenaries, we walked into the city from the spacecraft recycling station outside.

The entire city wall began to rise slowly. Elena's appearance was truly incredible. Time flowed slowly, and the brass-colored city wall rose bit by bit.

"Attention, there are three walls here. We must open all of them to pass through, just like every time... (interrupted)"

"Uh? Is it necessary to be so troublesome?" the two little girls immediately interrupted me.

"No, it is necessary!"

Edward gracefully gestured for us to get in while introducing the situation. "Our original city walls were only one layer, but they were destroyed...," Edward said, a touch of sadness in his voice as he rested his arm on the car window. "At that time, although there was only one wall, the population was about five times what it is now. Most of them sacrificed their lives in the battle against the Evil Entity, and, of course, many civilians died tragically at the hands of the Evil Entity."

They are much more efficient in dealing with this matter compared to the government. At least they managed to do it! Elena, in contrast to them who only use lies to cover up their own ugliness and deceive their own kind, focuses more on doing things solidly.

"Being human... blindly obeying fate is not enough. Don't you have something you need to wait for?" Yes, I agree with what Edward said, but I am not as pessimistic as he thinks.

"Oh, uh, officer, the door is open!" "Hmm, thank you for your hard work." After the condolence was over, the car drove into the city at a steady pace. "I want to introduce you to the rules here. First, you cannot use Competence in front of others..." (interrupted) "I'm sorry, I happen to not know how to use it, of course... I can't use that kind of power either!" Creak... The car finally came to a stop. Apart from the conversations of the soldiers on the car, there was no other sound outside, and it was very quiet.

"Report! Captain 318 has finished the inspection, four armored vehicles." As the sound of footsteps on the ground gradually diminished, the sound of heavy armor hitting the ground faintly came from a distance.

"Hurry, follow me," the source of the sound was getting closer and closer. Before they arrive, we need to leave the car with Yukari and the others. "Keep up with my pace, don't slow down!" We had already changed into prepared combat clothing and rolled into the nearby flower bed, so...

"Beep beep beep beep!!" Suddenly, an alarm went off throughout the base, saying, "Warning! Warning! Unauthenticated creatures detected in the restricted area." "Begin a full area search for unauthorized personnel..."

The mechanical magnetic plates on both sides of the base began to move to the sides, and at the same time, a giant blue light screen swept across from our east side, causing our hearts to jump. "What's going on? Juxi, didn't you say this clothing has been verified?" Yu Nai, whose face was as pale as Yukari's, grabbed my clothes, which were no different from the others, and questioned me. I couldn't understand the situation either. After all, the clothes were given by our own people. But we were clearly wearing their combat suits, so how could this happen?

"In the southwest, at an altitude of three hundred meters, a size of zero point five millimeters, genetic analysis result... It's a mosquito, confirmed killed accurately!"

The three of us present were all taken aback. Although we had not been discovered, it seems that not even a mosquito could fly into this place! At this moment, the armored vehicle we were just in had been tightly bound by eight mechanical heavy armor soldiers and carried away, as if to the purification room (the security checkpoint for checked items). Luckily, we left in time, otherwise we wouldn't even know what happened!

Just walking these few steps was enough to make all of us drenched in sweat. We must remember that there will be no one supporting us in this mission, except for Yuanhui and Nian, who are dozens of kilometers away from us.

"Alright, don't be nervous now!" I instructed them as they followed closely behind me. "Remember, keep your expressions and movements natural. We can walk freely and confidently until we enter the highly guarded zone."

Under the cover of the flower bed, we quickly changed into the unique mechanical exoskeleton of Elena's soldiers. Without them, we would stand out among other soldiers.

The exoskeleton had to be equipped from the fingers to the spine and down to the heels. Even those who didn't know how to handle firearms could rely on the exoskeleton for shooting, especially when it came to Yukari. It would reduce unnecessary mistakes.

"Yu Nai, you're in charge of the Irand electromagnetic rifle."

"Got it!"

Yu Nai swiftly slung the rifle over her back and gave me a thumbs up. Yukari, who had been left hanging, became jealous and shot me a fierce look, unforgiving.

"Alright…"

I stepped forward and helped Yukari, who had carelessly forgotten to put on her exoskeleton, put on each finger cover. Then, I took the last mini light machine gun from the backpack, released the safety, and armed it in the weapon slot behind her exoskeleton.

"What is… this?"

"Elena TASS," I scratched the back of my head, embarrassed. "It's a gun for beginners, lightweight and easy to carry. And it has a large magazine capacity with little recoil."

Yukari looked at me suspiciously, as if I had said something strange.

"Oh well… Just use it for now."

"Yeah, it's perfect for a little girl like you."

"What do you mean by that?!"

"What do I mean?"

Yu Nai crossed her arms and looked down on Yukari, even her tone became mocking.

"Don't make excessive demands as a beginner. What do you mean?"

"Now, now, both of you…"

"Shut up!!"

Just as I was about to mediate, they both refused to listen. They wanted more attention?

I finally managed to calm Yukari down after a great effort. But Yu Nai raised her head and continued with her sarcasm. Can't she see where we are?

"Hey, brothers over there!"

It was a patrol! Oh no, it's all because these two couldn't stop arguing. Now our location has been exposed.

"Hahaha, be careful not to lose your head when you play both sides!"

"Hahaha!"

"You guys really know how to laugh. Look, we have two beautiful ladies here, Cross!"

After mocking us, the four patrol guards resumed their patrol.

"Phew…"

I breathed a sigh of relief. It was just a joke, what a false alarm!

"Enough noise, we must find a passage to the underground research lab!" I took out the nanocamera and connected it to my eye, adjusting the settings. "We will put it in the ventilation duct to locate the underground lab."

"I've never seen such a small thing before," Yukari compared it to her little finger. "Hey, it's even smaller than my pinky finger?"

"You have no idea. It's surprising that you, the daughter of the Elena Group, don't know about this little piece of technology."

"Hmph, blame my father for never allowing me to touch these dangerous things. Even when I want to practice shooting, I can only do it under the protection of guards."

Shh! I quickly put away the electronic eyes and took out the laser cutting board from a inconspicuous spot.

After four laser conductors connected to a metal plate had circled around the ground, click! The entire alloy mesh was lifted.

"You two can jump down after I jump in," I took the lead and jumped down the ventilation pipe, "It's safe, follow me!"

"Xi..."