“O… Okay,” Vera felt goosebumps appearing all over her body. She followed Garen out of the classroom before standing still at a corner.
“Were you the one who delivered the dorm keys to me previously?” asked Garen directly.
“Yes… You weren’t here so they told me to send them to your dorm,” Vera tried her best to look natural.
“Did you touch the things?”
Vera froze at once.
“What… What things? What are you talking about?”
“The documents in my drawer,” Garen reached his hand out and patted her face. “Didn’t you know that going through other people’s stuff without their permission is actually against the rules…”
“I didn’t! Don’t accuse me!” Vera went to great lengths to plaster an innocent expression on her face but her heartbeat sped up instead.
“Whatever. I don’t have time for silly chats with you. I’m aware of your current situation. You’re not getting enough money from your family, right? Don’t worry, I have money but I’ll need you to help me do some things. As long as you make yourself pretty, I have no qualms about spending tens of thousands on you,” said Garen calmly. “You’re allowed to refuse, of course. But if that happens, I have a recording of you in my hands now and I’ll have no choice but to send it to the Academy for them to screen it publicly.”
He raised his watch. The screen was currently displaying the interior of his dorm room clearly and showed Vera opening his drawers sneakily. She even took some cash from the lowest drawer and stuffed it into her pocket.
“I wonder how the ‘little boys’ who admire you will react once they find out about these recordings. And your best friends as well…” Garen looked on coldly while Vera’s face turned pale instantly. Panicked and helpless looks appeared in her eyes faintly.
“You… I didn’t do it on purpose… I was wrong! Really, it was just a moment of confusion…” Vera was rambling slightly now.
“That’s enough. I don’t care whether it happened in a moment of confusion or not. I’ll look for you when I need you. That’s all.”
Garen pinched her cheeks before turning around and leaving.
*************************
At night
Garen sat leisurely on a bench at the roadside of the Academy and quietly flipped through the related information that was sent through various channels.
The whereabouts of his little brother Baylon remained unclear. He had only discovered that his last appearance was in the One for All Bakery, the little shop where he used to work. After the loud explosion occurred by the river, no one saw him ever again.
It seemed as though all the channels had only received the same information, including Vivienne, Sofia, and the others.
Beep beep, beep beep…
“Hey, Kendall? No news? Alright, okay, yeah,” after disconnecting the call, Garen knitted his eyebrows closely together again. His instincts told him that the case involving his little brother Baylon this time was not a minor issue, unfortunately. His Soul Seeds had been trembling faintly until now. Therefore, this was clearly a serious problem that would affect and change the bigger picture.
His phone rang again immediately. The caller was a middle-aged man who was in charge of issuing tasks in the military headquarters.
“Student Nonosiva, I’m so happy that a Level Three student like yourself chose the task that we issued. We have drafted a small group for this task that will comprise of fifteen members with you as the captain. You will lead the patrol throughout certain territories for a duration of one month. You can choose one of the remaining available regions as the location of your task.”
“Understood. A small group of fifteen people. What kind of patrolling method will we be using? What opponents will we be going up against?” Garen continued asking.
“You will be using the Mechs to patrol and counter a broken red and white-colored Mech. Once you’ve encountered your opponent, please inform the headquarters at the first moment and stall it. If possible, go all-out and kill your opponent,” replied the middle-aged man meticulously.
“This is a map with the regions you may choose from,” He was sent a map that segregated the Blackboard Region into smaller areas.
Garen glanced at the map and noticed that it divided the region into a total of more than thirty pieces. The tasks within almost half of these areas had been accepted. Within the remaining areas, he chose the place that was closest to his home without hesitation. Fortunately, that area had not been chosen yet.
“Your map has been determined. Meet with your team members by tomorrow and set your own meeting point. This is your group number,” a group number was given to him by the person on the other line.
Garen nodded and asked a few more questions about some important matters before disconnecting the call.
Moments after the phone call had been disconnected, he received another phone call from Celine. When he glanced at it, he noticed that there were more than ten unanswered phone calls previously, meaning that she had been calling him much earlier.
Just as he answered, the sound of Celine’s heavy breathing echoed from the other line instantly.
“Nono, guess what I’ve found?!”
His instincts told him that something was amiss. Garen sat up straighter suddenly. “What happened? Don’t tell me you’ve made another great discovery?”
“It’s more than just a great discovery!” said Celine angrily. “I went looking for one of my friends in the higher level intelligence departments of the Academy because of the situation with your little brother. Later, I ended up discovering a shocking secret from him!”
“Tell me!” from Celine’s experience, everything was a shocking secret to her. No one could imagine how astonishing this secret truly was. Garen calmed his own breathing quickly and listened carefully to the voice on the other side of his Watch Terminal.
“Have you heard of the Forbidden Mech?” Celine’s first sentence made Garen’s heart tremble.
“Legend has it that it’s a mythical Mech and a strategic war weapon that can destroy planets. It’s the ultimate and strongest existence in the whole universe!” said Celine immediately without waiting for Garen’s reply.
“So how is it related to the secret you discovered?”
“Three hundred years ago, the Forbidden Mech of our Mother Planet Federation was defeated in a crossfire, causing to collapse into many fragments that were scattered throughout various planets. They were known as Forbidden Parts. Our Mother Planet obtained a few of these fragments,” explained Celine quietly. “Do you know why Blackboard Academy dispatched groups of Black-Clothed Generals and Elite Students in such large scales previously? To find these Forbidden fragments! Furthermore, the information that I obtained stated that the large explosion by the river outside the city recently was very likely to be caused by the core component of the Forbidden Mech– the Forbidden Knowledge Core!”
“Knowledge Core?!” Garen was shocked. His emotions were unconsciously stirred. “Are you certain that the Forbidden Knowledge Core is still intact?!”
“The members of the White Light Organization moved out in great numbers because of this. They are currently clashing with the professionals of the Academy and neither party is giving the other any leeway,” said Celine hurriedly. “I obtained accurate information. That Knowledge Core can summon a temporary projection of the Forbidden Mech that will release its Forbidden Abilities for a short period of time. It cannot do this without an intact core!”
Garen became silent. This information was somewhat serious and he needed to digest it properly for a while. This situation was similar to a regular person encountering a fortunate coincidence suddenly. Now that a fine weapon had seemingly appeared somewhere nearby, he would be able to gain tremendous powers if he was able to practice using it successfully.
The Forbidden Knowledge Core was similar in that sense. Garen was in urgent need of a Training Method. Strong, advanced Training methods were usually considered to have reached their peaks once they had achieved Level Five. Any further and they would have entered the Inherited Mech’s territory, which had its own strengths and weaknesses. Meanwhile, the Forbidden Mech was considered as the pinnacle of the Star Levels and was a first-rate existence even in comparison to the Inherited Mech.
A Knowledge Core like this would definitely have a lot of exceptionally powerful Training Methods and various scientific information recorded inside its databank. If an idiot obtained those things, particularly the Training Methods, they would be able to change their lives and become extremely successful. They could even seek to dominate the region.
“The people in the higher levels of the Academy are participating in this as well. This is an extremely rare chance!” said Celine in a tempting manner.
“We’re too weak. We won’t gain any benefits if we join them now,” said Garen calmly while returning to his normal train of thought. Although his heart was aroused, he knew that he needed to estimate his own strengths accordingly before moving forward.
“That may be true, but we are still students of the Academy. If we can help the Academy obtain the Core… From what I’ve heard, the White and Red Mech that you are looking for comes from one of the terrorists in the White Light Terrorist Organization. He hasn’t retreated despite his heavy injuries and has been constantly pursuing it. It’s very likely that he possesses the Forbidden Core,” said Celine quickly. “If we can help the Academy get the Core, the reward won’t be too bad, don’t you think?”
Garen’s face was expressionless but his mind had already started to stir.
“I will begin my patrolling task tomorrow.”
“I will report the latest information to you constantly. You can pilot the Mechs within the district and that will still be perfectly legitimate. No one will dare to gossip about you. If needed, I will transfer all of my household’s Mech Pilots and get them to move out and help you!” said Celine in a determined tone suddenly.
“Alright.”
“That will be all.”
Garen disconnected the line while his gaze deepened. He stood up from the bench and walked back towards his own dorm room.
********************
The next day
Ten black Mechs descended onto a landing field on the border of Blackboard Region slowly.
On the backs of these black human-shaped Mechs were red disc-shaped shields that made it look like they were carrying red straw hats. Their muscular bodies, red eyes, the standardized doubled edged machetes in their hands and their Swordfish Type A Engines were the standard equipment that was allocated by the city.
The morning sunlight cascaded downwards. Moments later, a larger black Mech flew over and landed in front of these ten Mechs.
“Sir!!”
Suddenly, loud cries echoed from the waiting Mechs simultaneously like thunder. The sound was amplified outside the Mechs and caused surrounding grounds to quake because of the noisy hums.
Garen stood in front of these ten people. All of them were a part of a standard battle team that the military had allocated to him. They were individuals that were tasked and sent from other academies. Moreover, they were students that were educated in the other Mech academies in the region. Some of them were also veterans who had performed such tasks before and were very experienced. They were clearly here to be his deputies and warn him about things.
“Hello everyone. I’m Nonosiva from Blackboard Academy. I’m the standard leader who will be in charge of leading the tasks. I hope that we can work together properly for the following duration.”
From his tone, Garen’s calm and unflurried emotions could be heard clearly.
The few veterans in the crowd were slightly surprised by this. Although he was an Elite Student of Blackboard Academy, it was abnormal for him to behave so calmly during his first military mission.
“Alright, begin reporting your names and levels now!” Garen waved his hand downwards quickly while the whooshing sound of wind echoed instantly as he pointed at the first Mech on the right.
“Sir!” this Mech belonged to one of the veterans who stood forward and replied loudly while using the standard military gestures. “Ansaro! Level One Mech Pilot!!”
“Carrie! Level One Mech Pilot!”
“Sebatton! Level One Mech Pilot!!”
…
…
Within moments, all of the Mech team members had stepped forward and listed themselves one after another. The thing that surprised Garen slightly was that one of them was a Level Two Mech Pilot. That person came from another academy in the city, War Academy, which was one of the three main Elites.