Chapter 16 Troubles

Miyong

The eighth floor was empty, unusual for this time of the day.

“They are not in the building,” Yue said.

“Jackie! Did you see anything?” I said to the air. I can sense an invisible human in the corner of the floor. My instinct has become sharper so I can feel human presence even without seeing him. The air moved and a young boy appeared in front of us. The wound on his face has scarred over, and he has picked up numerous new scars on his arms and legs. What has this kid been doing?

“President.” He bowed low. The last month has changed all of us so much. I still remember the cowardly, scrawny kid we met a month ago. This person in front of us is like a completely different person. “Everyone decided to leave the forest and find their families outside. They have been talking to the government agents and arranged to meet them at the edge of the forest.”

“This is not Jackie. It's a skill.” Yue said. “He left a mirage here to give us information. I think he might have followed the others.”

“Can't Mali feel him if he follows them?” Mali’s Echo is the perfect detection skill.

“If Mali can improve her power, then Jackie can as well. He might have found a way to counter her skill.” Yue said.

“Well, I understand why they left. Anyone would want to meet their family as soon as possible.” I held Yue’s hands after seeing his face.

“The government won't allow them to go home. At best, they would be kept in quarantine for a long time. At worst, experiments….” Yue sighs “The stupidity of people. Ruled by emotions and never considered the consequences.” He used to say that all the time.

“Jenny and Mali are not stupid, why would they do this and risk getting captured?” Their motivations are confusing me.

“Jackie said they made a deal with the government. That seems unlikely. Why would the government make a deal with some random kid? They may have had a connection with the government before the flood. For example, their parents work for the government.” Yue taps his finger on the table.

“........” Jason was quiet as usual. I am surprised he is not hiding in the shadows. He is looking at his smartphone.

“Jason, what do you think?” Yue turned to him.

“Based on the information from our family, they know nothing about what has happened inside the city. We didn't see anything wrong from inside but from the outside, according to news articles from a month ago, the city was surrounded by a dome.” Jason looks out at the jungle city. “The world has no idea about players or mana. Now that the dome has disappeared, I suspect some players have already re-entered the outside world.”

“I didn't consider that. The players will try to take power, and resources and establish themselves.” Yue paces around the room. “We should not leave the jungle. We should bring our family here. The outside world is about to erupt in war.”

“So how should we do that?” I am worried about my mom.

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Theodore

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

We were kidnapped from our beds and forced to work for the government overnight. Many people protested and even ran away, with threats of lawsuits and crying plenty. Then we saw them, the otherworldly jungle city that was covered by a gigantic black dome for the last month. Not a single scientist has complained since that day.

“Dr. Theodore, what are we even looking at?” One of the doctors from the Far East asked me. We were inside one of the research labs near the jungle. When the dome first appeared, the government evacuated everyone in the surrounding area. This was one of the abandoned buildings.

“The variety of cells is amazing. This single bark sample has more than 500 new varieties of cells we have never seen before.” This can't be from an apple tree, it doesn't make any sense. In my 50 years of working in research, I have never seen a sample like this. Not even samples from other planets look like this.

“It's a shame we couldn't get animal samples.” Another scientist said.

“..............almost 200 soldiers went inside and only 4 returned. I don't think we should ask for samples.” Something in that jungle could annihilate hundreds of soldiers equipped with the best military gear the world has to offer. We shouldn't even be this close.

“WHAT THE FUCK!?”

“STOP! PUT YOUR HANDS UP!!”

Yelling came from outside. All the scientists ran to the window to see what was happening. On the ground floor, a dozen soldiers pointed their guns at a group of teenage girls coming out of the jungle. They were wearing weird costumes and armor.

“I am Jessica Connor, sister of General Juno Connor. We are survivors of the flood.” A tall girl with red hair said to the soldiers. “I have a report for General Juno Connor, please tell her that her sister wishes to speak to her.”

The trees near the group of teenage girls appeared to move.

“Jenny! Jackie followed us! He is running back to the school!” The pretty girl standing next to Jessica Connor said in a panic.

“Fuck!” Jessica Connor waves her hands and massive shields mow down the jungle behind them. The soldiers freaked out and opened fire on the girls.

After the smoke cleared, massive areas of the forest edge were smashed to pieces by that giant shield. I could see a splash of blood on the edge of the shield before it disappeared.

“Damn! He ran away.” Jessica Connor said.

“Jenny, do we need to make an enemy of Yue and Mimi? They have been kind to everyone.” The pretty girl grabbed onto Jessica Conner’s arm.

“Miyong is just a normal girl, she is no threat. But Yue is very dangerous. We don't know what someone like that will do with so much power. We have to let the government know.” Jessica Conner said to her friend.

“But Jenny, Yue have been nothing but nice to us. I don't think he is that type of person.” Her friend said. All the scientists next to me are hiding while peeking at what is going on below.

“You are a good person, Mali. Yue might be a genius, he is probably a genius. Geniuses don't see the world the same way that we do. They see the flaws and failures of humanity more clearly than us.” Jessica Connor looks back at the jungle. “He might try to change the world, by force if necessary. And if I am wrong, then it's better to make preparations and not need it than to get caught unprepared.”

The soldiers unload hails of bullets at the group of girls before Jessica Conner summons that giant shield and they never stopped shooting until now. However, bullets don't seem to have any effects on them. Instead of being bulletproof like some comic book hero, the bullets disintegrated before touching them. What are these people?

“Miss Jessica Connors?” Three black cars stopped behind the line of soldiers. A man in a black suit came out of the car and told the soldier to stand down and address the girls.

“Are you the one that was supposed to meet us?” Jessica Conner addresses him.

“I am Mr. August. I apologize for being late. Your sister is waiting for you.” He opened the car door for them to get in.

“Doctor. What the hell was that? Magic?”

“Psychic powers?”

The other doctors are chatting to each other excitedly. What has happened to the world? Maybe I should have expected this after a dragon appeared in the sky.

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McCoy

“Mr. President, this is the report from the forest.” A young man in his late twenties placed a folder on my desk. I don't recognize this guy, a new intern. What's the use of some idiot kid? At least get some easy girls if they want to recruit more interns.

“Any report from the black hawk team?” I don't give a shit about some goddamn jungle. We could burn it all and blame it on the dragon if it's so troublesome. The giant monster is the real problem.

“They are tailing the horde of dragons and they have not stopped or slowed down at all, sir.” The aide looks down at the notebook in his hands.

“Where are they heading?” At least it's out of my hair for the moment.

“East, sir.”

“Anything else?” I need a good fuck. Let's end the day and call my pets.

“General Connor is waiting to speak to you, sir.”

“........call her in.” Fuck! I hate that bitch.

The atmosphere in the room had a drastic change as soon as she walked in. 215cm, 140kg of pure muscle. She became a General at the age of 30, making her the youngest General in our nation’s history. She was holding a transparent glass box.

“Mr. President.” She nodded. Rude bitch. She put the glass box down on the table.

“What is this General?” There is a small black insect inside.

“An insect from the jungle sir.” She eyed the box with hostility. What is this? The feared iron maiden is afraid of bugs?

“And why is it on my desk? What happened to the jungle recon team?” What the hell is this bitch playing?

“Four platoons annihilated sir. By that.” She pointed to the glass box.

“What?”

Bam!

One of the aids ran into the room. General Connor got in between me and the aid. This is why I kept her around, despite her attitude, she is loyal as a hound.

“Mr. President! A group of terrorists have attacked the White Harbor army base. The base has been taken, sir.” The aid was out of breath.

“What!? Why was I not informed that we were attacked? You waited until the base was taken before telling me?” These incompetent, useless bastards! My approval rating will drop if I am seen as weak!

“Mr. President, sir…………the base was taken within 3 minutes of the attack. We didn't even have time to inform you before it was taken, sir.” The aid was shaking in fear.

“WHAT?!”

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