Chapter 31: Alex and Leo's Agenda

"Leo's back!"

A frantic rebel soldier rushed into Commander Raine's sickroom, visibly disturbed. Leo had clearly caused quite an uproar the last time he tried to meet with Raine, as Leo, once regarded as a hero, now struck fear into everyone around him.

"Raine, get out here!"

As expected, Leo stormed into the rebel base, causing havoc and destroying equipment. The rebels, who normally respected him as their leader, dared not stop him.

"You old fool! Letting Anna marry an outsider was bad enough... but now you're giving up the commander position too? I won’t stand for it!"

Leo continued to trash the place while shouting, and Raine, still lying on his sickbed, could hear it all.

Sigh...

Raine sighed deeply. He had always trained Leo to be the next commander of Rockhill Valley, but unfortunately, the rebel forces and their equipment were far too weak to fend off the inevitable attack from the mechanical armies. Raine had been forced to make a deal with the Terra Bunker.

"Push me out to talk to him..."

Raine wanted Leo to understand his true situation, but Anna quickly intervened.

"Dad, you don’t need to explain everything right now. You’re still not well enough for others to know, let me handle it."

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Back at the camp, all of Rockhill Valley's rebels had gathered as Leo continued to stir the pot:

"Fellow rebels, doesn't it make you angry? A random arrogant captain comes in and becomes your commander. Is that fair? The so-called 'elite' rebels are replacing you. Aren’t you going to stand up against this?"

With Leo's persuasive words, the rebels began to side with him, their anger rising as they shouted:

"That's right! It's not fair! We don't want Leonardo as commander! Get out of Rockhill Valley!"

The situation quickly spiraled out of control, and soon, Leo had successfully rallied everyone to surround the headquarters, chanting slogans.

"We don't want Leonardo!"

Leo's reasons for doing this were unclear, but his tactics worked. He managed to force Leonardo out of the headquarters.

Leonardo, with a serious look in his eyes, confronted Leo, trying to suppress his anger, asking, "Hmph... So you're Leo Oester. Do you even know what you're doing?"

Leo walked forward without fear, locking eyes with the man who had taken everything from him. With a slight smile, he replied:

"Of course, I know. I've been waiting for you to come out."

Leonardo was taken aback, realizing Leo had set a trap. Just then, Leo pulled out a gun and fired it into the air.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Bang!

The gunshot echoed throughout Rockhill Valley, shocking everyone. Anna and Caitlyn rushed out to see what was happening, followed by Chad, Joey, and even Max.

And at the far end of Rockhill Valley, Maggie also heard the shot.

Sigh...

She sighed, as if knowing this was a sign that trouble was brewing.

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Here is the translation into American English with modifications for clarity:

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"What are you trying to do?!"

Leonardo questioned Leo, but it was too late. A firework shot up into the sky like a meteor, rising above the streets of Rock Hill Valley and exploding in mid-air, catching the attention of everyone who came out to watch. Soon after, Alex appeared on the rooftop of a building in front of the resistance camp, holding a megaphone and shouting:

"What a bunch of losers! You can't even catch me, and you're supposed to be the resistance from Terra Bunker? How are you going to handle the intelligent machines?"

After shouting, Alex locked eyes with Leonardo from a distance and made a mocking thumbs-down gesture. Leonardo, although displeased, knew the most important thing now was to catch Alex and force him to hand over the scientist’s artifacts.

"Hmph... It's a good thing you're here. Listen up! Everyone, take him down!"

With a single command, Leonardo blew a whistle, and all of the resistance soldiers patrolling outside rushed to the camp.

Alex grinned as he saw the resistance rushing toward him, because this was exactly what he wanted.

"Come on! Come get me!"

Alex taunted them, quickly moving around the rooftop. All the Terra Bunker resistance soldiers followed, while the original Rock Hill Valley resistance stayed behind.

Because of Leo’s deliberate manipulation, the Rock Hill Valley soldiers chose to remain neutral and watch.

"If you want to catch Alex, you can do it yourselves. We don't take orders from Leonardo."

Leo said this to Leonardo in front of everyone. While Leonardo was visibly upset, he didn't have time to argue with Leo. He grabbed his gun and glared at Leo, saying:

"Let's see if I can get my hands on the scientist's secrets... Can you still smile like that?"

After that, Leonardo deliberately bumped into Leo's shoulder as he walked off. Leo didn't seem bothered by it, watching Leonardo leave and muttering:

"Hmph... I don’t think you’ll get a chance."

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Alex used his air manipulation abilities to leap over rooftop after rooftop, occasionally stopping to shout.

"Idiots, come and catch me!"

The elite resistance soldiers from Terra Bunker were running in circles, chasing Alex from one side to the other. Alex’s goal was to lead them toward the final destination— the square in front of the gates of Rock Hill Valley.

Alex had a special "gift" prepared for them.

Finally, Alex made one last leap and landed on top of a massive pile in the center of the square, covered by a black cloth. He stood confidently, surveying the surroundings as over three hundred Terra Bunker resistance soldiers surrounded him.

Leonardo soon arrived, gun in hand, and stood in front of Alex, locking eyes with him.

Chad and the others quickly arrived as well, but halfway there, Leo blocked their way.

"Why won’t you let us through?"

Brenda asked, frustrated, while Leo responded coolly:

"For your safety..."

Gordon, skeptical, joked:

"For our safety? Are you telling us Alex has some big surprise planned?"

Chad, who had been silent, looked at Gordon with worry in his eyes. He glanced toward the square and gently scolded:

"You idiots... Just stop!"

Back at the square, the resistance soldiers had completely surrounded Alex. Leonardo stepped forward, gun in hand, his expression one of determination as he faced Alex.

"Your little powers won't do anything against all these well-armed soldiers. You’d better give up and hand over what the scientist gave you..."

Leonardo spoke with contempt, and indeed, Alex’s basic air powers would be useless against these elite soldiers.

However, Alex surprisingly smiled confidently and slowly said:

"Are you sure... that the next move will be ineffective?"