Reborn: Apocalypse - Volume 2

Micheal perfectly played the part of an annoyed Emissary that had been rudely woken up . He played it so well, in fact, that even he was half convinced, his voice filled with a hint of genuine irritation .

"Uh-ah, err . " Kathleen stumbled over her words, Micheal"s abrupt appearance taking her completely by surprise . She had been almost completely certain the intruder must"ve been him, sneaking through the base .

While betrayal wasn"t a common thing in Arcadia, it wasn"t unheard of . The only thing she couldn"t figure out was why an Emissary would go through all that trouble for the floor Randy and Marlo had been guarding . There wasn"t anything of too much note there .

As she began to try and come up with a reply, she blinked, taking in Micheal"s outfit .

A set of ripped abs, lean pecs, bulging arms, all perfectly proportioned . Muscles that blended together seamlessly with each other, forming a body that was close to perfectly built, looking like an ancient statue of a Greek G.o.d . His body gave off a feeling of casual, virile masculinity .

Kathleen"s face flushed crimson as she found herself at a loss for words, Micheal"s appearance and the sheer surprise of the situation overwhelming her for a few seconds .

"Well?" Micheal gestured at her . Behind her, he could also make out two other figures, one of them familiar . Enforcer Ayer stood back, giving him an apologetic shrug . Next to him was a pale woman with brown hair that was tied up in a sharp ponytail, a gun held loosely in her hand . Unlike Kathleen, she looked at Micheal cooly, ignoring his attractive body .

"Sir! My sincere apologies!" Kathleen bowed deeply, her voice shaking slightly .

"There has been an attack and I wanted to inqui-, no, my apologies again . " Kathleen cut herself off, her voice stabilizing as she recovered, her demeanor becoming serious,

"I thought you might have been a suspect in the attack, but I can see that I was wrong . " She ducked her head apologetically .

Micheal was surprised by her honesty as she corrected herself, being open with him .

"What?! An attack?!" Micheal"s voice was full of outrage,

"Where?!"

A few moments later, Micheal could be seen rus.h.i.+ng up the stairs, following Kathleen as they headed towards the 36th floor . He didn"t take the time to even put on clothes, just wearing a pair of pants and an open s.h.i.+rt .

In just a few moments, their group arrived on the scene on the 36th floor . They pa.s.sed through a hallway that opened up into the large amphitheater, running into a squad of more than 20 guards .

"Keep the search up! Look over every corner, leave no stone unturned!" A slightly overweight asian man that Micheal a.s.sumed was Sub-Commander Borial had taken charge and was ordering everyone about, his eyes blazing .

He was also tearing at his thinning hair, his anger at the disturbance very apparent . If anything, the man"s reaction was far outside of Micheal"s expectations . He seemed to take it as a personal attack on himself .

The guards were swarming over the Directive Storage Room, the nearby rooms, and anywhere they thought someone might take a chance hiding . They searched every nook and cranny, throughout the entire area without question .

Micheal wasn"t particularly worried . Not only would they have no reason to check the windows, the Magic Paint and superglue blended in very well . Almost none of the windows in a skysc.r.a.per could open in the First Layer .

When Sub-Commander Borial saw his group and Kathleen, he waved them over .

Advertis.e.m.e.nt"Kathleen . " He began, nodding at her . His voice was hoa.r.s.e, his words sounding as if this was the end of the world .

"Borial . Emissary Heron was in his room, I can confirm he isn"t a suspect . Do we know what happened? Are the guards roused?" She cut straight to the point .

Borial sighed,

"No, they"re still unconscious . One of the healers is coming up from the infirmary to fix them up, we"ll see what we can get then . My poor data . . . " He returned, and then smiled a somewhat forced smile as he looked at Micheal .

"Emissary Heron . Our sincere apologies for the intrusion . "

"Think nothing of it . We"re all on the same side here . " Micheal sounded understanding .

Borial gave him a grateful nod .

Over the next several minutes, the 36th floor was a beehive of activity . More than 50 guards swarmed in and around the floor . By this point, every room had been checked and confirmed to have no one . There were no signs of forced entry that anyone could find, no hidden traps or obvious signs of an infiltration .

"Hmm . " Micheal watched everything, his eyes cool behind his mask . Everyone treated him with cool respect, no one daring to interfere . However, all he did was watch, letting everyone deal with the scene in their own way, drawing little attention to himself .

After these few minutes pa.s.sed, he walked up to where the two downed guards were resting .

The Iron Eye Branch"s main doctor had arrived on the scene, a B Ranker with the Bright Touch Ability, a power that cost 38,000 Points in the shop . It allowed one to use their own energy to heal basic injuries, on oneself or on another person, one of the many healing Abilities that could be purchased .

Before the doctor could heal the guards, Micheal knelt down next to them, looking over their body . He drew a few odd stares from the nearby guards and a dissatisfied expression from the doctor .

"Can I help you, Emissary Heron? I was just about to heal them . " Despite his obvious displeasure, the doctor, a middle-aged man named Ryan, was respectful . The man had only arrived on scene a few moments ago, alongside another group of guards .

"I just need a moment . " Micheal replied calmly .

After a few seconds of looking up and down the downed guard"s body, his hand rested on the neck of the guard . He s.h.i.+fted the downed man, revealing a tiny pinp.r.i.c.k on the man"s neck .

"Hmm . " He checked over the other downed guard, finding the same thing .

"They were attacked, Emissary . Their wounds are a result of that . I need to tend to them lest whatever injuries they have sustained worsen . " Ryan replied impatiently after he watched Micheal casually search each man, his patience reaching a limit .

Micheal simply glanced at him without responding, standing up . He stood up and walked over to the Directive Storage Room, looking around .

He studied the floor, the files, the cabinets, seemingly looking over everything . The guards and officials of Arcadia continued to guard the room and look around with him, though all of them left Micheal to himself .

Sub-Commander Borial glanced at Micheal momentarily before returning back to ordering the guards about, still controlling the scene .

After making sure he was seen, Micheal turned around and returned back to where the doctor was .

By this point, the guards had been roused and the poison in them cleansed . A few of the officials, including the familiar Enforcer Ayer, were questioning them .

When they came to, both guards were confused and disoriented . They couldn"t remember seeing their attack or much of what happened to them .

When Micheal overheard them being questioned, he chimed in with a few questions of his own .

"h.e.l.lo, gentleman . I am Emissary Heron, I hope you won"t mind answering a few questions for me . " He began by breaking into the conversation directly, announcing who he was . Enforcer Ayer had been leading the questioning and nodded back at him, letting him take over .

Having a high ranking Emissary like Heron question the guards was quite natural . Emissaries were enforcers but also investigators, especially Micheal, who"s cover story was that he was tracking and hunting down a dangerous criminal .

"Where exactly do you remember getting attacked? What exactly do you remember? Can you tell me what you felt?" He unleashed a flurry of questions and got back a few, disjointed responses in return . His surprise attack had been so abrupt the guards had been taken out before they even really had a chance to register the attacks .

Before long, several more minutes had pa.s.sed and Micheal finished his questioning . He took a few moments to study the guards and, in particular, Sub-Commander Borial .

The man"s face was flushed, anger and worry apparent in his actions . For the base to have been attacked while he was on duty and the Commander was away… it was a stain on his record .

Kathleen, on the other hand, was taking it better . Each Sub-Commander was in charge of a different thing . Borial was in charge of the internal defenses and affairs, while Kathleen was in charge of external affairs and missions, training the rooftop guards or going on expeditions .

As Micheal saw the Sub-Commander reach a peak in his tension, Micheal walked forward . At the same time, he dragged Ryan forward with him, using the pretense that the doctor had finished healing his patients as an excuse .

"Emissary?" Borial stared at Micheal in confusion as he walked forward . Sub-Commander Kathleen stood next to him, as did a few of the various officials that helped run the Branch .

Micheal gave him a slight nod,

"Greetings Sub-Commander Borial . I"m here to share the results of my investigation into this attack thus far . " His words carried a smooth, confident air that he projected forward,

"Based on my investigation, the attacker used small, pointed weapons like a dart or needle to poison the guards without killing them . He then used blunt force to knock them unconscious, allowing himself a brief period of freedom . " Micheal continued, nodding his head .

Borial glanced at the doctor that was right behind Micheal . The doctor nodded, confirming Micheal"s words . Borial looked right back at Micheal as he saw this, gaining a bit of an expectant gleam in his eyes .

"The brief time period he had between knocking the guards unconscious and your arrival must have been enough time for him to have found whatever it was he was searching for here . " Micheal paused and then motioned at the Directive Storage Room,

"Do you house any sensitive material or secret intel here?"

"No, nothing here is extremely sensitive . This is just one of many Branches, the only info here is logs on the past movements, past expeditions, general intel on transfers or info the HQ sends out, things of that nature . " The Sub-Commander frowned and shook his head as he replied, answering Micheal"s questions automatically . The air that Micheal carried himself with was a no-nonsense one that practically screamed "I am an authority figure, obey me . " Even someone like the Sub-Commander was not immune, especially given his distressed state .

"All that poor data has now been ruthlessly violated . . . " He sighed morosely, like a teenager that had just been broken up with .

Micheal pressed him, unrelenting,

"You said there are past movements and intel on transfers . Would that include tracking information on Commanders on official duty, Emissaries on internal missions, things of that nature?" Micheal motioned at him .

When Borial heard that, his face paled,

"D-do you think he was trying to target the Commander?!" The Sub-Commander"s response was all Micheal needed to hear, a smile appearing beneath his mask .

"It"s possible . It"s also possible the enemy was here to tamper with records or destroy certain records . " He sighed,

"Tracking down targets is my specialty . We have some time until your Commander arrives . Till then, I"ll help scan through files to look for tampered with or damaged intel . I"ll need a few of your men to a.s.sist me . " He left no room for discussion .

A reluctant expression appeared on Borial"s face for a moment . The man took a single look around, noting that their target was still gone with no leads, before sighing .

"Your work seems like our best bet here, Emissary . We are in your debt . " He began to wave Micheal forward and motion for a few of his guards to accompany him .

"Hold a moment," Micheal held up a hand,

"A lot of this information isn"t something that just anyone can read . Only a.s.sign men that are allowed to view cla.s.sified troop movements or transfer details . " He returned, acting every bit the man of honor .

"Of course . " Borial seemed to have recovered from his state of disorder, his face gaining color as he turned to his side, staring at a few officials . Having a concrete plan to work with had filled him with confidence .

"Enforcer Amen, Enforcer Catal, help him search the records . Start with ones that contain recent movements, check for damaged, tampered, or missing files . " His words were stern as he continued,

"Obey whatever orders Emissary Heron gives . "

"Yes, sir!"

"Yes, Sub-Commander!"

Two of the officials walked up and nodded at Micheal respectfully .

"Thank you for your aid, Emissary . " Borial looked at Micheal gratefully, completely won over .

"It is my duty to hunt down criminals that try to disrupt order . If we can find what the person was looking for, we can figure out what or who they are after and track down the culprit . I would do this for any Branch . " Micheal humbly replied, decrying the evil-doer that dared break into the Directive Storage Room,

"I will not rest till I find out who did this . " Seeing as he already knew who did it, the promise didn"t mean much .

The Sub-Commanders and various Enforcer Team Leaders or officials all looked at Micheal, their eyes gleaming . Sub-Commander Kathleen, in particular, blushed again as she looked at him, her heart feeling full .

"This… this is why I joined the Angels Arcadia!" Kathleen looked at Micheal with eyes full of admiration .

Everything that happened here had been a part of Micheal"s backup plan . If he couldn"t get the information directly by stealing it . . . his next best bet was to have the Branch themselves give him direct permission to read through their stored data!

He"d micromanaged everything to the smallest detail and, as a result, not a single soul present suspected him of anything at all .

"He"s the type of man that you can put your trust in . Solid . Reliable . Strong . " Kathleen nodded sharply, knowing then and there that Emissary Heron was a good man . He would never attack, trick, or con someone .

"Alright! I"ve managed to successfully attack, trick, and con them!" Micheal stared back, his body posture projecting absolute confidence . He smiled cheerfully beneath his mask as he waltzed into the Directive Storage Room, taking a glance around,

"Let"s loot all the info I can!"

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Meanwhile, in a location not too far from Micheal"s position within the Main Cl.u.s.ter…

On the bottom floor of a certain skysc.r.a.per, a scene of slaughter spread out . Dozens of b.l.o.o.d.y bodies littered the floor, bits of bone and gore scattered about . Half of the bodies were human, while the other half were Morenkai .

Off to the site, two figures could be seen staring at this mess . Each figure was dressed in long, black robes that obscured much of their body . Their most discernible feature were the distinctive set of white masks they wore .

One of the figures was taller than the other, with a bulky frame, and clearly male . He had a perfectly white mask with the number "11" carved into it in a fancy, golden script .

Standing next to this figure was a far slimmer human, either a man or a woman, it was hard to tell, wearing a mask with the number "14" carved into it .

"Why does the boss want two of us to greet her? She"s one of the physically weakest Supreme A Rankers and has only fallen in Rank as time went on . I don"t see why we both have to go . " The bulky man with the number 11 carved into his mask spoke aloud, his voice gruff and rugged .

The figure with the number 14 carved into their mask shrugged,

"The boss likes to be careful, you know how he is . He wants no mistakes . " The speaker"s voice was soft and flowing, one that could be either feminine or masculine, wavering back and forth as the speaker continued,

"She"s a potential new recruit for the Numbers, so it"s not like she"s useless . Number 15 is still vacant ever since Anthony got killed by Head Cameron . "

The bulky man shrugged back,

"I guess . Leila Almawt… you better live up to your name as the Black Witch and wanting to join us . The consequences of lying to the Nightrunners are severe . " He spoke aloud to himself as if it was a completely normal thing to do .

"Come on, let"s head back up . " The figure with the wavering voice returned, shaking his or her head as he or she ignored the bulky man"s odd habit,

"The Monster Cla.s.s Morenkai isn"t here anymore . We won"t find anything out from staring at these bodies, you know the d.a.m.n thing is too smart to wait around . " The figure continued,

"We"ll go find Leila tomorrow . "

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