Chapter 97 – They Knew
*Mya* (Misha, gather the loots! Don't just scream like a zombie. Loot those goodies!)
*Mew Nom-Nom* (They're fire food! Grab them so we can eat!)
Mia twisted and turned while he hid his face behind his hands in embarrassment.
He remembered everything that his old persona had done, especially the kissing.
'I haven't even asked her out, but I kissed her. I freaking used my tongue with her! AAAAHHHH!'
*…*
Even Tama did not know what she could do to wake Mia from this state. After a bit of thinking, Tama's eyeball squinted into a mocking smiling eye.
*Mew* (If you don't get a grip, I'll rush this girl's [V] with my tentacle.)
Mia's eyes widened in shock. He screamed, "Wait, don't!"
*Meh-Heh Mew!* (Then pull yourself together! Naturally, you'll have to reproduce one day. Be an alpha, don't be a banana!)
"Uh …"
Mia was in tears as he picked his leather suit and put it back on. His face was not thick enough to continue piloting this mech naked as the other persona did.
.
A convoy of ten black sedans moved along the road in the factory district, heading toward the rear gate. This was the gate that Mia had entered when he first arrived.
Carlos was sitting in one of the sedans, gnashing his fake teeth.
The damages in the city was already a headache for Carlos, but this prototype mech and otherworlder's matter gave him a migraine.
*BEEP*
A cellphone rang.
Carlos picked up the phone and inspected who the caller was.
It was from Joan.
Hesitated, Carlos answered the call, "What do you want?"
[I can explain. Give me a minute or two.]
"You have 20 seconds."
[One of our men, Uriel Mia or Misha in this world, has killed me and hi-jacked our prototype robot. You should have seen what he had done.]
"Is she the one that we had once captured at the outpost base? The girl that we wanted to experiment on, and she escaped."
[... Yes, she is currently affiliated with the base 88.]
"Ah, that Sebastian's base. Well, I'll file a compensation request to your superior later. Help me capture this runaway goon of yours. I want her in my custody."
Carlos had never told Joan or anyone. He planned to possess Mia and take over his youthful body. Because Sebastian had always been on his tail, he had to jump into another body, so Sebastian could not find his trace.
[Before that happens, we would like to request for your assistance one more time. Please do not pursue that otherworlder. We'll handle the matter ourselves.]
"Impossible. Give me that girl, or we won't have anything to discuss."
[…]
Joan did not reply, but there were muffled voices from the other side. It appeared that Joan was also communicating with someone else.
*Click*
Joan hung up!
Carlos stared at his phone in disbelief. Infuriated, Carlos slammed his cellphone at the reinforce car window.
"Bitch!"
Carlos choked and coughed a mouthful of blood. A few of his veins busted, and blood flooded his throat.
'This body is no good anymore.'
His eyes darted around the car, gazing at the driver.
'I can always take my goon's body, but others won't recognize me, and they'll bar me from my properties. I can only use them as my last resources, just in case I can't find someone with a prominent social status or a youthful body!'
'Ideally, she is a perfect target for my jump. She's a dragonewt, and she has that youthful beauty. Heck, even if I can't infiltrate the otherworld, I can return to the shelter 88 and get rid of that pesky Sebastian.'
'Then, there are many things I can explore with a young girl's body. Huehuehue!'
While Carlos was fantasizing himself in a young girl's body, the convoy exited the recycling factory area, heading beyond the city gate. The endless wasteland was in their sight.
Convoy drivers stopped their vehicles, turning their attention to Carlos and waiting for his command.
Carlos gazed at the window beside him, looking around, "Where is the mech?"
"Sir, we've last seen the robot jumping into the fire ant nest. Are we going over there?"
"Yes. Get our convoy close and try to talk with the pilot. Do not pull out your gun or threaten her. I want to talk to her, remember this!"
"Y-Yes, sir!"
.
Joan, who respawned her character in-game again after the hydra had been killed, looked at her phone with a wide grin.
A few minutes ago, the MWG game administrators sent her urgent messages.
[Shurka Luckyaf has consumed a hydra core. She's now an overmind like the GG squadrons.]
[Allow Uriel Mia to take her to Shelter 88. We believe that he will attempt to mutate her into a dragonewt, and she can be the second human who will bring the virus to our world.]
As the existence of a new virus carrier was more important to MWG, Joan withheld her grudge against the Uriel Family and worked with them.
Also, Joan never told anyone about the brainwashing program that she had installed in the Prometheus OS. Afraid of the retaliation from Mia and his grandmother, Joan planned to hide this mess under the carpet.
'If Uriel Min goes ballistic again, I can hide this matter as the government's mistake. Heck, I can make up a story that the government pissed Uriel Mia because they want to take his girlfriend away from him in the real world.'
As if she had taken a mountain off her chest, Joan stood alone in a hospital room, laughing by herself.
.
Meanwhile, at the junkyard where Crystal arranged it as the extraction point, Brim reached the place with the assistance of Crystal's guidance. Zeris One and four Tautog robots were waiting for him there.
Brim smiled for a few seconds before his face grimaced. He worried about his little rescuer.
Thorn and Brim's teammates got out of their mechs to inquire about Mia as well.
"Brim, where is Misha? Why didn't she come with you?"
Brim could not speak as he blamed it on himself. Had he been stronger, he could have helped Mia out of that mess.
Thorn wanted to ask for more details about Mia. However, he noticed the anomaly on Brim's body.
His scales were still there, but the blinking eye on his chest astonished them. Furthermore, his appearance resembled a dragonewt rather than a scalesman. He had horns, a lizard tail, and a pair of dragon wings.
All of Brim's colleagues also stared at the eye in shock and disbelief. Their jaws dropped as they pointed their trembling finger at Brim's new form, unable to find a word to confirm his existence.
*Mow* (Sup, mates! Thanks for your hard work!)
Sam's voice confirmed their theory. Sam had been revived!
*ONG! ONG!* (WTF!? SAM, I THOUGHT YOU KICKED THE BUCKET!)
*Mow Meow* (Kicked the bucket? How rude, Kai. I was only sleeping.)
*Meow Ong!* (That was not sleeping! I saw your body shattered to pieces that day! How did you revive!?)
*Meh Mow* (Can we talk about this later? Shouldn't we discuss how we can rescue my savior back home?)
Thorn tapped on his partner, Kai, as he agreed with Sam.
"Crystal, can you explain? What happened in there?"
*BZZ*
The wristwatch on Thorn's wrist connected with Crystal's private channel.
[No need to worry about her. I think our Misha has hijacked a new mech from the government.]
Everyone widened their eyes in shock.
"What do you mean?"
[Misha followed the soldiers into their hangar, and a new giant mech appeared later. Well, to sum it short, Misha is piloting that robot. She's harvesting fire ants as we're speaking, so there is nothing to worry about.]
Everybody looked at each other in confusion.
"Are you sure it's her and not the government's pilot?"
[I just saw her open the front hatch. She was in the ant nest, releasing her gas and baiting the ants.]
[Oh, by the way, Brim. Do you still have that medicine with you?]
Now, all eyes turned to Brim, puzzled about what Crystal was talking about.
"I-I do."
[Good. Share it with your scalesmen teammates and save some for me. It will be easier to explain everything this way.]