The Regulus guards felt an earthquake as they were standing in their post. Strawberry and her subordinates also felt the same.
The ground fell like a sinkhole. There they were underneath covered alive by the rumbling. The barrier wears off and the anomaly is back to normal when the ruins collapse underground.
Axel stood up lifting all the boulders above him. He was renewed the energy radiating from him was different. He then brings it back to himself. It was shocking that he had with him his two subordinates alive and protected. He immediately rushed towards them during the rumbling.
Ken was about to get squeezed by the bust of the lifeless giant that was about to drop. But somehow Axel covered for him. He was also grabbing Lee's back at that time with him. Both of them were unconscious. He took a step as he stood tossing his subordinate's body on the ground.
Axel still has the shrunken chest with him.
Meanwhile, Socrates was trampled by the sandstones of the ceiling. There was still a little consciousness left of him till he passed out. He managed to push some of the stones that blanketed him.
Axel saw a hand extending from the rubbles of huge rocks. He saw it was familiar and he knew it was Thomas. He checks on Thomas to see and watch him closely. After lifting and removing the boulder that covered him, he lies unconscious. Probably injured and received major concussions.
Raj was caught in the middle and received most of the fragments of rock. There were no signs of him in.
Some of the Regulus guards were also buried. Others died because of the sudden collapse of the ground.
Strawberry and her team were looking at the distance. She had spotted Axel walking through the mess. She hopped underground and walked into the ruins. She saw the place and searched in advance before the search for the survivor came. She called out Shield, Ferra, and Stella to aid her.
It was already dawn.
She was nervous and anxious when she saw a blood bath underneath. Some puddles of blood were almost left to dry. There were more as she walked.
In a distant Shield called her. From the other corner, Ferra also screams. There it was visible the skulls of the unknown creatures and monsters they fought. A stinky smell also aired, as they were near the undead corpse.
Stella noticed a mold on the rock then she sat to rest - it was the eye of the stone giant.
The sorcerer watches them from the distance. He took a deep breath. Inhaled and exhaled the outside winds he just felt. A light sensation was overwhelming him after all these years. Again, he vanished into thin air.
Axel went directly to their camp with a straight face. Not shifting nor changing his head from the moment he started walking towards the camp.
He throws the chest to the doctors and a team of scientists inside "You got what you need I need to rest. My body is aching."
There was a sudden thud inside the camp. Blood streamed all over the ground. Everyone panicked and raced towards Axel. Immediately everyone assisted him.
The search for Raj continues.
Everyone was taken care of. After a while Strawberry saw Socrates. They thought he was dead because of the stream of blood that was bursting from his abdominals. A solid rock of humongous size splattered around Raj's lower limbs. Strawberry thought "he might have fainted and collapsed the moment the stone fell over him…"
Immediately Raj was brought to their laboratory to be examined. The moment he arrived he was in a coma. Luckily, the doctors sighed with relief.
"This is not what we expected, his lower limbs were still responding, and motor neurons were not fully crushed. We thought that he might not be able to walk again."
Unknown of the news. Pierce and Milazza waited patiently for their return.
A week since then, both Axel and Raj were submerged inside a tube for their recovery. Axel's eyes gazed fiercely as he awakens inside this tube. The doctors rushed to open him up.
Raj was still unconscious. A bright green light glowed within him. There was no progress, and the signs were still the same. Strawberry went to Pierce to inform them about the situation. Before he continues to walk inside the basement. She relaxed and took two deep breaths. She stretched her cheek muscles and showed her teeth. She was aware of the information that Raj's grandmother was presently living in their space.
"Hello! Pierce! How are you?!" it was the first time Strawberry spoke his name after a long time. "Everything was going fine. They might not be back for a while because they have done very well in their past mission" Her grandmother's aura changed to a sign of relief. Pierce also felt the same. Strawberry grabs Pierce outside and informs him of the real situation.
His face broke and everything felt heavy upon him, in the end, Strawberry assures that both of them were safe and in their hands "But in the meantime please take care of her grandmother it might take some time for their recovery."
The doctors and specialists ran several tests to speed up his recovery, but none were working. They followed the usual phase which is the natural recovery method.
"We can't do anything with him. Even with the source of that radiant chest you brought here we still do not know what to do with its nature. It's the first time we saw that thing up close so it might take some time before we can fully take its advantage and apply it to several fields and studies."
The orange atmosphere colored them together on the hospital's rooftop. There, stood Socrates who managed to recover himself shortly. Several steps were approaching him as he stood and continued his gaze toward the unobstructed view.
"With my age and fragile body, I don't know why I survived. It must have been luck."
Strawberry's face was revealed with the brush of the orange sky and dusky view "It doesn't matter. All that there is both of you survived. But do not visit Pierce yet, I have already told him about the excuses that he will be using."
"Anyways, Socrates aren't you going to help our team of researchers and scientists in unlocking the secrets of the Quanta core you obtained from Raj."
"No. I already told them what I know. At least now they are not starting from scratch. I vowed not to be involved in those studies anymore.
I guess that is what helped me back then. When the place was collapsing Raj ran towards me swiftly reaching out to me. He threw that thing to me and then the next thing I knew I woke up in the lab."
"How about that other boy? He still hasn't awakened yet. But unlike Raj, he does not have the same damage, so we only placed him in the wards."
"I need not to worry for both. They have sturdy bodies. Luckily, I focused them to train their bodies first before I sent him to you," Socrates crouched down and sat on the floor.
In the president's office.
The secretary brought the details of Axel and the other survivors to the President himself. President Fistus was the sixteenth president of the country of Gilmore. It was already his third year and there were remaining three years before his term ended.
The country has already faced several problems since the eruption of the Starfall lab project seventeen years ago. The Quanta spread all over the world like an epidemic and as the country where the explosion came from the leaders are having a hard time. Also, it was because they were facing leadership problems within the country.
Unemployment rate, poverty, poor infrastructure, dependence on remittances. The country itself cannot survive on its own if it's not with the overseas Gilmongers who work abroad.
The country is facing a threat from its neighboring country Astoida.
Secretary Mona stepped into President Fistus' room, her presence was edgy and agitated "Mr. President I think we should already hold a diplomatic meeting with Astoida, our country is already under threat of invasion. They already placed an entire fleet in one of our islands in the southwest."
"Why is this a problem again? I thought we won the case in the world court regarding this matter?" sighs. "I know that doing a diplomatic meeting will just do nothing, they will just try to offer terms we cannot refuse. This president will just smile in front of me while slowly backstabbing me," he continues to take a small sip of the liquor from his hands.
"If we cannot win through diplomatic terms, then it's time we turn to war."
"How is the new Project doing so far? Is Mayor Sergz doing good? That project will be our foundation for the mass artillery and weaponry we will be needing. At least before my term ends. I'll try to secure my daughter to win the next election so that there will be a little hassle."
Another male secretary came in. Secretary Carolito. Both secretaries were his left and right hand. Walking calmly to his table he spreads the sheets of paper. The president slowly turns his chair and faces them both.
"The pork barrel is doing well Mr. President. We secured the funds for the next election through our healthcare system. We have control over the media so there is nothing to talk about that much…I only passed by. I still have something to do for my perusal."