Dasher sat on the couch with Bravo while Alpha and Charlie took a couple of chairs and sat down as well. They all stared at Gerald's back while he was seated at the table working on his gun.
"I assume that you aren't dissatisfied with my replacements if you are actually talking to them."
"They aren't awful." Gerald replied.
"Good, good." The general happily laughed. Dasher could see that Alpha wasn't too pleased with the 'compliment' so he explained. "The last time I asked Mr. Acers to bring some people with him he ended up executing them all after the first day. I thought it was rather harsh at first but later I found at that they would let me down. The fallout was quite messy. Since then, the requirement for our unit became much stricter."
"Is that why we have so few people in our unit?" Charlie asked.
"That is one of the reasons." Dasher answered. "So, Mr. Acers, do you have anymore intriguing stories that didn't make it into your books."
Gerald replaced the receiver on his submachine gun as he continued to work. He then sighed. "Fine, you can each ask one question. If it isn't too personal, I will answer."
"Me first, me first." Charlie said. "I know exactly what I want to ask. What was your longest mission?"
They could see Gerald visibly shudder. "Over 10,000 years."
"Fuck!"
"Shit, how is that even possible?" Charlie asked.
"Have you ever read any of those books about ancient Chinese cultivators? That stuff is real, or it was. Our planet has pretty much no Qi now so its virtual impossible to cultivate, and in some parallel worlds, the source of Qi wasn't destroyed. It was supposed to be a class-E mission. I was after a group of goblins who crossed over, but the little shits learned how to cultivate. The goblin king even stumbled upon a natural treasure that allowed his cultivation to improve by leaps and bounds overnight. Before I could even reach him, he ascended to a higher realm. That bastard's luck was so good that he always stayed two steps ahead of me. Every time I would get my cultivation high enough, he would ascend to a higher realm a few days later. By the time I eventually met him we fought for over three years straight until I was able to defeat him. To this day that was the most strenuous fight of my life. In the end, it took a bit over 10,000 years and was still only considered an E-class mission and I only got E-class rewards. Once it was all over, I even bought a few cultivation techniques with my reward points and a spirt treasure. But when I came home, I realized that our home didn't even have enough Qi for me to cultivate. They are only useful when I take on mission in places that still have Qi." Gerald said while shaking his head.
The only sound that could be heard was Gerald's tinkering while he worked. The others remained silent while thinking of the frustrations that he must have gone through.
"Damn, I guess compared to you, that three-hundred year old vampire really was a young buck."
Gerald snicker. "That he was. And at least I still have a 100% completion rate for my missions. I have never given one up after I started. But I swore to myself that I would never write a book about that damn goblin that caused me so much trouble. He wouldn't get the honor. That one was actually a hard one to come back from. 10,000 years passed but when I got back home it had only ben a minute. I had to shut myself off for a few months and readjust back to society. Silver lining though, after that, even if a mission took a decade, it wasn't that troublesome to readjust. Alright next question."
The three others thought about their questions for a minute, but Bravo spoke next. "If cultivators, vampires, and aliens exist, what else is possible? What kind of things are out there?"
Gerald tinkered a bit before he answered. "I won't be so bold as to say that I have seen it all, but I have seen a lot. Vampires, werewolves, zombie apocalypses. There are all kinds of horrors lurking out there. Cthulhu isn't just a fantasy. I have been in worlds that were ruled by wizards and knights while western dragons controlled the skies. I have seen artificial intelligence take over the planet, both man made, and alien made. Superheroes and supervillains. Orcs, elves and dwarves. I imagine that there are limitless possibilities."
Gerald took the freshly made cup of tea that Dasher had set on the edge of the table and took a sip.
"I was once in a world where ants had mutated and took over the planet. Since it occurred naturally, that wasn't what I was there. My mission was to deal with a warlock who appeared and was kicking up a fuss. He served a devil and was killing off the humanoid ants that had enslaved mankind. I really didn't like that mission. The warlock was doing his best to free mankind from slavery, but he wasn't from that universe. He had come form a world of magic. Some missions… I feel like I am even against the humans. That warlock's means and methods were the nastiest kind, but what he was doing benefited humans. But I didn't want to give up my 100% completion rate. I may have dragged my feet on that one and let him escape my clutches a few times but… whatever. I had a mission and it needed to be completed. When people move from one parallel world to another it always eventually moves towards the destruction of the world. Each universe is a delicate balance. When the local being wage war and cause chaos, shit get fucked up but things always go on. When outsiders come in with free reign, the destruction of existence is always the end result. Maybe not soon, but if things aren't corrected everything will come to an end. My job is preventing that end, by any means necessary. Depending how I do it and by limiting the impact I can get better rewards."
"So if we fail here, one day, this universe will come to an end?" Bravo asked.
"That's what I have been told. But like I said 100% completion rate."
Gerald put a fresh magazine of ammo into his submachine gun and chambered around. Everything was smooth and working like it was supposed to. He placed it back into its empty spot inside the table and pulled out his two pistols and began to take them apart after unloading them.
"It sounds like you have done a lot of different mission. Can you tell us about some of the rewards you have gotten?" Alpha asked.
"My rewards? Hmm… I can tell you about some things, but it is always a good idea to keep a few trump cards hidden."
"I understand." Alpha replied. "I just want to hear about some cool stuff."
"Well, my armory is pretty well stocked. I don't know what kind of things the military has cooked up but I reckon my personal armory would put the military to shame. Not in quantity, but in diversity. I have a collection of all kinds of weapons. In some worlds, things develop slower so I have a good stock of what we would call historic relics. Anything from muskets to antique cannons to swords and axes and bows. I have a good supply of modern-day weapons. I even have some strange weapons from a world where the steam engine got way to popular. It was like one of the steampunk cosplay events. Alien stuff is always fun, but it can't be used to often. Some need charging, others require ammo that doesn't exist in our world and even if I bring it back, I don't have the facilities that are capable of storing it, meaning that when the guns runs out, it out. It doesn't stop me from purchasing them, but it makes it harder to pull them out and use them. Beam rifles, plasma guns, ray guns, blasters, and so on. They are cool but limited. Same goes for power armor. Things like ironman suits. But I can tell you that I have a couple of mechas stashed away for a rainy day."
Gerald heard the clatter of cup and assumed that Bravo was excited about vehicles. The barrel on his right-hand pistol was starting to get a little worn so Gerald decided to swap it out.
"I got a few customized cars and even a spaceship incase our home goes tits up and I need to bail. That fucker wiped out all my reward points for a mission but hey, its better to have a back up plan. Tech is always a good reward if I can get it for cheap. To be honest I have a bit of an addiction to buying different visors and glasses along with watches. I always like the James bond secret agent stuff. Shooting a sleep dart from a watch or even a laser beam. That is some cool stuff. Body augmentations are expensive but definitely worth it since they can be used at home and taken on mission without cost as long as they fit the missions grade. I can regenerate when I get wounded, not as well as a vampire but it basically gave me the ability to sleep off any injury. The hidden bonus was that it even fixed my eyesight. Improved senses, but I made a mistake with that. It took another month till I found an ability that could suppresses them. Let me tell you, living in the city is not ideal when you can smell everything from five miles away. Some days I wonder how dogs can do it with their sharp noses. Super strength is always fun, and so are faster reflexes but you need a body that can handle it. But my most used ability I got from a perfect completion of a Class-S mission. Wiped out all my points and some people may think it wasn't worth it, but my ability to open objects and find my things inside. It completes got rid of the need to bring so much gear with me. I only have to designate a space to pull from and I can then access it almost anywhere. Best part is that it is an auxiliary skill so it isn't limited by mission class. So many times, while I have been on mission, some stupid villain will capture me, remove my gear, monologue and then throw me into an empty room to kill me later. I would say that one out of ten mission I get lucky and let my target capture me. Their lackies deliver me right to them. A couple minutes later it is all over."
Gerald finished the maintenance on his two pistols. He reloaded them and holstered them and shut the table. He then turned around his chair to face the group and looked towards Dasher.
"Last question?"
General Dasher rubbed his chin while he thought and then spoke. "Who do you work for? Where do you get your missions?"
"That is a bit of a mystery to me. You all saw the messages in your mind in the white area before the mission. One day words appeared in my mind. It acted like a system from one of those web novels, but who knows if that is just a disguise. It called itself the 'World Saver System'. Supposedly there is only one operative in a universe, but not every universe has their own operative, and no operative takes mission in their own world. I have met other operatives while on mission in their home worlds. From them I learned the consequences of a failed mission. And I know that if I don't take a mission, it gets suggested to others. But as far as who is the ones giving out the missions, I really don't know. It could be some being from a higher realm. Maybe an artificial intelligence that was created long ago. Or perhaps even some supreme god who dishes out his work to others." Gerald said with a shrug.
"Alright, I am going to get some shut eye. You all should rest up as well. With one elder dead, the other two probably have their guards raised. I want you all to go looking for the elder that is in the restricted zone. My instincts tell me that the last one probably isn't there. If we take them down one at a time, I am afraid that the last one will make a break for it after we kill the second. That could drag this mission out much longer than it needs to be. So, while you all deal with the second, I will go looking for the third." Gerald said before he left the living room and retreated into one of the bedrooms.