She harrumphs and turns her head away, not wanting to look at him. He can only smile bitterly, seeing her reaction, but he cannot just turn her away; the pet-type soul blessings that she has are something that he deeply desires.
Suddenly, one of Flare's elite guards arrives at the scene, and she announces something shocking.
"Young master Cleo, our young lady is preparing to attack one of the nests nearby; she is asking you if you want to participate in this mission."
Without hesitation, he immediately agreed to participate; he cannot pass up such an opportunity. He turns to Pearl and says,.
"Our agreement is still valid; if we win this battle, you can find me here. I must apologise, but my presence is needed somewhere else."
He then follows Flare's elite guard. Pearl tried to follow him but was stopped by the entrance guard and some of the guards assigned to Cleo.
They are still recovering, and they know that they would only be dead weights if they decided to join the raid.
The guard captain sighs in disappointment. The battle against the mutant Advanced Grade Army Ant has left some internal wounds; he is incapable of going all out, which is why he also decided not to join in the raid.
The elite guard brought Cleo into Flare's tent. There, he saw the people that were going to participate in the raid. He sighs inwardly; he already expected that he would be chosen, but still seeing him causes him to be a little bit frustrated.
"What are you doing here, weakling!? Do you really think that a small accomplishment makes you equal to us!?" Ganger shouted with an angry look.
The fame that Cleo had obtained has been pissing him off this entire time; he can only grit his teeth and not lash out as he hears the people inside their base talking about his achievement.
"I am the one that invited him here; do you have any problems regarding my plans?" Flare coldly asks him. She does not want anyone undermining her authority, as this raid is extremely important for her, and at the same time, the lives of most of the elite members of their family are now hanging on her shoulder.
"No, it is not like that; I am just saying that what we are going to face is too much for him! He might have won against a mutant Advanced Grade genetic creature, but it was an ant; they are known for their weak individual strength and terrifying numerical attack pattern." Knowing he cannot anger her right now, Ganger hurriedly explains himself.
"You are not wrong, but he is not going to be on the main battle team; he is going to participate in the clean-up mission. As you know, both he and his friend, including his terrifying pet, are capable of fighting for an extremely long time without getting tired, not to mention that they have an abnormal recovery speed. With these traits, they prove themselves as valuable combat assets of the family."
Despite not accepting Cleo, Ganger cannot deny that having someone with stamina as powerful as Cleo and Leon is certainly a valuable addition to their team, especially if they are serving as a diversion for the main battle team.
"Is there anyone else who wants to reject my plan or raise some suggestions? Please speak now."
Seeing that there is not a single person trying to refute her plans, she nods her head in satisfaction.
"If there is nothing else, then, everyone, start preparing; we are going to strike tomorrow by dawn; for now, we are going to deploy the clean-up group to provoke the target."
Cleo does not know any of the plans, but he knows that he is just going to do the same thing as what he did during his battle against the army ants.
Clearing the other genetic creatures trying to attack their group, they finally reached their target; it was a nest of monkeys. They are as big as gorillas in his previous world, but they are clearly not apes but monkeys.
They have extremely long hands that are nearly the same length as their bodies; they are also blue; he frowns slightly; he knows that these monkeys are called Blue Rage Monkeys; their grade ranges from Advanced Grade to Supernatural; and they are known for their superior battle prowess compared to many group-type genetic creatures at the same level as them.
This is not the reason for his frown; it is the fact that they are humanoid in figure. He might be capable of being able to stomach many things, but he believes that he might have a problem regarding these types of creatures.
"Young master Cleo, are you ready?" asks one of Flare's elite guards. She is assigned to this specifically to protect him as Flare realises that he is prone to gathering the anger of the enemy because of how he fights.
The previous guards that she had assigned to him were too weak, not to mention that their numbers had decreased since the previous battle.
"Yes, in fact." Cleo nodded. He turns to Leon and orders him to be the one to initiate the attack, considering that he is immortal.
Leon immediately charges towards the group of monkeys; he uses his fast speed to run up to the trees. Upon seeing this, the monkeys start making loud noises and baring their sharp teeth at him.
"Let us go!" Seeing that someone has initiated the attack, the rest of the clean-up group starts charging.
"Elcio, I want you to lead the guards to fight on the ground; there are bound to be Blue Rage Monkeys falling from the trees. I want you to help Glutton finish off the enemy, or better yet, kill them yourselves, but do not push yourself too much."
He also went after Leon, together with the elite guard, leaving Elcio with Glutton. The latter is unable to join the battle directly because of how tall the trees are; they can only wait until one of the Blue Rage Monkeys falls to the ground.