In the large operations meeting room on the first floor of the forward base, officers dressed in black or dark green fatigues continuously entered, searching for suitable seats. Those who had arrived early and were familiar with each other engaged in quiet conversation.
Among these officers, belonging to ARS and AECS, were more than a dozen people dressed more casually—wearing dark cargo pants, short sleeves, or jackets. One of them was Leon S. Kennedy, who had his hair parted in the middle.
Leon, a recently promoted investigator, was originally assigned to conduct routine investigation tasks in Europe of the main universe, searching for anomalies like the Flower of God. However, four days ago, he received orders from the Investigation Department to drop everything and head immediately to the ruins base.
Thus, Leon first took civilian flights and public transport to the company's branch office in downtown Accra. Then, catching a ride with another investigator, he finally reached the edge of the Comoé rainforest.
After navigating through multiple layers of security and entering the underground tunnels dug by the engineering department, Leon successfully reached the ruins base. The journey had its twists and turns, but thankfully, the company reimbursed all his travel expenses.
After experiencing the investigator-exclusive vehicle, Leon eagerly submitted an application for one himself, having met all the necessary conditions. He had simply forgotten to apply earlier due to being stationed in Europe for so long.
Following this, Leon and the other investigator crossed the portal to the forward base, where they remained on standby. During this time, he either stayed in his dormitory, reading everything he could about the universe-03, or went to the cafeteria—living a routine of two points and a line.
Until today, September 30, when he received the latest orders to report to this meeting room for a mission briefing.
As more people filled the room, Leon glanced down at the watch on his left wrist.
08:57.
There were still three minutes before the meeting officially began.
However, when he looked back up towards the front of the room, he noticed a familiar figure.
Short black hair, wearing sunglasses, and a black leather jacket—due to the angle, Leon couldn't see her face clearly.
Where had he seen her before?
Was it…
Raccoon Town?!
A jolt of recognition hit Leon as he remembered the "Cheongsam Woman" he encountered during his first mission in Raccoon Town.
Realizing this possibility, Leon couldn't shake the feeling that the company had woven a dark web across the main universe, with eyes everywhere.
Soon, Leon's attention shifted away from the "Cheongsam Woman" as his former instructor, Jack Krauser, and Arthur Morgan entered the meeting room.
Krauser took a reserved seat at the front, while Arthur stepped up to the podium, turned to face the group, and announced loudly, "Good morning, everyone. I'm Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Morgan, commander of the 1st Reconnaissance Company of ARS, and overall commander of all ARS units here. Many of you already know me, so I'll now outline our operational objectives and plans."
As he spoke, the lights in the room gradually dimmed, and a large holographic screen slowly appeared, displaying an aerial view taken from orbit, with different areas marked in various colors.
"Ladies and gentlemen…" Arthur turned slightly towards the holographic screen and continued, "The company currently has three Orneo-class ships. Orneo-001 is deployed in low Earth orbit in the main universe, while the aerial view before us was captured by Orneo-002 from an orbit 200 kilometers above the ground.
Among all the military units stationed at the forward base, we have the ARS 1st Reconnaissance (Hunters) Company, the 2nd and 3rd Infantry Companies, the 5th Armored Company, and an entire AECS battalion led by Major Krauser. Including various special units, we have a total force of four thousand troops.
While the colleagues from the biology department assured us that in less than two years, we wouldn't need to rely on auxiliary forces any longer—citing the unfinished state of cloning and android technologies, all in technical terms I don't understand—our human compatriots trapped inside the megacity of Minova cannot wait two years."
At this point, Arthur pointed the laser from his pointer at Minova on the map and continued, "While Orneo-002 provided us with high-definition aerial images, our understanding of this megacity is less than 50%. We can only make educated guesses about military installations and the gathering places of those corrupted bastards based on intelligence from local human soldiers and the exterior layout.
But these aren't the main issues." Arthur let the laser pointer's beam sweep over two areas marked with green boxes.
"The priority is to identify the exact locations where our fellow humans are being held captive. These two areas are close to water sources and show more concentrated heat signatures. However, the buildings in these areas don't differ significantly from others, so we cannot be certain, nor can we afford to gamble."
Arthur put away the pointer and faced the group of officers and intelligence personnel, his tone growing serious. "I believe that the operatives of Atlas are all elite soldiers who fear no strong enemy or hardship.
But fighting four thousand against millions, perhaps even tens of millions of enemies, is impossible because Minova is home to millions of these heretical monsters.
Based on Dr. Ashford's analysis and the intelligence provided by local human soldiers, these creatures are fully aware of their own mutation and distortion, retaining their self-awareness and rationality. Many civilians and soldiers, forcibly assimilated without understanding what was happening, chose to end their own lives during the initial chaos on
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