A brief period of silence reigned between the two until Sakura decided to speak up.
"Tell me. Why did you want to meet me?"
"About that… are you willing to become my 'exclusive' bodyguard whenever I go out?"
Sakura fell silent upon hearing his offer.
"...Why would you want that?"
"Because I have some secret to hide?" Aleph paused before he laughed. "Kidding aside, there's not much reason. I might 'misbehave' once in a while, but I do hope it'll be kept under wraps."
From his words, she knew that this assistant director might be involved in some unsavory deeds in the future. It is, in a sense, similar to the people who bought their assigned guards to keep their deeds a secret.
What Aleph left out was that if everything was leaked out, he would no longer attempt something like this.
In the end, the decision of confronting the 'hidden guard' was his attempt at having more 'freedom'—a way to bypass the restrictions that he received as a researcher.
At worst, he would pay a price for failure. Aleph didn't think that all of his plans would be successful. He already prepared several ways when it fails.
"What do you have in return?"
"Some favor, perhaps? If you want something in return, like the experimental designs that we have or exclusive weaponry, I can help you with that."
"...I see."
Just as their conversation was headed towards a good light, the ground shook.
Rumble-!
"This is…"
Usually, there was a difference between places filled with Honkai and places free of it.
It was a matter of having a 'stinging' feeling of sorts whenever there was Honkai energy present.
At least, that's what Aleph felt just now.
"Really… This must be some kind of joke."
At the moment, Aleph did not have a proper weapon in his possession. They were still in the staffs' hands, including the prototype of a honkai weapon that he created for the entire month.
As of now, he could only bring out a portable steel batton behind his belt. He swiftly brought out its full length by swinging it.
Tchk-!
"A honkai eruption."
"This seems to be a strong one." Aleph commented. "This city's branch shouldn't be sleeping still, no?"
To his question, Sakura affirmed with a nod.
"The entire Far East branches were put on a high-alert since the third impact."
"Like I expected…"
The earthquake didn't stop until a while later. At this time, many people on the street collapsed to the ground, fine purple lines appearing on their bodies.
"A sudden attack… We're damned if we can't counter this from the get-go."
Aleph could understand that the Fire MOTH's primary belief is to 'sacrifice' for the fight of humanity. Just like in Nagazora, they didn't care about the potential survivors when they dropped several nukes in that area. Their decision to enact Martial Law showed their complacency towards the honkai; with complete disregard towards the possible collaterals in the process.
As long as this situation doesn't change, or at least someone who could spearhead such a change…
'Humanity might be fucked.'
Looking to the bright night sky, Aleph expected to feel some sort of insignificance, but what he felt instead was a burning will. He felt a sense of powerlessness, a regret of sorts, that clouded his mind.
If Aleph didn't act now, this burning will might go out, just as it did before.
"Let's go back to the hotel, Miss Secret Agent."
*****
Ten minutes.
That was all it took to rush back into the hotel. Several undeads already rose up from the collapsed bodies, which wasn't much of a problem to the woman accompanying Aleph. Her carbon steel katana went through their necks with extreme precision and ease.
Aleph also encountered several attacks himself, but he managed to deal with them by placing a 'ratio line' on their necks. He found out that the line scales with whatever he thinks of. He could create a seventh division that would be 'exactly' within his target's neck.
Other than the undeads, the honkai beasts that started spawning remained to be a growing problem. There are only birds and the like for now, but encountering a Chariot-class honkai beast would spell trouble without artillery and complete battlesuits.
"Dr. Ainsworth!"
"Hey. I didn't expect to breathe honkai energy instead of fresh air."
"This is..?"
The bodyguard looked at the stoic-faced woman beside him.
"You can consider her as an extra guard."
"I see…"
"How was the others?"
"The others took care of the researchers with you. Along the way, a general detection was made and… it was decided we should vacate the city."
"How high was it?"
"Above 700 Honkai Watts."
Honkai Watts, more specifically known as "Theoretical Honkai Energy Reading Index", was the quantity used to measure the intensity of honkai energy. It was a unit of measurement derived from Watts, which could also read as [Joules/Second] (Unit of power).
For reference, both the First and the Second appeared with more than 2,000 HW when read. An eruption approaching half would spawn more dangerous honkai beasts.
Their current situation indicated that it was a major honkai eruption.
"Chief! The branch said that their personnel are in full occupancy!"
Just then, a black coated man ran towards the one who explained the situation to Aleph.
"They couldn't provide any assistance for this escort."
"..."
Hearing this, Aleph had a brilliant idea.
"Where did you take the supposed prototypes we brought?"
"Sir? We stored them with the other logistics."
"We can't collect dust in times of need, no?"
A chance appeared in front of him.
*****
Aleph was aware of his talents. The things he recalled were direct proof of that. His foundation was already beyond the reach of a normal person. Coupled with his raw capabilities, he was able to quickly integrate in Fire MOTH within a month and a half.
However, he saw a chance. The achievement hunter could propel his progress even further, more so when personal strength was still limited in this world. As long as he becomes as strong as Elysia, there would be less problems to think about.
'If every firsts are counted, would a certain number also count?''
Discarding these thoughts in his mind, Aleph focused on his way forward.
Vroom-!
The wheels made a slight noise as they sped through the highway. Aleph was currently driving one of their vehicles after 'convincing' the chief of their team's security to let him leave.
The wonders of status could do as much as that.
'Bringing new weaponries… Is this man truly a good person? Or is he looking forward to something else?'
After witnessing everything he did—including his abuse of authority as well as braving through the possible repercussions of his actions—Sakura was confused as to where his motives lie.
Right now, they are currently heading towards Fire MOTH's branch within the Sapphire City. Nobody asked for Aleph to bring this kind of help, yet he chose to do this.
She couldn't ascertain whether he was scheming something or not.
What she didn't know was that…
'It's my first time driving…'
Not only were there undeads and seraph-class honkai beasts on his way, there were also vehicles that got turned over as well as rubbles from some sort of attack on the ground.
Yet, Aleph managed to maneuver their vehicle extremely well.
Just then, a loud explosion rang out not far away from them. It was caused by several artillery and missile launchers dispatching a large honkai beast.
"What the—?!"
Unexpectedly, one such honkai beast destroyed the buildings behind them as it now trailed behind their vehicle.
"Hey, can you pass me that briefcase?" He asked Sakura.
"What are you planning to do?"
"Kill that monster, of course."
With a look of incredulousness, Sakura merely stared at his face for a few seconds.
She would find it reasonable if the ones facing the Chariot-class were fully-equipped combat personnel, but the man beside her was planning to face it without any equipment of sorts!
At the very least, the humans who fought honkai beasts on the Chariot class and above possessed a specialized 'Honkai-based Weaponry'. These weapons are empowered with honkai energy. It works in a metaphysical sense, but a weapon's effectiveness is increased due to it. The only downside was that the wielder required a certain honkai energy resistance, lest he be turned to an undead.
It was said to have originated from the weapon of Fire MOTH's strongest combatant. Her bow has enough strength to kill honkai beasts and herscherrs alike.
The case behind Sakura was one such example of that weapon.
For others' cases, they will also need an exoskeleton suit to handle individual battles. That alone increases a person's combat power to a huge degree.
'This man shouldn't have any combat training. Why is he confident?'
Even so…
'I want to see where it lies.'