Marcus gave the screen a long scrutinizing gaze.
'I never thought I would receive this kind of quest, this is surprising'
'It was like quests received when players converse with specific in-game characters, this is like a game, although in my case I didn't have a conversation with my mum'
With uncontrollable emotion that was welling up inside of him, Marcus did a facepalm. 'If I had known I would have tried it, not that I actually spoke with my mom here tho'
"Marcus, are you alright?"
Mei Ling asked with a worried voice and at the same time a call entered. It was from the independent association, the same number that had called him earlier for the raid.
'This is bad, I'm late!'
"I will meet you at home, I have somewhere important to be"
Hastily, Marcus stood and left the hospital, and quickly boarded a taxi.
After completing the raid, he had it in mind to go back to the quest.
After reaching the meeting point, Marcus noticed some people, fully equipped, however, one could easily differentiate between these people.
While some were soldiers, armed with guns and preventing people from entering the location which was already barred, the others were, without doubt, Awakened, judging by their dress and weapons made out of mutant beast parts, they were unlikely to be mixed with regular people or soldiers, and even the soldiers were positioned around some radius of the location, preventing no single human from trespassing.
'After all, this is a numbered area, colloquially, a beast zone'
Approaching the group of Awakened which gathered together, Marcus could hear some murmurings that signified disgruntlement.
"What the hell is the last member doing, is he some big shot?!"
"I heard he was just a guy to fill the headcount, I don't know his rank tho"
"Damn!! If he ended up being a big shit, I will strangle him on the spot!"
Marcus noticed a man with his arms clad in some protective gear that looked menacing, and this man was gnashing his teeth furiously.
'I think they are all fired up.
From the details, I'm the only rankless individual, I shouldn't cause any ruckus with my lateness'
With a humble demeanor, Marcus walked faster towards the group, and noticing Huang Ming, the leader, he changed his direction and approached her.
"I'm sorry for being late, I'm Marcus Cheng"
Marcus said in a meek voice, after all, he couldn't show any arrogance after coming later, clearly, he was the one preventing the commencement of the raid.
"Marc, did you know that because of you, this could become a serious issue?"
It seemed Ming didn't seem to fall for Marcus' meek and humble tone, judging from the way she put her hands akimbo and gazed intensely at Marcus, she looked like she wanted to scold him.
"Pardon?"
Marcus didn't seem to understand what she meant.
"I'm saying because of you, this beast zone might expand, or haven't you heard of that?"
Ming stretched the words, her tone laced with annoyance.
Flanked by two soldiers, Ming was armed with some menacing weapon that looked like a cross between a battle axe and a spear and also clad in full combat armor with golden hues, Marcus couldn't help but wonder that she was fully prepared for today's raid.
'Isn't that the famous Cross hell product, that weapon would cost billions of yuan, no doubt, as expected of someone from the main family of the Huang clan'
The menacing weapon was held firmly in the middle by Ming's delicate hands, and while the weapon looked so heavy at a mere glance, she didn't seem like she had any problem carrying it.
Every Cross Hell product was a terrifying masterpiece.
Its head was shaped like a battle axe, forged to cleave through armor, while its opposite end tapered into a sharp-tipped spear designed for precision strikes. Every curve and edge gleamed with lethal intent, and in Ming's hands, it seemed more alive than any mere weapon had a right to be.
'Wait a minute, this might be her first raid as a unit commander and she wanted to give her best'
'Well, from the agreement in the application form, I'm just to fill the headcount, no battle for a rankless Awakened, I guess I will be cheering her on from the distance'
"Hey!! Are you ignoring me? What would you do if this zone expanded? Would you take responsibility?"
Ming scoffed, "What am I even saying, how can a rankless Awakened take the responsibility for an area expansion"
Ming collected a form from one of the soldiers and shoved it on Marcus's chest. Looking up at him with an arrogant expression, she turned and walked away toward the other members.
"Isn't she somehow rude?"
Marcus took the form and turned to the soldiers, while the latter covered their mouths and shook their heads meekly as if to say they didn't want to take part. Even if Marcus was a rankless Awakened, he still commanded some respect from the soldiers. This was how much Awakened were revered, their mere presence carrying weight regardless of rank.
"And what is she talking about, do you know about that?"
"Yes Sir! When Area Bosses expand their colonies, it is called area expansion, and it is done when neighboring locations are conquered and turned into the den of mutant beasts"
"I see"
"Let's go, guys, although it is evening already, according to reconnaissance squads of the awakened league, this area is deemed to expand if we don't clear it any time soon"
"Let the raid begin!!"
Marcus manifested his exoskeleton for protection just in case; after all, the beasts' ability wasn't known yet, or for some reason, it was withheld from members of the strike squad.
However, Marcus realized that none of them seemed to care about it.
"Is it because of the number, it seemed they are confident about their abilities, and also considering that this numbered area is a high-tier S-grade, I think it isn't an exaggeration that having ten C-rank and two B-rank Awakened in a strike squad is enough to clear an area of this grade"
Shifting his attention from his thoughts to his body, Marcus was surprised by the exoskeleton's color.
"It has turned silvery? Is this the next color when I have mastered the exoskeleton or is this what they called ecdysis?"