Chapter 23: Priority Military Mobilzation

BLACKRIDGE SAFE-ZONE [001]~

Beneath the jagged surface of a desolate wasteland, the Military headquarters and the largest safe zone in Blackridge Nation stretched hundreds of meters underground.

At the heart of this establishment lies the command center, lined with fluorescent panels and vaulted walls, with rows of monitors and digital readouts forming a luminous 360-degree ring. Maps and locations. Targets and categorisations. All were on display.

Personnel moved with disciplined urgency, tapping consoles, exchanging reports, and adjusting surveillance grids; every action, a practiced rhythm of efficiency. Almost like they had been heavily prepared for such an emergency.

A few hours ago, this base was in chaos, with more than half the personnel mutating into mindless monsters, but all the chaos was quickly brought under control by a single person; returning the most secure base in the country to a state where they could start motoring and responding to the unfolding catastrophe.

At the center of the command room, a man stood rigid, hands clasped behind his back, his gaze glued to the monitors and his intimidating aura filling the space around him. On the shoulders of his military uniform were nine stars in a circle, denoting the highest official rank of the Blackridge Army— Supreme Army General.

A uniformed personnel walked into the command center and stood behind the general before saluting — "Sir. Lieutenant James. Sir."

"Report." The general spoke regally without turning back.

"Sir. The one with the alias ’RainbowJubilee’— real name ’Selene DarkSpire’. Current location is the city of SkyReach."

"After some digging, we’ve uncovered she has some family in the state of Newhaven, and their hideout has already been picked up by our remaining functioning satellites."

"Her class grade is presumed to be equal to that of Lieutenant Xander, Sir."

"A Legendary-grade class? Are you certain ?" the general asked, a trace of surprise cresting his brow, but still maintaining his regal flair.

Due to their investigations, as well as tallying the class and utility of all those who had awakened both in the base as well as all over the country—

The Blackridge Military had been able to gather much information way faster than what could be gathered online, in combination with the copious amounts of data they already had on hand.

At present, regarding classes, there were four standard class groups—

The warrior, Esper, and Unique classes.

Of the three, they only have on record five individuals with a Unique class and their abilities.

However, more than the class groups, what was even more important were the class grades.

A total of seven class grades had been brought to record. Starting from what’s presumed to be the weakest to the most powerful, they are tallied as follows—Low-class Grade. Mid-class Grade. High-class Grade. Top-class Grade. Heroic-class Grade. Epic-class Grade.

And finally— The class grade possessed by just one person they had on record so far— The Legendary-class Grade.

The Government, now represented by the military of Blackridge, has been carrying out massive efforts to investigate this Origin Trial that had invaded their world, in conjunction with powers of every other country.

At the moment, multiple military bases are still fighting to regain order after the mutation, while others that had far more mutations had been completely overrun and wiped out.

The mission was now multi-pronged— As listed priority-wise—

Of utmost priority, the military of Blackridge is heavily investigating and locating powerful awakeners. These superhumans might just be the deciding factor in this crisis. They need to be located and brought under control for the betterment of the nation.

Second in priority is dispatching forces to secure critical facilities and infrastructure from being overrun by mutants, as well as carry out the rescues and relocation of vital personnel who would be instrumental in maintaining these areas.

The last priority, and just as important, was mobilizing the surviving military bases in every other state to carry out structured sweeps and rescues as soon as they have their own bases secured and under control from the mutation.

This very much depends on how severe the mutation rate for an area was, as some areas have way more mutation rate than others. Ground military intervention in these areas is not feasible.

There were other critical areas in the country had it incredibly worse, with the data showing more than ninety percent of the population being mutated—

For such areas, an air strike was being discussed, but was being put off at the moment because of the few survivors still hiding out and holding on for rescue.

At the moment, the headquarters’ interest was skewed more towards awakeners, after the sudden worldwide achievement announcement that shook the world. Finding and securing these awakeners was the utmost priority.

"Sir. The data is 75% accurate, Sir; she is most probably of the Legendary grade," the lieutenant responded.

"What about ’NewDawn’ and ’Dani Wu’ ?"

"Sir. Both subjects are in different states of the country. We’ve marked their locations and will soon initiate contact to bring them over, Sir."

"And ShyButterfly ?"

"Sir. Apologies, Sir.—"

"We haven’t been successful in ascertaining his/her identity or what their powers might be. All we currently know is that he or she is a resident of Dempture, in the state of Newhaven. Sir."

"Hm... And where is Xander now ?"

"Sir. Lieutenant Xander is currently pushing into City A with Squad Alpha, Sir."

"Casualties ?"

"Sir, very minimal, Sir."

"Hmm... very well. Send a directive to General Kane of Newhaven- tell him to make haste with securing target white crane."

"Sir. Yes, sir."

"And what’s the current rate of mutation for wildlife?"

"Sir, estimates show less than one percent. As for marine wildlife, that... that is still uncounted for. Sir." The lieutenant responded unsurely.

"And current crystal tally?"

"Sir, two thousand and five, Sir."

"Hm..."

"Awright. Dismissed."

"Sir. Yes, sir." The lieutenant saluted and left the command center.

The supreme general’s gaze remained locked on the monitors, watching real-time live footage of the country in ruins, citizens and military alike being mauled by wave after wave of mutants, even those armed to the teeth.

He slowly reached into his inner uniform, pulling out a fat cigar and bringing it to his lips—

From his right index finger, a stream of iridescent lights converged upon the tip of the cigar like focusing ultraviolet rays as the cigar burned to life with a billowing smoke.

The supreme general took a long drag of the cigar, slowly exhaling puffs of smoke; his expression hardening as he murmured—

"How far exactly did you foresee...?"

"Robert."