The next twenty-four hours were the most important time for the landing forces. They had occupied around thirty kilometers from the landing site.

But the deputy commander of the campaign then ordered through the communication channel, “All units please be on standby. I repeat, all units are to be on standby!”

Hearing this through the walkie-talkie, various squad leaders simultaneously ordered their squads to stand by and even return to the outpost they had built.

As the landing forces were doing this, in the landing site…

Waves hitting the shore formed a natural rhythm that could soothe the heart of anyone who heard it. But that was interrupted by some ships docking nearby.

Among the ships that docked in the temporary port, there was one transport ship that unloaded its heavy cargo.

The deputy commander of the campaign was overseeing the process. The deputy commander was given some advance information regarding the cargo.

“So that is the atomic bomb that the higher-ups are talking about.” The deputy commander saw a yellow metal box being carried by several vehicles outside to be placed in the storage.

The storage itself was specifically designed for the bombs themselves. And the aircraft that was going to carry the bombs were going to land on the landing site soon.

As the deputy commander shifted his gaze, he could also see the temporary airfield that was prepared beforehand.

The airfield was enough to launch another strike to the hinterland, potentially advancing even further. Of course, it was temporary so the runway was flattened a bit crudely.

But it did not diminish the potential of the airfield itself. As soon as he thought of this, the deputy commander saw the first wave of the bomber already in the distance sea.

The airport was operational and they were already contacting the pilots of the bomber squadron.

After confirming the situation, the bomber finally got the permission to land. Soon, the first bomber from the Hinon Federation who crossed the ocean finally landed on the Heavensend Continent.

The second, third, and fourth bombers followed, landing safely on the new runway.

The deputy commander then reported to Bruce, “Commander, the first bomber squadron has arrived. Shall we do it?”

Bruce who heard the report from the bridge of his ship then paused for a moment.

He then contacted the Captain and informed him about the arrival of the bomber and the potential of the usage of the ‘special cargo’ soon.

“The first bomber squadron has arrived. You better speed up your mission there. Soon, we will deliver our ‘special cargo’ to this place. We also deployed several scientists to gather data on the weapon's usage per the protocols.”

The Captain who heard that then replied, “We will report back when we are done with our task.”

“And please, safeguard Miss Charlene. She is a VIP to us here.” Bruce said before he ended the communication with the Captain and got back to the deputy commander.

“We will do ‘Operation Groundrazer’ in seventy-two hours. All the involved personnel have to report to you directly, understood?”

“Understood, sir!”

 

-

 

The Captain then went to Charlene’s supposed room and informed her about the soon to be deployed atomic bomb.

“Have you calculated how much time we have here?” Charlene asked.

The Captain replied, “According to the standard protocols, the sooner the operation will be launched is within the first seventy-two hours after the preparations are complete.”

Charlene frowned.

She did not have much time. She had to bring Tatsumi and his family out to safety. But to do all of that…

“Don’t worry…” the Captain said to Charlene while he continued, “…soon, they will follow us.”

“What do you mean?” Charlene was surprised to hear that. But she could not find a reason for the Captain's statement.

“From one of my subordinates, the Snatcher will act against the Nine Suns Orphanage tomorrow morning. At that time, they will be powerless to resist and they could only ask for help.” The Captain said with a mysterious tone before he left.

Charlene was concerned about it but since the Captain had said that, she chose to trust the plan that the Captain had laid out.

The next morning, Charlene and the Captain went to their neighbor once again and saw several burly men at the front gate of the orphanage.

They shouted with a loud noise that definitely grated to the ears like a nail being scratched into the blackboard.

“Get out from this building! Don’t you know that this property has already been in the hands of Young Master Sun!?”

Charlene wanted to move closer to confront them but the Captain stretched his hand to prevent Charlene from going further.

“Please, Miss Charlene, just watch this first. There will be an opportunity to take them all and get out of this city.” The Captain whispered softly.

Charlene clenched her fist tightly. She understood that this was an important event to set their mission for this city to be completed smoothly.

Besides, they would be treated better than here if they came with her to the Comberth Continent under the Hinon Federation.

Charlene could see that the orphanage was only treated well by one person.

She had heard from the captain about the situation of the orphanage. That someone was recently deceased and replaced by his child. The problem arose as the child of that person did not look at the orphanage favorably.

Thus, the current event unfolded.

The burly men kept shouting at the front gate of the orphanage. Charlene could see that the children inside were terrified and the one who took care of them had to calm down and bring them inside.

Meanwhile, Charlene and the Captain could only watch before an old lady came out from the building along with the two women Charlene had seen before.

One of the women was the supervising adult and the other was the one who took care of the children’s well-being.

“What brings you people here?” the old lady asked. She seemed to realize the reason but she had to politely accommodate them.

“Old lady, this place is the property of the Young Master Sun. So you better scram from this place! This place is not yours!” the apparent leader among the burly men replied in a condescending tone.

“Is he dead?” the old lady asked another question.

“So you know. Indeed, a few days ago Master Sun passed away and in his will he specifically state that the property he has will be inherited by Young Master Sun. And Young Master Sun does not want you people on his property!”

The old lady sighed, as if that sigh could pierce through space and time. Her eyes closed for a moment before she said, “We will leave this place tomorrow. Let us and the children prepare first.”

“But…” one of the women interjected.

“No buts. They are right, this place is not our property. We should leave this place as soon as possible.”

Then the Captain moved forward and said, “Ahem. Regarding your move, would you like to come to our place? Our place is not anyone's property as it is an abandoned building through and through.”

“Who are you?” the apparent leader of the burly men did not like the appearance of another.

“I am someone who can help you with your problem. I am helping you get rid of these people, isn’t that what you want?” the Captain replied.

“It is you, the new neighbor. But will it be fine to move to your place?” the old lady asked.

“Our place will not disappoint you, ma’am. You, the children, and the caretaker will be brought under me. Sounds good, right?” the Captain felt like something was amiss but he did not mind it as the old lady appeared to agree to his proposition.

The old lady then let out a small smile and nodded, “I agree.”

The Captain’s eyes flashed with caution while Charlene approached behind him. Charlene had heard what the Captain had said and stood right behind the Captain.

“Since the problem has been solved, what are you doing in front of the gate?” the Captain’s tone suddenly changed from a warm-hearted neighbor to a fierce man. He specifically called the burly men group.

“Fine. If tomorrow they still linger in this property, don’t blame my gang for being ruthless!” the apparent leader of the burly men said loudly before he left with his group.

The Captain turned around and wore an amiable smile, he said, “Well, now that the matter has been settled, we need to discuss how to move you all.

“First, I want you only to take your most valuable item. I prefer them to be small so as not to burden yourself and the children. Second, any important document, whether paper, beast skin or bone writings, or other precious things, must be separated into their own category. Third, we will leave the Nine Suns City within seventy-two hours.”

“Wait!” the supervising adult shouted.

“Why do we have to leave the city?”

The Captain sneered. Looks like someone did not know something crucial. But the Captain glanced at the old lady and realized she looked at him with her eyes gleaming.

‘Did she realize that we are not from here? So fast!’

The Captain could not help but think this way because the old lady agreed to his proposition quickly. But he had to do something regardless of whether the people knew his origin or not.

As long as he completed his mission, he could not care less about some people realizing his identity.

The Captain then approached the old lady and discussed some things in detail.

“Hmph!” the supervising adult was a bit angry at the Captain’s antic of ignoring her.

Charlene on the other hand approached the children and asked them about moving from their current home.

“Sister!” Tatsumi ran to her immediately upon seeing that the adult were on their own.

“Yes, yes. You have to move from this place. That means you all can follow me.” Charlene said.

“But where will we move to?”

“That is…somewhere far from here at least.” Charlene could only reply to Tatsumi’s question vaguely. Even though it was vague, it was also likely the truth.

“So, I will help you prepare. Just tell me what  your most precious thing is to me and I can help you arrange it.”

 

-

 

The preparation to move was done smoothly as all of them brought their spare clothes as well as their precious items.

At night, Charlene and the Captain were still in the orphanage building, having dinner with the orphanage's residents.

Charlene sat at the round table, Tatsumi and Nene on her right and left. The Captain was beside Tatsumi, taking a fresh fish meat with the chopstick. The Captain did this with fluidity, like flowing water.

Charlene was also getting used to having a meal with a chopstick. But she quickly followed the movement of the Captain, mimicking it, and performed her own style of grabbing the chopstick.

She quickly became proficient in it.

“It’s been a long time since I used this. More often than not, I used my own hands to devour my food. This reminds me of the time when I was with my friends.” Charlene said with a sad face.

She had experienced the life of another person and that slightly affected her.

Tatsumi realized that Charlene had probably been affected by someone, stretching his hand to her arm, holding it firmly.

“Hmm.” Charlene then got out from her reverie as she realized that Tatsumi held her arm. She patted his hand softly before she continued taking another fish meat from the plate in the middle of the table.

“Good! This is the good stuff!” the Captain said with relish as he chomped down the fish meat on his chopstick.

The so-called fish was actually a giant creature that people of the Heavensend Kingdom usually ate. They found out that the creature was big and edible, which caused some culinary changes.

As expected, Charlene and the Captain had a taste and liked it.

“Go on. Keep eating and don’t mind me.” Charlene said to Tatsumi as she noticed that he did not eat and kept grabbing her arm.

Tatsumi wanted to continue but seeing that Charlene looked at him intensely made him shudder and sat back to his position.

After all of the people there had dinner, they finally moved to the neighboring building where there was no light to illuminate it at all.

The Captain arranged for them to take some of the room that was dusty to be used as a bedroom.

The building was also large, as large as the orphanage with multiple rooms. But strangely enough, no one in the Nine Suns city were claiming it as their property.

“Hmm…” Charlene was in her room, thinking about the other purpose for her being here.

Just then, two shadows extended on the floor by the moonlight. Charlene saw that it was actually the shadows of Tatsumi and Nene who had been waiting at the front door.

“What’s wrong?” Charlene asked.

“Can we sleep together?” Tatsumi asked in a low voice.

“Sure. But tell me why you want to do this, okay.” Charlene nodded and said in a soft tone.

Then Tatsumi held Nene’s hand and they both entered the room.

Charlene then found a good place to extend the bed. She did so and the bed then could be extended to be suited for more people.

She found out that this kind of bed was rare and marveled at the creativity of the maker.

Tatsumi and Nene then placed their body on the extended bed and lay there, finding the bed comfortable enough.

“What did you usually do when you are going to sleep?” Charlene asked.

“Hmm, usually it is about bedtime stories. But this time, I want to hear about Sister Charlene. Is that fine?” Tatsumi said while looking expectantly at Charlene.

“Fine, but it will be a bit long.”

Charlene then started with her first conscious experience in this world. She was wondering what her mother had said to her at that time.

That was also the first time she learned about words and language. She realized it fast, and even her parents were surprised by her coherent speech when she was six months old.

Then Charlene narrated her experience during her early life. Tatsumi felt that Charlene was different from him yet he felt something similar about them too.

Especially about how their perspective of things had been shaped by not only themselves but by something else.

Then Charlene did a soliloquy about the afterlife model she theorized as well as its connection to the living mental schema.

Tatsumi who heard that suddenly understood something. It was as if a thousand lights lit up on his head, showing him the answer to his question about something that only he knew.

‘It looks like my experience is indeed real. It is not a hallucination!’ Tatsumi thought with a conviction. But he still continued to listen to Charlene’s story.

Then…

Tatsumi felt like his eyelids were heavy, and his consciousness was fading bit by bit. HE felt that strength left his body as he lay on the bed. Finally, he fell asleep without hearing Charlene’s words.

Charlene then realized that Tatsumi and Nene had already fallen asleep. With that, she stopped talking.

She left her room and met the Captain. She wanted to ask about the next step of his plan.

“You’re here. As expected, you are indulging them.” The Captain had a smirk on his face as he said that while holding his walkie-talkie, hearing about something.

“All of you, gather at the base at once! We’re going to leave the city tomorrow.” The Captain said to the walkie-talkie before he placed the device in his chest pocket.

“Now that the matter has been set, we have to leave this place as soon as possible.”

“That’s good. But what exactly are you doing other than fulfilling my request?” Charlene asked curiously.

“Gathering additional intelligence, that’s all.” The Captain replied with a confident tone.

“Is it done?” Charlene asked due to her curiosity.

“Of course, otherwise how can I arrange a place for the people of the orphanage?”

“I know that despite this entire thing running smoothly, you have to arrange things carefully. I feel the need to thank you for all of this, that’s all.” Charlene spoke gratefully.

She could see that the Captain had to look after his unit while also dealing with her matter. Despite the matter flowing smoothly, Charlene knew that it was complicated and needed careful planning.

“No need to thank me,” the Captain replied then continued, “After all, you have a purpose for doing all this. I will not question it but please contribute more for the people of the Federation and also for humanity. That is all I ask of you.”

Charlene was stunned. She did not expect the Captain to have such an expectation of her. His expectation became a source of motivation for Charlene.

Charlene clenched her hand so hard that her nails were digging into her flesh.

‘Turns out there are people who expect me to do something big other than my parent.’ Charlene thought while setting up her mindset.

Since there were people who expected her to do great things, she would oblige with pride.