The situation in the Heavensend Kingdom became chaotic due to the presence of the invading forces.

It became worse that the army that was sent to resist them was defeated effortlessly, sending shivers down every official who attended today’s report.

So, the ruler sent out an official decree to properly investigate the cause of the defeat. From external to internal, the Royal Secret Service attended to the issues.

At the royal court in the Inner Palace, the officials and the ruler were gathered.

“Do you have anything to say?” Chi Sen asked loudly. But the officials were shivering and lowered their heads, clearly wanting to say something but found no courage to do that.

“Where is General Xiang? I don’t even see his shadow for the last two days.”

Just then, a commotion could be heard right outside the royal court. All the officials and Chi Sen could hear it.

“Please forgive me for being late, Your Majesty.” A man with a large shoulder and a burly appearance made his entry to the royal court, raising his hand.

“You better find a good reason why you’re late. If it is not important…” Chi Sen looked at the new addition to the royal court with his eyes narrowed.

“Actually, it is about the situation at the front. The invading forces suddenly halted their advance. It is as if they are waiting for something.” The man said with an urgent tone.

“So what are you doing here?” this was what Chi Sen wanted to know. There should be something important that the man in front of him came to him a bit late.

“It is actually the situation at the Nine Suns City. My subordinate reported that there were traces of the enemy there. Most likely, they are there to gain some intelligence against us!”

“Nine Suns City…don’t tell me!” Chi Sen raised his voice in disbelief.

As one of the cities under the territory of the Heavensend Kingdom, Nine Suns City was one of the important places the king had paid attention to.

“Yes, Your Majesty. The enemy is likely to gain some information regarding our connection with the Snatcher. As of now, we are forming an encirclement to prevent them from escaping. But…”

The man held his word as he hesitated to say the next part.

“Go on! Continue!” Chi Sen irritably said.

“But some of our men were going rogue and advanced solely to the enemy.”

 

-

 

As the saying goes, a plan cannot survive in an ever-changing battlefield.

It also went to the reality that Charlene had to face.

As early as dawn, Charlene and the Captain had prepared everything they needed in their evacuation.

“Alright, now all we have to do is to get out of the city.” The Captain said with a smile plastered on his face. He also had gathered enough intelligence regarding the Snatcher in the city.

Therefore, the mission could be considered complete.

‘Let me process the information first.’ The Captain thought in his mind.

‘First, the Snatcher is connected to the current king of the Heavensend Kingdom. Second, their action thus far was to develop without using much resources. By kidnapping and intellectual property theft, they easily gained most of the things the Comberth Continent people have created. Third, they are still on to their old business…’

At the mention of the business, the Captain gritted his teeth. It was as if the things the intelligence had mentioned were not enough and he imagined it.

‘Oppressing their own people in the name of some ideology. Hah, their problem is what the Federation is also faced but magnified by a hundredfold.’

Not only that but the Captain had also received reports from his unit that the Heavensend Kingdom was also involved in some kind of persecution. The Captain could only look at the children of the orphanage to realize that the headmaster of the orphanage was truly kind.

It was because she sheltered the children from those the kingdom had persecuted.

The Captain then let out a long sigh before he put all the supply before they went to the hidden location around the city.

To leave the city inconspicuously, they had to be separated and formed a smaller team.

This was what the Captain planned to do as some of the powers in the city were paying attention to them. Of course, the team corresponded to the available vehicle that they had hidden previously when they arrived at the city.

“All units, report!” the Captain raised his walkie-talkie and communicated to his units through it. Charlene, Tatsumi and Nene were on the side, ready to move.

“Unit 1, safe.”

“Unit 2, safe.”

“Unit 3, I’ve got company!”

“Rendezvous at the nearest point to Unit 3 immediately!” the Captain said before he put the walkie-talkie to his chest pocket and gestured for Charlene and the others to move.

Soon, they got out of the outskirts of the city. The Captain went to one of the most lush shrubbery and revealed the vehicle that Charlene used to get there.

“Get on!” the Captain gestured. The rest understood and they went inside while the Captain was the one who would drive.

Charlene grabbed the pistol after placing Tatsumi and Nene on the back. Since they were in the enemy territory, they had to prepare for the eventuality of being discovered.

“Hah, it looks like they just discovered our movements. But it is too late. Furthermore, this situation is within expectation, " the Captain said while in the driver's seat.

Soon, the engine of the vehicle roared. Then the vehicle moved toward the location where Unit 3 was having trouble.

Two minutes later, Charlene and the Captain could see the vehicle that was being followed by other vehicles.

The Captain stepped on the accelerator and the speed of the vehicle increased dramatically. Charlene then got into position and shot the tire of the pursuing vehicle. Charlene knew that other than their own vehicles, the others were probably hostiles.

One of the vehicles suddenly veered off and became unstable. They had to slow their speed otherwise they could be rolled out.

Charlene shot the other vehicles on their tires and that caused them to stop pursuing Unit 3’s vehicle.

The driver of the Unit 3 then waved his hand out from the car. The Captain also got his hand out of the car while showing a thumbs up.

Then the Captain gestured with his hand and both of the drivers understood that they would get out from the enemy territory now.

The Violet Sun rose above the horizon as the four vehicles met up and sped toward the landing site. They had to go through a flatland where there were likely obstacles.

Tatsumi wore a numb look on his face. It was as of he had found upon the secret of the two people he had met.

But it was also understandable, they suddenly appeared likely because they were not from the region.

‘Yes, Miss Charlene is not from around this region. Most likely.’

But soon he realized that they were being chased by the military from the Heavensend Kingdom. Tatsumi had once seen the military and knew what their outfit looked like. The outfit of those who chased after their vehicles matched with what Tatsumi knew.

‘What is going on!?’

The scene caused Tatsumi to gulp in nervousness. He also wondered who Charlene and the Captain truly were to cause such a scene.

As for the ones who pursued Unit 3, they were made incapable of action due to Charlene’s shooting the tire of their vehicles.

“Damn it! Slow the vehicle if you don’t want to be rolled off.” The squad leader shouted loudly to all of his squadmates.

They could only watch as the target slowly drifted away from their location. They could only grit their teeth in anger, unable to do anything else other than to report to other squads.

“We’ve finally got them off our tail!” the Captain commented. Charlene nodded and placed the pistol in the holster by her waist.

Tatsumi realized that they had just exchanged fire and there was no damage to them. He knew that the vehicle was a bit bulky but he faintly understood that it could withstand attack from the Heavensend Kingdom’s military.

“Fortunately, we’ve brought the armored vehicle for this mission. Their attack is rather fierce for a local guard.” Charlene added.

“They are only fierce because they saw us as weak. If we have a strong presence, they will not dare to even approach us.” The Captain said with a condescending sneer on his face.

“Hmm…” Tatsumi wanted to say something but Charlene noticed what he wanted to ask.

So she looked back at the rear and locked eyes with him.

“We will provide a detailed explanation once we’re safe.” Charlene said. Tatsumi frowned but decided to trust her on this one.

Besides, she had many chances to do him some harm but she never did that. Although…he was curious about her reason why she had to bring him along.

He faintly felt that the entire reason Charlene had done this was because of him. As for bringing the whole orphanage, that was because they were his family.

He also felt that the situation turned out to be favorable to him. One thing for sure was that his worldview changed ever since Charlene appeared.

‘I still cannot imagine what it looks like to be able to voice my own opinion. It is because Grandma hushed me up when I wanted to voice out certain opinions as if something bad were to happen if I did.

‘I still don’t know the reason but apparently, Miss Charlene knows about it.’

Tatsumi was then lost in his own thoughts while Nene crouched down the entire time. She was shy and the unexpected situation made her afraid and could not help but do that.

Charlene calmed them by saying that the one who pursued them was gone.

But Nene was still crouching. Tatsumi then realized and patted Nene on the head, instantly calming the young girl down.

Along the way, the Captain had to take a bit of detour to make sure that their route was not discovered and someone would intercept them along the way.

That worked well because the Captain had synchronized his escape with the sudden operation of the Hinon Federation forces nearby, distracting the military.

As for the Heavensend Kingdom’s military, they would not dare to have a breach in their defensive line which caused the Captain and his convoy to be able to escape.

The Hinon Federation Forces accomplished its order by tying up the available men from the Heavensend Kingdom’s military.

After a few hours, the vehicles stopped. When Tatsumi realized it, he could smell something salty in the wind and hear a lot of engines and vehicles roaming around their location.

Charlene then gestured for the both of them to get down.

“Where…are we?” Tatsumi was the first one to ask a question. In his sight, there were a lot of armored vehicles that came and went away. There were also vehicles with wings like a bird, an iron bird.

He also noticed that the wind which carried the salty sensation became stronger upon getting out of the vehicle. His sight then focused on the sea on the horizon and saw that right on his feet, he was in the nearby beach area.

Then the Captain and his unit gathered, along with the children of the orphanage, the caretaker, the supervising adult, and the headmaster.

“Report, Captain!” one of the Captain’s men saluted and said. The Captain nodded and swept his gaze to the group he had to carry.

“All of the civilians have been successfully carried to this place!” the man continued after seeing the Captain’s gaze.

“Good. And with that, our mission has been accomplished. Report to the temporary headquarters right away for information sharing with the deputy commander.” The Captain nodded before dismissing all of the men under him.

They all saluted to him before leaving.

As for the Captain, he had to escort Charlene and the civilians he had carried.

Charlene looked at the orphanage group. Most of them became wary upon seeing the situation around them but the headmaster remained calm. She even smiled when she saw that they were at their current place.

Most of them were suspicious because these people were wearing a different uniform than the military from their kingdom. Furthermore…

Charlene pulled off something on her face. She removed her disguise which covered mainly her face and her hair. The Captain also did the same by removing the thing covering his face.

A different appearance could be seen in the two which made the orphanage group surprised.

Their striking appearance was something that the people from Heavensend Continent would recognize right away as something too foreign to them that they noticed it immediately.

“Alright, return that to me.” The Captain extended his hand, and Charlene gave the disguise tool to the Captain.

“This is a useful tool to have. Should I consider making one myself?” Charlene murmured.

“Well…I hope you are satisfied with the current tools we have. If possible, improve on it!” the Captain added.

The Captain then noticed the dull look on the orphanage group. He went toward them with his amiable smile.

“As of now, you will be under Miss Charlene’s supervision. Let me tell you, despite her appearance she is quite important to us.” The Captain said to them in a serious tone.

“Are you…actually…the invader that the kingdom is talking about?” the supervising adult could not help but ask for confirmation.

“Miss Hua seemed to realize the situation here. Yes, we are the people from the Hinon Federation across the ocean that you often hear about. What about it?” the Captain tilted his head to one side, seemingly in control of the situation.

Hua Fei did not expect that her question would be answered so frankly by this person she disliked.

“Alright, if you all have nothing to say then follow us.” The Captain turned and was about to take the first step when a voice sounded.

“Can you let me meet with someone? If you know the name of Miyamoto Mamoru, please tell me.”

It was the headmaster of the orphanage who asked. The Captain frowned, deep in thought.

‘That name…is the name of the old man, isn’t it? No, I need to ask for more clarification.’ The Captain decided to ask for more details regarding this matter.

“Well, tell me about him first.” The Captain said in anticipation. But before he heard the important thing, he discovered that the figure of the old man was approaching him.

“What is this?” the old man asked in a cold voice. The Captain went to him with a smile on his face.

“Sir, this is the civilians that Miss Charlene has requested for me to bring. We just arrived here and will go to the accommodation place for temporary settlement.” The Captain said but he noticed that the old man’s eyes were not on him at all.

Instead, his eyes were on the group.

Specifically, on the headmaster of the orphanage.

“Is this really true? That you are here…” the old man’s eyes narrowed as he looked at her.

“It’s me. I can’t believe that you are well after separating for so long.” The headmaster smiled.

‘Wait, if they were separated for so long how can you recognize each other so easily?’ the Captain kept those thoughts to himself as he watched that the two were indeed acquaintances.

The old man then patted the Captain on his shoulder. He said, “Thank you for bringing her here. I will reward you in my personal capacity.”

“This is due to Miss Charlene's involvement. If you want to thank someone, Sir, you have to thank her.” The Captain emphasized that it was Charlene and not him.

“Both of you, then. I’ve received a report from the frontline that some of their movement is synchronized with your units. You also have merit in it, don’t refuse.”

The Captain nodded and along with the old man, the rest of them then went to the temporary accommodation that the logistics had prepared.

There, they could at least rest for a moment.

The Captain then used his walkie-talkie to communicate with the deputy commander about his mission and current situation.

“Is that so? The old man met someone he recognized and stayed there. Please look after him, consider this your order.”

“Yes sir!”

The Captain then checked on every orphanage group. He had to ensure their comfort during their stay.

From the distance, he could see Charlene talking something with Tatsumi and Nene while the old man was sitting on a foldable chair along with the headmaster.

He felt that the risk that he took to get them out from the Heavensend Kingdom’s influence was one of his great achievement.

‘It is risky but since the matter has been solved smoothly, I don’t see the need to overthink about it anymore. Who it is that makes my unit easily gather so much information in a short time, is no longer my concern.’

During the Captain’s intelligence gathering, his unit had met with several good opportunities to gather intelligence which was used for the whole operation forward.

This was a bit unusual but the Captain would remember this favor if there really was someone behind it.