Jin’s POV
   “Hello?”

   “Good evening, Mister Minase.”

   Jin looks towards the sky. He can still see the sun.

   “Don’t you mean good afternoon?”

   “Ah, my apologies. It’s already night time over here, you see.”

   “Wait a second. Where are you right now?”

   “In my home country America, of course.”

   “And you’re calling me directly instead of using LINE.”

   “Yes. Is there a problem?”

   “There is for you. Your phone bill this month might cost you a fortune if we have this conversation for too long.”

   There were a few seconds of silence.

   “Mister Minase, please allow me to call you back using LINE.”

   “Sure.”

   And the line is disconnected.

   “That was one fast call.” Watanabe notices.

   “The thing is-”

   BUZZ! BUZZ! BUZZ!

   While gesturing for Watanabe and everyone else present to be quiet, Jin picks up the call once more. This time, Shannon has made sure to call him by using LINE.

   “-get claims for this, right?” the CIA agent’s voice is heard from the other side of the phone.

   “Oh, I’m not sure. Our boss was already quite upset about the last claim you reported.” a foreign female voice says next.

   “I sure hope that he’ll overlook this, too. I mean, I already got my hands full on that car I wrecked-”

   Jin clears his throat to make his presence known. He hears Shannon let out a gasp.

   “My apologies for wasting your precious time, Mister Minase.”

   “No worries. More importantly, what’s your business with me?”

   “I am calling you as the representative of my President. We would like you to assist us in a mission.” She begins with a businesslike manner.

   “A mission, you say?”

   “Yes. Before I continue, are you currently occupied?”

   “Not really. I’m just eating lunch right now.”

   “Well then, allow me to proceed.”

   Jin gets up from where he was sitting and walks a bit further away from the gang just in case what he’s about to hear is meant to be private and confidential.

   “Sure.”

   “I’m sure you’re aware that UCI researchers from all over the world have been murdered in a single night. That said, their creations still remain. Hybrid creatures and ability users are causing havoc in America as we speak.”

   “Hasn’t that been happening for quite a while now? It’s not just America and Japan, but the whole world too.”

   “That is indeed true. However, something new has joined the fray a few days ago.”

   “Which is?”

   “We’re not really sure about that. These, well, things, are humanoid in both shape and appearance. When they’re injured, black ooze comes out from their wounds.”

   Jin exhales sharply upon hearing that.

   “Do those humanoids have an emblem engraved in the middle of their chest? Like a symbol of an opened book with a key in the middle?”

   “As a matter of fact, yes they did. Do you perhaps recognize those humanoids?”

   “Oh, I recognize them all right. I fought lots of their distant relatives before I came back here.” Jin replies gravely.

   “Pardon me, but you lost me at the last part-”

   RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!

   It was at this moment that the bell which signifies the end of lunchtime rings.

   “We’ll continue this conversation in person right after I get there.” Jin decides.

   “Understood. I shall book a plane ticket for you at once.”

   “Whoa there. I never said that I’m going there by plane.”

   “Are you perhaps scared of flying?”

   “Of course not. It’s just that the flight would take, what, ten hours? I could cover the journey at a much faster rate. A lot faster.”

   “Actually, the flight takes at least twelve hours, but point taken. In that case, please head to Area 51 at your earliest convenience.”

   “...Why there, of all places?”

   “I shall explain once you have arrived, considering that you might be out of time right now.”

   “Right. Before I end the call, though, I want to tell you that I might be bringing along at least two people.”

   “Understood. See you soon.”

   Once Jin is done with the call, he quickly packs up his lunch box and stores it inside his Vault.

   “Was that a call to work, Minase-kun?” Wakaba asks him.

   “Sure was. I probably can’t tell you the details, but I have to go to America right now.”

   “I’ll tell our teacher that you feel sick all of a sudden and has to take the rest of the day off.” Wakaba tells Jin.

   “Thanks.”

   “Oh, how nice. I always heard tales about their wonderful hamburgers.” Watanabe says enviously as soon as she hears the name of the country.

   “I’m going there to work, Watanabe.”

   “But you still have to eat, right?”

   “Hmm…”

   Admittedly, Jin has always wanted to try out a genuine American hamburger. Watanabe is right. He should take advantage of this.

   “Not to mention you get to skip the small test too.”

   “Skipping a small test given by Kitamura-sensei? Yeah, not a chance. He’ll just make me take one all by myself in his next class.”

   Wakaba claps her hands.

   “Right, we’ve wasted enough time already. Let’s head back to our classroom before we get into trouble.” she tells the others.

   Shino bows at her. “Thank you for inviting me to join you for lunch today, Chifuyu-san.”

   Wakaba shows Shino a warm smile.

   “You’re most welcome. You could join us again if you want.”

   “I most definitely will. Good luck in that work of yours, aniki.”

   “Thanks.”

   “Don’t you dare die before I kill you.” Estyshana tells Jin through telepathy.

   “Seriously, can’t I get an honest “Don’t die or I’ll be sad” for once?”

   “Christmas is already over, remember? My dere mode has already been turned off.”

   “Aww.”

   After everyone else has left, Jin takes out his phone once more and calls Sergeant Wakaba. It’s best if she knows about this firsthand. The moment she picks up, Jin tells her about Shannon’s request and the homonculi.

   “-and that’s why I’m heading there right now.” he ends his report by saying.

   “You know Minase-kun, you really surprised me this time.”

   “Why is that, sergeant?”

   “That’s because for once, you actually bothered to tell me that you’re going to do something before doing it for real.”

   “Well, I figured that I should make an exception since the request came from someone who’s not working for the Japanese government.”

   “Wow, how thoughtful of you.” Sergeant Wakaba mumbles sarcastically. “Do I have to remind you that you’re supposed to report every single thing you do when you’re Silver Wolf?”

   “Am I?” Jin asks innocently. “I don’t remember signing any contract that insisted that I do so.”

   “And I’m pretty sure that you would ignore all the terms of the contract even if you signed one. Well, enough about that already. Are you going there alone?”

   “That kind of depends. I suspect that those homonculi I mentioned are made by Austin Graylock. If I was right, I’m probably going there with them.”

   “And Esty? Is she going there with you?”

   “Nope. Since it has nothing to do with her resurrected friends or father, I left her out of it.”

   “I bet she doesn’t know that you were going to America with the Graylock sisters.”

   “She doesn’t.” Jin admits. “I didn’t think it was necessary to tell her.”

   “Hmm, is that so?”

   All of a sudden, she lets out an evil chuckle.

   “Well, I think it would be very interesting if words of this were to reach her.”

   “Going for blackmail now, are we sergeant?”

   “No no, I would never do something as low as blackmail. However, I can’t guarantee that my mouth will stay shut. Let’s see. I suppose six cream puffs will do the job.”

   “I shall search high and low for the cream puffs of the best quality while I’m there.”

   “Thank you for your trouble. All jokes aside, I’ll be reporting this to our PM once we’re done talking. Mind, whatever you do, don’t start a war between Japan and America.”

   “Me, an advocate for peace, starting a war? I would never.”

   “Just watch your conduct while you’re there. Please.”

   “Roger that.”

   Jin didn’t head to America immediately. After all, he has to make another call.

   “Good afternoon, Minase-san.” Audrey’s voice is heard from another side of the phone.

   Her tone is even more serious and formal than usual. She’s probably aware of the reason he’s calling her.

   “Good afternoon, Audrey.” he greets back. “I have a question for you. The emblem that your family uses. It’s the symbol of an opened book with a key in the middle, right?”

   “That is correct.” Audrey confirms. “Have you spotted one somewhere?”

   “Not me, but an agent from America. She told me that there were homonculi that bear the same emblem over there. I guess your father had been busy.”

   “Indeed he has.” Audrey agrees darkly.

   “I’m heading over to America right now to help eliminate those homonculi. With any luck, I might end up finding their master. You want to come with?”

   “I would love to. Do you mind if I bring Al along?”

   “Not at all.”

   “Splendid. Where shall we meet?”

   “I’m at the rooftop of my school. You know, the place where we spoke properly for the first time? Can you Warp here?”

   “I shall do just that. Please wait a moment as I go get Al.”

   Around three minutes later, a portal opens up right in front of Jin. Audrey and Aldenia come out of it while wearing their school uniforms. Jin casts Silent Bubble around them and locks the door which leads to the rooftop so that no one would come in here.

   Jin looks at Aldenia. The tanned-skin tomboy has lost her usually cheerful demeanor. Her right now looks jumpy and nervous.

   “Are you okay there, Aldenia?” Jin asks her. “You look kind of pale there.”

   “Don’t talk to me! Just shut up and leave me alone!” she replies rudely.

   She then gasps in horror at what she had just said.

   “I’m so, so sorry Minase!” She apologizes to Jin frantically. “I’m just, well-”

   “Nervous.” Jin ends the sentence for her. “Yeah, I know and understand. Don’t worry about it. That said, I haven’t seen that side of you ever since we met each other for the first time.”

   “Don’t remind me of that. I feel like kicking my past self for being such an awful person…” Aldenia grumbles while shaking her head in disgust.

   “Like I said, don’t worry about it. Rather, are you sure you want to come with us?”

   “Of course I’m sure! I definitely won’t cause trouble to you or nee-san!” Aldenia insists with a determined look on her face.

   “Look, I’m not worried about you being a burden at all.”

   “Cause you’re not expecting me to do anything useful?”

   “It’s the opposite, dummy. Remember that time when you scared Tengu and his ghost buddies witless? You’ll definitely be able to pull another of those one of these days.”

   Aldenia blushes at that.

   “...Is that how you made Esty fall in love with you?” she demands.

   “Why on earth are you bringing Von Mantus into this?”

   “Gee, I wonder. You womanizer.”

   “Now you’re just slandering me. Ah, whatever. Let’s just head there already.”

   “Where exactly are we heading to?” Aldenia asks curiously.

   “Area 51.”

   Aldenia’s eyes become as large as dinner plates.

   “Seriously? The place where they have UFOs and stuffs? Cool!” she squeals.

   “Actually, that’s probably a baseless rumor.”

   ““Probably”?”

   “Do you really think a former regular civilian like me could barge into a top secret military base without getting shot?”

   “Hmm, point taken. Well, I guess the mystery will be revealed soon enough.”

   “Shall I open a portal?” Audrey asks Jin.

   “Please do, but somewhere near the base. It might be bad if we opened one inside and saw something we shouldn’t.”

   “Understood.”

   Once the portal which leads to an area near Area 51 is opened, the three of them put on their disguise. Jin equips his usual armor complete with helmet, both made of adamantium. The girls, on the other hand, changed out of their uniforms into casual clothing and wore their usual masks.

   When they step through the portal, Jin finds himself in the middle of nowhere. There’s a road and that’s about it. He looks around and sees the military base at a distance around 500 meters away.

   “So, that’s the mysterious Area 51?” Aldenia asks as she’s also looking at the place.

   “Probably. Like I said, I’ve never been here.”

   “That is indeed the place.” Audrey confirms.

   “Well, let’s head there then.”

   The trio walk towards a checkpoint which is guarded by two soldiers who’re holding an assault rifle each. The moment they see the trio approaching, they aim their rifles at them.

   “Halt! Who goes there?” the soldier on the left shouts.

   Jin’s mastery of the English language isn’t that good. Therefore, he could barely understand what the soldier just said. To make things easy for him, he cast Translate, a Spell which allows him to understand any kind of language. At the same time, Translate can also make any word he says be automatically translated into the language known by the ones listening to it.

   “Silver Wolf here, with his two companions.” Jin tells them.

   The soldier who just spoke narrowed his eyes.

   “How do we know that you’re not an impostor?” he asks suspiciously.

   “Buddy, if I really am an impostor, both you and your partner would have been dead the moment we approached you.”

   The two soldiers looked at each other for a single second, as if discussing whether Jin’s statement made sense or not via eye contact alone.

   “...State your business.” The soldier on the left says once the eye contact was broken.

   “I was summoned by Agent Diana Shannon from the CIA. Not really sure why she wants me here. If she’s inside, you could call her to come out and verify my identity.”

   The soldier on the left takes out his walkie-talkie from his belt and whispers into it.

   “Jameson here. We have someone claiming to be Silver Wolf…” Jin hears the soldier say.

   The soldier didn’t take very long to be done with communicating to whoever was on the other side of the walkie-talkie.

   “Agent Shannon has been notified of your presence. She should be here soon.” the soldier reports. “Wait here until she arrives.”

   “Duly noted.”

   “Wow, you’re actually following the proper protocol instead of just barging in like you own the place? I think it’s going to rain blood later.” Aldenia whispers.

   “Do you think I want to waste my time like this?” Jin asks with a volume just as soft. “It’s just that if I don’t do this properly, I’ll get nagged once I return to Japan.”

   “By whom, exactly?”

   “Wakaba’s elder sister. She works as a police detective.”

   “So the almighty Hero of Ifezan is scared of being nagged. I learn something new everyday.” Aldenia giggles.

   “Hey, you tried getting constantly nagged. See how that feels.”

   No one said anything for the next two seconds.

   “Did you sneak a glance towards my direction, Al?” Jin hears Audrey demands.

   “Not at all, nee-san.”

   “Look at me when you’re talking, Al.”

   “Goody. Everyone is turning to a bad liar just like Von Mantus…” Jin mumbles.

   After waiting for a few minutes, Jin sees a military jeep heading this way. All the windows of the jeep were heavily tinted, but that still doesn’t stop Jin from seeing Shannon sitting at the back seat.

   The jeep stops right in front of the boom gate, and out comes Shannon. Wordlessly, Jin lifts up his visor so that the CIA agent could look at his face.

   “It’s really him.” she confirms to the guards.

   “But, it’s probably the work of plastic surgery, or it’s an ability of sorts!” The guard called Jameson protests.

   “Agreed. However, fake or not, there is no way for us to stop him or his companions should they decide to go on a rampage, no?”

   Both guards got tongue-tied at the question. In the end, the trio were allowed inside. Together with Shannon, all of them enter the jeep.

   “My apologies for the soldiers’ overly cautious behaviour.” Shannon apologizes to the trio as the jeep starts moving towards their destination. “These past few days have been jumpy for their higher-ups, to say the least.”

   “Just the top brass?” Jin asks.

   “Oh, the soldiers are nervous too alright, but they’re professional enough to deal with any emergency in a real professional way. Their superiors, however, tend to freak out over the smallest things.”

   “And when they freak out, they give out stupid orders that would make things worse.” Jin predicts.

   “Precisely.”

   Jin shakes his head in disgust. More so than ever, he’s glad that he’s not being bound by something as stupid as ranks and hierarchy.

   “Agent Shannon, meet Audrey and Aldenia Graylock. Audrey and Aldenia, meet Diana Shannon of the CIA.” Jin introduces.

   The agent and the Graylock siblings nod politely to each other.

   “Your assistance was certainly unexpected, but absolutely welcomed.” Shannon says to the sisters.

   “Your gratitude is wasted on us. After all, the two of us are here to clean up the mess started by our dear father.” Audrey explains.

   “...Your father, you say?”

   “I will explain it all in good time. However, I would love to wait until we are inside the military base.”

   “Indeed. That is much better. For now-”

   The jeep is getting closer and closer to a large building.

   “Welcome to Area 51.”