"If we catch him alive, will there be a bonus?" One of the men stood up and asked.

"Yes." The old lady confirmed, "However, you must remember that this man is a master fugitive. He has all the skills to evade capture. You will be fined and suspended if you fail to capture him." She warned them. "It is a dangerous task we give you, but I know you are all up to it."

"Understood." Everyone else nodded their heads.

"Now, let us move on to another matter." The old lady cleared her throat and then spoke once more.

"For this mission, your leader will be that girl behind you." She pointed to Ayame.

"What?!" A man standing near the end of the row shouted.

"Is this a joke, Supreme Commander? We don't have the time to babysit a kid." Another person standing beside him scoffed.

"Silence!" the elderly woman raised her hand towards the speaker and silenced his remark. "This girl will be the leader of a new unit: the Starry Sky Brigade."

The men in the room turned to look at her, then whispered amongst themselves. "Are you sure about this? That little girl will get us killed if this thing goes wro-"

"I can assure you, her skills are the real deal." The deep, commanding voice of the Supreme Commander suddenly interrupted.

Ayame stood up with an incredulous expression.

"Wait a sec, are you shitting with me? You want me to lead a team of mercenaries? You know that I'm underage and have a life outside of murdering random imbeciles, right?" Ayame retorted.

The Supreme Commander turned his head and looked at her.

The old woman explained, "You don't have to be at the base for the entire time. The Starry Sky Brigade will only take handpicked orders. And you can choose whether or not to accept them, so it won't interfere with your daily life." She continued, "And there are only a total of six of you. It's a manageable number, and your team already has enough field experience."

"All right, fine," Ayame conceded. "So what's the SOP?" She asked curiously.

The supreme commander explained, "Tomorrow at 1800, we will open up a portal approximately 300 meters away from the house of the target, then you will march until you reach his house. Whether you gun him down from the outside or try to break into his hut will be your choice, but you will need to bring a piece of his body for DNA testing."

She continued, "Afterwards, you must leave immediately using the portal slip after taking a DNA sample since there are other militant groups nearby, and they might take the gunshots as some form of aggression."

Ayame sighed, "Understood."

"You guys can go now." She waved her hand before pointing to the exit of the briefing room.

The men quietly exited the room, but the supreme commander remained behind.

"Take this," she said, handing Ayame a smartphone, "it's a satellite phone; I'll use it to contact you, and it will work no matter where you are on the planet. Oh, and be sure to take Gungnir back with you."

"!?" Ayame turned backward and stared threateningly at the supreme commander.

Ayame's face was frozen, and her eyes were steeled in a killing-lust glare. She was breathing heavily, but not because she was nervous. Her muscles were primed for attack.

The supreme commander smiled and said, "I know who you are and what you intend to do, Witch of Destruction, but this world won't be easy like the world you used to belong."

Ayame entered a combat stance.

She was like a lioness, ready to pounce on her prey. All her muscles were drawn as tightly as a bowstring, ready to propel her in any direction.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." The supreme commander laughed before disappearing right in front of her eyes.

"Fuck! So that's what Lin Feng meant when he said, "The supreme commander knows a lot about you." She knew who I was and where I found Gungnir." Ayame cursed.

She didn't know what the supreme commander was going to do, but she knew she had to do something.

She must get strong fast; otherwise, she would be nothing but the supreme commander's chess piece, like a floating log washed up in the tide, unable to steer her own fate.

The afternoon sun was still high in the sky when Ayame walked out of the administrative building, squinting and shielding her eyes with a hand. She rubbed the knot in her shoulder, sighed, and began walking down the street.

She walked the street and saw a large building in the distance. She turned and followed the road until she found a building, a three-story building with a corrugated metal roof, white concrete walls, and light brown window sills.

She pushed open the door and found herself in a wide hallway with a reception counter on her left. Straight ahead lay the gym, and to the second floor was the shooting range. To the third floor was an indoor close-quarters battle testing area. The floor was surrounded by cardboard targets and plywood sections that divided the area, creating rooms, doorways, and stairs.

"Woah, for a terrorist base, it really feels professional." She said as she the stairs that led into the shooting range.

She opened the door that led to the shooting range.

Ayame watched as she made her way to the counter, eyes narrowed in concentration as she took in the sights of the various targets lining the walls.

She asked the man at the counter, "Where do I sign up?"

"Here. Show me your ID and what gun you want to try." The man explained.

Ayame showed her ID to the man, which the man scanned with some kind of card scanner connected to a computer.

Ayame pulled her ID card out of her pocket. The guard ran it through his card scanner and then settled his eyes on the computer screen. The screen was filled with a scan of Ayame's photo and data scattered across it.

"I want to try assault rifles and battle rifles. I'll take the M4, and do you have a Mk14eBR?" Ayame asked.

The man didn't respond and instead walked through a backdoor, clanging as it closed automatically, leaving a perplexed Ayame behind.

He returned later with two guns and a few boxes of ammo.

"Thank you," Ayame replied before walking to the shooting range.

Ayame walked towards the shooting area, her eyes narrowing as she placed the guns and ammo box on the table.

Ayame carefully loaded the ammunition into the gun's magazine. Her eyes were fixed on the weapon as she carefully and meticulously ensured that each round was properly aligned. She deftly slid the magazine into the gun, her fingers moving in practiced, precise movements as she locked it into place.

With a quick, fluid movement, Ayame cocks the gun, her movements precise and practiced. The clicking sound of the gun's safety being disengaged is barely audible over the hum of the shooting range. Her eyes remain fixed on the weapon, a look of intense focus and concentration on her face as she prepares to fire.

Focused and determined, Ayame exudes an aura of intense concentration as she lines up her shot. Her face is set in a determined grin as her eyes are locked on the target, her body coiled and ready to fire. Her grip on the gun is firm and steady, her posture confident and assured as she steadies herself in preparation for the shot. Her movements are graceful and precise, reflecting a deep level of familiarity and mastery with the weapons at her disposal.

The gun's cool metal felt smooth and reassuring in Ayame's hands, its weight perfectly balanced as she gripped it tightly and raised it to aim at her target. She could feel the cool rush of adrenaline and excitement coursing through her body as her finger slowly squeezed the trigger, the sharp crack of gunfire filling the air.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Despite the ear-splitting sound of gunfire and the lack of protective headphones, Ayame remains completely composed and focused, her eyes locked on the target. Her movements are fluid and precise, her body completely still as she lines up her shot. Her face is expressionless, betraying no hint of fear or hesitation as she steadies herself for the final pull of the trigger. She seems completely in control and utterly unflappable, her unwavering determination undimmed by the sounds and sights around her.

"Sure enough, my aim is pretty terrible," Ayame muttered after seeing the results.

She aimed at the center dot, but her bullets mostly hit the areas between the first and the third ring from the center.

Ayame removed the magazine and cocked the gun before reloading the magazine.

Repeating the same process, Ayame began aiming again at the target, but this time with Meikyo Shisui active and aiming with the red dot.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Ayame unloaded the entire magazine on the target.

¾ bullets pierced the center. It was a lot more accurate than a red dot and Meikyo Shisui. Plus, the recoil was much more stable, even in full auto mode.

She deactivated Meikyo Shisui and loaded the magazine for the MK14eBR for her next testing.

She activated Meikyo Shisui once more and aimed down the sights of MK14eBR, shooting at the target.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

All of the bullets hit their intended target.

When she was finished, Ayame checked over her shoulder and noticed everyone watching her intently.

She frowned but said nothing as she placed both guns and ammunition in the box, returned it to the counter, and exited the shooting range.

Her ears were ringing from all the gunfire.

She walked into the gym and saw a few people inside practicing some drills.

"Excuse me, but I'm here for training." She stated.

"Yeah, yeah, come on in," a middle-aged man said as she opened the door wider for Ayame to enter.

As Ayame approached them, they noticed her and stopped what they were doing. Some men gave her dirty looks.

"Thanks," she said while entering the room.

She looked around at everything. The place was very spacious and spacious too. There were all sorts of equipment.

Ayame took a skipping rope nearby and went to the corner to begin jumping rope.

"So what kind of training is she going to do? I heard from a certain someone that she's very skilled in martial arts." One guy said.

"Hey, stop spreading rumors about her. She's just an FNG, plus she looks like she's still in her late teens. Anyone large enough could overpower her." Another guy said.

"Yeah, she's probably just a weakling." The first guy said.

Ayame could hear every word they were saying. But she didn't bother reacting and kept doing boxer skips on the rope for another half hour. Once she was done with the warm-up, she performed ten sets of pushups, pull-ups, and kettlebell squats.

She completed each set within 20 seconds.

She walked toward the door and was about to leave when she heard someone call out to her.

"Hey kid, wanna spar?" Another guy asked her.

"Yeah, sure. You won't mind if I don't wear protective gear and gloves, right?" Ayame asked with a grin.

The guy scoffed and said, "I think these are the least of your worries."

Ayame shrugged and walked away with her hands on the back pockets of her pants.

She entered the hallway and headed downstairs.

Both of them entered the ring and faced off against each other.

The man ran towards Ayame immediately, punching Ayame over and over, but she evaded his attacks.

Still, the man wasn't downhearted, and he made his attacks even faster in an attempt to overpower her.

Ayame evaded by leaning her upper body or pivoting her feet and moving her entire body sideward.

She noticed that the man appeared to be trying to drive her into the corner.

"That won't work on me!" She exclaimed as her eyes glowed red, stepped Cracking noises rang out as she broke the bones on the man's hands, causing him to cry out in pain and anger.

'Oops, I accidentally used the Asura Qi on him.'

The release of adrenaline instantly dulled the man's pain, but even with the pain gone, he couldn't control his fist properly, so he tried to grab her.

'Does he want to put me in a clinch?' She thought rhetorically.

Ayame smiled, "Say goodnight," before executing a superman punch at the approaching man.

Plop. He was knocked out and fell to the ground.

Ayame walked towards him while clapping, "You're still awake, huh? You're pretty good. Pros really are different from amateurs. That was very impressive."

She stepped out of the ring and noticed everyone's attention was on her. Some had an awed expression, while others had an uneasy one.

Ayame did not waste time and exited the training facility. She noticed it was already dusk.