Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The headquarters were as dense as a black mountain range covered in dead silence. The ground was full of equipment left by the soldiers, and the pungent smell of gas and smoke filled the city. In the buildings were the hiding soldiers. The atmosphere was dead and lifeless, and all of the soldiers stared out the windows with eyes that looked lost.
Even though they could not see the army of the Six Nations on the horizon, everyone knew that countless missiles were aiming right at them. The headquarters could turn into the sea of fire at any given second.
No one knew where their fate would lead them.
Everything would depend on the final judgement based on the Germinal Organization. Maybe there was a slim chance of surrendering.
In the end, not everyone embraced the idea of sacrificing for their country.
In the underground command room of the headquarters, the screen displayed the situation right now. The single blue dot represented the lonely headquarters, while the red field, which represented the Six Nations, covered the entire continent. There was nowhere for them to run.
The leader, who wore a mask, stood right in front of the screen with his hands behind his back. The senior officials quietly exchanged eye contact, but no one spoke. The room was dead silent.
“What do you plan to do?” a senior official asked after a while.
The leader shut his eyes. While everyone was worrying about the next step, the leader replied with a hoarse voice, “Launch all the nuclear missiles.”
Everyone was stunned by the words. A bald senior official who had a considerable amount of power shouted, “The Six Nations have already lock us down, and there’s no way we can bring them down by launching the rocks. This is suicide!”
“So what? Do you want to beg for mercy in front of the Six Nations?” The leader’s expression did not change. “Don’t forgot the vision of the Germinal Organization. There can be no defeat. Death is the only way.”
All the senior officials had great hatred toward the Six Nations. However, in the face of death, not everyone could stand their ground in their belief. Moreover, from the situation, being suicidal would not achieve anything. There was a chance that the Six Nations would break their promise and kill them after they surrendered, but there was still a slim of hope that they could survive.
“I disagree,” the bald senior official yelled as he stepped forward.
The leader turned around and glared at him and the officials behind. “Is there anyone who agrees with him?”
Some officials look right back at the leader, and some lowered their heads, but all of them replied with silence.
Facing the line of life and death, the leader and the officials had a disagreement, as if there was a huge cliff that separated them.
“What if I insist?” the leader said calmly.
“Launching the nuclear weapons requires two keys, the system authorization, and your fingerprint and iris,” the bald man replied. “You have the authorization, but you only have a key, while the vice leader has the other key, and he is on our side.”
The leader looked around and asked: “So, where is he?”
“Of course he is not here. We won’t give you any chance.”
The leader shook his head. “Looks like you made your decisions long ago.”
“Don’t be reckless. We still have the chance to bring the uprising again as a nation, so we should not simply sacrifice our lives…” The bald official tried to persuade the leader, but he suddenly stopped with his eyes wide open. As he was talking, the leader had taken out two keys that were needed to launch the rocket, and one of them was supposed to be with the vice leader.
“How… how did you…”
“Oh my god! Put it down now!”
“Why is the key with you‽”
“Where’s the vice leader?”
No one could believe what had just happened, and the room turned into chaos.
The leader held onto the keys without saying anything.
“Return the key right now. We won’t let you do whatever you want.” The bald man tried to suppress the fear on his face. His voice shook slightly as he made a hand sign behind his back.
The leader shook his head and looked at the crowd. “Meggal, you secretly had conversation with Maple. Dorios, you made some compromise with the Oridina. Newt, Raylen promised to provide protection…”
The leader mentioned most of the people in the room, and seeing everyone’s shocked expression, he slowly said, “The consequences of surrendering for you, of course, will be different from the normal soldiers. So, don’t act like you are full of righteousness. Do whatever you want.”
The officials’ expressions changed, and they felt the fear of the leader rise in their bones.
Even though the leader had always been intimidating, at least, the officials could still guess what the leader was thinking. However, ever since they started losing the war, it had become harder to grasp what the leader was thinking. To be exact, it was right after Zero escaped the encirclement that the leader changed.
As if he was a lake without any bottom, suffering loses after loses, the leader had remained calm like a still pond. Nothing could make him rage anymore.
The door opened, and a dozen executive officers surrounded the senior officials.
These executive officers were all part of their army. After the war started, there were countless injuries and casualties for the executive officers, but the officials had all had the brains to protect their own interest and power. The main ideal of the Germinal Organization that gathered the people was hatred, not loyalty toward a certain person.
The officials did not say anything. The bald official gave the signal, and the executive officers moved forward and prepared their attacks toward the leader
Covered in colorful beams, the leader sighed.
“Guess I’ll send you all to see the vice leader.”
…
In a land far away from the headquarters was the base of the Six Nations. Thousands of armored troops awaited their command, and jets were hovering above the ground. The sound of engines cut through the sky, and the shockwave vibrated the tents and equipment on the ground.
The missile vehicles were on standby, and multiple satellites and radars closely observed any sign of the missiles in the headquarters and movements in the sky. As soon as they saw anything that was flying into the sky, they could instantly take it down. Then they would resort to violence and use everything they had to turn the headquarters into a wasteland.
In the battle command center, all the representing military officials were antsy.
“There’s only seven hours, thirty-two minutes, and eleven seconds before the time limit, and they still haven’t responded,” the representative of Ordina said. “I think that we should extend the time for the Germinal Organization to think carefully and not do something stupid.”
No one replied.
Raylen officer said with a cold expression, “We have already contacted four of the senior officials in the Germinal Organization. They were still trying to convince the leader.”
The other representatives nodded with agreement. They all did something similar. When they are pushed back against the wall, quite a number of the Germinal Organization’s senior officers were willing to surrender in exchange for safety.
The obvious bargain that the Six Nations wanted was to make the Germinal Organization surrender and save the hostages from danger.
“It’s already been more than an hour and twenty minutes since the last contact. They haven’t reported back to us since then.”
“Don’t worry. We still have time.”
The officials from different nations were chitchatting with each other while they waited for the response. Giving a choice for the Germinal Organization meant that they would have to wait for the result.
An officer from Hesla suddenly asked, “So in the end, who is the leader of Germinal Organizatio
n? According to the intelligence from Dark Net, the leader came from the Gollum, the country that had fallen. The former identity of the Germinal Organization was Mimok, but we searched through all the files and still couldn’t find the exact identity of the leader.”
Bennett had given the information that Hannes found to the Six Nations, thinking that they could find more details given their power. However, the search was still met with a dead end. The leader was like a ghost without a past, and the files that stacked as high as mountain did not include his name. The only information that they had was what Hannes had found.
“Didn’t Raylen conquer Gollum? Do you have any intel?” Stardragon’s official asked.
Raylen’s official shook his head. “We even searched for files on the list of civilians in Gollum back when it still existed, and none of them matched with the leader. We also sent some people to visit Gollum’s original territory, and they didn’t find anything. I wonder if the intel from the Dark Net is true…”
Chapter 284 - The Finale (1)
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Huuu…”
Heavy breath filled the room like a broken bellow, and the stickiness of blood and spit crawled in his throat.
The mask covered in blood fell to the floor. Leaning on the side of a table, the leader barely opened his eyes and saw the destroyed room after the fight while the floor was full of corpses. The leader was the only one left standing in the room while all the executive officers had all fallen under his fists. The senior officials’ frightened expression remained on their face as if they had stopped breathing.
The leader spat out bloody mucus and took a deep breath. The dense smell of stinky blood irritated his nose, and he could not help but cough his lungs out for another two minutes.
The intense battle had provoked his hidden injury from the ambush, when he was heavily injured by Han Xiao. He had not had time to recover, and soon, he became unable to quickly resolve it.
Every time that he felt the subtle pain, he was reminded of Han Xiao. Until now, the leader could only feel hatred in his heart. At times when the anger faded away, he could feel nothing but emptiness.
The leader stood in front of the central control panel and selected the option to launch the nuclear bomb. He took off his gloves, scanned his fingerprints and eyes, and authorized the launch. After the two keys were in the keyhole, both of them turned just needed to be turned, then the nuclear bomb will be launched. On the last step, the hands full of scars held on the keys, but they could not turn them.
The leader leaned on the chair and looked up at the ceiling. His eyes were not focused on anything as if he was daydreaming. No one had any idea what he was thinking.
Dududu!
The window popped out on the corner of the screen, and surprisingly, it was a call from Han Xiao.
The leader pressed the ‘accept’ button without any hesitation. The screen then showed Han Xiao’s face.
Seeing the corpses on the floor, Han Xiao raised his eyebrow. He wanted to call to see the situation on the side of the Germinal Organization. He also wanted to see the leader one last time, but he already understood the situation after witnessing the scene. He shook his head and said, “Looks like you have made your decision.”
The leader’s eyes leaked his disappointment.
“I still can’t believe that I lost to you, you… insignificant bug. Mistakes after mistakes, my life’s work has been ruined by you… Now what do you want? To again gloat about what you have done? I’m here—enjoy yourself. My life, the end of Germinal Organization, will all be an important part of your history. You are the winner, so you have the power to look down on the loser you defeated.”
“I told you, the galaxy is unfathomable. This planet is just a small speck of dust, and no one will spare a thought on what’s happened here.” Han Xiao shook his head. Even though he was watching the fall of his enemy, Han Xiao was calm and collected. In the end, he was still a gentleman. He slowly said, “I just think that, after doing so much in your life, you still haven’t had a chance to express your feelings.”
“Do you want to me confess to you, my mortal enemy?” The leader’s face looked even uglier. He leaned on the chair and relaxed his body. “That seems interesting.”
Han Xiao shrugged and directly cut to what he wanted. “What’s with Destiny’s Child?”
The leader laughed out loud and stopped after a while, shaking his head. “Destiny’s Child is nothing but a pity man. He can see the future, change the fate of people, yet he cannot decide his own life and death. He was destined to be used by others. You also have the ability to predict the future, so maybe the fate of Destiny’s Child will be yours.”
Han Xiao did not correct that statement. “Talk about yourself. It seems that you are from Gollum, am I correct?”
The leader’s expression changed and replied, “Looks like you have already found out… That’s correct. I was once a citizen of Gollum. Back then, I was a young man with passion and rage. After the event of Mimok, I joined the rebel organization. I rioted, protested, demonstrated—all I wanted was to save my country from the rotten government.
“But suddenly, the war started. Raylen invaded the country, and my country shattered into pieces under internal parasites and external attacks…”
The leader’s tone suddenly got angry. “Did you hear that? People called us parasites! What did I do wrong? Was protesting a mistake? No! All we wanted was to take back the rights that we once had and make our country a better place!
“We were so close to victory, and the path of light was right in front of us. Yet, the war destroyed everything. After the fall of Gollum, all my friends were executed. All of us were viewed as a defect in the society and eliminating us was the best way. The remaining citizens of Gollum were enslaved and tortured. Only a few were able to escape, and I was one of them.
“I was no legend. I’m just a normal kid who was lost until I saw the border of Gollum, which was locked by Rayland. Seeing the burning flag of Gollum and the rise of Raylen’s flag, I was awoken, and I realized my mission I have to carry out.
“Gollum was not perfect. There was darkness and weakness, but… it was still my country. The only thing I could do was…
“Take revenge for my nation!”
The leader exhaled, and his eyes drift off the screen. His memories slowly showed up in his mind.
“But in the wave of time, a normal young man was nobody, and his life was as fragile as a bug. To travel through the battlefield, I dragged my exhausted body and transferred from one refugee camp to another. I was treated like a dog, and I lived a life without any respect.
“However, my blood was boiling, and I kept telling myself that no matter what danger I faced, I must live on. It was hatred that kept my heart pumping, that made my legs move forward… In the end, after I succeed in passing through the battlefield, I did not stop to look for shelter but turned to the wilderness.
“I knew that without power, I could not seek revenge. That’s why I lived in the wilderness and battled with the beasts. I turned myself into unbreakable steel.”
At this point, the leader pointed to the scars on his face and hand. “A hundred and seventy-six scars was the price I paid for my power.”
Han Xiao raised his eyebrows. “So, you really are just a normal human?”
“Why can’t I be a normal man?” the leader asked back.
After some thought, Han Xiao nodded and hinted that the leader could continue his story.
The leader then said, “In the wilderness, I kept on thinking, and when I headed back to the battlefield, I heard that the Mimok Organization still existed. How ironic, the tool that was created to bring terror upon the world was the only thing that represented the purest of Gollum. Then a plan formed in my mind as I assassinated the leader of Mimok and changed the name to Germinal Organization. I hid and slowly developed the organization, and it was since then I wore the mask.
“Th
e war created a lot of opportunities. Countless people lost their home and had nowhere to stay. Then I decided on the vision of the Germinal Organization and gave them the hope that we could create a new world. Vision thrives in people who supports an ideology. It wasn’t me who used the refugees with no countries to go back to, but it was they who voluntarily gave their lives to me. This is hate, and they did not care as long as they could achieve their goal after they sacrificed their lives.
“Since my desire matched the public’s desire, I got a lot of helpful hands. And the Germinal Organization that fed on the aftermath of battle quickly grew from a seed into a towering tree.”
The voice of the leader was filled with hate. After the dream that the leader had nurtured was destroyed by another man, other than angry, his feelings were confused.
“Then… you showed up.
“You… cut down the tree.”
Chapter 285 - The Finale (2)
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Compared to the pollution you caused in the past… and will cause in the future, I’d feel it’s more environmentally friendly to cut down this tree of yours,” Han Xiao said mockingly.
In his previous life, no player could dig out the origin of the leader—it was truly hard to find the true identity of an ordinary missing person in this age of war. After Han Xiao heard the leader’s description, he had a clearer understanding of him.
The leader was a firm patriot, one of the few Gollum citizens that escaped Raylen’s invasion. He hid in the dark, purposely fighting at the edge of death to look for breakthroughs and the power to revenge, one of the superhumans that started ordinary and reached the peak of the planet, ambitious and extreme.
Now that he had met a dead end, he decided that he would rather die than compromise; it was clear that the hatred was already deeply buried in his bones.
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