Chương 45: Chapter 44 - Field Operative

If there was one mistake that Alex had made over the past 2 and a half months, it was to let Grey stay in his fallen kingdom's territory. The dreaded, vile, dangerously boring evil OSHA meetings had forced her to drink more coffee than usual just to keep her sanity. Rand had taken over leading those meetings while Grey was away. This materialized in her being invited to those meetings due to needing 'support' in case he missed anything. Dammit all!

The good thing was, Rand wasn't as stringent on the fine prints of the documents she herself wrote. Bad thing was, he wasn't so easy to convince by just saying 'I trust your judgement', hence, she had to literally sit in. Regardless, life moved on, and in front of the Path's main garage was a table. Aurora stood by her along with 26 newly hired employees that were to become the first Field Operatives of the Path (entry level positions, also known as Ground Level employees).

Rand's also in the garage with his 24 knights, hitting an average prowess of 400, who would all eventually turn into Team Leaders once they get their own guns. However, that was for another time. Throughout Earth's history, supply chains and resources needed protection. Adding the year over year increase of rifts, it eventually led to the necessity of defense.

It wasn't for the purpose of searching for meaning such as the Dao over at the Jiuling nor was it for the purpose of protecting the sacred holiness of 'The King's World' like the United Knights. The Path was ultimately a for profit paramilitary corporation. That is, profit at all cost. Destroy all world-ending rift outbreaks over the globe while making bank. It was time to restructure the Path in Nulfrae to its real form.

Turning her attention to what was in front of her, 26 Grace Opus 357s laid on a large table in an organized fashion. 3 magazines laid below each gun. 26 dummies stood at the far end of the garage. Who had done all of this organization? It was none other than the man, the only bureaucrat of the Path, the one and only, Grey himself, back from the depths of Queendom Stormbringer.

"Welcome back, Greygrey," Alex said.

"Thank you, my Lady. It is with honour that this lowly servant of yours could serve you once again." Grey bowed 90 degrees. Alex never really understood the bowing thing, but maybe it had something to do with the fact that the continent of Mir was the eastern continent rather than the west… but that depends on how you draw the map.

"Good good. Stand straight, and let's get this party started."

"My Lady, I apologize. I didn't realize that this was supposed to be a party of joyous occasion for which the Chief Operations Officer has returned," Aurora said with a worried look.

"Shall I fetch the drinks and gather around to celebrate?"

"Nevermind that, Aurora." Alex pointed to the guns.

"The party is already here."

"I… I understand. Then do you wish for me to put away the coffee?"

"What?! No! Pour me a cup, please!" Alex said cheerfully.

"Right away!" Aurora shouted. As Aurora poured coffee to a cup, Alex sat on a chair and nodded to Grey. Taking the cup in her hand, she swished it to smell the artificial aroma. It was becoming notoriously close to coffee that she could no longer tell if it was from Elador's scent mixing escapades.

"Alright, new recruits! Take one gun each. Do each of you remember your handbook?!" Grey shouted at the new hires. To be exact, there were 16 men and 10 women. All of them ranged between the prowess of 40-70. One was even at the above a prowess of 80. Alex grinned as Grey had obviously chosen the best of the best through his 'rigorous' testing procedures that she looked the other way on.

"Sir! Yes, Sir!" The 26 recruits shouted in unison.

"Take one each and holster. On the double, recruits!"

"Sir! Yes, Sir!" The 26 recruits moved in unison, each one taking their own guns according to their own assigned number from 1 to 26. All of their hands moved swiftly. First checking the safety, then slamming the magazine in. They cocked their guns once all at the same time, and then holstered them to their standard harness given at orientation. At the other side of the garage were 'dummies'. At least, that's what Alex called them. They were zombies bound to the floor by their frozen feet.

Humans corrupted by the corruption that had ventured too far from Stronghold Hatir, taken back by Grey on his way back to Path HQ while riding Itzae. Though, these weren't the normal zombies as they still held their completely normal human forms. Apart from the tainted energy that emanated from them and their dilated eyes where the iris couldn't be seen, it was hard to tell they were corrupted.

"Number 13. What do you see in front of you?" Grey asked.

"I see the corruption in front of me, Sir!" Number 13 immediately shouted.

"Wrong!" Grey shouted.

"Those dummies are heretics that dare taint the Path's supply chains! AGAIN. WHAT ARE THEY?!"

"They are heretics, Sir!" Number 13 shouted.

"If they were real people but still dare bare their weapon against the path, what are they, recruits?!"

"Heretics, Sir!" all numbers shouted.

"What do heretics deserve?!"

"DEATH!"

"Do we negotiate with heretics?!"

"ONLY IF THE TRADE IS IN THE PATH'S FAVOUR!"

"Good." Grey turned around back to Alex.

"The recruits are ready, my Lady." Alex's right eye twitched slightly at what she just witnessed. To be frank, she wasn't expecting the cult following to be this effective at instilling loyalty, not that she would complain. But there was one issue about the negotiation piece. Hasty for profit negotiations ultimately ended up being shallow deals that amounted to nothing at the end of the day. It didn't fundamentally change or improve the lives of employees.

Should a deal only accomplish one goal, which is money, then the deal was lacklustre. If a deal accomplishes more than one goal like technological advancement via material, leverage, employee convenience, or societal dependence, then the deal was much more profitable than a simple exchange of money.

"Grey, I need to make a correction, if I may," she said.

"Of course!"

"There is only one thing we'll negotiate on—that is when the negotiation will benefit everyone in the path. Capisce?" Alex asked.

"Understood… however, how will we know if a deal may benefit everyone?" Grey asked.

"I'm your Chief Executive Officer. That's my job so just ask." Grey bowed, again at 90 degrees.

"Thank you for your generosity and benevolence once again."

"As expected of the Lady's kindness…" Aurora muttered beside her. Alex clapped twice.

"Now, let's see your new recruits in action." Turning around, Grey shouted, "Recruits, release safety and aim!" The recruits lined up their shots first before turning off the safety by the handles of each of their guns. A snap of a finger rang throughout the facility and the layer of ice that bound them to the floor shattered. The first set of zombies wailed. Dark purplish miasma emanated from their bodies as they ran. Their expressions turned to a crazed manic.

In another moment, the first one sprinted towards the recruits, and the rest followed. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"Fire at will!" Grey shouted. Multiple shots rang out in the facility. 7 shots per Grace Opus. The recruits emptied each of their magazines at the oncoming zombies. Hitting the head or the heart directly incapacitated the zombies. A few missed their shots, hitting the torso or the leg slowed them down. As the last shot rang clear, taking down the last zombie, Grey shouted, "Safety on! Then holster!" All in all, it took about 3 seconds for the squad to rip 7 shots. Dark purplish blood pooled below each zombie.

An inexplicable pungent smell filled the whole area. Another snap of a finger rang out and the smell disappeared as the bodies burned into ashes. Alex clapped and Aurora followed suit. It was fine to miss and accuracy didn't really matter too much for the rank of Field Operative. They'd have to work harder to become Team Leaders before being promoted to more specialized divisions in the Path. These bullets were much cheaper since they were just metal pellets rather than casings with gunpowder.

Much cheaper and faster to produce.

"Good," Alex said.

"Send a 12 member squad to Marchioness Sarazzin's territory. But first, ask either the Marchioness or Princess May for a compensation of 2 gold per month. Tell Rand to assign a team leader to the squad."

"What shall the squad's name be, my Lady?"

"As they will be part of Rand's security name, might I suggest Sundering Storm Squad?" Aurora suggested.

"Chief Product Officer…"

"Good. Name this one Squad Sundering Storm, call sign SSS."

"Your wish is my command," Grey bowed, then turned around.

"Numbers 2, 3, 4, 8, 10, 11, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 23. Report to the barracks in 15 minutes. Prepare for dispatch to Marchioness Sarazzin's territory." Raising an eyebrow, Alex didn't even know why Grey chose those numbers specifically. To her, each recruit was basically the same level. However, if it was the Chief Operations Officer that meticulously chose them, then she wouldn't question it. Turning back to Alex, Grey asked, "Does the Lady have plans for the 14 remaining squad members?"

"Yuppers. Send the rest to Andrea. Name this one…" Alex looked at Aurora, then grinned.

"Star Seekers Squad. Call sign, STS." Aurora couldn't hide her deranged smile. She shouted, "Thank you, Lady Alex!!!"

"How much should we charge the Viscount?" Grey asked.

"We're not charging her. We're protecting our fertilizer facility. Coincidentally, her territory is important to the Path."

"Understood!"

"On another note, has Elador picked out a couple of juniors yet?" Alex asked.

"He has not chosen yet," Aurora said.

"Ok. That's an issue," Alex said. Elador was a one man show, a key person risk with a critical business function–redundancy intentional. It was ludicrous to not have back ups.

"Grey, work with Elador on recruitment. I want him to have at least 10 in his team by the 3rd week of next month. Capsice?"

"Capisce." Grey saluted.

"May I ask a question?" Aurora asked.

"Go for it."

"Should we send some of our own forces to aid Witch Raven in her conquest?"

"Nah." Alex dismissed the notion by waving her hand.

"Trust me, she can handle it."

"My trust in your words knows no bounds, my Lady. If you say an apple is blue, I shall tell the world that 'blue' is the 'red'!"

"Oooooo… kay." Alex pretended to cough. At times, Aurora's fanatical devotion was a bit suffocating, not that she minded. No way she was going to touch on that topic with a 10 foot pole. Besides, the witch probably had a few tricks up her sleeves. Gathering experience for over a couple hundred years probably had taught her a thing or two about strategy. The problem was that Alex didn't know what the bitch would do and how.

With the witch involved, it was more about handling the aftermath she would cause as corner cutting was her forte. It was even evident in the revolution. The whole 'setting the island on fire' was Witch Raven's idea enacted by Witch Ember. Profits were lost, but it did its job too effectively. ☕︎ ☼ ☕︎ ☽ ☕︎ Raven would've killed for a cigarette right now. Dressed in a brown tunic that looked like it was more for peasants, for a whole month, there was nothing to do onboard the ship.

The size of the ship did amaze her as the deck had plenty of room to do laps in that would even tire out a mundane. She wasn't one though. All 30 offline game apps on her phone had already been cleared. The rest were puzzle games that she was stuck on at specific levels. Technically, this was a month-long vacation since she didn't do anything work related until the boat arrived. But a vacation can only be enjoyed if it was fun. Oh how she forgot how boring the 1700s were.

She didn't even get to bring cute Snowy with her. It was then Raven decided. She would file a formal complaint to Sanders, Head of HR, about how the Path hasn't made any leisure activities for the people. Employee satisfaction and sanity was a must. Raven was sure he would understand… On second thought, probably not with their kind of zealotry. Sighing deeply, there was one thing that Raven hated the most, and that was 'taking initiative' to start up projects.

"Raven." The familiar voice of a man named Noel called out who she met during the boarding. Turning around, Raven saw him, garbed in a clean tunic, leather greaves, brown leather pants that fit him just right, and a chest plate that covered just his upper chest while the rest was leather. He had a mole under his right eye, a smug smile, and slightly messy hair that making him look casual. On his hip was a staff with a fairly large Fraedium gem. At least the mages of this world were somewhat logical.

There was no point for wizards or mages to wear just robes. But it was curious why the man was outfitted to go to war. Just as Raven was about to guess what it was for, the ship's bells suddenly tolled. It was the signal that the ship was preparing to dock, and over the horizon, she could see a large island getting closer and closer. At the very front of the island where the harbour was a town. Small white walled houses littered the area, most being what looked like warehouses.

Drawing mana into her eyes and focusing further into the island, she saw wooden logged walls that covered what she presumed to be the plantations. It was easy to differentiate who the Tsubians were compared to the Pandorians. The Tsubian population wore mostly rags for clothes, ripped at places where they would kneel or around their elbows. Their clothes had lost most of its colour, and it was too loose for most of them.

From the way they were malnourished, as their cheeks hollowed and bones poke at their clothes, it was clear what was happening here. It was the exact same scene she had witnessed before. Images flashed through her eyes of the several nights she watched the orange glow lit up the sky. Smoke covered the stars. Ash and acid stung her nose and tongue. Breathing was difficult, even if she wasn't mundane.

"Raven?" Noel nudged her.

"Huh?" Raven suddenly said.

"We are about to arrive. Shall I give you a tour of the island?"

"I don't have much gold…"

"Do not worry about coin. Your presence is already quite the compensation." Noel smiled.

"Do you have to be that armed, though?"

"There have been recent reports of Tsubians attacking civilians. Worry not for I shall protect you."

"Even if I just stay in the town?"

"Torches are minimal within the town. There are alleyways that the filthy Tsubians take up to sleep or do their dirty deeds against the unknowing." Noel coughed.

"I have a villa further away from the town. The sand is white and faces the sea. It's a truly beautiful view."

"Is it?"

"Under the stars during the night, it is truly the most beautiful scene in all of Nulfrae. I wish to share that view with you, Raven."

"But we've only met a month, I mean, a moon ago."

"And in that month, we've talked everyday."

"Yeah, mostly about the islands," Raven said. There were exactly 3 islands close to each other with land bridges that grew different types of plants.

"I still remember your dream to live a life of leisure, free of responsibility. I do admit, it is one that I admire. I wish to know more about your dreams and values." Those were really just stuff she was complaining about, specifically about her roles and responsibilities back on Earth, and now in Nulfrae. Raven sighed.

"I get that, but in my culture—""I understand your hesitation, Raven." Noel cut her off.

"However, I promise you, I just wish to talk to you and share with you the beauty of this island. For one night."

"You're not going to do anything?"

"If that is your wish, I shall comply."

"How far away is the villa?" Noel smiled brightly.

"It is about a 30 minute walk away from the town. Completely free from any obstruction or ugly light of the torches. We can share our lives as we walk."

"Aren't you afraid of getting attacked?"

"My prowess is 165. No Tsubian dare attack. I promise I won't let them harm you."

"That's dependable. Then… if you don't mind, I'll accept your offer." Raven said.

"Great!" Noel said.

"I shall meet you at the lower bridge of the ship when we debark."

"Everyone, prepare to debark! Those that have cargo, please head to the cargo deck!" a man shouted as he walked around the main deck.

"See you later?" Noel asked.

"Yup. See ya," Raven said, waving. Noel smiled and went off first to the residential deck area entrance. Looks like Raven just found the perfect hide out and a place to store her guns. Honestly, she hasn't thought of a strategy on how to conquer this island yet, and she wasn't willing to do it all by herself. The boss already gave her the key to liberating this island after all. What would be the laziest and fastest way to conquer this island? It was simple.

Create an artificial crisis, sow discord, and give the side she wants to win the firepower. But she couldn't do it in that order. The current Tsubians had no morale. Even if she gave them the fighting power, they wouldn't be able to fight to their full potential. Raven needed to spark the will to fight first, and then create a simmering tension between the Tsubians and Pandorians. During this simmer, she would plant the guns into the Tsubian houses so they discover them naturally.

To teach them, she'd probably have to disguise herself as one of them. The loudness of the gun might be a problem for teaching them… Raven threw that thought away. She'd figure it out later. Once it was at a boiling point, she'd ignite the conflict, quite literally. Best to just use the tactics she already knew. After the fire, it was obvious that it would be an all or nothing on both sides of the coin. Best thing was? This strategy could fit into a 9 to 5. Raven stretched her arms while yawning.

Time to incite another revolution.