Seed of Titan-Chapter 194: These Are My Squadmates?

In the vast Scarlet Operations Facility, Drai was walking through one of its residential areas. Although he had changed back into his previous attire, his expression didn’t look too good. After all, he was kicked out of the testing building earlier.

When Drai went to train in the testing area after Ailem and Richie had left, he had carelessly lifted the load-index measuring machine, forgetting that it was connected to thick cables that ran into the floor. As a result, he completely tore the machine from the bulky operational device attached to its side, to which the cables were connected.

The furious staff didn’t even let Drai wear his clothes before kicking him out, threatening to permanently ban him from the testing facility. Because of this, Drai had no choice but to change clothes at the side of the road under the baffled looks of numerous officers and soldiers. After that, he walked around aimlessly until he received a text from Ailem.

Following the direction Ailem had mentioned, he eventually stopped in front of an apartment house that was neither too plain nor too fancy. A young officer who was waiting nearby immediately greeted him.

After confirming Drai’s identity through Ailem’s text, the officer handed him a stack of clothes along with a metallic card.

"Please don’t lose your omnicard, Private—it serves as your ID as well as the key to your squad house and room," the officer explained. "And make sure to scan it with your comm later, as it will then give you access to your military comm ID and your military bank account. These two accounts are protected by a two-step authorization that requires a code from your comm along with your biological imprint, so you don’t have to worry too much that someone could easily access these accounts. Still, it’s best to keep it safe with you at all times. If you run to any problems related to this, you may report it to the administration."

After wishing Drai good luck, the officer finally left.

’If they don’t take away my bracelet, I’ll just keep my omnicard in the dimensional space to be safe,’ Drai thought as he walked to the front door.

Drai pressed his omnicard onto the scanner and walked in with his suitcase. What greeted him was a rather large space connected to several rooms, both on the first and second floor, and a few other passages, presumably leading to the dining area, kitchen, and other shared spaces.

"I didn’t expect the inside to be this clean and tidy..." Drai muttered as he inspected the spacious living room. There were grey sofas surrounding a coffee table a few meters in front of a large screen on the wall. There was also a cabinet with a water dispenser and small fridge at the side, along with several glass cups.

Seeing all this, Drai couldn’t help but feel like he was in some kind of guest house, since he couldn’t see any personal belongings aside from a set of portraits hanging on every wall, forming a long row.

After taking off his shoes and storing them away, he loudly asked, "Hello? Anybody home?"

Hearing no reply, Drai began searching for his room, which ended up being the one next to the kitchen. He tapped his omnicard onto the scanner again before entering.

Drai discovered that his new room was about half the size of his dorm room back in the academy. There was not much there outside the bare necessities—a bed with a night stand, a shoe rack, wall hooks for hanging clothes, a tall cabinet, and a desk with a chair. There were also two small windows that showed the building next door. Lastly, there was another door there, presumably opening to the bathroom.

Drai then put away all his clothes in the cabinet and his essentials—toothbrush, charger, deodorant roll, and whatnot—on the desk. After sliding in his suitcase below the bed, he sat at the desk and scanned his omnicard.

Like the officer said, he had to input a string of characters and scan his palm before he could access his military comm ID.

"Barebones with no picture, just like Captain Ailem’s," he remarked upon seeing his new comm ID. His contact list for this one was different from his original contacts—it only had a few people there, including Ailem and Alancho.

"What a hassle," Drai muttered as he tried to access his new bank account. Upon accessing it, he saw that there were more details on him there compared to his military comm ID. And when he checked his account, he was surprised to see that twenty thousand credits were sitting there, which was around ten times his monthly expenditure.

"Does this much money come with enlisting, or has someone actually gifted me this?"

When he checked his transaction history, Drai found that it was completely blank.

"Weird... Oh, well—whatever. Thank you, whoever gave me this money. I’ll try not to squander it."

Drai then stood up and pulled out one of his special posters. After briefly scanning the room, he decided to put it up next to the bathroom door so he could easily view it whenever he lay properly on the bed.

While Drai was admiring his life-size picture with Alancho, he suddenly heard muffled voices from the living room.

Drai sighed and walked to the door. He wasn’t big on introductions, but he knew it was unavoidable. Thus, he silently prayed that he’d give a decent first impression so he could have an easier time getting along with his squadmates, especially since he would have to live together with them.

When Drai finally opened his door, the living room instantly fell silent.

Walking closer to the figures, Drai greeted with a slight bow, "Hello, nice to meet you all. I’m Drai, your new squadmate."

A loud commotion immediately followed.

"Is this real?! We finally got a new squadmate?!" a voluptuous, bob-haired brunette exclaimed.

"Yay! New squadmate!" a short and extremely round man cheered while flailing his arms around, dancing comically on the spot.

"Hey, did you know about this, Frost?" a short, petite redhead with pigtails asked the bookish man beside her.

"Yes. They notified me when we were training, but I only got to read it on our way back, so I figured I didn’t need to inform you guys—you’d see the newcomer soon anyway," the black-haired man with glasses flatly replied.

"Guys, can I skip this? I’m tired," a seemingly malnourished man with unkempt grey hair muttered.

"Quit with your excuses, Gramps! You know you’re always fucking tired!" a towering, lanky man with spiky, pink hair quickly scolded while kicking his complaining squadmate’s butt, launching him to the sofa.

Instead of getting back up or protesting, the unkempt man immediately closed his eyes. In mere seconds, he gently snored with his butt still poking out.

Seeing all this, Drai was speechless. He had imagined his squadmates to be hardened individuals. He had even worried that he might struggle to fit in if most of his squadmates were too stern like Angel. However, the scene unfolding before him had utterly shattered his preconceived notion.

"If our smell doesn’t bother you too much, let’s have a proper introduction, shall we?" the pink-haired man said with an overly wide grin.

It was only upon hearing the man’s words that Drai realized his squadmates were sweaty and somewhat dirty. Having lived in the wilderness, he subconsciously no longer paid much attention to such things.

"I don’t mind at all, really," Drai said.

"Hahaha! I like you already, kid!" the punk-like man remarked. "Alright, let’s start with me. I’m Danny—also known as Menace—this squad’s thrasher."

"I’ve heard your nickname before," Drai said upon recalling the moniker being mentioned once by Blaise during his interview.

"Of course you have—I’m practically a celebrity in this base!" Danny proclaimed while puffing out his chest.

Ignoring the man’s statement, Drai instead asked, "And what’s a thrasher?"

"It’s a role he made up," a female voice answered.

Drai turned to the speaker and saw that it was the pigtailed lady.

"It’s basically an assaulter or breacher played by a manic loony," she shortly explained.

"Hey, hey! You’re spoiling too much," Danny quickly protested. "Just let him see me in action, then he’ll understand what being a thrasher really means."

"Yeah, yeah..." the lady mumbled in reply.

"Alright then, Beachball, your turn!" Danny blurted while slapping the round man beside him.

Seeing Danny’s slap rebound made Drai wonder whether the round man had a rubberish body.

"Hiya! I’m Eric, but everyone calls me Beachball!" the round man cheerfully said. "I’m the main scout. Nice to meet you, err... what’s your name again?"

"Drai."

"Ah, Drai—got it! Nice to meet you, Drai!"

Drai simply nodded back and smiled at the giggling Beachball, wondering whether the overly giddy man was high on something. And regarding his nickname, Drai could deduce the reason for it without even thinking.

Just when the pigtailed lady was about to speak, Danny suddenly shouted, "Ghost! Drag Gramps here, would ya?"

Drai looked at the other three people standing there who hadn’t introduced themselves, wondering which one had such a nickname. But even after a few seconds had passed, none had stepped away.

’Is this ’Ghost’ refusing to comply?’ Drai pondered. ’Well, Danny’s request did sound a bit too rude.’

But amidst his pondering, something caught Drai’s eyes, stunning him.

Gramps was now levitating toward them, still sound asleep and snoring gently.