Seed of Titan-Chapter 203: Compromised

While the chain lady was distracted, an ice block materialized behind her and slammed onto her back, knocking her toward Drai, who swiftly avoided her.

"You lack focus," Frost mentioned as he passed by the lady, to which she simply nodded in acknowledgment.

"And you," he added upon turning to Drai. "Was there a need to withstand her electrocution?"

’Training,’ Drai instantly thought, but he still replied, "No, sir."

"Then make sure not to get hit by such skills again. Your body may be tough, but your complete confidence in it may one day be your downfall. Now, cover up," Frost ordered before walking away.

Scratching his head awkwardly, Drai then pulled out a reserve uniform from his dimensional storage, which was currently housing some of the squad’s logistics, and got dressed.

While the chain lady stood motionless in self-reflection nearby, the other squad members were just about done with their fights.

Cubes was taking off her equipment while her opponent lay near her feet, wrapped in a metal net. Meanwhile, on the right group’s side, the werebeast was also lying on the ground but covered in some mucus-like goo instead, a result of one of Mandy’s concoctions. And not far from him, Danny was still facing the club-wielder who now looked bruised and battered.

"Man, you got my hopes up for nothing..." Danny remarked with a sigh.

"Fuck you, Menace!" his opponent barked. If he were a better match for the cocky punk, he definitely would’ve lashed out in response.

"Yo, you know what? When you get back, you should start practicing another style. Seriously—with how poorly you handled your clubs, you’re just going to give us dual-wielders a bad rep."

"SHUT YOUR—"

A baton thrust to the solar plexus silenced the man mid-shout.

Watching his opponent slump to the forest floor, Danny clicked his tongue and shook his head dismissively before returning to Cubes.

As the fighters regrouped, Beachball and Gramps also emerged from the trees behind as if on cue.

"Way to treat your senior, bud," Gramps grumbled upon arrival to the freshly clothed Drai, who merely shrugged back at him, feigning innocence.

"Well, that was quick," Beachball remarked while gazing at the sprawling figures in the vicinity.

"As it should be," Danny said as he returned his batons to Cubes. "The goons they sent this time were so mediocre I hardly broke a sweat."

"I agree. See that guy?" Mandy chimed in while pointing at the mucus-covered werebeast. "He was so panicking that he didn’t even notice my shot. I reckon Ghost could’ve finished them all on his own if he wanted."

"Then why don’t you just do that the next time we meet such groups, Ghost?" Danny said to the faintly distorted air nearby. "These kinds of opponents aren’t worth dirtying my weapons."

"Why do you even care, Danny? It’s not like you ever helped me with their maintenance," Cubes snarkily remarked.

Hearing this, Danny turned nervous and hurriedly moved behind Cubes. He then started massaging her shoulders while shamelessly buttering her up, mostly using phrases like "cute", "outstanding", and "kind". And although Cubes didn’t utter another word after that, her barely visible grin showed that she was secretly enjoying this treatment.

Meanwhile, upon hearing his squadmates’ demeaning comments on their opponents, Drai felt a bit embarrassed since he had ruined a whole uniform set for nothing.

While the squad members chattered, Frost approached the ice sphere he had conjured earlier and melted it entirely in a flash.

The spellcaster that had been trapped inside immediately readied his spell, but upon seeing Frost standing right before him with an impassive look, the man instantly withdrew his mana.

"The battle’s over," Frost flatly stated. "Call the medics. Most of your friends are fine, but I think Daniel went a bit overboard with the one who uses twin clubs."

"Y-yes, sir!"

After bowing respectfully, the mage pulled out a small device and spoke through it, while Frost returned to his squad.

"Let’s continue. Our target shouldn’t be too far from here," he said, prompting the squad to assume their traveling formation before resuming their advance.

Just as Frost predicted, they had only been running for a few minutes when a structure that resembled a tiny medieval fortress came into view. In response to this, Frost ordered the squad to gather behind a cluster of trees that allowed for a concealed but direct viewing of the rather crude structure.

Beachball then reabsorbed his countless scouting marbles before releasing a fresh batch that immediately scattered. Moments later, he finally squeaked out his findings.

"No guards or any other personnel spotted. Area completely silent. Security measures unseen. All in all, pretty suspicious."

"You think this place is a decoy, Frost?" Cubes asked.

"Perhaps, but it could also be the real deal, since the lack of outer activity might be a setup to lower our guard or even dissuade us from approaching," Frost mentioned before turning to Gramps, who had already gotten off Drai’s back. "Linus, sweep for security measures and whatever electronics you can find."

"You heard the boss—my throne, hun," Gramps said to Cubes, who proceeded to rummage through her inner pockets before throwing a shiny cube onto the ground behind them.

Drai was quite fascinated as he watched the cube unfold into an intricate, cybernetic chair. Yet, rather than the upright, lavish seat of kings Gramps had suggested, the chair’s form was more like a reclining dental chair.

Gramps then slithered onto his "throne" and slid his arms into the integrated armrests. Immediately after, a futuristic helmet came out from below and attached itself to his head.

Following this, the rest of the squad waited as Gramps silently did his thing while the upper half of his head remained obscured.

"Do you do the maintenance on that thing too?" Drai whispered to Cubes.

"Barely. I only do the final touch-ups—wiping, oiling, you know. Gramps made it clear since the beginning that I’m never allowed to fiddle with the system. Whenever a sensitive part needs replacing, he does all the work behind closed doors. By the way, you know that small device he likes to spend hours on, the one he calls "gizmo"? It’s integrated into the same system and network as the throne."

"Then why not just use that? Wouldn’t that be way more practical?"

"Well, compared to the throne, the gizmo’s functions are rather limited. Although it can also do a scan, the range is waaay smaller. Gramps would have to do a lap around the building just to scan its entire perimeter."

Just then, Gramps said, "Boss, take a look."

Frost approached the chair from the side, and a virtual screen soon appeared before him.

As Drai watched him analyze the findings, he noticed that their leader’s usually stoic expression was turning darker by the second. And when he was done, he turned to the squad with a concerned look that Drai had never witnessed him wear before.

"Pack up. We’re aborting the mock mission," he ordered.

Aside from Gramps, the squad froze for a second before displaying varied reactions.

"But we’re just a stone’s throw away from our target, Frost!" Danny blurted.

Cubes seemed to share his sentiment, since she added, "If the security measures are impossible to dismantle, I can just launch some missiles from here."

"Are they gonna pick us up or are we returning on foot?" Beachball inquired instead.

On the other hand, Mandy simply asked, "Frost, can you elaborate?"

"No, we shouldn’t linger—I’ll brief you on the way back or after we return home," Frost firmly said before helping Gramps get off his throne.

Drai still kept quiet as he lifted Gramps onto his back. He didn’t hesitate to obey the unexpected order, as unlike the others, he didn’t care at all about the points they’d get if they completed this practice mission.

A few moments later, the squad sped through the forest, retracing their previous tracks.

Visibly disappointed, Danny muttered, "I should’ve at least taken a quick peek inside before we left."

"Oh, Danny—if only you had... Our house would be way less noisy then," Gramps remarked from Drai’s back, his tone similarly disappointed.

"Yo, what do you mean by that, Gramps?" Danny questioned with a frown.

Instead of answering, Gramps simply chuckled mysteriously, so Danny proceeded to slap his butt repeatedly until he finally relented.

"The building’s perimeter..." Gramps muttered while rubbing his sore butt, "...is rigged with explosives."

"Eh? Beachball said there was nothing there though," Danny mentioned.

"They’re all buried underground—don’t ask me how, I just spotted their sensors, casings, and triggers. Besides, there weren’t that many electronics inside, but from my reading, nobody seemed to be actively using anything, even their comms."

"Couldn’t we have dealt with the explosives in some way?" Cubes chimed in. "I feel like it’s a waste abandoning the mission just because of that."

"Yeah, we’ve dealt with similar traps in the past, haven’t we?" Mandy added from behind.

"True, but none of them were death traps—at least not the ones in our mock missions," Gramps replied. "I basically saw the whole setup, so let me tell you, if we happen to get caught in the blast, we’ll probably get wiped out. Well, maybe this guy has a chance to survive."

Based on the tapping on his head, Drai knew Gramps was referring to him.

’If I get caught before augmenting myself, I’ll probably die too,’ he mused before realizing that he still had his auto-recovery from Bio Drain, which could be a lifesaver. He was also reminded of Christo’s pendant which he still couldn’t quite figure out the function aside from it being a family emblem.

"So how did this happen? Did the staff miscalculate when they set up the site?" Cubes pressed, still concerned of their abrupt evacuation. She worried that Frost couldn’t provide the higher-ups with sufficient proof, rendering this assignment a failure, which would implicate her career progression.

Alas, her questions were met with silence, as none of them had any clue on what had caused this odd situation.

Or so it seemed, until Frost said, "I’m afraid this mission has been compromised by external forces."

The squad looked at Frost with varied gazes and thoughts, but before anyone could question him, they heard Beachball screech.

"EVERYONE HALT!"

The squad almost crashed into each other as their feet simultaneously dug into the ground, forcefully breaking their strides.

Most of them were about to scold Beachball for the seemingly excessive warning, but upon seeing his bloodless face, they instantly swallowed back their words.

Ignoring his subordinate’s complexion, Frost sternly commanded, "Report."

"Th-the p-patrol guys earlier..." Beachball muttered weakly before his knees suddenly buckled, causing him to kneel before his squadmates.

In response, Frost simply snapped his fingers and conjured a few ice pillars that rapidly grew taller, propping Beachball up.

"What about them?" he pressed.

Despite Beachball’s desperate attempt to calm down, he only managed to amass a barely audible squeak.

"Th-they... they’re all dead..."