Seed of Titan-Chapter 207: Before the Smoke Rises

"This is also my first time seeing this tattoo with my own eyes, but if it really is as I’ve been told, then the ones behind today’s incident are the insurgents, and perhaps the Monos Faction too," Frost revealed as he dropped the man’s arm and encased him in ice, only leaving his nose and above free.

"Huh? Insurgents? Weren’t they made defunct by the General already?" Danny asked.

"I’ve never heard of this Monos Faction," Cubes added. "What kind of group is it?"

"I’ll explain later. Now, we need to get moving," Frost replied. "We’ll abandon our previous route and head back to the extraction point instead since it’s much closer. I’ve contacted the team there earlier after Drai captured our assailant. Unlike what I had suspected, they haven’t been compromised. Let’s hope it remains that way until we reach them."

Following this, Drai placed the injured Ghost and their captive back on his shoulders. He decided to keep the matter of Christo’s emblem and his knowledge of the Monos Faction to himself for now. Meanwhile, Danny didn’t even bother waking Gramps up before yanking him off the bushes by his feet and carrying him over a shoulder like a sack.

The squad proceeded to run southward while staying vigilant in case there were still other outsiders in the vicinity. Fortunately, they didn’t encounter anyone else until they arrived at an unarmored troop carrier around half an hour later.

The personnel on-site were ready to leave at a moment’s notice due to the information from Frost, so a couple of minutes later, the Seventh Squad was already on their way back to the base.

As the squad sat at the back of the truck, Frost began answering Danny’s question from earlier.

"It’s true that the largest insurgent group in the history of Rivideria had been put to a stop by our military almost two decades ago. But in the past few years, there have been some talks among the high-ups concerning the group’s revival, though based on what I’ve heard, they’re mostly speculative since the Intelligence Corps only managed to scrape up unsubstantiated claims and fragmentary reports, which is why we haven’t taken any concrete countermeasures so far. But if this man is really part of this revived or new insurgent group, then we’ll be sending troops all over the country in no time."

Upon listening to Frost’s explanation, most of the squad looked concerned aside from Danny, whose eyes were gleaming, and Gramps.

"What about that Monos Faction you mentioned?" Mandy asked.

"The Monos Faction is a political faction that supports the idea of restoring absolute monarchy to Rivideria. Fundamentally, they’re the direct opposite of the Demos Faction, which you all probably know well already. Unlike most political factions, the Monos Faction has always operated in the dark. It is also highly exclusive since they only accept those of noble lineage as their core members—at least that’s what I’ve heard."

Suddenly, Frost remembered something, so he paused and crouched beside the captive.

The squad watched curiously as Frost melted the ice encasing the man’s face and pulled his mouth open. Then, to everyone’s bafflement, the sergeant proceeded to freeze the inside of the man’s mouth along with half of his face that had just been freed seconds ago.

"The past insurgents were known to keep poison in their mouths as a last resort to prevent information from leaking. We can’t have our only source kill himself under our watch, can we?" Frost said as he stood up, earning him a few nervous gulps from the ones he often had to freeze.

"Anyway," Frost continued, "the Monos Faction was suspected of funding the past insurgence and even coordinating with the group on their many operations, but due to the lack of damning evidence, only a small number of their members were implicated at all in the aftermath. But since then, the government and the military have been keeping close tabs on their members and faction as a whole, and from what I know, so far we haven’t seen them make any definite moves toward another insurgency."

"Then if this Monos Faction is really involved with the current insurgence, wouldn’t that make it the government and military fault?" Danny suddenly remarked.

"What makes you say that?" Frost asked.

"Well, they should’ve just wiped out or imprisoned all these fishy guys, then we could’ve easily avoided another uprising."

Hearing Danny’s answer, Beachball pumped his fist in agreement, whereas Cubes and Mandy simply facepalmed.

"Do you realize your line of thinking conforms to the ideology that these ’fishy guys’ dream to implement, Daniel?" Frost flatly pointed out.

"Eh? Say what?" Danny blurted in surprise.

Frost’s response caused Beachball to drop his pumping fist and tiptoe away, as he didn’t want to get implicated by his best friend’s idiocy.

"What you’re telling us is that you wish the Monos Faction members had gotten punished without solid proof just to avoid future troubles, correct?" Frost asked again.

"Err, yeah. Is that wrong?" Danny questioned back, still not getting the point.

"It’s not," Frost said, briefly appeasing Danny only until the sergeant continued, "...that’s if we’re under a dictatorship, which is the essence of an absolute monarchy. In a democratic republic, however, doing so is inherently wrong—an abuse of power if you will. Every person is equal under the law, meaning that everyone deserves a just process before being punished or deprived of their rights. Such is the way of an appropriately run democracy with its presumption of innocence, Daniel."

Hearing their leader’s mini lecture, Danny couldn’t refute and simply scratched his head awkwardly. He realized his impulsive thought on this matter was misguided, and he also knew well that he would never support such a tyrannical rule despite his previous words— unless he somehow ended up in the line of succession.

"So now what, Frost?" asked Cubes.

"We’ll hand over this man to Central Command, and then we wait for further instructions. Although I’ll be turning in a detailed report on this incident, you all should expect to be summoned for a direct report or even an interrogation in the next few days. And if things really unfold according to my predictions, next week’s mission might get canceled or replaced."

As the squad slumped into their seats and busied themselves with their own thoughts regarding the looming unrest, Frost turned to the person sitting next to him.

"Drai," he softly called.

"Yes, Frost?" Drai replied, also with a quiet voice.

"Is there anything you want to say?"

Suppressing his rising heartbeat, Drai put up his best clueless face and replied, "No. Why?"

"I noticed you haven’t said a single word after you handed us this man."

"Uhm... I’m just a bit tired from catching him. Don’t worry—I’ve been listening to everything you and the others were saying."

"...So it seems. Alright, make sure you get a good rest after we return. If you’re still not feeling well by tomorrow morning, you can skip the company PT1."

"Okay. Thanks, Frost." 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Just after Drai looked away while inwardly sighing in relief, Frost spoke again.

"I have a good read on people, and just by observing you for a few days, I realize you’re not the type to bear unwarranted malice or be moved by superficial matters."

Drai slowly turned his head to Frost again, wondering what his motive was for mentioning this.

"So if anything troubles you, feel free to confide in me. I may seem cold, but I can be a good listener, advisor, and secret keeper if needed, especially when it comes to my squad members."

Drai stared at the rare smile on Frost’s face in disbelief. If he were to be honest, he would definitely blurt out to the sergeant that he couldn’t picture him being a warm conversationalist at all.

Instead, Drai simply replied shortly with a nod and smile before turning away again.

Minutes passed in silence in the rear compartment of the troop carrier, and after some time, the Seventh Squad finally passed through the Scarlet Operations Facility gates.

At the drop site, Drai saw that two officers were already waiting for them.

"You guys go ahead. I need to report to the Central Command first," Frost instructed as he conjured an ice sled with a long handle to transport the captive, who still seemed unconscious. He then left with the officers while dragging the sled behind him.

"I also need to bring Ghost to the hospital," Mandy said while propping up an invisible figure at her side. "If I’m not back yet by five, please take over my cooking duties. I’ll swap days if needed."

Drai and the others watched as Mandy walked away before disappearing around a building.

"Come on, let’s go home. It’s been a pretty stressful day, I need a long warm soak in my bathtub," Cubes urged.

"Huh? What bathtub? My bathroom doesn’t have it," Drai said.

"Neither does mine. I always carry it around when I’m not using it," Cubes said as she pointed at one of her pockets.

"Oh—Right."

Danny suddenly patted Drai hard on his back while exclaiming, "You’re so lucky you got to fight just days after you enlist, dude! I had to wait for months before seeing real combat."

Drai was about to say that he’d rather prefer spending his time training on his own than chasing after some dude, but a loud explosion stopped him short.

The facility’s siren blared, and soon, droves of personnel rushed toward the explosion site, including Drai and his squadmates.

Arriving at a large crowd, Drai saw that the surrounding buildings were battered and piles of debris were scattered on the roadside.

"Coming through! Make way!" Danny barked as he rudely shoved people out of their way, earning him several furious remarks before the shouters finally realized it was the infamous Menace who just did that.

Beachball and Cubes kept close to Danny, not wanting to waste the path he had created. Drai also followed behind, easily pushing through the crowd as the path filled up again. Perhaps it was his nonchalant demeanor, youthful appearance, or sturdy arms, but no one felt a need to yell at him like they did to Danny.

As Drai arrived at the front of the crowd, he immediately sensed that something was wrong as his three squadmates were down on the asphalt—Beachball was looking frantic while plopped on his butt, Danny was kneeling forward with a look of disbelief, and Cubes was kneeling limp in place with reddened eyes.

Following their gazes, Drai finally saw what had caused this scene.

Beside the burning crater spewing black smoke laid seemingly dead bodies, and among them was a bookish-looking man with broken glasses whose blood flowed out like tiny streams through his shattered ice armor, converging as a puddle of red beneath him.

***