Seed of Titan-Chapter 221: No Negotiation

For the next hour, the squad traversed deeper into the den through the vents, maintenance shafts, or other discreet passages before arriving at the central area of the hub where the command center was located, right below their current position. Had they not taken small detours and brief stops along the way, they would’ve arrived sooner.

On their way here, Drai’s squadmates had noticed that he was notably a lot quieter ever since they left the room with children. And not only that, they also saw how he had no more qualms with employing maximum strength during their assaults, which often ended up with his victim’s head or torso exploding into a red mess. After repeated killings, Drai’s face and night gear were now sullied by blood and viscera, which he seemed to pay no mind.

A few of the squad members had even become quite wary and fearful of their ruthless junior—perhaps an effect of seeing his particularly cold demeanor after every massacre. In the end, none of them thought of addressing Drai’s abrupt change, though Danny secretly approved of this previously unseen side of their youngest, thinking that it fit Drai’s nickname perfectly.

Frost, on the other hand, silently lamented the change since he was actually rather fond of Drai’s pure and naive disposition. But being a veteran, he had witnessed similar occurrences countless times in the past, which was why he didn’t comment on this particular one. He believed such a change was reasonable and wasn’t necessarily bad. Still, he had been keeping a close eye on Drai lest things take a darker turn.

The squad was now waiting in silence for Frost’s orders, though most of them could hardly contain their eagerness to beat up the ones leading this whole smuggling operation. Although they didn’t stumble into another heart-wrenching room, they knew their route had only covered a minute part of the base and it was likely that a lot more similar rooms were around.

"Anything?" Frost quietly asked Gramps, who was busy operating Gizmo.

"No. Their equipment are so shitty, they can’t even record sounds. We’ll have to rely on visual intel only."

"So be it," Frost remarked before analyzing the series of images Gramps proceeded to show him. It took him a minute until he finally turned to the others.

"Only fifteen people down there, but most of them look much stronger than the ones we took down."

Frost then prompted Gramps to project the images for the squad to see before continuing, "June, Eric, you two handle these three women. Daniel and Mandy, take on this group of six. Nas, deal with the weaker looking operators before helping out the others. Drai, take down the woman sitting at the center front—she’s probably the head of this base. And help out the others after you’re done. I’ll support you all accordingly and Linus will stay here and keep an eye out. Is that clear?"

The squad collectively nodded in reply while readying themselves for the upcoming fight.

"It doesn’t matter if we’re found out by the ones outside as long as we take down the people below us along with their equipment. We’ll retreat after we finish and wait for reinforcements to deal with the rest of the smugglers," Frost added.

Just then, Gramps interjected, "Frost, we got a problem." He then showed the squad the live feed from below along with those from other parts of the base.

It was apparent to the squad that their actions had just been discovered based on the franticness of the people on the screen. Even the command room below was stirring—the presumable leader could be seen barking orders to the rest, and several people were clearly about to leave the room.

"Looks like we’re out of time. Squad, on my cue..."

While the others steeled themselves, Drai was reminded of something else instead—the little girl whose ribbon was still on his chest, now basked in blood.

"Go!" Frost hissed, following which everyone dropped from the prepared opening and immediately headed toward their designated targets. Their ambush wasn’t as smooth as they pictured though since the positions of their targets had somewhat changed. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Cubes and Beachball were only able to take down one woman by surprise before the other two ladies and a man that was part of Danny’s targeted group engaged them. In comparison, Danny did better as he managed to lop off two heads with two precise slashes. However, his other two targets weren’t close enough for him to slash, so he had to cross the room before his kukris could reach them. Mandy tried to keep up, but she just wasn’t quick enough to follow Danny’s pace, so she opted to squirt various concoctions from afar, not only aiming at her other four targets but also a few others of her squadmates.

Ghost’s task was comparatively much easier since not only his targets were weak as expected, they were also glued to their stations, hindering their reactions. Meanwhile, Frost had to seal the room first before he could help the others.

At the same time, Drai’s cold eyes focused on the tall woman wearing an extravagant dress that was still seated. He didn’t hold back and mustered all his strength as he sped to her, aiming to end the fight in one strike so he could aid the others.

Unfortunately, the woman wasn’t as defenseless as he thought. A transparent bubble suddenly encased her upon his approach and bounced him off, sending him crashing into the ice barrier Frost had just put up, shattering a sizable section of it.

Ignoring the trouble he caused for Frost, Drai hurriedly flew again toward the woman, who was now prepared to clash with him, still protected by the bubble.

’I’m sure I took her by surprise. Is that weird bubble an automatic defense skill too or some kind of device or artifact?’ Drai wondered before planning his next course of attack.

Meanwhile, the lavish woman seemed content with her defensive position and only glanced around a bit to see how the others fared. She was slightly dismayed by the few dead bodies but let out a haughty smirk upon seeing the rest putting up a decent struggle. After glancing at the ice covered walls and ceiling, she then raised her wrist and rapidly spoke through her comm-like bracelet.

Though Drai couldn’t hear what she was speaking, this somehow gave him a bad feeling, so he hurriedly conjured several radiant bolts that he punched in succession. Interestingly, the woman was unfazed and merely eyed the gleaming projectiles before they hit the bubble.

To Drai’s surprise, his bolts neither popped nor pierced the barrier; instead, they were deflected and scattered across the room with similar velocity as they were launched but in a twirling motion.

Fortunately and unfortunately, one of them ended up hitting one of the women Cubes and Beachball were embroiled with on her back, creating an opening for the duo to finish her, whereas another one smashed against Mandy’s head, instantly downing the busty alchemist.

Seeing the result of his friendly fire, Drai wanted to rush to Mandy, but he saw that Frost already got there first and was giving him a stern shake of the head, clearly signaling him to finish his task.

’Sorry Mandy, I hope you’re alright,’ Drai thought as he turned to his target again.

After Drai’s failed barrage, the woman looked calmer now, speaking through her device with a nonchalant look while keeping her eyes on the hovering young man before her.

While Drai was deliberating whether he should try attacking the bubble with a much larger bolt, Gramps’ voice suddenly spoke through his earpiece.

"Hurry up, guys. You’re completely surrounded outside. A group is even heading my way. I’m stalling them with the fans, exhaust pipes, and whatnot, but it’ll only buy a little time."

Hearing this, the squad upped their efforts, pulling out their aces. Beachball released a wave of marbles that turned into a pinkish mini tornado, instantly swallowing the woman he was facing. Cubes also scattered numerous cubes that transformed into various armaments, which immediately launched a fiery salvo at her target, blasting him to pieces. Meanwhile, Frost encased the remaining people in vibrant blue ice from the neck below, allowing Danny and Ghost to swiftly reap their lives.

In mere seconds, the Seventh Squad had felled the entire commanding personnel aside from their leader, who was still shielded in her bubble but with a grim look.

Arriving beside Drai, who had just landed, Frost said to the woman, "Surrender now, and you might just keep your life."

"Because you look forward to squeezing intel out of me, right?" the woman sneered. "Spare me your bullshit, nerd. I’d sooner die than surrender to a bunch of filthy lapdogs. Besides, my men are outside. I admit you guys are pretty strong, but do you think you can survive against hundreds of second-stagers and above?"

"Be it hundreds or thousands, I’m confident my squad can still escape," Frost replied, seemingly unfazed.

"Sure, sure... But do you dare leave all the children and other poor souls behind?"

The woman’s words stunned the squad, including Drai, whose chest instantly tightened.

Seeing the group’s reactions, the woman smirked widely and barked, "Drop your fucking weapons, dogs! And you better kneel with your arms above your heads if you value those people’s lives!"

"She’s not kidding," Gramps mentioned through their squad channel—the woman’s voice had apparently reached above. "I see a lot of kids and poor-looking fellas outside. They’re being lined up by her grunts."

Hearing the report, the rest of them became even more conflicted. They looked at Frost, wondering what his decision would be.

After a brief pause, Frost eventually stated with a resolute expression, "I’m sorry, but we don’t negotiate with insurgents. Kill them all you want, but we’ll make sure to reap ten times the lives you take, be it from your comrades or families."

The woman seethed upon hearing the threat, but as her mind frantically spun, she suddenly glimpsed a lifeline, for the youngster with white-streaked hair beside the bookish man was visibly shaken by the statement.