VROOM...!

The massive truck drove into Neo Solace undetected.

And just like that, infiltration successful.

A feat that Leon had been worrying about for a long time, brainstorming and tearing his hair off about till he met Lt. Colonel Umar was achieved just like that with a little bit of nepotism and underground influence- influence from the very man that they came to assassinate.

Infiltrating the territory of the Omnicore Federation, especially a major Megacity like Neo Solace was one thing, but it was impossible to stay undetected without proper preparation.

Because the moment the truck came to the surface, it exposed itself to the 24/7 surveillance that watched the city like a Hawk- the Omnicore Eye.

Leon already read and heard about the Omnicore Eye a lot, its reputation preceded it as nobody living within Omnicore territory had privacy from it, to the extent of even surveying people while in their bathrooms bathing and even while taking a sh*t.

That was the Omnicore Eye.

And the moment the massive truck came to the surface, it exposed itself to this all-seeing eye. But the truck’s record was unblemished.

Afterall, Daddy Puff wouldn’t dare do such illegal business in Omnicore territory blatantly if he hadn’t prepared well for it.

With his sponsor’s help, he got everything he needed to disguise his enterprise’s operations as legal. And though he was sure that the Federation knew the true nature of their activities, they didn’t bother to stop it.

Afterall, their products were something that nobles consumed daily.

As for the truck, it is registered with license plates and everything intact in line with all Omnicore regulations. Daddy Puff didn’t leave any stone untouched when it came to his business.

The truck aside, the hidden CCTV cameras in the sky comprising part of the Omnicore Eye also scanned every face that entered the city 24/7.

They had a database with hundreds of millions of faces all over the world, there was barely any known face in the world not in the Omnicore Eye database.

It scanned every face inside the truck, and more than 99% of the people inside the truck were identified as SIN-less. None of their faces was remarkable enough to trigger the priority security protocol of the Omnicore Federation, not even Leon’s own face.

This was because he was no longer wearing his face.

The moment the truck entered the tunnel, driving to the city through a hidden channel, just before ascending to the surface, following the plan, they all wore the CH Masks.

Without the masks, especially for Leon and Umar, bypassing the Omnicore Eye database would have been extremely hard.

But now, it was easy.

Leon’s current face was that of a Geneform with Dog DNA, with messy brown hair, mustache, and neatly shaved beards.

The infiltration phase of the plan was seamless.

Still inside the moving truck, Leon finally looked outside.

He couldn’t see much beside the street where the truck was currently driving through, but the first thing he noticed was that Neo Solace was quieter than most cities that he’d been to, or was it just this street?

To confirm, Leon acted.

Hiding his face away from direct sight outside, he mumbled. "Davis, am I locked on? Am I being actively watched?"

DING!

The advanced A.I responded without materializing this time.

"No master".

Leon immediately moved his right hand quickly, opening his wrist as grayish white ADE flared around his palm, and then something black briefly materialized on his palm- the miniaturized C-5 drone that he hid in his pocket since.

The drone immediately became invisible and flew out through the window of the truck, ascending high into the sky.

Due to its small size and invisibility, it would be extremely hard for the Omnicore Eye to detect its presence if it was not particularly looking out for it.

Despite this, during its ascent, Leon was tense, slightly apprehensive of the invisible drone being detected by Neo Solace’s advanced technology, but in the end his fear was unfounded.

The C-5 drone went undetected.

Drone Control Matrix!

Bzzz!

His ADE flared in a subtle and undetectable manner.

And with it, finally, Leon got a bird’s eye view of Neo Solace, at least Neo Solace at night. And it was well... it was different.

Leon already saw Neo Solace before through the internet, he knew it was a unique megacity whose architecture and design was deliberately different from most other cities in this era, a city of steel and glass.

At night though, Neo Solace was even more different from what he expected.

At night, the city transformed from steel and glass into an immense, breathing organism of light and shadow.

The first vibe that Leon got of this city was that it was a depressed city.

Neo Solace was divided into 2 distinct parts, the inner ring and the outer ring. They were currently still in the outer ring of the city, and this is where majority of the population of SIN-less were.

The outer ring spanned 2/3rd of the entire city, and at night, it was veiled in depressive dim lighting and hues.

The buildings were tall, high, but clearly standard and bare. Smog covered the sky, blocking the higher layer of the sky that was filled with distant neon storms.

This was the depressed part of the city, and it was extremely populous.

As for the other 1/3rd, the inner ring, that is where the noble districts of Neo Solace are located and the contrast was as clear as day and night.

While the larger outer ring was like the slums of this infamous Megacity, filled with SIN-less, Geneforms, and depressed energy, the inner ring was the epitome of luxury and high-class.

The lights were bright even at night, illuminating the world there in bright neon hues, filling the atmosphere with vibrant and lively energy.

The contrast was glaring.

Through the lens of his C-5 drone, Leon focused on the outer ring and from above, the skyline stretched endlessly with jagged towers piercing the smog-thick sky like blades.

The buildings were mostly of black glass and concrete, reflecting depressive streaks of color: gray, toxic greens, and brown.

The lights pulsed, flickering and rippling as if the buildings themselves were wired into a nervous system that never sleeps.

But despite the lighting that was even dim, it couldn’t cure the depressed vibe of the outer ring of the city.

Suspended high among the skyscrapers were structures that shouldn’t exist- platforms, spires, and skeletal frameworks that jut out like the wings of some colossal mechanical Neon Beast.

Leon didn’t realize what they were at first due to the lighting, but soon enough he did.

These were structures depicting and honoring the Director-Prime and the 2 Presidents of the Omnicore Federation.

The structures depicted the 3 Synths and A.I Constructs in different scenarios, mostly of them valiantly combating and dominating powerful Neon Beasts in battle, enforcing the narrative and belief that they were the Sovereign protectors of the Omnicore Federation and the rulers of the world.

In one of the structures, General Sylvari Charr stood valiantly in the sky, singlehandedly standing against an army of holographic Neon Beasts.

Neon green was depicted around him.

In another structure, the Director-Prime stood against a massive, wing-shaped construct that perched atop a needle-thin tower, its metallic membranes stretched wide over the city.

The Neon Beast depicted looked like almost organic, like a Dragon frozen mid-flight, it’s head frozen in a terrifying bestial snarl like it just walked out of the depths of hell, and yet, the Director-Prime faced it valiantly in battle.

On another structure, General Murphy was depicted interacting with lines in the sky like he was commanding reality to bend to his whim.

Seeing the different structures, Leon’s lips twitched.

’How narcissistic can you be to approve structures like this to be created in your own megacity?’

’Should the people worship the structures like gods?’

His eyes widened. ’Wait... are these structures in every Omnicore city in the world?’

His lips twitched furiously. ’Damn, that’s so f*cking shameless!’

’I think I finally got my first read on Epsilon’s personality’.