Chapter 35
Chapter 35
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 35
Chapter Title: The Principle of Power
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Shin-ju, having arrived on the rooftop of the Bio Vanguard headquarters in the U.S., handed them walkie-talkies and recalled the turbulent international situation of the past.
Not long after alien species settled on Earth, the United States deployed the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in the middle of the Pacific Ocean to keep them in check.
However, Earth's technology was far from sufficient to counter the aliens.
But one day, an alien named M.I.X, the leader of a mercenary group called 'Bio Vanguard', visited the U.S. Department of Defense dressed in a neat white suit.
He proposed a deal to the Department of Defense: he would provide them with the alien weapon technology he possessed in exchange for administrative control over the U.S. military-industrial complex system.
The technology he had at the time was stolen from the Frontline.
Several arms dealers took a great interest in alien weapons, and the number of people willing to invest generously in the new technology began to grow.
Kim Cha-yoon, who was working in the U.S. at the time, was one of them.
The scale of America's arms trade grew day by day as time passed.
A distribution network was completed, allowing weapons to be supplied not only to the Middle East, East Asia, and Europe—regions teetering on the brink of war—but also to distant alien planets.
For the arms dealers, it was as if a market had opened up across the entire universe.
M.I.X, having taken control of the military-industrial complex, realized that the arms business could even influence American politics.
Overseas embassies acted as sales representatives for the military-industrial complex, and the U.S. Department of Defense—in essence, the world's largest arms dealer—even established a department dedicated solely to weapons sales.
As time went on, M.I.X began to set his sights beyond the U.S. to East Asia.
South Korea, an ally of the United States, was a particularly easy mark for selling weapons.
M.I.X skillfully exploited the South Korean government's insecurity about not having firmly joined the ranks of developed nations.
He pushed the logic that 'an alliance is only formed when powers are equal,' and used Cha-yoon Enterprise as a front to attempt arms deals with South Korea.
In reality, South Korea at that time had already developed into a major power, just slightly behind the United States.
He entrusted the Bio Vanguard headquarters in the U.S. to Viper and established roots in the arms industries across the globe, including East Asia.
And he took pleasure in arming weaker nations, observing their reactions and the nature of humanity.
Shin-ju clicked his tongue softly.
*I should have been more vigilant.*
To be honest, he had suspected something.
He just hadn't expected things to get this big.
He composed himself and finished briefing Jekovic, Sharin, and Jason on the operation.
Their plan was simple.
First strike wins.
Shin-ju had always detested how his status as a police officer shackled his response to crime.
He advocated for the American police system, where they would just shoot if things went south.
Sharin and Jekovic readily agreed to Shin-ju's plan.
Jason wouldn't oppose it, but he drew a line, stating it wasn't his responsibility.
Shin-ju placated Jason and chanted a spell from the Old Book.
They all vanished as if absorbed into the building.
Sharin landed first in the building's hallway.
Following her, Jekovic, Shin-ju, and Jason appeared in the hallway one by one.
They began to move as they had agreed beforehand.
Jason would take the top floor, while Sharin, Jekovic, and Shin-ju would search the floors below in that order.
"You all still have the walkie-talkies I gave you earlier, right?"
The three nodded.
"See you later, then."
And so, the four searchers split up.
*Grrrrrrrrr-*
Alexian looked at him with a troubled expression.
In the distance, Silvergrand could be seen holding his shield.
After clashing with the Frontline's mechanical species, he found their pure physical strength was nothing special, but it was hard to ignore their technological prowess.
If he were to lose this fight, not only would his treatment worsen, but in the worst-case scenario, he could be exiled from Earth.
Then, as if remembering something, Alexian grinned.
*I knew this would happen. Good thing I have that equipment I got from Bio Vanguard.*
He opened his mouth wide.
A sound like a capsule shattering came from near his molars.
Soon after, a horn blast, like one signaling the start of a medieval battle, echoed from Alexian's mouth.
Startled by the sudden sound, the Frontline robots looked up.
They recognized the sound.
It was the signal used to summon a 'tech item' when battling other species on their home planet.
"Damn it...!"
Gogo muttered.
Silvergrand also readjusted his grip on the shield and took a stance.
"That horn blast...!!"
The sky darkened.
Countless bolts of lightning began to fall from the clear sky.
Silvergrand looked up at the sky and shouted.
"Everyone, be careful! There's no telling what's about to pop out!"
Everyone stared with tense faces in the direction of the lightning strikes.
They couldn't rashly predict what kind of weapon would fall to the ground.
The weapons developed on their home planet were countless and varied, and even they didn't know about all of them.
Suddenly, the sky seemed to open up, and a cylindrical steel container began to plummet at a terrifying speed.
Alexian looked up with a sinister smile.
"Come."
The cylindrical steel container picked up even more speed as it fell.
Silvergrand's eyes widened as he identified it.
"It's armor! An armor suit!"
Gogo's eyes went wide.
"That bastard summoned an armor suit!"
Silvergrand shouted, his eyes blazing.
"How is this possible! Another species summoning our technology!"
Area87, floating in mid-air, looked up at the sky and yelled.
"What do you think! It must be Bio Vanguard's doing!"
Big Five shouted.
For a moment, he thought of Jeg.
He was the one who had developed the armor suit.
*Whirrr—clank, clank, clank—*
The cylindrical container opened up in mid-air, gradually taking the form of armor.
*Whirrr—Clank!*
The machine, called an armor suit, began to fit itself onto Alexian's body.
Soon, a sharp mechanical sound signaled its completion.
The four mechanical beings stared blankly at the massive figure before them.
A giant dragon clad in a black armor suit exuded a menacing aura, glaring down at them from atop the building.
High-tech mechanical sounds echoed from Alexian's body.
He opened his mouth wide.
"It's a breath attack!"
Big Five's eyes widened.
"That's no ordinary breath!!"
A stunned Silvergrand roared and quickly stepped forward.
He ran in front of Big Five, who was at the very front, raised his shield, and simultaneously expanded its range.
Silvergrand tilted his head up.
"Area!! Contact Speeder and Ernest and tell them to expand the evacuation zone by another 20 kilometers!!"
Then, looking forward again, he quickly tightened his grip on the shield.
"You guys get back too!!"
Silvergrand yelled at the three tri-colored dragons standing behind him to evacuate as well.
Despite Silvergrand's shouts, they didn't react, simply staring up at the armor-clad Alexian.
"Those damn fools...!!"
*Whirrrr, whirrrr, whirrrr, whirrrr*
An ominous sound was heard as immense energy concentrated in one spot.
Silvergrand's expression hardened even more.
"That armor...!! It's an energy amplifier!!"
From a distance, Gogo shouted as he backed away.
"Hey! Silver! You have to get out of there too!!"
"I can't!! Those idiots are still...!!"
For a moment, everything went quiet.
Silvergrand felt a sudden, chilling premonition.
The calm before the storm.
The fear of death suddenly washed over him.
"Ah, damn it."
*KWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!*
Black flames and a cosmic storm erupted simultaneously from Alexian's mouth.
A cataclysm on a scale large enough to obliterate an entire metropolis had been unleashed.
"Nooooo!!"
Gogo and Area shouted at the same time.
In an instant, the surroundings were engulfed in pitch-black darkness.
In the middle of that nocturnal backdrop, a yellow light flashed.
*KWOOOOOOOOOO-*
In the face of the immense breath attack, the figures of Silvergrand and Big Five vanished into the darkness.
The three dragons, unable to escape, were also swallowed by the darkness.
It was as if a vast universe had devoured them.
Sharin kicked the door down.
Her eyes flashing fiercely, she scanned the room.
Boxes were strewn about everywhere in front of her.
Suddenly, the building began to shake violently.
Debris rained down on Sharin's head.
Sharin paused for a moment, her eyes darting left and right to survey her surroundings, then entered the room without a second thought.
The room was like a storage warehouse.
*Riiip— Riiip—*
She unhesitatingly tore the tape off a box with one arm.
Alien weapons she had never seen before spilled out of the box.
She continued to rip open more boxes.
From weapons of unknown purpose and geometric shapes, even a prosthetic mechanical arm that looked like a perfect fit for Sharin's left shoulder appeared.
Sharin looked at the prosthetic arm and held it up to her severed shoulder.
The size was a near-perfect match.
Feeling as if it had been custom-measured, Sharin scowled in displeasure.
The moment she stood up, as if there was nothing more to see...
*Clatter, clatter—*
A clattering sound came from a corner.
Sharin whipped her head around and slowly drew the Actrazer she carried on her back.
*Shing—*
Holding the Actrazer out in front of her, Sharin approached the source of the sound.
A corner of the warehouse.
A large box was shaking.
Sharin used the tip of the Actrazer's blade to slowly pry open the top of the box.
Her eyes began to widen.
"This is...!!"
Shin-ju snapped his head up.
That shock just now—it was a Dragonkin's breath.
No, it was an attack with a much wider range than usual.
For a moment, he worried about Silverfire.
"Damn, I hope nothing's happened..."
Shin-ju muttered, standing in front of a door.
He hadn't sensed anyone's presence inside the building for a while.
He was on high alert.
*Is this another trap?*
Shin-ju carefully gripped the doorknob and gave it a turn.
The door wasn't locked.
*Creeak—*
Nothing was visible inside.
He fumbled around and found the light switch.
Soon, the lights in the room flickered on.
Shin-ju's eyes slowly scanned from left to right.
It was a suspiciously ordinary office.
He carefully opened the Old Book and chanted a spell.
A transparent wave spread out from the Old Book.
The wave expanded in all directions, revealing the room's true nature.
"Hoo... Just as I thought..."
Shin-ju stared for a moment at the scene unfolding before him.
*Voom, voom, voom*
A black gate was open before his eyes.
The gate was connected to a planet he knew all too well.
"It's Bluerobic..."