Chapter 493 – Interview
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The atmosphere in the car heading to the secret base was cold.
The awkward and chilly atmosphere between Joanna and Alcyone plunged the car into suffocating silence.
Linette, sandwiched between them, was watching, rolling her deer-like eyes.
Unfortunately, words like ‘hug and make up’ don’t seem to work.
Ambitious in Rebellion? The prepared Mongoose operation team was anxious from the start.
Will time solve the problem?
Well… If it doesn’t work out, there’s nothing we can do.
Honestly, I don’t have much affection for the Mongoose team yet, so I wasn’t that worried.
Even if the team splits like this, there is nothing to regret.
Regardless of the frozen atmosphere of the Mongoose team, the car carrying us ran hard and arrived at the secret base.
As soon as you feel the car stop, the door opens automatically. The inside of the garage showed the same scenery as the secret base we had visited before.
This secret base was different from the place I had been to before.
This is the secret base of a city called Plico.
By creating the same structure, it seems to prevent members from recognizing that it is a different place.
Of course, I was the only one who noticed that fact.
The team members will never see outside this secret base, so there is no way to know.
Having multiple secret bases like this… Rebellion’s financial situation doesn’t seem to be bad.
What kind of back pocket are you wearing? .
It’s not something I care about.
Rebellion felt like a superficial part of Helena’s research, so she didn’t do much in-depth research.
I guess I should say that I feel like the head of the household who has noticed that I stay still in the house.
There is no reason to dislike the fact that the organization I work for has a lot of money.
They say there is generosity in the storehouse.
It is natural that it is better to receive ample support than to live in a poor environment.
“Arm yourself and gather in the hangar in two hours.”
“Yes! I understand!”
“Yes.”
“…”
It’s a different secret base, but the structure is probably the same as the previous secret base.
They didn’t even need to learn things like how to wear equipment or use weapons, which I had previously learned from Lynette.
This was because although not all of them were veterans, they were experienced workers.
Thinking they would take care of it, I headed to the team leader’s office.
There, you will receive detailed information about the mission you will be undertaking this time. And this is how I convey it to my team members.
There were several rooms in the hallway.
There is a display on the door that says ‘Mongoose Team.’, Indicating that this is the room I will be using.
As I approached the door, the door opened by itself, and I could see an interior with a study-like atmosphere.
Sit in the team leader’s seat in the center, put your feet up on the desk, and cross your arms.
-Beep.
As if recognizing that I was sitting down, a translucent screen appeared in front of me, showing the mission details.
「Operation area: Dement. Quinter Corporation secret research facility.”
「Mission: Take photos and secure data inside the Quinter Corporation secret research facility.」
「Caution: High possibility of encountering a Predator.」
The Mongoose team was being told what to do by giving back maps and simulations of the operation location.
There was nothing much for me to do.
The operation method was all planned out through simulation.
All I have to do is how to arrange the team members.
Since I am a novice team leader, I don’t think I was given a complicated and difficult task…
The Predator is a powerful robot that we have met before.
It seemed like he was trying to actively utilize my abilities.
『The Gryphon pilot has arrived.』
Voice artificial intelligence announced a visitor to the team leader’s office.
Gryphon refers to the transport aircraft that will transport the Mongoose team to the operational area.
A woman came in wearing an outfit that looked like an airplane pilot.
“This is Phoenix, the pilot of the Gryphon.”
“Please take care of me.”
Before, when I was a team member, I couldn’t even see the transport pilot’s face, but it seems like he still shows his face as the team leader.
There is still quite a bit left until the meeting time.
First, I decided to have some personal interviews with team members.
I decided to call Lynette first.
I don’t know Lynette’s contact information.
However, the team leader’s office was equipped with a system that could be called.
“Bark. Did you call me? Ah! Should I call you team leader?”
“Call me somewhere convenient.”
“Yes!”
“I didn’t call you for anything special. If you need anything else, please let me know. If I can listen to it, I’ll listen.”
“No!”
Lynette answers brightly.
But I feel an unknown distance.
It’s probably not because I’m the team leader.
It’s a shame.
“Then, please be kind to me this time too.”
“Please take care of me!!”
Lynette answered brightly.
After sending Linette away, I called Joanna.
“Loyalty! I have been called by Captain Bark!”
“…”
Rebellion had no particular dress code.
During the operation, he wore a suit and helmet so that his identity was unknown.
Joanna’s uniform means that she wears it however she wants.
‘I didn’t know it when I just looked at the profile…’
“Joanna Crew.”
“Yes! Just give me the command!”
The appearance of the military flag being raised tightly.
Should I like this or not.
“You are Ace.”
“Are you saying I’m Ace?!”
“That’s right.”
“Thank you!!”
Joanna’s frozen face suddenly brightens.
I was a little embarrassed because I liked it so much, but I could have said something like this to my team members’ morale.
“I have high expectations for you!”
“I will risk my life and work hard to live up to your expectations!!”
It’s a little strange, but still… The kid seems nice.
Lastly, I called Alcyone.
“… What’s going on?”
The expression on his face asks why he bothered me when he was resting well.
“… You are the ace!”
“Yes? What do you mean? Do you know me?”
… Is this a normal reaction?
“Have you heard anything about me?”
“Well? The team leader is a married man?”
“… Okay. Go ahead.”
Cowra… It wasn’t just Lynette.
That’s cruel. Did it have to go this far…
It seems that Cowra revealed my important personal information to all members of the Mongoose team.
I am very disappointed.
〈I feel sorry for you.〉
Cosmos came out after a long time and scratched my insides.
However, there is something that even Cowra did not expect.
That is my ability.
Females are attracted to superior males.
It was an instinct that females naturally had.
I am a superior male.
What this means is that just by being with me, they are subconsciously attracted to me.
This was not something I did on my own, but a fact I found out through the big data of the two archmages, Liliana and Verna.
Liliana said.
“It seems like you have a factor that attracts the attention of females. It may not have much of an effect on transcendents like us, but a normal female would lose her mind.”
I felt like I had somehow awakened and become more popular with women.
Of course, it wasn’t instantaneous because it was a passive thing, but it meant that females who stayed close to me had no choice but to be attracted to me implicitly.
Cosmos obviously knew that.
That important fact was shamefully hidden for a long time.
‘Kaura… Just wait and see. Your dastardly plan will not go as planned.’
〈 Oh my… Should I burn off such a trivial desire to win? 〉
Cosmos’ advice did not fall on my ears.
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It’s time to gather.
I saw three female team members wearing black suits waiting in the hangar.
“Loyalty!”
Joanna saluted me as if she had seen me as the commander of a legion. When Lynette sees Joanna like that, she awkwardly raises her hand.
Alcyone looks at the two and shakes her head as if she feels pitiful.
The Mongoose team boarded the transport ship Gryphon and began moving to the operation area.
And I explained this operation to them just like Zaid did.
“Are you saying that we will infiltrate the inside of the building and secure data, and you will block the security robots from the outside?”
“That’s right. There are no significant security forces inside the building anyway. You don’t have to worry that much.”
“It seems like the captain has taken on a very important mission. I should stay and help him…”
Unlike the two who quietly listened to the strategy, Joanna was active.
“Joanna, there is no need to do that. Just focus on your task.”
“Old story! I will definitely succeed in my mission!”
There was no choice anyway.
I had to ride a pit bull.
The pit bull was a rather large object to be active inside the building.
And I was the only human who could deal with the Predator.
It was an operation that seemed to show Rebellion’s will to properly exploit me.
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Cloud heard that Bark, a person of interest, was in charge of the operation and looked for Claire.
“I heard he took on a mission.”
“Yes, it’s a mission for Quinter Corporation’s secret laboratory.”
This operation itself is not difficult.
But there is one problem.
The Predator is protecting that place.
In order to deal with the Predator, Rebellion’s elite level combatants must be deployed… Whether this operation was worth deploying elites, it was not.
It was a mission that I had been putting off for a while.
But just then the right person came in.
It was Bark.
He is an incredible person.
But he has considerable fighting ability.
Rebellion decided to actively use Bark for this kind of mission where security is not that important.
