With a creased map in hand, Percival trekked alongside Soren to a nearby abandoned mine.

At the mine's entrance, they stumbled upon a covert mark of White Tiger etched into the rock face, its meaning unclear yet undeniably significant. And there, scattered nearby, lay a cache of critical documents belonging to CK.

"Base, this is Soren. We've found the mark," Soren hollered into his headset.

A different voice crackled back, not Micah's as expected, but that of the HQ commander. "Copy that. Proceed underground."

Exchanging a glance, Percival and Soren strapped on their oxygen masks and descended into the bowels of the earth.

Markers bearing White Tiger's emblem appeared sporadically along the mine's tunnels-faded, but a trail they could follow nonetheless.

As they ventured deeper, the air grew thin, and a faint, metallic scent of blood wafted from the depths.

Suddenly, a clod of earth tumbled from directly above Percival.

"Run!" Percival barked, his eyes dark with urgency.

With lightning reflexes, Soren signaled to the team behind them, and the third squad retreated in a disciplined dash toward the exit.

Then, a thunderous collapse echoed from behind Soren.

"Captain!" He yelled.

"Get out of here. That's an order!" Percival's voice crackled through the headset as Soren could only glimpse his silhouette through the narrowing gaps in the debris.

"Captain, I'll get you out!" Soren halted along with a few others.

Percival's voice was icy. "Get lost. After you're out, find Vivienne!"

Leopold and Thomas, sensing the gravity of the situation, called out, "Captain, report your status!"

"Mine... Collapse... Get out..."

voice faded

like a hailstorm. Leopold and Thomas fought back while retreating to HQ. But unfamiliar with the terrain, the front squad often stumbled into collapsing tunnels, with some members falling into the

Thomas, Leopold boosted their firepower and

the mic, "Wolf, unidentified forces are

useless headset, shouting to Soren, "Comms are jammed. There's a signal

battle above, Soren knew

only chance was to escape and return with reinforcements

vowed, "Captain, wait for

without injuries-broken limbs and,

his headset crackled back to life

teeth, Soren radioed, "HQ, Wolf's comms are down. Send

to down the

and relayed

swiftly ended the fight, downing two helicopters, while

point, with casualties among

head hastily bandaged, relayed Percival's location to Leopold, insisting they had

anger and resolve.

turned to follow, dizziness

report and heal. Or the captain will have your

over, nearly collapsing. "Everyone, back to base

captain is still in there!" Leopold roared,

only his captain but his dear friend who grew up with him. There was no way he would let Percival be buried

stakes but stood firm. "Look at your men. They're heavily wounded, and their lives matter, too. Back to base,

Leopold aside and took Soren from Thomas. "Get him treated, then document everything about the mine. Hand

radio operator approached with urgent news. "Deputy director, it's

the handset. "This is

you to wait for satellite confirmation before

enter the mine. When were we told to

The Novel will be updated daily. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

Comments ()

0/255