Chapter 438: with translation of chapter title

"Man-eating shark? Helusi?"

Leon took from the assistant a soft, moderate electronic file that could be kneaded and folded, reading it as he walked toward his top-floor office.

"Yes, supervisor." The female assistant also said orally: "The man-eating shark is the 75th Battalion of the Dark Crow Guard legion, which should have been with the 42nd Battalion of the Limitless Warriors legion, searching the Shield World of the administrator civilization in the fringe zone of the Limitless Star Region, but for some reason, it suddenly changed to be responsible for escorting the OriginalBody Helusi to Arcadia."

"I understand."

Leon briefly glanced at it, returned the file to the assistant, used biometric sensing to unlock the office's automatic door, entered while also handing over the sensing key of the hovercraft to the assistant, instructed:

"I will negotiate with my superiors; before I get a definite result, I can't get away from here, so I need you to help me send my child home; the specific address he will tell you."

"All right, supervisor, I'll take care of this small matter." The assistant replied cheerfully.

"Please." Leon nodded in thanks.

He originally wanted to let his son stay in the office to observe some unimportant files that had already had their security clearance lifted, after all Arcadia had been free of abnormal events for far too long.

However, upon suddenly learning that Helusi and the Man-eating Shark battalion were due to arrive, Leon had no choice but to have the assistant send Claude home and let Ada worry about the two children.

The conversation ended.

Having relocked the office's automatic door, Leon sat behind his desk, opened the computer and was about to write an email to send to the White Empress, wanting to ask the chairman what his intentions were, when a holographic communication window popped up on the desktop, and the initiator of the communication was precisely the White Empress.

Seeing this, Leon immediately clicked "Agree."

Immediately afterward, the holographic device installed in the office released numerous pale blue light points, which quickly coalesced into Sui Bian dressed in a tennis shirt and casual pants.

?!

Upon discovering it was actually the chairman, Leon hurriedly rose from his office chair, went around the desk to stand before it, and respectfully said: "Mr. Sui."

"Stay calm, you're already a father of two." Seeing Leon slightly surprised, Sui Bian couldn't help but chuckle, saying: "These days hardly anyone uses the title 'Mr. Sui' anymore, hehe."

"Ah, so exhausting." Leon couldn't help but let out a heavy sigh when he thought of his daughter being at the troublesome age.

As for the title "Mr. Sui", it's mainly because Leon is used to it, and moreover, it's a certain "privilege" of their earliest batch of employees, tacitly allowed by Sui Bian, since Sui Bian is somewhat protective of his offspring and nostalgic, unable to be completely selfless.

Therefore, in Arcadia, although Leon is the head of the Intelligence Department, the local staff, reserves, and UNSC vaguely regard him as a superior.

Even the 24th Battalion of the Limitless Warriors stationed in Arcadia, the "White Governor" battalion, when carrying out drills, purges, control missions, etc., also regards Leon as an advisor.

You should know that legion battalion headquarters, especially those with unique numbers and paint schemes, although they usually show respect to other departments on the surface, the actual rulers of each colonial star system are indeed the Astartes who are descendants of Sui Bian; respect is merely because the Astartes can't be bothered to have much interaction with ordinary people.

Thus, Leon certainly qualifies as Arcadia's "family with an elder".

Of course, even though Leon has lived over two hundred years and is no longer the novice officer he once was, the justice he upholds in his heart has never faded; he would never rely on his status as the chairman's confidant to boss people around or act high-handedly.

Seeing Leon seemingly troubled again because of his children, Sui Bian gathered his smile, gently shook his head, and, in the tone of someone who's been there, advised: "Children will be like that at a certain age; loosen up your mind."

"Hmm, Ada will have a good talk with the kids today." Leon was no longer as glum as before, and then asked: "Mr. Sui, I just received intel saying the Man-eating Shark battalion will escort OriginalBody Helusi to our Arcadia, but aside from that there's no further information; may I ask if they're here to carry out a mission? Or...?"

"The Man-eating Shark is on a mission, and Helusi also needs to undergo training." Sui Bian hid nothing from this old subordinate of his, speaking frankly: "Not long ago, I brought nine youthful OriginalBodies back to the main universe, and arranged for each of them to go to a colonial star system to preliminarily adapt to star-system-level management, deployment, and allocation procedures, in preparation for serving as sector governors."

However, this is just a line I used to fool them; training, drills, internships, etc., are all fake and useless, because they are my sons—wherever they go, that place will give them a green light.

"What do you mean, sir?" Leon frowned slightly.

In the main universe, half of the galaxy belongs to humanity; the remaining half is not unattainable, but Umbrella chooses to advance steadily, laying solid foundations.

If one wanted to gain combat experience in the main universe, the only thing Leon could think of would be the colonial star systems at the edge of human territory, but why would his direct superior choose to send Helusi to peaceful, uneventful Arcadia, which has been stable for over a hundred years?

And Sui Bian continued to clarify for his old subordinate: "What I mean is that, in the near future, a spatial gate with a diameter of about 200,000 kilometers will suddenly appear in the outskirts of the Arcadia star system."

I need you to exhibit the qualities of a veteran intelligence officer and a Supervision Department agent: implement deployment before the spatial gate forms, and after it forms, provide response, investigation, etc., passing on all this experience to Helusi.

"A spatial gate with a diameter of 200,000 kilometers?!"

After hearing Sui Bian's words, Leon was stunned, obviously unable to react.

After a moment, Leon steadied his mind; since his superior didn't clearly explain why he could foresee the spatial gate's opening, he wouldn't ask—this is one of the basic qualities of a senior employee.

However, some things still need to be asked, so Leon continued: "I understand, Mr. Sui; I will make the appropriate response. Also, does the company possess cosmic information from the other side of the spatial gate? Or intelligence about humanity and Earth on that side?"

"Certainly." Sui Bian gave an answer without hesitation, saying: "The level of human and Earth technology on that side is comparable to that of our main universe at the end of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first, but there are many anomalous phenomena on Earth, some individuals even capable of reaching Hera level (third tier)."

Furthermore, that universe contains many high-civilization-level alien miscellany; the vast majority hold contemptuous or hostile attitudes toward Earth and humanity, with only extremely rare groups showing any goodwill, and even those are extremely rare.

According to what I know, that universe possesses a faction that calls itself "God" aliens, and they also claim to be the guardians and rulers of the entire universe.

The remaining specific intelligence, I will wait until the spatial gate opens and you make contact with that universe, then upload it to your personal file.

"All right, sir." Leon nodded.

"By the way." At this point, Sui Bian added: "You must keep our conversation strictly between the two of you, understood?"

Upon hearing that, Leon, who understood instantly, became more solemn and earnestly said: "Yes, sir, I understand."

"Very well, then before and after the spatial gate opens, I'll temporarily entrust Arcadia and my just-seventeen-year-old child to you; don't let me down."

After Sui Bian finished speaking, he unilaterally dissolved the holographic image, causing the office to return to its original state.

Conversely, Leon, who had fallen silent, could not calm his mind for a long time.

In the morning, he was still worrying about his daughter being at the troublesome age; who would have thought he'd now have to deal with the spatial gate…

Or rather, the incident of the spatial gate with a diameter of 200,000 kilometers!

It seems that for this period of time, there's no way to continue living an early retirement lifestyle.

Returning to his office chair and pondering for a moment, Leon took out his chip-style phone, one-touch dialed the number labeled "Demon King", and turned on speakerphone to wait.

"Beep…beep…" The office first echoed with a rhythmic busy tone.

Not long after, the busy tone was replaced by the voice Leon knew best—his wife Ada's.

As soon as the call connected, Ada immediately changed from her morning anger and impatience to a tone of concern and kindness, completely opposite to the memo, and asked proactively: "Hello? Calling home at this time—does the company have something going on?"

"Yeah, I'm going to get busy these days; has the son returned?" Leon also asked.

"He's back; you can focus on work, I'll handle things at home, and I'll take an extended leave from the company." Ada said softly.

"Mm, then I'll trouble you for now."

"All right, focus on work."

The couple soon ended their conversation.

Although Leon's note for Ada was "Demon King", this does not mean Ada is an overbearing and unreasonable wife; on the contrary, after marriage, Ada is usually reasonable and well-educated.

And the meaning of "Demon King"…

This is just a case of "the benevolent see benevolence, the wise see wisdom".

After briefing his wife, Leon opened the computer's holographic screen, first using his clearance to review all data, learning the exact docking time of the Man-eating Shark battalion and Helusi.

Immediately thereafter, Leon, as the head of Arcadia's Intelligence Department, ordered the intelligence department to heighten vigilance and increase surveillance of Arcadia and the entire colonial star system.

At the same time, he also informed the local UNSC, reserves, and the White Magistrate Battalion that their intelligence department had detected abnormal fluctuations, thereby causing the entire military force to instantly heighten alertness, so that when the Space Gate appears, they can respond better and faster.

All that remains is to wait for the arrival of the Man-eating Shark and Helusi.

———————

…

One hour later.

Noon in the Arcadia metropolitan area.

To the east of the metropolitan area, in the suburbs, at the surface base belonging to the White Magistrate Battalion, the transport planes and transport shuttles docked on the platform above the starport……

Only to see Leon and a group of intelligence personnel likewise dressed in black suits and uniforms, plus several squads equipped with Thor's Hammer Mark VIII powered armor, overall white paint with light blue, light green, and some gold accents, forming a White Magistrate squad.

Furthermore, wearing the white-blue exclusive Terminator armor, he stood three and a half meters tall, with his helmet unfolded, wearing a golden olive branch on his head, with black short hair, the White Magistrate Battalion Commander, Sarmar Adiliu, also left the flagship to come here in person to welcome the arriving cousin battalion.

The White Magistrate adopts a "dual leadership" system, whereby Battalion Commander Sarmar handles military operations, patrols the surroundings, or leads the battalion's main force in large-scale operations of the Extreme Warriors Legion.

While Deputy Battalion Commander Ridian Alte is responsible for Arcadia and the internal defense of the entire star system, also overseeing the development of the colony's economy, construction, and so on.

Equivalent to martial affairs outward, civil affairs inward.

If the White Magistrate encounters a disagreement between the two battalion commanders on a matter of decision, it will also let all the brothers vote; in short, in management, operations, and tactics, it is one of many battalions that have inherited part of the legion's style.

The visitors are the Man-eating Shark in a cousin-battalion relationship, plus a junior of OriginalBody class; therefore, to show sufficient sincerity and friendliness, Battalion Commander Sarmar chose to go greet the Man-eating Shark and Helusi at the earliest opportunity.

Waited patiently for several minutes.

A vessel that looked extremely dilapidated on the outside but actually had been fitted with a relatively novel fire-control system, researched in 2130 and mass-produced in 2133, about seven kilometers long, the Hera-class flagship, together with two four-kilometer Achilles-class carriers, and one Paris-class escort ship that had undergone "magic modification" and was only five hundred meters long, forming a fleet that was gradually lowering altitude and swiftly approaching this side of the ground base.

Although this fleet clearly possesses novel vessels and weapons, it appears rundown, as if they do not know how, or do not often maintain and overhaul, the fleet is exactly the 75th Battalion of the Dark Crow Guard——

Man-eating Shark.

Not only is the fleet's exterior dilapidated, but its excessive speed within the atmosphere also indicates that the Man-eating Shark's style is somewhat… impolite.

When the Man-eating Shark fleet "emergency braked", hovering above the ground base, kicking up a gust of wind and sand below, it completely lowered the first impression of the White Magistrate officials who value etiquette, order, and rules; even the usually mild Sarmar furrowed his brow, showing displeasure.

「. 」

Leon simply tidied his hair, which had been messed up by the wind; his expression remained unchanged, and his mood was not disturbed by the minor incident.

Soon, a large transport ship departed from the Man-eating Shark flagship Blood Sand, likewise making an extremely fast circuit around the docking platform, after which its speed did not drop much, adopting a landing approach slightly stronger than a crash landing, touching down and stabilizing at the center of the docking platform.

Lowered the hatch.

The first to step out of the hatch was also wearing exclusive Terminator armor, with a light gray base, white and gold accents, and dark red-tinted helmet visor—the Man-eating Shark battalion commander.

However…

When Leon, Sarmar, and everyone present saw the Man-eating Shark battalion commander, they all showed surprised and astonished micro-expressions.

Because after donning the Terminator armor, the Man-eating Shark battalion commander's "altitude" actually reached about 4.2 meters, astonishingly high!

This is clearly not a normal height, practically on par with the Sparta 12th Battalion Commander Astrelion Molok, and not far from Guard Commander Constantine.

Accompanying the Man-eating Shark battalion commander out of the hatch was also Helusi, wearing no armor, just a black training uniform, already standing at 4.2 meters tall.

(End of chapter)