A black-colored van drove with a thick dust cloud behind on a dirt road. The dirt road was surrounded by dense green forest.
Soon, the van drove off from the dirt road and continued its journey on a grass road.
After ten minutes, the van stopped in the middle of the clearing.
Only ten meters from them, signs of activity could be seen.
A portion of the ground started collapsing into the grassland, and an underground path appeared out of nowhere.
The underground path goes deep into the ground, which is still large enough to fit the van easily.
*Thump*
The van bounced up and down a bumpy road.
Two dark-clothed figures were sitting in front seats, their faces not visible underneath the dark mask.
In the back of the van, a man with a bag covering his head was swaying back and forth.
In front of him, a cold-looking man kept glaring at him with signs of disgust and disdain.
Soon, they felt the bumping stopping. They have arrived at their destination.
The man with a bag on his head had signs of waking up.
He started causing a stir, with panicked voices coming from a tiny hole in the bag.
The cold-looking man took off the bag from his head.
Once the bag was taken out, a face belonging to Marshall became visible!
''Ah!'' He cried out and covered his face, and when the bright light subdued, he slowly opened his eyelids.
''G-General Charles?!'' He exclaimed after recognizing the man in front of him.
*SLAP*
Out of nowhere, General Charles slapped him across the face.
*Thud*
Marshall flew out of the van and fell on the dirt ground.
''Oww!'' He touched the red mark on his cheek and let out a cry of agony.
General Charles stepped out of the van and walked over to Marshall.
''Argh…'' He felt his bones cracking; however, then he felt a foot pushing his head down to the ground.
In his ear, a peal of laughter was echoing, making him feel humiliated.
Marshall shakily stood up with a dirt-covered face. He used his sleeve and wiped them away.
Once the dirt was gone, he saw where he was.
His dirtied face quickly became fearful, ''No… I don't want to be here!'' He turned around, however, and collided with General Charles.
''Where do you think you are going?'' He asked with a chilly voice, ''General Baramount wants to have a word with you.''
''No…'' Marshall saw one of the henchmen grabbing his arm and starting to drag him toward one of the buildings.
While anxiously looking around, he saw the underground base, with men and women tirelessly working on their own jobs, which mainly were unpacking the delivery and doing paperwork.
Even though it looked like a common workspace, even though that workspace was in a sizeable cavern-like system.
There were still items from the ground above, with desks, PCs, printers, and proper chairs.
There were dozens of buildings built, and each one had a purpose.
Marshall unwillingly was dragged to one of the largest buildings, where men and women kept entering and exiting.
While passing by them, they showed a disdain-filled look at Marshall.
Even though Marshall was stronger than most of them, he had zero respect and status within them.
Marshall gritted his teeth and was dragged inside the building.
General Charles quickly followed behind.
They went over to the third floor, where a single hallway and a door were.
They went to the door and knocked several times.
*Clank*
The door opened automatically, allowing them to enter the room.
The room was rather fancy, with a desk made of an oak tree and a computer on top.
Windows showed the vast underground cavern.
Next to the walls, there were several bookshelves and cabinets.
Behind a desk, a middle-aged man with a black beard was sitting with his fingers dancing on the keyboard.
He didn't even raise his gaze away from the computer.
Marshall was forcefully pushed on the chair.
''U-Umm…'' After sitting down unwillingly, Marshall wiped his sweat and tried to be as calm as possible. However, he knows that he has fucked up.
General Charles walked next to the middle-aged man and whispered in his ear.
General Baramount stopped typing on the keyboard and finally looked at Marshall.
Marshall's body froze.
''Police… No, Former Police Commissioner Marshall.''
Marshall grimaced after hearing his current title. Everything he had worked for was gone.
All of it was because of one person.
'Kurogami… Ichiro!' His voice inside his mind was oozed with hate.
General Baramount locked his fingers and said with his usual crispy voice, ''You have failed us. Can you explain?''
''A-Ah, yes!'' Marshall sat straight and thought about what he should say and what not.
The following conversation will decide whether he will live or die.
''There was… Someone who attacked us!'' Marshall gritted his teeth with hate, ''He was about to expose the location of Underworld base, but no worries, I destroyed the hard drive before he got his hands on it!''
General Charles frowned.
''Hmm…'' General Baramount leaned closer and asked, ''Why did you use Monster Puppet?''
''T-That was the last option!'' Marshall wiped his sweat and tried to justify his actions, ''That man was about to expose me as well; maybe if Monster Puppet had succeeded, no one would have known anything about us!''
''But now…'' General Baramount looked calm. However, the deep rage was hidden inside his eyes, ''The public knows about the Monster Puppet… Do you have any idea what consequences it has?''
''I-I am sorry…'' Marshall's voice shook, ''I-I thought it would be a nice present, you know…''
''I told you very clearly… Focus on Martial Leader Puppets.''
*BAM!*
General Baramount slammed his fist on the sturdy desk.
Marshall flinched, and tears streamed down from his eyes, ''I-I-I am sorry!''
''I told you very clearly…'' He stood up and circled the desk, ''To build us an army… You know that you have only delivered 10% of your promised puppets…''
Marshall kowtowed to the floor and touched the floor with his forehead, ''Give me another chance!''
General Baramount stopped in front of him and gazed at Charles, ''What do you think, Charles, should we?''
Marshall glanced at General Charles with a hopeful gaze.
General Charles snorted, ''Fuck no. He is useless.''
Marshall's face paled.
''And, this is why I am the leader.'' General Baramount chuckled while Charles rolled his eyes.
''Marshall, I will give you another chance.''
''R-Really?!'' Marshall raised his head with a hopeful gaze.
General Baramount crouched with a grin, ''Yes… If you manage to recover the Monster Puppet… Corpse. Then you are free to join our ranks as Commander Marshall.''
Marshall widened his eyes in shock, ''H-How am I supposed to do that?''
''Heh.'' General Baramount smirked and didn't answer.
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