Chapter 230: A New Mission

Chapter 230

Alex noticed as Celine leaned slightly forward in her seat, with her gaze still firmly locked on the penthouse entrance like an apex predator staring at another apex predator.

"I can sense about three people lurking near the house," Celine mumbled quietly under her breath. "One of them possesses the aura of an Ascendant Realm Awakened... while the other two are both at the Vanguard Realm."

Alex’s eyes turned serious the moment she said that. He first made sure to cut the engine of the Maybach, letting the vehicle come to a complete stop inside the garage. Then his mind began racing with countless possibilities.

’Three Awakened warriors hanging around my penthouse? Who the hell could they be? Did the Kade family manage to find an Ascendant level awakened to get revenge on me? No with the power I displayed last time they must know that I am more than capable of handling Ascendant Realm Awakeneds. Or is this from that blasted Heukryeon who are trying to pull a fast one? Or did Marcus secretly have a friend who must have found out how he died and sent someone to kill Celine?’

Beside him, Celine didn’t intend to sit around and wait for them to make a move, if anything as an assassin had taught her, it was to be ready to strike first. Her dark eyes glinted with a murderous light as the temperature around her dropped.

And in just a matter of seconds, her palms were completely covered in a layer of pitch-black frosty energy.

As the crisp sound of footsteps began to slowly get closer and closer to where they where, Celine gripped the car door handle, preparing to leap out and turn the intruders into human shaped sieve.

However, as the three shadowy figures finally stepped out from behind, Alex’s sharp eyes locked onto their faces. The moment he recognized the familiar trio walking toward them, he felt a huge wave of relief quickly wash over him.

"Celine, wait! Don’t attack!" Alex quickly reached out and placed his hand gently over her frost-covered wrist, stopping her from throwing a lethal strike. "Disarm your ability. They aren’t enemies. They’re people I know."

Celine glanced at him sideways, with her eyes still filled with a trace of lingering suspicion, but seeing the genuine relaxed look on his face, she slowly dissipated the black frost Aura away, though her body still remained completely alert.

Before they could even step out of the vehicle properly, a bright, cheerful voice echoed across the garage floor.

"Finally! You’re back!"

The bubbly and hyperactive owner of the voice, Mia came bouncing forward like a happy puppy, with her ponytail swaying wildly behind her head as she rushed straight toward the driver’s side.

"Vice squad... I mean, Alex! Where on earth have you been all afternoon?!"

Right behind her, Sylph and Allen walked at a much more composed pace. Allen had a half-eaten, hotdog held loosely in one hand, and kept chewing lazily while looking at Alex’s car with a surprised look in his eyes,

While Sylph maintained her usual calm and stoic posture, with her sharp eyes taking in the surroundings.

Mia placed her hands on her hips, as her wide eyes stared up at the beautiful penthouse before turning her attention back to Alex’s sleek, multi-million-dollar black Maybach.

"Wow, Alex! You really have a very beautiful house!" Mia squealed out with a bright smile, her eyes sparkling with innocence and admiration. "You know, with your good looks and super deep pockets, you’re really starting to resemble my ideal prince charming!"

COUGH! COUGH! Hearing her absurdly shameless words, Allen nearly choked on his hotdog.

"C-Cough! Dammit, Mia! Can you please refrain from saying such shameless stuff while I’m eating?!" Allen wheezed out, wiping a bit of mustard off his lip with the back of his hand while glaring at her.

Mia simply ignored his words, and stuck out her tongue at him playfully. However, as she leaned closer to the car, her curious gaze naturally drifted past Alex and landed straight onto the drop-dead gorgeous woman sitting in the passenger seat.

Mia’s jaw nearly dropped as she took in Celine’s stunning features, from her dark hair that brought out her pale porcelain skin, and her cold, intimidating aura. Then all of a sudden, a spark of gossip filled excitement lit up her entire face as she gasped aloud.

"Whoa... Alex!" Mia pointed a finger toward Celine, her eyes wide as saucers. "Who is she?! Is she... is she your girlfriend?!"

Before Alex could even open his mouth to frame a response, Celine turned her head toward Mia and spoke in a completely flat tone.

"No."

The rejection came out so fast that Alex’s mouth twitched uncontrollably. He stared at Celine for a brief second, feeling a sudden urge to roll his eyes at how aggressively fast she had shut the idea down as if being associated with him romantically was some sort of heinous crime.

Alex cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his neck to break the slight awkwardness.

"Yeah... like she said, definitely not my girlfriend. She’s... well, she’s a very good friend of mine, and also my current roommate. We’re both living here together in the penthouse."

Mia’s mouth formed a round ’O’ shape as she processed the information. A knowing, playful smirk flickered across her face, but she didn’t push the topic any further. Instead, she offered Celine a warm, extremely cheerful wave.

"Oh, I see! Hello there! It’s super nice to meet you! I’m Mia!"

Celine gave the bubbly girl a polite nod of her head. "Hello."

Alex stepped out of the car completely, gesturing toward the trio. Since he couldn’t possibly explain to Celine that he was secretly serving as a Vice Squad leader for a top-secret government organization that fought extradimensional monsters from another realm, he had to keep his explanation as brief and normal as possible.

"Celine, these three are some of my close friends," Alex introduced smoothly, keeping his tone casual.

Sylph stepped forward, her calm, sharp eyes locking onto Alex’s green gaze. She didn’t beat around the bush, completely bypassing any useless small talk.

"Alex, we need to speak with you in private. It’s regarding a very important matter."

"Sure, no problem," Alex replied immediately, recognizing the serious underlying tone in her voice.

Celine, being as sharp and perceptive as she was, instantly picked up on the shift in atmosphere. She knew when a conversation wasn’t meant for her ears, nor did she care enough to pry into his mysterious personal affairs.

"I’m going upstairs to take a nap," Celine said smoothly, and gave the group a faint nod before walking past them, and headed straight toward the house without looking back even once.

Once the doors closed and Celine’s presence completely vanished from the garage, Alex turned around to face Sylph, Allen, and Mia, with his expression now turning serious.

"Alright, she’s gone," Alex said, crossing his arms over his chest. "What happened? Is there some kind of sudden emergency or a monster outbreak in the country?"

Sylph shook her head slightly. "No, there is no particular emergency at the moment. However, our squad has just been assigned a mission to complete. The Vice Bureau Chief requested your immediate presence at the headquarters so he can personally brief us on the operational details."

Alex raised an eyebrow. "A mission straight from the Vice Bureau Chief himself?"

"Yup!" Mia chimed in, stepping closer. "That’s why we came all the way here to fetch you! We even brought our chopper along. It’s currently parked not too far from here"

"Alright then," Alex nodded, not wasting a single second. "Let’s move."

The four of them quickly exited the garage and walked toward an area, a couple of blocks away, where a black helicopter with blue designs was sitting.

They got onto the chopper smoothly, and slid the side doors shut. Within seconds, the powerful chopper lifted off the ground, surging up into the darkening evening sky and heading straight toward the hidden island base where the organization’s central headquarters was located.

It didn’t take long at all for the helicopter to finally land softly on one of the primary helipads. Soon they stepped down and began heading toward the main facility.

"Before I forget, Alex, before we go to the Vice Bureau Chief’s office, you need to gear up properly. Your combat attire and tactical gear have already been finished and placed in your room."

Alex nodded in agreement. He followed them down the hallway until they reached his own room.

Stepping inside the room, Alex noticed a large case resting on the bed, and opened it to reveal his newly made combat uniform. He had to say, the thing looked really good and had that certain charm to it.

Alex quickly stripped off his normal clothes and put on the black combat uniform. It fitted his tall, muscular frame perfectly, giving him this intimidating and powerful look that was hard to explain.

He didn’t bother lingering inside the room to relax or anything, because the moment he adjusted his boots and secured his belt, Alex stepped back out into the hallway, where Sylph, Allen, and Mia were already waiting for him, all dressed in their respective combat uniforms.

Mia let out a low whistle when she saw him step out. "Wow, Vice Captain! You look really cool in that uniform!"

Alex gave her a small smirk.

"Thanks. Now, let’s go hear what the Chief has to say."

With Sylph leading the way, the four members of the squad walked through the facility, and then entered a set of grand security elevators that took them straight to the highest administrative floor of the main building.

The security here was noticeably tighter, with various elite Awakened stationed at every single doorway and what looked like freaking high-level magical barrier runes was glowing faintly along the walls.

Holy shit! How come he hadn’t noticed it when he came here last time? And since when did magical runes exist in the real world? Weren’t they supposed to be in anime?

[Uh Alex, have you forgotten you literally live in a world with people who can create earthquakes with one stomp and wipe out an entire city?]

"..."

They walked down a long hallway lined with dark glass windows overlooking the entire island base, and met with Tonya and the rest. After greeting each other, they continued moving together.

At the very end of the corridor stood a door, guarded by two tall, stern-faced elite sentinels wearing heavy tactical uniform.

As the squad approached, the two guards immediately stood at attention, and checked the squad identity token before letting them pass.

With a push they opened the vice bureau Chief’s office and stepped in. As Alex looked up he was surprised to find a familiar presence sipping tea with the Vice bureau chief, like they were old friends.

Authors note:

Thank you very much for the golden tickets!!! (>_<)