Chapter 235: New Members for the Sixth Squad

The morning was proceeding normally at the Ace of Spades Guild headquarters.

Liam was in one of the training rooms, watching several members of his squad practice their abilities.

For the past few weeks, Lucas and Eve had also been participating in their training sessions, although they still weren't officially part of the group.

Lucas was punching one of the training dummies with his enormous gloves, while Eve practiced small, controlled explosions a few meters away.

"Come on, Lucas! Put a little more power into it!" Chuck shouted from the sidelines.

"I'm doing the best I can!" the young man replied, throwing another punch.

The dummy staggered backward but remained standing.

"I think you need even bigger gloves," Lena commented with a smile.

"Don't give him any ideas!" Jordan replied.

Nearby, Carol and Emily were practicing their coordination with combined attacks. The former covered one of her arms with a durable material, while the latter channeled electricity to enhance her attacks.

Liam watched the training with a smile.

During their recent missions, Lucas and Eve had proven themselves to be reliable teammates. Although they had quite different personalities, their abilities complemented the rest of the squad very well.

Lucas was straightforward and somewhat impulsive, but he knew how to follow orders when the situation called for it. Eve, on the other hand, had good control over her explosions and had demonstrated that she could quickly adapt to different strategies.

'I think it's time to talk to them.'

Liam had been considering that possibility for several days.

At first, he had planned to keep them as temporary collaborators, but after so many shared missions and training sessions, he was convinced they could become valuable members of his squad.

Besides, considering what was coming, having two more hunters under his command would be quite useful.

"Everyone, take a break!" Liam announced.

The hunters stopped training and began gathering around him.

"What's up, Boss?" Chuck asked as he adjusted his jacket.

"I want to talk to Lucas and Eve about something."

The two young hunters exchanged confused glances.

"Did we do something wrong?" Lucas asked.

"Not that I'm aware of."

"Then why do you look so serious?" Eve chimed in.

Liam chuckled.

"It's nothing bad. In fact, I wanted to make you an offer."

The two young hunters paid attention.

"You've been participating in our missions and training sessions lately. I think you've both proven yourselves enough for me to trust you."

Lucas scratched his head.

"Well, it's not like we've done anything extraordinary."

"Speak for yourself," Eve commented with a smile.

"I've had to save your ass more than once."

"That's not true!"

"Oh, really?"

The rest of the squad burst into laughter.

Liam raised a hand to interrupt them.

"What I mean is that I'd like you two to officially join the Sixth Squad."

For a few seconds, both of them remained silent, caught by surprise.

Lucas was the first to react.

"Liam... Are you serious?"

"Completely."

Eve smiled, although she seemed to be making sure this wasn't some kind of joke.

"So we'd be under your command permanently?"

"That's right. If you accept, you'll no longer participate as temporary collaborators. You'll become full members of my squad."

Lucas looked at Eve before turning back to Liam.

"Of course I'll accept!"

Eve burst out laughing.

"You didn't even let me answer!"

"Come on, you know you want to do it too!"

"Of course I do, idiot."

Liam smiled.

"Then, officially, welcome to the Sixth Squad."

The others began congratulating them.

"That means we'll have two more people to boss around!" Chuck commented.

"Don't worry, Chuck! I'll make sure you work twice as hard!" Eve replied.

"Boss, I think you should reconsider your decision!" Chuck exclaimed while chewing his gum.

Lena approached Lucas and patted him on the shoulder.

"Welcome aboard! I hope you're ready to put up with us."

"After training with you guys for the past few weeks, I think I'm already used to it."

"That's because you haven't seen the worst of us yet!" she replied with a mischievous smile.

The conversation continued for a few more minutes until Liam decided to use the break to gather everyone together.

"Listen up for a moment. There's something else I want to discuss with you."

The jokes gradually died down.

"Recently, James informed us about a rather delicate situation. There's a dungeon in Antarctica that might be on the verge of evolving. It's currently SS-Rank, but the researchers believe it could surpass that limit."

"To SSS-Rank?" Emily asked.

Liam nodded.

"It's a possibility. We still don't have an estimated date for when it might happen, but the country's major guilds are already preparing for a possible joint operation. Organizations from other countries will also be involved."

Lucas's expression changed.

"That sounds pretty serious."

"It is. We still don't know whether our squad will be selected, but I want you all to be prepared for any possibility."

Eve crossed her arms.

"Then I guess we joined at just the right time."

"Looks that way," Liam replied.

"Well, if we have to face something like that, we'd better do it together," Lucas commented.

Liam nodded.

He didn't want to cause unnecessary concern, but there was no point in hiding how serious the situation was either. If they were going to become members of his squad, they needed to know about the problems they might face.

"For now, we'll continue training and carrying out our usual missions. I don't want anyone rushing into anything. Once we have more information, we'll see what happens."

The hunters agreed.

◇◆◇

A couple of hours later, training had come to an end.

Liam was reviewing some reports when Chuck approached, accompanied by Zayn and Jordan.

"Boss, what do you think about doing something to celebrate Lucas and Eve joining the squad?"

Liam looked up.

"Celebrate?"

"Of course! We don't get new teammates every day."

Jordan nodded.

"Besides, it'd be a good opportunity to get to know each other better outside of training."

"And to eat!" Chuck added.

Liam burst out laughing.

"I suppose that part was inevitable."

"It's important to keep the squad's morale high!" Jordan replied with absolute seriousness.

Liam thought about it for a few seconds.

He didn't have any missions scheduled for that evening, and although he wanted to get home early, he didn't see any harm in spending some time with his teammates either.

"All right. Arrange something for tonight."

"Excellent!" Chuck exclaimed.

"But I don't want anyone overdoing it. We have training tomorrow."

"Yes, Boss!" the three replied with smiles.

Liam returned to his reports while listening to them begin discussing where they would go.

Before he could concentrate again, his phone vibrated.

It was a message from Lydia.

[Lydia: Are you going to be late today? The kids and I are waiting for you.]

Liam smiled and quickly replied.

[Liam: We're having a little celebration for Lucas and Eve tonight. I don't think I'll be too late.]

Lydia's response arrived a few seconds later.

[Lydia: That's great! Have fun, sweetheart. We'll be fine. Although don't forget that you're on diaper duty tomorrow morning.]

Liam let out a sigh.

'Looks like there's no escaping my responsibilities.'

He put his phone away and looked back at his teammates.

For once, he felt like he could enjoy himself without constantly thinking about the looming threat.

Perhaps that little celebration was exactly what they needed before things started getting complicated.