Before long several squads were assembled. Evelyn had gotten the idea to make it a competition. The team that managed to extract information from the aliens’ ship would be the winner.
"The reward is fancier quarters. Not much, but more than enough to make my old blood boil with excitement." Bryce mused.
"Extracting information from an alien ship is a daunting task. Few achieve it; if someone asked me, this is a waste of time." Claire mumbled before climbing aboard her mecha.
"Just watch me! I will be the first one to infiltrate their network!" Enzo proclaimed. He knew that surpassing Michael in might was near impossible at the moment, so he had to resort to other measures to beat him.
"It’s good to have a positive mindset." Michael chuckled. He didn’t have the heart to tell him that with Bypasser, that wasn’t going to be much of a competition.
Roy joined their squad. He hadn’t been able to bring any personnel from his old base, leaving him with a few options.
"Let’s begin!" Evelyn shouted, causing the teams to spring into action.
The view filled her heart with happiness. Even in her wildest dreams she didn’t expect so many Masters to join her base. Now that they were all working under a single person, there was a higher chance of getting things done.
Leo quickly got into the driver seat. Once everyone boarded, they set off.
"It’s a bit cramped in here." Ava mumbled. Some of the captains that had followed Victoria to base #1 didn’t join the competition, fearing that they might slow her down. And yet with the addition of Roy, it began to look claustrophobic.
"Cute junior, you are the last one that should say such words." Victoria exclaimed.
"Take Michael, for example; he is the tallest one here. He should be the one to complain, not you."
Ava’s eyebrow twitched at the comment. "What, so I can fit anywhere just because I am small?"
"I didn’t say that..."
"But you implied it!"
Not wanting to bother with pointless arguments, Ava gave up before going towards Michael and sitting on his lap.
"...?"
He looked at her with an arched brow.
"Blame Victoria, not me!" She said, crossing her arms, clearly unwilling to get up from his lap.
’She is so light it doesn’t bother me.’
Bryce watched the scene unamused. Feeling like his granddaughter had a fearsome competition.
’What the hell did I get myself into?’ Roy remained silent during the whole ride, wondering if they or he was the weird one.
Amelia seemed to share his thoughts.
Several hours later the sight of a familiar-looking wrecked ship appeared on the horizon.
"We are the first ones to arrive. There are no aliens in sight." Claire transmitted praising Leo’s driving skills.
Not willing to waste time, they quickly approached and entered the shipwreck.
Michael summoned Devil’s Tongue in case there was a threat ahead.
"So how do we go about extracting information?" Enzo mumbled.
"This is the hard part, you moron." Amelia taunted him.
"A—As I said, I will be the one that wins this competition!" Hyping himself up, he began searching around the massive ship.
Meanwhile, Michael approached something that looked akin to a terminal and put his hand on it.
"Let’s test it."
[Bypasser activated]
Instantly he felt his vision blurring and his whole body trembling, almost leading him to collapse.
’This is a Mythic technique. I expected backlash but not this much!’ He gritted his teeth, fighting against the exhaustion.
He knew that he wouldn’t find any valuable information in a simple terminal. There was also the danger of running out of energy. His goal was to learn where the command center was located.
That was why his contact didn’t last more than a second.
Letting out a sigh, he pulled his hand away. A map entered his head with a clear line that led him to the command center.
’It seems that using the technique two times will be my limit.’
Following the path in his head, he began to walk with purpose.
The other members of the squad noticed the change in his demeanor. Unlike them, he looked like he knew where he was going.
"Might as well follow him." Leo shrugged.
With nothing better to do, they did.
"Hey! Do you even know where you are going?" Enzo began to sweat. He could stomach being weaker, but losing here would make him look a fool.
However, Michael kept silent as he moved forward. If he wasn’t focusing on the knowledge that Bypasser had given him, it was going to leave his head.
As it turned out, his mind was rejecting such a large influx of information.
Ava would have called out to him but halted when she witnessed the surroundings changing. The corridors were becoming narrower and narrower.
If before a small army could pass without trouble, now the passage was barely enough for two people to pass side by side.
"It’s here." Michael exclaimed, stopping before a large door.
To the surprise of absolutely no one, this was a reinforced gate that was meant to keep intruders out.
"Allow me the honor." Heating her blade to the temperature of magma, Victoria began to carve a large hole.
"Young man, if you don’t mind me asking, how did you know where to go?" Bryce stroked his beard curiously.
"A feeling, I guess." Michael replied nonchalantly.
’Fine, then keep your secrets.’ The old man mused.
Boom!
Several moments later the large circular hole fell to the ground, allowing for the team to enter.
"This is!" Ava’s eyes widened in surprise.
The command room was smaller than expected. Other than the command center that looked too compiled to have been crafted by a human, there was the corpse of an Elite tier alien.
"It... has taken its own life?"
Out of the people present, only Michael wasn’t surprised. The spaceships were controlled by the most intellectual of aliens. They had the task of making sure that no information leaked out. Once it understood that the ship’s fate was sealed, it took its own life to keep its mouth shut.
’Sadly for you, that will not work on me.’ Michael approached the command center with no hesitation.
’Let me see your secrets!’
[Bypasser activated]
"...!"