Back in his newly built luxury penthouse in Washington Square, Alex was standing on the open balcony with Dr. Lucy by his side.He had just taken a plunge into unknown territory by revealing his true identity to Calvin and his rebels.Even though the initial outcome had been perfectly positive, he could already sense the far-reaching consequences in the future.“You told them about yourself. They know Xander Payne is alive now. Are you sure Calvin and his people can be trusted?” Dr. Lucy asked in a shallow voice, her face rife with concern.Alex placed his hands firmly on the glass railing and looked out into the twinkling city lights, which stretched for miles in the distance.“I think I have stayed in the shadows long enough. There are people who want to fight Valheim. But they need a name to rally behind. And I just gave them one,” Alex replied.“What if Calvin sells you out to the enemy?” Dr. Lucy asked, staring anxiously at him. “We are still not ready to face Valheim. Your army

“Move in! Surround the building!”“Don’t let them get out!”Boots marched outside as senior officers of the armored command shouted out their orders.A hundred commandos armed with tactical assault rifles and thermal visors rushed to secure the administrative HQ, backed by armored infantry vehicles and flame tanks.The arrival of the Rapid Response Force put Captain Williams and Calvin on high alert.Trapped on the second floor of the infantry command HQ, they could neither rely on backup from the rebels nor fight their way out.“They’ve surrounded the whole building. We have to defend this floor,” Captain Williams said.But Calvin shook his head.“I have a better plan. One that…doesn’t involve us getting killed,” he replied, pulling off the metal mesh from a ventilation shaft. “We can move unnoticed through here.”“There is no way the vents are big enough to hold both of us.”“These ones are different,” Calvin replied, climbing atop a table and squeezing into the vent. “One of my own

The lead supervisor, Dr. Crane, was the man responsible for overseeing the whole bioweapon development project.Not only was the whole research facility under his supervision, but he was the main brain behind the virus.To Dr. Crane, the threat of death and violence was nothing but a typical Monday morning affair. But this time, Captain Williams threatened to destroy his whole research.After several seconds of critical contemplation, he frowned and muttered, “You’re bluffing. How would you even get explosives inside this lab?”“The same way we came in,” Captain Williams replied, looking him directly in the eye.“If you blow up this facility, even you’re not going to make it out alive.”“I don’t intend to,” Captain Williams replied, still holding his ground with his hand on the detonator. “Let my partner go, and we can discuss this thing like civilized men.”“Civilized?” Dr. Crane scoffed, seething with arrogance. “Civilized men do not go around infiltrating research facilities and ki

As soon as Captain Williams and Raziya returned to Alexandria, Alex called an emergency meeting high up in Dr. Lucy’s medical lab in the Northern Mountains.Behind the closed doors of the conference room on the third floor, the four of them gathered in front of a projector, and Alex connected to Samantha Atkins on video call.“Tell us everything you saw in Saint Jakob’s. We need to know all the details,” Alex said, addressing Captain Williams.“Valheim was building a bioweapon in a secret research facility on Saint Jakob’s. It’s called the X-virus. It doesn’t just kill people but turns them into mindless beasts. They lose their humanity. All that remains is their hunger.”“I’ve never heard of anything like that before,” Dr. Lucy joined in. “It must be an artificially engineered virus. One that was genetically modified to infect humans.”“I agree with Dr. Lucy. Most viruses kill people outright,” Samantha added, knitting her eyebrows. “This thing could be far more dangerous than a nuke

Governor Du Monte found himself in the worst moral dilemma he had faced in all his years as the head of Valestra.In his eyes, those who had succumbed to this strange new infection were just sick people.And no matter how aggressive and violent they had become, he believed it was just like any other disease.Even though Alex had advised him to terminate the sick, he couldn’t bring himself to do it.Eventually, after a long spell of careful meditation, Governor Du Monte decided to listen to his own conscience.He contacted the Chief Sergeant and relayed his new set of instructions.“Cordon off Valentino Harbor. That whole district needs to be placed on immediate lockdown. No ships, boats, or cars will be allowed to leave. And impose a complete curfew, effective immediately!”“What about the people?”“Tell the troopers to empty the streets and go door-to-door, checking for people who’ve been infected. I will have a medical camp set up in the Sailor’s Market. All people exhibiting sympto