Meanwhile, At Sea…

  “Huff, huff…” A person's slightly ragged breathing sounded from the rooftop's only entrance. Fox continued eating his meal, while the person behind him accommodated his clothes and recuperated his breath before stepping towards him. “Mind if I sit here?”

  Luis spoke with his usual tone towards him. Fox ceremoniously looked back before saying with half a mouthful. “Go on. No need to ask.”

  Luis sat on Fox’s left and looked at the darkness before turning his head to stare at the burning beauty in the sky behind them. He looked at Fox with narrowed eyes, relaxed and pensive, before asking as he pointed backwards. “Wouldn’t you prefer watching something? Maybe on movement?”

  “No. I like this more, and my eyes don’t get distracted— I can just stare ahead and rest them.” Fox replied without moving his head. Luis lowered his hand and looked ahead with his chin up, and his neck slightly pushed forth.

  “You started making preparations, I see. Even buying that abandoned restaurant, I heard.” Luis started some chatter as Fox eat most of the side of his lonche, leaving it with a strange appearance of bites on only one of its sides.

  “Mhm!” Fox ‘replied’, focusing on his food still. Luis smirked from the left corner of his mouth before adding, “I can’t tell you how to conduct your business, but try not to threaten every time you get a chance. Leave that to the bad politicians and lusty businessfolk.”

  “He reported me?” Fox said, biting off another piece of his lonche while staring at Luis. The latter nodded, “Of course. The opposition probably gifted him the money he wanted from that place in the beginning. Would you not tell my secrets for 10,000,000 credits?”

  “I would for 30,000,000. You’ve given me at least 25 million credits, with the largest sum being 15 million, no taxes. But that would be embarrassing information, not serious secrets that are indeed secrets. I would sell the latter for… 2 billion. Enough to clear out my debts to the government and the District.” Fox casually elaborated.

  Luis took an exasperated breath to calm down. Fox then said after another few bites, still as hungry as the first few, “It’s a pity, however. The man wasn’t bad in business, if only needing a few slaps to the face and a little White Blood monitoring him day and night to reform. Unfortunately, he lost his chance.”

  “You were planning to hire him?” Luis felt strange. He looked at Fox with raised eyebrows and questioning, sharp gray-black eyes. Fox returned the glance, calm and collected instead. Luis shook his head a little, looked ahead, before staring back at Fox. “Forget about troubling yourself with erratic people, I will recommend you some I know who are out of work because of their relations with me.”

  “You would do that? Why does it seem like you’re not using a semi condescending tone with me, not just now, but anymore?” Fox asked with an arched eyebrow. Luis shook his head in a smooth manner, “Don’t think into it. It means nothing. Those 25 million credits were also for my cabinet and the country— is just the payment and qualities that the country needed the most.”

  “No.” Fox looked at Luis with 7 pools in his eyes, not moving his head or eyes, slightly startling Luis, even scaring him. “Nobody gives a million credits immediately to a public servant, be it an attendant at a small office or the executive office of the nation. You’ve been generous to me, for no reason.”

  “…” Luis opened his lips and gestured with a short, slow swing of his head. He joined his fingertips and left it to Fox to think however he wanted. Fox shrugged and continued eating, spending a minute like this as their atmosphere somehow turned silent and equilibrated.

  “What is it made of?” Luis asked out of nowhere. Fox looked at him and realized Luis meant his lonche, so he opened it a little and showed its brown, sweet-looking mashed bean interiors with some reddish, liquid spots. “Beans, and one of the new spicy sauces from the Cielo Caído de Miel company. Is the founder friend of yours, right? She gifted me some things after I bought that restaurant.”

  “I guess I’ll thank her for you,” Luis lifted his eyebrows, chuckling a little in low whispering volume. He then thought of something, smelling the heated aroma from Fox’s food and looking at him again. “Where did you buy it? I might try it too, seeing how you are wolfing it when you slowly eat at our cabinet meetings, when you do attend.”

  “It’s 4 streets southwest from the presidential precinct. It’s a small ice cream shop with all kinds of ice cream. They also sell some nachos, elote, and some chips with extra stuff in the open bag.” Fox said after giving a good example of the place, making Luis lift his eyebrows. Adding, “But you should probably eat it with ’someone’. It might be too spicy and big of a meal for simple people like you to eat in one go.”

  “Alright, alright.” Luis lifted his eyebrows and rolled his eyes a bit. A few seconds later, he seemed to think of something. He blinked a few times before waiting some more seconds, finally giving Fox another glance, “I heard about that girl you have been working with in your boutique. She has done great work already. I think she already compares to some people I want to introduce you to. You had luck. She’s taking care of your first store, isn’t she?”

  “Yes, I chose her.” Fox grabbed a bite, pulling some extra bread off after filling his mouth, munching as it was drawn to his lips. “And she is not a girl— a young woman already. She’s still studying in her academy, you know? Self-study post scholar years.”

  “That is good. A young woman, eh? She wasn’t that old before, and now she is all grown up. They do that. They just grow and there’s nothing you can do to stop them.” Luis said, lowering his head, fearless to hand his legs from the edge. His fingertips dancing on each other, on and off.

  “…” Fox looked at Luis with a side eye, not knowing or wanting to meddle in the possible drama with the President’s daughter that he is showing. Munching some more, Fox just nodded in understanding. It also felt a little weird to be spoken like this by none other than Luis.

  “This war is gonna pull on you, too.” Fox stated after a minute, finishing his food and keeping even the small pieces of trash of the wrapper back into his lunch bag. Placing his hands behind, leaning a bit backwards, he looked ahead while munching emptily in his mouth, reminiscing its taste but being full already.

  “I know that,” Luis softly spoke. Fox shook his head, drawing the President’s attention. “It will be slow at first, and you might suffocate. With your nature, you could have breakdowns left and right. Maybe get an anchor to not… make drastic decisions to yourself.”

  “…” Luis narrowed his eyes and turned to Fox, his back a little bent. After thinking for a bit, he calmly questioned, “Not with… what I could do within this situation? Just myself? That’s a bit too selfish. You don’t think like that.”

  “No, but you won’t be allowed to do anything to devastate either Lymoca’s image or Terka’s people or its civilization.” Fox hung his head to the left, as if to hide the vulnerability of showing his neck from the side of his heart to Luis. Luis slightly moved his eyebrows, showing interest, but he waited to hear more from Fox, which continued. “If it’s not your cabinet who stops you from acting detrimental to either, it would be Roam, Butler, Sona, or Lesly.”

  “You might lead it, but this country does not belong to you— it does to the Lys.” Fox turned to Luis and lowered his chin, staring at the President with upturned eyes. Luis looked at this and continuously nodded as he turned to the front, “Indeed, it is so.”

  His gentle words trailed off a bit, with Fox sitting up with his back straight. A few moments later, Fox spoke after lightly humming, “This treatment is changing a bit too fast. We were just at odds when we first met, somewhat soon to this day last year. Is there something you’d like to say?”

  “It’s nothing like that. Your value has been proven. Even Ego treats you better, letting you handle things without intervening or having to nod or shake his head to you. He doesn’t usually do that with the representative captains, yet he never does to you, the Raging Blood, anymore.”

  “Right, about Butler.” Fox blinked and changed the subject, innocent. “Did you know he has a car-washing services in Proteros and most of Lymoca? But he started in Proteros. It is one of the biggest car-washing services in the country, using brief methods or dedicated, lengthier periods to clean. And guess what? They are all full of old men doing the work. They are more popular and generate more income than those skimpy outfits on women and young women.”

  “Really?” Luis was unusually interested in knowing about this. Fox nodded, “You wonder how do they do that? They chat everyone up. Middle-aged man? How’s work? What do you think of the young idiots nowadays, especially that ‘president’? A youngster? How much did you work for that car? Did you get it to impress someone?”

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “A girl? Are you taken care of yourself? Oh, you look just like my dream granddaughter would look like. You are so especial, darling. A fellow grandma? What are you doing here? Don’t you know you cause me trouble with my wife every time you come here? How are the kids? And our kids’ kids’ kids?” Fox went on before pausing, shaking his head while reclining his head.

  “They have it all. Of course, they know what to expect, how to talk the right words, and how to approach them. They make a killing there.” Fox added, sounding a little serious. Luis smiled the entire time, shaking his head after Fox’s mouth ceased movement. “Maybe I will go there sometime. But, isn’t knowing other District special agents’ business not permitted?”

  “Unless you’re Butler,” Fox slowly nodded. Luis complemented what he was trying to say, “Or the Raging Blood, sigh. But is it really alright for you to do that? Won’t he be mad?”

  “That’s what he gets for not being my biggest support since I entered the District. He even forced my arm into an evolutionary state without my consideration. It would’ve healed on its own!” Fox complained, shaking his head with total distaste.

  “Well, trust me when I tell you he always took care of you and saw the potential of your being, Fox.” Luis looked at Fox with a new and different light and appearance in his eyes. Fox nodded before looking at Luis, realizing about Luis’s look.

  “Why do I feel you’re really changing your attitude towards me? Is Lesly… in the end, not good for you? Are you trying to tell me something? This cannot do!” Fox frowned. “I don’t only love Nala, she is my only-”

  “Get the fuck out of my sight.” Luis stood up and sternly barked an order. Fox shrugged and stood up with a subtle, thin grin before nodding at Luis. Then, taking a gun from his lunch bag, he sidestepped off the edge. Luis stared at where Fox was standing just a moment ago with shocked, widened eyes that slightly recomposed. “!”

  He stepped forth, only to see a gadget shooting from below before attaching itself to the rooftop’s ground. It embedded itself into it as the string it was attached to tensed, slowly emitting a noise like a rope sliding off between boulders and the ground. Luis could barely discern Fox’s body as he reached the lower side of the wall of the building before hopping unto an empty spot with other passersby becoming flustered at his sudden appearance.

  It was like Fox just jumped from the skies. When they looked up, all they saw was a well-arranged rope-like string already halfway down back into Fox’s gun, which he aimed up before retreating from sight…

  “…” Luis looked at Fox’s path and thought of the sudden, drastic measures he took upon himself just to take a shortcut down. Luis fell pensive. He looked at the rooftop’s ground before staring at the side, where he was sure Fox moved his right thigh just when he was sitting beside him.

  There were some bloodstains there, much like painting with a circular object, only to have most of the painting fall off after pulling it up. Luis shook his head a bit, unable to lift his head before turning around to walk away, slowly lifting his head.

  . . .

  11:58 PM. Lydwe state’s southern border with Endesa. On a tall building, a few tens of kilometers from the governmental building in the southernmost city in Lydwe.

  This building’s rooftop was wide and ample enough to let not only the President’s cabinet stand on a stage with their deputy secretaries and other lower office workers below, accompanying to bid the army farewell. It also had a structure and was built in a good place where the wide streets allowed anyone below the building to look at them without much obstruction.

  There was an extensive army below, extending from a few hundreds of meters north of the building, on the opposite direction everyone else was facing. But the rest of the readied vehicles and the soldiers waiting for the order at the corner of some large vehicles, and the national guard keeping the guard up at every corner of the streets; were at the side and front.

  There were soldiers and their vehicles, transportation trucks 5 meters tall, enough to not accidentally hit anything on the main roads, and about 3 meters wide, were readied. The combat vehicles, ordinary pickup trucks, thicker than those for civilian use, with a machine gun turret attached to the rooftop, with some protection on its sides. Or even the fully armored ones.

  Some had a turret of heavier, sharper caliber with better firing power and penetration, which was controlled from the inside, and wasn’t too large, as efficient as the pickup trucks. They had a little antenna, and like any military vehicle in Lymoca, they protected their wheels without obstructing them.

  Others had 2 smaller turrets or a single turret with a longer barrel, but it was no artillery gun, it only had a much more explosive effect and higher firepower than the others. Lymoca might not have tanks, or submarines known to the public, but its armored motorized infantry was always what they showed, and what stood out in their previous combats against the organized crime.

  Even as their warplanes are also few, and not up to date, they have always shown a pride in them. Their navy wasn’t that big, with only frigates and interceptors to deal with the OCs’ shipment.

  As the hour slowly arrived, Fox and Luis stood on the stage with the other cabinet members, including Butler. Luis turned his head to Fox, which the latter noticed. They walked off the stage and onwards to the edge of the building. Fox had seen similar sceneries before, but not with as many resources as this, and definitely not as advanced as this.

  “Huu,” Fox sucked breath into his lungs, long and deep. Just these many turrets would have been enough to erase any military camp in Preut in a day. As for those tanks, they would’ve been breached by the long-barrel turrets, even if it meant suffering a few casualties.

  No one would face an enemy that could fire big explosions or possessed destructive might and remain close to each other. Unless they were unaware of such, or were too confident of themselves or condescending towards the enemy.

  Luis remained quite silent, offering not even an exclamation. Fox saw the soldiers look at the President, even from the vehicles, especially the transporting vehicles. However, he also felt some stares on himself. Their stares weren’t just curiosity, as some seemed to give him side glances repeatedly. Fox thought of something before looking for Nala below the stage.

  … Slowly, the last few seconds of the 2nd week ticked out, leaving the world forever. Luis felt his hands tremble from within, as if his blood was running out and up his arms, leaving his hands, which he needed to move them and give the order.

  “Everyone’s watching,” Fox looked at Luis slightly from behind, having taken 2 steps backwards without the President noticing. Luis slowly lifted his chin, but only a little. Fox’s expression was cold and uninterested as he went, “Curious, expectant, wondering… You might have scared countries and even insulted some, breaking the peace completely. But they are still watching.”

  55… 56… 57… Luis felt the heavy weight of his words before, just a few days ago, but he also felt the hearts of the Lys standing here around and before him, and in every other part of the country. The opposition tried a few things, but nothing much. If anything, the people ignored the protests against this war ‘because of the president’s fault’, and waited until midnight to see… to see.

  Luis lifted his left arm, holding his WID, as he showed it to the soldiers, his cabinet, and the civilians holed in their buildings, watching the emptied streets since the morning filled with their country’s soldiers… 58… 59… 60.

  On the first second of the 3rd month’s 3rd week, Luis sent the command into his WID with his thumb, motioning the beginning of the mobilization. Every military vehicle received the order from their direct superior, which were given the order from their direct superiors. Hundreds, then thousands of vehicles slowly advanced, turned around some streets, and sped up once the border with Endesa opened and left a clean road ahead for them.

  Luis breathed sharply in, not too much, and let it out immediately after taking it. He looked to his side, at Fox, while general Edgar Plomo was busy in his post from now on. This also meant Luis would continue his daily conferences, only this time about the offensive unto a sister country.

  He turned around, with Fox already looking behind his shoulder, waiting for him, before walking back to the stage.

  ***

  At the same time, at the Lyclan Sea, at the waters shared between Endesa and Lymoca, in that golf. At 1 AM, Moonblue time.

  The sea was unusually foggy, with mist everywhere, hiding most from even military radars, leaving only the direct indication of movement from other ships in the water. The closer these were, the closer they would be to their shaped being identified in military radars and detectors.

  Days ago, while Lymoca had just demonstrated their stance in the declaration of war’s matter, ANS reacted. It was something that wasn’t expected, for Lymoca to suddenly strike with a decisive ‘we are going to war’ message, but not outside their comprehension.

  Thus, between other things, they sent a small flotilla to block the Ly navy, all for the sake of ‘peace and in the name of the past Lymoca that advocated for worldwide, eternal peace’. Their plan wasn’t perfect, but it was just so for what they needed.

  Even then, ANS wouldn’t go too far. Their flotillas consisted of frigates, destroyers, and a few cruisers. Nothing more but to scare the Lys away. Nevertheless, they had a more pressing matter to this. They were allowed to ‘defend peace and Humane Keys’ if the Ly navy got too close, clearly intending on not stopping their sailing to Terka.

  Which was just what indicated in their radars. The ANS flotilla, just at the center of Endessa’s west, in the Lyclan Sea, detected a multitude of ships sailing towards them. In a cruiser, where the highest commander in charge was reported and shown these alarming movements.

  “It’s too many. How did the Ly hide from our satellites before? This is fast!” The commander frowned, looking at the digital images with the mist covering everything, but their detectors and radars shaping the Ly ships in the mist.

  “This will end in a direct clash if it continues, sir. Should we proceed?” A person standing a few meters away in the command center cabin questioned. The commander, a slightly old man with short white hair, straightened his back and looked at the officer before nodding. “Warn these Lys of their ‘no further movement allowed’.”

  “Yessir,” the official nodded before tapping the empty desk, looking at the people in charge of communications, the communications team, and nodding at them after they responded and looked back at him.

  He grabbed a rubber microphone attached to the floor, which looked like it was just lacking the microphone part, but it was it itself.

  “This is the ANS western navy, flotilla group, commodore James. Ly navy, you are to desist in your movements towards Terka. This war should have never happened. Turn back and think of your actions. ANS will remain here to protect both countries… Terka and Lymoca, from an unnecessary conflict. Should you not listen and continue moving, we will be forced to defend our selves. For peace and harmony!”

  …