Ring! Ring!
Seconds later, he heard his phone ringing. He grabbed it, picked it up, and placed it over his ear.
"Yes, hello?" Rafael asked.
"It's me, Rafael. Have you seen the news, right?" It was Gab, and Rafael nodded.
"Yes."
"Well, news flash: she's here for a different purpose, but I don't know what since she's going incognito, and her butler is only accompanying her. She might be traveling around the country, and the main reason is the only thing I don't know. Also, her guards are persistent and a pain in the ass to deal with," he said in a tired tone.
Ah, yes, the truly fucking Triesenberg Kingdom, where we're treated as semi-divine beings. And when a diplomatic mission was sent, my men were treated as serfs. So, out of spite, the council implemented multiple sanctions, which I gave my approval for. And also, they bloody border the Veran Kingdom, whose king is a semi-superhuman, and his children have his superhuman genes. His daughter tried to honeytrap me! Rafael thought and shivered slightly in fear as he remembered the princess in pink, who was able to tear the metal doors slightly off.
"Sure, I'm going to keep an eye out on her and also alert your special operations unit and the NBI since I have a hunch of intel that a terrorist group entered the country, and my agents are confirming the list of targets," Rafael said, noting the Silver Sword Insurgency that existed a few years back. He personally stormed their hideout and eliminated them, earning him the title of Red Storm.
Being the person who fought against an army of swords, and when the Hossen military was slow to move, he went alone since he was the only person hired because his team's commission fee and daily expenses were very high.
So, during that operation, he ran out of bullets and went on with a Rambo-style combat, equipped with two machetes. He tore up their groups like a wolf in the woods. When he went deeper, their leader challenged him to a duel, and a moment later, he was found with no remaining limbs and was screaming like a pig, as the sword was sticking out of his ass.
So, in just a single night, the insurgency that lasted for five years, maintaining the way of the tradition of knighthood and removing the blazer competition, was permanently shut down. Yet, this time, they revived, and the Van Hossens didn't know.
"Alright, but if this causes more chaos than expected, I shall expect Atlas receiving the bill with a silver platter," he chuckled, and Rafael also laughed and shook his head since he was the secret trillionaire. Do they expect that I'm blind to its growth? For God's sake, they're thankful that Atlas hasn't decided for a global conquest!
Which is still in the drawing board for future use…
Ding!
He heard a notification from his PC and went towards it. He checked it out and saw the report that came from a shadow department that never existed in the books but was formed and allowed to operate under the watchful eyes of the administrator and are acknowledged to operate outside of the council.
[Department of Unusual Supernatural Incidents Study], or USIS for short. They were formed to deal with the supernatural side of things and were formed when he first encountered a few of them, and he got the first taste of a routing retreat. Their purpose is preventing them from being shown to the public or limiting the damage and containing a few of them.
Since he formed three divisions to work hand in hand, he invested a lot of resources after an incident of him doing a five-month break with his first not-legally wife, who disappeared on the last day. In the end, he called an airstrike which destroyed the log cabin house he was staying in, located in the Scottish rainforest.
And after bombing it, he always visits once a year, and in a few weeks, it takes his mind off of things.
"Well, let's see… info pertaining to Atlantis and their location, and currently we have about two field agents who were part of the Atlanteans," Rafael read the report and left no detail hidden. For him, Atlantis was a headache already and had a monitoring team in case something happens, they can report to him, but this headache is always at the back of his mind.
But that problem will persist, so he ordered the Department of Technological Development to increase research in the underwater department since, in theory, they can develop technology for space. He had been forming a different marine unit and has been drilling the two divisions, which were made up of new and veteran marines.
And they were focused on underwater warfare. 'Even though they may come with good intentions, if you're still alive, I won't take chances to give you the same amount of trust to drown my work,' Rafael thought inwardly as he remembered the Atlanteans he fought.
On the sixth day of her disappearance, he killed them all and took the corpses, weapons, and armor. They were sent to be studied and possibly improved, and he began producing their own version and the need of a strong power supply. That was another reason for the development of creating a mini-reactor, and that reactor that was being presented to the world was a larger scale.
And an autopsy was made in order to study on how they were able to survive the deep depths of the ocean and hopes to replicate it in the combat gear and future suits to build underwater facilities. In the report, in order for them to move on land was that there were capsules of water near their throats, where their gills are located, and they refill from the water or capsules of water they bring.
And their armor also contains water to hydrate their body. Taking it out removes the advantage they have, and certain chemicals can be used, so chemical warfare was open to be an option.
'And their territory spans from the North Atlantic, 50% of South Atlantic to the Indian Ocean, and if I try to send teams to explore, they would have a huge chance to know my plans. But luckily, I ordered coastal defenses in order to prepare to ward off large tsunamis and any kind, and we're doing a silent buildup, which is good or bad. At least I'm prepared,' Rafael thought and drank his delivered coffee and hopes the problem will solve itself.
Two Days Later: Sunday
Rafael was working in the pub and spoke to the staff that he was going to leave once it hits 1 PM in order to prepare for the party.
"Yes, Michea… good. Make sure you and Graves, with a dozen guards, are ready before you and I are gonna go inside the mansion," Rafael said through the earpods as the Ares Modena Supercar that he ordered early, which was to be assembled in an Atlas factory, arrived earlier this morning.
The plan was simple: enter the mansion as party leader of Atlas and heir of the Villanueva family, and leave in style. When the call ended, he cooked up some dishes that were ordered and were served in the lunch hour with no delay.
A Few Minutes Later
Rafael was chopping some vegetables and heard the waiter's voice.
"Sir, someone ordered a first and second combo meal, but the second combo meal is a kiddy version," he said in a confused and tired tone.
"Wait, when did we have that?" Even Rafael was confused; this is a pub, for God's sake, not a fast-food chain!
"I don't know, sir, and when I informed them, their bodyguards persisted to take the orders to the kitchen. What do we do?" he asked, preparing to draw his gun.
After much thought, Rafael looked at the time; it was near 1 PM, and he wasn't going to risk a brawl that was going to drag on longer.
"Tell them to wait for a few minutes, and if they can't wait, the door is wide open, and use force if necessary," Rafael said and began cooking food fast.
A Few Minutes Later
"Alright, send this to the table," he said and rushed out of the kitchen and headed towards the office, where he changed clothes and looked at the security cameras. He saw the bodyguards and identified them immediately.
"The fucking Van Hossens," he muttered and observed the two people eating happily on the table. Both were blondes, while the bodyguards' posture was silent but tense, and they saw some of the hostile glances of the people working and eating inside the pub. After eating their meal, one of the two blondes spoke to the waiter.
"Waiter, I would like to call up the chef who made this delectable meal and offer my personal thanks," the older one said. Rafael, hearing this, was already wearing his motorcycle gear and instantly left for the hidden garage.
Back in the Pub
"Sorry, ma'am, the chef finished his shift and left minutes ago," the waiter said with a small bow.
"I hope you know this is not a request, but an order," she said and stood up and headed towards the kitchen. Some bodyguards followed her but were stopped by a shotgun pointing at them.
"Ma'am, may I remind you that this establishment is under Atlas territory, and we can't release the information of this certain chef," the waiter said, and the people inside who knew the drill drew out their weapons and aimed towards the bodyguard and the blonde girl, while the young one didn't care of the tense atmosphere.
"Is that a threat?" the girl asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes and no," the waiter said. As the standoff continued, they heard the engine of a motorcycle roar and pass the front entrance, widening the girl's eyes.
"Like I said, ma'am, you won't find him; he just left," the waiter said, proving his point. And so, the Van Hossens tactically retreated from the pub. There were two of the bodyguards who were tasked to guard near the door of the pub who were impaled by multiple steel bars to the chest and were dead.
Rafael's Estate
Rafael was currently at the underground garage on its second floor, where the Ares EVO was parked. It had a sleek silver-black design in order to gain more speed, and the engine was also the V10 engine version of Atlas that is more durable and fuel-efficient.
And the added modifications he ordered were lightweight bulletproof plating on the hood, the sides, the rear, and thick bulletproof windows, while the tires may look like sports car attire but were not easily popped by bullets.
And some weapons he added, like the .50 cal machine gun near the headlights, while some drone launchers, and it has a medical kit with a pack of his blood type.
And for the vehicle for off-road, he will have to choose another one since this vehicle is for long city drives.
"Sir, the guards already departed and currently are heading to the location and are going to wait for you while doing some little scouting," Graves said through the radio.
"Sure, I will also get going," Rafael said and entered the vehicle since he changed the gear shifters to paddle shifters, and it has a mode that can change from manual to automatic, and it can go from 0-70 km/ph under one minute.
And looking around, he saw great hiding places for his weapons. Getting out first, he went to the back compartment where he had his duffel bag of weapons and took out a suitcase that was combined with the exoskeleton armor and opened the duffel bag, making sure the weapons are with him.
'Okay, a Wasteland Gladius APOC, two Gerber Mark IIs, ten Cold Steel 80 True Flights, two Pit Viper pistols with ten magazines, one Daniel Defense M4V7S, and two smoke grenades,' Rafael thought as he checked the weapons that he is bringing along.
And the majority of the weapons were focused on close combat, while keeping two ranged weapons was okay since the majority of these weapons were going to be hidden under his coat and a container for a medicine that he doesn't know what he's going to do with.
VRMMMMMM!
The sound of the engine starting up was like a lullaby to Rafael's ears as he finalized his preparations. He transferred the weapons bag to the front and looked at the time and saw it was already 3:50 PM, and his destination is three hours out by normal vehicle, but he can do that in half the time.
A Few Minutes Later
A sleek black vehicle was going at 125 km/ph and passed a police car, but due to its color, it blended with the light rays, and the speed made it seem like a blur. But when they were about to pursue it, they received a call from their superior to ignore it.
Inside the car, Rafael held the wheel and was munching fries that he bought and soon saw two vehicles, and they seemed locked in a fight, and a pick-up truck was ramming the rear of the black SUV.
"Well, shit," Rafael muttered and pulled out his Pit Viper pistol. After matching the speed of the pickup, he was on the left side and lowered the window.
To be continued…