God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

Chapter 424: Order of Operations.

Cain followed Susan as they walked into a room. In this room, there was a total of five people already waiting for them,

Steve, Hunter, Leah, Evangeline, and a man kneeling in a pool of his own blood on the ground, bound with Black Iron chains.

Cain didn't look surprised in the slightest. After all, he was completely aware of the reason this man was in this state. The man had a head full of grey hair, complete with a beard and mustache. He looked middle-aged, most likely in his early to late fourties.

Cain stared at Hunter inquisitively. Hunter stared back,

"What?"

Cain smiled wryly, "Did you really have to rough him up so badly?"

Hunter snorted, "He struggled too much."

Cain didn't believe that in the slightest. Still, he didn't have any problems with that. After all, he had also killed a man not too long ago.

Just thinking about it left a bitter taste in his mouth. Cain's face fell,

"So..."

Evangeline walked up to him and placed something in hand. It was a stack of papers. Cain glanced through it for a few minutes before passing it to Susan. Once she was done, she passed it back to Evangeline.

"The others have already glanced through it." Evangeline said flatly.

Steve stroked the few strands of hair jutting out of his chin,

"Not bad at all. Very detailed if I must say..."

Cain nodded at Evangeline, "Thanks."

Evangeline didn't answer, simply stretching her hand out. Cain's lips twitched before he sighed. Stretching his hand, he grasped her's lightly. Leah and Susan's eyes shot up.

A brief second later, their hands separated.

Evangeline stared into empty space for a few seconds before a small smile tugged at the corner of her lips,

"Nice doing business with you." She flashed Cain a grin and a wave before disappearing into the shadows.

"What was that all about?" Susan gave Cain a suspicious glare.

"That? Business, I guess..." Cain said with a sigh.

'That girl... She's extorting me just as bad as the system!'

What Cain had just spent hundreds of mana shards on, was information...

Information was something he lacked greatly. Right now, even the Beastwomen that had been here all this time didn't have the information he wanted. So he had to rely on someone that could actually provide him with it.

His best choice was someone that could slip in and out of enemy territory without being noticed. There were only two people like that in the entire camp.

Dan and Evangeline...

Although Dan was a good choice, Cain didn't know, or trust him as much as Evangeline. Plus, his loyalties lay completely with Hunter. While that wasn't a bar thing in and of itself, it still wouldn't hurt to be careful.

Besides, he was sure Evangeline wouldn't act out as long as he paid her enough. Although the cost was steep, he was very satisfied with what he had gotten.

Staring at the stack of papers Evangeline had 'accidentally' left in his inventory, a satisfactory smile blossomed on his face.

'I'll read those later.'

"What are you smiling at, huh?" Susan's snarky remark brought him back to reality. Seeing the vicious glare being directed at him, he cleared his throat loudly,

"Nothing. Anyway, let's talk about important things." Cain changed the subject skillfully.

"I've read those papers, but what do you need this person for?" Leah said as she pointed at the man still kneeling in a puddle of his own blood.

Cain smiled at Leah, "What were you before all this, Squad Leader Leah?"

Leah's brows furrowed, "What does that matter?"

"I'm just curious." Cain answered.

Leah sighed, "A student... I was headed back home with a group of my friends when it began. They all died. I was fortunate to acquire the system, kill a Devil, and acquire my first skill."

Cain nodded, "I see... In that case, that means you were normal."

Leah frowned, a look of confusion on her face,

"Normal? I guess so?"

Cain turned to Hunter, "So these guys, Guy and Rollo, what gangs were they under?"

Hunter replied coldly, "The Mellow Mercs. We fought very frequently since our territories were so close. Pointless bloodshed if you could call it anything."

The look of confusion on Leah's face blossomed even further,

"You... What are you talking about?"

"It's a very long story, but to cut it short, before the world's previous order fell, there existed an underground society that ruled the shadows. The reason the recorded crime rates were so low, was because these bastards were regulated by the governments to make sure things stayed organized."

"That doesn't make sense..." Leah shook her head.

Cain shrugged, "That's the truth, as hard to believe as it seems."

"But how can something like that be kept under wraps for so long?"

Leah's eyes darted around the room. Apart from herself, no one else seemed surprised,

'Could it be that they all know about this?!' She couldn't believe it.

Her eyes landed on Steve who was grinning from ear to ear.

"You want to know how?" He giggled sinisterly.

Leah felt a cold sweat roll down her spine. To answer, Steve simply dragged the back of his thumb across his neck, making a slitting motion.

Leah fell completely silent after that.

Seeing that everyone was now on the same page, Cain decided to proceed with the meeting,

"Moving on, there are two things we need to address."

His expression turned serious, "The first being the existence of the two other islands, and the second being the possibility of being attacked by a Mutant Beast horde."

Steve frowned, "A horde? Why would something like that be happening?"

"According to the report, there are disturbances coming from the city proper. These disturbances travel through the ground and water, and are so subtle, only Mutant Beasts can catch up on them."

Hunter nodded as well, "I can confirm that The Mutant Beasts seem to be more agitated. The numbers moving through the currents have also increased over the past week."

"That can't be a good thing. I remember the last horde. The only reason we could survive that was because the Mutant Creatures had been incredibly weak. We might be forced to face Tier 1 creatures this time. That's suicide." Steve spoke, his face the definition of serious.

Cain nodded, "I agree. We most definitely are going to be avoiding that. The only question is how..."

Cain then turned to face Steve...

"What?" Steve had a befuddled look on his face.

Cain grinned, "I'll leave that to you."

Steve's eyelids twitched, "W-what?!"

Cain nodded as his expression turned serious,

"I believe you can do it. I saw what you did with the buildings. Your knowledge on enchantments will be very useful if we want to avoid the Mutant Creatures that will be moving this way."

Steve wanted to speak, but the words seemed stuck in his throat. Cain was very talented when it came to creating magic circles, spells, runes and even new skills. However, he had no idea how to create enchantments. Although he had tried looking into it, he had just gotten himself confused in the process.

As such, he could only rely on someone that already had expertise in the field.

"Of course, I'll provide help anywhere you need." Cain added.

Seemingly understanding the underlying innuendo of Cain's words the worried look on Steve's face disappeared.

"In that case, I'll gladly carry out my tasks!" He said with a cherry smile.

Anyone with good eyes would be able to see through his fake emotions though...

Cain sighed internally...

"As for what we are going to do about the first one, that is why this guy is here."

Cain walked up to the man, then took off the blindfold covering his eyes. The man looked disorientated for a few seconds before a look of rage appeared on his face,

"You... you fuckers I'll fucking kill you! Just you fucking wait!"

He struggled against the chains. However, he was unable to do anything about them. It was the same chains that were used to bind Steve and the others.

Steve chuckled, "Sorry, dude. You aren't getting out of those things even if you died and came back. Trust me..."

The man continued to rage for a few more seconds before a heavy fist came crashing down on his from behind.

"Did you leave your brain floating on the ocean, or are you just that eager to finally die, bastard?!" Hunter spat out as he glared at the man.

Turning around, the man finally shut up. Standing at over six feet and five inches, Hunter hulked over the kneeling man with menacing eyes.

The man recognized him immediately. And with this recognition came recollection...

Hunter had beaten him to the point of him turning temporarily amnesic. Now that he had seen Hunter's face, the memories came back like a flood.

A terrible smell instantly assaulted the ocupants of the room, causing them to wrinkle their brows.

"Fuck! The bastard actually pissed himself!" Steve cursed violently as he moved a few steps back.

Hunter thew another heavy blow at the man. He groaned as he fell to the ground, blood flowing from his nose.

"That's enough, Hunter." Cain calmed Hunter down before he killed the man.

Staring at the man who seemed absolutely shaken, Cain frowned,

"What's your name?"

The man's eye moved towards Cain's face. The fear in his heart immediately doubled. Since the start of the apocalypse, he had felt his senses improve greatly. Although he wasn't gifted with the system, he had still undergone a mutation thanks to the god Ash.

His speed, dexterity, and most importantly, his instincts, had increased greatly. Because of this, he had survived up until now, proving his usefulness to the Boss.

These senses were now screaming at him, telling him that he would die if he didn't open him mouth and answer immediately.

Cain's eyes narrowed dangerously,

"Looks like he's broken. Let's just-"

"Wait! Ghea! My name is Ghea Martins!"