Into The Portal: Monster Invasion

Chapter 22: Lady in Uniform

Chapter 22: Lady in Uniform

When Miles returned to the Stronghold, he went straight to the room appointed to him with the armor on. He sneakily entered it and left four ice blue cores and one orb in a safe, hidden in a wall before returning to Earth. He couldn't sell them yet because he didn't want people to know he fought against Blizzard Wolves and won without any injuries.

Blizzard Wolves would always hunt in packs, and killing 5 of them meant killing or beating them all. Selling five orbs would tell people that Miles could fight against these vile creatures without getting hurt. Although it wouldn't make people hunt him or anything, he would still attract unnecessary attention. He didn't want that. He also couldn't sell those with his alter identity yet, because he didn't have a second bank account.

Even before the Monster invasion, people on Earth stopped using printed money, but all countries started to use cryptocurrencies. Citizens had to register with the accounts they had. This had meant to reduce counterfeiting, crimes, and many other dreadful activities because it could be tracked.

But there was always a way to trick the system. The identities connected to the accounts could be faked. Dead people resurrected, babies popped out in bulks out of nowhere, and governments had no way to follow those identities. So, the accounts attached to these fake identities, when caught, are just abandoned.

However, things are different now. Because Mother AI took over, creating a fake identity was a lot harder. These reduced the crime significantly, but there was also another way to do that.

Legit printed money!

Starve Cleric, the biggest criminal syndicate on Earth, created coins with a rare alloy that could only be produced by them. They were using it as currency for their illegal activities. One of those coins is worth a million UD. But of course, Miles couldn't use that. Firstly, even though it was valuable, the orbs he had didn't worth that much. Secondly, he had a better way anyway.

When Miles left the PTC and was about to hop on a train, he saw a lady in military uniform. To not act like a weirdo, he removed the armor when he was in his room, and he was standing as himself at the moment. The lady in uniform recognized him immediately.

"Commander Quinn, how are you doing?" Miles greeted the lady when he noticed she was coming towards him with a smile.

"I am on duty. How are you doing?" Quinn greeted with a hug and asked. She had a skin-tight military uniform green in color, showing her voluptuous curves. Miles couldn't help but take a look at the charming body.

"I am going back home. It was a long day." Miles said and prepared to leave but waited for Quinn to say goodbye.

"Before you go, would you like to drink a cup of tea with me? My shift will be over in a few minutes." Quinn asked.

Miles was about to reject politely, but another military personnel with similar clothes walked towards them. "Quinn, I am here to take over. You can go back." He then looked at Miles and asked, "Who is this...friend?" His eyes were looking down on Miles. He didn't bother to hide his indifference.

"Oh, it is you Aaron." Quinn greeted then pointed at Miles, "He is"

"Miles, nice to meet you." Miles interrupted Quinn because she would tell his full name. He didn't want that. He reached out to shake Aaron's hand, but the latter dismissed him.

"Anyway, Captain wants to see you. I can send your friend away if you want." Aaron told Quinn, but Quinn shrugged.

"It is fine, I have something to say to Miles. Good luck with your duty." Quinn said to Aaron and left with Miles.

"I am sorry Miles. Captain wants to speak with me, but it will be over in jiffy. I will take you to the Commander Lounge, and you can wait there. I promise you, you are gonna like it." Quinn apologized as she led Miles to the stairs going under PTC.

"It's okay. I always wanted to see the Commander Lounge anyway." Miles answered.

"Merlin never took you there?" Quinn asked but then remembered their relationship. "Sorry."

"It's fine." Miles didn't mind.

Merlin was just like their sister Marcela when he was younger. He bullied Miles on a few occasions, having not the best relationship. As they grew older, Merlin became the big brother of the three siblings and acted more maturely. His behavior towards Miles also changed. But Miles put some distance, so their relationship never got close but slightly better.

Quinn took Miles to an expansive room with many gadgets. She used her ID card four times while entering, so Miles had no way out on his own. 'I guess I will have fun in the room.' He thought.

"I will be back in a few minutes." Quinn said, leaving Miles all alone.

Miles walked into the room and spotted the closest machine leaned on the wall. It was a reflex training machine, turned into a game. There was a giant screen separated from the 9 boxes. The game would light up a box, and the player had to press it before the light faded away. The game's difficulty would also increase as the player presses. The 9 boxes, further divided into 81 boxes in the second level, and 729 for the third level, so on and so forth.

Miles looked at the machine and remembered the time he played it when he was a kid. He could ace the first level, but the second level was too hard for him.

His father once played and aced the fourth level with his hands turning into a blur.

Miles started the game and aced the first level easily. Then the second, then the third. It sounded easy, but lights were lighted and faded in a second for the second level, and half of the second for the third level. The hands hovering above the screen had to press the box in half a second.

When it was the fourth level, Miles failed to press a box and lost the game. "So, my father at the time was Grace-Rank, high-tier bodily at least." Miles pondered and walked to the next machine.