The One Luna

"Miss Josie, how can I help you?" Luna asked as he ordered the guard to go get her some water and food.

"Thank you, Lord Luna for hearing me ou---" Just as she was about to finish what she was going to say, she passed out and almost fell to the ground before Luna caught her.

"Lord Luna, should we call the Doctor in?" One of the guards hurriedly asked.

Lune pulled out his Guandao and positioned the blade by Josie's throat. "No need. There's no cure for bad acting."

She opened one of her eyes only to see a blade at her throat. "Ah. Ahahaha! I'm sorry, Lord Luna, I was merely testing you." she could only let out a nervous laughter as she tried to explain herself.

"You ask me for help then test me? Are you looking to die?"

"No, no not at all. Please don't misunderstand! Allow me to explain!"

"Make it quick, Miss Josie. If that's even your real name."

"I didn't lie to you! I was just trying to see if I could trust you. This new world has been extra hard for women, you see." She bowed her head apologetically.

Luna understood what she meant. Especially with the Buencamino incident, all sorts of dark d.e.s.i.r.es come out of people in this new world, and with no law enforcement, people can do as they please with little to no consequence as long as someone like Luna doesn't catch them. Josie was probably trying to test what Luna would do with a vulnerable woman in front of him, and should he or anybody try to do anything, she'd kill them and flee.

"The Maute group, now known as the <Maute Nation> have taken over Basilan. They attacked when the army was barely holding off against a horde. While they haven't challenged the territories yet, they basically already have control of the island, save for the <Titan>, just not on an official level that's recognized by the system." Josie explained.

"I see. You went all the way from Basilan to here? How long ago?"

"About a week ago. I lead my own <Nation>, we were called the <Touch Me Not* Nation>. We were composed of just women. We banded together after witnessing the atrocities that you men have wrought upon us when the world went to hell." Josie clenched her fists.

"If all men commit such atrocities towards women, then why come to me?"

"Ah, I didn't mean to say that. I apologize!" Realizing what she had just said, she bowed as she apologized. After all, she was the one who needed help, if Luna refuses to help her, then there would be nothing she could do. So she continued her story. "There were some of us that survived, we split up and agreed to meet here, but they took the long way, since I had to lure the Maute away. They should be here by tomorrow, I hope you can help us. In return, I promise we'll fight for you.

"Alright. I can take you all in, but you must abide by our rules. You also have to disband your nation and join ours. Your people will be distributed to different squads as well. Those conditions are non-negotiable."

Josie thought for a second, and decided she didn't have much of a choice. The <Sovereign Nation> was her best chance at getting revenge for her fallen comrades.

"Alright, I agree."

"We'll take care of the Maute eventually. As of right now, my focus remains on taking over the Negros Island."

If injustices were right in front of him, he definitely would not stand idly by. But as of right now, his priorities were here. There was still the problem of not having enough soldiers to guard the coastline once they take over the whole island.

The main difference between now and prior to the new world, was that before, defending a coastline against an enemy nation, majority of defenses are normally focused at a port or harbor, since any invading nation would would need to conquer those in order to mount a sustainable offense.

However, it was much different now. Some aquatic life forms gained the capability of walking on land. He needed people to constantly be on top of the walls by the BREDCO port, with mages raining down spells on them.

It wasn't too much of a big deal now, since in other areas of the island, when the creatures went up, they would fight with the zombies. But if Luna rushed to conquer the island without enough manpower to defend the coastlines and invasions from land at the same time, it could only mean disaster.

The only current solution would be to invest a huge amount of resources to purchase advanced turrets, that way he wouldn't need to position too many people, but that was incredibly expensive. Which is partially why he had requirements for soldiers to train every day, so he would have continuous resources pouring in to support expansion.

"Ah, Lord Luna, there are also a lot of smaller territories that I passed through on the way here. If they could be absorbed into the <Sovereign Nation>, that would make expansion easier." Josie suggested.

"I see. Alright, once I take over this whole city, I'll look into that. For now, I'll set up a home for you and your people. Speaking of which, how many of you are there?"

"We numbered over 200. As for how many can make it here. I'm not quite sure."

"Alright." Luna sent Josie on her way to her assigned house.

Just as he was about to head off to rest, he received a message from Paco, one of the Rangers who was still out hunting with his Battalion, which was part of the 3rd Regiment.

"Lord Luna, this is Paco, we managed to reach the central part of the island so far, my company was tasked with surveying the western coast from here, and we found quite a lot of survivors, so we've sent them your way for now, but.. do you remember that landmass that appeared in the Sulu Sea?"

"I remember. What about it?"

"It is visibly MUCH closer than before. It looks as if it's hovering above the water as it moves."

"Alright, I'll head there now."

"Roger that."

Luna could feel a headache coming. If that landmass ends up scaring the aquatic life forms towards the other direction, that means it would go their direction.

Contacting Boni, he immediately issues the order. "Boni, have your regiment position themselves to fend off an attack by sea. Fortify the ports defenses, and invest a few extra advanced turrets if necessary."

"You got it, bro. What's going on?"

"That landmass in the Sulu Sea is headed towards our general direction, it's most definitely going to scare some of the sea creatures towards us."

After explaining the situation and instructing the 3rd regiment to form a defense line by the west coast, Luna, Sura, and Maxene who didn't want to get left behind, set off towards Paco's position.