The One Luna

As soon as Greg got back to the prison he went straight to their makeshift conference room, he noticed a bunch of hooded men and women beside Tomas.

"Tomas, what's going on? Who are these people?"

"Greg! Glad to see you safe. These are friends of ours who will assist us when we, shall I say, move to greener pastures." Tomas smiled.

"How do we know they can be trusted?" Greg frowned. He had faith in Tomas, but there were at least ten other people here. It would only take one of them to snitch alert Emil of their plan.

"Don't worry, they're the ones that came to me in the first place. Worst case scenario we just end up executing the plan early. Besides, the finer details including Luna's "

"Alright." Greg nodded as he fixed his gaze towards the hooded bunch.

Seeing as he was willing to go along with the plan, the group took off their hood, under it was another layer of protective headgear which they took off as well. They had to be extra careful. With how President Emil currently was, it would mean a gruesome death should they have been caught earlier than right now.

"General Mascardo, Sir Greg, what news do you have? Did that Luna fellow accept our offer?" One woman with Korean features asked. This woman was Ha-eun, South Korea's Ambassador. She was the leader of the Korean Faction within Emil's nation. She was somebody Mascardo openly welcomed due to her stunningly good features. Although, his advances thus far have been met with nothing but rejection. She did find him extremely attractive, but she didn't think it would be good for her image to be together with a convict.

Truth be told, Tomas Mascardo and Greg were people who stole from the rich and gave to the poor. They both came from rich families and absolutely detested how the corrupt politicians could allow their countrymen to live in poverty just to amass wealth and be audacious enough to flaunt their purchases on social media. Especially their children.

Thus, they were considered as the "Robin Hood" of the Philippines on the internet. Unfortunately for them, the rich and powerful hated having their ill-gotten wealth being stolen and so the two were given a life sentence. Fortunately for the two, due to their reputation, they were admired by even the most hardened of criminals. This was also why they were chosen to lead the Prisoner Faction.

"He did. Greg here will be the one to give his report." Tomas said as he gave him the floor.

Greg walked forward until he reached the round table that everyone sat around. This used to be the Warden's room, which was surprisingly very spacious, even having a door that leads to an even more spacious private room. It obviously had a huge budget, courtesy of the politicians that had the Warden on their payroll.

***

Tomas relished the day he killed the man. Especially after discovering his private video collection of him exploiting young women. Even more so when one of the young girls he had molested while she was drugged up, was a girl he knew. Her family was one of the many Tomas and Greg had helped out. Tomas initially wanted to just lop the Warden's head off, but Greg chose to let him get bitten before saying, "You've done a lot of inhumane acts, Warden. Thus, you won't have the privilege of dying as a human being."

***

"I guess I should thank you all for coming here and taking the risk. Lord Luna has decided to accept our offer. That much you already know. Once we join him, do not expect to keep your current positions."

"So we're going to be treated as if we're regular citizens?" A man with a white, full beard asked.

"That is indeed correct, General MacArthur."

A Korean man who was Ha-eun's second-in-command squeezed the wooden arm of his chair so hard, he completely crushed it. "Who does he think he is?! Has he forgotten that he would be stepping straight into a trap if it weren't for us?! HE NEEDS US!"

"Park Jihoon!" Ha-eun immediately reacted, "Don't make a fuss!"

"Let me make one thing clear, Jihoon. The only difference between us cooperating with him and not cooperating with him is how many of us will die."

"Oh? Are you sure you're not overrating this man?" General MacArthur sincerely asked. He maintained his calm and knew that Greg wasn't a man who would speak carelessly. The rest of the people were obviously didn't hold as much clout as the people currently speaking, so they chose to stay silent and listen.

"Tell me, General, do I strike you as a cowardly man?" Greg asked.

"On the contrary, you're very much one of the most fearless men I know," MacArthur replied.

"Just the killing intent of his most basic foot soldiers and scouts alone were enough to have me shaking in my boots. Each and every one of them had this domineering aura about them, but most importantly, the most crucial detail as to why I almost didn't think they were just regular soldiers."

"Which is?" Jihoon asked with a smirk on his face. His ego was overflowing, especially when he heard that Greg actually admitted to being scared. That was all he cared about. He didn't even care to think about the man's reputation as one who would usually laugh in the face of death and what could possibly scare such a man.

"Their equipment. Mere footsoldiers had equipment equivalent to President Emil's."

!!!!

The whole room erupted in commotion.

"Impossible! This is just a ploy to convince us to accede to his demands!" Jihoon stood up as he shouted.

"Jihoon, this is your final warning. Stand down, or I'll silence you myself." Ha-eun reprimanded him, to which he reluctantly took a seat. She could only shake her head in disappointment. If this man didn't hold as much influence in the Korean Faction as he did, she wouldn't even have brought him here. The only reason he listened right away, was because Ha-eun truly was a lot stronger than he was, and more formidable in combat as well.

General MacArthur ignored him as he continued to ask questions, "You said you met this Luna in person, correct?"

"Indeed," Greg replied.

"What did he look like?"

"I apologize, I was blindfolded the whole time. Not to mention I had earplugs in my ears the whole time, besides the time where we actually spoke."

"Formidable and meticulous. What a scary opponent indeed. Well then, if his soldiers had such a domineering aura, what about the leader himself?"

"I do not wish to seem as if I'm exaggerating, but I feel as though he could invade our current Nation himself and we would be helpless to go against him. If we could somehow kill him, so many of us would be dead that we wouldn't even be able to call it a victory. At least, that's what he made me feel." Greg recanted his experience.

The conference went on as Greg answered any other questions they had and explained even the smallest of details. Eventually, they all agreed that joining Luna was the only way to survive. They were aware of the coming of the next phase, after all. They were aware of how they kept their survivors weaker than themselves.

As soon as the meeting ended, everyone went back to their respective factions.

During the dead of night, within the Korean faction. Jihoon was contemplating betraying the bunch and reporting the meeting to President Emil. Unfortunately, the decision was too heavy to rush and he decided to consider it again the next morning.

Just as he was about to turn in for the night.

*WHOOSH*

He walked a few more steps when his head separated cleanly from his neck before he could even reach his bed. The young woman he practically forced to be his girlfriend was still fast asleep. She was just as unaware as Jihoon was as to what just happened.

All of this happened silently. A while later, somewhere outside the radius of Emil's nation, a man exited stealth and revealed himself in front of a woman who was hunting down ETZs and EHZs.

"Still as hardworking as ever, I see. Even though these things barely gives us any EXP anymore."

"Glad you got back safe, Luna. Not that I had any doubts." Sura had a sweet smile on her face as she welcomed him back, "Oh and it's not just about the EXP, by the way. The more I fight, the more insight I get into my sword technique. So, how was your trip?"

"Eliminated a potential complication in advance," He casually replied.