"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."
Accompanied by the high-speed rotation of the helicopter rotors, Machi and Chrollo's group boarded the transport helicopter heading to the company headquarters.
"Even a helicopter of all things." Chrollo sat beside Machi, his gaze sweeping around the cabin. "How many secrets does this Umbrella Corporation still hide?"
One had to know that helicopters were exclusive to the military.
They were forbidden to civilians. Even civilian organizations like the Hunter Association, which was recognized by the V5 nations, weren't qualified to own helicopters, only airships.
But most importantly, even though they flew brazenly over Patellus, the Peggerose United Nations didn't intervene.
It was likely that even the high-ranking officials of the Peggerose United Nations had been "bought off" by them.
Thinking this, he increasingly felt the unfathomable depth of this organization.
"A lawless, transnational monopoly conglomerate." Chrollo sighed with emotion. Machi glanced at him from the corner of her eye. In truth, what they were seeing now wasn't even the tip of the iceberg.
The journey was silent.
Hours later, the helicopter slowly landed on the helipad atop the Umbrella Industrial Park's headquarters building.
"Finally here." Nobunaga complained casually, leaping off the helicopter with everyone else.
Two bodyguards and the six individuals disembarked the helicopter together. Feitan and the other four scanned their surroundings with wary expressions.
They saw another helicopter parked on the helipad directly in front of them.
What made them most cautious were the four fully armed, burly soldiers, three meters tall, wearing strange triangular metal helmets, dressed in black combat suits, and external metal exoskeletons.
And the guns in their hands; their caliber seemed much larger than ordinary firearms.
Having grown up in Meteor City, they had no idea what these equipments were, what they represented, or how powerful they truly were.
They could only sense a threat from these individuals.
"Who are these people?" Feitan asked, frowning.
"I don't know either, but they're most likely the company's armed forces." Machi could only say this. She didn't know much about these people; the company's confidentiality regarding classified information was very high, and she had no access to it.
But now, it seemed she would largely have to start dealing with these people.
"Heh heh, I wonder how many punches they can take from me?" Uvogin, however, looked fearless, clenching his fists and bumping them together in front of his chest, his expression defiant.
"Why don't you go up and try now?" Nobunaga pulled a toothpick from somewhere, playing with it in his mouth.
"There are more people." Suddenly, Chrollo's expression shifted, his gaze focusing on the helicopter cabin door.
Sure enough, no sooner had Chrollo spoken than two "thinner" soldiers emerged from inside, compared to the previous four. They also wore Ranger Neural Mech helmets, black combat suits, and exoskeleton human-assist prosthetics.
What distinguished them from the other four soldiers was a mark on their left chest, printed with the word [alpha].
The two figures leaped out of the helicopter cabin, landed steadily on the ground, and immediately locked onto Machi in the crowd as they looked up.
"Watch out!" Nobunaga and Uvogin immediately stepped forward, instinctively blocking Machi.
"Nobunaga, Uvogin, stand aside." But Machi gently patted their shoulders, stepping out from between them to face the two seemingly higher-ranking soldiers.
"Who are you?" Machi demanded coldly.
"The Chief Instructor ordered us to escort you to headquarters." The two soldiers stood motionless, but their Ranger Neural Mech helmets had already brought up all the data on those present.
Chrollo's name, origins, abilities, and so on, were all recorded.
"Headquarters?" Machi frowned at the words. Was this not headquarters?
"We are to escort you to the headquarters base." The soldier explained proactively, seemingly noticing her confusion.
"Headquarters base?" Machi's expression subtly changed. "Headquarters base"—two extra words.
The implications of these two words were simply too vast. In the few months she had been in Patellus, how many changes had the company undergone?
"Alright, I'll go with you." Machi closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and said coldly. She then stepped towards the helicopter in front, with Chrollo and the five others following closely behind.
"Whoosh!" However, as she passed the four burly soldiers, those four soldiers instantly blocked Chrollo and the other five behind her.
"They are my companions!" Machi looked up, her icy gaze fixed on the two soldiers who had spoken earlier. But the other party merely said in a flat tone, "They are not the escort target."
"Then add them as your escort targets!"
"You do not have the authority to command us."
"Then I'm not going!"
"If the escort target resists orders, we will take coercive measures."
At these words, Nobunaga unsheathed his katana with a clang, Feitan's umbrella sword emerged from behind him, and Pakunoda raised a silver-white revolver, pointing it at the speaking soldier.
"Everyone, please do not act rashly." Chrollo's expression was cold, a dark red book materialized in his hand, his fingers subtly moving as he slowly flipped it open. "We are not easy opponents."
"Miss Machi, do not make futile resistance." The other soldier, who had been silent, spoke now. He looked down at the six individuals before him, his tone still utterly flat, as if he didn't care about them at all.
"Whoosh! Whoosh!" No sooner had he finished speaking than two dark figures instantly flew out from inside the helicopter cabin, stopping and hovering in the air over ten meters above their heads.
Machi looked up at the sound, her pupils suddenly dilating. They were two small drones.
Over the years, she had received the best education, naturally learning a great deal about modern and next-generation weapons and equipment from books and various data.
This, of course, included drones.
Flexible maneuverability, powerful firepower, and even capable of carrying small rockets.
They were killing machines that humans simply could not resist.
"I'll go with you, but you can't touch them." Machi closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and said coldly.
"Our orders are simply to escort you to the headquarters base." This soldier still spoke in an extremely flat tone, as if nothing but his orders concerned him.
"Hey, Machi!" "We can take them down!" Uvogin shouted, shaking his fists, about to charge forward, but Chrollo reached out and stopped him.
"What are you doing! Leader!?" Uvogin angrily looked at Chrollo. Nobunaga also looked confused, but Chrollo merely shook his head, not speaking.
"Don't worry, I'll be fine." "This is only a temporary farewell; I'll be back soon." Machi assured them, turning sideways. She then turned and stepped into the helicopter cabin door, and the two soldiers also reached out to support the cabin door as they entered.
The four Avenger soldiers also put down their weapons and slowly turned to walk towards the helicopter.
"Wait, where is your base?" Suddenly, Pakunoda asked, simultaneously reaching out to touch one of the Avenger soldiers' bodies.
But the moment she touched the Avenger's body, her steps suddenly froze, her face turning blank.
The Avenger soldier completely ignored her, slowly stepping into the transport helicopter's cabin door. At the same time, the two drones hovering in the air also quickly zipped into the cabin door.
"What's wrong with you!? Paku!?" Feitan looked at Pakunoda's blank expression, his brows tightly furrowed.
"Hey, Paku?" Uvogin and Nobunaga also noticed Pakunoda's strange expression, waving their hands in front of her. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine." Pakunoda snapped back to reality, but her expression was still somewhat shocked and disbelieving.
"What did you learn?" Chrollo asked. He felt that Pakunoda must have learned some astonishing secret from the soldier's mind; otherwise, this situation wouldn't have occurred.
"Looking at her expression, she must have learned some shocking secret," Nobunaga stroked his chin, thoughtfully. "According to common plot conventions, a large company of this level definitely has some unspeakable, astonishing secrets hidden beneath the surface."
"No, just the opposite." Pakunoda looked up and directly denied. "I didn't see anything."
"Huh~?" Nobunaga rubbed his ears. "If you didn't see anything, then why are you so shocked?"
"It's precisely because I saw nothing that I'm shocked." Chrollo withdrew his ability, looking at Uvogin. "Even Uvogin can't have absolutely nothing in his mind, right?"
"That's true." Nobunaga looked at Uvogin, suddenly understanding.
"Hey, don't use me as a bad example for everything!" Uvogin said with displeasure.
"No thoughts, no self-awareness, like a mindless zombie." Pakunoda spoke, her voice cold, about what she felt the moment she touched that person.
"He doesn't even have any human emotions at all; he's practically an empty shell."
"A body without a soul."
At this moment, accompanied by the "whoosh, whoosh, whoosh" of rotors, the transport helicopter escorting Machi to the headquarters base finally took off, gradually becoming a black dot and disappearing from their sight.
"This company truly harbors a great secret."
"And not just one; a shocking, colossal secret."
On the helipad of the headquarters building, Chrollo looked down at the emblem under his feet: a black and red umbrella covering a globe.
This was the logo of the Umbrella Biohazard Corporation, symbolizing its role as a protective umbrella for humanity on Earth.
"Actually, once Machi comes back, couldn't you just use your ability on her to learn everything about that so-called base?" Nobunaga stroked his chin, thoughtfully. "I imagine Machi wouldn't resist."
"You're right!" Uvogin also suddenly understood. "Once Machi returns, won't we know everything?"
"You two thick-headed idiots have finally figured it out."
Feitan looked at Nobunaga and Uvogin with disdain.
"What do you mean!? Do you want to fight!?"
"Two against one!?"
"Idiots, we're on the rooftop, someone else's territory."
On the rooftop helipad, Feitan circled Chrollo and Pakunoda, while Nobunaga and Uvogin angrily chased behind.
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