Days passed.
The team was assigned temporary quarters within the base—functional, minimal, efficient.
They learned the facility's layout.
Observed senior agents returning from missions, armor cracked, expressions unreadable.
Listened to alarms echo through distant sectors at all hours of the day and night.
Tokyo Base never slept.
On the fourth day, they were summoned.
The weapon development wing smelled of oil and heated steel.
Machinery hummed constantly. Sparks leapt from welding stations. Holographic blueprints rotated midair, layers of schematics phasing in and out as engineers moved with focused intensity, fingers dancing across transparent interfaces.
This was where nightmares were answered.
A tall man stepped forward.
Silver-streaked hair. Augmented lenses glowing faintly as they focused on the team. His arms were crossed—not defensively, but proudly.
"Chief Engineer Raizen," he said.
"Every AM weapon forged here exists for one purpose."
His eyes locked onto them.
"Ending nightmares."
He tapped a console.
"Design your weapons."
Ren blinked.
"…Wait—seriously?"
"Seriously," Raizen replied. "Design whatever you want. I'll forge it."
The room ignited with energy.
The Misoke twins stepped forward first.
No words.
No discussion.
They submitted identical schematics.
A colossal AM hammer—oversized, brutally simple, reinforced far beyond standard limits.
Raizen studied it for several seconds.
Then chuckled.
"Crude," he said.
"…and terrifying."
The twins nodded once.
Kaito was next.
His design unfolded smoothly—sleek, modular, shifting between a long-range rifle and a compact scanning unit.
"Control over chaos," he explained calmly. "Information wins wars."
Raizen smiled.
"A strategist's weapon."
Ren slammed his design onto the display.
A massive shield capable of unfolding, rotating, and locking into a reinforced knuckle weapon.
"They hit me," Ren grinned.
"I hit back harder."
Raizen sighed.
"Of course you do."
Ayla hesitated.
Then stepped forward.
Her design appeared simple.
Twin daggers. Balanced. Clean. No excess weight. No ornamentation.
Precision over power.
Raizen studied the schematic longer than the others.
Then nodded slowly.
"Efficient," he said.
"And honest."
Finally—
Akira stepped forward.
His schematic unfolded slowly.
A sword hilt.
But instead of a solid blade, long razor-thin flexible multi-steel strips extended outward, coiling slightly in the air like living wire.
Raizen's brows lifted.
"This is… unusual."
"An urumi," Akira said quietly.
"It demands control. Mistakes are fatal to the wielder."
Silence followed.
Akirawa chuckled from the back of the room.
"Figures."
Raizen studied Akira for a long moment.
Then—
"…I like weapons that punish recklessness."
He shut down the holograms.
"Your AM weapons will be completed by tomorrow."
"Rest while you can."
As they head towards their quarters.
Akirawa was already waiting in the hall.
Alone.
Hands in his coat pockets. Expression sharp.
"Looks like I'm stuck training you for a year."
No warmth.
No humor.
His eyes hardened.
"Your real education starts tomorrow."
And for the first time since arriving—
Akira felt fear.
END OF CHAPTER 9