NOVEL NEXT Chapter 239: The New Collaborator, Liam
After an entire night of preparations, General Howard's aide informed him that all the soldiers were ready.
"General, everyone is fully prepared! We can commence the operation at any moment!"
Howard nodded expressionlessly.
"You all have done exceptionally well, your speed of action has exceeded my expectations by a considerable margin. I will reach out to Jeremy and the others as soon as possible."
With those words, Howard promptly exited the office.
His first call was to Benjamin.
"I have made all the necessary preparations on my end, your subordinates should be able to accompany me in the operation, correct?" Howard inquired, as he was quite familiar with Benjamin and felt no need for pleasantries.
Benjamin replied, his voice tinged with fatigue.
"My subordinates are fully prepared, they have already assembled at the gymnasium. If you wish to commence your plan immediately, I will give them direct orders."
Benjamin's response eased Howard's tension slightly.
"I will be calling Jeremy next. If he agrees to my plan, I will initiate the operation without delay."
With that statement, Howard hung up the phone on Benjamin.
He promptly dialed Jeremy's number.
At that moment, Jeremy was still deep in slumber, as it was merely six o'clock in the morning.
Approximately five minutes later, Jeremy finally answered Howard's call.
"It's only six in the morning, did you really need to call me this early? Are you planning to execute your operation right now?"
Jeremy's tone carried a hint of irritation.
Howard paid little heed to Jeremy's tone and calmly stated over the phone, "All our preparations are complete on this end, now we are merely awaiting you and your companions."
"Have you completed your preparations or not? If you have also finished, then hurry to the city gymnasium to rendezvous with us!"
Although Jeremy felt a twinge of anger, he understood the necessity of cooperating with Howard.
"I have made all the necessary arrangements, I will contact my companions. Let's meet at the gymnasium in half an hour!"
With that, Jeremy abruptly hung up the phone.
Howard quickly returned to his subordinates.
"Our allies are ready for action! Let us set off for the city gymnasium!"
Under Howard's leadership, a substantial force of soldiers made their way to the city gymnasium.
Meanwhile, Benjamin's subordinates had already gathered there well in advance.
Approximately twenty minutes later, under the gaze of the crowd, Jeremy, Bonnie, and Ritchie finally arrived at the gymnasium.
"Are we the last ones to arrive? We shouldn't be late, should we?"
Ritchie asked, glancing nervously at the multitude of people inside the gymnasium.
Bonnie shared his anxiety, feeling somewhat apprehensive as she sensed they might have indeed arrived late.
"We are not late, in fact, we are a few minutes early compared to the scheduled time."
Jeremy replied in a remarkably calm tone to Ritchie and Bonnie.
Jeremy's reassurance alleviated their worries, and the two of them then followed Jeremy as they made their way toward Howard.
At that moment, Howard was situated on the observation platform of the gymnasium, engaging in a tense discussion with the individual beside him.
It was only when Jeremy approached within a hundred meters of Howard that he noticed the arrival of Jeremy and his companions.
"You've finally arrived, I was beginning to think you would be late!"
Howard managed to force a smile as he addressed Jeremy.
Jeremy responded with a smile of his own, "How could that be? I am an exceptionally punctual person, I would never arrive late!"
After saying this, Jeremy shifted his gaze toward the individual sitting next to Howard.
The person seated beside Howard was a middle-aged man in his thirties, who was also inspecting Jeremy with a scrutinizing gaze.
"This is Mr. Liam, the director of the Special Situations Handling Bureau of Moonlight City.
He is also an Awakened, and this time he will lead his subordinates to join us in our operation. His presence will undoubtedly provide us with significant assistance during the course of the mission."
Howard first introduced Liam to Jeremy.
He then turned to Liam and said, "You should be somewhat familiar with Jeremy, correct? The Special Situations Handling Bureau must have detailed information on him."
Liam nodded with a smile.
"Mr. Jeremy's reputation indeed precedes him. I have long wished to collaborate with Mr. Jeremy, but I have yet to find the right opportunity.
This mission finally allows me the chance to work alongside Mr. Jeremy. I hope that during this collaboration, we can learn something valuable from one another."
Although Liam's tone was exceptionally calm, Jeremy couldn't shake the feeling that there was something about the way he spoke that made him somewhat uncomfortable.
Nevertheless, Jeremy maintained a facade of politeness.
With a smile, Jeremy extended his hand toward Liam, saying, "Although this is our first meeting, I believe there is much I can learn from you."
Liam merely smiled in response, saying nothing as he also extended his hand to shake Jeremy's.
"Now that we are all acquainted, allow me to elaborate on my plan in detail."
Howard appeared oblivious to the subtle shift in emotions between Liam and Jeremy.
All of Howard's attention was focused on his strategy.
"The challenging instance we are heading to is located five kilometers from the gymnasium. While the overall difficulty of the instance is quite high, its level is not excessively daunting. The instance has an overall level of only fifty.
Within our team, we do have someone whose level is also fifty. Therefore, he should be able to provide us with substantial assistance during this operation."
At this point, Howard directed his gaze toward Jeremy.
Jeremy nodded, feeling a touch awkward.
While it was true that his level was indeed fifty, he didn't have complete confidence in his ability to handle every unforeseen situation that might arise within a level fifty instance.
"Before we enter the instance, I must draw your attention to its unique characteristics."
Howard retrieved another document from his pocket.
Within this document, Jeremy and the others could discern the specific details regarding the challenging instance they were about to approach.
"The unique aspect of the instance we are heading to is that Awakened individuals who have not reached level thirty are completely unable to locate the entrance.
This implies that the instance itself has already imposed a limitation on the strength of the Awakened who can enter. I am uncertain whether this is a distinctive feature of the challenging instance we are about to enter or if all high-difficulty instances share this particular characteristic.
While this may not significantly impact us, as we are higher-level Awakened, it does constrain the number of Awakened individuals we can bring into the instance.
Thus, I believe it is quite likely that we will encounter challenges within the high-difficulty instance that will require extensive collaboration to resolve."
Howard shared all the information he possessed.
Liam, Jeremy, and the others listened intently and with great seriousness.
After Howard finished speaking, Liam smiled and remarked,
"In fact, our Special Situations Handling Bureau has a certain level of understanding regarding the instance we are about to enter. Moreover, the information we have gathered differs in some respects from what General Howard has shared."
As Liam spoke, he gestured for his assistant to bring over a black bottle.
"This black bottle is an artifact discovered by our Bureau in the vicinity of the instance we are about to enter.
Although this bottle may appear rather unremarkable, if you hold it in your hand, you will immediately notice a distinct chill emanating from it.
Thus, our Special Situations Handling Bureau believes that the high-difficulty instance we are approaching is likely closely associated with the power of winter. Therefore, we must ensure that we carry an ample supply of cold-weather gear."
Throughout this explanation, Liam kept a watchful eye on Jeremy and the others' expressions.
He seemed intent on deciphering some critical information from their reactions.
Ritchie and Bonnie, however, were oblivious to Liam's subtle gestures. They were simply frowning in contemplation, processing the intelligence provided by both Liam and Howard.
Jeremy noticed Liam's subtle gestures, yet he felt he could not confront him directly.
He silently reminded himself to remain cautious of Liam during their forthcoming actions.
Liam had allowed everyone to touch the black bottle.
Each individual confirmed that the bottle indeed radiated a consistent aura of icy power.
However, Jeremy felt that the items surrounding the instance might not necessarily be closely related to the instance itself.
"I believe it is unnecessary for us to specifically prepare cold-weather gear. The items found near the instance may have been drawn to this location for entirely different reasons.
This implies that the characteristics of the instance itself may not correlate with those of the surrounding artifacts. Therefore, we should not fixate on this point."
Upon hearing Jeremy's remarks, Liam nodded calmly in agreement.
"I believe Mr. Jeremy is correct, we certainly do not need to prepare any additional cold-weather gear."