Next day.

Lukas and the team left for the East Battle Administration Area first thing in the morning.

When Terry and Kevin found out they were gone, they hurriedly led their teams to try and catch up with Lukas.

They knew by now that the success of the mission would depend a lot on Lukas.

It would be foolish of them not to try and work together with him.

On the airplane, Riley began to brief the team on the plan.

Lin Fan was from the slums in the East Battle Administration Area, his last known residence was somewhere deep inside the slum area.

The slum areas were chaotic and filled with different gang factions.

These gangs were involved in trafficking, drugs, assassinations, kidnapping and every undesirable vice or crime you can think of.

Even the security forces of the East Battle Administration Area wouldn't dare venture deep inside the slum areas.

Revenge from the gangs would mean that their families would be murdered and chopped into pieces, and hung at the door, for all to witness.

"We will go in, stay close and try to find the information from Lin Fan's residence as quickly as possible." Riley said and the other team members nodded.

As the airplane descended, Lukas looked out of the window.

He could see a huge swath of rice fields, and farther away was an even larger area made up of closely built wooden huts.

And occasionally, he could see open areas with lavish bungalows that looked out of place among the sparse and dilapidated wooden huts.

Lukas figured that it must have been the houses of the gang leaders ruling the slum areas that Riley mentioned earlier.

After they got down from the airplane, they were immediately hit by the hot and humid air.

A vast difference from what they were used to in the South Battle Administration Area.

The airbase looked rundown.

The soldiers sat in the checkpoints waving documents left and right in front of their faces to cool themselves.

All they had other than that were wonky fans in the ceiling that gave out squeaking sounds when the blades rotated, barely able to cool them down.

"Next! Move it, we don't have the whole day." The heat made the soldiers impatient, and they shouted at Lukas and the others to hurry up.

Lukas passed his ID to the soldier manning the checkpoint and the soldier had to do a double take.

His access granted by the Leader made the soldier wary.

Was Lukas a high-ranking official sent from the Center Battle Administration Area?

Many thoughts went through the soldier's mind, and he quickly turned his impatient expression into a smile.

"Here you go." He passed Lukas's ID back to him and gave Lukas a huge smile.

"Then, I'll be waiting for my teammates over there." Lukas nodded and said, reminding the soldier that Riley and the others were together with him.

Lukas certainly didn't mind the perks of being associated with the Leader and wasn't shy about using it.

The soldier got his hint, and he nodded.

He spoke into a mic receiver and said something.

Riley and the others then went through the checkpoint smoothly after Lukas.

After they got out of the checkpoint, Harianto proceeded to one of the car rental companies next to the airbase.

"I miss having access to all the resources on a mission with Sherry." Rex shook his head and said when he saw Harianto driving a worn-down blue van.

Emma rolled her eyes and said, "It's called blending in and not attracting unwanted attention."

"Yeah, whatever. I swear to God if it doesn't have aircon, I'll..."

"You'll do what? Feel free to give up and forgo the rewards."

Rex kept quiet when he thought about the reward of $5 million.

Riley got into the front of the van while the others got in the back.

The aircon hummed as Harianto turned it to the coolest setting.

Everyone gave out a huge sigh of relief.

Finally, there was some respite from the heat and humidity.

Along the way, whenever the van stopped in traffic, kids would come up to the van, trying to peddle whatever they could.

Cigarettes, flowers and even fake jewelry.

And when they couldn't get anything from Lukas and the others, they cursed at them, showing them unruly gestures as the van drove away.

"Most likely they are working under the gangs." Lukas said.

His experience when he was expelled from school made him aware of how kids were being exploited and preyed upon when they had no other options.

But it wasn't as prevalent and wasn't as numerous compared to what he had just witnessed.

After an hour of travel, they finally arrived at the designated hotel.

The so-called hotel was located at the fringe of the slums and was just a larger and better furnished wooden hut.

Staff running the hotel were locals working as agents for the Center Battle Administration Area.

"Welcome! I'm Hazel, let me know if you need anything during your stay." The woman at the counter, Hazel, greeted Lukas and the others when she saw them.

Her eyes beamed with happiness when she saw Lukas.

The other staff in the hotel also stopped what they were doing and took a glance at him.

They couldn't believe it when they saw Lukas.

How is it possible for a young man like him to defeat an Apex demonic beast? They thought.

Her cheeks flushed and her heart thumped when she took a closer look at Lukas.

Lukas was not only young but also good-looking.

"And the keys to our room..." Riley said, reminding Hazel that there was work to be done.

"Oops, silly me." Hazel shook her head and took some keys from the counter.

She handed the keys to Riley and said, "Always keep the key with you. There will be a penalty if you lose it."

The keys had tracking devices on them, helping them to locate and provide support to Lukas and the others when required.

Riley nodded and they headed up to the second floor of the hotel.

The floor made of wooden planks creaked when they took a step.

Rex frowned and sighed when he opened the door of his room.

It only had a ceiling fan creaking along, and a bed.

Other than that, there wasn't much.

Lukas wasn't bothered.

It somehow even reminded him of his small dark room back in the South Battle Administration Area.

After he settled in, it was already evening.

Since it was already late, they had a quick dinner at the hotel's small dining room and went to bed.

Lukas lay on the bed thinking about the Leader and what the Apex demonic beast had said.

Creak.

Suddenly, he heard a creaking sound in the corridor outside.