"I need two vials, and you must provide one every ten years," Daechir stated her demands.
"I only have one vial in total. How can I possibly give you two?" They negotiated back and forth, finally agreeing that she would receive two vials initially, then one every ten years thereafter. Upon receiving the two rejuvenation serums, Daechir immediately returned to the Eagle's Nest. Before leaving, however, she purchased some components. The potato robot saw this and exclaimed urgently, "Hurry and fix channel sixteen, don't let the monsters escape!" Alice and Vega were overjoyed to receive the Telomere Rejuvenation Liquid, as they could regain their youth once more.
Uwa was currently invisible inside the Illuminati North American Headquarters, having been there for three days. Her mission was to assassinate Corey—a plan devised collectively by the Group of Seven, who felt the time was right. She was hiding under a desk in a rarely visited archive room, munching on a chicken leg she had stolen from the kitchen, making "sizzling" sounds as she ate. Perhaps due to her hunger, she failed to notice when someone entered. A man and woman walked in, and the woman asked, "What's that sound coming from under the desk?"
"Could it be a mouse?" the man replied.
"Really?" the girl cried out in horror. "I'm terrified of mice!"
The man approached the desk and bent down to look. He found himself staring directly at Uwa's greasy face and shouted, "Who are you?"
"You can see me?" Uwa asked, eyes wide with surprise.
The girl came over as well. "Could she be a cleaner?"
The man nodded, "Very likely, but why is she hiding under a desk eating food?"
"Don't be silly," the girl explained further. "It's working hours, and she doesn't want to be seen."
Uwa's English wasn't good, but she understood enough as she had been studying. She quickly crawled out from under the desk and said in broken English, "I'm new here. Please don't report me."
The girl, noticing Uwa's dirty clothes and pitiful appearance, comforted her, "Don't worry, auntie. We won't tell anyone." After they left, Uwa exited the room. This time, she hid in an office, lying down behind a sofa. About twenty minutes later, a tall, thin man entered and sat on the sofa. After browsing a magazine, he lay down to rest, removing his shoes. Uwa was lying in the opposite direction and immediately smelled his foot odor. She quickly covered her nose, muttering, "Such smelly feet!"
Hearing someone speak, the tall man broke into a cold sweat and sat up abruptly. "Who's there?" After half a minute with no response, he thought, "Did I hear wrong?" and lay back down. Uwa planned to find another hiding place, but the office contained only chairs and desks, offering no suitable cover. Just as she was about to leave, someone else entered—the kind-hearted girl from the archive room.
She said to the tall man, "Dad, why are you sleeping here?"
The man sat up, "Were you just in here?"
"What do you mean?"
"I heard someone talking."
"Are you confused from sleep?" Uwa, not wanting to listen to their conversation, quietly slipped out. She thought to herself, "When will Corey actually arrive? Paitun's information isn't reliable at all. I need to investigate further." Paitun, a member of the Group of Seven, had been developing their network in North America and was now the fifth-ranking figure in the region.
Just then, a woman in her forties walked by. Uwa followed her to the ladies' room, slipping inside as the door was closing. As the woman squatted down, Uwa revealed herself and grabbed her by the neck. "Tell me, when will Corey arrive?"
The woman screamed, "What do you want?"
"Don't shout, or I'll kill you." The woman nodded desperately. "What do you want to know?"
Uwa repeated her question. "He's already gone!" the woman answered.
"When did this happen?"
"He left yesterday morning. He only stayed for twenty minutes."
At the Flame Warehouse, Simon excitedly addressed over four hundred Courage Alliance warriors, "Knights, the battle horn has sounded! Tomorrow we advance to Aldabush Island, where we will fight to the death against the Illuminati villains."
"Just us?" De Silva asked.
"Of course not. There are thousands standing behind us. We have never been alone." De Silva felt a wave of disgust, thinking that in the end, it would be just them sacrificing themselves while others merely shouted slogans. Simon continued, "The Resistance fighters will also fight alongside us."
"Hasn't the Resistance already disbanded? How are there still members?" This time, it was Alena who asked.
Simon smiled, "Who told you there weren't any left?"
"Then who's their leader?"
"After Glo was captured, I quietly moved the Resistance underground and announced publicly that the group had disbanded. Growth has been slow over the years, but we've still accomplished some things. Now we can openly confront the Illuminati without hiding anymore. Once we take back the Subsidiary City, the Resistance will return. I hope the Courage Alliance members will join us too. Most of you were originally knights of the City-State—returning is your mission."
When Simon finished speaking, everyone looked toward Alena. She said, "Joining the City-State has always been our dream. Once we reclaim the Subsidiary City, the Courage Alliance will immediately disband, and all members will join the City-State."
After the meeting, everyone began preparations. De Silva brought out his new weapon, but Simon stopped him, "Such weapons shouldn't be used within the City-State—you might accidentally harm our own people." De Silva reluctantly put it away, feeling dissatisfied.
The next day, at departure time, everyone boarded vehicles and advanced toward Aldabush Island. The Illuminati garrison at the Subsidiary City wasn't very large, about seven hundred soldiers, but they had received intelligence and were prepared for battle. The Courage Alliance had two options for reaching the island: by boat or by plane. Without fighter aircraft, they could only land by sea. Basali also joined this battle, leaving her little girl in Nicola's care.
Before landing, the leadership groups were in discussion. Including the Resistance fighters, they had over a thousand people. "A direct naval assault would result in heavy casualties," Alena said.
"I know, but we only have one submarine," Simon replied.
Martin interjected, "I also think a naval assault would be suicide."
"What do you suggest?" Alena asked.
"There are other islands near Aldabush. We could use the submarine to land quietly. Once we have enough people, we establish a position. If the Illuminati want to attack, they'll have to land on our island—that's when we can counterattack."