— — — — — —
After some time...
"This's my girl."
Renzo made up his mind without a hint of hesitation.
It wasn't just because she was pretty—okay, maybe a little—but what really caught his attention was her personality.
Tia chuckled behind her hand, finding Renzo unexpectedly charming.
At first, she'd been drawn in by his godlike looks, that flashy entrance, and his overwhelming strength. But now? Now she was captivated by his wit and easygoing nature.
She could feel herself falling for him.
Just then, gunfire rang out again as Otis, Jenkins, and the rest of their squad emerged from the nearby ruins, having cleared the area.
Otis happened to catch part of the conversation between Renzo and Tia—and spotted the gorgeous girl beside him. He couldn't help whistling and teasing. "Well damn, Renzo! So that's why you went full hero-mode back there! Trying to play the knight in shining armor, huh? I respect it!"
He then turned to Tia with a grin. "Miss, you picked the right guy! This guy here—just as good-looking as me—crazy strong, and more importantly, still single!"
"You really have no shame, Otis," Jenkins muttered, rolling his eyes.
Come on, man. Know your own limits.
"Heh, thanks for the heads-up," Tia giggled, amused by their banter. She was clearly enjoying herself, and when she looked at Renzo again, her eyes sparkled with even more interest.
How was this gorgeous guy still single?
Well—she was claiming this handsome guy.
He's mine.
"We're ready!"
...
At that moment, Tia's parents emerged from the underground shelter and walked over to Renzo and the group.
They didn't say much about the little exchange between their daughter and Renzo—though Tia's father privately thought Renzo was more than worthy.
They'd always encouraged Tia to follow her heart. If she really liked him, then they'd give their full support.
…Though of course, a little background check wouldn't hurt.
"Alright! Time to move! Doubt there are any survivors left up ahead—just bugs. Let's swing around and check that factory to the left!"
Jenkins gave orders to his squad, motioning for Tia's family to follow. "You guys, too. Move it!"
"Go! Go! Go!"
With that, the group withdrew from the area. A few of the bug creatures tried to chase after them—but Renzo made short work of them with a few well-placed shots.
They reached the next factory zone, cleared it, and managed to rescue over ten more survivors before finally receiving the retreat order from HQ.
They gathered everyone and began the evacuation.
By the time they reached the forward base, dozens of survivors had already gathered.
But unlike Tia's family, most weren't so lucky—many were injured, some missing limbs, others barely hanging on.
The bugs were brutal.
One touch from those things and you were either dead or crippled.
"Can I have your number?"
As Tia and her family were being ushered onto the evac ship, she walked up to Renzo and asked with a smile.
"Sure! Here—memorize it."
Renzo raised an eyebrow slightly. Looks like the girl was really into him.
He gave her his comm number.
"Thanks! I'll contact you soon. Maybe we'll meet again before you know it!"
Tia smiled sweetly, then—without warning—leaned in and planted a kiss on his cheek. Flustered, she backed away a few steps, waved, and darted onto the ship without looking back.
"…This girl," Renzo muttered, a little stunned. But he had a good idea of what she was thinking.
"She's probably planning to enlist now, huh?"
In the original timeline, Tia joined the army to avenge her parents. Now it seemed like her motivation had changed—she wanted to follow him.
For love, huh?
"Well, I better move fast. I need to set things up so she gets transferred directly to me."
No way was he letting her get tossed into a group of random recruits.
Especially in this world, where even military camps had co-ed baths.
Renzo had standards. No way he was letting her end up in that mess.
"Hmm… Can't neglect the squad here either. I'll leave a clone behind to keep fighting and rack up merit."
He nodded to himself. "The real me is heading back to Earth."
With a thought, Renzo's real body vanished, leaving behind a shadow clone infused with a portion of his source energy.
The clone continued to operate with Jenkins' squad as if nothing had changed.
Meanwhile, the real Renzo had silently slipped aboard the evac ship where Tia and her family were. He remained hidden from sight, carefully concealed.
Thanks to his spatial powers and energy-masking abilities, the ship's detection systems couldn't even sense him.
Before long, the rescue ship was packed with survivors. It lifted off from the colonized planet and ascended into space.
Thanks to artificial wormhole technology, it took just over two days for the ship to reach one of Earth's spaceports.
Once there, the passengers were split up and transferred to various cities using smaller transport shuttles.
Renzo quietly followed suit, stowing away on a ship bound for the Federation's central headquarters, temporarily separating from Tia and her family.
Of course, he'd already tagged each of them with spatial markers—allowing him to track or teleport to them at any time.
"Red Queen, time to get to work."
He altered his appearance and checked into a five-star hotel under a new identity.
First, he crafted a large spatial bracelet and set up the Red Queen AI and the quantum mainframe inside it. He used advanced Poké-world tech for the bracelet—fully capable of connecting to outside networks without issue.
"Red Queen, at your service, Master!"
Her projection floated up from the bracelet, ready and waiting.
"Start by registering this current appearance as a legitimate identity. Then, get me some credit points. Also, scout for a good location to set up a base and factory—once you find it, buy the land."
Renzo smirked. "We're about to start building an arms manufacturing empire."
"Yes, Master!"
Red Queen immediately began hacking into the Federation's public systems. Within seconds, she had cracked the civilian registry and generated a flawless identity for Renzo.
Next, she siphoned off unclaimed and abandoned funds from dormant accounts, erased the traces, and moved the money into the stock market to start multiplying his assets.
Renzo's personal wealth began to grow rapidly.
"Master! I found a suitable location—in the America Sector, Manhattan. There's an island that would be perfect."
She continued, "It's currently owned by a military-tech company called Aeshid Group. But they're on the verge of bankruptcy and about to list it for sale."
"I recommend acquiring the entire company. We can repurpose the shell, saving time and keeping things discreet. What do you think?"
As she spoke, a holographic display appeared in front of Renzo, showing all the relevant details.
He skimmed through the information and nodded. "Sounds good. Do it."
Red Queen gave a firm nod. "It'll take a few more days. We're still building up financial leverage through the stock market. But I've already set the process in motion. In the meantime, I'll schedule a meeting with Aeshid Group's board."
Naturally, buying out a military company wasn't going to happen overnight.
"Works for me. When the time comes, I'll send a clone to handle negotiations."
Renzo had no objections. He then added, "Now, try hacking into the Federation's military networks. See if you can get your hands on the artificial wormhole tech or any other valuable research data."
That was the real prize.
"Yes, Master!"
Red Queen got to work right away, scanning and infiltrating various systems. Before long, she reported back.
"Master, I found it. But I can't breach the military archives just yet—they're protected by quantum encryption."
"Their system architecture is completely different from ours. It'll take time to carefully crack it without being detected. Do you want me to force my way in?"
If he gave the word, she was confident she could get the data within five minutes.
Renzo shook his head. "No need to spook them. How long would it take if we do it quietly?"
"Roughly one month."
"That's fine," Renzo replied calmly. "One month it is. We're not in a rush."
He'd need time to build up his company anyway. No harm in waiting.
Besides, it gave him a chance to explore this new world.
And while he was at it, he had plans to take control of a few marshals and generals—lay the groundwork for a military promotion under his true identity.
After all, he couldn't waste time grinding for merit like a normal soldier.
Though, given his strength, racking up merit wouldn't be hard either.
Still, without powerful connections, rising through the ranks would be a slow grind.
So Renzo decided—he'd build his own damn connections. Or slave the connections.
.
.
.