In the observation room
There were Caitlin, William, and Cohen. Caitlin and William were in front of the observation screen, while Cohen was standing in front of a lighted table in the middle of the room.
It wasn't an ordinary table; it was a display screen that could display maps and create plans to help them with troop matters.
As Aiden and Tiani entered and descended the stairs, Cohen was gathering and organizing data.
"Okay, Cohen, show us what you learned," Aiden asked with a smile, his expression excited.
Indeed, Cohen began explaining everything they knew about Calvin's army.
Cohen estimated they had 30 to 50 soldiers, 5 to 10 vehicles and armored vehicles, a fighter jet they had recently purchased, and helicopters, but they didn't know their exact number. They didn't have a super-powered radiator, but they had the money and connections to hire one. They learned they had hired two, one classified and one unclassified.
It was clear they had a superiority in numbers and equipment over Calvin's army, but despite that, they didn't have a super-powered radiator, which gave them a significant advantage that could offset their deficit.
None of these numbers frightened Aiden, because even if the army was three or four times as large, they could still fight and destroy them.
But the presence of a classified and an unclassified made the balance shift easily, because the classified were recognized as the most dangerous of all, and it wasn't a meaningless ranking, so no one should underestimate them.
What confused Aiden even more was the presence of the unclassified. A classified can be dealt with with a good plan, as they are often recognized and capable, and thus countermeasures can be taken. However, the presence of a variable like the unclassified creates a bigger problem.
This is because, contrary to what most people expect, classification is not a measure of strength, but rather a measure of danger, as the government sees it. Therefore, it is not at all surprising that a non-classified Radiator possesses superior combat power or supernatural abilities. This is certainly not what Aiden and the others wanted.
After a brief silence, Cohen, in collaboration with Tiani, Bianchi, and Rossi, ordered a well-thought-out counter-plan to confront them.
Aiden would also participate with them, but he was the least experienced in combat and military warfare.
Now they had to assess the timing of the army's attack, the best location to fight against them, and deploy and plan the battle, taking into account all possibilities. All this must be done as quickly as possible, so that everyone is prepared.
When you think about how Cohen knew all these details, even the information about renting a classified and unclassified radiator, it's due to a now-famous website: Newbook.
Since the Great Incident, most of the websites and programs people used to use were down, and even a few areas had internet access.
The nation of Sonomia, which is actually a large island in the Atlantic Ocean, had its government provide a nationwide telecommunications network.
Despite some major criticism within the government, it proved to be very beneficial.
After the Great Incident, an anonymous website called Newbook emerged. It was a hybrid of Twitter, Facebook, and many other social media sites, but with additional features, such as posting anything freely without censorship, and even completely hiding your identity.
Now that the law is a thing of the past, they haven't even thought twice, and many of them have posted violent and indecent videos, even things that couldn't be found on regular sites in the past.
This was just the business department. The communications department was a haven for those with differing opinions, who loved to curse and insult everything, and express their opinions without hesitation.
But for the Sonomia government, it was an incredibly rich area of information. This was because people never stopped and publish anything without hesitation. This made it easy for them to gather any information about anyone they wanted, even among themselves. They didn't care about exposing themselves.
In fact, they weren't afraid: What if you found out about me? What would you do then? Where would you find me?
These were their thoughts after they acquired superpowers.
Not long ago, I casually and without cost published an old list of the 10 most dangerous people who could threaten the future of the capital and its residents in a newspaper inside the capital.
However, unexpectedly, this list caught the attention of all the radiators in Sonomia, and with the help of the government itself, it became a benchmark for power and fame for them.
You wonder why this happened? It's because the government is definitely the enemy of all radiators in Sonomia. They prefer those they hate over everyone else, because if someone else did, there's a high probability of being favored, but for the government, there's definitely no favoritism.
This has been reinforced since the Mantis and Beast Lord disasters, and now it's a ranking that indicates their status.
The list is updated monthly on the Newbook website, and the criteria are entirely set by the government. To help this, there were numerous broadcasters and cameramen who filmed any event occurring in the country.
This was the main reason people published information about themselves, in an attempt to gain a chance to be among the fair-minded and gain fame from it.
It's very ironic that this happened. The government didn't bother or cost anything, and it actually controlled the people in the country and was able to gather information about them, because information is the greatest weapon of the modern age.
They weren't the only ones capable of gathering information. If the government could do it, why couldn't others?
So Cohen searched extensively on the site, across all sections: the discussion section, the trade section, and even those who posted on their own pages.
He gathered as much information as he could, enough to anticipate the enemy they would face, and even develop a counter-plan and prepare fully for it.
Now, Cohen, Aiden, and Tiani sat down to try to devise a plan to repel and eliminate the army. Later, Rossi and Bianchi joined them.
Cohen compared the numerical difference between them and their quality. Calvin's army had a large numerical difference, twice the number of troops. Since their commanders were former military leaders, they were able to prepare and train a large number of soldiers, giving them military experience.
As for the troops, they had only 30 volunteer soldiers, and they certainly had no combat or military experience; and those who could fight were only a few.
However, the numerical difference could be compensated for by their superior abilities. Unlike Calvin's army, which lacked a super-powered radiator, Osiroh's own radiator forces possessed approximately eight super-powered radiators.
Even Aiden himself was confident in eliminating 100 ordinary soldiers on his own, so the numerical difference was not a problem for the teams.
After the crew learned about both sides, it was time to choose a suitable location for the fight.
Of course, it would not be too close to Osiroh, nor too far from it, nor too close to Calvin's stronghold. After several discussions, they agreed on a specific area near a dense forest.
They did not choose an area within the forest to prevent Calvin's army from exploiting it, and the moment they emerged from the forest, they would fall into an ambush.
The forest was about 500 meters east of Osiroh, on a different route from the Coredeth road.
Cohen set specific locations for traps and ambushes, and thought of a wide range of possibilities in case the situation deviated from the master plan.
They continued this throughout the night.
The next day was a special day for Jelian.
Because it was the day Nandi was going to be discharged from the hospital.
Nandi would normally have stayed longer, but the doctor confirmed that she was completely healthy and recovered quickly thanks to the strange nuclear energy.
Nandi wore new clothes given to her as a discharge present, bought by Nurse Anna, who cared deeply for Nandi and looked after her.
The clothes were elegant and modern, and she looked like a woman from the big city. Jelian froze when he first saw her and was completely smitten by her.
He could barely express his joy for her. His face had forgotten what it meant to be truly amazed and impressed. It was so funny.
They stood in front of the door of the hotel where Jelian lived. Her jaw nearly dropped in amazement. It had been so long since she'd seen intact, undamaged homes that even a completely ordinary, unremarkable home would still amaze.
She entered the hotel, observing every corner, her eyes sparkling with every moment.
Fatima greeted her in her office. As soon as she saw a new person, she immediately stood up to welcome her.
"Welcome to the Future Hotel," she smiled sweetly.
She knew about Nandi and her circumstances, but this was the first time she'd met her in person.
Instinctively, Nandi felt a shiver run through her body. She quickly hid behind Jelian, but she looked at Fatima with a frown.
Fatima opened her eyes wide, surprised by her reaction, and quickly looked at Jelian questioningly.
"My sister Nandi is afraid of meeting people and doesn't like talking to them," Jelian answered Fatima's question, and Fatima also understood.
Jelian continued on his way until he got into the elevator. Meanwhile, Nandi glanced at Fatima from the corner of her eye.
Before the elevator closed, Fatima waved at her with a gentle smile, but Nandi didn't respond until she disappeared from her sight.
Nandi was frightened by her hand gripping Jelian's clothes and turned to him, wondering about Fatima.
"Who is that?"
"Oh, I think her name is Farma?... I don't remember; she just works here at the hotel."
"Farma..."
Jelian mispronounced Fatima's name, he had only heard it in passing, and Jelian tended to forget anything if it wasn't important to him.
Ding!!!...
The elevator reached the seventh floor, and the door opened, and they entered the apartment.
But instead of being amazed by the beauty and modernity of the new home, which was nothing even they could have imagined, Nandi was shocked and opened her eyes wide. Even Jelian did the same.
The reason was because they found the living room filthy and littered with trash: overflowing bags, a pile of pizza boxes, and a bunch of juice boxes strewn across the floor. In the middle of it all, Luzia stood in the middle, holding a device in her hand, dancing to the music on the television with joy and delight.
After a while, she noticed them, turned off the sound completely, and ran toward Jelian until she grabbed his shoulders.
"Where have you been? Come play with me," she said eagerly and excitedly.
At that precise moment, Nandi felt a shock strike her heart, and she was struck by a sudden shock and a strange sense of frustration at the sight before her.
For the first time, she felt the thing she loved with all her heart being taken away from her.
Jelian responded coldly, "No, I just need some..."
Jelian didn't finish his sentence as he was pulled away from Luzia, and it was Nandi who did it. For the first time, she stood up to her brother and protected him.
"Who are you?! Stay away from my brother!!!" Nandi shouted at him, frowning and slightly afraid. Her body was shaking, but her eyes held a determined expression.
Both Jelian and Luzia were surprised by this, and it was a huge shock to him.
He had never expected that his sister would be the one to stand up to him and defend him.
Luzia smiled back and said excitedly, "Oh, my sister Nandi is out of the hospital today!! Yaaaay!!" She jumped with joy.
"My sister...??!?" Nandi asked in her mind, her expression becoming ugly and confused.
"This deserves a big celebration. Come with me so we can prepare something."
Luzia immediately grabbed Nandi's hand and pulled her into the kitchen. She stood there, thinking about what to bring to the party.
Nandi stood beside her, trembling with worry and confusion, her face pale and frightened.
She turned to Jelian. She didn't say so, but she was asking for help, calling for him to save her.
Jelian was looking at her with interest. After a while, he smiled, waved, and walked into the room.
This was the second major shock to hit her heart. Now she felt a real betrayal, and worse, it came from the person who had saved her life and the person she relied on the most: her brother.
"Don't worry, Sister Nandi. We can work together, and it will be a fun party," Nandi said with a wide smile, grabbing Nandi's shoulder.
But in Nandi's eyes, she saw a scary face with a frightening smile, and Luzia was very close to her.
Nandi was trembling violently, her face as pale as paper. After Luzia's words, she nearly collapsed in tears and fear.
Inside the room, Jelian wanted to take a shower and change his clothes.
Half an hour later, he emerged from the room wearing brand-new, elegant sportswear that clearly showed his wealth and affluence, especially the world-famous brands.
He liked wearing loose-fitting clothes, a new habit he had acquired in the past when he was in Corredith.
This was because he could hide his weapons underneath them, giving him the upper hand and the ability to attack with surprise.
After leaving the rooms and heading toward the living room, he saw Nandi and Luzia still standing in the kitchen.
She brought out several plates. She had already ordered some food by phone, so with Nandi's help, she was calculating the food, drinks, desserts, and anything else appropriate for the party.
Jelian noticed her sister standing next to Luzia. Contrary to what he expected, she seemed perfectly fine with Luzia around. She even responded to her words, albeit with a very short "yes" or "I don't know," which was still considered an excellent sign of her improving social skills.
Jelian smiled at this and felt a sense of relief in his heart.
Ring, ring, ring...!!!.
The landline telephone on the wall rang, and Jelian was standing next to it. He picked up the receiver and put it to his ear.
This caught the attention of both Nandi and Luzia. Nandi noticed her brother's new clothes and was amazed at how elegant they were. They added a masculine and handsome touch to Jelian's cold personality, and her cheeks flushed.
"Your brother looks very handsome in those clothes," Luzia commented, leaning towards Nandi in a low voice.
"Um..." Nandi nodded affirmatively, smiling sweetly.
"Yoo!, Jelian? Are you awake?" It was Aiden calling.
"who's with me?"
"Good! You seem free. Why don't you come to the center ? We need to discuss something."
Jelian turned to Luzia and Nandi, both surprised by this.
Jelian thought and assessed the situation, but he didn't like the idea of leaving the house and leaving her sister immediately after she arrived, so he came up with an excuse to escape.
"No, I'm busy. We're having a party here."
"Party? Oh, right. Your sister's coming out today, right? That's great. Let's all celebrate. Bring her to the center and we'll have a party there."
Jelian didn't answer, hesitating for a long time.
"I don't think..."
"Jelian, even if you don't want to bring her, you'll come either way. Of course, if you want to protect your sister."
Toot, toot, toot...
Aiden hung up right before Jelian had a chance to respond.
He knew what was going on in Jelian's mind and exploited his vulnerability. Although Jelian knew it, he still fell for it.
He sighed heavily as he put the receiver down.
Then he walked over to the two girls and told them the situation.
Luzia agreed without hesitation, with great joy and enthusiasm, but Nandi was hesitant and didn't answer directly.
Jelian felt a little sad. He didn't want to force her to go, especially to a place filled with people she'd never met. But he was forced to go out, so he didn't want to leave her. It might also be an opportunity to reduce her fear of society.
He had conflicting interests and didn't know what to do, but he told Nandi after all.
"No problem, Jelian... I don't want to be a burden to you," Nandi tried to comfort Jelian, not wanting to stand in the way of his goals.
Jelian sighed lightly and smiled.
"But what about the pizza and drinks we ordered?" Luzia asked.
"We'll take them with us."