Robert looked at Yonghoon with cold eyes and released his grip.
He turned his head and warned Dennis.
“Don’t drink too much just because it’s been a while. It will affect the operation.”
After finishing his words, Robert brushed past the group.
“I knew it. I really can’t stand that guy.”
As Robert disappeared to the back, Grace shuddered.
“Who could possibly get along with Robert? It’s a miracle anyone can survive under a guy like that.”
At Instructor Seo’s words, Dennis scratched his short curly hair.
“Despite how he looks, he’s a manager respected by his subordinates. His reputation in the company is excellent.”
Instructor Seo shook his head at Dennis’s words, and they resumed walking down the narrow hallway. Eunseo also rubbed her goosebump-covered arms and followed them.
Yonghoon stood there, staring at the hand that had shaken Robert’s. He could feel the remnants of Dimensional Power in his hand. It was a byproduct of Robert’s Dimensional Power brushing over him during the handshake.
Robert must have been trying to check Yonghoon’s abilities.
Yonghoon chuckled softly and clenched his fist, dispersing the remaining Dimensional Power.
Robert’s behavior would have been considered extremely rude in the other world. It was clear he assumed Yonghoon couldn’t detect Dimensional Power.
Yonghoon glanced briefly in the direction Robert had disappeared and then followed the group down the hallway.
Each member of the group was assigned a small cabin, and they went straight to bed.
Everyone was quite exhausted from the long journey. Though being Awakened meant they weren’t physically drained, they were mentally fatigued.
However, Instructor Seo headed to the cafeteria with Dennis.
Before long, a drinking party with old comrades broke out there.
Yonghoon fell asleep listening to the faint voices of Instructor Seo and Dennis.
The next morning, after washing up and having breakfast, Yonghoon walked down the aircraft carrier’s hallway following Instructor Seo along with the others.
They were heading to the briefing room. After the briefing, the Awakened were scheduled to depart immediately for London.
Instructor Seo, walking ahead of the group, looked perfectly fine. Although Yonghoon had heard him drinking late into the night, he didn’t appear tired at all.
“Did all the Awakened who couldn’t arrive yesterday make it in by the evening?”
Grace asked Instructor Seo. She must have been too tired to attend the gathering and had gone straight to sleep.
Instructor Seo answered Grace’s question with a bright face.
“Everyone arrived late at night. It’s been a long time since all the Linkers gathered.”
“Not all of them. Many died, and some are still missing.”
At Grace’s words, the group’s mood sank a little.
After that, everyone silently followed Instructor Seo.
Soon, they arrived at a large room. It was the briefing room.
Rows of chairs were lined up facing the podium, and quite a few people were already seated.
Upon arriving at the briefing room, Grace and Instructor Seo spotted acquaintances and quickly headed toward the gathering crowd, while Yonghoon, Eunseo, and another Awakened sat in empty seats and looked around.
The people here were divided into two groups: the Linkers sitting at the front and chatting joyfully, and the Awakened like Yonghoon and Eunseo sitting at the back, looking around.
As Yonghoon glanced around, he turned his head toward the gaze he felt on him. A few Linkers who had been talking with Instructor Seo and Grace were now staring intently at him.
They were probably talking about Yonghoon.
After a brief commotion, three people appeared on the podium. As they did, the people chatting at the front quickly took their seats.
Two of the people who appeared were familiar to Yonghoon.
They were Dennis and Robert, whom he had seen upon arriving yesterday. The large Black man and the cold-looking man made an oddly fitting pair.
The other was a young woman with long brown hair.
As the noisy atmosphere settled down, Dennis stepped forward and began to speak.
“We will now begin the briefing on the operation to hunt the bipedal B-Rank monster in London.”
He conducted the briefing in English. Fortunately, everyone here could understand English. There was no one who couldn’t follow along.
Dennis began explaining the situation so far.
He calmly explained the appearance of the monster, the British government’s response and failure, the destruction of the Safe Zone, and the emergence of the Singularity.
“Finally, the British government gathered the Awakened within the country to attempt a hunt for the B-Rank monster, but ultimately failed.”
He stopped there and looked at the woman standing next to him.
As Dennis looked at her, the woman stepped forward.
“I am Samantha from the Link System’s UK branch. I will explain about the monster we will be hunting.”
A screen lit up behind her.
On the screen, the image of a giant orangutan appeared against the backdrop of a destroyed city. It looked like something out of a movie, like King Kong.
“This photo was taken during the last Raid. Although the Raid failed, through several battles, we have identified most of the monster’s combat capabilities and special abilities.”
As she spoke, the screen changed.
Scenes of the orangutan monster smashing buildings and leaping into the sky like it was flying played one after another.
“This monster has enough physical strength to destroy a five-story building and can leap about 30 meters high. Moreover, it is extremely fast. During the Raid, many Awakened were killed because they couldn’t match its speed. We also confirmed that it possesses significant defensive capabilities and regenerative powers.”
The screen changed again, filling with a massive explosion.
“This monster fires energy projectiles using Dimensional Power. These projectiles have tremendous destructive power. An entire apartment building was destroyed with a single shot. Even a C-Rank Defense-type Awakened found it hard to block alone.”
She brushed her hair back with her hand, seemingly annoyed by it, and continued speaking.
“The biggest problem is that these energy projectiles are used quite frequently. Whether the monster has a lot of Dimensional Power or regenerates quickly, we cannot afford to relax after it fires.”
From her words and the images, Yonghoon was able to grasp the monster’s abilities.
It was definitely a B-Rank.
“Currently, London has fallen into the monster’s hands, and many high-level Awakened were killed during the Raid, putting the UK in a very dangerous situation. The UK is deeply grateful for your help.”
She finished speaking and stepped back. Dennis then picked up where she left off.
“Because the monster moves so quickly, if we form teams based solely on ability types, teams of assassin-types or strike-types with weak defenses will be wiped out. Therefore, for this operation, Linkers with strike or defense abilities will act solo or in small groups, while other Awakened will form teams that include both defense and offense types.”
As he finished speaking, the screen displayed the names of the participants in English.
It was the new team roster.
Yonghoon scanned the screen. He was teamed up with Eunseo, Kim Youngmin, a C-Rank Awakened from Link Corp, and Samantha, who was standing at the front.
Yonghoon looked at Samantha. If her abilities were defense and strike types, she wouldn’t have been placed with them.
She must have had at least one assassin or special ability.
Yonghoon turned his gaze from Samantha to the other Awakened.
The expressions of the non-Linker Awakened didn’t look very good.
Yonghoon understood their expressions.
From what had been discussed so far, the general Awakened were relegated to rear support roles. Having come all the way here only to clean up after others wasn’t exactly pleasant.
But Yonghoon kept a calm expression. His business with Link Corp was more important. Fighting monsters was a lower priority for him.
However, the overall strength of the people gathered here was overwhelming.
Even among the Linkers, there would surely be those who couldn’t even land a hit. Perhaps because of this, the general Awakened swallowed their anger and accepted their teams.
While checking the team composition, Yonghoon spotted Robert’s name. He was assigned to a team with other Awakened. He must have had a special ability.
Dennis calmly explained the operation. As expected, it was a Linker-centric operation.
“This concludes the briefing.”
With Dennis’s closing words, everyone stood up. The Awakened gathered by teams and began discussing things.
Yonghoon also gathered with Eunseo, Youngmin, and Samantha to discuss their formation. Eunseo would be at the front defending, Yonghoon and Youngmin would be the strike-types, and Samantha would stay at the back under their protection.
Yonghoon’s team decided that he would be the team leader, Eunseo would defend at the front, and Samantha would stay at the rear.
After a short while, everyone went up to the deck and boarded helicopters.
The helicopters took off immediately but didn’t head for London. Instead, they flew toward a massive landing ship nearby.
It was because approaching the monster in central London directly by helicopter would have been difficult.
Currently, after the destruction of the Safe Zone, a Singularity had caused a surge in the number of monsters in London over the past three days.
If they flew over London, they would surely be attacked by countless flying monsters and crash.
But landing on the outskirts and walking to the monster would take too long and be too dangerous.
The orangutan monster had made its nest in Hyde Park at the center of London. It had destroyed the Dimensional Movement Blocking Devices there and driven out all surrounding monsters.
It had declared the area its own territory.
For this reason, the Link Corp leadership decided to use the Thames River to get as close as possible and hunt the monster.
The group disembarked onto the landing ship and boarded a hovercraft.
The massive 170-ton hovercraft carried everyone, sped out from behind the landing ship, and raced toward London at incredible speed.
After traveling over the water for some time, the hovercraft reached the Thames Estuary and began moving upstream along the Thames River, which cuts through London.
The hovercraft made an enormous noise as it traveled over the river. With its two giant propellers spinning, it was inherently loud.
The noise of the hovercraft agitated the ears of the monsters near the river.
Although it wasn’t as conspicuous as a helicopter, the hovercraft had begun attracting the monsters’ attention.
One by one, monsters started appearing along the riverbank. And on top of the embankment, a giant flying insect could be seen.
Its appearance resembled that of a giant grasshopper.
Several grasshopper monsters approached the hovercraft, but they were unable to climb aboard.
All the monsters were knocked down by the Special Ability Users waiting atop the ship.
As the grasshopper monsters approached, the water Ability Users and flame Ability Users stationed on the ship scattered the air with flames and raised pillars of water to strike the monsters down.
Although the monsters were not injured, after falling down, it became difficult for them to chase the hovercraft again with their wet wings.
After knocking down several flying-type monsters like that, the ship safely traveled upstream along the Thames River and arrived in front of Westminster Abbey, located at the heart of London.
The ship docked at the pier next to the river in front of Westminster Abbey, and the group disembarked and climbed onto the pier.
The group frowned at the sight of the devastating ruins before them. The Big Ben clock tower had collapsed, and the beautiful buildings, including Westminster Abbey, had all turned into rubble.
The people hurriedly checked their smart watches. Fortunately, this area also seemed to be under the domain of a B-Rank monster. There was no sign of monsters on the smart watches.
The group quickly advanced. In the distance, Hyde Park, where the monster was located, came into view.