Ch. 2021..2030
The Return of God of War Chapter 2021
Ryker contacted Bruce immediately after receiving news about the updated terms.
Money wasn’t a big deal to Cryptic Stream Corporation, so they weren’t concerned about the hundred billion upsurges in the cost of the lands.
What mattered to them was the change in the duration of their rights to use the lands. They struggled to conform from permanent rights to five-year rights.
Hence, Ryker had to discuss with Bruce regarding the reformed terms.
Bruce grinned and said, “They’re limiting our access to the lands to five years and doubling the price? That’s exactly what I’m expecting from those materialistic Erudians! I’ll be far more distressed if things go too smoothly. It appears more genuine if they request more in return!
“Although five years seems like a short period, our experts estimate we could mine all the sunstone in two years if our equipment is ready.
“These conditions are acceptable. Sign the contracts now. We’ll proceed with importing the equipment and technical staff to begin mining as soon as we get the rights to use the lands!”
Ryker nodded after receiving Bruce’s orders. “Got it!”
“Oh, Erudia. You dare hand over the rights to me for merely an increment of a hundred billion? You have no idea how much profit you’re losing! Soon, you’re going to regret your decision!” Bruce laughed.
…
Immediately after having Ryker’s agreement on the new terms and receiving an additional hundred billion from their families, the Four Heirs signed contracts with the Wilcox family and other related parties for the rights to use the lands.
Although the Wilcox family appeared perplexed by the sudden changes in the time limit and cost, they were more than willing to comply because there were many benefits to the agreement.
The Four Heirs hastily brought the signed contract back to Bruce, and everyone was ecstatic when they saw the agreements.
After informing the members of the Lab of Gods about the successful deal, Bruce represented Cryptic Stream Corporation in signing a collaboration contract with the Four Heirs.
The Four Heirs were appointed to become the ambassadors of Cryptic Stream Corporation in Erudia.
Although it was as clear as day that they were just puppets controlled by the corporation, they felt honored to be the fresh faces who represent the corporation in Erudia. Everyone who knew about the Four Heirs’ new role felt envious.
Right after settling the agreement, Ryker didn’t stop his hustle and instantly arranged for the importation of equipment and technical staff from Zarain, while the Four Heirs tried their best to accommodate the company’s demands.
Within eighteen hours, the essentials to mine the sunstones were in place.
The team wasted no time and began mining.
Their efficiency was astounding to the world as Bruce’s philosophy was to mine all sunstones in the shortest time possible.
During the mining processes, Bruce would always monitor the progress via surveillance cameras installed on the site, whereas Ryker and Jefferson would supervise the work in person to ensure no mistakes were made.
“Mr. Johnston, we’ll be wrapping up our first batch of sunstones in three days! We could get a lot more sunstones from these six major mining sites than you did from Erudia a while ago!” Ryker grinned.
“We used to have elaborated plans when we steal from Erudia, but look at us now, being able to mine sunstones openly without restrictions! We could exploit as many sunstones as we want in the future!” Bruce was pleased with the report, then instructed, “By the way, I’ve already sent out the escort team. Make sure to bring the sunstones back safely!”
“Don’t worry, Bruce. Not only does no one recognize our plans and our current activities, but even if they do, they couldn’t possibly act quick enough to stop us from exporting the minerals!” Ryker sneered.
Bruce nodded his head in agreement. “Hmm… You’re right. Erudia will never understand their huge mistake this time.”
…
Ryker and Jefferson were currently in one of the six major mining areas known as Westford.
The mining progress was ongoing in an orderly manner.
However, Jefferson felt chills down his spine as a random tingle of fear spread across his nervous system quickly. He couldn’t help but feel like someone was watching him in secret.
The Return of God of War Chapter 2022
It wasn’t clear if Jefferson was just traumatized by Levi, or he was too afraid to be beaten up by the latter again.
He was paranoid and would feel a wave of fear consume him whenever he detected any movements around him.
It was as if he was delusional.
Now, Jefferson felt uneasy and cold when he looked around and saw only darkness surrounding him.
His anxious expression caught everyone’s attention. “What’s wrong?” they asked.
“I feel like someone’s watching us! Did you make sure all safety precautions were engaged properly?” Jefferson was frantic.
“Look at you. I knew you were traumatized by Levi. Now you are even afraid of the dark! Don’t worry, Jefferson. I’ll send our people to check around again.” Ryker reassured Jefferson and ordered the others to inspect the grounds.
They discovered nothing wrong around the site. “See? I told you it’s all right! You’re overthinking,” Ryker said, then instructed a few men to come to his side. “The few of you should protect him!”
Followed by Ryker’s order, the experts from the Lab of Gods kept their eyes on Jefferson and never left his side.
Jefferson could finally relax and let his guard down, even though the feeling of being watched hadn’t disappeared.
One with a sensitive mind had the most precise intuition.
In fact, Levi was indeed within the mining base to find out what sunstones really were.
Before coming to the area, Levi surveyed the place, but he never felt a dynamic wave of energy surrounding him in the zone.
Although there was energy emitted by other materials that were more sublime compared to the energy of sunstones, something still felt wrong to Levi.
Soon, he discovered a piece of equipment invented by the Lab of Gods that could isolate energy waves and prevent outsiders from detecting them.
This explains why they could mine the sunstones in peace, with no one noticing their activities.
Levi realized the equipment was used to manipulate the magnetic waves and block out unstable energy. Also, it could affect martial artists and men with superpowers if they tried to interrupt the mining process.
Levi felt his powers being suppressed as soon as he entered the field. He could never unleash his full potential under the effect of the equipment.
This is scary! Is the Lab of Gods already so advanced? Not to mention that the equipment is only used to isolate energy waves. If they create weapons using this technology, it will surely be the doom of us.
Levi was alarmed by the Lab of Gods’ horrifying advancement.
Looks like it’ll take quite a while for me to defeat the Lab of Gods. I must be patient and take one step at a time…
Levi had only gotten a glimpse of the Lab of Gods’ current power. If the latter were to reveal their full abilities, even Levi would be intimidated.
At this moment, Levi successfully infiltrated the mining site.
Boom!
He felt the intensity of the sunstones’ energy surrounding the whole site.
The sunstones are way too strong!
Levi also witnessed the appearance of the mineral. It was a transparent crystal infused with tremendous energy.
If one were to get closer to the sunstones without proper safety measures, one might be crushed into ashes by the powerful energy emitted by the stones. Thus, the personnel on-site were all fully covered in protective gear to avoid casualties.
Levi was utterly horrified after witnessing the rare strength of the sunstones. He understood how incomparable the energy was by other minerals.
But why were the sunstones undiscovered by anyone else in the entire world before?
The reason behind it was simple – the sunstones were hidden deep underground, and most countries couldn’t afford to drill that far down to look for resources because they didn’t have the equipment or skilled personnel to support the act.
Other than that, the sunstones were wrapped within a thick wall of another mineral, and their energy was attracted to and infused within the earth’s core to achieve balance. Hence, it was impossible to detect their energy on land.
That was the reason no one other than the Lab of Gods had ever discovered the sunstones.
“What is this?” Levi was once again stunned by Lab of Gods’ advancement in technology.
The Return of God of War Chapter 2023
As soon as the sunstones were mined, their energy would slowly diminish.
If the skill of the miners or equipment weren’t matured enough, the loss of energy in the sunstone would be significant. Not to mention that the spread of energy might cause a disaster.
The equipment provided by the Lab of Gods, however, was able to reduce the level of energy loss nearly to zero.
It was astonishing, yet frightening.
The final equipment used to store the sunstones was the scariest of them all, as it could preserve the sunstones’ energy completely.
…
The Lab of Gods was frightening indeed!
After a night of observing the mining process, Levi had a clear vision of the procedures, including the repository and transportation of the sunstones.
Now, all they have to do was wait for the transportation to begin in three days.
On the other side, Zoey trained intensively and got stronger. In fact, she even gained the skill to unleash her hidden potentials.
“Cryptic Stream Corporation signed a contract with the Four Heirs. Looks like they’re planning something since everyone involved was some big shot in the company. They even got Jefferson to take part.”
“I remember Jefferson was the one who informed Lab of Gods about Levi’s existence at the Goldenport Island. He was also one of the murderers who ended Levi!”
“Yes, he is indeed!”
Wynona was discussing matters related to Cryptic Stream Corporation with Mia. Zoey, who just arrived, overheard their conversation.
“Levi’s murderer is here at Erudia?” Zoey asked.
Wynona nodded and said, “You could say that. After all, Cryptic Stream Corporation was responsible for what happened to Levi too.”
Wynona paused and realized something off. She quickly persuaded, “Zoey, you must stay calm. Now is not the best time to seek revenge!”
Zoey nodded. “Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing.”
Not only was she planning to take action against Cryptic Stream Corporation, but she also aimed to exterminate the Lab of Gods, too.
…
The past few days had been purely tormenting, especially to Bruce and his men.
Bruce couldn’t rest until he saw the sunstones in person. So, he put aside all his work to monitor the mining progress of the minerals for two days.
Within those two days, all forces in Erudia, including the Dragonites and The Cardinal Hall, were alerted by Cryptic Stream Corporation’s operations and commenced a survey on the matter.
On the other hand, the families of the Four Heirs fully understood the agenda of Cryptic Stream Corporation’s recent acquirement of the lands, which was to mine the newfound resources.
The organization had already begun mining the sunstones without having them participate in the activities. This was not at all what they had agreed on beforehand, but the families did not object.
Cryptic Stream Corporation was free to do whatever they wanted as long as the Four Heirs remained their ambassadors and could continue sharing the organization’s glory.
The Cardinal Hall, on the other hand, was the first to catch wind of Cryptic Stream Corporation’s plans. They eventually discovered that the corporation was mining resources on the six pieces of land.
Although they were unsure about the details, they were confident that the true purpose would be revealed soon, even if they couldn’t take any action against the company.
…Soon, three days had gone by.
Throughout these three days, Bruce, Ryker, and the rest of the crew didn’t even have the time to sleep a wink.
The first batch of sunstones was mined.
Having been overly exerted, Jefferson and the Four Heirs stared blankly in different directions.
“Mr. Jefferson, let’s go celebrate our success after we transport the stones!” Roscoe suggested excitedly, to which Jefferson agreed joyfully.
They had been feeling on edge since they arrived at Erudia to supervise the mining procedure. They even sacrificed their entertainment just to monitor the progress of the mission.
Naturally, the crew needed to take a break after concluding their tasks.
Soon, the transportation team arrived at the six major mining sites. They loaded all the sunstones onto the transport ship and were fully prepared for the shipment to head back to Zarain.
The members of the transportation team gathered at the port. Although Bruce was sure that no one in Erudia would dare disrupt their progress, he still arranged for some of the most highly skilled people to escort the minerals.
The Return of God of War Chapter 2024
Bruce analyzed and estimated The Cardinal Hall would also send their men to escort their transportation process in secret.
After all, The Cardinal Hall would be embarrassed in front of the entire world if anything went wrong within the area under their governance.
Erudia’s reputation was important too.
Everything went according to Bruce’s interpretation of the situation.
The Cardinal Hall sent their men to watch over the transportation team to ensure their safety in Erudia.
The image of Erudia and The Cardinal Hall was of utmost importance.
The transportation team successfully moved the stones from the six major mining sites to the port.
Throughout their way to the port, no one interfered, and they didn’t encounter even a single hiccup. Everything was progressing smoothly, just as Bruce expected.
Ryker, Jefferson, and the others escorted the sunstones to the port and kept their eyes locked on the sunstones when they were being loaded onto the ship.
As soon as all the sunstones were transferred onto the ship, they let out sighs of relief.
They believe they would be safe everywhere else as long as they leave Erudia.
“Mr. Johnston, the mission had been accomplished. You just have to wait and receive the sunstones on your end!” Ryker reported the progress to Bruce through a call.
Bruce answered confidently, “Our primary concern lies within Erudia. As soon as we get out of Erudia, who would dare lay a hand on Lab of Gods’ properties?”
It wasn’t all talk. The influence of Zarain’s status as an overlord and the terrifying power the Lab of Gods withheld were alarming to the public, after all.
The Lab of Gods was an organization of great reputation and influence, so who would have the courage to go against them other than Levi and some stronger forces from Erudia?
That was the reason Bruce was confident of the transportation team’s safety as soon as they left Erudia’s compound and reached the international waters.
No one would dare touch their properties. Moreover, there were many skillful escorts in the escort team.
Everything would be secured.
“Mr. Wilkins, I’m going to celebrate the end of the mission with a few friends!” Jefferson said gladly.
He regained his confidence after accomplishing the mission, and the trauma caused by Levi disappeared gradually.
“No problem! The completion of the first batch of sunstone calls for a grand celebration after all!” Ryker laughed carefreely.
…
Honk!
Following an ear-piercing honk, the transport ship set sail and left the port, and eventually left Erudia.
“All right! Time to take action!” Just as everyone on the ship thought they were on their way steadily, a voice cut in.
Levi had never let his attention drift away from the sunstones, so how could he allow the minerals to be exported from Erudia so easily?
Since attacking the ship while it was still within Erudia’s borders would cause a massive dent in Erudia’s reputation, Levi simply planned to strike as soon as the ship left the border.
A few hours later, the ship had arrived at the international waters. At that point, the escort team had already let their guards down.
“Whoever dare lay hands on the sunstones will face grave consequences. The joined forces from Cryptic Stream Corporation, the Lab of Gods, and all of Zarain would be the enemy to those who dare disrupt our progress!”
Nobody dared to get their hands on the sunstones after the international announcement was established. Some people even help clear the obstacles they might face on the sea, such as eliminating pirates and other threats.
On the transport ship, the crew members had already begun celebrating their success. They were either drinking or dancing throughout the trip.
The atmosphere stayed joyful and peaceful.
This was probably the smoothest mission they had ever been assigned to.
Not only that, but they also remained high profile throughout the transportation, yet no one was courageous enough to raid them.
They were extremely relaxed, so much so that the captain, Marcus, and the commander of the escort team, Vanderson, were enjoying wine together in the cabin.
“I was quite concerned things would go wrong before stepping foot onto this ship. I guess my worry was unneeded.”
Marcus was traumatized by the robberies he had been through multiple times.
Vanderson smiled and reassured Marcus they would be fine. “Who would have such nerve to rob us? Unless they have a death wish, if not, no one would dare challenge us!”
Whoosh… Bam!
…
Right at this moment, a flare was shot into the sky and lit up every corner of the ship.
The Return of God of War Chapter 2025
Marcus and Vanderson were struck dumb by the commotion they witnessed. “Goodness gracious! Do these people want to die?” they exclaimed.
Boom! Boom!
…
From below, a swarm of dark shadows leaped onto the ship, then the ship was surrounded by a small army of boats.
“Someone’s attacking us! We must protect the sunstones at all costs!” Vanderson gathered the aces to prepare for defense.
However, as soon as Vanderson stepped out of his cabin, he noticed a man standing on the ship’s stern. With his hands behind him, the man stood still overlooking the devastation he had caused on the ship as if he were a god.
“End them! No one shall take away anything that belonged to Erudia!”
At the end of Levi’s command, the massacre began.
…
The Lab of Gods was quite unperturbed by the escort of the sunstones since they had assumed no one would dare to go against them. Thus, only minimal settlements were arranged for the escort team.
Unfortunately, they just had to face Levi.
Levi’s enemies were quickly annihilated.
He even treated the battle like a training ground for Azure Dragon and his team.
“Make haste and move all the sunstones! Remember to relocate them to our designated location and leave no trails!”
The mission was completed in three minutes thanks to Levi’s precise commands and the efficiency of Azure Dragon and his team.
There were no survivors following the attack, and the sunstones were successfully retrieved.
Everything happened so expeditiously that the people on the ship couldn’t send out SOS signals. It was as if they had quietly vanished into thin air.
Levi didn’t arrange for the sunstones to be returned to Erudia because it might expose their motives when everyone’s gaze was already fixed on Erudia.
Levi remained at the highest point throughout the mission, watching everything fall into place.
“Bruce Johnston, I bet on my name that you can never bring even a single piece of sunstone back to Zarain from Erudia!” he snickered before disappearing into the darkness.
Meanwhile, Jefferson and the Four Heirs went to a nightclub to loosen up.
Ryker also spent his evening having dinner with two gorgeous ladies, completely forgetting about his worries.
They didn’t even bother to check on the transportation progress and only awaited compliments by Bruce.
Bruce himself was acting in the same relaxed manner. A few hours ago, he was still cautiously monitoring the transport ship’s whereabouts. Gradually, he let his guard down and paid little attention to it.
He was sure no one in the world would dare challenge their authority and lay hands on their ship.
Bearing that thought in mind, Bruce fell asleep soundly.
I believe the transport ship will arrive at its destination when I wake up.
…
After an extended span of investigation, the forces in Erudia, particularly The Cardinal Hall and Dragonites, have finally made a breakthrough regarding the sunstones.
Not only that, but they also had a clearer vision of Bruce and the Lab of Gods’ dirty schemes – they were targeting Erudia simply because of its abundant sunstone resources.
Previously, Bruce had summoned his men to transport the sunstones from Erudia after being tricked by Levi.
Ultimately, it was too late for Erudia’s forces to stop Cryptic Stream Corporation from mining the sunstones.
The six lands with the most sunstones to mine were now legally owned by Cryptic Stream Corporation, so no forces could stop them and could only watch their rival exploit the minerals freely.
The forces were overwhelmed with regret.
If only they had been more alert to the situation! Nonetheless, they were too focused on Levi’s actions to notice Cryptic Stream Corporation’s plans.
They were well aware that Levi had always been the sole leader in this field.
“If the Lab of Gods successfully exploited the sunstones, it would pose a serious threat not only to Erudia but also to the entire world!”
The Cardinal Hall were appalled.
…
The night went by quietly.
The next morning, Bruce woke up and after he freshened up, he asked his subordinate, “By the way, where is the transport ship currently? It should reach its destination in an hour’s time, according to the estimated arrival time.”
“Master, we are not in communication with the ship, but we are certain that it will land in an hour. Don’t worry!” the subordinate reassured him.
Bruce was unbothered and casually had his breakfast, thinking the ship would probably be there by the time he finished his meal.
An hour passed in a blink of an eye, yet the transport ship was still nowhere to be seen at its designated port.
“What’s going on?” Bruce’s face darkened as he swiftly instructed, “Get in contact with Marcus right now.”
The Return of God of War Chapter 2026
Bruce appeared to be quite anxious for some reason.
“Understood!”
His subordinate immediately contacted Marcus but couldn’t get any reply because there was no signal.
What was more frightening was that the ship seemed to have vanished into thin air.
“Mr. Johnston, we have bad news!”
“The Golden Warship disappeared! We cannot get contact with anyone on the ship at all!”
Bruce and the others were shocked upon hearing the news.
“What? The Golden Warship has disappeared?”
“How can it be?”
Bruce’s face was full of disbelief.
Could anyone have dared to lay a finger on the sunstones?
“According to the information we gathered just now, we have lost track of The Golden Warship since last night. However, no one thought it was a big deal and the problem was left unattended!”
“Last night?”
Bruce was on the verge of blowing up.
Last night, he thought everything was proceeding perfectly according to his plan.
He certainly did not expect things to go wrong.
Bruce snapped, “Can you get in touch with The Golden Warship now? How about Marcus?”
His subordinate shook his head. “No, we can’t. We have already tried everything but there’s no use. The Golden Warship has disappeared!”
Bruce ordered again, “Trace the chips in Vanderson and the others’ bodies and let me know their location!”
“Yes, Sir! For that, we need to have your permission to access the information.”
“Here’s the latest news, Sir! Vanderson and the others in the escort team are dead. Their chips are deactivated.”
The escort team consisted of twenty fighters from the Lab of Gods.
Every one of them had a chip inserted in their bodies.
Now that the chips were deactivated, it could only mean that they were all dead.
Bruce felt as if he was struck by lightning.
He was completely dumbfounded by the fact that every elite member of the escort team had died.
It meant that The Golden Warship was completely wiped out.
The sunstones were most likely missing too.
“Who? Who dares to mess with the Lab of Gods?” Bruce yelled in rage.
Despite making it past the most dangerous area, Erudia, the ship was attacked at the area where Bruce thought was the safest.
Who? Who on Earth is it? How dare this person ignore our announcement and mess with the Lab of Gods’ stuff?
“Find The Golden Warship! Even if it’s wrecked, we have to find it!”
Bruce immediately sent out dozens of aircraft to join in the search for The Golden Warship.
An hour later, Bruce’s subordinates sent back word that they had found The Golden Warship in the middle of the sea.
The ship was badly wrecked and there were no survivors.
All of the sunstones were gone as well.
This was estimated to have happened seven hours ago.
Feeling the blood gushing into his brain, Bruce staggered backward and almost fainted.
Someone had the nerve to steal the sunstones! Not to mention the loss they had to bear because it was a large haul!
“Who? Who is it? Find out who is it!”
Bruce seemed to have gone mad.
“Mr. Johnston, do you think Erudia is behind this?” someone asked.
“If Levi is still alive then it must be Erudia, but now that Levi is dead, that is impossible! I’ve known them for too long to understand that they care too much for their reputation to do such things. If you find it hard to believe we can send someone to search for the sunstones in Erudia. I can guarantee that you will not find anything there,” Bruce replied confidently.
“Are we going to continue searching blindly?” others asked.
“Yes. Do anything that you can to find the sunstones!”
“Someone call Ryker for me!” Bruce ordered.
Ryker was lying on a bed with two women snuggled up on each side.
He was having a wonderful time when the phone rang.
Cursing the person who called, Ryker hoped that he could beat up whoever it was.
“Who is that? Are you nuts? It’s so early in the morning!”
The voice from the phone prompted Ryker to sit up straight.
“What? All of the sunstones are missing?”
The Return of God of War Chapter 2027
Ryker almost passed out from the shock.
“How can this happen? Who has the nerve to do this?”
“We don’t know who’s behind this. Listen to me carefully, Ryker. You have to keep mining as fast as possible! Time is running out! Keep an eye on the miners and make sure that nothing goes wrong!” Bruce reminded Ryker repeatedly.
Ryker immediately put on his clothes and told Jefferson and the Four Heirs the news.
Although they were partying all night and hadn’t slept much, the news was scary enough to jolt them awake.
The Four Heirs knew what was being transported last night.
They were on the side of Cryptic Stream Corporation in terms of interests.
The news of the disappearance of the sunstones was alarming to them.
“Get moving and keep an eye on the miners!” Ryker ordered.
Having received Bruce’s orders, they went to supervise the mining process at once for they could not risk the second batch of sunstones getting lost again.
While Bruce was using every resource he had to investigate the disappearance of the sunstones, he also ordered his subordinates to keep the news from spreading.
They could not risk everyone knowing about the sunstones since it was the Lab of Gods’ top secret. Furthermore, there were only a few people who knew about the sunstones.
Unfortunately, someone shared the news on the dark web. A batch of sunstones mined by Cryptic Stream Corporation from the Lab of Gods was stolen by a mysterious organization…
The entire world fell into an uproar as soon as the information was leaked.
What are sunstones? What kind of mysterious organization dares to steal something from the Lab of Gods?
Soon, the netizens found out that sunstones are a type of energy material which were discovered by the Lab of Gods.
It was a material that contained the highest level of energy up to date.
The energy source of the Lab of Gods was the sunstones all those years.
This shocking revelation caused some people to spread rumors about the Lab of Gods being a sinister organization and how it was behind the death of Levi and a few other people.
Soon, everyone was celebrating the theft of the sunstones while admiring the audacity of the mysterious force.
Aside from Levi, this mysterious force was the only one who dared to go against the Lab of Gods.
They were playing with fire!
Everyone, including Bruce and the Lab of Gods, was wondering who was behind all of it.
Losing the sunstones meant that the Lab of Gods had lost their future.
How could anyone expect them to be calm?
The people in Erudia should be the happiest of all when they heard the news of the sunstones.
The Cardinal Hall and the Dragonites were previously regretting over the mining conducted by the Lab of Gods in Erudia and couldn’t do anything to stop it, but then there came the news of the sunstones’ disappearance.
They were over the moon.
After a long wait, Bruce’s subordinates still didn’t find any clue.
Whoever stole the sunstones didn’t leave any trail behind, making it impossible to search for their whereabouts.
Meanwhile, the sunstones couldn’t be tracked as well.
A large batch of sunstones would have an abnormally high level of energy which could be easily detected by energy wave detectors, but the sunstones were yet to be found!
There wasn’t even a tiny spike of energy fluctuation in Erudia.
Wondering who could it possibly be, Bruce was also getting angrier by the minute.
Even The Cardinal Hall were curious about the thief’s identity.
“What do we do now, Mr. Johnston?” Bruce’s subordinates asked.
Bruce murmured, “There’s only one option left…”
The Return of God of War Chapter 2028
“What is it?”
Everyone turned to Bruce and stared at him.
Bruce had a serious look on his face. “Right now all we can do is to wait for them to attack again!”
“We don’t have any leads currently and we would only come to a dead-end if we continued searching. Whoever behind all this must be very powerful to leave no trail behind.”
“Of course! If they can steal the sunstones from right under our nose without alerting us, they must be very capable,” the others agreed.
Bruce continued, “Unless we search every corner in the world, which we don’t have the resources to do so, it is impossible to recover the sunstones!”
“All we can do right now is to wait for them to show themselves and pick up the trails that they leave behind.”
Pausing to clear his throat, Bruce then carried on, “I have arranged for Ryker to mine the next batch of sunstones. We will heavily guard the transportation a day later and set up traps along the way. Let’s see if they still have the audacity to steal from us!”
Everyone agreed with Bruce’s plan. “Excellent plan! Let’s see if they will steal from us again. When they expose themselves, we will destroy them!”
“Alright, everyone gets ready for tomorrow! Let’s see who this bastard is!”
Frowning, Bruce changed the topic. “However, there is a possibility that they only wanted to steal the sunstones once. After all, the total energy from the sunstones is enough for a lifetime for most people. In that case, we might not even catch them red-handed!”
Everyone fell silent at the thought of the possibility.
“We shall know whether they want to stop the sunstones from leaving Erudia or they want to steal the sunstones for themselves tomorrow.”
“I hope that it’s the first case…” Bruce smirked.
After thorough planning, Bruce made sure that he had a stronger escort team and better equipment.
He made sure that detectors were set up along the transportation route and utilized technologically-advanced drones.
Once a problem was detected, it wouldn’t take more than a few minutes for backup forces to arrive.
This time, Bruce ordered Ryker to only mine for one day because it was enough to bait the thief.
On that day, the entire world had their eyes on the Lab of Gods.
Everyone was laughing at them because they couldn’t figure out the mysterious force.
It was obvious that Bruce wanted to lure the mysterious force out by continuing to mine the sunstones.
Levi guessed Bruce’s plan as well.
Phoenix was fast and accurate as Levi’s intel.
“Boss, I’m sure Bruce’s second transportation is a trap! They must have already set up traps for us!”
“I suggest we give up this time. Since they only mined for a day, the amount of sunstones is negligible!” a few others chimed in.
Levi glanced at them. “Didn’t I swear that I will not let them transport a single sunstone out of Erudia?”
“Yes.” Levi’s subordinates nodded.
“Then we must go ahead with our plan. Even if it’s just half a piece of sunstone, I will take it from them!”
Everyone was astonished by Levi’s determination.
“Understood, boss! We’ll do as you say!”
Soon, a day passed.
After loading the sunstones, Ryker transported the goods from the six major mining sites to the port.
This time, the escort team was much stronger and there were more ships.
Bruce’s plan was to separate the sunstones and load them onto different ships.
“Honk!”
As the transportation team departed, everyone grew increasingly anxious.
The whole world was watching to see if the mysterious force will strike again.
Everyone in Erudia hoped for the mysterious force to intercept the sunstones because they didn’t want their resources to be taken away by others, but Bruce was the one who yearned most for the appearance of the mysterious force so that he could catch them once and for all.
Bruce was indeed sly.
Instead of fully guarding the ships, he purposely ordered his men to leave a few spots out for the mysterious force to attack them.
If their defense was too strong, the mysterious force might not strike and the plan would have failed.
Once they tried to steal the sunstones, they could seize the chance and capture the thieves.
On the other hand, Levi received news that the transportation team had started their journey.
“Alright, let’s begin!” he ordered.
“I still don’t think it’s a good idea, boss. We’ll be ambushed if we strike.”
A few of Levi’s subordinates disagreed with Levi’s plan because they thought they would be caught.
Levi laughed. “Do you think I’ve never thought this through carefully? Once we started our mission, there’s no going back. It’s only going to get harder, and I’m ready for that.”
“Alright, we can rest assured.”
“This is when we show them what we are capable of!” Levi smiled confidently.
Meanwhile, the transportation team members were not drinking and having fun as usual.
Afraid that they might lose their lives, everyone had their guard up and waited for the mysterious force to strike.
Bruce was keeping in contact with the transportation team along the way.
Every second that passed felt painfully long to Bruce and his men.
An hour, two hours…
Seven hours had passed since, but nobody appeared.
Everybody started to panic and thought that the mysterious force decided not to show up.
Even Bruce started to waver.
“Are they not coming? Can it be that they just wanted the energy resources rather than stopping the sunstones from leaving Erudia?”
“Come on, you thieves! This is my only chance of finding you!”
Bruce started to panic.
Deep down, he hoped for the mysterious looters to attack them again.
“Go on, transportation team! Show yourself, thieves!” Bruce prayed.
Eight hours had passed, but nothing happened.
The monitoring stations set up by Bruce detected no abnormal activity along the shipping route.
People in Erudia, who didn’t want the sunstones to be taken by the Lab of Gods, started to lose hope because the mysterious looters had yet to show up.
They might not show up at all.
Furthermore, they would be foolish to attack when Bruce had set up so many traps.
The people in Erudia could only watch and do nothing as the sunstones were taken.
“Was it just a simple theft?” Bruce began to suspect.
“Even if they want to steal from us, I doubt they have the guts to do so, Mr. Johnston. Everyone knows you have set up traps. Unless their goal is to stop us from getting the sunstones, who will dare to attack under such conditions? I don’t think anyone in this world will do that.”
“Yes, you’re right. The most likely person behind this is someone from Erudia, but they will not dare attempt it!”
“In that case, we can only accept that we’ve lost the first batch of sunstones!”
Silence ensued.
It was not a big deal to lose a batch of sunstones.
The Lab of Gods should not be humiliated.
When Bruce finally gave up, someone suddenly yelled, “Oh no!”
Right then, bad news arrived…
The Return of God of War Chapter 2029
The Return of God of War Chapter 2030
The sudden news had everyone shocked.
Bruce, on the other hand, stood up abruptly.
“What happened?” Bruce demanded in a loud voice.
“Mr. Johnston, we just lost the signal from the No.18 monitoring station,” someone in the control room informed the news.
“What? Someone get back to me what’s happening!”
At that moment, Bruce instantly had a bad premonition.
“No! We lost signal from the No.19 monitoring station too!”
“No.20 monitoring station’s signal is gone!”
“We have just lost No.17 too!”
“No.16 is gone!”
“No.15 and No.14 are gone too!”
The next second, multiple alarms in the control room started blazing.
The signals from all thirty monitoring stations set up by Bruce disappeared one by one.
Wham!
The disappearance of the signals was like a series of bombs hitting Bruce and the others in the face, making them breathless.
Luckily everyone was mentally strong. If their minds were weak, there was no doubt that they would probably faint from the shock.
“No! Something’s wrong! The 78 drones we sent are all destroyed!”
“We have lost the signals from the underwater drones in the sea as well!”
“This is not good! All of our machines are acting strangely! Something is wrong with them! Raise the alarm! Raise the alarm!”
No one had ever thought that this was merely the beginning.
The failure of the machines wasn’t the only issue. Countless problems were coming at them one by one.
“Oh no! We have lost contact with the entire Team One of our ambush teams.”
“Team Two is gone too!”
“We lost contact with Team Three too!”
Bruce had arranged a total of eighteen Super Battle Squads around the coastal and the nearby small islands to ambush whoever tried to steal the sunstone, but now all the squads were gone.
“We didn’t just lose contact with them. We lost the signal from the chips inside of them too. It would only mean that they’re dead. None of them survive!”
Before anyone could digest the last piece of news, another bad news came hitting on their faces.
Does this mean that all of the ambush teams are dead? They are the core of our combat forces arranged by Bruce! How could they all perish? This piece of news is too much for us to digest! What kind of person is strong enough to eliminate them all? The squads are the best of their kind!
No one could wrap their heads around what had happened.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Suddenly, Bruce saw explosions flashed across the monitor screen.
The explosions originated from the seven islands that surrounded the shipping route.
Those islands contained the airports and training bases which were all arranged by Bruce as backups. The backup teams would be able to assist within minutes if attacks happened, as accordance to the arrangement.
However, all the seven islands were destroyed now.
“Mr. Johnston, our backup teams and the island training bases are gone! A few of the islands had sunk as well! Everything’s gone!”
Bruce grew quiet, as did everyone else in the control room.
All were dumbfounded by the bad news that kept coming one by one. None of them knew how to react accordingly.
“No! We’ve lost contact with Ship One!”
“Same for Ship Two!”
“Ship Three is gone too!”
Now, one by one, before anyone could even process what had happened previously, they lost contact with the transportation teams.
“We’ve lost the signal of the escort teams’ chips too! They are all dead!”
“I repeat! We lost contact with everyone! The entire escort team is gone!”
Until now, they had lost contact with the transportation teams that carried the sunstones, not to mention that the escort teams were dead, and the ambush teams and the monitoring stations were all gone too.
Everyone was caught off guard as none of them expected such a turn of events in the slightest.
“We’ve just got the latest news! The sunstones are missing! The GPS trackers on the sunstones are deactivated!”
Before transporting the sunstones, Bruce had placed GPS trackers on the sunstones as an extra precaution.
Unfortunately, the effort didn’t pay off. It seemed that the sunstones had been robbed, and they had destroyed the GPS trackers.
The news was shocking to everyone.
Bruce, on the other hand, was mortified.