BXBX NOVEL Chapter 199 Civilians
The atmosphere within the conference room was heavy when Kaze asked for a status report on the families within Lainwright Military Base.
It was a heavy topic that would impact over three thousand Immortals and ex-special forces soldiers, as their families were the topic of discussion.
Riley swallowed nervously, taking a sharp breath before answering confidently. "My team handled the relocation of Immortal Skye's people.
We transferred 3,491 men, women, and children to Lainwright. I've been told you're aware that others perished before your negotiation."
The emperor nodded, affirming that he hadn't forgotten that 1,692 family members had already died before the relocation, mostly elderly refusing to cultivate.
"Additionally, another team handled the 1,013 military families for the trainees at Immortal Skye." She continued, "I represent him as well, as he's overseeing everyone's safety."
Kaze nodded again, followed by Evalyn, Jake, Kylie, Edison Michaels, Kane, and Carmen. Everyone else was barred from the meeting, as they didn't need to know the sensitive information.
"We lost 472 of your people since then." Riley said, closing her eyes, "There was great chaos during the influx and an order for us to kill them. We protected them, but by that point, we had lost many.
Additionally, Major Stanford's team lost 421 of the military families—"
Kane slammed his hands on the table. "You mean that someone had military families, with a smaller size, and lost nearly [half] of them!?"
He was appalled that they managed to save so many Immortal family members despite having more and that they weren't military families.
The six soldiers winced, hearing his words. No one wanted to discuss the topic, but Kane's eyes demanded it.
"Calm down, Kane." Kaze said calmly, catching him off guard with his first name, "Before letting your emotions cloud your thoughts, discern whether the disparity is the result of revenge or the competence of Lieutenant Colonel Lycan. Perhaps it's another factor; that's what we are here to learn."
Kane calmed down and eyed Riley suspiciously. However, he found no excitement about the emperor's potential praise in her eyes. She looked just as nervous as before, making him feel uneasy.
"Lieutenant Colonel Lycan, you said you were in charge of our people." Kaze prefaced, "Does that mean you were with them as they cultivated during the influx."
"Correct." Riley replied, "We were doing our daily cultivation in a gym, as mandated, when we felt the overwhelming Qi pressure in the atmosphere."
"And what happened after that?" The emperor asked.
"As you can imagine, things quickly got out of control, and we didn't know what was happening because we were inside." The redhead replied.
-
—July 7th, 2032, Lainwright Military Base—
Riley sat with ten soldiers and nearly 3,500 men, women, and children civilians in a large basketball multi-court basketball gym in Lainwright military base. There were three wood courts back to back and bleachers on each side.
On both ends were large double doors leading from the outside training grounds.
They sat in orderly rows, cultivating at 8:59 am while another ten soldiers protected them.
It was their morning routine, a mandate of the agreement between Malta and Immortal Skye.
The redhead and their troops didn't mind, as it gave them free time for cultivation, which they all appreciated.
However, when the clock struck nine, everything changed.
"GahhhHHhhHhhHHH WHAT IS THIS!?" One of the soldiers on guard gasped, falling to the ground.
Another three followed, each hitting the ground, groaning.
A sharp pain assaulted Riley's meridians, but she handled it well since she was cultivating and had relatively strong cultivation power.
She opened her eyes, turned to see the soldiers, and then turned back to find all the civilians glowing with a faint green aura.
"What are you doing!?" A soldier roared, raising his assault rifle at the glowing crowd, "Did you do this!?"
The family members were abnormally calm, and many put up their hands. "No, we didn't. This is just—"
"Shut up!" The man yelled but hit the ground again, groaning in pain.
-
—Present Time, Immortal Skye—
"The breathing technique your people have glows under periods of high stress." The redhead explained, "Most hadn't seen it, so they assumed they were using a technique to overload people's minds and meridians."
Everyone at the table except Kaze cringed. He listened intently, allowing her to continue.
Riley panned everyone's gazes. "As a result—"
-
—July 7th, 2032, Lainwright Military Base—
"These people are killing us!" A man yelled.
"We need to stop their techniques!"
"Calm down, soldiers!" Riley yelled at full volume, "According to the general, their cultivation technique glows green! We were told this!"
"The fuck it does!" A woman yelled, trying to push herself off the floor, "We do this every day!"
Another man stood up with his assault rifle, destabilized from the prior weeks.
"How convenient, yeah?" He spat in disgust, "Their technique glows simultaneously out of the blue and drops all the soldiers, but they're fine!?"
"S-Sir, calm down." A gentle-spoken man said, "This breathing technique is called Calm Respire. It lowers stress to make cultivation easy—"
"You're saying your cultivation calms people down like it's fuckin' chamomile!?" He yelled, "Shut up!"
The calm man took a deep breath. "Sir, it uses—"
"I said, shut up!" The soldier yelled.
BANG!
He shot the man in the chest, instantly causing panic.
The room flooded with a green light when the stress hit a boiling point, calming down the thousands of family members and washing over the soldiers.
When the man who shot the civilian felt a tranquility wash over his mind, a profound wave of regret passed through him. "I-I… this is…."
-
—Present Time, Immortal Skye—
"If it weren't for the calming effects of that technique, it would've triggered a massacre." Riley explained somberly, "I imagine that's why you gave them that technique—thank you."
Kaze nodded his head. "That was the purpose, yes. However, it didn't last long, did it?"
"Correct." The redhead swallowed nervously, nodding her head, "Once the effects wore off, the entire room broke into chaos.
Your people were panicked that a soldier shot a man who barely survived.
The soldiers were anxious that there were 3,500 pissed-off people. However, they panicked when they realized the man, over 50, had taken a bullet to the chest and didn't die.
It occurred to the soldiers that your people were physically stronger and faster than them. Therefore, if the civilians wanted to take revenge—"
"It would be game over." Evalyn completed, looking the grimacing woman in the eye, "So how did you avoid that outcome? Or was that when people started dying en masse?"
-
—July 7th, 2032, Lainwright Military Base—
"Stay the fuck down!" A soldier yelled, pointing at a sea of citizens who started at him with crazed expressions.
Their mind was processing the man's movements in slow motion. For the first time, they saw the raw power of cultivating multiple hours a day with a higher-level technique.
"Put your guns down!" A woman wearing simple casual attire said, "We don't want trouble, but we don't trust you!"
"You don't trust us!?" A soldier yelled, "Then leave! This is out military base!"
When the soldiers saw the civilians spreading out to prevent getting in each other way, preparing to attack, they panicked and readied their aim.
Bang! Bang! Ratatat! Bang-bang-bang!
"AghhHHhhhahhHHhhHhhHHh!"
"GET THE FUCK OFF ME!"
Bang! Bang!
"Die you son of a bitch!"
Ratatat! Ratatat!
"FUCK YOU!"
"M-Mark, stop!"
However, a flurry of gunfire and screaming came from outside the gym's walls, stopping everyone in their tracks.
"W-What the fuck's going on?" A soldier trembled, turning his gun to the door.
"Put that thing down." Riley growled, making the soldier comply. She motioned to her major, Randy, and the two walked to the door with pistols drawn.
Thu-dump! Thud-dump!
Everyone's hearts began pounding like war drums, no longer influenced by the cultivation in the room, as they walked to the large, tan double doors on the south side of the room.
-
"I'll rip your fucking throat out, bitch!"
"Get away! I don't want to—AhhHhHH!"
Bang! Thud!
"I-I just killed Mark…."
"Don't just stand there, Jenna! We gotta move!"
"B-But, Jason... I just—"
"Murderer! Get over here, you cunt!"
"I'm not a murderer, Ted! Y-You weren't here."
"Jenna, ignore him and run! We need to go!"
"I need to go... Ted! Get away from me, TED!"
-
Riley and Randy posted on each side of the door. The man reached for the left door to open it while the redhead aimed in anticipation of it opening.
Thu-dump! Thu-dump! Thu-dump! Thu-dump!
BANG!
Everyone's vision blurred when Randy went to open the door put a pistol fired at the same moment, creating a wave of static anxiety.
Riley and her major stopped moving, trying to reassess the situation.
-
"Did you just shoot at me!? You are a murderer!"
"It was a warning shot! Stay away!"
"Jenna, let's go!"
"Stay away!? The fuck I will! I'm gonna rip that gun out of your hand and skull fuck you with it, bitch!"
-
Hearing the situation escalating, Riley gave the command to open the door but—
SLAM! Slam! SLAM!
"AGHhHHhhHhhh! STOP, TED!"
"Get away from her, you animal!"
"Shut Up!" Slam! "Shut UP!" Slam! "SHUT UP!" SLAM!
-
Everyone listened in shock as the door to the gym slammed as the assailant ran a superhuman speed, tackling the woman into the door and slamming her into it multiple times.
"Now!" Riley yelled, triggering Randy to open the door.
SLAM! ERK!
He opened the door, and a man and woman flew into the room at high speed, showcasing the force the man was using.
CRACK!
Everyone in the room looked at the two in horror. The woman who was on the other end, a blonde, was covered in blood. Her skull was cracked like an egg, and she was clearly dead.
However, the man attacking her, gazing at her with ferocious eyes, wasn't finished.
He got up from the floor and immediately jumped on top of her, choking her corpse, seemingly unaware of the thousands of watching people.
A man ran into the room from outside. "JENNA!"
Riley and Randy let him run past them with blank expressions, staring outside the door.
It wasn't until—
BANG! THUD!
—the outside soldier put a gun to the attacker's head and pulled the trigger that they snapped out of their haze.
"Hurry, lock the door." Riley said to her major, ignoring the violent scene behind them, "We need to lock this place down—now!"