"What?" The other scientist beside him muttered, wrinkles appearing on his cheek. "What about the centipedes we sent to the nearby city?"
With a disheartened voice, he murmured, glancing down. "No news about that..."
Suddenly, a muscular guy entered from a steel door on the right. "Our attack on the city has failed!"
The scientists turned towards him in a deep shock, their mouths open while their eyes widened.
"Don't worry," the muscular guy shouted, pointing upwards. "We'll keep moving the plan forward."
The scientists nodded their heads and the muscular guy exited.
"The moons are soon going to turn blue," The muscular guy sighed as he walked in a narrow hallway. "I wonder what plans the boss has for Zamezon."
The hallway was bathed in a bright, futuristic, green glow, giving it an otherworldly appearance. Its metal walls enclosed it from all sides, and a complex network of coiled wires adorned those walls.
Approaching a wooden door, he pondered whether the boss would be available.
He gently knocked at the door, but to his surprise, the door was already unlocked. "Boss?"
A heavy voice replied. "Come in."
The dimly lit room revealed only a central table, illuminated by the soft glow of a futuristic computer.
The boss was a large man covered in wolf fur and luxurious rings. He had a yellow hairstyle that made him look like an underworld gangster.
"The look on your face says everything," He intimidated the muscular guy, his voice echoing through the room. "Any information on how they were defeated?"
Covered in fear from the intimidating glare, the muscular guy was copiously sweating. "A-About Kiro..."
He slowly glanced towards the boss but couldn't dare to look into his eyes. "Kiro was defeated in mere minutes."
"What?" The boss slammed his hands on the desk and yelled. "But Kiro was the strongest monster that the headquarters gave us!"
The other man's legs quivered uncontrollably. His voice trembled as he spoke, "K-Kiro wasn't killed by the wolf, but by a mere sapohuman."
As soon as he finished, a sharpened katana appeared out of thin air, pointed at his neck. The boss was right before him, staring into his eyes.
"You dare lie to me, Moj?" The boss whispered with a death glare that intensified the pressure, making Moj's heartbeat race like a supercar.
"I-I don't dare!" Moj replied, his eyes contracting.
"Huh..." The boss sighed, moving back his katana. Within a split second, he teleported to the chair near the table. "What was his name?"
"I think he called himself Saitama," Moj panted, drops of sweat falling on the dark ground.
"Saitama, huh?" The boss placed his legs on the table while pulling out a cigarette from his pocket. "Doesn't sound like a strong name."
He continued after a pause, "What happened to the wolf then?"
"The same guy probably killed the wolf," Moj replied, wiping off sweat from his forehead.
"So, he's that strong?" The boss tilted his head. "Do you think he's stronger than me?"
Moj looked around and answered nervously. "N-No, it's not possible!"
The boss started to laugh. "Do you take me for a fool?"
"NOT A CHANCE BOSS! YOU ARE ONE OF THE BEST FIGHTERS IN ARPLESIS!" Moj shouted with confidence.
The boss brought the cigarette towards his mouth. "That was better, but your acting needs work."
Miraculously, a flame materialized, conveniently illuminating the cigar. "How much time until the blue moon-"
A mysterious voice abruptly emerged from the flying computer near the boss's table. "Big News! We have received secret intel from Mr. X that Zamezon won't be coming tonight!"
Pushing his chair back violently, the boss shouted. "Is that true?"
"Are you doubting Mr. X?" The voice replied in arrogance.
"N-No," The boss shook his head. "Does that mean we can set up the reactor already?"
"Yes, you can invest the energy that was to be used for trapping Zamezon into the reactor," The voice mentioned. "With such a big threat out of our way, we can extract all the magical energy from the moon and the nation of Militia shall pose no threat to us!"
Within the blink of an eye, another screen appeared. "These are the estimated data values for the frequency rates of the magical energy distribution. Signing off."
The voice faded slowly away as the boss looked around in awe. "You heard him," He intimidated Moj.
"Yes," Moj quickly left the room.
He rushed through the hallway and reached back at the room filled with scientists.
"We are ready to open the reactor!" He shouted. "Use all the energy we saved for Zamezon's trap. The boss will send you the assumed moon's energy data shortly."
"B-But," One of the scientists raised his hand.
"No ifs or buts, only follow the commands!" He yelled back.
"Right!" The scientist exclaimed, returning back to his computer. "Sir Moj, please turn on the spaceship."
Moj nodded and hurried through the hallway again, this time reaching the very end of it. In front of him was a giant steel door embedded with live wires. He bent forward to open the knob carefully.
"I'm dead if I touch any," He slowly twisted the knob.
"These wires have over twenty-two thousand volts of current constantly buzzing," He gulped. "Please don't mess up, please don't mess up!"
Moj squinted his eyes, placing his fingertips on the extreme ends of the knob. After a brief pause, he slammed the door open, revealing an otherworldy spaceship.
The spaceship dominated the room, its sleek hull occupying nearly all available space. It had exquisite windows planted all around its front and the sides were wrapped in an unknown, otherworldly metal that seemed to buzz with latent energy.
With a determined heart, he crossed to the opposite end of the room and flicked a switch. In an instant, the spaceship came to life, bathing the room in a radiant yellow light.
After a few suspenseful moments, the spaceship ascended with a loud wham.
The roof gradually opened, allowing the crimson moonlight to pour in, casting a blinding glow over the scene. Moj fixed his gaze on the soaring spaceship.
"One hour until the moon turns blue," he murmured, his voice filled with a mixture of hope and anxiety. "I hope everything goes according to plan."
TO BE CONTINUED...