Life in North America, you call this an autopsy officer?!
Chapter 44 - 36: Sudden Change!

Chapter 44: Chapter 36: Sudden Change!

As full-fledged reservists of the NW.

This time, Brian and his companions’ visit to Ace Base clearly had much higher stakes.

A military helicopter landed directly on the rooftop of the precinct, picking up Brian and the other four.

The only thing that surprised him was,

on the helicopter, aside from the few members of Squad Six, there was also an extra body bag.

..

Because the helicopter had no observation windows apart from the cockpit, they couldn’t see outside.

This time, they weren’t required to wear blindfolds.

"What’s this?"

Glenn kicked the body bag curiously and asked.

After a day of rest,

Glenn’s face, despite sporting two large dark circles, had become noticeably more animated.

Perhaps this was his true nature.

The previous behavior was just a front due to being in a new environment.

Now that he was fully inducted, he no longer pretended.

Besides Glenn,

Ivan was the same.

The guy was actually wearing a garishly pink suit, which paired with his hormone-exploding physique, long hair, and a goatee, looked pretty odd.

In Brian’s mind unbidden came the image of a bearded giant in a women’s sailor suit, with golden pigtails, hands cradling his chest, one leg coyly cocked behind him, posing in a shy demeanor for the camera...

Susan was rather oblivious to these perceptions.

She was fiddling with her paired large-caliber revolvers, yawned, and explained: "This is Mad Dog Ike’s corpse."

"Mad Dog Ike’s corpse?"

Ivan, Glenn, and Brian exchanged glances, all sensing something odd.

Why would they bring this guy’s body to the base instead of just cremating it?

Only the older Hardenn seemed to think of something, showing a hint of melancholy and disgust, and he shifted further back, distancing himself from the corpse.

Faced with the trio’s puzzlement,

Susan, in a good mood, smiled lightly and said, "You don’t think the helicopter came just for us, do you?"

"Captain, are you saying the body is the base’s real objective?"

Brian thought about Ike’s incredibly special "Supercomputer Perception" talent and vaguely guessed something.

He had already confirmed.

The Blood Moon celestial event that occurs once every thirty years in this world is not a normal astronomical phenomenon!

Susan nodded, "Yes, but you haven’t signed a confidentiality agreement yet, so I can’t tell you why. However, you’ll learn the reason after the onboarding training. Oh by the way..."

She suddenly looked at Brian, "There’s something we must thank Brian for. The blast incident had a bad influence, and as a reward, our Squad Six will receive a bonus later. Moreover, once this corpse is delivered to the base and verified, we can also receive a substantial private bonus."

"How much money?"

The usually silent Hardenn was stirred.

Fuck him an almighty.

He still hadn’t gotten his five hundred US Dollars reimbursed!

The others also perked up.

Money is something nobody ever thinks is too much.

Susan spun her dual revolvers with flair, shrugged and said, "I’m not sure about the case-solving bonus, but Ike’s body, if it meets the standards, is worth a minimum of a million US Dollars. This sum is tax-free. At that point, I plan to give half directly to Brian, and the rest of us can split the remainder."

Brian was overjoyed.

Five hundred thousand US Dollars?

Didn’t that mean he could perform a preemptive strike and put on an art show for his great uncle without worrying about his adoptive parents’ medical bills?

Hardenn and the others also showed faces of pleasant surprise.

The four of them, sharing five hundred thousand, could each get over a hundred thousand US Dollars, which was almost equivalent to two years’ salary for them!

This Ike, he was actually worth that much?

With joyful hearts,

The few on the helicopter started to look forward to the so-called onboarding training mentioned by Susan with even more anticipation.

...

After arriving at the base,

Brian and his companions went through rigorous checks and were once again asked to wear special blindfolds before being driven in the base’s vehicle.

They endured a bumpy ride, waiting.

The elevator’s roaring began.

In a state of weightlessness,

a sequence of numbers naturally emerged in Brian’s mind: 10 meters, 30 meters...121 meters.

When the elevator came to a stop,

the number in Brian’s mind ended at 121!

This underground base was located a staggering 121 meters below the surface!

Susan was obviously very familiar with this base.

After removing their hoods,

She led everyone straight through the main corridor, making left and right turns, passing through several metal lift doors made of a special alloy, until they finally reached a screening room akin to a movie theater.

Brian noticed.

The base’s guards had taken their issued guns, but Susan’s two large revolvers at her waist had not been touched.

This gave him a more intuitive understanding of Susan’s family background and identity.

This was a leg he must cling to!

...

"It seems we are the earliest of the reserve teams to arrive. Alright, I..."

Susan was about to go look for her uncle Pavel.

But Pavel, accompanied by four fully armed soldiers, appeared at the entrance of the screening room.

"Uncle Pavel..."

Susan moved forward with a hint of surprise, "Are you conducting the orientation training today?"

Pavel’s expression was serious as he pulled Susan behind him with one swift movement and waved his hand.

The four fully armed soldiers behind him, their eyes the only feature visible, immediately pointed their guns at Brian in the crowd.

"Employee Brian, we have some issues that need to be reviewed with you. Please come with us!"

Pavel, the old man who had interviewed Brian, now had none of the smiling warmth he had shown when he had first invited Brian to join; he was not only cold but also held a strong hostility.

Brian’s heart skipped a beat.

This was bad.

He realized!

His great-uncle had sent him to join NW, supposedly to validate a secret that could empower the Kamor family, but the real purpose was probably to use him as cannon fodder!

And in this base, located 121 meters underground, there was no chance for him to run.

Resigned, he raised his hands, ready to go forward.

But a strong figure blocked Brian’s path.

Ivan looked at Pavel and the others with a stern expression, "Brian is also an NW employee, our colleague. If there’s an issue, let’s clear it up here. Otherwise, I won’t allow anyone to harm my colleague in front of me!"

Glenn hesitated but still stepped forward to stand with Ivan.

Susan spread her arms in front of the few soldiers, "I’m Brian’s team leader, come to me first if there’s an issue!"

The remaining Hardenn sighed, taking a step forward to shield everyone.

Hmm...

He hid behind Ivan and Glenn...

Looking at these colleagues he had not known for many days.

Brian was moved.

These guys really had loyalty!

Seeing this, Pavel suddenly acted, jabbing an electric baton into Susan’s stomach.

Susan’s eyes rolled back as she slumped to the ground.

Having dealt with his niece.

Pavel coldly extended three fingers, "I’ll count to three. Move, or everyone gets shot!"

Hisss~

Watching this group, they seemed genuinely unfeigned.

Hardenn was the first to run off.

Glenn looked back at Brian and shrugged, "Sorry, buddy. If something happens to you, I’ll place a bouquet of daisies I grew myself on your grave."

With that,

he also stepped aside.

The only one left, Ivan, looked regretfully at Brian’s shapely rear, shook his head, moved to the side, and covered his eyes with his hands.

Brian: ...

Damn...

So much for not letting a colleague be taken away in front of you.

You’re just going to cover your eyes!

But he didn’t blame them.

If their roles were reversed,

without an emotional connection, he probably wouldn’t have stepped forward to begin with.

"Man dies and birds fly high; no death is forever."

A fierce look flitted through Brian’s eyes.

If he made it out of this okay,

he would show his great-uncle what an explosion of art looked like upon his return!

...

And so,

on the eve of the orientation training, Brian was taken to a room blacked out entirely with an unfamiliar material, housing a device resembling a CT scanner.

Apart from this huge machine,

there was also a gurney placed to one side with a body on it.

Brian recognized at a glance that it was the body of Mad Dog Ike.

What were these people planning to do?