Chapter 290: The Military

’What is she doing here?’

For a moment I thought I might have mistaken about who I saw, but then I caught her scent.

It’s definitely her.

“Liam?!”

She also recognized me. The moment she called my name, everyone turned in her direction.

The soldier who spoke on the microphone speaker was the first to speak.

“Private Ava, do you know this man?”

Ava Forel. Who would’ve thought that I’d run into my former student council president on a ship in the middle of the ocean.

She was with us a little after the apocalypse, but we ended up parting ways. She said she was going to find her father, who was a high-ranking military officer.

Who would’ve thought I’d run into her here of all places.

“Y-Yes, sir!”

Private Ava was dressed in the standard navy green military uniform. Her hair was tied in a bun, and she wore a military cap on top of her head.

“We went to the same school, sir,” Ava answered.

A small smile appeared on the soldier’s face as he turned to me.

“That’s good. We have someone to verify your identity. Now that we’re certain that you’re human, let me introduce myself. I’m Lieutenant Ethan Stark. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Liam,” he said with his hand extended.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you too,” I said, shaking his hand.

“We’ll give you food and a place to stay until we get back to the mainland. I’ll have one of my privates show you to where you’ll be staying.”

Immediately, as Ethan said that, a private stepped up and carried me off to the lower deck, where the bunk beds were.

I had a feeling that Ethan wanted to speak to Ava in private. Maybe to question her more about me.

“This is where you’ll sleep. You’ll have to bunk with Gary it’s the one over to the right corner. We’ll bring you a change of clothes and something to eat soon.”

…

They did as they promised, and after a while, I was given a change of clothes and something to eat.

I laid on the top bunk bed, staring aimlessly at the ceiling as the ship rocked back and forth.

“So what now?” I mumbled to myself.

My goal in leaving was to get stronger and explore the world a bit more.

“I guess I’ll have to get to the mainland and see from there. At least I’m going somewhere now instead of drifting aimlessly at sea,” I sighed.

Soon, the door to the room opened once again. It was Ethan, smiling ear to ear.

“I see you’re settling in. Come with me; the captain wants to speak with you.”

At Ethan’s words, I hopped down from the bed and followed him out of the room.

“You seem like a good kid,” Ethan commended as I followed behind him.

“Did Ava tell you that?”

“Oh, um… no, we aren’t really that close.”

“Really? I thought she was your girlfriend.”

Ethan froze and quickly snapped his head back to look at me. Question marks were written all over his face.

“I’m good at observing others,” I said.

“You found that out just from seeing the two of us. Are we that obvious?”

“Don’t worry; I don’t think others will notice. I’m just good at these kinds of things,” I assured him, seeing how worried he looked.

It wasn’t hard to tell when two people had an intimate relationship with each other. A lingering gaze, a spike in heartbeat, or just the dopamine rush they get whenever they lock eyes. All of these I could sense easily.

Suddenly, Ethan looked at me with a pleading expression.

“Please don’t let anyone find out. See, Ava is the captain’s granddaughter. This could lead to problems for me if anyone finds out. It’s because of the apocalypse; I never would’ve done something like this otherwise. Ava was sad after losing her family, and I helped her, and that led to…”

“It’s fine. I won’t tell anyone,” I said, cutting him off while resting my hand on his shoulder. I really didn’t care. I just needed something else. “Can you tell me about your captain?”

“Our captain? I don’t know if I should, umm…” Ethan paused before sighing. “Our captain is an awakener. A while ago, most of the high-ranking officials died. All except the ones who had awakened. Ava’s father was among those who had died.”

“How did they die?”

“That’s the thing. They died from a heart attack, even though they didn’t have any preexisting heart condition. It was as if death itself had swept over them.”

That sounded awfully familiar.

“Anyway, our captain was one of the few awakeners who rose up and took control of the military. Our goal is to take back our land from the demons. We have already defeated 3 Arch Demons and took back three cities.”

“Oh, so the military is fighting back. That’s good to hear,” I said.

Things could get interesting.

“Yep. We even managed to acquire a powerful weapon. That is the real reason for our advancement.”

“A weapon?” I inquired. Ethan smiled, patted me across the back, and gave me a wink. “Maybe one day you’ll see it.”

Our conversation ended there, as we soon arrived at the room where the captain was.

Ethan knocked on the door twice, and after hearing a rough voice beckoning us to enter, we stepped in.

Inside the room was an office space, littered with papers and metal bent into odd shapes.

Behind a rather large desk was a large, muscular man. His military uniform could hardly contain his muscular chest and arms.

But though he was muscular, the man had wrinkles on his face that spoke to his age.

Ethan stood beside me with his arms behind his back, while I stood facing the captain.

His cold blue eyes seemed to have been accessing my worth.

Behind the captain, Ava stood in the same position as Ethan, with her hands behind her back.

After a few minutes of him staring at me, he finally leaned back in his chair.

“Let’s cut to the point. My granddaughter tells me you’re an awakener. So, I want you to join the military.”

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