As dawn broke, Flora Bloom opened her eyes. Besides Cynthia Grant, who was already gone, everyone else was still asleep. Flora shook her head and let out a sigh.
Below the terminal building, thirty soldiers had assembled early, lined up neatly in formation on the open ground as they awaited instructions.
She had heard the noise from downstairs the mont she woke up, yet Milton Adler hadn’t sent anyone to hurry them. ’Those soldiers down there probably aren’t easy to get along with,’ she thought. ’Being late is a major taboo in the military, so they’ll probably try to put in my place any minute now.’
Flora Bloom woke everyone up, then unhurriedly prepared water for them to wash with before they all had bread and milk for breakfast. She filled two backpacks with bread, chocolate, and water, along with six or seven red tomatoes, and handed them to her parents.
"We passed through the suburbs on our way here, so the flour mill shouldn’t be far. Mom, Dad, you need to be wary of Milton Adler. Caleb, make sure you listen to Auntie Jade."
Caleb nodded obediently, while he and Jade looked at Flora Bloom with serious, worried expressions.
Flora Bloom said no more, instead heading downstairs with Neal Wallace and Ethan Monroe.
Milton Adler, dressed impeccably in his impressive uniform, stood before the thirty-man team. Seeing Flora Bloom and her two companions descend, he imdiately called the troops to attention.
"This is the leader of your mission, Flora Bloom." Milton Adler gestured to her, then turned and gave her a slight smile.
When the thirty soldiers saw a young girl and two n approaching, they had already been wondering just who this supposedly distinguished leader for their mission was.
But to hear General Adler tell them that this young girl, who looked too weak to even truss a chicken, was their leader? Weren’t they just being sent to their deaths under the guise of a mission?
Suddenly, the sound of jogging footsteps grew closer, and a voice called out from the rear of the formation.
"Reporting! dic Cynthia Grant requests permission to accompany the team on this mission!"
Flora Bloom raised an eyebrow, watching as Cynthia Grant reached the front of the group, where she saluted and stared at Milton Adler without so much as a blink.
Milton Adler glanced over at Flora Bloom. After she gave him a nod, he shouted, "Cynthia Grant, fall in."
"Reporting! I object!"
After a soldier shouted out, he was called from the ranks.
"General Adler, the officers who led previous missions for food and supplies were platoon leaders at the very least—champions or runners-up from the annual competitions. Are you trying to send us to our deaths by making a little girl our leader? I won’t stand for it!"
"This is an order!" Milton Adler shouted, his face grim. But the soldier who had stepped out remained completely unmoved, ignoring him.
"Our squad’s commanding officer is General Lynch! We are not required to obey any orders other than his!"
Hearing this, Flora Bloom turned to Milton Adler, a dangerous glint in her eyes. ’This damn old man,’ she thought, ’actually assigned a squad of old General Sherman Lynch’s forr subordinates.’
’This way, if we bring back food alive, it will be chalked up to his brilliant command, and he’ll take no small amount of credit. But if we die out there, he’ll have conveniently eliminated so dissidents in the process.’
’The old fox really has it all figured out. A true battlefield veteran—his cunning is unparalleled.’
’But what’s strange is that even Cynthia Grant has volunteered for the mission. Where is Hugh Warren, the one who tipped us off yesterday? Why is he nowhere to be seen?’
"This is a blatant disregard for military discipline! How will you answer to your direct superior, the now-missing General Sherman Lynch? To Old General Lynch?"
The soldier, on the receiving end of Milton Adler’s furious roar, still did not flinch, though his face was beet red. Suddenly, he shouted again.
"In that case, I demand a sparring match with our leader! If she wins, we’ll willingly accept her leadership and follow her commands for this mission!"
The expressions of the other twenty-nine soldiers were just as resolute. They looked to him as their representative, not at all surprised that a veteran soldier like him was challenging a young girl to a fight.
Milton Adler frowned and turned to Flora Bloom with a look of feigned difficulty, which made her want to laugh. ’Troubled?’ she scoffed internally. ’He’s not troubled in the slightest. He just wants these soldiers to give a hard ti before we even set out.’
"You can challenge , fine. However, I’ll only accept your challenge if you can defeat one of my two assistants first. How does that sound?"
Flora Bloom walked to the front of the formation. Looking at the thirty soldiers united in their animosity, she knew that they, along with Cynthia Grant, had been completely manipulated by Milton Adler.
When she recalled her bet with Milton Adler, her opinion of him plumted even further.
The soldier hadn’t expected the girl to agree. He assud her suggestion—that he first challenge one of the two n behind her—was just a tactic to delay her inevitable defeat.
"Soldier Hugh Holden challenges you!" Hugh Holden suddenly stepped in front of Neal Wallace to declare his challenge.
Neal Wallace glanced at Flora Bloom, who just shrugged nonchalantly. "Just don’t kill him," she said.
Neal Wallace nodded and took several steps back.
Milton Adler appointed himself referee, stepping into the space between the two n and yelling, "Begin!"
Hugh Holden had just settled into a military combat stance when he saw red flas suddenly erupt in Neal Wallace’s hand. He froze on the spot.
"You... you’re an Ability User?"
Neal Wallace nodded nonchalantly. "Still want to fight?" he asked.
Hugh Holden hesitated. He glanced at Flora Bloom, clearly unwilling to concede, but he knew he stood no chance against a Fire Ability User. His gaze then shifted toward Ethan Monroe.
Seeing the soldier’s gaze land on him, Ethan Monroe conjured a clod of earth in his hand and tossed it at Hugh Holden.
Hugh Holden dodged it nimbly, his eyes lighting up. His attitude toward Flora Bloom did a complete one-eighty as he asked excitedly, "Young lady, don’t tell you’re an Ability User, too?"
Flora Bloom looked at Hugh Holden, her expression blank. "You aren’t qualified to know yet," she said.
She scanned the thirty-one soldiers, including Cynthia Grant, and asked in a perfectly level voice, "Now, am I qualified to be your leader?"
The thirty-one soldiers exchanged glances, then shouted in unison, "Yes!"
They didn’t know what this young girl’s superpower was, but with an offensive Fire-type and a defensive Earth-type by her side, her own ability couldn’t possibly be weak. Besides, with the Wood Elent user Cynthia Grant accompanying them as a dic, they felt certain they could complete this mission.
But then, Flora Bloom’s voice drifted lazily into their ears.
"Since you all acknowledge as your leader, my first order of business concerns what you call . ’Boss’ or ’Leader’ will do. Understood?"
"Understood!"
With the matter settled, the group now accepted Flora Bloom as their unexpected leader. Milton Adler faced the thirty-one of them and shouted, "Detachnt personnel, all thirty-one present and accounted for! Fall in and assemble in the command room!"
"Yes!"
After shouting in unison, the thirty-one soldiers made a neat left-face and fell into formation behind Milton Adler.
"Leader Bloom, please accompany to the command room. We need to formulate a plan for this operation."
The command room was on the third floor of the Lighthouse Terminal. Led by Milton Adler, the group of thirty-four entered what appeared to be a hastily assembled command room.
An officer inside, who had been staring at a large-screen computer, imdiately snapped to a salute upon seeing Milton Adler enter.
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