**The Pre-mission Briefing in the Command Center Hours Ago, before the Group left Gnarnia.**
And that was when I dropped a bombshell on everyone…the fact that I had handed this very same information over to the US Government, an act that supposedly went against my anarchist ways to their very core.
"You did WHAT NOW? YOU, Mr.ImSoParanoidAboutEverying, explained almost the entire situation to the US Government?" Brenden shouted at the top of his lungs, causing my Father and Emilia to Facepalm.
"I said what I said," with a shrug, I glanced at Xilia out of the corner of my eye. When she noticed my gaze and nodded, I knew it was time to fill everyone in on the true plan I had been formulating, especially since my little slave had finished the many tasks I had given her ahead of time.
"It was a necessary method of cover. Draven will no doubt be lurking somewhere from start to finish, and we need to draw him out. I have no idea what kind of experiments and shenanigans hes been up to, but he wants a grand stage to perform for everyone, much like how I have as Xipher."
The mention of my alter ego caused Emilia to flinch as she was the only one who, even after many years of knowing my identity, couldn’t fully come to terms with the fact.
"Contrary to what he’d like everyone to believe, Draven isn’t as big of a fanboy as you’d think, no he views me as more of a nemesis or rival than anything, always looking to one-up me in some form, and I predict that is precisely what he will attempt this time around."
"He knows I’m back, and frankly, I wouldn’t be surprised if he had known for over a decade before I did the mind trick on everyone after Columbine."
"After all, I had been leaving small breadcrumbs for years, here and there, all the way back to my heading to London. The reason was simple: know thy enemy and all that. If I could weed out any idiots intelligent enough to pick up on them and make the connection that Xipher was alive and living in the past, I could nip it in the bud before they became a threat."
"And given the fact that he was ecstatic to see me, it was more than enough proof that he had already put two and two together. But more importantly, if we were ever to have a shot at dealing with him, it would be today."
"What does that have to do with spilling secrets to the military, Son? I understand you want to lure the bastard out, but why give up more than necessary to people who wish to control us?" Interjecting my Father posed a valid point, one I had an answer to.
"There is someone high up in the food chain giving returners a wide berth, probably a top-level general who is remaining in the dark, so it’s a give-and-take situation, I give him the information he wants, and he gives me…or well, Nexus freedom of movement and total control over the ground forces."
"Without my being in control of passing orders down, things will get messy and could potentially paint all of us in a bad light; thus, I need the ability to maneuver the military forces, along with the other Squadrons like chess pieces, in that way, I will create the perfect battleground between us, the strongest of the returners, and Draven."
"So this is all just one big setup to bring Draven into a battle on equal terms…" Emilia added, causing me to shake my head negatively.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.
"No, Draven is a symptom of a greater infection called public opinion. Although I gave you a crash course on what COULD happen, I am 99% sure each of the gates will generate an Instance Break. If that’s the case, we all know there will be a boss monster attached to it, five gates, five powerful Boss Class monsters, and all of which will no doubt be manipulated in some way by Draven."
"So we paint him as the True Villain and ourselves as the saviors of the United States."
"Only the States? What about the world?" Xilia added. Being a foreigner, she, of course, had a broader view of the world as a whole.
"It’s impossible; if I pushed that point, we would be dragged to every Tower to clean it up, which is not only annoying but tiresome, so my target audience is here on the homefront."
"What do you mean by audience…oh…yeah, that makes sense." Interrupting, Brenden started asking for clarification, but when I held up the baseball-sized camera drone, he understood.
"Now, there will come a point where things may seem desperate, and failure may be imminent but know that it is all within my plans; just push your hardest and fight with everything on the line."
"Once I drag Draven into the picture, all you need to do is wait for my signal, and once I give it, burn everything you’ve got. We attack together, and we will wipe that smug bastard off the planet once and for all."
"Taylor, I don’t mean to be a downer here, but what if he escapes…" Checking her robes to ensure she had everything she needed, Emilia said what was on everyone’s mind.
"If he escapes…then it will mean he is slightly better at planning or has multiple trump cards to pull from…either way, come hell or high water, I plan on wiping out those trump cards until we cut off the source." with that said, I connected my mind to Xilia’s and spoke through telepathy.
’How hard was it to locate?’
’A total pain in the ass, infiltrating the Rockefeller Vaults wasn’t simple, but I got it done, anyway are you sure you know how to work this thing? I mean, Golems aren’t exactly easy to handle, especially ones that can channel their Owner’s particles.’ Xilia stated as she handed me a small humanoid object that looked like a standard action figure.
’It’s not my first time using this particular one anyway; when it comes time to use this thing, we will need to be perfectly in sync; just keep in mind, there will always be someone watching and listening in on us, so keep things cosher on the surface, no matter what.’