****(POV)

In a forest that smelled of sewage, a relatively large group of soldiers were steadily progressing. Their faces twisted in disgust, but none complained.

Max was one of them, just Max. For him, it was even worse. He had vomited on the side as soon as they had entered, and even now, he felt like dying. That was all because of the gene therapy he had received. He had the nose and ears of a fucking dog, not literally, just the abilities.

It was even worse because he was the one at the very front, the magical wind colliding with his skin and propagating the stench. He was their current guide, for he had a great quality: he was disposable.

"Where are they?" A colleague asked.

He took a deep sniff and followed the musky smell of the wet fur. His instincts were telling him not to approach the sloths, but he fought it and progressed. His feet felt as heavy as bricks at the moment.

"It should be right there around that big tree," Max replied.

A few instants later, they could see the creature that was peacefully slumbering right in the middle of the pond. There were tons of human bones everywhere. It was as if a small army had breathed their last here.

"How disgusting." Someone grunted.

"Hurry and do it. We'll be covering you." A superior slapped a big syringe in his hand.

Max knew what was expected of him. He feared and abhorred it, but he didn't have much choice. Without any gene stabilizer, he would die anyway. Either he obeyed, or he perished. He was but a small fry, but he would cling to life. He had done so ever since the orphanage.

He unsteadily moved forward. He could feel his heart beating so fast as sweat obscured his vision. The creature was lightly snoring. Its chest was heaving up and down, sending foul air his way.

He resolutely steadied his shaking hand before plunging the syringe in the creature!

CLANG!

What?! He could only watch in stupefaction as the needle failed even to penetrate the skin. How?! This was impossible! He tried once more, but it failed lamentably. He stabbed and stabbed and stabbed some more, without any result.

"I need help!" Max lowly cried out.

"Just stab the damn thing!" A man replied.

"I can't! Fuck!" He had a bad feeling about this.

"Just do it!" He shouted again as if that would help.

"I —Oh god, please have mercy on us." Max could only say as he heard something familiar.

ZOOM!

It was the peculiar sound of an energy cannon charging. It's at that moment he understood they were fucked. The cannon would wake the creature. It would rampage in anger and most probably invade the human world in retaliation.

He couldn't believe it. What kind of madman would do such a crazy thing?! There was only one thing left for him to do. Max fought the fear and dived into the pond, making himself as tiny as possible. He even used the monster itself as cover against the attack.

BOOM!

TREMBLE!

That's when the world trembled, and the sloth woke up. That's also when Max realized how foolish they had been ever to join this expedition.

A few seconds later came the subtle sound of a yawn. He was mostly underwater, but he could hear it. It was... What was the word again? Ah, whatever, who cared.

This pond sure felt nice. It was refreshing, watery, and the best place to sleep at really. It was so comfortable. There was a bit of pungent water that entered his lungs, but that was a detail.

He was so tired after all. He'd maybe cough it out when he woke up. No, he'd just enjoy sleeping. Yeah, it was time to sleep.

*Darkness*

****

There was a nice breeze flowing toward the Dark Legion. Sure, it smelled like death, but what else could one expect from a battlefield? It also carried the screams of more than 700 Gene Corp soldiers.

Josh could be seen happily listening to that melody as he peacefully munched on some random rations. He was even reading the labels enthusiastically. "Oh wow, dried mushroom pasta stick. This sounds exotic."

"Josh, are you really sure this is going to be fine? What if all the sloths wake up from this and go after us?" Roderick asked worriedly.

"Everything should be fine. You worry too much, old man. At this rate, you'll go bald, you know." Kasha replied by the side.

"I'm confident it will definitely probably be fine, unless it isn't, of course." Josh shrugged.

"Probably?! What does that mean?!" Roderick exclaimed.

He quickly ate the last bite of his exotic food before clapping his hands. "Alright, they should be done dying by now. Let's go!"

The Black Legion all looked at him happily go, whistling the 'slow enemies' tune. Was he not worried at all?! There were deadly slothtrosities and tons of enemies in there! Apparently not…

"Say, how many times have you been on a battlefield before?" Kasha came next to him and asked curiously.

"Not many times, to be honest. I spent most of my life in the city." He admitted.

"You don't feel any fear or stress or anything of the genre?" She looked at him as if trying to guess his secrets.

"No, I may be outwardly easygoing, but I'm not fine. Don't tell the others, but I can feel my stomach twist in—"

"What! Even the great Josh Malum can feel like that?!" She exclaimed in triumph.

"—Twist in hunger. I'm human, you know." Josh heavily sighed.

"…." That wasn't the confession she expected at all.

They resumed walking in silence as Josh led them. He soon noticed the blood and the lack of killing intent. There was so much BLOOD! The sloth was there, having a meal. It turned its gaze toward them and half-yawned.

That's when their entire group stopped, falling to the ground. All of them but Josh, for he remained standing with his back straight.

"Wake up, you lazy asses." He scoffed at them.

Instantly, expressions of fright appeared on everyone's faces. They had been completely helpless. That's when they truly understood the danger of D-23 and why it was such a big deal for their enemies.

But then, they couldn't help but stare at Josh. He could see invisible enemies. He could predict the future. He could resist the sloths. Was there anything he couldn't do?! At that exact moment, many decided that they'd name all their sons after him. Yes, ALL of them!

"There is someone in the pond. He's drowning!" Kasha said with shock.

"Then he can drown for all we care. It's not worth it to…."

The sloth had just used its special ability. It wouldn't reuse it right now. Josh turned toward her. "Can you get him?"

She nodded before bolting off. She could be seen leaving green light in her wake as she finally reached the creature. It lazily waved a paw in the air, separating her torso from her legs as a fountain of blood fell in the water.

"No!!!" Roderick screamed as the creature kept eating as if nothing had happened.

"Don't worry. Everything will be fine." Josh calmly patted his shoulder.

"How the Hell can everything be fine?! She just fucking died and—"

"Stop having a panic attack, or you'll really go bald." Kasha's voice was heard behind them as she threw her package on the ground, someone taking care of saving his life.

THUD!

"But seriously, how did you see through my skill? It usually works pretty well." She seemed puzzled.

"See through it? I didn't. Still, do you really think I'd believe such an obvious illusion?" Josh scoffed while Roderick stood awkwardly in the back.

Then they did a rough count. Out of the 700 enemy soldiers, about 200 had died here. This meant that there were still 500 happily roaming about. Well, happily, terrified, same thing really.

Josh turned toward their new prisoner. The man had a baby face, seemed at peace, and mumbled about his many siblings in his sleep. Josh gently awoke him in a quick and efficient method.

SLAP!

SPLASH!

SLAP!

SPLASH!

"I'm awake. I'm awake!" He cried out, opening his eyes in a hurry. The bloodied water and the slaps were working well.

SLAP!

SPLASH!

"I'm awake, I said!" He pitifully cried out.

"I know. I just don't care." Josh shrugged, not bothered in the least.

SLAP!

SPLASH!

"Stop I —" But it wasn't over.

SLAP!

SPLASH!

"Perhaps we should stop this?" Kasha proposed.

"Thank you!" The prisoner exclaimed, but he knew this was a good cop bad cop routine to get him to talk.

"I suggest kicks in the nuts and some burning instead." She kept going.

What?! The man didn't believe his ears. What the Hell was this? Bad cop, worse cop?! Not that it would change anything.

In fact, he was already resolved for death. If he talked, he would die from a lack of medicine. It wasn't the kind that anyone could supply. He needed the one specific to his genetic profile. Only Gene corp had access to the information required to manufacture it.

"Alright, enough! You, talk!" Roderick stopped the crazy duo.

"I'd rather die a hero than a coward. Go ahead, torture me. I won't say a word." He said resolutely.

In his eyes, he had some light. It was clear that he wouldn't change his mind. He feared torture, and he would scream the whole time, but he wouldn't talk. Not willingly, at least, and they had no one with mind skills with them.

Roderick understood it was a vain effort. Just as he was sighing, he felt something. He felt himself shake. He almost pissed himself. He saw something he would never forget. Josh had used a skill that made him look like a bloodied reaper, and he stared at the prisoner.

That was enough for him to start confessing. His name was Max, he was an orphan, he had joined Gene Corp to assure a better life to his siblings, and he was but a small fry. But there was one thing that he somehow had learned by mistake because of his heightened senses.

There was another objective besides D-23. There was another mission that was even more secret. The bigshots of Gene Corps were actually here, in this place, but not for the Sloths.

That's when Josh turned toward the Alter Tower…