9 Days Since First Strike — MOA Complex, Command Level
The war map had changed again.
It no longer pulsed with red. The old infected zones—Manila, Clark, Lucena, Cabanatuan, San Fernando—now glowed pale white. Not from heat, but from silence. A total absence of Bloom activity. Drone after drone confirmed it.
No motion. No bio-signature. No nests. Just ruins.
Dead ruins.
Thomas stood alone in the Strategic Map Room. Behind him, the soft hum of the room's cooling system was the only noise. The others had been dismissed. This was a moment of reckoning.
He had done what no one else dared.
But the cost…?
He closed his eyes briefly, before opening the translucent interface that hovered beside the map's console.
[System Notice: New Role Available – Strategic Advisor (Nuclear)]
[Unlock Cost: 25,000 Blood Coins]
[Accept? Y/N]
He didn't hesitate.
[Confirmed.]
[Summoning Advisor…]
[Designation: Dr. Harold Keplar, Ph.D. Nuclear Engineering.]
