Everyone who was embroiled in the battle to defend the Tesla Leicht Institute save the Asmodeus and Golden Roar groups were in the institute's meeting room. The crew of the Hagane and Hiryuu Kai along with the people in the institute's control room from earlier were waiting for the Asmodeus and Golden Roar groups. While all of them were waiting, Ryusei explained about the Asmodeus group saving the Izu base earlier.
"You're saying that the people who saved the Izu base are talking animals?" Irm asked Ryusei in disbelief.
"And they came from another world?" Seolla asked in surprise.
"Yeah, I know this sounds crazy but, the SRX team has already met them and we can assure all of you that what I'm saying is not a lie," Ryusei stated.
"Are we to assume then that the crew of the golden ship from earlier are the same beings?" said Kai.
"Well, we'll know once we meet them here," Filio said.
Lamia then asked Ryusei, "Are these beings you speak of by any chance related to the extraterrestrial beings we have fought in the past?"
"Oh, come on, Lamia, there's no need to relate them to things like the Aerogaters or Einsts. They're just a group of peaceful beings who happened to save our hides earlier," said Ryusei.
"Besides, they do not know anything about the Aerogaters or Einsts," stated Raidese.
"That's right, Rai," Ryusei said. Just then, the door of the meeting room opened and he added, "Ah, they're here, everyone,"
"Yo, Ryusei!" said Red who came in along with Chocolat and Elh. "This is quite a nice place we're in-"
All the humans save the SRX team were surprised to see the three anthropomorphic beings. Their mouths and eyes were slightly open and for a moment, there was silence. The moment the humans were surprised, Red stopped speaking. He put on a frown while grinning and had a small sweat drop on his head.
"Uh, is something the matter?" Red asked the humans.
Ryusei laughed and said to those who were surprised, "Guys, meet the saviors of the Earth Federation Izu base!"
"You-You're a talking dog!" Ibis exclaimed while pointing a finger towards Red.
"Yeah, sure I can talk and so can my friends here," Red replied with a grin.
"Red, they seem to be shocked seeing us now," Elh stated.
"Of course we are!" exclaimed Arado whose eyes were wide open in surprise. "In fact, what are you things? And WHY can you things talk!"
The SRX team and the Asmodeus group laughed a little after hearing Arado's exclamations. "Relax. I'll clear things up soon. But, first, there are more guests coming," said Red with a smile.
"Guests?" Jonathan asked.
"You don't mean…" Masaki stated.
"Yup," Red replied. "They're actually friends of mine," He turned to the meeting room's door and added, "Hey, guys! It's okay to come in now!"
Soon, another group of anthropomorphic beings came into the room much to the humans' surprise. They were the Kurvaz soldiers and upon entering the room, they gathered in front of the humans admiring the room in awe.
"M-More dogs!" Carla exclaimed.
"Hey, we're not just dogs!" said one of the soldiers. "We're Caninu!"
"Caninu?" Gilliam asked. The humans except the SRX team clearly had no idea what a Caninu was.
"Just what kind of thing is a Caninu?" Yuuki asked the Kurvaz soldiers.
"It's not a thing! A Caninu is-!"
"Now, now, boys," Opera who came in along with Gren, Calua and Beluga interrupted the Kurvaz soldier's words. "Let's not get too excited shall we? After all, these humans do not know much about us,"
"Quite right," stated Merveille who followed Opera and her subordinates from behind. "But, I doubt that the humans are calm enough to understand that," Merveille smiled.
"Yeah, like what she said, dudes!" Calua said cheerfully.
"By the way, do you mind if you all could introduce yourselves?" Irm asked the Asmodeus and Golden Roar groups. He then added while looking at Opera and Merveille, "Especially the ladies?"
Katina shook her head slowly while looking at Irm. She and the other humans knew that Irm was trying to hit on Merveille and Opera. Merveille replied to Irm's words by saying, "And why do you emphasize that us ladies should introduce ourselves?"
Irm then said in a polite manner, "I try not to forget a woman's name. So, what's yours?"
"Are you trying to flirt with us?" Merveille said much to everyone's surprise.
Opera's eyes widened upon hearing Merveille's words. "My, my, that is so romantic!" she stated in a sassy and excited tone. "I never thought I would be such an attraction here!"
"Now, wait a minute. I think you've got the wrong idea!" Irm said to Merveille.
"On the contrary, that's not true," Merveille smiled. "Did you know that ninety percent of men who hit on women attempt to do so by asking for their names on the pretense that they're being polite? Right now, you are just like one of those men. Your words do reflect those of a polite person's. But, your gestures and facial expressions tell me that you are a womanizer,"
The humans became even more surprised at Merveille's words. "Wow, that man just got rejected," Chocolat whispered to Red, a small sweat drop falling down her hair.
"Yeah…" Red whispered back with a sweat drop on his head. "He got downright rejected,"
"Excuse me, but, are you some kind of scientist?" Filio asked Merveille.
Merveille became slightly surprised and said, "Why yes, my intellect must have given myself away," She smiled upon finishing her sentence. Merveille added, "Well, aside from womanizers, shall we go into introductions now? Then, I will explain about the monsters that attacked this place,"
"Why, yes. Do please go ahead," Jonathan said.
The humans, Asmodeus group and Golden Roar group began to introduce themselves. Opera performed a flashy introduction of herself and the Kurvaz group. Masaki's familiars Kuro and Shiro were cuddled by Chocolat and Opera after being introduced. Once the introductions were made, Merveille explained about Shepherd Republic, the Shades and the two Titano Machina, Lares and Lemures.
After the humans listened to Merveille's words, all of them save the SRX team became terrified. "This is horrible!" Seolla exclaimed. "We have to do something!"
"Yeah, but, what are we going to do? Those Titano Machina things could be anywhere! Finding them would be like looking for a needle in a haystack!" Arado said.
"Indeed this is a serious situation," Elzam stated. "But, we must remain as calm as possible. If we fear too much, we would fail in obtaining a good solution to this situation,"
"Mr. Elzam is correct," said Merveille. "We all must not give in to our fears,"
"Judging by what Miss Merveille is saying right now, our top priority is to look for Lares and Lemures. We will start doing so by devising a method to search for them," Gilliam stated.
"That wouldn't be easy. The information we have regarding the whereabouts of Lares and Lemures are limited," said Tetsuya. "Given the current circumstances, finding the Titano Machina might require us to scour certain parts of the world for them,"
"Wouldn't that be tedious, Captain Tetsuya?" Merveille asked.
"Captain Tetsuya's method is indeed tedious. However, since we have very little information about our enemies, that would be the most logical thing to do," said Sean.
"But, where should we start looking?" asked Tsugumi.
"Perhaps we should start our search at all of the places which have been attacked by the extraterrestrial beings we have faced in the past," Tetsuya answered Tsugumi's question. "We could start with-"
"A sample," Beluga interrupted Tetsuya's words. Everyone looked at Beluga.
"Excuse me?" Tetsuya asked.
Beluga looked at everyone and said, "Shouldn't we just get a sample of a Shade and analyze it?"
"What are you saying?" asked Filio.
Beluga replied, "There's a high chance that some parts of the destroyed Shades from earlier have been scattered across this institute. We need to search this place for those parts and identify where the Shades come from,"
"That's it!" Jonathan said. "You're saying that we should get a sample of the Shades and analyze them to obtain clues about where they're created!"
"It would not be an easy task though. Most of the Shades could have been destroyed without leaving a trace of themselves behind," stated Merveille.
"Then, we should start searching now. The sooner, the better," said Kai.
"There's no need for that," A rude voice came from the door of the meeting room.
Everyone turned towards the meeting room's door. To their surprise, they saw two more anthropomorphic beings facing them. They were the white and brown dogs from the battle earlier. The white dog had a large broadsword behind his back and the brown dog was holding her staff.
The Asmodeus and Golden Roar groups looked surprised the most. They knew who the two dogs were for the dogs were none other than Nero and Blanck, the Hybrids who wreaked havoc in Shepherd Republic. Nero and Blanck appear to be the same age as Red now. Upon seeing Nero and Blanck, Red said, "Nero? Blanck? What are you two doing here?"
Blanck said in an insulting manner, "We came to help you maggots," He shifted his attention towards Red. "And I see that you're still the same as ever, brother. Seeing your face again makes me irritated!"
"Hey, Red, you never told us you had a brother," said Ryusei.
Suddenly, Carla exclaimed towards Blanck, "I know you! You're that guy who helped us find out whatever was attacking this place earlier! You're also the one with the boastful attitude!"
"So what if I am?" Blanck boasted. "Well, that aside, you all better respect me and my partner here. We just came to lend our aid not engage in some pointless fight with you scum,"
"And how exactly are the two of you going to help us?" Zengar asked Nero and Blanck.
"Simple, pal," Blanck took out a small zip lock bag with what appeared to be a black sheet in it out of his trench coat. "You guys said you wanted a sample of the Shades, right? Well, this will do,"
"Where'd you get that from?" Jonathan asked.
"We obtained it from one of the Shades which attacked the institute," said Nero. "I suppose it will be of some use to all of you,"
"And I've got a little piece of information which will help you trash bags fight the Shades," said Blanck. "Would you believe me if I told you all that I knew who is the mastermind planning the attacks with the Shades?"
"You know who he is?" Merveille asked in surprise.
"Oh, yes, Nero and I do know he is," Blanck gave Merveille an evil grin. "Right, Nero?"
Nero nodded. She then said, "Allow me to tell all of you the name of the person behind the Shade attacks,"
"What is his name?" Gren asked, his face having an intent look.
Nero replied to Gren's question, saying, "His name is Bruno. Bruno Dondurma,"