Chapter 15

After locking the door of the toilet, I checked my phone.

Period 1: War of Saunders, completed.

Mission: First Victory, completed.

Unlocked Personnel section in market.

Unlocked Oberkommando Sicherheitstruppen.

Army Slot x2, unlocked.

1st Wolfsgeist Army unlocked.

Current personnel: 3000.

New Period:

Wedge Period: Unrelenting

OKS Market unlocked.

The sheer number of rewards stunned me. And the feeling only grew as I checked everything out. Now, I can establish armies affiliated to the OKS (abbreviation for Oberkommando Sicherheitstruppen), and best of all, buy personnel and gear for them. Finally, my dream has found a foundation upon which it can grow and develop.

I checked the market, and found it to be mind-baffling. The sector that sold soldiers offered them in the thousands, including low-ranking officers. And according to the data, even a single lowest-raking soldier had the ability to face off 10 Navy SEAL elites in hand-to-hand combat, and all their abilities are that of the best of each field, from melee to gunnery to wilderness survival. All in all, these troops, should they be deployed, would be unstoppable.

I decided to get the Wolfsgeist another 1000 manpower, and bought them the necessary gear. As for their flag, I mimicked the design of Third Reich military flags, with a black background and silver threads forming the emblem. The insignia itself was the Oarai Sakura, but its color tone was black-and-white, with crossed rifles pressed beneath it. And since I was not the type to wait, I set up the 2nd Army, the Flaggentruppe der Bewaffneten Garde von Oarai (Oarai Armed Guard Flag Troop). It was an infantry army, but to make it unleash its full power, I lined it with system-developed weapons, including MP60 assault rifles, GrW 50 grenade launchers, Barrett M300 Antimaterial Sniper Rifles (semiauto), P-13 auto pistols, SMG-10 multipurpose machine guns, Raven-15 Multipurpose Single-Infantry Missiles and Carrow-20 shotguns. As for heavy gear, the system offered Taurus-19 self-propelled rocket artillery, Lancer infantry fighting vehicles, Maverick main battle tanks (one astonishing feature is that these tanks have built-in antiair shock domes), Dracon attack helicopters, Slammer self-propelled EMP artillery and Carnage vehicle-based attack aircraft.

Then I realized something.

They need a base.

I texted my buddies in SecretChat (a private chatting APP similar to WeChat), and got rapid replies. Andrew suggested buying them an aircraft carrier (quite the American taste), while Fidel proposed hiding them among students (I told him no chance, since these soldiers are nearly 1.85 meters tall each), but John's suggestion, for once, caught my eye.

Maybe we can ask the lower deck people if there are vacant areas.

Good thinking, seriously.

I decided to ask them as soon as I got back to the campus. Unfortunately, I will soon have other matters to worry about…

A military jeep from my airfield came up to me as soon as we got back, and some Rangers came out.

"Sir, you have to get to the airfield, like, now!"

I frowned, both confused and worried. "Why?"

"There are people from MEXT, JSDF, the Japanese government AND U.S Army officers at the airfield! They're ALL demanding to meet you!"

I lifted an eyebrow. "Why?"

"All they said was that they have issues to discuss with you."

I heaved a sigh. Guess my earlier matters will have to wait.

"All right, drive my team there."

…

The scene at our airport was not very pretty.

Almost all the Rangers are present, brandishing their weapons and yelling at the crowd of reporters to get back. At the foremost of the crowd is a motorcade of Hummer armored jeeps and limousines, and there was even a few M2A2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles and Komatsu LAV vehicles, an M1A1 Abrams main battle tank and 2 Type 10 Hitomaru main battle tanks. In the sky, I can see what seemed to be AH-64 Apache attack helicopters and UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters circling the area, as well as a few H-47 Chinooks. There was a legion of men in camouflage and flak jackets and helmets, holding AR-15 rifles, M320 grenade launchers and a few Javelin single-infantry missiles. A few of them were arguing with several Rangers.

As I drew close, the Rangers saw me and stood to attention. That drew all the attention my way. A few men stepped towards me. The first few were Japanese officers in business suits, with a few Americans in military outfits. The JSDF officers – they were only too obvious – wore camo shirts and pants, but didn't carry guns like their U.S counterparts.

I read their names. The biggest American was Karl Smith, USFJ admiral. Behind him was Mike Brown, colonel and Karl's constant sidekick. The foremost Japanese official was none other than our Renta Tsuji himself, followed by a few others from MEXT who the system deemed 'too unimportant to name'.

"So, this is the kid who summoned up some undead at the tankery match?" A man from MEXT said.

"Hey, show some respect to him. We came to ask him stuff, so don't provoke him." Mike chided. Unfortunately, I heard him.

"Well, what brings a troop of such important people to meet me, a nameless teenager?" I asked.

"Don't talk about nameless right now." A woman from JSDF said, "your little act of sorcery has got attention from even the White House and the Pentagon, and the UN is boiling over."

I looked at her and narrowed my eyes in surprise. "Captain Ami Chono from JGSDF?"

She stiffened, evidently not expecting me to recognize her.

"Well, kid, is there a meeting room anywhere in the airport?" A big American soldier asked, "I think we can discuss matters better there."

A few moments later…

"Well, I expect you have quite some questions?" I asked.

"Very correct. First, the U.S government would like me to ask about your, umm." He glanced at my right hand, "Magical powers. How did you acquire them?"

"It was long and painful a story." I sighed, making up a swift lie, "I found a book in a streetside waste bin one night. It was bound in red and black leather, with an upended crucifix and 'Satan wird auferstehen' scrawled on the cover. It talked a lot about devil worship and dark arts. I don't worship Satan myself, but I did learn some handy skills from it. I regretted doing so however, because power comes at a price, and my form was constantly gnawed by the pains that my powers bring."

"All right." Then he asked about my friends' powers and actually let Lucas demonstrate the physical improvements to his body, which he did by marching down to the woods and knocking down a tree as thick as a drainage pipe with a single hand chop.

Then, he noticed my new wristband.

"Can you give me that for a few seconds?"

I reluctantly did. After examining it, he looked at me.

"Can you bring forth this 'Wolfsgeist' troop, just for us to look at? I promise that we won't try anything."

I nodded and walked to the window.

"Wenn der Polarstern hell am Himmel leuchtet, wird der Geist des Wolfes zurückkehren und die Welt mit seinem Brüllen erschüttern! Erhebt euch, Wolfsgeist, die Verteidiger von Oarai!"

(When the North Star shines bright upon the sky, the spirit of the wolf shall return and shake the world with its roar! Arise, Wolfsgeist, the defenders of Oarai!)

At once, the plate on my wristband started to shimmer. A low bugle sounded. Black smoke oozed from nowhere in wisps, covering the land. And out of the blue, a humongous army marched into existence. The soldiers were clad in large, bulky power suits bearing iron crosses and held enlarged models of the weapons God had mentioned in his call. Their faces were obscured by iron gas masks and large M40 helmets, but I needn't see their faces to feel their deadly aura. The German tanks rumbled within the mass of soldiers, but the most eye-catching one was an E-100 Kommando-Panzer at the center of the formation. It had a frame formed of iron beams all around its body, and its turret is protected by folded treads hanging via racks onto it. The top hatches were open, and out of the side hatch, the flag of the Wolfsgeist billowed in the wind, the silver threads catching the rays of the sun.

I turned toward the adults. "So, what do you think, misters?"

The officers stared out of the window, stunned. Then, Admiral Karl turned toward me.

"How did you assemble such massive an army? And what's with their body armor?"

"First of all, Admiral Karl," his eyes widened at the fact that I knew his name. "That's not body armor down there, those are power suits. And as for how I assembled them, I guess that must remain untold."

Karl pondered my response for a while. Then he asked what I would expect the U.S to ask.

"Can you sell us one of these suits for research? We can talk over the price."

I thought of it. "I will need to consult my technicians before giving a response to that, Admiral."

…

I got out of the meeting room, and texted God in SecretChat asking about the offer. He replied in a minute, saying yes. He also reminded me that cash can be converted into points, and since the mech uses literally revolutionary 'laser hexahedron' technology and all, I'd better put a high price on the suits.

I walked back in. The eyes of the Americans followed me intently.

"Well, sirs, the technical team told me I can say yes."

A big smile came onto Karl's face, and passed as swiftly as waves on a sea.

"And as for the price, what does your government say?"

He made a swift phone call. Then he looked at me.

"Anything less than 10 million."

"Good, then I'll ask for 5 million. USD. And how do you plan to pay?"

"Mr. President says that we can pay in either cash or hard currency. Resources too, according to the current market price."

I thought of it, and images of my history lessons about the Great Depression, the Weimar Republic and inflation flowed through my mind."

"I'll ask for 2.5 million paid in gold, and the rest can be exchanged for …" I thought of my deal, "Perhaps cash. That would do."

Karl nodded in a stoic manner, but I can see the smile hidden in his mind. He extended his hand, and in it he held a visiting card.

"This is the communication methods of the U.S bases at Okinawa. If you have any major problem, call for us. The U.S owes you a great favor."

I nodded and shook his hand. "It's been nice cooperating."

"My pleasure."

At that very moment, a fat official from the Japanese government spoke. But it was drastically different from the way Admiral Karl spoke: he said, in an arrogant, pompous tone:

"As for us, the Japanese government demands that you either disband this army or turn it over to JSDF."

Everyone stared at him in stun, even Karl and Mike. Mike was the first to react.

"Shut it!" Then he turned towards me. "Apologies, sir. Shigeru was-"

I waved him off, and turned towards the official. Black mist seeped out of the ground, and the temperature in the room began to drop. Everyone winced in alarm.

"The deal remains, Admiral. Worry not." I said, seeing Karl glare at the man and look at me urgently, about to say something.

"For one, sir." I spoke, with no more friendliness in my voice. "An embassy is supposed to have some decent politeness and demeanor, none of which I found in you. Secondly, do not try to order me around, for I am not a Japanese citizen, and I have a serious dislike of certain extreme rightists who owe my homeland a great debt in WWII."

Karl and Mike exchanged glances. They probably figured out where I was from.

"Third, I see no necessity in your demand, for I have strict orders for my troops. If even the U.S does not consider my men a threat, then I believe my troops are allowed. I believe that is the case?" I turned towards the USFJ generals.

"Ahem, um, yes. The U.S sees no significant threat posed by the troops." Karl stated, peering at his mobile phone.

"Thank you. Now," I turned back towards the Shigeru man, "I believe this matter is settled."

Shigeru looked like he wanted to say more, but almost 12 glances from his peers shut him up.

"There is another thing too." Karl looked at me, "We have visited Saunders beforehand and learned about your, ah, armed conflict with them."

"It's not really them who is to blame." I spoke.

"Yes, we knew of that. What especially interests us is what Alisa has referred to as the Bluhtnebel. It seems that it had tried to get your school on hostile grounds with Saunders via manipulating Alisa to orchestrate the attack that the public now refers to as," he paused for a moment, "the 'Alisa's Rage' event."

"Wait." I frowned, "It's known to the public now?"

He sighed. "We tried to drive the reporters away but failed. They watched through the CCTV when we talked with the Saunders tankery commanders. The press and media are raving over it right about now."

I sighed.

"Anyway, back to business. The Bluhtnebel seems bent on your destruction. We are interested in what you will do to counter it."

My eyes glowed a crimson red. "How long that devil has been running about I don't know, but it's done with. After I deal with this year's tankery match, I'm going to put my full focus onto destroying that thing, and it WILL fall. WWII is over, and so is Imperial Japan. If that asshole still dares to try rekindle the flames, I'll show him what's mercilessness."

"Well, we have bad news we picked up, then."

"What?"

He put forward a bunch of papers he drew from his backpack. "According to research done by our CIA and various overseas intelligence agencies, this devil is behind the longtime, massive organization 'Imperial Japan Defensive Army'. It's the hybrid of a terrorist organization and a cult, with over twenty thousand followers worldwide. And it also controlled a big global black market that deals anything from guns to jet fighters. With these two, you all would be in a real nasty situation."

I snarled. "Wouldn't have expected better. Let him come, and we'll see who has the bigger guns."

He nodded. "Well, that's mostly all. Would you care to start wrapping up one of those power suits?"

"Sure, no problem."

A few moments later…

"See you then, kid." Karl said, watching the crate holding the mech being lifted onto a pickup truck.

"Nice cooperating." I replied, "Look forward to our next meeting."

And Karl slid into his Hummer armored jeep. In a cloud of dust, the motorcade rode away.

…

I was still standing there when the girls ran up to me.

"WHAT HAPPENED?!" Miho demanded, "We saw you go in with those soldiers and all, and after a while, those armies just marched out of nowhere!" She pointed at the 2nd Army, which is now standing in neat formation, awaiting further orders.

"Miporin." Anzu sighed, "Don't question magic."

"Girls, let me introduce to you the 1st Army of the Oberkommando Sicherheitstruppen of Oarai, the Wolfsgeist Armored Infantry Troops." I said.

"That stands for High Command Security Troops. But the High Command of what?" Yukari asked.

"Both the tankery team and the Academy Ship Defensive Troops for now, and all the other troops I plan to establish in the future."

"But WHY? Who will it defend us from?" Hana asked.

"It's going to be a long story." I sighed.