Eh? You want to try the humanoid girl's iron fist too?

Most of them are army-style camouflage, or just random prints applied by the manufacturer.

After reviewing the documents in his hand, he opened the identification that Raphael had submitted.

The document's material, serial number, and other information are all authentic, because he also has the same document.

However, he found it quite strange that the name field only listed the first name and not the surname.

Billis put down his officer's badge, straightened his back as he did during conversations, and rolled a cigarette to make it clear that the conversation was about to begin formally.

"Have you been in the city for a long time?" he asked Raphael.

“I’ll be here in mid-December. I was operating in the White Area before,” Raphael said, nodding slightly to bolster her credibility.

"Is this your home?"

“Yes,” Raphael smiled, “right in the Dark Zone.”

She repeated it with a sorrowful expression and sighed.

"Simply saying this place isn't enough. The address is... You can send someone to check it out."

"I see..."

“Yes… When I came back for vacation in December, New York was still booming. It’s hard to imagine those peaceful days. There used to be a park behind this house, but now you should make good use of it.”

“Yes, they’ve been put to use,” Billis confirmed. “There are only a few trees left, but it’s only a matter of time before they’re cut down.”

"Yes, yes, make the most of the limited space."

Both of them fell silent.

“Alright, let’s announce it, shall we?” Billis suggested first.

How should I put it?

"Everyone fighting here is suffering because we're so close to the center of the contamination, but obviously we're in a better position than those mobs. I'm in terrible pain..."

Because I know every single corner here, absolutely every single corner—you have to understand, I'm not just saying this for show. Yes, we didn't expect it to be even more troublesome than the virus in the white zone outside.

No one expected the dead to rise again, becoming as hard as metal. Small-caliber bullets were like tickles to them, rarely inflicting fatal wounds.

"I've already experienced how powerful they are."

"I think so too."

Billis took a few puffs of his cigarette, then looked at Raphael with a scholarly expression. He said:

"You're definitely not a member of the Navy, at least not working for the Navy, but I'm sure you're a soldier. So, please state your true purpose."

"First of all, I really want to borrow your high-powered communication antenna or satellite phone to report the situation here;

Secondly, I would like to obtain your maps showing the collapse radiation measurements of the central urban area during the construction of the dark zone...

Of course, it would be even better if you could tell me its specific location directly.

“Who exactly are you?” Billis gripped her badge. “This is a top-secret mission. How could a soldier like you possibly have access to it… No, you’re from JSOC, or a member of some unknown group within the Department of Defense!”

"No, no, yes, no... You don't need to guess which unit I belong to, because you don't need to know."

"Why not?" the lieutenant colonel said calmly.

"I can report that the Rangers persisted in trying to complete the mission and made a significant contribution to the recovery process."

Raphael offered a condition that was impossible to refuse.

"Furthermore, I can prove that your manifesto was forged by rogue agents. They managed to obtain and hijack military wireless networks and used AI technology to synthesize your voice to spread rumors."

This dealt a heavy blow to the already struggling Rangers.

"Do you think this rhetoric can fool those shrewd people?" Billis retorted.

“Why not?” Raphael retorted in his own words. “I think it’s a very good deal. It would not only save face for the U.S. military, but also gain the support of the Department of Homeland Security.”

"Wait, why would the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) support this?" Billis was a little confused and became serious.

"Because the Strategic Homeland Administration (SHD) is formally under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), but DHS has no command authority over it due to Proposition 51. On the contrary, because of this damn executive order, when it is activated, the Department of Homeland Security is actually under the jurisdiction of the Strategic Homeland Administration..."

"Did you even consider this?"

Raphael appeared confident: "I'm sure you've heard, Lieutenant Colonel. Washington now has only a small number of civil servants left to keep the city running. The three main functional departments have all moved out, and this is where the opportunity lies."

“The White House, the Supreme Court, and Congress,” Billis said.

"But the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security are still operating normally in the Washington area."

"But……"

“I know you had many concerns,” Raphael said, “but this was one of the few opportunities you and your men could seize. At least you wouldn’t want people standing at your grave saying, ‘You shouldn’t have taken this step; you could have been a good soldier.’ But you’re gone…”

Is this considered a threat?

"No. But not everyone can become a qualified soldier overnight, and people make mistakes. What's truly valuable is whether they can turn back, isn't it?"

“I agree with that, but there’s one point to correct: we’ve all finally become upright soldiers, but we’re not there when needed… However, reminiscing is useless now; our job is to restore order—regardless of whether the mistakes of the past were our own or someone else’s.”

Charles Billis tapped his fingers on the flat map in front of him, on which dark areas had been divided into different colors, and numerical descriptions in various colors were also added to the corners.

Although the map wasn't very complete, these were their last efforts before consolidating their forces.

He wasn't entirely sure what happened to the "Griffin" team.

After thinking for a long time, the lieutenant colonel finally said, "How about this, I can lend you the satellite communication antenna, but I need to listen in on your calls online. Is that acceptable, Lieutenant?"

Raphael smiled.

“A good first step is key to building mutual trust, and I hope so, you know,” she added with some delight. “This is the right step for you, for me, and for the people you’ve sheltered.”

"But this is just the beginning. There are still many difficulties to overcome in the future. Lieutenant, are you confident enough?"

“Of course, I’m here to solve the problem,” Raphael said, making that gesture as if to say everything he needed to say, while displaying great confidence.

Charles Billis burst out laughing.

"One last personal question. You're from the Department of Defense, right?"

"It should be."

"Did you arrange the airdrop of supplies?" Billis asked.

"No, I'm not responsible for these things."

The two engaged in a question-and-answer session, probing each other while exchanging the information they possessed.

Lieutenant Colonel Billis had essentially obtained the information he wanted, and his only cost was the time he could use the equipment. Even if the cooperation between the two sides broke down, it would still be a win-win situation for him and his crumbling unit.

Now, his bargaining chips are the information left behind by the "Griffin" team before the mission and the map of the collapse radiation concentration surveyed during the troop retreat.

Raphael's appearance signified that a segment of the federal government was unwilling to let New York completely collapse, which formed the basis for their cooperation.

The divisions within the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, and the federal government, if handled properly, could indeed become their lifeline.

Even if it means returning to the chain of command, just being able to leave Manhattan smoothly would be a victory, Billis thought.

"Lieutenant, how do you plan to retrieve that thing?"

"It depends on the situation."

"How so?" Billis continued to ask.

“If its container is still intact, all that’s needed is a simple cleaning operation, and then the remaining containers can be recycled,” Raphael said.

What if it's already damaged?

? ”

"No, someone has already opened it."

Raphael sighed, and calmly said, meeting the lieutenant colonel's horrified gaze:

"Two weeks ago, my men were ordered to investigate Dr. Gordon Amherst's apartment and unfortunately discovered that the container had been opened and the solution stored inside had disappeared. As a result, I lost a team member."

"Gordon Amherst, one of the culprits behind the greenback smallpox virus. If he had access to this item, it means that all of this was a planned outcome."

The survivor army on Billis's side was no pushover; they had also established an intelligence network, using agents who had voluntarily broken away from SHD to set up intelligence exchange channels.

Information about the survivor army here will spread, but information about the agents of the National Strategic Bureau in the neighboring East District will also spread over.

Yesterday, Liu Fei, the interim commander of the Strategic Bureau Post Office Forward Base, issued an order to send a four-man team led by Agent Bill Osborn to Dr. Gordon's apartment to collect any remaining evidence at the scene.

Coincidentally, the active purifiers in the White Zone were also carrying out purification operations there, and the two sides ended up fighting without even realizing it.

The Purifiers thought the agents were there to cause trouble, while the agents believed the Purifiers were doing dirty work for the forces behind Dr. Gordon and were willing to destroy evidence at all costs.

The battle lasted for about four hours, and the special forces team barely managed to fight their way out of the hail of bullets at the cost of one dead and two wounded.

According to Liu Fei's description in the communications, they had obtained enough evidence to prove that Dr. Gordon had voluntarily released the artificially cultivated and modified new smallpox virus.

However, she made no mention of the glass containers, only repeatedly emphasizing that they were about to find the truth about the great plague.

This suggests they don't yet know the source of the radiation from the collapse in New York, or perhaps they do, but she refuses to mention it.

Billis got up, came out from behind the table, patted Raphael on the shoulder, and then sat down opposite her.

“The rebuilding of the high-powered satellite dish will probably take several more hours,” he said, trying to create an awkward silence. “Could we talk about what’s going on in New York?”

"I'm not too clear about the white zone, but the situation in the dark zone is steadily deteriorating, with the radiation levels of the collapse fluid constantly rising."

"But you...?"

“I am a special case who is relatively adaptable to the environment, which is one of the reasons why they sent me here.”

Raphael explained without batting an eye that the real adaptor was the agent who dared to wield the collapse liquid container, not her, this bionic metal lump.

Volume 1: The World Before the Great War: Chapter 79 The Way Out

“Get the person on duty here,” Billis, wearing a coat, ordered. “Never mind, just tell him to pull out the satellite dish from the warehouse. I’ll be right there.” He nodded to Raphael.

"Wait a minute, prepare a single room for the lieutenant."

The soldier on duty glanced at Raphael sitting next to him, nodded in agreement, and then pushed open the door and left.

It was still cold during the day, and dark clouds covered half the sky, but the sun was shining brightly on the other side, so there was no shortage of sunshine on the ground.

Billis opened the window and was instantly shivered by the cold air.

A few minutes later, the soldier on duty came in.

Billis asked, "Have they all confessed?"