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Under the night sky at the shore of the South Platte River, three individuals clad in luxurious suits stood among a group of burly men. The trio in their fine attire appeared slightly disheveled, indicating they may have been in a hurry to escape. More people, mostly men and women in white lab coats, joined them, resembling individuals from a laboratory.

In contrast, the burly men wore casual clothes but were heavily armed with modern weapons such as standard rifles, SMGs, and even grenades.

After a few minutes, several small boats arrived. These boats, though small, had been modified to include cabin space for resting and were pulled ashore from the river.

The trio—Alexander Vance, Samantha Vance, and Garret Vance, father, mother, and son from the Vance family—boarded one of the boats. Their eyes reflected anger, frustration, and reluctance as they fled the consequences of their actions to the Confederacy. It was the only country that will not extradite them to the US as criminals due to their illegal weapon sales.

Initially, Alexander Vance believed that cooperating with General Moore and sabotaging the campaign to reclaim Texas would secure votes for his future presidential candidacy. After the campaign failed, He planned to offer a new solution: adopting a more cooperative stance with the Qin Empire, the leader of the UN, to exert pressure on the Confederacy.

His survey indicated widespread interest in this new approach because many people were fatigued from constantly being on guard against both the Qin Empire and the Confederacy.

However, the unexpected effectiveness of Astral Tech power armor on the battlefield rendered their exoskeleton suits obsolete. Despite his initial plan to shift blame by claiming the Confederacy stole the technology, the US military\'s swift victory in Austin and acquisition of evidence of his involvement in illegal arms sales dashed his hopes.

"Just you wait! One day, I\'ll be back!" Alexander Vance exclaimed in frustration before boarding the boat.

As the boat sailed toward Nebraska through the South Platte River and into Confederacy territory, one of the remaining guards secretly made their way to the nearby road.

— Days Later —

The tide began to turn at the frontlines thanks to Greed\'s shrewd deal. She offloaded a stockpile of outdated power armor models to the US Army, explicitly stating that the sale was limited to the US government. Despite being older models, this power armor boasted superior power and efficiency compared to the Vance Armory\'s Exoskeleton suits.

This revelation caused a major scandal. The discovery of several large shipments of Exoskeleton suits from Vance Armory headed for enemy territory - the Confederacy - put the company in a precarious position. As a US corporation, Vance Armory was legally prohibited from selling weapons to a hostile nation.

Unfortunately, by the time the authorities arrived, the Vance family had vanished, taking with them a portion of their assets and vital technological resources. While they managed to escape, their fixed assets - land, buildings, and factories - were seized by the government and slated for auction.

With Texas successfully reclaimed, the US government focused on stabilizing the region. This time, however, they would have a significant advantage. Daniel\'s Astral Tech would provide state-of-the-art fortifications and defensive measures, vastly bolstering Texas\' defenses compared to the past.

A formidable network of border forts sprang up along the Texas-Confederacy border, encompassing states like Louisiana, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. These weren\'t your typical outposts; they bristled with advanced weaponry: smart, high-precision artillery, cannons, and anti-air turrets, all strategically placed.

Each fort housed a sizable garrison – likely numbering in the hundreds – of US border guards. While well-equipped with standard weaponry, only an elite squad within each fort was authorized to utilize the cutting-edge Astral Tech Power Armor, significantly bolstering their defensive capabilities.

The Golden Empire Group, having secured the construction concession from the US government, transformed these frontier fortifications into marvels of modern engineering.

The construction process itself was a spectacle. The engineering team arrived with a minimal set of tools and several truckloads of raw materials. Then, they unleashed their secret weapon: the \'Metal Scarabs,\' Astral Tech\'s micro construction bots. These tireless automatons swiftly erected the buildings, complete with electrical wiring, within a mere matter of hours.

The US government\'s Texas reclamation project, fueled by Astral Tech\'s technological marvels, was an undeniable success. This project also inadvertently revealed a truth to the US government\'s higher echelon.

While nearly every company around the globe vying for Astral Tech\'s partnership, they received a cold shoulder. Yet, the Golden Empire Group enjoyed a warm welcome and full technical support. This stark contrast fueled speculation: the world noticed that only the Golden Empire Group, aside from Astral Tech itself, seamlessly integrated Astral Tech\'s technology into their daily operations.

This event made it common knowledge among higher-ups in the US government that Daniel Emberweave is Victoria Goldwyn\'s lover. They never intended to hide it in the first place, so it\'s normal for these old foxes to know.

—

Several days passed after Daniel returned with the prisoner.

Upon his return, his primary concern was checking on his little girl, Sylvana, to ensure she was okay. To his immense relief, Daniel found no signs of trauma or emotional damage from the attack. In fact, Sylvana seemed unaware that her life had been threatened, bringing Daniel great relief.

Afterward, Daniel handed the prisoner over to Envy for interrogation, then recounted everything that had happened during the visit to the Alchemont clan. Koyuki, Greed, and Michaela were all present and listened intently.

Upon hearing about Daniel\'s encounter with the \'Plague of Blood\' spell from the Moses Exodus, the girls were initially relieved at his survival but quickly grew angry at the group who attempted to harm Sylvana.

Envy seemed the calmest among Daniel\'s women. However, unbeknownst to him, her hidden cruelty had been stirred from its long slumber. This aspect of her character, kept concealed except from her loyal servants, the Lizardmen, was so intense that she dared not display it for anyone else to see.

This led to a cruel end for the group of mages conspiring against their family.

— Serene Haven Hospital —

Pride, confined to the hospital\'s VIP room, watched the morning news unfold on the television. The report focused on the tense situation at the frontlines and the stalled negotiations between the US government and the Confederacy.

Several days of rest had brought her back to consciousness. Her recovery allowed for light exercise and basic independence – using the restroom or watching TV, for example.

The news is not a good sign for her. The Confederacy showed no interest in negotiation, launching sporadic attacks on the border that were met with swift and heavy casualties. The newly constructed US defensive network proved its worth, an ideal to the efficient use of taxpayer dollars that are well spent.

"Sigh….." Pride sighed deeply. Escaping the Confederacy with her father, they had barely brought the clothes on their backs. Now, news reports hinted that Supreme General Moore, that damned dictator, had seized the Aldenmare family\'s assets to fund his war campaign, she felt very very frustrated at the situation.

Now, she was stuck in her rival Greed\'s hospital, and worst of all, she was alive because of her rival\'s mercy, which she could barely swallow. If it weren\'t for her teacher Envy asking for her patience, she might have already run away from the hospital.

As Pride mulled over the past events in her head, she heard the door open and turned toward the source of the sound. It was none other than Greed, her rival.

"Why are you here?" Pride asked, her tone unfriendly.

Greed didn\'t immediately answer; instead, she looked behind her and brought a girl with red hair into the room. The girl was Sylvana, carrying a small cage housing a yellow iguana.

"I\'m bringing little Sylvana to visit you. Why are you so salty? Didn\'t we just save you?" Greed asked, which annoyed Pride.

"Hmp!" Pride snorted. "No one asked you to save me! You did it on your own," she retorted.

"I think I said \'we\'; the one who actually saved your life is Aunt Envy. Later, she asked me to bring you here," Greed explained, earning another snort from Pride.

"Oh... What if I tell you that Danny was the one who saved you? I wonder what you would do?" Greed said with a knowing smile.

"Wait... he did save me?" Pride\'s demeanor quickly softened upon hearing Greed\'s words, but then she noticed Greed\'s playful smirk.

"You dare lie to me!?" Pride roared in annoyance, feeling the urge to smack Greed for lying to her.

"I didn\'t lie. Didn\'t I say \'if\'? It\'s an alternative fact, not a fact. You are the one assuming it\'s true," Greed smiled and shrugged, making Pride even more annoyed.

Pride sighed. "Again, why are you here, Greed? Tell me the truth this time." Her tone, though calmer, held a hint of suspicion.

Greed chuckled. "Alright, alright. Here\'s the whole truth. I lost a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors to Koyuki, and now I have to wait my turn for a date with Danny. So, since I\'m stuck twiddling my thumbs, I figured I\'d bring little Sylvana to meet you." She turned towards the girl, who was engrossed with her yellow iguana pet in the cage.

"Say hello to Aunt Pride, Sylvana," Greed said, gesturing towards the woman on the bed. "She\'s a friend of your mama."