Contention: A Litrpg Apocalypse (Welcome to the Multiverse Book 5) by Sean Oswald

Author:Sean Oswald [Oswald, Sean]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-11-04T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirty-One - New Skin

Earth Countdown: 31 days, 18 hours, 6 minutes

Asta and I spent the entire night on the beach. I got sand in some rather interesting spots, but nothing could have ruined this night. We’d spent years together training, but this was the first time we could simply ‘be’. We truly had the opportunity to enjoy one another’s company, and this felt more authentic than any of our earlier interactions. As Mom used to say, we are human beings, not human doings. We aren’t defined by what we accomplish, but by the relationships we foster.

People had been prone to butterflies in the stomach since the dawn of man. It was a variation of the ‘fight or flight’ response, Asta said, and I could see why. But with her, they went away as quickly as they’d arrived. We’d struggled together. Seen each other through victories and low moments. Last night marked the natural evolution of our relationship. While neither of us had spoken any platitudes about the future, I couldn’t imagine one without her in it. I hoped she felt the same way.

Something I was discovering about increased stats, especially the mental ones, was that they didn’t make us non-human. They didn’t even change our personalities. Instead, they made us more of who we are. With our heightened Charisma, it was easier to feel secure in this relationship than any of my earlier attempts at dating.

The sun had come up, and people were likely to come to the beach soon for their morning strolls. Such a beautiful stretch of coastline was bound to attract a crowd—joggers, dog walkers, couples holding hands with their feet in the surf.

A message came through the Home Team channel,. “Silas and any other Forerunners who are listening, we have a situation.” It was General Krulak’s voice.

“What, can’t handle the politics for a single day?” I asked half-jokingly.

“Nothing quite so harmless as that. The President spent most of last night preparing for the briefings he has to give today. I got a cadre of twelve Secret Service members inducted. We’ll need to spend some time leveling them up, but for now they will serve as the backbone of his security.

“As for congress, Senator Corbin and I haven’t always seen eye to eye, but I think you made a good decision in raising him up. He’s a pit bull and is going to rein congress in for as long as anyone can.”

Corbin’s voice came through. “You know I can hear this too, right?”

“Must have slipped my mind. Go figure. As to our problem. There’s been reports of some type of monster attack in Singapore.”

I searched my memory. “Singapore’s an island, right? Just off of Malaysia, if I remember.”

“Maybe public schools aren’t completely worthless if they taught you that much geography,” General Krulak said. His tone was cynical and biting, but I got the meaning. He was stressed.

“Do we have any visual confirmation?” Asta asked. “‘Monsters’ is kinda vague. At least in Normandy we had some idea of what we were facing.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.