"Morgana, did you detect anything?"
"No, sir. My scanner and other programs were turned off during the transmission process."
'I thought so,' Edward sighed. Even he only sensed a cast spatial force and nothing else. It was too soon to pry into the God Space Artifact. Instead, he focused on the task at hand. No one had passed out, which meant that everyone present was at least Tier 1.
The armor quickly scanned the individual present, and one person dressed strangely glanced at him. 'A Jedi? Interesting.' This team's composition was interesting. Besides Edward in the Doom's armor and the Jedi, there was a woman dressed in a Spider-Man outfit, a muscular man with cybernetic arms similar to Captain Jax from Mortal Kombat, and an ordinary-looking man. They were all of the Caucasian persuasion.
"How about we introduce ourselves?" the Jedi suggested. "I'm Qon."
"Jake," said the cyborb.
"Call me Gwen," the Spider-Woman said, making everybody look at her. "Don't ask."
"Wolf," said the regular-looking man.
"Lord Doom, but you can just call me Doom," Edward said. His words made everybody squint, but that's exactly what he wanted: to establish prestige. The conversation was about to continue when everybody's watch beeped at the same time, and they hurriedly checked what kind of mission this would be.
[Active Mission World: The Tomorrow War+
[Difficulty: Medium — Hard.
[Main Mission: Recover the toxin from the year 2051, and destroy the alien ship in the current timeline. RewardL 1000 Points
[Submission: Prevent Dorian's death. 300 Points.
[Submission: Cure Dorian's cancer. 500 Points.
[Submission: Escavate the alien spaceship. 1500 Points
[Side Mission: Whitespike Killing. (1 Whitespike = 20 points. Maximum hunting capacity: 500.
[Side Mission: Kill the female Whitespike. 2000 Points
[Perfect Mission: Save Earth 2051 and rebuild civilization+ Reward: 40,000 Points.]
Edward had never heard of a movie or show called [The Tomorrow War], and neither had a few others, so they clicked on the plus sign to watch the content. Then, the atmosphere became intense.
"These creatures called Whitespike," Jake said. "Most guns and weapons are useless against them, and their only weakness is their neck and belly. Why is such a dangerous creature only worth 20 points?"
"It's probably because of the sheer number," the Qon answered. According to this world's trajectory, a group of aliens suddenly appeared out of nowhere and started using humans as food. In the three years, they have killed most of the population, leaving only 500,000 people. Then, in the year 2051, humans used a prototype of a still-developing technology to travel back in time to 2022 to recruit people to fight in this losing war.
With so many aliens, top reincarnators would probably come to this world to farm points and make themselves stronger. Unfortunately, such a restriction also meant that this world was not too friendly for lower-tier reincarnators, at least when it comes to gathering points.
"What should we do?" Gwen asked.
"There is something on the desk. It seems important," the Qon noted, and everyone, except Edward, checked it out. They found a document about them, and after reading it, the team glanced at Edward.
'The perfect mission requirements are harsh,' Edward commented. It was already challenging to save the future timeline, as the Whitespikes had already bred and spread to every corner of the world. However, the mission required him to rebuild civilization after killing these aliens.
Rebuilding civilization was not even an issue, except for one part: the population must reach 30 million individuals for this mission to be accomplished. 'It's still doable,' Edward thought. Although it would take a little bit of time, he could use this opportunity to improve his armor. This world had a few things that could be extremely valuable.
He glanced at the document on the table and scanned it. The Samsara Hall created an identity for them. According to this document, Edward — who is called Neo Doom in this world — was a disgraceful scientist who was conducting secret human experiments. And the result is how these reincarnators have their powers.
"Is it normal for the hall to give people an identity that fits with the world?" Edward asked.
"Don't know," Jake responded.
"Never heard of it."
Spider-Woman shrugged.
"Yes," said Wolf, gathering all attention to himself. "I'm a werewolf, and my powers are from the Underworld Universe. But one of my missions was in the Harry Potter World, and my identity was that I was bitten by Fenrir Greyback."
"Is this identity of any use?" Jake asked.
"Yes," Edward replied. "We can contact the government to enlist us as a special unit."
"But that would also mean revealing ourselves," Gwen countered.
"It's a matter of pros and cons," Qon said. "If we don't reveal ourselves, we will probably be drafted with the protagonist, Dan. However, as you know, our presence has disturbed the plot, meaning things will not go as planned as in the movie. However, if we reveal ourselves, we may get drafted early and not interact with the protagonist and his crew."
"Being with the protagonist also means a higher opportunity to get points," Wolf added.
"Ultimately, it's a matter of the safe or bold approach," Edward summarized. "I choose the safe approach. Come with me if that's also your choice." The group looked at each other, and in the end, Jake and Qon chose Ddward's side, while the others decided to follow the protagonist.
"Since we've made our choice, let's move our separate ways once the protection time ends." Edward needed these people to come into contact with the government and the officials of the Future Army. Once he has access, it doesn't matter what these people do.
"Hold on a minute," Gwen said. "Am I to understand you are going to reveal yourself to the army?"
"That's the plan."
"Then, how do we know you won't release news about us?"
"You'll have to trust us on that," Edward replied calmly.
"Trust? This has to be the greatest joke I've heard in a while," she sneered.
"It's either that or you can start a civil war in which you are outnumbered." His words immediately intensified the atmosphere.
"No need for all of that. I have a binding magical contract," Wolf said as a scroll appeared in his hand. "We can sign a non-aggression and non-killing pact."
"No," Edward said directly. He hasn't started using magic yet, meaning he hasn't enacted any protection for his soul. Before that's done, he won't be signing any magical contracts.
"Don't be like that. It's a very neutral and safe contract. You can verify it if you want."
Edward closed his eyes while standing straight. Jake and Qon saw that he remained firm and decided to follow suit. Meanwhile, Gwen had a dangerous look in her eyes as she glanced at them. Unfortunately, as soon as she had the idea, her spider-senses tingled, warning her of great danger.
As soon as the protection ended, Morgana connected to the computer to give Edward a basic understanding of his location. He was currently in New York, in a small apartment in the Bronx. "Morgana, contact Dr. Ollstein."
"Click Hello, who is this?"
"It's me, Neo."
"…I never thought I would hear from you."
"Well, times have changed," Edward replied. Dr. Ollstein was one of his professors at MIT, and later became one of his colleagues. He's also the one who ousted Edward — or Neo Doom —for all his secret inhuman experiments. The interesting thing is that the latter did not blow his cover because of the nature of his experiments, but because Edward refused to share his findings with the government, which Ollstein was secretly working for.
"What do you want?"
"A few of my research projects were successful."
"You're kidding?"
"Do you think I would joke about such a thing?"
"Yes, when it comes to science, you never joke," Dr. Ollstein nodded. "But, what are you telling me this?"
"I want to test out my new creation, and what better place than fighting aliens in the future?"
"Hehe, if it were anyone else, I would believe they would be patriotic given the current situation. But you —- you're definitely planning something."
"You have the wrong idea about me?"
"Do I?" Ollstein sneered. "Regardless, the world is currently desperate, and a madman like you might be what we need. Give me a few minutes, and someone will contact you."
"I'll wait with bated breath."