The System's alert pulsed in Miguel's vision:
[Mission Objective: Intercept arms shipment bound for Davao.]
[Estimated Enemy Strength: 30 heavily armed personnel, 3 cargo trucks.]
[Reward: +150 Command Points. Unlock: Helicopter Support.]
Miguel leaned back in his chair inside the Forward Operating Base. For weeks, he had struck gangs and smugglers in Manila, becoming the shadow that haunted the capital's underworld. But this mission was different.
Davao. The south. A whole new battlefield.
"Echo One," he said, his voice calm. "Prepare Alpha and Bravo for deployment. Tonight, we fly."
Hours later, Miguel boarded a military-grade transport aircraft summoned through the System. It was invisible to radar, ghosting across the skies. Inside, Alpha and Bravo checked weapons with quiet efficiency. No one asked questions. They had been born for war, and he had given them purpose.
As the dark waters of the Visayas stretched below, Miguel reviewed the plan on a digital screen:
The shipment would pass through a remote coastal road outside Davao del Norte.
Three trucks, guarded by mercenaries loyal to a cartel with ties to corrupt politicians.
The weapons inside: high-powered rifles, explosives, even rocket launchers. Enough to fuel chaos across Mindanao.
Miguel clenched his jaw. If those weapons reached their destination, countless lives would be lost.
"We stop them here," he told his men.
The ambush unfolded under a silver moon.
On the coastal highway, waves crashed against jagged rocks. The convoy rolled steadily: three cargo trucks flanked by armored SUVs, headlights slicing through the dark.
Hidden on the cliffs above, Bravo Squad watched through night-vision scopes. Alpha crouched below in the brush, rifles ready
Miguel stood between them, headset crackling softly.
"Wait…" he murmured. "Wait…"
The convoy entered the kill zone.
"Now."
The night exploded.
An RPG streaked from the cliffside, striking the lead SUV in a fireball. Bullets rained from Bravo's perch, shredding tires, smashing windshields. Alpha surged from the roadside, black shadows swarming the middle truck, cutting off escape.
The mercenaries panicked, some firing wildly, others scrambling into the jungle. But Miguel's squads were merciless. Every move was calculated — suppress, flank, clear. Within minutes, the convoy was in ruins, its guards silenced.
Miguel strode to the nearest truck, rifle in hand. With a signal, Echo One pried open the doors.
Crates upon crates of weapons gleamed under the moonlight. Enough firepower to topple towns.
"Commander," Echo One said. "The cargo is secured."
Miguel nodded. "Destroy it. No one gets these."
The squads moved swiftly, planting charges, setting fuses. Miguel watched from the cliffs as the trucks erupted into flames, the explosion echoing across the sea.
A tide of fire consumed the cartel's fortune.
And with it, their power.
By dawn, Miguel was back in Manila. Exhaustion pressed on him, but the System's new notification jolted him awake.
[Mission Complete.]
[Command Points +150.]
[Unlock: Helicopter Support Available.]
A grin touched his lips. Helicopters. Air mobility. Now his ghost army could strike anywhere in the archipelago.
But as he stared at the glowing map in his command center, new red dots appeared. Cebu. Zamboanga. Even Iloilo. The System was expanding his awareness.
It wasn't just Manila bleeding. The whole country was infested.
Miguel leaned forward, eyes burning with resolve. "Then we take the whole map."
Yet he knew something else was shifting.
News outlets were no longer whispering. Headlines now screamed:
"Shadow Army Strikes Again?"
"Cartel Convoy Destroyed in Davao."
"Is This Vigilantism or Foreign Interference?"
And in air-conditioned rooms of power, senators, generals, and businessmen muttered the same question over and over:
Who is behind the Ghost Force?