Lieutenant Lex stood motionless as he read the report.
"Missing in action," he muttered, his voice colder than usual.
His fingers tightened slightly around the paper. A faint crease formed across the page before he noticed and loosened his grip.
He exhaled slowly, trying to steady his breathing, but it refused to slow down.
His younger brother wasn't careless.
Reckless, yes. Stubborn. Loud. Always charging ahead without thinking twice.
But careless?
No.
Leon survived missions others refused to take. He always returned with that same grin, as if danger meant nothing.
Lex still remembered the last time they spoke.
'Don't worry, big brother. It's just a routine sweep.'
"Leon..." he gritted his teeth in anger.
The higher-ups sent his younger brother there as punishment, despite knowing his history with that branch.
But what made him even more furious was that his brother's disappearance was kept from him until now.
Knock! Knock Knock!
Before Lex could respond, the door opened and one of the officers stepped inside, his expression could not be painted.
"Lieutenant, we received another report," he stood straight despite the unease in his eyes. "The two squads sent to check on your brother lost contact. The underground sewer has already been flagged as a danger zone."
Silence filled the room.
Lex didn't answer right away.
His fingers slowly tightened against the armrest, the faint creak of leather echoing in the quiet office.
Then he exhaled.
BOOOM!
A heavy pressure burst outward in an instant.
The desk shook violently as the force spread . Papers flew off the surface. Chairs slid back as if pushed by an invisible wave.
The officer was thrown off his feet and crashed to the floor, scrambling back in shock.
He had never seen his superior lose control like this. It felt like watching a massive beast barely contained inside human skin and clothing, straining against its limits.
Lex stood up.
His chair scraped loudly against the floor.
Without a word, he clenched his fist.
A loud sound cracked , like a gunshot from sheer force alone. Even without a weapon, his strength was enough to tear through solid structure.
"Send word to their bastard director," His voice came out low, each word forced through clenched teeth.
"I want an explanation for this. And they better give me a good reason… or I'll tear it out of them myself."
The officer didn't dare say a word. He only nodded once, stiff and fast, then turned and left the office in a hurry.
His footsteps echoed down the hall as he ran.
The sound faded quickly, but the tension he left behind stayed.
Other officers who heard the commotion were in shock. Then they started moving. Keys were grabbed. Messages were sent to the main HQ without delay.
This was no longer just a case of a few missing Special Category Agents.
Lex wasn't just another member of the Defense Force. His personal power carried weight far beyond his rank.
And now his younger brother, the only family he had left, was missing—or likely already dead.
.
.
.
Defense Force Branch 015.
The moment the message spread, every station stopped what it was doing.
"Lieutenant Lex is coming."
No one said it like it was good news.
It came out hard. Uneasy. Like a mountain had just been dropped into the building.
Officers moved fast after that.
Weapons racks were opened. Ammo cases were checked twice, then a third time.
Armored vests were pulled on without jokes or casual talk. Even veteran soldiers kept their mouths shut.
One of the newer recruits asked. "Why are we preparing? Isn't Lieutenant Lex in our side?"
A nearby veteran shot him an angry look
"Didn't you hear the news? His brother, the one assigned to this branch, is missing. "
The recruit blinked, still not fully getting it.
"Why though? I mean… our job is dangerous, so it's only normal to meet an accident."
No one answered.
The recruit wasn't wrong. Death was part of their work. Everyone here knew that.
But that wasn't the reason they were so worried.
"That's not why we're like this."
The recruit frowned. "Then what is it?"
One officer at the side rubbed the back of his neck, like he didn't want to remember it.
"Lieutenant Lex has a record," he began explaining.
Before his promotion, he was already known for an incident no one liked to revisit.
Bad intel from this very facility led his squad into a mission with the wrong threat level. The team went in anyway. Only he survived.
What followed wasn't clean. He broke protocol and started demanding accountability from those involved. It turned into a conflict that would have ended anyone else's career.
But not his.
He was too valuable to the Defense Force to be imprisoned or removed.
If he did that for the sake of a friend, then only one could imagine what he would do for his younger brother, he doted a lot.
Roughly Twenty minutes later.
A military jeep rolled through the gates of Branch 015.
It didn't slow down. The guards at the entrance stiffened as it passed, their hands hovering near their weapons but not moving further.
The vehicle stopped near the main yard.
Dust settled around the tires.
Then the door opened.
Lex stepped out.
He wasn't in office uniform anymore. No coat. No clean insignia posture. He wore full dark combat gear, built for real deployment.
And on his back—
A spear.
Long. Futuristic. Lethal.
The moment it came into view, several officers instinctively stepped back. They even forgot that they were there to stop him in case he ended up causing trouble.
All of that went down the drain, because although Lex was quiet, every step he took parted the dust around him.
He was locked in and ready. Anyone dumb enough to point a gun at him would not even see how they died.
Someone swallowed hard.
Another whispered, "That's him… He's more terrifying than I imagined."
Lex did not look around. He moved straight toward the director's office, which made everyone sigh in relief. Few even cursed their director for getting involved with someone of his caliber and record.