Dear Heroes, I really am a Villain

In the vast desolate field 50 kilometers away from Arkadia City-State, a large army of mutants was camped amidst the ruins of an abandoned city. They made use of the buildings and surrounding mutated beasts for defense against surprise attacks.

Usually, these mutants would never dare set up camp within 50 kilometers of the city, as they would become targets for a cruise missile salvo.

Even though they had many powerful mutants capable of defending against such attacks, suffering casualties before the war even started was something they still needed to avoid.

But this time, with the defection of Gideon Voss, all of the launch codes had been changed, and it would take at least five years for the UEC to recover access by hacking the security system.

They no longer needed to fear those cruise missiles coming their way. Even if Atlas himself intervened, it was still within the scope of their calculated risks. Their Khan was strong enough to hold off Atlas, and despite all of his power, Atlas was not without weaknesses.

Besides, they had an ace up their sleeve prepared specifically in case Atlas decided to interfere.

Atop one of the high-rise buildings that served as the Khan's temporary residence, a pale mutant sat on a throne. His skin was cracked like broken stone, and his red eyes held a sense of nobility and cold determination.

On his chest was a medallion. Its design resembled the one Maximilian had o his chest the first time he transmigrated.

"Mr. Gideon Voss, are you certain you have the means to stop Atlas from interfering?" asked the mutant on the throne, addressing the man in a suit seated across from him.

"Yes, Khan. I have the means to restrain him. If he comes, he'll have no choice but to retreat," Gideon said with a confident smile.

"I hope what you say is true, Mr. Gideon Voss," the Khan replied nonchalantly before rising from his throne.

"It's time. Pack up and march!" the Khan declared, and the mutants of various ranks all accepted the command.

With this, the mutants quickly packed up and prepared to march. More than a dozen Behemoths had already been readied, and the largest among them, towering at over 200 meters in height, this strongest behemoth carried the Khan's palace on its back.

The mutant army began its slow march across the desolate land, heading toward the Arkadia City-State: the first target of the Mutant War.

— Arkadia City-State —

Within the fortress command center overlooking the battlefield, numerous screens displayed a wide variety of error and warning signs. Most of them originated from the cruise missile launch procedures and artillery systems with rocket-assisted technology.

All in all, most of the long-range ballistic and artillery systems were now useless. The reason?

Gideon Voss. He used his final privilege as Chief Secretary of the UEC to lock down the launch codes. Now, no one under UEC command could use any system associated with UEC protocols to launch missiles or artillery strikes against those hateful mutants.

"Bastard!" Theodore smashed the table, venting his frustration.

At this moment, all military guidance systems were rendered useless. The best they could do was override the controls and manually aim and fire, no different from what soldiers did during World War II.

But even if they could do that, it was too weak. The response time and recalculation for the next shelling would be too slow. In that delay, they could easily face a counterattack from the other side.

He knew the Behemoths, especially the one carrying the Khan's palace, had artillery emplacements capable of launching powerful counter-fire.

"Sir! I think we may have a way to improvise the guidance and recalibration system," one of the technician officers in the command center reported, standing at attention.

"Tell me, Lieutenant. How can we improvise a billion-dollar system designed specifically to counter mutant abilities? It's not just about recalibration. We also need to input hundreds of shell characteristics, timing, and countermeasures. How can you do that?" Theodore asked.

"Sir, I wouldn't dare say I can do it. But I know someone who can," replied the Lieutenant.

— Maximilian Cafe —

At the café, the clone had long since ceased functioning. The one currently running the place was Rebecca, since both Maximilian and Atherna were away for their "business."

The front door of the café opened, and a group of soldiers in non-combat uniforms entered. Leading them was Theodore, followed closely by the Lieutenant from the tech department.

"Good evening, Ms. Lane. I'll get straight to the point. We want to hire you to write an improvised guidance system for our long-range cruise missiles and artillery," Theodore said.

"This is about the mutant war, isn't it?" Rebecca asked, her hand pausing mid-motion as she cleaned a coffee cup.

"Yes," Theodore nodded.

"How many days do I have to write this thing?" Rebecca asked. She preferred using hours as a measurement, she knew the mutants were closing in fast.

"Twenty-four hours, at most," said Theodore.

"So I have less than 24 hours to write a program equivalent to the work of an elite team with billions of dollars in investment?" Rebecca asked. She let out a smile—a confident one.

"Fine, I'll accept the challenge. You better make it worth my while," she said.

"Don't worry, Miss Lane. We won't shortchange you. If all else fails, I have an emergency stealth evac vessel prepared. You can use it to escape to another city-state or even to the Central," Theodore replied.

"No need… those mutants won't be able to break into this city," Rebecca said confidently.

"Why are you so sure?" Theodore asked, frowning.

"Let's call it a woman's intuition," Rebecca replied. She knew how absurdly powerful Maximilian was, from Atherna, a literal goddess in human form, she had heard enough to know that Maximilian might even surpass Atlas himself.

As for Theodore, he wanted to believe that sentence. He truly did. But his rationality said otherwise.

This time, the mutants had even gathered forces from South America. They intended to eliminate as many humans as possible in this round of war.

The two exchanged a look, and Theodore led Rebecca out of the café, leaving two of his subordinates behind to guard the place for her.

— On the route toward Arkadia —

At one of the many abandoned buildings in the ruined city of the past, a group of Heroes was hiding inside. They were mostly Heroes from Arkadia City, though a few had come from other places, driven by the goodness in their hearts to help.

One of the leaders of the Heroes from outside Arkadia was someone Maximilian knew well. She was Photon Fury, now more mature and composed after the humiliating defeat Maximilian gave her and her subsequent training in the Central.

She already knew the truth from Strauss: that Nihilus was, in fact, a hero who did whatever was necessary to fix problems, including, but not limited to, acting like a villain to terrify the public.

She vividly recalled the conversation with Strauss that she had just one week ago in his office, before she volunteered to come here.

In the office, she had arrived filled with pent-up anger, ready to ask Strauss for a rematch with Nihilus before the war began, a war from which she didn't know if she would return alive. She had made up her mind to eliminate a villain who might pose a threat to humanity: Nihilus.

But what she heard from Strauss nearly made her question reality.

"Oh, Nihilus? That guy isn't a villain. At worst, he's just a vigilante who likes to piss people off," Strauss said with a slight smirk on his lips.

"What did you say?" she asked.

"I said Nihilus is not a villain. At worst, he's just a vigilante who likes to piss people off," Strauss repeated his words, this time carefully and clearly, word by word.

Photon Fury frowned.

"And what is he at best?" she asked.

"He's a hero... a hero who does what needs to be done, no matter the cost. A hero that we need, but do not deserve," Strauss said. The respect in his voice was clearly noticeable.

Hearing such praise from Strauss, that stoic, poker-faced agent, left Photon Fury dazed and in disbelief.

"Is there a reason why you're giving him such high praise?" Photon Fury asked. She knew Strauss well. This grumpy man would never offer anyone praise, not even sarcastically, unless they truly deserved it and had very convincing evidence to back it up.

"You might not know this, but there's a dangerous ideology within the UEC. That ideology is the belief that mutants are the next step in human evolution. The group that supports it calls itself The Echelon.

They're not even trying to hide themselves that much, since every project under the UEC with 'Echelon' in its name is tied to them. And every single one of those projects reeks to high heaven," Strauss began.

"What kind of nutcase thinks that? We all know mutants need human flesh to survive. Their biology simply can't produce stable DNA. Otherwise, they become brittle and die because of their own EF! In truth, they're defective!" said Photon Fury.