James' final words hung like a heavy cloud over the trainees' heads. Suzuki's stunt made it obvious the importance of money for each mission. It did not take a genius to realize that having more money gave a team more options for approaching each mission. For example, without the contributions gathered for Jade's hacking daemon, the last mission would have been a hundred times exponentially more difficult. Furthermore, it appeared that going forward, most missions would not be joint like the last one, so donations would not always make sense.

'Did he plan this?' Within moments, a few hostile gazes filled with mistrust turned toward Suzuki. It made sense. What were the odds that Suzuki took this gamble without expecting some remuneration? With this bonus, the Crazy Heads would soar faster than anyone else!

This was not a joke. James' invasion reveal dropped a massive amount of pressure on the youth. Although James did not say it out loud, they suspected that their performance in the missions played an enormous role in how they could arm themselves in reality when the time came. With their lives suddenly on the line, the mood in the hall swiftly took a turn for the worse.

"Suzuki, you—"

"Here's what I made in this mission," Suzuki interrupted the first person to speak, using his phone to project his prize screen, including James' last bonus: ¥675,000,000. Several trainees swallowed hard when they saw the impossibly large sum. What the hell was Suzuki doing? Gloating?

Suzuki did not leave them guessing long. He flicked the screen, revealing his Genaco profile, manoeuvred to his bank account, and then to everyone's shock, transferred everything, leaving only one million yen. Once he finished, Ayumi, Kimuri, Natsu, Kaido, and Chimei's brows furrowed when their phones vibrated in unison.

Ayumi, already guessing Suzuki's intention, shook her head as she pulled out her phone. Sure enough, she sighed when she saw the expected notification. Without hesitating, she projected her screen, revealing the group account used to gather the funds for Jade's daemon.

Balance: ¥475,000,000 Everyone's eyes twitched when they saw the numerous zeroes. The throwaway account should have been empty. Only one person could have sent the funds in there.

Everyone present looked at Suzuki, stunned and confused. Their eyes all held the same question: why?

Faced with questioning gazes, Suzuki glanced at Ayumi's screen and said, "James set a trap – the same trap the aliens set for Earth's leaders. When one person possibly gains more benefits than the rest, there's a big chance the poorer will try to drag down the richer to their level rather than seek to elevate themselves. It's a tale as old as humanity itself."

"Crabs in a bucket," murmured Kimuri with a sigh.

"Exactly. James and his alien buddies are betting on humans fighting each other for benefits to the extent that we forget our main objective: protecting those we care about." Suzuki took a deep breath. "Honestly, all this talk about an alien invasion is beyond me. I don't care that much about Earth or its people to risk my life. But—" He paused, looked at Jade, Ayumi, Taiga, Saeko and Taki, then said, "—there are a few people I don't want to die living on Earth. So, I'll do whatever I can to ensure we win this challenge. As to who becomes an immortal or gains some epic title, that's for others to figure out."

Suzuki's gaze, carrying a hard determination, swept across the room. "This is a small sacrifice in comparison. Going forward, I'll donate fifty per cent of my victory prizes to the joint account. As mission planners, Ayumi and the team leaders can go through all available missions and use the joint account to provide support wherever needed. I won't ask you to donate the same as me, but add whatever you can to the war chest. No matter what, one of our teams will receive the 'best' team award. Instead of destroying ourselves in pursuit of that, I suggest we combine our efforts to make sure everyone successfully completes their missions. But that's just me."

A strange silence befell the room. Each trainee looked at the reticent Suzuki with strange gazes. They understood what the young man was saying but did not know if they could believe him. Was there someone who really lacked ambition? Who would not strive to seek the most benefit for themselves?

"Let me ask you something," said Natsu, breaking the silence. Perhaps because she had worked with Suzuki, her eyes were no longer cold. "If the Earth was not at stake, and this was a pure competition, would you do the same thing? Donate your earnings?"

"Why would I do that?" replied Suzuki without hesitation. "No, I would not share my winnings. While I might not go out of my way to sabotage you, I would do my best to keep winning and widening the gap between us."

"Heh. Should I say as expected?" Natsu could not help but reveal a small smile. "I like your honesty." She glanced at her teammates, who nodded their approval. "Fine, Silver Spear commits to donating fifty per cent of all victory rewards going forward."

Not to be outdone, Kimuri lazily raised his hand. "Nature's Vanguard pledges the same."

Kaido and Chimei shared a look and then also raised their hands. "We pledge the same."

In front of the room, Akari removed his glasses and wiped the tears forming at the edge of his eyes. See? Humanity was not just greed and self-interest. Many were willing to suffer for the good of others. Sometimes, they only needed that special spark to ignite the dormant fuse.

From reading Suzuki's profile, Akari knew the young man had no leadership thoughts. But, perhaps, that lack of ambition was why the others could feel comfortable and trust him so much. Suzuki's motivation was so pure that none of the other trainees could doubt his words.

Plus, he had the strength to back his words.

Akari sighed. Earth would be in a much stronger position if the various leaders had even an iota of this kid's integrity. They would not need to gamble on some kids' lives. Unfortunately, reality would not change based on his wishes. So, they could only prepare enough to offset humanity's greed.

Akari clapped, drawing the trainees' attention. "Genaco will not interfere in how you manage your funds. But be careful. We also will not interfere if one or more of you decide to cheat, lie about your rewards, or abscond with the gathered yen. Ultimately, the decision is one you made, and you'll have to live with the consequences. If that is alright with you, may I draw your attention to your issued phones."

Pulling out his phone, Akari flipped to an added Missions icon on the home screen. "If you click on the Missions app, you will see the list of missions issued by Genaco. There will be ten missions issued every week. Each team must complete at least one per week." Akari pointedly looked at Suzuki as he added, "Furthermore, these missions take place in a persistent 'world.' This means that the available missions might be subject to change depending on the outcomes of another mission. For example, prior to your current mission, the first three missions were: 'Secure Congo Supply Line.' 'Eliminate Viktor Romanov.' 'Intercept and investigate Shipment travelling between Morocco and Spain.'" Akari wiped away the prompts and then brought up the current missions. "Due to Suzuki taking down the orbital elevator, 'command' decided to press the advantage and eliminate as many nearby alien strongholds as possible before they repair the damage. Pulling up the new missions, he pointed out the top three: Destroy Lugano Base, Assassinate Venerable Hu'Tain, Eliminate reinforcements at Fribourg."

Akari pointed at Venerable Hu'Tain mission. "Get used to seeing the Venerable title. It is used to refer to expert pilots. If you're not confident, avoid any missions that mention this title. Also, it's not here, but Cassia, like all ace pilots, are called Overlords. Definitely avoid any missions that contain Overlords. This particular invasion force only has three Overlords, well, two now. But, for reasons beyond your clearance levels, their deployment is heavily restricted. For now, treat them like natural disasters. Wherever they show up, Terra will definitely lose."

Akari paused. But then, after a moment added, "Also, this is like L.N.E. From this moment onward, you only have one life. You can deploy in remote-piloted Gladiators and mechs or wear the suit yourself. The former option is much safer, but as you saw in your past mission, susceptible to enemy hacks and communication disruptions. A well-time jammer can cause you to lose access to your Gladiator. Needless to say, your scores will be docked heavily in the event of losing your Gladiator in such fashions."

Once again, looking at Suzuki, Akari said, "For those who choose to deploy in the suits, be warned that if you die during a mission, you will no longer be allowed to participate in future missions, depriving your team of a vital member." He teased a soft smile, suffusing his features. "Do not worry. We are not so depraved as to kill you in real life. In the end, this is training. In keeping with that, for those who die during missions, though you cannot participate in the reward missions, we will allow you to have practice runs in previously completed missions. Naturally, there won't be any rewards in practice missions."

Suzuki raised his hand.

"Yes. Practice missions are open to everyone." Akari's eyes twinkled with amusement when Suzuki promptly dropped his hand. Hardworking freaks were the easiest to read. "With this in mind, feel free to accept and complete your mission at any time – as long as you don't forget to complete at least one a week."

Suzuki once again raised his hand. This time, Akari nodded, allowing him to speak. "The mission completion quota. Is it per team or per person?"

Akari smiled. "It's both. Every person must complete one mission a week. But the leader and at least one other team member must complete a mission together."

"Does this mean team members are free to work with other teams?"

Lips spread in a weak smile, Akari groaned. "James was right. You are annoyingly perceptive with this stuff." Sighing, he admitted, "Yes, you can organize your teams however you want as long as each leader completes at least one mission with a minimum of one teammate."

Suzuki's brows scrunched together. "Five teams, ten missions. Theoretically, it should be possible for one or two people to clear some missions, allowing others to combine and complete the rest."

Akari's lips twitched. It finally dawned on him why this Mato kid blazed past everyone in the game. As Taiga claimed, Suzuki's mind really did work differently. He had a knack for discovering opportunities even in the direst situations. He thought Taiga was the most significant anomaly he would ever meet, but Suzuki had begun to contest for first place.

"Yes, theoretically, it's possible," confirmed Akari. He could obfuscate, deceive, gaslight and withhold information, but he was not allowed to lie outright. "But you will only receive personal scores."

"That's fine," Suzuki said. "Personal scores are not as important as saving the Earth."

"Yes, I suppose you are right." Akari sighed. Yeah, it was impossible to sow division as long as the single-minded Suzuki was present. Instead, he shook his head and said, "Alright, changing gears. You have all worked hard today. You should be proud of yourselves. Take the night to sleep, relax and recharge yourselves. L.N.E will resume at 4 pm today. As James said, one of the prerequisites to save our world is to prevent or subvert your game world's extinction event. I wish you all good luck. Aside from Mato-kun, the rest of you may return to your rooms."

The trainees made to stand up, but Suzuki suddenly said, "Wait," causing the rest to pause. They had learned from the last mission that Suzuki's words were rare but worth his weight in gold.

Suzuki stood up and looked at Kimuri, Natsu, Chimei and Nagasaki. "We already know Destia's extinction event. Razznik told us." The quartet frowned, slowly putting the clues together. Suzuki, however, explained for the benefit of the rest. "The Circle. Razznik warned that it would explode if we did not reinstate the reincarnation cycle. But, the only way to reinstate that cycle is to free Aethir, who is in his Deity realm."

"The only way to reach Aethir is to unite Destia under one flag." Natsu's eyes widened as she looked at Suzuki. "Are you suggesting we surrender to Rosendun to hasten the time?"

Suzuki shook his head. "I doubt Razznik will let it be that easy. Besides, none of us are in direct control of our governments. Our leaders will never agree to an unconditional surrender on some vague threat. No, keep fighting as you've done to eat as many borders as possible. Best-case scenario, Destia's map ends up divided between two-three forces in a few in-game months."

"The Warring States of China!" Chimei chimed in with keen eyes. "You're tryna follow that model, right? With fewer warlords, we can determine the final leader in one large battle."

Suzuki nodded. "Yes, that is the idea. Kashi will also be present in the final battle. Whoever wins will get Yggdrasil and open the gates to Razznik's realm." Eyes narrowing, he proposed, "This is the important part. Regardless of who wins and who loses, we must agree to fight Razznik together. All factional disputes and thoughts of vengeance must end when that realm opens. It will take all of us together to stand a prayer of defeating a serious Razznik. Do I have your word?"

Chimei chuckled. "No problems on my end." She slapped Kaido's back and proclaimed, "Kaido and I run large crews on the Isle provinces. We're mostly pirates and explorers, so we're not interested in ruling you land-lovers. But, for the sake of your proposal, we'll work hard to drag the entire isles under our control. Then, we'll surrender to whoever wins at the end. How's that sound?"

Suzuki observed Chimei and the reticent Kaido. As far as he knew, the isles had been independent during Destia's political struggles. No nation had the navy required to fight them for supremacy, so they were largely left to their devices. From what he heard, it was a den of explorers, pirates and traders. The isles were split among several large crews, resulting in significant lawlessness. No one had succeeded in uniting the islands under a single banner.

"Good luck," stated Suzuki. "If you need help, do not hesitate to call on the Twilight Wolves. They're no good at naval battles but could help with other things."

Chimei chuckled. "No problem."

Kimuri glanced at Chimei and then at Suzuki. "I like your proposal. We'll go according to your strategy."

Natsu nodded. "Works for me."

A hint of a smile spread on Suzuki's lips. His aura slowly morphed, turning more feral.

Kashi revealed a toothy grin as he winked at the others. "I'll be waiting to trounce your asses!"