At that command, the tree shrunk like a deflating balloon.

Jeff looked at the empty marble tablet with a raised brow. This thing was more versatile than expected.

A screen suddenly popped into Jeff's view.

[ Unique Quest: Spacetime Disturbance Data Collection (Incomplete) ]

[ Quest Description: A (Supernatural-Mid) tier spacetime disturbance has been detected. Stay within (50) meters of the source of energy signature for (150) seconds... ]

[ Quest Reward: Inventory Slot * 24 ]

[ Now recording spacetime disturbance data... ]

In a moment, that tree had shrunk to the size of a finger.

Looking at this, Everly squatted down and scooped it up.

"Freeze!" A squad of dudes jumped down from the ceiling. There were around 20 of them.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

These guys dropped to the ground-level floor. They had surrounded Jeff's group.

Tall or short, regardless of their body-size, they had the same outfits: Full-body knight armors. A black cloak. No helmet. Got a black steel mask instead. Got potions and projectiles clipped by their waist.

Their weapons varied though. Swords and shield. Bow and arrows. Staffs and Tomes.

Unlike the loosely organized hunter squads, these guys looked much better equipped, and much better coordinated.

Led by a S-rank squad leader, the rest of the members were A-rank. This force alone was on-par with the biggest hunter groups in the sanctuary.

Naturally, the sanctuary didn't have many elite squads like this. Only got 3.

Jeff raised a brow. He did recognize these guys, seen them around before.

Hunters were contractors of the Sanctuary. These guys were the formal employees.

Even though they worked under the same organization, Jeff never got involved with these guys' business before. (Other than turning down a job offer from these guys. Reason: too many restrictions.)

This was why Jeff got confused. They were in the same faction right? What's up with this hostile look?

A dude walked forward. Looking closely, there were red-stripes on this guy's mask. This was probably a squad leader or something.

"This compound is under the control of the Sanctuary Task Force."

"Miss. Hand that over."

"Yeah?" Everly smirked. "Tell Atlas that he can eat my ass."

The tree in Everly's hands popped out of existence.

The squad leader sighed. "Well. I asked nicely."

Stepping forward, this guy was ready to get things done by force.

"Liam Evanstein. Chief researcher of the Sanctuary." Liam held up his card. Unlike Jeff's hunter card, Liam's card looked more like a driver's license.

"This retrieve mission is ordered directly by the Keyholder."

"I can bring you directly to the keyholder if you wish."

(Keyholder = boss of the sanctuary)

The squad leader shook his head. "If you are a specialist, why are you not under the protection of sanctuary security agents?"

Liam: ...

Jeff: ...

Clearly, Liam didn't want some people to know in particular. Who's that someone? Let's just say those guys might be close by. Reeaaal close by.

'Liam doesn't even trust the sanctuary security agents huh...' Jeff sighed in his mind. 'The Sanctuary's management is not so united I see...'

"You are all under arrest." The squad leader raised a hand. His squad raised their weapons.

"You can all make further explanations to commander Atlas."

"Oh?" Jeff raised his brows. "So you are getting me involved as well."

"I know you. Mission Machine." The squad leader turned to Jeff. "If you were at your prime, I would sell you a favour and leave."

"However, how much energy do you have left?"

"How many injuries are you carrying on you?"

"Please do not make futile resistance and follow us to commander Atlas."

"Heh." Jeff chuckled.

Flicking his hand forward, a ray of light brushed by the squad leader's head.

The elite squad froze in place.

A slit appeared on the squad leader's mask. A small stream of blood started to ooze out.

Opening a hand, Jeff's dagger flew back into his palm. "Just because I don't want to mess with you guys."

Jeff looked at squad leader dead in the eye. "It doesn't mean I can't whoop your ass. Got it?"

"Are you planning to betray the sanctuary?" The squad leader solemnly asked.

"I'm just a contractor, so I never pledged loyalty to the sanctuary in the first place." Jeff shrugged. "If I wanted, I could join any other survivor bases, at any time."

Barry's eyes lit up.

"Also, you think you can just mess with me? And I'll just suck it up?"

"Hold on." Liam raised his chin up. "And since when could a squad leader like you represent the sanctuary?"

A pause of silence...

"Arrest them."

'Still boiled down to fighting in the end.' Jeff sighed.

Looking around, the squad surrounding them got into battle stance. Their weapons started to charge up with mana.

Unsheathing his sword, the squad leader bolted towards Jeff. "Charge!"

"Bad call." Jeff shook his head and stepped forward...

...

Walking back to the sanctuary...

"You sure it's fine to leave them like that?" Barry asked.

"Absolutely." Liam replied with a bright smile.

"Without their equipment?" Jeff added.

"Aaabsolutely." Liam replied confidently. "I'm sure the Keyholder will be on our side."

Yep. Those guys couldn't put up a fight. One shot, one fella was knocked out. The challenging part for Jeff was holding back his strength.

Had to be precise. Enough for a knock out, but not enough to severely injure, or kill them.

And then, Liam insisted on taking loot from this battle...

After all, Everly could pop a lot of stuff away. No need to worry about carry capacity when this girl was around.

Yes. It's all on the Evansteins. Jeff was too weakened to stop this duo. Atlas can find Liam if he wanted an explanation.

What? Those credits? It's just a tip. And only a tip. No underhanded dealings here. Erhm...

So yeah... That left those guys with only their underwear...

Well. What could the weakened Jeff say?

*Whisper voice: "Good Job!"*