For the next 2 minutes, Theo, La Ren, Vivi and the Lamborghini Huracan entered Zifang's ever impressive 6 lane highway system.

From here, it was a visual spectacle of the capital city's night life.

Theo would have loved to take a slow drive through the neon lights if they weren't in a race against time.

"For now the road is clear from here to our exit point. Go full speed La Ren." said Theo who secured himself onto the roof of the Lamborghini.

La Ren gave a thumbs up before the car suddenly accelerated.

In this brief moment of peace, Theo decided to test out of his brain has really evolved into something greater as Maria said.

He closed his right eye, activated the SEER analytic engine on his left eye, prepped himself for the mind breaking migraine and watched the cars behind them.

Immediately, he realized this was a mistake.

It was true that he felt no load on his mind. If he wanted to, he could keep it active forever and it would not hinder his mental capabilities what so ever.

However, the SEER was indiscriminate.

It predicted the future of everything in Theo's field of vision.

All the cars, people inside them, trees, passing planes, cats, dogs, roaches, etc were recognized by the system and was subjected to the prediction computation.

All he could see was a confusing blur of afterimages scrambled together in a messy collage.

"What the hell?! Hey Maria, was the SEER this sensitive?" asked Theo through the coms.

"Hold on. Let me jack into your visuals." said Maria as he felt the presence of another looking through his eyes. "Good lord! So this is what happens when its in full blast. Ugh.... It's making me sick... Now I understand why you placed a limiter on my SEER. "

"A limiter huh? What did I do exactly?"

"When I activate the SEER, I lose all visual input on my left eye and have my right eye's field of vision be limited to a 15 degrees. That way, it can focus only on my target and nothing else. Obliviously, this is not ideal in intense gunfights, but it works well for snipers."

"Ho. I see. I guess I cant use this in areas with too many moving objects. I guess it cant be helped."

"Enough chatter. You're approaching our escape route. Get ready."

"Got it."

The Lamborghini exited the highway and navigated through the claustrophobic streets of Zifang until they reached an unassuming concrete wall.

La Ren vaporized said wall by lightly tapping it with her finger.

On the other side was one of the capital's most infamous man made structure. More specifically, it was infamous to anime fans who watched a certain 1980's show and read its source material.

"Holy hairy nutsack Theo! Our escape route is through Zifang's underground railway?! SO FREAKING COOL!" said Vivi who could not hide his excitement.

"I know! Damn it, I'd like to join you but I have to stick with the plan... DAMN IT! I'm so jealous!" replied Theo.

The capital city's underground subway system was a literal maze of concrete and darkness.

Getting lost inside it was a death sentence.

If the train doesn't accidentally run you over, the 'officially non existent' restless spirits from Zifang's bloody past would make sashimi of your innards.

It was thanks to the efforts of a small secret army of dedicated Onmyoji's (Zifang mages) that these 'officially non existent' restless spirits remained 'officially non existent'.

A group of 4 Onmyojis were their guide through the death trap that was the underground railway.

One of them, an old woman at her 40's, approached Theo and gave him a hug.

At the same time, she whispered to his ear...

"Zifang based, 3rd Generation Combat Mage Clone No. 16345394. Be advised. Hassan I Sabbah members are currently negotiating with someone that may greatly benefit the post nuclear war cause. There might be a drastic change in Theodore Lorne's escape route."

"Well.... Shit. Here we go again."

"Creator Jabir bids you good luck."

After a gentle tap on the shoulder, the Hassan I Sabbah infiltrator approached Vivi's group.

"My name is Hanako Katsukira, an attack mage of the Railway Police Agency. I am a friend of Theodore Lorne from certain illegal conspiracy theory sites. A pleasure to meet you."

"Since when did you like conspiracy theories?" asked Vivi.

"There's some things best left unsaid. Similar how to a certain guy enjoys prostate mas-" replied Theo before Vivi cut him off.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAnnnnyyyyyways. What's the plan?"

"We will be evacuating Vivi Cornielo and La Ren Sithra via the tunnels below the underground railway. The other drows and allies of Theodore Lorne have gone ahead to clear the way for us." said Hanako.

"Huh? What about you Theo?" asked Vivi.

"Obviously my perverted brother from another mother. I'm you distraction. I'll make our pursuers focus on me while you and Du Al Ryien ready for the arrival of the Garden of Eden. Follow his instructions and get the Garden as far away from Zifang as humanly possible. Got it?" replied Theo.

"Sure sure, but are you sure that you'll be fine? You're going to face the entire might of Zifang's Self Defense Force here! Maybe I should stay here and lend you support."

"Nope. You are the Chosen One. You're the only one that can move that catastrophe level thing away from here. Do that and we'll be saving millions of lives at the expense of my personal health, safety and reputation. I'd say this is a bargain we cant say no to. Keep your eyes on the prize my friend."

Vivi made a difficult face.

Now that Theo thought about it, he and Vivi has never fought side by side before.

This could have been a rare opportunity for a collaboration, but the mission was priority number 1. Everything else was secondary.

The friends shared a bro hug before parting ways.

Before the rescue group left for the escape route, La Ren gave Theo a very sloppy french kiss.

"This was quite fun. Let's have sex next time." texted La Ren before joining the others.

Theo observed La Ren's ass as she entered the tunnel.

"Hmm... A fine ass indeed. Boning her would most certainly be fun."

"You said that out loud, you know?" said Maria through the coms.

"Wops. I-I didnt mean that you know? It's a guy thing you see."

Theo felt quite uncomfortable showing his pervyness to his daughter.

While she was technically older than Theo, he still wanted to paint himself in a positive light to his future children.

Sadly, that was not meant to be.

"No need to make excuse Papa. We have gone beyond the point of caring the amount of new women you have sex with. Remembering the names of my ever increasing half siblings is kind of annoying though."

"Huh? What the hell does that mean? Just how many women do I end up sleeping with?"

"Cut the senseless chatter. The enemy is finally catching up and a spy drone of yours have dropped off Denel NTW-20 on the nearby building. Get to it."

"Hey! Dont just brush me off! This is impo-"

"SHUT THE HELL UP AND GET ON WITH THE MISSION!"

"Y-yes maam."

"*sigh*... Stupid Papa."

Embarrassing as it may be, but Theo found Maria's teacher-like no nonsense attitude quite terrifying.

It reminded him allot of his very own mother.

Both women were generally likable, but had a habit of enforcing their iron clad law on everyone when the situation required it.

Naturally born naggers.

Theo feared for her future husband.

"Oh by the way, I've been wondering about this for a while now..." said Theo as he used his grappling arm to climb a 10 story building.

"What is it? If it's something stupid, I'll blow out your eardrum." replied Maria.

"You inherited your Nichola's curse right?"

"Yes. I did. What of it?"

"You look fine though. Do you have a partner?"

Maria was silent for a bit. Probably she was too embarrassed to say it.

In fact, when Theo checked her condition via her cybernetic implants (which he somehow had the right to access), it seemed that she was blushing quite a bit.

"D-dont get angry okay?" said Maria.

"Sure. Based on what you told me, I'm not exactly in the position to criticize." replied Theo who has finally reached the roof.

There was a case that contained the Denel NTW-2. He opened it and began assembling it in haste.

"The main reason I look fine now is because big sis is flooding me with mana. As long as I have overflowing mana, my regeneration will overwhelm my curse."

"Oh. Interesting. And your partner?"

"The main reason why I literally forced my assignment to this mission is to ensure that my partner would exist in the future."

"Huh? What are you-..... Ah I get it. It's Vivi's child isnt it?"

"Y-yes. After this incident, Uncle Vivi would proceed to impregnate a girl he would not have met if we did not interfere with the timeline. S-so please... I know you're kind of a dotting parent but don't give my future fiance a hard time."

"Hahaha! Of course I wont! I was worried that your partner would be some random punk. I would have carved the meaning of fear into his very soul if that were the case. But since it's Vivi's kid, I know full well that said punk would be a good punk..... I'll still remind him that there are fates worse than death though..."

"That's exactly what I don't want you to do!"

"Don't worry Maria. It'll probably be just a little talk between Father-in-law and Son-in-law. It wont hurt too much."

"PAPA! Why are you so-! Enemy incoming! Ready yourself... And I'll be giving you an earful later!"

"Roger that... And you can nag all you want later. It will change nothing. It is my fatherly duty after all." said Theo as he open fired.

1 kilometer away, a hole was punched into a police car's hood.

"Grr! Damn you! Stupid Papa! Pervert! Sex Fiend!" Replied Maria who also open fired.

"HAHAHA! Flattery will get you nowhere!"

The two of them proceeded to disable 15 police cars in rapid succession. Naturally, not a single police officer was killed.

It was like shooting fish in a barrel.

"Incoming helicopter. Looks like it's a news chopper. I have a clear shot but I guess we cant do that, can we?" asked Maria.

"Yup. Stick to the plan. Keep the civilian casualties as close to zero as possible, draw as much of the ZSDF (Zifang Self Defense Force) to me and keep them busy while Vivi does his thing." replied Theo as the spot light from the news chopper focused on him.

Theo looked at what he thought was a TV camera and gave it a flying kiss. A simple show of arrogance that was meant to piss of the ZSDF.

From the small stockpile of weapons left along with the Denel NTW-2, Theo changed into his personal favorite loadout.

The cybernetic backpack that had 6 mechanical arms.

4 grappling guns for said arms.

2 auto reload mechanisms for the remaining 2 arms.

1 Super Shotgun.

1 Beretta ARX160 with double drum magazines.

4 Beretta 92 pistols

3 Grenades (frag, incendiary and flashbang)

And a new addition: 3 fist sized tungsten balls.

The last one was ammo for his hand cannon.

He wanted to bring the Denel NTW-2 with him, but he was about to pull of crazy stunts. Bringing such a massive rifle would negatively affect his maneuverability.

"Maria, can I trust you on keeping tabs on our spy friends?" asked Theo.

"No problem. The Hassan I Sabbah infiltrators are uploading minute by minute updates on the 3 groups. If anyone tries to chase after Uncle Vivi, I'll blow their brains off. But I'll do my best to give you some fire support." replied Maria.

"Roger that.... Alrighty then. Show time."

Theo began running from rooftop to rooftop at top speed.

Thanks to the claustrophobic nature of Zifang's big cities, it was much easier to traverse than on street level. At least here, there were no foot traffic to worry about.

Sadly, this worked for his enemies as well.

With eyes on him from the air, it did not take long before the local law enforcement began catching up.

Thanks to the combination of his spy drones, Maria's stealthy assistance and Zifang's general lack of experience in violent urban combat common in Vermillion City, Theo was able to bulldoze through his magically enhanced enemies despite being physically inferior to them.

A policeman with a magic katana lunged at him with the reverse edge of the blade.

Theo shot him in the foot before hitting him with a left uppercut that threw the man off the roof.

A large chubby man with the signature Oni weapon (a spiked metal bat) rushed at him from the front. At the same time, a ninja stealthily approached from behind to plant a knife into his back.

A simple yet effective pincer attack.

Unfortunately, Theo was prepared for them.

He fired off his omni directional flame thrower to hamper their vision. At the same time, he grabbed disoriented ninja and used her as a shield to receive the fat man's big thick black rod.

As the big man was starting to realize what happened, Theo used his cybernetic arm to grab the man by the balls and proceeded to crush it like a tomato.

The scream that followed made Theo feel extremely guilty.

Mind you, it wont take the man long to regenerate such a wound, but that did not change the fact that it was a soul crushing injury.

After mentally apologizing to the poor man, Theo jumped off the roof and used the grappling guns to swing from one building to the next.

This sudden burst of speed instantly left his pursuers behind. While he could not outrun the news chopper, he was at least able to avoid getting encircled.

As he gloated internally on how a simple grappling gun was getting the best of ZSDF's finest, one of Jabir's clones suddenly made contact.

"Status Update: Negotiation completed. Local accomplice secured. New directive: Proceed to indicated location for extraction."

"Nice! I was really not looking forward to swimming in shit again! Awesome!" replied Theo.

The original plan was to use Zifang's confusing sewage system as his escape route. It wasnt as convoluted as Vermillion City's but it was large enough to lose any pursuers.

However, Theo had more than enough share of shit diving for one lifetime. He'd prefer if he never experienced it again.

He glanced through the report and noticed a few worrying points.

"Hey.... Isn't the rendezvous point Zifang's Imperial Castle?"

"Correct."

"I see... I have a bad feeling about this.... What's the name of our contact?"

"Takihiro Daisoujo."

It felt like someone just kicked him in the nuts before setting it on fire.

He may avoid politics like the plague that it was, but even he knew of Takihiro Daisoujo AKA the Former Emperor of Zifang.

Whatever it was he was getting dragged into, pain and suffering was inevitable.

"Well.... Shit."