The Cuffs are going to be the modules of peace. The Disruptors that they are based on have made it clear that they might as well be the cure for the Breakers who experience withdrawal syndrome when they run out of ichor in their bodies.

The Cuffs are being promoted everywhere. It also gave people a certain reaction to it. A mix of praise and a mix of wariness.

A Question: Can the Cuffs truly help?

The design of the Cuff was made obviously alongside the Disruptors and its selective pickings. It nullifies the special abilities of the Breaker while allowing the breaker to retain their physical strength.

There were rumors that it also cuts them off from it. Gaston never really was the kind who believed anything unless he witnessed it personally.

Of course, there are ‘witnesses’ and ‘testers’ who are saying that there are effects that can truly drain the Breaker out of their powers.

The Cuffs are the silver bullet of the Breakers. It’s a weakness that they all share. It was quite effective as well. And Gaston, had to orient the Breakers who are active in the Babaika Company about the certain effects of the cuffs. After that, they would be told to leave.

Gaston had been orienting the newcomers. Honestly, lately he felt like he was becoming more and more accustomed to being in the briefing room, telling the rookies about how to act and feel.

But Gaston’s a profession. And he does get paid to present and orient these rookies so they don’t die a horrible death. Although the appearance of the Cuffs brings comfort to citizens who are afraid of the Breakers.

The Belua, their enemy, was still around. The Biomass Entities are still their biggest threat. It was only weeks ago that troublesome entities ran rampant in Japan.

The Split-Realm and the STORMING event that came out of it made the government bodies anxious. Even the defense grid that Japan was so proud of did not work as much as they had hoped, then again the cause of the defenses being useless was because of the Cultists finding ways to go around their defense.

It was a terrible slap from reality. Humanity’s goal in the first place was to find a way to stop these split-realm openings. Of course, to figure them out would take many years of research. It was the same as asking the smartest people of the world to just make something to block the split-realms.

Just cover the hole in the sky. Then stop more of the holes from opening so we can usher in a peaceful era. Or you know, just do what the Americans did by sending a fleet worth of Americans ready to kill everything on the other side. Dropping bombs one after another and making a wasteland that allowed them to expand and make a killing out of their newly conquered land.

Every superpower nation has always kept a gate open to a dimension that they can gather ichorium efficiently. It made sense for them to have a constant supply of it, hence split-realm explorations have been one of the most profitable businesses ever since then.

Gaston walked out of the orientation room and followed a crew member to the deck where they were getting ready for a dive. The one leading the team today are the Rooks.

The location of the dive was currently in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. With the average depth-dive of about 12 thousand meters to reach the areas around the expected harvest point.

They are expecting two things in this dive. The appearance of Lurker-class biomass entities who are capable of swimming in such a depth and with thick outer exterior that would take weeks or possibly months to break through.

And imagine a whale-size creature swimming faster than a speeding boat. It was a horrifying thought and those who are usually in-charge of capturing and killing them are not even personally allowed to take them, only they have MF-weapons that could do enough damage to break through that exterior.

The weather was mostly stormy. If it wasn’t for the stabilizers holding the ship from keeling over. The operation didn’t start until the clouds dispersed and the weather became stable enough.

Gaston was only an adjutant so he stood to the edge while keeping his AR-module pointed at the operation. The first thing to happen was that they dropped a buoy on the ocean that acted as a detection net. There were about a hundred of them that contained the area of the ocean.

The operator who was clearing the area was using advanced LIDAR technology to map the depth and constantly ping back any movements down below. The LIDAR transmits data and produces a generated video image that they use to track all the changes.

The radar technology had advanced enough to detect the creatures through bio-signatures, but since there are times where the creatures can escape detection.

With most of the preparations being set. The harpoons used to pin the monsters down were set. Boris, the leader of the Rook Squad, briefed his squad about the procedure.

Once the monsters in the vicinity are harpooned. They would immediately move the equipment deployed underneath and eyeball the targets for visual confirmation.

Then after the monsters are pinned. Another team equipped with depth-approved equipment can submerge underneath and double-check the monsters pinned before planting the beacons that would tag the monsters, allowing the dive team to perform a scan of the area and check for any harvestable and mineable resources.

When it comes to deep-dive clearings and raids. Those who participated were not usually allowed to be cocky enough to risk the entire exploration team. Hence why it was unusual to find someone not following the plain. It doesn’t help that the sea itself was a deterrent against stupidity.

It was a surprising fact to Gaston on how many people have such an innate fear towards the seas. Even outer space or a whole different realm couldn’t scare some of the Breakers, but you submerge them into the deep seas and they become meek and willing to listen to any orders.

The operation proceeded without casualties. There was an injury concerning one of the rookes twisting their arms after forgetting to stabilize his deep-dive suit. His arm would have been squeezed.

Gaston was an adjutant who was always informed of the operations that mattered to the Earthside Consortium. Other than recording the details, there wasn’t much he did other than reminding the Breakers affiliated to the Consortium about their duties.

It was nothing more than a formal reminder which most of them got used to. After the operation, the ship that he was on-board traveled back to Kaminari Island to perform the extraction on a yard specifically meant to butcher, dissect, and extract materials from the beasts that they got.

The ships belonging to the Babaika Lions dragged them to this butchering yard. It reminded Gaston of whale-hunting activities, but on a larger scale.

The area around the Island was exclusive to the depth-hunters. The ichorium extraction on the island was running smoothly. Workers were gathering the equipment, stabbing them on the exterior of the beasts, and starting the process by constantly breaking a certain part of the exterior shell until they broke down.

Of course, breaking the shell with tools would take effort. So instead they inject this kind of dangerous concoction inside the exterior of the LURKER-class beast that erodes the shell.

The process takes about thirty hours and by the time the chemical erodes the exterior of the beast. Most of the beast's exterior would be stripped, revealing only the fleshy parts as well as the ichor growing on their bodies.

The ichor of the beasts are usually found in the bladder area of the monsters and on some of their parts. Think of them as like antler horns and ivory that were growing all over their bodies.

To harvest the ichor they would need specialized equipment. Each piece of equipment differs depending on the beast that they caught. The ones they caught today were different from the ones they caught months ago where they kept the monster sedated so they could continuously harvest the ichor growing out of them until they were drained out of vitality.

The Pacific Ocean had been the nest of depth-dive mining ever since the Ring of Fire broke the world. That end of the world scenario brought forth the monsters to their world. It was also the mega-event that made all this strangeness posible. Back then no one would have imagined that society and technology would rapidly advance to exploit the new materials given them to survive.

It’s actually somewhat odd that the stagnant society back then. The unchallenged society rapidly changed to adapt. It was only being challenged by a great life-ending event that humanity chose to evolve rather than die. Some of the old beliefs remain, some organizations become obsolete and new ones rise.

Although there was a time where they were united because of the greater threat which led to the formation of the Earthside Consortium. That unity had started to diminish because of how stable the world had become.

Life-ending biomass entities. Monsters appearing and the split-realm anomalies alongside the creation of the current normal made this unity somewhat fragile.

It does exist, but only because it was profitable for them to cooperate under the guise of doing it for humanity. It was quite idealistic to think humanity would unite without thinking of the profit, nonetheless, even the monsters that appeared have become a steady source of jobs and income.

There were times that such monsters would cause trouble. There were times that anomalies like the Golden Gate incident would turn the world upside down. Recently, the Sitra Ahra Cult was the one that caused a tragedy. But beyond that everything was normal, at least to their current world’s definition of normal.

Gaston took a glance at the monsters being butchered before taking his briefcase with him and entering the depot. He talked to the site manager and left after confirming that this was their last operation for the day.

As Gaston walked back to the home he rented. He looked at the banking account installed on his AR-module and confirmed that his recent paycheck arrived.

He had a talk with Janna during that time they saw that family. It was a pretty simple conversation. A private one where they decided to make it clear whether they’ll move to Mars or not.

No one wanted to fight forever. The affairs of this world were quite irritating and despite what they have here. There was a temptation that made them want to leave all of this. Forget about the past, and start a new life for themselves.

Oh it was so tempting to do so. But they couldn’t leave the people that they know. No matter how troublesome the world has become. But Gaston made a bottom line. She made a bottom line.

They were adults. It took them quite a while to actually do it. But they decided to just do it and come to terms about the need to sit down and just talk.

Of course, it took years for them to agree about it.

Accepting that you have to talk was more than enough. There were still many things that they needed to talk about. Problems that needed to be discussed and come to truly terms with. But it was already a good progress for them to think about what they had to say.

They have been avoiding it. And with their initial problem about having a sponsor and with Gaston’s debt gone. Gaston had to face the problem that they have personally.

Gaston arrived in the house that they have been renting. He found Janna waiting for him, playing with her phone, tapping her toes on the grass.

“Hey, done with your work?”

“Guess she let you off early.”

“She did. Not that anything happens while she’s around. Hilda was around so I managed to excuse myself. Made some romesco. We can talk after eating.”

“Sure.”

It was another day for them. They spend the rest of the day of trying to start a conversation. To try talk about previous failures and hiding behind masks that have become worn as day passes. Not admitting to it and trying their best to be fine.