The Beauty Collector

Two days later, after Zeno brought Ziah and Charmie on a stroll through the Miseri Do Mar island, there's a gigantic shadow currently rising from the depths of the sea outside of the island in the middle of the day. The shadow became bigger and bigger until a mysterious black battleship emerged from under the sea with its wet black hull glistering in the sunlight.

"Huh...?"

The people on the shoreline stood still as they stared at the sudden appearance of the black ship with a mix of surprise and confusion. The black battleship was unlike anything they had ever seen before in their lives, and they don't know how to react to this abrupt appearance of this huge ship other than ogling it with their eyes wide and their jaws hanging open like a idiot.

Not caring about the people on the shore's feelings, the mysterious ship started to move forward along the island shoreline while the hatches on both sides of its hull opened up smoothly to let out many futuristic white planes that were flying out of the ship, and then all of the planes started flying towards the island over the heads of the people standing dumbfounded on the shoreline.

"The fuck...?"

Someone muttered in disbelief among the crowd of people as the people on the shoreline felt disturbed by the things they were currently witnessing as the unease feeling grew stronger in their hearts.

Then one of the numerous futuristic planes flying in the sky suddenly stopped mid-flight and turned around before it moved towards the people staying on the shore and hovered above them with the engines turning upwards to stabilize the plane in mid-air, the strangely low humming of its jet engines creating quite an tense atmosphere for the crowd below.

"Attention! The citizens of Miseri Do Mar, you shall be advised!"

An androgynous voice blared from the hovering white plane, echoing across the beach and through the palm trees, startling all the people to attention as they looked at the white aircraft with apprehension and anxiety.

"Right now your nation is currently under invasion by us, the Liberty's force. We will not harm the civilians in this invasion but will use lethal force if any civilians decide to interfere with our operation. Our main objective is to overthrow your government and seize this island as Liberty's territory under the rules of our supreme leader, Zeno Zavior. We advise you to cease all activity and find shelter far away from the conflict zones in the urban areas and away from any area near the government facilities and wait patiently for everything to end!"

The androgynous voice announced, its emotionless tone unsettling the people on the shoreline with its eerie calmness that seemed almost too inorganic, as if it were the product of a machine devoid of any empathy or understanding of the fear it was instilling in the hearts of the island's inhabitants.

"Be warned that if you fail to follow the advice, your life will not be guaranteed. Well, then, have a good day!"

Done with the warning, the plane just simply turned around and flew away to rejoin back with the other.

"..."

The crowd, which had been left bewildered by the announcement, began to murmur among themselves, the gravity of the situation slowly sinking in. The parents could be seen quickly picking up their small children, as well as the hesitation and uncertainty displayed on the faces of the people who now understand what is going on. Not even in their wildest dreams that one day their shitty island would be invaded by a foreign force so blatantly for unknown reason.

Well, there's only one thing they can do in this situation.

"RUN AWAY!!"

Someone screamed, and just like a signal, all of the people on the shoreline bolted into a chaotic sprint, leaving behind their belongings scattered on grounds. The once calm beach had turned into a battleground of panic and terror. Parents clutched their children tightly, and the elderly stumbled as they attempted to flee to a safe place that they knew under the sound of numerous white planes, which were flying in a V shape formation above them as they headed towards the city, their sleek forms casting shadows over the people fleeing on the ground like a sword of judgement.

÷×÷×÷

On the other side of the Miseri Do Mar island, inside the only naval base of the nation, the disheveled soldiers in the base were startled awake as the siren rang out for the first time in the history of Miseri Do Mar. The air raid warning sound was echoing throughout the base as the soldiers were confused and annoyed by the sudden loud noise.

"What the hell do you think you were doing earlier in the morning?!"

"Someone shut it down~!"

The soldiers complained with irritating voices as they looked and stood around without a care as to why the siren is currently blasting, but why would they? This is Miseri Do Mar, the shitty island that no one cares about. Why would anyone invade this place? Just thinking about it will make them laugh. 

The Miseri Do Mar naval base was filled with outdated equipment, old buildings, a few old cannons, and two naval vessels that had seen better days, as they can be called relics from the first world war. It is obvious that this island has never seen war since the first great war.

And now, in the current era, the soldiers were ill-prepared and had no discipline or morals to face any proper military army, what so ever. So with everything said, it's not strange that the soldiers will just automatically think that the siren is just a malfunction or someone pulling a prank or something instead of worrying about an enemy attack.

But then something unbelievable for the soldiers happened as one of the old ships that was docked in the shipyard suddenly glowing bright orange at the center of the hull before a huge beam of white light piercing through the ship, cutting it in half, as the hull melted in a second from the super high heat of the beam.

The pillar of white beam continued its path, heading towards the base's armory, and ended up obliterating the entire building to oblivion with a huge explosion that rocked the entire naval base and sent a tremor to the entire island, signaling the unexpected arrival of another mysterious black battleship with its two mounted Lascannons on the ship's deck currently pointing at the base menacingly while the white planes are flying out of the ship and flying towards the base with clear intention of causing havoc to the base.

The soldiers were dumbfounded by the sudden situation and just frozen in place watching the incoming enemy getting closer, but some of the soldiers were brave or smart enough to prepare to fight... or not; apparently they are just running for their lives from the incoming enemy without caring about anything else.

"The fuck was that...?"

A chubby old man with a balding head in an obscenely decorated green military uniform who was previously napping peacefully in his office was thrown out of his chair by the explosion. He stumbled up to his feet, his heart racing like crazy from the loud explosion. His eyes were as wide as saucers as he saw the black battleship looming over the horizon through the shattered window of his office and the destruction it had wrought on the base's ship and armory.

"My god...!"

The old man exclaimed with horrified expression by both the fact that someone was attacking them and the fact that his life was currently in danger since his position was in the enemy's bombing range.

"Wha-What the fuck do I do...?!"

The old man instantly began to panic as he looked around the office like a child looking for an adult for help. He knew he had to do something—that right! He had to inform his superior or his superior's superior about this! The commander of the naval base quickly looked for his phone in panic.

Why don't you deal with it like a soldier, you say? Well, he will rather deal with your mother first! Who do you think he is? This is out of his ability to do something about!

The commander of the Miseri Do Mar naval base was screaming in his head as he hurriedly dug through various things that flew out of his desk on the floor from the explosion earlier for his phone that probably was buried under.

The siren outside was like a horrific BGM to his ears, playing the tune of their imminent doom. He knew he should've taken that morning jog more seriously, and he should've tidy up his office. Now he can't even find his damn phone to call for help! He threw everything he could find around his office—papers, coffee cup, and a phone...

"Wait...!"

Stopping himself from throwing the phone away, the commander quickly brings it to his face as he tries to call his superior while crawling under his desk for some resemblance of safety.

"Pick up, pick up, pick up...!"

His voice is trembling, and the sweat is beading down his forehead.

"Yes?"

After what felt like an eternity of ringing, the phone finally connected. The old commander's heart raced faster than a rat on cocaine as he tried to gather his breath to speak coherently.

"S-Sir! The base is under attack! We've got a... a... a black ship... it's got fucking laser beams!"

Despite trying his best, the commander still stuttered as he tried to convey the seriousness of the situation to his superior, his voice crackling with fear.

"...Sir, this is A Wendy's."

After a bit of pause, the voice on the other line was calm, almost serene, which was a stark contrast to the chaos happening around the commander, but the words spoken made the commander's heart drop to his stomach like a sledgehammer.

"Motherfuc-"

The commander managed to say before he caught a glimpse of a black missile landing in front of him, and then a bright light suddenly shines upon him and his office before an explosion blew up the entire building and obliterated him from existence.