The Conspiracy of the Elites

Chapter 202: whats the next step

After all his soldiers arrived at the front of the shelter, Clark finally turned to knock on the large reinforced exotic doors.

He wore a metallic glove on his hand to knock with, to enable the sound to travel in despite the current blowing windstorm. As a door made to withstand and hold back the extreme cold, it was a great resistor of both cold and sound.

It took about a minute of them standing in the cold before a reaction was finally stirred in the shelter.

Instead of opening it directly, a small hole first appeared on the door, through which a large head and a pair of eyes sneaked out to look at the intruders.

Hmmm, humans, still outside in this kind of weather. I thought it was those mischievous beasts, what the f*ck were you all doing since the signs of bad weather first started?

Please, just shut the f*ck , sorry, open the door for us, we need shelter.

Though Clark really wanted to curse at this annoying blabbering fool who still blabbered on even when he saw them shaking in cold, he held back his irritation and asked politely.

You guys are some lucky bastards to have survived outside for so long, Ill reluctantly open for you guys.

Click!! As the sound of the door opening sounded to the relief of the soldiers, the skinny man suddenly paused again before turning to look at them with a dubious expression on his face.

Haha, you guys thought you could trick me. Your pitiful looks really struck my heart, now, where the f*ck is your cash for entering.

Clarks face darkened on hearing this. Which madness reincarnation did we meet this time? What a stroke of bad luck.

Well pay when we enter.

No, pay now. You think you can scam me, haha, youre all dreaming.

Seeing the now angered expression on Clarks face, Benny held him back before coming forward to speak with this annoying bastard.

How much, sir?

Aha, I like your tone. Just bring 3000 mountain credits for each of you to enter.

Hearing this completely outrageous reply, even Benny who just spoke with this guy for the first time could not help his face from twitching a bit. He forcefully calmed down, before replying.

Sorry sir, but I thought it was a thousand mountain credits to a person.

Youre not ready, thats in good weather conditions. This is bad weather; you better pay up or die in the cold.

Though Clark really wanted to attack and raze this shelter to the ground now, he suppressed his irritation. Due to the cold, they no longer hesitated and paid the inflated price.

Before coming, they already knew about the currency that was in use in Everest, so they prepared. The government provided them with a sizeable amount for their use for the mission.

Click!! The door finally opened for them, as they hurriedly rushed in with the cold also seeping in with them.

The shelter reacted just like a machine, as the misty cold that seeped in got sucked and recycled away through an opening that just emerged.

Getting into the shelter, the first thought that crossed the soldiers' heads was, why does this place look like an incubator? We didnt pay all those credits to be housed like babies.

Despite these thoughts, they didnt stand in one place like fools as Clark quickly led them to one of the open rows of seats at the side.

Inside the shelter looked just like a military high-tech building, as various machines worked vigorously in tandem to keep and regulate the temperature and keep the extreme cold out.

Because of the extreme weather, almost every mountaineer, tourist, and anyone else around this region of the mountain gathered here to get shelter.

This made the shelter look cramped up and stuffy as everyone huddled up together at his own circle while hoping to themselves for the wind to stop soon. This made more heat to become retained in the shelter.

As soon as Clarks squad sat in the space that they created for themselves, all the ruckus created from their arrival died down as quietness returned.

The skinny attendant who scammed them of their money before leading them in came closer to speak with them, but the still irritated Clark quickly pursued him away.

As the heat pumping into the shelter slowly extinguished the cold that already entered his body, Clark finally started thinking about his situation.

In just a day, 10% of his soldiers died to different causes. This was so abrupt, though he already adjusted his mindset, he was still being bugged by this setback.

At such a frightening death rate, he could not help but think that his squads chances of fulfilling this mission were close to nil. As his thoughts revolved, he finally decided to convene with his two 2nd in command.

Benny, Diana, please follow me.

Both soldiers did not question, they just followed him silently as he quickly arrived at the counter where the skinny fellow stood, leisurely picking his teeth with a toothpick.

I need a special side compartment.

Oh, it's you again. Do you have the money, you?

Before the guy could continue spamming him with nonsense, Clark dropped a large pile of money for him with a poker expression now on his face.

Now, this is more like it, take this key. Good luck.

Clark no longer paid attention to the fool, as he quickly led his 2 soldiers to a side compartment of the shelter.

After entering the isolated room, Clark sat down in one of the chairs at the side while motioning for his 2 seconds in commands to also sit.

After they seated, he did not beat around the bush as he directly broke the silence.

You both say what just befell us. What are your thoughts? What do you think we should do next? I cant make all the decisions now, Im still a little overwhelmed.

The silence dragged for another 20 seconds before Benny sighed and spoke out first.

Clark, I think that theres nothing we can do, really. We came for this mission with the mindset that there would be casualties, so seeing such deaths cannot be said to be completely unexpected.

Despite this setback, you know as well as I do that, we are not stopping the mission. So, why linger here? Lets continue forging ahead.

I second his suggestion, sir. Diana finally spoke out.

As he said, we are not stopping this mission, so why linger?

To me, the best next step is for you to give a kind of motivational talk to the soldiers for them to recover their nerves after the raging storm is over before we continue our journey.

This is a danger-infested region; we all knew that before coming. We just have to be more alert and meticulous next time.

If we can get to the biggest shelter that is closest to the mountains summit, then we already did a good job.

We can take there as one of our main bases, where our next actions can be planned from. I think we should make getting there our only main priority, for now, well solve other problems when they come.

Clark sighed after this, as he exhaled a mouthful of misty air. Though this was his first time actively looking for advice from someone else, he felt that the decision was not bad.

At his current level, the problems he faced were so exaggeratedly dangerous that most of the time, his thought process hardly keeps up with the rapidly changing situations.

This was the first time he felt that doing everything alone was torture. Why should he carry everything in his head, when he had such competent subordinates?

Perhaps, I should build a network of helpers in the future. I need it.

After listening to their suggestions, he thanked them before they started discussing the issue of how they would move to avoid more casualties.

As the time ticked away, unknowingly to them, they already spent over 50 minutes just discussing. What brought them back to the present, was the sudden reduction of the sound of the raging storm outside.

The storm was subsiding.

Seeing this, they quickly concluded their discussion before going out of the cramped compartment.

On getting outside, back to the main hall-like compartment of the shelter, Clark was stunned as he saw 3 burly men who seemed like thugs from their burly physique yelling at one of his soldiers.

Despite all the raging of the 3 thugs, the soldier kept mute, looking elsewhere like these 3 guys were just air.

When Clark got close to where his soldiers sat, on hearing what caused all this fussing about, he was stunned speechless again.

Who do you think you are? Do you know who I am? How can you refuse to stand up for us to sit when we asked you to? The one who seemed to be the leader of the 3 guys raged wildly.

No one went forward to intervene though, as everyone else in the compartment just stared like they were watching a show.

Hey, move away. What happened?

Clark quickly held the raging thug on the shoulder, before shoving him to the side while asking.

You, you pushed me? You pushed me? Watch!

The man suddenly rushed forward to attack this sudden intruder with his fists tightly clenched, but to Clark, he just looked like a clown.

He raised his hand, grabbed the mans fist, thereby bringing him to an abrupt halt, before releasing him and giving a sharp slap to his unprotected face.

Damn!!

Hearing the loud sound of impact, sounds of shocked cries and suppressed shouts erupted all over the compartment. These people were really watching a show.

Now, tell me. What happened?

Hearing this question again, the originally raging man suddenly calmed down as he looked at Clark with slight anger, slight embarrassment, and slight regret on his face.

Though Clark held back and the impact was not too strong, the man felt that the impact on his ego was more. He was a local tyrant here, being so easily thought a lesson made him feel ashamed.

Despite this, he did not let this show as he tried to keep a calm face. Fear already gripped his heart on seeing this mans strength.

After calming his mind, instead of replying to the question, he tried to probe this mans limits by throwing threats again.

Do you know who you just slapped? Do you know my boss? My boss is the king of demolition!!. His voice rose to a crescendo when he came to the end, he practically shouted the name to show his confidence.

Pa!!

Shocked cries resounded again, as another crisp slap crossed the face of this fellow.

Cut me the crap, and answer. What happened?

Oh, so, sorry master. Forgive me for not recognizing mount Everest in person, I am wrong, I am the one who tried to bully your guy. Please, have mercy.

The once tyrannical thug already started begging, as tears and snort quickly covered his face. He really knew the sacred art of escaping dangerous situations, with a calm face.

Seeing this, Clarks face twitched rapidly.

Shameless!! So, it was just another opportunist.

Guys, follow me, we are going.

He no longer paid attention to this guy, as he quickly called at his soldiers before going out of the shelter. At the current wind speed of the storm, he no longer had to worry.

With that, the soldiers of Squad 06 left the shelter with far more grandeur than they entered with.

[Thank you for reading this chapter, I really appreciate it. Sorry, there was a mistake in this chapter, I just rectified it. If you love this book, please leave your power stones behind to support it. Purchase privilege for The Conspiracy Of The Elites and read a varying amount of chapters ahead of regular readers.]