12:00am, Huge hole..

Lai's POV

I'm currently following along the hole straight up to the surface, but I'm still uncertain about what it'll take me to.. The hole I'm in is about 15 meters tall and same as for the width so I wonder who created that and what's the idea of this.. At least I can escape and get some help after this..

It took him half an hour to reach the surface.

Timeskip..

After getting out, he found himself in a pitch black forest with a bit higher terrain. He opens the Torchlight that attached to his Hero Shot and checks around his surroundings. Then, he checks his mic if it's getting any reception here.

Lai: Hope this works here...

It responses in a clear transmission.. He answers it immediately..

Lai: This is Agent 3..! Do you copy!?

Meanwhile in a Small Shack in Mount Nantai.

Marina takes charge on maintaining the signal with Cap'n and Agent 8 while Pearl and the Squid Sisters are playing Uno Game just for fun and krilling some time. Suddenly, Marina notices that she just receives a distress signal not too far away from their Shack.

Marina: I wonder who that is..

She picks it up and answers it..

Marina: Who's that?

Lai: That voice... Marina?

Marina: Lai? Agent 3? You're there!?

Lai: Yeah! Thank Cod it's you!

Marina: Wait! I'm informing the others!

She informs the others..

Marina: Girls! We just got in touch with Agent 3!

Callie: Really!?

Marie: Wait! Where is he right now?

The others join up to Marina and the Octo points out the location..

Marina: He must be in Mount Nantai cuz the signal's not too far away from us.

Callie: How did he ended up there?

Marie: Now's not the time asking that. Let's lead him to our shack first.

She nods before answering back.

Marina: Okay! Lai?

Lai: Yeah?

Marina: Agent 3? All you have to is to head north! Do you copy that?

He scratches his head..

Lai: Uhm... Which way is North? It's too dark in here!

Marina: Oh.. Silly me.. I'll send Agent 1 and Agent 2 for the search and escort mission. And don't worry, they both have Night Vision Goggles so stay put!

He could hears some footsteps around him..

Lai: *Gulp* Okay.. Better make it quick. Those Sick Octolings are probably after me. Over!

End transmission..

Marina: Sick Octolings.. They're after Agent 3 as well.. Agent 1! Agent 2! You two should be able to find him with those Goggles on.

Callie and Marie: Okay!

The Squid Sisters both just had equipped their Specialized Weapons Type, Hero Roller and Hero Charger before heading out. Leaving Pearl and Marina to take care of Agent 8's situation. As they're outside of the shack.. Agent 2 asks her teammate.

Marie: So? Ready to "Roll", Agent 1?

Callie: Yup! I was about to ask if you're fully "Charged" for this, Agent 2!

Marie: *Yawn* Yeah.. And I wanna take a day off already so let's do this.

Agent 1 nods before both of them put on their Night Vision Goggles to proceed through their mission. Agent 2 communicates with Agent 1 by whispering through the mic.

Marie: So who's gonna take the lead?

Callie: You're expecting me?

Marie: Agent 3 and I had been leader once in our team. Maybe it's your time to shine?

Callie: Oh, okay. I guess I can do that..

Marie: Lead the way then, Leader.

She chuckles..

Callie: Hehe.. On it..

They form up into a lining formation. Agent 1 scouts on the front while Agent 2 supporting her from behind. Couple seconds later, Agent 1 raises her hand to signal Agent 2 to stop moving forward before taking cover behind the tree.

Callie: Wait... Take cover..

Her other Agent does what she said and question..

Marie: Who's there?

Callie: Octarians... Couple of them.. Patrolling and seems like they're searching for something or someone else.

Marie: They're after Agent 3 as well?

Callie: Maybe not. We should prioritize on finding him first. But they blocked our way so we have to go through them.

Agent 1 takes her glance at the enemies, try to memorize the directions where their sights will turn into. There are 12 of them, 7 Octotroopers on the front and 5 Octolings on the back, all patrolling around but they all scattered, so it's easy for them to take them all out one by one, especially for Agent 1. She proceeds slowly while Agent 2 is looking out for her.

Callie: Alright, I'm gonna sneak on one of the Octolings. Stand by until I make the call. You should put on the Scope and the Silencer on in the meantime. And please turn off your laser, thank you.

Marie: Aw man, laser's my best bud tho.

Callie: C'mon, be serious on this. You'll blow our cover if your laser is exposed to them while you're aiming.

Marie: Okay okay, I just missed doing missions like this.

Agent 2 takes out two of her attachments, 4× Tactical Scope and a Short Rod of Silencer. She plugs the Silencer on the muzzle and turns the rod a few times to lock on it, then she mounts the Scope on the aiming platform, tighting like teeth on its gum. Agent 1 sneaks up, hides behind the bush. She notices an Octoling just standing there, back facing at her. But further a bit, a Trooper is watching the Octoling's back. Agent 1 gives out the command.

Callie: Take out the Trooper in front of her. We'll do this at the same time. You ready?

She steady her aim at the trooper's head, replying her back..

Marie: Any second..

Callie: ...

As the moment the other's not looking, she whispers to her teammate.

Callie: Now...!

*Pew!* *Splat* *Whoosh!* *Splat*

Callie: Good night...

They both proceed forward without leaving any traces behind. Agent 2 looks around before they make it through them. When they did, Agent 1 hides behind the rocks as she just spots another unit that is currently searching for something this time.

Callie: Wait..

Agent 2 hides behind the next tree.

Marie: What now?

Callie: Several of them are dead ahead, coming towards us. And don't worry.. It's impossible for them to spot us with our Ninja Squid on.

As the troops are just in front of them, Callie calms her cousin.

Callie: Stay low and quiet... Don't freak out..

Marie: I know!

Several troops just slowly walk past both of them. Their body froze, without moving an inch or even trembling as they don't want to alert them. As the troops went passed them for meters away. Agent 1 continues back on the search.

Callie: Go!

Her teammate comes along quickly. They both see an Inkling who is very aware on his surroundings since he can't really see in the dark.

Marie: There he is.

Callie: I'll get him.

She slowly approaches to Lai and calls out with his codename.

Callie: Agent 3!

He turns to the source of the voice but "barely" see them in the dark.

Lai: Agent 1? Agent 2? Thank Cod you both are here.

Agent 1 gives out with her surprising hug as she let out a relief.

Callie: Oh Cod..! What happened!? I'm so worried about you!

Lai: I just found out something unusual about that company. I'll explain later once we got back.

Marie: But how do we bring him back? Since he doesn't have Night Vision Goggles.

Then, an idea just pops in her mind. She invites him to her hoodie hat.

Callie: Well, what are you waiting for? Hop in!

Agent 3 turns into his Squid Form and jumps into her hat.

Lai: Ah~ I missed this a lot.

Callie: We'll get you back to the shack. Hang on tight.

Lai: And be careful, those things you just saw. They're not just ordinary Octarians. And they have Thermal Ink. If one of us get shot by them even once. They all will hunt us down no matter what.

Marie: Sounds pretty hardcore for me.

Callie: Trust me. We'll make it back in one piece.

Lai: Hopefully..

Eventually, all three of them successfully returned back to the shack. As the Squid Sisters just came back with their lost Agent. Agent 3 just fell from the hat and transform back to Humanoid, laying on the ground like his other two Agents.

Callie: Phew! We made it back! Aren't we?

Marie: Barely...

Lai: We almost fainted out with just our hearts beating like crazy.

Marie: This is why I hate doing Stealth Mission..

Timeskip... In the shack.

After resting up and catching their breath, the Octo interrogates Agent 3, who is chugging down an ice cream soda to replenish his energy.

Marina: So Agent 3, why the Octarians are going on after you?

As he heard the question, he replies back.

Lai: There is something wrong. Something's wrong in the Deepsea Metro. And it's involved to the company named Kamabo Corporation.

Pearl: Kamabo? The company that operates the whole Subway System?

Lai: Yeah. They're after me because they're trying to harvest my DNA.

The girls went shocked..

Marina: What..?

Marie: Dude.. That's dark...

Lai: Even darker than the outside. And the depth is deeper than you can imagine, so it's more than meets the eye.

Pearl: Okay, enough with the drama effect! What did you saw down there!?

Lai: During my escape, I saw some of the Facilities, connected with the Deepsea Metro's stations, to test out the subject's capabilities, then harvest their DNA for their purpose. I don't know their purpose but it could be worse. And the worst comes at the end.

Marina: So Agent 8 is the test subject they're having now..

Lai: Huh?

Marina shows him the monitor, showing a selfie picture of the Octoling who took it after getting his first thang.

Marina: Agent 8, the No.10008 Octoling who lost his memory, but he's with Cap'n in the Deepsea Metro Train.

Lai: Really!? Glad he's okay!

Agent 1 feels curious about the fact how he escaped to the surface.

Callie: I'm just confused about one thing, who made that hole actually?

The other girls start thinking as well.

Lai: Uhm... I don't really know. But whoever made that really save my ink sacs.. Right?

Agent 6 already knew before Agent 2 and Agent 5 could figure it out..

Marina: Uhm... That was actually you.

Lai: What?

Marina: You blasted a large ray during that fight against Octavio, remember?

Callie: He...! He did!?

Lai: Yeah.. It was long time ago.. That was.. A nightmare.. Talk about that, I really need a nap.

Marie: Yeah, Agent 8 and Cap'n can take care of themselves.. For now..

After the rescue, all five of them decide to take the night shifts every two hours. Continuing watching over them.

End Of Chapter...