071

Ep. 71

"The signal has arrived. "All ready to rush in."

A secret camp established by Group 4 under the command of Yanek.

The movement of the members became busier.

Their affiliation is known externally as a reserve unit under Team 2.

This is because when Deputy Commander Vickers informed the National Guard of the unit's details, he reported it as belonging to Group 2.

However, in reality this is not the case.

Group 4 is a unit that received secret orders from Denver. Their mission was to capture monsters, not kill them.

Additionally, if they were caught by other National Guardsmen while performing their mission, they were also ordered to eliminate them as well.

"Chief Yanek. "Everything is ready."

"hmm."

The Order of the Silver Lion is comprised entirely of veterans and genetically modified warriors, but the 20 members of Group 4 are a group made up of the most elite.

In addition, the weapons and equipment were brought out from the ship's armory, so the level of armament was very excellent.

Excluding the Plasma Bolter, which is the standard equipment of the Knights, they have a total of two additional equipment.

The first of them is the auto plasma gun.

To put it simply, it is a plasma pistol attached to the shoulder of a reinforced suit, and boasts superior performance than the original.

Durability has also been improved compared to the original, and above all, automatic defensive fire is possible in conjunction with the user's field of view.

Another piece of equipment is the assault pack attached to the backs of all Group 4 members.

The Assault Pack is equipment designed to carry out operations in harsh environments, including outer space. Not only does it greatly enhance the performance of the attached reinforced suit, but it also has a jetpack function to supply oxygen.

In summary, it could be said to be the reinforced suit of reinforced suits.

Both equipment boast an astronomical price, and if it were to arm 20 people, it would be equivalent to the price of a small colony planet. Even Prime Capital Edgerton can be said to be expensive enough to be used only in really important battles.

"What about the launcher?"

"Take care of it first."

At Yanek's words, one of the members picked up a plasma launcher and strapped it to his back.

After all preparations were completed, 20 knights, including Yanek, entered the sewer.

Due to the knights jumping into the polluted water, the underground residents panicked and went into hiding.

"1km remaining to goal."

"Fork in the road ahead. Everyone to the right."

Although it was a maze-like sewer, the silver knights moved without hesitation. This was thanks to the various mechanical devices attached to the helmets they wore, which relayed information about the inside of the sewer to them at any moment.

"National Guard found 20 meters ahead."

"Everyone take a detour."

One of the missions given to them is to eliminate the National Guards they encounter, but there is no need to intentionally meet them.

The knights moved toward the goal while avoiding the National Guard's operational radius displayed on the device.

"for a moment! "Everyone stop."

At Yanek's shout, all group 4 members who were running through the water stopped.

A whitish object was floating in front of them.

It was the body of a defector who had died due to the obedience device.

"Please wait."

Yanek approached the body and checked its condition.

The sight of the corpse was truly horrific.

Not only was his brain melted by the obedience device on his head, but his eyes were burst and blood was flowing out.

What was even more terrible was the condition of my abdomen.

The skin of the pear showed signs that it had exploded from the inside, and all the organs inside were overcooked.

Obedience devices and signal chips were visible inside the ship.

'Is this what he did?'

As soon as Yanek saw the state of the body, he knew immediately what the monster had done.

He forced the Forsworn to swallow obedience devices and signal chips.

'I guess I should report it.'

Yanek picked up the communicator to convey the fact to Jacob of Group 2.

Currently, Group 4's activities are secret, so headquarters and cameras are not linked.

As a result, we had no choice but to report important facts one by one via wireless communication.

"You fed it to a corpse?"

"That's right."

"I understand first of all. "There are people around, so I'll just hang up."

"I understand."

Yanek, who ended communication with Jacob, looked back at his subordinates.

"Everyone be careful. "It doesn't seem like an easy enemy."

"yes."

They left the body behind and set off again toward their goal.

Where they disappeared.

The body, left alone and swaying with the waves, was suddenly sucked into the water.

–

'He's gone.'

After the knights left, I got up from lying down not far from them.

Before they came, I was looking at the corpses along the way.

Because I needed to fill in the final pieces of my plan.

I was just about to search for the body when the auxiliary agency alerted me.

Looking at the rapidly turbulent waves, the knights were approaching at a rapid pace.

Rather than fighting against them, I chose to hide and observe the situation.

'I don't know anything about the armed forces of the enemies coming this way.'

Watch and attack immediately if the enemy is easy to attack. Otherwise, just get information and leave.

I dived and held my body close to the bottom.

'It came sooner than I thought.'

At first, I thought there were more camps set up around here. That's what I thought, but I was wrong.

Looking at their faces, I could see how they got there so quickly.

'I was wearing an assault pack.'

The Assault Pack doubles the functionality of the reinforced suit and has various other useful effects.

As a result, the Assault Pack was so popular in the game that it was called a mercenary uniform for Megacorp players. So much so that the planets you can attack vary depending on whether you have equipment or not.

'But the price is ridiculously expensive.'

In any case, they were wearing advanced reinforced suits and assault packs, showing off their enhanced physical abilities to the fullest.

In a sewer filled with sewage, they moved at a very fast speed, as if they were running on flat ground.

That's probably why they followed Megi faster than the other groups' units.

'The number is 20. 'We all have assault packs, so it's burdensome to fight like this.'

If you use the symbol of hunting, you will win without much difficulty, but the aftereffects are the problem. Thanks to its endurance characteristics, it will not collapse immediately, but it will be enough to hinder future battles.

'Besides, losing one's reason is also a problem.'

Reason and knowledge.

These are the important weapons I have. If I lose these two things, I will become no better than a lowly animal.

'It is dangerous to become an irrational beast in a situation where you are fighting multiple enemies.'

The enemy is smarter than most animals, but they still judge me as a wild animal.

In such a situation, if the enemy does what they want, it is a shortcut to defeat.

That's why I put the fight on hold for a while.

As a result, as many as 20 enemies could not find me.

Other than checking the enemy's equipment level, there was another benefit to delaying the fight.

'There is not much difference in the vision system for each knight.'

I was wearing an assault pack, just in case, but except for some equipment, the rest was the same as a regular knight.

What I have confirmed so far is that the enemy has two detection methods: heat detection and vibration detection.

It is difficult for vibration detection to be effective due to these constantly oscillating waves.

'The same goes for heat detection.'

I've been submerged in the cold water of the sewer for so long that my outer skin is like ice. Even if they look at me with their thermal vision, they will see it as a rough surface.

'I checked the level of their recognition system. I think the surprise attack will be easy.'

The enemies have left, and I must quickly finish my business and follow them.

I grabbed the corpse and searched the melted inside of the ship.

'Here it is.'

Holding the signal chip with my small arm, I made a small scratch on the sewer wall with my fighting arm.

And I inserted the chips I was holding there.

'I have to use it as new bait, so it shouldn't be damaged.'

With the chip safely stored away, I picked up the corpse of my hired hand and followed the direction in which the knights had disappeared.

Now that I've found a group of knights, it's safe to say that the corpse catfish has achieved my first goal.

'But it wouldn't be fun if it ended here.'

The reason the chip was removed from the corpse and stored safely was because of the second plan to complement the first plan.

'If you chase catfish, there will come a point when they all gather in one place.'

The starting point of the divided enemies is close, so they may meet earlier than I expected, or they may gather early for reasons I did not think of.

When that time comes, I plan to create a new bait to sway my enemies.

By using the new corpse catfish.

'Those who came underground don't know about corpse catfish.'

Corpse catfish roaming the sewers are not naturally occurring creatures. In any case, it was released by city managers for efficient management of sewage.

If I had baited a lot of catfish from the beginning, I'm sure some city officials would have raised questions.

Are you wondering if I am carrying out a distraction operation using corpse catfish?

If that side is wary of me and is fully prepared to pursue me, it is my side that is at a disadvantage.

So, I deliberately planted a signal chip on only one animal and made it move.

They must have thought this before coming in.

That I am preying on my employees and moving around without knowing the existence of the signal chip.

The unfortunate thing is that the drivers moved faster than I expected and identified the body.

'I was trying to dispose of it while collecting the chips.'

The plan was to keep the enemies deceived by eating the corpse, but the knights arrived too early and they were caught.

'I never thought the road I took to find the catfish overlapped with the place where the body was.'

The other corpses were located far away from the catfish, so it would be difficult to find them unless you deliberately went looking for them, but unfortunately, this corpse was on the knights' travel route.

It was an unfortunate incident that occurred because the animal was left free rather than controlled as a parasite.

But the good news is that they don't know about catfish.

The discovery of a body is not a big problem.

I chased after the knights and swallowed the remains of the corpse I was holding in my hands.

20 drivers I'm tracking right now.

After dealing with them, I plan to return to the place where I hid the chip.

'Then we make new bait.'

Then the enemies will be very confused.

'Because there were suddenly two baits.'

Once you have entered the sewer system, it is not easy to call a sewage official and ask questions. Meanwhile, if I run away, the enemy's operation will automatically fail.

'Of course I have no intention of running away.'

As you can see from the fact that the enemies did not spot me earlier, knights cannot detect corpse catfish wandering around in the water.

I don't know how many soldiers there will be in the defense fleet protecting the city, but if the level of equipment is worse than that of the elite knights, it is difficult to think that it will be a bad thing or a good thing.

'If I were bare, I could feel them passing between my legs.'

If the enemies had been naked to begin with, I wouldn't have been so upset.

In any case, the enemy who does not know the existence of the catfish has no choice but to be split up again due to the split signal.

'That would give me more time.'

Time to defeat the scattered enemies individually to catch the bait again.

The basis of herding hunting is controlling the enemy's movements.

Catfish and the enemy chasing him. They are all just dancing on my hands.

'Then where should I aim?'

There is only a short distance left to reach Catfish.

'I don't feel any other enemies around here.'

That word means one thing.

This situation is very advantageous to me.

I approached closely behind one of the knights in the rear.

As it was submerged and moving close to the bottom of the sewer, it barely made any sound.

The water around the driver who runs hard shakes wildly. I grabbed his legs with my fighting arms in the water.

"!"

A knight about to fall.

Before he could make a sound, I quickly bit the back of his neck. My jaw, strengthened by the grip strength trait, crushed the knight's neck vertebrae.

Meanwhile, the knights were running forward, completely unaware of what had happened to their comrades in the rear.

'Too fast is also a problem.'

I ripped the assault pack off the knight's back and destroyed the armored suit battery. The light in the armored suit went out, and the knight's body sank helplessly.

I held the knight's battered body and hid as if it were sinking into the water.

–

"30m remaining distance to goal. "The enemy is slowing down."

"Everyone stop."

At Yanek's words, the knights stopped in place.

'I can't believe this guy who was moving at such a fast speed suddenly slows down.'

He was so fast that it would be difficult to chase him if he wasn't wearing an assault pack. Thanks to this, the other groups were left far behind.

This is a very advantageous situation for Yanek, who must secretly capture the monster.

'It must have noticed our pursuit because it has slowed down.'

Considering its intelligence, it might have been hiding and trying to surprise the knights.

'Seeing as they can't gauge the level of their opponent, they are beasts.'

No matter how powerful the monster is, it is almost impossible to withstand the force of 20 people here.

Yanek promised.

I will teach that vicious beast the truth that heaven exists above heaven.

'I need to check the personnel before the battle.'

Yanek stood and looked at the members who were examining their weapons.

'hmm? 'One person is empty?'

There were no members at the rear.

Embarrassed, Yanek counted the numbers again, but there was no way there would be someone who wasn't there.

There are 19 people here.

There was only a dark shadow where there was no unit where it should have been.

'shadow? no way?!'

"Everyone be on guard!"

Yanek, realizing what that unnatural shadow meant, shouted.

But by then it was already too late.

A shadow rose to the surface of the water and a long, huge serpent leapt out, entangling one of the knights.

At the same time, the auto plasma gun attached to the shoulder of the knight next to his captured comrade activated and fired.

"Huh?!"

"this!"

"Everyone be careful of our allies!"

However, as if toying with them, the serpent used the knight who caught them as a shield. The plasma energy shattered the knight's hard armor and blood sprayed out in the air.

The snake hid in the black mud, holding its companion, who had lost about half of his upper body.

The knights all pulled out their bolters and fired at the water. The light created by the green energy bomb filled the pitch-black sewer.

"Stop shooting! Stop shooting!"

When Yanek shouted evilly, the members stopped shooting.

Where the serpent disappeared, only one right arm of their companion was left floating.