Chapter 181 : Echo of the Firestorm

CLANG!

The sound of the falling ventilation cover hitting the concrete was like a death knell. In a split second, the silence of their covert operation was shattered, replaced by the deafening roar of sirens and the flashing of blood-red emergency lights sweeping across the complex. On the roof of the laboratory building, Tatsumi stood frozen for a moment, the world around him exploding into organized chaos. Doors below burst open, and PLF guards in combat gear stormed out, their weapons raised, their eyes scanning the darkness.

"Tatsumi, get out of there! I'll make a path for you!" Akame's sharp, urgent voice in his ear broke through his shock.

Instinct took over. Tatsumi leaped from the roof, his dragon wings extending with full force, propelling him into the now-unfriendly night sky. Powerful searchlights immediately locked onto him, turning him from a ghost into a prime target. A barrage of laser fire from automated defense turrets began to slice through the air around him.

"Tatsumi, head for the southwest sector!" Hawks' voice came through, calm yet urgent, providing direction amidst the storm. "Akame is moving to cut off the reinforcement route at the connecting bridge. I'm marking the safest route on your HUD now!"

A thin green line appeared on Tatsumi's visor, guiding him through the defense turrets' blind spots. He dived and weaved, feeling the heat from laser blasts that narrowly missed his wings. This was no longer training. This was a dance between life and death.

The moment the first alarm sounded, Akame didn't panic. She melted deeper into the forest's shadows, her cold eyes mapping the chaos with a surgeon's precision. She saw the guards running from the outer barracks towards the main laboratory building. Their route would take them across a narrow suspension bridge spanning a small ravine—a perfect choke point.

She got there first, becoming a part of the darkness beneath the bridge's structure. As the first squad of six guards began to run across, she made her move.

A small metal ball rolled out from the shadows, letting out a soft hiss. Thick, dense smoke immediately enveloped the entire bridge, reducing visibility to zero.

"What is this?! Keep moving!" the squad leader shouted.

It was a fatal mistake. From within the smoke, nearly invisible steel wires ensnared the legs of the guards in the front line, tripping them and causing chaos. Before the others could react, Akame was among them.

To the guards, it felt like being attacked by a phantom. A silver flash on the right, and a comrade fell without a sound. A slash from the left, and another collapsed. Akame moved with merciless efficiency, the Murasame in her hand singing a silent song of death. She wasted no movement, made no sound. In less than ten seconds, all six guards lay lifeless on the bridge. The smoke began to clear, revealing the gruesome results of her work.

"Southwest bridge is clear," she reported coldly. "Tatsumi, you have an opening."

In the Pachinko parlor in town, the atmosphere of laughter and greed had turned tense. The phones of the PLF guards with Leone vibrated simultaneously, displaying an emergency message. Their faces turned pale.

"Damn it! There's an intruder at the base!" one of them said, jumping to his feet.

Kageyama, drunk and angry from his losses, also received the call. His alcohol-clouded eyes widened. "What?!"

Leone knew she had to act fast to keep the commander there. With a wild grin, she suddenly flipped the entire poker table. Cards, chips, and beer glasses went flying everywhere.

"YOU'RE CHEATING!" she screamed in a voice that could be heard throughout the bar, pointing directly at Kageyama. "I SAW YOU HIDE A CARD UP YOUR SLEEVE!"

In a room full of gamblers and thugs, an accusation like that was more explosive than dynamite. Instantly, the room erupted into chaos. A few people who had lost to Kageyama immediately jumped him, wanting their money back. Others started fighting amongst themselves. Kageyama, instead of rushing back to his base, was now trapped in a full-scale bar brawl, trying to fend off fists from all directions.

Amidst the commotion, Leone casually walked out through the back door, a satisfied smile on her face. Her mission to create a diversion had succeeded in the most chaotic and enjoyable way possible.

Tatsumi saw the opening Akame had created. He dived sharply towards the bridge, flying past the bodies of the fallen guards. The gunfire from the ground was still aimed at him, but it was more sporadic now. While maintaining high speed, he manifested his shortsword, parrying a few shots that got too close.

He shot low over the bridge. Akame leaped from the railing with perfect timing. Tatsumi caught her arm in mid-air, pulling her onto his back without losing an ounce of speed. They were one unit again, speeding away from the hell they had just left behind.

But they weren't safe yet. Two figures shot out from another building's roof, chasing them. PLF members with flight Quirks or using jetpacks.

A brief aerial battle ensued over the dark forest. Tatsumi maneuvered wildly, twisting and diving to avoid the energy blasts from his pursuers. Akame, clinging tightly to his back, remained as still as a stone. She threw a small capsule at one of the pursuers. The capsule exploded in mid-air, not with fire, but with a blinding flash of light and a deafening high-frequency sound, causing the pursuer to lose control and fall.

One left. Tatsumi performed a daring maneuver, stopping in mid-air and turning to face the pursuer directly. Before the pursuer could react, Tatsumi flapped his wings with full force, creating a massive gust of wind that sent the pursuer flying into the trees.

They were finally free.

They landed at the pickup point several miles away, on a deserted dirt road. The black van was already waiting. The journey back to the safe house was silent, filled with exhaustion and fading adrenaline.

At the safe house, Hawks and Leone greeted them. Their faces were tense.

"Report," Hawks said curtly.

"Intel acquisition mission successful. But we were detected," Tatsumi said, handing over the data from his helmet.

They all gathered around the holographic table as the footage played. They saw the Nomu, the Humarise technology, and then... the mysterious figure in the containment tube.

Hawks zoomed in on the image, trying to get a clearer view. The quality wasn't perfect, but it was enough to see the outline of a slender female body.

"They're not making Nomu... or not just that," Hawks muttered, his eyes narrowing in deep thought. "They're studying something... or someone. The power in that tube... the energy is immense, but it's being suppressed to almost zero."

He looked at the tired faces of his team. The most urgent question had shifted.

"The question is no longer 'what are they building'," he said softly. "But..."

"...who is in that tube?"