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HEL SCANS
[Translator – Jjescus]
[Proofreader – Demon God’s Disciple]
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Chapter 94
“How did this happen?”
Si-hyun, who had set up a bomb in the nuclear reactor, murmured as she watched the artillery battle unfold above the city.
There was no one present to answer her question. No one had anticipated that a war would break out in this space metropolis city.
“I found it odd that there were no reinforcements coming to the reactor.”
Before coming here, Si-hyun obtained a makeshift map created before the completion of the T&C Special Trade Center in the shadow market.
The map, made by the construction workers, showed temporary pathways used by labourers during the city’s construction. However, even if they were workers, few had reason to visit the nuclear reactor, so those secret passages weren’t connected to the reactor directly. Instead, they were connected to some parts of the underground tunnel that led to the reactor
Her plan was to infiltrate by piercing through a metallic wall close to the underground tunnels of the nuclear reactor. And so, as planned, Si-hyun and her associates safely accessed the underground route leading to the reactor via the secret passages.
Everything had gone according to Si-hyun’s expectations until this point. However, things started unfolding differently after reaching the reactor than what she had envisaged.
Normally, if there were issues with the nuclear reactor’s defense forces, additional support should have come. Si-hyun had prepared for them, but the reinforcements she anticipated did not arrive until the bomb installation was completed.
“Now I understand why they didn’t come.”
To be precise, it wasn’t that they didn’t come; they couldn’t come. Thanks to this, the terrorist plan using the bomb could be easily executed, but another problem arose.
“Akira might escape before the bomb detonates.”
Regardless of others, Akira Yujin had to be eliminated. If she missed this opportunity, she wouldn’t know when she could get rid of him.
“Akira Yujin?”
“Upon checking, Yujin’s flagship is still here.”
Long before the terrorist plan was devised, Si-hyun had planted a tracking device on Akira’s flagship while performing covert operations. This was to know his whereabouts instantly, no matter where he moved.
“Why hasn’t he left?”
Remembering the memories implanted in her mind about Akira, he was a very cautious individual. If there were looming troubles in the city, he would have left long ago, regardless of his dignity as the CEO of MegaCorp or anything else.
For reasons unknown, Akira Yujin was behaving differently from her memories.
He hadn’t left and was still in this city. That meant there was still an opportunity for her.
“Escape first. I have things to do.”
“Are you sure miss?”
“Akira Yujin must be eliminated.”
“Miss, we’ll come with you.”
At Minseok’s words, Si-hyun Yujin shook her head.
“Only I can face Code Black. You’ll be killed if you come with me and I won’t allow that, so hand over the detector to me.”
“…Miss.”
Minseok gazed at her with a strange look, as she vowed to eliminate Akira at the risk of her life. In Minseok’s eyes, rather than joy, an emotion closer to suspicion swiftly flashed by. However, it was a fleeting moment, and his expression soon changed to one of admiration.
“Miss, I wish you luck.”
Having received the detector from him, Si-hyun dashed toward where Akira was.
“Once I take care of him, next will be…”
Minseok seemed unaware, but Si-hyun knew he didn’t dislike her. The original Si-hyun Yujin had placed some sort of control over her clone and the fact that Minseok held those reins.
“Someday, without fail…”
Her eyes grew cold. They bore no resemblance to Si-hyun Yujin’s.
***
The corrupted city was being purified by fire. In mythology, gods sometimes unleash the fire of judgment upon humans. However, here, the fire created by human hands was destroying
everything.
‘Indeed, Eden’s speciality is their warships.’
Up till now, due to frequent clashes with the knightly order, it might be easy to assume their strength lay in ground forces. But the reality was different. The noble families excelling in land combat were the Yujin family, known for genetically modified soldiers, and the Garimelda family, famed for making the best reinforced suits in the MegaCorp. However, Eden’s expertise primarily lay in ship development.
‘Even in the game, Eden’s knights were close to special forces.’
In reality, Eden’s warship overwhelmed multiple T&C battleships alone. It wasn’t just superior cannons and shields; their size was larger, with excellent manoeuvrability. This gave them the upper hand despite having far fewer ships than T&C.
‘Reminds me of the old days.’
As an individual matures, they gain numerous traits and types, making them powerful enough to fight and win against fleets.
In my case, due to facing many enemies, I had to battle fleets since my early stages.
“But I’m still too weak for that. It’s reckless at this stage to engage in those battles. I need to evolve more to face multiple battleships.”
“Think about that later.”
Neither family seems to have the capacity to pay attention to us. So, we should take advantage of this opening and escape.
[ZZZ ZZZZ ZZ (Everyone, run!)]
With Denver slung over my shoulder, I crouched halfway and ran. Using all three of my combat arms and legs to sprint, number 26 and Adhai followed closely.
“Huh?! He’s escaping!”
The knights, who had been staring blankly at the fleet battle, finally regained their senses and started chasing us again.
While running to evade the knights, container stacks scattered around caught my eye. It was the container yard of the port district where I once fought against Si-hyun’s underlings. The difference now was the numerous ships leaving through the shield doors on the dome’s inner wall.
‘We’re nearing the docks.’
I signaled 26 amidst the run.
[ZZZ ZZ ZZZZ (Knock it down!)]
｢Ok!｣
Several tentacles shot up from number 26’s body, aiming toward the containers. Violet strands extended from the ends, latching onto the containers.
“Ah!”
As the knights continued to run after us and exerted more force, the stacked containers began cascading down.
“Damn it! Take cover!”
“All activate jetpacks!”
Curses and screams of the knights chasing us from behind echoed. Most knights, equipped with assault packs, flew skyward to avoid the falling containers.
“Ack!”
“Ah!”
However, a few slow reactors were crushed under the falling containers.
While we delayed the knights’ pursuit, a small reconnaissance ship circling the port district spotted us.
“A reconnaissance ship is approaching!”
“Everyone, be cautious!”
The knights’ voices were heard through the comms. They seemed to have noticed the reconnaissance ship coming our way.
The fast-approaching reconnaissance ship initiated an attack on us.
Their targets were us and the knights chasing us.
Four gunports on both sides of the rectangular ship simultaneously spewed flames.
Amidst our sprint through the containers, plasma rounds rained down from above.
With each plasma round landing, nearby containers skyrocketed into the sky due to the explosions.
Number 26, with a relatively larger target area, was almost hit by the plasma rounds. However, Adhai’s use of purple lightning every time deflected the bullets in mid-air, preventing significant damage.
“We’ll be in trouble at this rate!”
“Urgh! Split up! Half, deal with the reconnaissance ship!”
Bothered by the reconnaissance ship, some of the knights pursuing us halted their pursuit and engaged the new threat.
Firing bolts while airborne, knights breached the reconnaissance ship’s exterior. Eventually, one succeeded in destroying one of the ship’s turrets.
After losing one turret, the reconnaissance ship turned its attention away from chasing us, instead actively defending against the airborne knights.
With three turrets remaining, it relentlessly fired green energy rounds at the knights.
‘It’s working out for us.’
Thanks to the intervention of the reconnaissance ship, the number of knights pursuing us halved.
‘Now, we just need to deal with them.’
I’d love to take them all down and devour them, but time doesn’t permit such indulgence. As we’re also the target of the defense fleet, if we fight the knights and a battleship is summoned, it will become extremely dangerous for us.
‘I need to drop them off at a suitable place.”’
While fleeing, I focused on my auxiliary organ. A thin tendril at my chin diligently began scanning the vicinity for anything useful.
Luckily, there was a large warehouse nearby where containers were stacked.
‘That should do.’
ZZZ ZZZZ ZZ (Head this way)
Taking the kids with me, I entered the warehouse near the docks. Inside were numerous containers stacked, and cranes set up for logistics transport were visible throughout.
‘Great. Plenty of obstacles here.’
This place would suffice to mislead the enemies.
[ZZZZ ZZZZ ZZZ ZZZZ ZZ (Everyone, head to the opposite side)]
｢What about the big one?｣
[ZZZZ ZZZ ZZZZ ZZ (I have something to do)]
Having sent the kids ahead, I quickly started working from behind the containers.
The knights seemed hesitant to enter the large building where we had hidden.
‘I must deactivate the reinforced suit now.’
Originally, in the game, reinforced suits were considered player equipment and couldn’t be removed. But this was reality. Unless it was an artifact-level gear transcending physical laws, a mechanically reinforced suit could be removed using physical strength.
I tore off the exoskeleton armor protecting Denver’s body with my combat arms. The gauntlets protecting the arms and legs weren’t critical, so I dismantled them roughly.
‘Just need to be careful with the power source and helmet.’
Activating my Ghost Claws, I carefully slid my fingers into the chest gauntlet of the reinforced suit. Avoiding the internal wires and mechanisms, I meticulously cut through the joints that secured the armor.
As I did so, the chest gauntlet cleanly separated, much like removing the shell of a crab’s back.
I pulled Denver’s body out from the detached armor. He was clad in a lightweight full-body suit of thin material.
Finally removing the helmet, I saw his eyes darting around. He seemed worried about what dreadful deed I’d do next. No need to worry; he’ll soon find out.
‘Now, with the smaller arms.’
I skillfully connected the power source and helmet of the efficient smaller arm gauntlets.
Thanks to the transcendental senses inherent to Amorph, coupled with my hijacking capabilities, understanding mechanical devices came easily.
As power flowed into the gauntlets’ power sources, a red light illuminated the visor on the helmet.
Carefully holding the chest gauntlet with the power source and the helmet, I concealed them inside a nearby container.
Denver, finally realizing my intentions, trembled uncontrollably.
‘There’s a signal chip in the reinforced suit’s helmet.’
When I first caught Denver, the signal chip I had turned off reactivated. Whether knights or warships, they’d have to focus on the signal from Denver’s armor. As soon as I finished my work, a voice echoed near the warehouse entrance.
“Contact from the warship! The commander’s camera has been activated!”
Without further hesitation, the knights rushed in. It was a close call. They’d surely rummage through the warehouse to find the armor themselves. Escaping with only the communication device from the broken gauntlet, I sneaked out through the opposite exit.
“Ugh!”
Denver struggled to communicate with his subordinates, but it was futile. To rid himself of the neurotoxin still in his system, he’d have to wait longer.
Exiting the warehouse, the kids hiding in a container welcomed me.
[ZZZZ ZZ (Let’s go.)]
Most of the ships I initially deemed safe via the auxiliary organ had left the city. There were only a few remaining, at best.
‘We need to hurry.’
Carrying Denver bare-handed, I moved with the kids toward the dock of the pier. Occasional snippets of the knights’ conversations came through the communication device, but they seemed unable to locate the signal unit in the helmet.
They still assumed I held Denver, unaware that the helmet might be stored separately in a container.
“Just beyond this container…”
There was a boat waiting for us beyond the containers.
Lastly, I used the auxiliary organ to check the boat’s status once more. It seemed they were hurriedly loading items. Nothing particularly alarming to worry about.
As I was about to pass by the container, my auxiliary organ alarm went off with a loud zing.
[Unknown danger lurks on the other side.]
[■■■■ targeting me ■■■■■■■]
Suddenly, my predator sense kicked in.
‘What was that?’
I quickly stepped back behind the container. While scenes flashed through like scanning through a fast-forwarded film, there was an odd noise overlaying them, almost like a mosaic, making it impossible to discern the exact danger.
[ZZZ (Stop.)]
｢Why? What’s wrong?｣
I called the kids. Something unusual seemed near the container, close to the boat. My predator sense had shown urgent threats up close before, but it had never presented such ambiguous images like just now.
That statement falls into one of two possibilities: either the opponent possesses a means to deceive the predator sense, or they are an enigmatic force beyond even the predator sense’s grasp.
‘…Either way, it’s not an easy opponent.’
The deliberation was brief.
[ZZZZ ZZZZ ZZZ (Let’s take a different path)]
I abandoned the idea of heading toward that boat. Regardless of the enemy’s nature, engaging in a fight here would mean missing out on all the boats.
‘There’s still one boat left, though it is different from the one I initially chose, but it’ll do the work.’
Smaller than the boat I’d picked, but not necessarily a bad choice either. I retraced our path with the kids and ran down a different route.
While running, I kept checking behind, half expecting a mysterious creature to be tailing us, but there was no one following us.
‘It was an opponent that even the auxiliary organ could’t discover.’
Fortunately, the dangerous monster didn’t pursue us.
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HEL SCANS
[Translator – Jjescus]
[Proofreader – Demon God’s Disciple]
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