I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun

Chapter 425

"Nobody's hurt, right!?"

"No one's hurt... Fortunately, it seems the shots all missed."

A flash swept across the combat experiment lab.

Two thoughts immediately crossed my mind—one fortunate and one unfortunate. The fortunate part was that no one was injured. The unfortunate part was that it was highly likely more attacks of that nature would come flying toward us in quick succession. As the thoughts rushed in, I found it difficult to focus on the machines in the control room.

However, fortunately, there was still a way to regain my focus amidst the overwhelming concerns.

"Where did the railgun’s initial attack point and the trajectory of the projectiles originate from?"

"The right wall of the combat lab... um, between Beta lock doors 2 and 3. From there, it passed toward Alpha lock door 4."

"At least confirming the direction is easy."

Speaking directly.

There was no more effective way than this.

Meanwhile, if we consider Beta lock doors as south and Alpha lock doors as north, the control room is west, and the nanomachine tower is east.

Looking at the angles, the railgun prototype could only attack the current combat area from south to north at an oblique angle. In other words, we wouldn’t have to worry about bullets coming from an unknown direction.

However, there was still something important that had to be found out.

"We need to understand the guidance mechanism of the railgun's projectiles… What do you think is most likely?"

"Uh, well… the flying prototype probably guided it. The ones down there are barely armed. They’ll probably be dead before they can even mark coordinates."

"That’s a surprisingly accurate answer."

After updating the railgun trajectory in the UI, Jin assessed the damage.

The enemy casualties were higher than expected.

Looking around, the reason became clear—the debris from the walls surrounding the corpses was the evidence. In other words, when the railgun shot out from the wall, thousands of large and small fragments exploded, and some of the Artemis forces below were torn apart by the blast.

It made sense. The projectiles, from small as a thumbnail to large as a fist, must have hit with the speed of shotgun pellets. It was like being exposed to a devastating shotgun blast head-on.

But that wasn’t really important. It wasn’t our forces that were hurt, so—if there was anything worth worrying about, it was something in a completely different direction.

"Hmm… It seems like they’re not concerned about our casualties."

"Protecting the nanomachine tower is the priority. The minor stuff probably doesn’t matter to them."

"That might be true, but…"

While dealing with the numerous requests coming through the intercom, I focused on the ones that were most urgent and continued adjusting various devices in the control room. Since we were in the combat experiment lab, there were a few things we could do—like moving entire areas.

Not only could we reassemble the terrain as needed, but when the plasma cannon to defend Beta’s attack on the nanomachine tower was fully heated, I rotated the floor panels vertically to create a massive defense shield. This blocked a more powerful plasma attack in one shot.

A flash rushed through.

Boom!

"Whoa, wow."

"...Should I attack too? I can see the nanomachine tower from here. I think I can hit it with a few shots from the railgun."

"Don’t try to steal the spotlight. If that powerful shot hits the control room, you or I will turn to vapor."

Was he blind, or did he not see the liquid metal splattering everywhere when the panel melted?

Anyway, focusing back on the recent thoughts—there was one possible attack to try. It was simple. The question was whether we could slam the prototype's railgun attack into the nanomachine control tower, disregarding the terrain.

The reason for needing to understand the targeting mechanism wasn’t random. If we could confuse it or take control of it, we could completely destroy the nanomachine tower, which was only partially understood at the moment.

There was something essential needed for that.

"Beta needs to single out a person and make them seem like a serious threat. That’ll make them the perfect target."

"...Are you really suggesting we send someone fighting down below?"

"If necessary."

If necessary? LMAO.

"Well, if it’s her orders, I guess she might make it back alive."

"Haha, for real."

"??: The ones I call will be back after shooting a mission impossible movie."

"Crazy one really."

I stared blankly at the screen.

The opportunity might only come once. Thankfully, Jin or Rain were like living calculators, and as soon as I made the request, a blue light area marked an angle from which we could hit the tower.

The height was 37 meters above ground, with a diameter of less than 5 meters—quite narrow.

Fortunately, it wasn’t too difficult to transport someone to that area. I was already listening to the intercom and called up someone who could move at any moment.

"Are you listening, Logan?"

"Man, you really treat people like crap. So, what do you want me to do?"

"I’ll move you to a specific location, and just toss the bomb I got from Dagger Team."

"That sounds easy, but where do I go?"

"I’ll take you there myself."

Clank.

After assigning the controls, I raised my finger, and the sensor reacted, starting to lift the area Logan was standing in.

"This should work."

"YOU CRAZY—!"

???????

No way, right? LMAO!

Certainly, I got a good amount of curses thrown my way.

Regardless, the 10x10 meter block was quickly lifted, and before long, it was caught by a crane that popped out of the ceiling. The block itself was moving at a speed of 3 meters per second, and Logan was busily pulling out the antimatter grenades from his pouch.

Probably Charlie-type. If he used one, three would remain.

But things didn’t go as smoothly as expected. The vibrations from the ground were much closer than anticipated. I turned my head to see nothing, but the truth was clear—several people were approaching.

Of course.

I didn’t expect them to try and mess with the control room like this.

I quickly added to Rain.

"See that blue area? Move Logan there. After activating the railgun, aim at that wall."

"What? Why me? What’s going on?"

"Two enemy squads are approaching."

Hearing that, Rain immediately began acting according to my instructions.

Kiing. A strange sound filled the air, and blue light concentrated at the tail end. It was the first time I was seeing this up close, but it didn’t matter. The enemy squads were two, so one had to be dealt with by me—since Rain wasn’t exactly great with CQC.

After setting the timer, I jumped down the stairs.

"Three."

"Two."

"One."

"Fire."

Boom!

The control room was bathed in blue light.

I had already moved below, but I couldn’t completely escape the aftereffects of the chaos in the control room. Judging by the excited voice from Rain over the intercom, it seemed the attack was successful.

Meanwhile, I grabbed three grenades, pulled their pins, and threw them down the hallway.

"Welcome."

Boom!

Just as the Artemis squad was crossing the hallway, their vision was engulfed by a bright flash.

The battle had just begun.

"Ugh, damn it, what the hell am I supposed to do with this...!?"

Boom!

The railgun part, now glowing bright, was retracted back inside as Rain glanced at the shattered enemy corpses. With a genuinely perplexed expression, she alternated between the hologram panels and looking outside. Now that Eugene had descended, it was Rain's responsibility to operate the 10x10 meter panel that Logan was riding.

Kiing. The sound echoed as the panel moved forward toward the east. Meanwhile, Beta, floating in the center of the control tower, continued to attack Eugene’s team, even though Eugene was not there.

The proof of this was the plasma flashing from its tail.

"Where’s the shield...!? Beta-type is preheating its plasma! Move into cover, I'll block it with the A4 panel!"

"30 seconds to the target. We’ll reach it in 10 seconds, Rain."

"Got it, I got it...!"

Parallel thinking.

For Rain, a complete artificial lifeform, this was no big deal. However, when human lives were at stake based on conclusions drawn from that thinking, things changed. Being too self-aware of the human heart meant that variables like pressure and uncertainty mixed with logic.

How was Archetype handling this, I wonder? With that thought, Rain raised her left finger and pushed forward with her right arm, as if shooting something.

At that moment, a panel vertically rose on the opposite side, and a flash erupted. When the plasma struck the panel, everything on top of it burned and evaporated.

Watching this scene, Rain frowned as she folded the panel back in.

It wasn’t a bad sign.

'...As expected, the control tower’s reaction is incredibly slow due to controlling Beta!'

The facility's control AI operates most of the prototypes, including Beta.

Everyone, including Dagger Team, already knew this fact, but feeling it firsthand made it clear at once—specifically, the AI controlling the prototypes had left Beta, which was half-autonomously intercepting, vulnerable.

This meant... it was more feasible than expected.

40 seconds until the next shot.

As she withdrew her right hand, Rain adjusted the height of the panel Logan was riding. 37 meters. About the height of a 13-story apartment building.

After loading a grenade into the lower rail, Logan signaled through the intercom.

It was the moment a small sun rose from underground.

Boom!

Everything in front of them evaporated.

However, the control tower wasn’t completely destroyed—the Beta-type, which had been thought to be half-autonomous, threw itself in the way to block the grenade, slowly regenerating.

But Logan had already anticipated this, and since their goal was to destroy the control tower using the prototype’s railgun, she began firing at Beta, which was forming in the air.

At that moment, Rain saw something extending from Beta.

‘Red laser…!’

At the same time, Dagger Team’s voices rang through the intercom, and the timer automatically activated.

Finally, the facility's control AI, which had been controlling the prototypes, gave attention to their team. The numbers started to decrease. The distance was 1.2 kilometers. Fortunately, the terrain slowed the projectiles, and it would take 1.4 seconds for the bullet to reach the control tower.

Meanwhile, Logan shot down Beta, which had been firing the red laser. While the shot wouldn't be canceled, since the coordinates couldn't be tracked in real-time, it was likely the bullet would be fired at the previously set coordinates—though this wasn’t certain, it was a plausible guess based on the current situation.

As the timer neared 1 second, Rain lowered her right arm.

Or, she was about to.

Before she could, a voice from below interrupted her.

"Seeker mine—!"

Boom!

The last-ditch effort from Artemis infantry reached the control room, and Rain was blasted away.

At the same time, many things happened in quick succession—Eugene killed the enemy making a last stand, and Rain regained her posture through aerial maneuvers.

But as she was thrown back, the panel Logan was on didn’t descend as expected. Instead, it tilted downward, and Logan began sliding toward the ground like he was riding a sled.

The angle of the tilted ground was over 70 degrees.

Logan’s curses echoed through the intercom.

"Dammit—!"

At that moment, Rain’s mind went blank.

However, contrary to that, her hands moved quickly—her left-hand control authority shifted, and her right-hand panel was raised again. Logan was pushed up by the panel, and he flew through the air like a pinball, while the opposite floor began to rise.

In the same tilted angle.

This was a temporary but effective solution to slow him down. When Logan landed on the surface, tilted at 55 degrees, the gravity-induced speed was overcome by friction. The next thing awaiting him was the opposite panel rising.

When the panel’s tilt dropped to 30 degrees, Logan finally touched down on the ground.

Of course, this wasn’t the end.

Boom!

The blue flash pierced through the control tower.

As mentioned, Logan was the closest to the control tower, and as expected, she had to dodge the many debris pieces created by the explosion of the massive 55-meter-tall tower.

The explosion didn’t stop after one, and Logan had to dodge dozens of car-sized fragments with all her might. There were even instances where the panels, which formed the floor, tilted or collapsed due to the impact, so she had to run faster.

After 20 seconds, Logan finally managed to escape the explosion.

Another legendary moment was added to her life.

Of course, she didn’t think of it that way.

"…Damn it, where are Rain and Eugene?"

"Hold on, hold on. Look behind you."

Turning to Logan, who was fuming, Lorentina spoke softly, and he turned around.

What they saw—Beta, halfway repaired, falling to the ground as if the film cut out, the nanomachine control tower glowing a disturbing black but now completely gone, and the remaining Artemis forces, looking bewildered as if their lives were ruined.

"Thanks to you, we wiped out the first control tower with no casualties in the operation. Great work."

"…Ha."

Logan chuckled before replying.

"Next time, you do it."

"Of course. Who else but us could pull something like this off?"

"I’m off to kick the kid’s shins, don’t stop me."

Whoosh.

Before Lorentina could stop him, Logan rushed toward the control room at an incredible speed.

It was 22 seconds ago that their screams filled the intercom.

Meanwhile, in the giant combat experiment lab.

The pressure on Dagger Team was starting to lessen.

The scales were slowly tilting in the opposite direction.