I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun

Chapter 567

"Looks like our youngest has decided to bring Jin and Lane into this. You’re not doing it on purpose, are you?"

"No way. This is the conclusion after several trial and error attempts. Just look at how rarely I’ve called them into this operation. Plus, unlike Operation Ouroboros, we can fall back comfortably. The risks are significantly lower."

"Starting with long-winded explanations, your credibility is dropping, kid."

"Eek...!"

• HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
• Watching Byaam getting his cheeks pinched by his seniors... this is rare
• So even Eugene gets long-winded when he’s not confident, HAHAHAHAHA
• This is comedy, HAHAHA
• Watching the original Mecha-Byaam get teased, HAHAHAHAHA

…Perhaps the idea that long-winded explanations lower credibility might be true after all.

But there was a reason I could say that, and the seniors, including the others, were likely already aware of it. They were probably saying this just to tease me. After all, these were the same people who’d joined me in investigating the facility three times in a row—what other reason could they have for saying that?

To cut it short, after our continuous investigations, we came to a conclusion… The probability that Jin and Lane could recover access to the generator was high.

That’s why it was necessary to bring those two as a test for the raid.

"Still, it’s a risky proposition, kid. You know that, right? If things go wrong, we could lose both of them."

"That’s why I’m planning to make things more certain. If we can’t fully secure the sector, we’ll have to find another way... But I’ve got some ideas. The fact that other users can challenge the annihilation difficulty gives us a significant advantage in terms of information acquisition."

"Hmm."

"While we’ve been checking every detail of the gimmicks, we’ve also gathered some information about what’s happening in the central sector of annihilation difficulty... and that’s been really helpful."

Checkpoint 1: Unlike other difficulties, in annihilation difficulty, the management AI takes control of Marv’s body from the start.

In contrast, in other difficulties, Marv had implemented some kind of power struggle, which caused the difficulty to drop since the AI was less focused on users... but, well, that’s not really important.

A few hours ago, after fiddling with the systems of the surrounding facilities, we more or less figured out what the management AI was actually controlling—facility management. In other words, when facilities, including the generator, are destroyed or taken over, the AI responds accordingly.

Now we could derive a question.

'If we send Jin and Lane to harass the management AI, wouldn’t it make dealing with the third one easier for us?'

With this, a few more options opened up for us.

For instance — Option 1: If Jin and Lane take control before we enter the central sector... as mentioned earlier, the management AI’s resources would be reduced in dealing with the third.

Next, Option 2: If Jin and Lane take control during or after we’ve entered the central sector… we could force the AI into a binary choice: either defend the control takeover or continue managing the third and try to expel the intruders.

Either way, it would be to our advantage. If it’s the latter, we would get solid fire support from Jin and Lane connected to the generator.

However, there was a reason no one had chosen such a brilliant method until now.

"...Just to be cautious, I plan to leave two remote controllers in the sectors where Jin and Lane are, in case things go south. That way, we can retreat if the central sector battle doesn’t go well."

"I figured you’d do that."

"Risk management is always necessary."

• If we’re bringing them along, this is the right move.
• Fact: No one else would do this except them.
• If we messed up and left Byaam behind, we’d be screwed, HAHAHAHAHA
• Looking at the AI from Icarus, if Byaam took them along without proper control, the raid might fall apart and we wouldn’t be able to handle it, HAHA
• Byaam, you’re the only one who’d do such crazy things, HAHAHA

The option of bringing Jin and Lane... as some viewers would put it, that’s a choice only madmen would make.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t deny it. A madman willing to sacrifice everything to achieve their goal, or someone skilled enough to handle risk management even after deciding to bring Jin and Lane into the raid. Our party was one of those two.

Naturally, we were the latter. But considering the contrarian nature of the viewers, they’d probably argue that we were the former. That’s why I didn’t care about what the viewers thought anymore.

The hologram floating in the air, and Jin and Lane checking it again.

There was no need to explain anything from the start—they already knew where and how to act and what the mission objective was. Moreover, both of them were equipped with heavy bulletproof vests, firearms, and ballistic shields.

When our eyes met, I spoke up.

"Let’s go and catch our third, who refuses to come home."

"...Sometimes I feel like our master wants to collect all of us Mecha-Byaams."

"Haha, of course. If we collect them all, it’ll trigger a combo."

"Pffft."

• What are they even saying, HAHAHAHAHA
• Was it a set item? HAHA
• Bold statement: This might actually work
• Byaam Rangers being formed, HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
• What kind of nonsense is this, HAHAHAHAHA

Of course, it was just a joke.

And it was about time to lighten the mood. The vibrations of the body grew stronger and soon stopped entirely. The lower ramp opened, revealing the factory we had seen for the fourth time. Two of us probably hadn’t seen it even once before.

As expected, where we had just been wasn’t anywhere else but... a type of infantry combat vehicle. After driving on an unpaved road for a while, we had finally reached the factory’s vicinity.

But we didn’t move forward any longer. Instead, I looked across to the dense foliage, took a reconnaissance drone out of my bag, and launched it vertically.

Jin and Lane pretended to take a deep breath, and at that moment, the long tails, which were already long enough, subtly split and stretched to over 2 meters in length, like civilian knives.

—Giiing!

"Energy charge at 26%. Preheating complete in 4 seconds."

"Same here."

"I’ll set the waypoint."

At the same time, I pinged, and a red cursor popped up beyond the trees.

Lane aimed straight ahead, and Jin aimed toward the air. Due to the individual characteristics of the weapons they held, they needed to adjust their aiming trajectories somewhat, which was a kind of... legitimate cheat allowing us to skip the front yard entirely.

After placing the red hologram a few meters ahead of us, we moved closer, and as we took our steps, I added:

"Ready?"

"Let’s go."

"Of course."

Then there was a flash of light and shockwaves.

The tungsten bullets, 20mm in diameter, were fired at a speed of 11 km per second. The aftershock alone shattered the trees blocking our view. The trees hit directly were practically obliterated. In front of us, a small path appeared, leading all the way to the far yard.

But that wasn’t the end. A backup plasma shell casing, prepared by Jin a few seconds earlier, accelerated and flew through the air, pelting the humanoid enemies emerging from the factory entrance like hailstones.

The railgun cleared the way, and Jin finished the job. As this process repeated a couple more times, the enemies that had been about to emerge at the entrance were quickly reduced to debris, and we were able to clean the front yard of the factory without any interference.

With a faint smile, I added:

"I tried it just in case, but as expected. All the thorough investigation from the start really paid off."

"...Master, is this correct?"

"If it’s wrong, well... there’s nothing Artemis can do about it."

• Man, you guys are crazy!
• Really, is this person a true madman????
• If they’re crazy, what are you guys gonna do about it, HAHAHAHA
• I didn’t say anything, MASTER!!!!!!!!!!
• Everyone’s in shock, HAHAHAHAHA

Hah, we opened the front yard this easily, yet no one’s being honest about it.

Anyway, the 4th try began just like that.

"Strangely, this place reminds me of old times..."

"The facility layout is very similar to Artemis HQ in Canada. It seems like they’ve set up simulation rooms inside the factory to test the firepower and combat performance of the drones they produce."

"Correct. I believe in Lane since they’ve handled panels before, so I’m sure they’ll do well again. Don’t break it too much, though, we’ll need it later."

"How many attacks are coming in now, you ask? It’s coming!"

• Uhhhhh HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
• Even though I’ve seen it before, I still can’t get used to it HAHAHAHAHA
• Watch the panel melt in real-time, damn
• With that much heat, even a tank would melt, HAHAHAHAHA
• Is annihilation difficulty really this crazy???

Giiing!

The panel in front of me rotated halfway and lifted vertically, and at that moment, the front was covered in a terrible flash of light. For an instant, the world seemed to converge into black and white. A laser from the far generator started to melt the panel completely.

The metallic liquid scattering above and the deafening noise, which I didn’t even want to wonder about, filled the air. The noise above sounded like a jet engine starting, but at that moment, the four panels we were on moved in another direction.

Just before the panels were fully penetrated, the position shift was completed, and at that moment, an explosion and flash erupted from the control room across the facility. Or rather, it wasn’t a flash, but a railgun fired at the speed of a large beam, shattering a massive beam weapon that had emerged from the wall.

"Nice assist, Lane."

"350 meters to the generator tower. Move quickly. Jin is almost done over there."

"That place used an antimatter grenade, so we’ll have to wait until the facility’s recovery is somewhat complete."

A few screens popped up in front of me, showing the situation of other squads.

The squad with Jin, including them, was heading to another sector, where it looked like… a clean crater had formed that even bombing couldn’t make, with the ground and walls melting.

Unfortunately, we didn’t have that luxury and were advancing in a very standard manner, pushing Sector Alpha. I cleared humanoid enemies hiding behind walls with a sickle mine, and with Owens and I carrying ballistic shields, we advanced while Ink and Gambit followed behind.

It was a strategic move to keep the sector intact, but things were going better than expected.

This was partly due to the combat strength of our team, but there was another reason.

For example, something like this.

"Lorentina, Olivia’s squad, stay put and pretend to be pushed back. Logan’s squad, since you used antimatter bombs, fully secure the sector."

"Confirmed."

"Good. How long will it take for you, kid?"

"I should be able to fully secure Sector Alpha in 2 minutes. I’m almost there."

Adjusting the frontline in real time, I implanted a few illusions into the facility’s management AI.

For example, if it seemed like our side was being pushed in another sector, the AI would naturally allocate resources there, weakening the forces elsewhere.

At this point, our top priority was securing Sector Alpha for Lane, so while we showed a bit of pressure elsewhere, we pushed Alpha as fast as possible. And the seniors were the perfect people to execute my request.

We also stayed put for a bit to maintain balance, and soon the constant barrage of attacks began to subside. But we didn’t move just yet, waiting for a signal.

How long had it been?

"Sector Beta and Delta, enemy reinforcements have increased by 25% from 5 minutes ago. It’s safe to move, Archetype."

"Got it, let’s go."

• Snack time~~~~~~
• Mecha Byaam + Regular Byaam + Remote Control Byaam 1 + Ink + Gambit, HAHAHAHAHA
• Is this even a person or a bulldozer, HAHAHAHA
• Wow, running with all that weight while blocking attacks, HAHAHAHAHA
• That’s because they’re Byaams!

At the same time, we charged forward and struck the enemy’s flank.

As expected, the management AI’s operating principle was ridiculously simple. It had more authority than a Mecha-Byaam, but it lacked the natural capacity to handle that authority smoothly.

From what I heard from Marv, the AI had been the one blocking her own authority, but after various analyses and listening to the situation, it was clear it was full of greed but completely incompetent—just like in the game.

As Alpha Squad reached a certain area, Lane, who had been in the control room far away, sprinted toward us. Despite that, there was barely any attack.

We entered the danger zone where Artemis’ lasers would automatically trigger Danger Close, and while the enemies were confused, we began sweeping the area near the generator like cleaners.

How much time had passed? Lane arrived at the generator control room and took a deep breath.

It was ridiculous seeing them do deep breaths just to calm their nerves, but it wasn’t something I could say out loud.

Lane carefully placed a hand on the panel, and at that moment, the five Icarus gears present here empowered Lane.

The takeover of Sector Alpha had begun.

• [Notification: Unverified access rights detected... unable to block. Epsilon clearance verified.]

• [Notification: Artemis mobile strike team deployed to protect the facility. Rechecking administrator rights... overriding administrator rights. Stopping not possible.]

• [Notification: Sector Alpha is now under facility control AI... Unrecognizable. Epsilon-type closest to generator takes control of Sector Alpha.]

• [Notification: Welcome to Alpha, Epsilon.]

"...Is it done?"

"Almost. Soon, not just Jin and Lane, but we’ll also be able to verify the takeover."

• Oh no, where's the time going!!!!!!!!!!!
• These guys are using time hacks, HAHAHAHAHA
• If we took Jin and Lane with us, could we pull this off?
• You try leaving Jin and Lane behind while casually walking back, HAHAHAHA
• They’re playing like they have no guts, HAHAHAHAHA

But the words didn’t continue.

The 40 minutes given for the third raid had started to literally melt away from the UI like bubbles. It was converging toward zero, disappearing completely.

The reason was simple. The 40 minutes were a... deadline. It took the management AI time to recognize that the solution was to flood the Icarus operators with drones as the AI continued to recover sectors and spawn unmanned drones.

And conversely, when the premise broke, the deadline became meaningless.

Laughing, I added:

"Sector Alpha is secured. We’ll head to the central sector main gate from here. Everyone, come over when you’re done."

"Understood. Let’s prepare to bring the third home."

• Already planning to take them, HAHAHAHAHA
• ^High Ace^
• Really, can’t believe it, HAHAHAHAHA
• ...Are they really rebellious???
• Anyway, they’re rebellious, HAHAHAHAHA

Some of the space assembled and turned into panels to carry us, and the three of us, excluding Lane and Owens, moved toward the center.

It was now time to bring the third back home to our world.