I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun

Chapter 606

"This is ridiculous… How is this even possible?"

"How is the world going to end up like this…"

KAANG!

In an instant, a flash erupted, almost simultaneously with a deafening noise. The shockwave created by the collision of metal on metal, followed by the right arm, which had just begun to recover, was visibly impacted.

All those watching the movements of the Mecha Biyams stood with their mouths wide open. There was no way they could close their mouths. Only Eugene and her associates, maintaining their composure, were focused on their tasks at the center of the vast arena.

And then, one more person.

"...Isn't it surprising, General?"

"It wouldn't be surprising. I’m just thinking about it from a different perspective."

The output of the unit, how strong the punch was, or whether the actions just demonstrated had any significance—those were the questions in his mind.

Strictly speaking, there were very few situations in which such destructive force was necessary in reality. The only somewhat realistic use for it might be to replace a door-breaching operation with bare hands—but the visual shock always precedes reason.

The destructive power that could crush even an oncoming dump truck head-on. The power delivered at bullet-like speed when focused on the small striking point of a fist was unimaginable, and the thoughts that had briefly passed through his head mere moments before were completely blown away by that spectacle.

"...What could Icarus have in mind, showing us such a sight at this expo?"

"Perhaps it’s a declaration of intent. They may have nailed down the fact that no other company will catch up to Icarus Dynamics in the future."

"Or maybe it’s the most mild form of protest. Perhaps they’ve taken the wheel to lead the world into change."

"Hmm…"

"Do you have something in mind, General Spencer?"

"I would like to hear the opinion of a serving general. If you don't mind, would you share it?"

Spencer, who had been stroking his chin while softly muttering to himself, had others around him chime in one by one.

Despite the thoughts running through his mind, Spencer’s wealth of life experience immediately fabricated plausible words, offering exactly what they wanted to hear. After all, discussing serious matters wasn’t the goal here. Speaking off the top of his head to match the atmosphere wasn’t difficult.

Of course, this meant his true thoughts were somewhere else entirely.

And, based on Spencer’s judgment—who possessed memories from another world—this wasn’t some protest or declaration like others had suggested...

"...I think he just wants to show off how impressive his daughters are…"

Naturally, saying something like "daughters" in front of Eugene would probably lead to unpleasant results. Thus, he kept the thought to himself.

Meanwhile, regardless of what others might say, the tests continued outside the reinforced glass walls of the lounge. Jin, whose arm had become severely damaged, was replaced with a new one that Eugene had brought. There was no other choice; the metal fibers within the fractured alloy casing had been torn in multiple places.

Next was Lane’s turn, and while most were focused on that, Spencer and the others were paying particular attention to the quick replacement of the right arm.

"By modularizing the damaged parts for replacement, they’ve highlighted the necessary components for military-grade items quite well…"

"Did you say something, General Spencer?"

"No, no. Please continue watching."

In regions with extremely limited infrastructure, like foreign countries and not mainland U.S., every piece of equipment had to last a long time, and at the same time, quick response in case of damage was essential. The units in front of them fulfilled these two conditions remarkably well.

Not only did they meet the criteria, but their durability and semi-permanent power sources had surpassed expectations. If this had been for signing a contract, Spencer would have signed right away. It was something he truly desired so badly that it nearly made his throat burn.

Meanwhile, the test subject was moving on from steel walls to humanoids.

A humanoid wielding cold weapons swung them around, but both Jin and Lane skillfully dodged with ease. Each punch thrown sent the 300kg vanadium alloy robot crashing to the ground multiple times.

Despite enhanced shock resistance and vibration resistance, the impact was so strong that the outer casing deformed into the shape of a fist. In under five minutes since the combat began, the opposing humanoid received more damage than allowed and collapsed on the spot.

Deformed marks as if it had been in a car crash were visible all over the unit. Its neck hung half-exposed, joints shattered in the opposite direction, or twisted in impossible ways.

"The impact power is more than enough. At this point, even the toughest terrain would pose no issue."

"Even if it trips, it won’t be damaged."

"Right."

Of course, there were drawbacks.

The excessive weight, the absence of a tail, the noise produced during operation, and the green glow of the unit’s unique color were all factors, but aside from the first two, none were truly problematic. After all, the expo wasn’t about showcasing military supplies.

As time slowly passed, nearing 8 p.m., the first day of the long expo was winding down.

In other words, the day was coming to an end, and Eugene, Jin, Lane, and Mav—who had been treated like Eugene’s daughters—started tidying up the facility without further formalities.

When the pre-recorded announcement broadcasted, the people inside the stadium synchronized and gave a thunderous round of applause.

Eugene and the three units responded with a bow as the applause began to die down, and the attendees started heading out the same way they came.

But Spencer wasn’t planning on leaving just yet.

Standing up from his seat, Spencer added to the officers around him.

"You all go ahead. I’ll have a chat with these folks before I leave."

"...We’ll wait outside the stadium. Please let us know if anything happens."

"Don’t worry."

As the reinforced glass walls disappeared, revealing the path from the lounge to the stadium, he opened the glass door and began walking down the stairs one step at a time.

The warm air outside contrasted sharply with the stillness inside the lounge. Eugene, along with the original Eugene and the three Mecha units, continued working as usual, unfazed by the departing crowd.

Curious about what they were talking about, but not really concerned, Spencer pressed the call button next to the door blocking the path to the center of the stadium.

With a beep, Eugene turned in his direction, and after a brief moment, the door opened.

The ones who had been the stars of the evening were approaching him.

"You’re out here even though it’s cold."

"I’m still in good health. Don’t underestimate me."

"Haha, just kidding."

"Well, the reason I came down here directly isn’t much."

At the same time, Spencer glanced behind Eugene and then asked.

"I don’t remember there being any extra thrust for acceleration like that. When did you add that function?"

"It wasn’t added, it’s always been there. It just wasn’t used before… Normally, most of the energy goes into activating the tail weapon, so that’s why you don’t see it. But right now, without it, there’s excess energy…"

"Aha, I understand now. When are you planning to attach the tail weapon?"

"That… that’s…"

Eugene was flustered, and General Spencer chuckled.

Such conversations were possible because they shared the same memories.

They discussed topics that others would never hear, in a place where no one else would listen. Given how short the conversation was, it was manageable.

About ten minutes later, as most of the people were leaving the stadium, Spencer continued.

"Well, I should head off now. I’m already looking forward to the Q&A session tomorrow."

"Haha, that’s not really my job. The Mecha youngest will handle it. Right?"

"Ugh..."

"I should have been more careful."

Of course, the deed had already been done.

From a distance, Nasty, who had been running, added.

"At first, I was jealous, but now I’m glad I didn’t do it."

"Well, it just happened that way."

Nasty’s mysterious first victory.

Sometimes, being born late does have its benefits.

Thus, the first day of the expo came to a close.

"Aaaah, I told you! I was right there, and Jin suddenly started spitting fire from his body and BAM! He punched the wall. And then the whole wall crumpled!"

"Hey, hey, stop repeating yourself. We need to get the drunk people out of here."

"Let go! I’m not finished talking yet!"

"Ugh. Why is only Mina acting like this?"

A few days later, Korea.

While the whole world was still buzzing from the expo held in the United States, Harmonie, who could now legally call herself a pro gamer and finalist ranked in SSM, along with the national team that had recently competed in the AP finals, gathered at Dice’s house.

The reason was almost the same for all of them. Unlike Dice, who didn’t care about following Korean New Year traditions, the pro gamers who had returned with significant results couldn’t stand the relentless questioning from their large families, who wanted to know everything about their accomplishments.

They came up with various excuses. Some had to go to the head office for a debriefing for the new tournament coming up, others claimed it was for salary negotiations—and of course, these excuses were all accepted without question.

And so, after successfully lying their way through, they arrived at Dice’s house, where they were having a drinking party while catching up.

"Hey, when did you guys go to see the Mecha Biyam? You saw it without us? That’s just unfair."

"You should have asked more insistently. Do you want me to ask for you next time?"

"No, it’s fine. They said they’ll do it in Korea within six months anyway."

"Got it. You guys refused."

"Wait, saying that suddenly makes me want to see it. Fine, I’ll go."

On the table were various bottles of liquor and even more snacks.

The five of them sat closely, chatting in front of a screen showing a middle-aged man in a suit explaining something calmly.

Icarus International, a massive control tower managing numerous subsidiaries. The vice president in charge of it, who was also Eugene’s father, was introducing the presentation over the screen.

Dark Zone 2.0. More of an extensive update than a sequel, and it served as a marker that snapped the five of them, who had been wandering drunkenly, back to reality.

"...Come to think of it, even that’s getting talked about as much as the Mecha Biyams."

"Honestly, it sounds like they’re just adding more PVE content, right? It’s already so much, it’s overwhelming. I switched to PVP because I didn’t know where to start with PVE."

"Seriously? You just jumped into AP like that?"

"Well, everyone does that, right? I tried it once, and it turned out it was doable, so I kept climbing."

Though the conversation abruptly shifted, the main topic was the expansion of the Dark Zone universe.

With China nearly in a state of civil war and Russia losing sovereignty over its territories, Southeast Asia and parts of China were being invaded by South Asia, which had managed to stay united despite losing almost a billion people.

Meanwhile, the Middle East, relatively untouched by the effects, exploded into conflict, and a new African federation arose around Central Africa.

As Europe witnessed an unidentified weapon—seemingly not operated by humans—being sent through Denmark and Hamburg, South America was about to see the birth of a new nation around Brazil.

"...The Dark Zone world is just full of nothing but misfortune."

"Yeah, but honestly, it sounds exciting. I wonder where the fighting will break out. Probably somewhere in South Asia? America has a lot to reclaim from China and Russia, so they’ve probably touched those areas."

"Yeah, looks like it. Let’s see, according to the world map… Bangladesh and Myanmar are next to India, and then straight into China’s land. They’re probably pushing in that direction."

"Hey, hey, look at the screen. Something’s being fired."

And as five pairs of eyes turned back to the screen, they saw the U.S. fleet stationed at Yokosuka and Busan launching dozens of medium-range ballistic missiles.

Naturally, these missiles were all equipped with hydrogen laser bombs.

Enemy retaliation was inevitable, but Korea’s land was already covered with missile pods, railguns, and intercept lasers. Hundreds of ballistic missiles were crushed and disappeared in the air.

At that moment, the screen shifted to the upper part of Gangwon Province, where a massive circular space, resembling something formed by pressing a thumb into a tangled mountain range, was highlighted.

A gigantic 6km-wide circle, inside of which stood six massive cannons. It resembled a revolver’s chamber—it was a massive railgun fortress.

"...What is that?"

"They’re saying it’s a fortress built in Gangwon to intercept all kinds of ballistic missiles... I don’t know if I should call it impressive or not."

The official name was the "Interceptor Base Panopticon."

Though the name was awkward, it was clear that the U.S. had no intention of watching as foreign powers acted recklessly.

The explanations continued, but eventually, those who had come back to their senses chimed in.

"Well, I don’t know. I’ll do it if Eugene asks me later. I hope they make a new Mecha Eugene."

"Yeah, I totally agree."

"Wonder what they’ll add this time? I remember last time they added an ultrasonic weapon to the tail, so maybe something like gravity manipulation could happen."

"But, honestly, if it’s just Eugene showing up again, it might be weird."

"Then how about a Mecha Shark?"

"Ahhh, that’s not what I meant…"

Suddenly, the mysterious laughter "Uhhuhu..." echoed from the speakers, and everyone in Dice’s house, almost in unison, looked around, sighing in relief.

It wasn’t bad for now, but if it happened again, they’d all be asking "again?"—and so, it was left as a curiosity for the future. Moreover, Eugene was the type to draw a strict line, and it was highly unlikely he’d ever reveal anything if asked.

Thinking this way, Dice added:

"Well, if it’s PVE, maybe, but for AP… I guess a few new maps will come out based on this. Or maybe in-game skins."

"Do you think the Dagger team will come back?"

"Not sure..."

The conclusion wasn’t reached, but it didn’t matter.

When the time came, Eugene would likely call on them, and unless there was an unavoidable reason, they wouldn’t refuse.

"Anyway, that’s enough for now. I guess I’ll head over later. But, do you have any extra connection devices around here?"

"Well, I only have mine. Eugene might have one or two extra at his place..."

"Damn, there’s probably no connection device shop around here either. This is driving me crazy..."

"Should we take a taxi and go to the SSM accommodation for a bit?"

"Yeah, but the night surcharge is going to be crazy... Ahh, forget it, I’ll just go tomorrow."

"I’ll ask Eugene first."

So, Dice sent a message to Eugene with rare direct use of his fingers...

"...Oh my."

"Take your time. Is it something important?"

"I can get it later, it’s fine. Anyway, it’s a relief that things aren't turning out like that scenario from over there."

"From where I’m sitting, I find that scenario pretty convincing, which is scary."

Meanwhile, at the Central Park HQ, Eugene was in a discussion with Henry, not quite a debate, but more of an exchange, about the Dark Zone 2.0 scenario crafted with all their might by Icarus International’s writers.