I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun

Chapter 627

"Attention to the Nemesis Mobile Reconnaissance Unit, currently moving along L156. A railway intersects with the attack axis 300 meters ahead in the direction of motion, and in front of it, there is an enemy defense line that has not been completely neutralized. Proceed with caution."

"The unmanned reconnaissance drone held by the 4th Battalion is not adequately prepared for EMP protection. With the dense jamming and enemy air defense systems nearby, CAS will be difficult, so we’ll take on the FO - Forward Observer - role here."

"Orders have been passed to our forces. New recruits, take out the reconnaissance drones."

"Ah, yes, yes."

• So busy, haha!
• Harmony and Dice thought it was just about running around shooting guns, but now they’ve lost it, lol.
• The new recruits still don’t have the eyes to read the battlefield, haha.
• As I’ve always felt, in direct confrontations like this, operators don’t have much to do.
• Just make something to do, like the meta players, Biyam and Shark, lol.

???Tududududud!

???Kwang!

It had only been about an hour since the operation started.

By the time the operation officially began, it was already night, and although only an hour had passed, the stars and moon were still hanging in the sky. It was a nice night for stargazing.

If not for the deafening sounds of beans being roasted and explosions nearby.

It couldn’t be helped.

About 450 meters to the west from where we were, there was a designated HPT, or High-Priority Target, which was one of the key areas of this operation— a warehouse complex and the boundary of the enemy defense line.

The Nemesis Battalion, a striker mobile reconnaissance unit from the 4th Battalion, had entered full combat about a few dozen meters away from the railway line mentioned earlier, which intersects with the attack axis.

"Ugh, do we really need support there?"

"There won’t be much to do. We’d just get in the way."

"Yeah, I guess that’s true…"

The scale of the battle over there was a bit too big for us to stick our noses in.

The 50-caliber chain guns and grenade launchers mounted on the armored vehicles were just appetizers.

The directional EMP pulse fired by the Nemesis Battalion spread in a hemisphere, turning the hundreds of attacking drones flying toward us into scrap metal, while enemy artillery units from afar started firing TOT (Time-On-Target).

The massive energy pulse fields mounted on the striker armored vehicles initially blocked the artillery fire, while shotgun missiles and lasers kept shooting down missile drones hiding in the air.

Ultimately, the easiest way to deal with the enemy was with a drone swarm. If it weren’t for the reward logic of Dark Zone, which gives you the thrill of killing human-shaped enemies—there would only be drones here.

But anyway, moving on...

"Recapturing the territory and crushing the enemy with a hammer is something those directly deployed need to handle. Our job is to poke at the weak spots, neutralize missile launchers and booby traps hidden in the bushes, buildings, and alleys, and smash the enemy’s command and control network."

"Finally, the phrase I’ve been hearing for a long time. In short, we’re the Tonkatsu hammer, right?"

"Clumsy, but a fitting expression. The soft meat-chewing will be done by those guys, so let’s get moving. We need to act fast to match their timetable."

• Well… aren’t you guys just crushers instead of Tonkatsu hammers???
• The seniors are the real hammers, lol.
• The people who think that the way to support our forces is by erasing the enemy entirely, haha.
• I’ve seen so many rampages, so no one believes anything they say, lol.
• If you said you could use nukes, you’d just shoot them from a distance, haha.

Seriously, why do so many people not believe us? It’s truly sad.

Anyway, as I said earlier, it was time to move. We were about 500 meters away from the heart of the conflict, and we planned to stir up the area as much as possible.

Harmony activated the stealth mode on the reconnaissance drone that had risen into the sky, activated the pulse, scanned all visible enemies, and synchronized with the UI. Thus, traps on the movement route began to be revealed one by one.

After I had briefly taken the point man role because Iris made a mistake earlier, we were now going to break into the enemy base, so Harmony and Dice were positioned at the front.

Time to give them some hard work.

???Puhhhh!

???Kwang!

As the artillery strike request sent via the reconnaissance drone was accepted, a burst of shockwave erupted from the sky, and the gate leading to the enemy base about 100 meters away was completely obliterated.

Steel doors, turrets with mounted machine guns, and watchtowers turned into ashes on the spot, and as soon as the bombardment ended, Harmony and Dice darted forward with their tails wagging.

The scene around Ground Zero, now a sea of flames. Shredded humanoid and unmanned drones were scattered everywhere, but we ignored them. The first targets were the booby traps and drone hangars, which had already been marked by the reconnaissance drone.

For booby traps, we launched hacking darts to neutralize them, and for the drone hangars, we took full control of an Artemis electronic warfare unit similar to the nearby AN/MLQ-50.

Creating chaos was the goal for the drones, and the drone hangars in the vicinity were our top priority.

The answer was simple.

"Everyone, take a drone hangar each. Normally, you’d go in pairs, but as I said earlier, any mistakes you make, we’ll clean up. Go and come back without too much burden."

"Can I say it’s a bit burdensome?"

"To grow strong, one must be strong."

• (Some nonsense about a lion dropping its baby off a cliff)
• This is mild by Biyam’s standards, haha.
• Wow, these two seniors are completely unresponsive, lol.
• ?? : To make your disciple strong, you must train them hard (nods).

Clank!

At that moment, I punched the drone hangar, and the upper hatch opened, releasing dozens of self-destruct drones armed with explosives, which flew up into the air like a swarm.

One, two, three, four. Drones scattered in all directions. Their target was the Artemis humanoids still alive or those about to be deployed on the other side.

The ensuing chaos was deafening. The amount of explosives attached to the drones wasn’t much, but still, it was enough to blast a robot’s head off.

I patted three shoulders and added:

"You all can handle this, right?"

"We’ll be back in a flash!"

"Good. I trust you all know where the assembly point is, so I hope you’ll return in one piece without getting hurt."

It was time for our little Biyams to shine.

The three of them checked the map and rushed toward the remaining drone hangars, while I stayed behind with Lorentina to check if any enemies remained nearby. After confirming the area was clear, we lightly warmed up.

Since Lorentina wasn’t yet at the point of pulling out a spear, she and I grabbed our MCX Rattlers using 300 AAC BLK rounds and made sure everything was working fine.

The target was a field about 600 meters to the north, but now it had suddenly turned into an armory. Mortars from the enemy had been raining down from that direction for a while.

"We’ve already set the coordinates, so we just need to destroy the shield generator and contact the Hell Laser Artillery Battalion, right?"

"That’s the most straightforward method. Let’s go."

• Oh, they’re acting separately again...
• Separate action (meaning hitting anything that blocks the way).
• Hey, everyone, just laugh it off, haha.
• Seriously, now I realize how crazy Biyam and their acquaintances really are...

We moved quickly along the roadside. With optical camouflage and jammers active, the enemy wouldn’t be able to spot us easily, but of course, we couldn’t keep that up indefinitely.

The moment our speed and the swing of our axes combined, the robots’ necks were neatly severed, and the harpoons pierced their throats, launching their heads into the air. As soon as they hit the ground, there would be a loud noise, so we had to make sure to grab them and lower them gently before they hit the ground.

As we traveled about 600 meters, sending about 15 robots to their robotic hell, we suddenly arrived at the center of the field, where a building had unexpectedly appeared.

Behind the building, there was a generator, surrounded by a barbed-wire fence and several turrets. The pulse was working wonders again.

The fence was about... 3 meters high.

Should be easy to jump over.

"Should I go, or should the newbie go?"

"The seniors should rest. I'll take care of it."

"I can’t just stay idle. I'll catch up with you soon."

At that, Lorentina took the lead, walking slowly and standing about 4 meters from the fence, cupping her hands to form a step.

How much time passed? I started to sprint, and just before colliding with Lorentina, I pushed off the ground with my left foot, stepped on the shark's hand, and accelerated into the air once more.

With a slight grunt from the senior, I easily leaped over the 3-meter fence, including the barbed wire, and landed inside.

A little late, the mini-gun turret began to rotate—

???Drrrrr!

???Kwang!

"Semtex attached, turret neutralized. Looks like there’s no time to open the door, so if you can get in, please help."

"...I don’t think that will be necessary. I’ve requested artillery support, so get out within a minute."

• What just happened????
• Biyam running in the sky, lol
• So does that mean Harmony and Dice can actually do this?
• After seeing that, even they’d probably shake their heads, haha.
• Iris is being totally ignored, lol.

Unfortunately, by then, the defense systems guarding the generator had long since been neutralized.

Several C4 blocks from my multi-purpose pouch caught my eye today.

As I took them out, I added:

"At this rate, these robots will be able to enjoy a warmer summer."

• What the hell is that lunatic saying, haha.
• Is this really happening? LOL.
• Fact: Last year, this was an everyday occurrence.
• This is just another regular day for Biyam~
• It’s true, haha.

Just like that.

A massive explosion and escape were about 30 seconds away.

???Kwang!

???Puhhh!

"…What’s that over there?"

"Probably the seniors doing something again. Don’t take it too seriously."

"...Umm."

• The baby Biyams are in shock, lol
• ?? : Now that the demonstration is done, you can try it yourselves.
• Wait, are we supposed to follow that? What??
• Iris is in a brain freeze, lol.

Meanwhile, hundreds of meters away...

The new Biyams finally realized the vast gap that existed even among themselves.

It was summer.

"Yujin, I finally understand."

"What did you understand?"

"I thought that once we grew our tails, we’d be able to catch up with you two, but it’s literally impossible. We’re just at the starting line, huh…"

"I admit it, sensei."

"I honestly… don’t have any particular thoughts."

"I didn’t realize this was a confession room, not a waiting room."

• Why are they suddenly acting like this? LOL
• Meanwhile, Iris is beside them, saying ‘I have no thoughts,’ what a goofy character, lol.
• Hey, Biyam nun, shouldn’t you be the one holding the confession session??
• Honestly speaking, I didn’t think I could catch up with Biyam, even if I became a manifestor.
• So, with that physique, they went to the final championship last year? That’s just ridiculous, haha.

The first day in Dark Zone 2.0, and the first day with Lorentina, was nearing its end without incident.

Harmony and Dice, who were not lacking in self-reflection but still worried about ‘messing up the operation,’ suddenly typed GG. There was no problematic behavior, though.

Meanwhile, Iris, who never misjudged her position, added a few words here and there, flaunting her presence… She truly is made for broadcasting in many ways.

Anyway, as much as we talk, there was no need to give Harmony and Dice special attention.

The two of them seemed to know that well and added:

"From now on, we won’t act like we’re in hardcore mode. We’ll return the adjustments to normal."

"I think that’s better, so I’ll turn the adjustments back on."

"Wait… are we really going back to normal mode? I kind of wanted to keep trying."

"As expected. The new recruits are turning the adjustments back on, and the newbie- newbie will stick to hardcore mode. Welcome to hell, Iris. Me and the newbie will keep an eye on you passionately."

"...What does ‘newbie’s newbie’ even mean?"

• LOL, Shark’s nickname is hilarious.
• Calling everyone who just came the newbie is too funny, haha.
• Iris, what kind of nerve does she have, claiming to stick to hardcore mode?
• The editor’s in a tough spot because of the backlog, haha.

Ah, I just realized that was a problem.

But hey, once we keep building up our stamina, maybe we can do hardcore mode and editing too!

For now, I’ll start with something like tire pushing. Murmuring ominously, I pushed Shark aside, and Dice took the opportunity to add:

"By the way, those we fought earlier were Artemis, right?"

"They couldn’t have been anything else."

"Then does that mean the Mecha newbie will show up later?"

"...Why are you asking me?"

• Fact: Biyam had no involvement in the Dark Zone scenario at all.
• We can guess, but why ask Yujin? LOL.

Dice, now a Grade EM, was starting to get a good feel for things, dodging Biyam’s playful backhands.

Biyam’s expression was priceless.

Anyway, I’ve been thinking about how to train these bratty newbies. While deep in thought, Lorentina, who had returned at some point, casually placed a hand on my shoulder with a carefree expression.

Then she added:

"It seems our new Biyams want a lot of things, but I didn’t know their academic zeal was so strong. But if they really want to see the Mecha newbie, they need to control their own abilities first. Don’t you think so?"

"...Uh, sure? Suddenly?"

"It’s not sudden."

She snapped her fingers and continued:

"As long as I’m here legally, that’s inevitable."

Clank!

Simultaneously, the hands that were placed on Harmony and Dice’s shoulders suddenly grabbed their clothes tightly, and the two of them finally realized they had been cornered.

Of course, it was already too late.

"I’m reminded of teaching Yujin back in the day. The curriculum I set up back then still exists, so you just need to relax and leave everything to me, hehe."

"W-wait! I really don’t want to see Mecha Yujin!"

"Oh, now you’re lying. You’ll need a punishment."

"Kyaaah—!"

• LMAO
• “Shark Bongo” has arrived! Give up hope now!!!!!
• "Self-invited" lol.
• Honestly, those two really deserved what they got, haha

With that look in her eyes as if everything was going just fine, I gave Lorentina a smile, then grabbed Iris, who was unable to keep up with the situation, and added:

"Let’s all try hard together."

"...Yeah."

Well, I thought it was resolved well.

I decided it was all good.