I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun

Chapter 680

"Danso Jyos 1, we have arrived at the infiltration point. Currently setting up the anchor. Has the sniper team arrived?"

• "The Hunter team is on the move. Currently climbing the stairs. They should reach the sniper point in 3 minutes."

"Copy that. Operation commencing."

Srrrk.

On one side of the East River, near the United Nations Headquarters, five individuals surfaced. The one in front, Lorentina, pulled several sticks out of the water.

Pressing the button on the stick’s head and pushing it firmly against the wall, within seconds, the heated tip of the advanced equipment weakened the concrete, and the internal file bunker in the stick activated, drilling into the wall and securing itself tightly.

After repeating the same process, she had ascended roughly 6 meters within 30 seconds. Once at the top, she wound a steel cable around a nearby pillar and dropped it down.

With the sound of a click, the climbers began to ascend one by one via the climbing elevator.

Olivia, the second to ascend, added with an incredulous expression.

"Just in case, I brought a small torch to cut the iron bars. Was there no checkpoint on the riverbank?"

"It looks like it's going more smoothly than expected."

"Don’t jump to conclusions. The premise of this mission is to disable the server room and the command center without destruction... The locations of the server room and the command center are marked on the HMD. We're heading to the server and power rooms. You head for the command center."

"Understood. But how do we infiltrate? It’s impossible on foot."

"I've prepared something."

And at that moment, Olivia focused.

A drone, which had been waiting in the sky, slowly began to descend. It was an Icarus drone. The drone, emitting an extremely subdued noise, finally got dangerously close to the building.

A faint spark emerged. Only the mutants and the two other team members knew the truth of the scene—the drone was using a laser cutter to slice through the glass. However, it didn’t last long.

The cut glass was pushed towards the building to prevent free fall, and the drone entered the office, firing an anchor at the wall before carefully lowering a 50-meter cable.

Perhaps to avoid external exposure, the first and second floors' glass was all covered with thick fabric and iron bars, making it impossible to see inside. This greatly facilitated the infiltration.

Screeeek.

With the slow sound, three members sequentially attached the climbing elevator to the rope and began to ascend quickly. Their destination was the eighth floor of the building.

Lorentina and Olivia moved to the server room located in the basement of the annex building, while the Eagle team, having reached the eighth floor, calmly descended the stairs towards the command center and, using the blueprints they had obtained beforehand, installed a pulse on the ceiling of the control room.

How much time passed before—

"Danso Eagle 4. All the watch personnel... are asleep."

"Any alarms or movement tracking features?"

"System tracking through the pulse indicates that they are not working. Likely due to aging equipment or individual settings by the watch personnel."

"...Alright, I’ll trust it. As of now, we move to clean up. Eagle team, head to the CCTV room."

"Copy. Moving out."

The operation was based on the assumption of infiltrating a well-fortified enemy base.

However, naturally, regardless of the impressive gear each individual was armed with, if the software in their heads was poor, or if they couldn't properly use the tools given, the good equipment was practically useless.

There was CCTV, but if it wasn’t used properly, it would have no meaning. The armed thugs occupying the UN Headquarters would soon learn that lesson in hell.

In just 25 seconds, the Eagle team moved to the lower floors and implanted the realization named subsonic bullets into the heads of their colleagues who were monitoring the CCTV room in their dreamlike state, and the thugs fell into eternal sleep.

Of course, the CCTV room door was not locked.

The countdown continued, and the incredibly dull CQB began.

"Sweet dreams."

Click, click, click!

The door opened without a creak, as if well-oiled, and the three Eagle team members rushed in, shooting bullets into the necks of the guards who had been dozing off in front of their desks.

Bright red blood poured out like a waterfall as the sleepers gurgled and struggled to hold their throats. The Eagle team waited for the two members in the power room to cut the power.

How much time passed before—

—Click!

The world was plunged into darkness.

To be precise, everyone except for the three members was plunged into darkness. The Eagle team had long been wearing night vision goggles.

Not the standard green night vision you see in media, but a much more advanced ENVG with a digital scanning device, which added color and light to the darkness before them, even without a single beam of light.

The outlines of the enemies were also highlighted, and as they entered the makeshift command center, the three members of the Eagle team became death incarnate to the enemies. The combat difficulty was akin to an adult breaking a toothpick.

In fact, avoiding the monitors and various devices and shooting was the more difficult task.

How much time passed before? The entire floor was filled with silence.

The acrid smell of gunpowder filled the air, and a communication was heard in their ears. In the meantime, the two mutants who had taken control of the server and power rooms were asking for updates.

The only answer was one word: Jackpot. Unfortunately, this did not mean the end of the operation. They still had to deal with the remaining enemies spread across the first and second floors and the surrounding buildings.

"If we lock the doors and set fire with flammable substances... just kidding."

"Don’t we have something like a suffocating agent?"

"Damn it, is this 1944’s Nazi hideout? The rooms are just filled with disgusting traps."

"Then, should we wake those guys one by one and make them sign a confession?"

"No, damn. Do we really have to kill them? If we kill everyone sleeping on the first and second floors, the blood will be up to our ankles."

It wasn’t wrong.

Special forces members could perform incredibly high-level, precision destruction missions that ordinary people could never manage, but...

That didn’t mean they were born to slaughter every enemy they saw. Still, eliminating over a hundred enemies from this world wasn’t a small feat, especially considering they were in April and would soon have to deal with dozens of decaying bodies.

The operation had been planned with that in mind, but...

At that moment, someone spoke up.

"Why don’t we just tell them to surrender?"

"...What?"

"We’ve already taken control of the server room, power room, CCTV room, and the command center. If we just shoot the sentries’ heads and retreat, the ones who wake up will likely come out and surrender."

"...Hmm."

On the surface, it sounded crazy, but the more it was thought through, the more plausible it seemed.

It wasn’t a bad idea. If the enemies woke up to find their command structure and sentries completely gone... and if they weren’t androids, the psychological impact would likely lead to a collapse in morale.

The communication network started buzzing. Plans were being devised on how to instill fear, and suggestions were being made to upper management.

And after some time, the final conclusion was reached.

• The operation team should wait at a safe location and monitor any sudden movements from the insurgents occupying the UN Headquarters.
• A vehicle with loudspeakers will head toward the main entrance of the UN Headquarters by 7 AM. Eliminate the sentries at the gate.
• If the operation fails, the alternate plan, a complete purge, will be implemented.

"...That’s still manageable. Damn it, I didn’t bring food because I thought it would end quickly…"

"The server room and power room are empty, and the booby traps are set... let’s wait and silence any enemies found outside the first and second floors. Hunter team, as of now... no one in the command center will hear the alarms, so free fire is authorized."

• Understood. Let the hunt begin.

The sound of the sniper rifle firing wasn’t heard, but that didn’t matter. The lack of action meant that the sniper team’s mission had been a success.

The sentries remained silent, and the command center and CCTV room were bathed in darkness and blood. The server and power rooms had fallen silent. Only about a hundred insurgents, unaware of all this, were still in deep sleep.

And so, time passed. As dawn began to break, a vehicle equipped with loudspeakers arrived at the front gate of the UN Headquarters.

And—

"Ah, ah. To the insurgents occupying the UN Headquarters: You are now surrounded. We have successfully neutralized your command and surveillance capabilities. Any further resistance is futile.

You have 10 minutes to surrender. Those who wish to surrender must discard their weapons and ammunition and pass through the scanner at the designated location. Any personnel who fail to surrender within 10 minutes will be considered hostile and will be killed.

I repeat, this is a final warning to the insurgents occupying the UN Headquarters..."

The final ultimatum began.

"Shit, shit. We’re fucked. We’re fucked. The Central Park guys are all over the place outside."

"Shut up, idiot. Keep talking and I’ll put a hole in your head. For all we know, those bastards could have already infiltrated while we were asleep, wiping out the command center..."

"Shut up, you bastard! Keep spreading rumors, and I’ll have you shot as an example!"

One minute, two minutes, three minutes.

The loud surrender broadcast blared, and the dozens of soldiers around the speaker were all focused on the first floor.

It’s said that the law is distant, and the fist is close, but when the law points a gun at you, and that gun is as close as a fist, what should you do?

The insurgents—criminals, civilians, illegal fighters—were naturally agitated.

In the midst of it all, Captain Peacock, who was desperately trying to control them with discipline, had veins popping from his neck.

He couldn’t help it.

'...If one of these bastards leaves, I’m dead!'

Many officers did their best to protect civilians during the virus outbreak, fulfilling their duty.

But not everyone. Captain Peacock... well, strictly speaking, he was a former convict, in cahoots with Riker’s faction. Though dishonorably discharged, the virus crisis had turned everything upside down.

With his poor leadership skills and military attire, he had transformed into a pseudo-officer, wielding absolute power until recently, engaging in illicit activities.

However, unlike other officers, he couldn’t be rescued by Central Park, and so he led those with similar personalities and qualities into occupying the UN Headquarters.

And he had placed his loyal subordinates in critical positions like the command center, sentry posts, and CCTV room.

Of course, by now, they had all been wiped out.

The confusion turned into panic in no time.

"I... I can’t do this anymore!"

"Albert! Damn it, I need to leave too...!"

"Don’t go! I told you not to leave! Anyone who leaves now will die!"

Bang!

"Who the hell...!"

"This bastard... it’s because of you that my sister’s dead, and now you’re trying to run... Die, die, you piece of shit!"

"Stop... stop...!"

"Now! Kill him!"

"Kill him!"

Pandemonium broke out. The only thing Captain Peacock did right was to arm the civilians with makeshift weapons, making them capable of self-defense.

Until recently, Captain Peacock’s firepower had been overwhelming, but now, it wasn’t.

The shoulder of Captain Peacock, along with four or five of his elite guard, was soon pierced by fire axes and bullets from pistols.

"Screeeeech!"

"Save me! I was forced by that bastard to—Aaah!"

"Go! To the front gate! Get the elderly out first!"

"You ungrateful... Aaargh!"

The pent-up rage exploded, and the anger turned to cruelty, physically tearing the target apart.

In less than a minute, Captain Peacock was split in two, and within 30 seconds, he was reduced to four pieces.

At this point, around six minutes of the ten-minute time given by Central Park had passed, and it was like a dam breaking. About a hundred people rushed out of the front gate.

They were covered in blood and had been treated as dangerous individuals, but they followed orders surprisingly willingly, hands cuffed.

It wouldn’t take long for them to be recognized as acting in self-defense.

Of course, this wasn’t the end of it.

"That bastard! He was one of Peacock’s men! This heartless bastard even suggested using people’s families as sex slaves!"

"He needs to die!"

"Quiet, quiet! You’re moving to Central Park, and individual crimes will be cross-checked. Be silent here!"

The suppressed sins exploded. The guilty desperately denied their guilt, trembling, while those who had endured unimaginable humiliation expressed their anger.

But the soldiers from Central Park, standing there now, didn’t care much for these revelations. What they had endured was a common absurdity in the current America.

By 8 AM, the soldiers from Central Park began to leave, having cleaned up the corpses of the dead.

What began as a brutal conflict had ended with surprisingly fewer casualties than expected at the UN Headquarters.

It was the only victory Central Park had seen in weeks.

Of course, the hundred or so people who had been moved to Central Park would soon be dealing with the bodies of the deceased, which had started to rot.

The season for frozen corpses was over, and the season for decomposing corpses had begun.

"...Ugh, the smell of blood. Get away from me!"

"...Lorentina, Eugene hates me. What should I do?"

"First, take a shower..."

Meanwhile, in Central Park.

Olivia, who had returned as promised, faced Eugene’s cold response and felt a wave of disappointment.

It wasn’t a common occurrence.