I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun

Chapter 695

"Where's that kid?"

"He already had lunch and went to the shooting range."

"...What? I never told anyone to go practice at the shooting range during break time."

"Team Leader Owens gave him the curriculum. He’s probably there now, supervising."

2 PM, Central Park HQ Dining Hall. // 2 days left until the New Haven assault.

Eugene, Owens, and about six or seven other operators gathered in the dining hall, excluding a few. Plates piled with various foods were laid out on the table.

The portions were large, the variety was average, and the quality was the same. Among the best food Central Park could provide with its slightly less than 2,000 personnel, it was probably the most decent available.

If we were to sum it up, it was something close to a decayed submarine meal.

"So now the mutts are taking the youngest?"

"Stop saying ominous things, Oli. Anacondas are much more at home in the water."

"Sea snakes are more at home in the water than anything else. And don’t forget, we’ve trained a lot in aquatic operations, you idiot."

"Come to think of it, anaconda or not, you’re basically a polar bear. You’d fit right in the navy."

"Shut up, you idiot."

Logan waved his hand dismissively, but the others watching couldn’t help but chuckle. The recent squabbles between Logan and Lorentina were becoming quite the amusing sight.

Of course, considering the rank differences, Lorentina was technically Logan’s superior, but neither of them cared about such things and got along like friends. This was largely because they were all grouped together in the same task force.

Most of their conversations were predictable, and today, it was about Eugene, who had been publicly treated as the team’s youngest.

"Oli, you should say something too. Suddenly, those mutts are taking the kid."

"...Taking him? Besides, the senior unit leaders personally went to teach Eugene. If you’re going to complain, you should at least do that much yourself."

"They’ve brought the whole team, though. Even if the unit leaders are missing, things will still go smoothly. I’m alone. If my team members were to come from Washington... there’s no way they’d take our cute little kid away."

"...Why is he so obsessed with Eugene?"

"Logan, didn’t you also make a ton of reminders before and after that psychological counseling session with the kid? I’ve already heard everything."

"What, what? Who the hell said that!"

Laughter erupted from all sides.

While it wasn’t exactly the kind of conversation one might expect from special forces operatives, it was exactly what mutants like them had somewhat agreed upon. Simply put, in the best sense, they acted as mood makers; in the worst, they played the role of the punchline.

A continuous series of horrifically extreme situations that even highly trained operators’ minds were being worn down by. Eugene, who was already receiving affection, was still lacking in some ways, and that’s how this all started.

Among the operators who had been grouped together in the task force, the image of each mutant, and the image of mutants as a whole, was slowly becoming solidified.

The next words reflected that image.

"Does becoming a mutant... make you more... maternal or something?"

"...Stop saying nonsense."

"Who else would I ask if not you guys?"

"Goddamn it, there’s a chick among a bunch of testosterone-fueled assholes, and you expect me to just leave it alone? Men might think everything will be fine and leave it, but if you just neglect it, it won’t work."

"You’re talking like you’ve never been a man."

"I’m saying this because I’ve been a man, you bastards."

Logan scratched his temple and added, then pushed his long hair behind his ear.

The others, watching quietly, subtly glanced at each other, mouths shut, as they all seemed to have a common thought that the topic needed to change.

Someone finally spoke up. The question was directed at Lorentina and Olivia.

"Who teaches doesn’t matter. We need to make sure he can manage himself as soon as possible. The mission is in 2 days. There’s nothing worse for mission failure than taking someone uncertain with us."

"He’s not that bad. He’s been with us on multiple missions, and there hasn’t been an issue. I’ll vouch for him."

"Vouch? With what?"

"Well, should I slap a Gold Squadron patch on him? If he were a total newbie, we wouldn’t be bringing him along. If you want to know what missions he’s participated in before you came, I can tell you."

"Stop worrying about other people’s business, asshole. He did a good job in the Lower Manhattan operation, you know. Do you really not recognize how good he is?"

"Fuck, there has to be a devil’s advocate somewhere. If I don’t watch what I say, I’m going to get my ass kicked... Don’t pair me with Lorentina during CQC training."

Lorentina couldn’t help but chuckle at that.

It wasn’t an unreasonable worry. In a situation with bullets flying, one wrong move usually meant death. The Icarus Gear... could compensate for that one fatal moment, though.

But still, they hadn’t inserted Eugene without consideration. And on top of that, they weren’t leaving him stagnant; they were helping him grow by improving his skills.

Thus, the conclusion was reached, and the topic once again began to shift.

"By the way, speaking of combat training, shouldn’t we start teaching the kid some close-quarters combat?"

"...It is necessary. If he learns it properly, it’ll be incredible. But the mutants should be the ones to teach him. We can’t match their sense of timing or reflexes."

"That good?"

"Are you seriously asking me to teach someone whose reflexes are ten times faster than a normal human’s? Even if we tried to teach him something, to him, it would look like slow-motion."

"Yeah, mutants should teach mutants. Plus, I need to get back into close-quarters combat myself..."

"Back into it? What, you used to do it?"

"My body moves so fast now that new inertia is starting to form."

The reaction of disbelief was almost instantaneous, but it was true.

Lorentina and Olivia nodded in agreement, recognizing the truth in it. And of course, the conversation that would follow was already decided — as if it was scripted, the three mutants spoke in unison.

"Old manuals say the focus should be on targeting the vital points, but with these physical abilities, there’s no need to do that. We can apply enough force to kill someone no matter where we hit."

"We don’t need to rewrite the manual, but we have a lot to teach to match those standards."

"One thing we definitely need to teach is how to break bones."

"That, and... no need to use only knives for close combat weapons. An axe could work too. No matter where you hit, you’ll leave them shattered. If you block with your arm, your arm will break, but your clavicle and ribs will also shatter."

"...Hey, do you really have to talk like that during meals?"

"It’s important, damn it."

Of course, the expressions of the other operators who were overhearing this were nothing short of bizarre.

Why were they reacting like this? It wasn’t hard to figure out. The close-quarters combat that these three mutants occasionally demonstrated often brought to mind a splatter movie.

When they faced an enemy from extreme close range and hit them, the ribs and pelvis would be crushed, and sometimes, even when they grabbed the enemy’s arm for a throw, the whole arm would be torn off.

They didn’t even need knives, but when they did use them, it was even more absurd. A knife thrown with strength could fly with the power of a bullet, piercing through a bulletproof vest, or, if there wasn’t any armor, straight through the body.

The other operators understood why the mutants spoke like that. Using conventional methods to kill someone could easily result in an overkill.

Of course, talking about this during lunch was almost like triggering a mental replay of the horrific splatter films witnessed in combat.

"...Anyway, after lunch, I’m going to go see what the kid is up to. There’s a mountain of stuff to teach him. Teaching him everything we’ve learned and applying it with muscle memory could take over a year."

"If he was weak, they’d have just given him easy tasks around Central Park. Look at it this way. We have about ten instructors. It might be even faster than that."

"One trainee, but ten instructors? If it were me, I would’ve killed myself by now. If there was a drop-out bell, I would’ve shaken it."

"If the drop-out bell rings now, they wouldn’t even send you home. What can you do?"

By now, all the food that had been piled high on the table had disappeared.

Nearly 50% of it had been eaten by the mutants, but that didn’t mean the other operators ate less. Especially with the Icarus Gear, which significantly increased the basal metabolic rate — and that applied to everyone.

They all patted their full stomachs and stood up, returning their plates. Outside, they breathed in the damp scent hanging in the air, a smell reminiscent of corpses rotting through the winter.

It was the smell of a virus apocalypse.

The three mutants looked around, exhaled, and added:

"Anyone heading out to see the kid after brushing their teeth?"

"...Isn’t this why everyone sees us that way?"

"Come on, it’s all for training."

Of course, they didn’t believe that excuse themselves.

At least three, or maybe more, “mothers-in-law” would raid the shooting range in ten minutes.

"Wait... Why... is that really a tactical knife?"

"Would I be holding a fake one, kid?"

"If you use that for real, I’m not talking to you for a week."

"...You’ve really gotten good at threats, Eugene."

And soon after, Eugene found out just how effective his threats could be.

"Wow, you’re dodging better than I thought, kid!"

"This is too much!"

Whoosh!

Arms and legs, along with the holograms overlaying them, tore through the air. The speed was so fast that it even created a buzzing sound.

Thanks to the Icarus Gear’s hologram overlay, what was once a simple stick had turned into a tactical knife, and Eugene and Logan, each holding one, faced off against each other, starting a close-combat fight with no rules.

Naturally, this wasn’t a fair fight at all, since Logan had learned how to kill systematically long before becoming a mutant, whereas Eugene was still just an ordinary human—

"Yikes!"

"You dodged this?"

"If I don’t dodge, I’ll get hit!"

Obviously.

But Eugene managed to dodge the knife Logan swung with remarkable ease. He could read the attack coming from a complete blind spot. It was impossible not to be surprised. Eugene had something Logan didn’t know about.

What no one knew was that this ability came from Eugene’s snake-like vibration detection. Even Eugene herself probably thought of it as just a sixth sense.

Either way, the important thing wasn’t that.

Everyone had thought Logan would be the one to baby the youngest, but it wasn’t going as smoothly as they imagined.

However, that didn’t mean it was the result they expected either.

Although Eugene knew how to shoot people with a gun, she’d never had any experience attacking people directly. She’d rarely even hit anyone. The outcome of her training didn’t need to be spelled out.

Logan easily overpowered Eugene with a joint lock, gently sat on her, and began rubbing her cheek while adding:

"Can’t have you sparring with anyone else, and we can’t fight each other every time either... guess we’ll have to make a combat android or something."

"I’m sure there’s one somewhere, but where the hell would we even find it? It’s not a common thing, so you’d probably have to check a SEAL or Green Beret base."

"The closest place would be... what? Damnneck? That sounds plausible. Lorentina, you know anything?"

"If we search, we might find it. I’m not sure where it’s stocked... but do you realize the DEVGRU headquarters is 900 km away?"

"Just ask the Air Force command for a transport plane."

"...Hey, stop talking about that while you’re sitting on me and rubbing my cheek!"

Swish.

Eugene slyly wrapped her tail around Logan’s waist and yanked him back, throwing him to the ground.

The sudden weight load on her body made her roll onto the soft training floor and sit up with difficulty.

Lorentina, watching the scene, smiled and added:

"Good job, kid. Looks like you’ve been practicing your tail movement!"

"Ugh. How strong is this kid’s tail?"

"I’ve been eating well and working out a lot!"

"Pretty impressive. If you can push me aside like that, it means you’ve got some serious power. You could probably throw an average person with that tail."

"...Is that something I should be happy about?"

"You’ve got a third hand that no one else could even predict, of course you should be happy about it."

Logan roughly patted Eugene’s head and then added:

"Your tail, if used properly, can do a lot of things. If you wanted, you could snap someone’s neck with it. But you’ll need to harden your resolve for that."

"...Ugh."

"That’s your choice, but close-quarters combat is real. You can’t avoid it. You need to prepare mentally."

There were a lot of things to prepare for.

Eugene’s expression darkened again, but fortunately, almost everyone in the room felt some level of guilt and sympathy for raising such a young kid in this harsh way.

And of course, it wasn’t a secret that Eugene was a bit of a crybaby.

As her eyes began to redden and her nose started to twitch, Logan took out a handkerchief and began wiping Eugene’s eyes, softly speaking:

"By the way, I’m not hugging you like that owl over there. Got it?"

"What? Wait, I never said I’d do that... damn, Lorentina, you little sneak! You’re the one who told them! Where are you running off to? Get back here, you little shit!"

"Ah, no. I forgot to water the plants I’m growing... Wait, wait, my clothes are ripping! They’re ripping!"

"I told you not to talk about watering those damn plants. You gave them water just the day before, and now you’re doing it again? I told you not to mention it, you little shit!"

Crash.

And so, Lorentina and Olivia became the late participants in the sparring session, while Logan helped Eugene get back on her feet, adding:

"Let’s go. If you join the navy, you’ll get salt in your hair and end up like that. Don’t join the navy."

"Yes."

If Eugene didn’t join the navy, it would definitely be Lorentina’s fault.

Logan thought to himself as he walked out of the absurdly chaotic training ground.

Central Park was quiet once again.