I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun

Chapter 714

"Checking the landing point with sensors and screens... whoa, must have smashed two hives, things are going crazy down there. Are you really going down there?"

"Dagger Team was created for just this. Now, there’s only one place left to handle, so no matter what, it's time to finish it. Don't worry, I have no intention of dying down there."

"Understood, operators. We’ll unleash thermite and white phosphorus over the veterans' hospital... fire support in 30 seconds. Starting terrain analysis."

"Confirmed. Let’s go."

2:07 AM, Bronx.

760 meters above James Peters Veterans’ Hospital, a transport plane hung in the dark.

Just 10 minutes ago, Dagger Team raided Bronx High School of Science, blowing up the server room.

Only 5 minutes ago, Dagger Team raided Presbyterian Allen General Hospital, located 2 km southwest of the high school, and blew up its server room.

And now, they were looking down from 860 meters above James J. Peters Veterans’ Hospital, riding the V-44TA1 Valkyrie transport plane.

The mutant's superior vision scanned the ground.

Dagger Team had blown up two hives in just 20 minutes, and the Bronx had plunged into complete chaos. The moment the server rooms were destroyed, the modified soldiers never regained their senses, but something close to it had happened.

However, the situation was much more complicated than just that.

When Dagger Team entered Bronx High School of Science, Artemis's strike team was unprepared, losing over 2,000 modified soldiers.

When Dagger Team attacked Presbyterian Allen General Hospital, Artemis’s strike team only realized what had happened at the high school and, as a result, around 300 enemies attacked Dagger Team while still managing to maintain control.

And—

"Looks like the guys down there aren't free from Artemis’s control yet."

"Only fire and steel lightning can give them any comfort. Loading incendiary rounds. I hope everything goes well for you down there, Dagger Team. Fire support commencing now."

"Air circulation system and heat dissipation functioning. Cockpit sealed. Bombs away."

A flash exploded.

It was like a torrential downpour of light, pouring from the sky. As it reached a certain altitude, it split into dozens of submunitions and, upon reaching the ground, flared into massive flames that lit up the night.

The rooftops and parking lots were bathed in light. The modified gang members, who had been trying to resist with gunfire and anti-vehicle rockets, were buried in the white flames and disappeared.

Whoooo!

Meanwhile, the transport plane, Photon 1, began rapidly descending towards the ground as the air density changed drastically due to the heat from below.

The white, toxic smoke began seeping into the rear ramp, but the Icarus Gear was designed to protect the user’s body in even the harshest conditions.

And so, cutting through the smoke, the transport plane landed on the building’s rooftop.

As soon as the nine members of Dagger Team set foot on the rooftop of James J. Peters Veterans’ Hospital, they were in the final operation zone.

"...Dagger, we've entered the final operation zone. We’ll breach the building now."

• Understood. Owl 1 here, I’ve reached the roof of an apartment complex 200m south. Sniper support is available.

"Good. Let’s move."

A white world gently enveloped Dagger Team.

They didn’t even wear gas masks. The entire skin of the nine members faintly glowed. Nanomachines and a thin energy membrane that circulated through their bodies blocked the toxic smoke, and an air barrier around their mouths helped them breathe easily.

Dagger Team split into three groups of three, each with the call signs Alpha 1, 2, and 3.

None of them carried door-breaching explosives, door kickers, wedges, or shotguns. But there was no need to worry. Their bodies were the master keys to open every door.

And within the white world, the sound of metal tearing and chains breaking could be heard.

The breach began.

Thud, thud, thud!

"Frontline defenses. The machine guns are turning the hallway into a kill zone."

"Typical move. Firing sticky bombs."

Whoosh!

Just as Dagger Team descended, several hundred machine gun rounds sprayed through the air, but they were already a living, moving response manual.

The pulse swept through the corridor and walls, and Lorentina, as if expecting this, loaded the sticky bomb into a streamlined launcher, pulled the trigger, and fired without even looking.

Thud, then bang. In an instant, the sticky bomb, crossing the dozens of meters of hallway, hit a steel plate next to the machine gun’s barrel. With a grinding noise, the steel began to penetrate.

The rest was simple.

Aaaahhh!

"Seems like one of them knows pain."

"Ignore it. Let’s drop the smoke and move in. Alpha 1, we’ve started the engagement."

"Alpha 2, engagement beginning."

"Alpha 3, move down below. Don’t be late."

Click, click!

The gunfire lighting up the dark corridor and the sickening noise filling the air.

With near-rapid fire, the suppressor glowed a deep red, telling only Dagger Team’s movements.

In a flash, heart rates spiked and breathing quickened. But the Icarus Gear ensured that these physical signs never hindered combat and kept the optimal physical condition.

As a result, they barreled through the modified gang members, crushing them under their feet.

And Dagger Team had an additional advantage.

"EMP charged. Preparing to detonate."

"Fire, fire! At least 20 enemies in front! The dognet’s also confirmed!"

"Perfect. All the prep work and it didn’t go to waste."

The endless gunfire echoed through the building, but the sharp high-pitched sound of an EMP pulse cutting through the air signaled the detonation.

As it collided with the walls and dissipated, it couldn’t be stopped. The pulse easily fried the malicious electronic devices attached to the bodies of the modified gang members.

The once deafening gunfire turned to utter silence.

"You know, every time I fire this, I wonder if we should aim it at the server room?"

"If the circuit couldn’t even withstand one EMP pulse, Artemis wouldn’t be able to supply anything to the U.S. military. But they’ve got some mil-spec gear."

"We’ve still got plenty of C4 and thermite left, so stop thinking you can take it easy and get down there quickly. The longer we stay here, the worse the situation will get."

"Alright, let’s go. Alpha 3 seems to be in a bit of trouble."

Upstairs, the noise slowly faded away, but gunfire could be heard coming from below via the stairwell.

The modified gang members on the upper floors were wiped out in a short firefight, but that was only because Alpha 1 and 2’s team leader was a mutant. On the other hand, Alpha 3, led by Owens, was lacking both numbers and firepower.

To put it another way, the trouble was only that much.

Once the other two teams joined, the breakthrough was incomparable to before.

"Finally made it?"

"It was pretty difficult, team leader."

"You seemed to be having fun with the shark, but I wonder if I interrupted something."

"You’ve gone too far with that joke!"

Thud! Whooosh!

A sticky bomb flew through the air, tracing a landmine path across the floor full of bodies and obstacles, cutting through them without resistance. This was the essence of modern warfare, killing without even seeing the target.

But this time, it wasn’t as easy to clear the path. The modified gang members, now with enhanced durability that surpassed human limits, were much harder to take down.

But, as always, all problems could be solved.

Thoroughly.

Precisely.

And bloodily.

And when the problem was solved, Dagger Team reached their objective, as always.

"As expected, the server room is in the underground parking lot. Let’s do what we’ve done before."

"Got it. The parking columns and the water supply line connected to the Harlem River are the targets. Blow them all up, submerge the server platform, and bury the building. No objections?"

"None."

Screech.

Everyone opened their tactical bags and pulled out explosives, preparing to place large blocks of explosives on the dozens of support columns in the parking lot. Drilling holes with thermite drills was just an extra measure to ensure the explosion delivered the full force.

But, as always, the situation didn’t go smoothly.

• Owl team has relayed to all Dagger members: All visible areas are filled with enemies! More than 800 visible enemies! Finish as quickly as possible and get out of there!

"Ha, it’s started. The white phosphorus smoke will be clearing soon."

• "Get out of there within 3 minutes! We’ll prep the extraction!"

"Understood. One minute until the server room is destroyed."

Just as Olivia’s desperate warning echoed across Dagger Team’s communications network, Lorentina, with her finger still on her ear, pulled it away and smiled as she added:

"Isn't this fun?"

If it was sarcasm, it was pretty intense. If it was sincere, it was madly delusional.

But that didn’t matter. This was the destiny that awaited Dagger Team for at least the next few years.

The great escape had begun.

The vibrations from the explosion rocked the underground of James J. Peters Veterans' Hospital.

The explosion was so massive that even the modified gang members charging toward the hospital turned their heads toward the source of the blast. That was the end for those with behavioral control implants in their heads.

With an unpleasant noise, the modified gang members stumbled and jerked around like half-broken marionettes, electricity bursting from their mechanical parts. But that didn’t mean they had lost their combat abilities.

Artemis wasn’t a fool, and she knew exactly why Dagger Team was raiding hives and blowing up server rooms. The operation had just been progressing too fast for her to prepare for.

The modified gang members had been left in a relatively loose mental state, with just enough purpose and direction fed into them to get their bearings back. The result was that they now knew something was wrong, and while they didn’t know who the enemy was, they understood that they had to kill or be killed.

What that would lead to needed no further explanation.

And under normal circumstances, Dagger Team would have been swept away by the tidal wave of 800 enemies.

But—

• "The building is collapsing…!"

• "These damn idiots knew they were at a disadvantage and completely changed the battlefield! Without a Warthound-class drone or equivalent firepower, there's no way we can take them down!"

• "...What about the V-class cyborgs? Aren’t they the only ones left?"

• "There are Volvox units on the second basement floor of the adjacent building. But they're still being calibrated, and there are mutants over there. We don't know what will happen."

• "Shit, so you want us to just let the bridgehead go? Throw in all the enhancers, we need to stop them at the ankles!"

• "...Understood."

The 50kg explosives planted in the underground parking lot were enough to tilt the building.

To fully demolish the building, hundreds of kilograms of explosives would have to be precisely placed, but Dagger Team didn’t need such a grand outcome.

They simply targeted the support columns, destroyed the parking lot, and planned to submerge it all.

And as the explosives went off, dozens of the parking lot's supporting columns exploded. While it wasn’t enough to collapse the entire building, it was enough to make it tilt. The broken pipes flooded the parking lot.

The Artemis command, directing the operation, knew full well that they were completely doomed, but they also knew they couldn’t just let Dagger Team walk away.

The result was inevitable.

As Artemis made her decision, a coffin deep in an underground space that Dagger Team hadn’t even known about started to open.

By this time, Dagger Team was already climbing the building.

"Damn, the parking lot collapsed. This is going to be tough…!"

"Alpha 1-1 here, you might not see it from above, but the building's roof is probably tilted too. Be aware of that when you land."

• "Understood. We’re descending now. Many enemies are approaching from nearby. Be aware that we’re out of white phosphorus smoke."

Dagger Team confirmed their signals, and above them, Photon 1, slowly descending from several hundred meters, was visible as a hologram.

As the building had tilted completely, the stairs were twisted, cracked, or both. The structural damage from the large-scale explosion meant that even the slightest step on the stairs caused them to break further.

However, that was the only obstacle in their way. Climbing a half-destroyed staircase was far simpler than any of the obstacles Dagger Team had faced during the mission.

Of course, on the other hand, that wasn’t the only obstacle.

• [Alert: A detected entity matches the body structure of a previously identified target. It is approaching at 45 km/h from the current position.]

• [Alert: The entity identified as Valerie, a cyborg from Artemis, has been confirmed. It is the same cyborg that attacked Central Park several hours ago.]

• [Alert: Heavy enemy detected. Prepare for combat.]

"What?"

Thud, thud, thud!

At that moment, a strange, thunderous noise came from across the corridor on the 6th floor, just as Dagger Team was about to move in. It sounded like something far heavier than a human was pounding the ground with immense force.

And by this time, the two mutants who served as the point men for Dagger Team saw something approaching from the end of the corridor.

What it was, and how they would handle it, became clear almost immediately.

"Logan!"

"I know, everyone get back—!"

In that instant, Logan and Lorentina pulled the triggers of their rifles, unleashing a full barrage of rounds, and simultaneously drew their knives and tomahawks.

3 seconds, 2 seconds, and 1 second.

And then—

Krrrrk!

A cyborg, labeled “VOLVOX” under its eyes, sped down the corridor at an incredible pace and slammed into the mutant.

The male cyborg, its eyes spinning, burst out laughing, and the sparks from the Mantis Blades collided with Logan and Lorentina's melee weapons.

"Haha! You think you can stop this? Impressive!"

"Sorry, but I don’t have time to play. I’ll crush that skull."

"Looks like I’ve got a present for Central Park. Let’s start with the arms and legs."

The two mutants laughed sharply.

Who would have the last laugh was yet to be seen.