I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun

Chapter 715

-Check Alpha 1 and 2 on the rooftop, excluding Photon 1, Alpha 3, and the two mutants. 57 seconds left until escape! Get organized as fast as you can and get out!

"Damn, I'm trying- keugh!"

Kugugung!

The body, which easily exceeded 200kg and the equipment that exceeded 70kg, was blown through the air by the cyborg's one punch, approaching 300kg. Logan flew backwards with a thud and crashed into the MRI room door.

The door, which was covered with thick lead plates, literally crumpled like a piece of paper, but Logan quickly rolled his body to the side with a frown. At that moment, the bright blue Mantis Blade pierced through the lead door that was only centimeters thick.

With an ominous sound, the plasma blade slammed into the ground, and the moment it was pulled down by force, molten lead bubbled and boiled and flowed out through the blazing door.

But whatever it was, Logan had no intention of leaving his enemy alone after he failed to kill him.

"You get hit too, you punk…!"

"Whack!"

Kwaaang!

A loud, unpleasant noise erupted that was hard to believe was the sound of kicking someone. Logan literally kicked the enemy's stomach with all his might, thrusting his blade at him.

At that moment, Volvox's body twisted into a squat, and he flew back at least 5 meters before crashing into the wall. With a thud, the cyborg fell to the ground, heavily damaged, while Laurentina grabbed Logan's hand and pulled him up.

His back ached from the great blow that had shattered the door, and he had difficulty breathing. Hot liquid flowed down his head. Logan guessed that it was blood.

When he struggled to get up, Laurentina’s appearance didn’t look so good either.

“Get up, damn it. If you want to be hospitalized here, I won’t stop you, but…!”

“My health insurance disappeared, damn it. You’re fighting for free without any money, and now your wallet is full.”

“…Ugh, whoa. What kind of conversation are you having without me?”

“Stop hanging around and come quickly. We don’t have much time.”

There were 33 seconds left until the transport plane landed.

Logan spat bloody saliva on the floor and threw the axe, which had lost its blade, on the ground, recalling his past memories. At the same time, a hexagonal holographic spike formed on his fist.

Laurentina, who saw this, inserted a new bomb into the sticky bomb attached to his right thigh. It was the kind of thing that spewed out flames of about 3,000 degrees immediately upon detonation.

Laurentina, who was holding a tactical knife in one hand and looking at Logan, added.

"Another fist?"

"The axe is gone, so this is all that's left. I'll cut your neck out."

"You've got some great people. Let's try it."

Clang!

And at that moment, the enemy disappeared from the spot as if teleporting. To be exact, the speed at which it moved was so fast that it was mistaken for disappearing.

However, that was only applicable to ordinary people. In the split second that you had to count to the decimal point, the eyes of the Dagger team accurately read Volvox's movement trajectory and prepared for its approach.

The cyborg disappeared in the blink of an eye. However, the shaking of the air and the heat radiating from the blade were sometimes much more accurate than visual information, and the two identified the enemy's location with a sixth sense that had long since surpassed humans.

The enemy was approaching.

"Help me. We have to finish it in one go."

Logan did not answer, and the enemy's trajectory changed into a straight line.

The shark estimated the attack route, and the cyborg, contrary to his confident words, was running straight ahead without even breathing, and thanks to that, the two were able to notice what kind of attack would come at what timing.

And in that split second, countless situations intersected.

???Quazik!

The moment the tactical knife caught in the shark's hand swung through the air, a strange noise erupted.

Laurentina had been reading the entire trajectory of the Volvox, which was shot like a mantis or an arrow, from the beginning, and the blade, swung at the exact timing, sank into the cyborg's left elbow.

The moment the trajectory of the left mantis blade changed immediately, Logan struck the right mantis blade with his left hand and clenched his right hand tightly.

The hologram shone brightly, and her fist was aimed at the abdomen.

The moment Logan's right hand was stuck in Volvox's abdomen, a tremendous roar erupted.

"Whoaak...!"

Kuuung!

A terrible sound echoed through the hallway. Volvox showed movements that seemed to completely ignore the laws of physics. Literally, it was moving in the opposite direction at the same speed as it had been running.

Volvox, whose abdomen had completely collapsed, bounced off in the opposite direction, drawing a perfect curve just like before, but unfortunately, that was not the end of his fate.

Volvox, who realized with his 'somewhat' intact vision that he had been bounced off in the opposite direction and that his entire body had suffered enormous damage, saw 'something' in Laurentina's right hand flashing.

It didn't take long for him to realize that it had come flying at him much faster than he was flying, and had lodged itself in his chest.

Thump. Volvox's short flight ended when he hit a dead end wall, but unfortunately, it was only the beginning for some.

Flames burst out.

???Squeak!

"Kuhaaaak…!"

Not metaphorically, but literally. His chest was burning.

It wasn't just a fire. Flames literally shot up from his chest. The moment the sticky grenade that had settled on his chest detonated, his entire upper body melted.

If he had been a human, he would have died the moment the flames burst out of his chest, but the cyborg didn't die from that alone. However, he would die soon. His entire vision was filled with flames.

However,

"I told you, I'll tear your neck out."

Swish!

The moment the arm that appeared through the flames grabbed Volvox's neck, he felt a fear that even the lethal dose of the strengthening agent injected into his body couldn't stop.

Above the cyborg's mechanical eyes, flames, and white hair and transparent sky-blue eyes were caught. And at that moment, an indescribable pressure was felt from his neck.

The skin, thicker than rubber, was torn apart by the force alone, and the vertebrae covered with alloy literally broke like corn stalks, and soared toward the sky as it was.

While the strange liquid mixed with black liquid and fresh blood gushed out from his neck like a fountain, Volvox witnessed Logan's fierceness, which was clearly revealed at the end of his life.

That was the end of everything.

And-

-Photon 1, landed on the roof of the building! If we take too long because there is no white phosphorus smoke, we will not be able to get out! Come up quickly! The building is collapsing!

"...Okay. Take one gift. I will be there in 20 seconds."

The two mutated people, who were completely battered, began to climb the building.

The building was even more warped than what they had seen earlier, and even just the two of them climbing the stairs made a strange noise coming from the floor.

The sky was still dark, and the acrid dust was added, but compared to the problem they had just faced, it was a problem that they could overcome easily.

At least for now.

???Kugugugu!

"I've identified the two with my own eyes!"

"The roof is collapsing! Photon 1, take off!"

"Are you in your right mind? Two people are not on board yet!"

"Damn it, if we just open the rear ramp door, we'll get on somehow! Throw the ladder and we'll be fine!"

The roof was collapsing.

Photon 1 realized that it had no choice but to take off in order to prevent the craft from tilting, and began to slowly increase its output as it was.

The craft that had already sunk several meters slowly rose, and the tilted craft suddenly regained its normal state and tilted violently. For a moment, even the Dagger team almost fell over.

But,

"Damn you, raise the altitude quickly-!"

"Let go of the ladder!"

In the distance, two mutants were approaching at incredible speed across the shattered rooftop.

Raising the altitude was not an option, but a necessity, and the Dagger team quickly threw the 30m long ladder attached to the wall winch out of the machine that was rising into the air.

And-

???Ring!

"We're stuck, pull us up!"

"Photon 1, accelerate to maximum speed. I'll activate the winch, so no matter what, pull up the people hanging down there!"

"Of course...!"

Geeeeeeing!

As the winch on the wall rotated, the James J. Peters Veterans Hospital began to shrink to the size of a thumb in an instant, and with a rattling sound, the two mutants hanging down below rose up.

The Dagger Team struggled to pull up the ladder, which was under a tremendous load due to the 600kg weight hanging from it, and the Icarus Gear made it possible to somehow pull up a weight that humans could not handle.

Aside from the winch turning and retrieving the ladder, the machine's output could have been insufficient.

And-

"... This, damn it, this is fucking shit...!"

"What the hell did you bring?"

"I tried to bring them all, but it didn't work out. I ran into the same guy who came into Central Park last time. So I took his head out."

Dull.

As soon as he came up, Owens shook his head and added as he watched Logan throw down the neck he was holding and collapse on the ground, and Laurentina who followed him up.

"I think we should change our nickname from Dagger to Headhunter."

Everyone nodded with expressions of understanding.

In the dark world, only one transport plane was leisurely floating.

Now it was time to go pick up Eugene and Olivia, who were about 200 meters away.

"Damn it, I kind of expected this to happen…!"

"That's why you should've hidden the helicopter better, damn it. Eugene! Blow up the heads of every single one of them you see! We're so busy here!"

"Whoa, I'll do what I can…!"

Kwaang, Kwaang, Kwaang!

Dozens of traps that had been set up on the stairs exploded one after another, and the sound of the stairs collapsing could be heard here. Since I had poured C4 into the stairwell in kilograms, the enemies did not come up to the rooftop.

I looked down at the building. There were over a hundred enemies moving around. The enemies moving around with semi-inorganic movements were obviously a modified gang.

The reason this happened was simple. We had literally stirred up a beehive.

Three of them.

"Be prepared for those who might come up to the rooftop! I'll be providing emergency treatment to the pilot!"

"Should I just blow up the way up?"

"...Yeah, that would be better! Instead, check the rooftops of the surrounding buildings! I'll come up there!"

The legal order to detonate was given.

As soon as I pressed the detonator in my hand, the entrance in the center of the rooftop exploded and collapsed inward. This should at least prevent the enemies from climbing up to the rooftop where we were.

However, that wasn't the end. We weren't on the rooftop of a building standing alone in the middle of nowhere, but an apartment complex. And James J. Peters Hospital was 200 meters north.

There were several apartments around, and the enemies couldn't have missed us, who were providing sniping support from just 200 meters away, and I couldn't stop them from climbing up to other buildings.

Then I had no choice but to kill all the ones who climbed up.

I adjusted the Barrett's vertical and horizontal points to zero and kept an eye on the enemies entering the surrounding buildings.

Fortunately, we didn't need to use expensive bullets that cost over a million won per shot to kill regular infantry, and we had brought regular bullets from Silent Bird in case we were exposed to direct combat.

I scattered them all over the floor. With a clanking sound, over two hundred .50 caliber bullets rained down on the floor, and I filled my empty box magazine with bullets before the enemies reached the rooftop in earnest.

How long had it been like that? Suddenly, another explosion was heard from far away.

???Kuuung!

"... Over there. Isn't that the hospital building where the Dagger Team members were?"

"Yes. I can see it. It's an explosion in the underground parking lot. And... the transport plane is landing on the rooftop over there. It looks like the operation has ended safely."

"If only our pilot hadn't been shot from below, we would have been getting ready to go home. Too bad."

"That was an act of God."

He added, inserting one of the ten or so box magazines filled with regular bullets into his gun.

Exactly. Unfortunately, the Silent Bird that could carry us out of this hell was destroyed by the surging gang of Mods, and the pilot was shot in the stomach during the escape.

Fortunately, like me, the Silent Bird pilot was not in any major trouble despite being seriously injured. This was thanks to the nanomachines that the Icarus Gear was creating by the millions every second.

It mended torn blood vessels, stopped bleeding, and blocked pain sensation. That was all for emergency treatment.

That's why, as I said, the pilot's serious injury wasn't the biggest problem we were facing right now.

I raised my gun and activated the pulse.

Dozens of enemies had climbed onto the roof of the next building.

"The building on the right! They're coming!"

"Look at the left side too!"

Pfft!

The sound of gunfire became sharper and smaller as it passed through the silencer, and bullets the size of a board marker tore through the air.

The gap between the buildings was only 30 meters. The .50 caliber bullets flew at Mach 3, so fast that even my cognitive abilities couldn't keep up.

Bricks shattered and people's heads were crushed.

One, two, three, four. I pulled the trigger, pulled, and pulled again. It didn't take long for the first magazine to be completely empty, so I put another magazine in that fell to the ground.

The word overkill was really vivid.

"Miss Olivia! If we stay here any longer, we're in big trouble! 30 seconds until Predator airspace!"

"Photon 1, there are at least 200 enemies coming towards us within 300 meters! If you don't want to see us torn to pieces here, you better get here quickly!"

- Photon 1, 30 seconds until takeoff. It seems that the two sides will be somewhat delayed as they face the same enemy as the cyborg that invaded Central Park!

"Fuck, I'm going crazy!"

Bullets flying from all directions.

It was fortunate that we had more cover thanks to the rooftop building being blown up earlier, but it was quite troublesome that enemies were on the rooftops of all the surrounding apartments and shooting at us.

I connected to the drone that began to float above the night sky through the hologram displayed on the Icarus Gear on my left wrist. The Predator drone called by the Central Park operatives entered the operational airspace.

At that moment, there was a popping sound and a beautiful curve of smoke spread over the apartment.

I looked down from the sky while connected to the drone, and I could immediately tell what the curve was.

It was a mortar shell!

???Kwaaang!

"Damn, those guys are firing mortars now! Eugene! Kill all the guys on the rooftops!"

"Confirmed Predator control. 3 seconds until missile launch…!"

An 81mm mortar shell fell from the air in a parabolic arc.

There was no need to worry about why the enemy had such a thing. Miss Olivia had already intercepted the shell with her pistol as soon as she saw it, and she had to quickly get rid of the enemy so that it wouldn't explode.

We might not be able to overcome this predicament head-on.

But-

-[Notice: Hellfire missile launch.]

-[Notice: 5 seconds until impact. Danger Cloth warning.]

At least we had a missile that could blow away a rooftop without a trace.

The more you have, the more you can do.

There was only one thing to prepare.

"Everyone, bow your heads-!"

Kwaaaaang!

Flames, loud noises, shock waves, and tens of thousands of pieces of debris filled the world. A missile landed on a rooftop about 30 meters to the right, leaving a long trail of flames, and exploded.

The first rooftop was blown away without a trace, and the debris passed us like bullets.

It was over, but that wasn't enough.

And we still had about four missiles left.

Olivia added, swapping pistol magazines.

"As I said earlier, our operators are really capable, I like that."

"...Operator, sir. Did you just shoot the mortar shell that was flying in and blow it up?"

"It's one of the basic skills. Anyway, clean all the other rooftops without leaving a trace, youngest. If you don't want a hole in your stomach while retreating."

"...Yes, of course."

Of course, that wasn't going to happen this time.

Leaving the pilot, who was dumbfounded and lost his mind after seeing the true colors of the Dagger Team for the first time, I looked at the wrist screen and felt like an almighty god as I looked down from the sky to the ground.

As always, modern civilization never betrayed me, no matter what.

???Kwaaang!

A fireball flying from the sky. A meteor designed to kill people.

I felt relieved amidst the flying noise, flames, and debris.

June in the Bronx was so hot.

It was two minutes before we escaped.