Chapter 53
Chapter 53
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: Ambush on the Crane
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Ep. 53
"Damn it! Why the hell is a Mountain Crawler showing up here?!"
"It's just a hatchling, so no need to worry. Target its legs and belly—they're its weak spots."
Jade overlooked the battlefield from atop the container crane.
His head was fitted with custom-made tactical goggles, the kind snipers favored. They packed heat sensing, long-range target magnification, and a slew of other functions.
It was gear Jade had shelled out a fortune for, all to tighten coordination with his team.
"Hey, tin can! I've got your cover—go for its legs!"
"You sure you're good?"
"I'll keep an eye on the kid."
"Frost, I'll provide sniper support."
As Jade had anticipated, his comrades quickly adapted to the Mountain Crawler hatchling.
Frost charged in and smashed its legs; when it tried to counterattack, Dwayne sniped its eyes to throw off its vision. As Frost pulled back, Hope unleashed a barrage of grenades on it.
"Grrrrrr..."
A mere wild beast like the Mountain Crawler stood no chance against Jade's team's flawless teamwork. Its enraged, indignant roar carried all the way to where they were.
'But where'd that thing go?'
Jade realized at some point that the main target had vanished from sight.
He'd been so fixated on the Mountain Crawler that he'd lost track of it.
'It has to be close by.'
Jade manipulated his goggles to hunt for the most dangerous monster Jennet had warned him about.
Back when Dwayne first spotted the group with the Galleron, Jade had ordered them to take out the unidentified man first.
It wasn't a deeply considered call. In his experience, the deadliest foes they'd hunted weren't beasts—they were humans.
But Jennet had objected to Jade's order.
The real threat, she said, wasn't the man—it was the monster perched atop the Galleron's head.
Jennet, being a Cult, claimed she sensed an unfamiliar flow of psionic power from it. According to her, it was the most ferocious yet dignified psionic aura she'd ever encountered.
It was the first time Jennet had said anything like that, so Jade was momentarily intrigued. Handing its genes over to Sihyun Yujin would undoubtedly make her far stronger than before.
'Capturing it alive would help the young lady too, but...'
Still, Jade knew better than anyone how perilous unknown psionic power could be. Failing the op by trying to take it alive would be putting the cart before the horse. That's why he'd ordered Dwayne to prioritize it.
'The ambush failed, unfortunately, but it can't escape our sights... Huh?'
As Jade searched for it, a strange noise reached his ears. It sounded like wind—or maybe the hum of a hovercar levitating.
'Where's that coming from?'
He scanned below the crane but saw nothing unusual. Jade called out to Dwayne, who wore the same goggles.
"Dwayne, check the area around the crane—"
"New enemies incoming!"
"They're backing up the Mountain Crawler."
"Isn't that the guys from before? The ones with the Galleron."
Hearing his comrades, Jade hurriedly rescanned the battlefield.
Just as Hope said, the Blue Galleron caught his eye. Trailing behind it was a massive balloon-like creature rising to thigh height on a man. A bit farther off, a gaunt man lurked behind a container.
Spotting the Galleron he'd been after, Jade snatched up his comms.
"Do not attack the Galleron! If it gets hurt, the mission's toast."
"Then what? We were gonna hit 'em after dealing with the Galleron, right?"
The Galleron getting injured wasn't a huge issue. As long as it didn't die, they could patch it up somehow.
'The problem is that Blue Gallerons can call their kin.'
Not the ones in this city, but he'd heard snatching another Blue Galleron before had cost them dearly. Back then, two White Gallerons and one Black Galleron had shown up to rescue it, wrecking ten warships in the process.
'Lucky for me, the one's I brought is unusually docile.'
Whether heaven was on his side or not, it still hadn't summoned help.
But he couldn't count on its patience holding forever. They needed to knock it out fast and cram it into cryo-storage.
'...Gonna have to roll the dice here.'
Steeled, Jade issued orders over comms.
"...Plan was to clean up the area first, but no choice now. Kill everything except the Galleron."
"Just watch out for the Galleron? Got it."
"Yep."
"Hope, careful with those grenades."
"Gotcha, Mom."
"Hold up—that pink balloon looks suspicious!"
"What?"
Jennet's urgent transmission drew Jade's gaze to the balloon creature.
It looked different now. Fins had sprouted from its round body's underside, and six long, slender tentacles extended from its form.
As the monster whipped its tentacles, Frost—who'd been facing the Mountain Crawler—froze solid.
"My god! Psionic power!"
"What the hell! That thing's a psychic monster too?!"
"Frost! Pull back now!"
Frost, pinned immobile by the psionic assault, took a charging hit from the Mountain Crawler and went flying.
"Don't worry! Frost's skeleton's all Black Silver replacements—he'll be fine!"
"Yeah! That tin can's got bones of steel— he'll shake it off!"
"Hope! Activate your shield—I'll reinforce it!"
"Switching to AP (Anti-Psionic) rounds."
"Hey! The Galleron's gearing up to attack too!"
"I said no attacking the Galleron! Repeat: do not touch the Galleron!"
"Son of a bitch!"
The comms exploded with chatter from the new foe. Everyone was reeling from the psychic balloon, Jade included.
So none of them noticed. The massive beast flapping its wings right above his head.
'Number 26 is holding its own.'
I gazed down from the sky at their clash.
Number 26 was coordinating seamlessly with the Mountain Crawler, blocking the enemies' assaults. Thanks to our shared hunts, it was providing solid support against this unfamiliar beast without missing a beat.
Adhai, being a Galleron, was keeping the foes pinned with psionic impacts.
Of course, the enemies had a Cult on their side, so they were equipped to counter psionic attacks. They had the best defenses against it of any foes I'd faced.
'Shields and AP rounds.'
Unlike the junk the armed cops had brought before, these guys had genuine shields integrated into high-grade reinforced suits. Without those, Number 26 would've massacred them. What a shame.
'That cyborg's been modded with Black Silver, huh.'
Black Silver was a metal that dampened psionic effects—one of the key components in shields. Any other cyborg would've been bisected by Number 26's psionic strike, but this one resisted thanks to its implants. It could still move, at least.
'Normally, Black Silver would've nullified Soul Link too, but...'
The enemy knew that and had a counter ready. Unlike his teammates' goggles, the Cult wore a tiara on her head.
The Ring of Reinforcement. An artifact that amplified a psychic's psionic abilities. That tiara must've let her cast Soul Link even on a Black Silver-riddled cyborg.
'They came loaded for bear.'
It was like a veteran player handing gear recommendations to a noob.
'Nah. Couldn't be.'
I shook off the stray thought and descended silently behind him.
The enemy was zeroed in on the fight ahead.
I crept up to his back, then clamped my combat arm over his mouth.
"!"
With his mouth sealed, I seized his right arm with my other hand and crushed it. He shuddered in agony, but I wasn't done.
I had no use for his limbs in my plan.
"Mmph!"
All four limbs pulverized in seconds, he foamed at the mouth. He thrashed desperately, trying to scream for his allies, but it was futile.
I held his head fixed in the exact position it'd been pre-ambush.
His team just assumed his vision was shaky—none suspected he was under attack.
'Soul Link breaks if the subject loses consciousness or leaves range.'
In other words, dodge those conditions, and I could hijack an enemy under Soul Link.
Keeping my grip, I slowly descended the crane, mimicking the motions of him climbing down the ladder normally.
Impossible for a human, but with an Aimorph's extra arms and superhuman senses, it was feasible.
"Boss?"
"What? Why're you coming down all of a sudden?"
Perplexed voices crackled over the comms from his device. Its owner wasn't in any state to respond.
When I'd first been sniped, they'd likely prepped for our lineup.
'One human, one Galleron, two unknown monsters.'
If we'd had extra humans—or if I'd seemed sapient—they'd question this. Humans could be coerced at gunpoint.
But our sole human was cowering by the Galleron.
So they figured a teammate was just acting erratically—not that a monster was carrying him alive.
Of course, they weren't idiots. They'd notice something was off and react.
And their predictable response was exactly what I was banking on.
"Jade! Say something!"
"Dwayne! Jade's heading your way!"
"Can't see him. I'll check it out."
"Guh..."
The man I held seemed to be Jade Russell, the guy who'd brought Adhai to this city. Facing him directly risked blowing my cover, so I still hadn't looked him in the eye.
'Kinda figured, but it's really him.'
"Guhhh..."
Man—no, Jade—strained with all his might to signal his team despite his mangled limbs and my hold.
'Can't have that.'
I bit his shoulder. Neurotoxin from my fluids surged into him fast.
"......"
He went rigid like a startled goat, then fell silent.
Clutching the limp puppet, I moved on my next target.
'Sniper next.'
I hadn't known his spot during the earlier shot, but now I did.
The sniper was in Soul Link range and positioned to fire from Jade's field of view.
Narrowing it down put him in a tight zone.
'Get close, and he'll pop out to check on his buddy.'
Entering the suspected area, I laid Jade behind a container out of his sightline. Then I waited for the enemies to react.
'About time to move.'
The sniper shared Jade's vision via Soul Link, so he'd pinpoint his location soon. Focusing my auxiliary organs, I scanned the area relentlessly.
Minutes passed. Then my auxiliaries picked up motion—nimble as a rat or cockroach.
'That's him.'
I circled quietly to evade the sniper's view. Odds were he wore vision-boosting gear like Jade's, so I had to stay off-grid.
'This should be far enough.'
Once distanced, I melted into the shadows and waited. The sniper crept forward like a mouse eyeing cheese in a trap.
He was close enough to see now, but invisible. My auxiliaries told me he had optical camouflage.
'Won't save him from a headshot.'
The moment he paused to check Jade—that was my window.
"Mountain Crawler's down! The rest'll fall soon!"
Bad news over Jade's comms. With the Crawler dead, 26 and Adhai wouldn't last long.
'...No. Trust them.'
I shoved aside the doubt.
By my experience, Number 26 was no pushover. It could hold till I arrived.
I waited patiently. Grim updates buzzed over comms, but I gritted through.
Finally, my auxiliaries brought good news.
The sniper was on the container roof ahead.
I aimed my spine-bone launcher at his position. Heart target.
Invisible to eyes, but my superior senses locked his steady heartbeat.
"This is Dwayne. I've got eyes on Jade—"
As he whispered into his comms, spines fired from my fingertips.
An Aimorph's senses never failed.
The sniper didn't finish his sentence. He plummeted from the container.