Chapter 71
Chapter 71
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 71
Chapter Title: Descent into the Sewers
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"Signal received. All units, prepare to move in."
The Fourth Squad, under Yaneq's command, had set up a secret camp.
The squad members sprang into action.
Officially, they were known as a reserve unit under the Second Squad.
That was because Vickers, the vice commander, had reported them as such to the defense forces.
But that wasn't the truth.
The Fourth Squad had received secret orders directly from Denver. Their mission wasn't to kill the monster, but to capture it alive.
They'd also been instructed to eliminate any other defense forces they encountered during the operation.
"Squad Leader Yaneq, all preparations complete."
"Good."
The Silver Lion Knight Order consisted entirely of veterans with genetically modified warriors, but the twenty members of this Fourth Squad were the absolute elite among them.
On top of that, they'd armed themselves with weapons and gear pulled from the ship's armory, making their equipment top-tier.
Beyond the order's standard plasma bolters, they had two additional pieces of gear.
The first was the auto plasma gun.
To put it simply, it was a plasma pistol mounted on the shoulder of the powered armor, boasting superior performance to the original.
It had improved durability over the base model and, above all, linked to the user's vision for automatic defensive fire.
The other was the assault pack fitted to the back of every squad member.
The assault pack was designed for operations in space or harsh environments. It dramatically enhanced the powered armor's capabilities, while adding jetpack propulsion and oxygen supply functions.
In short, it was powered armor for your powered armor.
Both pieces of equipment cost a fortune—enough to outfit twenty that rivaled the price of a minor colony planet. Even for a Prime Capital family like Ezerton, they were reserved for only the most critical battles.
"What about the launcher?"
"Grab it for now."
At Yaneq's order, one squad member slung a plasma launcher onto their back.
With all preparations complete, the twenty knights, Yaneq included, entered the sewers.
The underground residents scattered in panic as the knights leaped into the polluted water.
"1 km to target."
"Fork ahead. All right."
The sewers were a maze, but the silver knights moved without hesitation. The devices in their helmets fed them real-time data on the sewer interior.
"Defense forces spotted 20 meters ahead."
"Bypass them."
While eliminating encountered defense forces was part of their mission, there was no need to seek them out.
The knights skirted the defense forces' operational radius as indicated by their devices and pressed toward the target.
"Hold! All stop."
At Yaneq's shout, the squad halted mid-stride through the current.
A pale object bobbed in front of them.
It was the corpse of a deserter, killed by the obedience device.
"Hold position."
Yaneq approached the body to inspect it.
The corpse was a gruesome sight.
The head wasn't just melted from the obedience device—it had burst, blood oozing from the eyes.
Even worse was the abdomen.
The skin showed signs of an internal explosion, and the organs inside were thoroughly cooked.
Visible within were the obedience device and signal chips.
'This is what it did?'
Yaneq instantly understood what the monster had done from the body's state.
It had forced the deserters to swallow the obedience devices and signal chips.
'Gotta report this.'
Yaneq grabbed the communicator to relay the info to Jacob of the Second Squad.
The Fourth Squad's operations were classified, so they weren't linked to HQ or cameras.
They had to report key details via radio.
｢It fed one to a corpse?｣
"Yes, sir."
｢Got it. People nearby—cutting off.｣
"Understood."
Ending the call with Jacob, Yaneq turned to his men.
"Everyone, stay sharp. This isn't an easy opponent."
"Yes, sir."
They left the body behind and resumed toward the target.
In the spot they'd vacated, the corpse, bobbing alone with the waves, suddenly got sucked underwater.
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'They're gone.'
After the knights left, I rose from where I'd been flattened nearby.
Before they arrived, I'd been examining a corpse along the path.
I needed something to complete the final piece of my plan.
As I started rummaging, my auxiliary organ warned me.
The surging currents meant the knights were closing in fast.
I chose to hide and observe rather than fight.
'I know nothing about their armament or numbers.'
Strike if they seemed manageable; gather intel and bail otherwise.
I dove down, pressing tight to the floor.
'Faster than expected.'
At first, I thought they'd camped closer. But no.
Seeing them explained it.
'They've got assault packs.'
Assault packs doubled powered armor performance and offered various utilities.
In the game, they were so popular among Mega Corp players they were called "mercenary uniforms." They changed what planets you could tackle.
'Insanely expensive, though.'
Anyway, these upper-tier powered armors with assault packs let them flaunt enhanced physical prowess.
They moved at blazing speed through the filth-choked sewers, like flat ground.
That explained why they'd caught up to the catfish faster than other squads.
'Twenty in total. All with assault packs—too risky to engage straight-up.'
Hunter's Mark would win easily, but the backlash was the issue. Robust Vitality would keep me going, but it'd impair future fights.
'Losing reason is the real problem.'
Reason and knowledge—my key weapons. Without them, I'd be no better than a beast.
'Turning into a mindless animal mid-fight against numbers is suicidal.'
The enemy saw me as smart for a beast, but still wild.
Playing into that would lead straight to defeat.
So I held off.
Result: twenty foes, none the wiser.
Beyond gear intel, I gauged their vision systems.
'Minimal variance between knights.'
Assault packs made me wary, but aside from a few extras, they matched standard knights.
From what I'd observed, their detection was thermal and vibration-based.
Vibration sensing struggled in these constant currents.
'Thermal too.'
Long soak in cold sewer water made my exoskeleton ice-cold. I'd read as rough floor on thermal.
'Got their sensor level. Ambush should be easy.'
They were gone; time to finish up and tail them.
I grabbed the corpse, digging into the melted gut.
'Here it is.'
Small arm clutching the signal chip, I scratched a shallow mark in the sewer wall with my combat arm.
Then wedged the chips in.
'Can't damage my new bait.'
Safely stashed, I grabbed the hireling's corpse and followed the knights' direction.
Spotting one pack meant my first goal—corpse-catfish—was achieved.
'But stopping here's no fun.'
Extracting and securing the chip was for a second plan to bolster the first.
'Chasing the catfish, they'll converge eventually.'
Close start points might bring them together sooner than expected, or some unforeseen reason.
Then, new bait to sow chaos.
Using the new corpse-catfish.
'They don't know about corpse-catfish underground.'
Sewer corpse-catfish weren't natural. City managers released them for efficient maintenance.
Starting with multiples would've raised flags with city officials.
Someone would've suspected my disruption op.
Increased vigilance would've favored them.
So I seeded just one.
Pre-entry, they'd assume I ate the hireling unknowingly.
Downside: knights checked the body too soon.
'Meant to clean it up while grabbing the chip.'
Planned to devour it, keeping the ruse. But early arrival foiled that.
'Path to catfish overlapped the body spot.'
Other bodies were far; unlikely to find unless seeking. This one unluckily on route.
Free-roaming without parasite control caused it.
Good thing: they still don't know about catfish.
Body discovery? Minor issue.
I tailed the knights, devouring the held remains clean.
After them: back to chip stash.
'Then craft new bait.'
That'd confuse them plenty.
'Two baits suddenly.'
Underground, hard to call sewer staff. By then, I'd be gone—op failed.
'Not that I'm running.'
They missed me earlier; knights can't detect swimming corpse-catfish.
Defense fleet gear probably lags elite knights.
'Nude, I'd sense passers between legs.'
If unarmored, no need for all this scheming.
Anyway, ignorant foes split again on dual signals.
'Buys me time.'
Time to pick off scattered foes.
Herding basics: control enemy movement.
Catfish and pursuers danced on my strings.
'Where to strike?'
Distance to catfish: short now.
'No other foes nearby.'
One meaning: situation highly favorable.
I closed on the rearmost knight.
Diving floor-flat, near-silent.
Water churned around the sprinting knight. From below, combat arm seized both legs.
"!"
Toppling knight.
Before sound, I bit his nape. Jaw, amped by bite force trait, crushed the neck bone.
Meantime, knights raced ahead, oblivious to rear loss.
'Too fast is a problem too.'
Ripped assault pack off back, smashed powered armor battery. Lights died; body went limp.
Grabbed half-dead knight, melted into water shadows.
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"30 meters to target. Enemy slowing."
"All halt."
At Yaneq's word, knights stopped in place.
'Blazing speed till now, suddenly slowing.'
Without assault packs, it'd outpace them. Other squads lagged far.
Ideal for Yaneq's covert capture.
'Slowing means it sensed us.'
Given its smarts, maybe ambushing from hiding.
'Can't gauge us—beast is beast.'
No matter how strong, twenty here? Near impossible.
Yaneq vowed to teach it there's always a bigger sky.
'Check numbers first.'
Yaneq scanned squad inspecting weapons.
'Hm? One missing?'
Rearmost gone.
Recount: no change.
Nineteen present.
Missing spot: deep shadow.
'Shadow? No way?!'
"Everyone, alert!"
Realizing the unnatural shadow's meaning, Yaneq bellowed.
Too late.
Shadow surged from water; massive serpent lunged, coiling one knight.
Simultaneously, auto plasma gun on nearby comrade's shoulder fired.
"Gah?!"
"Damn it!"
"Watch friendly fire!"
But serpent used the grabbed knight as shield. Plasma shredded tough armor; blood sprayed air.
Toting comrade—upper half blown—serpent vanished into black sludge.
Knights drew bolters, blasting surface. Green energy lit the dark sewers.
"Cease fire! Cease fire!"
Yaneq roared; squad stopped.
Where serpent vanished: lone right arm bobbing, comrade's remnant.