Golden Goblin
Rumble—!
With a thunderous roar that shook the very earth, a massive storm of dust swept over the outskirts of the ruined city of Hongwei.
Leading the charge was the ARX-Grendel Tank, followed by a regular armored division of Ark 86 consisting of Three-Guard multi-purpose tactical vehicles.
However, the armored division, which had been advancing with great momentum, was forced to come to a halt at the entrance of the city, which was not just collapsed, but completely shattered.
"W-What on earth is this...?"
The tank commander's jaw dropped as he opened the hatch and looked outside.
It seemed a violent battle had taken place; not a single building remained intact.
The defensive walls were crumpled like sheets of paper, and blackened scorch marks—the traces of high-heat lasers, the primary weapons of the Astral—were scattered everywhere.
And beyond the collapsed walls, in the inner district of the city, a hideous mass lay slumped, blocking the way.
"That is..."
"Gulp, I-It's a Leviathan. It seems to have stopped moving."
A giant mountain still emitting acrid smoke.
It was the corpse of a Leviathan, a Quasi-Named-grade monster of the Astral, with a length exceeding 600 meters.
Screech—!
Then, the hatch of the command armored vehicle in the center of the procession opened.
First, an elderly man with white hair dressed in a lavish silk uniform, Lin Zhentian, stepped out, leaning on his cane.
Following him, a cold-looking beauty and the fleet commander of Ark 86, Lin Xiaolin, stepped onto the wasteland with a frigid expression.
"……."
Lin Xiaolin frowned deeply as she confirmed the deactivated corpse of the Leviathan with her own eyes.
...They hunted down a Leviathan?
She had an extremely bad feeling about this.
The force occupying Hongwei-7 was clearly not just a band of bandits or a manageable power.
She could understand them shooting down a Troller-class Mobile Aircraft Carrier with maximum effort. But a Leviathan was different.
Ark 86 had encountered that thing several times, but they had only managed to repel it while accepting heavy losses; they had never completely defeated it like this.
Yet that monster lay smashed in this seemingly insignificant ruined city.
Just then, someone emerged from beyond the concrete debris.
"……An ECHO?"
A silver-haired ECHO wearing a glossy black latex suit that vividly revealed the curves of her body, with a uniform cape of white and yellow draped over her back. Lin Xiaolin's eyes shifted toward the ECHO.
An Original.
Though it was an individual she had never seen before, she could tell.
The aura she exuded was vastly different from that of a typical mass-produced model. Behind her followed a pink-haired ECHO who appeared to be a firepower type and another ECHO who looked like a tanker.
A three-person squad?
It seemed the commander of this place had sent a welcoming party upon noticing their arrival.
And behind them, someone was dragging something along, with a thick iron chain draped over their shoulder.
Screeeech—!
A horrific metallic grinding sound sliced through the silence of the wasteland.
"Gasp?!"
"W-What?"
A moment later, screams erupted from various places.
An ECHO was dragging a command armored vehicle whose hatch had been hideously welded shut. It was a Grendel, the main armored vehicle of Ark 86.
And….
Bang! Bang!
[H-Help me…!]
[Please help me…! T-There are people inside…!]
Desperate cries burst from inside the armored vehicle.
Lin Zhentian, who had been listening quietly, nearly lost his mind upon identifying the voice.
"T-That…! That's Lin Ao, our Ao's voice!!"
The old man's face turned beet red.
A direct descendant of the prestigious Lin family was trapped in an armored vehicle, treated worse than a beast.
"You wench—! How dare you not move out of the way!! How dare a piece of scrap metal like you!!"
Losing his reason, the old man lunged at Arva, swinging his cane, which concealed a blade. He looked ready to strike Arva down right then and there.
It was at that moment.
Thump—!
A deep hole was blasted into the ground at the feet of Lin Zhentian as he lunged toward Arva, sending dust flying at the old man’s face.
Simultaneously, a red laser point flew through the air and landed vividly in the center of Lin Zhentian's forehead.
"……!"
While Lin Zhentian froze in shock, Arva tilted her head slightly and spoke coldly.
"Access is forbidden from this point forward."
It was a mechanical voice devoid of emotion, as befitting an ECHO.
"If you move one more step, I'll put a hole in that thick skull of yours, old man. Well, if you're truly dying to do so, I won't stop you."
Click. Whirrrrr—!
As soon as Arva finished speaking, the barrels of the minigun Queen's Calamity held by Pomen began to spin.
"H-Hiieek?!"
Feeling as though his entire body would be torn to shreds by the imminent rain of lead, Lin Zhentian swallowed a scream and stumbled backward.
At the same time, the mass-produced ECHOs of Ark 86 swarmed forward, aiming their weapons to escort Lin Zhentian.
Click! Click!
Muzzles on both sides were aimed at each other.
A volatile situation where a single trigger pull would ignite an immediate battle.
Then, Lin Xiaolin, who had remained silent until now, stepped forward. Her gaze was fixed on the massive minigun Pomen was holding.
"……An Artifact."
She murmured softly.
The pink-haired ECHO's weapon was different from a standard minigun.
Without an ammunition box or a long trailing belt of bullets, the barrels were spinning on their own.
It was a wonder that ignored the physical limitations of ammunition, converting Core Energy into bullets to pour out nearly infinite firepower.
"Lower your weapons."
Lin Xiaolin calmly raised her hand, signaling her troops to cease fire.
Then, she gestured with her chin toward Lin Zhentian, who was drenched in cold sweat and whose legs had gone weak.
"Take the Elder to a safe place."
As the soldiers supported Lin Zhentian and retreated, Lin Xiaolin walked forward with an unwavering posture and met Arva's gaze head-on.
This is getting dangerous….
Lin Xiaolin's instincts were warning her.
The ECHOs before her were no ordinary individuals. They clearly looked like veterans who had crossed the line of death numerous times, even among Originals.
Beings far more powerful than any mass-produced model could ever be compared to.
Furthermore… they even possessed an Artifact, something that existed mostly in rumors.
Which Ark are they from?
Was there an Ark with this level of powerful force in this vicinity?
Regardless, responding emotionally here would undoubtedly increase unnecessary casualties.
"I am Lin Xiaolin, Fleet Commander of Ark 86."
First, she needed to assess the situation.
"I wish to ask the reason for kidnapping our Ark's platoon leader and annihilating my forces. If the answer is not convincing… we will not remain idle either."
"Ha—?"
At Lin Xiaolin's chilly warning, Pomen, who was standing behind, let out a scoff of disbelief.
"Kidnapping? Annihilating forces?"
Arva found it equally absurd.
It seemed the information had not been properly conveyed to them yet. Arva stared at Lin Xiaolin with cold eyes and spoke.
"First, let me introduce myself. I am Arva, leader of the Arclight Squad."
"……Fine, Arva."
"I am speaking because there are several fatal errors in your statement that need correction."
Arva continued in a clear, precise voice.
"First, we did not kidnap your Ark's platoon leader."
"……Elaborate."
"Your platoon leader first attacked our Ark's territory without any declaration of war. And…."
Arva's gaze shifted to the corpse of the Leviathan behind them.
"He intentionally lured a Leviathan, a Quasi-Named-grade monster of the Astral, toward our Ark's defensive line."
"……."
"As a result, our Ark's defensive line was severely breached, vast amounts of supplies were consumed, and we suffered the loss of numerous destroyed ECHOs."
"…Continue."
"However, despite luring the Leviathan toward our Ark, your platoon leader did nothing inside his armored vehicle. Furthermore, immediately after the battle ended, he aimed his gun at our Ark's Fleet Commander and threatened us to hand over the spoils of war."
At Arva's voice, which was laced with contempt, Lin Xiaolin closed and opened her eyes before asking.
"……Evidence?"
At her words, Arva connected a data chip to a holographic terminal, and a video was projected into the air.
[Sssshhh...]
It was footage recorded by the cameras of the Bastion Platform.
A scene of a Grendel tank shelling the temporary concrete walls of Ark 69.
Then, a scene of Lin Ao's unit fleeing frantically with the Leviathan in tow.
A scene of numerous ECHOs fighting against the Leviathan.
Finally, a scene of Lin Ao throwing a tantrum after the battle and aiming a gun at the Fleet Commander of the Ark.
The high-definition video left no room for excuses.
"……."
Lin Xiaolin closed her eyes tightly.
She couldn't refute it. This wasn't a war; it was a case of the opponent cleaning up the mess Lin Ao had made.
Fuck….
Lin Xiaolin cursed violently in her mind.
The sound of someone screaming from inside the armored vehicle—Hey—! What is the Fleet Commander doing?! Hurry up and save me!—sounded more loathsome than ever.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"What do you want? An apology? Or are you asking for reparations?"
At Lin Xiaolin's sharp question, Arva nodded as if she had been waiting.
"Correct. To be precise, war reparations."
Arva pointed to the Grendel armored vehicle where Lin Ao was trapped.
"After the battle, we recovered three Grendels in working condition and five that were half-destroyed or smashed. We will be taking these."
"…What?"
"Of course, the surviving ECHO Squad and the wreckage will also be attributed to our ownership."
Lin Xiaolin's eyes narrowed.
That was a massive amount of force, nearly a quarter of Ark 86's total strength. Even if they were broken, the engines and internal parts were precious resources with very high recycling value.
And they wanted to take it all?
"……."
Fury surged within her, but Lin Xiaolin bit her lip and remained silent.
Considering a human commander—and a direct descendant of the family like Lin Ao—was involved, it wasn't impossible to give.
No, in truth, she didn't want to hand over a single thing.
However, the eyes of Lin Zhentian and the Lin Family Faction ECHOs who followed him were wide open. If Lin Ao were to die here, she would have to take all the responsibility.
"…I will hand over that much."
Just as Lin Xiaolin was about to accept while swallowing her humiliation, Arva continued.
"There is one more thing."
"More?"
"We are holding your Ark's ECHOs as prisoners. I believe they are called Compass and Sherpa."
Arva's eyes stared straight into Lin Xiaolin's.
"……."
"We will also be recovering those two individuals."
At that moment, Lin Xiaolin slammed her combat boot violently into the ground. Blue sparks flew from her eyes along with the dust.
"Don't make me laugh—! You dare ask for Original ECHOs?!"
Her voice rang out thunderously.
"I can give you armored vehicles. Scrap metal can just be remade! But not my ECHOs! You dare covet the Original ECHOs of another Ark?! What do you take us for!"
The value of armored vehicles and ECHOs was different.
Especially Original ECHOs like Compass and Sherpa; they weren't ECHOs that could be whipped up just because one wanted them.
Furthermore, the Pathfinder Squad were loyal followers of her as the fleet commander, not the rotten Lin family.
Moreover, her own confidants, the Lotus squad, had already been smashed by the Leviathan.
Click! Click!
As if responding to the fleet commander's rage, the soldiers of Ark 86 gripped their weapons once more.
But Arva didn't even blink. In fact, she was admiring them internally.
Just as the Commander and Lena predicted….
Surprisingly, their reaction was not a single bit different from the expectations of those two.
Arva pulled a small remote detonator from her pocket and spoke.
"We also find this unacceptable."
Arva's thumb rested slowly and very threateningly on the red button of the detonator.
"Considering what that excuse for a platoon leader did to our Ark, you should be grateful just to have him returned in one piece."
"Could it be…?!"
"We've installed powerful explosives under the armored vehicle. Quite generously, in fact."
Arva spoke with a cold smile, twisting the corner of her lips.
[What?! Hey, explosives?! There are b-bombs?! Then the thing installed earlier?! N-No—! Save me!! I can't die here—!!]
Lin Xiaolin gnashed her teeth.
If it were up to her, she wanted to press the detonator herself right now to get rid of that trash.
A cancer to the family, an incompetent nepotism hire. If only that guy were finished in this hellish place, she could lead the Ark much more efficiently.
But she couldn't. There were too many eyes watching.
Lin Xiaolin glanced behind her.
If it were only those who followed her will perfectly, it would be different, but the Lin Family Faction following Lin Zhentian and the direct line made up nearly 80% of the combat force.
If she let Lin Ao die here, her own position would certainly be endangered.
It was then.
"I-I'll give them!!"
Lin Zhentian, who had been cowering in the back, rushed forward and screamed.
"E-Elder!!"
What do those damn cans matter!! Our Ao is about to die!
Pale with fear, Lin Zhentian threw away his cane and waved both hands at Arva.
"I'll give them—! I'll give everything! The scrap metal, the ECHOs. Take it all!! I'll give you whatever you want, so please, just don't press that button!!"
"……."
At Lin Zhentian's reaction, Lin Xiaolin ground her teeth.
She could see the slimy, despicable calculation flickering deep in the terrified old man's eyes.