Fleet Commander of Ark 86
Rat-tat-tat!
The outskirts of Ark 74.
Three heavy machine guns mounted on a Three Guard—a triple-turret multipurpose armored vehicle—spat fire relentlessly, grinding the swarm of zombies rushing toward the Ark into mincemeat.
[Kwoooooo—!]
"Brute spotted!"
"Numbers?"
"Three—no, four. They're approaching through a gap in the left wall. The Three Guard cannot stop them."
Standard machine guns were ineffective against higher-tier entities with tough, resilient skin, such as Brutes or Bone Blades.
However, humanity possessed special weapons capable of dealing with such monsters.
"Deploy the Tempest Blade squad."
"Yes, Fleet Commander."
The hatch of the lead armored vehicle swung open, and girls clad in pitch-black combat suits leaped forward like bolts of lightning.
Wielding various cold weapons—swords, spears, and axes—they charged toward the elite zombie variants.
The battle erupted with the sharp sound of air being sliced, and under the girls' prowess, the Brutes' thick hides began to tear apart like sheets of paper.
Once all the zombies had been reduced to a bloody pulp, a woman emerged from a black-painted command vehicle.
Black hair tied up in a braid.
Cold eyes that seemed to pierce through the entire battlefield.
It was Lieutenant General Lin Xiaolin, the fleet commander of Ark 86.
"……What a complete mess."
She frowned as she looked upon the horrific sight of the collapsed walls and the survivors hiding in terror.
The stench of blood stung her nostrils, accompanied by the distant sound of gunfire, suggesting the sweep wasn't yet complete, but her expression didn't waver in the slightest.
"What on earth happened here?"
She strode toward a man appearing from inside the wall—her academy classmate and the fleet commander of Ark 74.
The man greeted her, visibly relieved that the reinforcements had arrived as promised.
"Xiaolin! You've finally come! As you can see, the situation is quite…."
"Yes. It's more serious than I thought. Did a Crawler Queen sweep through the Ark?"
"…A Carapace Lord showed up."
"Ha—?"
An incredulous sound escaped Lin Xiaolin's lips.
Carapace Lord.
One of the named monsters under the Crawler Queen, alongside the Egg-Cluster, Tentacle Fiend, Spawn Guard, and Splitter Swarm.
Naturally, they were incomparably more dangerous than the regular elites; if they appeared near an Ark, the safety of the entire facility was gravely threatened.
But for the Ark to be in this state just because one of those things showed up….
Xiaolin scanned the man with a look of pathetic disdain.
As she continued to survey the surroundings, she realized something was wrong.
Her expression turned ice-cold. The most important things were missing.
"Where is the Ark's main force?"
“…Those are all we have left.”
The male fleet commander replied, pointing toward the trembling survivors.
“No, that's not what I'm talking about.”
Xiaolin said, stepping closer, her voice low yet oppressive.
"Where are the ECHO Squads? I don't see any ECHOs anywhere on the defensive line. There isn't even a single mass-produced unit. As far as I know, Ark 74 had three Original Squads, including the Sacred Front…?"
"Ah…."
At Xiaolin's question, the male fleet commander spoke up nonchalantly, as if he had only just remembered.
"Those bitches? I sent them out to buy some time until you arrived."
"What?"
"Just look at the state of the Ark. It was an unavoidable sacrifice. Isn't it only natural to sacrifice ECHO squads to buy time?"
"……."
"Saving even one human life is far more important than ECHOs, who are nothing more than consumables anyway. Isn't that the virtue of a commander? Still, it's a stroke of luck. Thanks to that, we were able to hold out until you arrived, Xiaolin. Hahaha—!"
Listening to the man's boisterous laughter, Lin Xiaolin's face froze into a perfect mask of expressionlessness.
As all emotion vanished from her beautiful face, a chilling murderous intent radiated from her.
"What did you say?"
A grinding sound echoed as Xiaolin clenched her teeth.
The decision to support Ark 74 this time had not been a humanitarian gesture.
It was a purely pragmatic decision, intended to absorb their strength to bolster her own Ark.
She had planned to fully absorb the high-performance Original Squads of Ark 74 and make them the strength of Ark 86.
And this son of a bitch….
Whether he had noticed her intentions or not, he had thrown away the most valuable pieces first.
Even knowing that a single ECHO capable of defending the Ark was worth more than hundreds of useless human survivors.
In an instant, a pistol was drawn from Lin Xiaolin's waist.
The cold muzzle was aimed precisely at the male fleet commander's forehead.
Only then did the man stop laughing, though he smirked without a hint of panic.
"……Still, I managed to protect most of the humans in the Ark. They are lives that you must now take responsibility for."
"You piece of shit."
Bang—!
A single gunshot.
His body collapsed, a red hole pierced through his forehead.
"Pathetic scum."
Screams erupted from the surrounding crowd, but Lin Xiaolin didn't even blink as she waved her hand.
"Load all the survivors into the transport vehicles."
In her heart, she wanted to bury all these useless parasites right here.
But doing so would cause the morale of Ark 86 to plummet.
There was a high possibility that the hearts of the soldiers loyal to her would waver.
Above all, since she had come this far leading the Ark's forces under the pretext of rescuing these useless humans, she couldn't simply abandon them now if she wanted to convince the damn old fossils of the Council.
"And prioritize taking things that are expensive and necessary. Food, medical supplies, and usable energy cells."
At her cold command, the soldiers of Ark 86 began to move with mechanical familiarity.
While roughly herding the survivors of Ark 74 into the transport vehicles, they began scouring the Ark's supply facilities like mountain bandits.
Lin Xiaolin then turned her gaze toward the adjutant standing by her side.
It was an ECHO with pitch-black short hair and eyes from which no emotion could be read.
"Situation report."
"Yes, Lieutenant General. Approximately 210 survivors recovered. 80 are combat-capable. However, most are suffering from extreme morale loss and malnutrition."
“…The amount of useless baggage has increased.”
Lin Xiaolin clicked her tongue at the report.
"Additionally, we found traces of the ECHOs deployed from the Ark heading toward the southwestern mountains. It is the area where the Carapace Lord is presumed to be. Judging by the scale of the attack on the Ark, the nest is estimated to be nearly medium-sized."
Lin Xiaolin remained silent for a moment at the adjutant's report.
Of all places, the creature had made its nest in the mountains, making it difficult to utilize the armored vehicles—one of Ark 86's greatest strengths.
Yet, the risk of attacking with only infantry and ECHOs was far too high.
"What if we conduct a rescue operation using only our ECHOs? It wouldn't be a bad harvest if we could save even two Original units."
"Due to insufficient data, an accurate success probability cannot be calculated. However, considering the current available force, the number of survivors, and the fact that Ark 74's ECHO Squad began the operation five days ago, the probability of a successful rescue is estimated to be less than 5%. Furthermore, there is a high possibility that our own Ark's ECHOs would suffer significant damage during the operation."
"Tsk."
Lin Xiaolin clicked her tongue once more.
Though it was a shame, she was not a sentimental commander who would bet everything on a 5% chance.
The most coveted spoils were not just damaged, but completely shattered.
The milk had already been spilled.
"What a waste of time. All units, prepare for retreat. Pack everything we can and leave this place within two hours."
"Understood, Lieutenant General."
As the ECHO adjutant turned to carry out the order, Lin Xiaolin called her back.
"Ah, and before we leave, let's leave a little gift behind."
"A gift… ma’am?"
To the adjutant who asked back with an emotionless face, Lin Xiaolin wore a cold smile.
"Yes. The Ark is practically a ruin, but once we leave, won't Wanderers or other monsters swarm the place? I can't let other bastards easily pick up the fruits we couldn’t harvest."
A cold smile lingered on Lin Xiaolin's lips.
"Install Claymores in the central control room, major supply warehouses, and power facilities. So that if anyone tries to touch them, everything blows up. Especially the ECHO production and maintenance facilities—pack them full of explosives so not a single one remains."
Her true target wasn't some Wanderer.
It was to prevent any ECHOs from Ark 74 who might have survived, or a third party who might have luckily rescued them, from getting their hands on the remaining resources of this Ark.
"Understood, Lieutenant General. I will handle it immediately."
"How long will it take?"
"I will have it done within an hour."
Watching the adjutant bow, Lin Xiaolin pulled a cigarette from her pocket and put it in her mouth.
With the click of a Zippo lighter, a flame bloomed at the tip of the cigarette.
"Phew… After Ark 69, now Ark 74 has vanished. Is that two already this year?"
She took a deep drag of smoke and exhaled a cloud of white vapor toward the emptying Ark 74.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Three days after clearing the Carapace Lord's nest.
While dealing with a few zombies in the mountains, we carefully headed toward Ark 74.
In the process, we discovered mass-produced ECHOs who had lost their lives or had been gang-raped by zombies before dying.
Unfortunately, the ones we had rescued were the only survivors.
"Is that… Ark 74?"
Ark 74, visible in the distance, was truly a city of death.
Between the collapsed walls and the debris of burnt buildings, we couldn't even sense the presence of prowling zombies.
"It's quiet."
"Do you think a rescue team from Ark 86 already came and left?"
"Probably."
We watched for over an hour, but we felt no presence of humans, let alone ECHOs.
Thinking it was now safe to explore that giant treasure trove, I was about to enter the Ark with the ECHOs.
It was then.
"Commander, wait a moment."
Was she feeling uneasy about looting the Ark she originally belonged to?
Cordelia, who seemed to have been contemplating something for a while, stepped in front of me to stop me.