Raid on Sector 41 Port -2-
Raid on Sector 41 Port -2-
The mercenary office without Max.
It had been less than 30 minutes since Ellen, after finishing her academy classes, came to work and turned on the signboard lights.
Clatter!
Flora, wearing orange-tinted sunglasses on her head, arrived.
Ellen, who had been slouching in the computer chair, had her face scrunch up mercilessly.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
"What about oppa?"
"He went out on a job. Did you come without even checking with him?"
"...He said I could come anytime. Oppa did."
Flora walked into the office and claimed the sofa.
She asked, in her usual calm voice and with a face that barely changed expression.
"When is oppa coming back?"
"Don't ask. I don't know when he'll be back either. He probably won't be back today, so I'll just hold out for three hours and then clock out."
"Hmm..."
Perhaps because Max wasn't there, her business itself evaporated. Flora dropped her butt off the sofa and stood up.
Ellen watched quietly, thinking she might be about to leave, but Flora came out of the restroom carrying a mop.
"...What are you doing?"
"I'm going to clean and then leave."
"Don't make extra work and just go. What cleaning can a young lady who's never done housework do?"
"You're the same, aren't you?"
Flora put strength into her eyes and glared at Ellen.
Ellen curled her lip as if it was ridiculous.
"Hmph! You think part-time work is a joke? Unlike you, I've properly learned cleaning from oppa-ya. Want me to teach you a little?"
"...Not needed."
Flora moved the mop awkwardly, slapping it against the floor.
'Damn girl. She's hopeless at cleaning.'
Ellen quietly appreciated the absurd sight of Flora Crimsonhowl cleaning the office floor.
After staring blankly, she asked Flora as if it was no big deal.
"Let me ask you one thing while oppa-ya isn't here."
"What is it?"
"You said you were in a remarriage relationship with the Steiger side. So why does oppa-ya live in the office?"
From Ellen's perspective, since Max and Flora's relationship wasn't bad, she was even more curious.
And even the fact that he settled in District 27 was strange. It wasn't a lower district, but it wasn't a district where a child from a wealthy family would be.
"I don't know. Me neither."
At the half-hearted answer, Ellen's eyes twitched.
"Brat. If you don't want to tell me, just say so."
"Even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you, but I really don't know so I said I don't know."
Flora's expression and movements as she cleaned changed subtly.
If it wasn't a mistake, she seemed down. The office suddenly became quiet.
'What? Did I step on a landmine?'
It wasn't even a big question, so why the gloomy face?
Following Flora, even Ellen's head became complicated.
"Ha..."
Ellen pushed back her bangs and stood up from the chair.
She strode over to Flora who was holding the mop.
"Is that really cleaning? Let me show you what cleaning is, so hand it over."
District 41 relies on harbor logistics and the consumption of its workers.
Most restaurants and entertainment target the workers at the harbor, and other infrastructure aims to addict the workers' families to luxury.
The corporations have put significant effort into recirculating the workers' and their families' money within District 41, so ordinary workers at the harbor can't help but be shocked by their monthly expenses, and their credit card debt snowballs, making retirement possible only after death.
The place where employees who have adapted to this cycle spend most of their day.
The Harbor Control Tower.
Three employees of Aqua Shell, a security company under Neptune's protection, reported to a room full of monitors.
"Hey hey hey, why the face? You look like you got an unexpected credit card statement?"
"Who sicced this bastard on me? Your 'found a comrade' face is pissing me off. Get lost."
"Hahaha! If your wife spent it, you should just laugh. Isn't it because you lack love?"
"You crazy bastard who goes to watch female android disassembly shows... If you have any conscience, check yourself into a mental hospital. How many bastards want to sit here."
As the employees were killing time with their usual banter.
The radio clipped to a vest rang.
─ It's overtime from now on. What's the status at the entrance?
An employee glanced at the monitor.
He let out a derisive laugh and operated the radio.
"It's securely closed. I can also clearly see you guys giving the middle finger."
─ Any outsiders caught on the security cameras?
"None, so get to work. If I see any, I'll let you know."
─ Don't slack off and get your head cut off.
"Yessir~"
The radio cut off.
It was the moment Usagi had been waiting for.
Usagi, who had been hiding in the shadows holding his breath, grabbed the katana strapped to his back.
He silently pushed off from his spot.
Piiing!
The heads of three first-rank employees fell clean off.
After retracting the blade, Usagi threw an EMP Kunai onto the control tower floor.
Pak!
A blue pattern rose above the kunai embedded in the floor, and all the monitors went dead.
The server that stored the video right next to it. Even on the device the size of a full-grown man, the green light turned off.
"..."
He picked up the phone on the desk.
No sound came out.
This wasn't temporary interference. It was permanent damage that destroyed the circuits and insulation layers.
It was a much cleaner processing than cutting machines with a knife or hitting them with a fist.
'Still high output for its size.'
Usagi clenched and unclenched his prosthetic arm, whose senses had gone numb from the EMP's aftereffect, and exited the control tower.
With his characteristic leg strength, he hopped and jumped, moving across the tops of containers.
The feeling returned to his left arm.
Moving quietly, he pulled out another EMP Kunai. If he used this, he'd have one spare EMP.
He saw a control tower that didn't even have stairs or a ladder.
He confirmed it was a space only opened when needed: no monitors, no people. Just a place where the cooling system kept running.
There was a small server managed by Neptune, not Aqua Shell.
It housed not only secondary storage of security footage but also a repeater that extended the communication range of the radios used by harbor employees.
He threw without hesitation.
The black kunai cut through the night sky.
Pak!
The kunai embedded in the wall activated, emitting a faint blue light.
Max, who had been waiting in position, confirmed the small flickering blue light on the control tower.
It was the signal light Usagi had made.
'He's made his move.'
Max took out a lollipop from his chest pocket.
He cut the stick and put the candy pellet under his mask.
'Coffee flavor.'
He likes it.
The top of the tower crane was nice with the cool wind. The night sea in view had its own unique atmosphere.
'Let's see.'
Below, he saw a forklift moving cargo containers.
All the forklifts were using this road, and since there seemed to be something important inside, mercenaries were staying close and moving alongside. Whenever the driver tried to speed up, the mercenaries would yell sharply.
'Fine-tuning with telekinesis would be perfect.'
Max's finger pointed at the tower crane's pulley.
An unfortunate accident was about to happen.
[Shear]
Ting!
The tower crane's rope and pulley were cut in an instant.
A 1st-rank cutting magic used by a 4th-rank mage had a different level of power.
Drrrrrrk──!
The container hanging from the tower crane fell downward, still tangled in the hook.
Max's telekinesis lent a hand, and the falling object landed cleanly on top of the forklift.
Koooooong!
A roar that anyone at the harbor could hear.
Having withdrawn from the tower crane, Max crouched on a stack of containers and listened.
─ A-a accident! Accident here!
─ Check the cargo first!
─ ...The driver is dead!
─ You sons of bitches! I said check the cargo, not the driver!
The mercenaries murmur and swarm over.
One mercenary who was shouting orders grabbed his radio and tried to report something, but it seemed the communication wasn't working properly.
Max glanced back at the control tower in admiration.
'The EMP Kunai has great performance, huh?'
Such a small thing could create such excellent chaos.
So this is what a real ninja is.
'With the radios jammed, very few mercenaries or employees will come over here to check.'
He was certain. This was Haze's iron rule.
Low-ranking mercenaries in a group don't move without orders. Even if a mysterious loud noise like this is heard, holding position is common sense for ordinary mercenaries.
Autonomous action is like a privilege.
'The Aqua Shell employees might come first.'
Usagi and Bibol would start from their respective positions, using the noise Max created as the signal.
To assess the situation, they'd find the few mercenaries whose strong members had been pulled away, and quickly start cleaning them up.
─ Everyone stand by!
The person who seemed to be the head mercenary threw down his radio in annoyance and pulled out a smartphone.
He seemed to be planning to contact someone.
'That's cheating.'
Max stood on top of the container and wove his magical power.
He raised the definition, recalling the celestial sphere dropped by a Titan that couldn't bear the punishment of carrying the sky.
[Atlas Fall]
A virtual mass fell, applying a powerful impact to the area.
Kraaack!
The mercenaries around the forklift turned into fistfuls of meat.
The mercenary holding the smartphone managed to keep a bit of form, but his life was definitely cut off.
"Ptoo!"
Max spat out the end of the lollipop and looked around.
'Are those two doing their jobs well? This is a bit unexpected.'
Even after creating such a roar, no one was approaching.
Should he go down and check the cargo?
"..."
An uneasy silence followed while he was deciding.
Catching a hostile intent, Max instantly condensed his magical power.
[Shield]
─Kkagagagang! A bullet spun and burrowed into the shield he reflexively created.
Max barely dodged the bullet that shattered the shield, his eyes widening.
'This magic...?'
Max raised his head to identify the opponent.
One mage was aiming a rifle at him.
He wore tactical gear and had his face covered with a device similar to Bibol's, emitting a red laser.
But Max recognized the magic he had just blocked with his shield.
A magic he had tried to learn but couldn't due to lack of talent.
For Max, it could be called a nightmare.
The magic that bastard used was...
'...Steiger?'
It was the family's shooting magic.