Chapter 257
"If none of you want to die, drop your weapons and surrender. I'll talk to the scientists."
"What a joke! Everyone, prepare to fire!"
Colonel Ishii barked the order right on cue, heightening the tension to a razor’s edge.
The otherworldly race was trapped like rats in a barrel anyway. Capturing them alive would yield far more intel, and Ishii’s greed was piqued by the prospect.
"You surrender! We'll at least spare your life!"
"Yeah, right."
Hanyaseong realized further talk was pointless. These trotter bastards only understood the stick.
"Even the U.S. special forces got beaten to a pulp and chased off. You think you punks can take me?"
"What? The Americans were here too?!"
As Colonel Ishii recoiled in shock, Hanyaseong rocketed forward in his suit, launching a fist straight at him.
Crack! Ishii’s jaw shattered on impact. His upper and lower teeth snapped off like scattered corn kernels, flying into the air.
"Gahk!"
Ishii toppled backward, and his officers panicked, opening fire.
"Shoot him!"
Bang! Bang-bang! Flames spat from over a dozen pistols.
The ten or so Japanese soldiers inside the barracks unleashed their automatic rifles as well.
Rat-tat-tat! Hundreds of rounds turned the air into a storm in seconds, enough to riddle a man into Swiss cheese.
But no—the bullets ricocheted off harmlessly, clattering to the ground in all directions.
"Damn it! The bullets are bouncing off!"
The officers gaped in horror.
In a blur, Hanyaseong spun outward from the table in a perfect circle, smashing through every last one of them. Fists pulverized faces, kicks shattered limbs. In moments, the dozen officers lay in bloody heaps—faces caved in, arms splintered, legs mangled.
They’d had some combat training, but with the suit boosting his speed and power even further, they couldn’t react at all. They’d gawk at one comrade getting crushed, only to eat a blow themselves and fly off.
"Aaaargh!"
Dozens of Japanese troops saw it and freaked, spraying their automatics wildly. But every shot just pinged off the suit.
Hanyaseong was grateful for the suit. Without it, dealing with these armies from various nations would’ve been a nightmare. Hell, he might’ve even died. No head-on fights possible; he’d have wasted ages on hit-and-run tactics just to clear one unit.
But with the suit? No need. It was a perfect shield preserving his life, letting him stroll right in and wreck everything without a care.
Thud-thud-thud! The riflemen took hits one after another, sailing out of the barracks.
The scientists bolted in panic, scattering everywhere, while hundreds of troops outside milled about in confusion, weapons raised. Their faces screamed despair—bullets weren’t working.
One officer up front bellowed, "What are you waiting for? Shoot that monster!"
The soldiers opened fire again at the command, blasting away without regard for ammo.
Hanyaseong sauntered leisurely through the hail of bullets. The rifle rounds did jack shit to the suit. A quick check showed the impact at a pathetic 0.0000000001—barely more than dust.
"Fuckin’ assholes, they just won’t stop shooting."
He’d considered sparing the grunts, but their endless fire killed any mercy. Tan Yagrane blurred into motion again, pounding the Japanese troops mercilessly.
A punch sent teeth flying in a spray, noses exploding into mush. A kick snapped legs and pulverized pelvises. Every man took injuries bad enough for twenty weeks’ recovery.
In just thirty minutes, hundreds of Japanese soldiers sprawled groaning amid the carnage.
"Ughhh..."
With the invincible suit, nothing scared him. Hanyaseong called out to the scientists hiding and fleeing in all directions.
"Everyone, come out! If you don’t, I’ll hunt you down and make you this!"
Some types only straightened up after a beating. He told them to come out, and they still hid.
"Last warning. Show yourselves now, and I won’t hit you. Hide, and I’ll find you and smash you. You’ve got one minute! Get out here and kneel before me now!"
Only then did they creep out, peeking nervously. A few who looked like explorers crawled from the barracks too. They emerged, knelt on the ground with terrified faces.
But some still held out. Hanyaseong activated the helmet’s thermal sensors and scan function. It pinpointed the holdouts instantly.
"These fuckers... I said come out."
He jetted straight to them, yanking them out one by one and hurling them away.
"Aaaack!"
The hiders flew ten meters before cratering into the dirt. As they sailed one after another, the rest panicked and rushed out from their spots to join the kneeling scientists.
A few had fled into the woods; too much hassle, so he let them go.
Hanyaseong eyed the kneeling scientists and assorted others, then spoke.
"Who’s in charge of the scientists?"
"I-I am..."
A shaky old man, easily in his seventies, raised a trembling hand.
"Who’re you?"
"I’m Yoshimoto, PhD in astrophysics and professor at Tokyo University."
"Explain in detail how you got here."
Yoshimoto hesitated, then sighed in resignation and began recounting events.
"A month ago, police got a call from a house in Shizuoka. Strange lights in one room. Local cops reported up the chain immediately. Investigation teams deployed, and fearing radiation, they cordoned off part of the area. Turns out the glow only appeared for a few minutes at specific times, then vanished."
Hanyaseong listened silently for now.
"It kept happening the next day too. Then we noticed anything touching the light disappeared. Not sure if it went somewhere or got vaporized, so we tested—objects first, then animals. That’s when we realized it was some kind of portal. Hypothesis: a gateway to another world. We reported to the government, and to verify, the military sent six volunteers through."
Yoshimoto licked his dry lips.
"Three hours later, they popped back—in terrible shape. Only two returned; they said the other four died exploring a forest. They’d been there over two weeks. We were shocked—it’d only been three hours here. They called it beautiful but dangerous. Unknown planet, breathable oxygen, lifeforms, habitable for humans. But weird bugs and swamps—needed caution. So six months ago by this world’s time, we formed a big expedition with military and scientists and came through the portal."
Makes sense. Nothing special, just like the Americans—stumbled on the portal by chance and sent an expedition.
But the Self-Defense Forces coming in such numbers pissed him off.
"Planning to conquer this place? Why send so many troops?"
He glanced at the wounded strewn everywhere; Yoshimoto sighed.
"We came for research. They planned to colonize if no aliens or threats. Move millions of Japanese here, settle and develop it. Backup if the home islands sink in a megaquake—evacuate the whole nation."
"That’s not all."
"If valuable resources, weaponize them."
"What if aliens show up?"
"If stronger than the military, play nice and ally. If weaker, conquer and rule."
Classic trotter thinking. No interest in peaceful coexistence—just dominate or ally to build power. Still haunted by WWII ghosts, itching for another shot since they almost won back then.