Chapter 80
In front of a half-destroyed building not far from Mapo Police Station.
Perched on the hood of a truck, Goggle held his breath as he watched the scene through the dot sight of his rifle.
Mapo Police Station.
The place that Karambit had once ruled had now become a massive construction site.
Men clung to the walls, throwing sparks as they welded.
Technicians shaved away enormous chunks of concrete.
And moving between them, issuing instructions, was Yoon Imsu.
“Heh.”
A crooked smile spread across Goggle’s lips.
He turned his head and reported to the huge man chewing jerky in the driver’s seat.
“Boss, this is a jackpot.”
“What is?”
“The guys with guns are just scarecrows posing for show, but those welders? Their handwork is A-grade. If we keep ten of them alive and sell them at the auction house, we could live off the money for half a year.”
At that, the Sawblade Gang leader Hammer spat phlegm and stood up.
“Yeah? Technicians, huh…”
Hammer grinned and adjusted the massive sledgehammer hanging at his waist.
“I thought this would be a wasted trip, but the intel was right.”
“What should we do, boss? Wipe them all out?”
“Of course. Cut the hamstrings of the technicians. As long as their fingers work, they can still earn their keep.”
At Hammer’s signal, the men waiting below the building cheered and started their engines.
Vrooom—!
More than fifty modified bikes and dump trucks covered in scrap metal roared to life, belching black smoke.
Like a starving pack of wolves howling after spotting prey.
“Let’s go! Time to loot everything!”
With Hammer’s shout, the convoy of the Sawblade Gang tore through the ruins.
Mapo Police Station – Main Gate Barricade
Standing on scaffolding and inspecting the welds, Director Han Daeman suddenly froze.
Ripples formed in the water inside a bucket on the floor.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
A vibration like a pounding heart traveled through the ground.
Han Daeman’s face went pale.
This vibration was familiar.
In the early days of Guro Foundry, whenever raiders launched large-scale attacks, the same ominous tremor would arrive first.
“A—attack!”
Han Daeman screamed, waving frantically toward the workers below.
“Everyone inside!”
At that moment, dust rose from the end of the road.
Dozens of bikes and trucks were charging forward at insane speed.
“Damn it. I knew it was too quiet!”
Yoon Imsu cursed and grabbed a grenade launcher.
The defensive walls were not finished yet.
If that truck rammed the main gate, everything they had built would collapse instantly.
“Fire! Don’t let them get closer!”
Yoon Imsu pulled the trigger.
Thunk—!
The grenade flew in an arc toward the leading truck.
But—
Bang!
A sharp gunshot rang out.
The grenade exploded mid-air.
Leaning out the passenger window, Goggle had shot it out of the sky.
Inside a moving vehicle, he had intercepted the incoming grenade.
“That’s insane… that’s even possible?”
Yoon Imsu’s eyes widened.
The Sawblade Gang was not a group of random thugs.
They were a well-known raider gang.
“Hahaha! That’s all you’ve got?”
Goggle sneered and fired again.
The bullet struck the ground at Yoon Imsu’s feet.
Startled by the warning shot, he ran inside the building.
“Damn it! What are you all doing?! Fire!”
At his shout, the engineers braced their rifles in the newly built firing ports.
But it wasn’t enough.
They were not professional soldiers.
And the raiders were experts at zigzagging through gunfire.
“We can’t hit them!”
“They’re too fast!”
Despite the engineers’ frantic shooting, the raiders did not slow down.
Instead, the dump truck accelerated toward the barricade.
ROOOOAR—
The steel monster rushed forward with a deafening roar.
If it crashed through, the temporary iron fence would crumple like paper.
And after that—
there would be only slaughter and looting.
“…Is this the end?”
Yoon Imsu felt darkness closing in.
Would their lord’s first mission fail like this?
Then—
Whirrr—click.
A smooth mechanical sound cut through the battlefield noise.
At the same time, a red warning window appeared in the air.
“Ah, mic test. One, two, three.”
A cheerful—almost frivolous—voice echoed through the speakers across the police station.
It was Picker.
“Welcome, dear customers! Wow, such a large group. Don’t you know Atlas operates by reservation only?”
The dump truck was now just five meters from the gate.
“Showing up without a reservation is a problem. We’ll now proceed with forced eviction~!”
The moment Picker finished speaking—
Panels along the walls and rooftop railings slid open.
Something emerged from within.
Click.
Click.
Click.
Smooth curved armor.
Precision targeting sensors.
A total of twelve Atlas Guardians rose up simultaneously, aiming at the intruders.
Command Control Room
I sat comfortably on the sofa, sipping coffee.
“Boss! See that truck at one o’clock? The engine block is perfectly exposed!”
Picker, who had control of the turrets, sounded extremely excited.
“One shot there and we can strike the bikes behind it like bowling pins! Requesting grenade mode approval!”
I nodded.
“Approved. But don’t overdo it. If the bodies are too shredded, cleanup becomes difficult. Mutants might come sniffing around. And remember—every round costs money.”
“Don’t worry, boss! I’ll exterminate these pests efficiently!”
Two rooftop turrets adjusted their aim.
Thunk.
Thunk.
Two grenades fired.
They arced through the air—
and struck the truck’s front wheel and engine compartment perfectly.
BOOM!
The front of the truck lifted into the air.
Unable to overcome inertia, it flipped once midair—
and crashed directly onto the pursuing bike formation.
“AAAH!”
“The truck—!”
CRUNCH!
BANG!
Bikes were crushed beneath the truck.
Raiders were turned into chunks of meat.
Two grenades had annihilated the entire lead group.
The speed and precision were far beyond ordinary grenade launchers.
“Nice shot.”
I set down my coffee cup.
But that was only the beginning.
“Switching to rifle mode. Efficient headshots only!”
The four turrets at the gate rotated.
[5.56mm High-Speed Rapid Fire Mode]
Ratatatatatat!
The sound was like chainsaws roaring.
But this was not random fire.
Picker’s calculations traced a precise line of death at head height.
Pop!
Pop!
Raiders attempting to flee on bikes had their heads burst like watermelons.
No screams.
No time.
They simply collapsed with their heads gone.
Within moments the front gate became a swamp of blood and twisted metal.
Only one person survived.
Hammer.
Standing at the back, watching the battle.
“What… what the hell is this?!”
Hammer jumped from his truck and hid behind a massive concrete pillar.
His face was white with terror.
The arrogance from moments ago was gone.
“Damn it! The intel was wrong! Nobody said they had something like this!”
He leaned against the pillar, panting.
This was a blind spot.
Even those cursed turrets couldn’t shoot through such thick concrete.
He just needed to catch his breath and escape.
Then—
[Sentinel Link Activated]
[Target: Boss Hammer — Tracking location…]
A red dot appeared on his chest.
Then another.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Soon twelve laser dots overlapped over his heart.
“…Huh?”
Hammer looked down blankly.
He was behind a pillar.
How?
He didn’t know.
The Atlas turrets did not operate individually.
They were connected in a network.
Twelve turrets gathered data from different angles, calculating enemy positions in three-dimensional space.
If even that failed—
Honeybee drones in the sky would relay coordinates to Picker, who never slept.
“This bullet costs ten UP. Die with honor, old man!”
The highest turret on the roof transformed.
[.50 BMG Anti-Materiel Sniper Mode]
A weapon capable of piercing tank armor.
BOOM!
The concrete pillar exploded.
The one-meter-thick column was pierced like tofu.
Hammer’s upper body vanished with it.
Thud.
His lower half collapsed.
It was over.
“Situation complete.”
58 seconds.
Less than one minute.
The police station yard was silent.
Only the smell of burning metal and gunpowder lingered.
The turrets retracted smoothly back into the walls.
As if nothing had happened.
Police Station Yard
Yoon Imsu.
Han Daeman.
The engineers.
All stared blankly at the gate.
There was no cheering.
What they felt was not victory.
It was fear.
Fear of overwhelming power.
The barricades they had spent nights welding—
were meaningless.
And those cold machines had erased fifty armed raiders in 58 seconds.
“What… what exactly are those?”
Han Daeman muttered with a trembling voice.
Yoon Imsu swallowed.
“The one we serve… seems to be far beyond what we imagined.”
His eyes burned with awe.
“…We’ll have to redesign the defenses. I didn’t expect lunatics to charge with trucks.”
Lee Mira sighed.
Command Room
“Boss! Did you see that?! The trajectory of the .50-caliber round punching through that pillar! Isn’t that art?!”
Picker danced excitedly on the screen.
“If we upload this video, it’ll go viral! What should the title be? ‘Raiders Educated in 1 Minute’?”
“Do whatever you want. We might even sell this footage.”
The turret field test had been perfect.
Firepower.
Accuracy.
Network coordination.
Flawless.
With this level of performance, the military and large shelters would fight over it.
Not just selling weapons—
but selling installation and maintenance packages.
“Boss? The new recruits look a bit discouraged. They’re building the shelter pretty well though. Should we encourage them?”
“Leave them. They’ll sort out their own morale.”
“By the way, how about selling the entire shelter together with the turrets?”
“Selling the shelter?”
Not a bad idea.
Actually—
an excellent business model.
“Yeah. That could work.”
There were many ways to profit from it.
Setting down my empty coffee cup, I began sketching a new blueprint in my mind.
Once Mapo Police Station was completed…
I had a feeling it would become the grand showroom of my business.