Chapter 68
Chapter 68
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: The Assault
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For the men who swarmed into the passage, the sight of Kanghyeok made time stand still.
Was it the night?
Or the aura that only a man in a suit could project?
Or perhaps the corpse with its shattered skull?
The perceptive ones knew the source of this chilling, unsettling feeling.
It was Kanghyeok’s gear.
The shotgun in his hand.
The rifle slung over his back.
The military hip pack cinched around his waist, stuffed with magazines, and the pistol at his side.
Even the hilt of a knife, just visible inside his suit.
Everyone who saw his arsenal had the same thought.
*That man came here to take on every single person by himself.*
*Clack.*
As if to prove them right, Kanghyeok swung the shotgun toward the man next to the driver’s seat.
*BOOM!*
His head exploded into fragments, and Kanghyeok turned the muzzle on the men across the car.
He aimed for their chests.
*BOOM! BOOM!*
The spreading pellets tore into their faces, necks, and chests. Those who were hit would not be getting up again.
*BANG!*
Far from the car, in front of the corridor leading to the cruise ship’s entrance, one of them fired a rifle.
*TING!*
The bullet slammed into the car’s frame, kicking up a fleeting spark.
Kanghyeok dropped the shotgun and grabbed the rifle in one smooth motion.
Then, he raised the muzzle toward them.
*Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!*
His shoulder was braced.
It was dark, but he could still aim, his sight picture perfectly aligned.
*Clang!*
But the bullets hammered against the steel wall. Kanghyeok adjusted his aim, sweeping the muzzle toward the men at the entrance.
*Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!*
Their screams were lost in the roar of gunfire and crashing waves.
Kanghyeok moved behind the wrecked car for cover, his eyes fixed on the men being cut down by his bullets.
'Three clicks right, two down.'
Kanghyeok pulled the rifle in close and took a clip from his pocket, even as the sound of more men rushing forward like a wave grew louder.
*Click. Click. Click.*
Kanghyeok used the clip to zero his rifle, slapped in a fresh magazine, and turned the muzzle on the next wave of men as they arrived.
*Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!*
The zeroed rifle sent bullets exactly where he wanted them to go.
*Clack. Thunk.*
Kanghyeok reloaded, using a fresh magazine to eject the spent one, then shifted his aim to their chests and lower bodies.
*Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!*
They collapsed in a tangled heap, blocking the entrance for those behind them.
'That's enough.'
Once enough of them had gathered, Kanghyeok set down the rifle.
He picked up the shotgun again.
Kanghyeok gripped the grenade launcher attached to the shotgun.
*Thump!*
With the sound of compressed air releasing in a single burst, the grenade arced through the air.
And then,
*KABOOOOOM!*
A brilliant explosion erupted, so intense it momentarily banished the darkness blanketing the cruise ship.
*Thud! Thud-thud.*
Kicking aside a piece of shrapnel that had landed near him, Kanghyeok walked toward the entrance, shotgun in hand.
Just then.
*Thwang! Whirr!*
Amos fired a grappling gun toward the upper deck of the cruise ship.
The attached rope whirled as it shot upward. When the hook caught on the railing, Amos yanked the rope hard.
The rope was firmly secured.
“Grab on.”
Amos wrapped the rope around his body and held out a hand to Gabriel.
The two began to scale the ship's outer wall.
*Squeeze!*
Their damp hands made the rope feel sticky.
The air still trembled from the explosion, and chunks of flesh rained down into the sea.
Kanghyeok had come.
Kanghyeok, the man who had cleared out that warehouse full of enemies with just a pistol, was here, and he had brought more guns.
That alone gave them immense strength.
*Thud!*
As soon as they were on board, their eyes met Kanghyeok's.
“Pfft.”
Amos let out a hollow laugh at the sight of Kanghyeok, hidden in the shadows, his weapon and his gaze trained on them. When Kanghyeok lowered his gun and stepped into a patch of moonlight, the smile vanished from Amos’s face.
“Sorry I'm late.”
A faint shiver ran down their spines at the sight of him.
Not just Amos, but Gabriel too.
It was the first time they had seen Kanghyeok in a suit.
A Company man.
The very image of the man the Father who had trained them warned they must never face on the battlefield.
So, were they afraid to face him?
Of course not.
Kanghyeok was not an enemy.
On the contrary, he was an ally, sharing their purpose, their space, and their enemy.
The shiver came from the knowledge that the most dependable person imaginable was now on their side.
*Thump-thump-thump!*
A multitude of footsteps echoed from the corridor inside the cruise ship.
The three of them gripped their weapons and turned to face the ship’s interior.
“Go.”
*Click.*
Amos switched the selector to full-auto and continued.
“We'll take the rear. You just push forward.”
Kanghyeok briefly glanced at Amos, then back to the corridor, and nodded.
Their goal was the complete destruction of the supplies loaded on this cruise ship.
On a cruise ship this large, there was no telling how many enemies would stand in their way.
With trustworthy people watching his back, he could focus solely on his objective.
*Clatter.*
Gabriel pulled a radio from a corpse near the wrecked car, changed the channel, and threw it to Kanghyeok.
“We'll use this to communicate.”
Kanghyeok pushed the earpiece of the radio he had caught into his ear.
He glanced at Amos and Gabriel, gave a solemn nod, and then plunged into the ship's interior, weapon raised.
*Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!*
Gunshots and screams immediately followed.
Gabriel and Amos also put on their radios and headed inside the cruise ship.
*Brrrrrrt!*
Their hearts felt significantly lighter than when they’d first boarded as they opened fire on the men lying in ambush for Kanghyeok.
As Kanghyeok descended the stairs, Amos and Gabriel took up positions at the top, covering both corridors.
*Brrrrt!*
With Gabriel watching his back, Amos took out a grenade.
Then he pulled the pin and threw it deep into the hull.
*KABOOM!*
The explosion, meant to draw the enemy’s attention toward them, echoed through the ship.
*Clang-clang-clang!*
Kanghyeok ran down the stairs, scanning various parts of the ship.
What he was looking for were their supplies.
To be precise, the chemicals loaded on this ship.
He didn’t know exactly what they were, but he knew for certain that they killed people in the most grotesque ways.
And it was also related to the thing that had destroyed the world in the future.
Even if it was an incomplete version, it had to be destroyed.
Because its completion meant the end of humanity.
“This way! Move here!”
“Split into two teams. The ones going up, hurry, and the rest, find that bastard!”
Kanghyeok pressed his body against the wall in a T-junction corridor.
He could sense them swarming just out of sight.
The distance was roughly twenty meters.
Kanghyeok pulled a Zippo lighter from his pocket. He held it out just past the corner, using its polished surface to count the hostiles.
They were splitting into two groups.
‘Armed with rifles and pistols.’
The muzzles were pointed down.
Putting the lighter back in his pocket, Kanghyeok licked his dry lips and glanced down at his shotgun.
*Click.*
He pressed a button, and the shotgun folded at its hinge.
In that position, he poked just the barrel around the corner and pulled the trigger.
*BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!*
The gunshots thundered down the corridor, followed by screams.
The spreading buckshot didn’t kill them.
It only inflicted enough pain to make them wish for death.
“Aaargh!”
“Guuuh!”
“It hurts, it hurts. Dammit!”
*Clack.*
Kanghyeok snapped the shotgun back into place, stepped out from behind the corner, and charged them, rifle in hand.
*Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!*
Blood erupted from the heads and chests of the men who had been focused on the direction he’d just fired from.
*Rat-tat-tat!*
The men behind them fired wildly, and several bullets slammed into Kanghyeok’s body.
*Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!*
But Kanghyeok did not take his finger off the trigger.
He’d been shot several times in this life without the suit.
He’d had bullets pass clean through him, some tearing through his guts.
Those times, without the armored suit, had been far more painful than this.
Which was why he could endure this.
Pain like this.
As he got closer to the men, Kanghyeok lowered the rifle under his arm and drew his pistol.
Five men left, close enough to touch.
*Thwack!*
Gripping his pistol with both hands, Kanghyeok smashed it against the side of a rifle, then aimed for the man’s chest.
*Bang-bang!*
He then pistol-whipped another man across the head,
*BANG!*
shot the man collapsing with a hand to his chest through the head,
*Bang-bang, bang!*
and shot the one raising his gun in the thigh, chest, and head, one after the other.
*Thud.*
A corpse got in his way. Annoying.
Two men remained, their faces frozen in expressions of those who had just seen a ghost, a monster.
Kanghyeok met their gaze and leveled his gun.
*BANG!*
Blood spurted from one man's eye as his head snapped back.
*Th-th-thump!*
Three bullets struck Kanghyeok.
The close-range impact was heavier than usual. Thrown back against the wall, Kanghyeok gritted his teeth against the dizzying pain, exhaled sharply, and picked up his shotgun.
Their expressions?
Deeper fear. Utter terror.
The faces of men who had seen a monster that defied all logic and comprehension.
Kanghyeok figured he’d probably wear the same expression if he saw someone who didn’t die after being shot. He curled his finger around the trigger.
*BOOM!*
One man was turned into a bloody rag. Looking at the other, Kanghyeok detached the shotgun’s magazine.
It was the man who had shot Kanghyeok.
*CRACK!*
The man, struck by the cylindrical magazine, clutched his face and doubled over. Kanghyeok pulled a fresh magazine from his hip pack and smashed it squarely into the back of the man’s head.
*CRUNCH!*
“Guuuhk!”
Kanghyeok grabbed the man's hair and forced his head up.
Then, he jammed the magazine into the man’s mouth.
*Crunch.*
Teeth shattered as the magazine lodged deep in his throat.
*Thump, thump, thump!*
Kanghyeok hammered the magazine with his fist, stopping just before the fourth blow.
The man had completely lost consciousness.
“Huu, huu.”
Kanghyeok twisted and pulled out the magazine and attached it to the shotgun.
Then he aimed at the back of the fallen man's head.
*BOOM!*
Blood spattered his suit. The smell of cordite stung his nostrils, sharp and acrid.
It was a foul feeling, but better than being one of the dead.
In any case, Kanghyeok stood before a staircase surrounded by corpses.
It was a staircase that could go both up and down.
‘Which way should I go?’
The answer came quickly.
‘Down.’
He could hear chaos erupting above.
Kanghyeok wasn’t the only intruder on this cruise ship.
Amos and Gabriel were up there, drawing the enemy’s fire.
So he would trust them and head down, toward the cargo.
*Clang-clang-clang!*
Sliding down the metal stairs, Kanghyeok swapped the magazines in his rifle and pistol.
It was then.
Kanghyeok felt a strange gaze.
He whipped his head around, his eyes locking onto the lens of a CCTV camera.
The camera, mounted above the stairs, was looking down at him. Kanghyeok slowly rolled his shoulders and met its gaze.
Then he drew his thumb across his own neck.
Just you wait.
I’ll be doing the same to you soon enough.
Kanghyeok delivered a clear message with his eyes and gesture.
To whoever was watching him through that camera.