Chapter 59
Chapter 59
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: Breaking Through the Underground Base
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Bang! Rat-a-tat-tat-bang! Bang!
“Kraaak!”
“Aaak!”
“Keuk!”
The Shooter’s AK rifle unleashed a barrage of bullets, and the minions struck by them screamed as they collapsed.
But a few among them ignored the penetrating and stopping power of the AK rifle’s 7.62 rounds and charged forward.
“Die!”
Boom! Boom! Boom!
In response, the Attacker fired his shotgun at the minions closing in despite enduring the Shooter’s bullets.
However, the shotgun didn’t have much effect on the minions who had withstood the AK rounds either.
It meant their bio armor was that exceptional.
Crunch!
“Kuuk!”
The Guard blocked the advancing bio-armored minions with his shield out front.
Clang! Clang-clang-clang!
Seizing that moment, the Attacker tossed his shotgun and drew his main weapon, a longsword, swinging it wildly.
But even the Attacker’s longsword failed to pierce the minions’ bio armor.
Boom! Boom! Boom-boom!
“Kuuk!”
In the end, the Guard, who had been fending off the repeated attacks from the bio-armored minions, let out a stifled groan.
He was holding them off somehow, but it was clear he wouldn’t last much longer.
That was when it happened.
Crackle! Crunch!
Crack! Crack!
The bodies of three bio-armored minions attacking the Guard twisted in unnatural directions.
“Keuk!”
At the same time, the Jumper spat blood and staggered.
“You okay?”
The Commander supported the Jumper as he asked.
“It’s getting tough. Maybe once or twice more at best. After that, I’m fully out.”
The Jumper wiped his bloodied lips with his sleeve as he replied.
Just moments ago, it had been the Jumper’s doing that twisted the bio-armored minions’ bodies unnaturally.
He had used his space-teleportation ability on the enemies to exert physical force, but in this place where abilities were severely restricted, it was as good as his final trump card.
“Wait there! Kill them!”
“Found them!”
“Kill them!”
Yet despite the Jumper’s efforts, more minions poured out from around the bent corridor.
“This is…”
The Commander judged that continuing the operation was no longer feasible.
They still had plenty of firearms and grenades left, but there were bio-armored minions they couldn’t suppress with those.
The Shooter and Attacker had their own last resorts, but those needed to be saved for survival.
So retreat was the only option now.
The Commander turned his gaze to Geon-woo and Pang.
The two were merely observing from the rear, not providing any assistance.
“Director!”
The Commander called out to Geon-woo.
“Okay. You know what calling me means, right?”
Geon-woo asked, looking at the Commander.
“I’ll strictly stick to the observer role.”
“Good. I trust you’ll keep that promise.”
After the Commander’s response, Geon-woo issued that warning and nodded to Pang.
“What? You want me to do it?”
“Should I do it then?”
“Tch!”
Pang clicked his tongue inside the helmet covering his face and launched himself toward the minions.
Whoosh! Crack! Crunch! Thud!
Clang! Slash! Slash! Slish!
Pang leaped into the midst of the minions as if folding space itself, crushing them in an instant.
After dispatching a few with his limbs, he drew his longsword, and the situation resolved even faster.
“Wh-what? H-how…”
A bio-armored minion couldn’t finish his words, mouth agape, before collapsing.
His expression showed disbelief at how his chitinous armor had been sliced clean through.
“What the hell is that?”
“How’d he cut through the bio armor?”
“Kill it!”
“Attack!”
As Pang sliced through their bio armor entirely, the minions began to waver.
At that, a few from the rear shouted attack orders.
“Sh-shit!”
“Attack!?”
“Kill it!”
The wavering minions then desperately charged at Pang and the Guardians again.
“Yeah, come die! You’ve all got bombs in your heads anyway—no choice, right?”
Pang met the charging minions with a pitiful glare and advanced.
Clang! Crunch! Thump! Slash! Slash!
Clang! Clang-clang!
“Fuck, that’s bullshit!”
“The blade won’t go in!”
“How the hell are we supposed to attack this!?”
“Get out of the way! Move up front!”
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
Clang-clang-clang-clang-clang!
“Damn, what a joke, this balance is trash.”
“Balance is for crazy bastards. This a game or what!”
Slash!
As the minions threw themselves at Pang, someone from the rear fired an MG50 with 50mm rounds.
But even taking those full-on, Pang suffered no damage, closing in on the panicked gunner and severing his neck.
“Uwaaak!”
“Keueok!”
“R-run…!”
Splatter! Splurt!
The minions fell helplessly to Pang’s attacks, and a few who tried to flee had their head restraints activate, exploding their skulls.
As the minions began to clear out rapidly, the retreat order finally came.
“Fall back! Run!”
“Retreat! Retreat!”
“Uwaaaa!”
“Run!”
“Uwaaaaaa!”
The minions, who had been charging without fleeing due to their restraints, pulled back the instant the retreat order was given, vanishing around the bent corridor in a flash.
All that remained were the fallen dead or dying minions.
“Haa.”
Pang let out a deep breath and returned to Geon-woo’s side.
Among them, the Attacker and Shooter finished off the surviving minions.
Bang! Bang! Baaang!
Geon-woo watched the Guardians cleaning up, then turned to Pang and asked.
“How was it?”
“Fine. The armor’s performance and doping effects are intact.”
Pang answered Geon-woo’s question like that.
Because he knew Geon-woo wasn’t asking about his injuries or mental state.
Pang had been selected for the Onboard 1st Exploration Team.
They wouldn’t have asked her about psychological trauma from combat, and Geon-woo already knew the performance of Yultren’s armor well.
Answering about the impact of this semi-ability field, Pang checked himself once more.
“That one was different, right?”
In the midst of that, Geon-woo pointed at one of the fallen minions and asked.
“You saw?”
Pang looked at Geon-woo with a slightly surprised voice in response.
“Your sword wavered midway, didn’t it? Means that one’s armor had serious resistance.”
“Yeah, spot on. Honestly, a bit tougher and I might not have cut it.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. The blade might not have stuck at all. It was close for me too.”
“Pretty tough, huh?”
“Well, if I focus, it might be easier, but that means if my focus slips, it could block.”
“Bio armor at that level already? And it didn’t seem like command staff.”
“Maybe low-rank officer level?”
“Even so, isn’t the bio armor fusion happening too fast?”
Geon-woo furrowed his brow, creases forming on his forehead.
Those injected with bio armor could no longer be considered human.
Their souls or minds might remain as before, but they had to be seen as demonkin already.
It was only a matter of time before the bio armor turned them fully into demonkin—an inevitable fate.
“Bugs become beasts, beasts become humanoid, and those humanoids molt into demonkin…”
“But humans injected with bio armor skip that, right?”
“Think of it as an extreme shortcut of the bug-beast-humanoid process. At that level, it’s basically demonkin.”
Geon-woo pointed at the minion whose bio armor had resisted Pang’s sword.
“Means demonkin numbers will spike fast.”
Pang said in a heavy voice too.
“Director, cleanup’s done.”
Then the Commander, having finished clearing the battlefield, called to Geon-woo.
Geon-woo nodded and started walking again toward the direction the minions had retreated.
* * *
Boom! Boom!
Rumble!
“Crazy bastards!”
The Commander muttered under his breath, glaring at the collapsing ceiling.
But his voice, gritted between clenched teeth, was drowned out by the explosions.
“They’re getting serious, huh?”
Pang approached Geon-woo’s side.
“Probably. We’re almost at the core now. No more places to dodge, and they can’t stop us properly, so this is their move.”
The underground base in Cheonjungchon.
The closer they got to the center, the fiercer the minions’ resistance grew.
But the Yultren armor Pang wore didn’t allow their attacks through.
Even when the occasional bio armor tough enough to trouble Pang appeared, a single gesture from Geon-woo ended it.
With the situation like this, the demonkin were resorting to collapsing the base with their own hands.
It started with crumbling a few meters, escalated a few times, and now they’d chosen to blow the entire base.
“Director, you okay?”
The Commander snapped to and approached Geon-woo.
He’d realized the group had escaped the blast only thanks to Geon-woo.
And considering abilities were extremely limited here, using such power would take a toll on Geon-woo, so he showed concern.
“Gonna ditch the observer role?”
But Geon-woo only gave the Commander a cold response.
Right now, Neuron Age’s Guardian special team was little more than baggage.
No help, just a burden.
If Neuron Age’s role in assaulting the base wasn’t significant, he’d have cut them loose multiple times by now.
“Sorry.”
Sticking to observer role meant don’t interfere.
The Commander understood and immediately apologized, stepping back.
“Hmm. Tough.”
Geon-woo had his telekinesis pushed to the extreme.
The closer to the base center, the stronger the restrictions on abilities.
That’s why creating a space to shield seven people from the recent explosion had been barely successful.
In that state, he’d just maxed his telekinesis one last time to scout the base’s situation.
That’s why he said it was tough.
“How’s it look? See anything?”
Pang asked, clearly understanding what Geon-woo had done.
“About 20 meters ahead collapsed. Beyond that, there’s surviving space.”
“Then that’s the destination?”
“Likely.”
“Alright. I’ll clear the path.”
Pang said that and maxed the armor’s performance, starting to shove aside the fallen rocks and dirt.
The Guardian special team, watching her cues, began helping Pang too.
Geon-woo didn’t stop that much.
Instead, he used his remaining telekinesis to subtly support, preventing the tunnel Pang cleared from collapsing again.
‘No need to do everything alone. But damn, there were quite a few?’
While doing so, he recalled the demonkin and minions he’d spotted in the space beyond the recent collapse, furrowing his brow.
Their final resistance wouldn’t be easy.