Chapter 73

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Translator: True Detective

Chapter: 73

Chapter Title: Decoy Operation

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"It's raining."

Lieutenant Uven pulled the nucleus of the water demon from his pocket and hurled it as far as he could toward the factory district.

The distance between Lieutenant Uven and the factory was now roughly 6 or 7 kilometers, so the water demon's nucleus didn't even come close to the factory.

"Absorb the water."

At Lieutenant Uven's command, the nucleus he'd thrown far away began absorbing the falling rain.

"The rest of you, get ready."

"Ready? All we have to do is grab the bombs anyway."

This operation wasn't about wiping out the entire factory district.

The goal was to destroy only the key facilities to ensure the factories couldn't be reactivated.

"Don't worry about the bombs."

And naturally, the bombs had been prepared by the military.

"As you all know, this operation targets the destruction of the three self-contained power plants supplying electricity to the factory district."

There were tens of thousands of factories in the Lumen region.

Even if half had been destroyed in the initial bug attack, the remaining half were still relatively intact.

"Three power plants. Yeah, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠way more realistic than smashing every single one of those tens of thousands of factories."

"I'll distribute maps marking their locations."

Lieutenant Uven handed out the prepared maps, but the fixers who received them looked distinctly unimpressed.

And understandably so—the maps were old-fashioned paper ones, coated and unused even back in the day.

"Never thought I'd be planning an op with a paper map."

Alexon took his map and unfolded it fully for a look.

Fortunately, it was detailed like an aerial shot, showing factory positions and routes clearly.

"At least we won't get lost."

"Take these bombs as well."

Lieutenant Uven then handed over the military-prepared bombs.

The fixers opened the backpacks containing them and grimaced again.

"This is the bomb?"

The bombs were the classic type, with long fuses you lit to detonate.

"Shouldn't this be in a museum?"

"These are specially made to prevent bug infection."

Mechanical timers like on time bombs could fizzle out the moment bugs infected them.

These had been prepared to avoid that, and the fixers had no choice but to accept them.

"Yeah, bugs definitely can't infect this."

There were ten bombs per pack, thirty in total.

"Light the fuse, and it explodes in five minutes. Just get clear by then."

"...Five minutes feels short. What if the flame goes out midway?"

"It's treated not to extinguish easily. Even water won't put it out."

The fixers nodded at that, muttering about the five-minute window.

"Machines in the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠power plants will be a headache."

"Assume there are, since they could run the factories."

"Tch. Guns are primitive enough without dealing with machines too?"

And indeed, everyone here was armed with gunpowder-based firearms.

Cutting-edge weapons had naturally been infected by bugs, forcing the switch.

"Fixers, pair up two per team. We'll assign four soldiers per team."

Six per team to destroy a power plant.

This had already been discussed, so the fixers glanced at the soldiers.

"Fair enough. Let's check the soldiers' abilities first."

At the fixer's words, the soldiers promptly shared their abilities.

* * *

The next day, I checked the 4-channel broadcast that Quick Fix Doctor had mentioned.

Perfect timing—the broadcast had just started.

…………

……

As I watched the broadcast and chat, Sirien tilted her head and approached.

"Castaway. What're you doing?"

"Watching a 4-channel broadcast. They're running a big operation."

"Broadcast? Let me watch too!"

Sirien stuck right to me at the word "broadcast," just like back at the beastkin village.

She seemed really into other worlds' broadcasts.

'Or maybe just bored.'

There wasn't much to do in this labyrinth.

Just the gallery or hunting, so her interest in broadcasts made sense.

"No problem watching together."

I shared the gallery view with her.

"This is 4-channel? Doesn't look much different from 3-channel."

I'd expected bigger differences, but it looked similar so far.

'Can't use machines because of the bugs?'

Their guns were gunpowder types, not plasma.

Down to 3-channel tech levels, but no infection worries.

'But Sirien...'

Sirien was draped over my shoulder, peering at the screen.

Thanks to those two Raestal hearts, her weight was nothing, but I felt the contact.

'Wish I could adjust the gallery screen more freely.'

Speaking of, Rubyel had the same idea.

"Wish the screen was bigger. Oh, Castaway—can't you use telekinesis?"

"My telekinesis?"

"It's linked to your senses now. Like another hand, right?"

In other words, since telekinesis was like an extra limb, use it to resize the gallery screen.

'No way that'd...'

I grabbed the edge with telekinesis and pulled anyway.

"...?"

Amazingly, the screen expanded.

Rubyel gasped.

"See? It works."

"Yeah."

Why did it work?

'The sensory link?'

Anyway, I enlarged the screen for everyone, adjusting height to eye level.

Now we could all see, and they looked amazed, like discovering something new.

'Could watch movies together like this.'

No movies on the gallery, but broadcasts might do.

…………

……

Meanwhile, the artificial rain grew heavier.

As the downpour intensified, the water demon's main body swelled rapidly.

'Growing faster than expected.'

Absorbing groundwater too?

It reached about 30 meters, then headed for the factories.

'Even from here, it'll take a while.'

The factories looked far off.

At that sluggish speed, it'd be ages.

"Teams are set, so now assign power plants."

"The central one looks toughest. Right in the heart of enemy territory."

"We'll take that."

"...Why?"

"My electric barrier blocks bug infection."

A presumed fixer chuckled incredulously.

"Does that barrier stop bullets too? Then maybe."

"Not fully, but it weakens them a lot. And I can use it 20 times total. Should work."

'20 times?'

That many suggested ability specialization.

'Pumped him full of bloodstones.'

"But if you go, who handles the liquid monster?"

"A soldier here will. No need for fine control."

The officer-like man said he'd delegate the water demon to a soldier.

Strictly, having a specialized user just control it might be wasteful.

"Toughest plant destruction... Not bad."

A bob-haired woman with a sharp look snapped openly.

"You crazy? Bug infection? What here can even infect us? Worry about machines, not bugs."

"Bugs can still harass. Didn't you see guys die convulsing from ear crawlers?"

The woman fell silent, and the officer man spoke.

"Special helmets prevent that. You're safe."

"...Success means mid-tier for sure. Got it?"

'Mid-tier?'

Mid-grade awakening stone?

"Castaway. Mid-tier means awakening stone, right?"

"Probably. Guess they promised it as reward."

"Without you, they couldn't get one."

"They've got what I gave already. Should manage."

Separately, Ice Queen's deals today would net more stones and bloodstones.

'Few more days, and I could max telekinesis to level 30.'

With Hero Party in mind, keep stockpiling bloodstones.

'Oh, right—Incheon Alliance wants to borrow the Blast Grinder.'

Trade bloodstones for the loan. Even 2-3 days would yield plenty.

"Ah, they're moving out."

As Rubyel said, the 4-channel folks circled wide to infiltrate the factory zone.

Meanwhile, the forward-moving water demon hit 50 meters—and the factories reacted.

'Hm.'

Skeletal androids, tanks, drones—hundreds surged out, positioning warily against the demon.

'That many? Frontal assault's impossible.'

The 4-channel team knew, sneaking sideways under cover.

"Using the water demon as bait to slip in."

"With those numbers, infiltration's the only way."

"Key is how long the demon lasts."

Elisicia was right—if it dropped fast, op fails.

'But it won't go down easy.'

7-channel monster, plus pouring rain swelling it up.

Boom boom boom!!!—

Machines opened fire on the approaching demon.

Drones buzzed like flies with machine guns; tanks and perimeter turrets lobbed shells.

"Whoa. Like watching a world war."

I asked Rubyel curiously.

"World war?"

"Ground wars back in the day. Mages gathered en masse like that."

The broadcast showed endless explosions and smoke from shells.

Yet ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the water demon shrugged it off—physical defense too, apparently.

'Makes sense, it crushed zombies.'

Even 5th-stage Gigas grabbed its arm.

So considerable physical durability.

'But it's giving ground a bit.'

Bugs kept rallying machines since the demon wouldn't fall.

Hundreds became nearly a thousand—getting worrisome.

'3-channel just fought ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠zombies.'

4-channel unleashed bullets and shells in concentrated barrages.

Plus 4-channel tech meant serious power. The moment I thought that—

KABOOOM!!—

A single beam from somewhere pierced the water demon's body.