Chapter 249

Chapter 249. The Chaotic Operation to Win Over the Lovable Icarus (2)

Following Jessica’s instructions, the remaining 10 or so superhumans from the Humanity Clan were swiftly detained. After receiving the situation report from Jessica, I turned to Tiara with a bored expression and opened my mouth.

“So… can someone please explain what the heck is going on here?”

“Hmm.”

Tiara’s face didn’t look panicked, but rather… well, it was like she was mentally broken, thinking, “Are there really people dumb enough to do this kind of thing?”

After letting out a deep sigh, Tiara began to explain the situation to me. And after some back-and-forth…

“…Who on earth thought it was a good idea to include the opposition in the delegation?”

“I agree, but the opposition insisted on participating… It’s all just petty power struggles, really.”

Watching Tiara blankly sigh while staring at the distant mountains—no, the distant universe—through the large glass window in the reception room, I quietly pressed X to pay my respects to her middle-management struggles.

Separately, I wanted to confirm once and for all whether this mess was really not Humanity’s doing. In response to my reaction, Tiara asked for some time to chat with Antares.

“…The Clan Leader says it’s just those guys being idiots and that Humanity Clan has nothing to do with this.”

“Hmm.”

With the legal permission to capture or eliminate the superhumans now granted, I nodded and gestured for Jessica, who was waiting, to come over.

“Jessica, how many intruders are in the base right now?”

“Seven. But three of them are moving as a team… probably under one commander.”

“Since we’ve got permission from Humanity Clan, capture or eliminate them all.”

“Understood. I’ll relay the orders.”

Of course, I’d love to capture them all like Smeragi, but after the disaster that happened when I tried to capture Smeragi and two other S-class superhumans at once, I decided to leave it to the superhumans to handle thoroughly, whether they killed or spared them.

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One of the superhumans swept up by the Indian Machete’s instigation, Setia, took an unusual infiltration route. Instead of using ventilation ducts, she moved through internal passages, exploiting blind spots in the surveillance cameras. Her target was Icarus’s base’s resource production facilities.

-“Setia, you need to destroy as many resource facilities as possible, got it?”

“Yes, Commander.”

Setia nodded at her commander’s increasingly unreliable communication and continued toward her target. But right after…

*Thud!*

*Boom!*

Thick barriers suddenly appeared, blocking Setia’s path.

“So, the rumor about a rat infiltrating the base was true.”

“…Commander, I’ve encountered an enemy superhuman.”

-“What? Which one?”

“You should give up on returning in one piece.”

“…It’s Ignis, and she’s much more advanced than me.”

-“Oh, of all people…”

With fiery red hair and a suit radiating intense heat, Ignis appeared, wielding two energy blades. Setia, though of a higher rank, tensed up and prepared for combat, knowing Ignis’s close-combat prowess was superior. However, for an assassin like Setia to win against a bruiser-type like Ignis was absurd.

Moments later…

“Ugh…”

-“This isn’t working, Setia. Surrender.”

“I surrender. Spare me.”

“Wow.”

Following her commander’s orders, Setia, covered in cuts (?), tremblingly raised her arms to surrender to Ignis. And as for the other infiltrating superhumans, their situations weren’t any better.

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Raymond, who infiltrated the shipyard to destroy facilities, faced Partia and, after resisting, was subdued by her martial arts.

Got beaten up and subdued.

Being forced to repent.

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‘Rococo’ tried to disrupt the fleet’s movement by cutting the circuits of the fleet’s long-distance teleportation system.

Got surrounded by Belial’s doll army during the infiltration.

Then got preemptively caught by Smeragi, played as a “hunting game,” and dismembered.

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‘Rakan’ infiltrated the base through the water supply and ventilation system to destroy the Graviton Detection Radar.

Got caught in a tight space due to Gryanarr’s water purification and tentacles that escaped from the lab, ending up in a sticky situation.

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Even though they were of the same rank, the infiltrating superhumans were merely assassins in style.

The opposing superhumans were close-combat specialists, making it difficult for the infiltrators to engage in direct combat.

The only viable strategy was to avoid direct confrontation and rely on their assassin-style “ambush.”

Unfortunately, the base was equipped with detection devices like a living organism’s nervous system, thanks to Gryanarr, Oxianor, and others.

No matter what they did, Gryanarr and the monster side instantly located them and relayed their positions in real-time.

The assassins lost their ambush advantage and were brutally toyed with in direct combat.

As for ‘Rakan,’ he was stuck in a tight space with tentacle monsters, making it a bizarre horror show.

It was a total unfair situation, but hey, life’s tough.

If this continued for another 4-5 hours, they’d lose half their lives, regardless of goodwill.

Gryanarr patted himself on the back, thinking it was a job well done.

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While the superhumans he incited were being defeated or slaughtered for various reasons.

The superhumans of Indian Machete—‘Mirai,’ ‘Sherpa,’ and ‘August’—were advancing toward the Biological Research Institute.

Unlike the other user’s assassin-type superhumans who got taken out while acting alone.

Mirai, being a bruiser-type, along with Sherpa and August for sub-DPS and buffs, pushed forward despite the onslaught of mobs and defense turrets triggered by Icarus’ alert.

Of course, this was possible because the other four superhumans were sacrificing themselves (?) to buy time.

The Indian Machete superhumans abandoned stealth and charged in to make this ambush successful.

But as mentioned earlier, no matter how stealthy they were, they were like monkeys in Buddha’s palm inside the base.

So, charging in quickly was actually the right move.

But even their relentless advance eventually met its end…

“Hmm, seems like I’ve hit the jackpot with three.”

“!”

“Halt!”

“What, what’s going on?”

Mirai, the close-combat bruiser, August for sub-DPS, and Sherpa for party buffs.

The three superhumans faced her, who could hold her own against 4-5 SSS-rank opponents in a base filled with monster cells.

Her suit transformed into writhing tentacles and exoskeletons, twisting the base’s terrain like a monster’s innards.

Then, Oxianor appeared, spewing out masses of monsters and weaponized tentacles.

Watching through the three superhumans, Indian Machete realized Icarus’ superhuman forces were beyond insane and uttered an immortal line:

“This game’s busted.”