Chapter 103

I focused on my wildly shaking vision, which was dizzying enough to make me feel nauseous.

Reflexively, I swung my arm to swipe away the gun aimed at me.

With the recoil, the hidden blade mercilessly pierced my exposed upper body, and before I could even breathe my last, the fired round penetrated the brute’s forehead.

As one of them was taken care of, my view was again thrown into chaos.

Had Zero leaped using the wall as a support? He crossed a flipped-over train, grabbing another one by the head and smashing it into the ground.

The sound of gunfire and the glint of blades were accompanied by bursting flesh and tearing skin. And the viscous bodily fluid was…

“…Ugh.”

“…? Are you feeling warm, sister? Should I lower the temperature in the cabin a bit?”

A wave of heat crept up from below my neck, so I fanned myself, assuming it was a result of the rising temperature due to the damage around the vehicle, but I declined Rosaline’s kind offer.

I merely wanted to avert my gaze from the bloody scene… but I was barely holding it together.

I wasn’t watching this out of a sudden interest in bizarre tastes or due to a lack of resistance to gore.

I had also intended to confirm how much Zero could fight.

There was a lot of room for things to go wrong if I hastily reached conclusions without checking out the current status of the Taito gang—its remaining strength—especially since there were some pretty gruesome cybernetically augmented individuals mixed in.

…Well, couldn’t I just view this as the sound pressure prediction model made by Rosaline?

If looking at such a poor overview could help me understand the situation, I would be a seasoned soldier, not a civilian trying to mimic a hacker while being a newbie mercenary.

I hadn’t realized when I completely immersed myself in consciousness, but trying to borrow just a bit of visual perception felt like an absurd disconnect between my still body and the moving screen.

Is this what they call VR motion sickness…?

Exiting into the hallway past a few train cars, the vividly existing scene was not virtual but reality, nonetheless.

“I didn’t expect you to come this far into a rescue operation. But thanks to you, I’ve lived in many ways. I think you’re adapting pretty well to Five Eyes. Are you not interested?”

“……That’s enough!”

After Asyef jokingly made a remark while blood dripped down his body, I politely refused, causing Rosaline, who was beside me, to look disappointed for some reason.

Fortunately, most of the blood seemed to be from the pile of flesh lying far ahead, but the weariness was already visibly oozing from his complexion.

…This guy is quite broad-minded.

When asked to risk one’s life to save a complete stranger, anyone would start from “This? Me? Why?” But I think it’s impressive that he can devote himself until he’s totally exhausted.

Well, is that why he can roam boldly, even with the label of a resistance fighter? A strong character might be a strength in itself.

– …If you try to distract Ahsa with nonsense again, I’ll knock you out this time. –

“I was merely giving a compliment.”

I calmed Zero, who was getting riled up, warning him that getting entangled with this rough fugitive, who wielded an axe against someone else’s property, was dangerous.

…To me, he seemed uneasy being next to someone he had just fought, but it was amusing how he tried to reason with me to persuade me otherwise.

“Phew… Alright.”

Now that I was certain everyone I was concerned about was safe, I just had to tidy up this mess… well, no, I just needed to drive those thugs away.

Upon thinking about it, tidying up was the job of the post-corporate response team rushing in, not mine.

I cleared my throat and recalled the recommendations I had prepared.

“Can you turn up the communication output a bit so those bastards can hear it well?”

– Confirmed. –

Clunk!!

As Zero stepped forward, his leg crushed a corpse’s arm with a loud noise.

Amidst the echoing gunfire, the sound of steel alloy shattering bones was so jarring it drew the attention of the bewildered crowd towards Zero.

Mouths agape, shaking eyes, nervous expressions.

The destroyed detachment, the other team that had lost contact, the delayed assault plans.

Alright, that should create an ambiance of fear that overflows.

Now, let’s try to persuade them to surrender and have them get the hell out of here…

“D-.. Droid! The corporate bastards are here…!!”

“Uh.”

“Huh?”

– ……. –

“Hmm…?”

The shriek from a Taito gang member pointed unambiguously at Zero, who openly occupied the corridor.

I wasn’t sure if Asyef was included in that finger-pointing, prepared to continue the shootout, but judging by the wary looks directed at him, he seemed to be deemed an equal threat.

Both Rosaline and I in the back confirmed the location of the current support forces simultaneously and looked at each other, asking silently if we knew anything. Up front, the two exchanged glances, knowing each other’s affiliations while looking askance at the other as if questioning who was to blame.

It seemed that I wasn’t the only one having trouble understanding the logic behind that shout.

So… that… Droid is a ridiculously expensive combat weapon, so it must mean that corporate troops have arrived! …Is that it?

Even if it’s somewhat rough, it follows a plausible theory, so it wasn’t wrong… no, it was completely wrong this time.

“Ahhhh… finally…! Holding on with gritted teeth was worth it!”

“W-What do we do now, chief?!”

Passengers cheering as if they were more than grateful for the appearance of ruthless public authority.

In contrast, the criminals turned pale, sensing their irreparable doom and impending fate as potential corpses.

On this end, we hadn’t even mentioned our purpose, let alone introduced ourselves, yet they were chattering away amongst themselves, desperately busy.

“Where’s the guy timing?! I told you to let me know immediately if things got dangerous…!”

“I got hit by Big Boy earlier and it blew up!”

“Such a goddamn mess!!”

“Those guys are nothing but primitive!”

“…This is a bit unsettling.”

I felt that my expectations were slightly off, though not quite as much as Rosaline, who was huffing intensely.

We were now going to rob the cross-country train in Metropolis, and taking into account the escape method with hovercraft on hand and the fact that they had quite the number of subordinates.

I thought there would be a calm negotiation between the gang leader and me, but could it be just the pitiful act of a coward making horrendous precautions for safety?

I scanned the lined-up Taito gang.

Indeed, there was no mistake in the intelligence that the main forces were gathered behind.

Wary of getting entangled, they clumsily pulled out makeshift bombs and a stash of explosives they had been too afraid to reveal until now, resembling a glass cannon display.

The two who had confirmed the opponent’s stance—seemingly ready to self-destruct now that they’d already lost—tensed up like drawn bows.

…Did I push too hard?

Originally, I had planned to ensure a safe withdrawal, feeling slightly reluctant to abandon the fight.

I recalled the boxes of supplies neatly stacked away in a corner of the hovercraft.

It would be less than what they had hoped for, but looking at it another way, they also had half as many mouths to feed, so wouldn’t they be inclined to accept it and flee…? My modest hope fell apart as I realized they had no intention of turning back.

This is why I had tried openly to create a way out, yet why were these bastards sticking their necks out, prepared for a desperate fight?

“Miss…? If you don’t have any brilliant tricks up your sleeve, can we just attack first? Right now, I could take out at least three.”

– …Order it. –

I looked at the two seemingly unconcerned about entering a powder keg that would explode any moment.

Since they were amateurs, this duo, clearly distinguishing between front and rear, would leap into action to eliminate the thugs the moment a confrontation unfolded.

But.

“Not great…”

I didn’t even like the slight risk we had to take to clean up these idiots.

Again, I must reiterate… it’s a gun that won’t fire even if a baby pulls the trigger gently.

At that moment of pondering for a sharper plan, a very good idea struck me.

Was there really any need to clarify their misunderstanding? After all, wouldn’t it suffice to just push them into the hovercraft once the manipulation was done?

Moreover, I recalled research—an internet post—that stated people often have a hard time realizing decisions they made on their own are results induced by their environment or surroundings.

Since it had come to this, if I accelerated their misperception and added a bit of theatrics, wouldn’t it really become the perfect bait?

“From now on, turn up the volume of what I’m about to say to the maximum, and add some noise. Make it look even more convincing.”

Having rolled under the branch of a manager with top-notch results and experience as a temporary regular for one or two months, I had learned enough manuals and about real situations to be sick of them.

So, let’s see if they can resist this.

– Ahem… Ah…! This is the Harvest Planet Border Defense Force, FG-01 and subordinate exploration robots. We request your close cooperation in investigating armed robbery and explosion incidents. –