Chapter 219

Wait, before contemplating the current situation, which feels like a bad omen.

Let’s rewind a bit… to a time when we were busy checking if our machines were operating normally and if the hacking estimates were coming through well.

Leonar said nothing about my armament, which was so light it hardly seemed different from going for an outing. Should I say I trusted him since we held hands nicely? Or maybe I thought he’d handle things well by himself~.

Anyway, while I furrowed my brow at the overly bright lighting and the somewhat stiff new keyboard in the corner office of the warehouse, poking around the facility network…

He must not have been able to conduct any attention-grabbing test firing because he merely checked the barrels and ammunition of the heavy weapons mounted on the drone, while meticulously examining the battery levels, wings, the working performance of the hounds, and their simultaneous control capabilities. What he calmly provided as prepayment (?) was…

Two newly maintained Houndroids and eight somewhat modified drones with concerns about their power supply, all of which he decided to leave in the warehouse and nearby.

…As expected. And to be honest.

It seemed that Leonar felt a sense of responsibility as he observed the escort droids we had already encountered several times left behind, and I couldn’t help but feel slightly strange about the heavy presence of the Carebot that should normally be felt at my back, so I accepted it without hesitation.

While it could be easily stated that it was merely about 5% of the forces we prepared, considering the schedule of diving into the Exatech site, which boasted extreme defensive facilities that could be likened to having nine lives, it could be said he had put a lot of thought into it.

Thus, I too. To meet the expectations, I nearly exhausted myself shaking down… and harassing those friends over there, and so far, he seemed quite satisfied with the service provided from this side.

However… unless Leonar suddenly touched the drone.

What could be the reason for the camera of the one parked well for surveillance to suddenly shut down?

Thud—!!

Rumble…!

“!!”

Thinking that I needed physical feedback rather than a sense of omnipotence in the digital world, as soon as I loosened the connection.

The ringing in my ears shook, and along with the lab turret beginning to spit fire, I sensed an incident occurred and heard an airburst noise that smacked my eardrums, even the pedestrians who were passing by had disappeared from sight.

Did I impatiently open fire threatening the facility again? Oh, surely not, there’s no way someone is trigger-happy.

Moreover, if that were the case, then the sound of the wind ripping and the additional drone screen going out at the same time would just be coincidence, wouldn’t it? That seems like overly hopeful speculation, doesn’t it?

Even though it was intended for contingencies against any suspicious individuals approaching around the scrapyard, I had just disguised it well among piles of scrap to prevent unnecessary suspicion and parked it out of sight…

“……Ah, damn.”

Creak, creak. I could feel the ground vibrating slightly.

It felt as if many people were stomping their feet together in a concert… No, no. It was more of a well-timed, regular vibration. This heavy movement seemed to align with a military formation…?

…Hmm, if army-style guests were to show up at this timing, I couldn’t help but feel a terrible premonition.

“What’s going on? Did any variables come up?”

“I’m about to find that out…!”

Bang!!

This time, a much clearer and purer explosion sound came from a closer location.

Of course, it must be so. Earlier, when the pile of iron was smashed along with the camouflage, just now a drone I sent up for surveillance was shot down as soon as it barely managed to turn the camera.

It was intercepted too quickly for it to have a chance to resist with the weapon it was equipped with.

With its wings and control device precisely destroyed, it spiraled down with its last cries. The loyal unmanned aerial vehicle had barely sent back the shape of a droid soldier that oozed a futuristic and sharp feel.

It seemed to differ a lot from the ones I had been observing through someone else’s eyes inside the facility with heavy armor, but the hexagon and gear patterns embossed on its shoulder clearly represented their affiliation.

The unit Exa itself derives from the Greek word hex, meaning six, and even in the pixelated video, the company’s emblem appeared clearly… Oh crap, this is bad!

“Leonar!? I thought we had gotten through without being discovered! What the hell is happening…… No, I’m sure we had blocked all the entrances so that not even an ant could escape. Didn’t we say there was no emergency escape route?!”

“If it were another hacker, I would consider the possibility of being traced back. But in your case, it’s amusingly unrealistic that you would be the cause.”

Believing that if we occupied the outer walls, there wouldn’t be any threats protruding, we boldly initiated a large-scale invasion.

When the supposed safe rear base – which was practically just me left behind! – ended up being attacked, he too realized the anomaly and hastily groped for reverse reasoning.

“Those are rapid-response droids used by external patrols. Considering that what we deployed was not a signal jamming but a network blockade… it seems someone inside the lab requested support forces from a nearby Exatech manufacturing plant using special communications. Since petty thieves often target warehouses, they tend to secure the outer edges of the site.”

Leonar, who had muttered that much, paused for a moment.

Okay, I knew about the independent unit of rapid-response droids in external patrols. Knowing that didn’t allow me to change my response method, but it was good to quickly identify their identity.

…But what I really wanted to know was, ‘how exactly did they know the location of this place and come to retaliate?’

A brief recollection, a hint of contemplation, and adding his unique logical induction helped him quickly reach some truth while suppressing the surging anger as if he felt embarrassed.

“Coincidentally. I have a guess about someone who possesses special communication devices and has vague knowledge of this place. …I’m sorry, it’s a critical mistake on our part. Is it still possible to escape and take refuge in a manhole? Because those bastards are likely after me, so if you can just get away, they won’t pursue you any further.”

“…You just want me to run away alone? What about you inside??”

“……”

No answer came.

Was he aware of how hard I was working? Engaged in electronic warfare against nearly a hundred hostile engineers? He fell silent with an attitude that said he would take responsibility for whatever happened.

There was no way to know if all the facility’s usable forces that had been suppressed would be unleashed to trigger some hopeless battle, and even if all the piled-up problems got resolved, I could not tell what might happen if those reliable high-caliber turrets chose to target him.

It was better to escape than to stay and end up getting hurt for no reason.

The problem was… that this serious moment was uttered by someone still stuck in the middle of it. Why does this person carry such a dramatic air? If something went wrong in a group project, we should be working together to solve it instead of shouldering all the blame. He’s living as someone who takes unnecessary losses.

Of course, even though I was just a cosplay mercenary without a shred of a professional spirit, I had no intention of irresponsibly bailing out before settling the matter at hand.

From the game’s perspective, Leonar might have had a twisted mental state, but he still survived.

Originally, this would be approached much more cautiously rather than bringing all forces to smash in without any forethought. If I back out now because it’s getting dangerous, wouldn’t that practically mean I’m the one causing his death?

Naturally, that’s an excessive imagination and speculation. He has no way of knowing about a future he hasn’t experienced… but isn’t this also a part of the pain one has to endure when one knows more than others?

“……Ha, I really didn’t think this was the right time for this, but I guess I’ll just have to die suffering.”

“Wait, don’t push yourself…!”

To focus my mind, I briefly turned my cyberware into a reception-denied state.

It might be a little embarrassing, but I tend to struggle with anything that makes me nauseous. I don’t enjoy getting shot… but I have to help as much as I can.

Charging out to escape through the manhole is the worst idea; the best option is to dive again and take out the operators controlling this task force.

But was there even time to choose between either of the two? Was the encirclement complete? How close were the enemies? Didn’t they just call them “rapid-response” droids?

Click—!

“Phew…!”

All the precious indoor light sources that were conducting electricity in some form suddenly disappeared.

In an instant, my vision was engulfed in darkness, allowing me to loosen my tense breath slightly with exaggerated deep inhalations.

Yeah, before entering the building, cutting off power is the basics of basics. I had anticipated this and changed the subject of the hacking process that was being handled by the computer to myself. As a result, there’s currently no impact on Leonar. Although my head feels like it’s going to explode.

What remains underwater are two Houndroids and five drones, while the scale of the enemy is unknown. However, I have a winning strategy that isn’t even recorded in “The Art of War.”

If the number of allies is too small… we can gradually increase it, step by step.