Chapter 52

“……!!”

The unit members of the collection team lined up near the entrance simultaneously drew in a sharp breath.

Amidst the chilling metallic sound, one of the members, who had been preparing to conduct an interrogation to assess the situation, hurriedly adjusted their rifle.

Even if they were from the Mega Cop military, the response and handling were not poor, but the circumstances were too dire.

Despite having four collection units in total, two of them had been deployed here only after the breakout incident and knew nothing of this area.

The remaining two were those who were supposed to be disciplined for their inadequate response, having witnessed the hostage situation firsthand just a moment ago.

…Of course, while they followed the higher-ups’ judgment to prioritize the safety and survival of the VIP, they found it hard to be free from the transferred blame and the anger of the parties involved, so they maintained a passive stance.

Chwaaaak—!!

From below to above.

The severed head of the frontline member, clearly cut apart, twisted back, and blood splattered like a crescent as it stuck to the ceiling.

“W-What is this…?!”

In front of them was still the protected doctor. Right next to him lay the corpse of a comrade, perfectly blocking the line of sight.

This time, there was no time to reach out to anyone.

Even if it were an enemy using close-quarters weapons, at this range and in this arrangement, the threat was lethal. Moreover, judging by the amount of blood splattering, one could imagine how deep the cuts had gone into the helmet and body armor.

“Contact—!”

“Engaging with an intruder on the HA floor…!!”

“Ugh?!”

The unit member closest to the VIP quickly grabbed the doctor by the collar and pulled him towards their side. The doctor, suddenly dropped in the middle of the battlefield and losing his balance, screamed, but that was the end of their concern.

Szzzzak!

“C-Crap…?!”

Dga-ga-gak!!

The unit member who had intended to report the commencement of battle used the rifle he held as a makeshift cover upon seeing an incoming deadly strike, but it shattered instantly, and his body was caught in an overwhelming shock, causing him to fall backward.

In that brief moment, the remaining member, considering the disadvantage of normal rifle rounds he had been carrying during regular security, switched to a magazine loaded with armor-piercing rounds and retaliated against the corpse embedded in the uniform and the betrayed police beyond it.

Coldness and composure.

It could be said that each was a prime example of expertise, quickly assessing and executing their roles, but if one were to ask whether they could stop the bloodthirsty warrior prepared for carnage, the answer would be uncertain.

Bang!!

A shadow elongated along the sleek, tiled floor.

Formless, light as a feather, yet it sprang forth so robustly that the sturdy tiles shattered with a loud noise, but to the eyes of the collection team members, it appeared as a shadow of death.

Bullets that pierced through body armor, flesh, and bone, without losing their speed, whizzed past Helena’s ears, causing her to lower herself as much as possible and charge at the fallen comrade.

In an instant, she reached her target, firing a beam of light aimed at the fallen unit member, who had tried to grasp his sidearm.

“Grrk…?!”

The just-drawn handgun uselessly rolled on the ground.

His outstretched hand groped for the incoming beam of light, confirming its shape, and he went to grasp it with lingering hope.

Like a guillotine falling straight down, the katana pierced his neck in a straight line and sank to the ground, and with the soldier being on the verge of death, it undoubtedly wouldn’t be easy to pull it out.

“Gotcha! You malicious bastard…!”

Dga-gak!!

Because of the armor-piercing rounds loaded, Helena couldn’t fire indiscriminately, and amidst the fierce shaking of the gun barrel of the enemy, who was solely focused on her line, she leaped effortlessly.

…After all, it was Helena who wielded the sword, so the innocent sterilization facility was quickly sliced through.

Even the direction she jumped towards was not backward but forward. The boldness of targeting the remaining unit member trying to engage once the doctor was safely evacuated clearly showcased who held the upper hand in this place.

“Do you think you can fight me with your bare hands, you bastard?!”

“…….”

Gripping his teeth, he glared at the wild punches that seemed to convey there was no worth in exchanging words.

Without a moment to utilize different tools, they became locked into a close-quarters combat.

It seemed the decision was made to avoid the extremely cautious ally, but… he considered himself a unique individual who had built considerable strength beyond merely the modified enhancements provided by Paradise.

“You arrogant bastard…!”

To firmly engrain the truth that it was foolish and stupid thinking, he stood his ground rather than evading and struck with all his power.

Gugung!!

“………Damn.”

The last member saw the collision through the scope and released the rifle, sighing deeply.

Helena’s aversion to firearms was perhaps similar to that of the sniper from the earlier-turned collection squad.

…While she appreciated the elegance of blades as a personal preference, directly wielding a weapon posed much less risk of mistake compared to scattering bullets.

A weapon to avoid unintentionally killing someone.

And… a sheathed blade to ensure hesitation wouldn’t come if a resolution was made.

The katana was merely a means to express her mindset; even if momentarily set aside, the momentum did not change at all.

The first man’s finger could not withstand the difference in strength, extended wide, and then shattered; next, the wrist meant to back the punch buckled, followed by the adjacent arm which crumpled like a sponge.

Or rather… one could say it burst.

The absurd confrontation resolved without even remotely deserving to be called a match, and with a loud thud, the captured fool’s head drooped… he communicated back to the command structure professionally.

“……This is the surviving member of the collection unit at Harvesting Zone elevator 3. Requesting the status suspension and bounty for intruder DS3-1.”

A quickly overwhelming adversary providing no opportunity even to utilize the combat gadgets and overwhelming firepower of the collection unit.

While he had never expected a pretty end while working in an obligation wrapped in confidentiality, he mumbled that he never thought he would die at the hands of a police officer he had regarded as beneath him, and pulled the trigger one last time.

Tick. Tick-tick….

“……Dammit.”

…He recalled belatedly that the armor-piercing rounds had an extremely small magazine capacity.

Even so, the collection squad was considered the top military group around, so how could they be dusted off in less than a minute?

Kwa-gak!!

The designated marksman exposed as just that before a monstrous powerhouse of the 22nd century, a veritable embodiment of unreasonable violence, also quickly fell.

Now, the only one left in decent condition was the dumbfounded doctor.

“What… what on earth are you?! Are you a spy from another Mega Cop…?”

Whether he trembled out of curiosity or dread, Helena replied calmly, having confirmed that all the functions provided by the visor had disappeared and the identification device was off as she tossed away the visor, which would never be used again.

“…Just a recently unemployed worker. …If you have no other words, shall we move on? There’s much to do.”

With a thoroughly shrinking posture, the middle-aged man cautiously rose from the ground. She averted her gaze from him.

The collection unit members who had been standing guard and the doctor engaged in the project.

If one were to ask who among them was the bigger villain, she would definitely argue that the doctor deserved judgment.

However, according to the escapee, there was an informant somewhere around here.

…A benefactor who swapped out the anesthetic that would soon be administered to him and informed them of whom they should shield.

Observing his demeanor, the possibility of it being the doctor himself was exceedingly slim, but Helena had no intention of tearing up the ticket she would use to return upstairs just yet.

“……?”

The doctor, sweating profusely from breaking dress codes, and beside him… a silver-haired woman she had never seen before.

The worker, tilting their head for a moment, dismissed them as unworthy of concern and passively walked past them.

In truth, although she had little time, due to the rush, thanks to the collection team having failed to report the specifics, Helena was able to roughly survey this secret area with the doctor in the lead.

A laboratory testing various drug and implant responses.

An operating room and storage room perpetually chilled to maintain the freshness of harvested organs.

There were also isolation rooms created to monitor the subjects’ conditions, and… an incinerator whose extent in claiming countless lives was unimaginable, but the space was so vast that it was unreasonable to survey it all. Most importantly, there was no time for that.

What was most urgent now was the prison where the living people were trapped.

Before additional forces were dispatched from the command structure after they grasped the situation, they had to find a way for at least one more person to escape.

“……Hmph. Even if I ordered to release those detestable things, there’s no way those who left without the on-site supervisor’s consent could escape safely. It’d be better to leave it for Paradise to make effective use of…… Ugh?!”

“…Agari, I believe I mentioned that cooperating is the only way to survive, didn’t I?”

“…….”

As his shoulders were pressed down by a brutish grip, the doctor hastily shut his mouth.

The painful ache in his shoulder was bothering him, but since the guard he saw earlier had lost his arm during the collision, he rationalized it to be a gentlemanly restraint.

…Though cowardly susceptible to intimidation, his pride surged to the heavens as he faltered in front of a door. The sign read… inmate control room.

The staff inside were shooed away under the pretext of a patrol, and the doctor began operating the input device.

“This is a prison, isn’t it? Are you satisfied now? According to the latest data… even disregarding the ones who escaped, there are still over a hundred remaining.”

“…Alright. Quickly contact that on-site supervisor or whoever and align our opinions.”

Although not face-to-face, merely observing the control room monitor made her heart troubled.

When it came to cleanliness, one could argue that the current state, having undergone sanitation and disinfection, was better.

However, no matter how pristine it looked, having their few belongings seized and losing the most important freedoms and hopes, the interior was far from something that could be described as “normal” even as a courtesy.

‘…I’m sorry. Just a little longer, please endure a little longer.’

Even though Helena knew that making eye contact was impossible, she internally apologized.

How much did she contribute to creating this hell?

She wanted to believe that it wasn’t something that had long begun, but considering the scale of the facility and the massive construction projects carried out in the past, it was at least….

“Miss Grisha! Send more troops at once!! This mad police has the audacity to rebel…!”

“?!”

Could it be that at this moment, amidst the brief distraction, someone was pulling a foolish stunt?

Crash!!

“Ugh?!”

The doctor’s body was thrown into the corner of the control room.

The reflexively struck arm knocked the doctor’s neck out of the way, clearing him from the thermal camera.

Yet ironically, even hearing the name Miss Grisha distinctly, Helena did not feel shocked or embarrassed at all.

It wasn’t that she had steeled herself… nor was it that she anticipated the worst… she simply could not connect the unknown field supervisor Miss Grisha with Anne in any way.

Thus… as she saw the doctor, whose head had hit the wall, groaning, she turned to check the call screen displayed and felt white-out in her mind.

“Hello, Lena.”