129 Trajectory

"Lord Akechi, suspicious target spotted at eleven o'clock—a Barghest armed patrol vehicle. It's approaching our position along Highway B-7."

Under the superb electronic warfare cover of the elite hacker team, the crack squad led by Akechi infiltrated Dogtown with almost no resistance.

The two technical specialists displayed astonishing efficiency. In less than two hours, they had completely transformed a three-story abandoned apartment building—the broken windows were disguised as naturally damaged, miniature motion sensors were installed throughout the corridors, and six displays in the command center converted from the master bedroom on the third floor monitored every surveillance zone within a two-kilometer radius as it expanded with people's movements in real time.

This third-floor stronghold had been carefully selected: its height provided a perfect 270-degree open field of view, enough to monitor activity on three main streets;

At the same time, that height ensured tactical flexibility—every room had rappelling ropes prepared in advance, allowing the entire team to evacuate within ten seconds if necessary. At that moment, five assault troops from the seven-man combat group were moving through Dogtown's tangled alleyways, gathering intelligence according to the plan.

The sniper serving as observer was half-kneeling in the attic's shadows, his thermal scope firmly locked onto the slowly approaching armored vehicle.

The Barghest emblem painted on the vehicle's hood glimmered with a ghostly green sheen in the noon light, like congealed venom. The moment he spotted it, he sent an alert to the commander through the encrypted channel, while his right index finger lightly settled against the trigger guard.

"Lord Akechi, should we take immediate action?" The sniper's voice was cold over the comms. "Based on its current trajectory, that Barghest armed patrol vehicle will enter our fire coverage in three minutes."

Akechi's knuckles lightly tapped the rusted windowsill, his eyes fixed on