Chapter 225
Using the guise of Contingency Contract to get by, Nana glanced at the sunset and disappeared into the night under the watchful eyes of the police officers.
Following her memory, she found the fast food restaurant that seemed alright, but Nana frowned as she looked at the prices that had been crossed out three times...
Nana reluctantly bought a cup of black tea, but couldn't get a refill because the ice maker was out of power and wouldn't work. So, she simply took the paper cup and begged the vendor for plain water.
They lingered in the 24-hour fast food restaurant until late at night. Only when the fully armed Blacksteel Mercenaries pushed open the glass door did Nana say goodbye to the owner, who reflexively pulled out a baseball bat from under the counter.
"Alright, target light rail station... Let's go."
PS: Waaaaaaah!
PSS: This kind of plot development usually means something unexpected is about to happen... I've been feeling a bit listless lately, and slightly depressed... But consuming alcohol will cause a major hemorrhage (physical)... It's so difficult... I can't really take medication, can I?
6th Patriot's Gun: 249 [Vigilante]
In the pitch-black city, several dark figures flashed past on the street.
As the tallest building closest to the Light Rail Station 52, the Ursus soldiers who were originally stationed on its top were knocked unconscious and thrown into the depths of the pipe layer.
Jessica didn't like Ursus's habit of carelessly standing on the top floor and sniping, so she chose the third-to-last floor, which was full of building pipes and ventilation systems.
Set up an observation post with a folding table, spread a small blanket on the tabletop, connect the smart rangefinder from the SHD spell Terminal, extend it to a height above your head using a tripod, and finally use the weapon case, which can withstand attacks from siege crossbows and below, as cover and a gun mount for the M200...
Before climbing onto the small table, he checked one last time to make sure the Ursus soldiers, whose faces were bruised and swollen from his non-lethal ammunition, were properly bound. Finally, he set up his rifle, and the rangefinder's dim red work light illuminated.
[Jessica in position, target outpost cleared, battlefield control in progress... I can't see you.]
[Oh, sorry Jessica, I just ran into a soldier who was drunk and vomiting late at night. It took a little while to deal with him...]
Looking at the sentry at her feet, knocked unconscious with a sword sheath, Franka, troubled by the completely different feel of the rubber batons the soldiers carried, began to pick and choose which ones to use.
[But I've finished too. The target outpost has been cleared, and the escape route is secured... Liskarm, that's rare indeed. The top student is actually at the bottom this time?]
As she spoke, Franka found a chair and sat down in the shadows at the soldier's post, where tin oil drums filled with fuel were still burning fiercely in the distance.
The top student, who had been mocked by Franka, was now panting heavily, and unusually, kicked the heavily armored armed man in front of him in a fit of exasperation.
[The equipment of the Ursus Nobility army was somewhat unexpected; the armed men wielding large axes were equipped with insulated bomb suits... He almost fired his signal flare...]
[Hehe~ Looks like the most embarrassed person tonight has been successfully identified. Liskarm, breakfast is on you~]
[The guy who's been freeloading off my dorm all day should shut up... Sorry, Captain, the suppression of the outpost outside the main gate has been postponed...]
Looking at the SHD Terminal projection that only he could see in the night, Feline, with his heterochromatic eyes, emerged from the shadows.
Nana first patted the spell Terminal on her shoulder. As the IR light's friend-or-foe identification system activated, Jessica's voice [confirming the captain's invisible light signal] and Nana's reassuring voice appeared simultaneously in the team channel:
"It's alright, the time is 11:28 PM now, there's still plenty of time before the vehicles from District 52 arrive at the station... Jessica, give me the enemy's location inside the station." (Nine)
[Yes... start sharing enemy infrared identification signals...]
As the faint red outlines of personnel came into view, Nana took out her compact M1911, fitted with a silencer and low-lethal ammunition, and began to confirm the soldiers guarding the area marked by Jessica on the electronic map.
"According to Boris's intelligence, the Ursus stationed at the station is a standard army battalion with a strength of three hundred... The number of personnel we observe from the air is..." (Deleted)
[One hundred and twenty people... the number is incorrect. Requesting the use of Firefly drones for multi-angle reconnaissance.] V
"Permission granted. I'll also begin close reconnaissance, carefully observing the status of the targets I've marked... Most importantly, don't forget to notify the police; I don't want any soldiers to be forgotten and starve to death in a corner..."
[Received.]
She squeezed the earphone clipped to her cat ears. As the conspicuous orange drone began its search of the streets from the outside in, Nana glanced at the safety of her gun and stepped out of the shadows. Having shed her striking white coat, Nana now moved with the agility of a true black cat.
The goal is to connect the light rail station in City Block 52. Although it is called 'light rail,' that is in comparison to the running mechanism of the Landship... If we go back several decades, these transportation systems, which were once laid on stone sleepers, are now supported by Mobile City- specific torsion bar track devices and driven by Originium- powered locomotives, and are the mainstream of intercity logistics.
They are the "blood vessels" that connect various functional districts, transporting all the "nutrients" needed by the city... Generally speaking, they are the last large-scale freight process before the city's logistics system enters the stage of drone logistics or entrusted messenger delivery.
Inconspicuous, yet incredibly vital; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it the city's artery. The Nobles' Army has seized control here... Although Nana isn't entirely sure why her fight with the Inner Guards gave the Nobles' Army this inexplicable opportunity, the fact remains, and it needs to be resolved.
According to the action plan that Loban gave to Nana, the light rail vehicles in District 52 will depart at 1:30 this morning and arrive at 4:00... If everything goes smoothly, by the time the Nobles' Army discovers that the light rail has been reopened, it will be after 7:00 or even 8:00 in the morning. By then, the Chernobog Military Police and road administration should have already transported the supplies into the warehouse and completed the detention of all prisoners.
The mission had two key objectives: first, to ensure that the Nobles' Army would not be given an excuse to act aggressively; and second, to ensure that his own identity would not be exposed.
If there were more time, Nana might have everyone wear faceless disguises... But putting aside how they could fight the army dressed like that, the very fact that they had 'physical bodies' would become a weakness to be attacked.
Therefore, this time Nana needs everyone to become a 'Ghost'.
Unseen and intangible, you only know that you've been poisoned by Ghost... Only a mysterious Ghost, a mysterious person who can't stand seeing the city continue to decline, can become the target and properly accomplish the tactical objective of being neither too provocative nor too risky for the enemy.
Nana's team was preparing to use spray paint to depict the fictional character known as the 'Vigilante' for the unsuspecting ordinary people and the enraged Nobles' Army of Chernobog. Everyone in Nana's team received a pre-cut spray paint with a cutout design... all that was left was for Nana to decide who would be sprayed where.
Incidentally, the idea came from Franka, and the name 'Vigilante' was found by Jessica from somewhere. Liskarm originally disagreed with this meaningless behavior, but Nana thought it was okay... because it seemed like it could easily distract the Nobles' Army.
However, before deciding whether or not to carry out this prank, Nana first had to face another problem that suddenly appeared:
"... The number of people still doesn't match?"
[Yes, even after a close scan of the requisitioned civilian houses and military tents, the final number was only 150, which is completely inconsistent with the intelligence...]
Hearing the Little Cat's anxious, almost tearful voice, Nana helplessly tapped the earphone:
"Anyway, Jessica, don't panic. It's not uncommon for intelligence to be wrong... On the bright side, maybe the Old Nobles' Army of Ursus is just drawing salaries without working."
[What if we think about it in a negative way?]
Nana paused for a moment at Franka's still cheerful voice, then turned her gaze to the sentry dozing against the wall in the distance.
"Then you and Liskarm need to be prepared for anyone to return to the barracks from the other two intersections at any time... You know what to do."
[Hmm~ If you're not confident you can subdue them out of their sight, then just run away~ By the way, good student, your breathing is getting heavier, do you have any suggestions?]
If possible, I'd still like to try to make the operation go smoothly... even if it's just to slow down the enemy's alert speed...
"If you think about it that way, you could consider hiding the soldiers you knocked out... In my experience, the less corrupt a unit is, the less likely it is to care about being short-staffed at outposts... As for someone contacting the supply depot about being short-staffed..."
That's the captain's job~
As Franka responded cheerfully, Nana followed the shadows along the wall to the sentry's side. In the instant she kicked him in the knee, forcing him to his knees, she stabbed the sentry in the neck with a baton imbued with a powerful electric shock spell... The sentry collapsed, smoking, without uttering a sound.
Oh, you can't say he didn't make a sound... because of the electric shock, he lost control of his bladder. Should we say, thankfully it wasn't winter?
After hesitating for a second, Nana grabbed the Ursus sentry by the collar and threw him into front of the station security booth.
This is a blind spot for the sentries at the rear camp, but anyone entering the station from the outside can easily spot this unfortunate fellow huddled under the safety bar... Nana didn't leave him in any corner or ditch, mainly because she was worried that the police might not find him or that he might drown in a rainstorm.
Although it's no longer raining, the sky is still overcast, and tomorrow will probably be cloudy as well... But perhaps throwing it into the sewer would actually protect it from social death; Nana just prefers to give it a better chance of physical survival.
Ignoring the gatekeeper, Nana peeked into the guard booth and saw a sergeant sleeping on the guard's folding bed, snoring loudly. He was probably taking over the night shift with the sentry outside.
Just to be on the safe side, Nana grabbed a baton, pried open the door, and gave this completely unsuspecting guy a little electric shock as a form of "care."
"I've entered the station, what's the soldiers' reaction?"
[No, I haven't received a single scheduled communication... It seems they're really living a comfortable life and have no sense of vigilance whatsoever.]
Franka's words made Nana frown slightly, but Nana didn't think too much about it. It was a good thing that the enemy had lowered their guard... Although it was really puzzling that the army didn't even have the most basic precautions, the mission was the priority right now.
"Jessica, highlight all outdoor sentries."
[... Completed, total of eighteen people...]
The girl's heterochromatic irises reflected a faint light in the darkness, and looking at the mostly unsuspecting silhouettes, Nana checked the route to the highest train platform.
Nana and Saria disembarked at this platform and entered the Core City. The station's elevation gradually decreases from the outside in, making it an area that is easy to defend and difficult to attack... However, because the opponent's attitude was so lame, Nana unexpectedly felt like she was just strolling around.
The sentry at the highest level was handed over to Jessica, who was at a similar altitude and less than a kilometer away in a straight line. She used non-lethal ammunition combined with stun grenades to deal with him. Nana then began to sweep through the station's functional buildings layer by layer, like bandits entering a village.
Thanks to the ongoing power outage in Chernobog, none of the Ursus soldiers were scattered around in messy rooms, giving Nana a surprise as she cleared the area. Soldiers who were gathering to drink and play cards to kill time were almost all neutralized by Nana's electric batons late at night... The whole process went very smoothly.
If one had to put it into words, it would be that Nana's own magic was too powerful, or that the baton she got from Loban was simply beyond standard... Even the Ursus people, whose physical resistance is above average among the races of this land, would most likely lose control of their bladder after being hit by Nana's electric baton.
If it were just one or two people, it wouldn't be a big deal, but with so many electric shocks coming from all directions, Nana herself started to wonder if she had some kind of weird quirk... So the assassin girl proactively reduced the power output of her spells to prevent the situation from becoming too ugly.
"... One hundred and twenty-five... Are there no other Ursus soldiers?"
[Given the Firefly's detection capabilities, there really aren't any left...]
Following Jessica's words, Nana glanced at the brightly lit marker in the sky, a finger-shaped drone searching the sky with a lightning bolt-like trajectory:
"I've basically taken out all the night shift soldiers outside. Jessica, you can now release a proper reconnaissance drone and see what happens."
[Understood, now begin releasing the 'Strategist'.]
With a sudden buzzing sound in the silent night sky, a standard quadcopter drone was released from the building behind.
For Liskarm and Franka, after learning of its existence, they could hear the fleeting propeller airflow if they listened carefully. But in Nana and Jessica's eyes, the 'Strategist,' with its own Optical Camouflage, hung high in the sky above the station. Except for the personnel at the three station's high-point outposts scheduled for the final rounds, which were still highlighted, a more detailed projection map and real-time monitoring than the 'Firefly' were displayed before Nana and Jessica as a hidden magical scan swept across the entire area.
Unfortunately, due to the limited quantity and highly sensitive nature of SHD agent equipment, Liskarm and Franka could only view the projection through Rhodes Island's PRTS system.
If Franka could experience firsthand, like Nana and Jessica, the magical dismantling and projection of the structure of buildings, compartments, and even Mobile City into her field of vision, the communication channels would probably be filled with her exclamations.
[... It looks like there are only about 120 people in this camp... Was the intelligence really wrong?]
[It's uncertain, perhaps they've gone out... Before evacuating, maintain vigilance, Franka.]
[Ah, yes, yes, what did the captain say? Jessica has already pointed her gun at the last sentry post, and once the stun grenade lands, even if there are still soldiers missing nearby, they'll come to check... If we don't control all the soldiers, someone will inevitably clash with the Chernobog Military Police.]
[... Really? Leaving aside the time when their camp was intact, theoretically about half the men have been taken down by their captain... It's hard to say how many the military and police will send, but I estimate at least a battalion... Would anyone really risk their life to stand in front of people who harbor such resentment towards them?]
Ignoring Franka and Liskarm's usual bickering, Nana, who had already cleared the area to the heart of the station—the vehicle dispatch center—glanced at the completely shut-down system...
Operating a train was a completely new job for Miss Assassin... In the past, Nana would at most change into her work clothes and switch tracks to make the train kill its target.
But after spending some time looking at the control panel with its Ursus language markings through the red emergency light, Nana managed to figure out how to use the console from the operation manual hanging next to her and the duty officer's sign-in book.
[Captain, time's up.]
"Alright, let's begin."
She glanced at her watch; it was exactly one o'clock. Because the entire infiltration process had gone so smoothly, Nana even had time to concentrate on reading the entire operation manual.
With the excitement of touching a new toy, she rubbed her hands together. After confirming that the city's light rail system was still operating thanks to power connections from other areas, the assassin girl first moved the switch to grant the train permission.
[The traffic light has illuminated, confirming that the road is open.]
"Route control, new construction...52 urban districts and the Core City, round trip..."
[The information board in the waiting hall lights up... It appears! A notification for the freight train in Zone 52!]
Jessica, you should keep an eye on those last few sentry posts...
[Um... sorry...]
In fact, Jessica could attack the last outpost at any time. In the SHD Terminal's spell vision, the bright red damage range had already covered all the people playing cards and sleeping in the outpost. It was just that Liskarm couldn't see the SHD Terminal's notification, which made him think that Jessica was distracted... Liskarm and Franka were a bit out of sync with Nana and Jessica because of their equipment. Perhaps this problem still needs to be addressed.
After adding this to her to-do list, Nana finally pressed the button to grant permission to depart.
Dozens of kilometers away, the train, which had already been equipped with Originium- powered locomotive, quietly started up in the night. The road administration personnel of the fifty-two districts of Chernobog, who had been working overtime to load the Core City's supplies onto the train, immediately cheered in hushed tones.
After assembling and waiting in the Core City for several hours, Loban, who had been holding the radio the whole time, finally heard permission through the microphone. As a small red flag was waved rapidly, the military and police of Chernobog immediately perked up and began to board the armored vehicles that were already prepared.
"Gentlemen! An accident has occurred at the light rail station on the District 52 connecting the Core City. According to reports from nearby residents, all the military personnel there are unusually silent... Although they are at odds with us, a military riot could potentially cause explosions of various weapons. Fire Department and ambulance units, please be careful...!!"
Before Loban could finish speaking, a deafening roar, like muffled thunder, suddenly echoed throughout the city from afar.
At first, Loban even instinctively looked up to check the weather for the night, but since the sound came from the light rail station in District 52, Loban could only roar in his heart, "We weren't supposed to be here to clean up the mess!" while hurriedly directing the Rapid Response Force and other personnel he had mobilized in his capacity as mayor to head towards the station.
"Hurry! Everyone on high alert! Chernobog Rapid Response Force, move out!!"
"So, Captain, what did you find?"
As the fully armed adjutant, Fire Department ultimately fired not a single arrow, peered out at the train timetable in his hand, Loban expressionlessly showed everyone the thin notebook that had been inactive for over ten days:
"Look... this is probably why the military camp was attacked, and why the train stuck on the road suddenly received clearance to proceed..."
Because the power hadn't been restored yet, and it wasn't fully light, everyone... including a camp officer who didn't know what was going on but had been disarmed by Loban, angrily snatched a flashlight and approached:
"Get out of the way! I want to see who's so bold as to attack a military camp, Chernobog Military Police treat us so politely?"
Under the illumination of a military flashlight, in the signature section of the train departure permit, a name that was clearly a code was written before the latest departure permit: Vigilante.
And on the next line, there is another sentence:
Careful, when light goes out, bad things tend to happen.
The disarmed officer stared at the scene for a long time, then looked around:
What does it mean?
"... No good things happen when there are no lights?"
Loban glared at the municipal worker who had responded reflexively, then stared fiercely at the officer: