Chapter 293

"Alright, I don't need you to say anything that would put you in a difficult position. Let's just talk about things that everyone on this street knows... Where are those people who used to collect money? Logically speaking, local gangs should be based in their own territories, right... Did they just leave after losing the fight?"

"This... I don't know... but those guys really haven't shown up in the past... It's strange. Logically speaking, even if they lost the fight, unless they moved, they should at least come and buy some cigarettes and alcohol..."

Seeing the shop assistant's puzzled expression, Nana pressed her advantage and handed over another large bill, making Ch'en behind her twitch, unsure whether to stop her.

"So, tell me where to find them. No one will know it was you who said it, since we'll be asking everyone down the street... If something really happens, the Guard Bureau won't just ignore it... After all, even though there's never been a Guard Bureau police station in the shantytown, they've never missed a call, have they?"

As Nana blinked her bright, succubus-like eyes, the shop assistant, Liberi, blushed slightly and echoed twice:

"That seems to be true... Well... I definitely need to ask everyone on the street, otherwise they won't let me off easily if they know it was me who said it..."

Remembering the address the clerk whispered to her, Nana grabbed a box of Poki that Texas had treated her to before, took one out, put it in her mouth, and left.

Nana gestured to the people behind her to look at the other shops, then squinted and clapped her hands.

"That's pretty much the process. Everyone, go in groups and greet everyone."

Although it's a group activity, since it involves conversation, it's definitely necessary to have people who are approachable and good at chatting with others take the lead.

Among the reconnaissance team, those skilled in eloquence, except for Nian, who was an exception and stayed in the team because he said he wanted to follow the filming and didn't want to run errands, were mainly Hoshiguma, Sora, and Rope... Thus, they split into four teams, and everyone quickly swept through the streets.

By the time Nana finished her second box of Poki, everyone had already visited all the currently open shops. Although most of the visits were duplicates, they did manage to get the addresses of the gangs that had been involved in the recent fighting.

Because they were in a hurry to clarify the information, the others also took out a lot of Nana Lungmen Dollar while inquiring... Although there was no situation like Nana taking out thousands of dollars at a time, the reconnaissance team's expenses for that night were still several hundred dollars.

"There's no other way, we're in a hurry... And for the local residents, compared to us or the Guard Bureau, those petty thugs are actually closer to their lives... They won't offend those guys who could become obstacles for the Angel unless there are enough benefits."

"That makes sense, but to be so extravagant just to ask for information is too decadent... Seeing Kong throw away so much money all at once, how many street stalls would I have to set up to earn that back?"

Seeing Croissant's seemingly unwilling expression, Nana could only offer a slightly awkward chuckle. After all, she hated spending time on such trivial matters, and problems that could be solved with money were usually not problems at all... Perhaps for others, the problem was simply not having money.

For some reason, Nana's mind was suddenly filled with the image of Kal'tsit dragging her to the manager to settle accounts, and the cat shuddered. Croissant's complaints only subsided after Nana reassured everyone that she would consider negotiating with her superiors to see if the expenses incurred during the mission could be reimbursed. The atmosphere, which had been tense due to the significant amount of cash spent, finally calmed down.

As Hoshiguma drove the group to the address with the highest degree of overlap, it turned out to be the original location of a local gang. However, during what should have been the most active time for the gang, the tenement building looked like a haunted house with no human presence.

At this moment, even Ch'en Hui-chieh, who had previously expressed doubts about the information regarding Nana's investigation, couldn't help but acknowledge... this was an extremely unusual feeling.

"This... this is it? It feels so eerie..."

As Kong and Rope quickly hid behind her, Nana took off her gloves, rubbed her fingers together, and said thoughtfully:

"The humidity in this building is a bit high... Even if it's a building constructed back in the mobile platform era, basic ventilation design should still be in place."

The subtext is clear: the possibility that the anomalies in this place are related to Seaborn has increased significantly.

After giving everyone a few more seconds to mentally prepare themselves, Nana put away her notebook and swayed the bass case on her shoulder:

"As this is a six-story building, we need to visit two households on the first floor, seven households on the third floor, two households on the fourth floor, and one household on the sixth floor... The one on the sixth floor should be the former local gang leader."

"Although he doesn't seem to be at all the level of a 'headman,' let alone a 'cadre' or even a 'younger brother,' according to the merchants' descriptions, he's at least a 'leader,' or at the very least a 'deputy.' Multiple testimonies indicate that he was involved in the entire previous shootout, and perhaps he can answer the question of why this place is so unusual."

As she spoke, Nana nodded, watching everyone take out their weapons.

"Leave everything outside to Thunder Team. We'll just focus on attacking from downstairs... Hoshiguma, get the remote ready. If a conflict breaks out, turn on the sirens to provide cover for Thunder Team."

"Understood, but... aren't you going to put Miss Kong and Xiao Rope in the car?"

"It's safer around us than inside the car. Let's go."

Hearing Nana's seemingly forceful order, Hoshiguma opened her mouth but didn't continue with her suggestion to assign them to Thunder Team.

While everyone sensed something amiss about Nana's seemingly overconfident attitude towards her abilities, they refrained from commenting further, assuming it was simply a common practice within the Rhodes Island PMC. Leveraging the credibility she had built during the previous preparations, Nana's somewhat unrealistic orders were carried out effectively.

The team of seven, following the contract that prioritizes suggestions from local Lungmen members before confirming the mission objective, was led by Ch'en Hui-chieh and Hoshiguma from the inspection team. Nana, carrying heavy weapons, provided overall support a step behind the two. Following them were An Suo, who needed special protection, Rope, and Nian, who was carrying a camera... Croissant and Jingzhe, who silently carried out their duties except for their essential work, brought up the rear.

Because Rhodes Island provided a considerable amount of tactical equipment, in addition to handheld flashlights, everyone was also widely equipped with L-shaped flashlights that could be placed in their chest pockets or armband pockets for illumination. Heavy operators like Croissant and Hoshiguma even had a third head-mounted flashlight attached to their horns or hat brims to illuminate the area as they moved... As a result, even the dilapidated apartment building, where many corridors were practically unlit, was brightly lit.

If they went into a normal residential area in this formation, they would definitely be criticized for light Pollution and disturbing people's sleep. However, since this place may have been a gang stronghold, many normal residents may have already left. Therefore, even though Nana and the others entered the lobby fully armed with heavy footsteps, Nana did not see any residents opening their doors and cursing Lungmen with vulgar language.

Actually, Nana was quite looking forward to someone opening the door and yelling at her, then seeing two police superintendents from the Guard Bureau... But upon entering, not only was the guardhouse empty, but the dull terrazzo floor and moldy walls, along with the 'For Rent' and 'For Sale' signs plastered on the doors and windows of several rooms visible from the entrance, made Nana tilt her head helplessly and then jokingly said to the two superintendents at the front:

"It seems the real estate market here isn't doing too well..."

"No, in fact, land prices in Lungmen have been rising in recent years... Most of these properties are due to various external factors... such as business tactics or policy changes..."

"So, being occupied by gang members is part of a business strategy? That does seem plausible..."

As he spoke, he yanked the lock off the guardhouse door right in front of the two superintendents. The loud clanging of twisting metal echoed through the empty building, startling everyone else in the group.

Watching Nana enter the guardhouse as if nothing had happened, Ch'en raised an eyebrow and sighed:

"Please do not damage people's property at will..."

"If there are still any normal people here."

In response to Nana's pointed remark, Ch'en gestured for Hoshiguma to stay outside and continue protecting the others, while he himself slipped into the guardhouse and moved closer to Nana.

What did you discover?

"We discovered that this place hasn't been visited for about three days..."

Touching the surface dust lightly with my finger, I noticed a tablet with an antenna attached to a pull-out tabletop in the security room, hidden from view. This wasn't a tablet computer in the traditional sense, but rather a small entertainment device specifically designed for watching Intercity Network TV and radio; it couldn't perform any productivity tasks.

Nana picked it up and played with it for a while, then discovered that it was out of power. The charging cable was inside the pull-out panel. After plugging it in, the sound of a football match that was currently being broadcast on Lungmen suddenly came from the first-floor hallway.

[Number 12 is currently in possession of the ball...]

Seeing Nana seemingly very concerned about adjusting the volume of the small TV and repeatedly looking through the settings, Ch'en glanced at the 'last shutdown time' under 'Parental Mode,' which confirmed Nana's guess that no one had visited for three days, and frowned.

"Didn't those people come back after the street brawl?"

"But the employees all testified that they all went home normally after the treatment..."

"Then let's go ask the person involved directly."

Seeing that Ch'en Chen had placed his hand on the hilt of his sword and was about to knock on the door of the target on the first floor, Nana thought for a moment but did not stop him. Instead, after greeting the others, she let Nian and Jingzhe follow her and went to investigate further into the building.

"... Public toilets are standard in tenement buildings. Although each household should have its own bathroom... this one is only for outsiders and maintenance personnel... but... you want to investigate this place?"

Upon approaching, Nian was surprisingly resistant to the dense buzzing of mosquitoes. Nana didn't really want to get close either... but after observing from the outside, taking in the state of the mosquito breeding, and smelling the unique ammonia smell of the public toilet that probably hadn't been cleaned properly, Nana still raised her hand to let the flashlight beam illuminate the interior as much as possible.

"... Ugh... How disgusting..."

Looking at the multicolored floor and the walls covered with various indistinguishable moldy patches, Nian and Jingzhe involuntarily took a step back, while Nana frowned slightly and examined it for a long time before turning back to Jingzhe and tilting her head:

"Come on, Miss Jingzhe, unleash a lightning spell on this one..."

"... ha?!"

Even Nian was stunned for a long time upon hearing Nana's request, before chuckling and poking Jingzhe's waist to signal her to obey Nana's instructions, while saying:

"I didn't expect Nana to have a habit of blowing up toilets, but what if using lightning in a place like this causes a methane explosion?"

"Ah... it's not necessary to use such powerful magic... it's just that I don't have a more suitable spell to detect it... I can't really go and step in poop to find out if there's anyone there."

"People? Here? Surely not..."

Seeing that Nana wasn't joking but genuinely suspected someone was hiding in this environment, Jingzhe, though unhappy that she was using her magic to blow up a toilet, still activated her staff and began to charge up her power.

Nana, meanwhile, had somehow produced the Silver Dancer and habitually placed the hand holding the gun behind her back.

"Ideally, someone should be hiding inside..."

Nana muttered to herself in such a low voice as she watched the electric current spread across the muddy swamp.

PS: Waaaaaaah!

PSS: The advantage of not writing an outline is that my ideas are always more imaginative and creative than before, but the disadvantage is that sometimes I forget what I thought of earlier... What were the events I planned again...?

9th Lungmen Seafood: 335 There are always people who yearn for that seemingly unattainable light.

As an open commercial port that prioritizes commerce, Lungmen exhibits remarkable restraint in building its city-state's military strength compared to other administrative regions.

In order to demonstrate its openness, given that the main body is ruled by the Guard Bureau and the only potential hostile target in the surrounding environment is Ursus, the residents of Lungmen have rarely seen large-scale war machines other than the city module's own defensive cannons.

Even if you haven't seen the roar of a propeller in real life, you've always seen it in various news reports or movies... So when someone hears the roar of a propeller in the middle of the night, their first reaction is that some crazy person is playing a war movie about Columbia and Bolivar downstairs in the middle of the night.

However, upon opening the window, one could hear the howling wind receding into the distance, see a dark shadow flash across the sky, and witness a large helicopter bearing the 'Lungmen Guard Department' insignia roaring past. It seemed that the residents of Lungmen would soon have something to talk about regarding the development of their own military forces.

As for those fleeting glimpses of the dazzling night view of Lungmen City, what's the difference between viewing them from the side and from below? Lycoris's team said they didn't know; they were viewing them from above.

Aboard the Yan Type 20 Utility Helicopter, the name of the Guard Bureau's equipment provided the three girls with a theoretical and legal basis for their subsequent actions.

As Takina received inquiries from her superior through her earpiece, she reported her squad's progress to Medic while simultaneously gesturing to the Sarkaz girl opposite her. The latter nodded and opened the cockpit door. The battleground, where gunfire was raging, was in the distance. The pink-haired girl, who always seemed carefree, tapped on her earpiece, signaling the Guard Bureau pilot to adopt a close-range circling stance.

"Prepare for the sweep operation. The order is to eliminate all moving objects from top to bottom. Keep an eye on the shared captain's data link. Initiate spell combos."

As bright orange dots lit up in the pupils of the three Lycoris, the SHD agent Terminal on their shoulders shared the sonar scan results of the entire building from Medic.

As a visual graphics system that helps commanders understand the situation on the ground, retinal projection magic has different names in various countries, such as 'battlefield control', 'augmented reality', or 'individual soldier information indicator'.

In Rhodes Island, this type of information graphics is called a 'head-up display', and it is mainly installed and used as strategic support hardware on large driving platforms such as Landship or Exploration Vehicle.

Rhodes Island's miniaturization application... due to issues with battery life, cost, and reliability, is currently only integrated into the Doctor's jacket; most other team members still use mobile phones or Terminal to monitor the battlefield.

Meanwhile, Nana, through SHD, an agent organization that invests unlimited resources in individual combat capabilities, obtained a high-performance spell Terminal that far exceeded the average level. Combined with Rhodes Island's efficient PRTS information processing system and its own Halo System to eliminate information delays that might be caused by Originium interference in the normal environment, Nana obtained an unprecedented 'highly synchronized' and 'information-based' combat squad.

Should we continue getting closer!?

After circling the area once and confirming active 'bioreactivity' through a sonar scan lasting about half a minute, Takina responded to the Lungmen pilot as follows:

"Please maintain your distance. If possible, cooperate with our attacks to reduce your orbiting speed... Now, begin pre-annihilation fire preparations."

Hearing the girl's slightly indifferent response from inside the cabin, the Guard Bureau warlock, who was acting as the pilot, recalled how, when he went to the designated location to pick them up as ordered, the three of them crammed a whole van full of various heavy weapons into the cabin. He tried to stop them but failed, and when he asked his superiors, he was met with the incomprehensible but impressive remark, "Don't ask what you shouldn't ask."

A chill ran down his spine, and following Takina's instructions, the pilot slightly pulled back the stick, bringing the machine almost to a stop directly opposite the target building.

How about this?

"Just."

The crisp sound of a gun being cocked was clearly audible even amidst the noise of the propellers. Lying prone on the cargo floor of the helicopter, Takina set up a bipod and loaded a spare ammunition belt into the large gun in her hand... It wasn't connected to the ammunition backpack on the girl's back, but rather to the ammunition box in the back seat of the plane.

Exactly five hundred rounds... but the problem is that similar five-hundred-round ammunition boxes are piled up all over the cabin.

Seeing that Takina had installed the vehicle holographic sight, about half the size of the girl's face, onto the custom-made machine gun rail, and adjusted the magnification to three times... Typhon, leaning against the driver's seat after opening the door, earnestly said to the driver:

"Then, just follow my hand gestures to adjust the plane's position relative to the building."

"Learn."

"Takina... we can begin."

"All in position confirmed, attack commences."

Wearing night combat goggles with bright yellow lenses, Takina hooked the safety buckle onto the leg of the aircraft seat, pressed her cheek against the butt of the rifle, and pulled the trigger while lying prone.

Even with noise-canceling headphones, the shock of the general-purpose machine gun firing was unbearable, like a blast of air hitting your chest. A string of trailing bullets, along with the flashing muzzle flashes in the night, instantly tore a room on the top floor to shreds.

As if in coordination with the confirmation of the battle results from above, Nana on the first floor activated the sonar detection spell again. Looking at the 'enemy' shattered into pieces as reported by the data link, Takina adjusted the gun's aim and continued to pull the trigger on the target that still showed 'biological reaction'...

Although according to Gladiia, this would easily increase the adaptability of the Seaborn, Nana still had everyone carry a large number of Firearms Arts and other technical equipment.

After all, 'superhumans' like Abyssal Hunters are extremely rare. Ordinary people must rely on technology and equipment to gain an advantage in battles against monsters. If we force the opponent to adopt the most rudimentary attack methods because we are worried that they will adapt to the combat, wouldn't that turn into a war that is bound to be lost?

So, how will Nana cope with Seaborn's 'adaptation'?

Based on the operational concept Takina received, in this mission, she was to launch a devastating attack on all targets larger than small pet dogs that showed a clear biological response to detection spells.

This is clearly different from the precision and elegance of traditional Firearms Operator, and has a kind of extravagant style where bullets are free.

The reason for adopting this combat method is that Seaborn has extremely strong vitality. Damage to vital organs in the traditional sense may not be so fatal to Seaborn... But as long as it is still a living being, if more than half of its body structure is destroyed, it will die completely. What remains is nothing more than the erosion of other creatures by Seaborn's blood and flesh.

On the other hand, Nana's operational plan regarding the adaptability of the Seaborn... is to prevent them from having the opportunity to adapt.

Generally speaking, human muscles can be gradually strengthened through exercise to adapt to this type of 'work'... but Nana has never heard of anyone's muscles being able to adapt to large-caliber bullets by being hit by small-caliber bullets.

The attack started with forces exceeding the defense threshold, making defense impossible, let alone adaptation.

Even if an adaptation state can occur, it can only be said that the adaptation is caused by the reflection of the creatures left behind by the battle after the battle... So, from the beginning, don't let these guys live, and keep their attack methods 'unknown' to us.

Thus, on the issue of Seaborn's inevitable death, Nana and Gladiia reached the same conclusion through different paths.

So Takina's orders were simple: shoot anything that moves... and pull the trigger!

The Firearms Arts, with a rate of fire of up to 750 rounds per minute, were mounted inside the aircraft and began to attack. The barrels and their black baked enamel coatings heated up rapidly under the high-speed firing, and the rising heat began to distort the field of view of the scope, affecting aiming. Fortunately, even with the distorted field of view, the tracer still faithfully indicated the hit location.

As the helicopter slowly flew around the target building, its main weaponry was armor-piercing, but the interspersed tracer rounds made it look like a green, shimmering ammunition belt, which in Takina's hands transformed into a literal hail of bullets.

If Exusiai weren't here right now, she would have surely remarked upon seeing Takina's fighting style that the two were actually the same type.

However, it's unclear whether the higher floors of the apartment building have more food, more space, or simply better sunlight and a temperature that Seaborn enjoys... According to the sonar scan results, the biomass reaction on the upper floors of this apartment building, which is suspected to be Seaborn's nest, is significantly greater than that on the lower floors... Compared to the five-meter-long 'shit lime' on the first floor that made everyone avoid it, similar huge chunks of meat are found in almost every room on the upper floors!

Not only was the continuous roar of Firearms Arts unbearable for those inside the helicopter, but the surge in emergency calls from the shantytown and nearby city also put immense pressure on the Lungmen Guard Department... Normally, everyone turns a blind eye to Penguin Logistics' reckless speeding and rubber bullet warfare tactics, but what's the meaning behind this indiscriminate bombing of a building from a Firearms Arts in the shantytown?

Just as someone was thinking this, an Originium rocket suddenly flew out from inside the helicopter and blasted the water tower on the roof of the building into the sky.