Red One: "Something big? What is it, Yellow Three? Don't tell me tonight's match got postponed?"
Blue Two: "Well, I guess that would count as something big."
"No." Yellow Three shook his head and showed them the distress signal icon on his phone screen. "A distress signal. From the young lady."
Hearing that, Red One waved a hand. "Oh, I thought it was something serious. It's just the young lady's distress signal."
Blue Two looked puzzled. "Yellow Three, what's all the fuss about? It's not the first or second time."
Red One draped an arm over Yellow Three's shoulders and said:
"Yellow Three, Yellow Three. When has the young lady ever sent a distress signal without canceling it herself a few minutes later? I think you're so nervous about tonight's event that you've short-circuited inside~."
Yellow Three shoved Red One away in annoyance and repeated, "This time is different..."
"The event starts in twenty minutes. We'd better get going," Blue Two said after checking the time.
Red One: "It's that late already?"
Blue Two: "That's because you two kept dawdling. Come on, let's go."
Yellow Three: "Wait."
Red One: "What do you mean, dawdling? I planned all that ages ago!"
Seeing the two stop paying attention to him and deliberately walk away at a leisurely pace, Yellow Three shook his head helplessly on the outside, but inside, he had already started secretly laughing.
He pulled another phone out of his pocket. It had been on a call the whole time, and the contact name read "Master."
Outside Vision Corporation's demolition observation point...
"Ugh~, I'm so sleepy. Why isn't my replacement here yet..."
Inside a guard booth, a gate guard was nodding off. His eyes kept opening and closing until more than a dozen pairs of vehicle high beams nearly blinded him.
"Ow, you ***! What's going on?! Who turned on those high beams?!"
The guard fell off his chair. By the time he finally managed to get up off the floor, all he heard was a rush of wind at high speed and the sound of something snapping in an instant.
He turned to look. The barrier gate was gone. Turning again, he saw a black convoy speeding inside. Only then did he realize something serious had happened, and he hurriedly picked up his radio to report:
"Emergency!! A whole bunch of cars have broken in!!! I repeat! A whole bunch of cars have broken in!!!..."
Inside the observation station...
Someone dressed in a Public Security officer's uniform was reporting Perlman's situation to his secretary:
"Lady Sarah, Chief Perlman has been captured. They blew up the railway leading to the demolition zone. We've confirmed that his abductors are the three Cunning Hares members and a cat Thiren.
"That cat Thiren is threatening Chief Perlman's life to stop us from attacking her accomplices in the carriage. She also demanded that we escort her and Chief Perlman here for negotiations. They're already on their way."
Sarah showed little reaction to Perlman's abduction. Instead, she found the cat Thiren who wanted to negotiate somewhat interesting and gave an order:
"Mm, understood. Since that cat Thiren wants to talk, let her come and talk. Remember to have the detonator ready."
"Yes, I'll..."
Just then, a dense barrage of gunfire and cannon fire came from the distance. While they were still wondering what was happening, another person in a Public Security officer's uniform ran over and reported:
"Something's happened, Lady Sarah! Someone... no, a whole group has forced its way in!"
Sarah: "Oh? Who?"
"A bunch of robots that look like bodyguards. They're exchanging fire with our people right now."
Sarah's expression shifted slightly at that, but immediately returned to normal. "All right, understood. Go deal with them for now."
Both men: "Yes!"
With that, the two strode outside. Once they had left, Sarah took out an earpiece and put it on.
After a while, a man's voice came through:
"Did something happen?"
Sarah: "Yes, there's a problem on my end. That arrogant fellow seems to have noticed what's happening here. I'm getting ready to withdraw."
"So soon? Never mind. Since neither the retrieval plan nor the recruitment plan has any hope of succeeding, withdraw for now. The Church will think of something else. Do you need someone to pick you up?"
Sarah: "No. As long as they aren't here, I can get back on my own."
"All right. Be careful. I have other things to do. Hanging up."
After that, the earpiece fell silent. Sarah took it off, briefly glanced toward the fierce fighting, and walked straight toward a corner.
Bang, bang, bang!! Bang, bang, bang!!! Boom!!
"Open fire! Open fire! Aaagh!..."
"Damn it! Why are these robots all so ridiculously powerful?!!"
"Squad Four requesting backup! Squad Four requesting backup!! Four more vehicles just arrived on our side! We can barely hold... aaagh-!..."
After a short scream, another fake Public Security officer was struck by an electric beam and lost consciousness. Lasers, bullets, electrical arcs, rockets, and the like flew everywhere across the battlefield.
The fake officers' opponents were robots with predominantly black bodies. Their metal shells resembled suits and could withstand most bullets.
Their heads had U-shaped eyes, and each had a sturdy, 1.9-meter frame, with a different three-digit number on the left side of his chest. They were agile enough to practically run across rooftops and up walls.
Their hands could transform into hand cannons that fired electrical currents capable of instantly knocking people unconscious and short-circuiting machinery (adjustable).
In their normal state, their palms could project shields wide enough to cover two people, blocking physical and energy damage within certain limits (most bullets and a few grenades).
Their feet could transform into thrusters, providing only auxiliary functions such as flight below a hundred meters and jet-assisted propulsion.
There were roughly eighty such robots at the scene. They were practically operating at full power, advancing through the hail of gunfire like wooden stakes standing in a raging storm.
The fake officers huddled behind hastily built cover and fired wildly at the robots. Quite a few of the robots had taken damage too, with plenty of scratches in their paint.
Those in the front row sprinted forward with their shields raised, while those behind switched to hand cannons and launched ranged attacks from the rear. They pinned the enemy behind cover, forcing them to fire blindly from behind it.
The fake officers felt as though they were exchanging fire with a mass of armored fighting vehicles, though this seemed relatively safer.
If the terrain hadn't prevented the robots' vehicles from coming up, they would have advanced much faster.
Then, in just ten minutes, they drove back the opposing force of at least a hundred fake officers, shrinking their defensive perimeter by more than half.
Although the fake officers were fairly well trained and had heavy weapons supporting them, they still couldn't stop the enemy's high-quality, fearless assault. Worse still, the enemy seemed to have a constant stream of reinforcements arriving.
What they didn't know was that, during those ten minutes of fighting the robots, a vehicle was already hovering above their defensive line. Nor did they know that their boss had already fled.