The Cross Society's Cadres

Suren knew very well that death on a battlefield wasn't something one could simply avoid.

They were going to support headquarters, and Captain Kai definitely wouldn't choose to retreat.

If they wanted to live, their only choice was to kill the enemy.

Since he had joined the Cross Society, Suren quickly slipped into character. He silently estimated the positions of the enemy gunners he'd observed earlier, then took a deep breath. He suddenly rolled forward, firing several shots from the large-caliber rifle in his hands toward the opposite side of the bridge.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

After the roll and the gunshots, Suren ended up hiding behind another steam-powered vehicle several meters away.

As soon as he steadied himself, a loud, hearty voice praised him from beside him. "Well, kid, not bad! Most rookies get so scared their legs go weak on their first mission, but you can actually shoot."

When he turned around, he saw the burly Sam.

After hearing Captain Kai's words earlier, the man had been keeping an eye on the rookies.

When he saw Suren hide behind cover at the first opportunity, he'd assumed the kid had been too frightened to move. He hadn't expected to see him fire a shot moments later.

Rolling, aiming, firing. Calm judgment and practiced movements.

When Sam looked again, he saw an enemy gunner across the bridge with a bullet through his head, collapsing in response. Even more astonished, he looked at Suren and praised him again. "Your marksmanship is pretty accurate."

Suren merely smiled.

In that situation, he hadn't been certain he could hit the enemy, but the process had gone surprisingly smoothly. The entire tactical roll had felt so practiced that it came naturally, precise and seamless.

Only then did he realize that after collecting so much Firearm Experience with Reaper, his actual combat ability had already risen by a huge margin.

Just then, Captain Kai, who was nearby, seemed to notice what had happened as well, sending him a brief look of surprise.

However, he didn't look for long. The fierce firefight quickly drew his attention away again.

Of course, neither Kai nor Sam knew that Suren had fired first not to show off his marksmanship, but for his own safety.

He was changing positions.

He had discovered that cover of this level couldn't give him any sense of security. Instead, this armored motorcycle modified with runic armor was the safest cover.

He hadn't forgotten that this was a world of Alchemy. There were not only ordinary bullets but also all kinds of Alchemical Bullets.

That concrete barrier could be blown to pieces like tofu in a matter of seconds.

Moreover, there was a group of veteran protectors around him.

Sam probably felt that if even a rookie could perform so brilliantly, he couldn't afford to fall behind. He directly opened the equipment box on the vehicle, pulled out a shoulder-fired rocket launcher, and fired a round toward the other side of the bridge.

Boom!

A deafening explosion sent flames soaring into the sky.

The battle had entered a fever pitch from the very beginning.

Both sides exchanged fire, fighting with tremendous intensity.

However, what Suren considered good news was that the enemy didn't seem to be using any "weapons of mass destruction." This greatly improved his safety.

It made sense. One Alchemical Bullet cost several thousand, even tens of thousands, of Liso. It was impossible to use them as standard ammunition and waste them in a gang battle like this.

A battle like this was destined to become a war of attrition from the start. It would only end when one side had suffered devastating casualties or voluntarily retreated.

But that was precisely the enemy's objective—buying time.

By the time they truly crossed the bridge, the battle at the headquarters warehouse would probably already be over.

What Suren hadn't expected was that after their prolonged assault failed, Captain Kai would make a surprising decision.

"They should be mercenaries from the North District. Damn it, they're trying to delay us from going to support headquarters."

Looking at the armed force across the river, Kai had guessed their objective as well.

He naturally couldn't allow their goal to be achieved. Turning to Sam and the others, he said, "When I count to three, cover me!"

When they heard Kai say this, astonishment appeared on everyone's faces. "Captain Kai, you're going to charge across the bridge?"

It was a crazy idea.

Since the enemy had planned this interception, they had surely anticipated that there would be "Professionals" among their opponents.

In such circumstances, even a "Professional" who could withstand bullets with their flesh wouldn't dare expose themselves recklessly. Otherwise, special bullets and artillery would certainly be waiting for them. Under concentrated fire, even the strongest body would instantly be turned into a beehive.

"Yeah! The enemy's goal is to hold us back. The more determined they are to do that, the more trouble headquarters must be in. We can't keep this up. We have to support headquarters as soon as possible."

Kai seemed to have made up his mind. His expression turned stern, and he shouted, "Implant: Release!"

As he spoke, his hands formed changing seals, while an orange, six-pointed Alchemy Array lit up on the ground.

In the blink of an eye, the tibias in his lower legs and the ulnae on the inner sides of his forearms bulged and sharpened, gradually transforming into metal scythes resembling mantis arms.

This was Kai's Alchemical Implant—Blade.

Kai didn't even give the gang members time to dissuade him. The moment the implant was released, he had already begun counting down. "Three, two, one—charge!"

"Damn it! Let's rip those bastards apart!"

Sam and the others cursed angrily as well, but they didn't hesitate in the slightest. Everyone rose simultaneously, raised their rifles, and laid down a blanket of fire across the other side of the bridge.

Suren was no coward either. He fired both guns at once.

Out of the corner of his eye, he kept his attention fixed on Captain Kai charging out!

The instant the gunfire erupted, Kai suddenly kicked off the ground and leaped dozens of meters. His agile figure in the sky looked like a flying mantis. He landed on one of the bridge's stone pillars, then used it as leverage to kick off again and surge forward dozens more meters. After only two leaps, he plunged headfirst into the enemy's position.

Seeing this, the veteran members led by Sam roared in unison. "Brothers, charge!"

With that order, the Cross Society members rushed out from behind cover like a pack of beasts breaking free from their cages, surging forward.

The enemy clearly hadn't expected anyone to land directly inside their position and was caught off guard.

With a deadly blade-wielding mantis reaping lives behind them, the enemy's forward firepower instantly fell silent by more than half. In a flash, the arrangements in their position were thrown into chaos.

Kai charged and fought fearlessly through the enemy's ranks, moving with incredible agility.

Several seconds later, the Cross Society members at the front had already stormed into the enemy position.

The slaughter began.

By the time Suren followed the main force in, the battle was already nearing its end.

Corpses covered the ground.

Suren glanced at Kai, who was sitting nearby and bandaging a wound, a strange glint flashing through his eyes.

Blood was flowing from Kai's lower abdomen. It seemed he'd been shot while charging in alone.

However, he seemed not to care at all. After injecting himself with a Healing Potion, he immediately called for everyone to clear the obstacles and continue forward.

Suren didn't look any longer and took the initiative to help move the corpses.

This mercenary squad had more than a dozen members. Most had died only recently, and the "gray mist" on their corpses was still clear.

After busying himself for a while, Suren reaped a rich harvest.

The teams from the various districts that had gone to support headquarters, the Blackwood Building, had all been intercepted by mercenaries. Everything seemed to be proceeding according to the plan of that group of masked men.

But no one had expected something to change in the underground treasury at that moment.

Just after the masked men had opened the vault and broken in, a group of mysterious experts outside the Blackwood Building suddenly appeared, beyond the intelligence reports. The mercenaries couldn't stop them at all, and they headed straight for the vault.

The situation suddenly reversed.

The news reached the underground treasury, and the group of people in black instantly panicked. They had clearly sensed the changes in the surrounding gravitational field and realized that the newcomers could only be Chuck, the "Arbiter" who had awakened the rare Talent A-017—Gravitational Field, and the president of the Iron Cross Society!

The masked men immediately realized their predicament and began cursing angrily. Some even turned on one another.

"Everyone, it seems the situation has changed."

"Damn it! Didn't the intelligence say Chuck was still outside the city hunting the wilderness and hadn't returned? Then what the hell is this gravitational field? And how did those Cross Society cadres get here so quickly?"

"If nothing unexpected happened, we may have been tricked by that bastard Chuck."

"There's no point talking about it now. The important figure who gave us this mission only wanted us to obtain that 'thing.' At least we have it now. Whether we can escape alive will depend on your own abilities."

"Number Five, be careful. After making such a huge commotion this time, Chuck must have guessed that the Cross Society has an informant inside."

"Hmph! If his intelligence hadn't been wrong, how could we have ended up this passive?"

"We can discuss that after we escape alive. Let's go—scatter and flee!"

The masked men had long since lost their earlier composure. They blasted open the ground and fled in panic into the underground conduits.

The Green Street team was the first support force to arrive at Block 41.

Suren had originally expected another fierce battle, even more intense than the one on the bridge, and had wondered whether he should use the Alchemical Bullets he'd been keeping hidden to save his life.

But when they arrived, he discovered that the situation wasn't as bad as he'd imagined.

It was even peaceful.

There were gunshots and artillery fire near the Blackwood Building, but they were sparse. It didn't sound like a fierce clash, but rather scattered shots from a pursuit.

From far away, Suren also saw that the streets around the black building were shrouded in a layer of strange, dense fog.

At the sight of the fog, Captain Kai wasn't alarmed but delighted. He cried out, "That's Smoker Boss's ability!"

The veterans in the team seemed familiar with this technique as well and exclaimed in delight. "Hahaha! Wonderful! With Smoker Boss here, everything will definitely be fine!"

Whether there was a problem or not, they still had to go over.

Sure enough, after the convoy entered the fog, it didn't take long before they encountered armed personnel clearing the battlefield. They were members of the Cross Society.

Someone recognized Kai and greeted him. "Hey, Kai, you made it."

Looking at the headquarters, which was calm and tranquil, Kai asked in confusion, "I heard headquarters had been attacked. Where are the attackers?"

The man replied, "Haha, the president and the cadres suddenly came back. Naturally, those bastards were all killed."

Kai was stunned at first, then overjoyed. "Huh? The president and the others came back?"

Hearing the relaxed tone, Suren also breathed a huge sigh of relief.

At least it seemed he wouldn't have to face a supernatural battle far beyond his current strength on his very first day after joining the gang.

The Green Street convoy rumbled toward the front of the Blackwood Building, while the surrounding fog gradually dispersed.

Just then, a sinister, middle-aged man with a watery expression slowly coalesced from a cloud of smoke nearby.

Kai and the veterans recognized him and greeted him one after another. "Smoker Boss!"

Suren remembered seeing this middle-aged man before, ten hours earlier, on the city wall.

This was one of the Cross Society's cadres, "Smoker" Sambou Kaczynski.

"Mm."

The middle-aged man nodded, which counted as a response.

He seemed to be injured, as his face was somewhat pale.

Before Kai could ask about it, a "giant bird" suddenly swooped down from the sky.

Suren instinctively reached for the rifle at his waist, but when he looked closely, he saw that it was a human with black metal wings. As soon as he landed, the steel wings on his back folded up and vanished without a trace.

Kai recognized the newcomer and called out excitedly, "Boss Angel!"

This was another cadre of the Cross Society, "Night Angel" Goethe Amato.

Goethe seemed quite familiar with Kai as well. He smiled and asked curiously, "Hey, kid Kai, I heard the support teams from the other districts were all intercepted by mercenaries. How did you get here so quickly?"

Kai replied somewhat modestly, "I was worried something might happen to headquarters, so I hurried a little."

Goethe probably understood Kai's personality and guessed what had happened. He smiled and said, "You didn't charge at the front again, did you?"

"Heh."

Kai rubbed the back of his head and smiled.

Goethe shook his head without saying anything else, but his eyes held an approving look.

Suren quietly played the role of an invisible nobody in the crowd. However, when he saw those flying metal wings, a strange glint flashed through his eyes. "An Alchemical Implant that can fly. That's very practical."

He planned to "take up" a profession soon, after which he would have to choose an Alchemical Implant.

The Abomination Puppeteer was a profession focused on agility and technique. If he could obtain the blueprint for these alchemical wings, they seemed like a good choice as well.

Now that there seemed to be no trouble at the gang headquarters, everyone's tense nerves finally relaxed.

Just then, the two cadres suddenly turned their heads, as if they had noticed something.

Following their gazes, Suren looked over as well.

The next second, he saw a woman carrying something heavy leap down from a rooftop more than ten meters away.

As soon as she landed, she threw the object from her shoulder onto the ground. It was clearly a masked man covered in knife wounds, unconscious.

Clearly, this was another cadre.

The woman was dressed boldly, with a heroic air. She was the "Four-Armed Rakshasa," Sister Chijou.

Kai called out again. "Sister Chijou!"

Her thick green hair was tied into a high ponytail. A thick red rope resembling a shimenawa was wrapped around her waist, with four single-edged long swords of different colors fastened to it.

She wore the kind of Japanese samurai armor Suren had seen in his previous life, but only on her lower body. The loose leather armor covered only her front and back, leaving her long, pale legs and half her buttocks exposed. With a larger movement, one might even wonder whether she would suffer a wardrobe malfunction.

Her upper body was even more revealing. Apart from the bandage-like bandeau wrapped around her chest, she wore only two bright-red leather shoulder guards and bracers. Large areas of skin were exposed, clearly displaying her exaggerated full-sleeve tattoo and the Rakshasa Tattoo covering her back.

From a distance, Suren glanced at the Rakshasa Tattoo and felt such a fierce, baleful aura that he didn't dare look directly at it. Then he glanced at her heavy, towering breasts and decided that she truly had an ominously "great" bust.

When Sister Chijou saw Kai, the killing aura surrounding her when she landed suddenly faded. She teased him, "Well, little Kai, I heard you're in charge of Green Street now? Tsk tsk, when are you going to arrange something for your big sister?"

Kai patted his chest and laughed. "Sure thing, Sister Chijou. Come anytime, and I'll arrange it for you. If you think the men at the flower houses aren't up to your standards, I'll personally keep you company!"

Sister Chijou gave him a sidelong glance, her face full of disdain, and joked, "Oh? With those skinny little arms and legs of yours, I'm afraid I couldn't have much fun with you for long."

Listen to that—what the hell kind of provocative talk was that?

The veterans on the vehicle burst into laughter when they heard it.

Sam and the other men were even more shameless, shouting loudly, "Sister Chijou, the captain isn't up to it, but we are!"

Seeing this scene, even Suren revealed a relaxed smile.

Joking aside, everyone had clearly noticed the unconscious prisoner Sister Chijou had brought back. Smoker and Night Angel, the two cadres, looked at the man with different expressions in their eyes.

Just then, another group of people walked out of the Blackwood Building.

When they saw the person leading them, everyone present, whether Kai or the cadres, respectfully called out.

"President!"

Thanks to Zijing Yuming for the generous reward and support. Thank you.