Chapter 89
A huge aircraft bearing the corporate logo of Beltech International Solutions flew over Area 49 at tremendous speed.
Unlike the dark streets of the old city, where only the occasional flames from barrels lit by homeless people could be seen, the new city—the aircraft’s destination—shimmered brilliantly beneath holograms and neon signs.
[We will arrive at our destination shortly.]
As the vehicle’s driving AI issued its calm guidance, the bald man sitting in the center seat let out a derisive chuckle and a deep snort.
“See? I told you I was right, didn’t I? I told you the culprits were those Ryan fuckers.”
The deep scar set into his face twisted as deeply as a wrinkle.
“That’s why I said we’d find them quickly if we just hit the warehouse with Ryan’s stupid character painted on it, instead of running around Area 49 for no reason. How many times did I tell you?”
“Yes, yes. You said you were being ignored every time.”
“Those damn desk jockeys. Jeez.”
His boss’s whining was nothing new, so the other subordinates simply let it pass without much thought.
The people currently traveling in the company’s aircraft spoke in a somewhat rough manner.
They were people more accustomed to importing firearms than handling paperwork─.
Because they were soldiers hired by Beltech through an external contract.
Officially, they belonged to Beltech’s Special Security Office.
“If those bastards really are the culprits, it explains everything. If those scavenger fucks had stolen it, they wouldn’t have erased the traces so cleanly. They tampered with the city’s surveillance camera data? Then obviously it was some other corporate bastards. But because they don’t know even that much, we’ve had to go through all this trouble….”
“Yes, yes, we know that, too.”
The team member sitting right beside him nodded like a mindless roly-poly toy.
Then, as though he had suddenly remembered something, he turned his head and looked at the man.
“Oh, but, Director.”
“I told you I get embarrassed when you call me Director. Just call me Team Leader or Boss, didn’t I?”
“You’re not the only team leader in the operational area, Director. The leader of the existing Delta Team alone…. Ah, he went missing.”
“So what?”
“Anyway, that’s not what I meant….”
He thought of the senior person in charge of External Relations, who was personally moving about in the field despite his position, and said,
“Um, what was it? Would it be all right if we didn’t send a separate message to the leader of Alpha Team?”
“Why call that paper pusher? It’ll be a good thing if he stays out of our way instead of coming here to interfere.”
“Well, that’s true.”
He nodded again in agreement, but what the head of the Security Office said next was a little different.
“And I really don’t like that bastard. I guess you could say I have a bad feeling about him.”
In an actual battlefield, the element of ‘intuition’ was extremely important.
The subordinate, who knew that well enough, continued listening attentively.
“I don’t know what he’s thinking, either. Anyway, all we have to do is faithfully carry out the order from above to move as ‘quickly’ as possible. If he gets pissed off later, he can submit a formal request for disciplinary action.”
“Have you ever actually filed one?”
Just as he was about to give his insolent subordinate a knock on the head,
red flames suddenly surged like lava across the aircraft’s front windshield.
…KABOOM.
Even though they were still quite far from their destination, the sound rang out clearly.
Writhing flames and black smoke.
The Security Office chief’s brow furrowed as he saw the sight.
“What now…. Did some other corporate web spider hack the internal network? No, even taking that into account, it’s way too fast….”
It was already common knowledge that Beltech was looking for something in Area 49.
Even if another corporation had suddenly joined in on this matter, it wouldn’t have been strange at all.
“Something has definitely changed. We should speed up a little more.”
[Understood. Switching to speeding mode. This may result in a considerable fine in the city center─.]
“Shut up.”
The Security Office chief stared at the burning flames with lowered eyes until the very end.
“So we can be ready to enter immediately.”
““Yes, sir!!””
* * *
Suddenly, the memory of throwing a fragmentation grenade during recruit training flashed through my mind.
The instant of the explosion.
The instructor’s hand pressing down on my helmet, along with the vibration that seemed to shake heaven and earth.
That memory, etched into me amid such concentration and tension, was like an old scar. No matter how much time passed, it never seemed willing to disappear from some corner of my heart.
But people always grow.
Just as frustration had made that man stronger, I too had become even more hardened after living in a game world without blood, tears, or hope.
Even though a high-explosive grenade had detonated right nearby, my heart continued beating calmly.
Though I still wasn’t sure whether that was a good thing or a bad thing for me.
…Crackle, crack-crackle!
Along with the sound of sparks flying, acrid black smoke began rising from inside the logistics center.
Part of the glass ceiling had shattered under the pressure of the explosion, so the interior wasn’t choked with smoke.
“…Wow.”
The explosion had been bigger than I expected.
It seemed the other trucks nearby had also exploded in a chain reaction.
Thanks to that, the inside of the logistics center had instantly become a complete maelstrom of chaos.
‘Experience points….’
Since no experience points had come in separately, it seemed no one had died, fortunately.
I felt none of that strange satisfaction that could only be gained through experience points.
Maybe there were only injuries, at least.
Far away, I saw someone in a security uniform lying on the floor, bleeding as though he had been struck by flying debris.
I dragged him away and evacuated him to another safe location.
“Th-thank you….”
At his polite words, I pressed the button on my mask and activated the voice modulator again.
[Don’t mention it.]
In truth, I was the culprit, so my conscience pricked me a little.
Now that I had erased all the traces, it seemed I only had to sneak away from this place….
Unfortunately, it seemed we were a little too late for that.
“This is the Ryan Company security team! From this moment on, anyone who moves recklessly will be shot immediately! Keep your hands raised above your heads and slowly come outside!!”
In the meantime, it seemed that the real security personnel belonging to the Ryan Eliens Company had been dispatched.
Now that I saw them in such bright light, the difference in the quality of our clothes was obvious.
Their uniforms had a luxurious matte finish, while ours were extremely glossy and cheap-looking.
I unconsciously took a step back at the difference in aura, and saw the gazes around us turn in our direction.
Ziiing─.
A translucent laser extended in front of the helmet worn by the security team member who appeared to be their leader.
He was obviously scanning us.
‘…Damn.’
By now, his optical HUD was probably displaying all sorts of suspicious details, such as the shoddy stitching of our outfits and the condition of the material.
Now that things had come to this.
I could run without even looking back─.
“You two over there, which team do you belong to?”
[…Yes?]
Had he really not noticed us?
Just then, the light around my mask turned red.
“Damn, the smoke is interfering with the scan.”
Aha.
That was very fortunate for us.
‘I can stall for time with some quick thinking here.’
In any case, we only needed to buy a few dozen seconds….
That much time would be more than enough.
[S-sorry!!]
“…Huh?”
[We didn’t see anything!]
When that bizarre answer came in response to the question about which team we belonged to, Mikhail silently pulled down his mask.
I thought I could hear a small sigh.
…It couldn’t be helped.
An unnecessary lie might make the situation even worse.
It would be better to simply give off the aura of a complete loser.
Thinking back to the Beltech security team members we had encountered earlier, just because they were a megacorp’s security team didn’t mean they necessarily had meticulous personalities─.
“Raise your hands above your heads and slowly walk forward.”
[Ah.]
He’s extremely cautious.
Mikhail’s blunt gaze, hidden behind his mask, felt a little painful.
But it was fine.
Only a few more seconds.
“I’ll say this one last time! Raise your hands above your heads and walk forward─.”
KABOOM!!
The ceiling collapsed at the same time.
A bipedal robot that looked remarkably similar to the Goliath RS series from Beltech that I had seen during my previous cyberweb search landed on the floor.
It was well over three meters tall, instantly drawing everyone’s attention.
Then, from the aircraft hovering above the logistics center, more than ten people descended one after another on rappelling lines.
Thanks to my hearing, which had grown stronger with every level I gained, I could even hear the sound of the aircraft approaching from hundreds of meters away.
The bald man at the front leisurely looked around.
“Excuse me. Ahem, we received a public-interest report stating that this warehouse contains corporate property stolen from our Beltech Company….”
Even at a glance, he was clearly a man who reeked of gunpowder.
All the others wore luxurious helmet-shaped masks that made it obvious to outsiders that they were security personnel, but for some reason, the bald man left his intimidating face completely exposed.
Perhaps because it was made of the same smooth, shiny material.
Anyway.
Judging by the way he spoke, he seemed to hold a fairly high position.
“Therefore, we request your cooperation.”
In any case, they had arrived before it was too late.
It might have been thanks to the explosion I had caused.
The bipedal robot bearing Beltech’s logo straightened up with a deafening roar.
Its glowing red single-eye lens was striking.
“RS-027…. It’s the Model Cyclops.”
Thanks to someone’s muttered words, the robot’s identity was revealed.
It seemed to be quite famous.
With an unexpected rival megacorp force appearing, the Ryan Eliens Company security team couldn’t hide their bewilderment.
“Why is Beltech here….”
“…You’re saying there’s stolen corporate property in the warehouse?”
Unlike the Ryan security team, who had come lightheartedly to deal with gang members, those people seemed to have arrived fully prepared.
Perhaps it was because the difference in firepower was so obvious.
The leader of the Ryan Company security team, who had displayed such an imposing attitude only moments ago, spoke in a markedly submissive tone.
“If you mean corporate property─.”
Before he could finish, I cut him off.
Perhaps because the voice modulator was so cheap, the strange sound quality drew everyone’s attention toward me.
[…Gasp!! They came to retrieve that cargo after all?!]
““……””
And then there was an awkward silence lasting a few seconds.
Was that too strange a thing to mutter to myself?
But I couldn’t simply stop there.
I continued muttering things that anyone would find suspicious.
[So the lie about gang members appearing to cause confusion inside, and the explosion in the building, were all for that purpose…!!]
I saw an illusion of question marks appearing above the heads of both factions, but did my best to ignore it.
I quietly focused my mind.
【Telekinesis】 【41%】
The telekinesis I had steadily trained up until now finally came in handy.
Far away, I removed the bolt and nut from a small cargo box between the containers.
The contents of the cargo that Mikhail and I had set down spilled out onto the ground quite naturally.
To everyone else, it would look as though the bolt had broken because it could no longer bear the cargo’s weight.
Rattle─!
Weapons bearing Beltech’s corporate logo soon came tumbling out in a rush.
The security guards who had been quietly staying in place at my request earlier jumped in surprise.
“W-what is this!”
The bald man’s pupils flashed very briefly.
Apparently having already finished scanning the weapons, he gave a small snort.
“They match the missing items exactly. Where did you put the rest of them? …No, never mind.”
As soon as he finished speaking in a low voice, machine guns emerged from both arms of the enormous robot called the Cyclops.
Click, click!
“By order of the great and mighty Chairman, all personnel involved will be eliminated.”
Given how quickly the situation had progressed.
The members of the security team dispatched by Ryan no longer seemed able to remain calm.
They had just found the items that had disappeared from this warehouse, making it difficult for them to offer any kind of excuse.
But now that the other side had already finished preparing for battle, they couldn’t simply sit there and be slaughtered.
Then, as the muzzles turned toward us,
“…Everyone, prepare for battle!!”
The two factions had no choice but to fight.
“It’s a Beltech raid using military equipment! Damn it, request backup from headquarters immediately!!”
Right after that.
Fierce gunfire began filling the inside of the logistics center.
It was almost a scene that made me crave popcorn.
* * *
A notification that a message had arrived blinked across Paul Lucas’s optical HUD.
It was a message from a member of the Alpha Team he was temporarily leading.
A report that the whereabouts of the missing goods had been discovered.
Naturally, Paul Lucas sensed that something was off.
As far as he knew, Beltech’s missing goods had a close connection to a certain grocery store.
First, he calmly composed himself.
Then he continued reading the message.
He wanted to see where the goods had been found.
And.
───────────────
The missing cargo was identified inside a [logistics center] belonging to the [Ryan Eliens Company] on [New City Street] in [Area 49].
Many personnel are currently engaged in combat at the scene……
───────────────
Paul Lucas’s narrowed eyes grew wide when he read the message that far.
Then he blinked two or three times.
He had seen something he simply couldn’t understand.
“…???”
What the hell was this.
Paul Lucas was genuinely flustered for the first time in a long while.