Chapter 107: Masquerade Party (21)

Chapter 107: Masquerade Party (21)

Pa-p-p-p-p-t!

Hah, hagh! Damn, my stomachs killing me!

No matter how he thought about it, GG was an educational game that helped with the Wasteland life.

I started to be able to separate pain and the ability to move at some point!

Going through a gameplay of content that could basically be called torture, Gyosu reached the point where he was somewhat immune to pain in reality as well.

Damn it! I got used to the pain! Thats weird! And our caravans name is BDSM too! It feels like it oddly fits!

The place where Gyosu arrived after all that running was the Investigation Bureaus garage, which he came out of not long ago.

The inside of the garage was completely different from when they left it, with only the red emergency lights blinking to illuminate a small outline of the dark space.

I dont have time. Exosuits that dont have support from the city die on their own with just a bit of pressure.

A normal Exosuits activation limit was around 35 to 40 minutes. 15 if they were in combat mode with shields on at max output. And it would be about right to say that each shot from the tanks would cut down on 40 seconds of that time.

The Raptors are the ones that planned this, so they probably have the next step planned out. It wont be easy to use the Exosuits.

Ian. And Vex.

He cant count how many times he sighed while he traced his way through the building based on the short scan of the place he did on their way to the Investigation Bureaus armory.

If he was lucky, he would have been able to sneak into enemy formation while they were busy with the Exosuits. He should have had enough firepower to get through the thinner side of the defense. But what next? What was he thinking of doing all alone inside there?

He did momentarily think of stopping Ian when he started running out. But just before the words stopped coming out of his mouth, the image of Vex alone and isolated inside made his throat block up.

Lets trust them. Theyre not normal enough to die anyway. Lets assume that they survive and do my job.

He left the IBs building, then ran through the dead, silent streets of the Dome. The people living in the Dome didnt run around in panic or try to run away when a commotion happened outside. They merely shut themselves inside their houses and prayed the moment would pass. Like good livestock, tamed and grown through peace.

As his eyes started to get used to the darkness, Gyosu analyzed and organized his surrounding situation.

Cracked flagstones, broken streetlights. That should be normal if an Exosuit squad ran past here. That direction is the Underdome. Mister Ralph told them to protect the generator, so they probably headed straight to the Underdome. The only building with the lights on over there must be the Administrative Branch building.

The Administrative Branch was in charge of various things, such as the Domes budget, residential matters, and the law, but the most important field they were in charge of was research. So the Administrative Branch building was made to be completely isolated from the outside situation with its own defense system in case of an emergency in order to protect the research materials inside. If necessary, that would at least buy time to destroy everything inside.

Of course, they could always turn it off themselves and come out, but seeing that its on, they probably got scared and decided to stay inside.

Or, they had something in there that they couldnt hand over to the Raptors even after the Dome was gone. Since there were two other Dome cities other than here.

As he followed the trail, the level of destruction on the streets steadily increased. The buildings had holes drilled through them like Swiss cheese. Those were from the pulse rifles. Buildings also had traces of severe damage from what looked like wrecking balls. Those were also probably because of the Exosuits.

Of course, there were also several bodies strewn between the debris and buildings. The corpses that were not wearing military uniforms but casual clothing like normal citizens had wounds that even Gyosu, who was used to seeing corpses, had a hard time looking at.

And, beyond the iron gate that seemed to have been melted down by a large welder, was the path down to the Underdome.

With three Exosuit units collapsed in front of it.

Any survivorsguess notT/his chapter is updated by nov(ê(l)biin.co/m

Gyosu approached a corpse inside the suit and placed a finger against their neck. It was still warm. That meant it hadnt been long since they died. Wait, but more importantly

The bodys too clean.

Back when he worked at the Dome, he once heard that you didnt need a coffin for someone who died in an Exosuit. Thats because the only thing that could break through that stupidly strong shield were anti-tank class large caliber bullets, but there wouldnt be a corpse left to put in the coffin if they were hit with something like that.

But the corpses of the three Investigation Bureau members in front of him were relatively clean.

It means they didnt use large caliber bullets

Something felt off. The entire street displayed the battle of the Investigation Bureau. Corpses burned to char, piles of trash, broken glass!

Click!

In that moment, at the same time Gyosu pulled out his gun, the trash pile right behind him shot up and started to swing something at his body.

Bang!

Eurghh

You scared me! Wait, why does he have a knife when hes dealing with Exosuit?

Shplt!

The corpses head exploded. To be exact, the head was at the exact same height as his heart. If he hadnt raised up the body to check its possessions, then the bullet would have hit its original target.

Are these guys crazy? A knife, and now a sniper?

Blocking the next wave of bullets with the mans body, he threw himself through a hole in one of the collapsed buildings walls. First, hell hide, then check the enemys location

Rustle!

Again?!

This time, a hand popped out of a mound of rocks. As a smile spread across the face covered in gray dust, he could see the enemys white teeth.

Im too late. He was faster than me!

The movement of the man pulling the trigger played in slow motion. Is this that thing in the movies where their life flashes before their eyes? Ah, Im not even going to go close to a rock mound in my next

Poww!

Just then. Faster than both Gyosu and the killer, Gyosus left arm landed a punch square in the hidden mans chin.

[Mmph whats all this ruckus? I just woke upIs it not over ye]

Good job. Dont talk to me; its distracting!

He almost died. If Hyde hadnt reacted faster than he did, then the lead bullet from that gun would have turned his brain into wet mush!

Gyosus eyes darted nervously around his surroundings. Pile of debris. Broken signs, beheaded streetlightseverything that came into his sight was now suspicious to the point he couldnt breathe right anymore.

There were a lot fewer enemies than he expected.

So those guys from IB Squad 3 werent idiots.

Three of their members died at the entrance. So they prepared countermeasures.

It looked like the Exosuits completely decimated this alleyway as they went past it. Shield Absorbers needed to be placed beforehand. So if they destroyed the entire alley as they went past it, they would have been able to destroy the devices before they activated.

Thanks to them flattening all of the buildings and setting everything on fire, the Executive Department has a lot fewer places to hide in. Its easier to find them compared to the entrance. Hyde, how many shots are left on the left?

[Uh wait! Lemme check your memories!]

I didnt count!

[Then why dont you use your smart brain to count?]

My brains already running too much trying to operate two screens, and you want me to count your bullets?! I didnt even shoot them with my hand! And you can use my brain too!

There he is! Its the guy Boss talked about!

S! He was in front of the water store when the toe guys died! Whys he so fast?

[Thats]

Kill them! Its the Underdomes gang!

Shhhshk!

Gyosu used his running speed to slide straight into an alleyway, then stored the pistol inside its harness and put on the gas mask he picked up earlier before throwing the weird-looking grenade that came with it.

[You need to lean out for me to shoot!]

We dont have time to shoot all of them. Theyre connected to the Executive Department and probably got separate orders. The reason I ran all the way here was to avoid getting caught by them too

Cough, cough!

Sir! The guy, cough! Smoked us!

Geurghh!!!

Its not just gas, its a toxic gas!

An orange smoke spewed out of the grenade Gyosu threw. The gang members that had been coming his way with a barricade made of all sorts of junk started to cough, then collapsed as they threw up blood.

[Gas grenade?]

The heart of ambushesnot really, looking at how deadly it is. What else would the grenade be if all the assassin had on him was a bunch of stealth weapons and a gas mask?

It honestly didnt look like a weapon that just a gas mask could block, but Gyosu used the chaos to slip past the gang members in the yellow smoke. His skin stung to the point where it made him uneasy, but it was far better than dealing with endless waves of druggies.

Hah, hah!

[What are you doing? I thought you were busy! Your friends are dying!]

Let me take a breather too, you bastard! Do you know how hard it is to run and fight at the same time? I ran all the way here like it was some horror game speedrun!

[Tch. Youre the one thats in a bigger rush inside.]

There wont be many places to rest from here on, so weve got to use this chance to recharge some stamina.

How long did it take to pass through the Underdomes residential area? 15 minutes? It was an impossibly fast speed, even taking into consideration that an Exosuit squad passed through beforehand. Aside from being a little out of breath, it didnt look like he used up that much stamina either.

[Dont you actually think the other life is healthy for you at this point? Why, you know. Like for the placebo effect, or mind control.]

Its probably more like I got used to the danger. Ive experienced this level of danger to my life almost every single day in there. Anxiety actually uses up a surprising amount of stamina in these situations.

Dammit, this is depressing. Ive gotten so used to these kinds of situations that I dont even get nervous anymore. How did my life turn out like this?

Gyosu shook off the thoughts that started to creep into his mind the moment they saw a chance. Its a good thing he has leftover stamina. He still had a long way to go.

That gas bomb was effective, but it sank quickly because it was heavier than air. If the air sinks, then the gangs that the Executive Department hired are going to start pushing in from behind, so if he doesnt start moving forward like he already is, hell have to deal with the Executive Department and gangs at the same time, back-to-back.

When he left the alley and traveled a bit forward, a facility different from the run-down buildings he had seen until now came into sight. A building with windows made of glass, full of bicycles with small screens on them.

Its the power plant.

[Power plant?]

Yeah. Anyone living in the Dome has a certain amount of power they need to generate every day. Theres one in the Upper Dome too, but most come here to the Underdome.

[Dont they only have nice facilities like these up there?]

The Domes actual high-class dont have a power quota in the first place, and this is more of an eyesore than a nice facility.

[Why?]

When you cause a crime in the Dome, they weld you to that bicycle instead of sending you to prison. You need to continue pedaling until you complete your sentence, but its a bit gruesome to watch. Some people die too.

There was blood seeping out of the remaining debris where the Exosuits passed through. All of the other people would have escaped, but the prisoners had a chain welded to the bike, so they couldnt avoid it.

Crunch, crunch, crunch.

There was shattered glass all over the ground. Some corpses had prison uniforms, some from the ED, probably because they didnt need to hide anymore, and about four Exosuits that were completely tattered to a scrap. Assuming from the crackling wires and crushed piles of scrap metal, it must have happened while passing through the turrets that defended the central power plant.

When he continued to follow the traces of the Exosuits deep inside, he arrived at a place where his field of vision suddenly opened up and all the other miscellaneous buildings nearby disappeared. It looked like they dug a deep hole and buried massive water tanks in it, then built a tower of cables on top of it.

Were here.

[This is the place?]

Probably.

To Hydes question, Gyosu nodded.

He hadnt seen the central generator, the Domes most important facility, before, but the debris of several Exosuits scattered in the distance and, amongst them, the last two Exosuit units still fighting proved that this was indeed where the enemy was located.