episode_0041

The Steel Fang Mercenary Group’s stronghold was truly a scene of chaos.

From all directions, blue energy beams and missiles poured out from the Nemesis Corporation’s mechs.

The mercenary group’s old, crude mechs exploded helplessly or turned into heaps of scrap metal, spewing black smoke.

If there was anything unusual.

It was that the corporation bastards didn’t perform confirmation kills.

“Damn it! What the hell is this!”

Dutch frantically shook the mech’s controls and screamed.

[Enemy reinforcements from three o’clock!]

[Nemesis bastards! Why are they suddenly acting up!]

Shouts and screams of mercenaries continuously erupted from the comms channel.

Dutch gritted his teeth.

‘Kang Jin-woo! It’s because of that guy!’

It was definitely his fault.

That guy took Alexander Valentine’s request and somehow provoked the Nemesis Corporation.

And the fallout had splashed onto them.

He never dreamed that Valentine would brazenly pretend ignorance and cut off communication.

“That damn bastard.”

His vision blurred with rage, but he couldn’t let them be annihilated like this.

He connected another communication, desperate as if grasping at his last straw.

Alexander Valentine.

To the culprit.

“Valentine! The Nemesis bastards are attacking us! This is all because of that request, isn’t it? Is it because of that bastard Kang Jin-woo?!”

Despite Dutch’s urgent shouts, Valentine’s voice was cold.

[Is that Dutch? I don’t know what you’re talking about. I have no connection to Nemesis.]

“Don’t know? Bullshit. Our mercenary group is about to be wiped out!”

[So, do you want to ask me for help? If you make a formal request, I might consider it. Of course, if you still have the ability to pay the appropriate price.]

At that sneer, Dutch was speechless for a moment.

He was disgusted by the old fox’s greed, trying to profit even in this situation.

But now, he had no choice but to beg.

“Damn it!”

Panting roughly, he suddenly realized something strange.

The Nemesis bastards’ attacks were relentless, but oddly, they seemed to prioritize disabling the mechs rather than killing the pilots.

“Their goal isn’t to kill us! It’s to capture us alive! They’re trying to subdue the mechs rather than destroy them!”

He urgently transmitted the coordinates of the current engagement area to Valentine.

“We need help. Right now! If their goal is capture, they won’t leave immediately; the interrogation will continue here.”

[Capture, you say? Understood. I’ve confirmed the coordinates, and given the situation, we can discuss the upfront payment later.]

“Understood.”

As soon as the communication was cut, Valentine contacted Kang Jin-woo.

[Valentine? What’s going on? I don’t remember leaving anything behind.]

[Just now, a request came in.]

[As long as there’s money, I welcome it.]

Valentine attached the information he received from Dutch to the message and spoke.

[Check the attached content. It should be quite interesting.]

******

“Drag them out!”

The Steel Fang Mercenary Group’s stronghold had already fallen completely into the hands of the Nemesis Corporation.

Traces of the desperate battle remained everywhere.

Black smoke rising from the wreckage of destroyed mechs filled the sky with an acrid smell, and there were few survivors.

“You worm-like bastards, how dare you provoke a corporation?”

Mercenaries, their hands bound with ropes, were dragged out in a line.

Their faces were a mix of inexplicable fear and anger.

Dutch, having barely escaped from his destroyed mech, was covered head to toe in dirt and grease.

“Damn. What happened to our leader?”

The last he saw, their leader had taken down a few Nemesis Corporation mechs at the front before being subdued.

Since he wasn’t captured alive, perhaps he died after all.

Dutch let out a deep sigh.

“Shut your mouth and follow.”

Nemesis soldiers made the survivors kneel in a line in front of a crumbled building wall.

A facility once built for educational purposes had now become an interrogation site.

“Tell them to come in one by one, starting from the front.”

A man in a black combat suit spoke, entered the room, and looked at his data pad.

“Understood. You bastard, you’re first.”

A young mercenary was roughly dragged out and sat on a chair.

“Gasp…!”

“Name, affiliation, rank.”

The interrogator asked without taking his eyes off the data pad.

“Ro-Ronnie. Steel Fang Mercenary Group… regular mercenary.”

“Tell me everything you know about a man named Kang Jin-woo. How long has he been with your mercenary group?”

“Kang Jin-woo? I’ve never heard that name. What is this sudden attack, anyway!”

“You’re lying.”

The interrogator’s voice deepened.

“Alexander Valentine’s request records explicitly state Kang Jin-woo, affiliated with the Steel Fang Mercenary Group. I’ll ask again. Tell me everything you know about Kang Jin-woo.”

“It’s true! We don’t know anything at all…”

Before he could finish speaking, a Nemesis soldier standing nearby struck him hard in the abdomen.

“You son of a bitch….”

Under the one-sided beating, the mercenary could no longer speak and curled up in pain.

“We don’t have much time. Next.”

The interrogation proceeded ruthlessly and swiftly.

Repeating the same questions yielded no significant information other than the fact that Kang Jin-woo was an external collaborator.

“Hah, useless. Tsk, I told you we should just kill them all.”

His gaze finally turned to Dutch.

“Even in this situation, your eyes are still alive. Do you have a powerful backer?”

“Backer? Bullshit, I’m just dumbfounded by the corporation’s tyranny.”

“Do you pretend not to know when the evidence is clear? Thanks to you worm-like bastards, we lost valuable personnel and missed our mission objective.”

As the interrogator signaled, a soldier approached, grabbed Dutch by his hair, and forced his head up.

Even then, Dutch’s gaze did not waver.

“Well, it doesn’t matter if you don’t speak. Your deaths are confirmed anyway.”

The interrogator’s hand drew the pistol from his waist, and he approached Dutch.

“What are you doing?”

As the interrogator gestured with his head, the soldier holding Dutch’s hair roughly grabbed his cheek.

“Wh-what the hell are you trying to do?”

“Open your mouth.”

Dutch’s jaw opened, and the gun barrel was shoved into his mouth.

He choked and gagged.

He struggled and shook his head frantically, but the interrogator just smiled as if challenging him to do more.

“You know what? This gun isn’t for killing. It was made solely for torture.”

“Gasp!”

“Ever burned ants with a magnifying glass when you were a kid? It’s exactly like that.”

His finger, about to pull the trigger, froze at the sound of communication in his ear.

“What?”

[I-it’s an attack! The dark red mech! It looks like the one Verso mentioned! Asura!]

CRASH-!

Simultaneously with the cut-off, a huge explosion vibrated, shaking the building.

“Pfft! You really did have a backer after all, didn’t you?”

The interrogator pulled the gun out of Dutch’s mouth and commanded.

“What are you doing?! Why aren’t you all deploying! Do you intend to miss the mission objective?”

“Yes! Understood!”

Soldiers quickly exited and climbed into their mech cockpits, and the interrogator also followed, making a call.

“Verso, can you hear me?”

[I hear you.]

“Are you ready for revenge?”

[Of course. Just give the order, and I can deploy anytime.]

“Good. Deploy immediately.”

As soon as the interrogator’s order fell, the transport ship’s hangar opened, and a unique mech finished preparing for deployment.

*********

“What impeccable timing.”

He muttered lowly, confirming the numerous enemy mech signals appearing on Asura’s HUD.

Valentine’s request to rescue the Steel Fang Mercenary Group, which was surrounded by Nemesis Corporation bastards.

He had considered refusing, but it might actually be an opportunity to cover up this matter.

Furthermore, upon accepting the request, a new quest appeared.

Quest: Steel Fang Rescue Operation Client: Alexander Valentine

-Main Objective •Rescue Steel Fang Mercenary Group survivors •Repel Nemesis Corporation forces in the area

-Basic Reward •150,000 CR •Alexander Valentine’s trust significantly increased •Reputation within Terminus slightly increased

-Special Objective •Destroy Nemesis special mech

-Special Reward: •[Item] Skill Enhancement Token x1

‘Skill Enhancement Token.’

It was a particularly eye-catching item on the reward list.

Since enhancing a skill would clearly be helpful, destroying the Nemesis special mech, the special objective, was most important to him.

He quickly ignited his boosters and aimed his particle accelerator rifle at the red dots on the HUD.

Whoosh-! CRASH-!

[Surprise attack! It’s a surprise attack!]

[Enemy mech confirmed! That’s the dark red mech Verso mentioned, Asura!]

[Asura? I thought it was a crappy name, but its armaments are crappy too! Pile bunker and particle accelerator rifle? That’s a perfect combination for wasting energy!]

The enemies’ response was as if they knew he was coming; their formation was already set.

Two Stingers attempted a pincer attack, approaching simultaneously from left and right.

[Got him! We’ve surrounded him!]

[Movement Flow activated. Reactor load 110%]

He soared upwards with an explosive booster surge, avoiding the encirclement, then charged towards the Stinger on the right.

Clang-!

The pile bunker deployed, and a massive super-alloy stake pierced through the cockpit.

CRASH!

With an explosion, the Stinger on the left attempted an evasion maneuver, but he reversed his boosters for a brief moment, changing direction and plunging into its side.

[Damn it! He can use it again?!]

Clang-!

Along with a desperate shout, the pile bunker fired once more.

CRASH!

The Stinger’s side armor tore like paper, and a massive explosion erupted from within.

[Situation report! Three mechs destroyed in total.]

[Scatter! Overwhelm him with firepower!]

The Stingers that had been rushing towards him hesitated, scattered, and poured out bullets and beam rifle fire.

Whoosh! CRASH!

The precision strike assist system starkly revealed their weaknesses.

The positions changing in real-time according to each mech’s load and status was troublesome.

But the particle accelerator rifle’s projectile speed was so fast that it pierced through their mechs one by one.

[Damn! He’s too strong.]

[Aargh!]

Two Stingers crashed.

[Warning! Reactor overheating]

‘I used the pile bunker too many times consecutively.’

As soon as he stopped using the Movement Flow skill, a system message appeared: ‘Stabilizing.’

[Reactor stabilizing]

“This should be enough…”

[Large energy signature detected overhead.]

His gaze shot upwards at the suddenly appearing system message.

[This is Lieutenant Kyle’s revenge, you damn bastard!]

‘That’s!’

He remembered seeing that mech.

It was the mech that a reinforced human was piloting during the battle in Icarus.

“I don’t know who Lieutenant Kyle is, but…”

He inwardly chuckled, watching the mech descending furiously.

‘It’s coming perfectly to be hit.’

Clang-!

The massive stake was ready to deploy.