Ch.177[Chapter 177] 12 Hours

“What on earth is going on?”

One of the attackers who had planted a bomb on the Ferris wheel muttered in a trembling voice.

The bombs they had used were certainly enough to blow up an entire fortress.

That meant there was more than enough to blow away this old, rusty metal structure.

Yet the Ferris wheel remained intact.

Why?

“…Ah!”

One of the attackers suddenly realized something while looking at the dispersing smoke.

The smoke wasn’t touching the Ferris wheel.

More precisely, there seemed to be a thin membrane around the Ferris wheel, with the smoke flowing along it.

“…A charger! It’s a shock absorption charger!”

“What? You mean the SAC-2999 Shock Absorption Charger mark.3 Prototype?”

“…What’s that?”

One of the attackers recognized what it was and informed the others.

A trap. It was a trap.

The Ferris wheel hadn’t been left exposed for no reason.

In fact, the Ferris wheel had a device that absorbed external shocks and converted them into energy.

This was a device installed to perform a gimmick that would be revealed later, but it had been in a dormant state after being abandoned for a long time.

Someone who didn’t know about the Ferris wheel’s gimmick might have overlooked it, but Don Castello was someone who knew the gimmick well.

Don Castello had prioritized restoring the shock absorption charger above all else.

However, the shock absorption charger had a drawback.

Without shock, it was nothing more than a pile of scrap metal.

At that moment, attackers burst into Don Castello’s office.

The attackers’ assault. This was a variable.

Don Castello quickly formulated a plan.

Though it was a hastily made, clumsy plan, Don Castello spoke with remarkable execution.

‘If there’s any silver lining…’

‘It’s fortunate the enemies aren’t interested in the Ferris wheel. If I can just stall for time here—’

‘…That should be enough.’

Words muttered as if casting a suggestion to himself.

But Don Castello had no doubt someone would take the bait.

And surprisingly, Don Castello’s flimsy plan actually succeeded in baiting someone…

“Quickly, tell the rear! Stop the bombardment! Stop the explosions!”

An attacker at the front shouted urgently.

But it took quite some time for his words to reach the rear.

In that brief moment when a nearby radio operator was sending a telegram to the radio operator at the rear.

During that short time, the loaded artillery batteries simultaneously fired their explosives.

The attacker who had first noticed the shock absorption charger blankly stared at the squadron of explosives flying through the sky, blinking with red dots.

And he squeezed his eyes shut.

The count would now rise to an irreversible level, he thought.

And that thought soon became reality.

Tick.

10/12.

…

The Ferris wheel.

The center of Gacha World.

Perhaps that’s why? The Ferris wheel had various functions besides being an amusement ride.

One of those was being a clock.

A feature that leveraged the fact that it could be seen from anywhere in Gacha Land.

“It seems the restoration will be complete when those clock hands reach 12 o’clock.”

Sir Dominica said, looking at the Ferris wheel visible through the window.

Above the round Ferris wheel, clock hands made of lights were slowly moving.

The attackers, who had only been in a standoff until just now, seemed to be preparing to break down the door again after failing their attack on the Ferris wheel, but Sir Dominica didn’t pay much attention to them.

The Ferris wheel would be restored in just a little more time.

“…About 3 hours. No. About 2 and a half hours left.”

Don Castello put down his fountain pen with a thud.

His eyes were blurry from staring at documents for too long.

“I’m craving something sweet.”

Don Castello said, rubbing his eyes with his fingers.

He had actually consumed so much energy that his cheeks now looked quite hollow.

“Wait a moment.”

Sir Dominic unlocked the door that had been temporarily locked and went outside.

Then there was a sound like a bulldozer passing by, and Sir Dominic returned, opening the door again.

Since Sir Dominica was looking out the window, she could directly observe Sir Dominic’s aggressive breakthrough.

Anyway, Sir Dominic was holding drinks and energy bars, which he had remembered from a nearby vending machine and retrieved.

“It’s strange. There were only two things for sale.”

That’s right.

Gacha World was also a place belonging to Gacha Land, so naturally, all products could be received randomly.

Vending machines were no exception.

What Sir Dominic had brought after pressing buttons for a drink marked with a question mark and a snack marked with a question mark was a transparent container filled with blue liquid that emitted a subtle fluorescent green glow, and an energy bar as hard as a brick containing a whopping 10,000 calories in just 20g.

“The price was cheap, though.”

Sir Dominic said as he placed the food in front of Don Castello.

“…Thanks.”

Don Castello ate a little of the suspicious-looking drink and snack.

Unexpectedly, the drink tasted like peach.

“It looks like the offensive will resume soon?”

Sir Dominica said to Sir Dominic, who was relaxing.

“We’ve changed our traits, so wouldn’t that be advantageous for us?”

Sir Dominic said.

That’s right.

Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica had been using the [Rider] trait, but they changed their traits during the brief lull.

They thought that no matter how they looked at it, they couldn’t properly use the [Rider] trait indoors.

Don Castello made an incredulous expression at those words, but the exchange of traits was successfully completed.

“I’m dying to go wild right now.”

Thump. Thump.

“I’m sure you are. You were going wild just now too.”

Sir Dominica said, as if suggesting that going out to get food just now was also going wild.

She said this while spinning the gun she had drawn from her waist.

Thump. Thump.

“That’s… true.”

Sir Dominic nodded at Sir Dominica’s jab.

“It’s all well and good for everyone to chat,”

Don Castello said, forcibly swallowing the dry energy bar with the drink.

“But I think the door is about to be smashed again.”

Thump. Thump. Crack.

Just as Don Castello said, the door was smashed and the head of a battering ram poked through.

“Ex… Excuse me.”

And then the battering ram retreated, and a polite attacker in a ghillie suit unlocked the door and flung it open.

“Excuse me, but would you be willing to transfer ownership of Gacha World to us?”

The attacker made an absurdly polite request.

“Of course not.”

“I see.”

Don Castello politely declined the offer.

The polite attacker nodded as if this was expected and threw off his ghillie suit.

“Then we’ll have to kill you and take it.”

A man with a fierce look, wearing a baseball cap, headset, and bulletproof vest.

It was Z.

Without hesitation, Z raised a shotgun toward Don Castello and pulled the trigger.

Two gunshots erupted from the over-under double-barrel shotgun.

But the bullets never reached Don Castello.

Sir Dominic, now wearing thick armor, had somehow positioned himself in front of Don Castello and raised his shield.

With a hissing sound, the steam engine attached to Sir Dominic’s back began to move vigorously.

[[Steampunk]: Brass and steam, and Belle Époque!]

[Those with the Steampunk trait can wear steam-powered armor at any time.]

[Steam-powered armor greatly increases the wearer’s stats.]

With a hiss, steam was released as water boiled.

A thick fog filled the office, but Z didn’t panic and listened for sounds around him.

He judged that the steam-powered armor would make loud noises when moving since it was made of metal.

But Z’s concentration was instantly shattered.

With a bang! a bullet lodged in the back of his left hand.

“Ugh!”

Z dropped the double-barrel shotgun.

It was the effect of Sir Dominica’s [Sheriff] trait.

This is a setback, Z thought.

In fact, Z had a feeling this attack would be the last.

There was no point in attacking the defense line led by the Governor.

And attacking the Ferris wheel would actually benefit the enemy.

In the end, there was only one decision left for the boss and Z to make.

Attack Don Castello and stop the progress.

Then take Don Castello away and brainwash him.

Fortunately, the boss’s loyal subordinates were causing incidents all over Gacha Land to buy time.

About 3 hours from now.

They needed to settle this within that time.

Z had rushed here with such an urgent mindset.

But after sensing the formidable resistance from just one attack, Z realized it was time to form a new plan.

“Ugh… my head… Where am I…?”

At that moment.

Don Cartello, who had been collapsed in the corner of the office, woke up.

Z suddenly caught a thought passing through his mind.

“Don Cartello! According to the plan!”

In the still foggy room.

When Z shouted this, Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica momentarily looked toward where Don Cartello was.

Though they couldn’t see clearly through the thick fog, Don Cartello had certainly woken up.

Even Don Castello started looking toward Don Cartello’s direction with caution.

Meanwhile, Don Cartello himself was just thinking, Plan? What plan?