I go over the operation in my head once more. This time, Volla was in charge of the rear infiltration, and the rest were for the frontal assault. Volla had almost no risk of crossfire.

However, without Volla at the front, we lacked people to hold the forward position. Even with plenty of cover inside the warehouse, someone needed to take point. I lightly tapped the desk and raised my hand.

“I’ll take point for the back door infiltration team. Since Volla can’t be at the front. I have the best durability among the remaining members, right? And I’m the only one wearing a full-face ballistic mask.”

I decided not to dwell on the fact that I had died once before. A story is just a story. The fact that I nearly died once doesn’t change who is most efficient at taking point.

I steel my resolve with a desire for efficiency. Efficiency is good. Inefficiency is evil. Before complaining about why good things are so scarce in this world, become that good thing yourself. The creed of Bellwether.

I couldn’t tell if this was just a simple creed or some kind of necromancy that summoned me back after being torn apart by a bioengineered monstrosity in front of the research building. I decided it was just a simple creed.

I remembered it because it was a good saying, not because I still longed for my Bellwether days. Not focusing on my new life would be inefficient.

Director Yoon gave a satisfied smile. The first smile I saw from her was meant to forcibly hide her coldness, but somehow it seemed to be growing warmer over time.

“I knew you would volunteer before I had to ask. Your hazard pay will be increased by 30%, and Arthur, I’ll entrust you with the gas grenades. Since they have similar density to air, throwing them upward will be more effective… That’s all. Any additional considerations? If not, let’s depart immediately. Enzo, please make the call.”

Volla, who had been quietly listening, approached Enzo and placed his machine gun on the office table. Even though he set it down gently, it was still an incredibly heavy piece of metal.

“I’ll pretend to be a courier going through the front entrance. Can you wrap this up for disguise?”

“Of-of course. I’ll make it look natural…”

It was quite satisfying to see everything proceeding smoothly with everyone being useful. Everyone was doing their part. Soon after Volla’s disguise was prepared, we all went down and boarded the van.

The van starts moving. I tighten the chin strap on my ballistic helmet to check it, then double-check that there are no gaps where it meets the ballistic mask. The helmet was securely fastened. From the rear compartment, we can’t see outside.

Until we reach our destination, I have an eternity to check my readiness. There’s no need to be tense. Being too tense would lead to checking the same things dozens of times and making absurd mistakes.

With a calm mind, I finish my preparations and check my carbine again, keeping the muzzle pointed at the floor of the vehicle. The gun was fine. Director Yoon, who had been resting her hand on her gas mask, spoke.

“We’ve requested cooperation from KSC as well. They’ve agreed to send part-timers home under the pretext of adjusting shift times, and they’ve also informed us that supply trucks will be delayed. Since we’ll designate it as an operation zone as soon as we enter, there shouldn’t be any friction.”

The van stopped midway to drop off Volla. We weren’t far from KSC in Pasadena. One of the drones that had been flying around Kay projected a hologram screen in front of me.

Though there were no windows, if I had a computational assist device implanted, I could have seen outside through the driver’s seat camera. We had already arrived at KSC and were entering the employee parking lot.

I check the gas grenade in my hand. It was round to help the gas spread as far as possible, fitting perfectly in my palm. By the time I finished checking, the van had arrived.

Through the van’s armored exterior, I could hear rain pouring down. The air gets better on days when it rains for several days. The foul-smelling rain of the first day or two stops, and from the second day, slightly clearer rain falls.

I crouch lightly in front of the wall where the door will open, waiting for the signal. The armored panel in the driver’s seat lowers first, then I see fingers counting down… As the last finger folds, the van opens.

Outside the door, the food storage warehouse had several tall shelves stacked high, probably to efficiently use space with flying drones. The warehouse was dark, but there was light.

The employee break room. So that’s where they’re all hiding. Post-human Type IV had no problem seeing in such low light. I point toward the light. The director nods.

With the selector switch set to semi-auto, I take point, moving with muffled footsteps and shortened stride. From inside the break room door, voices could be heard.

“The goods are here. I’ll go out and receive them, so keep quiet and turn off the lights so the guys coming to load supplies don’t notice. Got it?”

After what seemed to be the boss’s voice, several small answers followed, almost like whispers. Their organization is quite good. I press the button on my neck mic and speak.

“Kay, have you found the rabbits? What about the bomb setup?”

“No rabbits outside! There’s only one car modified like the Public Road racers in front of the main entrance, and Volla has infiltrated, so don’t worry. Proceed with the operation!”

Before the words finished, the break room door began to open. I lightly extended my left hand forward and threw the pin-pulled gas grenade through the gap in the door. It traced an almost straight parabolic arc.

And then, it explodes. The explosion wasn’t that loud, but the translucent gas that burst out with it began to fill the break room. The enemy’s reaction was immediate.

“We’re under attack! Back door, hide the client inside first! Ugh, hoo… The gas seems to be non-lethal vomit gas, so hold your breath, ugh…”

With Volla at the front entrance, their only escape route is behind us. I lightly grip the handguard and aim at the boss’s head visible between the krill and chlorella containers. I squeeze the trigger unhurriedly.

The gunshot rang out, impossible to hide even with a suppressor, but there were no screams from outside the warehouse. When an area is designated as a mercenary operation zone, people simply evacuate without screaming.

The first shot hit the helmet precisely and ricocheted, but the second shot lodged next to his eye as the helmet shifted. The third and fourth bullets hit his mouth and nape. He seemed to die instantly, sliding down the wall.

“One rabbit down. Proceeding to enter the break room. Please check the cleaning supply closet on the left. No other points of concern.”

Director Yoon, who was standing to my left, took out a flash grenade and walked toward the cleaning supply closet. She threw the flash grenade through the slightly open door crack, then kicked the door open. Exactly seven gunshots rang out.

As I heard the voice in my earpiece, mercenaries who had been timing their exit from the break room began to rush out. A large bald mercenary with a ballistic shield tried to set up a wall while fighting back nausea.

“Two rabbits down. Six rabbits remaining. All inside the break room.”

I pulled the trigger as soon as I saw him rushing out, but that ballistic shield was quite good. Even though I hit the observation window precisely, it didn’t penetrate, and he began to return fire with a pistol. I hide behind a shelf.

“Everyone, ugh, out! There are only three of them!”

The command transfer was smooth too. Following his words, other mercenaries rushed out of the break room. They all looked sick, but they were doing their best even in that situation. So were we.

This was too big a gunfight for the KSC warehouse, which was full of holes plugged only with containers of food substitutes. As the fourth person came out, the director’s voice was heard.

“Volla, flank is clear. No risk of crossfire.”

Lewis hadn’t come out. With the sound of the store-side door creaking and a plastic door being torn off completely, something rushed between those mercenaries. As they turned to look, one had the side of his head pierced. It was the director.

There weren’t three, but four. I rest my gun barrel against the metal frame of the shelf and pull the trigger. Volla’s heavy machine gun fire drowns out my gunshots as it roars from beyond the door he kicked open. I reduce the volume.

I watch as all four mercenaries are swept away by the well-timed flank attack, while keeping my ears from going numb from the continuous explosions by appropriately lowering the volume. Volla’s voice comes through.

“Four rabbits down. Two rabbits remaining. I’ll take point again. Entering the break room.”

Even Volla, whose skin was covered only by a helmet without additional armor plating, couldn’t be scratched by small arms fire. From inside the break room came the sound of vomiting. The gas was fast-acting.

Volla, who didn’t need to breathe, didn’t care about the gas. He didn’t break down the door but simply opened it and entered, and gunshots rang out before anyone could shout for surrender. Exactly eight shots, four per person.

Volla’s voice was heard again. The smell of gunpowder was acrid. The smell of blood made the gunpowder smell seem like nothing.

“Two rabbits down, mission objective secured. Call Bellwether’s cleanup team, boss.”

Soon, Venus Meditech’s sales manager, struggling uselessly in Volla’s hands, was carried out. The rabbits weren’t wearing gas masks, but he alone wore a gas mask with a rabbit logo on it.

As a witness protection company, they more than passed. The only thing they lacked was skill in choosing their clients. Lewis, who had started panting from moving while wearing a gas mask, shouted.

“You, you bastards! It’s a company we built and raised! You’re accomplices helping those Bellwether bastards swallow it whole…”

A common repertoire. It’s Bellwether’s interference that lowered our productivity. Bellwether is behind this plot. He’ll start spouting such nonsense.

Even though Venus Meditech was just one of many companies contracted with Bellwether, the items they supplied were used by Bellwether’s security team.

Bellwether wasn’t an idle and inefficient company that would risk a decline in the quality of security team supplies just to devour such a small company.

“Cleanup team called. Volla, keep him quiet.”

Volla grabbed Lewis’s head with one hand. When his display eye prosthetic broke, he screamed, but when Volla punched him in the abdomen, he swallowed even his scream.

He was just trembling, clutching his stomach with both hands, without even the strength to curl up. He had gone quiet. Soon, sniffling sounds began to come from inside the gas mask he wore. I didn’t feel pity.

I approached him and extended my hand. It wasn’t that I wanted to show kindness. It was just the classic good cop, bad cop routine. When he couldn’t raise his head, I flicked my fingers to shift his gaze toward me.

He looked at me with his broken display eye prosthetic and grabbed my hand. His body was trembling, so I helped him up to a somewhat awkward standing position. I took out the pistol from inside his jacket.

“Let’s remove the gun since you might become a minor shareholder of Bellwether if you go there now. There’s no other path left, right? What did Bellwether propose to you?”

When I used a slightly gentle voice, his attitude quickly became docile. Classic strategies generally yield good results. He sniffled and said.

“No, they, they just proposed installing professional management and restructuring internally. It’s, it’s a company we built, how could they tell us to hand it over to others and just sit back…”

Bellwether had been extremely generous. It wasn’t about sitting back; it meant turning Venus Meditech into the most efficient company in the Bellwether way and giving all the credit to the founders.

People can only convey a third of what they mean, and can only understand a third of what someone else conveys. A failure of communication. I felt more pity for Bellwether’s sales representative in charge of Venus than for this man.

I tied his wrists in front with cable ties and made him walk to the van. Volla made a scoffing sound.

“Classic strategy, Offliner.”

I shrugged and answered. It was true.

“As long as it works. And speaking of classic, isn’t Volla the one relying on sturdy armor and blazing firepower? That’s as classical as Mozart.”

Volla, who laughed loudly rather than outputting a laugh sound, nodded. We sat Lewis in the van and held one arm each on either side of him.

“Ha! I should name my next gun ‘Sonatina,’ such an elegant name. Now, is the job done once we hand these guys over to Bellwether, boss?”

Tina started the van as we all got in. This location was less than five minutes from the Bellwether headquarters. Director Yoon removed her gas mask and nodded.

“It doesn’t matter. If Bellwether says it’s okay for one company to bring in multiple people, we’ll have to go around all day, and there’s also the matter of processing, so if they say one company should handle one case at a time, we’ll sell the information we’ve gathered to Bellwether and return. If that happens, we might all be off work by 2 PM. Since this was a public job.”

Early dismissal wasn’t that great of a thing. I wasn’t someone with many things to do on days I didn’t work. Soon the van stopped and its side opened again.

I jump out lightly, wearing combat gear that covered my entire body, and today the rain didn’t smell too bad. Lewis, who was made to get out with a raincoat on, looked so weak that he seemed unable to bear even the weight of rainwater.

The look of a person who has lost all hope. Don’t become like this. I turn my gaze away from him and look at the Bellwether headquarters. A place where I lived, and never lived… was expelled from, and never expelled from.

The white frames and transparent curtain walls filling the vast grounds, the interior bustling with countless people, are obscured by the rain blocking my view. After gazing at it longingly for a moment, I lowered my head again.

Looking at the sky can be done in personal time without being late. Fortunately, it wasn’t Security Division 4 in charge of building security. Director Yoon, who came out wearing a raincoat, called Stephanet directly.

A moment later, the entrance to the headquarters opened, and a person wearing a sleek closed-type powered suit walked out. A sniper rifle on his back and a smooth powered suit that made no servo motor sounds when moving. The Legal Assassination Team.

The closed-type powered suit looked more imposing when seen in the rain than from outside the rain. With the powered suit making him nearly 2 meters tall, he spoke through the suit’s speaker.

“We meet again, Sales Manager Lewis Weathers. There have been changes to the proposal we made last time that I should inform you about. Since you have violated your duty of trust to Bellwether, we at Bellwether have determined that including you in the company’s decision-making process would not create any benefit. What we offer is money and life. What you must give…”

Lewis, who looked completely disgusted by the calm and perhaps even elegantly affected voice making such statements so confidently, nodded without even listening to the end.

Only then did the other Legal Assassination Team employees who had followed him out provide Lewis with an umbrella. Two employees took him inside the headquarters, and the powered suit that had come out to meet him said.

“For the 46th ranked company to arrive first, this is so efficient that I can’t help but be surprised. We at Bellwether feel a modest joy when working with excellent people. However, out of concern that a mercenary company contacting multiple dissatisfied shareholders might become their rallying point… we would like you to end the public job here. What do you think?”

Official partners wouldn’t be that stupid, but the worst should always be prepared for. Director Yoon nodded as if it didn’t matter.

“That’s fine. If Bellwether provides an information fee, we’ll provide all the information we’ve gathered. Do you have any other proposals?”

“Proposals, proposals… Ah, yes. A Market Keeper currently staying in LA has requested to be introduced to a mercenary company, saying they also want to participate in dealing with this inefficiency. Would you like to contact them? Since this is just providing information, it doesn’t fall under the one-company-one-job principle.”

It wasn’t a matter for a pan-corporate special forces unit to get involved in, but… if they were staying alone, they were probably on vacation. It seemed they wanted to work to keep their edge.

Director Yoon thought for a moment. If we were going to sell information, it would be much better to sell all of it to Bellwether, but a connection point with a Market Keeper was meaningful in itself.

“Alright. In return, can you confirm that it’s not against the rules for one or two of our employees to follow the Market Keeper as a personal request to learn their work methods?”

“As long as you don’t hire the entire company, it’s not against the rules. This is a guarantee. I’ve also sent you the contact information. Thank you for your maximum efficiency. Now if you’ll excuse me…”