Ch.68013 Work Record – To the Sky (5)

This beach, once boasting a truly beautiful landscape, had now become a desolate place where blackened, putrid seawater soiled the sand, with only abandoned villas remaining in an eerie state.

The glory of the past had truly become a thing of the past, and all that remained was a slum that even gangs had mostly abandoned, with no possibility of redevelopment due to its proximity to the sea.

A slum adorned with cracked marble and blackened, rotting gold. Before entering between the villas, I stopped my bike, hid it among the bushes, and took only my carbine. I came prepared, wearing a bulletproof vest and carrying flash grenades.

There would be no gunfight. That was just a promise to myself. If it came to that, I would gladly shoot. Without even removing my in-ear device and neck microphone, I whispered to Chance.

“Alright. Now I just need to find what the Lone Star Rangers don’t want anyone to find in this ghost town without being spotted by anyone. Simple. Got any ideas?”

My only method was to run silently across the tops of buildings with the help of my enhanced body absorbing the impact. I didn’t need night vision goggles.

“Affirmative. But first, I need to confirm something. It appears that Malibu Beach has been abandoned since the end of that war. Is that correct?”

“Probably. They would have removed any unexploded ordnance, but with the Pacific Ocean right next to it in that condition, there wasn’t much they could do. Did the nationalists set up anything during the war era?”

Chance’s connection slowed briefly. He seemed to be checking something through the server computer he was housed in. The response came soon.

“Affirmative. All mines scattered on the beach have been removed, and the unmanned vehicles equipped with coastal artillery have also been removed. The air raid shelter has been closed. However, the alert system can still be accessed.”

Looking around, I could see several tall speakers, not streetlights. They were completely out of place with the surrounding scenery. I nodded for now.

“Can you climb high enough to observe the situation?”

“Is the top of a streetlight high enough? There don’t seem to be any taller buildings anyway. It’s all just low-level villas.”

“Not ideal. I plan to activate the speaker closest to your current position, so I recommend climbing atop another speaker far from that one. Without tools to climb…”

“It’s enough, don’t worry. Just a moment…”

There were quite a few speakers like Chance mentioned around. They were about twice the height of streetlights. I lightly jumped onto the wall of a nearby villa, then pushed off with my legs to leap up, almost reaching the top.

The pole was made of slippery metal, but it was rusted, and my enhanced body’s limbs had enough grip to climb even oiled surfaces, so ascending wasn’t difficult.

I crouched lightly on top of the speakers. After pressing the button on my neck microphone, I said:

“I’m up. I can definitely see a wider area. So you’re planning to draw them out with the alarm to find out where they’re hiding?”

“Affirmative. If they’re well-organized personnel, pinpointing their location won’t be easy, but Agent Arthur Murphy’s abilities have already been proven through the recovery of the drone I observed. Please reduce your hearing sensitivity.”

I reduce my hearing sensitivity and wait for a moment. A low-frequency sound beyond the normal audible range begins to be heard. Instinctively, a chill runs up my spine. It’s fear encoded in my genes.

Inefficient. I clench my fist and endure it. Starting with infrasound and gradually increasing in pitch, the war-era alarm hits my ears. It was a massive siren sound. No voice was mixed in.

Did people during that war know what to do without any guidance when they heard this sound? Chance’s voice was faintly audible beyond my reduced hearing.

“Focus on the surroundings, not the sound. The air raid sirens from that war era include infrasound that causes distinct discomfort.”

This was more than just a matter of focusing on the task. I widen my field of vision. If someone wanted to deal with the speakers, what would they deploy first? Obviously, a sniper. I think of Boss Yoon.

A sniper position is established where one can view the area containing personnel to be protected. I wait a bit longer while keeping my body hidden. I glimpsed a muzzle flash. The muffled gunshot, absorbed by a silencer, followed.

After two more shots rang out, the alarm stopped. During those three shots, the muzzle flash erupted from a consistent location, and though the direction of the gunshots was hard to gauge due to the silencer, they came from the same place.

I identify the position. It was the rooftop of a four-story villa, the tallest in the area. I open my eyes wide and zoom in my vision to examine it clearly. One spotter and one sniper. The company logo is Lone Star Rangers.

“Sniper position confirmed. From that height, the sniper’s field of vision…”

The sniper and spotter wearing night vision goggles began turning their heads. Perhaps thinking the malfunction might not have been accidental, they started looking around extensively.

I decided to hide behind the large speaker I was perched on. Supporting myself with just the fingers of one hand, I hang with my hand gripping the edge of the speaker. Fortunately, the speaker was sturdy enough to bear my weight.

It would have been nice if they were idiots who just destroyed the source of the sound and went back to rest. I sigh and poke only my head out from behind the speaker again. They were now looking elsewhere.

Aren’t they going to deploy a search team? It’s an unusually complacent response for carrying out a mission directly from Belwether. There might be reasons I don’t know.

I examined the villas within the sniper’s field of vision but saw no signs of people. Strange. I lightly strained my eyes to look toward the sniper and spotter.

The spotter was talking to the sniper. They were wearing helmets, and the distance was too great to read their lips. I couldn’t even roughly make out what they were saying.

What conversation could they have after destroying the speaker? They’re likely to check with headquarters about what happened. But I couldn’t see radio waves. I cleanly pushed that method out of my mind.

If not that, then… And if this area had an alert system from that war era, and according to Chance, anti-aircraft drone guns and mines, then there should be one more thing. According to Chance, there was.

And if my guess was correct, it could explain that complacent response. After taking another deep breath, I asked Chance:

“Chance, you mentioned there’s a closed air raid shelter around here? Could you give me its location?”

There’s no better place to confine someone than an underground shelter that can be completely sealed off from the outside. And if they’re inside, they might think they accidentally triggered the alarm.

“Request accepted. It’s not far from here. I’ll start guiding you. However, I have one question, Agent Arthur Murphy.”

“What is it?”

After whispering just one word, I lightly jumped down from the pole with the speaker. After landing silently and standing up again, Chance asked in a cautious voice:

“The war-era air raid shelter is not a good place to kidnap and detain civilians. There’s an internal security system, and naturally, that security system, though outdated, is from the war era.”

If they still went in there to detain someone, it meant the detained person was that dangerous. Or it could be a strategy to lure me into the war-era air raid shelter to deal with me.

“Are you saying it might be a trap? Don’t worry about that, I confirmed it in the documents.”

“Negative. This unit has a general understanding of current-era drone technology. However, I do not have an understanding of other weapons.”

Biological weapons. Monstrosities. I suppress the sensation of my hands trembling with anger this time without anyone’s help. Emotions must be set aside for now. It has to be that way right now.

“Also, as Agent Arthur Murphy said, Belwether Industries is currently facing a civil war crisis. If what’s stored inside is a weapon prepared for civil war, I cannot guarantee Agent Arthur Murphy’s safety.”

He was asking me to reconsider the mission, but unfortunately, the situation wasn’t that perfect. There was a reason I had to find out, even at the risk of my life. Acknowledging the harsh reality, I followed the guidance and said:

“That’s true. Belwether seems to be on the verge of a corporate civil war. It’s okay not to know who’s fighting whom. As long as I’m not involved.”

I take a deep breath. If you’re a shrimp caught between whales about to explode, you should at least try to swim toward where you can see blue.

“But I’m already at the center of it all. There’s no ‘completely on my side’ to tell me what’s happening in the company, and they sent a legal assassination team after me. I need to know. I need to find out and choose a side to survive.”

Although it seemed like the Shepherd was on my side, I couldn’t even be certain of his intentions, and even the trust between us was shallow and unstable, constantly flipping.

Whether I die by a legal assassination team coming to find me after returning home without discovering anything here, or die by finding a civil war weapon here, the result wouldn’t be much different.

The fact that Belwether hadn’t moved yet didn’t mean they planned to keep me alive. It simply meant they hadn’t moved yet. Time was running short.

Still, thanks to colleagues who shared enough trust not to be consumed by anxiety, and who shared and released emotions with each other, I could avoid trembling with fear. I could maintain maximum efficiency.

Tomorrow is not the day. It may not even exist. All I could do was hold onto today in my hands and try to turn the tables. Today is the day. Only today exists. Only now exists.

At that moment, Chance’s guidance ended. I could see the entrance to the air raid shelter disguised as a sewer. A subtle vibration was leaking from inside. Something was operating.

“The automatic opening and closing system seems to be destroyed. The weight of the door is…”

“Doesn’t matter.”

There couldn’t be clearer evidence that someone was inside than the fact that someone had broken the door so it wouldn’t open automatically. I grabbed the air raid shelter door disguised as a sewer cover and pulled with all my strength.

A creaking sound briefly rang out, and the door began to open. It wasn’t the smog-soaked outside air but the air from inside, where an air purification system was operating, that leaked out. There were people inside.

The metal door, nearly twenty centimeters thick, began to open smoothly. I too am Belwether’s biological weapon. Whatever was inside, I was the same kind of creature.

After carefully setting down the door to prevent it from making a sound, I entered. Since I could see the floor with the naked eye, jumping down wouldn’t be a problem. I landed on the floor silently again.

With the carbine’s control lever set to automatic, I examined the interior. The inside had the atmosphere of an inspection room. It looked like a place where people entering from outside were checked to verify if they were truly citizens of the nationalists.

Only the inspection machine, still functioning perfectly in this air raid shelter where no one comes anymore, was waiting for the next person to be examined. Chance whispered:

“Don’t go through the inspection machine to the inside, head to the back right. Enter the staff passage through the inspector’s room. Be careful. The security system might still be operational.”

“Is that the most efficient route?”

“Yes, it is.”

Then Lone Star Rangers, under Belwether, would have headed that way. There was no possibility that they would have chosen a less efficient route. Efficiency is everything. I pass through the inspection machine.

The machine couldn’t even detect what had passed beneath it. Beyond the inspection machine was a passage for evacuees. It seemed the passage wound around the inside of the building. There was also an observation window to see inside.

Below it was a kind message that read, ‘See for yourself where you’ll stay until the bombing ends.’ I looked inside that way. And I felt my heart sink.

Inside the shelter was a biological monstrosity. A horribly melting mass of flesh continued to drip down, with new flesh growing over it, a monster with a smashed face rampaging inside the shelter.

Strangely, there was a mirror on the opposite side of where I was. No, the image is dark. It’s a one-way mirror. Employees of Lone Star Rangers must be on the other side.

The monstrosity looked even more horrific than when I had seen it before. Its limbs, already too long and hideous to be called human, were twitching grotesquely with excessive muscles.

As if unable to control its own muscles and skin, the muscles twisted like cramps, and then were forcibly corrected to function normally, over and over. It would be terribly painful.

It tore at what had become a small hole around its mouth and let out a horrific scream. Enough to shake the entire facility. It showed no sign of any remaining reason.

That thing killed me and then acted with human reason? I was confused by this incomprehensible sight.

Could a grenade explosion restore reason to this grotesque, once-human something? I couldn’t be sure. No, that wasn’t what mattered.

Why does one of the two factions preparing for Belwether’s civil war have this? If Belwether had recovered it, they would have taken it straight to a biological research lab. Not hidden it in an air raid shelter like this.

No way. No way… Was Zaina’s terrorism and the monstrosity’s escape all part of a plan leading to a coup and civil war? I couldn’t tell where my life had gotten entangled.

I gently placed my hand on the observation window. And the monstrosity, a result of trying to further modify a standard Post-Human Type IV… turned its head this way. It had detected that small sound.

The eyes under that fluttering mass of flesh, not even two like a human’s, but a cluster of dozens of real eyes mixed randomly with traces of organs that couldn’t become eyes, looked this way. I quickly hid my body to the side.

I didn’t hear the sound of it leaping. I could just run away right now. I was about to turn and run, but then I remembered one thing.

The shock-absorbing body of a Type IV doesn’t make sound. I slowly turned my head to look at the observation window I had just been peering through.

Fear washes over me. I don’t want to turn my eyes. Inefficient fear. Inefficiency is evil. I force myself to turn my head, intoxicated with a desire for efficiency, and there was the monster’s face stuck to the window.

After briefly disappearing from the observation window, its excessively long foreleg thrust out through the window. After the reinforced glass shattered, its arm began groping the corridor. It had sensed the outside.

I ran to the ladder and jumped up using all the physical abilities of this enhanced body. I desperately climbed the ladder, came out, and closed the air raid shelter door. I needed time.

“Chance! Contact Enzo and ask him to make a delivery. The grenade launcher, grenades, and incendiary grenades for suppressing biological weapons from home!”

This wasn’t today’s plan. If I hadn’t placed my hand on the observation window out of compassion, I wouldn’t have been caught in such danger in the first place. Something so trivial, so incredibly trivial had tripped me up again.

But this time, my head wouldn’t be cut off. Not this time. I needed to escape somewhere and buy time until the delivery arrived. The city would be safer than the wasteland.