episode_0087

“Doesn’t he look too fine for someone who’s supposedly shut down?”

I clicked my tongue, dumbfounded at Dr. Pointless, who was feigning death on the floor, trying to save only himself.

Perhaps the Shape Shifter’s self-protective coloration was learned from this guy.

*Pop.* I uncapped a permanent marker, crouched in front of him, and applied some incomparably flamboyant artistic inspiration to his face.

“What are you doing?”

“If you’re broken, you should look a bit dirtier to fool people. Who’s going to believe you like this?”

“Stop messing around and just go away.”

Ignoring my efforts to perfect his act and getting angry, Dr. Pointless had Luna snatch the marker from my hand, and she swiftly drew something.

It was a shape with a thick circle starting at the philtrum, from which a smoothly curved tail extended long to the cheek area.

“Ta-da. A mustache.”

“Oh, that’s quite high quality, isn’t it?”

It was undoubtedly a stylish mustache, just like that of the 4th Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

If an Eastern European immigrant saw it, they’d probably salute instinctively.

“A bloody purge is about to begin…”

“You guys…”

“Ah, you said you’re shut down, so why do you keep moving? If you move again, I’ll draw a dick on you.”

“…”

Seeing Dr. Pointless finally shut down and abandoned, looking like a scrap metal heap used as a canvas by delinquents, we exchanged satisfied smiles and turned our heads in the direction of the explosion.

Being underground, the shock from the explosion reverberated through the entire cavern, making it hard to pinpoint, but that direction was likely similar to where the others had gone to rest.

“They haven’t been taken out already, have they?”

“I hope not.”

Before we had time to worry, a continuous burst of gunfire erupted, *rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!*

*Boom!* Another roar, like a grenade exploding, echoed, and the sounds of battle continued, suggesting everyone was still alive, for now.

“Alright. Shall we go help them out now?”

Those two should definitely be able to hold on.

Plus, there’s that monster-like JK, Yoshimura Grandpa’s granddaughter, so there’s nothing to worry about.

As I saw the gate unlock, I cracked my knuckles, *crack*, and walked straight ahead, a mix of annoyance and anticipation wondering who exactly they were.

*Wham—*

My vision flashed, and with a heavy pain like being punched in the face, I flew through the air and slammed into the opposite wall of the lab.

“John?!”

Through the open door, crimson infrared detection goggles gleamed amidst the white smoke that burst into the lab.

***

Rodin Global Enterprise Co.

As is typical for megacorps, it has its hands in all sorts of businesses, but its main focus is the entertainment industry, holding a staggering 40% of global broadcasting shares when including its subsidiaries—a colossal corporation.

It’s one of the world’s promising dominators, so much so that even Ayakashi and Zenotech are reluctant to cross them due to their ability to sway public opinion.

Befitting a company specialized in capturing people’s attention and hearts, their highly developed technology is brainwashing.

Equipped with brainwashing education that ensures absolute loyalty through a narcotic loyalty manipulation system centuries ahead of its time, Rodin Global Tag Force activated their infrared detection lenses and detected targets beyond the smoke to carry out their mission.

Two biological signatures.

One android on the floor, seemingly operational just moments ago.

Finally, one anomalous biological signature.

“Target confirmed. Appears incapacitated. Proceeding with recovery after eliminating all interference.”

[“Roger.”]

It was the Shape Shifter, which their master had ordered to retrieve. It seemed to be undergoing maintenance, its limbs disconnected and left abandoned, so Tag Force mechanically raised their firearms to eliminate unnecessary biological signatures.

“You bastards…!”

As Tag Force stepped into the lab, clearing the smoke, a brown-skinned woman gritted her teeth and charged at them.

Their high-tech equipment began receiving and analyzing her status in real-time, completing the analysis of nearly 10% of the information in that split second, identifying her as a combatant with significant modifications, and immediately placing a finger on the trigger to fire.

Currently, three personnel could fire at once.

The stopping power wasn’t enough to halt the woman, and even if one or two fell, there were six more operatives already waiting behind them.

Armed with mental conditioning that made them view death as trivial, Tag Force showed no emotion as they unleashed a barrage of fire to eliminate the hostile entity.

*Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!!!*

Muzzle flashes illuminated the darkened lab where the lamps were off.

The armor-piercing rounds would tear through the charging woman, whose eyes were red, and complete the mission.

Or so it should have been.

“Ow~ that hurts.”

If only someone hadn’t blocked the path of the twelve bullets fired in an instant, shielding the woman.

The bullets, which had struck the obstruction precisely in the abdomen, penetrated the skin and drew blood, but that was all.

The crumpled depleted uranium rounds fell with a light *clink* and *tinkle*, and the one who had performed the bizarre feat of stopping armor-piercing rounds with his bare body was the man who had just crushed the face of the Tag Force member with a power charge glove.

“Phew~ Good thing I’ve got expensive stuff in here. I was a bit worried since things like this usually just *whoosh* right through these days.”

As if showing off, he pulled up the corner of his mouth, took out an alloy plate from his abdomen that had as many holes as there were bullet impacts, like it had been torn from a wall, wiggled it, and then casually tossed it to the floor.

“You… you…”

“Wasn’t I cool?”

“You crazy bastard! Why are you blocking that with your body?!”

“But it didn’t pierce, did it?”

The banter between the two mercenaries, with lines that wouldn’t even be written by a cheap PD stuck somewhere down there, sullied the ears.

However, Tag Force felt discomfort at not having ‘perceived’ the man’s movements, and without delay, ordered the next volley of fire.

“Fire.”

At the firing authorization command from the dry voice, flames erupted from the muzzles once more, but their direction… *Screech* It burst straight towards the ceiling.

Bullets fired from the L-shaped bent barrel slammed into the ceiling, and the Tag Force member who had been firing at the front, and whose face he had just smashed, was now held by the wrist.

“..!”

“As expected of a megacorp’s corporate soldier, they use good equipment, huh? By the way, do you know a game called One Punch?”

*Drip.* A stream of red blood flowed from the nose of the man who spoke so calmly, but he continued as if paying it no mind.

“It’s a simple game where we take turns hitting each other once, and the person who can’t bear it first and jumps around screaming loses.”

“Wait…”

“It’s my turn now, right?”

*Grab.* A hand clamped down on the Tag Force member’s shoulder, *CRUNCH*, gripping tightly.

A pulled-back fist, a rotating shoulder, a straightened spine, a twisting waist, a firmly planted back foot.

The next moment.

With a whoosh of air, high-tech goggles shattered into tiny fragments, scattering as they were ripped off, and a completely crushed head flew into the air.

Silence hung heavy over the horrific scene created by the unleashed punch.

The headless body of the Tag Force member trembled and staggered, then suddenly, as if its muscles had simply given out, its knees buckled, and it tumbled forward. The East Asian man, who had effortlessly created a corpse, casually twisted his body to avoid it, then took off the power charge glove he had shown interest in and put it on.

“So… who’s next to take a hit?”

Tag Force raised the threat level of the man before them to 7.

***

“Phew! It’s tough fighting without proper preparation, after all.”

I looked at the now somewhat quiet corporate soldiers and brushed my hands off, *clap-clap*.

The hallway was littered with corpses, every one of them either headless or with their chests caved in, spewing thick chunks of flesh from their mouths as they died. But since cleaning wasn’t my job, I decided not to worry about it.

Although my brain and eyeballs were aching, I had bruises all over, and my arms and legs had been pierced by bullets a few times from cleaning all this up, aren’t these the kind of injuries that heal completely if you just apply some spit and wake up after sleeping?

“Monstrous. Even a kid wouldn’t be this bad, you know.”

“Seriously… fight a little more carefully.”

Luna, who had risen at some point and was happily punching the corporate soldiers alongside Dr. Pointless, also threw a comment my way.

“Sorry, but because of the guy attached to my back, this is the most efficient way to fight.”

The combination of self-repairing nanomachines and self-destructive cyberware made this ridiculously brutal combat possible, where I just take all the hits and then kill them in one blow.

“That would be true for you. More importantly, we need to quickly get out of here and evacuate to somewhere beyond their reach.”

“Can’t we just deal with the guys still fighting over there?”

“I’d like that too, but Rodin Global Enterprise isn’t a megacorp for nothing, is it? They can deploy forces of this size dozens of times, so no matter how strong you are, even at a kid’s level, you’d eventually be worn down and killed.”

You don’t contend with a megacorp.

It was common knowledge, even for non-mercenaries.

“Tsk. Alright. I’ll go help over there.”

“Luna, you take care of the Shape Shifter.”

“…If you fight mindlessly again, I won’t let you off easy.”

“You worry too much.”

Leaving Dr. Pointless and the Shape Shifter to Luna, I picked up a dead corporate soldier’s rifle and walked into the hallway.

“Wait, take this too.”

“Hm?”

*Flap.* I caught the piece of cloth that flew towards me. It was the cloaking robe I had doused with spray paint to deal with the Shape Shifter during our fight.

“It’s contaminated, so don’t expect optical camouflage, but its defensive performance should be fine.”

“I’ll use it gratefully, but I can’t return it clean, you know?”

“Aside from the production cost of about 3 million credits, I can make as many as I want.”

“Gah…”

I took that trembling wad of cash in hand and rushed toward the battlefield, where the harsh sounds of gunfire still roared.