ch96

“Idiots! Light!! Please turn on the flashlight….”

“Gah?!”

Shouting, curses, blood, and bullets.

I thought there was already enough chaos, but the true source of disturbance and torment for most of the people was indeed Zero itself.

Crack!

With a crisp sound, the mechanical arm swung through the air, shattering the man’s shoulder blade.

Creak!

The chilling metallic sound of the captured barrel crumpling like clay, losing its original function.

The enemy’s formation had already collapsed.

Even so, they were merely huddled around the door, sticking out the ends of their firearms and spraying bullets, but in terms of blocking the only entry point, it was certainly effective.

From the moment they allowed an intruder with overwhelming physical abilities, it had turned into a situation that encouraged individual takedowns.

“Damn it…! If I rip off their arms and legs, they’re just like rebar!!”

? Isn’t that the same for you? –

Bang!! With a deafening gunshot, the muzzle flared.

Aside from the streaks of light and afterimages left by the rampaging Zero, the only source of illumination in the darkness was that muzzle flash.

Did that intermittent lighting help them even a little? Strangely enough, not at all.

They didn’t even notice tripping over the discarded loot, crawling on all fours in a panic.

Every time the flash burst, the distorted face of a man filled with fear and the splattered blood made it reminiscent of a scene from a low-quality horror movie.

“…Is that right?”

Honestly, if I were trapped in a dark room with a frenzied combat robot, I would be flustered and scrambling too. Of course, once that brief panic subsided, I would at least try to find a light source or consider a means of counterattack, like any other gang member with a bit of sense.

On the other hand, there would undoubtedly be a desire to resist as quickly as possible.

But would it be wise to pull the trigger randomly where the light was? If they shot there, it wouldn’t be Zero that got hit…

“Ah?! Damn! He’s shooting too!”

“Gurgle… cough…! Someone get a tourniquet…!”

“…You’re all just making a fuss. A real fuss.”

I clicked my tongue at the idiots who were fully exposed to their own vicious nature. …In the process of clicking my tongue, I ended up killing a coward who tried to crawl away toward my position, confused about the direction.

I couldn’t guarantee that I had a way to pierce through the darkness, but it certainly seemed like there were far more of them who had shot each other and left for the afterlife than those Zero had killed or incapacitated.

Even amidst all this, there were those who, due to misinformation, approached the sound of gunfire, wildly swinging knives like anxious patients.

It was truly a scene that evoked admiration, akin to a chain of wealth.

Aren’t they afraid of friendly fire? I can’t believe how irresponsible and selfish they are.

At this point, wouldn’t it be better to just fold my arms and watch them self-destruct…? That was a small hope I had.

The bright light, far brighter than the gunfire, dispelled the darkness and then vanished.

Bang! Crackle…….

“This is… a flare? I didn’t know this was here.”

As the reddish light thrown into the center finally illuminated the cargo hold, the disaster that had unfolded, hidden by a momentary blindness, was revealed to the world.

Scattered debris lying haphazardly, glistening pools of blood, and heaps of damaged boxes.

And finally, a group of survivors huddled against one wall.

“What the hell are these idiots doing…?!”

I could hear that thin voice all the way here. The man, seeing the ambiguous state of the injured, with blades awkwardly stuck in them or holes in their thighs, growled.

Wow… Could it be that amidst all this, those who were still in the game had already thrown others to the wolves and quietly slipped away? Truly, they are remarkable in their self-preservation.

The sharp eyes of the large man scanned the battlefield.

It seemed he was trying to gauge the odds by observing the remaining troops and Zero’s condition, and I could see the careful calculations running through his mind.

“Hey, engineer girl! We have no intention of crossing that line, so it would be best for both of us to back off…”

“…What, is a corpse talking now?”

He mercilessly cut off the lengthy nonsense.

It was quite calm that he remembered me, who had shown myself right in front of Zero, but regardless of what he was babbling, he immediately raised his pistol and aimed it at the large man’s head.

I understood he wanted to express a simple opinion about what had happened… but neither I nor Zero had said we would wait patiently, nor had we given him permission to chatter, so why was he suddenly acting all high and mighty?

Moreover, since he had already admitted that the main forces were in the back, there was no reason to indulge him.

In the end, the time spent on these small fry was becoming a waste.

“!!”

“Ugh?”

He reacted.

He didn’t see the bullet in the air. The moment he saw me aiming at him without hesitation, he grabbed the neck of another gang member right next to him and pulled him in front of himself.

The man, now a meat shield, had his neck snapped back momentarily before returning to its place, and soon his lifeless body crumpled.

“Oh…? Looks like you’ve done some modifications?!”

“This… you fucking bitch…!!”

What I said came purely from a place of genuine envy, without any intention of mocking, but the enraged large man charged at me.

You really have no manners! –

In that moment, Zero, who had naturally blocked the enemies’ line of sight, stood in the way of the boar.

Bang—!!

A clash that felt like it was measured with a ruler. It was as if both sides were engaged in a primitive contest of strength, their fingers interlocked.

Perhaps to mitigate the shock, Zero’s legs scraped against the ground as he was pushed back. It seemed he was slightly losing in output, but as the large man lost his acceleration, their strengths were evenly matched.

However, with his hands completely blocked and his legs pinned down by the opposing force, the remaining gang members, who had been startled by the sacrifice of their comrade, regained their composure and aimed their guns again.

“…….”

My heart raced.

In that tense standoff, I barely had the chance to pull out the hand axe from the compartment installed in the gap of my gloves, which was a situation that could be seen as a crisis born from overconfidence in my external armor and its performance.

…Why do I call it a ‘staged’ situation?

Because he was no longer just a turtle wearing armor.

When I first customized him, I didn’t think of using Zero as a shield or a frontline fighter; I just wanted to ensure he wouldn’t break easily.

However… I changed my mind after intuitively grasping the combat dynamics, akin to a game of tag with the Five Eyes.

Not only protecting himself through attacks but also ensuring his own safety by eliminating the enemy was a valid strategy. And… wasn’t it unfair to let him take hits just because I didn’t want to create enemies?

If I shot or slashed at that poor robot, I should be prepared for a counterattack.

Thus, this was finally the first real combat deployment after installing the weaponry.

Unfortunately, it was impossible for me, who couldn’t even implant a proper grade of Implant, but I believed that Zero, filled with combat principles, would show his true worth.

…Ah, I should confess this in advance. He didn’t have any particular preference for weaponry, so I added some of my favorite parts.

Whirring!

“?!”

Unlike my easily recognizable preparation, Zero’s hand rotated 360 degrees without any warning. While maintaining the opposing force, the large man’s fingers remained trapped in between.

Crack. In an instant, the wrist joint and bones of the large man shattered, and his mouth fell open in shock.

If you thought he would keep up with a humanoid until the end, you were gravely mistaken. He was a giraffe who would exploit any advantage he had.

His strength is decent, but he lacks flexibility. –

As the large man staggered back, Zero burrowed into his body.

Taking advantage of the moment when the remaining outlaws hesitated due to the blocked shooting angle, Zero’s fist lunged toward the exposed throat.

Is that just a free-rotating joint? No way, that’s merely the basic setup for using that weapon!

Clang—!

A blade unfolded from Zero’s knuckles. The material was the same as the combat knives commonly carried by mercenaries.

However, the point to emphasize was its size. The blade, which combined three swords that were once considered large and heavy in the military, pierced through the large man’s cervical spine.

The official delivery name for that part was ‘Fully Retractable Tactical Cutting Blade.’

I can confidently say that there are designers somewhere in the world who understand romance. How could a man endure a hidden blade protruding from his knuckles…!

Indeed, if you had just calmly accepted being shot from the start, Asha wouldn’t have to feel embarrassed. –

“Hey! I can hear you!?”

While I was nodding in agreement that it was a choice without regret, I added an unnecessary comment.

The cunning Zero had already used the large man’s corpse as a mobile cover and reached right in front of them.

Seeing the dim-witted fools lose their focus upon seeing the blood-soaked Droid with the crimson hidden blade, I hid my body behind the wall to avoid any ricochet bullets.

Compared to the kids who had died long ago, the remaining ones were certainly quicker in assessing the situation and more precise in their movements.

But unfortunately, whether their strength was quantified as 1 or 1.1 didn’t matter much.

It remained an infinitely small number compared to a perfect hundred-point robot.

“Damn, fuck…!”

“Eyes!! If we break the lenses, we can win….”

Once again, screams and gunfire exchanged.

The sound of the swinging blade slicing through the air and the splattering of viscous liquid soon came to an end.

As I peeked out, I saw Zero standing proudly, enveloped in the fading light of the flare and the thick smoke.

And in the distance, I could see gang members fleeing madly after witnessing that sight in the well-lit regular compartment.

“…Damn it.”

Seeing the utterly off-target shots from my hastily fired pistol, I gave up on long-range suppression.

Now that they were going to run, I wanted to tell them to leave the hovercraft behind, but they wouldn’t listen.

It couldn’t be helped.

They might have come freely, but I had no choice but to let them know that they had to pay a toll to leave.

“…Passengers must never swing that around, right?”

Of course. I will switch to Search-and-Destroy mode. –

I didn’t bother to ask what the difference was between that and just the extermination mode.