I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun Chapter 651

"At least one platoon-sized force has appeared in the corridor connected to the underground of Building D, and is currently being intercepted. How much longer until the ground floor of Building D is cleared?"

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The deafening explosions that had been echoing from inside the building finally stopped.

While the largest and most heavily fortified 1st floor was neatly swept clean by over twenty UDT operators, Lorentina and her team neutralized the 4th and 3rd floors and reached the 2nd floor first.

The small auditorium and theater at the center of the 2nd floor. The height of the space itself was considerably different compared to other areas, but they had already set up a pulse on the rooftop.

Outside, the sounds of continuous combat and the thudding of helicopter propellers ford a background noise, and before long, Lorentina, having set up the breaching charge, exhaled.

Drones were hovering around, broadcasting the live feed outside. Fortunately, the conversations through the intercom were not picked up by the drone caras.

Likewise, even Lorentina's distinctive appearance, which would be difficult to hide by ordinary ans, was covered by a custom camouflage kit and the drones' field distortion function.

Thus, her team mbers jokingly threw out quips without hesitation.

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Of course, there was a reason, and while it wouldn’t be impossible with permission... it was certain that now was not the ti.

Since Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie hadn't fully reached the 2nd floor yet, Lorentina sensed a presence beyond the wall—strictly speaking, it wasn’t human—but for a mont, mories of the past resurfaced.

At least, in the past, it wasn’t uncommon to blow up buildings. Of course, seeing buildings like this crumble wasn’t sothing you saw every day.

As the Shark subrged into these thoughts...

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BEEEEEEEEP!

A strange high-pitched sound filled her ears, followed by vibrations. The wave seed to pass through her body from head to toe, sweeping through the entire building as several red silhouettes appeared on the UI.

Scattered hostages and the enemy forces guarding them. The lack of light from inside the theater ant the enemy was using night-vision goggles.

Thus, just before the breach, they manipulated their visors to allow the night-vision goggles to activate as soon as the breaching charge tir finished. This was Lorentina's advice.

The IFF was activated to prevent friendly fire. In the darkness, when checking with the visor, it appeared as if infrared strobes were flickering.

ENVG - Advanced Night Vision Goggles - first overlaid thermal outlines over the human forms, and just as the breaching charge’s detonation ti reached 5 seconds, the operators activated their target indicators mounted on their firearms, laser dots in green lighting up the air.

And—

───BOOM!

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TATATATATA!

The four doors blocking the entrances to the theater exploded simultaneously, and through the now-open doors, a total of twenty-six personnel surged in like a wave. Gunshots rang out imdiately after.

Red thermal outlines flooded the UI. The mont they aligned with the S-shaped aiming reticle of the holographic sight, everyone fired, and the enemy, realizing too late, fell like leaves in the wind.

Quickly, faster still. Before even an enemy humanoid could aim at one of the friendly operators, everything was over. In less than 10 seconds after the breach, the situation was resolved.

But that wasn’t the end. The humanoid acting as a hostage still needed to be led outside.

The thod was simple.

───CLINK!

Lorentina pulled out a modified dium-sized Seeker Mine from her pocket, placed it on the floor, and set a waypoint. The Seeker Mine began leaking bright fluorescent material.

At the sa ti, the Seeker Mine quickly darted out through the open door. In the thick darkness, it stood out clearly, and the humanoid, playing the role of a hostage, followed the fluorescent trail out quickly.

Their safety was now in the hands of the waiting Watcher team outside.

The once-racing heartbeat that had surged to the top of her head now settled back down like an obedient horse finding its owner. In front of her, dozens of infrared strobes continued flashing.

Lorentina inhaled deeply and added,

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And that wasn’t all.

Just as they thought everything was over, the UI was covered with the second mission—neutralize the weapons of mass destruction installed in the underground of Building D. As Lorentina and the team recalled, there was also a mock combat facility underground.

Operators, sensing the intense battle ahead, quickly replenished fluids and electrolytes, while Shark issued several commands with a wave of her fingers.

The number of wounded, remaining ammunition, and available firearms... The first mission had proven the usefulness of the pulse, but now was the ti for drones.

Taking a deep breath, Lorentina added,

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And a total of 31 operators made their way underground.

For Lorentina, this was quite a familiar task. After all, just recently, she had been thoroughly enjoying herself, delivering so well-deserved punishnt in the mock combat facility to a group of unfortunate friends. The issue, however, was the potential change in the facility's internal structure since then.

But this point had already been noted in advance, so it didn’t matter much, and more than thirty people, guided by Shark, were able to enter the facility's interior without any issues.

The sound of drones filled the air with a clink as they moved in. The impact drones, capable of firing 750 rounds per minute in 9mm caliber, were in operation. Of course, due to the size and weight of the rounds, they could only shoot about 100 rounds at a ti.

Since there were multiple entry routes available, just like before, everyone was waiting at various entrances. The only difference now was that, unlike earlier, no breaching charges were deployed.

Through a slightly opened door, the impact drones began to enter one by one. The faint sound of helicopter propellers signaled the start of the operation, and amidst that, a murmur spread over the intercom.

The reason was simple.

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A high-value research facility.

One of the maps from the EU mode that they had once infiltrated with the youngest, and even with the cha Youngests, had suddenly appeared before them—truly an unexpected situation. But Lorentina just smiled and accepted the situation.

It seed like sothing that could happen, especially if the youngest had been involved in this exercise. With a sigh, she took it in stride—and not long after...

The impact drones inside the facility continued to discharge rounds, signaling the operation's start as all operators entered the facility.

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And that was the end of the communication.

There was nothing more to be said. Every direction was swarming with enemies. It seed like there were more than two full platoons, but they didn’t pay any attention to that and poured all their strength into their mission. Information miscommunication was common in situations like this.

They hadn’t expected to be deceived until the very end, but at least all the operatives involved in the mission didn’t think so.

But they still had their faith in a few things. The helicopters hovering around had landed at Building C once more, and nine additional operatives were added to the underground mission at Building D.

At this point, the rules of engagent were simple.

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