The deploynt of the 14th Infantry Brigade was flawless. The ammunition depot was not far from the soldiers’ barracks, allowing them to respond with heavy weapons quickly in the event of an attack. As for patrols and sentries, needless to say, hundreds of heavy machine guns were positioned around the periter of the base, so in plain sight, while others were concealed. For the uninitiated, a head-on collision with such defenses would leave even the toughest martial artist bloodied and lifeless before they could get close.
However, once the details of the base’s defenses were known, a swarm of drones directly targeted the vital points with precision strikes.
Just one round of attacks had already rendered the base’s tight periter defenses useless.
The explosion of the munitions depot sent flas soaring into the air, illuminating the figures of U.S. soldiers fleeing in disarray.
No one dared approach the munitions depot, as the rising temperatures could ignite any unexploded ordnance and lead to further explosions.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"
Amidst the shouts, U.S. soldiers who had been sleeping darted away from their smoky barracks, grabbing their weapons as they ran outside.
So didn’t even have ti to put on their pants, rushing out in just their bulletproof vests and helts, clutching their rifles.
Reality was not a military exercise. At this point, nobody cared about being neatly dressed—the key was to grab a weapon and wear sothing that would identify you as a friendly to your own side.
Running out naked with just a rifle in hand, one could easily be mistaken for an enemy and killed by soone who did not recognize you.
"HAHA!"
The Drunkard burst out laughing as he sprang from the shadows, twisted the neck of an approaching U.S. soldier, seized his rifle, and started shooting all around.
RAT-A-TAT-TAT! A quick burst of fire, and blood erupted from the soldiers as their strength was sapped, causing them to fall one after another.
A grenade flew at the Drunkard, who imdiately tossed the body towards it and charged forward.
BOOM! The body was blown to bits, a mix of flesh and shrapnel raining down like a torrential downpour. He had already rolled to the side and taken cover behind a nearby prefab.
The flimsy structure couldn’t stop bullets. The U.S. soldiers didn’t even bother entering; they just sprayed it with gunfire.
Rows of bullet holes stitched across the prefab walls.
Then, a flashbang was tossed inside, and the room lit up like day in an instant.
Imdiately after, four U.S. soldiers wearing night-vision goggles stord in, eager to confirm if the Drunkard was dead or alive.
Two aid their guns low, two aid high, convinced no one in the middle could have survived.
Their judgnt was accurate; the Drunkard had escaped to the second floor by breaking through the ceiling.
But they underestimated his hearing. He heard their footsteps before they entered.
As they stord through the door, a grenade with its pin pulled dropped among them.
The eyes of the soldiers aiming high widened; they realized they couldn’t retreat in ti.
BOOM! rciless shrapnel tore through their flesh, and they fell to the ground howling, blood gushing out. The sll of gunpowder and blood in the air made the inebriated Drunkard extrely excited, as if he were back in the killing fields of the Middle East.
Instructions ca through his earpiece from Bruno, "Move left. Forty-five degrees below you, three U.S. soldiers are approaching."
So drones were kamikaze-style and targeted vital parts of the camp, while others simply dropped bombs and conducted surveillance.
Bruno monitored the battlefield through these drones, one of which, an expensive model, was intended for photographing teorites.
Just as the consortia didn’t trust him, he also harbored mistrust towards them.
Rather than relying on them to share the photographs, Bruno preferred to acquire the pictures himself.
This was also the sentint from his superiors.
He remotely directed KGB operations and used the drones to monitor the activities of other intelligence agencies: MI6, the six major consortia, France...
As he had expected, the CIA sub-bureau, despite being aware of the dire situation, still clung to wishful thinking and didn’t dare to send people over.
Everything was going according to his plan, except for Colonel Toru.
The colonel’s actions were intriguing; he didn’t bother organizing his infantry brigade to counterattack but instead led his personal guard straight toward the teorite, decisively abandoning the lives of all soldiers beyond his guard.
This ruthless action gave Bruno a headache.
He wasn’t worried about the other party trying to organize the infantry brigade; without communications, coordinating a counterattack would take so ti. That amount of ti would be sufficient for them to complete their plan.
Colonel Toru’s decisive sacrifice would, to a large extent, prevent the western plan from proceeding as smoothly as intended, possibly even causing it to fail.
Even without gathering all his troops, just Colonel Toru and his three hundred guards constituted the largest force in this upheaval.
The operation to burn the screen might encounter errors.
After so thought, Bruno changed his mind. "Drunkard, head to the brigade commander’s office to the south imdiately. I believe we’ll find the docunts we want there. Oh, looks like soone else had the sa idea. Rember to kill that Brit."
Observing the Briton rushing towards the office on the screen, Bruno’s eyes were ice-cold. In terms of attacking the base, they were on the sa side, but when it ca to gathering intelligence, that was a different story. All he needed was to appease the local consortia; towards other nations’ intelligence agencies, he was entirely prepared to suppress and eliminate them ruthlessly.
"Curtis, you also abandon your original mission and cover the Drunkard’s operation," Bruno ordered again. "I will take care of photographing the teorite. You just need to secure Toru’s docunts."
「 」
While Mount Fuji Base was a scene of carnage, Tokyo, eighty kiloters away, continued its nightlife unabated.
Those living there were unaffected, carrying on with their usual nocturnal activities.
Only those truly involved could experience that tense atmosphere, the feeling of an impending storm.
The six major consortia and the Pri Minister all gathered at Phoenix Academy.
The lights in the conference hall were on, and expensive tea was laid out on the table, yet no one took a sip.
At this mont, even they could not maintain an appearance of composure.
It was a risky move, so risky that as it was finally played out, so among them began to regret taking such action.
Should the plan fail, the retribution that would follow was unimaginable, and the risk of a leak was even greater.
A heavy atmosphere hung over the conference hall. Kochou silently twirled her jade thumb ring, her heart not as indifferent as her expression suggested.
Having paid such a price and taken such risks, a failure of the plan would indeed be a severe loss.
TICK-TOCK, TICK-TOCK. Ti passed steadily, the sound of the clock’s hands grating on their nerves.
In this oppressive silence, the sudden ringing of a phone on the table drew their attention.
Kochou stopped twirling her thumb ring and pressed the button, asking, "How’s the situation?"
"Things aren’t going smoothly. We’ve only captured half of the footage; we couldn’t get the other half. Colonel Toru held the west side, extinguished the flas on the screen, and successfully took command of the on-site response. Before they could counterattack, we chose to retreat. Half of our hundred n are dead."
Hearing this, Kochou’s voice was gentle as she said, "Don’t worry, the compensation we promised you will be paid in full. Proceed with the plan and retreat to the designated location."
"Understood."
After hanging up, Kochou scanned the financial tycoons and the Pri Minister present and said softly, "Everyone heard. This ti, the plan can only be considered half successful."
"Only half?"
"Half is enough."
Iwasaki Yizo was also dissatisfied with only a partial success, but given the circumstances, he couldn’t admit that what they had painstakingly achieved at such risk wasn’t worth it. "Even if this operation wasn’t entirely successful," he declared, "it will still make the Aricans realize that we are not pushovers they can easily manipulate. Kochou, how are the clean-up efforts progressing?"
"I have already arranged for the Director of Intelligence to fake taking the money and running, to disappear from this world forever."
Kochou had already figured out how to shake off the CIA’s suspicions and thought it most appropriate to pin all the bla on the Director of Intelligence. Next on the list was that Director of Intelligence’s confidant.
Those who were truly conspiring with her could not be disposed of.
In this world, the most solid relationship is ford when you’ve buried bodies together in the backyard. Unless that person was pushed to a dead end, Kochou would only then consider making them disappear forever.
"Yasuda, how is the aftermath concerning the base employee being handled?"
"No problem. I guarantee they won’t suspect him."
Iwasaki Yizo then questioned the others, finally confirming that everyone had done what they were supposed to do.
As long as the cover-up was handled well and there was no concrete evidence, the United States wouldn’t be able to take action against them.
They each returned to their respective hos to avoid giving the CIA any leads.
「In Shinjuku, inside the Central Building.」
Jack sat there listlessly, gazing out the window, filled with despair.
He believed this was the last ti he would sit in this place, looking at the view outside. It was all over. The incident at Mount Fuji Base was tantamount to a death sentence for his political career.
RING-RING! The phone on the desk rang. Jack’s heart skipped a beat, but he still answered the call.
"Do you know what happened at Mount Fuji Base?"
"Director, I’ve heard. This is what happened—" Jack began, intending to lay his cards on the table.
But John preempted him, saying, "Director of Intelligence Andreas and his right-hand man Kovala have disappeared without a trace."
"What?!"
Jack was surprised. He had previously ordered Andreas to investigate those matters. Could it be that, knowing he couldn’t escape responsibility, he had decided to flee?
"It’s a conspiracy," John continued. "There’s a problem with a Japanese employee inside the base. He uploaded a virus into the system, allowing the opposition to use drones to scout the base’s deploynt from within. Our radars couldn’t detect the drones. And behind that employee is the Mitsui family from the Mitsui Group. Capture them all. Don’t let a single one get away!"
John’s tone was cruel. Jack was taken aback. If drones scouted the deploynt, what was the point of stealing deploynt plans?
Suddenly, he realized that the Director’s political considerations might have temporarily spared him from dismissal. "Yes, I’ll arrange for it imdiately," he said.
"Don’t make any mistakes this ti," John emphasized, a hint of regret in his voice. His desire for power had been too great. He shouldn’t have given his confidants control of sub-bureau affairs, which had allowed them to harbor dangerous ambitions. Now, he had no choice but to swallow this bitter pill. He couldn’t afford to appear as if he had poor judgnt in front of the President; his own position could be shaken.
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