NoveLight ™
In-game time: 3 AM, the entire San Antonio was shrouded in darkness.
The incursion assault team, traversing the silent southern part of the city, had positioned themselves in a suitably sheltered location, scanning the surroundings to eliminate any careless enemies first.
Time was supposed to resolve everything, and what started as a few simple ideas for the operation began to take shape, becoming sufficiently clear as they focused on the disarrayed tool and hardware store.
Thus, everyone picked up their respective roles.
Some team members gathered materials, while others monitored the situation and conducted reconnaissance through drones. The squad leader, Owens, moved to the observation post….
And I began the DIY—turret assembly training.
“...The AI required for the turret was conceived from household appliances. By using the same tracking behavior software found in drones or mobile stabilization devices, it becomes a weapon with remarkable accuracy that can select and track enemies in real-time.”
This wasn’t just an everyday lecture, so why was everyone in such an uproar?
In any case, the items needed to assemble the temporary turret weren’t many. Normally, gears would be required to allow the muzzle to move up, down, left, and right, but today, we were going to create a box-shaped turret that could fire as soon as enemies entered the designated area.
The method was very simple. You mix a common cardboard box with an AK-style firearm, which is even more common. Of course, the latter was obtained through proper channels from our cartel friends wandering the streets.
We were generous; before the proper trade, we had even thrown in a one-way ticket to the Styx River.
“Now, attach a sensor to the front of the box and connect it to the internal gear. It’s simple enough.”
The operating principle was straightforward.
When the front sensor detects enemies within a certain distance, it sends a signal to rotate the motor. Once the securely fixed small motor turns, it pulls on a string connected to the trigger. The motor is capable of applying enough tension to pull the trigger fully—and after that, there’s no need to explain further.
The next step… well, there was practically nothing left to do. As long as you stuffed some bricks or similar items into the empty space inside the box to prevent it from moving, that was it. If that wasn’t reassuring enough, you could secure the box against a wall, streetlight, or car to ensure it wouldn’t slide out sideways.
With the right components, you could easily create a trap within 5 minutes.
“Aah, I’m exhausted. I’ve gathered all the materials, Yujin.”
“Good job. This should be enough.”
“But what exactly are you planning to do with this?”
I simply replied, “This is for ‘Iiiij.’”
The reason we made traps with firearms that were not the ones we typically used, but rather easily obtainable shotguns or civilian bolt-action rifles, or even AKs directly brought in from Mexico, had a purpose.
To understand why this was possible, one needed to know how the cartel coalition in this area operated, which could be simply explained by the fact that the enemies did not trust each other while being united.
While the cartel had poured across the Southern US border, and the Omega virus killed indiscriminately regardless of race or country—resulting in far more Mexican casualties—America was a significantly larger country than Mexico. There was no way one city could fully swallow another.
Thus, the alliance was formed, meaning they had a somewhat legitimate reason to engage in each other’s growth.
So, the gangs and cartel coalitions roaming San Antonio were loosely assembled groups with different goals.
After explaining that, I added.
“But what do you think will happen if simultaneous, indiscriminate attacks occur through the turrets? Using the AKs they used themselves… will they suddenly tighten their ranks?”
“...They’ll probably point guns at each other. So that’s why you were making this.”
“It seems you understand the general reasoning now.”
In simpler terms, if we made turrets from weapons the cartel carried around to kill the same cartel, it was needless to say that they would end up fighting each other.
Of course, that alone wouldn’t be the end of it. There was a reason I had mentioned the decapitation operation before coming here. Once the lower ranks started fighting amongst themselves, the upper echelons would gather in one place to find out what was going on.
And we would turn that place into complete ashes.
While it wouldn’t be enough to set San Antonio ablaze, we had received around 30 kg of C4 from the base. The amount of explosives needed to demolish a building hundreds of meters tall was approximately 300 kg of C4, so a tenth of that would be enough to turn any meeting place into dust.
Thus concluded the briefing on our action plan in San Antonio.
“...Is that clear?”
The Dagger Team already knew the plan well, nodding appropriately and focusing on their tasks again, but Dais and Harmony's expressions… how should I put it?
They were utterly impressed.
“So, I fought in the Final Championship against someone like this?”
“I sometimes think, but truly, you must be incredibly smart, teacher.”
…Originally, operations were meant to be pieced together like a puzzle, right?
In any case, during this time, I transmitted the enemies' patrol routes and current positions, as well as the calculated turret placement locations, to my UI through drone reconnaissance. The number of boxes manufactured was a total of 25, so we would place them in suitable locations, create a commotion to draw in the enemies, and then activate them all at once.
In fact, this part was the most boring yet thrilling. Each of us would carry five boxes, ride on the Silent Hawk, our stealth motorcycles, and move according to the pre-distributed routes to install the turrets—while squad leader Owens was sniping from an elevated position nearby.
About 10 minutes later, everyone finished setting up the turrets and moved to the safe zone.
Dais and Harmony had come close to being discovered several times, but they managed to get through the crises somehow.
Of course, how they managed to do that was—
“Hah, I’ve already used up three magazines. Wiping out the patrols…”
“I’m in the same boat.”
Everyone chuckled at that.
And how long had it been? The moment laughter faded completely, everyone sealed their lips. The operation had begun.
With a beep, the turret sensors activated all at once. There was no worry about civilian casualties. Innocent civilians had already been taken to places where they were hung upside down or sent to drug manufacturing sites by those leisurely wandering around the city.
Anyway, enemies began to creep into range.
Flames ignited, igniting chaos.
—TOOT TOOT TOOT TOOT TOOT!
“Damn it, where are we!”
“It’s an ambush! Ambush!”
It didn’t take long for the quiet southern San Antonio to become noisy.
In the midst of it all, the AW50 brought from hundreds of kilometers away also played its part in the uproar, specifically contributing to bursting the heads of cartel coalition members taking cover from unknown gunfire like watermelons.
If anyone was checking how they died or what the bullet holes looked like, they wouldn’t have known, but the chaotic situation had long since dulled the ability to make clear cause-and-effect judgments in the minds of the cartel members roaming the city.
Of course, even if that wasn’t the case, the cocaine would have rendered them numb to their surroundings.
“I’m providing support fire with the drones.”
“I’ll spread some false information through the communications network.”
After Dais had wiped out the patrols, he brought a radio.
The Icarus gear quickly grasped the applied technology and frequency network, reassembling the voices to spread suitable lies. They broadcasted noise about Los Zetas attacking them, or that the Gulf cartel had initiated a preemptive strike, and the situation instantly transformed into an even more chaotic melee.
The result of lighting the fuse was truly remarkable, and within a mere five minutes, even though the Dagger Team had completely stopped shooting, southern San Antonio was engulfed in civil war. They were all busy utilizing RPGs and vehicles for urban combat against each other.
Ultimately, it didn’t matter which way the result went. It was fine if they wiped each other out, or if they stopped fighting under orders from above. We were simply waiting, continuously monitoring the tapped communications network for useful information.
After about 10 minutes of chaos—
The fact that they recited the location was truly considerate of the enemy AI.
After exchanging glances with everyone, I added.
“Let’s get ready.”
The fireworks were about to begin.
“It’s incredibly fortified.”
“We’ll smash our way in. Just keep an eye on the C4, Dais. We’ll clear the path.”
“That’s the most reassuring thing you’ve said, teacher.”
A building that looked like a modern school or a complex training facility lay in wait for us in the darkness. However, it was filled with numerous cartel guards. There were lookout soldiers deployed on the rooftops and a plethora of makeshift armored vehicles and trucks. Moreover, they were all quite well-protected.
But one thing was certain: they would die if they took a hit above a certain threshold.
Moreover, even though there were many people, there were plenty of abandoned vehicles.
“Wow, I wonder why there are so many expensive cars here.”
“They probably want to keep driving these even in this world.”
Luxury cars that seemed suitable only for high-ranking cartel officials—even gold-plated vehicles—were spaced out at decent intervals.
The only issue was a few agents waiting near the vehicles, but, well, they were just carrying handguns or at most automatic rifles, and none of them were wearing bulletproof vests. They ended up standing next to their own graves with holes already blown through their heads.
Once Dais finished installing C4 there, we began to ascend the building.
The emergency stairs were, as expected, incredibly quiet. While there were patrols, they could hardly respond to the modern conveniences of civilization. They would only crumble before a subsonic bullet or thrown dagger before even realizing what was happening.
Through continued pulse scans, we confirmed the enemy’s location was on the fourth floor in a conference room. Therefore, our target was the third floor.
—CLUNK!
“What the hell, enemy—Kurk!”
“Guh…!”
The first enemy had a tactical knife from Laurentina embedded in his neck, and the second was brought down with a punch to the abdomen from Logan. As two patrol members met their ends, it was only the beginning. Owens, having moved to the position for command, added.
“Firearms are free to use. Eliminate everyone.”
“Yes, sir.”
Dais, Harmony, and I, along with Owens, headed directly for the room just below the conference room. It appeared to be another conference room, but no one was present. A few cartel members were sleeping, but since they had already been shot in the head, they might as well have been nonexistent.
As Dais carefully placed the C4 on the floor, Owens began to detail through the UI where exactly to attach the C4.
And where did I take Harmony?
“What is this?”
“It’s a ultrasonic cutter. I’ll make a hole in the tempered glass, retrieve it, and then escape through here just before it explodes. I’m making a hole for that purpose.”
“Oh, I see what you mean.”
We headed to a room positioned opposite the predicted explosion zone to open an escape route.
After attaching the suction cup typically used for unclogging toilets to the glass, I began to cut around it. With a slicing sound, the glass was delicately removed. Harmony quickly grasped the technique after a few tries and started cutting the glass little by little.
As the glass was cut into a sizable piece, Laurentina approached, ruffled Harmony’s hair, and secured the escape rope to a nearby pillar. Compliments were a bonus.
With all preparations complete—
“Escape route ready. Please proceed to the designated location. Did you call the helicopter?”
“Confirmed. The escape helicopter is 5 km away. Let’s start wrapping up today’s schedule.”
At the same time, the door opened, and Dais, feeling much lighter after unloading the heavy C4, spoke with a refreshing expression.
“All that’s left is to blow it up, right?”
“Oh, Dais. Can I blow it up?”
“What are you trying to do?”
The last words I uttered were unexpected.
Of course, Harmony took the detonation authority without issue.
Then, after a few dozen seconds—
“2 km until the escape helicopter arrives. Let’s head down. Detonate everything except what’s attached to the conference room floor.”
“Understood. Detonating!”
Boom!
And from all the locations where Dais had hidden the chunks of C4, including the outside parking lot and the underground parking lot, massive flames and explosions erupted.
For a brief moment of silence, and then, as the cartel members realizing what was happening rushed toward the explosion sites, the cartel leaders, who had been enjoying themselves on the fourth floor, would probably be busy preparing to escape now.
But we had already descended to the ground through the fast rope, and Harmony was ready to serve the main dish.
And—
—KAAABOOM!
The entire third floor was obliterated, and the fourth floor disintegrated into millions of fragments. It was akin to a gigantic firework display. In reality, it wouldn’t be much different. The only difference would be that there were quite a few body parts caught in the crossfire.
After the debris settled, Owens added.
“We’re heading to the escape area. Anyone blocking the path should get a one-way ticket to the Styx River.”
“Yes, sir.”
But unfortunately, there would be no actual combat to be had.
Just in time, an armed helicopter that had entered the operation zone delivered the final blow.
—Brrrrrr!
“Wow, a minigun and rocket salvo. It’s been a while since I’ve seen that.”
“Everyone is thrilled to see the US military. They’re probably so excited that they’re flying around without a care.”
“Pfft….”
Bullets cluttered the air.
Underneath them, the cartel soldiers were helplessly swept away.
Watching that unfold, I added.
“What a perfect ending to the day.”
Everyone nodded silently.
It hadn’t even been a few hours since we arrived in this city, but it was time to leave San Antonio.
tyyyyyyyy