"It seems like everyone's really sharp, probably because it's wartime."

"Those who aren't, are all buried in Arlington."

"…That’s a pretty painful thing to say."

After six years, the U.S. government, which had been reduced to its limits, was once again stretching its limbs, boasting functionality that, though drastically reduced, was still not inferior when compared to before.

With the country’s size having grown massive, most of the bloated bureaucratic systems were eradicated, and things that would typically take anywhere from six hours to a day or two to approve, now take no more than ten minutes to process.

In one of the restricted areas of a morgue, where no one could enter without authorization, were the implants and bodies of the highest-ranking Artemis leaders, killed by Task Force Aricon during Operation Ouroboros. Authorized personnel were recovering cybernetic implants stored separately.

These were transported to a lab built in Central Park, where detailed investigations revealed serial numbers etched onto various parts.

It didn’t take long for that information to be delivered directly to Jin and Rain through high-priority channels.

"I think I heard that the remote-control pods were already loaded onto the transport plane."

"We're not going to use them, so there's no need to worry. Though, I have no idea what could happen there."

The conversation continues without addressing the intermediate steps.

They arrived here around 2 PM, and it was now about 8 PM. It had been roughly six hours, and a lot had happened during that time. As mentioned earlier, the implants from the bodies were removed, serial numbers analyzed, and cross-referenced with Jin and Rain’s database.

Naturally, the results were significant. They discovered more than six hidden factories scattered across northern New York. The moment that fact was revealed, a transport plane carrying UGVs for solo operations took off from JFK Military Airport, heading toward the Northern Tech Valley, crossing 440 km.

The transport dropped drones in stages, six times in total, and each drone was guided by skilled drone pilots from Central Park, heading for factories located underground in dense grain silos or barns.

To summarize the results:

"At two of the six points… some troublesome things happened. The best operator had to personally go in and open Pandora’s box."

"The analysts said it was because of the base defense systems. It’s not that big a deal. After all, as you said, to get to the bottom of it, we’ll need to go in ourselves."

"That’s right."

There was interference at two of the six points explored. Just like the others, the investigation seemed to continue smoothly, but then suddenly drones crawled out, and a brief firefight ensued. They were overwhelmed in just five minutes due to being outgunned, though they did manage to destroy a good number of enemy drones.

If they chose a more brutish approach… they could send more drones and reduce the facility to rubble. But with the remote-control pods, there was no concern about casualties, and it was concluded that there could be important data inside the heavily fortified facility.

Several transport planes, adorned with blinking lights on their wing tips, took off multiple times a day, and one of the recent flights had five pods onboard.

The personnel directly involved in the operation today were Lorentina, Logan, Owens, Sirkins, Olivia, and myself. Of the five remote-control pods, four were scheduled to be activated first, while Olivia and I were to enter via Dark Zone as 'shadows.'

This was the moment Olivia would finally understand the true purpose of the Dark Zone.

"…I don’t know if I should thank you, but I feel much more at ease than before when it felt like walking on the edge of a blade every second. Not that I can let my guard down, of course… But I heard this mission is pretty important, right?"

"We’re the only operators with Icarus Gear, so it’s inevitable."

As she said, the situation was quite different from when the U.S. was fully operational and mass-producing gear — though that was a figurative expression. At the current point, there was almost no capacity to produce more gear, meaning its value had skyrocketed.

Now that Jin and Rain had each been given two new sets, the number of spare units left could be counted on one hand, and since we were being deployed on a mission that seemed less dangerous than before, there was no need to give the remote-control pods any Icarus Gear.

Thus, our role as shadows became quite important.

"I haven’t been a pointman in a while…"

"Since we’re facing drones, it’s not too hard to just sweep through the back and take them out one by one. I’ll just think of it as a chance to build my courage again and carry the shield."

"That works."

At that moment, a UAV lifted off in the distance with a "whoooo" sound.

I heard it was to ensure smooth signal relays. Not only that, they had installed a network hub at the entrance before the assault, and additional relay devices were to be placed throughout the base for EMP contingencies.

Considering it was the first time, it was no bad idea to overprepare.

I didn’t expect the operation to fail. In about 30 minutes, the mission would begin—Jin and Rain were scheduled to act as support operators until their backup units were successfully created, while the rest of us were about to enter the main preparation phase.

We, too, had to start preparing soon.

While Fizzler was removing all foreign contaminants and potential residual viruses from the air, we closed the door and crossed the world line, returning to my home in Gangnam.

With a connector around my neck, I laid down on the bed and connected to the Dark Zone.

The session was made specifically for Olivia and me. As soon as I connected, the targeting was set on the transport plane rapidly heading north across Manhattan, and as soon as I clicked on the aircraft, the spawn location was marked. Olivia let out a deep breath before adding:

"I never imagined something like this just a few weeks ago."

"You’ll keep seeing things like this."

And I added:

"There's still so much we need to do. It's too early to be nostalgic about what we didn’t do together."

"…True. You’re right."

"Then let’s go."

The moment I clicked the spawn button, the world went white — and we were naturally on the cargo section of the transport plane heading to northern New York.

The interior was larger than expected. A massive object, about the size of five refrigerators bundled together, was laying horizontally on the hangar floor, and we woke up next to it. It seemed we hadn’t yet reached the drop zone, so I informed the upper command that we had boarded the transport heading north.

Of course, everyone was startled and nearly fell over, but in the end, it didn’t matter much to the operation’s progress, and soon enough, they accepted it. The U.S. government had long since stopped researching where shadows were created.

They probably already suspected because of my presence.

How long had passed since then?

With a strange buzzing sound, the case’s side began to glow, and the lower ramp began to open. Based on the data we had shared beforehand, the drop point was automatically marked. After setting the session’s fall damage to zero, I mentioned this to Olivia.

A cool wind began to blow inside the plane.

Below the darkness, far above the tallest buildings that would look smaller than matchboxes, the landing point appeared.

Surprisingly, Olivia didn’t worry at all after hearing this.

"I’ve flown through the skies hundreds of times more than you. Besides, you said I wouldn’t die even if I jumped, right?"

"…I thought so too."

Truly fitting words.

For Olivia, the sky was no longer a source of fear.

"Let’s go. I don’t want to land on the parachute-equipped remote-control pod and ruin the mission."

"Alright."

With one step, then two, we began to leap.

The darkness beyond the ramp was pitch black, but Olivia and I could see through it like it was daylight — and without a single worry, we both leaped into the darkness.

The sound of wind filled the air, drowning out all other noises. Our bodies, accelerated by gravity, fell toward the ground at dozens of meters per second, maintaining our posture and focusing solely on the hologram, moving as though in eternal time.

How much time had passed?

Gradually, the ground became visible.

The massive field, seemingly abandoned, and the large, deserted grain silos nearby. It didn’t look like there were any secrets hidden within, but considering three UGVs were destroyed there, it wasn’t naïve to think otherwise.

In an instant, we fell from 1000m to 500m, halving the distance, and halving again…

How much longer had it been?

—KAAAAAANG!

"...Taskforce Dagger Team’s Eugene and Olivia. We have arrived at the mission area."

With a deafening sound, like lightning falling from the sky, we were ready to face Artemis’s remnants.

It was the moment Olivia and I reached the ground.

"…They really look like me, but without the tail. It’s maddening."

"Well, it had to be like this since we used Jin and Rain’s designs. We’ll have to make do with it for now, kid."

"…It’s a weird feeling. I feel pretty strange."

For the first time, Mecha Eugene—without a tail—makes its appearance in the world.

To maintain as much of the original appearance as possible, the body had been made to glow in teal and blue, the colors associated with Jin and Rain. But that light had long been turned off. Yet, even without it, I could still examine the design, watching my team members poke around the machine with curious expressions.

Seeing this, I couldn’t help but think that perhaps I was beginning to fully accept the "me" that I had become.

Regardless of that, everyone was armed to the teeth. We couldn’t even find 5.56mm or 7.62mm rounds. They were all carrying LWMMGs using .338 caliber ammunition. Logan and Lorentina, on the other hand, brought M107 LRSRs and M6 Lynx rifles on their backs.

Naturally, once recoil control was possible and ammo carrying capacity was addressed, larger caliber rounds were preferred… though I couldn’t say much, considering Olivia and I were also holding Mjolnir.

"There's still one more spot left, so let’s push forward. We need to move fast to stay on schedule."

"Wouldn’t it be easier to just call in a transport chopper?"

"It’d take over an hour to get here."

"True."

So, with my team members, who looked like me but in machine form, we headed toward the already opened grain silo. Since we had already sent out UGVs capable of crossing various terrains, the dust on the ground from the descent still clearly showed the catapult tracks.

My skill setup included ballistic shields and ammo support stations, while Olivia had ballistic shields and pulse.

With a sharp "ping" sound, the pulse quickly swept through the narrow hallways, revealing a little of the interior.

"...This place is about the size of three football fields."

"The estimated depth is 40 meters. You could almost call this a horizontally split aircraft carrier."

"Let’s take it slow. The UGVs that were sent ahead have already cleared the path."

As they said, the place wasn’t small, but it wasn’t that large either. Compared to the Artemis base that was assaulted during Operation Ouroboros, which stretched several kilometers underground, the difference in scale was quite obvious.

What truly made the scale difference clear was the surroundings—within just a few dozen seconds of walking, we could see broken machinery fragments scattered around, and the walls were riddled with bullet marks. There were explosions from grenade blasts and scratches from laser weapons as well.

And then—

—KREEEENG!

"They’ve started to catch on."

"It’s work time."

A sharp, thunderous sound filled the hallway, one that no suppressor could possibly muffle.

The moment Olivia and I planted our shields into the ground, they expanded wide enough to cover all of us—at the same time, the dull "thud" of bullets hitting the shield reverberated. The durability of the ballistic shield appeared on the top UI, and I deployed the ammo support station.

It might sound impressive, but it was just a nanomachine dispenser that replenished the expended ammunition in real-time. As a result, the numerous Artemis drones that appeared to destroy us were effortlessly swept away by the overwhelming firepower.

The "fire net," as it was called, spun around like a blender, and after a few seconds, the smoke of gunpowder rose, and everything in the hallway turned to scrap metal.

As the darkness that had once hidden everything returned to the hallway, a quiet warning voice came from the ceiling:

-[Warning: An intruder beyond the facility's capacity to handle has been detected.]

-[Warning: Additional support requested from upper levels… Artemis HQ in Northern New York is unresponsive. Searching for any possible friendly signals… Aircraft "Omega" detected in Savannah, Georgia. Emergency support requested…]

-[Warning: Support will arrive in 8 hours and 52 minutes.]

"8 hours and 52 minutes? We could take a nap and have a meal by then."

"The facility is more likely to self-destruct before then. Let’s first take control of the command center. With the pulse, finding the control room and sweeping it clean will be quicker."

"Understood. Let’s move fast, since we’re all in a condition where we can take a beating."

Of course, from that point on… we tore through the darkness at full speed.

It was possible because the facility wasn’t that big. Unlike the Artemis base from Operation Ouroboros, which had a size measured in kilometers, this one was small enough to cross in just a few minutes.

The AI in the facility’s command center couldn’t do anything. In the past, nearby drones would have surrounded the area, deploying transport planes or helicopters, creating a honeycomb of fire. But now, none of that mattered.

As expected, overwhelming firepower brought everything to a halt before the enemy could even react, and it didn’t take long for all six of us to gather at the command center.

It felt like it was over too quickly, considering the preparation, but it was much better than having someone get hit by a blind bullet and carried off. There would likely be more situations like this in the future.

Anyway, now was the time to see if there was any information worth retrieving inside.

"...Internal system reboot complete. Let’s see what they were hiding."

"We’re already analyzing it, but as soon as we booted up, we got a response from Artemis HQ in Savannah, Georgia. It looks like they’re actually planning to send support."

"Well, let them deal with those tin cans. We won’t have to worry, as they’ll be intercepted before they even get close… it’d be nice to find a way to contact our purple Mecha Eugene hidden somewhere in the city."

"The server isn’t functioning properly, and there’s some kind of block, so it’s hard to get a proper read. But I think I can guess the general location of the message sender…"

"And?"

Checking the coordinates and pulling up the map of Savannah, the coordinates were marked.

A few seconds later, everyone shook their heads and spoke.

"...Ugh, the location isn’t great."

"It’s right in the middle of an enemy stronghold. This won’t work."

"We’ll report the location to upper command and come up with a separate plan."

Beep, beep, beep.

After a few mechanical beeps, the facility’s lock was set. No one who didn’t know the password could touch any controls. Unless the decision was made to strip the facility entirely or use it as is, it would remain full of dust until further notice.

We walked out, greeted by a chilly wind, fitting for the end of October.

A rugged, off-road vehicle capable of carrying up to ten people was waiting for us at the entrance. We squeezed into the empty spots, and Owens spoke up.

"It’ll take about 30 minutes to reach the second operation zone. Everyone, rest up."

"When the rookie speaks like that, it’s really hard to adjust, Captain."

"Ridiculous."

"I’m losing my mind, seriously."

It was maddening, especially since the voice sounded just like mine.

Without a single light shining, we crossed through the cold darkness, but the vehicle never stopped, heading somewhere in northern New York.

It felt like it would be simpler and smoother than expected.

Meanwhile, about 1400 km from Northern New York, in Savannah, Georgia...

Mecha Eugene—Omega type—was tearing at its own head and screaming in agony.

Her troubles had only just begun.