I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun-Chapter 770: New York (16)

"Seems like the enemies are packed in tight. Maybe it's because of the snow, but it's easier to find traces of them."

"People are starting to gather, and the area of control is getting wider. Let's split it into three sections and engage individually."

"Alright. Let's annoy them as sneakily as possible."

4 AM, Lower Manhattan, Two Bridges.

The cold, biting air at -6°C cut through the darkness between the towering buildings, emitting an ominous noise. But today, in addition to the cold and the darkness, there was something else filling Manhattan.

It was the sound of explosions.

The variety of sounds was vast, but the common thread tying them together was that these were the kinds of explosions made by weapons meant to kill people.

And today, that would serve as a guide for the enemies.

The team was quickly assembled.

The numbers in the Eagle Team had grown quite large, and since this wasn’t a reconnaissance mission, there was less of a reason for me to be with Olivia, so I was going to be with Logan and the rest of the unit today.

Though we’d call ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) it a curriculum, what I’d be learning today was focused on advanced combat training, specifically how to inflict one-sided damage to the enemy and then escape.

The enemy would be furious, but oh well. That’s something for Valhalla.

"It’s pleasantly cool. Let’s go."

"...Did you just say this is cool?"

"You were the one who said the weather was good when the temperature was over 34°C with 95% humidity in the summer, right?"

"Heh, summer's already passed... Aaaah!"

This content is taken from fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm.

It was time to physically realize that I lacked empathy as I trailed behind Logan.

Would the scattered members regroup when the sun rose? I thought about it for a moment but decided not to dwell on it. There was no point in getting stuck in that kind of thought.

As I moved, the soft crunching sound echoed for a brief moment, but when I took the next step, the sound was gone. It was because of the heat released from the military boots.

The thoroughness to eliminate even the slightest sound of stepping on snow was something I had learned from the team.

Someone might say that this could cause us to be detected by thermal imaging, but this was the enemy's rear. Even if we were spotted, it wouldn’t be a huge issue.

After all, we just needed to make a hole in the heads of any witnesses.

Soon, the rustling sounds began to echo from nearby.

Louder ones, too.

---Creeeak!

"...Never thought I'd see an armored vehicle rolling down a Manhattan street."

"Heading toward Central Park."

"They're probably trying to launch a full-scale attack now that they've reached the HQ area."

Logan, I, and a few others hid inside a building with a broken door, crossing the main road to avoid detection from the enemies heading toward HQ.

It seemed like the enemy didn’t expect us to have hidden behind the rear so quickly, as the allied forces were moving toward their destination without even checking the surroundings. As soon as the troops passed, I secretly pulled out the SUAV from my back.

Logan nodded, signaling it was fine, so I snapped my wrist and sent out the small reconnaissance drone. It didn’t take long to assess the path and scale of the enemy movement.

There had been so many people passing by that not only the main road but even the snow on the road had melted.

As expected, the road in front of us was the main passage for enemy movement, and we would soon encounter a similar scene two more times.

Naturally, with the Pulse scan, we were able to identify the types of vehicles moving, the thickness of their armor, the alloy type, and how we should attack them to destroy them.

That was thanks to the experience from Boston.

"Let's group them up. If we take out a few of their vehicles, the road will get blocked on its own. Let’s move to another location. Hand me the thermite drill."

"Yes."

Logan took the thermite drill, mounted it on the sticky bomb launcher, and fired.

If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight.net or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.

With a dull thudding sound, the drill landed on the now-melted asphalt and rolled across. No one noticed it. It was night, and the water was freezing again, so the sound was masked.

The front of the thermite drill had an electromagnet attached to it, and when a vehicle passed over it, the situation was predictable without needing further explanation.

After confirming that no enemies were nearby, Logan decided it would be best to move deeper into enemy territory.

Logan, Chester, Morrison, and I ascended to the rooftop. Moving along the main road was suicidal, and no one in the team was unaware of that.

Though there was still snow on the roof, it melted with each step we took.

"This is Polar Bear. Explosives placed on the Manhattan Bridge are complete."

"We’ve arrived near Brooklyn Bridge. Will you be heading toward Chinatown?"

"That’s probably what’s going to happen. Our team has already encountered enemies several times. What about you?"

"Well, not yet. I’ll try to do as much as I can while roaming around. Olivia is heading to Governor's Island to support the battle, so we should think of that as a separate matter."

"Got it. Not sure how long we’ll be around here, so pace yourself."

With each step I took behind Logan, the cold air burst from my mouth in visible puffs.

Thanks to the gear, even though it was a dark, moonless night, the world appeared as bright as day, and the Icarus Operators, the greatest beneficiaries of the overwhelming technology, could easily pinpoint the location of any nearby enemies.

Our destination was Chinatown, now occupied by the Chinese military, and we planned to easily deal with the enemies there. Of course, if they died in the process, that couldn’t be helped.

Occasional explosions echoed from above.

It was part of the decoy drone operation launched from Westchester to pinpoint enemy air defense positions.

The allied forces, unable to discern which drones were real, poured all their remaining resources into responding, and as a result, surface-to-air missiles launched from New Jersey, Brooklyn, and Lower Manhattan, shooting into the sky.

It was a lose-lose situation. As the decoy drones were shot down, the air defense map was finalized. Though it had only been a short time since we stepped foot here, those who landed in Manhattan were gradually forced to retreat.

If they didn’t, we would directly launch them out.

How much time had passed?

Explosions and screams echoed.

---Vroooom!

"I hear the sound of a car turning into a fiery coffin."

"One of the drills was triggered under a vehicle. The other four are moving slowly."

"Well done."

Strictly speaking, the screams weren’t heard by the Eagle Team. It was just scripted to inform us that someone had screamed.

The Eagle Team never directly witnessed burning vehicles. If we did, it would add to our mental fatigue and eventually lead to PTSD. Even if we did see it, the gear blocked out much of it.

No matter how strong a person was, no one could remain unscathed, and no matter how tough the mind was, fatigue would accumulate. That’s why we only observed those scenes indirectly.

It didn’t take long for the TOC to send a message.

[We’ve detected flames rising from Lower Manhattan. Is this the work of the Eagle Team?]

"Of course. We’re planning to block the way to HQ first, but how much longer can HQ hold up?"

[The enemy’s assault involves armored forces, so it won’t be easy. If we can’t solve the issue through airstrikes and regain air superiority, the southern wall will be like a sponge with holes in it within 3 hours.]

"Three hours should be enough."

Boom!

Even as we spoke, another explosion erupted where we had set the thermite drill earlier. A drill that had been moved by inertia rolled onto another armored vehicle, sticking to it and exploding.

Unfortunately for us, by the time the first vehicle exploded, most of the allied forces inside the armored vehicle had already disembarked. It was a result that didn’t meet our expectations.

But it didn’t matter. We had climbed to the roof for exactly this kind of contingency.

The clanking sound of a drone preparing to fire followed, and Logan’s team all deactivated the safeties on their weapons and skills.

The words came.

"Release all firepower and retreat. Let’s start this quickly."

"Yes."

It was clear that the moment those words were declared, the allied forces spread across the road had no choice.

It didn’t take long before the path leading from the bridge to Manhattan was destroyed, blocked by debris and corpses.

It was time for retaliation.

"Attacks are continuing from the start of Bowery Street! It is believed to be the work of the Icarus Operators!"

"Shit. Find their position. I’ll contact HQ immediately. As of now... I’m requesting an Iskander missile strike."

"What are you saying, Colonel?! There are still our forces nearby!"

"Shut up! This is an order from HQ before the operation! Keep quiet and follow!"

The Icarus Operators.

One of the biggest obstacles for the allied forces.

They were mysterious entities, also known by the unamusing nickname Specters. Had the traitor Artemis not informed us, they would still be a nightmare for the allied forces.

While the high command attempted to calm soldiers who had come from faraway lands with promises of rewards and plunder, everyone who fought on the front lines knew who the Icarus Operators were.

Among the highest-ranking officers in Manhattan, those who knew the most about the Icarus Operators were the battalion commanders—brigade commanders were commanding from outside.

"The only effective way to deal with them is to dump something ballistic-grade on their heads. Doesn’t anyone remember the massacre at the Vega Line?!"

"But...!"

"We have no preparation to deal with them. Don’t you know that when you poke a beehive, the hornets come out?! What do you expect to happen if you don’t know that, huh?!"

"...Understood. I’ll request the bombing once the coordinates are confirmed."

The battalion commander himself had stepped onto the front lines in Manhattan, still issuing orders.

He was putting his life on the line. No one dared speak up, and the operation staff rushed to operate the radio linked directly to HQ, while the communications officers strained.

Meanwhile, the operation officers were gathering real-time information and displaying the new data on the hologram platform.

Sabotage was taking place throughout Lower Manhattan, and some roads were now impassable. Additionally, the battle on Governor's Island in Brooklyn suddenly faced difficulties.

"Enemy operators are initiating attacks with armored vehicles that cannot enter buildings."

"Some tried to lure enemy agents into the underground parking lots of buildings, but it seems that wasn’t very effective."

"Don’t be fooled. The reason they’re doing this is simple. They’re just waiting for us to concentrate all our power on them. No matter what the enemy agents do, we focus on our mission!"

As he said.

The allied forces continued to hammer on the fortified Central Park. Though completely dismantling it wasn’t easy, at least they were capable of damaging the internal functions with the large army currently attacking.

The enemy operators had managed to appear from somewhere with some sort of magic, but their attacks seemed more like a desperate attempt to draw our attention.

Though there were substantial losses in equipment and personnel, considering the scale, it was acceptable.

The amount of work one person could do was limited unless it was a large-scale offensive, and Manhattan had already been infiltrated by several brigades of allied forces. The Icarus Operators couldn’t stop all of them.

Moreover, to prepare for unexpected situations, the battalion command post was located in the center of a skyscraper or the underground parking lot. Even if the Icarus Operators tried to break in, it would take them a long time.

And as the Iskander missile request was sent, the battalion command post was positioned in the center of Wall Street, a massive skyscraper surrounded by elite soldiers guarding it.

'...Even if we neutralize all the enemies near the building, it will take a tremendous amount of time before they get up here.'

Moreover, if necessary, we could detonate the bombs installed in the stairwells and elevator shafts.

Regardless, the Icarus Operators were cornered, and they would either meet death or retreat due to the continuous assault by the allied forces. Even if the enemies survived, the result would be the same.

That’s what the soldiers and officers in the battalion command post were thinking.

Around this time, several hundred meters away from that building, on the roof of a different skyscraper that had been abandoned due to the absence of the battalion command post, Laurentina and her team were present.

They checked their wing suits and laughed in disbelief before adding more.

"Now we're even crashing into buildings."

"Who said we're crashing in? We're breaking through the glass and entering safely."

With a whoosh!

Laurentina struggled to maneuver a drone, which was ascending against the strong wind between the buildings, then fired a sticky bomb that attached to a glass window of a building.

As soon as that was confirmed, Shark waved his hand lightly and—jumped off the rooftop. HQ had urgently contacted Laurentina and her team, asking what on earth they were doing.

But it didn’t matter.

In the final moments of their brief hover, Shark waved his hand lightly.

---CRACK!

The sticky bomb detonated, sending flames and shockwaves through the center of the activation point, and the tempered glass shattered into thousands of shards that fell to the ground.

Immediately after that, five operators, accelerating to speeds of over 120 km/h, stormed through the broken window frame.

The first to realize this was a communications officer one floor below, but it didn’t take long for that officer to become history, a hole in his head.

And then—

"What... What...?! Enemy! Enemy assault—!"

"What the hell are you talking about—?!"

Bang, bang, bang!

With the deafening sound of gunfire, part of the Eagle Team entered the building, their cold eyes locking on the battalion command post in the center of the structure.

Still, leaving the smoke rising from the pistols behind them, Laurentina spoke up.

"It’s quite the noisy night, everyone. Are you enjoying your Manhattan tour?"

That day, the battalion command post received three skulls.