I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun-Chapter 811: Washington D.C (27)

-We've identified a massive explosion at Gallaudet University!

-Dagger Team, respond! Dagger Team! What the hell happened!

-No one seems to have died according to the vital signs, but it's clear that Dagger Team is currently in a situation where even communication is impossible.

-Prepare to send in a mobile strike force. We need to be prepared for any unforeseen circumstances.

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"...Is everyone okay?"

"Where the hell am I...how far have we flown?"

"The shields are completely destroyed. There's nothing intact, damn it..."

"...They seem to have the energy to speak."

There was a flash of light, and tens to hundreds of thousands of large and small pieces of debris flew in all directions.

Even with my eyes closed, I could clearly feel the explosion. The Dagger team remembered being hit roughly 90 meters from the epicenter, and the intense heat swept through their bodies.

Everything within a 15 meter radius of the epicenter was vaporized, everything within a 70 meter radius was torn apart and pulverized by the vacuum and shockwave created by the explosion, and even then, the heat energy that could not be completely offset spread out to a radius of about 200 meters.

In reality, it was about the same power as what had occurred at Tianjin Port, but considering that the explosion occurred inside a solid case like the Kestrel, it was more like a grenade than a C4 explosion.

And grenades were meant to kill enemies with shrapnel, not kill people with internal explosives - although that wasn't impossible.

That was one of the reasons the Dagger team was able to survive.

"...Wraith?"

"I think we should find it. The whole tether is cut off...."

"This is difficult. The gears... seem to be overloaded, and the pulse won't work. We'll disperse and search. Call us as soon as we find them."

"Understood."

The Dagger team, who had risen from the vicinity of the blast site that had become something more than a mess, groaned in excruciating pain all over their bodies.

The devastation around them went without saying. The football stadium that had once been called Hotchkiss Field was a pile of ashes, and a hole dozens of meters in diameter had been dug, and the area around Zero Ground was torn to pieces by debris.

The Dagger team had been blown to a point where they could no longer fly due to the explosion, and they crashed into the ground.

The fact that no one died during that whole thing was beyond a stroke of luck.

Some of the Icarus Gear's functions had been locked out because they had been operating at more than maximum output, and the shield module had become overloaded. It was all energy spent blocking the pressure, heat, and the large and small debris that could have gotten stuck in his body.

Of course, that wasn't enough, and Wraith made up for the lack of defense. The Blood Shield - tentatively named - that easily blocked bullets was able to block the remaining debris.

That's why the Dagger Team's next target was to find Wraith, who had flown off somewhere unknown.

"Damn, it's a total mess everywhere. The buildings have turned into chocolate chip cookies."

"If we had just one more Icarus Operator with good gear, we would have found them in an instant. Damn... Should I call Eagle Team now?"

"Communication's out. It should be back up in about 5 minutes... I wonder if I should have brought a regular radio."

"Even if we had, it would have broken down by now. Don't worry about it, just search the area as much as possible."

The Dagger Team started moving.

Only then did a more serious picture emerge. No, it was more like a disaster than a picture. As Race had said, an explosion greater than the Tianjin Port incident would have sent hundreds of kilograms to several tons of debris flying around faster than an arrow.

The debris exploded in all directions, so most of it flew into the air or somewhere else, but some buildings were hit head-on, and the fronts of these low-rise buildings were literally torn apart and shattered.

Places where there should have been pavement blocks and the like were all torn away, and only the debris that once formed the hull was stuck in the ground or walls or scattered.

It looked like a meteor apocalypse had arrived, not a virus apocalypse.

A continuous beeping sound could be heard from a small square box attached to one side of the gun.

It was a heartbeat sensor that detected heartbeats nearby. The gear, which was the center of operations for pulse and other skills, was overloaded, so they had no choice but to use something a little bit inferior.

The five of them fanned out and gradually increased the search radius, but soon realized that they didn't need the heartbeat sensor.

The smell of blood wafted in.

"...Chester."

"Coming."

The pungent smell grew stronger, and puddles of liquid, not water or ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ oil, began to appear.

Blood trails gradually converged toward a single point, as if they were living creatures. Normally, it would have been a sight that would have made one squint, but now it was different. Chester loaded the top-grade cure into the launcher and ran to the point where the smell of blood was strongest.

And after a while, Wraith, her legs shattered, was lying in the corner of the stairwell, groaning in pain.

But that didn't mean that other parts were particularly healthy. There were large and small fragments embedded in his body, and his bones were twisted in a strange way. It was almost a miracle that he was still alive.

Chester quickly set his priorities.

He temporarily fixed the launcher to his waist, took out the fentanyl patches, and carefully approached Race and applied a couple of them to his chest. Within a dozen seconds, Race began to breathe more comfortably.

Although it was hard to say that he was breathing properly because his neck was half-broken.

Next, it was time to inject the treatment. With a hissing sound and a large amount of medical nanomachines being injected, he began to remove the fragments embedded in his body.

One by one, sharp fragments the size of a fist fell off, and the wound began to heal rapidly. As a result, the amount of blood on the floor began to decrease little by little. What was certain was that he was not 'using' blood to heal the wound, but rather exchanging something equivalent for blood.

If he had already come into contact with dirt and put contaminated blood into his body, he would have died long ago.

"His neck is half broken, and blood is pooling in his windpipe. I'll fix his cervical vertebrae and intubate him... Damn, it feels like I'm cleaning up a car accident body."

"Grumble, groan...."

"Don't try to talk. You won't be able to speak anyway."

Instead of words, only blood bubbles came out.

He carefully lifted his neck, which was tilted to the side, and inserted the intubation kit. As he pressed the manual pump attached to the bottom with his hand, the blood that had been pooling inside began to drain little by little.

The broken neck was fixed in an instant, and it didn't take long for Race, who had only been spitting out bubbling sounds until just a moment ago, to lay down on the stairs and remove the intubation kit with his own hands.

A violent cough followed, and it didn't take long for Race, who had been staring up at the sky with difficulty, to speak.

"Oh, shit... I'm going to end up a drug addict at this rate..."

"You held it in well, you punk. Keep in mind that there's no place in the suit that's not in good shape. I wonder if anyone brought extra clothes."

"Who brings that to the battlefield, you punk."

"...Fuck, what's the big deal about that now..."

Of course, contrary to what he said about what's important about that, Race's appearance as he slowly began to recover was completely naked. He could no longer wear the full-body suit that had shattered while blocking the explosion.

He was wearing a cooling suit made of thin material inside, but even that was completely torn.

However, the Dagger team was too professional to feel lust or make jokes at the sight of that, and he, a medical officer, was even more so.

Chester cleared away the pieces of the full-body suit that were rolling around on the floor, and after lifting Race with great difficulty - the mutant had to be heavy - he laid her down in a better place.

Fortunately, Team Dagger had figured out that the gym was right next to where they were stuck, and it didn't take long for two of them to go inside and retrieve something suitable.

What they brought was... not clothes.

a shower curtain.

"... You want me to wear this? You're fucking stupid, really."

"Many of the clothes inside were contaminated with the Omega Virus. This is the only one that's okay. At least wear this."

"Fuck..."

Race grumbled, trying to move his body to wrap the curtain around his body, but it didn't work.

After a couple of people helped her, she managed to cover her body.

It was only a short time after most of her body had been repaired, and Chester picked her up as she stumbled before Race could say anything else. Even she, who had been fussing about what was going on, sighed when she realized that it was necessary.

"...So, where are we going now?"

"The nearby landing zone was completely destroyed, and Ground Zero is showing a slight radioactive response. We've chosen a parking lot a little further away as our retreat point, and a helicopter will land there in five minutes, so we'll take that and return to TOC."

"You're being foolish..."

She muttered emptyly.

"...So that's how it ended up."

"I wonder what happened on the Black Eagle side in the meantime, so I'll have to ask later."

"Ha, you're curious about all sorts of strange things..."

But apart from that, Race also had more than one or two things to wonder about.

Did Crow escape in time? Where were the Talisman and Kestrel Brigades? How would the US military react if they knew about it? Or what kind of suppression operation would they organize?

I heard that the reason the Icarus mutant operators didn't come was because they were headed towards Talisman. How would they deal with them?

However, in the short 30 minutes, Race had expended a tremendous amount of energy, and he was getting more and more tired. A different kind of fatigue than the one that caused his sanity to disappear due to excessive blood loss covered his body.

To put it simply, Race felt like he would fall asleep at any moment.

───!

"The helicopter is coming. I'll take out the flare gun."

"Whew, I finally got it done today. Should I say it was a really hard day...?"

Pfft!

As the blue flare stretched into the sky, neither green nor red, Owens pulled out a glowstick and waved it in the air. Race vaguely realized that it was sending a signal.

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

A Blackhawk circled through the air, slowly slowing down and descending toward a parking lot empty of cars.

Team Dagger arrived at the spot with Race on their backs and spoke to the hastily rushing strike force.

"Situation closed. We need some troops to take over the defense of that base and clear the debris. It's probably a brigade or so."

"Debris... you mean? What kind of debris?"

"The Black Eagles blew up the landing craft that was the brigade base. I'll go back and discuss the details with this guy and let you know as soon as I figure it out. For now, I'd like for us to return to the Pentagon TOC."

"...Understood. You can board as soon as the strike force disembarks."

Some were surprised by the appearance of the race, but none of them were overtly surprised.

The Pentagon TOC had already frequently seen people with bear ears on their heads and snake tails on their butts, and although they were a little surprised, they started moving without paying attention.

The Dagger Team had grown from five to six. They had barely managed to board the Black Hawk, and only then could they take a breath and confirm that the long day was over.

As the aircraft took off, the overloaded Icarus gear began to function normally again, and the energy level that had been temporarily released was restored to its original state.

There was a lot to do after returning.

However-

"... Everyone, pay attention to bearing 170."

"Bearing 170... South-Southeast? Why all of a sudden?"

"... You don't need to see it, but it won't be bad if you do. Take a look at it once. Be prepared to close your eyes if necessary."

At Owens's sudden words, those sitting in the helicopter moved around and stared intently outside the window on the door.

Owens started counting, and Chester and others put on sunglasses or covered their eyes with their hands. Race never knew what it meant, and covered his eyes.

And how long had passed-

───Kuuuu!

"...Ah."

"There's no other minister."

Suitland Silver Hill, about 6km northwest of Andrews Air Force Base.

At this point, a huge mushroom cloud rose from the exact spot where the Talisman Brigade was rapidly moving toward the air base.

Looking at it, Race muttered.

"...There's nowhere to go back to now."

"It's not that there's nowhere to go, it's that a new place is waiting for you."

At the same time, Team Dagger added with a smile.

This chapter is updat𝙚d by freeweɓnovel.cøm.

"Welcome to the Pentagon."

The cold November wind swept across Washington, D.C.

The endless hot summer sun was fading away, and even the cool breeze was becoming chilly. It was the time when one's clothes changed from short-sleeved shirts and shorts to long pants and sweaters.

The fighting over the capital was drawing to a close. The eastern side of Washington, D.C. was full of large and small detonation sites, and there were many holes.

The Talisman Brigade, which should have been retreating to Andrews Air Force Base, was a guest who would never return.

To be more precise, it was not a guest who would ever return. The strike team detonated a nuclear briefcase with a yield of 3 kilotons in the middle of Suitland Silver Hill, and most of them were not even found dead.

A crater measuring 137m in diameter erupted, a powerful pressure of 20psi swept over a 300m radius, and thermal radiation capable of causing third-degree burns spread over a 1.6km radius.

Since it was a hydrogen bomb using a helium-3 laser, the radiation was zero, but in any case, an area measuring 2km in length was scorched earth, and the Talisman Brigade of the Black Eagle, consisting of just over 2,000 soldiers, was vaporized.

The Syndicate tried to retreat Talisman before Kestrel, but that strategy ended up with the worst result.

The Kestrel Brigade had a slightly better outcome than the Talisman Brigade, which was completely destroyed. About half of the initial retreaters managed to retreat somehow.

Of course, this meant that only a little over a thousand soldiers survived. The reason was simple. The Pentagon TOC began using cruise missiles and ballistic missiles in earnest.

Short-range ballistic missiles such as ATACMS carrying high explosives were mobilized in earnest, and this progress was further enhanced by Race's active cooperation, who realized that Crow had already withdrawn from further away.

The lightning that poured down from the sky destroyed several roads that were not particularly good, delaying the withdrawal, and the US military in Washington D.C. released the anger they had been holding back.

The fact that half of the Kestrel Brigade survived was because the US military judged that this was enough, nothing more, nothing less.

The terrible gunpowder smoke, the smell of burning corpses, and the scent of white phosphorus that had not yet been removed still lingered like an aroma over the capital, but as the frequency of fighting decreased rapidly, a cool autumn breeze filled the void.

As even the smoke rising from various places disappeared, the US military, the Pentagon TOC, and the Dagger Team could finally feel that autumn had come to the US.

In other words, it also meant that the time for the dot to be marked was not long.

And-

"Am I a spectacle, you punk!?"

"Oh, oh. Vampires are rare, but that's not enough to appeal. To beat the polar bear belonging to the Earth Dogs with topicality, that alone is... AAAH!"

"Please shut your mouth, you seal punk."

"...Are there only idiots here?"

"Well, that's about it."

In the meantime, there was inevitably contact between the entire team and Race.

To be exact, it wasn't a 1:1 meeting. As Race said, it was practically a spectacle. Race's private life was being exposed one by one in a transparent room with iron bars.

Of course, he usually only checked it out through CCTV.

Race checked the new suit that came in through a separate passage.

It was a little different from the appearance she remembered, but it didn't matter. The very fact that this thing had come in was telling me that I didn't have to stay here any longer.

The button was pressed, and the elements within the variable-transmittance glass aligned themselves into a different shape, becoming impermeable. Race carefully put on the armor, completely naked.

A voice came from the speaker on the ceiling.