Ep. 108
–
“Ready.”
“OK.”
Dylan stood up after hearing the deputy aide’s report.
Currently, he wears an improved advanced reinforced suit on his body and a mask with a unique appearance on his face.
The name of the mask, which is silver and resembles a death mask modeled after a human face, is ‘Indomitable Mask.’
This equipment was specially given to Dylan by the boss, and grants the wearer the ability to detect hidden targets, poison, and immunity to psychic powers that affect the mind.
In addition, the Indomitable Mask has the tremendous advantage of being compatible with any equipment.
For example, the auto plasma gun currently mounted on his shoulder.
Thanks to being connected to the mask, automatic fire can be fired even at enemies that cannot be detected with existing detection equipment.
None of the things he wore were cheap, but Dylan didn’t mind.
Because the enemy they have to deal with is not an easy one.
When Dylan came out of the tent, 30 heavily armed pirates were waiting in the open area of the camp.
Everyone was wearing advanced reinforced clothing and each was carrying a Gauss rifle as a weapon. In addition, they also carried portable plasma rocket launchers and purple spray guns as infantry support weapons.
“What about heavy walkers?”
“We have already boarded the ship.”
There are even heavy walkers wearing thick armor and armed with storm guns and plasma launchers.
Even in the entire Space Dog, there are not many cartels that can mobilize equipment of this high level.
“good. “We are going with the usual strategy of encirclement.”
“All right.”
When Dylan hunts with his men, he always divides the team into three.
A reconnaissance team to search for prey. A herding team to drive or lure the prey. Lastly, a strike team to strike.
A total of 32 people carry out hunting operations together: 6 people on the reconnaissance team, including a deputy assistant, 10 people on the herding team, and 16 people on the strike team, including Dylan and Walker.
The reinforced clothing and weapons worn by the pirates were also tailored to their team and role.
For example, the reconnaissance team wore light, concealed reinforced suits, while the herding team and strike team were armed with reinforced suits with increased defense.
“Then let’s go.”
“yes. “Everyone on board!”
Following Dillon, the pirates boarded the large transport ship one by one.
A large transport ship carrying walkers and pirates soared through the dawn fog.
The humid air characteristic of the jungle instantly filled the transport ship.
The pirates all silently checked the equipment they brought with them once again. All of their faces were tense due to the anticipation of battle, but they did not show the slightest bit of fear.
In the meantime, the pirates of the Humanity Cartel have been fighting against powerful enemies.
Although they were sometimes defeated, they were always the ones who survived until the end.
“An unknown monster? “Let’s show who the real monster is.”
“yep!”
The pirates responded vigorously to Dylan’s words.
The large transport ship that was flying so fast soon reached the landing site.
“The dock captain will arrive soon.”
“good. “When we get off, everyone is searched starting from around camp 17.”
While the large transport ship was preparing to land on a wide open space, the pirates finished preparing by loading their weapons and boarding their walkers.
And just as the transport’s landing gear touched the ground, Dylan heard something.
“huh?”
I realized that was the sound a land mine made when activated, but by then it was already too late.
A huge fire engulfed those on board the transport ship.
–
‘It has begun.’
From a distance, a pillar of fire can be seen rising into the sky.
The mine I had planted in advance exploded.
I interrogated the pirates I captured before they arrived and learned in advance where the enemy transport ship was expected to land.
Then, we collected all the defensive mines stored at the camp and planted them in large quantities in each vacant lot where we expected them to come.
‘He’s probably wearing a reinforced suit, so he won’t die from that.’
Two or three at most?
I don’t think there will be many casualties, but blocking the enemy’s means of retreat is a sufficient achievement.
Now that my goal was accomplished, I jumped from the top of the giant tree.
‘Next time…’
I ran through the foggy forest. As I ran, destroying small trees, the small creatures were startled and ran away.
When the humidity in the air became even thicker, the trees suddenly decreased and a wide riverside appeared.
Hundreds of creatures that looked like Stegosaurus were gathered there.
This is a Plantrizard that I caught in Space City a while ago. Although they look like herbivorous dinosaurs, they are actually classified as plant-like creatures.
Their ecology follows suit, so they get nutrients in sunny places during the day and come to the water at night to drink moisture.
‘I’m sorry I took my time taking my time.’
Now I need the help of my forest friends.
I roared powerfully at them.
「 ———–!」
A huge roar echoed throughout the forest from its body, which was nearly 12 meters long including the length of its tail.
A group of pterodactyls sleeping on a tree were startled and jumped up into the forest, and I heard the roar of other predators alerting me from inside the forest.
The entire group of Plantrizards who heard my roar woke up from their sleep.
“Kuong?”
“Cow! “Cow!”
The largest male at 10m looked at me and let out a short cry. When the group heard that sound, they all started running in the opposite direction to avoid me.
‘good.’
I chased after them and made threats by wagging my tail or roaring.
The male stood in place several times to protect the group and tried to chase me away.
At times like that, instead of attacking the male, I pretended to attack the other Plantrizard behind me.
When a male tries to protect his family, he threatens another male. When the male moves, he targets another male.
As this continued to happen, the Plantrizard group kept running away to somehow escape me.
‘Let’s just leave it like this.’
My intention is to have the group attack the pirates while they are running away.
Plantrizards have no means of attack other than the thorns on their tails, but it is different when they gather in groups.
Imagine hundreds of giant Stegosaurus measuring between 5m and 10m attacking you all at once.
Even if you are a heavily armed walker, you will never be safe if you are crushed by a group of these people.
‘And I can use that gap to target my enemies.’
They’re probably professionals, so they’ll figure it out quickly, but my strategy doesn’t end there.
I still have dozens of ways to cook them.
‘We’re almost there.’
The auxiliary organ under my chin whispers to me.
Idiots who don’t know anything are coming this way.
–
“2 members of the reconnaissance team are killed, 1 member of the herding team is injured, and 1 walker is unable to move.”
“…You fucking idiot, don’t you include the transport ship and the pilot? “Why don’t you do your job properly?”
“I’m sorry!”
Even before entering the battle, the damage suffered by Dylan’s group was considerable.
In particular, the damage to one Heavy Walker, which was responsible for the main firepower, was fatal. Thanks to this, there are only 4 heavy walkers left.
‘Damn it…!’
This is the guy who hangs the skinned corpse on a tree. It should have been anticipated in advance that the pirates would use the bombs and weapons they had.
It was a mistake I made because I thought I was fighting a dangerous beast.
“The reconnaissance team will be disbanded and all remaining members will go to the herding team.”
“All right.”
“What should we do with the injured dock captain?”
After hearing what the other pirates said, Dylan approached the injured herding team member. Walking seemed impossible for a while as my legs were twisted and misshapen.
So without hesitation, Dylan shot him dead with an auto plasma gun mounted on his shoulder.
“We don’t need any injuries in our cartel.”
None of his subordinates protested against Dylan’s actions. Being injured and alone in this hellish forest was as good as being dead.
The pirates took the necessary tools and ammunition from the wreckage of the transport ship and moved toward Camp 17.
When the distance from the camp was short, the deputy aide in the lead gave a hand signal.
“….”
At that signal, all the pirates stopped. While the other pirates watched their surroundings with the night vision goggles built into their armored helmets, Dylan activated the Indomitable Mask’s stealth detection feature.
Purple flames flickered in the eyes of the mask, and all the creatures hiding in the forest came into his field of vision.
“It’s 11 o’clock.”
Hearing the words of the deputy aide, the pirates’ guns all aimed at 11 o’clock. The autoplasma gun on Dylan’s shoulder also moved according to the owner’s vision.
“Khuong!”
“Cow!”
The howl of an animal was heard from afar.
The surrounding scenery appears to be no different, from the thick fog to the unidentifiable sounds of animals.
The pirates sweated coldly down the backs of their necks in the extremely gloomy atmosphere.
As the cries grew louder, Dylan put his finger on the trigger to intercept the enemy that would soon appear.
At that time, he felt his body tremble slightly.
‘earthquake?’
He felt a vibration coming from under his feet and up his knees, so he placed his palms on the floor. What started out as a gentle tremor gradually became more violent.
“no way? Holy shit! Everyone spread out!”
The moment Dylan shouted, large dark green reptiles jumped out from the fog.
A group of Plantrizards with impressive-looking corrugated plates on their backs attacked the waiting pirates.
“Ugh!”
“You idiots! Spread out and take cover behind the trees! “Don’t return fire!”
As Dylan began to curse, the pirates quickly jumped behind trees and rocks. The Plantrizards passed by them without attacking them, as if they didn’t care about the pirates.
“Uh huh?”
But heavy walkers, who were large and slow, could not move that fast. One of the four bodies was shooting Plantrizard with a plasma launcher and missed the timing to dodge.
As a result, the Heavy Walker was crushed by the charging Plantrizard horde.
Hundreds of creatures weighing more than 10 tons each were trampling past, and no matter how heavily armored the heavy walkers were, they had no talent to deal with them.
The cockpit, which was protected by thick armor, was crushed, and the pilot inside was crushed to death without even trying to resist.
“What a piece of shit…!”
But this was not the end of their ordeal.
Something with a pitch-black outer shell leapt out from among the Plantrizard crowd and lunged at one of the remaining walkers.
The guy rushed at speed and hit the heavy walker. With that, two thick horns on his head pierced the tempered glass of the walker’s cockpit.
“He appeared!”
“Start shooting!”
The pirates immediately fired at the monster attached to the walker. Penetrating bullets fired from the Gauss rifle formed a fire net, and purple flames spewed out from the purple spray gun.
As soon as it pulled out its horns, it disappeared into the forest on the other side to avoid the pirates’ attacks.
“What about Pilot Walker? Check it out quickly!”
While the herding team and strike team fired at the monster, one of the pirates from the scout team checked inside the walker.
“What happened?”
“…It went right through the pilot’s chest.”
Dylan’s face suddenly distorted after hearing his subordinate’s report.
The battle hasn’t even started yet, and we’ve already lost three precious Heavy Walkers.
“Ugh!”
Dylan’s scream-like shout echoed through the forest.
–
‘You must be pretty pissed at this point.’
Hearing their leader squealing makes me feel better without realizing it.
The more the enemies lose their senses and move on, the more advantageous it becomes for me.
‘It was expected, but everyone brought good equipment.’
Although I assumed that the Humanity Cartel had a lot of money, their armament was beyond that of ordinary pirates.
The heavy walker they brought with them has plasma launchers attached to both arms, so it can kill me even though I am not in a state of hunting.
So, I targeted the heavy walkers first as my top priority.
The unfortunate thing is that they were only able to eliminate two walkers.
Originally, they would have taken advantage of the confusion to attack and eliminate other walkers, but unexpectedly, the enemy’s offensive was fierce.
‘I brought a purple spray gun.’
The Purple Spray Gun is a type of superpower flamethrower.
It can be said that I lowered the power of the psychic breath I use by half and changed it to spread it out widely.
I have psychic resistance, but it is definitely not a weapon that can be used to fight without getting hit.
There are currently two walkers remaining. The pirates holding the purple spray guns remain as is.
After this, you have to somehow finish off the walker with the trap you prepared. That way, you can focus on dealing with the pirates with the purple spray guns.
‘good. Then let’s go…huh?’
I was about to move to the next trap, but the auxiliary engine warned me. It means that you sense something invisible around you.
‘Something invisible?’
There was nothing that caught my eye. However, there was no way the auxiliary organ was lying to me, so I stood for a moment and concentrated.
The smell of dirt on the floor, the smell of moss on the rocks, the water that makes up the fog, the sound of trees absorbing water and breathing, the smell of sweat…
‘Wait a minute, the smell of sweat?’
A strange smell is mixed in the air. It was so shallow that it was difficult to detect unless you concentrated, but it was clearly the smell that a person gives off when he or she is nervous.
I lightly shook the tip of my tail in the direction of the smell of sweat. The thorn hair flew out and got stuck in something transparent.
It was a person wearing a reinforced suit, paralyzed and falling to the floor. Through the translucent visor of the helmet, I could see eyes widening in disbelief.
‘Stealth equipment?’
It had a similar appearance to the concealment reinforced suit worn by snipers who fought in the space city in the past.
‘It just so happened.’
Originally, another trap was prepared after this.
But I never thought I would get such a good item. Thanks to this, an interesting idea occurred to me.
‘You are a body that will be preciously used.’
I picked up the man wearing the enhanced stealth suit and moved to the next location.
Pirates who entered this forest.
There’s still a lot left to show them.