Outside the subway station, the Military Technology forces had completely sealed off the exit, and everyone entering or leaving had to undergo an inspection.
Two Bimong Armored Vehicles were parked outside the station, with soldiers in full gear, each holding an Ajax rifle.
Apart from the regular soldiers, there was a big guy with a heavy machine gun on one of the vehicles and sharpshooters with Achilles precision rifles in the patrol team.
The armored vehicles, high-tech weapons, and fully armed soldiers painted a picture of tense vigilance.
Even those who originally had a temper quieted down significantly at the sight of this display.
Human life is quite fragile; a single small bullet can take a life, let alone those high-tech weapons.
The good news was that Military Science was relatively restrained. Besides these three elites, most of the other soldiers were generally low-level cyborgs and didnât employ military robots or drones.
Mackinaw wandered nearby, blending in with the crowd of people hurrying home.
"Military Technology is serious this time..."
Even V, who had seen big scenes before, swallowed nervously, forcing a smile.
But Lille remained calmâhe knew the situation wasnât as bad as it looked.
This kind of scene could intimidate 99% of mercenaries, so it was understandable that V was also getting nervous.
"Donât panic; this is the city center, so they have to exercise restraintâand thereâs good news too: the NCPD has left, and Military Science has split into two squads. The other squad is about a six-minute drive away from here.
Once the fighting starts, our hackers will take down the subway stationâs servers. As soon as Military Scienceâs people go down, weâll flank them from outside the subway.
Though Military Scienceâs people are heavily armed, our firepower isnât weak either. Considering the subway stationâs layout, we only need about two minutes of crossfire to eliminate everyone inside the subway.
Then we retreat."
Lille drove while attempting to reverse-hack into the municipal network.
The NCPD had cleared the backdoors in the traffic nodes, but they hadnât changed the municipal traffic networkâs communication logic and protocolsâthis was part of ITâs routine maintenance work.
Using the municipal traffic network as a jumping board, as long as Lille ensured that each interaction with the communication network didnât exceed the safety threshold in data packet size and communication time, it wouldnât trigger ICE.
Of course, this required him to be very familiar with the hacking targets.
The good news was that the city center was not lacking in Columbia Freightâs standard logistics vehicles, and occasionally even a couple of Mackinaws could be seen parked by the roadside or in parking lots.
"...So, how do we retreat? Or what do we do next?"
"After we save the people, theyâll need some time to assess the damage, adjust their strategy, and then issue orders, which also takes time for implementation."
"So we use this time to escape? Weâd have to run all the way to the Evil Land, wouldnât we?"
Lille didnât answerâindeed, fleeing to the Evil Land was a safe option, but for more security, they needed to pin the blame on someone else.
They couldnât trace the cyber network back to themselves, but if people kept failing to find the culprits, the problem would only escalate.
This couldnât be a mysterious case; at the very least, they needed to give people a clear suspect.
Though Lille seemed outwardly calm, he was under immense pressureâthe chain of misleading suspicions breaking would mean failure, and failure meant no chance of redemption.
So... his decision at that critical moment wasnât to run.
Suddenly, the soldiers outside the subway moved, and the crowd started running in a frenzy!
Lille took a deep breath and issued the hacking command:
"Start the operation."
...
Inside the subway, Manâs team suddenly started shooting like cyber-psychopaths, immediately killing a Military Science soldier, but the enemy quickly retaliated, completing the encirclement.
Manâs team took cover behind the concrete pillars in the subway and didnât dare to show their heads, but the soldiers inside the subway were also all drawn towards them!
David and Lucyâs hearts were pounding wildly. Acting like frightened citizens caught in the chaos, they ran with their heads down, even brushing shoulders with two Military Science soldiers!
But there was still a soldier guarding the train service station!
David and Lucy exchanged glances and nodded at the same timeâ
As they brushed past the Military Science soldier, David suddenly lungedâutilizing the Iron Mountain Lean stored in the Kuai Arm Chip!
But the Military Science soldier reacted quickly. Battle stimulants had been micro-dosed since he started his patrol.
He countered with a rifle butt to Davidâs face, giving Lucy her opportunityâ
Nearly invisible Single Molecule Wires wrapped around both hands, then instantly hardenedâ
Easily severing the Military Science soldierâs arms!
The coordinated attack was flawless. David, who had been through many such encounters, wasnât fazed by the bloody scene, instinctively following up with jabs, hooks, and knee strikes!
Severe blood loss, the impact of heavy blows, and the loss of his arms overwhelmed the soldier, even though his Pain Editor dulled the pain.
He barely felt the pain, but the blood loss caused his brain to rapidly lose oxygenâhe slumped against the wall and collapsed.
After all this, David stood staring blankly at the soldier whose life was slipping away, unsure if he was having another episode or just dazed from the rifle butt strike.
But Lucy didnât hesitate. She immediately charged inâthere were several terrified station workers crouching inside. Lucy glanced at the duty roster on the electronic screen and quickly found the duty manager.
"Open personal access; I need to do a neural bridge."
Not just neural bridging, but also erasing all records hereâwhether the deletion could be traced back didnât matter since Burger King was taking the fall.
The duty manager, trembling, nodded, and Lucy used their access to enter the subway networkâ
Military Science could physically blockade the subway station but couldnât lock down its network because the subway was a Ye Group asset.
The subwayâs cameras and electronic devices, including those outside the station, all appeared in her view, and she passed the access to Lille.
It was a bit of a shame since without Military Science having access to the subwayâs local network, they wouldnât appear in this network.
But Lucy and Davidâs mission was complete.
"Got it."
...
"Move!"
Seeing the Military Science soldiers retracting to near the subway entrance, Lille decisively floored the gas pedal and rushed forward!
All the hacked cars in the nearby streets and parking lots started up, forming a steel tide of cheap cars charging toward the blockade area!
The patrolling Military Science soldiers on the street widened their eyes in shock, completely caught off guard!
Not that it was their faultâthese cars, despite their numbers, were just scrap metal compared to the Bimong Armored Vehicles!
The combined value of these dozen or so cars was probably less than a fifth of a Bimong!
What was this aiming to achieve?
V instantly appeared on top of a Mackinaw, setting up a raccoon dogâ
The first target, the commander inside the Bimong Armored Vehicle.
"You should be called the Armored Vehicle Killer from now on; this is the fourth Bimong Armored Vehicle..."
V mumbled as he pulled the triggerâ
Tremendous electric energy filled the gun barrel. The squad leader commanding the battlefield felt his heart race; he glanced up uneasily and saw a terrifying sightâ
Not far away, the roof of a Mackinaw suddenly emitted a blinding flash!
Bam!
The bullet pierced through the pathâs most fortified front panel, then passed through the squad leaderâs headâit burst like a watermelon.
The seat was left with a burned, black hole, and there was a faint blue trajectory in the air...
The commanderâs voice on the communication channel abruptly stopped. The soldiers at the subway entrance saw this scene and screamed into the comms:
"Enemy attack! Twelve oâclock direction! Itâs a Mackinaw! Theyâre using a raccoon dog!"
Only a raccoon dog could penetrate the Bimongâs armor from the front!
But what could they do? The commander was dead; no one reacted. Formation remained unchanged, leading to more chaos.
The soldiers instinctively sought cover, but it was clear they were leaderless.
Lille didnât choose to detour to leverage the sniper rifleâs suppressive power; instead, he directly floored the gas, heading straight for the subway entrance!
V kept his eyes on those hiding behind the concrete pillars, pinning them down. The vehicle breached the blockade in an instant, and Lille raised his hand, squeezing the Yinglongâs triggerâ
The soldiers thought hiding behind the concrete pillars was safe, but they didnât realize the cameras were watching them closely!
Bullets bloomed like flowers, tracing beautiful paths through the air, hitting the enemies at their armorâs weakest points, piercing through clothing and flesh.
It even triggered an EMP pulse!
V slung the raccoon dog back, picking up an RPG insteadâ
Now it was time to catch them in the trap!
"RPG!"
.....
On the other side of the subway, Manâs team was frozen by the barrage of bullets, shivering behind cover.
Apart from killing one Military Science soldier at the start, they hadnât even fired their guns!
Rebecca yelled into the comms, "Man! What now!!! You crazy bastard!"
Everyone elseâs hearts were racingâ
The Military Science soldiers were executing rotational firing, advancing methodically, continuously suppressing them, leaving no chance to return fire.
Soon, the firing angles would leave them with nowhere to hide!
Man gritted his teethâa death resolve had formed within him:
At this moment, he could only believe that Burger King would really come to their aid, but until then, he had to hold on!
Manâs arm transformed, revealing a projectile launching system. He roared and extended his arm to shoot!
Boom!
The projectile exploded, spreading a massive blast among the Military Science squadâin such a confined space, explosives were highly effective.
But Military Science couldnât use them because any damage to the subway had to be compensated to the Ye Group.
And they didnât even need toâ
The Military Science soldiers were hit by the shockwave but suffered minimal damage; after all, Man hadnât aimed properly.
Even the nearest soldier only paused momentarily before rejoining the formation.
The worst injury came from a piece of falling concrete, dislocating one unlucky soldierâs shoulder.
The explosion caused only a brief pause in the shootingâ
Conversely, an electrically propelled bullet then severed Manâs arm!
The two sharpshooters with Achilles rifles had entered the fray, and the heavy machine gunner had set up his weapon!
"Ahâdamn it!"
"Man!"
The team grew more desperate as the enemyâs firepower intensifiedâ
"Aaaah! Burger King!!!"
Boom!
An explosion erupted at the subway entrance, sending several soldiers flying from the shockwave!
An even more powerful tungsten nails round shredded the machine gunnerâs body and blasted a big chunk out of the stairway!
The soldiers guarding the blockade turned around to see a big guy aiming a Sadara at them, with Jack behind him carrying a rocket launcher!
And several hand grenades were still floating in the airâ
"Take this!"