Chapter 17

“Raid, raid!”

“Scatter and take cover!”

The Outlaws were confused but quick to react. As they scattered and took up positions, the captain spoke to the bounty hunters.

“Stay down. When it’s safe, release…….”

The captain’s expressionless face turned blank. Kim had single-handedly untied the rope. The surprises didn’t stop there.

FE-7 Suppression Shields and Ivory appeared in Kim’s hands, and he fired straight at the Outlaw, who aimed his crossbow in this direction.

“Eek!”

The bullet struck the Outlaw’s hand. The shot was poorly aimed and didn’t critically wound him, but it did knock the crossbow away.

“Is that… a spell?”

“It’s what I see. Can I help?”

“Uh, yeah.”

The lieutenant nodded, half-stunned. Unlike the two dumbfounded bounty hunters, Kim had seen this coming.

The purpose of the Whitefang. Its relationship to the Outlaws. Even the identity of the one person they are affiliated with.

“So this is where the outlaw hunt began.

This is a hunt, not a trade.

The Lotus Company dispatched Whitefang underground to search for and destroy the Outlaws’ strongholds.

They realized that a great threat was looming over Kilikia, thanks to some covert intelligence.

This time, the bounty hunters were used as bait to catch Outlaw. The other two may have felt bad, but not Kim.

‘You’re lucky. I was going to wait for you to approach, or I was going to come to you.

This was a critical juncture.

If I don’t do anything, they’ll save me. Kim didn’t want to be a victim.

“I’d rather be a collaborator.

In the novel, the White Fangs were the ones who recognized and prepared for this eventuality in advance, meaning they had the same purpose as Kim.

Now that we have a contact point, we need to capitalize on the opportunity.

“Shoot those first!”

Metal arrows flew away from the protest.

Poof!

The clash of metal echoed through the underground passageways. The hand that gripped the shield felt a heavy jolt.

Three times in a row. Not bad. Crossbows have a very long reload time. A single wasted shot is a big loss.

“Think of it as a tanker.

Kim stopped and lowered her posture. She was nervous about her bare back, but she consciously shook off her anxiety.

If I was alone, I would have backtracked and narrowed the angle…….

Poof!

The captain picked up the crossbow the Outlaw dropped and shot it. The Outlaws in the rear, including the three who were initially ambushed, are all down.

No detours, no reluctance to put themselves out there. They didn’t fight back, even though there were still more than a dozen of them in the stronghold.

The boss was killed early on, and the raiders never showed up. It was a situation where numerical superiority was irrelevant.

Bang, bang!

Kim thought to himself as he fired at the pillar on the right where Outlaw was hiding.

‘So it’s that combination again.’

Shields and firearms. Unless you were a monster or a spellcaster, there was no better equipment against armed humans.

He poured bullets into the enemy, not caring if they didn’t hit. I tried to time the enemy’s attacks to coincide with my ammo running out.

Day ten. When Kim’s attention was drawn.

Three inyoung leapt out of the dimly lit passageway. They scattered in different directions.

The Outlaws also admitted to being the attackers.

“Here he comes, three of you, split it up!”

Living underground, they were used to the dark. They used structures for cover, and shifting shadows were not easily missed.

But whether or not they were good at combat was another matter.

[Ivory]’s muzzle spewed fire. A round lodged in Outlaw’s abdomen as he flung his upper body forward.

Kim focused on marking only the positions he could hit. Now he didn’t waste shots and calmly fired at enemies that exposed gaps.

‘You don’t look like you’re comfortable with firearms…….’

The lieutenant squinted at Kim, puzzled. His grip on the pistol was clumsy and his shooting stance was unsteady.

Get it!

‘That’s a pretty good shot.’

There were no invalid attacks. Even if not all shots hit the Outlaw, they at least landed on the cover he was hiding behind.

That alone is a huge constraint on behavior. How intimidating it must be to the enemy. I wonder if he’s been specially trained.

The corner of the captain’s mouth twitched.

Despite the cumbersome traps you dug, the outlaws here were terrible. We don’t think they’re relevant to the target.

But there was an unexpected harvest.

“I got a good one.

I felt like I wasn’t exerting too much effort.

Kim let go of the [Ivory], which had run out of ammo. He could probably make another couple, but there was no need for him to go any further.

A series of gunshots rang out.

One by one, Whitefang’s men drew their automatic pistols, thinning the ranks. The hectic briefing had turned to screams.

A windpipe punctured the Outlaw’s back as he tried to flee. Another man lunged at him with a snarl, an arrow lodged in his throat.

It had been five minutes since the battle had begun, and there were now only four of them left.

There are just the right number left. The captain shouted at the Outlaws who had lost the will to fight.

“Lay down your weapons and surrender, rats.”

* * *

The situation was quickly resolved.

The four surviving Outlaws were bound and loaded into the cargo hold. It was the exact opposite of how they had been brought here.

After roughly organizing our belongings, we began to head back the way we came.

Kim didn’t ride in the baggage car. He walked behind the railcar with the captain.

“What about that base?”

“They’ll be followed by a contingent later. We think they broke off from another group of Outlaws. We’ll know when we interrogate them, but right now we don’t see a connection beyond that.”

“In other words, it was a slog?”

“I guess so.”

The lieutenant agreed, but he was still puzzled.

“I feel like we’re having a weirdly good conversation, what’s your understanding of the situation?”

“I can only guess. Whoever you are, you’re looking for a specific group of Outlaws, and this was another one of those times you tried to get information under the guise of dealing with the Outlaws… or was it?”

“You have good eyes.”

“They know this.”

Kim gestured to the luggage compartment.

Two bounty hunters were huddled in a corner, shaking. They were in shock, and their usual chatty demeanor was gone.

They were mentally weak. Throw them in Tulavia naked, and they’ll wake up.

“……Hmm.”

The lieutenant paused for a moment, his mind already made up, but it didn’t change his decision. He introduced himself as an afterthought.

“We’re Whitefang from the Lotus Company. You can call me Bryce. I’m registered as a bounty hunter, but I’m a mercenary by trade.”

“This is Lee Hyun Kim. I’m sorry, the Lotus… Company? I’m not sure where you’re from. I just arrived in Kilikia today, actually.”

“What?”

Bryce let out a gasp. Kim had surprised him several times today, but this was the most shocking.

“Are you out of your mind, coming into the basement on day one?”

“I even heard the station attendant yell at me. I told them I needed to be punished, and they understood.”

“…Haha, what a bunch of weirdos.”

Bryce’s laughter made the Whitefangs glance over. Kim studied their faces, one by one.

“I wonder if he’s out there. Well, you’re not going to get that lucky.

Why Kim Yi-hyun has information about Kilikia that isn’t even in the main episode. It was because of the agents from Kilikia.

She narrowly survives a Legion air strike and ends up joining the Cellbrosics Labs.

Her backstory sets her apart from many agents.

Rather than emphasizing characterization, the focus is on the process that led to Kilikia’s downfall.

It’s even considered by some to be part of the main episode. It just doesn’t feature the professor.

In the grand scheme of things, this was more important.

‘I didn’t recognize any of the other crew members. I do remember the name Bryce.

Unfortunately, they’re all destined to die. There was only one survivor of the White Fang in the game.

For a moment, Kim thought of Ghost. It was around this time that she realized the situation was eerily similar.

“So, you need money?”

Bryce smirked.

“Hey, I’ve got a little extra cash coming in. How about it, are you interested?”

The dead man’s words were similar.

* * *

The formal offer was to be made after we reached Metropolis. On the way back, there were two small skirmishes.

It was not an Outlaw attack, but a monster attack. Stitch, a speeder and bat-like creature who hadn’t heard the commotion or known where it had come from, swooped down.

It was more of a task than a battle. Kim didn’t even have to use his hands, the White Fangs made easy work of him with crossbows and nail guns.

Somewhere along the way, Bryce said something.

“Nail guns are issued to low-level Bounty Hunters so that they can make as little noise as possible in the event of a fight. The underground is full of monsters, and you don’t want to be the one firing away.”

It was the answer to the bounty hunters’ complaints about nail guns. Apparently, Bryce wasn’t as reclusive as he seemed.

As a result, I was able to return to MetroCity safely.

A highly developed station, a far cry from the dark, musty-smelling passageways. The ridiculous drops in elevation were mind-boggling.

Bounty hunters who were unlucky enough to be caught were given a small reward.

They were told not to talk about it, and with the exception of Kim, they didn’t even mention the name of the Lotus Company.

He was left as a victim. Kim would have been one of them if she hadn’t acted.

“Thank you for the shower, thank you for the clothes, thank you for this, thank you for that.”

“What. Spend it all you want. It’s not my money.”

Four floors below MetroCity. Kim was ushered into a building owned by the Lotus Company. He ran a hand through his less-than-thin hair and looked around the room.

There were pool tables, a dartboard, and even a small bowling line. Bryce was sitting at a table at the bar.

“What do you think, do you like it?”

“Is this even an office?”

“It’s a good company with good benefits. Each platoon gets one of these facilities. There’s an office for paperwork and another for training.”

“This is…….”

Kim is honestly impressed.

Kilikia is not a large city. With such a high population density, land must be expensive, so how many buildings do they have?

Charang.

Ice clinked in the glass as Bryce shook his glass, and he tapped two fingers on the seat beside him.

“If you’re ready to listen, let’s negotiate.”