The Imperial Hunter Chapter 79 - Metamorphosis (6)

The time in the detonator was 1 minute 42 seconds. Judging by the fact that it didn’t end cleanly on the minute mark, the attack site here definitely wasn’t the only one. So the terrorist here was quite late.

The terrorist who activated the bomb abandoned the car and fled hastily. An accomplice on a motorbike was waiting in the direction he fled. As the terrorist got in the backseat, the accomplice twisted the throttle all the way and swiftly left the scene. The path the motorbike took to get away of course had not a single working CCTV.

When the remaining time became 53 seconds, Hu Shanliang looked at me with an anxious expression.

“You said it was like a disposable cannon… Should we move further for safety?”

He asked really quickly. I shook my head sideways.

“This is plenty. More importantly, is it okay to just let the terrorist go?”

“Well, there are circumstances for that.”

“I figured that much without you telling me. Your superior must be at odds with the guy in charge over there. My point is, shouldn’t you at least track them to find out their base? It could lead to clues about the Black Children’s Party.”

Hu Shanliang opened his mouth with a stupid look on his face.

Incompetent fools. The lower and higher-ups were on the same level.

29 seconds until the explosion. I stretched my hand out and demanded,

“If you have any spare weapons, give them to me. We need to prepare for combat. Same for my men.”

“Huh? Did you say combat?”

“This is the entrance to the city. If I were the terrorist, I would have blasted through here and moved on. At the very least, I’d make a show of it in the middle of the city.”

The Guangzhou Tower, a landmark in Guangzhou, was just five blocks away. The surrounding area was filled with high-rise apartments where Communist Party members were concentrated. Therefore, even running as a group with flags in broad daylight in the heart of the city could create a tremendous impact. Foreign tourists who had not completely left were likely to livestream each of their countries’ broadcasts.

Although I was speculating, I had already spotted a group of ambushers. Some of the weapons they possessed were enough to make me smirk. They must be individuals who were very familiar with what propaganda means.

Hu Shanliang, whose forehead began to glisten, relayed instructions via radio to another car and then opened the glove compartment to retrieve a pistol.

“Here, take this. There are also two automatic rifles in the trunk, but going out now is a bit-“

“This will do for now. I’ll take it.”

“Uh…”

Kyung-tae, who had been silently listening, took the pistol in my place. The semi-automatic pistol with a 15-round magazine was Chinese-made but used the more common 9mm rounds found in the West (QSZ-92G-9). The difference from military models using unique Chinese specifications. As Kyung-tae pulled back the slide and loaded a bullet into the chamber, the time remaining was 3 seconds. I casually warned,

“Cover your ears.”

“Huh?”

Foolish bastard. I leaned back on the seat right before the truck exploded. The flash, bang, and shockwave. The moment the condensed steam spread out, all the glass windows around us shattered. The glass of our vehicle also lost its transparency with a crack. Accidents occurred here and there on the road.

While the two in the front seats froze like slaughtered pigs, I leisurely appreciated the penetrated convoy of the People’s Liberation Army, neatly lined up. The armor penetration of the EFP launchers was so tremendous that ironically, the survival rate of the passengers increased. Over half of the front vehicles were cleanly penetrated by the launchers. So the rear vehicles were hit even harder. Because the shrapnel from the split chassis tore up the insides.

At this point, the lucky survivors’ response was…like watching a slapstick comedy.

‘The levels are similar to the morons in South Sudan.’

In the past 16 years, China had sent a mechanized infantry battalion to South Sudan as peacekeeping troops. And how were they back then? They refused to mobilize because they didn’t want to leave the base, retreated to the center of the base when combat broke out, and abandoned their posts and weapons, and fled when the battle intensified.

That was exactly how the survivors here were reacting now.

After confirming the black box in this car had no audio, I spoke in Korean.

“Kyung-tae, let’s get out.”

“Roger.”

Thud. Crash. I got out of the car, tore off the door to use as a shield, and smashed the window to shoot easily. A car door could bounce small caliber pistol bullets if you tilted it. More was possible by coating it with telekinetic power. Anyway, this wasn’t a battlefield where I could fully utilize magical fields, so I had to prioritize efficiency regardless of technique.

Sounds of locks breaking also came from behind the car. Kyung-tae had forcefully opened the trunk. He tucked the pistol with its safety into his waistband after taking out the two rifles inside and threw me one. The AK-pattern rifle (Type 81) furnished by the People’s Liberation Army had a quaint wooden stock. Just this showed the discrimination Gao Shusen’s faction received. I briefly put down the makeshift shield, accepted the spare magazine, and stuffed it into my coat pocket.

“Wha- what are you…?”

I gestured at the approaching noise sources with my chin, waking up the pale-faced Hu Shanliang.

“Get ready if you’re woken up. Ferocious guests are coming.”

The chorus of noisy echoes from all directions were motorbikes twisting their RPMs. Hu Shanliang made another stupid sound.

“Do we have to fight?”

“What would you say later if we were this close and did nothing?”

“But the closed circuit cameras are wrecked anyway…”

“What about this car’s black box? And what about the smartphones of the people watching over there? That footage will all go to Beijing.”

Hearing me, Hu Shanliang looked around the surrounding buildings with a clear-minded expression. The high-rise apartment complexes around us all had nice greenery without exception. Residences with greenery in Chinese cities were monopolized by the privileged class. The people looking out their windows and terraces pointing smartphones this way were the families of that privileged class. The countless cameras were summoned by the explosion.

“You will become a hero of your nation and party.”

If he survived here, that is. Hearing me, Hu Shanliang squeezed his eyes shut and demanded combat readiness from his subordinates on the radio, while also requesting support from higher authorities.

Vroom vroom vrooom!

The chorus of exhaust notes reached its climax, and from the alleys opening onto the road, dozens of motorbikes swarmed out like hornets. The Black Children’s Party attack squad with two awakened riders per bike were armed with pistols, submachine guns, and shortened rifles, and the sunlight glanced off the wide blades of broadswords (Dadao). These broadswords (Dadao) with long hilts were the officially used anti-Japanese broadswords better known for fighting Japan in WWII.

“Not yet. It’s not time.”

At my direction, Kyung-tae nodded and crouched down behind the vehicle, using the radio to convey the same orders to subordinates in other cars. The primary targets of the enemy’s initial charge were the People’s Liberation Army survivors directly hit by the EFPs. There was no need to draw attention by stepping out early. As we concealed ourselves, Hu Shanliang’s group also hunkered down warily.

Ratatatatata! While wildly spraying bullets as intimidation, the Black Children’s Party bike attack squad charged in at high speed, piercing straight through the panicked Chinese military survivor group from five different directions in succession. The ambush was intricately coordinated, with only a 3-4 second delay between each penetration.

“Help me!”

A soldier who shrieked at the top of his lungs was cut in two with a massive slash. The blade wielded with the speed of the bike and an awakened one’s strength passed through the body as if no resistance existed at all. Although the severing itself was instantaneous, the collapse occurred slowly. The arm fell first before the bisected body finally toppled over, spilling blood.

In just a moment, a similar fate befell fifteen more from the slashes. A full seven more than those hit by gunfire. Severed heads and limbs and torsos rolled around the burning armored vehicles. Puddles of crimson blood slowly spread over the asphalt.

Ratatatatata! The panicked entire unit’s retaliation. But it was blind firing, visibility was reduced by the smoke, and the bikes nimbly changing direction amidst the obstacles from the collisions were near impossible to hit.

The Black Children’s Party attack squad also found mid-to-long-range shooting difficult, so they completely took cover to respond with concentrated fire at close range, or something similar. But that was impossible for this rabble. With the commander and noncoms and soldiers all busy cowering every which way, leaving bloodied footprints, how could that be possible? The Black Children’s Party’s secondary charge swarmed in towards these people who had completely lost even a minimum of organization.

Vroom vroom vroom! Brrrrmmmm!

Deliberately deafening noises made to seem like street racers. Dozens of bikes surrounded the prey and spun in different directions. Silhouettes danced amidst the smoke and the flashes of gunfire flickered. With the noisy gunshots and rough motorcycle engines amplified from all sides, those who threw down their weapons knelt and shouted with both hands raised that they surrendered. Some soldiers even cried like children as they fled toward the shopping district and apartment complexes. Return fire occurred only intermittently several times.

Blood-soaked bikes mercilessly charged towards them. Once again, numerous heads detached from bodies, and several torsos were separated vertically. A bike rider caught the severed head he had knocked off mid-air, holding it up like a trophy, drenched in the pouring blood.

“革命万岁! 黑孩子黨万岁! 中国人民万万岁! 人民的敌人要死!  (Long live the revolution! Long live the Black Children’s Party! Long live the Chinese people! The enemies of the people must die!)”

Then came the ensuing purge, no, it was closer to a mass execution. A private whose waist was severed was dragged while caught in a noose by a speeding motorcycle. Although everything below his ribs was gone, his heart was still beating, and he left a bloody ink painting-like trail of blood along the circular path of the bike.

This execution ground enclosed by lines of blood gradually took the lives of the Chinese military who had lost their will to resist as they were slashed one by one. Riders who had jumped off their bikes seized whimpering officers, NCOs, and privates begging for their lives, pushed them to their knees, and carried out beheadings. Some recorded it on video while others collected spoils; their roles were clear. The riders remaining on the bikes hunted down and exterminated those trying to flee.

Whoaaaa!

Howling like beasts, the Black Children’s Party attack squad celebrated their victory. They deserved to be proud, crushing the enemy in just two charges. However, it was now time to let them know prey existed here as well.

“A-are you going to attack?”

Taking aim from behind the shield with a kneeling posture, Hu Shanliang asked me in a cracking voice. I glanced at him indifferently.

“Why wouldn’t I?”

I signaled Kyung-tae with my eyes. He nodded and used the radio to direct the attack. Target allocation was instantaneously complete. My share was targets obscured by the smoke, invisible to normal sight.

As a check, when I looked around at Jinyeong, I saw Park Miju’s pale face gripping a pistol. I gave Kyung-tae additional instructions.

“Tell Miju not to engage in combat. Have her hide in the backseat or something.”

“Got it.”

While all organization members underwent mandatory combat training, those classified as ‘purely sales’ like the deceased Gabsoo and Miju weren’t much help in times like these. Because they lacked real combat experience regardless of whether their circuits were open. And right now, Park Miju, as she herself said, was the critical link to Gao Shusen, so protecting her took priority.

‘She’s also in an emotionally unstable state.’

She depended a lot on her senior.

Bang! Ratatatata!

Right on time as our combat preparation ended, an explosion occurred in one of the armored vehicles. The detonating ammunition inside blew out thick shell casings towards the open door, ejecting them out. As the riders’ gazes reflexively turned that way, Kyung-tae gave the order to fire.

“Now! Shoot!”

Kakakang! Kakakang! My three-round bursts pierced two riders’ helmets in my line of fire. Four hits. The two bastards with oozing brains shook and knelt down before collapsing forward and backward. In addition, seven were killed or injured by Kyung-tae’s squad’s gunfire. We could have killed twice as many if visibility was better with fewer obstacles and limitations on weaponry. Hu Shanliang’s subordinates possessed rifles while mine had pistols. Letting greed trump ability.

“What the! What’s going on?!”

While the riders were intoxicated with victory, Hu Shanliang’s men belatedly joined the attack when they were confused. But suppressive fire without purpose after we had already killed all we could, far from racking up kills, only let the enemy clearly realize our position. Soon after, the asphalt around us broke apart with the sound of metal shattering. It was the retaliation from the enemy’s gunners. Even my car door shield rang with dull thuds several times. But not a single bullet penetrated through thanks to the titled angle and high-density telekinesis filling the interior and exterior.

Screeeeeech!

High-pitched friction sounds echoed in layers. The riders tilted their bike bodies low, leaving skid marks as they drifted to change direction. As dozens of bikes spun in place, the swordsmen and gunners who had dismounted swiftly returned to their positions.

The Black Children’s Party attack squad commenced another fierce charge.