I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun-Chapter 812: Aftermath (1)

"...Ah."

Rustle.

In the room filled with the crisp air typical of November, I woke up in the pitch-black darkness where not a single beam of light could be seen. Yet, I knew exactly what was in the room, the layout of the furniture, and everything else.

With a sigh, I got up. The faint smell of 'sunlight' lingered in the air. I wanted to ask what the smell of sunlight even was, but all I could say was that there was something indescribable, something that couldn’t be captured with words.

A new day had begun once again. To be more precise, I had to say a new day in the Pentagon TOC had begun.

This was because, no longer was I – Race – a part of Black Eagle.

My neck was sore.

It was because, except for sleep time, I had spent all my hours in constant questioning for nearly a week. Honestly, I never knew the Pentagon people could be so ignorant about Black Eagle and that they had so many questions. I was shocked at how much they didn’t know.

It wasn’t exactly incomprehensible. Frankly, even I found it hard to understand. If you had told me six months ago that Black Eagle was a bunch of fools and that I’d be discarded like trash, I probably would’ve said, “What kind of bullshit are you talking?”

But all of that actually happened, and I went through the whole process and outcome myself. Perhaps that’s why the TOC guys had such an interesting expression when they listened to my explanation.

Anyway, this damned world.

"...Hah."

After draining the drink that had been sitting next to the table, I replenished the missing energy and began to come to my senses.

I sighed and reflected on what had happened recently. It wasn’t too hard. All I had to do was recall the things I had been saying until recently.

...Of course, I say this, but honestly, when I heard the detailed explanation from Dagger Team, the conclusion was clear. Black Eagle had gotten royally beaten up and was kicked out of Washington D.C.

What was I supposed to do when the Icarus Operator threw a hydrogen bomb bag into an air defense base, damn it?

'...Well, even though I didn’t know the exact nature of the hydrogen bomb bag, it was right to pull out from Washington D.C. in a big way.'

If I had considered all those factors, I would have sent more power than just two brigades... but oh well, it’s not worth worrying about now.

Anyway, to compress the process up to this point, I could say I ended up in this situation after making the most foolish choice through the dumbest process possible.

Had they not sent the cheerful and utterly useless message from high command, "If you're going to get beaten up like that, just go and blow yourself up," I probably wouldn’t have openly trolled them.

But our Syndicate friends, as I mentioned earlier, sent me a hopeful encouragement, and thanks to that, I ended up trolling.

Honestly, I didn’t care much about the subsequent retaliatory transfers or the acceptance of withdrawal requests. By that point, I had already decided to leave Black Eagle.

"..."

Anyway, the Pentagon TOC was shocked when they realized that Black Eagle operated like a complete mess.

I could understand why. They had declared their intent to dominate the world and establish a new order. If they learned that such a secret organization, armed with the most high-end equipment, operated in such a foolish manner, they would be shocked.

Strictly speaking, it might have been possible, but only if they didn’t question the fact that Black Eagle was this ridiculous. They made sure not to raise doubts by planting chips in the heads of their subordinates.

But I guess they didn’t expect me to question things.

───Boom, boom, boom!

"Wake up, child of darkness. You're not still sleeping, are you?"

"...Who the hell are you calling a child of darkness, you bastards? You'd beat the hell out of your team’s mutants if they called them zoo kids."

"Of course. Lives aren’t infinite. Anyway, looks like you’re up, so get to the dining hall, breakfast is ready."

...My thoughts were interrupted in an instant.

Yawning, I got up, tied back my still horribly unadjusted hair, and stood up. Thankfully, under LED lights, I could move around without much issue.

It was just that my body adjusted slowly, and a subtle pain followed, but... with no other choice, I put on sunglasses and looked in the mirror. I looked like I was heading to the beach or something.

When I opened the door, a familiar figure was there. Among them was the medical sergeant, Chester, who I had memorized the name of first.

He had seemed indifferent about whether I ate or not, but he had waited for me to finish getting ready. It was baffling. A wry smile, or maybe something else, slipped from my mouth.

"Faster than I expected. ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) Mutants always dress faster than I thought."

"...You only need to put clothes on, what took so long? Do your teammates take their time putting on makeup too?"

"Not at all."

"Exactly."

As much as I thought about it, that didn’t make sense.

By now, I had become familiar with them, and though I showed a slightly awkward expression, I still walked toward the cafeteria with them. Recently, there had been orders to always be accompanied by Dagger Team whenever leaving for something beyond everyday activities.

They didn’t just say it; they actually meant it. Dagger Team was the only one who could handle any potential overflow of power.

Frankly, I wanted to ask why I would need to use my powers after finishing with Pentagon TOC’s FA, but unfortunately, I had experience with a power overflow, and the aftermath was devastating, so I didn’t open my mouth.

Especially after I attacked Dagger Team during the Kestrel incident...

Anyway, back to the topic.

I had something on my mind.

R𝑒ad lat𝒆st chapt𝒆rs at free𝑤ebnovel.com Only.

"By the way, I didn’t have the chance to ask earlier, but... did Icarus bring all the mutants and stash them all in Dagger Team?"

"To be precise, not all, but almost all of them."

"...Almost all?"

"There were some mutants who weren’t in Dagger Team, and some who were killed by Dagger Team."

"That’s interesting."

"It’s not hard to tell you."

Luckily or unluckily, after telling me everything I knew, Pentagon TOC became pretty cooperative.

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

Considering the information I had shared, it made sense. I had revealed the locations of Alejandro Web and Syndicate’s bases, the retreat plans for Kestrel and Talismans, so they had to do something in return.

Cross-checking the reconnaissance information and catching the Black Eagle and Syndicate lackeys still lurking in various departments meant they would plan the full-scale operation later on.

'That’s a bit disappointing.'

Anyway, Pentagon TOC and Dagger Team strictly adhered to the law of equivalent exchange.

They didn’t just accumulate battle data casually; they told me about all the strange experiences they had gone through, and of course, it was all new information to me.

Dagger Team told me about the time they killed an Alpha-class mutant, codenamed Titan – a classification by the U.S. military.

"A truck-sized bear, with steel plates welded all over its body, came charging at us, and we took it down. We’ve been through countless things, but nothing had us as panicked as that time."

"...It had steel plates on its body? A truck-sized bear body? Am I hearing this right?"

"Want to see it?"

Swipe.

A hologram appeared. What I saw on the screen was something so massive it looked like it could be bigger than the fortress walls of Gallo Debt University... A steroid-addicted bodybuilding grizzly bear, but now covered with thick steel plates.

And this thing came charging on all fours.

At that moment, all the Humvees and trucks lying on the road were pushed aside. Honestly, I had no idea how you could stop something like that.

I was momentarily speechless, but after a moment, I managed to speak up.

"...So, this is why you guys weren’t so panicked when you fought me."

"It’s a story from a long time ago. And there’s one more, but this one’s in New York now."

"...It’s not the same kind of dumb one, right?"

"Of course not."

Another window appeared.

A brief silence followed. But it wasn’t because I had nothing to say, it was because I was choosing my words – through the screen, I saw a woman. She clearly looked like a dog, and her ears were perked up.

Sharp, but with a gentle appearance. Considering her outfit wasn’t military gear... maybe she wasn’t a soldier?

I stared at her for a while and then casually said, "...A dog."

"It’s a wolf, idiot."

"Close enough. You didn’t tell us what animal she’s based on."

"You’ll get to know her eventually, don’t hurt her feelings."

Anyway, what should I say? My first impression was... well, at least it didn’t feel bad.

But-

"I’m preparing a gift for this one later. Are you interested? You might want to think of something you want now."

"...A gift? Suddenly?"

"We recently had some good news. I didn’t have the chance to pay attention before, but now I’ve got some time. Though it’s our first time meeting, I’m sure she’ll like it if I give her something."

"...I don’t know what it is, but should I just take it?"

But there was no answer. They just stared at me with some kind of mysterious expression.

I asked a few more times, but they kept saying I should pick a more sincere gift rather than just taking something.

I didn’t realize what that meant until not too long after.

"...What... What did you say...!?"

"...Surprisingly, you have no immunity to this sort of thing."

And a little later, Race realized the nature of the good news, and Dagger Team found out that Race was vulnerable to sexual jokes.

The world truly was a strange place.

"...What’s wrong with him? His face is red."

"Leave him. It’s a mutant thing. It’s an important moment of self-reflection, so don’t interrupt."

"I didn’t see any self-reflection in you guys, did you adapt to your bodies without any issues?"

"...We also think at night, you know?"

November 10th, near the Conrad Hotel in Washington D.C.

Around a dozen people were walking down a road where no one else passed. The clear November sky, without a single cloud, had warm sunlight pouring down. A faint smell of burning and unpleasant chemicals hung in the air.

And in front of Dagger Team stood the once five-star Conrad Hotel, a luxury hotel that once contributed to the wealth flowing through Washington D.C.

To be exact, there was a ruined version of the Conrad Hotel.

The phosphorus shelling was perfect for driving out the Black Eagle mutants scattered across the capital, and the phosphorus fragments inside the 155mm shells easily shattered the Conrad Hotel’s glass windows and poured inside.

The fire caused by the phosphorus was naturally extinguished without anyone knowing. Everything that could burn was burned out, and it went out by itself. However, the structure of the hotel remained intact.

And Dagger Team stood before the building’s remains. They were checking to see if there was anything worth taking.

Of course, they weren’t exactly having serious conversations.

"Hey, we’re saying the same thing. Stop correcting me."

"No, Logan. Have you never once thought about wanting to see a child of your own flesh and blood? Seriously?"

"Shit, that would mean I have to give birth!"

"You never know. With something like Icarus Gear, maybe some unexpected technology could make you the one to carry the attack."

"...Lorentina, you're weird."

"Leave it. It’ll pass after a day or two."

Logan, Lorentina, Eugene, and Olivia were all having an absurd conversation.

Fortunately or unfortunately, Race had become so immersed in his own thoughts that he let the conversation go in one ear and out the other. But still, no one tried to end the conversation.

The reason was simple.

Today, Dagger Team had come to the Conrad Hotel’s luxury store to prepare a gift for Lapland, assuming they had completed their mission successfully. Naturally, they couldn’t help but have this related conversation.

"If you’re going to live without anyone loving you because of what happened to your body, maybe I’d understand, but don’t you think this is something you should think about at least once in your life?"

"That someday doesn’t seem like it’s now."

"...Hmm, I guess not."

Naturally, it was the correct answer.

Lorentina sank, but that didn’t mean she had given up completely. Moreover, her real aim wasn’t to get an answer right there.

She just wanted to plant the seed of thought in Logan’s mind.

And as always, Logan, who was constantly bickering with the shark, became the first target.

"What’s up, bear cub? Thinking hard?"

"What the hell are you talking about, damn it."

"...Well, I’m a little curious. On the other hand, Lapland made a decision and became close to Captain Pacquerson. I’m a little curious about what conclusion she reached."

"..."

It didn’t take long for silence to fall after the youngest spoke.

The proposition suggested one conclusion – a precious person might overcome the discomfort of loving someone who used to be of the same gender.

I left a simple "I don’t know" because it was possible that there were people who felt differently.

The surrounding atmosphere became calm quickly.

Whether it was preparing for speech or just silence, no one knew, and Logan slowly breathed in before continuing.

"...If someone becomes precious to me like Lapland, or if I give in to some instinct, maybe I don’t know. But... I don’t think that kind of person will come to me."

"That’s... probably really hard or maybe impossible."

"Yeah. So just let it go, you damn shark. We’ll figure it out when the time comes."

Silence took over again.

But after some time, a strange mechanical sound broke the silence. Some members of Dagger Team turned to the source of the sound and soon witnessed Race, now wearing a helmet.

The parasol that had been blocking the sunlight was long gone.

"...What are you doing?"

"...What? It’s hot, so I’m wearing this."

"You were just using the parasol a second ago?"

"Dammit. Don’t shoot sparks, you bastards!"

Naturally, no one failed to notice that this was to hide his red face.

The second subject of teasing, after Lapland, had been born.