23. Off work
The 7m tall and 7cm scales are a lie, but compared to a rat, it was several times bigger and several times more intimidating. He wasn’t an implant cyborg, so hacking modules were useless, and he couldn’t use heavy weapons like miniguns or rocket launchers. Still, there was a way to catch the monster.
“Will this work?”
“Yes, of course.”
Leonard took off his coat, rolled up his shirt sleeves, and donned a chest rig.
“Let’s finish it off and go eat noodles.”
“…Noodles again?”
“Then why not eat grain porridge?”
Max bent the double barrel to check the cell, then recoiled it and closed it. Looking at what he was doing, he was a veteran solver.
“Large pieces of meat.”
“great. It is human heart.”
19:35. The third discharge is over. The rat corpse was swept away, leaving only the lizard looking for a warm place to sleep. The fixer and the young assistant gladly agreed to deliver the warm bullets.
@
9-9th street sewer. The rain has decreased somewhat, but nothing has improved. Still dark, still slippery, still damp, still stinky.
“The equipment I brought has improved.”
Leonard removed the flare cap and drew it on his elbow. The magnesium filler ignited and emitted a bright light. The surroundings became bright enough that infrared vision was not needed.
Leonard tossed the lit flares, one at a time, into each drain passage. It was a big investment because it was a piece of equipment that cost 2 credits. Max swallowed dryly and raised the double-barreled shotgun.
“800 credits, 800 credits, 800 credits…”
I thought I was praying, but it was a ransom spell. The credits went well for Hagiya Solver of Sodom. After about 10 of them, I finally got a response. A different light emerged from the other side of the darkness. It was the eyes of a reptile that reflected the light from the flare.
“Wow-! come!”
Max pointed the gun at him. Maybe it was because of Max, or because the red flare was bothering them, they came towards the fixers. A little faster, then gradually faster. The hind legs are short compared to the upper body, but the basic physical is large, so the speed is amazing.
“Shoot!”
Max pulled the trigger. Bang-bang-! A 37-gram ball of lead slashed through the mutated lizard’s lower abdomen and thighs. However, the mutant lizard did not collapse like a psycho cyborg drunk on e-drugs. Here the disadvantages of the double barrel shotgun were revealed. The first bullet and second bullet were faster than any shotgun, but they did not fire continuously. There was no time to depress the barrel stopper and extract the casing.
“Ouch-!”
Max, who lacked combat experience, closed his eyes. A very bad habit for a gunman, but this time it came in handy. Leonard tossed the second gear from his vest.
“Cover your ears!”
The sound of pins being pulled out and clips falling was strangely clear. The moment the projectile separated from the fingertips touched the flare, all shadows disappeared. It was Leonard’s favorite item and Sigma’s bane, non-lethal tactical equipment N77 flash grenade.
bang-!
Max covered his ears and cursed at the old man he named ‘Flash Grenade’. It was correct to name it Flash & Explosive Bullets. A roar pierced my eardrums and shook my brain.
As much as people suffer, animals suffer too. No, it will be much more painful because I have adapted to the darkness. The mutant lizard, which hadn’t even nodded to the 12-gauge buckshot, shuddered at the flash of light. Only Leonard, who had previously tinkered with the visual and auditory modules, was fine. I grabbed the shotgun with both hands and climbed onto the body of the mutant lizard.
Tung-! Tung-! Toow-!
Maybe I turned the volume down too much, the gunshot sounded like a gourd banging. However, it did not diminish its power. With each trigger and pump pull, a handful of lizard heads disappeared. It didn’t take long for the movement to completely stop.
“Whoa.”
Leonard set the shotgun aside and returned the sensory module to normal. I heard Max’s complaints, but I ignored them.
“It’s a business that remains even after removing flares, flashbangs, and shotgun rounds.”
“Me? What about my eardrums?”
“Now, let’s submit the video and get paid.”
“excuse me? Could you please turn the volume on?”
When I pulled the shotgun pump, the last cartridge fell. But it was a little too early to celebrate. Behind the fading flare, a new light in his eyes appeared. Two, four, then two again. There were six in total. Max loaded the double barrel with trembling hands.
“Ha, wasn’t it just one?”
“…I said there are no easy quests, right?”
I don’t know if it’s family or friends, but it was clear that they were excited. thud-! thump-! The sound shook the sewers. Its teeth are small and invisible, but the long protruding tongue really looked like it was about 1.5m long. Leonard drew a flashbang and removed the safety pin at random.
“Clap!”
@
Flashes and explosions erupted, gunfire thumped, blood and flesh sprayed everywhere. In a word, it was a welcome party.
Leonard managed to smash the big lizard’s knee with two shotgun rounds. As they broke one at a time, there were not enough bullets to finish them off. After grabbing the shotgun upside down and hitting him in the head, he drew a revolver from his holster and fired. bang! bang! bang!
Changing armor-piercing bullets to hollow bullets was a godsend. The bullets split like blossoms stirred in the head of the mutant lizard. I am a strong beast that crawls on two sides of my body, but I couldn’t live if my brain was torn to pieces.
Max also fired two shotguns and fired a Rykov 9mm semi-automatic pistol. Compared to the .45 caliber, it lacks stopping power, but the 2m body couldn’t approach it because it did not stop with continuous fire. I took one step, pushed one step, and finally fell down. Even if he was hit directly by a flash grenade and shotgun and pistol, he approached right in front of his nose, so it was a truly disgusting vitality. But one nasty thing still remains.
“Kuk-!”
Leonard was hit by a mutant lizard’s tail and flew into a wall. I fired the revolver’s residual bullets, but the giant lizard only shrank for a moment.
‘Do cold-blooded animals get angry?’
A sudden thought passed by. Max drew attention by changing the magazine on his Rykov pistol.
“Hey! You pig! It’s here! Look here!”
Compared to sight and smell, I didn’t look at hearing, perhaps. Maybe he didn’t even know what a pig was. In fact, Max had never seen the real thing. Leonard took out the revolver cylinder and took out the speed loader, but the clever lizard jumped at him first. Leonard disagreed.
“You have no manners!”
I rolled over and avoided the muzzle. In the meantime, Max pushed the slide to finish loading, but he didn’t shoot for fear of hitting Leonard. A primitive battle between implant cyborgs and mutant lizards unfolded.
They hit the chin with their fists and seized the neck, but there was no blow due to the thick skin and scales. The lizard laid its elongated body on the floor and rolled around. A monster that could eat a 20kg rat in one bite couldn’t be light. The weight weighed down on me and I was short of breath. If the twins hadn’t strengthened the bones, one would have been broken.
“Mr. Leonard!”
Max raised the muzzle. I was just going to shoot when I was better off being shot. Leonard said anything to reassure the young assistant, or more precisely, to discourage brazenness.
“Humans… are animals of extensions… which means they are good at extensions.”
Whether it was mental strength or implant performance, he never let go of his neck. Balanced on his waist with both feet, he pulled out the army knife on the other side of the revolver holster. It is mainly used as a can opener, but it was definitely a tool for murder. I turned it half a turn, held it in reverse water, and stabbed the lizard’s neck.
“Kieek-!”
The neck and waist are straight, so I can’t tell exactly which part it is, but seeing that the guy who’s shoo-sswik- is in pain even after being shot, it seems to be a vital point. The lizard stirred its short front paws and rolled again. Leonard didn’t want to be beaten twice, so he let go of the knife and rolled down the other side. A rare scene of cyborgs and lizards rolling around was created.
“Now!”
Max closed one eye and pulled the trigger. bang! bang! tick-!
One percussion sound was strange. It was jam. Tick-! tick-! There was a sound. Manually moving the slide backwards and forwards to take out the casings, but I didn’t learn that because I was a novice gunman. The fact that he didn’t look at the muzzle with his eyes was great.
“That stupid guy…!”
Even the two shots that were fired missed. The lizard stood up and flicked its tongue. There were no guns or knives anymore.
“I can’t help it.”
Leonard pulled out the last remaining flash grenade from his bullet vest. Knowing that it was dangerous, the lizard lowered its body and ran zigzag. In terms of humans, it was a double-legged tackle. Leonard dropped the flashbang to the ground and kicked it.
“It’s a fake.”
It looked like a flash grenade, but it wasn’t a flash grenade. If I wasn’t colorblind, I would have known that the wrapping paper was a different color, but it was a pity. This one emitted heat, not light. It was an N78 incendiary grenade made by mixing iron oxide and aluminum powder with barium nitrate and sulfur. Heat of nearly 3,000 degrees radiated from under the lizard.
“Kiyiyyyyyyyyyyyyyy-!”
Leonard evaded the burning lizard, rolled and jumped. The crazy lizard couldn’t chase it. I ran to a nearby water hole and rolled over on my stomach and back, but there was no way the chemicals would go out with just that. Among the lizards I met today, I died the longest and most painfully. Max said something.
“Cruel human…”
“I almost died too?”
“You can’t be fair.”
“Is it fair to shoot a gun?”
“oh! what! You listen well!”
It seems that the tension has been relieved and nothing can be said. Leonard picked up the shotgun from the floor and sighed.
“A total of 4 mutant lizards… 3,200 credits…”
Considering the spent grenades and lost military knives, there wasn’t much left. I rolled around so hard that I threw away my clothes. Sigma will be angry. I was glad I had taken off my coat.
“Is this really the end?”
“I made this fuss, but if you see that it doesn’t show up anymore.”
Leonard turned off the video recorder and turned around. It was a little later than the others, but it was time to go home.