Chapter 154: Delta Force vs. Wolf Pack Squad (Patreon)

Lupo looked at her subordinates and felt bone-tired.

If it weren't for her daughter's future, and the enormous bonus this operation would bring, she, already half-retired, would never have come out again.

"No need to overcomplicate this. Ghost, mark their positions. Fatty, you handle the flashbangs and grenades. Ghost, put your sniper rifle on their heads. Bertha, support whenever needed. Ninja, Four-Eyes, use your judgment."

"Roger!"

Lupo had made the call, and everyone responded.

Ghost's tactical scope-visor came online, and the Delta Force squad's positions were instantly shared to the tactical goggles of the other five.

Fatty didn't hesitate. The moment the data arrived, a grenade and a flashbang flew from his hands, one each, in a practiced throw.

Ghost lined up Hawkeye's head and fired a round with brutal penetrating power. But Hawkeye happened to duck his head at that exact moment and dodged the killing shot.

"Pfft!"

Still, the bullet grazed his shoulder, and Hawkeye forced down the urge to cry out.

"Ugh..."

He made a split-second decision and fired an RPG in the direction the bullet had come from.

At the same moment, the flashbang and grenade that had just landed went off together.

A sheet of white light flashed. Alex only had time to shout, "Eyes shut! Get down!"

"Boom!"

The grenade detonated at once, and one unlucky member was blown to pieces in an instant.

On the other side, the Wolfpack squad, already well hidden, took no direct damage from the incoming RPG.

Better still, the moment Ninja realized the opportunity had come, he flipped his dagger into a reverse grip and activated his optical camouflage. Like a streak of light, he slipped quietly up to the Delta Force squad's flank.

Sledgehammer, still recovering from the grenade blast, sensed something closing in beside him and threw a punch.

Ninja didn't back away. Dagger in hand, he arched backward into a deep bend and let the fist pass over him. Then he thrust upward, and the blade, sharp enough to cut iron like mud, split open Sledgehammer's body armor in a straight vertical gash.

Sledgehammer ignored the wound across his chest and hammered a fist down onto Ninja's head. Ninja saw stars.

He hadn't expected Sledgehammer to be able to "crack" optical camouflage, landing every blow exactly on target. Dropping his contempt, Ninja prepared to change tactics: play to his strengths, circle behind his opponent, and make use of his advantage.

Prop Man, the last member of the Delta Force squad, was the team's indispensable jack-of-all-trades. He was experienced and threw his gadgets with precision, which was where his codename came from.

He noticed something odd on Sledgehammer's side and remembered the invisibility suits the military had once let them test. Without hesitation, he hurled a smoke grenade.

The smoke billowed up, and Prop Man saw a white, translucent human outline that had slipped around behind Sledgehammer.

"Sledgehammer! Behind you!"

Even as he shouted the warning, Prop Man didn't forget the others. With the help of his night-vision goggles, he spotted Ghost about to raise his rifle for another shot and fired an RPG without a second thought.

Over on the other side, Hawkeye, who had reacted in time and fallen back to a safe spot, saw Prop Man's move. He gave up on the idea of a sniper duel and threw two grenades toward the same spot.

After all, in this day and age, who wasn't a grenade king?

Facing an RPG and grenades coming straight at his face, Ghost went pale green. It was true that each of them carried black-tech gear. The problem was that the enemy's heavy firepower far outclassed theirs.

He hurled himself backward in a desperate dive. The wall behind him and the metal crates were blasted apart together, and the massive shockwave flung Ghost clean off his feet.

"Bang!"

He slammed into a shelving unit like a cannonball.

"Pfft!"

A mouthful of blood sprayed uncontrollably inside his mask and smeared his whole face.

Bertha, hiding not far away, obeyed Lupo's orders and quickly dragged him to her side. Then she gave him an injection.

"Aaah!"

Ghost let out an instant scream. Heaven knew that even with his organs nearly knocked out of place a moment ago, he hadn't been hurt as badly as by that needle.

Bertha's real name was Michaela Heinzwaffen. She was thirty-four years old and a peerless medic who had pulled her teammates from the jaws of death many times.

Her personality, however, had a problem: during treatment, she disliked using anesthetic. She preferred to savor the way her patients' pain and recovery intertwined. On top of that, most of the remedies she mixed were the kind that worked well but doubled the pain.

So Ghost's scream was hardly surprising.

And that was for a teammate. If an enemy fell into her hands, her special interrogation toxins would surely make him regret ever coming into this world.

Having dodged the combined attack from Prop Man and Hawkeye, Fatty, unable to swallow the insult, immediately wanted to send two fragmentation grenades back at the Delta Force squad.

Hawkeye, already pre-aimed, pulled the trigger. The bullet flew straight for Fatty's skull.

Lupo, standing beside Fatty, noticed Hawkeye's move. She swung out a hand and yanked Fatty's ankle.

"Thud!"

Fatty lost his balance at once and crashed onto the floor. The bullet passed over his head.

A little earlier, warned by Prop Man, Sledgehammer had been about to turn around when a blade carved a cut across his back. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he arched backward, clamped Ninja's upper body in his arms, and slammed him hard onto the ground.

Such reckless, life-be-damned fighting caught Ninja completely off guard, and the fall left him dizzy. But his hands didn't stop, and he drove the dagger tip toward the side of Sledgehammer's head.

Who would have thought Sledgehammer's body would be so astonishingly flexible? He threw up a hand to block the tip, and in the same motion seized both of Ninja's shoulders and whipped him around in a Thomas spin. He smashed Ninja to the ground and drove an elbow into his chest with the force of his entire body.

"Crack!"

A bone-splitting sound rang out, and Ninja's breath instantly faded.

"Kid, why did you come here to die?!"

"Huh?! Ha!"

Sledgehammer kept talking, but his body never stopped. He adjusted his stance and brought a fist down at Ninja's chest.

At the last possible instant, Ninja summoned all his strength and crushed the little ball he'd kept stuck to his palm. It was a lifesaving item Bertha had given him.

"Pfft~"

A cloud of yellow smoke rose, and Sledgehammer, who had been determined to kill Ninja on the spot, froze mid-strike.

The moment he breathed in the yellow smoke, he felt his whole body suddenly lock up.

Ninja didn't waste the chance. He bit down on the capsule he'd been holding in his mouth, and a bitter taste spread between his teeth. Far harder to bear was the agony that followed, as though his body were being torn apart.

"Ugh... aah!"

Howling in pain, Ninja rose smoothly from the floor, threw down another flashbang, and vanished at once.

Yes, that capsule had also come from Bertha. It could briefly unlock the body's potential, but the price was this pain that wrapped around him every moment.

Watching Ninja return to her side, Bertha's lips curled in a wicked, satisfied smile beneath her mask.

Before Ninja could say a word, she jabbed a needle into him.

"Aaaaaaah!"