I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun-Chapter 814: Aftermath (3)

"I don't know if this is right."

Mid-November, New London, Connecticut.

A submarine surfaced above the New London waters, where numerous transport ships were moving day and night, the most active military activity in the United States.

The hatch opened, and a man slowly emerged from inside. He was a man with an Artemis patch on his shoulder and a thin line on his arm.

His eyes, which had been tasting the outside air for the first time in a long time, saw transport ships crossing the waters in real time. From the port of New London, through Fishers Island, and to Orient Point, they were constantly transporting armored vehicles, tanks, and troops.

He - Crow had only heard of the names for the first time, but the point was that the Russian-Chinese allied forces were continuously unloading equipment to flank New York across a distance of only 26 kilometers.

Far away, a boat was coming toward him, cutting through the water.

He looked at it with a subtle expression and checked the order that clearly had the Black Eagle emblem on it. At that moment, his expression changed to a trembling one.

It seemed like it would contain something grandiose, but it wasn’t. The document contained some kind of relocation order - but the location was somewhere even Crow hadn’t expected, in the northeastern United States.

In short, while the surviving Kestrel Brigade soldiers were heading to the Bahamas, he had arrived somewhere else alone.

‘Not what I expected.’

What on earth was the intention behind his being stationed here?

The current was quite rough, so the boat was approaching slower than he had thought, and Crow decided to spend the few minutes trying to deduce - specifically, why Black Eagle had sent him here.

However, the answer came quickly without having to think too much. Keeping himself away from the Syndicate leadership meant keeping any potential threats away.

There was no need to overthink it. Sending them to the border was always an effective purge method, and it was also a popular method used since long ago.

But... .

"I thought it would make things more difficult."

The leadership had been investigating Race for nearly two weeks, and it was highly likely that Crow had joined her or cooperated with her.

Given that, it might have been more natural for the Syndicate to take a more drastic approach - to kill Crow, just as they had tried to capture and kill Race.

In fact, that made more sense.

Furthermore, Crow figured that killing himself would be easier than killing Race. He had mediocre fighting skills.

Compared to Race, at best.

'To prevent the link between Artemis and Black Eagle from weakening... It’s impossible.'

This is also nonsense.

At this point, there was no reason for Black Eagle and Artemis to cooperate anymore. Artemis Technology had been greatly weakened by the last Dagger Team’s assault on Syracuse.

It was practically destroyed.

On the other hand, Black Eagle was clearly stronger than the destroyed Artemis even without a detailed explanation. It was the same even after blowing up two brigades in Washington D.C. There was no need to take care of Artemis, which was now just a shell.

So Crow couldn’t help but worry.

“Black Eagle wouldn’t be such a naive author. Anyway, I should prepare for any unexpected situation....”

Assassination.

However, they sent Black Eagle to the northeastern United States to kill Crow... It was impossible, so there was no need to worry about it.

However, since the Syndicate and the Allied Forces were still working together, there was a high probability that Crow, who had been sent to the northeastern United States, could be indirectly disrupted.

He felt his head start to hurt.

A small motorboat that had already reached the submarine came into his sight. A driver and a Russian officer who seemed to be a guide were there.

The moment he carefully climbed into the boat, the boat rocked for a moment, but soon the hull began to move forward without any major problems.

“Welcome to New London, Director Crow. Your affiliation and introduction will be in the orders, so don’t worry about it. I believe you already know what you are here for.”

“You mean the handover of drone deployment platform installation and operation.”

“I don’t think I know, so I won’t go into detail. That’s right. It took quite a while to get back from Canada, but the platform has finally arrived near New London and New Haven. It should be ready for deployment and deployment soon.”

“Where is the expected deployment?”

“They’re considering deploying one in Hartford, New Haven, and New London.”

“Understood.”

“You’ll hear more details directly from command.”

Listening to the Russian soldier’s strange English pronunciation, seemingly friendly and unfriendly, in one ear and out the other, Crow wondered where Wraith was and what he was doing through the cool sea breeze.

It was hard to guess exactly what he was doing, but he could make inferences based on his remembered tendencies and the characteristics of the Pentagon.

One of those inferences was that the Pentagon TOC would never leave Wraith alone, and assuming that Wraith would cooperate, they were preparing to put him to full use.

As a bat to beat the Black Eagle.

'Wraith must be sharpening his blade of revenge against the Syndicate.'

In fact, even that would be the least suppressed expression. He thought so.

If he were to express it a little more gently, Wraith would be full of thoughts about beating up the Syndicate, and if he were to express it openly, he would only think about slitting the throats of the leaders or dragging them by the collar.

Since Wraith in Crow's memories was that aggressive, there was a high probability that he would take action soon.

"I hope we don't meet on the battlefield later...."

"Did you say something?"

"It's personal. You don't have to worry about it."

Unlike Wraith, who was released from his bondage by becoming a mutant, he still couldn't escape Artemis. Not only had they been related for that long, but the implants in his body were also a serious matter.

Given all that, he would remain with the Syndicate and Artemis until the very end, unless he resorted to extreme measures. In fact, he had no choice.

He suddenly wondered if the Syndicate had let him go for that very reason.

But that didn’t mean he had to find another way to survive.

He had other thoughts.

“I have one question to ask. What’s the current state of the fighting around Connecticut?”

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“New Haven is gradually stabilizing, and the west is still a mess as usual. It’s been calm lately, but there have been sabotage attacks from unknown sources in the rear. I’ve heard it’s likely Icarus operators.”

“That’s a problem. That’s why we absolutely need a drone deployment platform.”

“Yes. The problem is that there are very few people who really know how the machine works, so you’ll have to be out in the field quite often.”

"I understand. Let's do that."

It was a welcome development for him as well.

Going out into the field meant that he would often encounter enemies, and there was a high probability that he would be able to make contact with Icarus operators.

If he were to take on the role of a kind of triple agent, he might be able to make various considerations later, and for now, he had no choice but to aim for that.

The reason was simple.

'The US will crush the ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) guys who brought the situation to this point even if it means scattering nuclear warheads all over its own cities.'

Naturally, the Syndicate, which was also the main culprit, would be uprooted and burned, and if there was no preparation, he, who was associated with the Black Eagle, would also be the same.

To prevent that from happening, he predicted that he would need to open up to the US soldiers he met in the field and provide information related to the Allied Forces or the Black Eagle, in other words, provide a kind of insurance.

Crow kept his mouth shut while turning his head, and the Russian officer, who thought it was a positive opinion, opened his mouth leisurely.

"At this point, the Allied Forces are seeking to strengthen their exchanges with the Artemis side. Data continues to show that partial physical and nervous system enhancements are necessary to operate the Hunter Suit.

"It's coming up."

"That's not my area of ​​expertise, but let's look into it... Instead, you'll have to provide a lot of support. The situation at Artemis isn't so good."

"I know that. Let's do that."

The irony that the branch that joined the Allied Forces and helped them became much larger than the headquarters in Syracuse that was torn apart by the Dagger Team.

Crow gave a strange laugh, and the officer muttered a few more words to him, but his thoughts were already elsewhere.

'I wonder what that bastard Race is doing now.'

He wasn't sure, but it must be better than when he was at Black Eagle. He thought that way and tried to accept it, but he couldn't help but feel a sense of emptiness.

The northeastern United States was still noisy in mid-November.

"... This, this, this damn thing, I'm wearing something like this, no, who wears something like this!?"

"This is too much. It's something that was made to be worn by people."

"You snake-tailed bastard, you didn't know this and ran away... You come here!"

"Whoa, what did I do!?"

Meanwhile, in Washington D.C.

A comedy was unfolding there.

"That's a really passionate red. It suits you so well, but why don't you take it and wear it?"

"How can you wear something like this! Can you wear it!?"

"I'm sorry, but it's too small for me."

"You're saying that now... Ugh, in that case, you shouldn't have worn it!"

"If you're serious, that's great. Should I cheer you on?"

Lace, flustered after seeing the red sexy underwear for the first time in her life.

A situation that could be roughly described as such arrived at the underwear shop. It was the moment when the act of helping Lace, who seemed to be quietly asking for help, completely evaporated.

By the way, Lace's courage to not wear it was truly admirable. I was quite curious about that appearance... no, it was not that I wasn't curious, but I shouldn't really say that.

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

Anyway, separate from that. There was a need to correct Lace's misunderstanding, which was not a misunderstanding.

Even without me saying it, the eldest sister, Logan, said it.

"It's up to you whether you wear it or not, but what if you're already crying? This design is enough."

"Wh, what?"

"You may not know, but Nana and these guys don't have many sizes that fit. Sometimes, in terms of design, I have to wear something that... a lot, even if it's something that diminishes my masculinity."

"... ."

That was true. Among the underwear that was occasionally included in the distribution... there were some that had pretty crazy designs.

But to be a little more precise, when I wore those things, I was... well, less shocked than other people. I wasn’t someone whose masculinity was as solid as other people’s.

I made it a little hard to understand, but the point was that my masculinity, which was one of my life achievements as a sergeant and had been discharged before the end of my term, couldn’t be compared to Mr. Logan or Ms. Olivia, who had served in the special forces for almost 15 years.

But if those people suddenly became women, and on top of that, their breasts grew a lot, and they had no choice but to wear underwear with a sloppy design as long as the size fit....

It must have been a different feeling in many ways.

In a bad way.

‘... But then what about Ms. Laurentina?’

My head turned in the direction of the shark, and there was Laurentina, happily shopping, trying on what to wear.

... Let’s just say she was just enjoying herself. In fact, I think there are few people as mentally healthy as she is, and that’s how it was.

Anyway, back to the beginning.

Considering that Logan, Logan, and Olivia all wear this kind of stuff, I thought that Lace should be a little more... open-minded.

Or maybe we’ve already gotten used to it.

“... No, more than that, I don’t even know how women wear underwear, you damned punks.”

“Come to think of it, he was like that too. That’s pretty tricky in its own way... Anyway, I can’t just say no and not do it. Even if it’s not now, I should try it at least once.”

“Whoa, damn, how did I... ."

"Hehe, it's like seeing Logan in the past. Do you remember that time?"

"Hey you little punk, why are you throwing sparks at me?"

It was truly a mess.

I don't know if I should call it a blessing, but the atmosphere wasn't bad. Everyone was a mutant, and what Mr. Race was showing us now was once our past.

As I said, I just kind of accepted it.

After a while, silence filled the underwear store.

Laurentina opened her mouth.

"The reason we're here today isn't to make fun of the new face. We have to get a decent present for our youngest wolf first, and for that guy's underwear problem... let's pick someone else to help later."

"A sane shark, you're amazing."

"... I don't think I heard that. Anyway, since I’m not going to help that guy put on his underwear right here, let’s remember our purpose first.”

“Let’s do that.”

Another pause.

Several conversation topics continued to rotate after that.

“Then what do we choose now? Actually, wouldn’t it be okay if we gave him something?”

“I don’t know how to say this, but then... for the sake of increasing the population in the future, if we bring him something hot as a gift... No, wait a minute. But isn’t it a big deal to give him this?”

“Just don’t give it to him directly. Let’s give it to him when the supplies come out.”

Or,

“That aside, he’s the first to climb the adult ladder. It’s really... It feels strange. It’s a shame that I couldn’t take him to the reconnaissance team, but anyway, it’s a really good thing.”

“Leave him alone. The world is so dangerous, if we take him out and make Captain Farquharson a widower... Lapland is like that, but the youngest will cry out loud."

"Yeah, yeah. I've already given up."

What should I say?

With that kind of feeling, using Mr. Race's fuss as a backdrop, we started to gather the perfect underwear for Mr. Lapland, and also the things we would wear.

Of course, our goal was the packed underwear piled up in the underwear shop's attached warehouse instead of the shrunken items outside.

While we were filling the duffel bag we had brought with us with boxes of underwear that fit our size, the conversation continued.

"You're not the Dagger Team, you're the underwear thief."

"Well, like I said before, let's call it a reward."

"Ha."

And with that short conversation, all the work at the underwear shop was over.

The Dagger Team got the underwear in return for saving the capital.

It was fall.