Chapter 109: A Future Shrouded in Uncertainty

The chromium-gold Chester fighter jets of the Night Raid team possess optical cloaking, allowing them to avoid detection by civilians while en route to their mission.

However, the mutated beasts they now encounter are generally small, the largest barely reaching ten meters in length.

Such creatures can be dispatched easily with Dewitt rifles.

As dusk deepened, the four members of the Night Raid team arrived outside a factory.

Komuro inspected the Beretta, saying, “Something inside is stirring, and it’s more than just one or two.”

“Are they survivors?” Kazakura looked toward Mitsuhiko Ishibori beside him.

“No, there’s no life signs at all,” Ishibori reported analytically, though whether he was under Zaki’s influence remained uncertain. “Everyone inside has been killed.”

Honestly, Ishibori behaved like any normal person, betraying no hint of duplicity.

Nearby, Nagi Saijo, clutching her Dewitt long rifle, had just joined the team and remained silent.

Still unfamiliar with much, she felt like a mere subordinate among the four.

Suddenly, an eerie sound echoed from the silent factory.

Within the pitch-black darkness, something seemed to be alive.

This made Kazakura frown deeply. “What is that sound?”

“That’s strange. It shouldn’t be possible.” Ishibori fiddled with the Beretta, linking it to headquarters’ equipment. “Data analysis indicates no life inside.”

Komuro stepped forward, gun at the ready. “That’s what makes it interesting. I’m already eager.”

As team leader, Kazakura observed Komuro’s expression and glanced toward the factory’s darkness.

He warned aloud, “Be extremely cautious when fighting monsters.”

“When you peer into the darkness, the darkness watches you in return.”

Komuro’s gaze shifted to Kazakura upon hearing this.

Yet, considering Nagi Saijo beside him, he proposed, “For this mission, just Nagi and I should go in.”

“That doesn’t align with the operation plan,” Kazakura naturally objected.

Komuro wanted to support Saijo, sensing her precarious situation.

“This isn’t about the plan. What matters is who can truly eliminate the mutated beasts in this situation.”

“Kazakura, you’ve seen Nagi’s recent performance. Let this mission prove her excellence!”

“Please! Let us go!”

Komuro’s words left Saijo momentarily stunned.

Kazakura initially opposed the idea but, hearing Komuro’s earnest plea, felt a pang of sympathy.

Just then, their comm channel crackled with Yuu Kirazawa’s voice.

“Night Raid team, attention. Human life signs detected inside the factory. The individual possesses special abilities!”

In a room within the Free Fortress, Kirazawa stared at the screen showing an unusually strong vibration wave, his expression grave.

He had anticipated what might unfold in this operation and had silently listened to the team’s conversation.

Yet moments ago, the future—once thought fixed—became blurred by the sudden appearance of one person.

---

Unsure of what was to come, Kirazawa issued his warning.

“Who exactly are you?”

His gaze remained fixed on the screen, unable—even with his foresight—to identify the newcomer.

---

At the operation site, upon hearing Kirazawa’s alert, Kazakura glanced at his Beretta in disbelief. “How could someone suddenly be inside?”

“A person with special abilities!” Komuro’s eyes lit up with excitement as he called to Nagi, “Nagi, follow me!”

Without hesitation, he charged into the factory, holding his Dewitt long rifle.

Nagi hurried after him, aware this disobeyed orders but choosing to act alongside Komuro.

“Kazakura! Nagi! Return!” Kazakura shouted anxiously, but neither showed any intention to turn back.

Ishibori then spoke, “Captain, let them go.”

Kazakura, who had planned to enter together, suddenly found his steps faltering as he watched Komuro and Nagi vanish into the darkness.

“Damn these two! How can they be so reckless!”

His expression anxious, Kazakura remained rooted in place.

It wasn’t fear that held him back, but an unrecognized influence creeping over him.

Behind Kazakura, Ishibori’s eyes flickered with a strange light.

---

Inside the dark factory, gunfire erupted.

Accompanied by the rapid movement of the Platinum Star, one by one, the once-living fell motionless to the ground.

They were lifeless—mere corpses animated.

Upon entering, Komuro and Nagi saw police officers strewn across the floor.

“Those people!” Nagi’s face showed shock. “What on earth is happening?”

Their combat helmets featured night vision.

As Komuro approached the bodies to investigate, several workers suddenly leapt out from behind stacked cargo.

“Still alive?” Komuro was puzzled when one grabbed his weapon!

Nagi faced the same fate.

Thinking these were survivors, they had planned to question them but were caught off guard by this turn of events.

“Nagi! These people are trouble!”

Back to back, Komuro and Nagi prepared to counterattack.

Before they could strike, the workers were suddenly blasted away, crashing into the scattered cargo.

“What’s going on?” Nagi switched her Beretta’s comm unit to firing mode but hadn’t shot yet.

Komuro gazed grimly at the dead on the ground. “Those people were like the walking dead just moments ago. They must have long been dead.”

“Though we didn’t witness the whole scene, someone is clearly aiding us!”

---

Komuro’s words drew his eyes to the Beretta’s screen, where a life signal appeared at a distant point ahead.

“Found you!”

Excitement flashed in his eyes as he grabbed the Dewitt rifle from the ground.

Just as he prepared to move forward, Nagi shouted, “Wait! The life sign disappeared!”

“What?” Komuro froze, staring down at the Beretta screen, now showing no signs of movement.

“Could it have left already?”

How could the enemy move so fast?

As Komuro pondered this, the eerie sound returned.

Both Komuro and Nagi tensed, quickly taking cover behind nearby cargo.

“That sound—it’s a mutated beast!” Nagi’s expression sharpened with caution.

Komuro pinpointed the noise’s source and whispered to Nagi, “Those people earlier were all controlled!”

“And the one helping us now may have been attacked and taken over too!”

“Nagi, I’ll charge ahead first!”

As he mapped out the plan, Komuro looked at Nagi seriously. “If both of us get controlled, we’re done for.”

“But if one stays behind, it can prevent the worst-case scenario.”

“I’ll go first then!” Nagi immediately opposed the plan, clutching her Dewitt long rifle.

“No!” Komuro grabbed her arm firmly.

In her startled eyes, Komuro seemed to entrust her with a final request.

“If I get controlled by the mutated beast, you must kill me without hesitation!”

“Nagi, I’d rather die by your hand willingly!”

With that, he handed her his ID tag.

“Don’t worry about me. Even for your sake, I will survive!”

“Alright.” Nagi’s face grew solemn as she understood. She exchanged her ID tag with his.

Komuro nodded at her, then steeled himself and moved swiftly toward the source of the sound.

But when he reached the depths of the warehouse, there was nothing there.

Thud—thud—

Heavy footsteps sounded behind Komuro.

Black and red giant legs loomed.

Before he could turn, a man in a black coat appeared suddenly in front of him, making Komuro’s expression falter.

(End of chapter)