Clockwork Bride

Page 34

"invenio, invenio, apparevestigium"

He began to whisper, chanting a string of ancient words, focusing his thoughts on the effect he desired. An indescribable energy began to emanate from Hayden, merging with Angela's breath, swirling within the magical focusing array, and finally emitting a visible emerald light that flowed into the iron needle.

Then Hayden picked up the iron needle and stabbed it hard into the small pile of ash.

The iron needle trembled and began to spin wildly, like a shark that had smelled blood, or a husky that had broken free of its reins, it immediately flew toward the city map of New Yatu and pierced a spot on the map.

A spot that made Hayden frown.

According to divination, Alastor Dirag is currently inside the Mitra Group's New Seattle branch building.

036: Comrade Alastor at the company building

Yolanda Thomas scrolled through the 3D footage, then paused on the news channel. The images of students, civilians, cyborgs, and corporate cops fighting each other in the march made her frown slightly.

She didn't like this kind of thing, after all, she was actually a college student herself.

But there's no other way. To defeat the Mithraic Group, for the greater good of the people, and to do the right thing, sometimes you have to sacrifice something, otherwise a better society cannot be created.

"Has Todd not come back yet? He's been out buying some hamburgers for over half an hour."

She turned to another student in the room and asked. The student shrugged in response.

Yolanda was somewhat displeased, but there was nothing she could do about it.

After all, this is New Asia's true slum, a real abandoned area, far from the city center, even far from the lower-class residential areas—it's urban wasteland. It's not so much that it's unsafe, but rather that it has no safety at all. Whatever you do here, the police won't care. If someone calls the police, the officers will probably just laugh and hang up.

This is why their secret base—the [Bo Xun] organization's—is located in the basement of an abandoned building in the New Seattle slums. The building has been forgotten; map software marks it as a former office building, and the area is filled with similarly filthy, dilapidated, abandoned buildings, at least decades old. They've likely remained standing only because the company didn't want to spend more money demolishing them.

Anti-corporate organizations mostly have to set up their bases in places like this, hiding underground in abandoned buildings. And needless to say, you can't really order takeout or fast food from such places.

However, to be fair, the facilities at the [Bo Xun] organization's base are actually quite good. The rooms on the second basement floor are spacious, with graffiti of varying styles, some crude and some hippie-like, covering the cement walls. Fiber optic cables and metal wires crawl across the floor, and several large tables are laden with various tools, equipment, drinks, and snacks. Chairs and single sofas are scattered throughout the room, and colorful hammocks hang from the ceiling. There's also a coffee machine in the corner. Without this coffee machine, [Bo Xun]'s daily combat effectiveness would probably drop by thirty percent.

Of course, there's no shortage of computers and large server hosts here. Alastor even acquired an exorbitantly priced "Azka 3000" supercomputer, which shouldn't have been available until the end of this year, and it's currently transmitting massive amounts of information between the underground and the outside world.

Therefore, the purpose of this place is quite easy to understand.

This is the combat base used by the [Bo Xun] organization to launch hacking attacks against the Mithra Group.

...However, since they were all students, it was difficult to stop them from turning such an important place into an internet cafe. Alastor didn't even try to stop them.

"The fighting over there is getting more and more intense."

A student, immersed in meditation and letting his consciousness descend, remotely controlled a surveillance drone while speaking to others with his eyes closed.

“The Mitra Group’s cops have increased their reinforcements… I also saw police avatars… those probably won’t be able to buy much more time.”

The police-grade "Rakshasa" golems that everyone has seen before aren't their most formidable force; the Mitra Group has even stronger troops yet to be deployed. However, Neo-Yatu is, after all, Mitra Group's home turf, practically their territory. Once they get serious, their sheer number of police golems alone can make any outsider think twice.

"All we need to do is help Alastor buy him some time. That's enough. You've done a great job."

Yolanda Thomas replied, offering encouragement and praise. The other students nodded in acceptance, though their expressions were somewhat subtle.

The [Bo Xun] organization was just a small group of twenty or thirty college students. Therefore, apart from its leader, Alastor, it didn't have a very strict structure; theoretically, everyone should be equal comrades. However, Yolanda Thomas never thought that way. When Alastor acted as a lone wolf, Yolanda would try to control the group's discourse and command. Over time, most of the students became accustomed to being commanded by her.

Part of the reason might be that she was indeed strong and beautiful, and the kind of person they would like: long eyelashes, big eyes, short blonde hair, wearing a white t-shirt, low-rise jeans, and a wide belt loosely tied at the waist. She looked youthful, trendy, and energetic.

Aside from Alastor, the undisputed leader, the only other group in [Bojun] is the fat young man Todd and a few others who refuse to submit to Yolanda's command and have formed their own faction.

Todd isn't as good-looking as Yolanda, but he's a mechanical engineering student and is the engineer in [Bo Xun] responsible for repairing and tinkering with gadgets. He also has connections at discount department stores, allowing him to buy discounted snacks and drinks for everyone. Therefore, some students like him.

However, if Hayden knew that the anti-company hacker group of twenty or thirty college students was actually divided into two factions, he would definitely laugh his teeth out.

So Yolanda's new phone rang at that moment.

She picked it up and saw that it was Todd calling, so she answered and asked, "Hello, what's up?"

[I am Todd, and I am at the main entrance on the first floor of the base.]

The person on the other end of the phone answered.

There's a guy here looking for you.

What?

"What guy?"

Yolanda was still in a daze.

Todd replied: "The guy who stomped on your phone last night."

what! ?

He's going over there.

The next instant, before Yolanda could react, she heard a soft "biu" sound from the other end of the phone.

The call was disconnected.

After a two-second pause, Yolanda looked up and glanced at the other students, who were all staring at her.

"You all heard that. What are you waiting for?"

She raised her voice and said

"Open your eyes wide! Get ready! The enemy is coming!"

One student hesitated: "But that lone wolf mercenary just thrashed us yesterday... and Alastor hasn't come back yet..."

Some students also said, "Shouldn't we contact Alastor first?"

But another student immediately replied, "Impossible. He's still inside the closed area of ​​the Mitra branch building; all communication is completely cut off."

This naturally made the situation even more complicated.

Ultimately, these students were nothing more than minor figures doing odd jobs and assisting Alastor. With Alastor gone, unable to contact or command, and facing a professional expert who had just thrashed them yesterday, they naturally felt intimidated.

"What are you planning to do? Just run away without doing anything?"

Yolanda was naturally furious.

"Absolutely not! We are warriors of [Marsh]! This is our base!"

This was true, but the students still exchanged worried and fearful glances, hesitant and uncertain.

Yolanda had always wanted to be the second-in-command of [Bo Xun]. She believed herself to be the only one in the student hacker group besides Alastor worthy of being followed. However, while she genuinely believed this, the reality seemed to be quite different. When a powerful enemy came knocking, she was unable to unite the students. They immediately disintegrated, like beaten dogs trying to flee.

Yolanda Thomas is not strong enough to be a true leader.

"When Alastor is away, of course we have to be responsible for guarding the base for him! Otherwise, what are we? Useless? A burden to Alastor!?"

So she could only shout and rely on Alastor's authority.

The students' expressions changed immediately.

No one present was willing to admit this. After all, if they were truly a burden to Alastor, what were they even doing there?

Seeing that her words had worked, Yolanda immediately pressed her advantage: "Alastor once told us that those who skillfully utilize terrain can defeat three times their number of experts. This is our base, and the entire defense system was personally designed by Alastor. We also have several modified police golems that Alastor left us! Don't be afraid! We have this strength! We can definitely win!"

This boastful attempt to intimidate others actually had some effect. The students indeed sprang into action. This time, they no longer used cell phones, but instead took out genuine military-grade magical artifacts obtained through special channels—although they still looked similar to cell phones—and some students even activated the base's arcane defense system to its highest level, focusing their attention on vigilance.

Two hijacked and modified police drones, the "Rakshasa," stood up. Both were made of black metal, two and a half meters tall, with ferocious and terrifying faces, each wielding a large sword embedded with sharp obsidian blades.

One of these things alone could wipe out an entire street gang.

Moreover, there were more than just two combat drones in this base. Under the students' control, three more gray, two-meter-tall, and rather crudely-looking steel warriors emerged from a corner of the base, wielding spears. They were inexpensive replicas of Mitra Corporation's older combat drones, but had undergone thorough modifications and enhancements.

Not long after, a student in charge of monitoring the base's defense system said, "All the surveillance cameras on the first floor have been blinded!"

This was clearly done by the enemy.

So, what should we do in this situation?

Yolanda tried her best to calm herself down and think things through. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, her best chance to prove herself worthy of being the true second-in-command of the [Bojun] organization.

They're on the second basement level. Shouldn't she send a few scouts down to the first floor to check things out?

Yolanda pondered for a moment, then felt the idea seemed a bit foolish. That lone wolf mercenary known as "The Wizard" was very strong; wouldn't sending them out in droves be suicide?

“There are only two paths to this room. Seal off the emergency exits, then spread out. Five pilots, focus on controlling the five drones. The rest of you, charge the shields and protect the pilots, then aim your combat magic devices at the main door!”

This was Yolanda's final idea.

She ordered the students to scatter, lest they be wiped out by a single area-of-effect spell from the mercenaries, or accidentally hit one of their own. Once the mercenaries entered through the main gate, no matter how sharp their reflexes or how strong their shields, they wouldn't be able to dodge or block twenty attack spells and five battle golems.

The students did as instructed. They spread out around the large room, activated their blue magic refraction shields, and prepared themselves.

They waited.

wait

—Until a gust of wind suddenly blew through the room.

An invisible, and perhaps not-so-existent, warm and gentle breeze suddenly blew into the underground room. They couldn't understand what was happening, nor could they possibly understand. Yet, in an instant, their computers and servers burst into bloom with vibrant flowers.

literal meaning.

Pink and snow-white living flowers bloomed on these cold, unrelated machines, filling the surroundings with fragrance.

What's going on here?

"what happened!?"

Yolanda reacted quickly, immediately shouting to the students operating the machine.

"How could our equipment suddenly bloom?!"

However, it was clearly impossible for these students alone to figure out what was going on in just a few seconds.

So at the same time, the ceiling above them was blown open.

With a blinding red light and the deafening roar of exploding concrete, Hayden burst through the paralyzed arcane defenses of the ceiling and leaped into the large underground room. Firelight danced in his eyes as he raised his bronze scepter high like a torch, its tip crackling with red lightning that swept outwards with lightning speed. The aura of light pierced through the shields of five or six students, knocking them unconscious.

However, many more students held on. They used the shields created by their military combat magic devices to withstand Hayden's [Stun Wave]. Now, their faces were filled with a mixture of shock and anger, and their eyes were all fixed on Hayden.

"You've upgraded your equipment in just one day!"

So Hayden looked at their unpierced shields and the military-grade magical artifacts in their hands, and raised an eyebrow.

"Alright. It's been three months since I've single-handedly dealt with more than ten people, and not just street thugs. Don't disappoint me too much."

Seeing his nonchalant and dismissive attitude, Yolanda, whose phone had been smashed by Hayden the night before, felt a surge of anger rising in her head, and a wicked thought arose in her mind.

"Don't listen to his bluff! Send the drones up and surround him!"

She screamed,

"We outnumber him enough, no need to be reckless! Focus on defense, use [Dispel Magic] to forcibly cancel all the spells he's casting!"

Five combat drones, under the students' command, immediately raised their weapons, roared their engines, and charged toward Hayden.

But Hayden raised his scepter even faster than they could and slammed it heavily to the ground:

"【Stinky Cloud Technique】".

Thick smoke billowed from the ground, engulfing everything.

037: The Ladder of Power

There is no natural "combat power ranking system" in this world. Although there are indeed graded licenses for battle mages, they are just artificially designed examinations and ranking systems, like piano exams and martial arts ranks. They are not entirely useless, but ultimately only have reference value.

If a third-dan karate fighter were to fight a second-dan karate fighter, would the former always win? The former might have a better chance of winning, but the outcome of a real fight is never certain.

The same principle applies to the tiered licenses for battle mages. Hayden has an eighth-tier battle mage license, but that thing has very limited significance in actual combat, and not everyone, or even every mercenary, will take the license exam—many urban mercenaries are simply unregistered, so how could they possibly get a license?

So after seven years as a lone wolf mercenary, Hayden actually devised his own system of rules, similar to a "hierarchy." Based on his mercenary experience, he divided combatants into five ranks.

The first level is called "Non-combat Personnel." As the name suggests, these are people who have received absolutely no combat training and have absolutely no real combat experience. These days, even a child can shoot arcane spells with a mobile phone to kill someone, but someone who knows nothing is still someone who knows nothing. They are slow to react, lack morale, are clumsy, and if someone in a group falls, the rest will often turn around and run away.

The second level, which Hayden called the "street thugs" or "rookie" level, essentially consisted of street gang members and ordinary criminals. They hadn't received much combat training, but most gangsters in the Union of America had blood on their hands. In other words, their fighting spirit was far stronger than that of ordinary civilians, and they also had combat experience. What they lacked was professional training, specifically professional tactics and skills.

The third level, of course, is the so-called "professional" level. They are trained or have sufficient practical experience and are equipped with professional gear. Common examples of this level include most regular corporate police officers, those who are just drawing a salary to make ends meet, well-trained corporate security guards, and professional combatants of certain organized crime groups, such as the infamous Italian Mafia, elite yakuza thugs, and of course, professional mercenaries.

The fourth level, which Hayden called the "Veteran" level, was characterized by experience, skill, and equipment. Most importantly, these individuals had learned to remain calm and avoid making foolish mistakes in combat. They made their living this way; they were top-tier professional fighters. Hayden considered himself to belong to this level, and even considered himself among the best of the "Veteran" class.

As for the last tier... Hayden generally doesn't want to encounter them, nor does he want to fight them.

Now, let's get back to the main topic.

Last night, these students were thoroughly thrashed by Hayden. Their protective shields were easily shattered by Hayden; their numbers couldn't be converted into power. At that time, Hayden considered them to be at level two, a bunch of rookies, a group of street thugs.

But the situation is different now. They've upgraded their equipment; they're equipped with military-grade combat magic devices and operate combat drones. And with over twenty people gathered together, their magical power is definitely higher than Hayden's.