Chapter 495 – Failure
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An unmanned weapon with an oval-shaped body and eight long legs, the Predator’s thick legs are cut by the Pitbull’s greatsword, which glows softly in blue.
-Kwajijic!!
It felt like it was being torn apart rather than being cut cleanly.
As the two remaining legs were cut off, the Predator’s body collapsed.
-Kwasik!
Then, Pitbull’s great sword became deeply embedded in the Predator’s metal body. The Predator’s eyes lose their light and stop working.
Less than 10 minutes after deploying the team members, the Predator appeared.
He said he had upgraded the pit bull to the point where it could take on the Predator, and it appears he wasn’t lying.
It has the disadvantage of sucking up a lot of the rider’s magic attribute, but that wasn’t a big problem for me.
The magic attribute consumed by the pit bull was comparable to floating a cup of water in the ocean compared to the magic attribute I possessed, so the magic attribute recovered was more than the magic attribute consumed.
-Ugh.
I pulled out the great sword stuck in the Predator’s torso and looked around.
I can see the remains of another Predator that I destroyed.
The snow fell from the sky and gently covered it.
‘Is this the third season with this guy?’
I think it’s been about 20 minutes since the team members infiltrated the lab.
There was a quiet lull for a moment, perhaps because almost all the security robots outside had been taken down.
But it won’t be long before reinforcements arrive.
『Team leader. There was an accident.』
What awakened the political enemy was not additional troops, but Alcyone’s communication.
『Accident?』
『It would be faster to see than to say.』
As soon as Alcyone finishes speaking, Joanna is seen lying on the floor, and Linnet is seen stomping her feet next to her.
Hallucination? No, is it telepathy?
It was Alcyone’s ability.
With her telepathy, she vividly conveyed what she saw to my mind.
‘Was there a way to utilize it like this?’
I can also send telepathy that is equivalent to expressing one’s thoughts. However, Alcyone was showing a method of using telepathy that went beyond that.
Should I say I learned a good way to use it?
I thought that if I practiced a little, maybe I could do it.
Joanna was lying on her floor… With her face pressed against something that looked like a small drain, whimpering as she tried to stick her hand into it.
I couldn’t understand why she behaved in such an ugly way.
『… What is Joanna doing?』
『The storage device from which the lab’s data was extracted fell in there.』
The data storage device was a small thing.
It looked like it had been dropped into that gap.
『Can’t the floor be destroyed?』
『I think it will be difficult with the equipment we have…』
『Extra data storage device?』
“Doesn’t exist. And even if there was, it would take at least 10 more minutes to extract the data again.』
『…』
The mission time has already exceeded 20 minutes.
It was dangerous to take any more time.
Of course, this research institute would also have sent a request for support. If reinforcements arrive, escape will naturally become more difficult.
As someone who is a strong person who does not want to show more than a certain amount of power here, it was burdensome to take responsibility for three people and help them escape.
『Don’t give up.』
“Huh? Really?』
“Okay. Joanna, withdraw.』
『Great, Captain. Give it a chance! I’ll be back soon!』
Joanna could not let go of her regrets.
『Joanna, this is an order. Are you going to rebel?』
『Ugh… I understand…』
When I spoke somewhat forcefully, Joanna finally lifted her body up from the floor.
『What will the Pantherans do?』
I’m talking about humans contained in glass coffins.
I’m not sure what their condition is based on Alcyone’s telepathy alone.
I stretched out my consciousness and looked at the Pantherans inside the glass tube in the laboratory.
It exudes a foreign feeling, different from that of ordinary living things. I can’t feel any wave of emotion, whether it’s pain or joy.
I’m just alive and breathing.
A piece of meat that only lives and performs biological activities.
Even if they are healthy, it is difficult to rescue them.
That could be why Rebellion didn’t talk about them.
The reason Alcyone asked me about her Pantheraine… Maybe it was a sign that she could handle it.
『You… Are not. Just come out.』
『… Okay.』
The team members left the laboratory, and after thinking for a moment, I used my will to cut off the life activities of the Panthera people.
It may be just my own opinion.
Still, in my opinion… It seemed better to just die than to live like that.
The Mongoose team, which gave up the data storage device, was able to safely retreat at the scheduled time.
We did film inside the lab.
Another mission goal, securing research data, was not achieved.
The Mongoose team’s first operation could be called a failure.
The atmosphere inside the returning transport was dark.
90% of the shares belonged to Joanna.
She lowered her head and let out her dark aura.
Alcione was trimming Joanna’s nails.
Linette, who was weak-hearted, was fidgeting as she watched Joanna’s eyes.
To be honest, even though I failed the mission, I wasn’t very impressed. Because the mission was only about Rebellion’s reputation, it was not something that was urgent for me.
If you look for Helena, you don’t know when she’ll give up on her, and if she gets fired as team leader because of this, her time connected to Pantera will only increase.
That’s why I was able to say such generous words to Joanna.
“Joanna, there is no need to be so discouraged. Anyone can make mistakes. Forget about this. Just do well on the next mission.”
“Oh, boss…”
Joanna’s eyes were so touched that I felt burdened by my comfort.
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Cowra was watching the results of the Mongoose team’s mission with Claire.
Originally, he was not in a position to care about the mission of the new operation team, but Bark was also a person of interest.
As this was a team he actively intervened in, he couldn’t help but be curious about its results.
“I failed…”
The mission of the Mongoose team led by Bark was to secure evidence to expose the atrocities of the Quinter Corporation, which was conducting cruel experiments with Pantheraine.
Quinter Corporation was a pharmaceutical company.
And since Pantheraine has very similar genes to Zephyrian, it was a very good test subject for them in many ways.
Quinter Corporation has vehemently denied that it does not use Pantheraine as a test subject.
The reason is that Zephyrian’s moral consciousness has now risen considerably, and just knowing that it was a product made with Pantheline as an experiment caused a significant blow to the company’s image and sales.
“I heard Joanna failed because she dropped her data storage device down the drain? Why did she put Joanna on his team?”
Claire found another familiar name on the Mongoose team and asked Cowra.
Joanna was quite famous in Rebellion.
The problem was that it wasn’t a good one.
Joanna was a member of the Leicester family who produced several military generals.
When she first applied to Rebellion, her executives couldn’t help but be very nervous.
I was wondering if the military might be planning to do something to Rebellion.
Fortunately, that wasn’t the case.
Joanna failed her enlistment exam and was treated as a lesser person by the Leicester family.
She too was suffering and wandering, and suddenly she felt some sense of justice and applied to Rebellion.
Joining Rebellion was entirely Joanna’s will.
And as Rebellion put Joanna on her mission, she was able to understand why the Leicester family treated her like a lesser person.
The problem wasn’t simply that she failed the enlistment test.
“Joanna, she was just one of the candidates he chose. She just did what he wanted. She and there’s no need to send her to another team, right?”
“…”
“Still, for some reason, I thought Bark would succeed… But my expectations were wrong… I guess it would be difficult with just the video, right?”
“Of course not.”
There was no way the Quinter Corporation could have admitted their atrocities based on the video alone, and they needed unbreakable evidence… Since they couldn’t secure it, the Mongoose team’s mission was a clear failure.
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The Mongoose team failed its first mission.
But there was no reprimand or anything else said about it.
I spent time connecting to Pantera and doing Rebellion missions in parallel.
In Panthera, the level of the avatar was smoothly raised using the position of the leader of the Mongoose Knights.
However, Rebellion’s mission is…
-Clink!
『Ah…』
-Beep!
While Lynette was disarming the security device, Joanna, who was watching the surroundings, broke the glass of the display case, causing an alarm.
As she turned, she apparently hit the butt of the rifle against the display case.
“What are you doing! Joanna! You idiot!!』
『I’m sorry. Alcyone crew.』
『Is it okay if I’m sorry?! How many times is this?!』
Joanna was unable to raise her head due to Alcyone’s nervousness.
This mission was to steal a painting from an art museum.
It was said to be a portrait painted by Pantheraine.
I don’t know why they asked us to do something like petty theft, but… The art museum was located near a city with good security, and it was a mission that should not have raised the alarm.
『… Retreat.』
The Mongoose team retreated without achieving any results this time.
The atmosphere inside the operational transport ship that failed its mission was miserable.
Alcyone was looking like she was about to explode, and Joanna still had her head down and looked dark.
This is the fifth time I’ve led the Mongoose team and done Rebellion’s missions…
I failed all five missions.
And at the center was Joanna.
She made the mistake of not bringing important equipment, or stuck her nose in the finished rice.
I was unlucky… And stumbling.
Ace, who had met my expectations, was falling like a wingless bird.
Even if she wasn’t an ace, I thought she would be an A-level operator, but who would have thought she would be a torturer?
After failing the mission and returning to the secret base, I sent the now familiar report on the mission failure to a superior whose face and name I did not know.
And as I was preparing to return home, Alcyone came to the team leader’s office.
“Team leader! Are you going to leave Joanna like this?! How many missions were failed because of her?!”
It seems that Joanna’s series of mistakes ultimately caused Alcyone to explode.
