Adrian agreed without hesitation.
Selene Winter was surprised as well.
Since becoming a Mercenary, she had dealt with many mercenary organizations. Those groups either committed every kind of atrocity or operated outside the Federation's system.
But they all had one thing in common: deep hostility toward official forces.
Rather than fight special forces from other nations, those Mercenaries preferred taking on NPCs.
There were supplies to be had, and the risks were much lower.
But Adrian was different. He had agreed without a moment's hesitation.
"All right. Thank you, Adrian."
Selene had wanted to exchange a few polite words with him, but in the end, all she managed was a simple thank-you.
"If you're available, there's a mission tonight."
Despite her striking appearance, Selene was not particularly good at dealing with people.
"That soon? Don't I need to go through any paperwork?"
Adrian was surprised.
He had thought this was merely a test of him. He had not expected them to already have his first mission prepared.
"Ordinarily, no. But there happens to be a military operation tonight."
Adrian could clearly see that Selene's expression had softened considerably.
"Maybe I came off too aggressive in the Ammunition Depot No. 4 instance and gave the major a bad impression?"
In the Ammunition Depot No. 4 Battlefield Instance, Adrian had displayed formidable military strength and a ruthless streak.
It seemed to have left Selene with a less-than-favorable impression of him.
But apparently, the misunderstanding had been cleared up.
"I'll notify my squad. Where do we rendezvous?"
After briefly discussing the details of that night's mission, Adrian returned to the training ground.
By then, the seven recruits had been beaten to the ground by the seven instructors and were howling in pain.
When they saw Adrian return, it was as if they had found their backbone again.
Garrett especially.
"Boss, get over here and help us!"
The instructors did not stop him, but their eyes visibly avoided Adrian's.
"That's enough hand-to-hand training for today. Anyone injured, report to the infirmary."
One of the instructors clearly could no longer enjoy teaching with Adrian back, so he dismissed them.
Late that night, at the camp's portal.
The Federation possessed the technology to build portals to Battlefield Instances. Major military camps all had them to facilitate missions.
A twelve-man squad had assembled in front of the portal.
All twelve carried AK-47s. They wore camouflage chest rigs and green steel helmets.
As shabby as that equipment looked, it already marked them as the best of the best.
The Federation had not captured any resource instances that produced equipment, so it could only purchase weapons.
The steel helmets had been brought back from resource sites, while the chest rigs had been dropped by slain NPCs.
"Commander, you don't need to go in person, do you?"
At the far right of the formation, a masked soldier spoke up.
The man was Dylan Hart, the squad leader for this mission.
Under normal circumstances, the group commander did not need to participate in an operation like this.
But Selene had chosen to lead the team herself this time.
"What? Afraid I'll hold you back?"
"I'm special forces too. Does being the group commander mean I can't go on missions?"
There was obvious displeasure in Selene's voice.
"No, no, that's not what I meant, Commander."
Dylan hurriedly denied it.
"Aren't we moving out, Commander?"
They had been standing there for nearly an hour. Selene had not given the order to deploy, and no one dared move.
"Another squad will be carrying out the mission with us."
Selene wore the same equipment as the others, except she had forgone a helmet in favor of a military field cap.
"Another squad? Were they sent from another military district?"
Dylan pressed on.
"They're a secret unit sent by headquarters. Don't ask questions."
Everyone wore masks, but Dylan could tell Selene was growing impatient, so he stopped asking.
"Sorry. Picking up my gear took a little longer than expected."
As they spoke, Adrian arrived.
"Adrian?"
Selene's squad all looked at him in confusion.
Adrian was still wearing the camouflage uniform issued by the base, without any equipment on him.
But he carried an enormous duffel bag in one hand.
"Commander, don't tell me he's the one we're waiting for?"
"What's a recruit doing tagging along with us?"
Adrian was indeed strong; word of it had already spread through the special forces.
Though this base was called a Special Forces Group, it had fewer than a hundred personnel.
Every city had its own special forces camp.
Clearly, Selene's earlier words had led them to expect an elite unit transferred in from another city.
"It's fine. We only just got here ourselves."
Selene, who had just been impatient with her own personnel, immediately adjusted her tone and walked toward Adrian.
"The commander's playing favorites."
"Yeah. Think Adrian's connected to someone?"
"Maybe he's the commander's boyfriend."
They took the opportunity to whisper among themselves.
This was not Earth, and military discipline was not nearly as strict.
The relationship between superiors and subordinates was also much more relaxed.
"Adrian, aren't you wearing any gear?"
When she reached him, Selene asked in confusion.
"It's all in here. I'll put it on now."
Adrian had arrived late for two reasons. First, the portal had been difficult to find, and he had spent a long time looking for it.
The other reason was that he had been checking the System.
He had confirmed that the System's inventory could be used in the real world.
Afterward, he had checked with the System whether he could summon his squad in reality before coming here.
After all, this was a military camp. He could have summoned the special operations squad out of thin air elsewhere and brought them here, but that would have invited serious suspicion.
After weighing it over, Adrian decided to summon his squad in front of everyone.
That would make it easier to explain.
"Where are your squad members?"
Selene looked behind Adrian and asked.
"They were delayed on the way. They should be here soon."
Adrian opened the duffel bag and began putting on his gear.
"So all his equipment was in that duffel bag."
Everyone's eyes focused on it.
First, Adrian pulled out a rifle.
Its shape was similar to the AK-47s in their hands, but its color scheme and attachments differed from theirs.
Unlike the AK-47's wooden handguard and stock, the AK-74 used extensive composite materials.
Its entire body was matte black, and the 2.5x optic mounted on its side rail made it stand out sharply against the gear worn by the others.
"Is that an AK too?"
The squad members were speaking loudly enough that Adrian heard them.
"More or less, but it isn't an AK-47."
Adrian paused to explain, then continued pulling out the rest of his equipment.
He did not have much: a ballistic vest, a tactical helmet, and a backpack.
"Why does your chest rig look so strange?"
The squad members had already crowded around him, watching him gear up.
Their chest rigs were only vests with numerous pockets and offered no protection whatsoever.
Adrian, on the other hand, wore a genuine Level 4 Russian ballistic vest. Its heavy, solid construction alone made it look reassuringly secure.
"This is body armor," Adrian explained.
They all knew how precious body armor was in this world.
And judging from its thickness, Adrian's vest was even better than the ones worn by NPCs in the instances.
"Um, can I ask what protection level that armor is?"
One bolder soldier stepped forward and pressed both hands against the armor plate on Adrian's chest.
"It's Level 4 light body armor."
Everyone drew in a sharp breath.
Bullets in this world had no levels; only firearms had penetration ratings.
For instance, the AK-47s in their hands fired standard 7.62×39mm rifle rounds.
Within a range of one hundred meters, they could penetrate Level 3 body armor with a 100 percent chance.
Against Level 4 armor, however, the chance of penetration dropped to just 20 percent.
That was the equivalent of an 80 percent greater chance of survival.
This was not a game. Getting hit by a bullet did not merely cost you health points. If it struck a vital area, you died on the spot.
Ratatatat.
"What was that?"
A faint engine sound reached their ears. In an instant, the special forces personnel surrounding Adrian broke away and went on alert in every direction.
Comments (0)
Please log in to leave a comment. Login or Register