Life Mission

Chapter 97

The CCTV shows them the engine room. In the room, there is an infection pocket as big as a truck that seems to be sleeping. They can guess that it is the source.

Woong!

The hidden CCTV turns around the area. It is a tomb of bones. The location tracking of the lieutenants is received from inside. Their deaths are confirmed.

“The engine room is near the broiler. It is far from headquarters.”

“Can we reach the search party on the radio?”

“We can because that much is under my authority. I will connect you.”

The ark always has a firewall in activation in order to prevent enemies from tracking and hacking. That is why their radios had not been going through smoothly.

[Bizarre alien creatures and intruders in bunker 2. Battle engagement among soldiers.]

The main system checks everything that happens on the ark with ease. It may have some shortcomings, but it is like looking at the helpers on their PDA.

The main system must find the presence of the force uncomfortable, because it calls them intruders. More than that, the term ‘battle’ is disconcerting.

Bang bang!

The image of Park Jin Hyuk and the party members fighting in a craze shows up on the bunker CCTV. The soldiers are ridden with fear and barely giving their support.

“Crazy!”

Cha Jun Sung yelled. Park Jin Hyuk is taking on 5 mutants by himself.

Even still, he is engaged and the fight is tight. They seem to be level 3. The party members are also fighting in pairs, but they are being overwhelmed. It is a fragile balance. The side that breaks is the side that loses.

“Hurry up and check CCTV number 17, and go through with the succession! And bring down the firewall!”

The Lieutenant urges the main system. Identification is required in confirming death. He took the cadres’ bodies to the bunker and left them where they are clearly visible.

[The Captain and 1st and 4th Lieutenants confirmed to be dead. 7th Lieutenant alive. Title succession following guidelines. Colonel Andre Gordon, you are the captain of the ark.]

Woong!

The firewall has been brought down. The radio where they had only heard noise, becomes clear.

[Search party, respond. Can you hear me?]

Han Chang Jin rushes to radio in to the search party. It is a dangerous situation.

[Huh? I can hear you. So you’ve recovered the main system.] [The source is in the engine room. We expect it to be a level 4 infection pocket, and it is as big as a 3-ton truck. And the bunker is under attack right now.] [The bunker!] [The only thing caught on the CCTV is the infection pocket. Can you take care of it?] [We can do it if we have Hercules. Support the bunker.]

“We need people to guard this place, so I will stay here with 1 party. 3 parties will go back to the bunker. The path will be described through the CCTV.”

They had come through it, but it was so complex that they could not remember it after one time. They need to capture the engine room and they need to protect the bunker. Everyone became busy.

“Main body!”

“No! It’s the same as what we saw in sleeping room 1! If it infects, that’s a level 4!”

Cha Jun Sung ran. Koharu and Kyoko followed him as well. The party members were torn, but they also followed suit when Han Chang Jin sent the signal.

[I will tell you the path. Go left at the first crossroads..... Then right.]

Han Chang Jin and the other party members let them know the paths to the bunker and the engine room. The situation flowed quickly. The interest inside went to that side.

“Ack! It’s war! It’s a war with parasites! We need to annihilate them!”

The Lieutenant had a smile of madness. He input the commands he could not understand from Han Chang Jin’s group and manipulated the dusty machines.

They continued this boring work for several hours.

[Captain approval. Route reset. Pass destination. Operate engine.]

The route twists.

Bang!

Park Jin Hyuk was hit by a strong force and almost fell, but extended his arm to break his fall. He left without delay.

Kyak!

4 hosts will not stop following him. They cannot reproduce, but they cannot have peace of mind. The body died and it came out of the brain to try to infect him.

He killed 2 of them with concentrated attacks. When he fired the Head Hunter at the heart and brain, a brown parasite came flying out of its mouth as though spitting.

Kyak!

Puk!

When Park Jin Hyuk heard a scream from closeby, his eyes became overcast. A party member whose arms and legs are broken, is wriggling on the floor.

‘So they don’t kill.’

The infestors can only take over living creatures. They only wound the party members and kill the soldiers. They are keeping the outstanding candidates for infection alive.

On Park Jin Hyuk’s side, he is at an advantage. It is hard, but he can get the other 3 if he fights without stopping. The problem is the other side.

They are being pushed back significantly. 5 of the party members are wounded and half of the soldiers are dead. Did they die while fighting? No. Most of them died while running away.

4 hosts died and 6 are left. It would be good if the search or restoration teams would send them support, but how would they know to send help?

[Jin Hyuk, can you hear me?] [Jun Sung?] [The main system has been recovered and the radios work. Are you okay?]

Park Jin Hyuk brightens up. Luck has not abandoned him.

[3 parties are going back to the bunker. Give us 30 or 40 minutes. Don’t let them get out since there are 4 level 4 brown infestors outside!]

He gets goosebumps. He had been expecting it, but to think that there are 4 level 4 brown infestors. If they get through, this becomes hell. It is annihilation for the 3 parties coming in as well.

“He said 40 minutes at the most? We’ll be able to hold out if I keep it up.”

The chance of winning is decreasing, but he can do it if it is withstanding it and not trying to win. Even if the party members and soldiers all die, he can hold out for that time.

“Ack! Don’t come!”

One of the infestors that can move freely, is making a fuss among the soldiers.

It is like a wolf among sheep. The party members were fighting with 2 and could not give support. Park Jin Hyuk was also held back by 3 of them.

“There’s nothing I can do. If I overdo it and die, it really is the end.”

He cannot gamble with hundreds of lives including his own in order to save a few people. He feels sorry. They need to be sacrificed for the many.

“I’m going to live!”

One of the soldiers lost his sanity when he saw a colleague being eaten up by the infestor. As he kept going backwards, he got blocked in a dead end.

But that dead end happened to be the bunker entrance. There is nowhere to run. An infestor approaches him from the front and the only way out is there.

Kik!

Kwajik!

Everyone’s thoughts stopped. It happened absurdly and stupidly. The soldier had nowhere to run, so he opened the bunker door and ran out.

Then, the 4 infestors that were waiting outside took over the soldier.

“Get away from the entrance! Get the party members and everyone get back! Hurry!”

Before getting angry, he gets a hold of the situation. If he cannot turn it back, he needs to at least prevent the infection. Even a level 4 brown infestor is just a bug.

Tang tang tang tang.

Park Jin Hyuk fired the Head Hunter. He is trying to provide cover until the party members drag the wounded away. But the infestors prevented this.

“Get away!”

He kicked at the infestors that were trying to attack from the back. He used that rebound to attack the ones on either side as well.

Even then, he did not take his eye off of the Head Hunter’s scope.

‘This is tiring. My stamina is falling too quickly. I won’t be able to hold out for long.’

Fighting level 3 infestors and 4 brown infestors at the same time takes an inexpressible amount of concentration.

He was already tired, but going through psychological warfare exhausted his mind and body. The party and soldiers were not able to fulfill their own parts.

Park Jin Hyuk took responsibility for 90% of the battle. He is taking on the burden of the battlefield all on his own. It would not be enough even if he had 10 hands and feet.

The infestor bites Park Jin Hyuk’s shoulder with its sharp teeth. His metal armor crinkles under the force. They attack him in other places as well.

“What are you biting! You think I’ll lose to guys like you!”

He ignored the one that bit him, grabbed the one coming at him from the left by its neck, and ripped it off. He ripped the skin and brought the bones out.

“Let go!”

Tang tang!

He aimed the Head Hunter toward his shoulder and pulled the trigger. The host’s head exploded into pieces and even swept the brown infestor stuck to the brain.

The one with the broken neck could not make the body listen, and searched for another body to infect. Park Jin Hyuk would not leave it alone to do so.

He picked up a flamethrower from the ground, and showered it with flames.

One that was waiting for a chance to attack, stepped out of range. It knows that the flamethrower is the most dangerous weapon to it.

“If you get farther away from me, it’s only bad for you.”

Bang!

An explosive shell stuck to the host’s chest and exploded. He killed all 5. All that is left are a few level 3 and the 4 brown infestors.

[You have earned 1200 points and 600 achievement points.]

It is lower class in level 3. If it had been a Slayer, even 2 would have been too difficult to handle. Their level led the victory to a 5:1 battle.

While retreating, the party members and soldiers killed 1 level 3. The situation is not good. The brown infestor avoided everything and followed him around.

“First, the brown.”

Park Jin Hyuk stopped breathing and aimed carefully. He needs to kill 1 with 1 shot no matter what. That is the only way to handle the situation quickly.

Too!

The host burning in the fire spit the infestor at Park Jin Hyuk. It is an alter ego that gave up the brain. He was not able to avoid it because his attention was somewhere else.

It had been a mistake not to pay attention to the notifications because he was busy with the battle.

Ack!

The infestor went inside the metal armor, and dug into the right hand that was trying to pull the trigger. He can feel the infestor coming up.