"Whoosh—Boom—"
After the pelican unloaded its 'passengers', it slowly ascended, hovering high in the air to provide support.
The five Spartans placed the containment case on the ground, then crouched down to observe their surroundings.
At this moment, they were on the airport runway inside Lemonier Camp.
Several hangars in front of them were burning fiercely; outside the hangars, there were still a few undestroyed fighter jets, but the pilots operating them had not survived.
John scanned the vicinity through the vision provided by his Thor's Hammer screen and said calmly to Cortana, who was plugged into his armor:
"Cortana, upload the optimal route to the Command Building."
"Affirmative."
As soon as she finished speaking, a green beacon appeared on the helmet screen, as well as 'before the eyes' of the two sightless Spartans.
Immediately after, John ordered Karl, who was beside him: "Number Four, find the best sniper point."
Karl just nodded at John, then picked up his sniper rifle, got up, and ran away, quickly disappearing into the flames.
"Number Five, Number Ten, you two lead the way."
"Affirmative." (x2)
"Number Three, you take the rear."
"Affirmative."
Following the series of orders, the four Spartans formed a T-formation and marched toward their target building.
"Snap-!"
There were no moans or screams from injured Soldiers; the only sound was the crackling of wood burning in the fire, which made the place feel slightly less lifeless.
All signs indicated that there were definitely no survivors left on the surface of this Base.
As they passed by a pile of corpses.
"Halt, secure the perimeter." John had the team stop and stand guard on the spot.
He walked slowly to the nearest corpse, crouched down to observe it carefully, and reported via comms:
"Command Center, this is Number Seven. I've discovered that the deceased's face is severely damaged, which matches the situation described by the boss."
"Command Center received, Spartan. Please proceed with caution."
"Affirmative."
After ending the contact with the Command Center, John stood up, returned to the team, and continued advancing toward the target.
Before long, the four Spartans followed the route provided by Cortana, traversing the camp area filled with corpses.
The causes of death varied.
Some were fully armed.
Some were only wearing underwear and undershirts.
Seeing this scene, all the Spartans couldn't help but feel a sense of pity.
If it were during the day and with proper preparation, even when facing undead creatures, these two thousand elite troops would at least not have been wiped out so quickly.
That thing must be contained!
Having witnessed such a tragic scene, the Spartans became even more determined in their conviction.
Accelerate forward.
Passed through the camp area.
Finally, they arrived in front of the dilapidated Command Building.
"Disperse, secure the perimeter."
"Affirmative."
Daisy and Krieg, relying on the vision provided by their Thor's Hammer, easily leaped over the collapsed concrete pillars in front of the door and leaned against both sides of the entrance to stand guard.
Myron followed closely behind.
As John walked inside, he said: "Number Four, report the situation."
"In position, the view is perfect."
"Very good." After hearing Karl's response, John was the first to walk into the building and ordered:
"Number Five, Number Ten, according to our hypothesis, the Shy Guy is very likely in the bunker. You two go and reconnoiter first."
"Affirmative." (x2)
Having received the order, Daisy and Krieg passed John and, using a front-and-back formation, cautiously advanced deep into the building.
"Number Three, follow me to confirm if there are any survivors inside the building, so as to avoid accidental casualties when we deploy white phosphorus bombs."
"Affirmative."
"Thump-thump-." Myron, clad in heavy armor, walked with heavy steps behind John.
"Cortana, assist with the scan."
"Affirmative."
"Move." After giving the order, John waved his hand and led Myron to carry out the search and rescue mission.
While the two were searching, Cortana reported:
"Scanning the building... Scan complete. I have found the entrance to the bunker stairwell and marked it on your display screens and vision. Sergeant Major, I have also marked every room on the first floor to avoid the error of you and Number Four searching the same areas."
Looking at the display on his screen, John said in a low voice: "Good."
Next, John and Myron searched room by room, relying on their superior vision and reaction speed to clear every room thoroughly.
Nothing was found.
Since that was the case, John and Myron just exchanged a glance and continued to move upward, alternating cover.
Shortly after;
"Sergeant Major, Number Five and Number Ten have successfully entered the bunker and actually discovered the Base's Commander, Major General Holt, and a significant number of survivors! This indicates there are no traces of the Shy Guy in the bunker, and my scans cannot detect it at all, so please be extremely careful." Cortana said worriedly.
"Affirmative." John's voice remained steady and emotionless as he ordered:
"Number Three, escort the survivors out of the building with me first. Number Five and Number Ten will be responsible for searching for the Shy Guy."
"Affirmative." (x3)
Subsequently, John and Myron, who were in the second-floor hallway, turned around in unison, preparing to head toward the stair landing to return to the first-floor lobby.
However. Just as Myron walked past the corner on his left, he locked eyes with a gray-faced person...
That gray-skinned guy was surprisingly about the same height as Myron, who was wearing Thor's Hammer, standing at around 2.4 meters.
It was extremely thin, appearing severely malnourished, and the length of its arms was seriously disproportionate to its body.
Its face resembled a human's, but its eyes were also gray, lacking pigment.
"Shy Guy?" Myron blurted out.
The Shy Guy, or 096, was stunned after seeing the 'green giant' in front of it, then revealed a very painful expression, raised its eerie hands to cover its face, and screamed loudly: "Ah——!!!"
"Target sighted! Target sighted!"
Regaining his senses, Myron first shouted a warning over the comms, and instinctively raised his right leg, kicking 096.
"Bang——!"
Myron's solid, heavy-tonnage force landed on 096, which didn't have much muscle tissue, and sent it flying away with that kick.
"Boom!—rumble-rumble!"
096, having been kicked, punched through several walls, and with the force still undiminished, 'left' the Command Building directly.
"Number Three."
At this moment, John was finally no longer indifferent. He walked quickly to Myron's side, looked at the hole that had been smashed out, and asked the latter with concern: "Did you see its face?"
"Yeah." Myron nodded, gripped his Gauss machine gun, and said fearlessly: "Looks like we have to go head-to-head with the Shy Guy."
"..." John looked at his friend for a moment, then ordered in a calm tone:
"Number Five, Number Ten, change of plans. Number Three and I will pin down the target; you two escort the survivors away from here first. Number Four, take the shot whenever you get the chance."
"Affirmative." (x4)
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