Chapter 825: Preparing for the Assault

“The firepower is simply too strong. That makes me even less willing to let you go inside. That’s a dam we’re talking about. If you damage its structure and compromise its stability, it could collapse. There may be no human settlements downstream, but plenty of other creatures live there. They wouldn’t stand a chance against a flood.”

Bonnie nodded in agreement without paying any attention to Minotaur’s opinion.

Seeing this, Wild Boar knew his persuasion had worked. Instead of bringing up nonexistent human villages and towns, he had directly pointed out the creatures living in the area. Sure enough, that argument worked on these two Eternals.

To them, all life was equal. Just because no humans lived there didn’t mean they could allow the dam to collapse and cause disaster for other living creatures.

Minotaur armor, which had eagerly carried a rocket launcher out with it, now looked utterly disappointed. “Fine. I’ll just stay outside.”

With a swing of both arms, the launcher was retracted by the mechanical arms and stowed on the back of the armor.

The remaining Aetos armor, which had not yet been assigned a task, stared straight at them with its huge, round eyes.

Aetos was also a fully enclosed suit of armor. Since it was primarily based on Isu technology, it was a size smaller than Minotaur and Bonnie.

Its head, meanwhile, was modeled after the Egyptian god Horus, taking the form of a falcon’s head. Its design followed a realistic aesthetic rather than the slightly cartoonish style of Minotaur.

Being stared at by Aetos at this moment was like being watched by a bird of prey. And because the design was so realistic, it amplified the uncanny-valley effect, making one’s scalp tingle faintly.

Wild Boar armor braced himself and said, “Aetos will enter the dam base with me and follow behind. We’ll operate as one unit in the open and one in the shadows. As long as I don’t make a mistake, you stay out of sight. At the same time, collect combat data on Isu technology from a third-party perspective. How does that sound?”

“Hmm. Do you make mistakes?”

“The best choice in the moment isn’t necessarily the best choice for the bigger picture. And as long as people have selfish motives, what they do isn’t necessarily always right. So if I make a mistake, remind me. But Stryker and his son have to die. There can be no compromise on that.”

“Fine. You really do hate that father and son. Don’t you think we’d move faster if we acted together?”

Wild Boar answered frankly, “To be honest, I’d rather none of the armor you’re using be exposed to the U.S. military, so that you can continue using it normally afterward. I’m going into this fully aware that this armor may end up on the U.S. military’s wanted list and have to be scrapped someday.”

“You actually thought about that?” Minotaur was greatly surprised.

Wild Boar looked at everyone. “Why wouldn’t I? The whole point of disguising yourself is so that other people can’t recognize you. What we normally do isn’t exactly evil, but it isn’t something the law permits, either.

“This time, we’re directly going after the U.S. military and sending one of their senior officers to his death. Even if they can’t uncover our true identities, if we want to keep using these identities in the future, what we can use them for may become restricted.

“To solve that problem, either we have to be prepared to abandon the Wild Boar armor, or completely redesign it, from its exterior to its internal structure, so that no one can connect the two suits. And that won’t be easy.”

This was the first time Wild Boar had voiced his concerns to the others. It sounded quite reasonable. But the situation Thena pointed out struck at the heart of the matter.

“Actually… if no one else has displayed similar armor technology, then just wearing a suit like this in public makes it difficult for people not to regard similar individuals as belonging to the same group.”

“Exactly.” Minotaur armor chimed in, deliberately playing devil’s advocate. “Unless you openly declare that you’re not on the same side as the others. But as long as that claim can’t be verified, wouldn’t people still find it difficult not to suspect you?”

“That’s right.” Aetos armor joined in as well. “Even if you insist on it, I imagine those suspicious of you will either demand that you reveal your true identity, or ask you to help capture the other ‘villains’ to prove your innocence. Can you do that?”

The disposable Wild Boar armor had no function for mimicking the wearer’s facial expressions. But Wild Boar himself could imagine that his real face was probably one giant expression of embarrassment.

He scratched his pig snout, wedged between two enormous tusks, and said awkwardly, “Anyway, it shows that I’ve at least thought about it. At the very least, the appearance isn’t exactly identical. If we get into a dispute later, I can still argue my case.”

Although the blind spot had been pointed out, Minotaur and the others were still willing to cooperate with Wild Boar. They only wanted to join in on the excitement; they weren’t actually bloodthirsty people looking for an excuse to kill.

None of them were particularly murderous. It was just that when there was excitement to be had and they weren’t right there in the front row, they felt an itch they couldn’t quite scratch.

Before the operation began, Wild Boar shared all the information and precautions he knew with everyone. In the end, several photographs appeared on the display.

“These are the mutants I discovered inside the base. Aside from two whose abilities have been confirmed, the abilities of everyone else are unknown. So be especially careful when you encounter them.

“Most importantly, we don’t know whether any of them have telepathic abilities. I’ve upgraded the helmets of all the armor, but I can’t guarantee they can completely isolate telepathy the way Magneto’s helmet does. So please be extremely careful.”

Once their assignments and the key precautions had been confirmed, the four suits of armor immediately split up.

Minotaur and Bonnie only had immature optical camouflage systems. But on this night, with no streetlights and a crescent moon hidden behind the clouds, even without activating their optical camouflage, anyone without night vision would be unable to see them.

The two suits therefore quickly reached the locations Wild Boar had mentioned earlier and waited there. Although cutting off communications might not necessarily alert the enemy immediately, they still chose not to alert the enemy unnecessarily.

“Minotaur in position.”

“Bonnie has reached the designated position.”

Wild Boar and Aetos both activated their distortion fields.

A field capable of bending even light was a more advanced form of camouflage technology than optical camouflage. Combined with the mental interference capabilities of Isu technology, the two suits appeared completely invisible to human eyes and surveillance cameras alike.

However, unlike Aetos, Wild Boar armor could not use its distortion field to create a cutting function. It could only use the field for defense and camouflage.

They approached the entrance Wild Boar had planned to infiltrate, one in front and one behind.

“Wild Boar standing by.”

“Aetos ready.”

Because everyone was using the internal communications channel, and the armor was sufficiently well sealed, no one outside could hear the wearers’ voices as long as the external speakers remained off. So they could still speak normally.

There was no prohibition against talking. But on the eve of the operation, an oppressive tension still permeated the otherwise silent communications channel.

Cassandra wasn’t worried about her two old friends. The Eternal warriors were people even a Spartan like her respected. But she was somewhat worried about her other new friend, especially since today’s operation involved his own “personal grudge.”

So Cassandra tried to break the suffocating silence by bringing up an unrelated topic.

“By the way, Wild Boar, I’ve always wanted to ask you. Why is your armor painted half black and half orange? Does it have some kind of significance?”

Although the armor’s existing detection systems could not “see” the Aetos armor concealed within the distortion field, the identification signals shared by their systems still displayed Aetos’s location.

Wild Boar looked toward the Spartan who had asked the question and simply replied, “Those are Deathstroke’s colors.”

Yes, Deathstroke.

The person inside the Wild Boar armor was quietly changing, his personality gradually turning in a certain direction.