Volume 16 Tower of Babel Chapter 992: Stand Firmly! !
When the antenna of this communication device was fully opened, a circle of ripples that were imperceptible to the naked eye spread out in all directions with it as the center.
The first torch in the darkness was lit.
Soap, holding a gun, just walked to the door of the store. As if he sensed something, he turned around to look in the direction of the warehouse and exhaled heavily.
He tried to put aside the messy thoughts in his mind, but his thoughts were completely out of control.
"I'm going to die, right? Facing the siege of those men in black... we can't hold out with just the four of us... The Joker might have a chance to survive, but Nouvel, I, and that Ulrich, will definitely die..."
"No, our mission doesn't require us to hold out for too long. Just fifteen minutes is enough for the clown to send the message, and we'll be considered successful..."
"Using my life to exchange for a piece of information... I never thought that this kind of plot that is often played out in novels and movies would actually happen to me..."
"I don't want to die... but it seems like there's no chance of survival..."
The tip of Soap's thumb gently stroked the anti-slip pattern on the rifle grip... The polymer grip had a temperature close to human body temperature because it was held tightly for a long time, forming a sharp contrast with the cold metal receiver above.
After a person dies, it won’t take long for the body to become as cold as this, right?
Hearing the footsteps behind him, Nouval, who was guarding the door, turned around, made an OK gesture to Soap, and said, "There are booby traps set up at several street corners around here. Although they are not very powerful, if there are any living creatures approaching, at least we can get a warning in advance."
"Yeah." Soap nodded. "The Joker has probably already started the machine... for fifteen minutes. As long as we can hold on for fifteen minutes, we can find a way to escape."
"Fifteen minutes...Have you thought about the retreat route after the message is sent?" Noir asked.
"I haven't thought about it..." Soap originally wanted to say that there was no need to consider retreating because they wouldn't live to see that time. But after hesitating for a moment, he swallowed the second half of the sentence and said something else, "I forgot. I'm too lazy to think about it now."
"Me too." Noir shook his head. "I'm just a soldier. I only need to follow orders. I don't have the ability to plan my own action plan."
"Noir, do you trust the Joker?" Soap asked, "He's obviously... that kind of monster, but I always feel that he can be trusted... He obviously refuses to reveal any important information to us, but I still think that what he is doing is right and meaningful... Damn, sometimes I even wonder if he has brainwashed me by some unknown means."
"Who else can we trust besides him?" Noir shrugged. At this point, he showed an indifferent expression on his face. "We have seen the current situation of the Ark...Except for those people in the wilderness, I am afraid we are the only survivors here. As for those men in black, do you think they can still be considered 'human'?"
"..." For a moment, Soap didn't know how to answer Noir's question. He shifted his gaze to Ulrich who was standing next to him. At this time, Ulrich had changed into a high-end suit that he had picked up from somewhere. The length of the suit fit him well, but his skinny body couldn't support the suit. It always looked as if there was nothing inside.
"This guy was sent to a military court for deserting...I think he won't run away again this time?" Soap said in a voice that only Noir could hear.
Soap had once served in the field force, and even though he didn't think he was a good soldier, at least he wouldn't desert... let alone murder his superiors, causing the annihilation of friendly forces.
"I don't know." Noir shook his head. "It's better to be careful. I don't care if he runs away, but I'm afraid he will stab me in the back." Noir whispered.
"Is it necessary..." Soap made a "cutting" motion with his palm.
"That's not necessary... He can at least be considered a fighting force." Noir raised his wrist and glanced at the dial. "Two minutes have passed. There are still thirteen minutes left."
"What are you talking about?" Ulrich suddenly turned around and looked straight at Soap and Noir. At this time, Soap's palm still maintained the "cutting" posture.
"Nothing, nothing." Soap smiled awkwardly and withdrew his hand. Just when he was about to explain, a series of explosions suddenly came from the street corner not far away!
"They are coming!" Nouval shouted in a deep voice, picked up the weapon beside him, and turned over to enter a makeshift barricade.
This barricade was made of an overturned iron table and a few empty oil drums, without even a sandbag... It might be OK to block 9mm pistol bullets, but it would definitely not be able to stop rifle bullets. The so-called barricade could only provide visual shielding.
Soap retreated back into the shop and used the butt of his gun to sweep away the debris on the windowsill. He then used the butt of his gun to smash a hole in the glass window, stuck the muzzle of the gun through the hole, and aimed it at the street intersection where the explosion came from.
As for Ulrich, after hearing the explosion, he retreated into the shop next door. It was unknown whether he was hiding inside trembling or escaping through the back door of the shop.
"Damn it, I knew that bastard couldn't be trusted!" Soap cursed, "Now there are only two of us, it will be even harder to hold on for fifteen minutes!"
"Twelve minutes and thirty seconds left," Noir corrected.
The figures of the men in black soon appeared at the corner of the street. The moment he saw this group of people, Nouval's pupils couldn't help but shrink.
The equipment of these black-clad men was intact, and there were no obvious holes or burn marks on the black robes wrapped around the light infantry armor. Nouval was very clear about the power of the booby traps he had set up. They would not cause fatal injuries to these black-clad men, and at most they could only delay them for a while and give them an early warning. However, none of these black-clad men had been attacked by booby traps, which meant that the booby traps were detonated after they were discovered.
"It's difficult." Noir muttered softly. He was not afraid of the enemy's strength, but he was afraid that the strong enemy had a good brain... Noir thought that the booby traps were already hidden enough. With the enemy marching at full speed, there was no way they would have time to conduct a detailed inspection of every corner of the street...
Even booby traps could not escape the search of the men in black, let alone the two living people. The moment the group of men in black appeared from the corner, bullets rained densely on the barricades and shop fronts. The glass doors with various advertising posters were instantly shattered to pieces, and Soap was suppressed by the fierce firepower and could not even raise his head.
The two rounds of alternating shooting lasted for a full minute and a half. Although in Soap's eyes, those "men in black" were monsters rather than humans, the opponent's tactical proficiency was not inferior to any elite team of the field force. They provided fire cover, alternating advances... all kinds of tactical moves were quite standard. They even deployed snipers at several commanding heights in the distance.
Soap heard the roar of the sniper rifle mixed in with the sound of automatic weapons more than once. The concrete wall he used as a cover could not stop the anti-material caliber armor-piercing bullets. He could only retreat again and again, giving up the excellent shooting position at the window.
After the gunfire from the man in black stopped, Soap dared to look out the door, and at the same time whispered, "Noir? Noir, how are you now?"
No one responded to his call. The simple, non-bulletproof barricade had been riddled with holes, and red-black blood was slowly spreading from behind an overturned oil drum.
"Why am I the only one left again - Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" Soap cursed three times in a row, then picked up the gun and ran towards the store.
The outer wall of the store could be easily penetrated by anti-material sniper rifles, and there was no safe spot in the entire front half of the store. Soap could only hide behind the cashier counter and stick the muzzle of the gun out from the side of the counter.
The cash register counter of this store is specially made. The surface looks like a polymer material with imitation wood texture, but it is actually lined with several bulletproof steel plates containing Nino alloy... Although this store is located in the West Fifth District with good security, the underground black market is still a gray area on the Ark. In addition, there are many valuable things in the store, and the risk of robbery is not low. The owner of the store had to spend a lot of money to build such a bulletproof counter, and even stuffed a compact gun cabinet under the counter.
It's a pity that this bulletproof counter was fixed to the ground with screws, and they had no time to move it... Otherwise, if this thing was used as the main shelter of the barricade, perhaps Nouvel would not have died so early.
Soap had no time to sigh. After the gunshots stopped, there was a sound of footsteps arriving at the store door. He clearly heard the sound of the empty oil barrel being kicked away and rolling on the ground - "Bang! Bang!" Two more gunshots were heard. It was obvious that the men in black were shooting at the fallen Nouval.
"These beasts actually know how to finish off the enemy." Soap reached into the gun cabinet and unexpectedly touched a good thing - "NZ14 defensive grenade", which has a nickname in the military and mercenary circles, called "small steel melon". This thing looks like a pumpkin and weighs 3.5 kilograms. When it explodes, it will shoot 3,800 prefabricated fragments in all directions. If used without a shelter, it is definitely a weapon to die together with the enemy.
"What on earth has this store been through... why would they put something like this under the cash register?" Soap couldn't help but mutter to himself.
He glanced at the clock on the wall out of the corner of his eye. There were still ten minutes and ten seconds left before the fifteen minutes agreed upon by the clown.
The footsteps were getting closer, and the heavy rubber-soled boots stepped on the broken glass, making a "cracking" sound that was extremely uncomfortable to the eardrums... This meant that the man in black had passed through the broken glass door and entered the inside of the store.
They were no more than ten meters away from the cash register.
“Try this!”
Soap turned the delay fuse of the "Little Steel Melon" to the shortest "one second" setting, pulled out the safety pin and threw it out - "BOOM!!!"
In the deafening explosion, all the glassware in the store were shattered, and countless metal fragments flew out in all directions, mowing down the first group of black-clad men who entered the store like mowing straw, and at the same time smashing the furnishings and furniture in the store into a mess. The only piece of furniture that did not disintegrate was the cashier counter where the soap was hiding.
But Soap, who was leaning against the counter , could still feel the impact force of the metal fragments nailed to the counter. The muffled "bang bang bang" sounds were like hitting his eardrums. Fortunately, these bulletproof armor plates were real, otherwise Soap would have been beaten into a pulp by the dense metal fragments.
The main killing method of "Little Steel Melon" is metal fragments, and the shock wave is not too strong. Therefore, although the explosion distance is very close, Soap was not knocked unconscious, but only had a buzzing in both ears.
"Fuck... these bastards, I don't know how many of them died..." Soap didn't dare to stick his head out to look. He used the groove at the end of the butt of the gun to hook a piece of glass on the ground and used the reflection of the glass to observe the situation outside - about seven or eight men in black entered the store. At this time, they had all fallen to the ground, but no one was dead. Their bodies were all wriggling strangely, as if they would get up from the ground at any time.
"Damn it, they are a bunch of immortal monsters!" Soap cursed in a low voice, turned around and began to rummage through the gun cabinet under the table again.
Unfortunately, there is only one CQB killer weapon like the "Little Steel Melon", and the rest are some 9mm pistols and submachine guns, as well as a few boxes of bullets. The most powerful weapon in the entire gun cabinet is a short rifle with the buttstock removed and an ultra-short barrel, which still uses 5.56mm caliber bullets handed down from the old era.
As for the enemies that even the "Little Steel Melon" couldn't kill, Soap didn't expect these guns to have any killing effect on them... He took off two more grenades he had brought with him from his equipment, threw them towards the entrance of the store, then hunched over and ran back quickly.
This shop is a three-story structure, the outermost store, the innermost is the reception room for business talks and product inspection, and the innermost is the owner's living room, with a depth of more than 20 meters. The outermost store has bought Soap five minutes, as long as the reception room and the living room can each delay for another five minutes, then his blocking mission will be completed!
