9

There was only one larger building in the south-eastern corner of the factory area, which looked like it might house a super weapon inside. I decided to take my chances with it. There was no trusting that liar's words, but the vague description she gave me was the only lead I had on finding Ran Ran. If I had to go through all the buildings in this enormous place, then might as well begin there.

I took the bottom-down approach, climbed up a fire ladder and slipped in through a window near the edge of the roof.

Once inside, I discovered a vast hall, where large machines and robotics were busy at work putting together even larger machines. It seemed the intel on the Syndicate manufacturing weapons here was right. That made this facility the one where they put together all the individual parts produced elsewhere in the base. Since it stood closest to the bay, the finished products could then be conveniently loaded onto ships and transported anywhere in Gamindustry.

It was just as bad as we'd feared, if not worse.

I didn't even want to imagine the intended purpose of all those weapons.

I spied no guards stationed among the production lines. It seemed a bit odd, but then again, reaching here would expect the intruder to have already outmanoeuvred all the other guards and security systems in the entire base. So placing a few more troops here wouldn't have made much of a difference. Rather, they'd just get in the way of the workers.

In other words, I, having outmanoeuvred all the guards and security systems in the base, could finally afford to relax a little.

Standing up, I put away the cardboard box under which I'd been hiding and took a closer look at my surroundings, using Nepgear's eyepatch gadget. If Ran Ran really was here, then that meant the "secret weapon" the Syndicate was preparing should've also been in this hall, among all the other stuff.

Not that I could see anything that looked particularly super weapon-ish from where I stood.

There were a ton of regular combat droids, gun, cannons, and a lot stranger things, but nothing that would've posed a serious threat against any of the four nations. I decided to set the enemy's big project aside and instead focus on finding Ran Ran...

There were several people here and there in the hall, operating and supervising the assembly lines, and doing whatever it was that they'd been brought here to do.

Even though I called them 'people' for simplicity's sake, in reality, they were all…

"/(' · w · ')/ *oink*"

"\(' · w · ')\ *oink*"

"/(' · w · ')/ *oink*"

"\(' · w · ')\ *oink*"

"/(' · w · ')/ *oink*"

"\(' · w · ')\ *oink*"

Pigs.

I could only hope that the camera in my eyepatch worked as it was meant to, because words alone failed to describe the view.

I had nothing to back it up, but it didn't seem to me these pigs were with the Syndicate. More likely, they were innocent outsiders, who had been abducted and brought here as cheap labor. They toiled away dejectedly, without paying much attention to me or anything that went on around them, as if they completely lacked a mind of their own.

The problem was, if Ran Ran was among them, how was I expected to tell her apart from the rest? This may be a rude thing to say, but...to me, they all looked practically the same.

I guess there was no other way but to ask.

Approaching one of the pigs working on a nearby control panel, I tapped her lightly on the shoulder,

"Excuse me, could I trouble you for a moment? Do you know if there's someone called Ran Ran somewhere in here?"

"Ran Ran?" the pig turned and looked at me blankly. "Is there something you want of this Ran Ran?"

"...Um, by chance, are you Ran Ran...?"

"Yes? Who else would Ran Ran be if not Ran Ran? (' · w · ') Why...?"

That was quick…

"I'm with the Lastation basilicom," I told her. "I'm here to get you out."

"Someone has come to save Ran Ran at last? Ran Ran is so happy she could cry. (' ; w ; ')"

"It's too soon to celebrate. Now that we have the chance, can you tell me quick what the Syndicate is building in here? Do you know where they're hiding their secret weapon?"

—"How about I answer that for you instead?"

"Eh—!?" I looked up, but too late.

We'd already been surrounded.

Looking down on us from the upper floor and walkways coursing over the assembly lines in the hall were the eccentric figures I'd just seen in the previous scene. They sure wasted no time appearing again. The shadowy leader of the Syndicate remnants, Minako...as well her three stooges. Admitted, they got me by surprise.

"Bahahaha!" The crocodile-looking monstrosity laughed. "I bet you thought we'd show up one-by-one at evenly paced intervals like some cheap chapter-enders! Too bad! You get to face all of us at once! Ho,ho,ho!"

"There is little meaning in us running here and there looking for you, is there?" the robot standing next to the crocodile snidely added. "Since the underling was kind enough to tell us what you're looking for, the easiest way is just to wait right here."

"Well, you did make it slightly further than the previous Lastation lackeys, so I'll give you my praise. Pachi-pachi," the sailor girl sluggishly clapped her hands.

"I see. So it was a trap." I tried to look tough, but I did sincerely hope we could avoid a situation like this. "Being able to mask your presence so well, I suppose you lot are a cut above the riffraff."

"You can skip the hard-boiled act," the leader, Minako, mocked me in a tone of superiority. "Your chances of making it out of here alive are nothing short of nil. You know that as well as we do, K-Sha."

I didn't expect to get addressed by name.

"You know who I am…?"

"Why, of course I do," she said. "You may not know who I am, but I know all about you. Isn't it a given that the top brass is aware of their assets? And what a fine asset you were, until you turned your back on us. If you hadn't, we'd be ruling over the world right now. What was the reason for that again? Did we not give you the recognition you deserved? You practically gave a face to our company, was that not enough for you?"

"..."

"No, never mind. Let bygones be bygones, as they say. I harbor no hard feelings towards you. What do you say, K-Sha, join us again and I'll forget about the past—"

"I refuse."

That's one sales pitch I don't feel like listening to the end. Not interested.

"And why is that?" Minako asked. "I am offering you the opportunity and free hands to do what you do best. Is life as a virtuous little school girl that much better? I should tell you this now that I have the chance. Soon enough, this nation will be plunged into the midst of unprecedented chaos. There will be no ordinary everyday life left for anyone. Pick our side and you'll get a headstart with the winning team. Not a bad choice, even if I say so myself. Since all the other cards mean ruination."

In that case, I have all the more reason to say no.

After all, I don't want to live in Lastation without Noire in it.

"I've finally found my own way of doing things. I don't need to answer to anyone anymore," I told her. "Moreover, a lot of people have tried to ruin Gamindustry in the past. The criminal organization ASIC. The Deity of Sin, Arfoire. Affimax. Kurome Ankouboshi. People vastly more powerful than you. Yet, every one of them was stopped in the end. What could you possibly have that will change things?"

"I'm glad that you asked," the villain replied with a wry smile. "Take a look behind you! What all these pigs have built for me!"

At her words, the floor under my feet began to tremble violently.

What I'd taken for a large piece of unknown machinery or a support structure filling the center of the hall turned out to be a shell only, hiding a different sort of a mechanism inside.

As the halves of the shell split apart and were pulled away, the secret underneath became slowly revealed under the spotlights.

"What is that…?" I couldn't help but gasp at the sight of that monstrosity.

"Once long ago, an ancient civilization built the weapons called Killamachines," Minako explained. "They were too powerful to be outright destroyed and had to be sealed away by the CPUs of the time. Investigating numerous ruins and pieces of technology that were left behind from those times, we've managed to create something even deadlier than those relics! Behold! A weapon to surpass the Killamachines! A METAL GEAR DOGOO!"

"NURA~!"

It's tiny eyes flashing red, the gargantuan mountain of metal was activated.

What a...hideous thing.

It's almost more than I can bear to look at.

Anyone who would want to build something so terrible would have to be insane. Irredeemable.

"Combining the aerodynamic shape of a dogoo with the durability and destructive power of a Killamachine, we've succeeded in creating the ultimate weapon. Its large body can house the most potent weaponry science can provide us, and endure any conceivable attack from the outside, while remaining fully mobile. It can be deployed to any continent at will, and not even the CPUs can hold a candle to its might."

"You've got to be kidding me..."

Judging by the looks of it, the thing had to weigh tons and tons. How could it even move? I couldn't see it fitting through the doorway...

"For a long time, finidng a suitable power source to operate its huge mass posed a problem for us," the woman said. "But recently, we happened to discover just the right thing. And to think it was something this small..."

Minako held out her hand, holding a tiny, sparkling object on her open palm.

"That's..."

If my memory serves me right, isn't that one of the Share Crystals from the Zero Dimension?

Share Crystal—jewel incorporating people's faith in their CPU...Producing such a miraculous item was incredibly hard in our world, but in the parallel dimension that became in contact with ours a short while ago, Share Crystals could be found lying around in larger quantities. But how could these people have obtained such a thing? It didn't just get randomly carried over by a monster, did it?

"Finding the right method to harness the power of this thing was another headache, but now, at long last, we've made a breakthrough in our research. With this, the M.G.D. will be completed and we are ready to wreak chaos everywhere in Lastation—no, everywhere in Gamindustry! After defeating Lady Black Heart, we will take over this nation's regiment and use Lastation as a foil for all our future operations. In no time at all, the nations will all be at each others' throats, in a rush to tear apart the ugly, frail peace they've been barely holding together."

What a disgusting plan.

Not only did they plan to bring harm to my Noire and her nation, but also to exploit her name as a cover for their villainy.

"I won't let you do it!" I raised my gun and undid the safety in one fluid motion, taking aim at the enemy.

"I was afraid you would say that," Minako said, not looking all that worried. "Then, there is no other role left for you but to die here. Goodbye, K-Sha."

Without a separate signal, the three enemy agents jumped down.

I had no time to take the shot, with swift attacks coming my way.

I felt a bit bad for going against Jinguji's advice in such reckless manner, but if fighting the lot of them was the only way out of this situation, then fight I would.

My Golden Power may have waned, but I'd appreciate if you didn't take me too lightly. I don't need any cheats to get by on the battlefield...

...Or, that was what I wanted to say.

Though I did an excellent job at sounding courageous, I was fully aware of being hopelessly outnumbered. It might have not been a problem against simple guards, but as expected, those three were powerful. The problem of my rapidly depleting HP aside, with one-on-three, I didn't even get a turn to attack! When I did, my bullets appeared to do no perceivable damage. Were their defenses just that tough, or was there some kind of a trick to it? Where should I be aiming...? Don't tell me this was one of those scripted encounters that you had no choice but to lose for narrative purposes?

This could be bad.

All too soon, I found myself completely cornered.

I anxiously grit my teeth. At this rate, there's a chance I won't be returning to Noire's side again…Ran Ran won't be saved. That gargantuan weapon will be unleashed upon the world. And I...will never be able to pay off my debt.

"HUAAAAA!"

The creepy armored crocodile jumped to deliver the finishing blow. The hammer of my gun let out a hollow click, the magazine was emptied. The other two were blocking the exits. But before the weapon aimed at me, my attention was drawn by something else.

The floor of the hall was—giving in?

Maybe it was damaged during our battle, or maybe it became unable to support the weight of the assembled super weapon, but with a loud boom, the floor on our end of the hall suddenly caved in right beneath us.

There was a cavern of some kind right underneath, with only a thin layer of land to cover it. It appeared the facility had been built atop of it, the engineers ignorant of the risk.

The enemy managed to leap to safety in time, but I, exhausted and out of breath, had no excess strength left for such acrobatics. My fingers failed to gain hold of anything, and together with the debris, I fell into the seemingly bottomless darkness below.

Is this the end...?

After a few seconds of chaotic, uncontrolled descent, I become suddenly submerged in freezing cold water. As it carried me away in a violent subterranean torrent, my consciousness gradually faded to black.