In the central headquarters of Hakone Base, a search team consisting of 25 people under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Claire Dauntless who are aboard a XC-03 Transport Aircraft was shot down. The group are searching hard for the missing Kouki who is in Russia. Itâs been 18 hours since the hotel in Russia was attacked by the terrorist organization called âNew WorldââŠ. We are unable to pin point the location of Kouki and Senior Lieutenant Anton Volkkievich, who is acting as his escort.
Since itâs the Senior Lieutenant, he probably managed to let Kouki escape alone and find a way to go for the Finnish Border, however there is no trace of him in Finland as well as any word that he arrive at Noahâs safe house.
âWe are in a bindâŠâ
I said that while mentally exhausted as I sit in the commander chair. If Kouki was captured by New World, they should have made some statements to Noah but it has been 18 hours and there is nothing. Kouki must have found a place to hide⊠or he is already deadââ I was starting to think about the worst possible situation when Shuichi-san who was sitting next to me started to talk.
âMiki, we are able to contact the Russian Troops surrounding the hotel and learned about the weapons the enemy are usingâ
âTell me in detail. We need to know the opponentâs equipment if we are to dispatch our own unitsâ
âThey are using an unknown new type of power suit, which seems to be somewhat similar to a 6th Generation. The heavy infantry are using a reinforced skeleton with optical camouflage capability. It was also confirmed that they have Assault Type VSTOL Aircraft that resembles ours and it is possible that they are equipped with directional EMP weapons.â
âAre you kidding me!?â
I know that my husband is saying the truth but I still blurt those words without thinking. Since it is an unknown power suit, it was probably something that they develop themselves. It means that they were able produce enough numbers to provide on each of their soldiers. Even the directional EMP weapons, Noah developed something similar but it is still at prototype stage and not yet usable for actual combat. If everything Shuichi-san saying is true then that means New World has the same technical and financial capabilities as Noah.
âThis looks pretty bad, did you learn anything about Dr. Sandra Zelenskaya?â
âAa, we received data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Itâs actually surprising, it was a top secret information of their security department that they intend to never go out in public. As expected, they are also starting to get impatient. Anyway, they probably like to lighten our mood against them with thisâ
Ironically, the Russian Government is plagued due to their own action. I received the documents that Shuichi-san handed over and looked into it. I finally understood the words of Kouki earlier during their meeting when he said âsame level of genius as my motherâ.
Born on March 15, 2060. She is 2 years older than I am. At 12 years old, she graduated top of her class in Moscow State University. Mechanical Engineering, Robotics, Artificial Life and even got PhD in Quantum Physics. Her original theory is the Reincarnation of Life⊠When she announced âThe Theory of Soul Reincarnationâ, she was expelled from a major conference and all registration about it was deleted in 2088. At that time, she was responsible for the top secret project known as âProject Aliceâ. After that, she did her own research behind the worldâs shadow. Also, there is another document together with it butââ
âThe mathematical equation attached to this document seems to be a conjecture of quantum physics theory. The method on how the theory was approach is slightly different from how Kouki did it but if you study it side by side, it will reach the same conclusion. There is also a document for a new design of powersuit that uses artificial muscle and a new type of power reactor. Shuichi-sanâŠ, this is unbelievable. This is basically the idea and theory for the Type-0 Powersuit that we are currently researchingâ
ââŠyou canât be serious? that meansâŠâ
âYeah, âsame level of genius as my motherâ? That is an understatement and it is not even funny, Dr. Sandra Zelenskaya is without a doubtââ a genuine âGeniusâ which is at the same level as Koukiâ
To have 2 geniuses who can shake the foundation of the current modern age, what kind of joke is that. If she⊠if Dr. Zelenskaya had people around her who could understand her before, I wonder how this world could have change.
Being chased out and treated as crazy without anyone trying to understand. A genius who created the terrorist organization called âNew Worldâ for her revenge. If their past was the other way around, it is possible that Kouki might have been on her situation instead.
âMiki-san, President Shumsky of Russia is on the hotlineâ
Elis-san who is my personal adjutant made a report without changing her expression while I was in a whirlpool of thoughts. She is also uncertain about her sisterâs safety and it is obviously taking an emotional toll on her but when I told her to take a rest in her room, she said that she wants to remain in this place and will carry out her duties. She believed that we will find her sister safe.
âPlease display him on my screenâ
An elderly man with poor complexion appears on the terminal installed on my desk. Recently, there are no summons from United Nations which cause less opportunities to talk with the president of Russia directly but there is no doubt that the person reflected in my terminal is President Shumsky himself.
âLong time no see, Joshiâ
âLong time no see, Mister President.â
The last 18 hours must have burned him out. Confirmation request if Kouki is safe from each country was being received non-stop together with Inspection Request to check if they violate Arakawa Treaty. On top of that, the act of terrorism is still on-going in the capital of his country. There is no doubt, his political career is over. After the conclusion of this case, Iâm sure that he will pass his resignation.
âI am ashamed that your son was caught up in a terrorist attack during his sightseeing here in Russia. Currently, we have completely surrounded the hotel and will make sure to suppress the terrorists while ensuring the safety of the hostages. In addition, we are also conducting a sweeping strategy to wipe out the terrorist groupâââ
âSpare me the pretentious talk. What we demand is a visual confirmation on the safety of Kouki and the flight crew members under Lieutenant Colonel Claire Dauntless. Under Arakawa Treaty, the EU Union, US Marine Corps, Russian Pacific Fleet and the UNâs Army 6th Division have been ordered to DEFCON 2. I think you know already that military action under the Arakawa Treaty give me full authority in decision-making, however, if your country is not showing sincerity then I might need to make a difficult decisionâ (TN:The DEFCON system was developed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) and unified and specified combatant commands. It prescribes five graduated levels of readiness (or states of alert) for the U.S. military. It increases in severity from DEFCON 5 (least severe) to DEFCON 1 (most severe) to match varying military situations. DEFCON 2 means that armed forces should be ready to deploy and engage in less than 6 hours)
ââŠJoshi, no, Arakawa-san, I cannot do anything more than this anymore. Our navy is headed to the place where your Transport Aircraft was shot down, we can certainly tell you any information in a few hours about it but we really have no information about your son. Did he really not contact you?â
âHe has not. Mister President said that you cannot do anything anymore but did you look through all the surveillance cameras in the city?â
âOf course. We confirmed that he jumps into the river with a power suit from the hotel and walked into an alley 150 meters away from it. From there, we lost track of himâ
Such a stupid thing cannot happen, that kid is certainly smart but he was not trained as a soldier who can break through an enemy or like a spy who can completely erase his trace. The only thing that can keep him safe is his personal terminal but without it, he is just a helpless 15 year old child. So, what is going on here?
âI apologize for interrupting your conversation but the Chief of Convention against Transnational Organized Crime of United Nation has contacted us and said that it is urgentâ
âIf you have any new information, please let us know. I will notify other country not to engage in any military action for now. I also want to avoid in triggering a major war just because of this rescue operationâ
âI understand. Thank Youâ
The communication ended and the screen became black, after a while a red-haired woman who was wearing a UN staff uniform was shown next. The woman who had a very nervous expression place some documents on her desk when she saw me on the screen and started to greet me.
âWa, Nice to meet you. I am Stabinger of the Illegal Arms Trade Prevention Teamâ (TN: The âWaâ is a panicked voice. You know, like âuhmâ or those filler before the actual words when you are really nervous)
âNice to meet you, I am Arakawa. I heard you have an urgent news?â
âWa, Yes. Recently, here in Russia, we are tracking money from a weapon merchant, Vladimir Striarov. We are gathering information about his customers to submit to the international court as evidence. During the information gathering⊠uhm, about an hour ago, we got information about a weapon deal with a tremendous amount of money involved. That is why, we search the customer information using the credit card used and it turns out it belongs to the personal account of Arakawa Koukiâ (TN: Wow, we are getting a lot of names in this chapter. My head cannot keep up. I need to make a note)
âThe account of Kouki is with the International Bank. If he wants to transfer credits of more than $1 million he needs to personally authenticate it using a special certification machine. If he is kidnapped or being threaten, the machine will detect the abnormality of pulse and blood pressure and the authentication will show it⊠if it is at least an hour ago, then it is safe to say that the credits where moved by his own free willâ
âYes. That is why the staff here hacked into the terminal of Striarov to get information about the purchased weapons. Should we send the data to you?â
âPlease send it immediately!! And you say your name was Stabinger? I will send a formal letter from myself and Noah at a later date to United Nation expressing our gratitude for your cooperationâ
âEh, T-Thank you very much. Well then, please excuse meâ
Thank goodness⊠Really, thank goodness. I do not know the detailed situation yet but for the time being, I know that he is safe. It seems he found a way to hide himself but I wonder how he did it? However, I wonder why he made a contact with a weapon merchant? If he just need something to protect himself, then he can just pay cash to the merchant to buy whatever he wants.
While thinking about such a thing, a data was sent into my personal terminal by Stabinger-san. Apparently, the same document was sent to Shiuichi-san. He quickly check the contents with a curious face but soon his complexion changed and let out a loud voice.
âThat idiot!! Is he planning to start a war in a city!? Miki, Kouki bought old fashioned weapons that works against EMP. He even have an anti-tank guns without guidance system for a whole platoon⊠No, wait⊠He bought shells for a Howitzer but did not buy the Howitzer itself. I see, He will use those as IED. That means he plans for guerrilla warfare using improvised explosivesâ (TN: Howitzer is an artillery gun for firing shells on high trajectories at low velocities. IED is a simple bomb made and used by unofficial or unauthorized forces)
I was surprised on Shuichi-sanâs words so I display the document in my terminal in a panic. What written in there are enough equipment to do urban combat in a short while. There are 30 old-fashioned automatic rifles and 5 sub-machine guns which were once used by the Russian army 100 years ago for nuclear attack, a Helicopter that uses vacuum tubes instead of semiconductors, anti-personnel and anti-tank mines, a backpack-type flamethrower that uses gelatinized gasoline, Howitzer shells, Battle Helmets which are not used for a very long time due to Reinforced Exoskeleton. Modern Military Official who will see this list will no doubt say that it is a list of antiques. (TN: Gelatinized Gasoline are gasoline treated with a thickening agent; used in napalm bombs and flamethrowers. Also known as Gasoline Gel, Jellied Gasoline or Thickened Fuel.)
âShuichi-san, is it possible to destroy a power suit using the equipment listed in this document?â
âIt is impossible to destroy powersuits using those but it is possible to disable them. When attacking a powersuitâs exhaust using a flame thrower, it can cause the limiter to overheat. Same with the anti-tank mine, if you remodel the mine and have projectiles all over it, once it explodes the projectiles can pierce through the weaker joints. There is no way that this is Koukiâs idea. Only someone who is experienced in unconventional warfare can think of something like this. If possible, I do not want to fight against such kind of opponentsâ
There is only one fighting force of a single platoon who have experience in unconventional warfare, who is in Russia and has the possibility to side with Kouki. Ministry of Foreign Affairs Intelligence Bureauâs External Special Operation Unit, âChernobogâ. Even Claire-san was not able to verify if they really existed and Senior Lieutenant Anton did not provide us with any information. The strongest unit in Chernobog which is known as the strongest when it comes to unconventional warfare is called âSerpâ.
The word means âScytheâ in Russia and it is reassuring to know that they are on our side. Yoshi, Noahâs course of action is now decided. Perhaps, Kouki are giving those weapons to Serp and decided to hold out by means of guerrilla warfare while waiting for reinforcements. That means, we need to locate the location where that child did his credit transactionââ
âMiki-san! We receive communication from Kouki-kun in a regular lineâ
âPlease transfer the communication to the secured line immediatelyâ
âW-well, he said not to do that and he wants to contact you as it isâ
What the heck is he saying!? If you use a regular line, it may reveal your location to New World. Why wonât you transfer to the secured line? I was looking at the screen while suppressing my feelings of anxiety. Kouki who looks like a bit tired was reflected on the screen. I was relieved for a while but I became nervous again when I see the figures of the people around him. Probably the people here in this room who are looking at the same screen feels the same.
âKouki! You are safe. Who are those armed people? Donât tell me they are memebers of New World?â
âAa~ Itâs true that they almost look like an old-generation terrorists because they are wearing Balaclavaâ
What do you mean by âalmostâ? They âexactlyâ look like terrorists. They are wearing old-fashioned camouflage clothes and helmets while automatic rifles are hanging from their shoulders. They looks like anti-government guerrillas in the early 2000s that I saw from documentary films. Does that mean Kouki is their hostage?
âThey are former colleagues of Anton-san. They are people from Chernobog. Ma~ some of them belongs to the Espionage unit too. They are cooperating with me, and we are currently in old Moscowâ
âWait, Ko-chan! You are in the regular line, you know that there is a possibility of New World listening to this lineâ
âI do not mind, rather it was on purpose. Aa~ Captain Yurya, pleaseâ
Kouki called out to a woman soldier who is next to him, she show a map on the screen and point to a specific location with her finger. Koukiâs atmosphere suddenly changed from gentle to serious. I have seen this expression beforeââ It was the same face he did when he was listening to the strategy in mega float when Alice was kidnapped. Yes, it is his face when he decided into something.
âTo Dr. Sandra Zelenskaya, Iâm sure that you are watching this video. You must be frustrated when I escape the hotel? However, I will give you a chance. I am in the old Moscow City, I do not know if you want to catch or kill me but whatever it is, you need need to meet me.
However, I think that it stupid to spare my time to a foolish researcher who believes in the occult such as reincarnation or soul. Thatâs why I am just going to wait here and let you or your men come here. In exchange, Iâd like you to release 3 people who you captured in the hotel. Those are Anton Volkkievich, Yakov Tarkovsky and Yuri Pamfilova. If those 3 people are already dead then this conversation is invalid and I will immediately leave this place. If they are alive, release them near Bechet Lake(ăă±ăæ± ) in the old city. (TN: Iâm not sure what ăă±ăæ± (Be-ke-to chi) is, had a hard time figuring it out so I give up and look at the Light novel. However, when I try to search Bechet Lake in google I came up with nothing. Does Bechet Lake even exist?)
The time of their release is the time that I will try to leave this place, that is also your chance to try and capture me. I will wait for your reply in less than 2 hours, how you will contact me⊠try to think of a way by yourself, even if you are a fool Iâm pretty sure you can think of something right? That is allâ
Kouki who said everything that he wanted say in an arrogant way cut off the communication. Looks like, this is the reason why he tried to contact us. I was stunned by his action which cause me to only stare at the black screen. After a while, I recover and gave instructions throughout the whole headquarters. The attitude of that child, he is absolutely planning something. For now, all I can do is to prepare the full force of Noah and figure out every detail on the location where Kouki is to prepare as reinforcements.
Other than that, I need to contact each country who is a member of Arakawa Treaty and ask for Russiaâs cooperation⊠As always, that child is in the middle of trouble but I believe that he will get the best possible result just like always. Looks like I will be very busyââ