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Chapter 98




Chapter 7 Masked Ball (14)
***
Contrary to initial worries, the Exosuit showed no signs of impaired mobility even with two or three additional passengers.
“Ugh! Ugh!”
“No way! I have to go straight into battle with this thing! I don’t want to spend the whole day smelling vomit! Professor! Do something about your friend!”
“Look far, not close, Vex! Try... the sea! Think of the sea!”
“Never seen it... the sea... Ugh!”
It was just that all the passengers, except the one in the driver's seat, were suffering from severe motion sickness.
“Your friends are really... full of energy.”
“Hahaha, they are a bit unusual.”
“Professor, I don’t remember that friend of yours having such an expression.”
Ralph and Ian looked at the chaotic scene inside Ezelle’s Exosuit and talked.
“What kind of guy was he back then?”
“Hmm... He was far from energetic. Always deep in thought, few words, and a fierce gaze...”
“Him? I haven’t known the Professor for long, but I can’t even imagine it.”
“I couldn’t imagine it either. That friend of mine... becoming so bright like this—”
“Ugh, Ugh!”
“Aaaaah! It’s coming! It’s coming!”
“Ezelle! The ammo box! Pass the machine gun over here!”
“Uuuuuh-!!!”
“Yaaaaah! I have to return that to the armory!”
“You get one, you give one up. For the sake of combat readiness, you have to endure a bit of criticism!”
.
.
.
.
“Hmm... I didn’t think he would become... so bright.”
“Hahaha. It must have been right after the war ended, about five years ago. When Professor Park was still nineteen. They say that in ten years, mountains and rivers change, so in five years, a teenage boy can certainly change. Especially if he lived in the wasteland, where you can’t survive without changing.”
“Just write it off! One ammo box isn’t a big deal!”
“Shut up! Don’t talk nonsense! There’s a lady in the armory with eyes like this (＼ / ) who will skin you alive if you lose anything!”
“Uuuuuh!”
Even though they were familiar with it, and even though victory was almost certain, they were still facing a large-scale battle. The Professor, Vex, and that Ezelle kid were all this noisy on their way to kill people.
It was a common scene. When he was in the military and in the Reptile, the guys would make crude jokes and lewd comments before a mission.
“Maybe it’s their way of relieving tension. After facing death every day, this way of relieving tension has become a part of their lives.”
“Ah, not Ezelle. He was already a bit off before joining the Inspection Department.”
Squeak—
“[Commander Montclaire! Vex says he can see a battery up ahead!]”
“That’s what he says. Squad 3 moved out of the garage almost immediately, so it won’t take long to walk to the dome. You said you wanted to join the battlefield. What are you planning to do now?”
Ian looked at the trailers and angular gray masses that were starting to appear in the distance and turned his head from side to side.
“Who knows. Well...”
“Ian! Get off when we change the battery! From here, we’ll go our separate ways for a bit and then regroup!”
Grin.
“It’s up to our leader.”
As the trailers and the giant shadow behind them drew closer, Ian’s lips curled into a smile.
The massive city, unobscured even by the thick sandstorms of the wasteland, was right in front of them.
***
Ezelle was not easily startled. Of course, his reactions were almost twice as strong as others, but when a person is truly startled or flustered, they don’t scream; their breath gets stuck in their throat, and they can’t speak.
“Huh... Huh...”
From this perspective, Ezelle was currently in a state of great shock.
About ten minutes ago, Ezelle, following an order from Montclaire to “explain to the people in the armory who don’t know about us and join our side,” had come to the armory with the Professor and the others.
‘You’re sure that since your commander gave permission to open the armory, we can take whatever we want? You’re sure?’
‘Yes, do your best. I’ll only say what the commander told me, which is to open the armory “within reasonable limits.” So, do your best! Hehehe!’
Thinking to give them a few guns out of pity for fighting the Reptile’s main force with a half-broken AK, the Professor and the others had come to the armory. However, the armory manager, ‘Karell Vivienne,’ known for her nicknames like “the Witch of the Inspection Department” and “the old maid with a lot of rust,” would go to great lengths to prevent even a single bullet from being taken. As the armory of the Inspection Department, which handled cutting-edge weapons not commonly found in the dome, her strictness in handling weapons was so notorious that even the seasoned commanders of the Inspection Department would shake their heads.
‘Montclaire must have given a rough approval, trusting in her formidable resistance...’
“This... How about this? The latest electronic rifle from Life and Murder...”
“Hmm, I’m sorry, but I don’t prefer firearms with electronic mechanisms.”
“Oh, you really know your stuff! Then how about this! It’s not exactly a classic, but it definitely doesn’t have any electronic mechanisms! It’s a 2037 Hand Cannon! Useful for both area suppression and anti-personnel...”
“Oh, that’s good. Can I take it?”
“Yes, yes! As much as you want!”
“Huh...”
“Huh...”
“Johan... has such skills?”
Next to Ezelle, the Professor and Vex, who had only managed to get one gun and a belt of ammunition from the wide-eyed Vivienne, looked at the armory with a similar, hopeless expression.
Her cheeks flushed red.
Her eyes sparkling.
Small gestures, short words, and a desperate eagerness to do more.
It seemed she wanted to make a good impression, and her voice was a mix of coquettishness and affection.
A few minutes earlier, the armory manager, who had been pale and stern, pushing them around with a harsh tone while smoking heavily, had become a love-struck girl after a brief conversation with Ian.
“Ugh, that’s enough. This should be sufficient. I want more, but...”
“Oh, as much as you need! Take as much as you want...!”
“No, no. Just enough to fit in my bag. So... Vivienne, right?”
“Ah, Ann! Call me Ann!”
“Alright, Ann. Thanks for your help, lady.”
Click, click!
“Hmm, my lighter is out of fuel...”
“Here, use mine!”
“No, I see something better. Excuse me for a moment.”
With a cigarette in his mouth and a lighter in his pocket, Ian approached Vivienne, close enough to feel her breath, wrapped his hand around her neck, and...
Crack—
He brought the lit end of the cigarette in her mouth to the one in his, and took a deep drag.
Ian’s rough face filled her vision, and her breath quickened as the flame from her cigarette transferred to his.
Huff!
“Thanks. I won’t need to look for a lighter on the battlefield, so this is enough for now.”
‘Ah, you’re so cool!’
As Ian’s large, rough hand caressed her flushed cheek, Vivienne finally fainted.
Leaving the unconscious Vivienne behind, Ian calmly left the armory.
Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap!
Seeing his composed demeanor, the Professor, Vex, and Ezelle couldn’t help but clap.
“Hahaha! Shut up, you guys. Your jaws will drop.”
“H-how... how did you...”
Ezelle, looking as if he had just witnessed his parents’ infidelity, was flustered. Ian smacked his forehead and replied.
“Ouch!”
“That’s the wrong way to think, you half-baked kids. Every lady has a diamond-like beauty inside. I just gently touched the beauty that Ann herself didn’t know about.”
Looking at the three dazed men with a disdainful eye, Ian scolded them. In that moment, the Professor discovered a completely new side to his friend, a calm and experienced man in his mid-thirties.
“What kind of life have you lived...”
“Casanova... the steel Casanova...”
“T-tongue...”
“There’s a reason to build goodwill with the armory manager of the dome.”
“So... you used that woman’s feelings? For the guns?”
“What a scumbag...”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. That’s why you’re just kids. Look at Ann over there.”
Following Ian’s scolding, the three turned their gaze to the armory. There, Ann, who had collapsed while clutching the hem of Ian’s coat, was still flushed.
“Look at her. That happy face. Because of the way you guys always looked at her as a witch or an old maid, her inner self as a woman was buried. Women become beautiful when they are loved. I got the weapons, and she regained her womanhood, which she had longed for. It’s a win