I planted a sacred tree in Tokyo.

Chapter 253 The cruel reality

"Captain, we've been locked on!"

In the control room of the light destroyer, a sailor who was a soldier just a few days ago but has now become a pirate is giving a report, his forehead covered in sweat.

Although France is abstract and chaotic, its "Foreign Legion" has been fighting for years to maintain its status as the "Supreme Ruler of North Africa." Its fleet in the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean has always maintained a high level of modernization and combat capability, and its strength is at least among the top ten in the world, so it should not be underestimated.

However, in this sea area known as the "Monster Room of East Asia," the French Navy's strength is insufficient.

However, dealing with a defector destroyer is still no problem.

"calm!"

Marshall, a miniature giant, sat in the driver's seat like a mountain of flesh.

"Sail the ship north into the San Francisco Strait!"

The place names outside of the ceremonial system are numerous, including Saint XXX and Saint XXXX, which have a strong colonial feel to them.

Even near this sea area, there is a city called 'Santiago': it is not the capital of the Republic of Chile, nor is it a resort beach in America. It is just a city name 'wholesale' given by the Spanish. It is one of as many as 46 cities in the world with the name Santiago!

The origin of the name is the Spanish pronunciation of 'Jacob,' one of the twelve apostles.

This large collection of 'Santiago' marks the footprints of Spain's early Age of Exploration.

???

"Captain, what's that over there?"

The sailors operating the ship looked up in horror.
Continuing north, you'll enter the territory of the 'Nine-Tailed Fox': there's no one there anymore, only countless demons.

"We can't—"

boom!
With a gunshot
The sailor, instinctively refusing, fell backward, his head splattering blood onto the control panel beside him.

"I am the captain, and my words are orders!"

The icy gaze of the giant-like man swept over the sailors whose minds had not yet fully shifted from 'soldier' ​​to 'pirate'.

"Don't make me say it a second time."

"Yes Yes!"

"Captain, your orders are absolute."

The remaining crew immediately scrambled to steer the light destroyer around, heading at full speed toward the strait to the north.

The choice between dying now and dying later is not difficult.

It's hard to say whether a missile or a sniper rifle is more dangerous for a destroyer.

But their captain was an absolute ruthless killer.

"Captain, a flying fish is chasing us!"

In the tense cabin, the sailors gave urgent reports.

The Exocet anti-ship missile is an anti-ship missile developed and manufactured in France.

It can fly at near-sonic speeds at a height of less than 5 meters above the water; however, it does not touch the water surface, making it difficult to detect in advance.

"Then intercept it!"

A pirate captain named 'Marshall' gave the order,

"The time has come for you to prove your worth!"

If that's not possible, it's simple: this destroyer will just go to the bottom of the sea and become fish food.

Marshall, who had consumed the 'Extraordinary Pearl,' remained completely unfazed. He could swim freely in the water, so whether the ship sank or not had no effect on him whatsoever!

"Yes, activate the six-cell Sadral anti-aircraft missile system!"

"Mistral anti-aircraft missiles ready—"

"emission!"

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh

On the destroyer's deck, three Mistral surface-to-air missiles roared out, heading towards the Exocet that was skimming the sea from afar.

Boom! Boom! Boom!
Clusters of explosions shot into the air.

Staring intently at the screen, a few seconds later, the sailors in the cabin, who had only been 'switched' to pirates a few days earlier, cheered.

"It worked,"

"Interception successful!"

Destroyers are designed for this purpose: air defense, anti-submarine warfare, support, and patrol. Given their shared lineage, intercepting missiles from hundreds of kilometers away is not a difficult task.

While the excitement of intercepting their own 'country's' missiles was palpable, it also left these sailors with mixed feelings.

slap slap slap,

"Well done, guys."

Marshall clapped his hands and nodded slightly in satisfaction.

If it were his previous fishing boat, he would have been completely helpless; although seizing this destroyer would certainly lead to a pursuit by the French military, so what? He could jump into the sea to escape at any time, so he was not afraid at all.

"Captain, we have spotted several armed motorboats."

Should we kill them?

Some sailors were eager to jump, but the bottom line is something that, once crossed, will only keep slipping away.

With his 2.5-meter frame, Marshall strode out to the ship's window. Without needing binoculars, he could clearly see the small dots on the distant sea.

Five motorboats sped across the sea, seemingly noticing the destroyer, and turned away. Their direction of travel—surprisingly, the same as the destroyer's—was to cross the strait and enter the territory of the Northern Nine-Tailed Fox forces.

"They're a bunch of real men,"

Anyone who dares to enter the northern region at this time deserves respect.

"Unfortunately, it cannot be used by me."

Marshall watched the motorboats that had steered clear of the way disappear into the distance with a touch of regret.

He wants to realize his 'dream' and needs more manpower and to recruit more extraordinary individuals; these people, if he can win them over, would be a great help.

Unfortunately, the other party chose to stay away, which seemed to indicate caution.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

“Ruf,”

"Why is that French destroyer here too?"

On a speeding motorboat, a young man sitting in the back seat looked at the warship in the distance with a puzzled expression.

"have no idea,"

"It's never a bad thing to keep your distance from the other person."

It was he who ordered everyone to take a detour: not to mention why the other party was there; just in front of the warship, their motorboats were like toys that would break at the slightest touch.

Somali pirates only dare to rob cumbersome merchant ships; if they really want to clash with a regular army, they still have to use suicide drone speedboats.

Drivers who don't need any 'burden' will not experience any fear or hesitation.

Hussein is very skilled at using drones and unmanned boats.

But some things...

Ultimately, machines cannot replace it.

"We're here,"

Five motorboats crossed the San Francisco Strait.
Before long, a long, narrow island came into view. Limasawa Island.
Their destination.

The island is not large, but it is not small either. It is more like a long and narrow plateau with sprawling urban buildings extending to the end of the island.

The motorboat was moored at the deserted dock, where traces of the escape still remained, with remnants of clothing scattered everywhere.

"Everyone be careful,"

As Ruf unloaded the rifles, rocket launchers, and backpacks full of ammunition from the motorboat, he reminded the others and put the equipment on.

From here onwards, it is the territory of the Nine-Tailed Fox's forces. Although no Biyous were seen in the sky above this deserted island, it does not mean that landing is safe: when those Biyous and synthetic beasts are resting, they will go inside the buildings and pounce out as soon as someone passes by!
"Deploy reconnaissance drones."

If you don't want to be attacked by demons, drones are the best reconnaissance method.

"it is good,"

One member took out a drone, launched it into the air, and looked down on the city from above.

On the screen, a large number of vehicles were stuck on the road to the dock; out-of-control cars crashed into shops on both sides of the street, and trucks knocked down utility poles. The scene was chaotic, with dried black and red marks everywhere, but no bodies were visible.

The demons will take the human corpses back and feed them to the 'mother' to produce new demons.

This is something that most people on the planet are well aware of: with governments around the world repeatedly promoting it, it's hard not to know.

"No demons were found, and no danger was detected."

The drone pilot reported that after flying around and not detecting any danger, he had completed the flight.

Although they are called drone pilots, they have not received professional training and only have civilian drones in their hands; however, it is still better than human reconnaissance.

"Maintain formation, let's go."

With a wave of his hand, the boy named Luffy led the small group into the city.

Using drones to scout rooftops, and a few people checking the ground, they can complete the search of the city in two days.

This is their first stop after leaving home. If possible, they can also collect some supplies such as fuel, gold, and ammunition in the city.

As for food, there's no need to go out of your way to collect it—transportation in this sea area has been significantly affected, but not completely cut off: various supplies are being transported from other countries to the islands that have not yet fallen.

These 'international aid' are not simply well-intentioned; to put it bluntly, they are meant to help the people here withstand the Nine-Tailed Fox's power.

Moreover, aid supplies are limited; if you want more, you'll have to pay for it yourself.

The group walked cautiously through the desolate city, maintaining their formation as they moved forward.

The entire city was reduced to concrete buildings, resembling tombstones, and cars colliding everywhere in the streets, telling the story of the chaos that followed the disaster.

But now, there are no people or demons, only a group of people holding rifles and moving forward cautiously, their gun barrels constantly sweeping left and right.

"wrong,"

When he reached an empty street, Ruf frowned.

There was amber-colored liquid on the ground ahead.

This is the fluid of a demon!
"Find cover—"

Just as the boy lunged toward the building next to him, gunshots rang out!

Da da da da,

Amidst the distinctive tearing sound of rifles, deadly bullets whistled toward the team.

"ah,"

A short, sharp scream,

Two members who reacted slower fell backward while convulsing.

There was no time to check on the wounded; the others scrambled and crawled to hide in the buildings on either side of the road.

"Three o'clock!"

Ruf rushed into a shop with its doors wide open, put down his rifle, picked up a rocket launcher, and aimed at the second floor of a building at the three o'clock position.

call out----

The armor-piercing projectile, trailing a plume of flame, whistled across the battlefield and plunged into the window of the building.

boom! !

It has to be said, his shot was incredibly accurate.

The enemy's firing positions instantly went silent, although bullets were still being fired from other directions, which relieved the pressure on everyone.

"Deploy the drones to mark the enemy's firing positions!"

As he opened his backpack, took out an armor-piercing round and reloaded it, Luffy tried to find the enemy's firing position. However, the barrage of bullets made him afraid to stick his head out to observe.

Life is only once. In urban warfare, suppress enemy fire first, then use drones for positioning.

In a real battlefield, it's possible to fight for tens of minutes without ever seeing the other side.

The way guns were raised over cover and indiscriminately fired at the other side in the African region was a true reflection of the battlefield.

Anyone who dared to peek out and try to aim is already dead beyond dead.

Buzzing

The drone operator, hiding in the alley across the street, took out his drone from his backpack and began to control it to take off and conduct reconnaissance.

But Luffy suddenly looked up, staring ahead, his ears twitching slightly.

The enemy's firepower suppression has thinned out.

It's not just about emptying the magazine; it's because:

Buzzing

The same sound of a drone came from the street ahead.

It's an enemy drone!
Taking advantage of the enemy's reduced firing rate, Luffy peeked out and saw a drone flying from the other end of the street, heading towards the alley across the street.

It was obvious that the other side had also noticed the drone that had just taken off and was preparing to strike first.

No, we can't let the enemy blow up our drone pilot!

In a crisis,

Ignoring the whistling bullets, the boy suddenly rushed out of cover—

As he sprinted, he felt his blood surging violently, his heart beating rapidly like a drum, the 'thump thump thump thump' sound echoing in his mind, and the world before him seemed to slow down.

The drone flying straight towards him came into his view, and just as the two were about to collide, the charging boy raised his rifle butt.

Bang!
A rifle butt was smashed onto the drone.

As the opponent's drone spun and flew away, the boy leaped into the air.

"Hey?"

Amid the drone pilot's surprised exclamation, Ruf tackled him to the ground in the alley.

boom! !

Outside the alley, the sound of a drone exploding rang out.

Countless metal fragments shot out like sharp blades, leaving deep wounds and piercing flesh on Luffy's back as he tackled his teammate.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

P.S.: The incident of someone smashing a drone with a rifle butt is a real case from the Russian battlefield; there was also an incident where someone rammed a drone with their helmet; both survived the near-face-to-face explosion, which just goes to show that people's physical constitutions are different. (Waves hand)

(End of this chapter)