Eh? You want to try the humanoid girl's iron fist too?

Although she was carrying over 60 pounds of equipment, she didn't feel much of a burden, nor did she sway violently from the fall. After getting up from the ground, she didn't look back and charged forward like an Olympic sprinter, reaching the wrecked car shelter across the road.

Only after she was in place did she have the extra energy to review the scene at the auto repair shop.

Only the frame of the office security door remained standing; the heavy iron door had collapsed against the inner wall. Had she hidden inside the office just now, she would likely have been killed on the spot, instead of leaving unharmed as she is now.

In any case, she and her team were rescued.

Cecilia saw Alki supporting Tony as they rushed out of the gloomy office.

Like her teammates, Cecilia is adept at analyzing the various tense situations that arise in her professional career.

She had to think carefully about what to do in this situation. Just two minutes earlier, she had been resentful, fearing she might be killed by thugs at the car dealership.

But at this moment she had to be thankful, saying, "We're still alive, and we're standing on the sidewalk of East 31st Street."

The fact that the situation turned around before reaching the worst point only proves that they were destined to survive.

The guys who came to rescue them instead rushed into the car dealership, the muffled gunshots and sharp cracking sounds stimulating Cecilia's still somewhat dazed mind.

She took out the cocktail booster needle that SHD had given to the agent. Its effect was to transform the agent into a superman for a short time, giving the user strength and stamina by squeezing the body to its limits, while also having a calming effect.

As for the effects of the weakness that would result after the drug's effects wore off, Cecilia felt there was no need to worry about that now.

There are other people around you who you can rely on, and they are trustworthy.

boom!

That was the sound of a grenade exploding.

"That guy!"

Cecilia decisively injected the potion into her body, then took off her heavy backpack and said to Alki and Tony:

"I'm counting on you for my six o'clock position!"

Raphael knocked out a Lexie gang thug who rushed in during a lull in the gunfire with the butt of his rifle, then drew his pistol and aimed at the second young man who was charging forward with a shotgun.

bang bang bang...

She emptied the magazine in one go, knocked the man down, quickly adjusted her sling, raised her assault rifle again, and fired three more shots at the man lying motionless on the ground. Two shots to the chest, one to the head, preventing any possibility of resurrection.

The Lex gang members were like madmen, fearless and relentless; even if they were shot, they would get up from the ground.

Raphael also knew that Doug Sutton had inflicted heavy casualties on the enemy at the alley entrance, but still hadn't deterred the Lex gang's madmen.

“Can you hear me, man?” She pulled the safety pin off the grenade. “We’ll meet at C3 New York Church on East 27th Street.”

After saying that, she threw the M67 fragmentation grenade issued to her by the US military, and then disappeared smoothly from the repair shop under the cover of the explosion.

Twenty minutes later, at the temporary resting place chosen by Raphael.

"Hey, you're the guy who can interfere with the pulse system, right?" Doug pushed the door open and said, his tone very unpleasant. Anyone would be annoyed to be stood up once.

But since the other party had helped his team, he had to keep all his complaints to himself.

"Captain Doug, nice to meet you."

Is this your first time?

“Otherwise?” Raphael retorted.

“I had only heard of you in the files before, but now that I know about your choice today, you are a hero of the Noble Squad.”

"Huh?" she retorted with amusement, "A hero who accepts help and then breaks his promise?"

Doug Sutton said seriously, “You rescued a group of people who had just finished training and didn’t have much actual combat experience. That makes a lot of sense than anything else.”

Without any communication or coordination, they accurately located the trapped personnel and then used precious controlled explosives to break through the blockade, rush into the maintenance room, and rescue Doug's team.

If this isn't something to be thanked for, then what is?

He wasn't the kind of scoundrel who couldn't distinguish right from wrong, although there were indeed many guys with personality flaws among the agents recruited by the Strategic Homeland Bureau.

This directly resulted in Doug being able to thank this unfamiliar yet familiar third party as part of the noble squad.

Book 1: The World Before the Great War: Chapter 30: Choice

Raphael nodded slightly, accepting Doug and the noble squad's thanks.

This did nothing to reverse her negative impression of the Strategic Bureau, let alone any positive feelings. Raphael knew this, and Doug Sutton understood it as well.

There is no need to explain to anyone, nor is it necessary for anyone to understand.

She only obeys her employer's orders.

The current situation is the result of everyone's choices, and this is not an attempt to defend what Raphael did; it is simply the truth.

Everyone who makes a decision must bear the consequences.

Raphael looked at the church and thought to himself, "This place is alright. It's not too conspicuous as a temporary rest stop, but its easy-to-attack and difficult-to-defend nature is a bit unsettling, and its security is a concern."

In today's New York, neither Raphael nor the Strategic Bureau can achieve perfection, but for now, it is the best option.

After lunch, Doug led his team to leave.

Before leaving, he took out a tablet terminal issued to agents by the Strategic Bureau from his backpack, and, meeting Raphael's questioning gaze, said:

"The device is very light, only 2.6 pounds. I have cracked the device's permissions, and it is equipped with an intelligent analysis system that always operates in an offline mode."

“This should be important equipment for you.” Raphael remained unmoved and did not accept the gift.

"Because of your presence, I believe ISAC has suffered serious damage in terms of equipment support. While ISAC can certainly provide a lot of support in combat, the equipment we are issued to has almost no ability to resist interference."

Doug looked at Raphael and said:

"Simply put, I've started to lose faith in SHD and JTF."

"But this terminal still provides great help, for example, preparations before a mission can be done on the device."

"I don't need it anymore."

“Is that so?” Raphael said meaningfully, “You’ve made up your mind.”

“So, take it.” Doug Sutton gestured for silence to his teammates and continued, “I believe that with your power and the forces that support you, you can take complete control of that offline terminal.”

Raphael fiddled with the shoulder strap of his tactical vest, activating the tactical network via radio.

Almost simultaneously, Cecilia, Tony, and Alki's ISAC lights up yellow, accompanied by a rigid, mechanical voice prompt: "Military-accessible network detected."

They all looked at them with a mixture of surprise and understanding, wanting to say something, but ultimately saying nothing.

What does it mean that military personnel have intervened?

Doug and Cecilia exchanged a glance, perfectly understanding what the other was thinking. After the failure of the "Dark Zone" project, the First Wave agents had to either disappear or betray their cause.

The two nodded slightly, confirming that they would no longer attempt to approach the dark area, not even with orders from the SHD Post Office Operations Center.

The turmoil that is now erupting in New York is something that ordinary people like them, who have received basic combat training, have no chance of getting involved in.

Cecilia even suspected that the massive outbreak of the "green banknote" virus was part of the Federation's plan.

"Then I shall accept it without hesitation."

In front of everyone, Raphael expertly removed the back cover of the tablet terminal and took out an additional network card plug-in from her toolkit to ensure that the device was always under her control.

Even if ISAC centralizes its computing resources in New York, it will still be unable to breach physically fortified equipment.

Unless this intelligent analysis system can personally step into the arena, step out of the illusion and into reality, and confront Raphael head-on, don't even think about anything else.

But is that possible? Obviously not.

Raphael had great confidence in the black-box technology of mind use.

Doug didn't object to her on-site modifications to the equipment; on the contrary, he appreciated her cautious approach. So, like a novice grandpa in an RPG game, he handed over the second crucial item—Doug Sutton's identity verification code.

“I have a personal question,” Cecilia asked, raising her hand like a schoolchild. “Why do you have so much experience, like when you saved us just now?”

"I did spend some time on the battlefield, but now's not the time for stories. Or are you just eager to hear my tale?"

"Let's leave it at that for now, but I really like the look in your eyes. Maybe next time I'll have the chance, I'd like to have a companion like you."

"?"

Doesn't this girl know that they are actually her enemies? Raphael tilted his head.

"Well, Cecilia just wanted to express her gratitude. The kindness of being helped in an emergency is very important to her."

Doug wore a helpless smile, put his hand on his companion's head, pressed her little head down, and then explained, "Anyway, it's an honor to know you, and we hope to have more opportunities to cooperate in the future."

"I'm not sure, but my advice remains the same: first, figure out how to survive, then get out of this hellhole."

After saying that, Raphael waved his hand and disappeared into the blizzard.

Cecilia stared in the direction the girl had disappeared, hesitated for a moment, then turned to Doug and asked:

"After you handed over the terminal and verification ID to her, what are your plans to do to deal with the headquarters' investigation?"

"What can I say? The battle was intense, and it was accidentally lost." With that, Doug took off his backpack, took out everything inside, and then fired a burst of bullets.

Then, following the gap left by the bullet, he tore hard, and with a whoosh, a hole the size of a washbasin appeared in front of him.

“Well said and well-founded.” Tony raised his hand and gave a thumbs up: “Boss, when you appear in court, I’ll be outside cheering you on!”

“Idiot, you’re going to have to appear in court too.” Alki said irritably, helping Tony up. “Our whole team has to testify.”

"Is that so?" Tony chuckled and shouted at Doug, "Captain, I promise I won't tell them that you gave the equipment to that lady!"

Doug, too lazy to deal with this bastard, reached out and lifted Cecilia up. The aftereffects of the excessive hormones were gradually kicking in; this was the price she had to pay for gaining extra time.

According to the instructions for use of the medication, Cecilia must avoid strenuous activity for the next two weeks, otherwise she will face an extremely high risk of sudden death.

With Tony Gagia also injured in the leg, the noble squad was left with only two combatants.

It was no longer possible to carry out combat missions. Doug and Alki exchanged glances and both agreed on the decision.

At 2:17 PM on December 26, Doug Sadoo used Cecilia's equipment to upload a report to the SDH Homeland Strategic Bureau New York Command stating that the Noble Squad had suffered severe damage in the battle and had been assessed as out of action.

Minutes later, the headquarters liaison discovered that the noble squad had gone completely offline.

On December 29, the commander of the New York Homeland Strategy Bureau classified the disappearance of the Noble Squad as "Missing In Action," meaning that all members were missing during a combat mission.

In early January, Doug looked at the streets of New York after the blizzard and led Celia Ant, Alki Hubster and Tony Gagia toward the oncoming Purifier patrol.

At this point, no SHD markings could be seen on them anymore; the ever-bright yellow halos had gone out, and they were now flashing a dim red light.

Wherever there are bad guys, wherever there is a need for rescue, that's where the noble squad will go. This is their mission. It is a mission they have undertaken, are undertaking, and will continue to undertake in the future.

"...Received, nobleman, no, the hundred-eyed giant will proceed to the designated coordinates to await orders."