Léon: The Cat Killer

In fact, not only was the thick black fog obscuring everything, but even the commanding special agent team leader had great difficulty hearing this intelligence.

The hall of the administrative district was filled with the crackling of gunfire; at least eight guns were firing in all directions. This gave the special agent team leader a headache and left him very puzzled: where did they get so many gun users?

To call them enemies is even more absurd; there are only two people in the reception room!

"You guys in the rear, stop shooting, you're attacking your own people!"

"Help! I'm injured! I can't move my hands and legs!!"

"Stop stepping on my mother, you son of a bitch..."

"If you're injured, can't you just find a corner to lie down in?"

"...This is the corner."

Seeing the scene descend into chaos once more, and seemingly with everyone attacking each other, the commander decisively issued the following order:

"Enough!! Everyone lie down immediately! Warlock, use the Voidblast spell to dispel the smoke!"

"Initiating spell casting... Aaaaaah, someone's shooting at me! Cover, cover me!"

Just from the sounds, the mercenaries present felt as if they had returned to the battlefield between Columbia and Glassval, with gunfire and artillery fire rising and falling, screams and curses blending together... Finally, after what felt like a lifetime of waiting, an area-of-effect spell from who-knows-where exploded in front of the heavy armor's last line of defense, allowing the agents a brief glimpse of each other's disheveled appearance.

"Reload to maintain the front line! We need to regroup to avoid friendly fire. Everyone else who can still move, retreat to the experimental zone to build a defensive line! The smoke is gathering again, everyone move quickly!"

After saying that, a group of battered agents, as if granted a pardon, passed through the heavily armed guards' defenses and entered the interior. At the same time, the commander noticed that the continuous gunfire from the enemy had stopped.

"As expected, those were all friendly fire incidents... Ranged teams, listen up! Abandon the four corner positions and assemble at the first line of defense in the test area. Attack wherever you hear a sound..."

"But boss, many of us are injured..."

Seeing the sniper, whose hat was askew and barely hanging from his cat ears, carrying an unconscious comrade to the defensive line, the commander quickly stepped forward to help the short man. He then ordered the heavy infantry to make way for a shield to serve as a stretcher, and had the other, larger members help transport the wounded to the rear of the experimental area.

“At times like these, we ask the experimental zone for medical support. The employer said we can get all the support we need here.”

"understand!"

As the captain watched the short agent walk into the rear with the stretcher, he was about to ask the short agent where the gun box came from and which squad she belonged to when the ranged squad running towards him in the black fog was suddenly caught in an explosion.

"Aaaaaah! Help! That guy's still here! My spells don't work on him! The smoke's gathering again!"

"This is Sarkaz witchcraft! Don't counter it, or your emotions will be affected! You can crawl back, too! All of you, crawl back!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than another ranged squad was also caught in the deafening explosion.

……

Hearing the explosion behind them, the black-haired agent Felin, who was following the stretcher, turned around. But by then they had already passed through the unactivated disinfection tunnel. Compared to the explosions at the front line, the ground here was filled with chaotic urging and wailing.

A few white coats wearing Locken Water Tank Laboratory badges were surrounded by several agent team leaders who demanded that their team members be treated first.

Seeing that the group hadn't noticed her, the black-haired girl, Felin, immediately turned her back to them. But then she met the questioning gazes of the two heavily armed men who were helping to transport the wounded, gazes that she could feel even through their helmets.

"Put the wounded down first, then have the lab's medical staff treat them according to the severity of their injuries... After that, will you join the second line of defense directly, or return to the first line?"

The girl's preemptive words left the two men exchanging helpless glances, after which one of them silently scratched his helmet.

"To be honest, I don't really want to go back... It seems like they've switched from guns to explosives over there, right?"

"Indeed, it's terrifying."

Seeing their reaction, Agent Felin adjusted his sunglasses with his fingers, then gestured with his thumb to the team leaders who were still arguing with the medical staff:

"Then let's set up a second line of defense here as the boss says. You guys are the heavy armor team, so just go and relay the message and act as the second line of heavy armor... After all, there are only the two of you heavy armor team here."

"Okay... but you're also in the special agent group, right? Aren't you going?"

Hearing the big man's question, Little Felin's smile became somewhat forced. She then took off her right nylon glove, revealing her bloodied right hand:

"I need to... go find some medicine first... and after firing so haphazardly, I need to find someone to replenish the etching bullets."

"I understand. Take care."

"Yeah, so do you."

Watching the two large men completely block the agents' view with their broad bodies and begin talking to them, Agent Nana finally breathed a sigh of relief. She had finally entered the testing area of ​​the Loken Water Tank.

First, she straightened the red beret that had gotten stuck on the cat ears because it didn't fit her head properly after a few steps. Then, the assassin wiped the blood off her right hand... obviously not her blood. As for the pencil that was too slippery to use because it was covered in blood, Nana also threw it into the meeting room.

While the team leaders were arguing, Nana quickly surveyed the terrain.

This building was not originally connected to the administration building; the steel plates surrounding the exterior walls must have been added recently... Currently, the main structure of the laboratory building's lobby is no different from that of the administration building; even the distance from the main entrance to the reception desk is exactly the same.

However, compared to the administrative area which is separated by just a few security checkpoints, the partitions in the test area seem to use the partition system of a land-based ship.

Those not-so-tall automatic doors don't recognize disguises, only authorized access, and there probably aren't any hired agents operating behind them... Obviously, Nana needs to change her clothes and get the access card that allows her to accompany them... Only then can she continue the investigation to find out where Kate and Cole are being held.

After a quick glance around, Nana noticed another group of medical personnel in white coats with medical supplies joining the treatment of the wounded. She then bypassed the team leaders who had dispersed back to their respective squads and watched them count heads, quickening her pace in selecting the unlucky ones for this round…

She was a researcher with shoulder-length black hair. She had been treating the wounded near the reception desk since Nana entered, and now she seemed to be tired and was sitting down to rest... Nana happened to walk over to her.

"Hello……"

"Ah, hello... Are you injured too? Please wait a moment, let me catch my breath..."

Seeing the girl's complexion, which matched her white coat, Nana glanced at the girl's dark circles and politely waved her hand.

"It's nothing serious... It's just that my injury is on my back, and it's not appropriate to take off my clothes here... Could you come with me to that empty room over there and help me out later?"

"Sure... Oh, why am I so busy today..."

Hearing the other person's exclamation, Nana tilted her cat ears in confusion:

"Didn't they say the lab was going to be under lockdown recently? And now people are even coming to our door. Are you guys suddenly having a lot of free time?"

Seeing the approachable demeanor of this peer who had struck up a conversation with her, so different from that of a mercenary, the lab technician smiled and wagged her finger:

"Coming to their door is basically just causing trouble for your boss... As for the experiments, they actually get easier towards the end, because the automation level at Loken Water Tank is top-notch. The project I was in charge of was completed months ago, and I'm still here because there are supposedly some problems with the commercialization of the project recently... I was supposed to be able to go out with my boyfriend after the vacation... Look, he even sent me flowers today..."

Following the girl's gaze, Nana saw a half-person-high hollowed-out box under the reception desk, filled with eye-catching bright red roses.

As for the researcher's seemingly knowing look, Nana gave an awkward yet polite smile.

"Looking at your dark circles, you really need to rest..."

"The original plan was indeed to go on a trip to Siesta with my boyfriend... Well, Dr. Williams pays a lot of overtime, so I just put up with it..."

Stretching, the researcher picked up the box full of roses, took a deep breath, then picked up her staff and beckoned Nana to the rest room in the distance.

"Alright, let's go... Why did you bring flowers with you?"

"After all, it's your stuff, so it's better to keep it in your sight. We mercenaries don't know how to ask for help, so if we need the table later, we definitely won't know where you put it."

"Haha...Is that so?"

As they talked about these strange things, Nana followed the swaying researcher girl into the room.

First, close the door and draw the curtains. While the researcher girl was warming up her staff and preparing for Originium Arts, Nana locked the door with a click.

Nana smiled at the girl's confused gaze.

"Alright, let's begin." Skipping over the process of the sleepy girl collapsing from her limit rather than being knocked unconscious by Nana, Nana changed her clothes, picked her up, placed her on the bed in the observation room, and covered her with a blanket... Meanwhile, Nana had also emptied part of the large box of roses that had been in her earlier room.

Researcher Nana placed the flowers in the empty vase beside her bed; what she needed was the long cardboard box. While it wouldn't be out of place for Nana to carry a briefcase regardless of her status, having nowhere to put the found shotgun was a real problem… Now, she could conveniently hide it in the box full of roses.

Finally, she inserted the girl's work ID card into her own general work ID card. This way, at least there wouldn't be any mix-ups where the person's photo didn't match the one on the work ID. Nana took a deep breath, checked her equipment, and then left the room carrying the rose box in one hand and her suitcase in the other.

Obviously, after the mercenaries (six) and the other two groups of researchers who knew medical magic called for help, Nana, the cat-headed woman in the white coat, immediately blended in as soon as she went out.

"Ah...sorry, I'll put the things inside first and come back later."

Using the fact that she had plenty of things to cover her face and this all-purpose excuse, 'Researcher Nana' quickly got rid of the mercenaries who were bothering her... Meanwhile, the white coats that had been called out to work overtime seemed to be in a bad mood. They didn't even bother to look at her. Nana thus successfully swiped her work pass and passed through the isolation gate.

As the isolation door, seemingly made of some special alloy, closed tightly with the sound of airlock deflating, the film girl, holding roses in one hand and a suitcase in the other, finally lost her professional smile.

"Next... I need a structural diagram..."

Fortunately, the Loken Water Tank laboratory building features a very modern design, and a prominent feature of modern design is that there are signs pointing the way everywhere.

Nana took a couple of steps and saw signs indicating the locations of the various research departments at the top of the stairs...

However, those research departments all used coded research names, and Nana couldn't figure out from these rough instructions which one was actually in charge of Loken Williams himself.

So the assassin's gaze immediately focused on the 'information center' on a certain floor.

……

…………

"...So slow, has Nana-neechan not come back yet?"

"It's only been a few hours..."

"I'm worried about my sister..." Yi

"I miss my mom."

Seeing her two brothers, each one frail and looking as if they might burst into tears at any moment, Matilda picked up her tray and slammed the food down on the table with a thud.

"Worrying won't help. Come eat, grow up quickly, and when you grow up we'll fight the bad guys!" (Fin)

Watching her younger sister first carefully examine each bread the nun offered, then the girl cautiously put away her own bread, before grabbing it and devouring it with the ferocity of someone tearing apart an enemy.

"...Mia, you need to chew your food slowly and carefully, and be careful not to choke."

"There's no time to savor our food now. The enemy could come knocking at any moment. If we don't eat our fill now, we might not have time to eat later."

"But this instruction is something Mom says every time we eat..." Nine

Colt's words immediately slowed the youngest kitten's swallowing. The three remained silent for a while before Kevin, with red eyes, asked: )

"Is your mother still alive after she died?"

No one could answer the question. The three children knew nothing and could do nothing... The unknown future seemed to absorb the three children's minds like an endless void. After they finished eating, they didn't know how much time had passed, but then the outside world became noisy.

"...Is it time for prayer? This must be our first time participating in something like this..."

As the three kittens talked, they moved small stools over and peered out the window, but when they saw the armed men in black uniforms confronting the believers in white below, the kittens all frowned:

"Something doesn't feel right, this looks..."

"Like the people who came to see us before."

Just as the three of them were looking at each other in bewilderment, the attic door suddenly opened, and the nun rushed in, panting:

"Children, are you still there? Quickly grab your backpacks, the people from Loken Water Tank are looking for you. The priest asked me to take you away."

"Leave? But..."

How do I leave?

With these questions in mind, the little ones looked at the backyard window with confusion.

The armed men in black made no attempt to dodge, and for some reason, the children felt that they were all looking directly at them, especially the largest man in strange armor, who gave a creepy smile after making eye contact with them.

"Tsk... It's alright, I still have the VIII Wine-Making Ritual to deal with. I know plenty of ways to sneak out when I'm slacking off, so don't worry... Anyway, let's go downstairs first..."

Just as the nuns were preparing to use the surroundings and try to outmaneuver the pursuers, they suddenly heard a series of heavy footsteps. When the nun turned around again, she saw a humanoid monster that had crashed through the wooden wall and was grinning at her...

The loud crash of the wall breaking through the back of the church made the priest facing off at the front frown, but his and the believers' stance of blocking the door remained unwavering... However, the priest, who usually maintained a smile, now had a terrifyingly gloomy expression:

“You actually barged into the church... What blasphemy this is…”

"Yes, we did it... So what can you do about it? I said from the beginning that we were taking those three children away legally. Now you're the ones who are trying to stop us from going in and causing trouble here."

Shaking his head, Stansfield, whose wrist was still bandaged, shrugged the adoption papers:

"Right now, the person is right here, and your claims of 'I knew nothing' and 'no new children have come' completely contradict each other... Or is the Lateran Church actually involved in child abduction? Believe me, if we want, you'll be cult members starting tomorrow..."

As the footsteps pounded closer and closer, and as the believers grew increasingly panicked, the priest turned around... and saw three struggling, crying children, and a nun, bloodied and lifeless, being held by the steel monster.

With a thud, the nun was thrown to the ground, and the splattered blood caused a stir among the crowd. Those who were more sensitive to signs of life had already noticed that the nun was now motionless.

Li Boli, dressed in a beige suit, was beaming with joy; his expression was simply dazzling.

"Now, this is the final warning. Disperse and go about your business. All we want are those three children... If you really want to keep dragging this out, then please contact the legal department of Loken Tank... Even if you call the police, we are in the right, so disperse and don't make things get out of control."

As if Father Mengding would yield, the man in the beige suit smiled and waved. A total of more than thirty armed men carrying crossbows and guns emerged from behind the cover on the outer wall of the church, while the steel monster holding the children prepared to swagger through the crowd back to his own convoy on the road ahead.

"No, Yi Lin III Er O Qi Si Dan, you can't leave..."

"Oh?"

The priest's firm words calmed the bewildered believers, and as the priest himself took an old revolver from his robes, the believers, dressed in simple robes, also took out their own weapons from their pockets.

Among them were pistols, old-fashioned lever-action shotguns, sickles for farm work, hammers for labor... In the distance, some people, sensing the danger, were calling out to others and distributing wooden sticks—things that couldn't even be called weapons—to the surrounding residents... But in any case, the convoy of Loken Water Tank was the one that was surrounded.