AZI Volume 1 Chapter 12

Ruined cars and dead bodies dressed in either casual clothing or military attire littered the streets while the sound of gunfire and the scent of iron permeated the air.

Behind a black van that is currently on its side are five individuals with their faces covered by masks and goggles. All of them are dressed in bullet-proof protective gear.

Their position is rather good, for they only have two areas to guard and maintain watch over.

Behind their backs is a brick building that is riddled with holes as a result of them exchanging gunfire with military troops.

In total, there are three military vehicles surrounding the group of five from three fronts.

Seven meters in length, three meters in width, these vehicles all have eight wheels with their outer bodies made from heavy sheets of reinforced alloys designed to fend off even an Immortal's attack with relative ease.

As these vehicles are currently within the city grounds, their various heavy weaponry systems that are usually mounted onto their roofs have been taken off ahead of time.

Meaning, the military men that are besieging the group of five must rely on plain firearms for the task.

"Tch."

Looking at the ongoing siege within the confines of an armored vehicle, the military captain—who is dressed in a white uniform that is decorated with three badges to his chest—clicks his tongue in annoyance.

The name of this man, who is in his thirties is Jué Yún, and he had been put in charge of transporting a special item.

Originally, this should have been an easy job—until they were robbed of that item by the group of five, who are currently positioning themselves behind the knocked over black van.

Somehow those five managed to infiltrate the ranks of this transport unit, and made preparations ahead of time to steal the item at this junction, where they were scheduled to take a brief break.

"The situation is clearly hopeless for those five… But they're still able to surrender, or even retreat at any time—if they just give up that item. Are they waiting for reinforcements?"

...…

Of the five individuals—who are besieged by the three military vehicles, one of them is leaning their back against the van's underbelly while clutching onto his right shoulder that had been punctured by an arrow.

Leaning against the brick building's wall is a black casket. This is the object that these five have been given the task of retrieving from those that they are currently exchanging fire with.

"Dammit."

Swapping out a magazine, one of the five curses in annoyance.

"If only this damn casket would fit down the manhole…"

Another one of the five finishes reloading and glances at the sewer entrance that already had its cover removed.

"Keep firing. We're just gotta have to pray for the retrieval team to get here sooner."

"They better hurry up. Old man's getting closer to death."

"Shut your trap rookie. I'm still-"

The aforementioned old man groans in pain before he can finish his sentence.

"I'm more concerned about that sniper that shot the arrow relocating to our sides."

"That's probably a Sinner."

"The people in charge really screwed up with this task's difficulty."

"Honestly, our situation isn't that bad. They can't really get to us."

"But we can't really get to them either. Also, our bullets aren't going to last forever."

An easy way to kill these five would just be to ram them with one of the eight-wheeled vehicles, but that comes at the risk of crushing the casket—the item that the military unit is put in charge of transporting.

As gunfire is exchanged between the two sides for another 15 or so minutes—

"Hm?"

"An engine?"

Detecting the sound of an engine approaching their location from a distance, the five figured that the retrieval team must be drawing closer, for no one in their right minds would attempt to come close to a battlefield.

"Just one person…?"

Seeing a bike that is approaching rapidly from a distance through the gap between two military vehicles one of the five constricts their eyes.

"Doesn't matter. The casket is no longer our business. We're retreating. Old man, you first."

...…

"…"

As the five members of Ox team 03 begin their retreat in haste, Long Hua—who had spotted them—rolls on the throttle harder, and within the span of a single minute, he charges through the gap between the two military vehicles.

In a harsh manner, he drifts the bike to a stop behind the crashed black van—while the last member of Ox team 03 begins to climb down the ladders.

"Hand me the gun."

"All yours."

As the agent tosses their gun up, Long Hua snatches it out of the air, and presses a hand onto the casket that is leaning against the brick wall.

"Tai Xuan."

Muttering these two words with the thought of wanting the casket to be easier to carry around, the object in question begins to emit a dull radiance as it collapses its structure and folds itself into the form of a cube that is the size of a basketball.

Attached to one corner of this cube is a belt made for carrying.

Simultaneously, the assault rifle that is held in Long Hua's right hand is transformed into a submachine gun with a more compacted design.

Sliding the gun's strap around his neck, Long Hua also buckles the cube's carrying belt around his waist.

Having done all that, he kicks the black van's underbelly sending it rolling towards one of the military vehicles.

This ends up knocking three individuals, who didn't manage to react on time eight feet into the air, while pushing the military vehicle back by a few meters.

Without giving the remaining enemies any time to respond to the situation, the rear tire of the bike raises a screech as Long Hua rides off.

"…"

Looking at what had just happened through the monitor, Jue Yun blinks his eyes once while shaking his head twice.

"Captain Jue, what now?"

"Give chase what else? And tell that sniper to aim for that guy on the bike."

"Sir, he doesn't seem to have the casket."

"Well, my instincts tell me that ridiculous looking cube around his hip is the casket."

Having relied on his instincts and having been rather successful because of it, Jue Yun is fairly certain that the Sinner on the bike is the one in possession of the casket now, however—

"What about those five?"

"Send a separate team after them. Also, tell the nearest police station to send us some other modes of transport. Get in contact with a Disciplinary Bureau office as well. That guy on the bike is a Sinner. Chop, chop, we don't have time to waste!"

"Sir, yes, sir!"

Similarly to a machinegun, Jue Yun gives out his orders and as his subordinate leaves to make the arrangements, he takes out a cigar.

(There seems to be a traitor on our side who leaked the casket's transport route to the organization that sent those five in for this heist. I wonder—if it would be too late to do a look over at all those that were involved with drawing out this operation's finer arrangements?)