Hammer picked up where Jay left off.
"This project was under my supervision. After the research base lost contact, I immediately sent a Marine squad into the canyon. Dozens of fine young men went in, but not a single one came back. I realized the situation in the canyon was far more serious than we thought, so on someone's suggestion, I brought you in as outside help."
Roy had a rough grasp of the mission by now.
"General Hammer, what do I need to do?"
"Find out what's happening at the bottom of the canyon. If there are any survivors, do your best to bring them out."
The task didn't sound too complicated.
"Got it. Can you tell me about any unusual creatures in the canyon?"
Jay then showed Roy some of the known bizarre creatures in the canyon.
For example, there were giant centipedes several times larger than a human and massive Venus flytraps capable of swallowing a bear whole.
Many of the creatures in the canyon were dozens, even hundreds, of times larger than their counterparts outside. No wonder the Pentagon was so interested in studying the unique species in this area.
"Mr. Black, I've told you everything I can about this mission. The rest is classified. We'll arrive at Fog Island by 2 p.m. at the latest, so I hope you'll be ready. If you need any gear or equipment, ask Ms. Jay. She'll be accompanying you on this mission."
Roy was used to being saddled with partners on missions, but most of the time, it wasn't by choice.
If he had his way, he'd rather not drag along someone who might slow him down.
The look in Roy's eyes, like he was sizing up a burden, stung Jay's pride. She shot him a fierce glare.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Roy shrugged innocently.
"What? I didn't say anything!"
Hammer seemed to pick up on Roy's reluctance and waved a hand at Jay.
"Mr. Black, Ms. Jay is an intelligence officer with the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI). She has high-level clearance for the Fog Island lab and can get you into most areas of the facility. You have to take her with you."
So that's how it was.
This was probably Hammer's insurance policy to keep Roy from messing around in the lab.
Roy nodded.
"Alright, then I'll grudgingly bring Ms. Jay along."
If looks could kill, Roy would've been dead a thousand times over.
"Ms. Jay, take Mr. Black to get his gear!"
Hammer looked uncomfortable again, his face tinged faintly green. Maybe he'd talked too much and was fighting back nausea.
"Come with me," Jay said curtly.
Jay led Roy out of Hammer's office.
Once they were outside, Jay's attitude toward Roy grew even colder. Clearly, his earlier behavior had rubbed her the wrong way.
Roy didn't feel like explaining himself. From the start, this female soldier's attitude toward him had been lukewarm at best, which wasn't exactly normal.
How could any woman resist Roy's charm?
Roy was seriously starting to suspect Jay might be into women.
Though Jay couldn't read his mind, the way Roy was looking at her made her feel like he was thinking something rude.
"What are you staring at?"
"Just admiring a beautiful lady. Is that a problem?"
When Roy called her beautiful, the corner of Jay's mouth twitched upward for a split second before she forced it back down. Only someone with Roy's sharp eyesight could catch such a subtle change.
As expected of an intelligence officer—her poker face was top-notch.
From this, Roy could tell Jay's preferences were probably fine. She just genuinely didn't like him.
That piqued Roy's interest. A normal woman who wasn't into him? Could Jay have a unique taste, maybe for older guys or rough-around-the-edges types?
Come to think of it, the way Jay had looked at Hammer earlier did have a hint of admiration—completely different from how she looked at Roy or other soldiers.
Could it be…?
Roy's gaze grew even weirder, which Jay found increasingly unbearable.
"What the hell are you looking at?!"
"I told you, I'm just looking at a beautiful lady—oh, looks like we're here!"
They'd arrived at the armory, guarded by soldiers at the entrance. Jay didn't press Roy further, just giving him a sharp glare.
"Hmph!"
Getting gear from the armory required a slew of complicated procedures, but thankfully, Jay had General Hammer's authorization, which skipped most of the red tape.
The armory was stocked with a dazzling array of standard U.S. military equipment, leaving Roy momentarily overwhelmed.
"Need me to recommend something?" Jay asked, arms crossed.
"Nah, I've got my go-to weapons. Do you have a Smith & Wesson M500 revolver?"
Jay rolled her eyes.
"Why would you pick something so flashy and impractical?"
The Smith & Wesson M500 was known as the world's most powerful revolver, but its low ammo capacity and massive recoil made it unsuitable for military use. It was mostly used for hunting, its sheer power capable of taking down even a tough-skinned elephant.
"Just tell me if you've got it."
Jay gave him an exasperated look but found an M500 for him.
(Smith & Wesson M500)
"Anything else?"
Besides revolvers, Roy was a fan of shotguns.
"I want a shotgun that can fire 4-gauge shells."
A 4-gauge shell was the largest commonly used shotgun round, equivalent to 26mm in diameter. In some countries, that was practically artillery.
Jay frowned.
"Why do you keep picking impractical weapons? Can you even handle that kind of recoil?"
I've got something with even more kick—wanna try it?
Roy gave her a sidelong glance but stuck to his line.
"Just tell me if you've got it."
Jay pulled out an M1014 shotgun, the military version of the Benelli M4, typically used with standard 12-gauge shells.
"I can modify it to handle 4-gauge barrels."
"You can mod guns?" Roy looked at her, genuinely surprised. He hadn't pegged her for having that skill.
"Hmph! I'm not some desk-jockey clerk. I'm a field operative!"
"Perfect! While you're at it, slap on some accessories and calibrate the gun for me."
Roy was treating her like a glorified armorer now. Jay shot him another glare.
"Pick the rest of your guns first!"
Roy wasn't too picky about other firearms.
He liked revolvers because they let him maximize Bob Munden's shooting techniques, and shotguns for their devastating close-range power.
In the end, he picked two submachine guns he could wield one-handed and called it a day.
"That's it? You're not taking a rifle?" Jay looked at him like he was an idiot.
Roy's loadout was entirely short-range weapons—an absurd setup for a soldier, like he was joking.
"Why would I need a rifle?"
"What if you run into enemies at, say, 200 meters?"
"Revolver."
"What about 400 meters?"
"Revolver."
Jay was starting to question whether Hammer had made the right call.
"Alright, Ms. Jay, my fighting style's a bit different from you grunts. Hurry up and mod those guns, or we'll be at Fog Island before you're done."
"Hmph! I mod guns fast. It won't delay the mission!"
Despite her disagreement with Roy's choices, Jay took him to modify the guns.
An hour later, all four guns were fully customized. Jay handed them to Roy with a challenging look.
"Wanna test them?"
Testing a freshly modded gun was standard to catch any issues before hitting the battlefield.
"Sure. Is there a range on the ship?"
"Of course there's no range on a ship, but I've got another way to test them. Follow me."
Jay led Roy to the deck and tossed ten glass bottles into the sea.
"Break those bottles, and you pass."
The ship was moving fast, and the bottles were bobbing randomly in the waves, making the shooting conditions as tough as they could get.
Roy glanced at Jay, realizing she was trying to put him in his place.
Interesting. A real wild horse, huh?
"Ladies first. Why don't you show me how it's done?"
"Watch closely."
Jay used a classic M4A1 rifle, switching to single-shot mode before aiming at the bottles floating in the sea.
By now, the bottles had drifted dozens of meters away, ramping up the difficulty.
Jay calmly fired, breaking one bottle per second. She missed one shot, but with 11 rounds, she shattered all 10 bottles—a hit rate over 90%.
Jay tilted her chin up, looking at Roy with pride.
"Your turn."
Her marksmanship was impressive, no wonder she was so confident.
"Alright, you toss the bottles. Make sure to throw them far."
Jay hurled ten bottles into the sea one by one, then stepped back to watch Roy's performance.
Roy rested his hands on the grips of his M500 and M629 revolvers, tracking the bottles bobbing in the waves. Then…
High noon.
Jay barely saw a blur before Roy drew and fired at the bottles.
Bang—
The two revolvers fired ten shots in a single, continuous roar.
"Done."
Roy spun his guns with a flourish and blew on the barrels. Jay, meanwhile, stood frozen, dumbfounded.
"No way… Are you kidding me?"
As a firearms expert herself, Jay could appreciate just how insane Roy's shooting was.
From drawing to firing ten shots, the whole thing took less than a second.
In other words, Roy had drawn and fired ten rounds in under a second.
What shocked Jay even more was that every single shot hit its mark—not one missed.
To her, this was practically mythical.
"How… how did you do that?" Jay stammered, her eyes betraying a new kind of respect.
"No clue. I started practicing at 18, and a year later, I was like this."
Jay bit her lip, feeling like Roy was messing with her.
"It's true! I just turned 19 in June. Check my driver's license if you don't believe me."
Roy's honesty only made Jay feel worse. Was there anything more frustrating than busting your ass and still not being able to catch up to a natural genius?
Jay felt like she'd swallowed a fly and just wanted to crawl into bed and sulk.
But then Roy spotted Fog Island in the distance.
"Looks like we're almost there!"
In the distance, a lush green island came into view, breathtakingly beautiful. Who would've guessed it was home to a secret military research base?
"Mr. Black, Ms. Jay, this mission is in your hands. I'll be waiting here for your success."
At Fog Island's port, Hammer offered his well-wishes to the fully geared-up Roy and Jay.
It was Roy's first time wearing a full military loadout: body armor, tactical vest, gas mask, and helmet. All he was missing was a backpack.
But since this wasn't a long-term mission, he and Jay didn't need extra supplies.
"Follow me!" Jay said, having regained her composure, and led Roy deeper into the island.
From the outside, the island looked like any other tropical paradise, maybe just a bit higher in elevation.
The only standout feature was a massive, kilometers-long rift at the island's center. From above, it looked like a scar—or a vertical pupil.
"That's the canyon defense line up ahead. I'll send a signal."
Jay fired a special flare.
At the canyon outpost, Drasa was zoning out.
About a week ago, Drasa was down to her final assignment before earning her freedom. That's when her boss, Bartholomew, gave her an odd job: guard a remote, uninhabited island in the Pacific all by herself.
Drasa was a top-tier sniper, not a security guard. This kind of mission wasn't her usual gig.
But for the sake of her freedom, she took it.
She was airlifted to the Fog Island canyon outpost.
The place was rigged with automated gun turrets and tripwires, all aimed at the foggy canyon below, as if something terrifying lurked down there.
When Drasa first arrived, it was pretty chill. She checked equipment daily and otherwise just hung out at the outpost.
That is, until a new guy showed up at the military outpost across the canyon.
The man kept finding ways to get her attention, which was starting to annoy her.
For heaven's sake, all Drasa wanted was to finish this damn mission, move to a quiet little town where no one could find her, open a coffee shop, and live out her days in peace. She had zero interest in playing romance games.
But her quiet routine was shattered that morning by a radio call. Bartholomew had suddenly given her a new task.
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