"The business is gone, and over thirty people sent there are all missing? And you don't even know who the other party is?"
A scar-faced man with a terrifying knife scar on his face slammed the table and roared.
"No one alive saw what they looked like."
A small leader said with a trembling voice, "Could it be the Labor Union coming back for revenge?"
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
In a fit of rage, the scar-faced man swept everything off the table onto the floor.
"The Labor Union's leader is already in the Adeptus Arbites, which means he's deader than if he were in a coffin! Their influence has long since waned; how could they possibly have the guts to launch an attack?!"
"Then what... what should we do...?"
"It must be some gang that's targeted us. Go, find them and 'negotiate'."
The small leader immediately understood; he knew that what his boss meant by 'negotiation' was to trick them over and kill them.
"And let's add another layer of insurance. Those Hive City Law Enforcement officers have taken a lot of benefits from us. Even if we fall out with these guys, I think they'd be very happy to stab them in the back and help us launch a pincer attack."
--
"The Poison Spider Gang's boss wants to negotiate. They still don't know who we are. The location is in a factory on the edge of the Zero Zone," Horatio said, pointing at the map.
"This is a classic trap," Louise said, her brows tightly furrowed.
"As long as we can use this opportunity to wipe them out, we can hand their businesses over to the Labor Union, ready-made," Horatio sneered.
The members of Team 13 gathered, analyzing the photos on the table.
It was a tall, abandoned factory where the equipment had long since stopped working and rusted, becoming a den where the Poison Spider Gang hid their spoils.
"We can launch a vertical strike from above, eliminate the snipers, and seize the high ground," Sergeant Major Valina said, holding her arms across her chest.
"As long as we don't expose ourselves, occupying the high ground means we'll be ambushing them."
"Make them pay."
Horatio indifferently raised his Cadia Trench Knife and plunged it into the layout diagram.
The vertical space in the Vegas District and the massive port area is vast, with a height of 3500 meters from the upper crust to the first underground crust, and buildings form a steel Babel Tower.
But there is still enough room for aircraft to fly, especially nimble small military aircraft like the Valkyrie, which serves as this world's 'Blackhawk' and 'Viper' helicopter for rapid troop transport.
A void-blue Valkyrie Fighter hovered 500 meters above the target factory. The excellent Imperial Naval Aviator precisely controlled the throttle, reducing noise to a minimum, and used the advanced optical reconnaissance instruments below the nose to mark all militarily threatening enemies for the action team.
Two extremely long rappelling ropes were thrown from the cabin. The reason for not using gravity parachutes was that the engine sound might expose the vertical strike operation.
Fully armed Hellspawns leaped down the ropes, their lock rings hooked to the ropes, and sparks from high-speed friction danced on their carapace armor.
Horatio had his own methods, so this operation was not afraid of being seen with Childer of Loyalty Youth Army participation.
All witnesses would not survive today.
When descending to the last 50 meters, the carapace gauntlets gripped the ropes. After efficient communication, coordination, and countless training sessions, the Hellspawns perfectly controlled their spacing.
Louise led the charge. She was the first to step onto the warehouse roof. Her tactical analyzer quickly calculated a safe and non-collapsing route for her, and her silenced combat boots made her movements exceptionally quiet.
Through the old, cracked gaps in the roof, she could see the Poison Spider Gang members sitting below, as well as the snipers on the maintenance platform.
[+ Mark Target +]
Team 13 split into four groups, launching vertical strikes from four sides, seizing the high ground of the maintenance platform from all angles.
Buzz, buzz, buzz—
Horatio rode in an ordinary truck, driving from a distance. This was a common cargo type in the port area, which could conceal his identity well.
He wore a low-key trench coat, his cap pulled down to obscure his face, and a bulletproof soft armor under his shirt, making his true identity inscrutable.
The vehicle slowly stopped outside the old factory gate. Deacon Jonathan and several loyal cadres of the Labor Union guarded Horatio.
A Poison Spider Gang member guarding the gate extended his hand to Horatio, signaling him to hand over his weapon.
"Get lost," Horatio said, giving the obstructing person a cold, piercing look.
"You're the ones begging me now; don't mistake your place."
"Boss, what should we do?" the small leader asked.
The Poison Spider Gang boss gritted his teeth, his mouth twitching incessantly, but he still waved his hand, suppressing his rage, and said to the formidable Horatio:
"Welcome, welcome."
The Poison Spider Gang members at the gate had no choice but to let Horatio pass.
Horatio pulled his cap down lower, his steps steady, the hem of his trench coat swaying with each stride.
He quickly scanned his surroundings, using his neural-spinal implant to compile code, updating the action team's auspexes and target locks.
Team 13 did not have enough personnel to kill so many people in one volley, so Horatio planned to leave some for himself to deal with.
"Enough small talk, what can you give me?"
Horatio couldn't be bothered with pleasantries, his first sentence striking the Poison Spider Gang boss's heart.
"We need to discuss it," he tried to buy time.
But he didn't know that he was also buying time for Team 13 of the Hellspawns, which Horatio had deployed.
Horatio looked up at the maintenance platform upstairs.
A rope dropped from a crack in the ceiling directly above. Sergeant Major Valina slid down at high speed, plunging a knife into one man's forehead, and using her arm strength to strangle another to death, then drew her knife back and stabbed the gang member who had just finished urinating and turned around.
On her opposite side, Louise descended from the sky, her hard and cold leg armor instantly snapping one man's neck, then quickly throwing a knife to pierce another's back of the head. She then prostrated herself on the iron grating, aiming her Hellgun at the enemies she was responsible for eliminating.
Soon, the holographic projections to confuse the enemy were set up. From below, it still looked like Poison Spider Gang members were standing above.
"You have 10 seconds. Give me a result," Horatio commanded coldly.
He naturally let his hand hang vertically, fingers slightly splayed, his iron hand only a few centimeters from the holster at his waist.
This was a dangerous signal; an excellent gunman could kill someone in mere moments.
The small leader quickly glanced at his boss, who nodded understandingly.
"The result we just discussed is..."
The scar-faced man suddenly revealed a sinister smile.
"We want your life." He then raised his gun.
But what he found eerie was that the young man standing before him not only didn't dodge but even had a cold sneer on his lips.
Time seemed to slow.
Scorching laser beams shot from all directions, weaving into a dense web of fire. Many Poison Spider Gang members didn't even have time to pull out their guns before the powerful Hellgun lasers melted their flesh and collapsed their features.
It was also at this moment that Horatio, with astonishing speed and reaction ability, drew the massive Gothic Mk3 Navy Revolver from his waist, tilting the gun sideways, sweeping from right to left, his left hand's three fingers slapping the hammer at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye.
Bang, bang, bang!
In 0.28 seconds, Horatio fired three shots. The 11.6mm Navy Blast Pistol ejected spiraling flames from its base, flying out and instantly shattering the small leader and close bodyguard beside the Poison Spider Gang boss, and blowing his gun and his arm into countless fragments.
Having undergone rigorous special training, Horatio, relying on the specialized reaction capabilities given to him by surgery, had mastered the traditional martial arts of Ancient Terra's America to an extremely high degree, now even capable of instantaneous triple-taps.
The Poison Spider Gang members outside the door were shot dead by Deacon Jonathan and the assassins who had been following Horatio, using folding knives and pistols.
"Ah!" The leader slumped to the ground, clutching his profusely bleeding arm and wailing in pain.
"You... who exactly are you?!"
The young man approached him, and at a closer distance, he saw the crimson rose knot dangling from the inside of the young man's greatcoat, and the most powerful mortal warriors with skull-painted helmets and glowing red eyes slowly walking towards him.
Horatio didn't need to answer his question; the two situations had already provided the best response.
The surrounding air seemed to be instantly sucked out, and the terrifying sense of suffocation instantly silenced the leader.
He never dreamed that he would provoke such a person.
It was as if not just a few people were approaching, but a heavy black cloud pressing down, the terrifying invisible leviathan created by the highest public authority of the Imperium.
Facts proved that when the most extreme terror descended from the sky, one didn't notice the wetness on their pants.
This was Imperial Terror.
Tomorrow's prediction: Plague Ship!