Chapter 34: Rescue Operation (2)
Rescue Operation (2)
Vroooom— The boat cut through the waves as it sped along. The sky was dark, and the sea was rough, causing the boat to sway from time to time.
Watching it all on the giant screen and hearing it through the booming speakers in the central control room gave the scene a cinematic quality. It felt like watching a movie about American troops landing in Normandy, but with two key differences.
First, this wasn’t a game. If the operation went wrong, there would be no restart. It wasn’t just the life of one player at stake but the lives of many people. Second, the soldiers on the boat weren’t showing any signs of tension at all. Sitting across from each other with the butts of their guns resting on the boat's floor and the muzzles pointed toward the sky, they were as still as statues, evoking a scene from a religious ceremony.
There were no stereotypical scenes of a grim-faced sergeant with a cigar in his mouth or a nervous rookie trembling with fear. On the upper part of the screen, information was displayed: a satellite map, the distance to the target pier, the estimated arrival time, the boat's speed, the squad members’ status, and their remaining ammunition.
It resembled what would be shown in an actual operations command center during a special mission, but instead of vital signs, the operational efficiency was displayed for each squad member.
If a human soldier lost an arm during a mission, their vital signs would immediately go haywire. But for these soldiers, it was just a matter of reduced shooting accuracy. What mattered was how much of their operational efficiency remained to contribute to the mission.
Slurp— A warm yet bitter taste spread through my mouth and sharpened my senses. I wasn’t particularly fond of bitter flavors, but at the moment, anything other than bitterness seemed like a luxury.
[Administrator, there’s a communication request from the offshore prison.]