Chapter 36 : Second Match (4)

The escort vehicles running ahead of the convoy suddenly realized something was wrong as soon as the drawbridge

started to lift.

The view ahead, which had shown the far end of the bridge just moments ago, began shifting—and the car tilted forward.

No driver could miss that.

The problem was, even if they did realize it, there was nothing they could do about it.

—“Emergency! The 3rd Bridge’s platform is moving abnormally!”

—“Thankfully, the VIP vehicle reversed immediately and didn’t fall, but the lead vehicles—eight of them—were already

more than halfway across. They’re now cut off from the VIP!”

—“What do you mean, ‘moving abnormally’? Are you saying the bridge actually lifted?”

—“Yes! It’s a drawbridge that should only open when a large ship passes. But it just started lifting suddenly, without any

warning!”

—“What? Why? Contact Haven City’s central traffic control immediately!”

—“Already trying. But they say they didn’t authorize anything and don’t know what’s going on either.”

—“What kind of bullshit is that?! If they don’t know, then who the hell does?! Dammit… forget who’s behind this for now.

Just get the drawbridge lowered again! The VIP vehicle has to get through!”

—“That’s… also impossible, sir.”

—“What the hell?! What do you mean ‘impossible’?! If someone could lift it, then why the hell can’t we lower it again?!”

—“It appears someone is manually operating the control panel under the bridge. Manual controls override central

commands, so we need someone to physically go there and stop it…”

Miles Zabaski, head of security for Virasion, felt cold sweat run down his temples.

The drawbridge had lifted at the worst possible moment, cutting him and the lead convoy off from the VIP.

And now it turns out it wasn’t a system failure—someone was down there, operating the panel manually.

This couldn’t be a coincidence.

Which meant—

“An attack.

A highly coordinated, targeted attack on the VIP.”

Miles immediately called the VIP—Chairwoman Isabella.

—“What?”

“It’s an ambush, Chairwoman! They’re targeting you and your guests! You need to get out of there right now!”

—“Took you long enough. And get out where, exactly?”

“Huh? Uh… the path to Zone 1 is blocked, so maybe return to Zone 4—”

—“You idiot. You’re head of security and still don’t know what’s going on? The road back to Zone 4 is blocked too.”

“What? But… can’t you just turn around and drive back?”

—“Enough. I was talking to a guest, and now you’ve interrupted. Don’t call again until the problem is solved.”

Isabella didn’t sound panicked or angry—just thoroughly unimpressed with Miles.

Was that a good sign… or the worst?

Miles knew: if he could fix this, things might slide. But if not—he was done.

“Camera. Show me the external feed from the VIP vehicle. I need to see what’s happening across the bridge.”

“Yes, sir.”

The assistant in the passenger seat switched the camera feed over.

Now Miles understood why Isabella said she couldn’t turn back.

Bang!

He shoved open the car door and ran toward the edge of the bridge to get a clear view.

Hooooonk! Hoooonk! HOOOOONK!!!

Even from this distance, he could hear hundreds of car horns blaring across the water.

Using his artificial eye’s zoom function, he saw it for himself:

The intersection feeding into the 3rd Bridge from Zone 4 was jammed—vehicles from three directions completely blocked

it off.

The VIP’s car and the rear convoy were now trapped, stuck on the bridge.

But wasn’t the HCPD supposed to control all signals so the convoy could pass through smoothly?

Was it possible that the manual control panel under the bridge also had access to the traffic signals around the bridge?

This wasn’t random.

It was a perfectly coordinated ambush.

Miles grabbed his radio.

“Drone team.”

—“Yes, sir.”

“Launch every drone we’ve got, right now.”

—“All of them, even the combat ones?”

“Yes.”

—“But sir, we’re in the middle of downtown. If we fly combat drones without official clearance, Haven City’s going to

come down hard on us.”

“You think I don’t know that?! But if we all want to keep our damn jobs, launch the drones now!”

—“Y-Yes, sir!”

“Send half the combat drones under the bridge. Eliminate everyone in sight. I don’t care who it is.”

—“And the other half?”

“Send them to the intersection. Clear everyone out. A terrorist could be hiding in that crowd. Use non-lethal rounds if

they resist. All recon drones should sweep the canal and Zone 4. Check the ID of every person within a 1-mile radius. Go!”

—“Understood!”

Even if Virasion ruled Haven City like a king, there were limits.

Miles’ order to use combat drones to scare civilians out of their cars clearly crossed a line—but fear beat caution today.

‘It couldn’t be… no way… that crazy woman wouldn’t hit Virasion again, right?’

A few days ago, that woman had raided Virasion Tower—alone.

Isabella seemed to know who she was. But Miles, despite being head of security, had been left in the dark.

And now he feared she was back—to humiliate him all over again.

‘I never should’ve trusted HCPD with this much responsibility!’

If you really wanted to assassinate someone in Haven City, you wouldn’t go for a wide-open bridge.

You’d just find a high-rise downtown, set up a sniper rifle, and wait.

There are so many tall buildings in Zone 4 alone—monitoring every floor of every building was impossible.

That’s why Miles had focused all his resources on guarding the buildings along the convoy route.

But now the terrorist had bypassed the city entirely—and used the drawbridge instead.

Why?

Even if someone was down there operating the panel, they’d be taken out soon.

The area had drones, CCTV, and a full surveillance net. Anyone approaching would be spotted.

Drones launched from 6 vehicles on the Zone 1 side and 8 vehicles from the rear convoy on the Zone 4 side.

Miles exhaled.

‘Maybe I overreacted. Maybe it was just HCPD messing up the manual panel. Sure, odds are it is an

attack… but if so, the combat drones will clean it up. Why was I panicking?’

Relaxing a little, Miles chuckled and pulled out his e-cigarette.

—“Sir, all 56 combat drones are airborne.”

“Great. This’ll be over soon.”

Just as he took a puff, the first drone flew under the bridge.

A single gunshot.

The drone fell into the canal.

Miles dropped his e-cig in shock.

“How the hell did you do that?!”

“What?”

“I mean, that drone’s propeller barely showed above the ledge, and you shot it down with one bullet. And it wasn’t even a

sniper rifle—it was an assault rifle!”

“That surprises you? You’ve never seen her fight?”

“No.”

“Then when you do, don’t miss it. You’ll realize I’m nothing compared to her.”

“Leilia’s that strong?”

“Of course she is—wait, why are you standing there doing nothing?”

“Huh? You told me to guard the knocked-out HCPD officers?”

“Idiot! There are thirty combat drones armed with machine guns and grenade launchers headed this way! Screw guard

duty—do you have a death wish?!”

“W-What?! Combat drones?!”

“I don’t care how bad your aim is—just grab a shotgun and shoot the nearest one!”

“Y-Yes, ma’am!”

As Way finally fumbled for a weapon, Kabi sighed and calmly turned around—then shot down the next incoming drone

with perfect precision.

Kabi knew Way wasn’t going to be much help.

But she hadn’t expected him to be this useless.

“By the way,” Way shouted,

“Do we really need to stay here? We lifted the bridge and rewired the traffic signals. Why not just break the panel and

leave?”

“No one told you? If this control panel breaks, control of the bridge reverts to Haven City’s central system. They’d just

lower the bridge again—and the target would cross into Zone 1.”

“Oh. Right.”

While Kabi reloaded her electrified rounds, Way scratched his head and asked,

“So when’s Leilia getting here?”

“Well, Olbi must’ve called her the moment the VIP got stuck. So… probably about five minutes ago.”

“So she’ll be here any second.”

“Yep.”

Kabi wanted to slap the back of Way’s head for sounding so relaxed, but held it in.

After all, he was right—Leilia would arrive in seconds.

“What the hell is going on?! How many people are down there? Why are all our drones getting

destroyed?!”

—“Two, sir.”

“Two?! Two people are taking out thirty combat drones—? Wait, what about the ones sent to the intersection?”

—“We fired non-lethal rounds like you said. The crowd abandoned their cars and left.”

“Good. Redirect those drones to the bridge. If that’s still not enough, request support from Virasion Tower—combat

android units if needed—”

As Miles spoke into his radio, he suddenly heard a strange noise above him.

He looked up.

And saw it.

“…You’ve got to be kidding me.”

—“Sir? What about the androids?”

Miles didn’t respond.

He slowly lowered the radio.

Because something was coming.

Something a drone couldn’t stop.

Something falling straight from orbit.

A massive fireball streaked down from space.