Chapter 273 - Lowengren’s Infiltration
After using his Unlocking to convert the absorbed nutrients to heal himself, Lowengren went for the locker room and wore the uniform.
"Where is your contact? We are three kilometers from the coast of Saudi. The Fifth Fortress is only two kilometers nearby the place we plan to deploy you."
"It\'s good enough. Just deploy me, and I\'ll move in."
"How? Your suit will be detected. How can you sneak in?"
"Sneak in? I never planned to. It\'s hard to sneak in, but through my contacts, I will be invited in." Lowengren boldly answered.
The Commanders and Admiral looked at each other.
"Invite you in? How?"
"I won\'t tell you! I don\'t trust you guys! And if I told you, you wouldn\'t trust me to pull it off! So you\'ll have to find out!"
"We designed your suit so that it can talk to us! But we cannot communicate with you. If Intrik is present, it will give away our signal. Also, Intrik could be listening as well. So if you want to talk to us, you have not to make it obvious. With the limited techs we have, we cannot perfectly mask our signal, and encrypting your comm signal would also be suspicious. Are you confident? We won\'t be able to help you or instruct you."
"Aside from the free ride, I never intended to trust you." Lowengren sneered.
"Send him." The Fleet Admiral finally decided.
The Commanders didn\'t question the decision and immediately sent Lowengren to the Exoskeleton that was ready to deploy.
Lowengren was launched through a small pod that housed him. The Caliphate defense systems couldn\'t detect the small pod, and Lowengren safely reached the beach.
As Lowengren emerged, he slowly strode towards the Fifth Fortress. Soon he reached the base and walked up casually.
The base was alerted as it noticed Lowengren\'s unstopping march.
Back in the vessel, the Commanders and the Admiral all looked and frowned at Lowengren\'s action.
"What is he trying to do?" One of the Commanders wondered.
"Perhaps his contact is a top official. Let\'s wait and see. He is confident of being able to get in the base. He might have prepared an excuse that\'s brilliant or has something that only he and his contact know."
"The Admiral is right. Despite his perverseness, let\'s not forget his hidden genius. Even we were tricked that these dildos are essential for activating that!"
"Right. I believed that the Cube he gave was fake. But to show us his resolve, he flicked it again and received those two lightning lashes! He is a man of plans, commitment, and will! Let\'s just wait and see what actions he has prepared to get in the base!" One of the Commanders commented.
Several Exoskeletons moved out of the base and rushed towards Lowengren, stoically walking as if he was like some zombie.
Lowengren\'s heart was beating.
As he continued to walk, he began to think about his Path.
"I need to push myself into dire straits if I want to Overcome. My lies and my means of finding that Zone when I lie must appear on Command! So I\'ll gamble like I always do in the game. Will I get killed? Or will I be able to find the right time to lie?" Lowengren thought to himself.
"Exoskeleton! Report your ID and status! You have been reported dead in the battle up north! Who are you? You have ten seconds to explain!" The Exoskeletons called out.
The Commanders and the Fleet Admiral watched quietly and waited for Lowengren\'s ingenious response.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Lowengren then immediately raised his two arms and shot the nearby Exoskeletons with the guns attached on his forearms.
Five Exoskeletons received five headshots.
"Die! Die! Die!" Lowengren charged and shot as many attacks as he could.
The Commanders and the Fleet Admiral were so shocked at what they saw.
"WHAT?!"
"WHY DID HE SHOOT?!"
"MY LIVER!" A Commander couldn\'t take it anymore and fell to his knees.
All the Exoskeletons that approached Lowengren were killed. Afterward, Lowengren charged forward and shot at the defenses of the base.
"Die! In the name of the WGP! Die!" Lowengren shouted as he moved and attacked.
"WGP?!"
"WHY?!"
"FLEET ADMIRAL! STOP HIM!"
Lowengren\'s shooting skills were far more superior compared to the enemies. Aside from the Unlocking, the WGP had outfitted Lowengren with contact lenses that could allow him to detect most incoming attacks of the enemy easily. This also allowed Lowengren to kill several soldiers that were far away.
The Fleet Admiral hadn\'t moved a muscle since Lowengren began shooting.
"We\'re going to fail this mission. We\'re going to fail this mission." She helplessly mumbled. Her finger was trembling by it did not press the button to open the comm line. Contacting Lowengren now would even make things worse."
Through these contact lenses, the WGP could also see what Lowengren could see. The contact lenses also could access the various sensors and sights of the Exoskeleton itself to warn the pilot of any threats that would appear.
With this sight and his Unlocking, Lowengren grew courageous in attacking the base.
He had trained against various monsters before his grand adventure. He had faced the Dragon Fangs, Rosa, and even gambled against Lennox. Compared to them, this base seemed awfully cute.
"This lens is amazing!" Lowengren marveled as he spoke out loud.
As for hearing, the WGP had tapped on to the communicator of the Exoskeleton Lowengren was piloting so they could hear what Lowengren was saying. The frequency was unique and altered as the wary team of Magantae decided not to hack on to the line that the Caliphate armies were using as they might get detected on their attempts.
The Commanders were all visibly agitated and wanted to rush for the Comm device that the Fleet Admiral now held just to shout at Lowengren.
"Relax, everyone. This is all part of the- ugh! That was close. I almost died there. Erp!" Lowengren called out to inform his silent viewers.
The Commanders and the Fleet Admiral were turning purple at the sight of this.
"Is this still part of the plan?!" A Commander angrily asked as he implored the Fleet Admiral to contact Lowengren.
Magantae was hesitating as she was coming so close to turning on the Comm Device to scream at Lowengren.
"This base is very strong! I don\'t think I can get inside." Lowengren sighed as he retreated.
The Commanders were pulling their hairs at his comment.
"My Highblood!" Another Commander felt pain that he had not felt for so long. With their techs, maintaining high blood pressure was easy, but Lowengren managed to trigger it.
"The only way I can get in is if I nuke this building… or if I die… Ugh. Maybe I should just retreat. Nah! I\'ll die fighting!" Lowengren laughed again and dashed forward.
"What is he doing!"
"Admiral!" A Commander urged.
"Wait. Listen to his words!"
"DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! BEHOLD! THE TECHS OF THE WGP! OH, PLEASE DON\'T KILL ME!" Lowengren begged after nearly getting struck. He was broadcasting his words for his enemies to hear.
One of the Commanders finally left the room to rush to the medical bay to treat his high blood pressure.
"HE\'S INSANE!"
"Should we just go and sneak in now? He\'s causing a commotion after all!"
"No! He\'s hinting it out to us! He never trusted us, so he\'s telling us now! He said that he wasn\'t planning to sneak in but to go in invited!"
"He\'s being shot by the base? He killed five soldiers and counting! Will they just invite him for tea?!"
"The best way to get inside without rousing suspicion is to get inside, either dead or injured! That\'s why he\'s using the WGP! The plan was to force them not to kill him but interrogate him! His contacts inside would convince the soldiers not to kill him!" The Fleet Admiral deduced.
The Commanders all stopped. The one who was near headed to the medical bay stopped as he heard this. It made sense.
"So… His plan was to attack the base and get shot at?"
"Yes. His companions would capture him. That\'s the best way to get inside without arousing suspicion. That\'s why he\'s very loud and is acting crazy!"
"I\'m not sure if this is crazy or ingenious…" A Commander commented.
"In the name of the WGP Grand Admiral Jafar, die!" Lowengren shouted as he moved forward.
The Commander who had stopped decided to go in the medical bay, fearing his high blood might erupt again.
The attacks grew and grew as more soldiers began to attack and caused Lowengren to retreat.
BOOM! BOOM!
The mortars were now being used, but Lowengren had managed to come out unscathed as he kept moving in random patterns.
"They are trying to kill him! It\'s not working!" A Commander called out.
"Mortars?! No fair! No one said anything about mortars! Are there sniper attacks too?!" Lowengren cursed and retreated further. But his words were still broadcasted loudly.
"Sniper?" A Commander realized.
"I see! He must have made a deal with a sniper! It\'s the perfect way to get in! The Sniper shoots him, and he pretends to be hurt! With his crazy antics, it\'s easy for his contacts to suggest interrogating him!"
Magantae nodded as he recalled Lowengren\'s words.
"So this is someone who has nothing to lose?" Magantae murmured under her breath.
It was then that Lowengren found his chance. The contact lenses detected an Anti-Exoskeleton sniper.
"It\'s about to happen!" Magantae exclaimed as they saw the warning through the contact lens.
At that moment, time slowed down as much as it can.
Lowengren focused as he could see the aim of one Exoskeleton carrying an anti-Exoskeleton sniping weapon. He felt that it was the right time, and Lowengren trusted his instincts as he rushed forward.
Lowengren moved forward and risked his own body as he began to charge forward while extending his two arms to shoot almost randomly at the enemy.
BANG!
The enemy sent one shot, and Lowengren was ready.
The bullet shot through Lowengren\'s Exoskeleton helmet, and the bullet pierced right through it, destroying the protective visors.
With a simple turn of his head, the bullet nearly grazed Lowengren went through the other side.
Lowengren pretended to fall back as the bullet fired and quickly aimed his right and left arm to shoot at the area near the back of his head.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
It looked like Lowengren accidentally shot his own head when he got snipped on the enemy\'s perspective.
Magantae and the Commanders couldn\'t see what happened. The moment the visor of Lowengren\'s Exoskeleton was shot through, they lost the means to see through the Exoskeleton but could only see the perspective of Lowengren\'s eyes. As such, they didn\'t see Lowengren actively shooting himself.
Lowengren aimed for the comm box near his Exoskeleton\'s nape area, and the shots he fired damaged the box.
After confirming that the Exoskeleton was no longer capable of long-range communication, Lowengren sighed.
"It worked... Now on to the next phase of the plan."
The shootings had stopped as Lowengren pretended to lie as if dead.
Magantae and the Commanders were horrified.
"Did he…?"
It was then that Lowengren blinked several times to confirm he was alive.
"He\'s still alive! Amazing! That sniper nearly shot him through the head!"
Several Exoskeleton\'s approached Lowengren to check on his body.
"Don\'t shoot! Don\'t shoot! I\'m a Planted! Contact General Barak- No! Pioneer Barak! The WGP! They were controlling me!" Lowengren pleaded.
His Exoskeleton remained down on the ground as if it wouldn\'t function.
The soldiers nearby could understand his words.
"Please call General Barak! Please believe me! Tell him the WGP is here! I\'m a Planted! I\'m a Planted."
The soldiers stood over Lowengren with their guns aimed at Lowengren. Since the visor of the Exoskeleton helmet was broken, a single shot would kill Lowengren.
The WGP Commanders and Magantae were watching with their arms clenched as the stress of Lowengren\'s infiltration reached its climax.
They could see Lowengren flailing his arms in explanation.
On their monitor displayed Lowengren\'s vision, which was several Exoskeleton arm-guns pointed at his head.
"HQ. Exoskeleton reports that he is a Planted and is being controlled by the WGP." The Sargent of the platoon that approached Lowengren decided to ask.
"A what?" The officer was confused.
It was then that another person inside the main headquarters had immediately called General Barak even though he had no approval.
"I\'m a Planted too. We are a secret team of soldiers that work under the General. If none of you in this room knows of it, it\'s even more impossible for foreigners to know about us. If that person claims to be a Planted, then it should be newsworthy for the General." The officer revealed.
Even the superior of this officer was stunned at the fast action this officer took.
"Report!" General Barak appeared on screen and shouted.
"General Barak. A Planted soldier who claims to have been captured and is being controlled by the WGP is here. We\'ve managed to disarm his Exoskeleton."
"What?! I am on my way there. Do not kill that soldier! And to the rest listening, if I find out that news of my elite team spreads, other than the Planted officer, I will kill all of you!" General Barak ordered coldly and disconnected.
The officers of the base were stunned at the conversation. This revelation of General Barak\'s Elite team made them tremble.
"You heard the General. Also, please treat me as someone of the same position. I am by no means of higher rank than any of you!" The officer further explained.
"Let\'s just do our jobs here." The Planted added.
"Sargent! Do not kill that man! Capture him!" The Commander of the base gave his orders.
"Don\'t kill him! HQ want\'s him!" The Sargent finally ordered his men who were pointing their arm-guns at Lowengren.
"Thank you… Thank you… I\'m a Planted… I\'m a Planted…" Lowengren cried weakly.
The arm-guns that were aiming at Lowengren\'s head became an outstretched arm that pulled Lowengren up.
Lowengren pretended to have no control over his Exoskeleton and allowed the group to carry him. One Exoskeleton stood on each of his sides to carry him like two soldiers carrying a wounded ally.
No one knew who started it, but everyone in the underwater vessel was clapping.
Even the Fleet Admiral couldn\'t help but clap and shed a tear.
"He did it! The madman did it!" One Commander cried.
In the medical bay, one Commander was resting on a bed and was surrounded by complicated medical devices that moved on its own and continued to treat him for his high blood pressure.
But even though it was unwise to do so, he was also clapping. The robotic devices were trying to adjust, and several warnings were being announced, telling the Commander to stop moving.
But the Commander ignored it.
"That crazy pervert actually did it. What a guy." He clapped.
Lowengren, who was being carried by two soldiers, kept on thanking the team for believing him.
"Thank you! Thank you! They were controlling me… Please get me inside…"
"It\'s alright, soldier. We got you now." The Sargent smiled.
And afterward, Lowengren did the most logical thing to do.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
On the monitors of the WGP, they could see the battered view of Lowengren, who, despite having a damaged visor, began to shoot the soldiers around him.
He killed the entire platoon.
Fleet Admiral Magantae fainted.
One Commander was shouting.
Another punched the floor, and another coughed up blood.
In the medical bay, the Commander was convulsing as the robotic devices were actively enforcing stronger means to strap down the Commander and immediately perform emergency treatment for stroke.
The group of soldiers was immediately killed at the sudden wild attacks of Lowengren.
"Move back! Move back! They still have control over my Exoskeleton!" Lowengren cried.
Several soldiers from afar began to shoot at Lowengren as they panicked from the sudden attacks.
"Stop! Don\'t shoot! The General wants the pilot alive!" Several angry cried ordered the corresponding officers in the field.
The Planted was shouting form his base. This was a Planted! And someone who had been with the WGP!
The soldiers stopped attacking and switched to using non-lethal Exoskeleton disarming attacks, which utilized electric blasts and taser nets.
Lowengren shot the back of one of his victims and retrieved its bullet pack encased inside and equipped it to his guns
"He\'s got more bullets now!" One of the Sargents cursed.
"Permission to shoot the arm off this soldier!"
"Permission denied! The Heavy Shield team is approaching. Surround it with reflector shields and fire electro-spores at it!"
The Sargent no longer complained. Heavy Shield Exoskeletons are among the special suits that the Caliphate army had. They had many uses, and with its reflector shields, it was able to halt the advance of the Ninja Exoskeletons of the EAA.
The problem was that Lowengren was just too fast and could easily evade whatever attack was thrown at him. Not only could these Exoskeletons take in more damage, they were also equipped with the elusive Mirage Technology.
Lowengren had already retreated when the Heavy Shield Exoskeletons appeared, but the enemies were catching up on him.
The enemy kept on shooting while Lowengren was running away with his back against them. Yet even with this, Lowengren\'s amazing lens was able to roughly warn him of the incoming attacks. And with his Unlocking, this slight advantage brought tremendous gains for him.
The electro-spores traveled slower than a bullet, which made it easier for Lowengren to evade. Lowengren ensured that his evasion was not so quick and clean to give off the impression that the enemy could hit Lowengren at any moment.
"Compared to Seeker\'s Piercing Blade, these surrounding attacks seem very easy… I pity the Un-unlocked." Lowengren recalled a terrible memory of when he faced Seeker.
Despite the enemies having large shields, Lowengren could still kill some whenever he suddenly changed direction. He would shoot at the soldiers who did not have their shields up as they were shooting.
The WGP couldn\'t see it because Lowengren would cause his vision to zoom by, and when he was turning, his hands would shoot without him looking.
"Deceiving two groups of people is not easy!" Lowengren complained. He was getting more and more exhausted as he kept pushing his Unlocking to the limits.
"HQ~ This man has already killed more of our men! He is able to shoot us accurately even if we use Mirage techs! We need to attack him now!" The Sargent reported.
"Negative. That man is doing his best to warn us about the attack! Try to destroy the Exoskeleton without killing the pilot! If you can\'t do that, just shut up and shout at that soldier! Ask him questions about the WGP!" The officer who revealed himself to be a Planted exclaimed.
The Sargent of the Heavy Shield team cursed at the almost conflicting orders. He then ordered three of them to move faster and kept their shields up.
"Soldier! Tell us more about the WGP! Where are they?" The Sargent shouted, and his voice was amplified by his suit that made it louder than the gun fires.
Lowengren smirked as an evil thought surfaced.
"Perfect. Let\'s test it out. I want him to get so mad that he\'ll shoot me!"
"They are with YOUR MOTHER!" Lowengren shouted back maintaining a panicked voice.
"DAMN IT! KILL HIM!" The Sargent shouted as he began shooting at Lowengren with a high-charged electro-spore that would have killed Lowengren.
"Perfect!" Lowengren sneered.
The sudden charge of the soldier gave Lowengren the opening to kill one of the soldiers.
"Sargent! What are you doing?!" Another Exoskeleton Sargent approached with a few of his men.
"We are to keep this person alive!"
"But! He-! He-!" The Sargent was enraged.
"Soldier! Where is the WGP?" The Sargent ignored the other Sargent. He also heard the same thing, but doubted what he heard.
"They are underwater!" Lowengren shouted again.
"Wha-what?" The enraged Sargent was unsure.
"Your recklessness has costed us a soldier!" The other Sargent berated.
"No! He clearly said something about my mother!" The Sargent hesitated.
"Your mother? The WGP is controlling me and I have time to insult your mother?! Are you serious?" Lowengren demanded.
"You must have misheard! We\'re shooting each for crying out loud!" The other Sargent believed Lowengren.
"No! He really said that! Right?" The Sargent turned to his soldier.
BANG!
Lowengren had suddenly rushed forward and killed the other soldier.
"What are you doing? The pilot controlling me is skilled! Stop standing and fight!" Lowengren cursed.
"DAMN IT!" The Sargent raised his shield and charged off, and adjusted his position to maintain the other platoon\'s formation as the soldiers he commanded were killed.
Back at HQ, the Planted continued to relay information to General Joab and would receive new orders. He had used a small earpiece which allowed him to listen to what the General would say to him and through that, he would relay the orders to the rest. Despite being one of the lowest ranking in the room, everyone was now following his orders.
"Ask him what rank these WGP soldier holds? Are they WGP Elites?" HQ contacted the other Sargent who reported Lowengren\'s screaming answers.
"No! They couldn\'t be Elites. They were all bragging about how they can get a promotion or something! These soldiers must be weak!"
The Sargent relayed the words to HQ.
The Planted was almost smiling as he heard this. He knew that his decision to reveal the term Planted was risky. But it seems that his risk was well placed. If they are able to defeat these weak WGP spies, they could acquire more techs! And for Pioneers, tech possibilities from the WGP were like the Holy Grail.
"Pioneer? No. I could be a Presider!" He knew General Barak or Pioneer Flantter valued resourceful men. But if now that the WGP\'s techs were nearby, he could secretly steal some for himself and even be above Pioneer Flantter!
"Sir… Should we relay this to the General, or should we just attack and capture the threat itself?" The Planted officer asked his superiors.
The Superior of the Planted was trying to hide his expressions.
If they waited for the General, then the honor and glory will belong to the General. But if they were able to defeat it, a record of being able to defeat a WGP team would allow him to quickly rise in the ranks of the country!
If Pangea had the majestic, glorious, unparalleled, undisputed, illustrious, eye-popping, eyebrow-raising, breath-taking, heart-stopping, spine-chilling, most amazing General of the Heroes Army, Harker Cipril, the Caliphates had General Joab Barak.
His words were even more powerful than any Caliphate leader. Although the Caliphate nations were still not considered one nation, no nation would dare mess with the General-Leader, Joab Barak. But now, with a WGP tech, he could just be as awesome!
The superior hesitated and considered if they had enough manpower to attack this WGP team.
"Sir!" The Sargent reported again.
"This man is screaming something about the WGP having a toy of the Lost Primordial?"