"I have taken care of the drones and the snipers. For now, we should be able to focus on dealing with Officer Chen and the others below."
Letting out a heavy breath, Shirou put down his short bow and spoke.
Taking down so many enemies in such a short time had left him somewhat mentally exhausted.
He now understood how those criminals felt when they were surrounded by drones controlled by Swire. Her voice was really loud.
It was one thing for her to attack using drones, but she even added verbal harassment on top of it, who could endure that?
Earlier, he had been shooting down drones as soon as they appeared, so she had no chance. But now that she found an opening, she used over a dozen drones to speak at once…
Shirou would rather have those drones equipped with real ammunition then speakers.
"Hehehe! The two inside! Stop struggling! If you surrender now, we might still make it in time for dinner!"
Before their ears could recover, Swire's voice once again echoed up from below through some unknown device.
"…"
Hearing this, Shirou's lips twitched slightly.
Since when had Officer Swire been like this?
Oh right, he usually worked under Chen and Hoshiguma. That explained it.
"You will get used to it. Officer Swire is not even going all out yet. If she starts shouting, then it really becomes troublesome."
Texas, on the other hand, remained calm. As expected of someone who used to be a frequent "guest" of the Guard Department.
Back in the day, her driving while being chased by the Guard Department had been a common sight on Lungmen's streets.
Now that they had lost their drones, and after checking downstairs, she knew Chen's group would still need time to break through.
This gave them a short window to rest… and then wait to be eliminated.
After all, the enemy had overwhelming numbers. Under normal circumstances, they might still have a chance to fight.
But now, the best they could do was avoid losing too badly.
"I can already picture it…"
After Texas's reminder, Shirou immediately imagined Swire shouting at them through drones—
Complete with Lungmen "friendly" phrases like curses, slang, and colorful insults.
Shaking his head, he pushed those strange images aside and refocused. He needed to reassess the situation with Texas and Yith.
The team below was the Guard Department's assault squad and all of them were familiar faces to Shirou. He had even worked alongside them before.
So he knew their capabilities well. Those barricades would not hold them back for long.
The only reason they had not broken through yet was because the equipment was expensive, so they were moving obstacles aside instead of blowing them up.
Under normal circumstances, they would have used explosives and rushed in long ago.
"In the end, just struggle a bit. As long as we do not lose too badly, it is fine."
Yith sounded very relaxed about the situation.
Losing was losing. He would take most of the blame anyway, the boss would not deduct Texas's team's rewards.
Besides, the rewards were not that useful to him.
Even if he got time off, the workload afterward would probably pile up enough to crush him.
As a "model overworked employee," he had already seen through it all.
Of course, the real reason was that he probably was not going to win anyway so he needed to comfort herself.
"I am confident I can take out some of Chen's team. As for Chen and Hoshiguma… I can hold either one in a one-on-one. Against both, I probably cannot last more than a minute."
Texas stated her plan simply: go all in and see if they could eliminate Chen's squad.
If they succeeded, they could continue stalling. If not, at least they had tried.
"I think I can handle all of them… I am just worried Swire might have something hidden. She could intervene when we engage."
Shirou shared his concern.
Within the rules, he could deal with them but if Swire suddenly deployed a swarm of drones, things would get difficult.
He did not have two faces and four arms. Facing that many enemies at once while also dealing with rubber bullets would be too much.
"That is fine. We did not have much chance to win anyway. This exercise heavily favors the Guard Department. They can use nearly half of Lungmen's resources. Unless we were real criminals taking civilians hostage, there is no way to escape."
Seeing how seriously Shirou was taking this, Texas spoke more than usual to reassure him.
What she did not know was that Shirou had been deliberately set up by Wei Yenwu as the "final boss" for the Guard Department.
Because of that role, he had to do everything within the rules to make things difficult for them.
If Texas were not here, Shirou might have already jumped off the rooftop and switched to guerrilla tactics.
That approach would actually be more effective against the Guard Department but with more teammates earlier, it had not been suitable.
As for rewards…
The bonus was somewhat appealing, but the vacation meant little. Even if he got time off, he would probably still be responsible for cooking for everyone.
So whether he had a break or not made little difference.
The reason he cared so much about this exercise was partly those earlier reasons and partly because… it was genuinely fun to mess around with Penguin Logistics like this.
Though, it would have been nicer if things were a bit less intense.
"Ahem! Testing, testing!"
Just as the three were discussing tactics, Swire's voice rang out again from below through a loudspeaker.
At first, they intended to ignore her but what she said next…
felt a little strange.
"Mr. Shirou inside the building, please listen carefully! If you do not want your dear teammates to become mine-clearing tools, please come out and surrender immediately, and sign the following agreement. The terms are as follows!"
Shirou will continue participating in the Lungmen Guard Department's work for the next six months and will follow Officer Swire's deployment and command.During this period, Shirou must provide lunch. Of course, the expenses will be covered by our side.We have not thought of anything else yet. If we do later, we will add more!
"That is all! I know you can hear this! You do not want your teammates stepping into the traps you set yourself, right? Please surrender immediately and sign the treaty of defeat!"
Swire's voice was loud and clear, but the things she said...
Shirou could only comment, "This is so weird."
He understood every word she said, but that did not stop him from feeling that everything Swire said was extremely strange.
It was not just Shirou. Even several question marks seemed to appear above Texas's head.
Had she been street racing too little lately and therefore had not been chased by the Guard Department? Was this how the Guard Department handled cases now?
Using a suspect's teammates as hostages... who exactly was the villain here?
And the amount of personal interests mixed into that contract was way too much.
Chen, Hoshiguma, their squads, and everyone below shared the same thoughts.
Then there was Franka, who had been listening the entire time while laughing wildly and repeatedly smacking her teammate beside her.
She originally thought this job would be boring, but now it looked incredibly entertaining. Lungmen people really were humorous, especially the Guard Department communication channel, which was extremely lively.
Even Liskarm's expression was beginning to crack, while Jessica and Vanilla behind her were not much better.
As for Wei Yenwu, who watched everything unfold, he leaned back in his chair and silently took a puff from his cigarette.
Although Swire's words sounded full of mischief, this was also part of trash talk.
Had they not seen how she single-handedly filled everyone present with question marks?
As for how much of it was true and how much was fake... it could only be said that if given the chance, Swire would gladly make Shirou sign it.
"...."
On the other side, the person involved, Shirou, only felt a headache coming on.
What exactly was this feeling where he knew it was trash talk, yet the more he thought about it, the stranger it felt...?
After thinking for several seconds, Shirou gave up trying to figure out what he was feeling.
In any case, it definitely was not good. However, the method to improve his mood was very simple.
If he stuck a few suction-cup arrows onto Officer Swire's head, it would probably feel very satisfying.
"...It seems Shirou, your popularity in the Guard Department is quite high."
After quite a while, Yith's voice finally came through the communicator, though his tone sounded different from usual... as if he was trying hard not to laugh.
It was understandable. Even Texas, who had finally recovered, no longer had her usual calm expression. The corners of her mouth kept trying to rise, completely betraying her current mood.
"Yes, exactly. Everyone in the Guard Department is very kind, speaks sweetly, and I also like that place very much."
Shirou spoke in an extremely resentful tone. At a time like this, they were still teasing him. That was far too heartless.
What? It was Yith?
Then never mind.
Even so, what Yith did next completely baffled Shirou.
"Oh? Really? Then listen to the Guard Department's communications."
After saying that, Yith connected the Guard Department's communication channel.
"We also want to eat Mama Emiya's cooking every day! Defeat Penguin Logistics and free Mama Emiya!!!"
The moment the channel connected, Shirou felt that the situation had gone from terrible to incomprehensible.
The people here were so strange.
Was there something wrong with him, or was there something wrong with these Terra... no, these Lungmen people?
Looking at Texas beside him, who was trembling while suppressing laughter, Shirou became firmly convinced that the latter was the problem.
Although he was not exactly a normal person either, the problems with these Lungmen people were clearly much worse.
Who exactly was "Mama Emiya"?
Why had a joke that died long ago within Penguin Logistics suddenly resurfaced right in his face!?
"Shirou, are you alright?"
As the team leader, Texas felt it was necessary to care about her teammate's mental health.
"...I am fine. I am perfectly fine."
After Texas checked on him, Shirou finally came back to his senses and replied.
"You do not look fine."
If he had not gritted his teeth while saying those words, Texas might actually have believed him.
Still, this was not bad either. Compared to before, when Shirou always wore an expression that made it impossible to tell what he was thinking, now it was obvious at a glance what was probably on his mind.
In any case... Texas was definitely not on Shirou's list, so she felt completely at ease.
The reason the Guard Department knew about these things was definitely because Exusiai or Croissant let something slip.
She only hoped the two of them could survive the week.
"Sigh... Yith, do you think the Guard Department is having so much fun because I have been holding back too much?"
After taking a deep breath and exhaling, Shirou asked Yith calmly.
"Yeah."
Yith, who had directly thrown the match hard enough to allow a complete reversal, nodded.
He could already see what was about to happen. Compared to things like bonuses and vacations, what Shirou was about to do was what he truly wanted to see.
And that was exactly why he added fuel to the fire.
In any case, even if he had said nothing, Swire's side had already planned to use those remarks as trash talk to harass Shirou later, so whether he added fuel to the fire or not made little difference.
"In that case, I will give the Guard Department a little more pressure so they focus properly on the exercise instead of thinking about all this messy nonsense."
Having gotten the answer he wanted, Shirou found himself a reason that slightly eased the guilt in his heart.
"Shirou, calm down. Explosives are against the rules!"
Looking at Shirou's expression, Texas became worried that he was about to pull out either Caladbolg or that firearm and fire a shot.
The former had a record of destroying hundreds of drones in one blast, while the latter had shattered a Catastrophe with a single strike.
Neither was suitable for use in the current situation.
To this, Shirou responded with a puzzled look.
"I am not going to use Noble Phantasms. I am only going to let the Guard Department experience projection magecraft a little."
Shirou could roughly guess what Texas was thinking, and he replied with an unusually bright smile.
"..."
Looking at Shirou's smile, Texas knew the people in the Guard Department were doomed.
Whenever Exusiai and Croissant caused trouble and Shirou's patience reached its limit, he would always show that exact same smile.
"Do you need assistance?"
Yith, whose joy came from watching others suffer, eagerly promoted his own services.
"You just need to connect me to the Guard Department channel later."
After saying that, Shirou walked directly toward the rooftop. Texas thought for a moment before following him, then locked the rooftop door behind them.
Staying below would only mean waiting to be eliminated by Chief Chen anyway, so she might as well act together with Shirou.
Besides, she also wanted to see what exactly Shirou planned to do.
"You can just start talking now. I already connected you."
At times like this, Yith's efficiency was extremely high. He handled it almost instantly.
"Officer Shi!"
At a moment like this, Shirou deliberately chose the title Swire hated the most to address her.
"Oh? Shirou, are you planning to surrender?"
Hearing Shirou's voice come through the communication channel, along with spotting the two figures on top of Penguin Logistics' building, Swire ignored how he addressed her and responded cheerfully.
"No. What I wanted to say is…"
As his tone paused, numerous slender suction-cup arrows appeared beside Shirou and hovered in midair.
One, two, three...
Very quickly, even Texas, who stood closest to him, could no longer count them clearly.
There were at least over a hundred by now, right? Was Shirou planning to unleash a hundred-shot barrage in one go?
Almost everyone who witnessed the scene shared the same thoughts as Texas.
However, they soon realized their imagination had been far too limited.
Only a few seconds had passed since the arrows first appeared. Once their number accumulated to a certain level, Shirou finally spoke in a tone worthy of a villain:
"Drown in your Ideals!"