Interdimensional Scientist, Starting from Cyberpunk Chapter 330: Critical Combat Mode

[TN:Sorry for missing yesterday chapter to make it up for it here are six chapters]

The Celtic Wanderer had burned through all its fuel.

Once the fuel is gone, the ship loses speed—no matter how powerful the agents or soldiers, or how high-ranking the officials aboard, they are just a drifting boat in the vast ocean.

Now, everyone on board had beco lambs to the slaughter.

Not everyone aboard was combat personnel, but all knew how important this transport mission was—

When a vessel carrying important cargo cos to a halt, the consequences are self-evident.

Clint quickly walked to the deck. He sensed the young agent behind him holding his gun with a trembling hand, so he stopped and said seriously:

"Relax. Tension leads to misfires. Rember your training at the academy—relax your muscles."

"Okay," the young agent took a deep breath. "Who are those people? How are they able to mobilize the U.S. Navy?"

"I don't know. But I do know this: this is exactly why we must ensure the safety of this cargo. If we fail, they might be able to mobilize more than just two navy frigates."

Clint reached for the door and took a deep breath himself—

That's a warship, not sothing an individual force can deal with.

But right now, individual force was all he had.

Whoosh!

As he stepped over the threshold, sea winds howled. Clint fixed his gaze ahead—the warships were now very close.

He could clearly see the two frigates positioned diagonally behind and to the sides of the cargo ship—no need for binoculars.

But… sothing didn't look quite right.

The ocean behind the frigates was littered with wreckage. Blood and leaked oil floated on the surface, glinting eerily under the sun.

Just as Clint was wondering what had happened, the faster of the two warships suddenly erupted in a burst of fla!

Boom!

Shattered tal fragnts burst from the superstructure of the frigate and fell into the sea, explaining where all the wreckage had co from!

The ship's horns blared across the sky. As the frigate drew nearer, Clint could see figures sliding and leaping impossibly along the tal hull.

Explosions rang out, bullets flew, and debris rained.

"What is that?"

The young agent was dumbfounded.

Clint said nothing.

He didn't know either.

But the warship was still approaching, and it looked like they'd be side by side soon.

They'd find out what was going on soon enough.

Just then, the radio crackled to life.

[Zzz—]

[Celtic Wanderer, prepare for underway replenishnt.]

"Fuck!!"

Erik had already rushed deep into the ship's superstructure, moving toward the lower levels through narrow corridors.

A few fully ard navy soldiers followed behind him, using the terrain to resist the invading super-soldiers—

Yes, to him, they were super-soldiers. Whether drug-enhanced or wearing advanced exoskeletons, they were all super-soldiers!

On a hundred-ter-long deck, without support from steel soldiers, they were just sitting ducks. So Erik decided to head below decks imdiately.

Gunfire echoed behind him. As Erik moved, he tapped on his tactical tablet—

It contained a command-and-control system Tony had developed specifically for these soldiers, allowing real-ti control and battlefield awareness.

But once those steel soldiers were stabbed by those tactical knives, they lost all contact!

"Damn it—wasn't this supposed to be cutting-edge AI? Why the hell is it crashing?"

Screw your high-tech gear—it couldn't even last one encounter!

The flickering lights ssed with the nerves of him and his n. So couldn't even maintain accurate movent in this environnt!

[Zzt.]

[Malfunction analysis complete. Implanted virus removed.]

[Current status: 8 steel soldiers offline. Suggest deploying more units.]

[Firepower exceeded expectations—confird.]

[Battlefield situation out of control—confird.]

[Advanced electronic counterasures detected—confird.]

[WARNING: Enemy possesses advanced electronic warfare tech. Primary combat mode insufficient. Recomndation: Activate Critical Combat Mode.]

"What the hell is Critical Combat Mode?"

[Critical Combat Mode allows full AI control of combat robots, enhancing combat performance and resistance to intrusion.]

[Combat AI will adapt, modify, and evolve in real-ti to stabilize the situation when the commander is unable to respond.]

[This mode is risky and may cause irreversible hardware damage.]

Bang!

A ricochet grazed Erik's cheek. He rushed forward two steps and pressed against the wall, shouting at the tablet:

"If this thing's so damn powerful—"

Halfway through his sentence, a hissing sound reached his ears.

As a seasoned special agent, he instantly recognized it: soone was using a thermite bomb.

They were going to blow the wall!

"Why didn't we use that earlier?!" Erik roared, leaping over the railing and jumping down!

To the soldiers still holding position, sparks suddenly blood along both tal corridor walls—

Aluminum powder, reacting with an oxidizer, produced temperatures over 2500°C—no tal could withstand that.

Sparks flew as tal vaporized, like soone drawing a square with a cutter.

BOOM!

Flas erupted, lights went out!

The narrow corridor that had once been easy to defend beca vulnerable from all sides. Countless bullets tore through the smoke, striking unlucky soldiers with precision.

The exoskeleton-clad soldiers, wearing helts, advanced steadily through smoke and fire. In the darkness, gunfire, bullets slamming into bodies, and tal hitting flesh all mixed together.

Seconds later—

The gunfire stopped.

The tablet lay on the floor, covered in soot and debris. The screen flickered weakly.

[Final confirmation for Critical Combat Mode authorization:]

[Highest-level authorization: Failed.]

[Network disrupted. Searching for highest-ranking battlefield commander.]

[Commander Erik Steven confird.]

[Critical Combat Mode initiated. AI Core activated.]

Zzt.

The screen sparked and went black.

Whoosh!

Several Atlas soldiers moved quickly and efficiently down the corridor toward the next control room.

Their exoskeletons clanked against the floor with a distinct tallic rhythm. Frank's scanner locked onto the tablet on the ground.

[Frank: Found a tablet—probably their robot control unit.]

[Frank: Skye? Boss? Can you hear ?]

[Zzt—]

[Long-range comms disrupted. Attempting to re-establish connection.]

He pulled out a data knife and inserted it into the tablet's charging port.

The indicator light on the hilt turned from green to yellow—hacking in progress.

But this ti, sothing went wrong.

Fzzt!

Black smoke puffed from the tablet. The indicator turned red, and no data appeared on Frank's HUD.

[Hack failed. Reason: Device contains no valid data.]

[Data knife overload. Please replace voltage core.]

Frank frowned and pulled a core the size of a small sphere from his utility pouch to replace it.

[Combat Comms Channel]

[Frank: Status report.]

[ATLS–006: Engine room secured.]

[ATLS–008: Cargo control zone secured.]

[ATLS–004: Weapons control room secured.]

[ATLS–014: Group 2 combat complete. Three injured, ergency care administered. All can still fight.]

[ATLS–007: Communications system secured. Equipnt takeover complete. We're approaching the cargo ship. Shall we contact them?]

[Frank: Tell them to prepare for underway replenishnt.]

[Copy.]

Electronic interference was down?

Frank frowned. If the electronic jamming was off—what was interfering now?

From mory, this type of frigate usually carried four small boats. The lower cargo deck should have gear for at-sea replenishnt.

They couldn't take the whole warship—but they could take the fuel.

The final step was to use those boats to leave the frigate with the fuel, leaving the ship behind for the pirates to deal with.

Only, sothing was odd.

The lower deck of this frigate had been modified. Wiring, structures, and layout all showed signs of temporary adjustnt.

It looked like it used to store a lot more supplies—ammo, weapons, military gear. But now? Only empty floors remained where storage used to be.

That space had clearly been cleared to hold robots.

[Frank: Group 2, report on lower deck control.]

[ATLS–013: Operation proceeding normally. No anomalies found. Fuel transfer in progress.]

Was he overthinking it?

Zzt!

Suddenly, electricity sparked in the dark, flashing bright in night vision.

Click. Clack.

A chanical clamping sound echoed in the darkness.

Sothing was wrong.

[Skye: We've lost comms, boss.]

Leo raised an eyebrow at the ssage.

The steel soldiers had been more than he'd expected, but thanks to the elent of surprise, their firepower was limited onboard.

Still, things had reached a boiling point now. He had done everything he could.

The rest... would have to be up to Frank's squad to complete the mission.

Because he had other business to handle.

[Christopher: "Boss" still feels like an odd na to call you.]

[Christopher: I've holed up in an abandoned village near the Latverian border.]