From the moment the Guard Department discovered them to the moment they began pursuit, only a few minutes had passed.
"Whoa! That is way too fast!"
Seeing the drones chasing from behind, Croissant let out a strange cry.
No one in the car responded to her.
The reason was simple, Texas was driving at high speed. Exusiai had just bitten her tongue and could not speak, while the other three were not the type to talk in such situations. So aside from Croissant, no one said anything.
"I will take down the drones."
After noticing the drones trailing them Shirou spoke, he opened the hatch above and leaned his upper body out.
Bow in hand, he fired a series of suction-cup arrows in rapid succession, each one precisely striking the cameras of the drones.
Blinded, the drones obediently slowed down and landed on the ground.
On one hand, being hit counted as elimination, so they could not continue operating and had to be retrieved before being redeployed. On the other hand… without vision, flying blindly was dangerous.
"Mr. Shirou, a quick notice for you! This is from the organizers: 'We know your aim is excellent, but could you not just target the cameras? It makes recovery very troublesome!'"
After Shirou cleared out a large wave of pursuing drones, Franka's voice came through the communicator.
Her tone carried a deep sense of grievance, making Shirou feel the organizers' frustration.
Originally, they had planned for the drones to simply fly back on their own. But with Shirou specifically targeting the cameras, they now had to send people out to retrieve them manually.
"…Understood."
After dealing with the drones, Shirou pulled himself back into the car, cooperating without complaint. At the same time, he withdrew his magic and dispelled the arrows.
Since they had spoken up, he did not mind complying. Targeting the cameras had simply been instinctive.
After all, for reconnaissance drones, the key was in the word "reconnaissance." Destroying or obscuring the camera rendered them useless.
Although he could reclaim the arrows, it would be troublesome if he ever forgot to do so.
"Nicely done!"
Since everyone was on the same channel, they had all heard the exchange. For Exusiai and Croissant, anything that annoyed the Guard Department was a good thing.
After shaking off the drones, they had a brief window to prepare. Soon, the Guard Department would catch up, and that would be the real challenge.
Meanwhile, having lost visual contact, the Guard Department could only estimate Penguin Logistics' position based on their last known route and direction.
For Chen and Swire, this was not difficult as they were familiar with every street and alley in Lungmen.
"All units! Continue tightening the perimeter!"
After determining their general direction, Chen began mobilizing the Guard Department forces.
"Hey, you useless dragon, Penguin Logistics' base is probably near the slum area. We cannot pinpoint the exact location yet."
Over the communication channel, Swire also analyzed where Penguin Logistics was likely heading next.
This exercise gave the Guard Department a significant advantage, since they could utilize many of their resources.
The only real difficulty was capturing Penguin Logistics.
That was Penguin Logistics, before Shirou showed up they were constantly running from the Guard Department. You could say they were professionals when it came to escaping.
And back then, they could not openly fight back against the Guard Department. But now, with the justification of an exercise, things were different.
Swire had seen them earlier carrying a large crate of equipment. While she did not know exactly what it was, she was sure it would cause plenty of trouble.
"That area… I remember there are several abandoned buildings. Maybe it is in one of them?"
After hearing Swire, Hoshiguma recalled the area and offered her suggestion.
"Then Swire, continue investigating. Hoshiguma, take your squad and follow."
After receiving the information, Chen decided to proceed cautiously to identify their possible hideout, set up an ambush in advance, and capture them in one sweep.
Of course, that was the ideal scenario. In reality, there were many uncertainties.
As Chen issued her orders, the Guard Department gradually formed a perimeter around Penguin Logistics' vehicle, keeping a considerable distance instead of closing in immediately.
"We are surrounded, and they are keeping their distance… we cannot throw bombs like this!"
Inside the Penguin Logistics vehicle, everyone began to realize something was wrong especially Yith, who had plenty of experience in this area.
Shirou only noticed after Yith pointed it out.
The Guard Department was highly professional in such operations. It was difficult to detect anything unusual with the naked eye alone.
More importantly, the Guard Department did not show much hostility, which was why Shirou had not reacted sooner.
Under normal circumstances, he would already be on high alert and ready to counterattack.
"Should we try to break through?"
Looking at the positions Yith indicated, Shirou understood that the situation was not good. The only way out seemed to be forcing a breakthrough and collapsing the perimeter.
"No, keep them hanging. Texas, take more detours and do not let the Guard Department figure out where our base is," Yith said calmly.
Through intercepted communications, he had a rough idea of the Guard Department's deployment. As expected, they had quickly deduced many details from subtle clues.
But unfortunately for them, much of that information had been deliberately fed to them.
Compared to blocking all information, releasing a few smokescreens was far more effective.
And now, they had taken the bait.
More information was not always an advantage. If you could not distinguish real intelligence from false, it could actually put you at a disadvantage.
"I am already completely dizzy from all this circling…"
Listening to Yith explain his plan and ideas, Croissant said that even without Texas deliberately driving in circles, she was already getting dizzy.
Shirou, Exusiai, and Sora felt the same way.
As for Texas… she simply focused on driving and did not pay attention to what Yith was saying. She would just go wherever Yith pointed; her responsibility was only to give on-the-spot commands during combat.
Shirou could only think to himself that their schemes were truly devious. Would it not be better to have a bit more innocence and kindness?
Well, he was only thinking that. If everyone were truly innocent and kind, he would probably wake up laughing from his dreams.
As the perimeter tightened further, the people inside the car began to feel the pressure.
This feeling… was a bit too intense.
Not even two hours had passed, and it was already this thrilling. What would happen later?
Shirou had already lost count of how many drones he had taken down. Unlike the first wave, which consisted purely of reconnaissance drones, the later ones were equipped with rubber bullets and could attack him.
However, as long as Shirou identified which drones were capable of attacking and shot them down first, it was manageable.
This was not particularly difficult for him. Exusiai could do the same, and the two worked together, providing effective fire from the car's sunroof.
By the way, Shirou had a slip earlier. He accidentally drew his bow to the full and released a suction-cup arrow, which ended up piercing through several drones in a row, with nearly seventy percent of the arrow shaft embedding itself into the ground. This earned him a warning from Liskarm.
Watching this, Wei Yenwu: "?"
It was simply outrageous. Even Wei Yenwu was left full of question marks.
He had thought that giving Shirou suction-cup arrows would be completely safe, but Shirou had somehow achieved the same results as someone using real arrows with what were essentially toy arrows.
Aside from a brief reminder, Wei Yenwu did not intervene much.
From his observations, Shirou generally would not go too far when dealing with people unless absolutely necessary.
Still, there was always the possibility of another slip. Wei Yenwu could only hope Shirou would be more mindful of his strength.
He wanted to sharpen the blade, not grind it away entirely.
"Sorry…"
After receiving Liskarm's warning, Shirou responded awkwardly.
It really was an accident. He had instinctively drawn the bowstring to the limit.
To avoid repeating this mistake, Shirou switched to a different bow.
It was a short bow which was more suitable for rapid firing and with less power than a longbow.
However, Shirou knew that regardless of the bow, if he failed to control his strength, even toy arrows could become deadly weapons.
That said, achieving such power with a short bow was far more difficult unless drawn to the extreme.
At most, it would just hurt a bit on impact, as long as he avoided critical areas.
Fortunately, most Guard Department officers wore helmets during operations, so Shirou did not have to worry too much.
"..."
Inside the car, Exusiai stared at Shirou with an intense gaze.
Look at him using toy arrows to pierce concrete while she, even with specialized ammunition could barely do more than scratch.
The difference between people was truly immense.
However, this situation did not last long. Following Yith's instructions, Shirou and Exusiai provided sniper support, while Sora and Croissant prepared explosives, waiting for the right moment.
Using only bows and firearms to stop a vehicle within the rules proved somewhat difficult, so in the end, Shirou tied explosives to the tail of an arrow and fired.
He had crossed the line after all and was the first to use Exusiai's custom explosives in combat.
It had to be said, when they attacked a vehicle ahead and passed by it, Shirou saw the people inside getting out and vomiting on the spot.
He had no idea what Exusiai had put into those explosives… but they were incredibly effective.
After breaking out of the Guard Department's perimeter, the initiative returned to Penguin Logistics.
Combined with Exusiai's earlier setup, they successfully avoided an ambush and headed straight for their base.
"Lungmen profanity."
Watching Penguin Logistics' vehicle make a sharp turn and escape and then learning that all their surveillance feeds had turned into a music video of Emperor singing, Chen immediately realized they had been tricked.
It had to be Yith. He had a history with this kind of hacking, and had even provided assistance in this field before.
Because he had not appeared or acted for some time, Chen had forgotten about him. She did not expect that once Yith made a move, it would catch them completely off guard.
"Resolve the issue as quickly as possible, then use the cameras. The rest of you, keep pursuing."
Without surveillance support, they had to rely on the most basic method, direct pursuit.
At least it was better than doing nothing.
However, without logistical support and with those unknown, foul-smelling explosives interfering Chen and Hoshiguma quickly lost track of Penguin Logistics.
There was no helping it. Without drones scouting ahead, blindly chasing them could easily lead to elimination.
Being eliminated alone would have been fine but Penguin Logistics had created an unbelievably foul stink bomb.
Chen did not even need to think to know it was Exusiai's work. After all, she was the one who handled explosives in Penguin Logistics.
And Shirou had been dragged into it as well, he was now attaching explosives to arrows!
This further complicated their pursuit. In the end, they had no choice but to abandon direct tracking for the moment and regroup while waiting for technical support to resolve the issue.
By the time the Guard Department reorganized and reviewed surveillance footage to determine Penguin Logistics' last known direction, another hour had passed.
During that hour, Penguin Logistics had not been idle.
Exusiai had set up traps around the base, with Croissant and Sora assisting her.
Texas refueled the vehicle, ensuring that if they could not hold the base, they could at least make a quick escape.
As for Shirou, he was positioned at a high vantage point, observing the situation.
The base was not bad, it was a somewhat old-looking building, though that was only on the outside. Inside it was fully equipped with everything they needed, and it even had surveillance covering the surrounding area. Exusiai had already connected to the network here and taken control of this sector.
Shirou stood by a high window mainly to further confirm the movements of the Guard Department.
"Phew…"
After escaping that high-pressure situation of being surrounded, Shirou felt completely relieved.
Even though he knew he would not actually get injured, the psychological pressure was still there.
After all, everyone in Penguin Logistics was giving their all for the prize money and vacation time. If they lost those rewards because of his negligence…
Shirou felt that his conscience would not be able to bear it.
That was why he had accepted their suggestion to tie special explosives to the end of his arrows and fire them.
At first, he had been somewhat resistant, but after doing it several times, he came to accept it.
And honestly, once he accepted it, it was actually quite fun.
What he meant was not the act of bombing people, but rather the exercise itself, it felt like a game.
Originally, the Guard Department had a huge advantage.
Yet Penguin Logistics, who started at a disadvantage, managed to turn it into an even match through clever use of information and by leveraging each person's strengths.
For some reason… it gave him a strange sense of accomplishment.