I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun-Chapter 776: Christmas (4)

"It’s rare to even see a white Christmas, and yet it happens right now. Isn’t this just some kind of cruel joke by fate?"

"There’s a lot of snow, huh? It looks like at least 20 cm has piled up... Let’s try to clear enough so people can walk around. I can’t imagine they’d fine us if we don’t clear the snow in front of the house, right?"

"If it’s the IRS, maybe. Damn crazy assholes."

"...Give me back my winter vibes!"

White Christmas, 7:30 AM. My attempt to indulge in the festive mood for a moment, watching the snow piling up in front of the lodging, was completely crushed by the senior’s talk about taxes.

The snow was heavy, but the wind was light, making it a relatively mild Christmas day. As soon as I opened the window, the cold air rushed in, and I activated the heated wire on the anti-fall fence on the veranda.

The thick snow piled on the fence melted into water in an instant, and that, too, quickly evaporated. After finishing the ventilation and dusting off the bedding, the others headed downstairs.

As I said, we weren’t doing this for something like a snowball fight or entertainment, but for snow removal.

‘...Do they really have such laws in America?’

The idea of getting fined for not clearing snow in front of the house seemed like a truly creative form of punishment. But, upon further thought, it might not be that strange. In America, single-family homes are more common than apartments.

By the time the fresh air filled the second floor, I closed the window again, turned on the air purifier, and followed the seniors downstairs, only to find they weren’t in the lobby.

I was curious about where they could be, but my question was soon answered.

"...What are you doing?"

"What do you think? Have you ever tried drinking beer stuck in a snow pile?"

"It’s 7:30 in the morning..."

"It’s Christmas. We’ll be out clearing the snow soon, but you need to enjoy a little romance first."

"...That’s true."

Gangwon-do... roll call skipped... 6:50 AM, packed the winter gear and gathered in the center... brooms, shovels, and a pickaxe... ugh... my head.

Suddenly, a strange memory flashed through my mind and blurred with the present. Could even the US special forces escape the fate of snow removal? I thought briefly, but... in the meantime, the others headed to the lobby with six bottles of beer in hand.

According to HQ, unfortunately, this year, a once-in-several-decades snowstorm hit again, causing the snow to pile up in large amounts.

In the backyard, a thick snow cushion had already formed, and everyone had shallowly stuck beer bottles or cans into it. Apparently, if you bury them too deep, they become hard to find later.

Anyway, with everything ready, it was time to get to work.

-[Notification: Flame Turret - Mode Selection.]

-[Notification: Directional Plasma Capsule Radiation begins. Evacuate from the danger zone.]

Click!

With the sound of machinery, the flame turret set up nearby finished a slight warm-up and immediately began firing a series of hazy blue plasma capsules into the sky with a "phoo" sound. The moment they hit the ground, the snow literally evaporated.

Since the snow wasn’t compacted, its density was much lower than the ground, so the snow evaporated completely without affecting the ground.

Meanwhile, others had set the flame turret to regular output, and they were creating paths on the ground by aiming the hot air at the snow.

The only one who seemed dumbfounded by the scene was Lapland.

"...I don’t know how to say this, but... the more I see it, the more amazing things just keep popping up."

"Though it looks like this, it’s the most efficient way. The snow’s piled up enough to sink your feet in, so you can’t just clear it with a broom."

"That’s true... but why do you look like that?"

"Ah, just remembering something from the past..."

"...?"

Why was it that, when I enlisted, there was so much snow that even the pine trees, which had been growing for decades, got destroyed, and yet they didn’t call people in, only using soldiers... Or maybe it was cheaper to make use of the soldiers instead of calling civilians.

Anyway, even as I pondered, the path was quickly forming. Every time the low-output plasma capsule detonated, the snow piles were sliced off. Only the remnants remained, and with a bit of cleaning, the asphalt was visible.

I collected the plasma turrets. As I said, today’s morning schedule was for snow removal, and I thought that by helping the others for about an hour, it would be time for breakfast.

"Alright, line up in rows of four. Let’s go."

"Is the ground going to melt?"

"Not sure. You’ll have to adjust that yourself. My adjustments will be perfect, so it doesn’t matter."

Whooosh!

With a loud sound, the snow ahead began to melt. Actually, what we were using wasn’t flame but air that had been heated and quickly shot out, basically like a hair dryer.

That’s why the half-melted snow flew around, and the water from the melting snow evaporated instantly. It was like placing a jet engine exhaust on top of the snow.

The speed at which the snow was cleared matched the walking pace of the mutants, and in no time, a wide enough path for three vehicles to pass through was created.

It didn’t take long to meet up with the others.

"Wow, you operators... I’ve never seen such a strange sight in my life. I’d love it if we had one of those too."

"Ah, welcome. But you’d have to join us for outdoor activities. Is that alright with you?"

"Haha, that sounds a bit scary. Thanks for all the hard work. Have a nice Christmas."

And so, this was our first greeting of the day, but it certainly wouldn’t be the last, and it didn’t take long before more greetings poured in. The drivers of the snowplows, passing by, stared at us with a mix of admiration and disbelief.

TOC came by, checking the refrigerators, freezers, and the restaurant. Fortunately or unfortunately, we didn’t need to clear the snow on the rooftop or on any temporary buildings. The drones were handling that.

About an hour later, after waking up fully, hunger began to set in. The snow was starting to let up.

Meanwhile, Owens and the others, like us, were roaming around, cleaning various roads connected to the central park HQ’s arteries. Naturally, we ran into each other.

Leaving the perfectly cleared roads behind, the fully assembled Dagger team began walking toward the Alpha mutant lodging, clearing the snow piled up on the sidewalks as they went.

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"If I’d known this would happen, I should’ve buried more beer in the snow. So, what are your plans for Christmas Day, everyone?"

"I’m not going to be shooting people at Killhouse on such a holy day, at least."

"Come on over to our place with food. We didn’t hang out yesterday for Christmas Eve, but today, we don’t need to do that, right?"

"Got it."

It felt a bit like the end-of-term party at a university dorm. I remember watching the janitor ranting about the trash in the bins just yesterday...

"...Why are you saying that while looking at me?!"

"Stop thinking strange thoughts and come inside, Polar Bear assistant leader."

...I wonder if they have end-of-term parties at dorms in the US?

Anyway, I didn’t need to say what was in the trash. It was clear enough—things like used condoms and such.

It was like an indirect sex joke, so I just rolled my eyes. Logan’s face turned red as he grumbled, scolding me to stop talking nonsense, while Laurentina and Olivia were laughing out loud.

Lapland was desperately avoiding eye contact, but his face was already bright red.

"I don’t know what weird thoughts you’re having, but does that even make sense? Your physical abilities are at least three times stronger than ours, right?"

"...Never mind, just get inside already, everyone."

"Clean as a whistle, clean."

"My sister’s room used to be a trash dump, but this place smells much nicer. I don’t even know where she is or what she’s doing now... I don’t think there’s been any news about her dying from the virus."

"Is she alive? Thank goodness."

Yeah, lucky for us, most of Dagger team’s family and friends were still alive. Logan and Laurentina lived in Alaska and Vermont, places with lower population density.

The families of Tier 1 operators also had the means to deal with apocalyptic situations.

If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight.net or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.

Anyway, thinking about where my family is made me uncomfortable, and even if I did, it wouldn’t do much for my mental health, so I quickly shifted the topic.

"Where did you get that diffuser from?"

"Huh, you should always have one of these. A lady should always maintain proper decorum..."

"Shut up."

"Nobody adapted as quickly to this body as you, huh?"

...I guess that's true.

Despite being exposed to a barrage of crossfire, Laurentina’s mindset was something not even ordinary people could keep up with. As expected, she brushed off everything easily.

And so, on Christmas morning, the Dagger team was fully assembled.

‘...Time sure has passed quickly.’

Just 10 months ago, when I fell in Brooklyn, did I know the world would turn out like this, or that I’d become like this?

In that regard, life is full of surprises.

And now, the truly warm Christmas had just begun.

At some point, Lapland had asked the Dagger team what we typically do when we're not deployed.

To be precise, it wasn’t a question from someone who already knew how the Dagger team operated. It was more like a question Lapland had received from someone else and had brought over to us.

Of course, it wasn’t just a simple exchange. The reason this came up suddenly was because the 'prediction' that came from Lapland’s mouth was far funnier than expected.

Specifically, it was something like this:

"When you’re not in the field, you probably spend time planning your next mission or training, right?"

"I heard that even during your breaks, you’re thinking about where to go next, which operation zone to target, and what weapons to use."

"Do you also do things like demolition work, drone surveillance, or medical training?"

Well, how should I put this... half of it was right, and half of it was wrong.

To be precise, we did do those things. That’s just a given—though now, we need to talk about how often we do them. In other words, it’s not like we spend all our spare time doing that.

The people who asked those questions probably only predicted that we wouldn't be living like stiff soldiers, and they were probably curious about how we spent our free time.

But, as for whether they’d—

—KWA-BOOM!

"Woah!?!"

"You can’t let your guard down, Junior!"

"What do you mean throwing a snowball at 300km/h!?"

If the Dagger team knew we were playing like this, how would they react?

I had that thought for a second, but my intuition forced my thoughts to stop as danger surged. In that instant, a snowball, compressed far beyond its limit, whizzed past my head at an alarming speed.

Every time this happens, I realize just how incredibly strong my physical abilities have become. Especially when we're playing snowball fights like this.

"At first, we didn’t even need to build a defense line with snow walls. Next time, maybe we should just bring some steel road signs and use them to block things."

"Surviving is the priority... oh wow, Laurentina, you're really flying."

"At this rate, you might end up dying from a concussion!"

"Alright, show yourselves, mutts!"

Splat!

That wasn’t just any sound. The ice-blocked snowball, which was half-snow and half-ice due to the cold water added, was punctured by Laurentina’s fastball.

In simple terms, the team was divided into two groups: me, Logan, and Lapland were on one team, while Olivia and Laurentina were on the other. Even Owens' group was split up, but, honestly, the mutants stood out a lot more.

On this point, Lapland, who’s a bit lacking in bravery, was diligently making snowballs from the back. Snowballs, to be precise, tightly packed and solidified.

It couldn’t be helped. When mutants throw something, there’s immense pressure behind it, and if the snowballs aren’t packed tightly, they’ll crumble before they even leave your hands.

But on the flip side, if the snowballs are packed solid enough to withstand that kind of pressure—

—BOOM!

"Yes, a hit!"

"That looks like enough force to crack a skull if it hit a regular person..."

"That’s why you first take down the enemy’s defense walls."

With the loud noise, everything was obliterated.

I’d done snowball fights before when I was normal, but now it was a whole different experience. Back then, I’d just throw a snowball casually, but now, it felt like my entire body’s joints and muscles were alive and moving as one.

My arm moved with such speed, so fast that it left only a trail behind, and the snowball—traveling at 300km/h—hit the enemy's defense with an explosive impact.

But, in the end, I ended up taking one to the head.

"Ugh...!"

"Guess you need to work on your hand-eye coordination, Junior! You should’ve dodged that!"

"If it weren’t for the gear, that would've really hurt."

Yeah, that’s true.

Thankfully, the energy field covering my body absorbed most of the shock, so while I fell backward, I didn’t get hurt. This was the power of the Icarus Gear.

It’s easy to think that this could be dangerous, but the other day, I did something even more reckless in Florida. To be precise, «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» I did something far riskier. I mean, just look at how many Lapua rounds Logan shot into my body.

At the end of the day, it was just a game.

"Is this okay? If I got hit like this, I feel like I'd be having a funeral on Christmas!"

"Well, even if it hit, it wouldn’t hurt."

"That’s impossible to believe—EEK!"

Thud!

At that moment, a snowball smashed through the ice wall and hit Lapland squarely in the face. With a thud, his nose turned red and he passed out.

The Icarus Gear instantly showed a warning screen with a helpful explanation—basically, he fainted from the shock, not from the impact.

After a quick heart massage, Lapland woke up a few seconds later.

"...Whoa!"

"You need to work on your courage training."

"I don’t want to anymore..."

Well, it was already too late.

Maybe today’s snowball fight would do Lapland some good.

Whether he liked it or not, it didn’t really matter.

I don’t know.

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