The gunfight didn't last long; one could even say it quickly ran out of steam.
Once Arthur and Jackie's shooting became efficient, they quickly brought the situation under control.
If this were truly just an ordinary Maelstrom hideout, then this level of resistance wouldn't seem strange.
But the fact was, this place had received covert support from a corporate giant, so from that perspective, the defensive strength was indeed a bit weak.
Perhaps it was because they had dealt with the turret.
As the gunshots completely died down, Arthur and Jackie emerged from their cover.
Scanning around, Arthur picked up a rifle from one of the fallen men's hands.
A Copperhead, a common, mass-produced piece of junk by Noko Arms Company.
This wasn't an insult; in the last century, a rifle that was similarly ubiquitous was called an AK-47.
Bending down, Arthur retrieved three magazines from the unlucky fellow's body, then he and Jackie began searching the area.
Their main goal was to find that damned laboratory.
They first roughly inspected the rooms on the iron stairway, which were the rooms around the hall.
They were mostly sleeping quarters, and some items related to the slaughterhouse; nothing particularly noteworthy.
It seemed everyone preferred to hide unsavory things underground.
When Arthur and Jackie found the downward passage, it was already sealed off by a heavy-looking gate.
The incessantly flashing red light on the door was like a noisy car alarm.
"This door... doesn't look like it'll be easy to open."
Jackie went up and patted it twice; the heavy sound made it seem like a solid wall.
"It looks like we'll have to crawl down through that hole that was blasted open."
They had discovered the huge hole while searching upstairs earlier; the sagging floor drooped straight down to the floor below, revealing exposed rebar and flashing electrical sparks.
Cautiously, they walked to the edge of the deep pit; it was almost completely dark below, with only the occasional flashing sparks illuminating a small corner.
The concrete of the floor had been pulverized by the immense force generated by the explosion, and now it hung limply between the first floor and the basement.
Arthur and Jackie exchanged glances, then, following the badly damaged floor, they began to grope their way downwards.
The broken architectural debris looked dangerous, but the cracks conveniently provided good footholds.
As long as they were careful, there wouldn't be too much of a problem, provided, of course, that there wasn't a secondary collapse.
Perhaps due to the explosion, the power supply to the basement had issues, with only a few scattered emergency lights struggling to illuminate the vast space.
Below seemed to be a room for data servers, with some box-shaped unknown devices scattered haphazardly.
This area was clearly more severely affected by the explosion; even though the room's walls were not close to the blast point, they had collapsed.
Crawling out through the hole in the wall, they found themselves in a horizontal corridor.
The eerie green emergency lights were often placed at the corners of the building, with the unknown far end shrouded in darkness, like an unknown entrance to hell.
It was as quiet as a dead zone here, with only the occasional crackling of electrical arcs from behind them.
"Damn it, I'd rather be surrounded by a ring of gun muzzles down here."
Jackie's voice carried far, echoing down the dark corridor.
He shivered, feeling goosebumps rise on his neck.
Arthur put his index finger to his lips, signaling Jackie to move quietly; after all, they didn't know if there were any ambushes in the dark, so it was best not to reveal their position.
Observing left and right, both sides were almost identical, except the left corridor was shorter.
Without much thought, Arthur decided to go left first.
Even with their best efforts to lighten their footsteps, the rustling sound of their shoes was still very noticeable—it was simply too quiet here.
Turning the corner, the first thing that greeted them was absolute darkness; there wasn't a single light source ahead.
The next moment, in that blackness, two points of crimson light flared.
It was the glow of cybernetic eyes.
"Look what I've caught, two lost rats."
Arthur and Jackie raised their guns almost simultaneously, the faint muzzle flashes barely illuminating the front.
They also saw the figure standing in the darkness.
A figure almost as tall and burly as Jackie, with two arms that nearly dragged on the ground.
As expected, the bullets didn't cause much damage.
These madmen who modified themselves into close-combat weapons often installed subcutaneous armor as thick as a tank's.
Ignoring the hail of fire, rifle bullets clanged off him, all bouncing away.
He charged at Arthur and Jackie like a bull, the rumbling sound like a roaring tank.
"Damn insects, I'm going to crush you."
The overwhelming anger, accompanied by a strong gust of wind, slammed into their faces.
Without hesitation, both of them turned and ran.
A metal arm, like a whip, swung out violently, smashing into the corner where they had just been standing.
The thick concrete wall shattered on impact, crumbling into pieces on the floor.
Pulling his bionic arm, which was embedded in the wall, Joseph's red cybernetic eyes locked onto the fleeing duo once more.
He started to give chase.
"What do we do? Bullets can't penetrate this guy's thick hide."
While running, hearing the rumbling sounds of destruction behind them, Jackie whispered to Arthur.
Fortunately, the guy wasn't fast, which gave Arthur and Jackie a chance to maneuver.
Arthur had no good ideas at the moment either.
He managed to turn back and fire a few shots, but finding them useless, he threw the rifle he was holding backward.
By then, Arthur and his companion had reached the place where they had descended.
Looking at the electrical sparks still spluttering in the room, Arthur and Jackie exchanged glances in unspoken agreement.
"You go inside and get ready; I'll draw him away."
Jackie's voice was hidden beneath the sound of gunfire.
This was definitely not the time to argue or debate who was in more danger.
Arthur made a snap decision, drawing the prelude from his hip, precisely targeting the monster's eyes behind him.
As expected, two fired bullets were blocked by the opponent's thick bionic hands; the big guy always protected his vulnerable spots.
But Arthur wasn't disappointed; he hadn't expected those two shots to solve the problem.
Seizing the moment the opponent shielded his eyes, Arthur slipped into the adjacent room.
That is, the room they had climbed down into.
"Big guy, have you modified yourself into a wild boar?"
Jackie's mocking voice came from his front right. The remark was effective; judging by the increasingly agitated movements, the opponent was thoroughly enraged.
Although he had only been with Arthur for a little over ten days, Jackie, the gentle giant, had learned a lot.
Swearing had no real impact; it was language that struck at the soft underbelly that had more penetration.
Without time to worry about how Jackie would lure the big guy back, Arthur immediately looked up.
His target was obvious; electrical sparks glowed like a beacon in the darkness.
Above, in the collapsed and shattered concrete floor, a broken electrical cable was exposed to the air.
But the situation wasn't very good; only a small section was visible, with most of it still buried in the shattered floor.
Arthur had to pull it out.
Swallowing, he scrambled back up the ruins, until he was in front of the cable.
Taking a deep breath, Arthur reached out his hand.
Sparks flew out as if no one was there; Arthur could even feel the hairs on his arm stand on end.
This was a good sign; at least it proved the voltage here wasn't weak.
He carefully felt for the insulation of the cable, where he could only get one hand on it.
Using all his strength, Arthur gripped it tightly; if his palm were to slip onto the bare wire when he pulled, it would definitely be a disaster.
Next up was, pull!
After pulling out a section, Arthur's pulling became smoother, until the cable reached its end and stopped.
Taking off his jacket, he wrapped it around the sparking wire end, then Arthur crouched on the rubble, waiting for the big guy to take the bait.
Jackie ran into the other corridor. This one was longer than the left, but only by a limited amount.
The enraged madman behind him was chasing at full speed, disregarding his stamina, and the corner ahead in this path was getting closer and closer.
Mentally calculating the time, Jackie prayed that Arthur's side would go smoothly.
The time he could stall wasn't long; if the plan didn't proceed smoothly, they would have no choice but to escape through that hole.