Realizing that his earlier mood was perhaps not the healthiest, Shirou quickly composed himself and worked with Yith to finalize their plan.
His objective was to wipe out the enemy while causing as little damage as possible to the aircraft.
Its origin was unknown, but regardless, it was still an aircraft. Even if Lungmen or the Guard Department had no use for it, having Boss buy it would not be a bad option.
Perhaps the next time he had to travel for work, he could simply fly this thing himself.
The odds of that happening were slim, but that did not stop Shirou from indulging in the fantasy.
Flying a helicopter...
That was something he had once only been able to dream about.
The memories of someone else piloting one did not count.
It only counted if he was the one flying it.
"This side is under control. Yith, focus your attention on Officer Chen's group."
Now that they had a plan and Shirou had already figured out the terrain, enemy numbers, and trap locations, Yith's support had become largely unnecessary.
It would be more useful if Yith concentrated on coordinating elsewhere.
"Then I am disconnecting from your channel."
Yith did not hesitate.
Once he confirmed Shirou no longer required assistance, he cut off their communication.
He would soon have to coordinate a large number of people, and keeping the line open would only distract Shirou during combat.
"I have to hurry. Once that aircraft gets airborne, I will have no choice but to destroy it."
Although Shirou was tempted to complain about how mercilessly Yith had cut the connection, the situation left him no time for such thoughts.
He spun around and burst out from behind cover.
Bracing his left arm with his right hand, he repeatedly pulled the trigger of the gunblade mounted on his left arm.
"Damn it! What are the people outside doing? How is there someone else here?!"
The gang had clearly never expected an outsider to appear here.
After all, this was the very center of their stronghold.
More importantly, they had absolutely no idea how he had infiltrated the area.
Originium Arts that allowed people to fly or make enormous leaps certainly existed, but they always left a visible flight path.
Anyone who was not blind would notice them.
None of these people connected the dots between the object that had flown through the sky earlier and the explosions they had heard.
The possibility simply lay far beyond the limits of their imagination.
"Forget loading those supplies! We are leaving immediately— Aaaagh!"
Meanwhile, seated inside the aircraft, a well-dressed Feline man in an expensive suit was ordering his subordinates to abandon part of the cargo and valuables so the pilot could take off immediately with him aboard.
Before he could finish speaking, however, the arm he had been pointing with suddenly disappeared.
The abrupt change cut off his sentence.
A heartbeat later, unbearable pain reached him, forcing a scream from his throat.
"Looks like I caught a big fish."
Shirou did not feel even the slightest trace of regret or concern over shooting off the man's arm.
The man appeared on Lungmen's wanted list.
Not just anywhere on it, either.
He ranked among its most wanted criminals.
As Shirou had said before, the overwhelming majority of people on those wanted posters were genuine villains.
He had never shown mercy toward people like that.
Especially not under circumstances like these.
The man's practiced manner of directing others to move stacks of gold bars, jewels, and other priceless treasures made it abundantly clear there had been no mistake.
The same went for the others nearby.
Shirou recognized many of them from the wanted notices as well.
That made fighting much easier.
He only needed to avoid aiming at vital areas.
In other words, painful enough to incapacitate them...
But not enough to kill.
It was a delicate balance.
Fortunately, after spending time working with the Guard Department, Shirou had grown fairly accustomed to controlling his attacks.
In most situations, these criminals were more useful alive.
Keeping them alive meant uncovering the larger organizations operating behind them.
As for the few exceptions...
Best left unmentioned.
"You deserve to die!"
A young Perro, filled with reckless fury, charged straight at Shirou with large amounts of explosives strapped all over his body.
"Trace on."
Faced with such an attack, Shirou felt nothing more than a little pity for him.
Only pity.
The response was simple.
A single layer of Rho Aias was more than enough to withstand the blast.
The Perro, however, was far less fortunate.
People chose their own paths.
Although he had not yet reached the very end of his, there was no longer any need for him to continue walking it.
After all, once someone had blown himself to pieces, there was nowhere left to go.
The explosion still kicked up an enormous cloud of dust, forcing Shirou to pause his attack for a moment.
That was probably exactly what whoever had sent the Perro on his suicide mission had intended.
Ordinarily, a soldier carried only a limited amount of ammunition.
Without visual confirmation of the target, most people would stop firing, relocate to fresh cover, and wait for another opportunity.
Shirou was different.
As long as he had sufficient magical energy, he could maintain suppressive fire indefinitely.
The only reason he stopped now was to avoid exposing his own position and becoming the target of countless crossbows and Arts attacks.
Projecting another Rho Aias in front of himself, Shirou sprinted toward the aircraft's last known location.
The shield dispersed the swirling dust before him, clearing a path while protecting him as he advanced.
"...Phew."
"...Phew."
Now that the fight had reached close quarters, the remaining enemies were little more than a formality for Shirou.
The only close call had been the aircraft.
It had nearly started up, but thanks to Shirou's quick reaction, he managed to pin it to the ground first using his grappling hook and several projected Noble Phantasms.
Otherwise, he would have had no choice but to shoot it down.
"Finished already?"
As Shirou expertly held the remaining criminals at gunpoint, forcing them to tie one another up, his communication with Yith was reestablished.
"Just wrapping things up. I also acquired an aircraft."
Shirou was not surprised that Yith contacted him immediately.
Although Yith had claimed to cut the connection earlier, he had still been listening in on Shirou's side the entire time.
That way, if anything went wrong, he could provide assistance immediately.
"Very nice. Though there are not many people in Lungmen who can actually fly an aircraft. It looks like Mr. Wei will need to start training some pilots."
"By the way, Officer Chen has already reached the outer perimeter and is advancing inward. Do you need a break?"
After a brief exchange, Yith got straight to the point.
"The sooner we finish, the sooner we can go home."
After projecting steel cables to bind everyone together before suspending them from the roof, Shirou stretched his stiff muscles.
"Then I will connect you to the Guard Department's communications channel."
"Uh..."
Shirou hesitated, he remembered perfectly well how much Officer Chen disliked this sort of unauthorized intrusion into their communications.
"Do not worry. Officer Chen has known about it for a while now. It was actually her idea. If I do not connect you, the Guard Department might mistake you for a hostile target."
Hearing the hesitation in Shirou's voice, Yith immediately guessed what he was thinking and explained.
"Then why even ask me? You could have just connected it."
Shirou was speechless.
"So it looks like I respect your opinion."
"I really have to thank you for that."
After throwing that sarcastic remark at Is, Shirou let out a deep sigh.
When Yith was serious, he was incredibly dependable.
When he was not...
He was even less serious than the rest of Penguin Logistics.
The contrast was so extreme that even Shirou sometimes struggled to keep up with him.
"Thank you for what?"
Officer Chen's voice suddenly came through the communicator.
Shirou: "..."
"It is nothing. I was talking to someone else. Officer Chen, how is your side doing?"
Shirou decisively changed the subject, preserving what little dignity Yith still had.
"We are still pushing inward. More importantly, are you all right? Just now, I think I... saw you flying through the air?"
After reporting on her own situation, Chen turned her attention to Shirou.
She paused midway through the sentence, carefully choosing her words before finally asking.
Shirou: "..."
It was an incredibly straightforward question.
Almost too straightforward.
Straightforward enough to leave Shirou completely speechless.
"Ahem. Old Chen, that was not exactly the best way to phrase it."
Hoshiguma's voice came over the communicator, rescuing everyone from the awkward silence.
"Was it not?" Chen asked in confusion.
"I used Caladbolg to move around for a bit. These people are completely reckless. They started by blowing up the building I was standing on, then sent suicide bombers charging at me with explosives strapped to them. Be careful."
Hearing the confusion in Chen's voice, Shirou smoothly redirected the conversation.
Changing the subject twice within such a short span left him mentally exhausted.
"Understood. We will stay alert."
Hoshiguma immediately caught on to what Shirou was doing and answered before Chen could continue.
"So how are things on your end?"
Seeing the topic shift, Chen did not press the matter further and instead returned her attention to Shirou's status.
"I have already strung them all up. Should I head out and rendezvous with your group?"
Shirou answered honestly.
"You strung them all up?"
For a moment, Chen was not entirely sure what Shirou meant by that, though she roughly guessed that he had already subdued everyone.
"If you have mostly finished over there, try clearing out any remaining enemies in the inner area. And remember, do not use your firearms. They could easily damage the buildings and trigger hidden traps."
Before this, Chen would certainly have ordered Shirou to remain where he was.
However, after he had spent so much time working with the Guard Department, she had unconsciously slipped into assigning him tasks like any other officer under her command.
"Is that really necessary?"
Shirou could hear the unmistakable lack of trust in Chen's tone.
"You know perfectly well how destructive those two guns of yours are."
Chen remained firm.
Unless the enemy proved exceptionally difficult to handle, she preferred that highly destructive weapons and powerful Originium Arts only be used where she could personally monitor them.
That way, she could do everything possible to ensure the safety of the other Guard Department officers under her command.
That was precisely why she had specifically warned Shirou not to use his firearms.
Those guns were incredibly accurate, capable of punching straight through sturdy shields and striking the enemy behind them.
The problem was that their firepower was simply too great.
At any moment, a shot could easily penetrate a wall and continue through whatever lay beyond.
As she and Hoshiguma led their team deeper inside, they had already uncovered numerous Originium explosive traps.
That was after someone had already cleared out quite a few of them.
She genuinely worried that if Shirou fought without restraint, he might end up blowing the entire place apart.
Destroying the buildings themselves was one thing.
What truly concerned her was the possibility of a bullet piercing wall after wall before ultimately striking one of their own officers.
The construction quality of these buildings was terrible.
Even she could slice through the walls with ease.
"All right. Then we will stay connected?"
Seeing how adamant Chen was, Shirou chose to follow her instructions.
It was not the first time.
Officer Chen's command style had always leaned toward caution.
After all, the Guard Department's primary responsibility was protecting civilians.
"Keep the channel open. After this operation is over, if you have time, I will treat you to dinner."
"I will take a rain check. We have been at this all day, and I would rather head home and get some rest... By the way, is Rope with your group?"
Rather than accepting Chen's invitation outright, Shirou declined for the moment.
It was already quite late.
By the time the operation and all the cleanup were finished, it would be close to midnight.
At that point, it would probably turn into drinks rather than dinner.
After his previous experience attending one of those gatherings, Shirou had decided it would be best to avoid them whenever possible.
After politely changing the subject, he asked about Rope.
"She is with us. I am acting as her bodyguard right now," Hoshiguma answered.
"Hehe, as if I would dare cause trouble. I am just a tiny little bunny showing everyone the way."
After Hoshiguma finished speaking, the communicator was clearly passed to someone else, and Rope's voice came through.
"I am glad you are all right. This was my fault for getting you involved. I really need to spend more time learning surveillance, observation, and infiltration techniques."
Only after confirming that Rope was safe did Shirou finally relax.
"But nothing actually happened, did it? Do not blame yourself so much. Honestly, you beating those people up a few more times for me would make me feel a lot better."
Hearing the guilt in Shirou's voice, Rope tried to comfort him.
"Beating them up a few times is nowhere near enough. I already have the ringleader hanging from the roof. Before I leave, I will make sure to spin them around a few times."
Even through the communicator, Shirou could practically picture the little purple rabbit enthusiastically punching the air.
"Oh! That sounds even better!"
Rope's delighted cheer rang through the channel.
A moment later, the communicator was passed back, presumably to Hoshiguma.
"Ahem... Let us pretend I did not hear any of that. Just remember not to say things like that over the team channel next time."
Chen coughed lightly before offering a tactful reminder.
"I will be more careful next time."
Only after Chen pointed it out did Shirou realize his comments had been somewhat inappropriate.
At least, from the Guard Department's perspective.
"There is going to be a next time?!"
At this point, Chen was completely convinced.
During Shirou's assignment with Penguin Logistics, he had been thoroughly influenced by them.
Whenever someone lectured him, he would always respond with, "I will be more careful next time," only to make the exact same mistake later.
That realization gave Chen a headache.
Just imagining Shirou gradually becoming more and more like Penguin Logistics...
Her stomach began to ache.
The thing she had feared most had finally happened.
Fortunately, Shirou still had his own principles.
At least she did not have to worry about waking up one day to discover him casually blowing up part of downtown Lungmen the way Penguin Logistics sometimes did.
...Probably.
At this point, Officer Chen no longer had quite as much confidence in Shirou as she once had.