Arknights: I'm Pretty Strong With Minecraft — Chapter 30

Chapter 30: Human TNT Cannon

“Actually, Skullshatterer—that Reunion Movement cadre—is Misha’s younger brother. He just wants to protect his sister.” Ivan paused, letting the weight of the revelation sink in. “Another point of interest: Misha’s parents were elite researchers deeply involved in Originium studies. Reunion likely wants to extract whatever classified data they think she’s hiding.”

The Doctor frowned, processing the tactical implications. “Wait, how do you know so much?”

Ivan casually reached down toward his trousers, digging into an invisible inventory space that always looked highly inappropriate to the native Terrans. With a soft pop, he pulled out a gleaming, perfectly spherical Golden Apple. He cleared his throat, hopped up, and seated himself on the very lectern Texas had just vacated.

Taking a loud, crunchy bite, he offered a two-word answer: “Developer secrets.”

Just then, a crisp metallic rattle shattered the brief silence.

Clang!

A cylindrical object bounced across the floorboards, having just been tossed through the shattered remnants of the window.

Ivan’s relaxed expression vanished. He slapped his forehead, the Golden Apple vanishing back into his inventory. “Oh, what the heck! I completely forgot about the breach! Get down!”

His warning came a fraction of a second too late.

BOOM—!!!

An intense, searing white light and a deafening shockwave instantly swallowed the room. The sheer kinetic force rattled their teeth, while the flash brutally seared their retinas.

“Gah! My eyes! My beautiful 24-karat gamer eyes!” Ivan howled, clutching his face as a vast, blinding whiteness consumed his vision. A high-pitched ringing echoed in his skull.

“Everyone! Find cover immediately!” Amiya shouted, fighting through the intense vertigo and disorientation to issue the command.

Crash! Bang!

The flashbang’s blinding effect hadn’t even begun to fade before the remaining glass windows blew inward. Several Reunion Movement soldiers poured through the breaches, tossing smoke grenades ahead of them. Thick, choking grey plumes rapidly filled the enclosed space, turning the room into a chaotic, suffocating fog.

Through the swirling chaos, a solitary figure slowly materialized from the depths of the dense smoke. He moved with a measured, dangerous grace, completely ignoring the frantic commotion around him. His cold gaze locked precisely onto Misha, who was still sprawled on the floor, heavily disoriented by the blast.

He stepped over the debris, stopping right in front of her. Bending slightly, he extended a gloved hand. When he spoke, his voice was heavily muffled by his tactical mask, yet it carried a complex, agonizingly heavy emotion.

“Misha,” he called out, the single word dropping low and quiet.

Lying on the cold floor, Misha’s breath hitched. Even through the ringing in her ears, that voice struck a chord deep within her soul. She struggled to lift her heavy head, squinting through her blurred, tearing vision and the thick smoke.

“Bro… Brother…?” she whispered, her voice trembling violently.

“Retreat!” Texas ordered. Her voice was a sharp blade cutting through the sentimentality. She didn’t hesitate for a single second. Scooping Misha up into her arms, the Lupo spun on her heel and bolted toward the rear exit. “This way!”

“Wait!” Misha cried out, reaching a hand back over Texas’s shoulder, her tear-filled eyes desperately searching for the masked figure fading back into the smoke.

The Doctor and Amiya didn’t need to be told twice. They immediately fell into step right behind Texas.

Meanwhile, Ivan was still seeing a constellation of stars, stumbling blindly over his own feet. Before he could faceplant into the rubble, Franka swooped in. The Vulpo guard unceremoniously scooped the overpowered gamer up, tucking him securely under her arm like a sack of potatoes, and sprinted after the vanguard.

Due to the awkward angle, Ivan’s face was pressed flush against the curve of Franka’s waist.

Never one to waste an opportunity, Ivan took an incredibly deep, dramatic breath.

“Smells nice…” he mumbled into her jacket.

Franka’s ears twitched, a faint flush instantly blooming across her cheeks. She smacked the back of his head without breaking stride. “Hey! Don’t do weird things while we’re running for our lives, you absolute jerk!”

“I have to ask,” Franka called out, raising her voice over the din of pursuit. “Our escape route seems to be taking us straight up the stairwell. Are we really heading to the rooftop? Is there actually a safe way down from up there?”

Texas, leading the charge, didn’t even glance back. “Penguin Logistics’ motto: as long as we can reach the destination, any route is a viable route.”

“Any… viable route?” Amiya swallowed hard, her long rabbit ears drooping flat against her head. A deep sense of dread began to pool in her stomach. “I have a feeling something terrible is about to happen…”

Texas reached the top landing and delivered a brutal kick to the rusty iron door, sending it flying off its hinges. The cold Lungmen wind howled across the open rooftop.

Exusiai was already waiting for them. The Sankta sniper stood dangerously close to the ledge, pointing enthusiastically toward the roof of the adjacent building—which was separated by a terrifying, ten-meter-wide drop to the streets below.

“Over here, over here! Hurry up!” Exusiai waved her arms, her halo glowing brightly in the gloom. “We’re going to jump across from right here!”

“Jump?!” The Doctor’s voice cracked, completely devoid of its usual tactical composure.

“Wait!” Amiya peered over the edge at the dizzying, abyss-like drop to the concrete streets far below. Her voice pitched up an octave in sheer panic. “You can’t be serious! You want us to jump from here, across that massive gap, all the way to the other side?!”

“Exactly! Ten points to the Cautus!” Exusiai’s bright, carefree smile didn’t waver in the slightest.

Franka rubbed her temples, letting out a long, defeated groan. “Are you kidding me? Give me a break…”

“Not good! The enemy vanguard is catching up!” Liskarm shouted from the rear, her shield raised as the chaotic thud of combat boots and the aggressive shouts of Reunion soldiers echoed up the stairwell.

“Alright, step aside. Now it’s my turn to pave the way!” Ivan, who was still dangling under Franka’s arm, suddenly announced. His tone was brimming with an inexplicable, terrifying confidence.

“What exactly are you planning to do?” the Doctor asked, eyeing him warily.

“Just put me down first.”

Franka dropped him. Ivan stumbled for a second before planting his feet firmly on the concrete.

“Come on, everyone, gather around! Stand close to me, quick!”

Though every survival instinct they had was screaming in protest, the rapidly approaching shouts of the Reunion pursuers forced their hands. The Rhodes Island and Penguin Logistics operators instinctively huddled tightly around the strange boy.

With a calm, practiced motion, Ivan reached back into his magical inventory space.

He pulled out a distinct, cubic block painted in stark red and white, wrapped in a black, pixelated band. He slammed it directly onto the concrete at the very edge of the rooftop. In his other hand, a piece of curved steel and a dark flint materialized.

Clink.

A spark flew. The block instantly caught fire, emitting a rapid, violent hissing sound as it began to flash a blinding white at an accelerating rhythm.

The bold, black letters printed across its side were unmistakable: TNT.

The Doctor’s pupils shrank to the size of pinpricks. “Wait! Is that dynamite?! Are you seriously lighting dynamite right at our feet?!”

“What?! Dynamite?!” The entire group stared at Ivan in absolute, unadulterated terror.

“Yep.” Ivan casually dug a pinky into his ear, completely unfazed by the flashing explosive.

“Wait! How are you so calm about this?! And why are we using dynamite to cross a gap!!!” The Doctor grabbed Ivan’s shoulders, shaking the boy frantically.

Ivan ignored the panicked tactician, his eyes locked onto the rapidly flashing fuse as he began the countdown.

“Three…”

“Two…”

“One…”

Ivan grinned wildly.

A deafening, world-shattering explosion ripped through the air! The massive shockwave from the TNT detonated with perfectly calculated physics, violently expanding outward and creating an immense, localized thrust of kinetic energy right beneath their feet.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!”

A chorus of piercing, terrified screams tore through the grim sky above Lungmen as the entire squad was launched into the stratosphere like a handful of skipped stones.

Everyone screamed. Everyone, except Ivan.

“Human TNT Cannon, away!!!” he roared with absolute glee.