In a matter of minutes, Hide stripped his prey. One glance and it was easy to conclude that he had done it hundreds of times. Weapons, equipment, and clothes, he took them all and combined them with his own. All that was left on the guard's body was only his underwear, combat boots, gloves, and balaclava.

As for his own clothes and jacket, Hide folds them as small as possible before putting them in the calf bag which was usually used to store ropes when rappelling. Then, he reached for his new

main weapon.

'Nice stuff.'

A single touch and Hide knew that the Haka MP5-PDW used by the guards was an untraceable gun. The regular MP5 series was made by stamped sheet metal, while the MP5-PDW in his hand was made by molded polymer with the metal component less than 20%. Even the magazines were also made of polymer.

Weapons made from polymer were not as strong as weapons made from metal, couldn't be fired in full-auto very often, and weren't suitable for supporting too many accessories, but Hide loved them because polymer was lighter, anti-rust, and cheaper.

Hide also loved the monocular NVG PVS-177 that the guards used. Monocular NVG did have a narrower field of view than multi-lens NVG, but the effective range could be up to twice as far and usually equipped with a zoom.

However, what made Hide happy the most was that he found all the equipment he needed among his loot.

'Time to work, 40 minutes left before the next sitrep.'

Hide swiftly replaced the bird-cage muzzle device at the end of the MP5-PDW's barrel, with a quick-detachable Brugger-K suppressor that he took from a pouch on his waist. Then, he pressed the PTT button as he repeatedly squeezed a gum wrapper near the mic.

"Check-two to Central-check, do you copy?"

[Loud and clear, Check-two, go ahead.]

"It seems my NVG is broken and my comms have become weird. I need a replacement."

[Dumb shit, I already said double-check for every single damn piece.]

"I did."

[Well, your shift is almost over so I'll send Check-seven to replace you. Then, go to the lounge after you take new pieces from the equipment cage.)

"Received and understood, Check-two over and out."

---

With great vigilance, a guard crept down the unlit corridor. Then, he walked over to Hide who was kneeling behind a corner. In reflex, the guard frowned as he saw the Brugger-K suppressor was attached to Hide's MP5-PDW.

While kneeling to Hide left, the guard asked, "Dude, why did you put your suppressor on? We're not in silent mode."

Stabbb!!

With a lightning speed but silent and precise movement, Hide's right hand delivered an iron spike to the guard's throat, who could only stare at him wide-eyed as his body slumped to the ground. Without wasting time, Hide then dragged the guard's body to a more hidden corner.

'Two downs,' muttered Hide as he pulled the iron spike from the guard's throat.

---

From the interior layout obtained by Takeo, Hide knew that the main building of the villa did not use an air conditioner for every room, but an integrated room temperature controller, as usually used in large buildings. The device had a two-way piping network, and could be controlled remotely from inside the building or manually from the control panel in the device.

From the start, the integrated room temperature controller located beside the villa was Hide's main target. After securing the area, he then approached the device.

'This thing will make my job easier.'

Hide swiftly opened the control panel, then stopped the outward airflow and accelerated the inward airflow. After that, by using a screwdriver and pliers from the looted toolkit pouch he made a 2x2 cm hole in the plastic pipe for the inward airflow.

Next, he took a black tube with a blue stripe from his waist, took out the wet sponge inside and squeezed the viscous liquid into the hole at the pipe. On top of the viscous liquid, Hide placed a red pill. In an instant, the viscous liquid evaporated and carried by inward airflow into every room in the main building.

'So far all is good.'

Hide grinned as he closed the small hole in the pipe using black duct tape, then waited for two minutes before stopping the inward airflow. Since the main building of the villa had no ventilation and at night all the doors and windows were tightly closed, the anesthetic that Hide used would be very effective.

With steady steps, Hide then walked towards the front door of the main building. Previously, through the radio the guards hiding in the dark corner had heard that one of their comrades was about to return to the main building, so they let Hide passed their position.

---

In front of the main building's door, Hide took a deep breath, then held it while he opened the door. Once inside, he quickly shifted from the door and grabbed the gas mask from one of the pouches on his waist. An oxygen canister the size of an adult fist was already attached so Hide could immediately put the gas mask on.

One oxygen canister could give Hide 20 minutes if he was breathing normally, and there were three extra canisters in the gas mask pouch. So, he had about 80 minutes in total.

'Time is ticking,' muttered Hide as he approached the living room, where a guard was staggering and his two comrades were unconscious on the sofa.

"Dude, let me help you." Hide picked up the staggering guard as he asked, "Where is our lounge?"

"There," The guard who was half-unconscious answered weakly while pointing at the door in one corner.

"I'll get you there."

"We got a gas attack. I need my gas mask."

Hide quickly took the guard's gas mask pouch and moved it to his waist. "No, you don't need it."

"You… sure."

"Yup, I'm absolutely sure."

"What about Chief Koji? Have you warned him?"

"I have." Hide then asked casually, "How about the little girl? Where is her room?"

"Do you mean Anya?"

"Yes."

"Her room is at the end of the corridor, 2nd floor, turn left after the stairs."

"Thanks."

"Yeah," replied the guard before falling unconscious.

A moment later, Hide arrived at the lounge and found eight unconscious guards lying on the sofa. After placing the guard he was carrying on the floor, he moved the other two guards in the living room to the lounge.

Then, Hide took a black tube with a red stripe on his waist. After sticking the tip of an iron spike into the wet sponge inside the tube, Hide stabbed it into the neck of the nearest guard. In an instant, the guard's body convulsed slightly before stopped moving. At the same time, a few drops of thin white foam appeared at the corners of the guard's lips.

With ease, Hide then repeated the execution for the other guards.

'Good night and please sleep well,' muttered Hide before locking the lounge door and stuffing the key into his trouser pocket.

After checking all the rooms on the first floor and finding no other victims, Hide went up to the 2nd floor.

---

The anesthetic that Hide used would not kill an adult, but it could be lethal to a child if inhaled in excess. Therefore Hide immediately rushed to Anya's room.

Clack!!

Hide casually opened the door and walked in. Inside the room, he found a girl with snow-white hair and skin sleeping peacefully on the sofa, while the 42" LED TV in front of her displayed the cartoon Spoon & Bob.

Hide gently put the gas mask on Anya, moved her to the bed, and covered her with a blanket. He then added the second timer of 20 minutes to his watch, turned off the TV, and exited the room. After hanging a chemstick on the door, he then moved to the next room.

Clack!!

Hide carefully opened the door with his left hand, while his right hand gripped the ready to fire MP5-PDW. Inside the room, he found two guards sleeping on chairs hugging their Mk.12 Sharpshooter Rifle equipped with a thermal scope.

Wasting no time, Hide executed the two guards using nerve poison. Not long after that, he was already in the next room, and the next, and the next. Then, he arrived at the end of the corridor.

*****