While Luca was wondering why these people were hiding upstairs instead of coming out...
He suddenly noticed through his lens that two people on the third floor were winding their arms back like baseball pitchers.
Although the thermal imaging didn't show what they were holding clearly, Luca immediately deduced that they were throwing grenades, one aimed at his position and the other at Shield Mountain's group.
In this critical moment, Luca shouted decisively, signaling everyone to take evasive action.
However, he didn't dodge. Instead, he took half a step back and roared.
"Baymax, hand!"
Luca then took two strides forward, rushed to Baymax, leaped up, and stepped onto Baymax's outstretched palm.
He gathered strength in his legs.
Electric arcs flickered on his red and white sneakers as he launched himself upwards, soaring six or seven meters into the air.
At that exact moment, the two grenades smashed through the windows, flying left and right.
The trajectory of one grenade brought it right in front of the airborne Luca.
Mid-air, Luca didn't hesitate.
Putting power into his waist and legs simultaneously, he looked like a soaring eagle.
He executed a volley shot.
Bang~
The moment his instep connected with the grenade, the projectile spun violently, accelerated, and changed direction.
It shot back towards the window it came from at high speed.
Then, right before Luca's eyes.
The grenade slammed into the ceiling of the third-floor room.
With a clank, it ricocheted off the ceiling at a sharp angle, bouncing deep into the room.
"Ah! Grenade!"
"Look out!!"
"Get down!"
Several panicked screams erupted from inside.
But it was too late.
The next moment, the rolling grenade hit the floor.
Then.
BOOM—
Two overlapping explosions.
The grenades inside and outside the building detonated simultaneously.
The shockwave from the explosion upstairs shattered all the third-floor windows, followed by screams of pain from inside.
As for the grenade that exploded on the ground below, thanks to Luca's warning, Shield Mountain and the others had taken cover and were unharmed.
Even Luca, who was falling from the sky, only felt a wave of heat brush past him due to the distance.
In his thermal vision.
Seeing the thermal shockwave caused by his kick, Luca's adrenaline spiked. Excitement flashed in his eyes, and the corners of his mouth curled up involuntarily.
Damn, that felt good!
Just then, a pair of large hands steadily caught the falling Luca.
Baymax's black round eyes showed immense confusion.
(●—●)
"Such behavior can easily lead to ankle sprains or strains. Although it appears to have effectively increased your neurotransmitter activity, I do not recommend doing this in the future."
Caught by Baymax, with his back aching from the hard gauntlets, Luca reined in his excited gaze and thought with annoyance.
Damn, got too excited again. Every time this happens... I'm not some war maniac!
Silently warning himself to be more cautious next time, Luca flipped out of Baymax's embrace and landed on the ground.
At this time, the members of Turn A Squad, who had witnessed the whole scene, rushed out from cover.
Shamila ran the fastest. How could she care about mission objectives right now?
Before even reaching Luca, she shouted anxiously.
"Master! That was too dangerous! How could you do that!! Aaaah!!!"
Frantic with worry, Shamila rushed to Luca's side. She wanted to scold him angrily but couldn't bring herself to do it, so her frustration vented into meaningless screaming.
This made Luca even more embarrassed. He could only comfort her quietly.
"Sorry, won't happen again."
As he spoke, Luca avoided eye contact.
In fact, both in his past and present life, Luca hated degenerate gamblers the most.
But reflecting on it, every time he faced a crisis or needed to make a major decision... calling it "enterprising and adventurous" sounded nice, but wasn't it really just gambling?
Seeing the scene, the other three squad members reacted differently. Shield Mountain's eyes showed surprise, but his face remained impassive.
Thresh seemed to want to say something but mumbled a few words and looked away.
Only Green Bull at the back grinned with his big mouth and secretly gave Luca a thumbs-up.
However, this gesture only made Luca feel more awkward.
Finally, Shield Mountain, the captain, broke the strange atmosphere and asked.
"Master Luca, is the target on the third floor still alive after that grenade?"
Hearing Shield Mountain's question, Luca immediately put on a serious face and pressed his [Tracking Glasses].
But this time, switching to thermal imaging revealed only a wash of red light.
Even when Luca shifted his gaze to the third floor, he saw only red and orange light mixed with a few white spots.
Luca knew this was overexposure caused by the massive amount of infrared radiation in the air.
Under these conditions, let alone confirming kills, turning on thermal mode would actually hinder his vision.
It was just...
It's supposed to be black-tech wall hacks! Why follow scientific principles here of all places!!
Now Luca regretted his impulsive action even more. He turned off thermal mode and shook his head helplessly at Shield Mountain.
"Can't see inside anymore."
Shield Mountain wasn't too surprised by the answer and nodded calmly.
He knew the limitations of thermal imaging. He asked only because Luca's "tech" had been so impressive earlier, holding onto a faint hope.
"Looks like we have to storm in to check the results!"
"Wrench, Longbow! Watch the perimeter for enemy reinforcements!"
"Copy." x2
In fact, this was what they had been doing all along.
Shield Mountain just gave a reminder before continuing.
"Wolf Spider, Green Bull! Follow me upstairs to confirm the target!"
Then he turned to Thresh.
"How much ammo left?"
"Last box." The bald burly man mumbled softly.
"200 rounds? Thresh, return to the vehicle to resupply. Cover Wrench, and open fire immediately if enemy reinforcements arrive!"
"Understood, Captain." Thresh didn't waste words. Hugging his light machine gun, he trotted back toward the news van.
Finally, Shield Mountain looked at Luca.
But before he could speak, Luca said quickly.
"I'm coming with you. Baymax takes point."
Shield Mountain didn't refuse. He nodded and strode into the building.