Chapter 11
Chapter 11
I'll Tell You Who You Called
* * *
“It’s fine if you believe in your own judgment, but I’d rather you didn’t drag others into it.”
“If I investigate those around you, I’ll find the answer eventually. You were unusually close to Yang Hu in Dome No.1 too, weren’t you?”
Niel’s lips curled up endlessly in a smirk.
It was obvious that he was trying to apply pressure, but there was no avoiding it. After all, the fact that it was an old-fashioned tactic meant it was also effective.
The sweat trickling down my back felt unusually vivid.
There was no retreat.
Now that I’d been found out, only one future lay ahead.
No matter what excuse I came up with, Niel wouldn’t believe it.
In the first place, it was highly likely that New Delvire was already moving to track down Yang Hu’s traces even at this very moment.
Sure enough, when I tried to report to the Public Enforcement Corps using my device, I couldn’t get a signal.
A man approached silently and stood before me.
In his hand was a controller.
It was equipment issued only to high-ranking members of the Public Enforcement Corps. The way he was openly displaying it was likely a message to behave accordingly.
“Is there a problem?”
His tone was irritatingly composed. But reacting to that would have been the mark of an amateur.
Pretending to put away a mop, Thomas reached under the bar counter and swiftly pulled out a shotgun.
“There's about to be one.”
The Hybel M310.
One of the finest models produced by Seven Metal.
Unlike regular firearms, it had three barrels. The so-called triple barrel.
What’s more, the buckshot wasn’t just propelled by gunpowder—it also used a built-in battery pack to enhance it with electromagnetic acceleration.
The pinnacle of modern firearms.
Its power went without saying.
Boom!
A blast so intense it could only be described as a storm. The entire area struck by the buckshot was torn apart.
All except for two people.
Especially Niel, who wasn’t even touched.
The man had stepped in front of him and taken the hit as a shield.
“Hey, my hair’s flying everywhere. Can’t you do better?”
“My apologies.”
The man bowed his head in response to Niel’s rebuke.
Without shedding a single drop of blood.
Outwardly, it looked like a business suit, but what he wore was made from a high-strength polymer composite, essentially armor. Moreover, its toughness was far beyond that of ordinary steel.
A moment that showcased the pride of New Delvire’s technology.
Of course, even with excellent materials, that didn’t mean it absorbed all the shock. Clothing was still just clothing.
But the man overcame even that.
Through genetic modification and muscular reinforcement.
Born with a body far more durable than average, his threshold for damage was naturally higher as well.
But all of that was merely a secondary effect.
The key lay in physical ability rivaling that of a wild beast.
Thud!
He charged forward, surpassing the natural limits granted to humans.
The shotgun fired several more times in the meantime, but the man didn’t stop.
As if it were nothing, he closed the distance to Thomas in an instant and grabbed him by the scruff of the neck.
“Urgh.”
Even that alone was a difficult blow for Thomas, who hadn’t received any formal training. On top of that, hadn’t he grown old? In every way, he was at a disadvantage.
“What should I do with him?”
At the man’s question, Niel waved his hand dismissively.
“Extract whatever useful info you can, then deal with him. Thoroughly.”
* * *
Not long after Niel got into the limousine, the building exploded in a flash of flame. The sudden fireworks caused an uproar, but Niel only glanced at it indifferently. In his eyes, it was nothing more than ants scurrying about.
Slaves, all of them, bound under the name of the megacorp.
The moment Niel lost interest and looked away, the door opened and a man named Lloyd entered. There was a faint scent of blood, but it disappeared almost instantly, overwhelmed by the man’s intense body odor.
“It’ll be recorded as an electrical short circuit in an old building. I’ve secured the area to ensure total incineration without a trace.”
“Well done. What about the intel?”
“He was tight-lipped. Not sure if it was because of some special slot implanted in his head, but the moment we tried anything, he cut off all pain responses.”
“I figured as much. That’s why I told you to finish him.”
“But are you sure this is okay?”
“What do you mean?”
“Millennium Code only asked us to track the location. They didn’t authorize us to punish him, did they?”
Maybe he thought he was being forthright, but to Niel, it just sounded like nagging.
“That’s exactly why you’re still stuck in that position.”
Niel sneered and added,
“It’s true those bastards are the most successful megacorp in the world. I’ll give them that.”
Millennium Code.
A company that could be called the reigning power of Dome No.1. Its influence was best represented by the Millennium Code Gate.
“But in the end, they’re only big shots within Dome No.1. If they don’t like it, what are they going to do? March in here themselves?”
The fact that they sought cooperation from another megacorp on such a sensitive matter showed clearly that they couldn’t do that.
It wasn’t that there was no established transportation between domes. But the costs, time, and procedures were all exceedingly complex. It was virtually impossible to move large forces—enough to wage a war.
No matter how powerful a megacorp was, they couldn’t overcome physical distance.
Even economic retaliation would lead to the same result.
Domes were completely enclosed ecological cities—arcologies.
The city had been built on the premise of self-sufficiency.
Naturally, its dependence on trade was low. Even if export and import rights were reduced and contract manufacturing routes restricted, the result would be a net zero.
“All they’ll do is offer a polite warning while pretending to be regretful.”
It was a perfect setup.
And—
“It’s an opportunity, you idiot.”
The leading force ruling over the sleepless city called the Dome. The ultra-massive corporate consortium: the megacorporation.
Abbreviated as megacorp.
As the name suggested, it was the ghost of capitalism incarnate. A term representing a market bloated beyond the limits of human cognition, within which endless competition raged.
The moment you got complacent, decline was inevitable.
That was true even for the chairman’s own children.
“I need to show results.”
It was true that Niel had gotten ahead of his siblings by securing the director position. But he still lacked one decisive blow.
“The only way is to get ahead of everyone and capture Yang Hu to use him as a bargaining chip.”
From the perspective of Millennium Code or that city’s government, Yang Hu was probably a mortal enemy, so negotiating wouldn’t be difficult.
“In that case, wouldn’t it have been better to keep that old man alive?”
Lloyd’s point was valid.
But to Niel, it just sounded lukewarm.
“He’s someone who’s been hiding all this time. You can’t give him time to think calmly. You’ve got to give him a shock that pushes him past his threshold.”
The target’s movements had been so elusive, it was questionable whether he was even still alive. If you really wanted results, you couldn’t chase him—you had to make him come to you.
“If Yang Hu really is nearby, there’s no way he’d sit still after hearing a friend of his died. He’ll find out about us immediately and come running.”
“He could run instead, couldn’t he?”
“The guy who tore through Dome No.1 like that?”
“That’s true.”
The Millennium Code Gate incident was still talked about even now. Of course, information about the suspect, Yang Hu, was tightly controlled, but a few rumors had still spread during the chaos.
For instance, that Yang Hu was a ‘natural’—someone who hadn’t implanted a slot.
It was a ridiculous notion, but for Lloyd, he had to err on the side of caution. If that rumor were true, Yang Hu’s potential was beyond imagination.
“Isn’t it dangerous?”
“That rampage was over twenty years ago. If he’s alive, he’s over sixty now. While he’s been curled up somewhere, technology’s advanced. Even if we wanted to get caught off guard like back then, we couldn’t.”
Back during the Millennium Code Gate incident, Yang Hu had only been able to act freely because no one knew about him. But that was no longer the case. Now, everyone knew and was on guard.
No matter how exceptional he was, an individual was still just an individual.
In front of a megacorp, what he could do was inevitably limited.
“Well then, shall we wait for our special guest to arrive?”
* * *
I was only a few minutes late from dealing with those damned bastards. But that minor delay turned into a major turning point.
Whoosh.
Seeing the familiar landscape consumed by fire, I froze for a moment. Normally, fires were extinguished before soot even reached the neighboring buildings. But Attitude wasn’t like that. No one had stepped in—as if they wanted it to burn even more.
Someone’s influence had clearly been involved.
It wasn’t hard to guess who. But there was no time to dwell on that now. The priority was painfully obvious to anyone.
Thud.
Ignoring the searing heat that I could feel against my skin, I charged straight inside.
In an instant, flames coiled around my body like snakes. A dull, burning pain shot through me, but I pressed forward without hesitation. Death meant nothing to me.
It was something close to a utopia that would never come.
There was no reason to hesitate.
“Thomas!”
Even as I cried out his name desperately, a part of me hoped he wouldn’t respond. I hoped he had escaped. I hoped this was just a random accident. But within a few steps, I had to admit those hopes were in vain.
I had found Thomas, collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.
“Thomas! Get a hold of yourself!”
As I tried to lift him up, I widened my eyes.
His face was crushed beyond recognition. From his lips came only faint, shallow breaths that could stop at any moment.
The time Thomas had left was only a few seconds.
Having seen countless people die, I knew it instinctively. Even if I broke through the wall of flames, there was no way Thomas would survive.
“Damn it.”
Helpless emotions slipped through my lips.
That was when Thomas met my gaze.
In those eyes, as if trying to convey something, I leaned in without even realizing it.
“I’m sorry, hyungnim.”
A whisper of regret reached my ear.
Was it because he hadn’t been able to repay a debt? Or because he was dying first? Or maybe because he’d been found out by New Delvire?
“What the hell are you sorry for, you idiot?”
Looking back, it had been a long and tangled relationship. We’d forcibly cut ties, and yet reunited forty years later.
More than that, over the span of 300 years, the only one who had realized I was immortal was Thomas.
It was bound to be a special bond.
So—
“Just wake up.”
I forced the words out, holding back the grief boiling up inside. But by then, Thomas had already stopped breathing.
Just a few days ago, we’d laughed and joked together—it felt like a lie now. I couldn’t even look directly at his body and turned my head away.
That was when a siren wailed in the distance.
The fire truck had finally been dispatched, albeit far too late.
I wanted to follow Thomas, to see where he would be taken. But no matter how innocent I was, if I got caught at the scene, I wouldn’t be able to escape suspicion.
I had a few connections in the Public Enforcement Corps, so I’d probably be released easily—but I couldn’t afford that delay, not when I knew what this was.
They had done this to Thomas. The message was clear.
They didn’t want to play hide and seek.
“You bastards…”
I muttered as I rose to my feet.
“I’ll show you who you called.”