Chapter 39
Chapter 39
A bothersome one had appeared
***
I kicked the fallen doctor and approached the man. Aside from his slow breathing, there seemed to be no other abnormal signs. He was probably just deeply anesthetized and unconscious.
That wasn’t bad. It meant I didn’t have to give a long explanation of the situation.
After covering the man with a blanket and stepping outside, I moved my feet toward a place I still hadn’t checked.
It was only for a moment that my eyes caught the chilling plaque labeled “Processing Room.” Considering the tendencies of the Pier Gang, there was a high possibility that this place was the final destination.
Sure enough, the remaining four people were collapsed inside.
They were still intact, probably not yet extracted.
Since none of them needed immediate treatment, I turned my back. I had come here because I accepted a request. Humanitarian work was fine, but first I had to confirm whether the person on the list was alive.
The place I needed to go was already decided.
***
A room located at the deepest level underground.
Upon arriving at the place where their crimes so far were recorded, I pulled a magnetic cable from my pocket.
Click.
The moment I fastened one end to the device and connected the other end to the port, a message asking for a password floated over my retina.
This was within expectations.
I had lived for a long time.
I had accumulated knowledge across many fields and learned more than a few tricks. Handling hacking tools was one of them.
It was nothing compared to what a Diver or a Tuner could do, but this was just cracking open a single street gang’s base. I could break through with a simple decryption program.
After accessing the database and quickly sorting the information, it didn’t take long for me to find the transaction ledger. The names of the missing people buried inside it also surfaced quickly.
I harbored a bit of hope just in case, but all that caught my eye were emotionless reports stating that disposal had been completed.
And the final modification date was one sol week earlier.
It was a tragedy that had occurred even before I accepted the request, but I couldn’t help the bitterness filling my mouth.
In truth, it had been something I had foreseen.
Hadn’t I seen it on the way here? The space named the Processing Room.
From the start, the Pier Gang had never intended to let the kidnapped people live.
It was regrettable, but there was nothing to be done. For the sake of those who had been sacrificed, I would have to copy all of their final moments.
While I was saving the data, that was when a peculiar entry caught my eye.
The devices extracted here, those machines that should have been on standby, were paying a fixed amount of money to someone every month.
When I searched the details, a familiar name appeared.
[RYS Company]
The unidentified company to which the citizen ID contained in this device had diligently been remitting money until I received the device implantation.
It now seemed to be a place connected to the Pier Gang as well.
If that was the case, then the real Baek Ga-on as well—
‘Did he go through a similar process.’
There was a high probability that he had been part of a socially vulnerable group. Of course, an assumption was just an assumption, so I didn’t jump to conclusions. In the end, even if I knew, nothing would change.
That was when I received a call from Sera.
“What is it all of a sudden?”
[Someone from the Public Enforcement Corps came by the mansion and left. They seemed to want to know about the incident that happened before.]
“When did they come?”
[24 minutes and 10 seconds ago. I wasn’t planning on telling you, but something about it bothered me. Dobby also said it would be better to inform you, so I’m passing it along.]
“Wasn’t it already wrapped up?”
It had been an incident personally smoothed over by Chairman Koln, the head of Maximum Noise. There was no reason for the Public Enforcement Corps to suddenly get involved now.
[They seemed to have come with the intention of formally putting together a report, at least on the surface.]
“I hope my story doesn’t come up, even by accident.”
[Even if we tried not to mention it, they asked about you first, Ga-on.]
That was probably the reason Sera had contacted me.
“They asked about me?”
From the Public Enforcement Corps’ perspective, fixers were no different from mayflies. Unless they got directly entangled, they weren’t even worth paying attention to.
[It seemed closer to genuine curiosity than interrogation. As you know, one person vanished midway.]
“Sprinter, right.”
Since a broker, Fernandez Peroma, had also caught wind of it and approached, it wasn’t particularly surprising.
[Fortunately, they didn’t seem dissatisfied with the process or procedures.]
“So who came out to investigate?”
[From what I heard…….]
Just as the name of the person in question was about to come out of Sera’s mouth, the communication abruptly cut off without any warning.
It wasn’t an electromagnetic pulse. If it had been, an error would have appeared on my device.
There weren’t many devices capable of controlling the surrounding environment this cleanly.
Besides, hadn’t I used it once myself before?
‘A control device.’
A trump card carried only by high-ranking officials within the Public Enforcement Corps. There was no doubt someone had entered the underground facility. And they were a particularly troublesome type.
My uneasy premonition didn’t miss. The moment I finished putting away the magnetic cable, I felt a presence.
“That’s as far as you go. If you’re doing something, please stop. Acting rashly will only add to your sentence.”
What I heard from behind was the voice of a young man. But in modern society, judging someone by appearances alone was a poor strategy.
I raised both hands and replied smoothly.
“I’m a fixer. I came here after taking a request.”
I turned my body to face him, but that effort was met with a warning shot.
Bang.
Without any warning, the bullet that grazed past the edge of my cheek lodged itself into the wall.
A thin line of blood flowed from the torn wound and dripped onto the control pad, but I didn’t even blink.
“If you turn around, I will judge that you have the intention to counterattack. You will answer only the questions I ask.”
Well, this was how the Public Enforcement Corps operated in this era.
Excess, coercion, and threats.
The principle of presumption of innocence had long since been tossed into the trash.
“I told you, I’m not a gangster. Just look at this innocent face, will you?”
“That’s for me to judge.”
As the man stepped closer, an unfamiliar scent suddenly rushed into my senses.
Tobacco—leather, a mix of rolled tobacco and livestock. The primal, masculine fragrance was so thick it felt suffocating.
The man was an enhanced human.
And one who far exceeded the ordinary category.
“What is your name?”
“Baek Ga-on.”
“Please submit your citizen ID.”
When I sent my personal information via short-range communication, the man nodded.
“Your record is clean. No criminal history, either. And you haven’t been staying in the Seed Colony for very long.”
“So?”
“May I ask where you lived before that?”
“I wandered around here and there. You’d find that out if you ran a background check, wouldn’t you?”
A strange sense of unease crawled up my spine at the question, which didn’t seem particularly relevant to the situation.
If this were a normal Public Enforcement Corps investigation, they would be focusing more on the device extraction incident.
So why pry so persistently into my personal history?
“Are you really with the Public Enforcement Corps?”
“Oh my, if you’re saying that, then it seems I’ve committed quite a discourtesy toward a law-abiding citizen. The verification process is complete, so you may turn around now.”
The oppressive tone vanished, and his attitude flipped entirely. Perhaps because of that, I even felt like I was being toyed with.
When I slowly turned my head, I finally got a clear look at the man.
A wrinkle-free suit and neatly slicked-back bangs. Above all, his thinly opened eyes left a strong impression.
A smile stayed on his lips at all times, but it was an expression that inspired no trust whatsoever.
“I am Sheriff Jin Geon of the District 2 Wide-Area Investigation Unit. Thank you for your active cooperation, Mr. Ga-on.”
As if to show it off, he opened his Public Enforcement Corps identification booklet, revealing the badge inside.
When I scanned the recognition tag, an official confirmation from the authorities came back stating that the rank was valid.
“So even a Sheriff was digging into the back end of a mere gang.”
“Importance can change depending on who takes the lead, don’t you think?”
“To come all the way here from District 2, it wouldn’t be possible with something trivial.”
“There are no forbidden zones in a wide-area investigation. And someone I’d been keeping an eye on for a while finally made a move.”
Jin Geon smiled meaningfully, his gaze as sly and unsettling as a snake’s. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say it was so meticulously controlled that not even a needle could slip through.
Since he admitted his mistake and maintained proper etiquette, I couldn’t blindly criticize him.
Of course, considering the relationship between the Pier Gang and the Public Enforcement Corps, it wasn’t as if suspicion didn’t arise.
It was even possible that he had personally shown up to destroy evidence.
However, making such concerns seem pointless, investigators soon poured in and began collecting the missing people.
Though the scene grew chaotic, Jin Geon opened his mouth as if it had nothing to do with him.
“Come to think of it, all the gangsters are dead.”
“Really? I didn’t see them myself. Looks like someone came by before me.”
If I unnecessarily revealed that I had dealt with them, I might be dragged to the station and subjected to questioning.
Even if I were released under the justification of self-defense, it was certain I’d have to go through a bothersome process. There was nothing to gain from stepping forward, so there was no reason to do so.
“Then it can’t be helped. I’ll consider my inquiry into Mr. Ga-on concluded, using my authority.”
“A wise choice.”
Just as I accepted Jin Geon’s goodwill and was about to head outside, a single line brushed past my ear.
“I thought for sure you couldn’t tolerate injustice and took action yourself, Mr. Ga-on. It seems you’re more flexible than I expected.”
I couldn’t tell whether it was praise or mockery.
But his intent was clear.
Clear enough that it wasn’t worth humoring him any further.
“Maybe so.”
I shrugged, waved my hand, and bid Jin Geon farewell.
***
When I emerged above ground, I saw members of the Public Enforcement Corps setting up police lines. It seemed the surrounding area had already been designated as a crime scene.
Slipping past them and stepping out onto the road, I replayed the recent encounter in my head.
When Jin Geon had pulled the trigger, I was certain I’d avoided it. But that had been my own misconception. The thin line left on my cheek proved it well enough.
It could only mean that my actions had been read in advance.
Judging by his scent, he was the type whose instincts had developed excessively.
What counted as a small mercy was that I had suppressed my regenerative ability in that fleeting moment.
I couldn’t even imagine what would have happened if I had given Jin Geon any leverage. He acted friendly, but beneath that lay words and actions that felt like he was testing me.
Still, all of it was nothing more than subjective judgment. There was no concrete evidence to speak of.
Even so, Sera seemed like she would know the answer.
[Ga-on? It seemed like the call cut off earlier. Are you all right?]
“It was nothing. I was in the middle of dealing with a gang. So the Public Enforcement Corps that was looking for me—what was his name again?”
[They said his name was Jin Geon.]
“Ah, really?”
I had half-expected it, and sure enough. He was the same Public Enforcement Corps officer who had shown interest in me.
Underground, he’d played dumb, but he had deliberately approached me. He probably never imagined that Dobby and I were close.
That was likely the reason he had appeared so boldly as well.
“A bothersome one has appeared.”
Swipe.
As my index finger brushed across my cheek, the straight-lined wound faded as if it were being erased, fully healed.