Chapter 53
Chapter 53
If It’s Fine Even If It’s Just the Leftovers, Then Take Them
***
***
“I’m glad it didn’t take long.”
At the attitude that seemed to treat him like a subordinate, the old man let out a sigh.
“Well, aren’t you acting like some kind of master.”
“I even gave you the drive. Strictly speaking, I’m the one at a loss, you know? If I’d just sold it on the black market, I could’ve gotten a hefty sum. I should be the one getting treated like a real master.”
“Fine, fine, so hurry up and check it.”
Ga-on scanned through the information projected over his retina and nodded. Fortunately, the guy was not far away.
“Are you going right away?”
“Yeah.”
“Be careful. Even if it’s lost its fangs, a wolf is still a wolf.”
“Come to think of it, you said you knew him.”
“He’s a ripperdoc now, but in his younger days he was a fixer. He was even called by his alias, that’s how promising he was.”
***
Coyote.
The man who recalled the alias he had lost long ago, Hald Wayden, bit his lip.
The ruthless fixer who, once he took on a request, relentlessly pursued his target and inevitably tracked them down to finish the job, was no longer here.
All that remained was a fallen ripperdoc, brought down by the betrayal of the comrades he had trusted.
Today, of all days, the body he had replaced with machinery seemed to throb as if it still couldn’t forget the pain of that day.
The reason he had joined the Mafia while working as a fixer was because he thought it might allow him to take revenge on them. If he rose to a high-ranking position, burying a few people under the pretext of eliminating competitors would have been nothing.
Since he had been interested in Slots and Units from a young age, becoming an exclusive ripperdoc wasn’t particularly difficult.
However, the Mafia had no interest in Hald’s personal grudge. They only pressured him to forget it.
As his regret piled up day by day, a boy who introduced himself as Lucas reached out his hand.
He said he would grant him revenge, so come with him.
Honestly, it was an unconvincing proposal.
The comrades he had parted with back then had each built up their own power and become respectable leaders. Even so, just in case, he decided to take the bait and accepted the deal.
Amazingly, the revenge that had not succeeded even after decades of preparation was accomplished in just a few Sols.
Hald had no choice but to tremble. The underworld was full of strong figures, but Lucas was a monster who moved on a different track even among them.
In the sense that he struck suddenly, regardless of human wishes, he was no different from a disaster.
In a way, the young man he had encountered earlier might belong to that same category.
“Huff.”
Though his cervical vertebrae had been severed and one of his arms had been cut off, Hald calmly began surgery. At the secret base he had prepared, spare prosthetic arms as well as equipment were fully stocked.
Besides, he himself was a ripperdoc.
Even if his judgment had been slow due to the emergency, his skills were not going anywhere.
However, the joy of having survived did not last long. Because he had focused solely on treatment, he failed to notice the unpleasant guest who was approaching.
“You really followed me all the way.”
“That’s because you were carelessly leaving clues behind.”
An abandoned building left in District 39.
Ga-on, who had been staring at Hald, the man who had made his nest there, curled his lips into a sardonic smile.
“And besides, the client’s will was extremely firm.”
“Are you planning to play Public Enforcement Corps? Or do you think you can deal with me easily since you’ve already turned me into half a cripple?”
“I roughly know your circumstances. But that doesn’t mean what you did can be forgiven, does it?”
“That arrogance will strangle your neck.”
Hald closed the distance in an instant and thrust forward his sharply honed blade-like nails.
Skipping the process of thought, the assault was based purely on instinct.
Tilting my head back, I let out a hollow laugh. I had intended to pull Hald into my arms and counterattack, yet as if he had anticipated that, he retreated.
Moreover, such sensory steps and oppressive thrusts were not something that could be learned in just a few hours.
As expected—
There was a trick to Hald’s fierce advance. He had entrusted his body to a program.
An extension of Brain Washing.
In other words, it was the ultimate form of self-hypnosis.
Reaching a state of selflessness and attaining a higher realm was only natural.
Like a marionette modeled solely for slaughter, Hald thoroughly pressured me.
Each time he calculated the optimal path and moved accordingly, so no matter how his opponent defended, he could seize the advantage.
After exchanging several blows and reading that flow, I let out an exclamation.
“So that’s its original purpose?”
It reconstructed the mind to suit combat, granting the highest potential regardless of the subject’s aptitude. It could only be called a groundbreaking and ingenious method.
Yes, if only he hadn’t met the wrong opponent.
As I dashed forward, carving skid marks into the floor, and swung my arm, silence fell over the area almost simultaneously.
Thud, Hald collapsed to his knees and, a beat later, saw his own arm rolling across the floor.
He abruptly looked up at me and his eyes widened.
What I was wearing was Progressive Nail.
“I borrowed it for a moment.”
It was his Unit.
“Ha.”
Even though he had calculated until his Slot overheated, he had not been able to predict this outcome. It was nothing but futile.
Just how many moves ahead had I seen? Even Hald found it difficult to guess.
I was an absurdly powerful opponent.
So much so that even modern technology could not bridge the gap.
He did not know why I wandered around without even an alias—
“If I die, the Reaper will come for you. When that time comes, you’ll regret it.”
If it was an unreasonable monster, Hald knew one as well.
“If you’re talking about that brat named Lucas, you’re too late. He already came and left.”
But his final struggle crumbled before me. In the most miserable way possible.
“Wh… what…?”
For a moment, unable to understand what he had just heard, Hald tilted his head.
Last Sol, the ability Lucas had shown was overwhelming. To the point where I wondered whether even the Mars Defense Force could stop him.
And yet he was dead?
It was unbelievable, yet he had no choice but to believe it.
“So stop spouting meaningful lines like some major villain and just spill what you know.”
Because there wasn’t even a speck of fear on the young man’s face as he stepped close enough for their breaths to touch.
***
Looking down at Hald, who had been finely sliced apart, I organized what I had just heard.
“Right, so that’s why.”
I felt like I finally understood why Lucas and Hald had committed their crimes so calmly.
There were three people involved in this incident.
The Meta-human side had designed it, the ripperdoc had carried it out, and—
“Hey, kid over there. Stop for a moment.”
A low voice brimming with masculinity flew into my ear and struck it, and I unconsciously stopped walking.
That was when a refreshing scent brushed past the tip of my nose.
It was a sweet and tangy smell reminiscent of lemon.
When I turned around, I saw a man pushing back his roughly cut hair.
He seemed like the type who had no interest in grooming, yet perhaps because his features were bold, his impression was intense.
Moreover, perhaps because he wore his coat draped over his shoulders, a dangerous aura overflowed from him.
It might also have been because the group that had followed him in was standing upright behind him.
Their discipline rivaled that of a military unit, but to me it was nothing but uncomfortable.
I had a feeling I knew who this uninvited guest was.
The man who had seized control of the atmosphere at once spoke down to me as if it were only natural.
“A fixer?”
“Yeah.”
“Hald behind you is alive, I assume?”
“Fortunately, he’s still breathing.”
I had leisurely tortured him to inflict as much pain as possible, but most of Hald’s insides were composed of machinery rather than flesh, so his lifeline was long.
“I see. Then hand him over.”
“That’s difficult.”
“Difficult?”
“I caught him first. And there’s no way I’d obediently listen to someone who barges in out of nowhere and starts giving orders.”
“You don’t know who I am?”
“Do I need to?”
“It’s ironic to roam these streets and not know us.”
Though he seemed to feel an unfamiliar emotion, the man did not forget what he had to do.
“You may not know, but that guy owes us a debt. One he may not be able to repay even with his life.”
“So you absolutely have to take him?”
“That’s what a Vendetta is. Even an ignorant brat should know that much, right?”
Vendetta, a term that meant the code of revenge.
A mobilization order declared only against those who must absolutely repay their debt.
It felt excessive to declare it not against a rival faction, but against a mere ripperdoc.
There was one exception: Hald had broken Omerta, the code of silence—
‘Brain Washing.’
At the word that suddenly crossed my mind, I let out a low groan. It seemed Hald had stolen a technology independently developed by the Mafia.
On top of that, he had even joined hands with people he didn’t know and conducted business. Even making an example of him wouldn’t have been enough.
There was no way I couldn’t understand what the man was trying to claim.
‘But….’
Even so, that wasn’t a reason to hand him over. If the Mafia took him, he wouldn’t die as a murderer who had disposed of countless trainees, but as a traitor.
To me, a fixer, that was a difference I could never tolerate.
So what should I do?
The answer was practically already decided.
Crunch.
Before the man could even continue speaking, I crushed Hald’s head and jerked my chin.
“If it’s fine even if it’s just the leftovers, then take them.”
It was an act close to provocation.
Naturally, I expected him to be enraged—but to my surprise, the man clutched his stomach and burst into laughter.
“Kuhuhuh, kuhuhuk. A perfect response. I almost want to show it to my boys.”
He even clapped in approval.
“Right, if you claim to be a fixer, you should at least have that much spirit. Lately, there have been nothing but fakes, and I was getting bored.”
The man showed a favorable reaction, but it lasted only a moment. Suddenly, he stopped laughing and frowned.
“But didn’t I declare a Vendetta first? And yet you ignored that declaration. That means my honor has been slighted.”
Thud.
The moment he took a single step forward, the ground split apart in a spiderweb pattern.
“It can’t be helped. I don’t particularly enjoy trampling on budding sprouts, but there are times when you have to make an example.”
For a moment, it seemed as though his shadow stretched long—and then the man who had been far away was suddenly right in front of me. A movement that could only be called instantaneous.
Only after the palm he thrust forward touched my chest did I manage to perceive the series of events.
Woooong.
A vibration flowed through my entire body, and my honed sixth sense stirred.
This was dangerous.
The instant I reached that conclusion, I was already lifted into the air.
Bang!
Slamming into the wall, I spat out a spray of bloody foam. The force was incomparably fierce. Reflexively lowering my head, I saw my Under Armor crumbling into powder and scattering.
“IVOD, is it? Not bad equipment for a fledgling. Did someone gift it to you?”
The man adjusted his stance as he spoke in an indifferent tone.
“Well, either way, it’ll only prolong the time you suffer.”
His two fully outstretched palms gleamed under the light of Phobos—the satellite. From a distance, I had thought he was wearing gloves. The distinctive gloss of enamel had been vivid.
But now that I faced him, I understood.
That was a Unit.
And a custom-made one at that.
“If you have nothing more to show me, die here.”