Chapter 69
Chapter 69
If You Move Any Further, I’ll Shoot to Kill
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A repair shop located on the outskirts of District 16.
Ga-on arrived driving the vehicle he had borrowed from Maximus Quite, and from the very entrance, he sensed something unusual in the air. From the workers repairing cars in the distance to the staff attending customers right in front of him, every single one of them cast vicious glances his way.
The moment he stepped out to register for repairs, someone approached and pressed a gun against his back.
“hyungnim wants to see you.”
A response so swift that even Ga-on had not anticipated it.
“This is surprising.”
It seemed his plan to ambush Grant and his lackeys while they let their guard down had fallen through.
Since innocent civilians passed through here as well, acting rashly was not an option.
He had no choice but to walk, using the gun pressed against his waist as a compass.
Who would have known?
That beneath a community-friendly shop lay a Mafia outpost.
The basement he was led into was quite spacious. It was large enough to hold out for weeks even without outside aid. It was clear why Grant had chosen the repair shop as a shelter.
“We’ve brought him, hyungnim.”
“Right.”
The men gathered inside all shared the same razor-sharp killing intent. It was the kind of aura only those who had taken multiple lives while brushing against death could possess.
However, it elicited no reaction from Ga-on.
Even if they were large enough to nearly touch the ceiling and fully armed, it did not change the fact that they were rats who had hidden inside a ship to escape the flood.
It was then that the man with a scar running across his face—Grant—spoke.
“So, you’re the fixer who’s been running around naked and fearless, targeting us?”
Given that X had killed Hiro, it was not strange to consider the possibility of third-party intervention in this situation.
However, out of countless professions, to specifically identify him as a fixer was suspicious.
It could only mean someone had told them.
Owen had personally submitted the request. There had been no room for any leaks.
‘No.’
Now that he thought about it, there was one person.
The brat who had been trailing behind Owen.
If it was that young man who had voiced his dissatisfaction from their very first meeting, it would not have been surprising for him to pull something like this.
Questions of ‘why’ and ‘how’ remained, but those were not what mattered right now.
“We’re not close enough for small talk, so let’s get straight to the point. You took part in Eden’s development too, didn’t you?”
This had been decided ever since Preston had started frequenting this place.
To begin with, anyone in their right mind would have requested protection from the organization the moment the incident occurred.
No matter how rampantly X caused trouble, the Lucchesia Family could have stopped him with ease.
But Grant had judged even that to be dangerous.
Why?
Because he had done something that must never be discovered.
Hadn’t Owen said so from the start?
Hald had participated as well.
Hald, a ripperdoc well-versed in brainwashing technology. His preferred theme was electrical stimulation.
It was not very different from the direction the device pursued.
It was only speculation, but there was a high probability that it had also been Hiro who introduced Hald to Lucas. If someone did not know the internal affairs of the organization, it would have been difficult to tamper with a person’s mind.
Owen must have vaguely grasped this chain of causality as well. He had likely found it troublesome to deal with it based on suspicion alone.
That was probably why he had entrusted the request.
‘I had anticipated it beforehand….’
But the scale and depth were on another level.
Even if Hiro had independently involved himself in the development of Eden, the mere fact that he belonged to the Lucchesia Family made it a problem.
Hadn’t Preston even handed over the source code of the device’s operating system?
Even if X had not stepped in, it was an issue that would have been struck down with an iron hammer someday.
“Oh my, was that a behind-the-scenes story? What are you going to do? You guys are fucked now.”
From the facilities installed in the basement alone, it was clear they did not suit sweaty men like them. Not a single piece of equipment was outdated.
Perhaps the organization members felt the weight of it as well, because they began to murmur among themselves.
There was a complete difference in severity between distributing Eden and developing it.
The difference between a bystander and a participant.
Having crossed the last line they were meant to uphold as Mafia, they were no different from a gang.
As his subordinates grew unsettled one by one, Grant erupted in anger.
“Quiet! These are the words of the one who killed hyungnim. There’s no idiot here who would believe him outright, right? So don’t jump to conclusions and hold your ground.”
When Grant rose from his seat and cracked his fingers, the Slot embedded in his temple—his Second Brain—emitted a faint glow.
“I’ll personally step forward and ask who sent you running wild like this.”
“I accepted a request from Mr. Tyrant.”
“From Mr. Owen?”
At the absurd answer, Grant let out a hollow laugh. Whitney’s repeated warnings came to mind.
“Well now, I almost fell for it.”
It was obvious whose words he would trust more—someone from the same organization, or a fixer he had met for the first time today.
Given the timing, it could only be described as a coincidence.
“Right, I’ve seen plenty of guys like you. You probably thought that if you just threw out the name of someone important, things would somehow work out.”
Borrowing a tiger’s authority, perhaps.
Unfortunately, without the skill to back it up, it was nothing more than an empty cart.
“I’ll ask you again. Who hired you?”
“I told you, Mr. Tyrant.”
“Right. I didn’t expect you to answer obediently.”
Whirrr, whirrr.
A chilling sound echoed from the ventilation shaft embedded in the wall. Soon, an uncountable swarm of bees poured out from it and surrounded Grant.
At first, it seemed like an unexpected attack by wild insects, but upon closer inspection, Ga-on realized that was not the case.
Unlike ordinary bees, their bodies were sleekly elongated. Even their wings emitted the distinctive sheen of fiberglass.
What surrounded Grant as if escorting him—
“Drones?”
“You’ve got a sharp eye.”
Bee-shaped micro-drones, Vespa.
They were Units that had been with Grant his entire life. It would not have been an exaggeration to say they were one body and one mind.
Perhaps because of that, anyone who had ever faced Grant in battle did not hesitate to call him this:
Beekeeper.
A keeper of bees.
The performance of the Vespa themselves was nothing special. Their small size meant they had many limitations. They could not house firearms, nor could their outer shells be heavily reinforced.
However, true to their bee motif, they possessed one defining feature.
A long, slender stinger mounted at their rear.
Ordinarily, it would have been a weapon hardly worth mentioning, but the Vespa existed in swarms numbering in the hundreds, thousands. The number of times they could attempt retaliation increased proportionally.
Under fingernails, on eyelids, in the groin—there was nothing stopping them from stabbing indiscriminately from all directions.
There were not many who could endure the coordinated assault of micro-drones that clung like gnats. Even if the wounds were not deep, the continuous stimulation alone could induce shock and cause death.
The moment Ga-on faced them, he grasped these characteristics—and their weakness as well.
There was no need to look far.
Such shallow tricks would not work on someone who had undergone separate procedures like Ublec elastic skin.
It was a flaw born from prioritizing the infliction of pain over actual damage.
Of course, the coat Ga-on was wearing could not block them. There was no way the millimeter-processed stingers would fail to slip between the woven fibers.
Sure enough, in a split second of inattention, a sharp sting shot through the back of his neck. An attack that pierced the pain point with precision.
“Don’t think you’re the same as hyungnim.”
Before the endlessly surging Vespa, churning like rolling waves, Ga-on spun.
Just as the leg he used as an axis carved a deep skid mark into the floor, an anomaly occurred.
Ga-on’s afterimage, which had split like a mirage, merged back into one.
More refined than when he had been on Earth.
Though Ga-on had triggered the strobe phenomenon in a moment so brief it could hardly be measured, Grant did not realize it.
No—more accurately, he had no time to. The Vespa were being sucked into Ga-on’s grasp without exception. It was so natural that they seemed to be flying in of their own accord.
But Grant had given no such command.
“What….”
It was only natural that he could not comprehend it.
New elements and characters in this chapter:
Everything had been caused by the sudden gust generated as Ga-on spun. Before a fragment of a natural disaster, there was no way a swarm of bees could resist.
Ga-on indifferently crushed the Vespa tangled in his hand.
Witnessing the remnants falling through his clenched fist, Grant screamed at the top of his lungs.
“……Kill him!”
Had it been an electromagnetic pulse instead, he might not have panicked so much. The Vespa’s armor was extremely thin; there were countless ways to neutralize them.
But to smash them head-on.
It was a feat unheard of, a spectacle beyond imagination.
It proved that Ga-on’s skill far exceeded anything he had anticipated.
That was why he had given the order to shoot to kill.
However, before the organization members could concentrate their firepower, a single flash streaked through the air. In an instant, the body parts of those positioned along its trajectory melted away.
Unfortunately, Grant was among the victims.
“Khk.”
Clutching his waist after the unexpected shot, Grant gasped for breath. He was someone who obsessively safeguarded his own safety. Needless to say, he had wrapped himself in protective gear rated at MUG—1, prepared for any contingency.
But all of that preparation proved useless.
“You crazy bastard….”
Carrying around a railgun?
Faced with the appearance of a weapon more suited to inter-organizational warfare, Grant could only click his tongue in disbelief.
The same went for his subordinates.
Now that the one who could be called their focal point had collapsed pathetically, and now that it had been revealed the Lucchesia Family was keeping a close watch, there was no reason left to uphold loyalty or devotion.
It was only natural that they fractured.
As if they had agreed beforehand, the organization members split in several directions.
It was a sound decision.
No matter how capable Ga-on was, he could not slaughter every group scattering in all directions.
To begin with, the request he had received consisted of three things.
Identifying the source of Eden, eliminating the swordsman X, and investigating the circumstances of Preston’s death.
Wiping out the remnants was no different from unpaid labor.
That was why he had called them.
After all, they were not the only ones who could claim the advantage of superior numbers.
Bang!
The moment a group showed signs of heading up to the surface, armed personnel stormed in from all sides. On their shoulders was the emblem symbolizing Nodetech.
Retired veterans, former fixers, newly hired employees—their backgrounds varied, making them look like a loose coalition, but in terms of capability, they were a top-tier armed force.
They were Nodetech’s exclusive PMC.
Though the Lucchesia Family was one of the Four Great Underworld factions, ordinary members—let alone executives—were no match for them alone.
It was only natural that they were subdued without putting up any meaningful resistance.
After everything had been settled, someone descended the stairs.
Eight eyes glowing red.
The giant who had modified his body to the extreme, Maximus Quite, spoke in a low voice.
“If you move any further, I’ll shoot to kill.”