novelraw Chapter 64
Chapter 64
Chapter 64
〔……Yes, well. Let’s discuss the details when we meet.〕
As a result, the deal with Geum Gang-hyeok went through.
He marked the location of a certain factory warehouse, telling her to replenish Tita Zenorua’s forces, and upon receiving it, she nodded in clear satisfaction and muttered.
“A collection site, huh.”
“What do you mean?”
At Jin Crow’s counterquestion, she answered.
“It means a place that packages superhumans nicely and supplies them to the Red Hand.”
“That means……”
“Yeah.”
Tita Zenorua clicked the classic Zippo lighter in her hand and broke into a grin.
“Isn’t it perfect as a declaration of war?”
At present, the underhanded power struggles taking place within the Free Planetary Alliance were not particularly unusual.
Even in its early days, when it was a thorn in the side to both the Empire and the Federation in many ways, and even now, after growing its economic power through an abnormal structure and finally shedding its image as a quasi-nation and a haven for outlaws.
The forces that arose within the Free Planetary Alliance, or flowed in from outside, always wanted to seize the initiative, and the result was always intrigue and war.
“There’s not a single day without rain, fucking hell.”
“Tell me about it.”
The outskirts industrial zone of District 19.
Two men wearing white shirts and black suit pants yawned lazily and put cigarettes to their mouths.
Chiik, sseup-.
After lighting up, the two men continued their small talk beneath the factory ceiling.
Of course, since it was the dead of night, the content of their conversation gradually drifted closer to crude sexual banter.
“So, I grabbed her wrist and pulled, and she threw herself into my arms like she’d been waiting for it.”
“Bullshit. If it were you, I’d kill myself before hugging you.”
“Don’t worry. I’d rather play Russian roulette with an automatic pistol than hug a bastard like you too.”
Wasn’t it a conversation full of such warm camaraderie?
Hidden in the darkness, listening to their conversation while being soaked by the rain, Jin Crow gripped his dagger with faint regret and whispered.
“Thanks to you, I was able to pass the time without boredom.”
“……Huh?”
Slash, thud.
Thud-roll.
The already preheated gear rode along the dagger he swung, cleanly separating the men’s necks from their bodies in an instant. Jin Crow briefly watched the blood mixing with the rainwater before raising his watch and blinking the light twice.
Soon after, a series of shadows vaulted over the wall and began rapidly surrounding the factory.
‘A declaration of war in the literal sense.’
To smuggle out the superhumans kidnapped to be sent to the Red Hand, it naturally had to be done through the shadows.
No matter how much the Public Security Bureau or the Council were little more than scarecrows or vegetables, the moment this fact became public, it would give the so-called ‘reformist faction’ a justification to raise their heads.
Because of that, security itself inevitably had to be lax compared to its importance.
‘Geum Gang-hyeok. He must have been aiming for this when he tipped us off about this place.’
It was not exactly a bad blood relationship, but still, Jin Crow could not look upon him kindly.
The two things one could trust the least in the world were elves and businessmen, and that bastard was a chimera-like existence combining both.
Somehow, from the very first time they met, his physiognomy had been unpleasant.
While he was indulging in such idle thoughts, the mafia members who had already quickly disposed of the corpses he killed began to silently scatter throughout the factory.
Gulp-.
He too took a sip of the pre-mixed bitter liquor, once again preheating the gears within.
‘The plan was simple.’
Eliminate everyone standing guard on the outskirts, then, when they started to sense something was off, provoke a brief firefight at the back entrance and flee.
After that, before the pursuing personnel returned, clean out the interior and quickly evacuate the superhumans.
Of course, there was also a Plan B in case things went awry, but it did not seem like it would be necessary.
Everything had been proceeding smoothly so far, and most of those on guard were ordinary people who had replaced parts of their bodies with various combat-capable implants, rather than superhumans.
In truth, that was only natural.
If superhumans were so abundant, why would both the Federation and the Empire go through such lengths to secure them?
Of course, it was not that there were no superhumans at all.
“Kuhhk!”
It was just that most of them were barely capable of operating a single gear.
After slitting the throat of what seemed to have been a female superhuman in one stroke and ending her life, Jin Crow slowly leaned against the factory wall.
And then, under the pouring rain, one of the approaching mafia members spoke in a low voice.
“The outside is clear. This is the boss’s message—he says we’ll be starting from the back entrance shortly.”
“Alright, got it.”
Jin Crow nodded, then silently began waiting while stroking the hilt of the longsword he had brought along in case of unforeseen circumstances.
And finally.
Buuuuung-!
The sound of something rushing forward at high speed rang out from the direction of the back entrance, and panicked voices echoed from afar.
-Wh-what is it?!
-Hey! Stop it! Stop it!
Kwaaaaaaang!
-Who did that?!
-I-I don’t know!
However, it did not take long to realize that something was wrong.
There were no gunshots coming from the back entrance as there should have been; instead, vibrations followed as something large and heavy slammed into the factory warehouse.
Because of that, just as he was about to ask the mafia member standing beside him what was going on.
“What? What the hell happened?”
The mafia member who had received the report asked several times in disbelief, then, under Jin Crow’s sharply focused gaze, conveyed the situation at the back entrance to him.
“A-a suddenly unidentified truck smashed through the back entrance and entered the factory.”
“……What?”
This time, he could not help but doubt his ears.
Satra’s information network turned out to be more useful than expected.
She did not bother to add anything, but without someone inside the Red Hand feeding her information, it would have been impossible to explain.
Because of that, the operation to rescue Dokgo Ran and Hino Kanae, who had been kidnapped by them, could be formulated quickly.
However, if there was a problem, it was that the ‘method’ was a bit too crude.
“But… is this really right?”
“There’s no other way.”
Beatus spoke with an awkward smile, but what came back was a cold remark from Baek Hui-young, who was gripping the steering wheel.
What was even more maddening was that Famille and Satra, who should have been stopping the reckless-looking Baek Hui-young, instead cast votes in favor of the method he had devised.
“Miel, are you sure this is okay?”
As it turned out, the last SOS he threw out was to Miel Amber.
Baek Hui-young and Miel.
They themselves might not have known it, but from the moment they became close, it was a shared understanding among everyone that their relationship was no longer just that of simple friends.
Thus, his calculation was that the only one who could stop Baek Hui-young’s rampage—someone whose eyes seemed a little off in a way that brought a certain instructor to mind—was Miel Amber, at least for now.
“Th-then, yeah. Hui-young.”
Perhaps encouraged by Beatus’s words.
Miel, who had seemed to be hesitating for a moment, took a step forward into the space between them where they had been holding back, and soon spoke with eyes full of resolve and determination.
“I’ll go too. I’m not good at fighting, but……. if you get hurt, someone has to treat you.”
“Huh?”
Realizing that the last hope was, in fact, not hope at all, Beatus soon put on a smile mixed with resignation and said,
“Alright, let’s do it.”
As if death were the worst that could happen.
……Or so he thought.
“This is insane.”
Beatus sat in the passenger seat with a cigarette in his mouth.
Instead of the handgun he usually carried, he held a submachine gun he had received from Satra’s side and leaned his body out the window.
Then, aiming the muzzle at the rapidly approaching factory, he let out an involuntary hollow laugh.
“I don’t know anymore!”
Tududududududu-.
The muzzle spat fire, and at the noise, several of those standing guard near the factory’s back entrance collapsed.
“Wh-what is that?”
“Hey! Stop that thing!”
“H-how are we supposed to do that?!”
“Stop it even if you have to use your bodies!”
They shouted as they returned fire, but they could not reach Beatus, who had his upper body leaned out of the window.
Naturally so.
Right behind him, Famille was tuning her psionic energy with a seriousness greater than ever before.
「Refraction」
She deflected the incoming bullets.
「Distortion」
She warped the truck’s focal point.
「Separation」
And then, she separated from reality the various chains and barricades the enemies desperately scattered, synchronizing them with the truck’s speed.
Quite literally, a feat impossible for a mere cadet to pull off.
Famille, accomplishing it while drenched in cold sweat, bit down hard on her lip and shouted.
“Baek Hui-young!”
“Yeah.”
And finally.
Baek Hui-young, gripping the steering wheel tightly, quietly recited while savoring the familiar sensation of the spear shaft he always held as if it were a lover.
「Penetration」
Kwaaaaaaaaaaang!
The truck, turned into a single blade at his fingertips, pierced cleanly through the factory’s back entrance and slammed inside. At that moment, Famille laid down multiple overlapping layers of refraction in front of Baek Hui-young and Beatus, who were seated in the front.
“Cough!”
“Everyone, are you okay?”
They had rammed the back entrance with a truck and crashed all the way into the factory.
If they had been ordinary people, the recoil would have shattered their bones neatly, scattering them like Lego pieces, while every internal organ tore and burst as they waited for death—but they were superhumans.
“It’s a bit stiff, but this much is nothing…….”
“I’m fine.”
“We’re fine too. Then let’s begin.”
As Satra’s voice, coming from the back of the truck, joined in, they immediately got out of the vehicle.
Naturally, having been attacked, the enemy was in a state of emergency.
Steeling themselves, they fiercely spun their gears the moment they disembarked, preparing for the imminent assault.
“Kill them!”
“It’s an attack! Hurry and report to the branch chief—kugh!”
As expected.
The situation outside unfolded exactly as anticipated, and they immediately entered combat.
No, they were about to.
“Just smash them!”
“You disgusting human bastards!”
“Shut up!”
The men in black suits screaming and forcing their way in through the wide-open back entrance.
And the bulky men in shirts, wielding all manner of tools and firearms and shouting curses as they tried to block them.
……Until they all realized that every single one of them had absolutely no interest in them.
“Looks like this.”
“We got caught in the middle this time.”
Perhaps because they had done some advance learning back at the resort.
They quickly grasped how the situation was unfolding and promptly changed their plan.
“Beatus, the two of us go in.”
“Alright.”
If everyone’s attention was drawn elsewhere, that was not bad for them.
Because of that, Baek Hui-young and Beatus quickly moved inside, leaving behind Famille, Miel, and the remnants of the Rermal Defense Force led by Satra at the truck.
“Captain, will you be alright?”
“It can’t be helped.”
Satra gave a bitter smile at her subordinate’s worried words and slowly began rotating her psionic energy.
“Kgh.”
Along with the sensation of wounds tearing open, pain crushed down on her consciousness.
But she did not stop, and slowly began rotating the gear she had been suppressing as much as possible.
“……Even broken, it still moves.”
The gear moving within her was not a quad, but a triple.