novelraw Chapter 72
Chapter 72
Chapter 72
From the past, illegal immigration had been carried out through various routes.
For crime, to infiltrate spies into enemy states, or to earn money in wealthier countries, or because one’s life was threatened in the country they lived in, and so on.
Naturally, even now, when humanity’s domain had advanced into the galaxy, illegal immigration was not a particularly special crime.
No, rather, it had become even more elaborate and active.
Those who sought to head toward colonial planets and those who went the opposite way, or those who lacked the qualifications to go through proper legal procedures, always ended up seeking the shadows.
“It's a good thing. For brokers like us.”
The reasons were not much different from the past.
What had changed were the territory and the overwhelmingly increased population that came with it.
However, even taking that into account, the scale of illegal immigration over the past few weeks had been an amount that even K, a seasoned broker, found bewildering.
“……Well now. I didn’t expect to fill a quarter’s performance in less than a month.”
Brokers, by nature, were more often freelancers than members of organizations.
Of course, there were advantages to belonging to an organization.
You could expand the scale of the business, and the burden of having to grease palms constantly would be lighter. On top of that, your freedom of movement would broaden as well.
But in the Free Planetary Alliance, it was meaningless.
If you visibly expanded the scale of the business, you would obviously be absorbed by or eliminated by the Five Major Forces anyway, and even if the cost of greasing the palms of the Public Security Bureau decreased, once the tribute increased, it all evened out in the end.
Freedom of movement?
Even now, there wasn’t much to complain about in that regard.
In the first place, he was already busy enough just with broker work, and wasn’t Mercato originally a place that criminals found easy to hide in.
‘This is strange.’
That said, were brokers completely independent beings?
Of course not.
The reason they could move independently as freelancers was only because of the tacit consent of the Five Major Forces, the de facto leaders of the Free Planetary Alliance.
What they provided to the Five Major Forces in return, while keeping within certain boundaries, was a set amount of tribute—no, donations—and information.
‘Most of the illegal immigrants are workers from factory planets. And no families, only able-bodied men……. What is this?’
Since snitching was something that, the more often you did it, the more you were branded a boy who cried wolf, it required even greater caution.
Apart from the profits he had earned, fervently hoping that his worries were unfounded, he began to go through not only the list of those he had transported but also the list of his so-called juniors, those he could call his underlings, and soon he realized the true nature of this unease and could not help but be horrified.
‘……Th-this is?’
A characteristic of people who had one foot in the shadows was that they reacted with ghostlike sensitivity when it came to matters involving their own lives.
And K soon realized what kind of mistake he had made by being blinded by money, turned pale, and immediately sprang up from his seat.
‘Including me, four brokers moved 5,000 people in a few weeks?’
Considering that the usual average was around 1,000, it had increased by a full fivefold.
And all of them were men, or a small number of female mercenaries.
This was absolutely not a normal figure.
Why hadn’t he realized it sooner.
Because when viewed individually, it had only seemed like a slight increase in workload compared to usual.
There was something there. Something dangerous.
Once he realized that, what he had to do was practically decided.
‘Ah, I have to inform them!’
He hurriedly gathered his documents and began preparing to head outside.
At the same time, he quickly began transferring the funds he had laundered in an account needed to hide himself for a while into a borrowed-name watch.
There was no Five Major Force directly connected to him.
But it would be enough to tip off the Public Security officer from the Public Security Bureau who had his back.
‘If it comes to it, I’ll hand over the juniors.’
They were juniors in name only; in truth, they were nothing more than potential competitors who bowed to him for money.
He was someone who could abandon even family if necessary—why wouldn’t he be able to abandon mere juniors.
His judgment was swift, and his preparations were even swifter.
Before even three minutes had passed, he finished preparing to flee, grabbed the doorknob, opened it, and at the same time placed a call to the Public Security officer.
Tturu-ru-.
A short ringing tone sounded, and soon a familiar voice brushed past his ear.
〔Hey, K. What’s going on?〕
A voice that was brusque to the extreme.
However, K, who had opened the door, could not answer his words.
“S-s-save—.”
“…….”
The woman in a cleaner’s outfit, who had placed a dagger against his neck the moment the door opened, did not respond to his words, and instead the dagger was swiftly drawn, timed with the corridor lights that had just gone out.
〔Hey? Tsk, what is it?〕
“Ghk, gurgle…….”
When the lights came back on, the woman stared at the collapsed K for a moment, then turned without hesitation and whispered softly to the watch on her wrist.
“All brokers have been taken care of, boss.”
Behind her, K merely clutched his neatly severed throat and died slowly, and painfully.
-Stero Mer is immortal.
Jin Crow mulled over words he had once heard, and took in with his eyes the ominous aura that could be felt even beyond the car window.
Beside him sat Tita Genorua, silently smoking cigarettes as she waited for the moment, while the nameless mafia seated in the front seat seemed intent on not disturbing the silence between the two, quietly gripping the steering wheel while wiping away the drizzling rainwater from the windshield with wires.
“Stero Mer will catch on shortly after things begin.”
The one who broke the silence was Tita Genorua, who had been lighting cigarette after cigarette, seeming anxious yet not.
She took in the sight of crowds gradually gathering in the district square despite the intensifying rain, and fixed her gaze on the LED clock flashing atop the enormous spire.
“The key is how quickly we cut off the bastard’s Achilles’ heel.”
Jin Crow answered next.
The plan was simple.
Eliminate or neutralize Lucky Anubis, Jimmy Silver, and Fatal, who followed Stero Mer, then assemble in District 1. Strike Stero Mer.
To do that, the most important thing right now was how quickly they could sever them.
[22 : 00]
Soon, the spire’s LED pointed to 10 p.m.
After confirming it, the driver started the engine he had kept off, Jin Crow opened the hip flask he had tucked into his coat and took a mouthful, and Tita Genorua, having already torn her gaze away from the citizens who had formed a cluster, spoke.
“Let’s become Paris’ poisoned arrow embedded in Achilles’ heel, mercenary Jin.”
“That’s what we’ll do.”
Soon, the vehicle carrying the two quietly left the square, and at the very same moment a large-scale blackout struck District 11.
“I can’t live like this anymore!”
“Genorua, you sons of bitches! Stop the racial discrimination!”
“Aaaaaaah! Kill them all!”
In District 11, the ‘rioters of unknown origin’ immediately, as if they had been waiting, grabbed time-honored Molotov cocktails, firebombs, wooden clubs, and the like, and began rampaging indiscriminately.
“W-what is this?”
“It’s a protest—no, a riot! C-contact Anubis immediately!”
“Request support from the Public Security Bureau too!”
“I-it’s a blackout, communications are……!”
“What? Fuck! What does streetlights going out have to do with communications……!”
Naturally, the Public Security officers, who at least nominally bore responsibility for maintaining order in the Free Planetary Alliance, tried to step in, but it was beyond them to stop a riot that had swelled to the scale of thousands in the blink of an eye by exploiting the blackout.
On top of that, for reasons unknown, communications were down as well.
Even the officers who somehow managed to leave their stations and contact the Public Security Bureau could not help but doubt their ears.
“W-what did you say?”
〔It’s not just District 11! District 5 and District 7 are the same!〕
Only then were the officers forced to realize one thing, along with a profound sense of dissonance.
……Something was happening.
And it was absolutely not something that could be brushed aside lightly, but a kind of natural disaster.
“S-senior, what should we do?”
“What do you think we should do, fuck.”
The officer called “senior” put a cigarette in his mouth as he watched the rioters gleefully hurling firebombs and smashing shop windows from a distance.
One thing was certain…….
“Got any popcorn?”
There was nothing the Public Security could do.
On this planet, their role was merely to remain silent—nothing more.
Although sporadic riots had broken out, the atmosphere within Mer Corporation was not much different from before.
No, rather, it was quite good.
The reason was simple.
The man who claimed to be the owner of the planet beyond this company. Stero Mer was in a good mood.
“Tell them to handle the riots on their own. Whichever faction restores order the slowest will be held accountable.”
That was all he had to say.
Workers’ riots were an everyday occurrence.
There was a sense of unease in that the blackout had coincided with it, but just because the lights had gone out, a few thousand or tens of thousands of rioters did not turn into special forces.
Beep-.
Leaving his secretary behind, he boarded the private elevator permitted only to him and pressed the bottommost button with nothing written on it.
The elevator then rapidly descended underground, and when he opened his eyes again, what he saw was a floor indicator marked with the letter N and doors opening smoothly.
“Welcome, Chairman.”
A woman in a white lab coat bowed her head to him, who outwardly looked no more than a small child.
However, the oddly visible seams made it clear that she was not human, but an And/roid.
Nor was she the only one.
Every researcher in this vast underground facility consisted entirely of And/roids loyal solely to him.
“The next body?”
“All compatibility tests have already been completed, and it is waiting. However, given the specifications you requested, it seems we will need to conduct one more round of testing.”
Stero Mer calmly nodded at her words.
Despite his notoriety, he tended to respect the voices from the field. Of course, if they crossed the line, he would cut them down without mercy, but she, the director of this underground research facility, had always been faithful.
“I’d like to check it myself.”
“I will guide you, Chairman.”
The place she led him to was lined with enormous cylindrical tanks like aquariums, and inside them were packed things ranging from fetal forms to things the size of small boys.
Among them, she stopped in front of the tank labeled No.74, and gave a concise explanation to Stero Mer as he stared at the boy inside.
“As requested, we implemented Penta Gear–class output, but the limit was a maximum of one hour.”
“I see.”
It would be a lie to say there was no regret, but he did not make the kind of ruthless employer’s demand to squeeze out more output.
If this was the current limit, then it had to be accepted.
It was not only her capability, but also the line drawn by Mother AI, which oversaw all of this.
Stero Mer stared for a moment at No.74, hairless yet with facial features perfectly resembling his own, then turned away without hesitation.
Then, boarding the elevator that opened quietly and smoothly just as it had when he arrived, he spoke to the research director who bowed in silence.
“Mother AI, it’s fine to operate Nectar more aggressively, so achieve the greatest advancement.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
At that moment, the emotion reflected in his eyes was simple.
It was desire itself.