Ruler of the Underworld - 3
Laman assessed the situation. Five figures wearing similar costumes. These were probably the hidden members of Maker that had never been revealed before. Where the hell were they hiding? Laman shook his head. What was the point of thinking about that now? These were the bastards who had snuck aboard the airship carrying the Royals. They were clearly experts at concealing themselves. It was no wonder he hadn’t noticed them.
“What are you thinking about so hard? Are you afraid we might eat you alive?”
Laman swallowed dryly. Had launching a preemptive attack been too rash? Not a single scratch was visible on them. He had poured every ounce of firepower he possessed into the assault, yet it hadn’t made a difference. The gap in power was overwhelming. If this turned into a fight of brute force, they would suffer near-total annihilation.
Laman recalled the advice his boss had given him as casually as if she were offering him a meal.
Keep your head cool and your heart hot.
Right. When he cooled his head and looked again, his earlier action had indeed been clumsy. The other side hadn’t shown any hostility first. They had simply said they would save the boss…
“...”
...and in exchange, they should join under them. That was all they had said. Treating the boss’s life like some bargaining chip was insulting, but anger wouldn’t earn money or put food on the table. This was the time to bend. The boss would have said the same. Combat was always the last resort… the last resort…
“...I have one condition.”
“Now we’re getting somewhere. What is it?”
“If the boss comes back to life, my subordinates and I will no longer be mere ‘remnants.’”
“And?”
“What you want is to absorb the entire Red Witch under you, not just a bunch of leftover remnants, right?”
“Hmm… that’s correct.”
“Then our obedience to you will come only after we hear the boss’s opinion. If the boss’s view conflicts with yours, we will prioritize the boss’s wishes. Is that acceptable?”
“Hoo…”
First nodded slowly.
“In other words, you’re saying this? First, save the boss. After that, if the boss bends, we’ll bend too. But if the boss refuses to bend, we won’t either.”
“Ueh…? That’s what it meant…?”
“It’s a classic idiot trait. Making things unnecessarily complicated.”
Nadja let out a weary sigh. Laman’s fists trembled. But this time, he held it in without showing it. To Laman, that was how precious the boss was.
“Fine. We’ll do it that way.”
First agreed without hesitation. At the same time, Laman’s face filled with confusion. Even though he had said it himself, the proposal was honestly ridiculous. It was no different from walking into a restaurant and declaring, “I’ll eat it, but I won’t pay if it doesn’t taste good.” And they were accepting it?
Of course, First had her own thoughts on the matter. The organization called Red Witch was nothing but a ragtag bunch without W. But without that ragtag bunch, even with W, it wouldn’t be Red Witch. Only when both W and the ragtag group existed together did Red Witch truly exist. Therefore, First could not afford to lose the trust of either side.
If she used violence to persuade the ragtag group, she would lose W’s trust. If she played games to persuade W, she would lose the ragtag group’s trust. To swallow an intact Red Witch, she needed to earn both sides’ trust.
However, Laman, who had no way of knowing First’s dark intentions, thought:
...What? Are they actually better people than I thought?
As he kept saying, Laman was simple. A hot-blooded man who trusted fists more than the law and whose temper flared easily. That was precisely why he was also a man who knew how to sacrifice for his comrades and how to rage on their behalf.
“Then… I’m counting on you.”
At Laman’s words, the thugs who had been holding their guns at the ready lowered their weapons. A stable atmosphere finally settled over the dark abandoned factory.
*
“By the way… how exactly do you plan to perform the procedure?”
Goliath and Gruumsh asked as they brought in the icebox containing the boss’s head. Nadja and Seolhwa stepped forward, saying they would demonstrate.
“Which one of you two was the one who had his arm cut off by our com… captain?”
“M-me…!”
At Nadja’s question, Gruumsh raised his hand and stepped forward.
“Which arm?”
“The left one…!”
Left arm amputation and cybernetic replacement.
With a sickening crunch, Gruumsh’s left arm was ripped clean off.
“Aaaargh!!”
Gruumsh writhed in agony as Goliath shouted.
“W-what the hell are you doing all of a sudden…!!”
“You asked for a demonstration. Stay still.”
Yet Nadja simply held Gruumsh down with a bored expression so he couldn’t move. The procedure was over in an instant. While Seolhwa exercised her healing ability, a mechanical new arm began forming on Gruumsh’s shoulder.
“Try moving it.”
Gruumsh slowly opened his eyes, which had been tightly shut from the pain. When he clenched and unclenched his fist, the metallic clank of machinery rang out.
“Huh…?”
He turned his gaze toward his arm. At some point, his left arm had been replaced with a prosthetic worth tens of millions in the city. Gruumsh swung the mechanical arm around as if it had always been his own, showing no sense of discomfort. Then—
Thud!
He slammed it into the concrete wall. The concrete crumbled with a crash. Overjoyed, Gruumsh thrust his fists into the air and cheered.
“We’re going to rebuild the entire body like this.”
At the shocking sight, Goliath lost the ability to speak and fell silent.
“How long do you think it’ll take?”
Laman, who had just entered the room and witnessed the scene, asked.
“Well, rebuilding the entire body means starting from the spinal nerves connected to the brain all the way to creating new artificial organs, so…”
Nadja held up four fingers.
“Four hours.”
“Oing? It takes less time than I expected?”
When Seolhwa asked, Nadja leaned in and whispered in her ear. Enhanced human procedures usually required caution because patients could die during the process, but since there was no need to be careful with this one, it wouldn’t take long. Having her question answered, Seolhwa felt a slight chill.
“Then it’s about time… yawn. We’re going to start, so everyone except one person get out.”
Nadja cutely yawned and shooed them away with a wave. Gruumsh, thrilled with his new mechanical arm, Goliath who envied him, and Laman who couldn’t hide his joy at the thought of seeing the boss all left the operating room.
*
An awkward atmosphere lingered outside the operating room. It was only natural, considering they had been glaring at each other with murderous intent just minutes ago. But men were said to fight until their noses bled and then make up the moment they turned around.
Three hours later.
Inside the abandoned factory that had somehow turned into a friendly gathering of construction workers, First’s clear voice rang out.
“...And that’s it! The winner of this talent show showdown is Mr. Laman!!”
“Waaaah!!”
“As expected of the second-in-command!! I believed in you!!”
“Now then… the loser, Subject 3, must receive his penalty, right?”
“Penalty! Penalty!”
“What kind of penalty should it be? Let’s hear recommendations from the audience!!”
“Upload the talent show video we just did to Aker!!”
“Boo!! Make him sing that song again in the middle of a busy downtown street!!”
“No…”
The loser, Subject 3—Kim Seokho—sighed in disbelief. He had thought this for a while now, but that woman Chae Yuha… had an abnormally high affinity with men. Not in a flirty way, but in a human sense. Naturally, it was the result of desperately rolling around to win favor from his seniors in his previous life. He would probably never know.
Kim Seokho turned his gaze to A.G.O. She was wearing earplugs. Her mouth was grinning from ear to ear while one hand operated a camcorder. Am I seriously the only normal person here…?
Seokho was starting to miss his little sister’s face.
“Aah, it seems we can’t narrow down the opinions… Shall we proceed with a vote? Those in favor of filming the talent show and uploading it to Aker, please shout loudly!!”
“Waaaaaaaaah!!!!!”
“Thank you for the enthusiastic cheers! Then we should hear from the opposing side as well, right? Those who want him to sing in the middle of a busy street, shout!!”
“Aaaaaaaaaaagh!!!”
“Aah~ That’s too weak? At this rate, the talent show video is going up on Aker? Come on, again!!”
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!!!!!!”
At that moment, the operating room door burst open and a furious Nadja stormed out.
“Shut up!! You idiots!! We’re about to do the most important integration procedure, so be quiet!!”
Bang!
Nadja slammed the door shut again as she went back in. The atmosphere instantly froze. First stepped in to mediate.
“That’s what she said~ Everyone! Let’s stop playing around and start wrapping things up~ You all want to have an emotional reunion with the boss, don’t you?”
At her words, the thugs clapped and began cleaning up the area.
“Aah, it’s been a while since I had this much fun.”
“Subject 3. You clean that side. I’ll take this side.”
“No…”
What the hell? These guys? Just how simple-minded were they? They had literally been pointing guns at each other not long ago…
Seokho, whose head was starting to spin, simply did as he was told and cleaned up. If he kept thinking any further, he felt like all the common sense he had built up over the years would completely shatter.
*
While they were cleaning up, one of the thugs picked something up and muttered.
“Huh? What’s this?”
Goliath, who happened to be nearby, walked over to check.
“What is it?”
“Ah, Boss. Take a look at this.”
The thug held out his hand. Inside it, a small drone was struggling.
“A drone…?”
The word “drone” that Goliath had casually muttered was clearly heard by the two enhanced humans present. Their eyes met. Seokho, who was closer to the microphone, urgently grabbed it.
“Everyone, weapons up!! We’re being watc—!!”
Swoosh.
The cleanly sliced factory door split in half and collapsed. At the same time, the five observers standing beyond the door were revealed.
“Everyone, do not move.”
Last declared in a sunken voice.
“From now on, even a single step will be considered an act of resistance.”