Chapter 213
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 213
Jin Gau was one of the most peculiar people I had ever met.
As the Director of the 4th Research Institute, Jin Gau led a facility directly under the Imperial Family. A high-ranking official of the Empire, he was so old that even his full-body prosthetic was nearing the end of its lifespan.
Usually, anyone who climbed to such a height within the Empire was bound to be cold and mechanical.
Yet Jin Gau possessed a boyish eccentricity and an unpredictable, erratic vitality.
That didn't mean he was just an immature genius who coasted on his own brilliance. Though he acted with free-spirited abandon, he never crossed the line of defying the Empire's order.
'In the past... I actually benefited from Jin Gau's whims.'
He wasn't exactly my enemy, but he was far from a friend.
'He certainly wouldn't take a loss for my sake.'
All of these thoughts flashed through my mind in a fraction of a second.
The first words out of Jin Gau's mouth were simple.
"...We've met before."
At those words, my brain burned so hot it felt ready to burst. It was as if a firecracker had gone off inside my skull.
Jin Gau watched me with an inscrutable smile.
I was currently wearing a mask. On top of that, my physical build was much larger than it used to be.
'He can't recognize me.'
I faced him in silence.
"Ah, when I said we've met before, I was referring to your sword. I saw a piece from the Hwagwang Series at an auction once. I wanted to buy it, but they wouldn't approve the budget for a mere toy. Mind if I take a look?"
Jin Gau's gaze lingered heavily on the hilt of the Hwagwang Yedo.
"I'm not in the habit of handing my weapon to strangers."
"Most warriors are like that. But don't be so cold. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have even made it inside. I asked young Sigma to grant you entry purely because I wanted a closer look at the Hwagwang Series."
Just as I suspected, my entry had been Jin Gau's doing.
Click.
I unfastened the Hwagwang Yedo and handed it over. I held my tongue, determined not to leak a single clue about my identity.
Sshk.
Jin Gau drew the Hwagwang Yedo. With clumsy, awkward movements, he held the blade out and marveled at it.
"An artistic failure," he muttered. "But this right here is the true spirit of progress. Not just doing something because it is possible, but pursuing it precisely because it is impossible."
His face alight with childlike excitement, Jin Gau swung the Hwagwang Yedo around. His untrained, erratic movements made him incredibly dangerous.
'This man hasn't changed a bit.'
It wouldn't be surprising if the weapon slipped from his grip at any second.
"You are going to wreck my laboratory at this rate."
Despite his expressionless face, Sigma managed to convey a distinct sense of anxiety.
"Haha, look, young Sigma! The blade glows faintly from mere air friction. It's all thanks to the Ignium. The universe is vast and full of wonders, yet we have only seen a mere speck of it. Ah, why can't I live forever!"
Jin Gau spun around, his limbs loose and uncoordinated like a drunkard's.
Whoosh!
Jin Gau's grip slipped. The Hwagwang Yedo flew from his hand, hurtling straight toward a complex piece of machinery.
Snatch!
Having anticipated exactly this, I reached out and caught the sword mid-air.
"Have you had your fill?" I asked, twirling the blade. Jin Gau obligingly tossed the scabbard toward me.
Shhk, click.
Holding the sword in a reverse grip, I swung it to match the trajectory of the incoming scabbard. The sheath smoothly swallowed the blade.
"Impressive skill, nameless young man. I am merely a passing scientist. And you?"
"Merely a passing young man."
"Not a soldier? You carry yourself like someone who has served," Jin Gau said with a chuckle. I cursed inwardly.
'I can't tell if he recognized me or not. That slippery old snake...'
Even with my sharp intuition, it was impossible to read his true intentions. Even if he hadn't actually recognized me, he was exactly the type of person to speak like that just to test the waters.
"I didn't come here to exchange pleasantries." I let my displeasure bleed into my voice.
"Ah, you said you came for prosthetic maintenance, right? Though I don't belong to Machina, I know a thing or two about the subject."
Every single word out of his mouth was obnoxious. He seemed utterly determined to get in my way.
I needed to be alone with Sigma. Whether through threats or a deal, I had to get my hands on those full-body prosthetic procedure records.
Irritation churned in my gut.
Calm down. Think rationally. I am no longer the boy Luka.
I had dealt with countless people of Jin Gau's breed. They pretended to know everything even when they knew nothing. It was a cheap trick, designed to make the other party anxious enough to spill the truth.
'There is no way Jin Gau recognized me.'
Knowing his personality, his interest in the Hwagwang Yedo was genuine, and he simply loved to poke and prod at people. That was why he had made that comment about us being old acquaintances.
Probing whether I was a soldier was also a reasonable deduction on his part. Caught up in nostalgia for the Empire, I had unconsciously adopted a soldier's distinct posture.
Good. My thoughts were in order, and my mind settled.
"Actually, the prosthetic maintenance is just an excuse," I said calmly. "I came here for another matter."
Jin Gau continued to grin, while Sigma stared at me with a blank expression.
"My, Machina must have truly become a laughingstock. For some nobody of unknown origin to lie his way in and propose a deal."
The edges of Sigma's pupils flared a faint red. He took a step back, distancing himself.
Sensing the shift in the atmosphere, Jin Gau also began to back away.
"Ahem, it seems this is no longer my place to interfere."
As always, Jin Gau's survival instincts were impeccable. He was already looking to slip away.
But I had no intention of letting him leave.
"...More than that, I'm curious as to why the Director of an Imperial Research Institute is here. I was under the impression that Deus Ex Machina was an organization at odds with the Imperial Family."
Jin Gau hadn't recognized me. Now, it was my turn to probe him.
Jin Gau froze in his tracks and stared at me. Though the smile remained plastered on his face, he was as perfectly still as a paused video.
Sigma also stared at me, his gaze heavy. Countless calculations had to be running through their artificial minds.
'For Jin Gau, a high-ranking Imperial official, to establish contact with Deus Ex Machina... this has to be a clandestine meeting. Even if the Imperial Family turns a blind eye to it, it certainly isn't something he can openly boast about.'
Jin Gau finally parted his frozen lips.
"I have no idea what you are talking about."
"Then it seems I have mistaken you for someone else."
I had completely seized the initiative. This was my area of expertise.
Though Jin Gau and I were both human, our perspectives were so fundamentally different that we might as well have belonged to entirely different species.
Jin Gau was a man of rulers and administrators. He was not a hound trained to swiftly adapt and chase down the shifting realities right in front of his nose.
Men of his kind knew how to observe from afar and read the grand flow of the world, but they lacked the instinct to sniff out the immediate, fleeting scents of a live operation.
Simply put: I was a field operative, and Jin Gau was management.
And dealing with unexpected variables and sudden, violent shifts in a situation was always the operative's job.
I could practically taste Jin Gau's agitation. He had likely never imagined he would run into someone who recognized his face out here in Border City.
To him, I was an unknown, unpredictable variable. Fear was undoubtedly beginning to crack his composure.
'This is exactly what Kinuan used to do to others.'
Digging into their secrets while keeping your own cards glued to your chest.
Information asymmetry always grants the upper hand in a negotiation.
I was now entirely certain that Jin Gau didn't recognize me. My brief moment of doubt, brought on by his clever wordplay, evaporated.
"So your purpose isn't prosthetic maintenance after all?" Jin Gau asked, cutting straight to the point. "For what reason have you set foot in this perilous castle of machines?"
"The records of the full-body prosthetic procedures performed by Machina. Anything within the last six months will suffice."
Jin Gau stroked his chin, glancing at Sigma as if to gauge the cyborg's thoughts.
"Barging in out of nowhere and demanding our records..." Sigma finally spoke, his voice cold. "I have heard enough. I will eliminate this absurd intruder."
"Hold on a moment, young Sigma. I have held a high-ranking position in the Empire for over a century." Jin Gau no longer bothered hiding his status as a Director.
"Ruffians like him are common in Border City. You do not need to waste your breath on him," Sigma said, a rare frown crossing his usually expressionless face.
"You wouldn't understand, cooped up as you are in this comfortable castle of machines, doing nothing but research," Jin Gau continued. "I have had to defend my position amidst cutthroat political schemes and power struggles. And every single time, what saved my life wasn't rational thinking. It was an intuition that even I found hard to explain."
Jin Gau rummaged through the pockets of his lab coat and pulled out a pistol. Judging by the energy particles shimmering through the thin, transparent window on the barrel, it was an energy weapon rather than a conventional firearm.
"What are you do—"
Sigma never got to finish his sentence.
Whir, thump!
Jin Gau pulled the trigger. Energy particles violently coalesced at the muzzle before launching forward in a blinding, glowing sphere.
Sigma's head was completely vaporized. Though the projectile had traveled slower than a conventional bullet, the weapon's destructive power was absolute.
I silently watched Jin Gau commit outright murder. His energy pistol was a single-shot model; a spent energy cartridge ejected from the bottom of the grip immediately after firing.
Click.
Jin Gau slotted a fresh energy cartridge into the weapon and casually handed the gun to me.
"In a moment, I want you to use this to blow off my arm. That will make it easy to claim I was coerced. Now that the nuisance is out of the way, let's have a proper chat. Since you must be operating under His Majesty's decree, I will cooperate."
Jin Gau's situational judgment was brilliant. And for a high-ranking administrator, he possessed an incredibly ruthless, bold streak.
'This man didn't survive in the Empire all this time just by playing the eccentric fool.'
It seemed Jin Gau had a hunch about my affiliation. I, too, knew exactly which imperial unit he was referring to.
"I am operating under Commander Kartika. That is all I am permitted to say."
"I knew it. Ilay Kartika. An ambitious fellow who has been making waves lately. Even I don't quite know what he's up to. Then again, I knew he'd make it big ever since he stabbed his dearest friend in the back."
Jin Gau smirked, a sharp gleam flashing in his narrow eyes.
I merely filed his words away. Now was not the time to let my emotions get the better of me.
"Can you disable Machina's security and defense systems? I would prefer to slip out without any confrontation."
"Leave that to me. I've already set up a dummy feed for Sigma's lab. To the control room, it will look like we are simply having a pleasant chat."
"As I mentioned, I need Machina's full-body prosthetic procedure records to carry out my mission."
"That won't be difficult. It's not as if it's highly classified information, anyway."
Jin Gau retrieved a terminal from Sigma's headless corpse and began tapping away at it.
"It would be wise not to associate with Machina too often," I warned him quietly, tossing over a data transfer chip.
"I know, but these fellows are quite amusing. They are a living testament to what a house of cards looks like. They preach grand beliefs and values, but in truth, it is nothing more than self-righteousness entirely divorced from reality. They worship machines because they themselves are flawed as human beings. The foundation of their machine-worship stems not from superiority, but from a deep-seated inferiority complex. It is bound to collapse. We must aim to transcend humanity, not discard it."
"I fail to see the difference between discarding and transcending. It sounds like mere wordplay to me."
The moment the words left my mouth, I realized I had made a mistake. Letting my personal opinions slip could easily expose my identity.
But Jin Gau just silently focused on his task. He loaded the data onto the chip and tossed it back to me.
"Are we done?"
"For now... wa—!"
Before Jin Gau could even finish his sentence, I swiftly leveled the muzzle and pulled the trigger.
The spherical energy blast cleanly severed Jin Gau's right arm. His right cheek and neck were scorched black from the residual heat.
"Agh! Cough... urgh... I hadn't even severed my pain receptors yet!"
Jin Gau stumbled backward, clutching his stump and seething with genuine rage. It was a rare sight indeed.
Somehow, watching him writhe brought a wave of long-overdue catharsis. It seemed I had harbored quite a grudge against this man after all.