Chapter 135
Chapter 135
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 135
Chapter Title: Insulin (1)
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The problem was that no clear way to breach the dragon’s defenses came to mind. Suhyun’s telekinesis was a powerful spear, but whether it would pierce a dragon was uncertain.
‘Looking at the range of its power, it’s definitely not below mine...’
His solo technique, the dragon breath taken from the orcs, the crusher that countered superpowers—everything felt insufficient against a dragon.
This was no different. Lately, Suhyun had come to realize that to grow stronger, he had no choice but to develop an ability to manipulate time. He’d already hit the limits of telekinesis and solo techniques; they couldn’t improve further.
“Monsters detected ahead. Monsters ahead. What should we do?”
“Can Blue Bear handle it?”
“Yes, this much is...”
“Take care of it without getting careless. Signal if there’s trouble. I’ll provide support.”
Moving together didn’t mean sticking right on top of each other. That wasn’t the preferred method on Cameron Planet. Keeping a reasonable distance while being ready to collaborate if something happened was the safest approach.
Right now, the Blue Bear team had placed a dwarf exploration team—which had scouted the area before—at the front. True to a top team from a renowned mercenary company, they operated flawlessly.
They launched reconnaissance drones and activated detectors, blocking potential monster attacks from the front, sides, and even rear.
‘Clean work. Makes me want to learn from them.’
Suhyun’s own squad members could be called Cameron experts now, but in his eyes, they still fell short.
“Ugh, I can’t get used to this.”
“Better adapt quick.”
“What’s so great about a place like this that people live here?”
The squad member’s mutter was echoed by Luril’s grumbling. Having spent her life in lush forests and green plains, she wasn’t accustomed to such barren land. Insulin was a wasteland close to a desert.
“Monsters are sparse here, right? Way better than Ames Plains, where they swarm in hordes.”
In contrast, Shaina was in high spirits for the first time in a while. She didn’t even mind her tiger mount looking utterly drained.
“Ames Plains aren’t that packed either.”
“That’s still a lot. How do elves even live there?”
“Are you picking a fight...?”
“Enough. Blue Bear’s fighting up front—what are you doing? If you’re bored, go make some work for yourselves.”
As the two demihumans—who’d been getting along indifferently—finally bared their teeth at each other, Suhyun cut in. He scanned the surroundings with his clairvoyance.
In the past, he’d preferred terrain with plenty of cover over open fields. That was because he tormented enemies with traps, ambushes, and all sorts of schemes rather than direct confrontations.
But now that his abilities had changed, open terrain like this suited him better. It was easy to spot approaching monsters from afar and intercept them effortlessly.
“Shaina, when does that sandstorm over there die down?”
“Huh? It just pops up irregularly and keeps going...”
‘Damn, even clairvoyance is useless here.’
When it blocked the entire view like that, there was nothing to see. Fortunately, none of the people here would get swept away by such a storm...
Meanwhile, the Blue Bear team steadily took down monsters. The wolf-like monsters common in Insulin had fur tough enough to shrug off ordinary bullets while charging, making them look like rolling boulders from a distance.
Boom boom boom!
Of course, that meant nothing against A-rank superhumans.
“Miss McClain, if you use that much power right from the start...”
“It’s fine. It’s fine.”
Jennifer blew on the barrel of her gold-plated revolver and eyed the fallen monster.
“This much doesn’t even tire me. I brought superpower supplements just in case.”
“Superpower supplements... Is it okay to use them?”
“What’s the problem? No one said to hide them.”
A new product from a company under the chairman’s umbrella, it rapidly restored a superpower user’s depleted energy. Not yet publicly announced, only Blue Bear’s teams were using it discreetly.
In superpower battles, controlling the ebb and flow of power was crucial, making the supplements’ value self-evident.
Ordinary superhumans feared exhaustion from overuse and paced themselves accordingly. But those supplements erased that limit.
“Hide them if we don’t need them. If we do, announce it with a huge flourish. They’ll be shocked.”
“Uh... maybe?”
Suhyun getting shocked was unimaginable. By then, the group had resumed moving.
“Still, I wonder if bringing Team 1 was the right call. We’re fine, but Team 1 might not be.”
“No choice. Keric’s abilities match this place too well to leave him out.”
“True, but...”
Scott glanced worriedly at Blue Bear’s Team 1 members. They showed no outward signs, but that only heightened his concern.
They took pride in their abilities. Even as mages, working under outsiders wouldn’t sit well with them.
‘Keric’s no fool.’
Scott thought as he looked at Whiteman. She was a different caliber from this emotional rookie.
“Huh? Why are you looking at me?”
“Nothing. It’s nothing.”
“...?”
Feeling oddly displeased, Whiteman tilted her head.
* * *
“By the way, how strong is Blue Bear’s Team 1?”
“Not much difference from Team 2. Top teams are generally similar wherever you go. It’s just entry order or symbolism that sets them apart... Of course, Team 1 has the strongest force. Especially in an American company like Blue Bear.”
He omitted Jennifer being the chairman’s daughter. They all knew she hadn’t risen through connections alone.
‘Keric Felix, the model talent.’
Suhyun knew the extent of Scott’s worries, which was why he gave orders through him. No need to poke at Team 1’s pride.
Team 1’s leader, Keric, treated Suhyun with textbook courtesy. No rudeness, and his squad followed suit. Clearly under Keric’s control.
That was the principle. But after dealing with countless sloppy mercenaries who couldn’t even follow basics, encountering ones who did felt refreshing.
‘His ability: wide-range dirt and sand manipulation.’
Seeing it, Suhyun understood why the chairman included Team 1. In this terrain, that power was maximized.
Some superpowers were heavily terrain-dependent. Scott’s Stone Wall was one. But Keric’s was extreme.
Anyway, with Scott buffering in the middle, no need to close the distance. They were here to work—do the job and that’s it.
‘Just focus on the work. No need to get friendly.’
* * *
“What do we do?”
“Tell me first. I’ll decide after hearing the plan.”
At Suhyun’s words, the dwarf Mujak nodded and began explaining.
“Our info covers up to this area. Further down, we can’t avoid clashing with dark elves. Tribes are centered around oases scattered everywhere.”
Mujak explained using a half-finished map projection.
“Here, here, and here are the discovered dark elf tribes. This is the one we barely made contact with. We plan to approach them for passage permission. Not sure if it’ll work, but once granted, this route becomes relatively safe for scouting.”
“And if problems arise even then...”
“We’ll have to fight. Yes.”
Mujak grasped the situation perfectly. They hadn’t brought this force for scouting. It was to sweep away any interferers.
“With this much power, even dark elves would avoid us, right?”
“Naive. Fellow demihuman, yet you know less than me? Dark elves don’t avoid strong foes. They burn with more hostility. Unless we ensure no fight at all, a clash is inevitable. Shaina, any familiar spots here?”
“No... I don’t know these places.”
“Really?”
“T-they shift positions often! I can’t know them all!”
“I didn’t say anything? It’s fine not to know—calm down.”
Stung for no reason, Shaina hurriedly defended herself. Luril, overhearing from behind, smirked openly. As Shaina whirled in anger, Suhyun grabbed her arm and glared at Luril.
“You, get lost.”
“Why?!”
“I get moving oasis-centered. Fine, no contacts means no preemptive approaches. Let’s follow the dwarves’ plan. We’ll get a reaction eventually.”
“How about the biotics?”
Scott asked cautiously, lowering his voice.
“Why? Interested?”
“Of course. Ah, not that I’m prying...”
“I know. You wouldn’t.”
Scott wiped sweat from his brow with a handkerchief. It was hot, but facing Suhyun always tensed him up.
“Team Leader Kim Suhyun’s here for that, right? Hard not to care.”
“Don’t worry. If we can’t get it, I won’t throw a fit.”
“...”
“And we can’t approach recklessly now anyway?”
Suhyun was waiting for the dark elves to come. Initiating against demihumans was foolish. Especially ones like dark elves who attacked first even if left alone.
‘They’ll come if we wait.’
It created justification and freer movement. Suhyun planned to hold out.
* * *
The dwarves returned soon, faces beaming. Suhyun clicked his tongue inwardly.
‘Damn.’
“We got permission. They won’t mind us moving through.”
“Yeah? Let’s go.”
While moving, Suhyun observed closely. Yet truly, no sign of dark elves—not even a hair. Even reaching untouched depths, no incidents occurred, leaving Suhyun faintly uneasy.
‘What?’
Dark elves weren’t this tame. Entering their turf meant indiscriminate attacks—that was them.
“Shaina, doesn’t this feel off? Were dark elves ever this quiet?”
“Uh... yeah? They shouldn’t just stay hidden like this.”
Shaina scanned around in confusion. Intruders always drew surveillance. At least a few dark elves should be watching from afar.
“Something must be up.”
“Something?”
“Something keeping them from minding outsiders. We’re people too—we prioritize when issues arise.”
Dark elves were hostile to outsiders but wouldn’t make extra enemies amid troubles.
“Mujak, anything odd in the dark elves’ vibe?”
“Huh? Didn’t seem off.”
“Wasted effort asking a dwarf. Dark elves aren’t dumb enough to show weaknesses to outsiders.”
“I see...”
Suhyun paused. Blue Bear members busily deployed robots to scan terrain. His absence wouldn’t hinder things.
“Let’s pay a visit.”
“?!”
Not just Shaina—everyone was shocked. Dwarves frantically tried stopping him.
“Humans are dangerous!”
“Yeah! They’ll attack right away!”
Dwarves got talks; humans would likely get attacked outright.
But Suhyun trusted Shaina.
“No, they won’t attack immediately. And even if they do...”
‘Doesn’t matter anyway.’