Chapter 19
Chapter 19
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: This Uncle Saved Me
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After sending the kids back to their homes, I returned to the warehouse where they'd been locked up. One job was done; now it was time to handle the rest.
Dr-r-r-k—!
"..."
"Ugh, ughhh..."
"No..."
"Demon... that guy's a demon..."
As I stepped into the warehouse, I saw the kidnappers crawling on the floor with their limbs broken. They trembled in fear at the sight of me.
If these guys had committed some run-of-the-mill crime, I might've gone easy on them. Hell, I might've even recruited them to pad out my organization's numbers.
But kidnapping kids to film porn? That's a no-go.
That's a crime that can't be justified in the name of justice—or even villainy. Touching kids breaks the ultimate unspoken rule, and the punishment for that is severe.
I won't kill them. They're utter scum, but I'm not about to break my no-kill rule.
Yeah, I won't kill them.
"D-don't come closer!"
One of them freaked out completely as I approached, twisting his body and flailing to get away from me. This bastard even pissed himself.
"Why'd you do it?"
"W-what..."
"Why film child porn?"
"..."
The guy shut his mouth at the words "child porn." He was one of the ones who'd reacted to the word earlier when we first met.
"You don't have the right to remain silent."
"Gaaahhh!"
I grabbed his ear and yanked. My grip was too strong, and it tore right off with no resistance.
"..."
I'd grabbed it but hadn't meant to rip it clean off, so I was a bit thrown for a second. The pedo bastard, now missing one ear, screamed as blood poured out.
Hmm... with only the left ear left, the balance is off, right? The weight's uneven, so he might tilt to the left. For his sake, I'd better even things out and take the other one too.
"Aaaaggghhh!"
"There. That's better."
Now he had no ears at all.
And to make his no-ear look even more perfect, I gently pressed down between his legs.
I wanted to stomp as hard as I could, but that might pulverize everything and cause him to bleed out. So I held back as much as possible while crushing.
"Gyaaagyaaak! Krurrrk aaaahhh!"
"..."
The no-eared, ball-less bastard's screams echoed through the place.
I headed toward the others, listening to that. They started shaking like leaves as I approached.
Don't worry, I won't kill you.
"Whew~ how much is all this worth?"
I cracked open their safe, revealing stacks of cash, gold bars, and passbooks inside. Just eyeballing the bills, there had to be tens of thousands of dollars.
"And drugs and guns on top of that. Damn, these guys were running a pretty big operation."
It wasn't just the safe's contents I scored. Boxes stacked in the warehouse were packed with drugs and firearms.
I'd raided a villain group and made a tidy profit. Raiding's kinda addictive, huh?
"This tutorial system's way too overpowered for a tutorial. Honestly, even without superpowers, I'd have blown up fast starting like this."
I only knew where the safe was hidden thanks to the tutorial system. It pinpointed the exact spot even from vague search terms.
At first, I'd planned to interrogate the grunts I'd roughed up for the safe's location. But the low-level thugs knew nothing, and the only one who did—the mid-boss who'd given the orders—ended up cursing me out and killing himself despite being scared shitless.
What a tough, absolute asshole.
No, fuck, that bastard cursed me to go bald and dickless. Isn't that just the lowest?
Bald's whatever—I'd take it. I've been a fan of buzzcuts since watching the Furious movies.
But dickless? That's crossing the line! This is supposed to be an 19+ game! Cursing me to lose my dick?
If he hadn't offed himself, I would've broken my no-kill rule. That was way over the line.
Of course, I did kill that scorpion bastard at dawn today, so technically the rule's broken—but that was necessary, so my no-kill principle's still intact in spirit.
Someone might call it hypocrisy, but humans rationalize everything, don't they? I'm just being perfectly human.
Anyway, I was stumped on what to do next when the tutorial system popped up.
I searched "warehouse in sector 65 where kids are locked up," and it guided me right to it. So I figured it could find other stuff too and tried it.
"System. Search for the hideout and safe location of the guys in this warehouse."
An arrow appeared to guide me again.
How could I not be impressed?
The tutorial system was basically another superpower. It sucked that I only had a little over five days left to use it.
"Boss, should we load this too?"
"..."
"Got it!"
I nodded, and my men rushed over, stripping the safe bare of its cash and gold. They grinned ear-to-ear as they stuffed bills into bags.
Outside the office, they loaded weapons and drugs—miraculously intact despite the explosion—onto the truck. They eyed the charred drug piles with regret, hating to waste even the burned stuff.
'Guess this covers startup capital for dealing?'
With the scorpion guy's leftover stock, drug distribution could proceed smoothly.
'Now for the last loose end...'
"Hm. News travels fast."
It'd only been a day since I sent the kids home, but the next day, TV was already reporting on it.
"So, will they mention me?"
Reporters chasing scoops wouldn't miss this goldmine. They'd hound the kids for any quote.
Naturally, the kids would've talked about me. How'd they describe me? Cool uncle? Super strong uncle? Lifesaver?
I was kinda hyped, couldn't switch channels. Come on, talk about me already!
[...Once treatment ends, authorities plan to take testimonies from the children about the kidnapping. Next story...]
"Huh?"
No mention of me on the news. I'd hidden my face and name, so the kids couldn't ID me—that made sense.
But they could've said I was huge, super cool, wearing a skull-masked balaclava. Plenty to go on.
Especially since I'd made a splashy debut at Sanctuary Corp.
"...Come to think of it, that didn't hit the news either?"
I hurriedly booted up my computer and searched for Sanctuary Corp news. Just a few hits on Cruemora Doctor's experiments—no word on me.
Insane info lockdown. Not a single article? Must be my parents buying silence. Wait—then my debut...
"..."
Do I have to debut all over again?
Suddenly a washed-up rookie again, I couldn't hide my shock.
Thanks to Bal Jeong-nam, Rachel—home for the first time in a year—clung tightly to her mom's hand, eyeing the people ahead with fear.
Noticing her gaze, B-rank Hero Association hero Ronister, sensing her terror, told the staff behind her,
"Just me and Memory Hunter here are fine. Everyone else, wait outside."
"Pardon? But..."
As the staff hesitated, she smiled and beckoned one over, whispering,
"You're scaring her. I said bring the pretty boys. Why'd you drag in these thug-lookin' guys? If you stay, we can't get her testimony. Get out while I'm asking nicely."
"...Yes, ma'am."
Only after hearing her sincerity did the staff file out of the cramped house. They wondered gloomily if their faces really looked that scary.
With them gone, only Rachel and her mom Emily, plus Ronister and Memory Hunter remained.
'Honestly, this guy's the ugliest here...'
Ronister glanced at Memory Hunter, muttering inwardly.
No grooming meant long hair and a bushy beard; he rarely bathed, so he stank. He'd probably been drinking before coming—booze reeked off him.
Constant booze and irregular meals had whittled him down to a furry skeleton.
But his memory-reading was essential for Rachel's recollections, so she tolerated him.
'Didn't expect him to volunteer.'
She'd planned to just hear Rachel's testimony and bounce.
S-rank hero Memory Hunter, who could read memories, had the busiest schedule of any hero. Especially in Dark City, where crime never stopped, his guilt-judging ability shone brightest.
She hadn't even asked him, but he'd somehow found out and pitched hard to the Association president to join.
"We starting or what?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah."
Snap out of it by Memory Hunter's dry voice in her ear, Ronister beamed at Rachel.
"Hi, Rachel. I'm Ronister, a Hero Association hero. This uncle here's S-rank hero Memory Hunter. Ever heard of us?"
*Nod*
Rachel nodded instead of speaking. Even with Ronister's kind smile, she still feared all adults except two.
Blunt reassurances like "I'm safe" or "Don't worry" would backfire. Better to steer away from the topic, build psychological distance gradually.
"Rachel, do you like heroes?"
"...Yes."
No kid hates heroes.
Figures, magazines, TV shows galore—heroes were celebrities. They protected citizens from villains and entertained them too.
"Who's your favorite hero?"
Ronister secretly hoped Rachel would pick her. She was right there, and it'd close the gap faster.
'I'm pretty famous myself.'
"Ice Queen."
"..."
Her hopes shattered in a second. Rachel answered instantly, showing her fandom. Ronister hid her gloom.
"...Huh?"
"What's up, Rachel?"
Then Rachel's eyes widened at something. Peeking from behind her mom, she stood and pulled a paper from beside Ronister.
"Oh, that's..."
The paper showed a full-body shot of a man in a black balaclava with a skull design and a suit.
Villain Name: Steel Armor
Name: Unknown
Gender: Male
Superpower: Body Enhancer
Threat Level: A-Rank
Bounty: $500,000
If you spot this villain, report to the Hero Association immediately.
"Uncle!"
"Uncle?"
Rachel beamed at the villain on the paper—Steel Armor—and nodded vigorously.
"Yes! This uncle saved me!"