The Ones Who Fled Below
"Did you eat a Zombie-Zombie Fruit or something? How the hell are you still alive?"
"Ugh……."
Ah-bal shot Won-goo a look full of annoyance at the wisecrack.
But this had all been intentional.
While they traded barbs, Jo Mu-sa and Su-won had already rushed in and latched onto Ah-bal's side.
Watching it happen, Oh Gu-sik realized he'd let the moment slip away.
An esper and Oh Gu-sik—a tricky combination, certainly, but nowhere near as troublesome as the pairing of Gong Won-goo and Ah-bal.
Both were veterans, and both were fast and brutal.
Ah-bal might be unable to fight right now, with her wrist flying off and her throat sliced open, but the moment she recovered, she could rejoin the battle at any time.
As long as her legs were intact, Ah-bal always pulled her own weight.
So from Oh Gu-sik's perspective, he should have finished things the moment she'd come staggering in with her neck dangling.
Before Won-goo's people could get their footing.
Su-won's role had been to keep Oh Gu-sik in check.
Jo Mu-sa's was to treat Ah-bal.
This was why a crew that had been through hell and back could never be underestimated.
Won-goo hadn't said a word—he'd only flicked a hand gesture back over his shoulder—and Su-won and Jo Mu-sa had read it instantly.
Jo Mu-sa started with the neck.
The blood pouring from it had already been stopped with a powerful hemostatic agent, and now he worked quickly, stitching Ah-bal's throat closed.
"Still sharp as ever, you snake-headed bastard."
Oh Gu-sik wasn't about to stand idle either.
He spat words at Won-goo, then in an instant was moving toward Ah-bal.
Typical of an enhancement type—a simple sprint, but the speed was nothing to scoff at.
A different movement entirely from Lee Hyun-sung, who had grown around durability and recovery.
Su-won didn't tense up.
Won-goo had told him it was fine to use the hidden card.
"Man, you really are predictable. You're still falling for this trick?"
"……?"
If Oh Gu-sik moved to strike Ah-bal, the esper was left wide open.
The esper's power was formidable—but only when he couldn't close the distance.
And they'd already closed plenty of it during the conversation.
There was no reason they couldn't suppress him now.
Above all, the esper was fairly skilled in combat, but he wasn't the professional Oh Gu-sik was.
That brief moment of attention split two ways had loosened his focus just a touch, and Won-goo didn't miss it.
Even as he kept talking.
Fwoooosh!
Despite his injuries, plenty of stones were still floating around the esper.
From the earlier fight, Won-goo had noticed that the rocks protected Yeong Chi-soo almost automatically.
So he used a different method.
One that stones couldn't block.
It was a technique Won-goo rarely revealed in front of outsiders—though not a perfect secret either.
Flamethrower!
It could project fire a fair distance, but it had its effective-range limits.
Right now, the distance was more than close enough.
A fire demon leapt from the muzzle.
Fwoooarrrgh!
In a flash, the flames were right in front of Yeong Chi-soo, and seeing it, Oh Gu-sik wheeled around and lunged at Won-goo.
Whoosh!
Won-goo twisted his body, swinging the line of fire toward Oh Gu-sik instead.
Fear of fire lived in every human being.
Even enhancement types who had climbed to considerable heights were no exception.
Leaving Oh Gu-sik flinching for that half-second, Won-goo turned the flames back on Yeong Chi-soo.
The kid's skills weren't bad. Honestly, they were wasted on being Oh Gu-sik's slave.
In an instant, Yeong Chi-soo wrapped his own body in the surrounding stones.
At the sight, a smile crept across Won-goo's lips.
"Good reflexes. But does blocking with rock actually keep you cool?"
It took less than ten seconds for a horrific scream to tear out of Yeong Chi-soo's mouth.
What he was wielding was just plain rock.
What Won-goo was wielding was searing flame.
The stones clung tight against Yeong Chi-soo's body.
And with that, the fight was over for him.
Psychokinesis demanded intense concentration, after all.
"……."
"Not gonna fight?"
"When did you get a weapon like that?"
"You think I've been sitting around playing this whole time?"
"I don't know about the rest, but that weapon is just absurd……."
"Is that your last will and testament?"
Thud.
Oh Gu-sik dropped straight to his knees. He didn't forget to hurl his weapons far away, either.
"If you guarantee the safety of me and my people, I'll do anything. I'll work like a dog and pay back my life in full. I swear I won't pull any tricks."
"Your people? You mean your slaves, right?"
"……."
"Do you think those slaves you call your people feel the same way?"
"Won-goo. I keep my promises. I'll write out a contract willingly, too."
"Then I'll ask you one question first, so answer it well. There won't be a second."
"……?"
"Simya. Who did it?"
Oh Gu-sik's eyes went wide all over again.
The same went for Ah-bal, who was still being treated.
And everyone else too. Sapiens, Mu Beob-sa, Lee Hyun-sung, Fresh—all of them heard the question with grave expressions.
"You crazy son of a bitch…… you're still on that……."
"What, still can't say it?"
"So you've been working on this the whole time?"
"That was the plan…… but you died before I got the chance. So I figured I'd ask when the opportunity came. I thought Neverland would be easier to crack than you. Anyway—answer. Who did it to Simya?"
"That dead……."
"She's not dead."
Won-goo cut him off immediately.
"Sh—"
"I said she's not dead. Simya is still alive. I have no reason to explain that to you or prove it to you. So just answer what you're asked."
"……."
A brief silence.
"Can't answer?"
"You already know the answer, don't you?"
Oh Gu-sik's eyes blazed.
"Let's not drag this out. Think carefully. If you want to enjoy a long, long course of treatment."
"I don't know what answer the others gave, but…… it's true I wanted a bit of fun out of it. I didn't participate myself."
"I already know that."
"Right."
"So answer the question. You know it. What happened that day."
"It was everyone. Everyone but you, who wasn't there that day. Everyone. Everyone, I said. I didn't stop them, so I guess it counts as participating. It was half a joke for all of us at first. But Simya's reaction got intense. And then she fell beneath the building. That's everything that happened that day."
"So everyone felt the same way about it."
"Yeah."
"Everyone gives the same answer. Hyun-sung."
"Yes, Hyeong-nim!"
"Tie him up good."
Lee Hyun-sung had already fetched the chains from the trailer. With them, he bound Oh Gu-sik's limbs tight.
Once the binding was done, Won-goo raised his gun and opened fire on Oh Gu-sik.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Bullets driven in at point-blank range bit into Oh Gu-sik's body, drawing blood.
Bound as he was, he couldn't even put up a proper resistance.
"Chain him to the vehicle."
The area had gone quiet. Everyone was just staring at Won-goo.
"This bastard won't die from something like this. Tough as leather. Ah-bal."
"……?"
"If you're done getting treated, shouldn't you finish paying for that meal?"
Ah-bal raised her severed wrist in response.
"I kept your hand. I'll reattach it after we wrap up here. If you've got any bad memories attached to that hand, we can go with a hook or something else instead."
Swish.
Ah-bal answered with the middle finger of her left hand instead of words.
The battle carried on. But with both of its executives lost in a heartbeat, Black Shelter collapsed surprisingly easily.
That, too, was something Won-goo had anticipated and engineered.
Black Shelter was unlike an ordinary crew. Loyalty meant nothing to them.
There were rumors that the people running Black Shelter exchanged contracts among themselves, but Won-goo didn't put much stock in that either.
He'd never heard of anyone in this region who could write a contract with binding force anywhere near Sanghae's.
Which meant these were the kind of men who would choose survival even at the cost of eating a penalty.
Even Oh Gu-sik, classified among the hardline executives, had sized up the situation fast and surrendered, hadn't he?
They all knew that was the only road that led out alive.
"Nice facilities in some spots. Is that a converted tank lorry?"
Away from the areas the executives managed, in the sector where the Shelter Director resided, there stood not only trailers but a tank lorry as well.
Its enormous interior had been remodeled into a home.
Two tank lorries in total. Everything had converged around that spot, and a great deal of blood had been spilled for it.
And when they checked inside, every face went hollow.
"It's gone? It should be here, shouldn't it?"
"Search again. There's no way it's not here."
"Come to think of it…… only about half the executives were here too, Hyeong-nim."
So said Sapiens.
In the back, Potion and Montage were staring straight at Won-goo.
"Did you find Sde?"
"We couldn't find him."
Won-goo had asked Montage, but Potion answered instead.
"Tch…… that shouldn't be possible. The source was solid……."
"That part checks out."
"……?"
"We confirmed that Sde really was here, all right."
"Is that so?"
"Yes."
"Then he should be here…… so where did he bolt to? Or is he hiding somewhere?"
"You don't suppose he got tipped off in advance? That's possible too, isn't it?"
This time it was Dr. Woo. He hadn't dragged that many crew members along, but he hadn't exactly sat on his hands either.
Beside him stood the men Sanghae had attached to the operation.
"If you're suggesting my straw Seokbong tipped them off, that's flat-out impossible, so pipe down."
"Where in this world is there an absolute, aigoo? Gong So-jang, that's a tight-lipped thing to say out of nowhere."
"We had Seokbong under strict surveillance from the planning stage onward, that's why. Sneaking messages back and forth while something like this goes down is hard enough—dodging surveillance on top of it? You think that's easy?"
"Hmm……."
"Besides, if Seokbong had tipped them off early, would the response here be this pathetic? They'd have dug a proper trap and waited. Let's think with a little plausibility, Dr. Woo. Don't muddy the water."
"Hmph…… I went too far, I reckon. I'll keep my mouth shut, then."
"Director! There's an entrance leading underground over here!"
"Underground? There's a thing like that?"
Nobody could quite believe it. Black Shelter had never been a proper facility in the first place.
They'd just thrown up trailers and whatever else they needed in a suitable spot, and that was all.
Even that much had to be abandoned the moment abnormal weather was detected, so building anything grandiose would have been pointless.
"Son of a bitch…… well, I'll be damned……."
A manhole had been cunningly concealed beneath one of the tank lorries, with a ladder leading down below.
Montage hurried over and examined the traces.
After a few minutes of study, he spoke.
"At least thirty got away down there."
"Thirty?"
"That's right. Thirty minimum. So what'll we do? We can chase them if we go down."
Won-goo looked around.
Countless eyes were fixed on him.
"How many did we take?"
"Might take a minute to count. Everybody fought hard, you know."
Came Fresh's reply, and Won-goo shook his head.
"No. I mean how many executives did we bag?"
"Do we count Neverland or not?"
"Leave that bastard out. He's lost his teeth by now."
"Then seven?"
"So we've already sent off more than half of them, give or take?"
"That's about the size of it."
"Then let's wrap it up here."
"What now? We're calling it done just like that? You opened up this whole board and we're folding?"
Montage's incredulous voice rose.
"I know Black Shelter's people all too well, that's why. The Shelter Director and those executives aren't the type to roll over this easily."
"Why's that?"
"Because they'll be whittling at us from down below."
"……!"
"……!"
"……!"
Everyone scanned the situation again, visibly startled.
If they were lying in wait at the bottom of that ladder, it was a textbook ambush.
"Our information ends here. Everything below is outside our intel—unknown territory. Which means those bastards came prepared for exactly this contingency…… and I've got no appetite for stepping into it. Even if they're not waiting down there, what if there's some massive trap? What if one unlucky soul of ours trips it? Can we honestly call the job cleanly wrapped up then?"