Chapter 67
Chapter 67
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Translator : M.N 1391
Chapter: 67
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He moved soon after, following the trail of scent. Stacey followed behind him. Compared to ordinary people, espers had a far higher concentration and activity of S-particles around them, so one could sense whether someone was an esper through intuition.
Moreover, since Many Faces would be using his ability to alter his appearance, his S-particles would be even more active.
For tracking, Vince; for identifying, Stacey, an unexpectedly effective combination.
[This way?]
“Yes.”
When Stacey asked Vince who was heading to one side, he nodded. The route they were taking was shared with the LAPD SWAT team, and the SWAT team, while escorting them, formed a net around the direction they were moving as if corralling prey.
But then Jessie, the auditory esper, urgently contacted them over the radio.
[A firefight broke out!]
[The SWAT team found him?]
[If that were the case, it wouldn’t be a problem!]
Jessie reported that individuals believed to be espers were currently engaged in combat. In the land of gun freedom, they were firing away with firearms.
Not long after receiving the transmission, Stacey and Vince were able to hear the gunshots themselves.
Bang! Bang!
Bang-bang-bang!
The SWAT team moved quickly, or tried to, at least. Until stone dust and sparks burst from the concrete floor in front of them.
“We are under attack!”
The on-site SWAT commander ordered them to disperse and take cover. It was an unexpected attack, but thankfully no one was injured. The shots fired just now were merely warning shots intended to halt their advance.
Confusion erupted in the command center. Had an accomplice of Many Faces appeared? But if they were helping him, this method made no sense. If they wanted to help him escape, they should've been acting covertly, not drawing attention like this.
To identify the unknown shooter or shooters (they still didn’t know if it was one person or several), Stacey and the visual esper Kale stepped forward.
[There’s someone in that building, and someone in the windows of the building over there. ... One of them is an esper.]
[Both spots show signs of firearm discharge.]
With his superhuman eyesight, Kale identified the positions from which shots had been fired by spotting the shells on the ground, the traces of muzzle gas on the walls, and the shimmering heat distortions left behind.
It was an unexpected situation, and the LA SWAT team was just as troubled. In a country flooded with guns, situations were dangerous even with a thorough plan. An unexpected variable made things even riskier.
But the LAPD had one definite advantage: as a government power, they could exert overwhelming fire superiority.
The SWAT team split into two groups and entered both buildings. Meanwhile, Jamie ordered the espers with sensitive senses to stay under cover while still advancing to maintain pursuit of Many Faces.
They didn’t need to directly engage and arrest him. As long as they didn’t lose the trail, the arrest would be only a matter of time. After all, behind them stood the mighty backing of the United States government.
Even though the shooters inside the buildings threatened them with warning shots, they soon had to exchange fire with the SWAT team and could no longer prevent the FBI’s pursuit.
Kyung-wan asked Kim Jun,
“Think they’ll be okay?”
“I’m not sure.”
Kim Jun’s expression was stiff. Even when things went as planned, positive results were hard to expect, much less with unexpected chaos unfolding.
With a tense face, he handed a revolver to Kyung-wan. Kyung-wan tilted his head.
“You’re really giving this to me?”
They had shown trust by letting him tag along, even giving him a weapon, but he didn’t expect they’d literally hand one over.
“I’m not giving it. I’m lending it.”
“That’s what I mean.”
His question was simple: why hand a gun to someone like him, a criminal? In a chaotic situation like this, wouldn’t escaping be easy?
Kim Jun answered,
“There’s a saying, right? Even a cat’s paw is useful sometimes.”
Kyung-wan nodded.
“Fine by me, but what about you?”
“I have another pistol.”
He said that and pulled out a semi-auto handgun.
“Are you some kind of gun maniac, Kim Jun?”
“That revolver was prepared for you, Mister Lee. We couldn’t send you into the field without at least one firearm.”
Apparently, in a country where guns were legal, it mattered even more.
Having a gun would give him a sense of stability, and less likelihood of him getting strange ideas and more likelihood of him cooperating. So went Kim Jun’s report, based on observing Kyung-wan’s behavior from the closest range. If they didn’t trust that, it would all just be empty theory.
Kyung-wan clicked his tongue. These guys were serious. Dead serious about using him. Was this how he ended up becoming some 21st-century Black Cat?
What was he talking about? Black or white, a cat that catches mice is a good cat, wasn’t that the famous quote?
With a complicated expression, he accepted the pistol and followed behind Kim Jun. Gunfire still echoed from both sides; subduing the shooters wasn’t proving easy.
The FBI agents moved out of the alley, but that wasn’t the end. Yet another obstacle blocked their path.
[No further approach will be allowed.]
A massive man wearing a deep gray hood and military boots stood in their way. His face was hidden behind a visor and mask, and he radiated a threatening aura. His voice was deep, almost as if altered, as he stopped the agents in their tracks.
Stacey stiffened and issued a warning.
[He’s an esper. And a very powerful one..]
She could feel the S-particles swirling violently around him. Their concentration and activity were immense.
To her, that meant one thing: he was incredibly strong.
[We’re FBI. If you interfere like this, we can arrest you for obstruction of justice.]
Jamie judged the situation and urged the man to back off. The FBI’s arrest team wasn’t ready yet, and protecting the investigative agents was his responsibility.
The suspicious man replied,
[You’re doing your job, and I have no choice but to do mine. Conflict is inevitable.]
[Are you saying you intend to stop us?]
“Yes.”
[Why on earth?]
When Jamie questioned him, the man answered calmly.
[You call him Many Faces? He will die.]
[... Who are you?]
Feeling the situation was turning dangerous, Jamie asked, and surprisingly, the man answered willingly.
[We call ourselves this: Vigilance.]
Vigilance. A word meaning alertness, watchfulness, a guard post.
But Jamie immediately thought of another word.
Vigilante.
Vigilance was a noun form of Vigilant, and while Vigilant and Vigilante were different in meaning, they differed by only a single ‘e’.
Wasn’t that a bit ominous?
Jamie sighed inwardly. Law enforcement had already anticipated that awakened espers might start acting as vigilantes, but no one expected they would appear this quickly, or this organized.
The suspects the SWAT team went after were likely members of this so-called Vigilance. Otherwise, this dangerous-looking man wouldn’t have used the word “we.”
Feeling frustrated, Jamie attempted a bluff. Reality did not need Marvel heroes.
[You think we’re just going to stand by?]
[It’s inevitable that our definitions of justice collide.]
[Why don’t you step back now? Unless you want to be a wanted criminal.]
Even this level of verbal exchange was extremely unusual. Normally, they would have aimed guns, subdued the suspect, and handed them to the police.
The only reason this standoff was happening was because the opponent had enough confidence, thanks to his unknown but clearly overwhelming esper ability.
The man spoke,
[The era where the state monopolizes punishment is over. The era where the wealthy hire expensive lawyers and get acquitted by ‘rich-people diseases’ is over. The era of prosecutorial bargaining under the pretext of administrative efficiency is over. Now begins an era where those who deserve punishment receive it regardless of money or power.]
As an FBI agent, Jamie felt dizzy hearing this.
[Do you realize how much chaos this will create?!]
[Chaos always precedes the establishment of a new order.]
[And what about the people harmed in that chaos?]
The man fell silent for a moment, then spoke again.
[Do you know how big the sentencing gap is between so-called first-world nations like ours and lawless third-world countries, when comparing the poor and the rich?]
[Why are you changing the subject?]
Jamie's question meant: Are you ignoring the people who get hurt in this chaos?
But the man pressed on with his logic.
[Amazingly, the difference is ‘almost’ nonexistent. Understand? In this God-Blessed America with its supposedly top-tier legal services, or in countries where law barely functions, those with money and power walk away with acquittals or light sentences, while the poor and powerless receive harsher punishment. This is the reality of our nation.]
[So your answer is to create chaos?]
[People like you, who have a lot, fear chaos. But the majority of this country, who have very little, welcome the chaos that will bring a new, ]
He never finished the sentence.
Because a gunshot rang out, snapping his head backward.
“Bull’s-eye!”
Kim Jun nearly had a heart attack watching Kyung-wan blow the smoke from the muzzle.
“Mister Lee! What have you done?!”
“What? Was I not supposed to shoot?”
As Kyung-wan tilted his head, Kim Jun felt suffocated.
“Jamie was negotiating!”
“Oh, that was negotiating? I thought they were just reading each other before starting a fight.”
From a negotiator’s perspective, Kyung-wan’s words were maddening. Yet Kim Jun couldn’t argue further, because he himself also sensed that a fight was inevitable. And because the man who’d been shot straightened his head again and spoke.
“Interesting.”
He looked past the FBI agents, about a truck’s length behind them, at Kyung-wan, and muttered. Then he stomped the ground hard. Crack! Asphalt split under his foot, leaving a footprint.
Using the rebound, the man reached Kyung-wan in a single leap.
Kim Jun, startled, quickly aimed at him, but the man ignored him and spoke only to Kyung-wan.
“I know you.”
“I don't know you.”
Bold if you called it bold; rude if you called it rude, his response made the man pause. He seemed to be quietly laughing.
“We need you.”
“I don't need you.”
Kyung-wan replied with almost the same rhythm as before. The man finally let out a faint laugh and stretched his massive hand toward Kyung-wan as if intending to abduct him.