Chapter 580
Chapter 580
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 580
Chapter Title: Ancient Mystery
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With Alcheri's help, we arrived at the island the key pointed to. It was a small island, no bigger than the size of a high school.
On this island appeared a thousand Alcheri soldiers, Alcheri's executives, and Alcheri's boss.
Alcheri's boss was unexpectedly a gentlemanly-looking man. Dressed in a black suit with a gray coat draped over it, he flashed us a grin.
"I'm Roland, the boss of Alcheri. First time meeting like this. Bruno Taylor. This is our second time, though, isn't it?"
"...We met briefly in Africa five years ago. I heard you were a businessman. Who would've thought you were Alcheri's boss."
Bruno looked extremely displeased. Alcheri's boss let out a hearty laugh, glanced past Amy and Mac, and fixed his eyes on me.
"You must be Eugene Cohen. I heard from Dyna. They say your combat prowess is unbelievably high. I'm looking forward to it."
"I'll live up to those expectations."
"Don't disappoint me."
After the brief exchange, we headed to the center of the island.
There stood a massive dolmen. A large, flat stone rested atop two upright rocks, resembling a gate.
Bruno examined the ancient script carved into the stone's surface and nodded.
"We've come to the right place. That's the gate the key was talking about."
Roland crossed his arms.
"We analyzed the dolmen's composition. It was granite not found anywhere nearby. No special components. The weird part is, we tried breaking it or moving it, but nothing worked. Even detonating explosives didn't shatter it or budge it."
"Because the dolmen itself is the ancient mystery."
"I have a question. Aren't dolmens tombs? Why is this one a gate?"
"That's probably not a dolmen. It just looks similar—it's actually a gate."
Bruno pulled the key from his pocket. Light burst from it, shining on the dolmen stone. The dolmen gate began to glow faintly, activating. A portal appeared at its center, connecting to an entirely different space.
"My God."
Roland gasped at the impossible sight. The soldiers around him were the same.
"Bruno! What the hell is that?!"
"I don't know the details either. Another world, maybe. Or a hidden realm somewhere on Earth. One thing's certain: treasure is hidden there. We need to go in and find it. You seem scared, so we'll go first."
"Who's scared? I can't allow you to go ahead as boss. We'll go together."
We slipped into the portal. It was a jungle. The temperature rose slightly, and the air felt clearer.
We spotted animals roaming the jungle. Tigers, bears, lions, spiders, lizards... Even animals that didn't belong in jungles, all enormous. Tigers were at least twice normal size; spiders seemed thirty times bigger.
I recalled the spider I'd shot dead with a gun for the first key.
'That spider was foreshadowing this place.'
The soldiers trembled at the unprecedented sight. Fewer than ten percent kept their cool and faced the crisis head-on.
"Bruno. Where do you think the treasure is?"
"This is my first time here too. How should I know? I'll start by mapping the terrain."
"Right. Then we'll split up. I'll assign soldiers to you. Radios seem to work, so contact us if anything happens."
"Yes, Boss. We'll head south."
"I'm going west. Nerman, you take east. Zig, you're north."
We divided into four groups: east, west, south, north.
The animals weren't much to fear. Sure, they were huge, but a bullet to the head or heart still killed them.
'The real problem is the insects. Those oversized bastards surpass humans in specs and treat us as prey. Especially the flies.'
Half the people who entered here would die to insects.
'More concerning, though...'
Were the women on either side of me.
Dyna and Amy. They walked beside me, waging an invisible war of nerves. As a popular guy, it was gratifying yet worrying. Even I had to stay on edge here.
'Just like in the original, Bruno's scheming against Alcheri's boss.'
Bruno, seasoned in every ordeal, hadn't chosen south randomly.
'The moment we arrived, a new map must've appeared on the back of his treasure map. One showing this world's real treasure.'
Bruno was probably plotting how to shake off Alcheri right now.
I reached out with my left hand and wrapped it around Amy's waist. With a perfect woman right there, my hands weren't staying idle.
Normally, Amy would've swatted my hand away, scolding me for groping in public. But now, she not only accepted it but pressed closer.
'She's conscious of Dyna. Heh.'
Dyna didn't stay still. She grabbed my arm from the other side. The feel of her plump breasts transmitted through my wrist.
"Hold on. What do you think you're doing?"
Amy glared daggers at Dyna.
"The ground's tough to walk on. I need something to lean on."
"Leave your subordinates and lean on Eugene why?"
"You asking 'cause you don't know? Eugene's more reliable. Look at my men. Shaking with rifles in hand from fear. Pathetic."
"To me, you look pathetic. Eugene's my lover. Back off while I'm asking nicely."
"No law says he's yours forever. Have you had sex with Eugene?"
"......What the hell kind of question is that?!"
Amy raised her voice, and Dyna smirked with her purple lips.
"I looked into you. You're famous for keeping your virginity before marriage? First time seeing a naive girl like you. Don't act so high and mighty when you haven't even slept with him. And you don't even plan to marry him anyway, right?"
"How do you... The nuance of that sounds like..."
Amy whipped her head toward me.
I gave an awkward smile. Cold sweat trickled down my cheek. My original plan was to sleep with her here and confess. Once she tasted me, I was confident she wouldn't escape.
But Dyna beat me to spilling it.
I felt Dyna staring intently. If I lied, she'd make a huge fuss.
Deny it clumsily and get caught? Or own it boldly?
The moment I hesitated, it was too late. Amy's glare turned fierce.
"You really did it with that bitch?"
"Amy. This is all because of you."
I decided to play the victim card.
"What?"
She slapped my arm off her waist. Regretfully, I met her eyes straight on.
"We're not kids in school. Does it make sense for lovers not to have sex? Even kids these days do it. Just letting me touch your breasts and ass isn't enough. At least a blowjob. You might hold out on lust forever... but I can't."
"You're seriously saying that crap? Ha, I never knew you were this kind of guy. We're done. Don't even pretend to know me from now on!"
Slap!
She backhanded my cheek and stormed off. Feeling the sting, I hesitated on grabbing her.
'No. We'll be together for days hunting treasure anyway. Plenty of chances.'
If worst came to worst, I'd take her by force at the end. A shame to waste all this buildup, but I couldn't end without tasting that pussy.
"Hahaha. Loser suits that bitch perfectly."
Dyna openly mocked Amy. Amy's steps faltered. She glanced back, glaring murderously at us.
Crazy Dyna showed no fear. Instead, she provoked more, hugging my body and planting a blatant kiss on my neck.
"Damn bitch..."
Amy muttered venomously and strode toward Bruno and Mac up front.
"Argh, damn it. Dyna, you ruined everything."
"Ruined? She just left on her own. With a woman like me here, who cares about her?"
Dyna smiled flirtatiously, stroking my crotch with her palm.
No choice now—I'd enjoy Dyna's body. I reached out, grabbed one of her ample breasts, and kneaded it.
I felt her subordinates watching from behind. Ignored them. All they could do was watch.
"Aaaah! Monster! It's a monster!!"
Alcheri soldiers screamed as gunfire erupted. Giant dragonflies appeared, attacking the soldiers.
With wings flashing at high speed, the dragonflies zipped through the air too fast for human reflexes. And their strength was immense. Grabbed by the head? Ripped clean off.
Grotesque sight of them perched on trees, pecking at human heads. Some soldiers panicked, pissing themselves and fleeing. Their fate was obvious—in a predator-filled world, scattering was suicide.
"What are you doing? Guns for show?! Those things are alive! Bullets kill them!"
I shouted while firing, demonstrating by pumping bullets into a dragonfly's head. It crashed down, motionless.
"Ugh, aaah! Die! Die, monster!"
"Damn it! I hate bugs the most!"
Soldiers regained composure and attacked. Casings rained down, but skimping on ammo here meant death.
After about ten minutes of combat, we wiped them out. I took down half.
"...Good work."
Bruno approached, patting my shoulder. His face was gravely set.
"Bruno. You don't look good. Something to tell me?"
Bruno glanced around. Only dragonfly corpses nearby.
He lowered his voice.
"We need to kill Dyna."
"......What?"
"She shows you favor, but her goal is the Youth Potion. Steal it from us and take it to Alcheri. For the world's sake, we must stop it. Kill her and eliminate the risk."
"......Bruno. Didn't I say I don't do contract kills?"
"You can kill without batting an eye. This is for the world! Why won't you understand?!"
"I killed Alcheri soldiers because it was war. But now you're ordering murder outside of war. Whatever her goal, she hasn't betrayed us or aimed guns at us."
"That's..."
"We find and destroy the Youth Potion first, right? Why so serious?"
"Just considering possibilities... No. I've been too on edge. Forget what I said."
Bruno left.
I frowned at his attitude. Not like the original. He wasn't above killing if needed, but this crossed a line.
'Why?'
His back looked precarious.
'Always confident in the original... Even if I altered the plot, not like this... Hm. Because of Amy?'
In the original, Bruno and Amy had a love line. But she dated me, leaving Bruno hanging. Carrying a heavy burden without his emotional pillar, maybe stress broke him.
'Telling me to kill my fuck buddy? You're crazy, Bruno. I won't forget this.'
Night fell.
We set up camp, lay in tents, and closed our eyes.
Dyna and her men took night watch till dawn. As the group's top fighter, I got a solo tent for rest without guard duty—a perk even grunts accepted. No one killed giant bugs like me. I was a hero here.
Zip.
The tent zipper opened. I snapped awake, senses razor-sharp. No way I'd sleep soundly in a place full of untrustworthy people.
'Who? Dyna?'
Peeking, I confirmed the intruder's face.
It was Amy.