Chapter 139
Chapter 139
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 139
Chapter Title: Albert's Double Mission
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“Me... you mean me?”
Instead of answering, I threw a kick straight at Albert’s face.
Even though it was a surprise attack, he dodged it with ease.
“What the hell...!”
I didn’t stop my assault.
Of course, I wasn’t going all out.
To gauge his level, I gradually ramped up the intensity, pressing him harder.
Albert blocked well for a while, but he soon hit his limit—his smirk vanished from his face.
Just as my fist was about to smash through his face, his figure suddenly blinked out like a light going off.
‘Behind me.’
I felt the sharp sensation heading for my nape, transmitted through the air’s vibrations.
I spun around quickly and grabbed the hand holding the dagger. “See? Isn’t that enough?”
He bristled at my sly grin, tightening his grip.
But the difference in our raw strength was on another level entirely.
His arm just trembled violently without budging an inch.
“...You’re a lot more boring than I thought.”
“I’m not your friend, am I?”
I let go of his hand since he wasn’t responding.
The others couldn’t hide their shock at the sudden exchange.
Even Merdi looked surprised, shooting Albert a glance.
Albert’s combat prowess was top-notch.
His hand-to-hand skills fell short of a master’s, but paired with his ability, he could assassinate pirates no problem.
‘And no one knows how to counter it yet.’
Spatial jumps weren’t omnipotent.
He couldn’t sense inside or jump into spaces sealed by dense energy fields.
That’s why in the original story, they sometimes restricted him by altering internal structures. “You gonna talk? Or not? Time to decide for sure, right?”
I asked as I plopped down on the sofa.
Judging by Merdi’s reaction, Albert had never revealed his ability to her.
That’s why I saw him as a gray operative.
He might be sticking around now out of interest in Merdi, but once that wore off, he’d bail anytime.
“I guess I have to. But you’re really sending me alone?”
Albert sat across from me, playing coy.
He acted like he’d already forgotten our scuffle.
I replied with a smile and extended my left arm.
“No way. This’ll more than cover it.”
-Beep! Hello! I’m R3D3, your master’s cutie pie.
It flashed with a flashy light as it introduced itself.
Albert’s face stiffened again.
*
Albert had two missions.
Take out the pirate with psychometry and plant the bug.
In the end, he accomplished both brilliantly.
“Now, can you get this thing off me?”
“Why? You two look great together.”
“Do you have any idea how annoying it is?”
Back from his mission, the first thing Albert did was beg me to take R3D3 off—the thing clinging to him in clothing form.
But I didn’t even need to give the order.
R3D3, sensing its job was done, detached and reattached to me.
-Beep! I don’t share my hobbies with cockroaches either.
The tension between them was palpable.
Coming from someone who knew Albert as always cool and unflappable, it was hilarious.
I couldn’t hold back my laughter even as he glared at me.
“...Pfft!”
“You’re really doing this?”
“Oh, how’d it go?”
I offered him a seat and poured some tea.
Ignoring the tea, he got straight to it. “Mission accomplished. Though they ID’d me quick, so my face is burned now.”
“Good job.”
“So, is that enough for you?”
He shrugged, dodging a direct answer.
Albert didn’t press for confirmation either.
“Why’s your arm hurt?”
“...Oh, this?”
I pointed to my blood-soaked arm.
The wound was deep; my whole arm was stained red.
“Ran into some tough customers. Nearly died.”
“I even gave you R3D3.”
“Yeah. Turns out they were the real deal.”
Getting injured despite spatial jumps and R3D3 meant he had serious skills.
“...Ability users?”
“Yeah. Overheard some interesting stuff.”
“Hm?”
“They were after the core weapon. Worried bombing would destroy it, so they planned to capture it intact.”
They already knew we were superhumans.
Saying “subdue” anyway meant they were damn confident in their firepower.
‘It’s possible.’
The world was full of hidden ability users.
Some wielded insane power, and even among known ones, plenty washed out of Cradle of Heroes Academy only to explode in potential later.
If any of them closed the core weapon gap or had a favorable matchup, even superhumans could fall.
But that only worked against rookies or regular squad members.
“Interesting.”
A smile crept onto my face unbidden.
Anyway, I gleaned some key intel from Albert.
‘We can buy time.’
As long as they were gunning for us, they wouldn’t pull anything drastic yet.
*
We drew up a plan.
What they wanted was to capture Merdi alive and seize the core weapon.
I figured Merdi’s capture was definitely Asana’s doing.
And the core weapon motive was obvious.
There’d always been those coveting core weapons.
But once imprinted, no one else could use them—pure research value at best.
Even if they somehow reverse-engineered the tech with massive effort, the problems kept piling up.
The facilities to produce them cost astronomical sums, and the materials were even harder to source.
In short, no efficiency.
With that money and resources, you could build a flashy fleet instead.
The Alliance could sustain it thanks to alien loot, but no normal group could utilize the tech.
Still, shrouded in secrecy, it lured clueless dreamers chasing the superhuman fantasy.
To the Liberation Corps, this was a golden opportunity.
Superhumans stranded on an isolated planet, cut off from outside help—one even wounded from ability overload.
Plus, the other two were known physical-types.
If we’d been regular squad level, it might’ve been dicey.
Anyway, we turned it into our chance and lured the Liberation Corps as our first move.
Albert was the one who pulled it off again.
Unable to resist my pressure, he pushed his ability to the limit and left “traces” outside the city.
“They’re falling for it hook, line, and sinker.”
“Feels rewarding.”
It’d been six days since the Liberation Corps landed.
All they’d done was scour the wrong spots looking for us.
I worried at first it wouldn’t work, but they bit so eagerly I almost felt bad.
By day six, though, the bait seemed to be losing its pull.
“They’re moving kinda sloppy today.”
“No idiot would miss something’s off forever.”
“Why not just take one out?”
“I’m not suicidal.”
Albert shook his head.
They were in full battle gear now.
Specially modded armorsuits loaded with weapons.
Some looked clean, but we pegged them as ability users—making them even riskier.
“Fair. You’d just scratch ’em with that dagger.”
“...You always gotta say that?”
“Why not? It’s fun.”
“You’re the most infuriating person I’ve ever met.”
“At least you know yourself.”
I wasn’t like this before, but Albert brought it out in me.
Why was that?
Albert showed his dislike but couldn’t pull away.
I tossed out a casual question.
“Wanna work for me?”
“Sounds fun?”
“Won’t be boring.”
“Sure.”
He agreed without hesitation, oddly enough.
“Really? Thought you’d turn me down once.”
“Wasting time on pointless stuff isn’t my hobby. And... yeah, it won’t be boring. This place was dull as hell.”
“...Hm. So that’s why you were gonna join the Liberation Corps?”
My probing made his smile fade again.
“Getting read like that sucks. How’d you know?”
“You’re just sloppy.”
Truth was, I’d suspected from the start and tested him, but I didn’t let on.
Albert was capable.
If he joined the Liberation Corps and dove into crime, he’d be unusable to me—but right now, he was worth recruiting.
Twisted personality aside, he was smart and efficient.
Like Sia’s underground model right now.
Still young and rough around the edges, but time would fix that.
-Beep!
Then R3D3 blared its alarm.
We’d picked up key intel from the bug at city hall. ‘Abandoning the civilians?’
The info said they’d wrap up today and bail the planet.
Only Asana’s faction was coming along.
We even learned why. ‘Plan worked.’
Our six days weren’t just about luring them.
We also stirred public opinion via the open comms network.
Yumaha’s remaining citizens clung to their planet out of attachment, resenting the Alliance for ditching them—but not enough to turn hostile.
The superhuman attack and Drive Gate destruction? Asana faction’s doing, no public buy-in.
Plenty hated the aggression and felt uneasy.
That’s who we targeted.
The agitation worked better than expected.
Especially spilling that Asana targeted Merdi over personal grudges—it hit hardest.
‘Real princess vibes.’
Merdi’s popularity among civilians was way higher than my quick scan suggested.
Not just ’cause she was an ability user.
From childhood, she’d been the planet’s guardian.
In this harsh, crime-ridden dump, she’d worked to clean it up—personally smashing pirate bases.
That’s when Asana’s kids got caught.
Using Merdi’s name for clout while committing felonies, two got nabbed on-site and killed in her rage.
Embarrassing, so it stayed hushed—but Asana naturally hated her for losing his kids.
Hilarious, really—hating her after leeching off her rep.
Merdi had let Asana slide, maybe out of faint guilt.
Two years back, she caught him linking with pirates—Liberation Corps specifically—disciplined him hard, and he went quiet... until recently shoving aside Merdi’s loyalists to seize control.
“They won’t tell the civilians, right?”
“No plans to take everyone anyway. How’d they feed that many in space?”
About 100,000 left in the city.
Planet’s transport couldn’t move them all at once.
Folks stayed out of attachment—not about to volunteer for pirate life with the Liberation Corps.
“Looks like they’re just grabbing their own.”
“Let ’em go?”
Grateful they’d leave without more trouble, sure.
But after all we’d endured? No free pass. “Nah, can’t do that.”
I stared straight at Albert as I said it.
He scowled at my unwavering gaze. “What now?”
“You got a hidden ship stashed, right?”
“...How’d you even.”
“No way you’d leave yourself without an out, with your personality.”
Albert nodded, finally giving in.