Chapter 141: Cleaning Up the Aftermath (1)
Chapter 141: Cleaning Up the Aftermath (1)
Squelch.
As I thrust my hand into the viscous, stagnant sewage, a revolting sensation etched itself into my palm, traveling up my spinal cord and straight to my brain.
"Tsk."
Even though I had expected this, the sheer filth was so nauseating that I almost pulled my hand back reflexively.
But I couldn't. No.
The item I was looking for was inside this slime. I had to endure. I had to.
I was working hard, coaxing myself to stay focused, when—
"Hero Ha-ram. Rampage. Caution. Advised."
A bizarre voice drifted from behind me, instantly killing my motivation.
"Then why don't you do it?"
Irritated, I grabbed a lump that finally felt solid in my hand and turned toward him.
It was a round mass, stained with black sludge.
How many of these had I pulled out already? This one was probably a dud too.
"Impossible. Contact. Reason. Risk of loss."
"I'm sure. So just wait quietly. Please? Just stay still."
They say the meddling bystander is more aggravating than the actual aggressor.
The thing currently tormenting me was this damn well, but my irritation was directed entirely at that damn rat.
It was Quilp, the bastard, dragging an IV stand behind him with a green rod stuck in his chest as if to emphasize how injured he was.
"What did you even come here for anyway?"
Since I had nothing better to do while checking if the lump I just retrieved was the prize, I vented my frustration against the background noise of dripping slime.
"Society. Work. Profit."
That’s not what I meant.
"Not that. You couldn't even catch Kim Tae-jun, you got caught in his Mental Domination—aren't you embarrassed to call yourself an O-Rank?"
Even Yumil managed to hold out. Doesn't he feel any shame as an executive?
If I had just taken Kim Tae-jun's head the moment this guy ran into trouble, we wouldn't be in this mess.
"Resistance. Existed. Refrain. From verbal abuse."
Resistance, my ass.
"Oh, right. You did resist, didn't you?"
Drip.
The last of the slime fell away, and I turned the sphere toward me to confirm its identity.
It was round and fit perfectly in my palm.
A pink sphere with seven holes.
Skin sagging from the weight of the slime inside.
Cloudy, lifeless eyes, like a dead fish.
Bubbles forming in the mouth thanks to the slime dripping from the severed throat.
Perhaps because it had been preserved in the black sludge, the form was intact enough for me to recognize it at a glance. I gripped the head firmly, leaned my waist back, and—
"After everything already went to hell, you bastard!"
I hurled it at Quilp with all my might.
"Slime! The End! Danger! Domination!"
Quilp reacted excessively, trying to dodge the head.
"The slime's all gone, so just take it! This is what you guys wanted so badly!"
At my shout, Quilp obediently brought his hands together and caught the head.
"Kim Tae-jun. Confirmed?"
Quilp stared at the head for a moment before muttering the question.
"Yeah."
I gave him his answer.
"Human skin. Difficult. To discern."
"It's him, so just go and extract the memories quietly. Hand over the information as per the contract."
I didn't dip my hands into this trashy sludge for nothing.
"Understood."
Hearing that, I turned around.
I hated this wretched place, and I hated that bottomless well of slime even more.
I needed to leave immediately.
But before that...
"Is Al’shel still over there?"
"Sister. Negotiation. In progress."
"How's the negotiation going?"
"Stalemate."
"I see."
I was planning on stopping by anyway, so if they're in the middle of negotiations, that's perfect. My next destination was set.
Having gathered the necessary information, I waved a hand at Quilp and began climbing the stairs carved into the cliffside.
The stairs, created with The Society's intervention, utilized spatial distortion, allowing me to quickly distance myself from the well. Once I reached the waterway, I pulled out my phone.
Since I had gone through all this trouble, I might as well get everything I could out of it.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Ring... Ring...
I placed the call and waited quietly for the other party to pick up.
Ring... Ring...
The ringing echoed hollowly through the waterway, making me feel uneasy, but I knew the situation the person on the other end was facing. I waited patiently for about a minute.
Click.
"Yes, what is it?"
Finally, he answered.
"Mikhailovich Morozov."
The Soviet Branch Manager of the Management Bureau.
"What are you talking about...?"
It didn't matter.
He just needed to listen.
"David Blumenthal."
President of the United Nations Trusteeship Organization.
"Kieran Singh Bowes."
Administrator of the Central Management Bureau Control Body.
"..."
I could feel the silence on the other end.
An ordinary person wouldn't recognize those names, but he would know exactly who they were.
"If you dig into them, you'll find something quite lucrative."
Those were the names I had glimpsed briefly the moment I overlapped with that monster.
The high-ranking officials who were connected to Kim Tae-jun.
The details would depend on how much of Kim Tae-jun's memory The Society could recover, but those names alone would be a powerful weapon for them.
"...I thought you were neutral, Captain?"
Right, that's what I said back then.
"Consider it a reward for the bombardment."
With that, I hung up immediately. There was no need to get deeply involved.
I loathed things like politics and factional infighting.
All I needed was for their voices to be heard.
However, I didn't mind giving a little boost to a smaller faction.
Even if I held onto this information, I couldn't use it effectively—I was someone who could do nothing but apply violence.
Ivan would make good use of it.
Of course, even if I did nothing, The Society would eventually pass the information to Yumil and Chong So-rim...
"But you shouldn't put all your eggs in one basket."
That was the logic.
*
Following the trail of the rat's tail, I crossed through space and arrived at Elder Li’s residence.
The door happened to be open, so I was about to barge into the negotiation, but—
"A meeting is in progress! Please stop!"
A man with a now-familiar face blocked my path.
"I know, that's why I'm here. Move."
"This is an important meeting. It concerns the future of Nanjido..."
Do you think I don't know that? That's exactly why I'm interrupting.
I have things to say, too.
But I didn't feel the need to explain that to this guy.
Just as I was about to push him aside and enter—
"...Let him in."
A gravelly voice drifted out from the room.
"He said let me in."
I spoke to the man blocking me with a playful tone.
The man hesitated for a moment, but Elder Li’s word was law.
"...Please, go in."
He stepped aside reluctantly, his tone laced with dissatisfaction.
I knew exactly what he was worried about.
He was probably afraid I would ruin everything.
"Don't worry, I won't do anything bad to Nanjido."
I patted him on the side as I passed by.
"...That makes me even more worried."
Clack.
I heard him mutter as the door closed, but I must have misheard him.
More importantly, I needed to focus.
The people I was about to deal with were no pushovers.
Creeeeak. Creeak.
The wooden hallway groaned, and white smoke seeped through the gaps in the door.
This was my third time here, but the hallway looked much more dilapidated than before. I pushed through the white smoke and entered the room.
I could feel a massive surge of Otherworldly Power fluctuating.
Beyond the white mist, the participants of the meeting were glaring at each other, their eyes glowing with power.
No. I was wrong. They weren't glaring at each other.
They were all glaring at one person.
The only O-Rank in the room.
"So, gentlemen. Let's be blunt. That Hole. Can you control it? Or not?"
The participants were merely staring at the octopus, who was spewing words in a slimy, vulgar voice.
"It has been safe until now. Therefore..."
Someone opened their mouth to refute that sliminess, but—
"Ah! So you're saying it's been safe until now? I'm sure it has! An O-Rank popped out of it, but sure, it's perfectly safe!"
Hahahaha!
As laughter erupted from the octopus's mouth, the white mist fell back into silence.
"Is that really all you have to say? You let a Hole that stable go on a rampage like that, and that's all you can say? Doesn't that mean it's only right that we manage it?"
Al’shel, the octopus, seemed to gain momentum. He didn't wait for a response and began to pour out his power.
"Let's overlook the fact that Otherworld Erosion progressed because of The Hole. You probably didn't have the technology. But the restraint? You possessed such a stable Hole and yet you were restrained by the Otherworld? Are you out of your minds? Well? Aren't you ashamed? All of you?"
"You were restrained as well. Our informants proved..."
Someone tried to counter in a tiny, mouse-like voice, but—
"I wasn't restrained, though? Hahahaha! Maybe it's because you guys haven't been eating well? You vermin?"
Ignoring his opponent, Al’shel’s words poured out like a waterfall, crossing into the realm of pure mockery.
Despite this, the Mutants of Nanjido couldn't even open their mouths, crushed by the pressure of an O-Rank.
"Furthermore, The Root of this incident was that even though you knew The Hole existed, no one controlled its power, causing it to explode. Do you even have an excuse?"
"..."
"..."
A long silence.
Was this pathetic display what they called a 'negotiation' until I arrived?
I heard they had attached Sirin to him for control, so what the hell was Sirin doing?
Just as I thought that, Al’shirin’s voice reached my ears.
"Shel? Didn't I teach you to be kind to others?"
Her voice was quiet, likely so that others wouldn't hear.
"Sister Sirin. Can you really say that after seeing the state of these guys?"
Al’shel’s voice, tinged with anger, paused for a moment.
'These idiots probably have no idea that an Existence of The End—a Ruler—almost descended upon this world. That ripple was definitely an Avatar.'
'I know. But ignorance isn't a sin, Shel. How could they have known?'
Only a whisper, barely audible to me, drifted over.
Ho.
I knew there were many suspicious things about that guy, but so he really was an Existence of The End.
Wait, she said an Avatar, so maybe a weaker version? Even so, he was ridiculously strong...
Whatever the case, if things had gone even slightly differently, I definitely would have lost.
Well, I'll worry about that later.
I had to deal with this mess first.
As I stepped forward, Al’shel, seemingly excited, rose above the smoke and raised his voice.
"Now! Do you have anything to say? You little rats? If not, our Socie—urk... gack?"
Crunch.
"Shut up and get out of the way, you damn octopus."
I twisted Al’shel’s neck to shut that annoying mouth of his.
"Gack... gurgle?"
With his neck twisted, Al’shel made a strange sound as if he couldn't understand the situation, but just as I had tested on Al’shirin before, it didn't seem to be life-threatening.
I tossed the idiot to the other side of the room and spoke to Al’shirin, who remained strangely calm even in this situation.
"You don't mind, right?"
"Perhaps you should be even harsher to properly discipline him."
As expected, she wasn't flustered.
Based on her reaction, she seemed to have known I was there all along.
As if answering my silent question, she continued.
"Shel has a tendency to lose sight of his surroundings when he gets excited. He really needs to fix that..."
Al’shirin began to mutter to herself with a sigh.
Just as I was about to react to her absurdity—
"More importantly, isn't there something more pressing, Hero Lee Ha-ram?"
Al’shirin’s eyes narrowed as she continued.
The moment I felt a strange pressure from her gaze, Al’shirin rose from her chair and spoke.
"It seems our Chief of Staff has unfortunately fainted. Out of necessity, I shall invite a new representative."
The atmosphere was getting weird.
"I present to you the person who contributed the most to resolving this incident, the Hero who cares for Mutants more than anyone else. Hero Lee Ha-ram. Please welcome him with a round of applause."
...Huh?
I glared at Al’shirin, wondering what kind of joke this was, but she only smiled. The meeting room instantly erupted into a commotion.
—A Hero connected to The Society?
—If it's Hero Lee Ha-ram, isn't that the one?
—Can we trust a Hero or the Management Bureau? Has The Society joined hands with the Bureau?
What the hell is going on?
What kind of excuse should I even make?
First... I need to let them know it's not true...
I was racking my brain to deal with this situation, but—
Thump.
With the short thud of a staff, everything stopped.
My thoughts, and the noisy meeting.
Then, as the smoke cleared, his figure was revealed.
"Stop the jokes, Sirin. I know you and Hero Lee Ha-ram have a connection, but he is someone unrelated to The Society."
The godfather of Nanjido and an information broker.
Elder Li.
"It's as he says. I have nothing to do with The Society, and my participation in this negotiation is strictly because of my connection—"
"However," Elder Li interrupted, "it is also true that you know Nanjido well, and you are the Hero who resolved this crisis. Taking that into account, I believe it wouldn't be a bad idea to follow your lead."
...Wait.
Something is wrong here, too.
Don't tell me...
Have I walked into a trap...?