Chapter 25: If Only I Had a Little More Time and Budget... (3)
Chapter 25: If Only I Had a Little More Time and Budget... (3)
As soon as I showed my face in the laboratory, the scientists began to scatter in a frantic panic.
It was a chaotic mess, with dozens of scientists rushing toward the single emergency exit, clearly having never expected a Hero to storm such a vital facility.
Seeing how quickly they fled without underestimating my appearance, they seemed like veterans who had been in this business for quite a while.
Click.
With a snap of my fingers, numerous Steel Marbles materialized in the air.
Click.
Fire.
Rat-tat-tat-tat!
The laboratory was filled with the sound of countless Steel Marbles colliding with one each other.
They fanned out like the shrapnel of a Claymore mine.
It was a technique I rarely used because its power was so low, but there was no better tool for stopping people without killing them.
"Aaaargh!"
"Kyaaaah!"
Just as I had aimed, the marbles embedded themselves in their limbs.
A few bones might be broken, but surely that was a much better outcome than being pulverized into nonexistence by a hammer.
While a few scientists managed to escape by using their colleagues as shields, the majority collapsed in the hallway, groaning in pain.
Ignoring their moans, I grabbed the nearest elderly scientist by the hair and forced him to meet my eyes.
"Now then, shall we get on with it? Where is the Monster Seed?"
"Ugh... Magical Bloody... Are you interfering with us again?"
At least he didn't call me Crimson★Hammer.
Though "Magical Bloody" is still a pretty insulting name.
"What? You know me?"
"Of course I do... Do you have any idea how many Societies have fallen at your hands...?"
Hmm. A survivor from the past, then.
"Then you know what happens next, right? Tell me. Did you perform human experiments? Did you grind up Awakened? Oh, I mean Heroes."
This is an important turning point, so choose your words carefully.
Will you all end up in a Management Bureau prison, or will you be crushed to a pulp right here?
"...We did not."
"Are you sure? I've seen enough of these places to know that a quick search usually turns everything up."
Perhaps because my five senses were so overdeveloped, I could practically tell what kind of creature a piece of flesh belonged to just by looking at it.
"Our goal was solely the development of the perfect Monster. we have no interest in Mutants."
"We'll see about that once I take a look inside."
Thud.
"Ugh."
When I let go of his hair, his head collided with the laboratory floor.
In addition to the head injury, the shock seemed to radiate to the wounds in his hands and feet, causing a fresh wave of pain. Not that I cared what kind of agony those who sided with the Otherworld went through.
"Uwaaaaah..."
"It hurts... stop..."
I stepped over the wounded scientists blocking the hallway and made my way toward the emergency passage.
Hmm... Scientists, huh... Maybe I should ask.
Beep. Ring, ring.
The sound of the call echoed in my ear.
"Hello—"
The Octopus's voice came through.
"Al’shel. It's fine if I hand all these guys over to the Management Bureau, right?"
I kept the conversation brief and to the point.
"Yes. Our objective is the collapse of that Society itself. As long as that is achieved, the survival of its members is of no concern."
"Right. It'll be over today. Get the gene extraction ready."
"Understood."
Beep.
I hung up as soon as I got my answer and dialed another number.
"What is it? I'm busy, so make it quick."
"Hyun-seok. Send a biohazard response team to the coordinates where the earthquake was detected. Type B-U-23. Estimated risk level: High B. Multiple elevators at the location. Subjugation expected to be complete within 10 hours."
"...And the Monster Seed?"
"Scheduled for disposal after confirmation. I plan to handle it myself."
"Understood. Do not be careless."
"Who do you think you're talking to?"
Just as I was about to hang up, Hyun-seok’s voice came through the phone again.
"Next time, let me know before you use that much power. The Bureau’s Observation Team is in an uproar. They're asking if an unidentified Hero or a new O-Rank crossed over from the Great Barrier."
"What's all the fuss over a single hammer swing? Can't they just figure it out by analyzing past cases?"
Or is the data so old they haven't found it yet?
"This is an era of peace. Do not forget that such cases are also a thing of the past."
"Fine, fine. I'll be careful."
I didn't expect to get nagged like this when I hadn't even leveled a city.
"Enough of this tedious talk. I'm glad, Lee Ha-ram."
For some reason, his voice sounded a bit softer over the phone.
"About what?"
"I thought you were just going to rot away. Standing still until the day you died, without taking an interest in anything around you."
....
The days when I had lost interest in everything and stopped acting as a Hero.
Even then, Hyun-seok had simply given me money without saying a word. Only now did I realize that he, too, had been worried about me.
No, perhaps if I had paid even a little attention back then, I would have known it was concern.
I had simply ignored it because I didn't care.
"I found something I need to do."
"That's a good direction, Lee Ha-ram. The subjugation team is scheduled to arrive in 12 hours. Handle everything by then."
"Confirmed."
Click.
"Confirmed," huh.
How long has it been since I used that word?
Talking to Hyun-seok made me feel like I'd gone back to the old days.
Well then, shall we go?
Time to catch the scientists who ran away.
* * *
"Dammit, if we release this, we're all dead too, Director!"
"Release it! Just release it! We're all going to die anyway at this rate!"
What's all the racket?
I kicked open the door—they hadn't even had time to close it—and stepped into the room.
Dozens of massive glass cylinders lined the space.
The cylinders, filled with green liquid, contained various creatures floating inside.
Lumps of flesh that had failed to cultivate.
Creatures that had grown well but seemed to be missing limbs.
Giant Monsters that looked nearly complete.
Everything inside the cylinders was a Monster created by human hands.
Periodically, the bottom of a cylinder would open, and a failed lump of flesh would disappear into a hole beneath the cultivation room.
I guess they really didn't do human experiments.
I didn't see any human flesh, and none of the failures resembled humans.
Well, I'd only given the place a cursory glance, so I couldn't be sure yet.
After scanning the surroundings, I shifted my gaze to the cylinder in the center.
A massive leopard submerged in purple liquid.
Its body maintained the original form of a leopard, but instead of black fur, every single spot on its body was sprouting an eye.
They weren't just for show; the eyelids were slowly blinking even now, and the eyeballs were darting around, looking in every direction.
Is that thing the Seed for all the Monsters born in this lab?
Judging by the power I felt, its rank was somewhere between High B and Mid A.
They did a good job capturing it.
"We can't fully control it yet. If we just had thirty more minutes..."
"A Hero has broken in! If we don't release it now—"
They hadn't noticed my arrival yet. They were frantically pounding on keyboards without even turning their heads, while one scientist barked orders at them.
Is that guy the head of this Society?
"Hey. Eyes on me."
Their gazes snapped toward me.
Let's continue the conversation.
"Take your hands off the keyboards. First, as per Hero regulations, I'll give you a warning. If you surrender quietly, it'll just be a prison sentence. You haven't caused any civilian casualties, so at most, it's a violation of the Monster Control Act."
I didn't know what they planned to do with these Monsters, but these scientists should consider themselves lucky that I was the one who broke in.
If they had released the Monsters, it would have been an undeniable death sentence.
Did my words have an effect? Agitation spread among the scientists.
"We'll get off with a light punishment if we surrender now?"
"That's Lee Ha-ram. Since we're screwed anyway, we should at least hand over our technology to the Bureau and save our skins..."
"If we're lucky, we might even get research positions at the Bureau..."
Just how long have these guys been rotting away? There's another one who knows me. Setting that aside... the last guy hit the nail on the head.
If they didn't have other charges and hadn't performed experiments forbidden by the Bureau—like human experimentation, essence research, or power injection—they could potentially commute their prison sentences by working as Bureau researchers.
As the agitation grew, the Director's face gradually turned beet red.
He looked furious, as if he couldn't bear such a humiliation.
"Don't... make me laugh!"
"No, don't!"
The Society's Director lunged for the keyboard.
I could have stopped him if I really wanted to, but then it would be harder to get the Seed, so I just let him be.
The other scientists rushed forward to stop him, but the Director's fingers were faster.
Even as they grabbed his hands, his pinky struck the Enter key.
[Forced release command approved. Personnel in the vicinity, please evacuate. Subject Ω-001 release process initiated.]
"It's over now!"
"Aaaargh!"
The scientists screamed and ran past me to escape.
Click. Click.
I snapped my fingers twice, embedding Steel Marbles into the legs of the fleeing men.
You're not going anywhere. Stay right there and watch the end of your Society.
Why do these villainous groups always act exactly the same?
A group on the verge of collapse. A last resort.
The final negotiation fails, and an unstable specimen is released.
Is there a script for villains or something?
Thump. Thump.
The thick hoses attached to the Monster's body detached.
Clang. Clang.
The restraints holding the Monster's limbs were released, and its paws began to move.
Bubble. Bub-bub-bubble.
The purple liquid filling the cylinder drained away with a hiss of bubbles, and the leopard opened the two normal eyes on its head.
"Hahaha! Kill her, Patus Eyes!"
What a terrible name for a Monster. Patus what?
Crash. Crunch.
The moment the glass shattered, The Society Director, who had been boasting so confidently, was devoured by the leopard.
Without even a chance for last words, he was turned into a simple piece of meat and swallowed down the Monster's throat.
A villain killed by his own rampaging ultimate weapon. This part is the same, too.
Looking at that, you really need to know when to bow down. The scientists who folded early are all going to keep their lives, aren't they?
"Grrrrr."
The leopard's growl, thick with bloodlust, echoed through the room.
"Ugh..."
The scientists foamed at the mouth and fainted.
The bloodlust was aimed at me, the one holding a weapon, but the mere aftershock was enough to knock them unconscious.
That's what an A-Rank Monster is. A creature like that.
"Shut it, you brat."
Though it's not a monster to me.
In response to its bloodlust, I released my own killing intent toward the leopard.
If you stay quiet, I'll kill you in an instant. Don't move.
"Gyark?!"
Feeling my killing intent, the leopard took a step back.
I don't know where you were captured, but there probably wasn't a beast stronger than you in your territory.
You've likely never experienced such overwhelming bloodlust before.
If you had been born a Monster from the start, it might be different, but for a wild animal turned into a Monster by a Seed, this reaction was only natural.
Step.
As I took a step forward, the leopard took a step back.
Step.
Again. One step.
As this repeated, the leopard's legs hit the railing.
It had nowhere left to run.
"Gyaaaaaah!"
As if trying to protect its last shred of pride, the Monster bared its teeth and let out a piercing shriek.
But when I continued to walk toward it without any reaction, it cowered in fear.
Step. Bam.
Two overlapping footsteps.
The moment I moved, the leopard lunged toward the ceiling.
Crash.
The cylinder where the leopard had leaped from shattered.
The green liquid and lumps of flesh inside the cylinders flew through the air.
Bam. Crash.
Accelerating in an instant, the leopard moved all over the cultivation room.
The Monsters the scientists had painstakingly built were turned into meat scraps.
Bam.
The sound of another leap reached my ears.
Thinking it had gained enough momentum, the leopard lunged at me.
Fine, so you've chosen to die as a Monster after all.
I gave The Hammer I'd been dragging on the floor a short swing.
Aiming for The Hammer to connect with the leopard's head.
Pop.
The sound of the leopard's head exploding, a bloody scene unfolding before my eyes.
However, the sensation in my hand told me it wasn't real.
A strangely jarring impact.
Hypnosis? Or an illusion?
Those numerous eyes were likely organs for that purpose.
Whether it was an illusion or hypnosis, the leopard wasn't dead yet.
If I wasn't the target, what would it do? Would it prioritize escaping, or would it go for the scientists behind me?
Isn't it obvious?
What choice a wild animal tortured by countless experiments would make.
I swung my hammer toward the spot where the fallen scientists were.
A position where I felt a strange sense of dissonance.
A place where the airflow had stopped and a faint biological presence could be felt.
Thwack.
A sound that shouldn't have been heard echoed.
The sensation of flesh being destroyed by the heavy swing of The Hammer flowed through the handle, and The Hammer stopped in mid-air.
A single swing.
The Monster met its end.
As the Monster fell, the hypnosis seemed to break, and the massive leopard revealed itself in the air.
With a large hole in its belly and bits of flesh scattered everywhere, the leopard lay dead.
As if surprised by the final blow, every eye on its body was wide open and twitching, but no biological activity could be felt.
The ultimate weapon was dead, and The Society's experiment had ended in total failure.
"Now then, where's the Seed?"
Clang.
A silver gauntlet materialized on my right hand according to my will.
I thrust the gauntlet into The Hole in the leopard's belly and rummaged through its entrails, a disgusting sensation washing over me.
The feel of a corpse is always revolting.
The stickiness of blood and flesh felt even through the hard gauntlet, the faint warmth of the freshly killed Monster.
Squelch. Squelch.
A few times, entrails spilling from The Hole landed on the heads of the unconscious scientists.
"Found it."
My gauntlet closed around a hard object, and I pulled it out.
Snap. Riiiip.
Numerous blood vessels and nerves connected to the foreign object inside the Monster were torn away, and a lumpy black stone glistened atop my gauntlet.
A mass of condensed Otherworldly Power.
A Black Seed, found inside Mutant Monsters or Fallen Heroes. It showed artificial cut marks as if it had been extracted and re-implanted multiple times, but it was still of a usable size.
"Seal."
Clang. Clang.
The top of The Hammer opened to reveal a small compartment. I placed the Seed inside and closed The Hammer.
I told the Bureau I would destroy the Seed, but this had been my goal from the beginning.
A Black Seed. A mass of Otherworldly Power.
Well then, shall I go see my disciples?
After kindly snapping the joints of the scientists twitching on the floor, I left the cultivation room.