Chapter 21
Chapter 21
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: Their Scheme
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The vast expanse of white light began to shrink.
Within that light, the figure of Shin-ju, clutching a page from the Old Book, slowly came into view.
The dark red blood that had stained his face was now completely dry.
With a strangely serene expression, Shin-ju carefully unfolded the page in his hand.
On it was a letter his father had left for him.
Shin-ju realized that his father had placed some kind of protective spell within the letter.
He had clearly arranged a mechanism to activate in the face of unavoidable danger.
After looking at the letter for a moment, he snapped back to his senses and surveyed his surroundings.
The inside of the research lab had been instantly transformed into something resembling a derelict building.
He then noticed that ‘Jeg the Steel’ was also gone.
He tried to open a gate by chanting a spell.
But for some reason, the gate wouldn't open.
Even as he worried about Jeg, Shin-ju remembered what Hyde had said just before the incident.
“…It was a trap.”
Thinking back, there were many suspicious things.
He shouldn't have followed them.
Cha-yoon must have already known that Shin-ju was eavesdropping on her conversation in the first-floor lobby cafe.
Shin-ju looked up at the gaping hole in the ceiling.
The blue sky stretched out wide, as if nothing had happened at all.
Cha-yoon had lured Shin-ju here, used Tibee-ra's song as a medium, and broadcast the Planet Destroyer's summoning incantation, which was imprinted in his brain, into space.
The Bluerobic planetarians, who were fleeing the war with the Planet Destroyer, would hear Tibee-ra’s song, just as Sharin had, and come to Earth. And the Planet Destroyer would follow them, visiting Earth once again.
The Planet Destroyer, who waged war under the pretext of maintaining the balance of the universe.
It was obvious what it would think upon seeing Earth, a planet that had begun accepting countless alien beings.
A large number of Bluerobic planetarians had already put down roots on Earth. The ecosystem's balance was slowly crumbling.
Shin-ju picked up the Old Book from the floor and began to carefully think things through.
He had confirmed that Tibee-ra's song was with that distribution company.
Of course, he hadn't exactly conducted his investigation through legitimate means, using a hacker and all, but as long as there was evidence, a warrant could be issued.
Don't act rashly.
I need to find a plausible reason to approach Cha-yoon and find out her objective.
Shin-ju scanned the floor.
Where's my phone?
His phone was lying in a corner. Luckily, it had gotten caught in a crack between the building debris and hadn't been flung far away.
Shin-ju immediately made a call.
When he turned his head, the name ‘Police Commissioner’ was displayed on the screen.
Silverfire, Jekovic, Enri, and Sharin were gathered around Hyde's laptop.
On its screen was a map showing a massive mountain ridge, and a graph showing energy waves emanating from the peak was fluctuating wildly.
“M.I.X is here.”
Silverfire slowly raised his head and gazed at the distant mountain.
“It’s not far from here.”
Jekovic exclaimed confidently.
“It’s only natural to immediately investigate any suspicious individuals near the scene of an incident!”
When Silverfire hesitated, Jekovic looked up at him and teased him lightly.
“What are you hesitating for? It doesn’t suit you. You’re the biggest one here.”
Enri, who had been watching Jekovic with a pathetic look, spoke up on Silverfire’s behalf.
“M.I.X isn’t someone you can mess with so easily… He’s the main pillar that keeps this country’s economy running….”
Silverfire muttered.
“…The very founder of the weapons industry that propelled South Korea into the ranks of developed nations.”
“So, to go after him is…”
Silverfire slowly turned his head toward Jekovic and warned in a low, deep voice.
“…tantamount to taking on an entire nation.”
Silverfire looked up at the distant mountain again.
“I’m not afraid of getting hurt myself… but this could harm the entire U.C.I.D. If things go wrong, we could all be demoted and scattered… or in the worst-case scenario, forced to resign.”
Sharin, who had been listening quietly, looked up at Silverfire.
“By the way, what’s this about M.I.X stealing Frontline’s technology?”
Silverfire replied politely.
“M.I.X started a mercenary business using our technology. The intention was good. It was to actively rescue the weak who weren't protected by the law, in the private sector….”
Sharin murmured quietly.
“…So you were deceived.”
“At first, he really did operate according to that principle. But over time, things slowly started to change.”
“Wait, wait, so you’re saying we should just leave them be?”
Jekovic looked between Silverfire and his other colleagues.
“It could be a trap. Just like the situation Mr. Shin-ju is in now.”
Hyde chimed in from the corner.
Silverfire nodded.
“For now, Shin-ju's safety is the priority. We’ll prepare the investigation into M.I.X later.”
Enri’s head shot up.
“Right! Oh! Mr. Shin-ju!”
Rustle—.
Suddenly, a suspicious movement was detected. The group instantly adopted defensive stances, each in their own style.
A moment later, Shin-ju, his face flushed and blotchy, emerged from the bushes and joked.
“This is why I hate hiking.”
Enri immediately relaxed her posture.
“Ah! Mr. Shin-ju, are you okay?”
“Yes, haha, I’m fine, Ms. Enri.”
Shin-ju dusted himself off and spoke to Silverfire.
“I just spoke with the Commissioner about M.I.X and Cha-yoon.”
“Oh, so…?”
“You were right, Silverfire. A direct approach puts us at a huge disadvantage, circumstantially.”
“So we need to take a detour.”
Shin-ju looked at his colleagues and raised a finger.
“Let’s shake up Kim Cha-yoon first. That should get a reaction from the top.”
U.C.I.D. Headquarters
Shin-ju pinned photos of Cha-yoon and M.I.X to a board.
He began by briefing them on the situation so far.
First, Kim Cha-yoon, the CEO of Cha-yoon Enterprise, which had hit it big in the weapons industry, was expanding her company like an octopus, branching out into the entertainment business.
Evidence suggested that Cha-yoon’s influence was heavily involved in launching the Bluerobic native, Tibee-ra, into the entertainment world.
At the time, Tibee-ra was working at a factory for ‘Saturn Hitec,’ a spaceship parts supplier, where she would sing for her coworkers.
The factory president, who was particularly fond of her singing, happened to mention her during a chance meeting with Kim Cha-yoon, the president of the parent company, Cha-yoon Enterprise, in a shareholder meeting room.
Upon hearing this, Cha-yoon immediately used her influence with a broadcasting station to get Tibee-ra featured on a program about aliens working on Earth.
When a video of her singing went viral on YouVid, she received offers from various broadcast stations, and that’s how she was able to stand on a stage.
Meanwhile, Tibee-ra, who as a young girl had to raise her many younger siblings, was overjoyed to be earning an amount of money incomparable to her factory days through her singing talent alone.
But why didn't she have an agency?
The reason was that Cha-yoon was hovering around her.
Other entertainment agencies, well-versed in the industry's inner workings, astutely sensed Cha-yoon’s presence around Tibee-ra and didn’t dare approach her.
Tibee-ra herself, however, hadn't sensed Cha-yoon’s presence at all.
Cha-yoon then used celebrities she personally managed, like Aila, to compete against Tibee-ra, naturally leading to a successful entertainment competition reality show.
While making a huge profit in the Korean entertainment market, she used celebrities like Aila to gather information on Tibee-ra and had the CEO of the music distribution company, Canyon Fonuel, entice her from behind the scenes.
That was how they were able to secretly steal the recording of Tibee-ra’s song.
They were currently investigating how the track was stolen, and the key was to find out the motive.
This was because they were broadcasting the stolen song into space to the fleeing Bluerobic people, letting them hear a popular song from their homeland and luring them to Earth.
This time, they had even mixed the Planet Destroyer’s summoning incantation from Shin-ju’s mind into the song and broadcast it into space.
It meant they intended to summon the Planet Destroyer, which was currently waging war on Bluerobic, to Earth.
Shin-ju’s plan was this.
First, they had to arrest the people from Canyon Fonuel and Aila on charges of creative property theft, illegal distribution, and unauthorized use, in order to draw out Cha-yoon.
By going after Cha-yoon, they would naturally get a reaction from M.I.X.
They wouldn’t be able to arrest M.I.X anyway, since he controlled South Korea's economy.
U.C.I.D.’s ultimate goal was to get Cha-yoon into an interrogation room, quickly uncover her reasons and schemes for summoning the Planet Destroyer to Earth, and prepare for the worst-case scenario.
Seven years ago, Shin-ju had established a non-aggression treaty with the Planet Destroyer regarding Earth, and it was still in effect.
However, no one could predict how the Planet Destroyer, currently engaged in a war, might suddenly change its stance.
Even in Earth's history, wars had always broken out unexpectedly.
For now, Shin-ju had received permission from the Police Commissioner to proceed with the investigation.
Of course, the Commissioner didn’t want them to go after Cha-yoon and M.I.X directly either. He wanted them to work their way up from the bottom.
Once Shin-ju’s briefing was over, an investigation plan was swiftly established.
First, ‘Park Shin-ju’, along with data analyst ‘Bid908’ and space hacker ‘Hyde’, would form a three-person team to investigate the personnel at ‘Canyon Fonuel’ based on the data they had gathered.
Next, ‘Enri Tankobichi’ and ‘Jekovic’ would visit the entertainment agency ‘Future Vision Entertainment’ to investigate and put pressure on ‘Aila’ using the circumstantial evidence they had.
‘Silverfire’ would outwardly pretend to continue patrolling Seoul while monitoring Cha-yoon and M.I.X’s mercenary group, investigating illegal weapons distribution and unauthorized mercenary activities.
This would allow them to pressure Cha-yoon under a different pretext.
A request for a search warrant had already been filed.
Until the warrant was issued, they had to carry on with their other police duties.
“Then I’ll be counting on all of you!”
Having laid out all the instructions, Shin-ju dismissed his colleagues.
The briefing room was empty.
He took out the carefully folded letter from his father from his inner coat pocket, looked at it, and put it back.
The letter had now become his good luck charm.
Meanwhile, while Enri was at work.
Sharin, with nothing to do, was camped out at the hamburger joint she had visited before.
On the table in front of her, used hamburger wrappers were piled up like a mountain.
She stared blankly at the tabletop with a complicated expression.
“I’m in trouble… I ate without thinking… How much did I even eat…?”
At a glance, it was impossible to even guess the price.
She was an SS-class hero, recognized on both Earth and Bluerobic.
But since she had only just arrived on Earth and had no record of heroic activities yet, she wasn't receiving any government subsidies or expense allowances.
In other words, she was currently unemployed.
Fortunately, this hamburger place was a pay-after-you-eat establishment.
This was necessary because of the different currency values, requiring follow-up measures based on the cost of the meal.
“Uh, excuse me!”
Sharin called out to a clerk standing in the distance.
The clerk was a fellow native of Bluerobic, a pretty, small, and petite Elf.
“Ah! Yes, Lady Sharin!”
“Uh… how much did I eat?”
“One moment, please.”
The clerk went back to the register, printed out a receipt, and handed it to Sharin.
“In Bluerobic currency, it’s 350 Blus. In Korean won, that’s 318,000 won.”
The color drained from Sharin’s face.
“Ah… thank you…”
Sharin averted her gaze for no reason.
“Damn it! I only got 300,000 won for my monthly allowance…”
An image of Enri, about to leave for work, handing Sharin a card and sternly warning her, flashed through her mind.
[This is your living expense for the month. You have to be frugal! I don't have money either! If you spend it all on hamburgers again, I will. never. for. give. you!]
Sharin stared off into the distance.
“I’m so dead…”
Sharin’s expression grew serious.
She had spent her entire month's allowance in a single day.
Suddenly, Sharin's expression turned fierce.
Grrr! But still! How can something be this delicious?
It's so good it makes me angry!
In her mind, she took out her frustration on the hamburger wrappers in front of her.
Perhaps because she had only eaten meager things like combat rations while roaming battlefields, to Sharin, the ‘hamburger’ was unequivocally the most magnificent-tasting food in the universe.
It was high in calories and portable, making it perfect for combat rations.
With combat rations that tasted like this, she could fight for thousands of years.
No, what if these hamburgers were actually issued as combat rations?
She felt like she might even return to the battlefield just for that.
Anyway, the bill… what do I do about the bill?
Should I ask for a discount?
Sharin turned her head and glanced at the Bluerobic Elf clerk.
The Elf was serving customers with a bright smile.
Sharin frowned and turned her head away again.
Damn it! I’m a hero, for crying out loud… I can’t embarrass myself in front of someone from my homeworld!
But calling Enri to ask for money would be like walking into the fires of hell and committing suicide.
An 18,000 won crisis.
Alright, I have no choice.
I’ll just be honest.
She’ll understand.
Sharin gathered the hamburger wrappers and threw them in the trash.
Then she walked up to the clerk.
The clerk greeted Sharin with a bright smile.
“Yes! Lady Sharin, did you enjoy your meal? It’s such an honor to have you visit our store all the time!”
The Bluerobic clerk looked up at Sharin, her eyes sparkling with admiration.
“Uh… yeah. It was delicious. But…”
“It’s so reassuring and moving to have you here on Earth, Lady Sharin… you’re a great source of strength for us. The people from our homeworld are always grateful to you.”
“Uh, uh…”
She couldn’t bring herself to say it.
Sharin let out a small sigh and forced herself to speak.
“Look, I’m here to pay now…”
“Ah! Someone has already paid!”
“Huh…?”
For a moment, Sharin doubted her own ears.
“What…? Who?”
“He was very handsome… I think he was a mercenary.”
When the word ‘mercenary’ left the clerk’s lips, Sharin’s expression changed.
Ever since arriving on Earth, she hadn't had a very good impression of mercenaries.
“Ah, here he comes now!”
Sharin whipped her head around.
A handsome alien was walking toward her.
A tall, slender man, impeccably dressed in a suit.
He approached Sharin, politely offered his business card, and greeted her.
“A pleasure to meet you, Lady Sharin. I am ‘Dantallion,’ an A-class mercenary and personnel manager for talent acquisition at Cha-yoon Enterprise.”