Chapter 39
Chapter 39
The chief’s office of Mapo Police Station.
Outside the second-floor window, now used as Karambit’s armory, one [Honeybee] drone carefully approached, blending into the darkness.
Just as it was about to peek through a narrow gap—
Tap.
Karambit, who had been cleaning his weapon inside the room, suddenly snapped his head around.
His sharp eyes shot directly toward the window where the Honeybee was hovering.
Like a predator sensing an unseen gaze.
Swoosh—
With irritation, he yanked the curtain shut.
“….”
For a moment it felt as if our eyes had met through the monitor, sending a chill down my spine.
[Hiiik! Boss! That guy’s eyes aren’t normal! Did he hear the drone’s motor?]
“No. At this distance, he couldn’t hear it. It’s instinct.”
The intuition of a mercenary who had walked countless battlefields.
An instinct that sensed killing intent.
If the drone got any closer, it would be discovered for sure.
“Pull Honeybee back.”
[Then what do we do? We need to see inside to know what they’re planning.]
“We make something new.”
I immediately gathered parts to build a new drone.
A spare camera module prepared for additional Honeybee production.
And a vibration detection sensor that could read the tremors in the floor.
That would be enough.
[Manufacture]
Instead of wings, a flat spider-like robot with four articulated legs quickly took shape.
Then Porter added [Giant Rat Claws] he had salvaged from around Mapo Boulevard through [Enchantment].
The device was complete.
[Spider Cam]
Grade: E
Experience makes all the difference.
After doing this enough times, producing what I needed on the spot had become second nature.
It was as if blueprints now formed automatically in my head.
At this point, I didn’t even need help from the Central Control System.
[Ooooh! Is that Spider-Man? Does it shoot webs?]
“No. It just climbs walls and spies.”
How did he even know Spider-Man?
[A voyeur spider. Boss’s taste is certainly…]
“The voyeur here is you, Picker. Porter, where are you now?”
Porter had been waiting exactly where I ordered, hiding in the darkness near the sewer behind Mapo Police Station.
[Standing by. Position secured with satisfying weight.]
“Good. Catch.”
I placed the completed Spider Cam into Storage.
Three seconds later—
The air shimmered above Porter’s back in the video feed, and the Spider Cam dropped out.
Tap. Tap.
The spider robot immediately climbed the police station’s drainage pipe.
Zero noise.
It slipped through a ventilation gap and hung upside down from the ceiling of the chief’s office, securing a perfect angle.
Inside the armory hidden behind a heavy steel door—
five surviving Wolves elites stood with solemn expressions.
“While those hostages buy us time, we take Pig’s head.”
A decapitation operation.
While the bait died, the elites would infiltrate and eliminate the leader.
They had already failed once, but fear was absent from their eyes.
Because they had something to rely on.
Right here.
Karambit turned the dial of a massive safe hidden in the armory.
This safe contained the treasures he had spent his entire life gathering.
Karambit began tossing customized equipment to the Wolves members.
First, the assault soldier at the front received a pair of worn leather boots.
[Silence Nullification Boots]
Grade: β-F
Energy-control type. Erases footstep sounds within a 1-meter radius as if in a vacuum.
Next, the scout received a monocle with only one lens.
[Owl’s Monocle]
Grade: α-F
Matter-transformation type. Allows the wearer to see clearly in darkness and detect biological heat.
Two assassins were given black-gloss daggers.
[Poisoned Obsidian Dagger]
Grade: α-F
Curse-type. Even a scratch causes rapid necrosis of the surrounding cells.
Finally, the large tank-type fighter was handed a vest that wobbled like jelly.
[Impact Absorption Gel Vest]
Grade: β-F
When struck, the gel instantly hardens and disperses more than 90% of the impact.
Each of these artifacts cost thousands—sometimes tens of thousands—of UP on the black market.
Once the equipment distribution ended, the soldiers’ eyes changed.
Confidence filled them.
With gear like this, the operation felt possible.
Then, finally—
Karambit pulled out a bundle of black cloth from the deepest part of the safe.
His final card.
Something he had kept hidden for the worst-case scenario so he could escape alone.
But now that Balkan was dead and victory was within reach—
There is no retreat.
Karambit draped the cloak over his shoulders.
At that moment—
Shhhh—
His body blurred, blending perfectly with the surrounding colors until he disappeared.
Even his breathing, scent, and presence vanished.
Perfect stealth.
[Shadow Stealth Cloak]
Only his voice echoed in the air.
“Let’s go. It’s time to hunt.”
Watching all of this through the monitor, my eyes widened.
My mouth fell open.
“Wow… that’s insane.”
[Boss! Did you see that?! Those are all artifacts! How much money is that?!]
Picker zoomed the screen.
My eyes gleamed with greed.
“If I dismantle those… what kind of technology would come out?”
I had no idea Karambit possessed that many artifacts.
Artifacts were different from ordinary items.
Their very existence counted as special materials.
I had already tested it with the Endless Spring Flask.
Using the Silence Nullification Boots as special materials could make Porter completely silent.
Applying the Impact Absorption Gel Vest could allow Porter to absorb or deflect explosions.
But most of all—
that stealth cloak caught my attention.
Was there any item better suited for me?
If I obtained it, my survival chances would skyrocket.
It might even solve my identity exposure problem.
But at the same time—
a chill ran down my spine.
After Pig and the Viper fought, I had briefly considered raiding Mapo Police Station.
The guns stored inside were tempting.
In the end, I abandoned the idea because there were too many raiders.
If I had attempted it—
Karambit, wearing that cloak, would have killed me before I even realized it.
[That’s terrifying. Raiders hiding things like that in their pockets… what are they, Doraemon?]
“They survived ten years without shelter protection. Of course they’re like cockroaches.”
I rubbed my face and steadied myself.
Remaining hidden had been the correct decision.
In a world crawling with monsters like this, all I had were information and production.
And right now—
I had seen all their cards.
My eyes gleamed greedily as I stared at the invisible space on the monitor.
“Karambit. Fight Pig until you’re exhausted.”
And when you collapse—
that will be my harvest time.
“Porter. Prepare to move.”
[Roger! Where to?]
“Back to the hotel. That’s where the final battle will happen.”
[Huh? Boss, what’s that?]
At that moment, Picker transmitted a new screen.
After Karambit and the elite squad left, the remaining raiders were focused entirely on the mutant army attacking from the front.
Machine gun fire and monster screams filled the battlefield.
Taking advantage of the chaos, four shadows climbed the drainage pipe behind the building.
They were exiles from Ahyeon Shelter, including Yoon Sung-jun.
“P-Please save us!”
“Over here!”
Seeing someone appear on the rooftop, the hostages pleaded desperately.
“There. Hurry!”
At Yoon Sung-jun’s command, his companions rushed forward with jackknives.
Ropes were cut.
Three hostages from Ahyeon Shelter were pulled onto the rooftop floor.
They sobbed uncontrollably, their legs likely broken.
“Hyung!”
“I thought we were dead!”
“Quiet!”
Yoon Sung-jun helped them toward the drainage pipe.
But the men hanging in the nearby nets shouted angrily.
“Hey! What about us?! Save us too!”
“I’m sorry.”
Yoon Sung-jun avoided their gaze.
“Later… if things calm down, I’ll come back. Right now it’s impossible.”
A transparent lie.
If they rescued those men, they’d likely stab them in the back.
His only goal was saving his own people.
Seeing them preparing to leave, one of the hostages screamed toward the defenders below.
“Rats on the roof! They’re here to stab you in the back! Look up! Look up!”
“You bastards!”
Other hostages joined in, screaming.
A raider squad leader firing a machine gun from the first floor looked up.
“Who the hell are those? Shoot them!”
Rat-tat-tat!
Machine gun fire sprayed upward.
Concrete exploded around the railing.
Yoon Sung-jun’s group flattened themselves against the floor.
“Damn it!”
“Get them!”
Raiders from the third floor rushed up to the roof.
“Lock the door!”
Yoon Sung-jun slammed the rooftop door shut.
But moments later—
“Hey! There’s a ladder here!”
The raiders below discovered their escape route.
“Get rid of it!”
Their retreat was cut off.
Soon even the drainage pipe was riddled with bullets.
Seven people were trapped on the roof.
The hostages hanging in the nets laughed mockingly.
“Idiots. Look at you now.”
“If you’d cut our ropes we could’ve escaped together and split the aggro!”
“What do we do now?”
Yoon Sung-jun glanced below.
Thanks to the heavy weapons Karambit left behind, the raiders were pushing back the mutants.
If the raiders won—
they would torture everyone trapped on the roof to death.
“You’re all dead anyway,” one hostage sneered.
“They’ll skin you alive.”
A rescuer raised his gun in rage.
But Yoon Sung-jun pushed the barrel down.
“No.”
“What? Why?”
“If we kill the bait, the mutants will win.”
The hostages’ screams were keeping the mutants’ attention diverted.
If they died—
the mutants would turn toward the raiders inside the barricade.
Either way meant death.
The hostages understood his dilemma and laughed louder.
“We live, you die!”
Just then—
Ting!
A sharp metallic sound cut through the air.
“Uh…?”
The rope supporting one of the hostages suddenly snapped.
Like it had been cut clean with scissors.
“W-what?!”
Gravity showed no mercy.
The man fell dozens of meters into the waiting mutant horde.
“AAAAAH!”
Crunch.
His scream ended instantly.
Silence fell over the rooftop.
Yoon Sung-jun stared blankly at the severed rope.
Not a bullet. There was no gunshot.
Then what—?
At that moment—
from the water tank above the roof—
a mechanical sound echoed.
Whirr—
Click.
It sounded strangely familiar to Yoon Sung-jun.
I sighed deeply while watching the feed from Honeybee.
“Yoon Sung-jun… that idiot.”
On screen, he and his companions were climbing pipes to the roof like rats.
Anyone could see it was suicide.
Sure enough, they were now trapped.
Exactly as I expected.
[Boss, that guy’s completely cornered. Are we just leaving him?]
I rested my chin on my hand.
“If we leave him, he dies. Mutants below, raiders above.”
A natural outcome.
In this ruined world, kindness was the most expensive luxury.
If you couldn’t afford it, you died.
I turned my head—
then suddenly remembered Yoon Sung-jun’s daughter.
The little girl helping her parents despite her dirty face.
“…Damn it.”
If Yoon Sung-jun died, she would become an orphan.
Even inside shelters, orphans lived in hell.
Outside the shelter—
it would be far worse.
My own past overlapped with the thought.
Ten years ago I had lost my parents and become a porter.
I shook my head.
Humans betray.
If I get emotional, I’m the one who loses.
But the image of that little girl wouldn’t leave.
I needed a rational reason.
“Picker. Zoom in on their weapons.”
[Roger!]
The K-2 rifles and shotguns in their hands were well-maintained.
Their shooting stances were disciplined.
They weren’t amateurs.
The way they hunted Blade-Beak Chickens earlier had shown organization.
“Hmm.”
Yoon Sung-jun.
A man with a clear weakness—family.
What if I used them?
Large-scale trading on Union Market carried exposure risks.
But if they acted as intermediaries?
They could purchase goods for me.
I wouldn’t have to move personally.
“No… that’s not bad.”
They hunted Blade-Beak Chickens with pipes and nets to save ammunition.
If I supplied ammo cheaply—
they would never refuse.
I turned back to the rooftop.
Raiders were laughing while hanging humans as bait.
“Trash like that shouldn’t live anyway.”
And there was more.
In the police yard lay the corpse of the D-grade Named Mutant: Acid Golem.
And I still wanted to loot Mapo Police Station.
With Karambit gone to fight Pig, the risk was minimal.
The decision was made.
It was time to act.
From the darkness, I pulled the High-Tension Bio Sling.
My target—
the thick rope tied to the rooftop railing.
“Goodbye, trash.”
Ting!
A throwing blade sliced through the air.
The loudest hostage’s rope snapped.
He fell screaming into the mutant horde below.
“Picker. Give me the location.”
[Yes, Boss! Executing Operation: Scorched Earth Mapo Police Station!]