Chapter 65
Chapter 65
Hazy cigarette smoke partially obscured the face of Colonel Park Jinseop, who sat hunched in the darkness.
His uniform jacket—normally pressed with perfect sharpness—was unbuttoned, and the ashtray beside him was already piled high with cigarette butts.
His bloodshot eyes were fixed on a single official document lying on the desk.
[Notice of Special Audit: Comprehensive Investigation of Military Supply Quality]
[Responsible Officer: Lieutenant Colonel Kang Cheolmin]
“…Hoo.”
As he exhaled a long stream of smoke, the memory of what had happened in the Supreme Commander’s office several hours earlier echoed in his mind like a hallucination.
—Colonel Park. I acknowledge your command ability. That’s why I gave you that position.
Supreme Commander Shin Gyuhwan had remained calm as always, almost arrogantly relaxed.
While signing documents, he added indifferently without even glancing up:
—But crossing the line would be troublesome. Moderate yourself.
That was all.
No scolding. No shouting.
Yet Park Jinseop had clearly sensed killing intent within that cold voice.
‘A warning… yes, it must be a warning.’
Logically speaking, Shin Gyuhwan had no intention of removing him.
After all, Park’s Wide-Area Agitation ability allowed him to send soldiers to the deadly Northern Front.
The commander likely only meant for him to cut ties with Guro Foundry and manage supply quality properly.
But Park Jinseop could not do that.
He had already stepped far too deep.
The rebates and slush funds he had collected had long passed any reasonable level.
If Kang Cheolmin began auditing—
It would not end with a few cases of supply corruption.
Embezzlement, falsified accounts, even incidents where he had covered up operational failures.
Everything would unravel like a chain of sweet potatoes.
And once that happened, losing his uniform would only be a matter of time.
“No… losing the uniform would be the lucky outcome.”
All the rivals he had crushed and trampled on his way to this position would bare their teeth and come for him.
His life itself would be in danger.
“Damn it… and the audit is being led by Kang Cheolmin, of all people?”
His pride felt crushed.
He had always dismissed that rigid fool.
Now that same man held the leash around his neck.
He could not sit and wait to be destroyed.
‘Before the audit begins… I have to overturn the board.’
The mysterious killer known as the Bomber.
Those weapons he supplied were giving Kang Cheolmin wings.
If the Bomber disappeared, Kang Cheolmin would lose his lifeline.
That way, Guro Foundry would survive.
And so would he.
Park Jinseop crushed out his cigarette with a trembling hand and pulled out a red emergency phone hidden deep inside his desk drawer.
Ring… ring…
After a short signal, a rough voice answered.
“What is it at this hour?”
It was Choi Manseok, the factory director of Guro Foundry.
Park Jinseop clenched the receiver with gritted teeth.
Did this man not even understand what was happening?
“Choi Manseok. I trusted you, and you stabbed me in the back?”
“What? Colonel, what do you mean—”
“You delivered shipments without inspecting the defect rate! I covered for you and helped grow your business, and this is how you repay me? You couldn’t even avoid putting a knife to my throat!”
Silence fell on the other end of the line.
Choi Manseok had clearly realized the situation was serious.
“The Supreme Commander has drawn his blade. Kang Cheolmin has been appointed auditor. If the audit begins, your factory shuts down too. Understand? If you want to live… eliminate the Bomber immediately.”
“The Bomber? You mean the guy causing trouble around Mapo these days?”
Park Jinseop nearly choked on his own breath.
He knew Yoon Imsu was the core of the organization, but he had not expected the factory director himself to be so ignorant.
“Yes. Once he disappears, Kang Cheolmin loses his power. The military supply monopoly goes back to you.”
A low voice came from the receiver.
It sounded as if Choi Manseok was asking someone nearby for clarification.
A moment later, he replied.
“Understood. That man has been a headache for us too.”
“Handle it properly. If you fail, we both die.”
“Don’t worry. But Colonel.”
“What?”
“We don’t know the Bomber’s exact location. Lend us the military’s reconnaissance capability.”
Park Jinseop frowned.
They wanted him to move troops under the Supreme Commander’s nose?
“Are you insane? It’s audit season! If I move troops, I’ll get caught immediately!”
“We’re trying, but we can’t track him. If we want to deal with him quickly, we need help.”
Park Jinseop bit his lip.
If Guro Foundry failed, he was finished as well.
The irritation rising in his chest was unbearable, but he had no choice.
“…Fine. I’ll pull some reconnaissance units under the excuse of training. But this is the last time. If you fail, I’ll bury you first.”
After hanging up, Park Jinseop sank into his chair.
His eyes trembled as he stared at the dark ceiling.
“Kang Cheolmin… let’s see whether you win or I do.”
Yeongdeungpo Times Square
The moment they entered the building, the bitter smell of metal and oil assaulted their noses.
Once the most glamorous shopping mall in Seoul, it had now transformed into a massive steel fortress.
The glass windows of luxury stores had been covered with thick steel plates.
Escalators constantly moved ammunition and supplies like conveyor belts.
“Tch. The smell gives me a headache every time I come here.”
Choi Manseok, owner of Guro Foundry, grimaced while covering his nose with a white silk handkerchief.
Black waste oil had splashed onto the tip of his shoes.
He rubbed them against the floor in disgust.
“Imsu. Order me a new pair of shoes when we leave. Italian ones.”
“…Understood.”
Yoon Imsu bowed his head while suppressing a sigh.
Italian shoes in this era?
They were hard enough to find, let alone have a place to wear them.
‘This man hasn’t changed before or after the collapse.’
Choi Manseok had the typical mentality of a small-business owner.
He only cared about squeezing his employees to fill his own pockets.
Rebuilding humanity was the last thing on his mind.
In fact, he often bragged that life had become easier after the world collapsed because his ability had become valuable.
His ability was Metal Liquefaction.
An A-Grade power that allowed him to melt and reshape any metal he touched like taffy.
Just like Kang Sinhyeok’s Disassembly, the core production line of Guro Foundry effectively began at his fingertips.
But the actual factory operations were handled by Yoon Imsu, who was not Awakened.
Material procurement.
Personnel management.
Negotiations with business partners.
Even maintaining connections with military figures like Park Jinseop.
Meanwhile, Choi Manseok spent his days indulging in luxury and pleasure, simply eating from the table that Yoon Imsu prepared.
‘No matter how filthy it is, I must endure.’
Yoon Imsu remained in this miserable life for one reason.
Awakening.
While operating Guro Foundry, he had begun to glimpse the secret of awakening.
It was not pure luck.
There seemed to be conditions that allowed awakening to occur.
But the awakening drugs leaked from the military had terrible side effects.
He had witnessed countless people die as their brains melted or blood vessels burst.
So he chose the orthodox path.
By standing behind the immense force that was Choi Manseok and running Guro Foundry, he would accumulate experience.
Eventually he would naturally cross the threshold of awakening.
But his body still showed no signs of awakening.
“Hey, look at those people. What a slum.”
Choi Manseok gestured toward the first-floor plaza.
Hundreds of tents filled the space.
It was a refugee settlement where families of disabled soldiers and veterans who had lost limbs in battle lived.
Children ran between piles of scrap metal.
Women cooked meals in communal kitchens.
Though shabby, the place carried a strange sense of vitality and order.
To Yoon Imsu, it looked less like a slum and more like life taking root in barren soil.
“That’s exactly why Steel Legion exists—to protect them.”
“Protect my ass. They’re just parasites eating food. Resources are wasted feeding those useless mouths.”
Choi Manseok spat contemptuously.
Yoon Imsu clenched his fists.
Responsibility was a word that did not exist for this man.
‘Just endure a little longer. Once I awaken…’
Then he could leave Guro Foundry.
He knew the truth.
If someone accumulated experience for a long time without awakening, it meant their potential was extremely high.
Just then—
Clank. Clank.
A massive shadow blocked their path.
A man whose arms had been replaced by crude hydraulic prosthetics.
It was Jipge, the field commander of Steel Legion.
“Director Choi. What brings you here? I thought you hated this place because of the smell.”
Hostility was clear in Jipge’s voice.
Choi Manseok snorted and stepped behind Yoon Imsu.
He clearly had no intention of speaking with someone so “dirty.”
Yoon Imsu quickly intervened.
“We came because there’s something important to discuss.”
“Manager Yoon. You’re always welcome. But why bring that man?”
“Well… this matter requires the director’s approval.”
Yoon Imsu smiled politely while glancing at Choi Manseok.
His eyes begged: Please don’t say anything stupid.
“Director, please relax your expression. We’re the ones asking for help.”
Choi Manseok reluctantly nodded.
But his gaze remained arrogant as he looked down at Jipge.
Yoon Imsu rubbed his forehead.
This man was truly hopeless.
‘Please… just don’t say anything stupid in front of the Sergeant.’
Following Jipge inside, they entered the vast Times Square Atrium.
It resembled both a training ground and a grotesque laboratory.
Takak! Takak!
The roar of a Gatling gun echoed as it fired toward the ceiling.
But the gun was not held by human hands.
Instead, it was welded onto a crude steel prosthetic arm.
Every time the weapon fired, recoil tore at the joint.
Blood and pus mixed together dripped from the connection point.
“Ghh…!”
The man’s face twisted in agony, yet he never released the trigger.
On the opposite wall, soldiers who had lost their legs climbed vertically like spiders.
Attached below their waists were four-legged walking prosthetics.
Each time the rusted hydraulic cylinders squealed, their bodies twisted grotesquely while scaling the wall.
They looked nothing like the sleek cyborgs from science-fiction films.
These were people who had forced machines into their bodies just to survive.
“Tsk. They look like animals. Who would want to live like that?”
Choi Manseok clicked his tongue and wiped his mouth with his handkerchief.
Jipge frowned but said nothing.
He already knew what kind of person the factory director was.
Yoon Imsu also said nothing.
Instead, he watched the soldiers training.
Each of them wore rusted military dog tags.
But their uniforms were so tattered that their original colors could no longer be identified.
Men who had devoted themselves to their country, lost limbs, and were ultimately abandoned by that same country.
Their eyes held no attachment to life.
Only burning hatred for the world that had done this to them.
Steel Legion hated both mutants and the military.
They were not strong because they had something to protect.
They were strong because they had nothing left to lose.
“Move aside.”
Following Jipge into the central hall, an overwhelming presence descended upon them.
Atop the wreckage of a frozen escalator sat a massive throne forged from melted scrap metal.
And upon it—
The ruler of Steel Legion.
Sergeant Kang Cheolwoo.
“….”
Yoon Imsu swallowed.
No matter how many times he saw it, he could not get used to the sight.
Kang Cheolwoo was closer to a tank than a human.
His lower body had completely fused with massive caterpillar tracks.
Thick exhaust pipes ran along his spine.
Hiss—
Each breath he took released white steam from the pipes.
An engine embedded in his chest rumbled in place of a heart.
One arm remained human.
The other had been replaced with a multiple rocket launcher.
A monstrous figure where machine and flesh had become indistinguishable.
Around him, subordinates attached IV lines.
One delivered narcotic painkillers.
Another pumped cooling liquid.
Hiss—
As coolant entered his body, steam rose while the intense heat dissipated.
A side effect of his Neural Integration trait.
Without cooling the overheated nervous system, his brain would burn from the pain.
It was a brutal survival mechanism.
‘He’s an incredible man.’