Chapter 102: The Fixer's Shadow
Thud thud!
Someone knocked on Zeon's door.
He opened it to find Mandy standing there.
"Come in."
"Did you sleep well?"
"Like a rock."
"Good to hear."
Mandy sat down in a chair.
In her hand was a thick stack of papers that looked freshly printed.
"Is that it?"
Mandy handed the bundle to Zeon.
"You'll see when you read it, but he's a real pain in the ass."
"Someone with pull?"
"Someone favored by a big shot."
"A headache of an existence, then."
"Exactly."
Zeon read the document Mandy had printed out.
It detailed Tajik's background in full.
Tajik's Profile
Subordinate of Shaorun, the overlord of the South District.
Official Title: Head of Condor SSC.
Affiliated Companies: Security services, monster processing, chemical dyes.
Role: Fixer for illicit operations.
"Shaorun's underling? The South District's overlord Shaorun?"
"That's right."
"Not just some big shot, then."
"Yep! One of the top five powerhouses in Neo Seoul."
This went beyond mere "big shot" territory.
Shaorun wasn't just an S-rank Awakener himself—he commanded S- and A-rank Awakeners under him.
They had the firepower to wipe out an entire colony outside Neo Seoul in seconds.
Tajik was one of the pawns Shaorun wielded.
His official title was "Head of Condor SSC."
"SSC?"
"Security Service Company—a private security firm."
"Security services. Sounds vague as hell."
"Perfect for sticking their fingers in all sorts of pies."
"So Condor SSC means Tajik runs this security outfit?"
"Spot on. He oversees a few smaller outfits too, but SSC is his real power base."
Zeon stroked his chin with a finger as he flipped through the pages.
"Security services, monster processing plants, chemical dye companies. All perfect for dirty work. Looks like Tajik's the go-to fixer."
"Whoa! You nailed it right off the bat."
Mandy let out an involuntary gasp of admiration.
She was stunned by Zeon's insight.
Just as he said, Tajik was Shaorun's fixer.
The companies under him were tailored for his operations.
Security firms let him embed Awakeners under the guise of jobs. Monster processing hid slush funds. Chemical dyes covered up any hazardous materials.
All ideal for underhanded schemes.
That was how Zeon pieced it together.
He turned to the last pages.
They listed the companies' current statuses in detail.
Mandy spoke up.
"That's the best I could dig up. Push any further, and Shaorun or Tajik will catch on."
"This is plenty."
Whoosh!
Flames erupted from Zeon's hand, incinerating the documents in an instant.
"So what now? As you saw, Tajik's got Shaorun backing him. Screw this up, and the whole slum gets razed."
As Eloi, Mandy feared nothing—but even she dreaded Shaorun, the South District's tyrant.
The market lord Jin Geum-ho went without saying, but the district overlords were ancient monsters who'd survived decades.
Their personal power was unfathomable, and they'd built vast forces under them.
They were Neo Seoul, in a way.
Challenging them was like diving unarmed into an S-rank monster's maw.
Even Eloi was crazy, but not that crazy.
Zeon told her,
"I have no plans to make an enemy of Shaorun."
"For real?"
"Of course."
Despite Zeon's straightforward reply, she still looked uneasy.
"Sigh! Whatever. Do what you want. That settles our debt."
"Got it."
"I'm out."
Mandy stood up.
Zeon saw her off, then sat back down.
The document's contents were etched perfectly in his mind.
"Shaorun was using the Crocodiles for smuggling. When I wiped them out, his route dried up. Now he's looking to recruit me or take me out as a replacement."
That much he'd learned from the Inazuma raid team.
Tajik was the one pulling the strings.
Leave him be, and the fallout would be endless.
That was why Zeon had entered Neo Seoul.
He walked to the window and gazed out over the city.
"Hm."
Condor SSC was located on the outskirts of Neo Seoul's South District.
As a dispatching firm for personnel, its headquarters weren't massive.
What passed for HQ was a modest warehouse with a few offices tacked on.
Being on the outskirts allowed for such a space; downtown, it'd be unthinkable.
Tajik sat in his office atop the Condor SSC building—the highest point.
From here, he had a clear view of the warehouse interior.
They kept the warehouse format not for lack of funds, but because it was operationally convenient.
Inside the warehouse, low-rank Awakeners were training.
They'd recreated a Neo Seoul street for infiltration drills.
Most trainees were D- or E-rank.
"Cast the skill again!"
"Is that your limit, you worthless shits? Squeeze every drop— that's how you amp the power!"
"Watch your mana distribution, you birdbrains!"
The instructors drove them mercilessly.
Most instructors were C-rank—higher than the trainees, with far more experience. That's why they were pulled for this duty.
"Excellent."
Tajik looked down with satisfaction.
Fifty Awakeners in total.
Once hardened by this hell, they'd ship out as elites to Shaorun's companies.
Shaorun's power would solidify further—and so would Tajik's.
"Heh. The real heart's underground."
He took the elevator down to the warehouse basement.
The underground matched the surface in scale—a vast expanse.
Partitioned strictly into sealed sections.
Each housed research too sensitive for the outside world.
Tajik headed to the deepest lab.
Behind the glass, forbidden experiments were underway.
A man lay strapped to an operating table.
Tubes snaked into his body, pumping in unidentified fluids.
As the volume increased, so did his agony.
His muscles bulged grotesquely, veins popping like they might burst.
That he was still alive was miraculous.
Tajik asked the researchers,
"How's progress?"
"Some results, but we can't push further."
"Why?"
"The drug quality. This batch has too many issues."
"As expected..."
"The old supplier's stuff was better—human blood base, low side effects, perfect for tests. Any chance of getting it back?"
"Just wait. They're working hard on it."
"Mm! Nail this, and we could force-awaken normals. Mass-produce Awakeners like factory pots."
Tajik nodded at the researcher's words.
The project stemmed from the Crocodiles' drugs.
High purity, specially refined to burst human potential.
They'd weaponized it into an awakener serum for instant boosts.
Researchers wondered: why not normals too? And so the secret project began.
Test subjects were kidnapped from the slums—no public traces.
The Crocodiles had handled procurement.
Useful in many ways. Their absence stung.
That was why Tajik was sizing up Zeon.
"Plenty of power, but he won't listen easy."
Inazuma wasn't pushovers.
He wasn't naive enough to buy that they'd just missed the dungeon exit timing.
"He buried them somehow, no doubt."
Problem was, dungeon incidents left no traces of how.
So Zeon's exact power level stayed murky.
"Simplest way: check his rank badge. But he won't show it willingly..."
Forcing it meant limited options.
The slums had their own order—hard to muscle in.
Luckily, Dokkaebi Market worked this time, but no guarantees next.
"Guess I have to move myself."
Tajik muttered as he left the lab.
The moment he was gone—
Swish!
Sand trickled in through the vent.
The research wing was tightly secured.
Vents had filters and traps against intruders.
Not a drop of water, let alone sand, should slip through.
This much sand should've triggered alarms—but everything stayed silent.
The pile on the floor writhed like a living thing, then formed a human shape.
A Sand Soldier.
Only Zeon on Earth could craft soldiers from sand.
Zeon had infiltrated via vent sand, then manifested the soldier.
Distance and depth strained control, but he held it.
Through the Sand Soldier, Zeon observed the lab.
'Forced awakening via drugs. Mess this up, and Neo Seoul and the slums will overflow with subpar Awakeners.'
Drugs alone harmed humans—but allied with greed, the results would be horrific.
The research was still early-stage.
Crocodile supply cut stalled it.
Resume that, and it'd accelerate.
Zeon frowned slightly via the Sand Soldier.
'Briel's the issue.'
Soul-bound, he couldn't abandon her.
He had to keep her abilities hidden.
'Best to cut the link for now.'
Zeon murmured softly and recalled the Sand Soldier.
It dissolved to sand and exited via vent.
Zeon stood in a dark alley far from the vent. The sand surged toward him like a wave.
His subspace yawned open.
The sand flowed in seamlessly.
Zeon's subspace wasn't filled with monster corpses or items.
Sand.
Over half was orange sand.
Not a grain remained outside as the subspace sealed.
Zeon muttered while closing it.
'How to wipe it out...'