Chapter 27
Chapter 27
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: The Whereabouts of the Missing Executive Villains (1)
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◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "You need a spare hero suit?"
"Yes. It got torn during the operation."
Yoon Do-hwa had stopped by the Hero Union's support and administration office to pick up a spare hero suit provided by headquarters.
"Shall we make the new hero suit in the same design as the one you were using?"
"Yes, that should be fine."
The Hero Union's support division handled exactly what its name implied: supporting heroes in their activities.
From equipment used in the field to individual health management for each hero, periodic hero training sessions, and more—they took care of a wide range of tasks.
Suits and gear getting damaged was more common than one might think, so the support office always kept spares in various sizes on hand.
They also custom-made hero suits for each individual, providing them as a welfare benefit without charging a dime.
"Suit fabrication takes two days... Shall I prepare two or three sets to be safe?"
"One set should be enough."
"Got it. You can grab it from over there."
From a large doorway in the wall of the support office came a big metal case.
Do-hwa picked up the box containing the spare suit and left the support office.
"Hello!"
The place she headed to with the suit case was another office inside the support division.
"Oh! If it isn't Hero Ignition!"
"It's been a while!"
The middle-aged man sitting at the desk inside greeted Do-hwa with a beaming smile.
"Section Chief, you haven't aged a day."
"Ha! Don't sell me short—I'm not even twenty years older than you."
The man, who seemed to have trouble with his right leg and limped as he guided her to the table in front of his desk, chuckled.
He currently worked as the section chief of the Hero Union support division, but he was formerly an A-Rank Hero known as 'Spike'.
The limp in one leg was a lingering effect from a major accident during his active days.
Unable to fully recover through rehab after the incident, he had retired and taken an office job.
"How's that roommate of yours doing these days? I heard she's been out sick and skipping activities for a few days now."
The section chief asked about Ji-woo, her roommate in the Union dorms.
Do-hwa answered with a slightly downcast expression.
"She's always had a weak constitution since she was little.
Recently, she pushed herself too hard chasing performance metrics... I think that's what did it."
"Hmm... I see. Hope she recovers quickly."
The section chief nodded slowly and handed Do-hwa a cup of tea.
"So, what's the reason you called me here in person after all this time?"
"Oh, right! I almost forgot. Haha."
Scratching his head with an awkward laugh, the section chief pulled out a tablet and showed the screen to Do-hwa.
The screen displayed photos of the collapsed Dark Knights hideout building and images of organization members captured during the previous operation.
"I remember you were deployed for that operation too, right?"
Do-hwa flinched for a split second upon seeing one photo among the dozens.
Beyond the section chief's hand flipping through the images was an extremely familiar back view.
The face was obscured by a mask, but the tall stature and sturdy build were unmistakably Ha Si-yoon from his days as Combatant No. 505.
"Yes. I was dispatched on the first day of the operation."
Do-hwa kept her expression perfectly neutral as she peered at the photo and nodded in response to the section chief's question.
"Most of the villain grunts and a few executives were killed or captured in that operation, but the key figures had already fled."
By the time Si-yoon had rushed to the command room in the hideout to request reinforcements, everyone had already escaped, leaving the place deserted.
In villain organizations, mid-level executives typically stepped up to handle cleanup in such situations.
But the Dark Knights case was quite unusual.
The members the deployed heroes encountered were almost all lowly combat grunts, commanded by low-tier executives.
They hadn't even gotten a proper glimpse of the Leader Kaiser, the heart of the organization, or his direct subordinates.
"We've gathered some intel from spies and additional hero deployments, but if we don't act fast, it'll get harder to take them down."
"I suppose so."
"That's why I want you to take charge of this case."
The section chief opened a small box on his desk and placed a tiny chip from inside onto the table.
"This chip contains the intel we've acquired. You've used one before, right?"
Conventional storage like USBs posed a risk of leaks, so they used special secure devices that only authorized personnel could access.
Heroes could insert them into slots on their special terminals, like SD or USIM cards, to view the data.
"It's small, so don't drop it or it'll break easily. Keep it safe."
- Knock knock.
As Do-hwa received the chip and slotted it into her terminal case, there was a knock at the office door.
"Perfect timing! Come on in!"
- Creak.
"Hello, Support Division Section Chief Yu Seong-hwan."
"Good to see you. Have a seat."
A woman with silver hair swaying as she walked in with crisp footsteps, her cool demeanor unchanged.
Dressed in a neat semi-formal suit, she lightly settled onto the sofa and exchanged greetings with the section chief.
"Let me introduce you. This is A-Rank Hero Ignition. A lively, hot-blooded hero."
"Hello!"
Do-hwa greeted her with a bright smile.
"And this is A-Rank Hero Ice Queen. A very professional type."
"Nice to meet you. Looking forward to working together."
A-Rank Hero 'Ice Queen' Seol Lu-mi stood briefly from the sofa and bowed to Do-hwa with an expressionless face.
"I figured wrapping this up solo might be too much, so I assigned a capable hero to assist you."
"Understood."
Lu-mi nodded without a flicker of emotion and took the chip from the section chief, slotting it into her terminal.
'This person... I can't sense any emotion in her speech or actions at all.'
Do-hwa felt a chill just watching Lu-mi's utterly emotionless words and movements—not even a hint of facial change.
"Have you covered everything you needed to convey?"
"We're just seeing faces today, so that's it."
"I'll take my leave then."
Lu-mi gave the section chief a mechanical salute and exited the office with impeccable posture.
"Haha. Even I flinch every time I see her."
Once Lu-mi was gone, the section chief laughed heartily and shared a few tidbits about her.
"Ice Queen... She wasn't always so rigid and robotic, you know.
She had her energetic phases too, just like you."
"What happened?"
"Can't go into details. She hates when people bring it up.
Honestly, even I only know the rumors."
Lu-mi's mechanical demeanor hinted at some backstory, but even the section chief didn't know the full story.
Since she didn't want tales about herself spread around, those in the know kept quiet, even if they suspected or knew something.
"Unless it's an emergency dispatch, you won't get any call-ups from today until the mission's done.
Rest up till then."
"Yes, sir!"
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "I'm back!"
It was late morning, the sun not yet high in the sky.
Do-hwa, who had received her mission briefing from the support division section chief, returned home early.
"Sis! What's up? You're back so early."
Ji-woo welcomed Do-hwa, who had returned half a day earlier than usual.
"There's a good reason. I brought some huge intel."
"Huge intel? Did you bring back another bitch to offer Master?"
Do-hwa set the metal case with the spare hero suit down by the sofa and pulled the small chip from the section chief out of her terminal pouch.
"Oh? What's this? Already off work?"
Si-yoon, who had come out of the bathroom into the living room, greeted Do-hwa, surprised she was back so soon.
"Master! I have something to show you."
"What is it? Good info?"
As Do-hwa slotted the chip into the side of her terminal, the screen displayed: 'File downloaded.'
"It's info on that organization you used to be part of."
"The one I was in before... You mean the Dark Knights?"
Do-hwa pressed a round button on the side of the terminal, and a long antenna-like rod popped out from the top.
She clicked the button again and turned on the TV mounted on the living room wall, bringing up a screen rapidly listing the downloaded data from the chip.
"Press this button on the side to scroll through slowly."
Do-hwa handed the terminal to Si-yoon.
"The commander of my old combat unit... even info on the high-ranking executives is all here?"