Chapter 43
Chapter 43
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: A Dangerous Negotiation
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At a pier in Incheon, a deserted, abandoned warehouse district.
Having arrived, Do-jae checked the photo in the text message again.
‘Vile bastards.’
The photo showed Do-jae's younger brother, Lee Do-young, crying.
Behind him were container warehouses and the sea, and next to Do-young, the legs of several men in black suits were visible.
‘He doesn't look hurt.’
Fortunately, there were no signs of a beating.
He wasn't blindfolded, gagged, or tied up.
However, a sharp knife was pointed at his brother's neck.
To kidnap a mere elementary school student and threaten to kill him.
Do-jae's anger surged.
‘If they do anything to Do-young…’
Do-jae vowed to punish them using every means and method he possessed and knew.
Having lived solely for his younger brother, his fury did not easily subside.
No, anyone would find it impossible to endure if their family were in such a situation.
But a vow was a vow.
"Hoo..."
Do-jae let out a long breath in front of the warehouse.
He was worried about Do-young, but he couldn't act rashly on emotion.
‘I've seen many hunters die to monsters weaker than them because they were swayed by their emotions.’
In battle, emotions can be a good motivator, but intense feelings cloud one's judgment.
This situation was very different from fighting a monster, but a person's life was still on the line.
With his brother's life being threatened, he needed to maintain his composure and think rationally.
‘Jang Ji-woo… Suppression Corps Intelligence Command, MID, 1st Shadow Unit…’
Do-jae recalled the man who had been surveilling and had attacked him a few days ago.
He belonged to a special unit he had never heard of, called MID.
Now this secret organization was repeatedly targeting the people around him.
But his opponent was a secret organization within the Suppression Corps, a group whose size and scale were unknown.
*Step-.*
Just then, a man in a black suit appeared before Do-jae.
Do-jae, on high alert, suppressed his inner rage and asked.
"Where is my brother?"
The man stared at Do-jae for a moment, then gestured without a word.
He then walked deep into the space between the warehouses.
Realizing the man was merely a guide, Do-jae began to follow him.
‘Their target isn't Do-young. It's definitely me.’
Do-jae thought as he followed the man.
Do-young is just a hostage.
Judging from the photo, they were only threatening him; there was nothing physically wrong with Do-young.
In other words, he was just a means to lure Do-jae out. Do-young's existence itself held little meaning for them.
‘No, rather than me, it must be *that*.’
Do-jae thought of an item in his subspace.
A half-sphere.
‘Sealed Memory of the Left Foot.’
MID's objective was undoubtedly this half-sphere.
Do-jae had learned about the Transcendence Stone while training with Kim Hwan-soo.
Before this Sealed Memory of the Left Foot was split in half, MID had apparently named the complete version the 'Transcendence Stone' and used it to evolve the abilities of ordinary Awakeners by several levels.
However, half of this Transcendence Stone had been leaked and ended up in Do-jae's hands. MID, knowing he possessed it, had lured him out using Do-young.
‘Let's think calmly.’
At least until Do-jae made contact with MID, nothing would happen to Do-young.
Otherwise, his value as a hostage would diminish.
The problem was what came next.
‘If I don't hand over the Transcendence Stone…’
They would surely try to take it by force.
A fight would break out, and MID would never be able to take the Sealed Memory of the Left Foot from him.
How could they possibly take something that was inside his subspace?
But then he couldn't guarantee Do-young's life.
What if they decided to kill Do-young out of desperation?
Likewise, what if an Awakener stronger than him appeared and killed him?
He was severely lacking in information.
‘I need help.’
Do-jae realized he needed an ally.
A powerful Awakener.
An Awakener as strong as him, or even stronger.
*Tap-.*
*Tatatatak-.*
Several faces came to mind.
One of them settled in his thoughts.
Without taking his eyes off the man, Do-jae busily moved one of his hands.
And, when the man wasn't looking, he quietly took out a golem and hid it between the warehouses.
***
*Clang-.*
*Rumble-.*
The deepest part of the warehouse district.
The man opened the door to a large warehouse located right next to the sea.
Even though it was past noon, the inside of the unlit warehouse was dark and gloomy.
Only thin rays of sunlight filtering through small windows on the outer walls sparsely illuminated the interior.
‘One, two, three… ten, eleven. Eleven of them.’
As he entered the warehouse, Do-jae counted silently.
The dark warehouse seemed empty, but he had read the distinct presences of Awakeners within.
The Nerves of the Golem made such a thing possible.
*Thump- thump-.*
A man emerged from the darkness.
Unlike the previous man in a suit, this one was dressed in casual clothes and had an ordinary appearance.
"Thank you for coming."
The man had a truly peculiar face.
It was a completely unremarkable face, the kind you would forget the moment you turned away, with no striking features.
Even his expression was so devoid of emotion that it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.
Aside from a relatively recent-looking scar under his eyebrow, his skin was clear.
"My brother?"
What the man's face looked like was unimportant to Do-jae.
Do-jae stated only his essential purpose.
"Ah, please don't worry. Your brother is safe nearby."
*Grit-.*
Just as I thought.
Do-jae had expected this.
That they wouldn't show him his brother right away.
Unless they were fools, they wouldn't reveal his brother so easily until they had achieved their goal.
Do-jae maximized the Nerves of the Golem.
The man's words that he was nearby.
He extended the Nerves of the Golem all around, beginning his search.
"First, let me apologize. I am sorry for resorting to such drastic measures to bring you here, Mr. Lee Do-jae. This was not the direction we wanted to take either."
The man bowed his head to Do-jae.
But Do-jae's expression didn't change as he spoke.
"Do you think that apology is appropriate right now?"
Hearing the man's words, Do-jae found it even more incomprehensible.
An intelligence organization was acting like a bunch of common thugs.
If they had tried to negotiate in a more planned and gentlemanly manner, Do-jae might have understood to some extent, but this had crossed the line.
Do-jae usually spoke respectfully to everyone, but he couldn't bring himself to do so with such low-class individuals.
"Yes, I know. Apologizing after kidnapping a child. It's absurd. But our boss wanted this handled quickly."
"Must be tough, having a superior who orders things done this way."
"Haha, what can you do? When they say jump, you jump, right? More importantly, why don't we sit and talk for a moment? If we can just communicate well, this will all end without incident."
As the man finished speaking, men in black suits emerged from the darkness.
They took positions, forming a circle around the man and Do-jae.
It was an undeniable threat.
*Thud-.*
One of the men appeared from somewhere with a desk and chairs.
He placed them between Do-jae and the man, then rejoined the formation.
*Scrape-.*
"Now, have a seat."
The man sat down and gestured for Do-jae to do the same.
But Do-jae had no desire to sit.
It was because starting a fight while standing would allow him to react even a fraction of a second faster than starting from a seated position.
One might think it's just a matter of sitting and standing, but with men of this caliber, they could launch a devastating attack in that brief moment.
Do-jae remained standing and replied.
"There's only one thing for us to talk about. Kim Soo-kyung, get to the point. Is it the Transcendence Stone I have that you want?"
For the first time, a significant change appeared on the man's face.
His eyes widened to twice their normal size, and his closed mouth fell slightly open.
But in an instant, his expression returned to normal.
"Hmm. So you know who I am? Then you must know about our organization as well... That's right. If you return the half of the Transcendence Stone, we will safely escort Mr. Lee Do-jae's brother to a hospital."
Do-jae sat down and used the Eye of the Golem to check Kim Soo-kyung.
As expected, Kim Soo-kyung was indeed from MID, and with the mention of the Transcendence Stone, Do-jae's predictions had hit the mark.
From now on, it was Do-jae's choice.
Would he obediently hand over the Sealed Memory of the Left Foot and get his brother back, or would he eliminate all of them here and find his brother, who was somewhere nearby?
But neither option came with a guarantee.
He could give them the Sealed Memory of the Left Foot only to not get his brother back, suffer a major blow from their attack, or even be continuously exploited with his brother as leverage.
So, Do-jae decided to play hardball.
He deliberately mentioned Kim Soo-kyung's name to rattle him.
It was only for a fleeting moment, but Kim Soo-kyung's expression had changed, and Do-jae began to speak, adding a bit more bluff to his words.
"I have no intention of giving you the Transcendence Stone. Kim Soo-kyung, you shouldn't have come here yourself. If you do anything to my brother, your family won't have it easy either."
"...Why is the conversation heading in this direction? This could all end easily if you just give us the Transcendence Stone..."
"To negotiate with someone who uses family as a hostage, I have to do the same. I don't know how much you know about me, but you must know I can control golems, right? A few of my golems are on their way to your family right now. And Song Ji-ho, Yoo Gwang-jin, Im Mu-seok, Choi Rak-hoon..."
Do-jae looked around at the men in black suits and called out their names.
As Do-jae called their names, some of them even flinched.
"If anything happens to my brother, your families won't be safe either."
"Hmph..."
Now, it was Kim Soo-kyung who was feeling the heat.
The advantage had, for the moment, shifted to Do-jae.
However, his brother's safety was not yet certain.
The Nerves of the Golem had managed to pinpoint his brother's location.
But next to his brother was another, powerful presence.
He couldn't predict who would be stronger—the golem he had summoned or that presence.
Just because he had the upper hand didn't mean he could act recklessly.
"It seems this was a complete miscalculation on our part..."
Kim Soo-kyung's face completely crumpled.
There was no longer any need to maintain the poker face he had held.
"Bring my brother here. Right now."
Kim Soo-kyung looked at one of the men in black suits and nodded.
The man in the black suit instantly vanished into the darkness.
How many minutes passed in the chilling silence?
A voice thick with tears echoed through the warehouse.
"Big brother!"