Chapter 59
Chapter 59
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: A New Master for District 1
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The group, a mix of men and women, were all dressed in black and held ski masks in their hands.
Nova, looking as if he'd been expecting them, first did a headcount before opening a large duffel bag.
“Here. Your advance.”
He then handed them bundles of cash.
“This is the advance?”
“Where are we going today that you're paying double?”
With bewildered expressions, they fiddled with the heavy wads of cash that had just been placed in their hands.
“Things are going to be fun every day for a while, starting today. I guarantee it.”
After returning to Korea, Nova had been living more quietly than others expected.
To be precise, he *seemed* to be living quietly.
After meeting the new Eun Haon a few times, he immediately knew what he had to do.
The people before him were short-term mercenaries Nova periodically hired for the ‘job.’
Quiet, cunning work required him to be constantly on the move, so he couldn't visit Haon often, but that didn't matter.
It was time to pick up the pace and wrap things up.
“Today, we’re hitting Cue's logistics warehouse first.”
At Nova's words, they all exchanged surprised glances, then willingly pulled on their masks and boarded the prepared truck.
They were all members of the gang belonging to Cue, the boss of District 1.
They had no hesitation in raiding a place that was practically the financial lifeline of their own gang.
Because Nova always paid them much more than Cue did.
Cue's large logistics warehouse was cleaned out in an instant.
The gang members, who knew the warehouse layout inside and out, cleaned out even the secret compartment within the secret safe.
Currently, Cue's gang was in a very precarious position in the Old District.
No one knew that Nova had played a big part in making it so.
‘I didn't tell them to blow it up along with the smuggling ship. To think they even blew up the ship. How commendable.’
Nova had recruited a few of Cue's underlings with potions he had stolen from gang members in other districts.
He had tasked them with dropping the smuggling ship's cargo into the sea, pretending there was a problem with the crane, but a variable had emerged.
One of them, not wanting to share the potions, downed all seven bottles himself, and for some reason, his body erupted in a massive explosion.
Nova, who was watching from a corner of the pier, cheered, while Cue lost his smuggled goods and his ship without knowing why.
That was when the already teetering District 1 gang began to seriously decline.
Now, they were at a point where they could barely maintain the gang only by putting up for auction all the precious metals that had just arrived at the warehouse, along with Cue's numerous personal jewels.
Of course, now that the logistics warehouse was empty, there was no way for Cue to save his gang.
All that was left was an incompetent boss with nothing but his Awakening ability, and a disloyal, disgruntled crew.
A precarious tower that would collapse with the slightest touch.
It was obvious it would have messily collapsed within two years even if left alone, but Nova added a subtle touch.
At this rate, Cue's gang would soon collapse completely.
And it would appear solely as a decline brought on by the boss's incompetence.
This ‘game’ of Nova's, which had started for fun, now had a clear reason.
‘It's time for a new master to take over District 1.’
* * *
A few days later, Haon heard two pieces of news from Chacha, who had come to visit the lab.
That Ghost had returned to Hero Headquarters, and that more than half of Cue's underlings had deserted the gang.
“I thought they'd last another two years, but it looks like they couldn't even make it past one. They'll be gone soon.”
At Chacha's words, Haon rubbed her sleepy eyes and asked.
“Does that mean the villains will start fighting each other to take over District 1?”
“That's what'll happen. The Old District gangs will have their eyes peeled to grab another district, and new gangs will probably form too.”
“The Heroes will be busy, then. Juyeol just got back, too. He's going to have a hard time…”
Haon, having spoken the thought that came to her out of habit, clamped her mouth shut.
Chacha and Bani sighed at the awkward atmosphere and deliberately spoke lightly.
“Don't let Ghost stab you in the back. You should change the access permissions for the other floors.”
“That's right. And check if he hid any tracking devices or bugs.”
The two of them grumbled that you couldn't trust Heroes anyway.
Even after Juyeol left, Haon had kept his access permissions as they were.
She felt that if she got rid of even that, the existence of Woo Juyeol would disappear from her life completely.
“...It's not like he'll come anyway, so what's the point.”
As soon as she answered, Haon felt as if she had wounded herself and stared blankly down at her phone.
Unable to bear the lengthening silence, Bani spoke up.
“I'm a little scared that the chaos might spread to District 2, where Chacha and I live.”
Only then did Haon's expression seem to return to reality.
“If you're scared, do you want to stay here? The penthouse is spacious.”
Chacha chuckled at Haon's words.
“Nah, we're good. No one will be interested in District 2.”
“Why? Is it because they're scared of Halla?”
“It's more that the identity of District 1's treasure has been revealed.”
“Treasure? There's something like that?”
“Each district has a trophy that's passed down, and District 1's is known to be a jewel.”
Haon tilted her head, looking curious.
To think they keep the jewel from the defeated gang instead of displaying or selling it.
It seemed that trophies held great significance here.
“They say it's a massive diamond. I heard it was a sapphire, but that must have been a false rumor.”
“...!”
Haon immediately cast aside the questions she'd had until a moment ago, her eyes widening.
A massive diamond!
“H-how big is it?”
“Look at you. I thought you said you had no interest in playing gangster, but now you're suddenly intrigued?”
“I'm interested in the diamond, not the gang.”
Chacha mulled over the things she'd overheard at the pub before answering.
“It's probably about the size of that fist-sized diamond you said you wanted.”
That's it!
Haon almost clapped her hands without realizing it.
She had finally found out where to find a diamond large enough to make a Dimension Prism.
The only problem was...
“Is the only way to get it to become the boss of District 1?”
“Pretty much.”
“Cue's in a bad spot these days, so wouldn't he need the money?”
“He can never sell that diamond. The trophy is a symbol of honor. If he's caught selling it off, Cue will end up on every villain's hit list.”
“If I bought it from him privately and quietly, would anyone know?”
“Yeah, right. The new boss who takes over District 1 will just turn a blind eye to an empty safe.”
“Hmm...”
After some thought, Haon cautiously asked.
“I'll help you, so how about you become the boss of District 1, Chacha? I'll buy the diamond. I won't even put it on the market.”
“Are you crazy? I have enough trouble taking care of myself. How am I supposed to look after everyone living in District 1?”
As Chacha recoiled in disgust, Haon's eyebrows drooped.
“Can't you just sell me the diamond and give District 1 back to Cue?”
“Why have you gotten so naive? You have to kill Cue to take over District 1.”
‘Isn't that too extreme? Why do they have to go that far?’
Haon's thoughts must have been written all over her face, because Chacha snickered.
“They can declare surrender and hand over the trophy, but they'll be killed anyway. That's how you avoid loose ends.”
“Is that so...”
“Have you thought about becoming the boss yourself? You could get the diamond legitimately.”
“But then, I don't think Hero Headquarters would leave me alone like they do now...”
“Of course they wouldn't.”
Haon sighed, her face crestfallen.
‘Ah. I really need that thing.’
There are only a few fist-sized diamonds in the world. Even the terrorists had stolen a large diamond from Equatorial Guinea to create that massive Dimension Gate.
‘Can't I just make Cue look like he's dead for a bit, or persuade him?’
She was deep in thought.
* * *
Nova stood in an alley in the Old District, humming a tune.
It was the darkest hour just before dawn, and even his pure white hair looked black.
In the darkness, the pure-white villain recalled a face paler and more translucent than his own hair.
‘The problem is that she's in a place that's too bright.’
Nova took a large sapphire from his coat.
Held like a ball in the pitch-blackness, it looked like a worthless stone.
When he clenched his fist, deep blue sand poured out from between his fingers.
The sapphire dust, scattered in the jet-black night, couldn't emit any light and simply assimilated into the darkness, disappearing.
‘It doesn't matter anymore. I'm going to drag her down to where I can reach her.’
Nova shouldered the bazooka he had received as a gift from ‘Eun Haon.’
The muzzle was aimed at a Hero's safe house.
‘To do that, first...’
With a handsome smile, Nova pulled the trigger. A succession of rockets flew toward the building's exterior wall.
BOOM! BOOM! RUMBLE—.
A roar echoed with a vibration strong enough to shake the ground, and a thick cloud of dust spread through the air.
‘A sanctuary without me. Something like that shouldn't exist.’
He was disappointed as he looked at the utterly collapsed safe house.
He had expected Eun Haon to have prepared some flashy protective measures for that house too, but even so, for a building smashed by a bazooka, the debris was quite large.
‘He might not be dead. But it doesn't matter.’
Nova turned away with a refreshed expression.
‘Have I gotten soft from seeing her so much? I've really toned it down. To think I'd let off steam with something this... cute.’
Where he had stood, the dawn began to break.
The sapphire dust that had settled in the cracks of the rubble glittered brilliantly before scattering with the wind.