Chapter 148
Chapter 148
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 148
Chapter Title: The Greatsword's Judgment
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I've already thought about what to do with this guy if the experiment failed.
His eyes, swirling with hatred, rage, and jealousy, glared up at me.
I stroked his head while prying the massive greatsword from his grip.
― Kkiiiaaaaa!
In that instant, a piercing shriek stabbed into my mind. The wails of the fetuses sacrificed to this blade.
"Shh, be good now. I'll let you do what you've always wanted."
I gently caressed the greatsword with my hand, then gripped it firmly with both.
"W-What... what are you going to do?"
"I'm going to kill you with this greatsword."
I eyed his head and slowly raised the blade. The nonstop screams rampaging in my skull quieted down.
And the greatsword trembled low with excitement.
"See this? The fetuses trapped inside, dying by this blade—they're looking forward to it."
Fetuses normally can't think properly. But even so, every single one trapped in this sword instinctively craved one thing.
"Don't! Damn it, get away! I just wanted to get stronger!"
"I know. And you failed. Failure comes with a price."
I smiled.
"How many souls are trapped in this greatsword? Hundreds? Thousands? I didn't kill them myself, so I'm not sure. But you know, don't you?"
The greatsword swung down over his head, its edge cleaving through his skull.
Thud. The severed head rolled across the floor, and blood gushed from the bloated, headless corpse.
"Go have a good time with the kids. The countless fetal souls you slaughtered are waiting desperately inside the blade for your soul to join them."
What those tormented fetuses wanted from him sure as hell wasn't rattle toys.
Who knows—maybe if he grovels hard enough, the trapped fetuses will forgive him?
I'd just handed his soul over to them. Forgiveness wasn't my call.
"Looks like we've got everything we need."
Jeong Oh-hoon hauled in several large boxes, all stuffed with those problematic black stones.
"God, I wonder where the hell they got all these."
Han Sang-ah flicked a USB drive my way. I caught it and pocketed it as I asked her,
"How'd it go? Find anything good?"
She gave a vaguer answer than I'd expected.
"Sort of, but we'll probably need more digging."
"Too bad—we're out of time for extra investigations."
Job's done, so a few days' rest at the hotel, then prep to take down Gonzalo.
No more time to get tangled in black market drama.
"Grandpa won't be happy."
"We can't ignore Gonzalo just to keep your grandpa happy. If he's got complaints, tell him to go block Gonzalo himself."
You can catch people by swinging cash like a sword, not monsters. As Han Sang-ah pulled out her smartphone, I quickly added,
"No, don't actually say that. Gonzalo's just the top priority, that's all."
I had tons of questions about these black stones and their ties to the Korean government. I was game for more digging.
But with corpses occupying Beijing possibly slapping Korea next, this had to wait.
"Got it."
While Han Sang-ah called Chairman Han Sang-cheol, I rang Lee Se-eun.
― What? Everything okay? Staying put? Or should I break your arm!
Bold words, followed by a massive explosion over the line. Still in the thick of it.
"Need backup?"
― Nah, almost done... Uh-oh!
A pained scream, then a man's voice yelling My arm! My arm!
Snapped it after all? Classic non-lethal Batman style.
"Found the exit passage. Open it?"
Jeong Oh-hoon jumped in quick.
"No need. Found a duty log on the security desk."
According to him, security rotated every three hours.
"Log says they switched shifts thirteen minutes before we arrived. How about backtracking the way we came?"
Han Sang-ah shot back right away.
"Think about the hole I made. Even if we moved fast, security would've called the cops by now."
She had a point, but... I mulled it over and grinned.
"It's fine. We can handle that. Let's go with Jeong Oh-hoon's plan."
Sudden idea, but safer that way.
I rummaged the corpse I'd just greatsworded, found the subspace gear, and tossed it to Jeong Oh-hoon.
A small brooch.
"You take it. Subspace device."
Quick check—easy to use. He caught it and looked at me.
"You sure I should use it?"
"You'll get the most mileage out of it. No dumb questions—just sweep up the useful black market loot here."
What else is a sneaky intruder for but thieving? Stealing black market goods? Call it Robin Hood lite.
"Take this greatsword too. But don't you dare use it."
I warned him while nodding at its original owner's fate. That's what happens.
"I don't use barbaric weapons like that."
Then Jeong Oh-hoon zipped through the loot, grabbing goodies, and eyed the dagger in my hand.
"That dagger?"
"This one's getting smashed."
I gripped it tight with both hands and snapped it in two. Streams of water—or souls?—poured out, sucked into the greatsword.
Looks like the souls in this dagger had business with the ones in there too. I watched a sec, then ditched the broken hilt.
Thirty minutes later, Jeong Oh-hoon had the keepers, piled the rest of the black market junk and black stones together.
Plenty of explosives among the loot. Not enough to level the warehouse, but the pile? Easy.
"Time to wrap up and bounce."
Nothing left here. As he went for his mask,
"Stash the mask and coat in subspace."
"Huh? Then they'll know who—"
"It's fine. Safer that way. Oh, and Han Sang-ah—crack open that exit door."
After orders, I eyed the pile.
"Boom time."
Backed off plenty, hit the detonator.
Deep underground warehouse, soundproofed for storage. No boom leaking out.
Everything obliterated.
We backtracked the secret passage, opened the door to security.
"Freeze!"
Cops drew guns on us. I raised my hands quick.
"Easy now."
They clocked our faces and looked baffled.
"Headhunter? What're you doing here...?"
"Was chilling at the rooftop bar with Chairman Han Sang-cheol when I spotted shady action in the casino."
They kept guns up, still confused.
"Thought it might be the bombers, so I got the chairman's okay and jumped down from the bar to the casino."
Security CCTV was toast anyway.
"Slid in through the hole in the casino wall, ended up here in security."
Found the secret passage here, went in.
"Hunter Yoo Chan-seok. Got proof?"
Cop asks.
Obviously no way to prove it. It's bullshit. How do you prove a lie?
"Didn't think that far. They were moving fast, so we hurried."
No evidence. Your move? But do you have proof it's crap?
I'm the one claiming, so yeah, burden's on me first. But the world's not fair anyway.
Hands still up, I looked regretful.
"Easy. Why would we pull something like this?"
Cops glanced at each other. Fair point. What do we gain raiding a hotel security room and knocking folks out?
"Oh, and as proof... kinda... I've been around this hotel since before I was a hunter."
"True..."
I leaned in soft, persuading.
"I was just a logistics intern. You think I meddled to dig secret passages here?"
Not like I'm Illuminati or Freemason.
"Checked the passage too—goes crazy deep."
They lowered guns slow. One eyes Han Sang-ah.
"But Hunter Han Sang-ah's from Geumyang Group..."
"This hotel isn't Geumyang's."
He shut up. If she wanted this, she'd pick a Geumyang hotel.
No reason to tunnel under this one, even if her family's in construction.
Mid-chat, slick suited guys with shades stormed in. They flashed something at the cops.
"Step out a sec."
Cops paled, bolted. Shades eyed us.
"One wrong word and it's waterboarding time, huh?"
Lead suit spoke.
"Who'd have the guts to torture a hunter? Hunter Yoo Chan-seok."
He signaled; his crew lined up at the hotel exit.
Captain sauntered to the table, sat, pointed at the opposite chair.
"Have a seat. Let's talk."
"This vibe? Sure. Got seolleongtang?"
As we three moved to sit, he raised a hand.
"Hunter Han Sang-ah, you're free to go. Hunter Jeong Oh-hoon, talk to someone else."
Geumyang heiress special treatment? She didn't budge.
"It's cool, head out first. If you've got time, order some seolleongtang delivery? They won't serve here."
She glanced between us, nodded, left. Jeong Oh-hoon followed his escort elsewhere.
Lead suit tapped the desk with a nail.
"Alright. Time to ask."
Ah, no audience, so casual speech now?
"Shoot."
"What makes you so bold?"