Chapter 115
I Never Intended to Fight Head-On Either
And blood rushed to my head. It had truly been a long ti since I’d felt such intense emotions that my entire body grew hot.
Just who the hell had reduced her to this state?
“Ru… n…….”
A tallic voice as faint as a breeze.
Even after ending up like this, Sera still worried about soone else’s safety first.
The mont I realized her eyes were directed behind , I kicked away the figure charging at without even turning around.
A full-powered strike devoid of rcy.
The opponent flew as if launched and embedded himself into the wall, dying instantly. A spiral-shaped wound remained in his abdon.
Although I carried firearms and knives, I didn’t draw either of them.
“Co out. I have no intention of running.”
Presences erupted spasmodically throughout the house. Even the sound of brushing clothes thundered through the area. Then, in the darkness, bullets flew in an instant.
Bang.
Through the muzzle flash, I briefly caught sight of the opponent.
A ballistic mask resembling a face covering. Techwear unified in black.
Their equipnt was solid, but their response failed to keep up. They didn’t even realize it until after I saw the bullet graze past my temple, inferred their location, and kicked off the ground to leap toward them.
Craaack— In an instant, I crossed ten ters and drove my knee into his head. Using the collapsing man as a foothold, I remained airborne while searching for the next target.
Even within those fleeting monts, gunfire continued, but none of the trajectories aid for vital points. Their attacks focused thoroughly on incapacitating the target. It seed certain that killing wasn’t the objective, but I had no intention of stopping.
Identification and retaliation occurred almost simultaneously.
Martial arts that had reached the realm of instinct. Mixed together with Blink, which I had acquired not long ago, the speed of my movents beca indescribably fast.
Like a wolf herding sheep, I tore through the group until the center of their formation revealed itself. My chest nearly brushing the ground as if I might topple forward at any second, I charged along the shortest route.
Anyone who blocked was broken and bent.
At the end of the almost chanical sorting process, only two remained alive in captivity.
I neither needed nor wanted more than that.
But the ones who didn’t understand that circumstance rely sprawled across the floor, coughing and wheezing. Anyone could tell it was exaggerated groaning. My anger flared up again for no reason, and I kicked one hard enough to nearly snap his neck.
“Quit your bullshit and get up.”
“Guh, hack.”
Once the man I pointed out awkwardly corrected his posture, I continued the conversation.
“You people were after , weren’t you? Then why did you hurt Miss Siri for no reason?”
“Th-that’s because that bitch resisted so damn hard, so we had no choice. And she’s just an android anyway. You can replace a body like that anyti, so why…….”
Craaack.
“Next.”
The man who understood that androids were my reverse scale ignored his comrade’s death entirely and hurriedly dropped to his knees.
“W-wait a second. We only accepted a request to ss with you. We don’t want to risk our lives fighting you.”
“Then why did you steal things?”
“That’s…….”
The house was a complete ss. It was obvious they had searched everywhere for valuables. Dismantling Sera was probably part of the sa process.
“Forget it. Rats raiding the granary is in their nature anyway. More importantly, who hired you?”
“We don’t know that either. It was soone we’d never seen before in our lives. But the advance paynt was pretty hefty, so we accepted right away. Still, if we’d known a monster like you lived here, we never would’ve co.”
I asked for the client’s description, but it wasn’t anyone I recognized. They could have been soone else’s subordinate, or maybe it was simply a mistake— there were many possibilities, but neither option pleased .
“Then, can I…… go now? I won’t tell anyone about what happened today…….”
I indifferently stepped on the man and increased the pressure under my foot.
The mont False Rotation Axis manifested, his neck bent in a direction it should never bend. A beat later, the scream ceased together with the sound of dry firewood snapping apart.
***
I imdiately began cleaning up afterward. Maybe because a full-blown war had broken out, the inside of the house was utterly wrecked. It looked as though a storm had swept through. I might even have to move out, but that wasn’t what mattered.
[What about Sera?]
At Dobby’s question, I repeatedly rubbed my dry face before finally opening my mouth.
“For now, I attached her head to one of the ergency generators we had in storage. It’s only a basic model, so the operating ti won’t last long.”
It didn’t take long to find Sera’s dismbered body. The state it was in was beyond words, so reconnecting it wasn’t even sothing I could attempt.
“Haah.”
Sera had entered safety mode or sothing similar. Her eyes were closed, and she wasn’t even breathing. Was it fortunate amid misfortune that the cube containing her AI remained undamaged?
Until that was completely destroyed, androids were immortal. Death, in the ultimate sense, didn’t exist for them. In so ways, it was no different from eternal life.
“I’m sorry. Miss Siri got dragged into this because of .”
Knowing what Sera ant to Dobby only made my guilt grow heavier.
[It’s fine. I know the kind of hardships fixers deal with. I’m just shocked because this went far beyond what I imagined. I think I finally understand the kind of world you were talking about.]
Dobby spoke cheerfully enough, but I knew he didn’t truly feel that way. His voice sounded half-lost, as though his mind had gone blank.
“What are you going to do about Miss Siri?”
[I already contacted my father. Personnel from Maximum Noise related to this kind of thing will co retrieve her.]
“That’s a relief.”
I got up from my seat, left the front door unlocked, and imdiately left the house. Since arriving on Mars, I had built many connections. Bad ones weren’t any different. But every single one of them had been true professionals lurking in the shadows, people far too competent to devise sothing this sloppy.
As far as I knew, there was only one group that handled matters in such a crude, low-class way while displaying such shallow thinking.
***
“Johwang.”
Crunch, crunch.
While greedily devouring mala xiaolongxia, Johwang abruptly looked across the table at the voice calling him. Sitting opposite him was his colleague, Lawian.
“What is it?”
“You did as you said and commissioned the attack, but was there really any point in assigning it to a bunch even worse than Outriders? There had to be far more capable people available.”
If even half the rumors about Ga-on were true, then failure was obvious. An investnt that failed to achieve its goal was not just wasteful, but squandering resources.
“What do you an why? Because it sounded fun. Watching weaklings kill weaklings.”
“Ah, right. You were that kind of guy.”
At the remark dripping with disgusting malice, Lawian’s eyes turned cold. Realizing instantly that his evaluation had plumted, Johwang flashed a shaless grin.
“I’m joking, joking. Gathering a few drifters and ordering them to attack couldn’t possibly count as a gift. What I really wanted to give him was fear. Fear that his life could be targeted anyti, anywhere. Once you think of it that way, it’s dirt cheap, isn’t it?”
“Ohh, you actually put so thought into it for once.”
“That brat’s the type who doesn’t realize there’s always soone above him. He probably grew up hearing how talented he was. But this industry doesn’t run on talent alone, does it?”
“True enough.”
“So as his senior, I wanted to teach him a little lesson. Make him understand his place.”
It was an extre mindset, but Lawian raised no objections. He too agreed with eliminating sprouts that showed promise.
The industry had beco increasingly oversaturated.
Those discharged from the Mars Defense Force,
those retired from gacorps,
those who washed their hands of the Four Great Underworld factions……
Outstanding talent poured out endlessly day after day. Since fixers were judged purely by skill, it was only natural for the overall standard to rise steadily.
Because of that, it was obvious that unless periodic cleanups like this were carried out, people would lose their place to stand. And this wasn’t a concern limited to Lawian alone.
Perhaps that was why.
It was enough to make him feel a sense of duty, as though he were contributing to maintaining order within the industry.
“Now that you’ve said that much, I’m actually curious what he’s doing by now.”
“Who knows? Probably crying his eyes out.”
***
Bar Columbus.
While cleaning up after closing hours, Fernandez found Ga-on’s sudden visit strange. Staying active late into the night didn’t suit his usual principles.
Then again, that wasn’t the only strange thing. The corners of Ga-on’s mouth, which never lost their composure, now carried a murderous aura rarely seen before.
“What happened?”
“My house was crawling with vermin. Not that I had any leftovers to feed them.”
“…….”
As expected. His premonition hadn’t been wrong.
“A scar on the right eyebrow, pale skin, and a Slot embedded in the temple. Does that description remind you of anyone?”
“Isn’t that far too broad? Especially for soone in a profession like mine that deals with people. Regrettably, I can’t identify anyone with just that. I can already think of five or six people off the top of my head.”
“What if you connect it to the group that hangs around with Johwang?”
“Then…….”
Soone did co to mind.
Lawian.
The man who had taken Johwang under his wing and now acted as his partner. From what he had heard, the man also had ties to Ryungyeong.
“Don’t tell you’re planning to go there personally?”
“Just tell where they are.”
Fernandez knew Ga-on was exceptionally skilled, but clashing with Johwang right now was premature. As his nickna Destroying Demon implied, Johwang was a fixer specialized in overwhelming firepower.
And he was one of the industry’s acknowledged rising stars—
“You mustn’t make the wrong decision while consud by impulse.”
“The one who needs to make the right decision isn’t , Mr. Pepe. If you keep your mouth shut, I might start misunderstanding and think you’re covering for them.”
At the razor-sharp warning, Fernandez pressed a hand to his forehead.
This couldn’t be stopped.
Besides, Johwang had already pulled the trigger first, so it would’ve been ridiculous for Ga-on to simply endure it. In the end, Fernandez quietly handed over the information.
“Don’t overdo it. If necessary, I can spread rumors throughout the industry. At the very least, they won’t be able to walk around with their heads held high anymore.”
“I appreciate the thought, but I don’t think I can settle for such lukewarm handling.”
Sera had been reduced to that state right before my eyes.
Not targeting family mbers or residences was an old unwritten rule and custom within the industry. Once soone crossed that line, what followed was indiscriminate retaliation. And yet they had pushed ahead anyway.
They must have been awfully confident.
Confident they could protect themselves from death.
“If a senior wants to hold an initiation ceremony, then I should humor him.”
Though only one side would end up being tested.
***
Western District 39.
The building Johwang and his gang used as their hideout looked so unstable it seed on the verge of collapse. Not only had the exterior materials been stripped away, but exposed steel beams jutted out into the open. But all of that was rely camouflage ant to deceive patrol drones.
‘The inside’s packed with all kinds of facilities and equipnt.’
And that was only from the brief mont a window had opened. Right now, everything was sealed shut, making it impossible even to estimate the number of people inside. Whether they were simply security-conscious or had too many enemies, the exterior had been coated with special paint so no one could see in from outside.
A true iron fortress.
If I entered through the front, complications would bloom everywhere.
Well—
“I never intended to fight head-on either.”
Standing at the edge of the rooftop of a high-rise overlooking the hideout in full view, Ga-on leaped down with all his strength.
Toward the building below.
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