How to Live as an Immortal Chapter 40

Chapter 40

So This Clears the Debt

***

***

At the spot where Ga-on had left, Jin Geon, now alone, tucked the Public Enforcent Corps notebook back into his coat. Although he belonged to the Ergency Disaster Response Unit, it was difficult for him to reveal that officially.

It was an organization that only had aning if it operated in the shadows, where no one knew of its existence.

That was why he used a cover identity whenever he had to reveal himself to the public.

The one Jin Geon favored was that of a Sheriff.

Unlike the Mars Defense Force, the Public Enforcent Corps was an organization cooperative with the municipal governnt.

Moreover, since it was a form of public authority, it was easy to wield. In an ergency, he could even call in supporting forces, killing two birds with one stone.

That was how the personnel who moved around outside operated.

“Such a sha.”

The death of Sprinter, Norman Sanders, had many suspicious aspects. It was clear that soone had dealt with him, but the identity of that person was unclear.

Of course, it was not as if Ga-on was impossible to track down.

A fixer who suddenly appeared and helped the third-generation chaebol Dobby. On top of that, his movents were obscure, yet his skill was abnormal.

Considering the timing, the conditions pointed to no one other than Yang Hu.

One could tell just by looking at the fallen Pier Gang. One shot per person. When it ca to Gesto, it went beyond overwhelming and bordered on violence.

And soone like that appeared without any prior signs?

At least within Jin Geon’s common sense, that was impossible. That was why he had fired a bullet the mont he discovered Ga-on.

But the blood he had spilled was real.

He thought he would recover before long, yet surprisingly, the wound remained as it was. Enough to make the warning shot he had fired with half-certainty feel awkward.

This was not a sight that soone possessing a healing factor could show.

Of course, if one assud he could freely control his abilities, it was not entirely impossible. But once it went that far, there were far too many variables to consider.

It was obvious that he would fall into a mire of suspicion and be unable to see even an inch ahead.

He needed to broaden his view.

There was also the possibility that Ga-on was not Yang Hu.

But the intuition that had carried Jin Geon through countless crises whispered to him.

That the man he had just let go was none other than Yang Hu.

And that the mont earlier had been his last chance.

The delusion that had taken root in his mind incessantly spurred Jin Geon on. Yet he knew it well. His ability ultimately made judgnts based on the information he had acquired.

For now, securing objective information was the priority.

After taking out a handkerchief and wiping the drops of blood from the control pad, Jin Geon sealed it inside a plastic bag.

It was no exaggeration to say that today’s eting had all been for this.

Even if one changed their face, abandoned their na, and falsified their origins, the genetic information embedded in devices could never be altered.

All data on humanity born on Mars converged in the Seed Colony. More precisely, a massive data center located in District 1 oversaw it.

Even the gacorp, and even the president of the municipal governnt, could not freely access this black box.

From the mont it was completed until now, it had never once allowed the intrusion of foreign forces, an impregnable fortress. Breaking into that place was nothing short of nonsense.

So if the blood on the handkerchief was compared with the records stored in the device, the truth would be revealed.

Was Baek Ga-on real, or was he fake.

***

The next day, Ga-on showed his face at Columbus. When he appeared early in the morning, Fernandez wore a bewildered expression.

“Don’t tell you’ve already completed the job?”

“It wasn’t that hard.”

Sitting at the bar counter, Ga-on transmitted the data stored in his device to Fernandez.

After checking the contents, Fernandez let out an exclamation and produced a vodka martini.

“Impressive. It’d be a lie to say I didn’t expect anything, but to resolve it in less than a day. I suppose I’ll have to raise my evaluation of you even higher.”

Fernandez did not stop rambling, but to Ga-on it sounded like nothing more than aningless noise.

This request had too many aspects that did not make sense.

It was only natural that his voice dropped on its own.

“Mr. Pepe.”

“What is it?”

“Is that all you have to say? Even though the devices were extracted, and every last missing person was dead?”

“……”

“Who was the one who commissioned this job?”

“Didn’t I tell you? People who wanted the missing persons to return.”

It was a vague answer. Not a single specific individual had been ntioned.

“That way of speaking is pretty unpleasant. You’re saying you won’t tell lies, but you also won’t tell the truth, right?”

“What do you an? Haven’t I been completely honest?”

“Then answer this. Were the ones who commissioned it the missing persons’ relatives? Or friends? Colleagues?”

When Fernandez could not respond at all, Ga-on let out a snort.

Every single one of them belonged to the socially vulnerable. People whose disappearance, one or two at a ti, would not draw attention.

If kidnapping them had caused trouble from the start, they would not have been targets of the Pier Gang in the first place.

“Our esteed broker couldn’t possibly not have known that there was a problem with this request.”

“……It was the client’s request.”

The answer Fernandez produced when cornered sounded fairly plausible, but Ga-on had no intention of backing down.

“Even so, you should have notified in advance.”

If things went wrong, he could have unknowingly built bad blood with the Public Enforcent Corps. He could even have beco entangled with the Pier Gang and been pursued by them for the rest of his life.

Since all those risks had been forced onto him, Fernandez deserved to be reprimanded.

“You didn’t babble about trusting my skills just so you could use like this, did you?”

As Ga-on rose from his seat and closed the distance, Fernandez thrust both arms forward as a shield.

“Now, wait a mont. Hear out. I planned to reveal things one by one if you got stuck during the investigation. Device extraction isn’t exactly sothing you can tell just anyone about. And who could have known you’d resolve the request overnight.”

It was a future that could no longer be verified at this point. He could have been making excuses just to get out of the current situation.

Even so, it was not as if Fernandez had been of no help. He had uncovered traces of RYS Company, and they had been able to stop things before aningless victims were created.

Of course, that did not an the rage boiling in his chest had disappeared.

Bang!

He swung his fist into the frog-like face.

As Fernandez was sent flying into the distance and crashed into a display shelf before collapsing, all kinds of whiskey and wine rained down over his head.

In an instant, the entire bar was filled with thick, sticky alcohol.

“M-my collection…….”

“This settles the debt.”

Brokers were like pranksters. At tis they approached kindly, acting as if they would give you even their gallbladder, and at other tis they pulled away and snarled like sworn enemies.

It was not just Fernandez.

Most people who belonged to the underworld lived wearing masks for the sake of their own interests.

As long as there were no better alternatives, it was sothing one had to endure, so it was more efficient to seize their weaknesses and shake them instead.

That was why he did not finish Fernandez off.

The sense of debt unconsciously left behind would restrain his actions.

“But if you pull any more nonsense after this, I’ll kill you quietly on your way ho from work.”

If it really ca to that, the ti he would target would be the commute to work. He deliberately specified the way ho to plant a preconceived notion in his mind.

After downing the vodka martini in one gulp, Ga-on muttered softly.

“If you understand, answer.”

“I understand.”

Fernandez nodded gloomily. Even his eyes were moist, making him look thoroughly wronged.

Enough to make even Ga-on reflect on his own actions once more, wondering if he had gone too far.

“Oh, right. And I need information on Jin Geon, a Sheriff affiliated with the District 2 Wide-Area Investigation Unit.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to go to an information broker?”

“No. You’ll take responsibility and find it. I got tangled up with an annoying guy because of you. Let’s see just how far you can go.”

***

Ga-on received his answer a few sols later.

As he was walking down the street as usual, he turned his head at the sound of a horn that halted his steps, and found himself facing a black sedan.

Wondering what it was about, he leaned in to look, but the interior was not visible.

That was when the window on the rear door rolled down.

“You Baek Ga-on?”

“That’s right.”

“I ca on Fernandez’s introduction. Get in.”

The one who spoke to him was a Black man who reeked of public office even at a glance. His tone was overbearing, but judging by his calm complexion, it seed to be a habit.

His age was probably similar to Fernandez’s.

Since he was confident he could at least take care of himself, Ga-on boarded without much thought.

Inside the car as it glided forward smoothly.

The Black man seated across from him held out a Public Enforcent Corps notebook.

“I suppose I should introduce myself first. I’m a Sheriff with the Eastern Public Enforcent Office of District 39, Dominique Jordan.”

“Are you acquainted with Mr. Pepe?”

“If you an Fernandez, then yes. We’ve shared a long history together.”

The outline was starting to take shape.

The man sitting right in front of him had to be the backing behind Fernandez, the one who had driven Gesto away from the unlicensed clinic.

There was no way Ga-on would not know where the information network Fernandez operated originated from.

“I heard about what happened between you and Fernandez. It seems my involvent caused so unnecessary friction.”

Though his words were fragntary, they were enough to grasp the situation.

“So the client Fernandez wanted to hide so badly was you.”

“Fixer Baek Ga-on. I’ve seen your skills well enough. They were quite impressive.”

No wonder he had kept glossing over the client’s identity to the very end. If the Public Enforcent Corps was involved, it would have been difficult to ntion carelessly.

“You may or may not know this, but cases of illegally extracting devices are increasing rapidly. The rate of spread is abnormal. And within the Public Enforcent Corps, while so fail to defend against it, there are also groups being born that seek to ride that very trend.”

It was nothing new to hear.

However—

“I didn’t realize you were desperate enough to outsource it to a third party.”

“Just because soone is an executive within the Public Enforcent Corps doesn’t an they’re all corrupt.”

If he started shooting from the inside, it was obvious he would be restrained, so he had simply borrowed the hand of a fixer.

That was why Ga-on did not take Dominique’s words particularly to heart.

“So my role this ti wasn’t an apostle of justice, but a foot wiper for the Public Enforcent Corps?”

“Don’t dean it like that. Thanks to you, the senior official within the Corps who supported the Pier Gang has been sent to the disciplinary committee. With the evidence being so solid, it’ll be difficult for him to make a coback.”

“That’s not sothing you brag about. You talk in money.”

“As it happens, I was planning to pay the full 40 million Pia.”

“You’re decisive with business, I’ll give you that. It would’ve been even better if I hadn’t known your ulterior motives.”

From the very claim that he would be paid 40 million Pia for bringing the missing persons back alive, it had all been a lie. Even at the ti the request was made, Dominique must have known they were already dead.

Put simply, this request had effectively been priced at 20 million Pia.

There was no way he would be moved just because the amount was inflated now.

“By the way, why did you want to et ? You could’ve passed this along through Mr. Pepe.”

“Didn’t you ask Fernandez to look into soone nad Jin Geon? Since it’s internal information of the Public Enforcent Corps, I wasn’t keen on passing it along through an interdiary.”

“Oh? So that’s why you ca in person?”

Still, it seed Fernandez handled his work properly. Perhaps the physical treatnt had paid off.

Ga-on adjusted his posture and nodded.

“Go on. Tell who that guy is.”