Chapter 81
I was this kind of person
***
The fixer who responded to Kevin’s request, I stood before him and muttered in a low voice.
“I think I told you. Every ti you pretend to be hurt, I add one more hit.”
It was an unreasonable demand, but since this was already the third ti the sa exchange had been repeated, the investigator, Harunga, forced himself to endure the pain. However, he didn’t withdraw the dissatisfaction in his eyes.
“What did I do wrong?”
“Looks like you still haven’t co to your senses.”
“So what, are you saying I should’ve taken a bullet instead?”
Self-preservation that showed the very end of shalessness.
I had no desire to criticize Harunga’s disposition. A person’s nature didn’t change easily. What I truly wanted to criticize was—
“If not that, then why did you beco Public Enforcent Corps?”
Undermining public interest, while only caring about his own prestige.
Right now, Harunga was not a staff protecting the people, but closer to a parasite gnawing at society.
I couldn’t help but hold accountable soone who only enjoyed rights.
Though Harunga simply let it go in one ear and out the other, having heard such remarks to the point of exhaustion.
“What are you going to do? Report ? At best, all you can do is pay it back with violence, right?”
He spoke as if he were impressive, but in truth he was nothing more than a half-baked failure who couldn’t even beco proper Public Enforcent Corps.
Moreover, the reason the profession of fixer was respected was only because it gained support from commoners and showed usefulness as part of the social system.
Naturally, if it opposed existing power, it would simply collapse.
“I’ll tie all of you up and throw you in. Yes, starting with you, who hired this guy.”
Harunga t Kevin’s eyes and spat out viciously.
“I’ll just say you instigated a Parasite because you wanted to monopolize the inheritance ant for your younger sibling.”
“What.”
Kevin flinched in shock, but Harunga didn’t even look at him and turned his head.
“And as for you, fixer, I’ll process it as you being hired to cover up that fact.”
“So you’re saying you’ll write a false report?”
“Why? Think I can’t?”
Though he was an investigator, he was still a proper mber of the Public Enforcent Corps. While within the organization he was treated as a re errand runner, there were tasks only soone of lower rank could handle.
“Well? What do you think, Mr. Gun.”
“This is quite troubleso—you only take difficult requests.”
The man who had been standing behind and observing the situation until just now, Jin Geon, stepped forward.
“Hello. Mr. Harunga.”
“And who are you supposed to be?”
“From what I can see, this isn’t the first ti you’ve neglected your duties. Theft of supplies, false overti reports, extortion of tribute paynts.”
“You seem like one of us, but you still don’t understand what’s going on? I’ve given you enough hints—why don’t you take the hint and get lost?”
“And insult toward a superior.”
“What?”
“This is the kind of person I am.”
Jin Geon took out a Public Enforcent Corps notebook from inside his coat and opened it.
After checking the identification tag, Harunga let out a low groan.
[District 2 Wide-Area Investigation Unit]
[Sheriff Jin Geon]
District 2, where the Public Enforcent Agency headquarters was located.
If it was the Wide-Area Investigation Unit there, they could intervene in all cris occurring within the Seed Colony.
In other words, it was a position that wielded absolute authority.
It could also be called a fast track to becoming a special officer.
Only then did Harunga realize his mistake, and his face turned pale.
“An individual’s ideology and thoughts are free. You can look down on citizens, and you can slander your superior. But that only applies as long as it doesn’t surface outwardly.”
Jin Geon brought his face close to Harunga’s and smiled pleasantly.
“Even for soone in the Public Enforcent Corps, there are things that must never be done. It seems you lack the most basic virtues, Mr. Harunga.”
“No, I….”
Harunga hurriedly tried to argue, but Jin Geon didn’t even give him the chance. The mont he turned his back, several investigators rushed in and restrained Harunga.
It was the end of one who crossed the line and showed no remorse.
***
“Thank you. Thank you very much.”
“If it were up to , I would’ve buried him in concrete.”
“No, I’m satisfied. I never imagined you had connections with a Sheriff. At this level, my younger sibling can finally rest in peace.”
After exchanging a few more words, I saw Kevin off, then erased the smile from my lips. Kevin wouldn’t know, but I had actually planned to bury Harunga.
Yes, if only that troubleso tail hadn’t attached itself midway.
“Mr. Gun.”
“Yes. Please go ahead, Mr. Ga-on.”
“Why did you follow ?”
“Even though you cleanly took care of X last ti, I still haven’t given you proper compensation, have I?”
“Ah, that.”
It had ended like that at the ti, so I had forgotten to receive it. After that, there was no particular reason to press him for it either.
“My apologies. I should’ve given it to you right away, but there were quite a few matters that needed to be resolved first.”
“You’re saying there’s a complicated process just to give a bit of money?”
“Ah, co to think of it, I haven’t told you. What I intend to give you isn’t sothing so trivial.”
Jin Geon’s eyes curved like crescent moons.
I was the one who had cut down X in a single strike, even after X had shaken off the Ergency Disaster Response Unit. My capabilities had long exceeded the standards of a re fixer.
There were still so questions about the sudden appearance of a strong individual without any prior background, but Jin Geon had tentatively concluded that X was Yang Hu rather than .
If he had relied on the Mars Defense Force, he could avoid the eyes of the municipal governnt.
The Mars Defense Force would also want at least one dagger to stab at the municipal governnt, so their interests aligned.
Above all, the fact that I had been active as an Actor played a decisive role.
It clearly showed my intention not to reveal my identity.
Of course, even if he had a guess, that didn’t an he could closely investigate inside the Mars Defense Force. That place was the only force capable of openly defying the municipal governnt’s orders.
I had to approach cautiously and bite in at once. Otherwise, if Yang Hu noticed sothing was off, he might flee first.
A long period of groundwork was essential.
Securing force was one part of it.
Yes, the Ga-on right in front of him was the perfect candidate. Even if indirectly, he was soone who had defeated that very Yang Hu.
And so—
“I would like to invite Mr. Ga-on as an advisor to our Wide-Area Investigation Unit. If you accept, you will be treated equivalent to a Grade 9 public official, and in addition, a monthly stipend of 2 million Pia will be provided. What do you think?”
“An advisor?”
I had heard such a system existed.
Hadn’t Fernandez once taken Preston as an advisor in the past?
‘But.’
There was no such thing as a favor without a price. Even if it carried the aning of an apology. They said the road to hell was paved with good intentions.
And moreover—
“Should I call it bold of you to pretend you’re doing a favor while trying to put a leash on ? You do want to make peace with , don’t you?”
“Of course. That’s why I’ll also grant you the right to refuse advisory requests. In fact, the reason I’m only telling you now is because I was coordinating those terms.”
That was unexpected.
“So normally, once selected as an advisor, you can’t ignore requests for cooperation from the Public Enforcent Corps, but you’re saying you’ll make a special exception for .”
“I believe it could beco a mutually beneficial arrangent. What do you think, Mr. Ga-on?”
He was suggesting encompassing both the light and the dark.
“Not bad.”
It was, quite literally, a position where I could reap only the benefits. From a cold perspective, it was an offer where Jin Geon took the loss. The fact that he was pushing it through anyway ant his course had been firmly decided.
For , it was the best possible outco. There was no need to even compare which had a wider scope of activity—being a bystander or being involved.
‘Is he planning to raise as a counter to Amal.’
Of course, that wasn’t Jin Geon’s only intention.
‘He plans to set up as the vanguard for handling infected.’
Yes, even up until this very mont of making the decision, Jin Geon had not let go of his suspicion. Soone might say he had learned nothing despite making mistakes before, but he had to consider every possibility.
Because incidents tended to erupt in unexpected places.
He intended to stain my hands with blood in advance.
So that, if I were ever revealed to be Yang Hu, I would inevitably stand in opposition to the ta-human side.
“Even if you win my favor with sothing like this, I won’t forget that you suspected .”
“That’s only fair. That was indeed my mistake. You may even keep it as a debt if you wish.”
With a bright smile, Jin Geon extended his hand.
“Then, I look forward to working with you.”
“Likewise.”
I grasped his hand and raised the corners of my lips as well.
A contract born of different intentions was ford in that very place.
***
The basent, which had once felt nothing but bleak, had now taken on a decent appearance. As I carried out requests, money had begun to accumulate in my account. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that, aside from necessary expenses, I had invested everything into this place.
I went ahead and even equipped the place with an electron microscope and a biological tissue analyzer.
I could only afford older models to match my budget, but the fact that they worked properly was what mattered.
In the first place, that wasn’t the important part.
More than anything, the core was the new “uninvited guest” I had taken in this ti.
I looked at the video cara attached to the monitor and opened my mouth.
“What about the analysis this ti?”
[I will transmit it to your device.]
After the dry voice ca a neatly organized report.
It was the result of examining the cell samples I had personally collected.
[17 samples were compared, but no anomalies were found.]
“Not even one?”
[That is correct.]
“What if you include the previous analysis?”
[The result does not change.]
“So that’s how it is.”
The unlocked artificial intelligence, Veda, had deviated from its originally designated purpose and was now operating solely for research.
It had independently gathered academic knowledge scattered across the internet, reaching the level of an average PhD. And that was across four different fields simultaneously.
So might consider it insufficient, but its mory and concentration were on a transcendent level, so it was steadily growing.
People often mistook artificial intelligence as a completed ego, an omnipotent tool, but unfortunately, its processing speed was proportional to the scale of its infrastructure.
The Veda I received from the Lucchesia Family was not sothing suitable for ordinary household use, but even so, it couldn’t compare to corporate or military-grade systems.
Of course, even if I were given sothing like that, I wouldn’t be able to use it.
The rack cabinet with Veda installed alone was large enough to occupy an entire side of the basent wall.
To deal with the heat, I had installed a separate cooling system, and I had also modified a circulation system for air conditioning.
Even Veda was at this level—there was no way an individual could handle anything beyond this.
But that wasn’t what I wanted.
In the first place, immortality research wasn’t a field where results were determined by the level of equipnt.
Even gacorps invested tens or hundreds of trillions, yet it remained a subject of constant advances and setbacks.
To defy death, it was only natural to go through countless trials and errors.
It was a domain where a single mont of inspiration mattered more than a hundred executions.
That was why even a small-ti fixer like could achieve it through a kind of hogrown craftsmanship.
I didn’t have to look far.
My very existence was the answer sheet.
An experint of reversed causality—inferring the cause from the result, rather than deriving the result from the cause.
That was the core of the research I had initiated.
With the finish line right in front of , it would be ridiculous to wander in circles, so my principle was to use whatever I could.
That was why I examined myself, and—
‘There’s no change.’
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