Chapter 102
Thud! Thud!
Someone knocked on Zeon’s door.
When he opened it, Mandy was standing there.
“Come in.”
“Did you sleep well?”
“I rested comfortably.”
“That’s good.”
Mandy sat down on a chair.
In her hand was a stack of papers that looked freshly printed.
“That it?”
She handed the documents to Zeon as she spoke.
“You’ll see when you read it, but he’s quite a troublesome person.”
“A big shot?”
“Someone favored by a big shot.”
“Even more troublesome, then.”
“Exactly.”
Zeon began reading the documents Mandy had brought.
They contained detailed information about Tajik.
“A subordinate of Xiaolun? You mean that Xiaolun—the ruler of the South?”
“That’s right.”
“So not just a big shot.”
“Yeah. One of the top five most powerful figures in Neo Seoul.”
At that level, even “big shot” wasn’t enough to describe him.
Xiaolun himself was an S-rank awakened, and he commanded numerous S- and A-rank awakened under him.
It was a force capable of wiping out an entire colony outside Neo Seoul in an instant.
Tajik was one of Xiaolun’s pieces.
His official title: “Head of Condor SSC.”
“SSC?”
“Security Service Company. Basically a security contractor.”
“A vague name.”
“Perfect for spreading influence in all directions.”
“So Condor SSC—Tajik is the one in charge of it?”
“Exactly. He also oversees a few smaller businesses, but the real power lies in the SSC.”
Zeon flipped through the pages, stroking his chin.
“Security services, monster processing, chemical dye company… All businesses perfect for shady work. From what I see, Tajik is basically a fixer.”
“Wow… you figured that out immediately.”
Mandy couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration.
She was impressed by Zeon’s insight.
Just as he said, Tajik was Xiaolun’s fixer.
The companies under him were perfectly suited for his operations.
A security company made it easy to place awakened individuals as disguised operatives,
a monster-processing business was ideal for generating slush funds,
and a chemical dye company could conceal the handling of dangerous substances.
Every one of them was tailored for dirty work.
From this, Zeon concluded that Tajik served as Xiaolun’s problem-solver.
He turned to the last page.
It contained detailed status reports on the businesses.
Mandy spoke.
“This is the best I could dig up. If I go any deeper, Xiaolun and Tajik will notice.”
“This is enough.”
Whoosh!
Flames burst from Zeon’s hand, instantly burning the documents to ash.
“So what now?” Mandy asked.
“As you can see, Tajik has Xiaolun backing him. If you mess this up, the entire slum could be wiped out.”
When she acted as Eloi, Mandy feared nothing.
But even she feared Xiaolun—the ruler of the South.
Not just Mayor Jin Geumho, but the rulers of each region were monsters who had lived for ages.
Their personal strength was beyond estimation, and each commanded immense forces.
In a way, they were Neo Seoul itself.
Opposing such beings was as reckless as jumping into the jaws of an S-rank monster without armor.
Even Eloi, for all her madness, wasn’t that insane.
Zeon spoke calmly.
“I have no intention of becoming enemies with Xiaolun.”
“Really?”
“Of course.”
Despite his clear answer, Mandy still looked uneasy.
“…Hah. Whatever. Do as you like. With this, my debt is fully repaid.”
“Understood.”
“I’ll be going now.”
Mandy stood up.
After seeing her off, Zeon sat back down.
Every detail from the documents was perfectly stored in his mind.
“Xiaolun was secretly trading using the crocodiles. When I wiped them out, the route was cut off. So now they either recruit me… or eliminate me.”
That was what he had learned from the Inazuma assault team.
And the one orchestrating all of this was Tajik.
If left alone, it would only cause endless trouble.
That was why Zeon had come to Neo Seoul.
He walked to the window and looked out over the city.
“…Hmm.”
***
Condor SSC was located on the outskirts of southern Neo Seoul.
Since it mainly dispatched personnel to various businesses, its headquarters wasn’t large.
In fact, it was little more than a small warehouse with a few attached offices.
Even that was only possible because it was on the outskirts—such space would be unimaginable in the city center.
Tajik sat in his office at the top of the building.
From there, he had a clear view of everything inside the warehouse.
The company maintained this warehouse-style headquarters not due to lack of money,
but because it was far more convenient for operations.
Inside, lower-ranked awakened were training.
The environment was designed to resemble a street from Neo Seoul, used for infiltration drills.
Most of the trainees were D- or E-rank.
“Use your skills again!”
“That’s your limit? You worthless bastard! You’ve got to push to the limit to increase your power!”
“Pay attention to your mana distribution, you idiots!”
The instructors pushed them mercilessly.
Most of the instructors were C-rank awakened.
They were stronger and more experienced than the trainees, which was why they had been assigned to train them.
“Pathetic.”
Tajik watched the scene below with satisfaction.
There were fifty awakened gathered there.
Once they completed the brutal training, they would become elites and be dispatched to the businesses managed by Xiaolun.
In that way, Xiaolun’s power would grow even more solid, and Tajik’s influence would also strengthen.
“Heh… The real core of this place is underground.”
He took the elevator down to the basement of the warehouse.
Below, a space as vast as the warehouse above spread out.
The underground area was strictly divided by partition walls.
Inside each section, research that could never be revealed to the outside world was being conducted.
The place Tajik headed to was the deepest laboratory.
Inside, experiments of a highly secretive nature were underway.
Beyond the glass, a man was strapped to an operating table.
Tubes were connected all over his body, injecting an unidentified liquid.
The more liquid was pumped into him, the greater his pain became.
His muscles had swollen to the point of bursting, and every vein in his body bulged grotesquely.
It was almost a miracle that he was still alive.
Tajik asked the researchers,
“How is it progressing?”
“We’ve made some progress, but going further will be difficult.”
“Why?”
“The quality of the drug is the issue. The latest batch has too many problems.”
“As expected…”
“The old supplier’s drug was better. It used human blood as a medium and had fewer side effects, making it perfect for experimentation. Is there any way to obtain it again?”
“Wait a little longer. I’m already working on it.”
“Hm. If this research succeeds, we’ll be able to forcibly awaken ordinary humans. Then we could mass-produce awakened individuals like goods in a factory.”
At the researcher’s words, Tajik nodded.
The research conducted here was inspired by the drugs supplied by the crocodiles.
Those drugs were of extremely high purity and manufactured in a special way that made them ideal for triggering human potential.
Using them as a base, they had created stimulants that temporarily boosted abilities.
The researchers wondered—if that was possible, could ordinary humans also be awakened?
And so they began their experiments.
It was all done in secret.
Since it couldn’t be done openly, all test subjects were kidnapped from the slums.
The ones carrying this out had been the crocodiles.
They had been useful in many ways—making their absence all the more regrettable.
That was why Tajik was evaluating Zeon.
“His abilities are certainly sufficient… but he doesn’t seem like the type to obey.”
The Inazuma assault team was no easy opponent.
Tajik wasn’t naive enough to believe they had simply failed to escape the dungeon in time.
“He must have dealt with them somehow.”
The problem was that it happened inside a dungeon, so he had no way of knowing how.
Because of that, he couldn’t accurately assess Zeon’s strength.
“The simplest way would be to check his rank badge… but he won’t show it willingly…”
Using force was also limited.
The slums had their own order, making direct intervention difficult.
This time, they had been lucky to use the Goblin Market—but that wouldn’t always be the case.
“…Do I have to move personally?”
Muttering to himself, Tajik left the laboratory.
The moment he was gone—
Sssrrrk…
Sand began to seep in through the ventilation shaft.
The research facility was under extremely strict security.
Naturally, the vents were equipped with multiple systems to block external intrusion.
Not even a drop of water should have been able to enter.
If this much sand had gotten in, alarms should have been triggered immediately.
Yet strangely, every system remained silent.
The sand piled up on the floor, wriggling like a living creature,
before soon taking the shape of a human.
A soldier made of sand—a Sand Soldier.
On Earth, there was only one person capable of creating such a thing.
Zeon.
He had sent sand through the ventilation system and formed a Sand Soldier.
The distance and the deep underground location made maintaining it difficult,
yet Zeon somehow sustained control.
Through the Sand Soldier, Zeon observed everything happening in the lab.
‘Forced awakening using drugs… If this goes wrong, Neo Seoul and the slums will be flooded with substandard awakened.’
Drugs alone were harmful enough,
but combined with human greed, they would bring disastrous consequences.
The research was still in its early stages.
Progress had stalled because the crocodiles’ drug supply had been cut off.
If that supply resumed, the research would advance rapidly.
As Zeon observed through the Sand Soldier, his brow furrowed slightly.
‘Brielle is the problem.’
Since they had already formed a pact, he couldn’t just leave her alone.
He had to make sure her abilities weren’t exposed.
‘For now, the best option is to sever the connection.’
Muttering quietly, Zeon recalled the Sand Soldier.
It collapsed back into sand and flowed out through the ventilation shaft.
Zeon stood in a secluded alley far from the vent.
The sand rushed toward him like a wave.
At that moment, his subspace opened.
As if waiting for it, the sand flowed inside.
Inside Zeon’s subspace, the largest volume wasn’t monster corpses or items—
It was sand.
More than half of it was filled with orange-colored grains.
Not a single grain that had infiltrated the vent was left behind.
As Zeon closed the subspace, he muttered,
“…How should I erase this?”