Chapter 156

Chapter 156

Xiao Lun’s brow was deeply furrowed.

His already wrinkled face gained even more creases.

“So you are saying he rejected my offer?”

“I apologize. My ability was lacking......”

Pan Cheng-tian, sitting in a wheelchair, trailed off.

His limbs were broken, and he could not even walk under his own power, so he had been reduced to a wheelchair.

Xiao Lun looked at Pan Cheng-tian with an expression of contempt.

He had kept Pan Cheng-tian close because, though a little arrogant, the man had ability. Yet now he had returned in such an unsightly state.

His arms and legs had not been severed, so with treatment, he would be able to regain his former ability.

The problem was that Xiao Lun’s heart had already turned away from Pan Cheng-tian.

“Did he truly control sand?”

“Yes! I saw him use sand freely.”

“Then he truly is a Sandmancer. What am I to do with this?”

Tap, tap!

Xiao Lun tapped the table with his fingers.

“Does this mean there is no room to repair our relationship?”

The Crocodiles, who had supplied him with drugs, had been annihilated by Zeon, and even Tajik had lost his life.

Now even Pan Cheng-tian had returned crippled.

They had buttoned the first button wrong, and everything after that had only gone further out of place.

To unravel a twisted relationship, one had to return to the beginning and start again. But there was no way that was possible.

“In the end, we have no choice but to become enemies with him.”

“You must not underestimate Zeon. He threatened that if we treated him as an enemy, he would join hands with another district.”

“So?”

“What?”

“Did you simply listen to his threat?”

“There was no other choice. If he joins hands with another district, we will be in danger.”

“To my ears, it sounds as though you begged because you valued your own life.”

“Absolutely not. I did it out of concern for you, Lord Xiao Lun......”

“I am disappointed, Cheng-tian. If he threatened you, you should have fought even if it meant your death. Yet you returned with your tail tucked between your legs like a dog. If that is not begging for your life, then what is it?”

Xiao Lun’s voice was chillingly cold.

At that instant, Pan Cheng-tian hurriedly got down from the wheelchair and knelt.

His bones had not yet mended, so the pain was tremendous, but he did not care.

“Please forgive me, Lord Xiao Lun!”

“Cheng-tian, Cheng-tian! You pitiful thing. If you were a fighting dog, you should have died fighting like one. Instead, you came back with your tail between your legs and damaged your master’s dignity?”

“Please......”

At that moment, an intense light burst from Xiao Lun’s eyes.

Fear appeared on Pan Cheng-tian’s face.

“N-no!”

He instinctively tried to avoid Xiao Lun’s eyes. But their gazes had already met.

Crack, crack!

His body began turning to stone.

It started from his toes, the farthest point from his heart, then climbed to his calves and thighs.

Seeing his own body turning to stone, Pan Cheng-tian begged.

“No! Forgive me...... Lord Xiao Lun!”

“I can forgive defeat, but I cannot overlook damage to my dignity.”

“I served you like a dog.”

“Yes! I will remember your loyalty for a long time.”

“Aaah!”

With that final screaming expression, Pan Cheng-tian became stone.

A human who had been alive and moving moments ago had become a stone statue.

This was Xiao Lun’s awakened ability, the Petrifying Eye.

It was an absurdly powerful ability that could turn any being who met his eyes into stone.

That was why those who had known him for a long time called him Basilisk.

The Petrifying Eye did not work on everyone.

It did not affect those with a higher awakened grade than Xiao Lun, or those who possessed Skills capable of defending against it. But there were not many such people.

Of course, once he used it, the aftereffects were far from light, so he could not use it often.

Xiao Lun looked coldly at Pan Cheng-tian, who had become a stone statue.

Once someone had turned to stone, they could never be revived.

Xiao Lun lightly waved his hand.

BOOM—!

With an explosive roar, the stone statue shattered into pieces.

“Clean it up.”

“Yes!”

No sooner had Xiao Lun spoken than the people waiting nearby appeared and removed Pan Cheng-tian’s remains.

Left alone, Xiao Lun looked out the window.

Far away, the towering City Hall building entered his view.

“Surely that man will not join hands with Jin Geum-ho?”

---

Several days had passed since the clash with Pan Cheng-tian.

During that time, Xiao Lun and South District showed no movement.

Thanks to that, Zeon was able to rest comfortably.

Early in the morning, Briel saw Zeon taking out his robe and putting it on, and she asked,

“Are you going somewhere?”

“Mm!”

“Where?”

“I’m going into Neo Seoul for a bit.”

“Neo Seoul?”

“Do you want to come too?”

“No, I’m fine! It’s just complicated for no reason, and it isn’t to my taste.”

Briel shook her head.

Neo Seoul was a city where everything was controlled.

From the moment one entered Neo Seoul, everything was monitored and recorded.

Briel disliked that atmosphere.

To an elf who loved freedom, Neo Seoul’s cold and rigid atmosphere brought great fear.

Zeon smiled as if he understood.

“Then I’ll go alone.”

“When will you come back?”

“Since I’m going in anyway, I’ll probably stay a few days. Still, I won’t be too late.”

“Got it! Have a safe trip.”

“Sure!”

Zeon waved his hand and went outside.

Once outside, Zeon headed straight for the entrance to Neo Seoul.

Awakened stood guard at the gate leading into Neo Seoul.

When Zeon drew near, they grew wary.

“Stop and state your identity.”

They looked ready to attack immediately if his identity was not clear.

Zeon handed them the access pass he had received from Seo Tae-ran.

“I was invited by City Hall.”

“City Hall?”

An Awakened took the access pass and examined it.

The pass bore the mayor’s official seal.

“Are you perhaps Zeon?”

“That’s right.”

“Forgive our rudeness. You may pass.”

The Awakened guarding the main gate had already received orders to let Zeon through.

Zeon took the access pass back and entered Neo Seoul.

The Awakened guarding the front gate whispered among themselves as they watched Zeon’s back.

“So that’s the Sandmancer?”

“Fuck! A beggar bastard from the slums got himself a good awakened ability and turned his life around.”

“Shh! Keep it down. He’ll hear.”

“Why? Did I say something wrong?”

“No, but......”

“Hah! I’m jealous. If I had gotten an ability like that, how great would that have been? Women would have followed me in droves.”

“Fuck! With that face? You still wouldn’t stand a chance.”

“What did you say, you son of a bitch?”

The Awakened suddenly began arguing among themselves. But Zeon did not even glance at them and walked on silently.

About ten minutes after he began walking, it happened.

Screech!

A car stopped in front of him.

It was a vehicle powered by Mana Stones.

The person who got out of the car was a woman wearing a red jacket and skirt.

Zeon recognized her at a glance.

‘Seo Tae-ran!’

It was Seo Tae-ran, the secretary of Mayor Jin Geum-ho.

At her appearance, Zeon looked slightly surprised.

It had only been ten minutes since he passed through the main gate. Yet she already knew that fact and had come to greet him. That was surprising.

“Good to see you.”

“How did you come out to meet me already?”

“When the access pass crosses the main gate, a signal is sent straight to City Hall.”

Seo Tae-ran answered as if it were nothing.

He did not know how the signal was sent, but it was certain that the movements of those who held access passes were tracked by City Hall.

‘Is this what they call Big Brother?’

City Hall and Jin Geum-ho did not leave each district or the Awakened alone because they did not know what was happening.

They clearly grasped their movements as if reading the lines of their own palms.

Zeon thought that was frightening.

No one rebelled against it or thought it strange.

Because it was a system built from the earliest days of Neo Seoul, everyone accepted it as natural.

No Colony other than Neo Seoul possessed such a system. At least, among the Colonies Zeon had visited, Neo Seoul was the only one.

Perhaps this system itself was Jin Geum-ho’s greatest weapon.

Once Zeon got in, the car set off smoothly.

The vehicles people rode in the desert were extremely noisy. They were made without concern for comfort or convenience because they had to break through rough roads.

In contrast, the cars operated in Neo Seoul emphasized quietness.

“This is a nice car.”

“If Lord Zeon enters Neo Seoul, you will be able to ride in cars like this as well.”

“I’m not particularly interested in cars......”

“Then again, Lord Zeon probably has no need for a car. As long as there is sand, you can move freely anywhere.”

“On the contrary, if there is no sand, I have to walk with difficulty. Just like in Neo Seoul.”

Neo Seoul’s streets were clean.

Not a single grain of sand could be seen, let alone a pebble.

That was thanks to the magic circles and barriers protecting Neo Seoul.

External sand could never pass through the magic circles and enter. Thanks to that, the air here was always kept clean.

The greatest benefit Neo Seoul’s people received was clean air. The people of the slums always had to live while breathing thick, stale air.

They existed in the same space, yet they were entirely different worlds.

This advanced city, where not even sand could be found no matter how hard one searched, was the opposite of Zeon’s nature.

“Is there any reason to use sand inside Neo Seoul? There are so many convenient means like this.”

“Still, it feels empty without it.”

“You will be fine once you grow used to it.”

At Seo Tae-ran’s words, Zeon gave no further reply.

That was because the words were not worth answering.

Telling a Sandmancer to live in an environment where he could not use sand was no different from taking away a monster’s teeth and claws.

Seo Tae-ran did not insist any further either.

If he were someone who could be drawn in with a few words, he would already have belonged to another force.

‘He is like a wolf. He might become the leader of a pack himself, but he is absolutely not someone who will go under another person.’

Seo Tae-ran had already completed her investigation of Zeon.

She could not know how Zeon had lived during the eight years he had been out in the desert, but she had dug thoroughly into everything from his childhood to his actions after reentering Neo Seoul.

As a result, she came to understand Zeon’s disposition and personality better than anyone.

The method of approach had to change depending on the person.

Coercion through brute force, like Dongdaemun or South District had tried, would not work on this man.

‘With a man like this, I must approach rationally.’

If it were another Awakened, she would not have paid this much attention.

There were more than enough martial type, magic type, curse type, and mechanized Awakened to be kicked around underfoot. But Zeon was the only Sandmancer.

He was not merely rare. His ability itself was unrivaled.

City Hall had to recruit him at all costs.

While Seo Tae-ran was briefly lost in thought, the car arrived in front of City Hall.

Zeon got out of the car and looked up at the gigantic City Hall building.

There was a great difference between seeing it from far away and looking up at it from directly beneath.

It felt as if a giant were standing there.

From atop that giant’s head, he felt an intense gaze.

Even without Seo Tae-ran explaining, he knew.

He knew who the owner of that gaze was.

‘Jin Geum-ho!’

He was looking down at Zeon from the highest place in Neo Seoul.

Goosebumps rose along Zeon’s spine, and his fists clenched by themselves.

Zeon’s body had reacted first to Jin Geum-ho’s gaze.

This was the first time he had felt such a sensation.

Even when facing Leviathan, it had not been to this degree.

City Hall itself felt like Jin Geum-ho’s body.

“Whew!”

Zeon took a moment to steady his breathing.

Only then was he able to become a little freer from the tremendous pressure weighing down his entire body.

Zeon said to Seo Tae-ran,

“Let’s go up.”

“What?”

A strange light appeared in Seo Tae-ran’s eyes.

There had been a few people who felt Jin Geum-ho’s gaze here, but Zeon was the first to regain his composure this quickly.

‘Does this mean he is even more impressive than I expected?’