Chapter 261

Chapter 261

Number Five, Zeon.

The person ranked fifth in danger level in Neo Seoul.

Zeon was the first person without a large faction like the other four to enter the top ten danger rankings.

That was how highly Neo Seoul evaluated Zeon. Because of that, his movements were being watched with special attention.

Personally, Seo Tae-ran thought Zeon’s danger level should be first.

He had merely been pushed down to fifth because he did not possess a faction. His ability itself was the most dangerous in Neo Seoul.

Seo Tae-ran asked Ho Cheong-yeon,

“You said the person Zeon contacted came from outside?”

“That is correct.”

“By outside, do you mean a Caravan? Or another colony?”

“That is not certain. They appeared like ghosts, so we have no related information whatsoever. Even so, I had to report it, which is why I came.”

“Hmm!”

Seo Tae-ran’s expression turned serious.

No one could enter Neo Seoul without an entry permit.

That was because it was protected by barriers and magic circles. The slums, however, were different.

Any outsider could come and go freely. Because of that, accurately identifying someone’s status was not easy.

Even the Shadow Unit had limits when gathering information in the slums.

The best option would be to receive cooperation from Argos’s Eye, the slums’ own intelligence organization. But Argos’s Eye had no reason to cooperate with the Shadow Unit’s request.

Seo Tae-ran felt her head begin to throb.

Everything related to Zeon made her head ache.

That was how far Zeon existed outside her expectations.

‘He made contact with someone from outside, not even someone from Neo Seoul? There’s definitely no ordinary reason for this.’

Above all, her instincts did not feel good about it.

Her instincts were extremely sharp and boasted accuracy nearly on the level of precognition.

After organizing her thoughts for a moment, she said to Ho Cheong-yeon,

“How many people do we currently have available?”

“We have about twenty spare personnel.”

“Put all of them on the person Zeon contacted.”

“All of them?”

“Yes! Find out the identity and purpose of the person Zeon contacted.”

“Naturally, we should leave no traces?”

“Of course.”

“Understood. We will handle it quietly, without the target ever knowing.”

Ho Cheong-yeon smiled faintly.

By the nature of the Shadow Unit, they had to move without drawing attention.

They possessed dozens of methods to extract information without even the person being interrogated realizing it.

“Within two days, I will find out every reason that person came here.”

“Just remember that you must not provoke Zeon.”

“Hehe! We should at least keep that line. Then......”

Ho Cheong-yeon bowed his head slightly and quietly left.

Left alone, Seo Tae-ran murmured,

“He doesn’t let me relax for even a moment.”

---

Zeon stroked the gauntlet on his right arm.

It was the item that had evolved into the Ultra-Heat Gauntlet after the Dragon’s Eye was installed. Since he had worn it for more than eight years, it now felt like part of his own body.

The one who had made the Ultra-Heat Gauntlet for him was Kaylee of the Mort Clan. Because of that, Zeon had always thought he owed Kaylee a debt.

If one received a favor, it was only natural to repay it.

No matter how trivial that favor might be.

Zeon answered Duduyan and Aslan that he would depart for Steel Fortress two days later.

After hearing Zeon’s answer, the two decided to wait in the slums until then.

“What are you thinking so hard about?”

Seeing Zeon deep in thought, Briel carefully spoke to him.

“It looks like I’ll have to go to Steel Fortress.”

“Again? Why?”

“The people who helped me in the past are asking me for help this time.”

“Then you should go. When are you leaving?”

“The day after tomorrow.”

“Then that’s a problem.”

“Hm?”

“I’m researching something right now, and I just got inspiration......”

Alchemy was by no means an easy discipline.

To refine a proper result, one needed intense concentration as well as powerful inspiration.

Inspiration meant the concrete materialization of imagination.

Since one never knew when it would come, one had to seize it firmly when it did.

Unfortunately, that moment was now.

Because it was extremely important research, Briel could not readily say she would follow Zeon.

Zeon smiled and said,

“It’s fine! I was planning to go alone this time anyway.”

“Will you really be okay?”

“Of course.”

This time, he did not plan to take Levin either.

That was because, like Briel, Levin needed time alone.

Right now, Levin was like a lamp whose wick had burned all the way down.

He had lived solely for revenge, and once he had actually taken revenge, his entire wick had burned away, leaving nothing more to burn.

Time was needed for a new wick to form.

Until then, it seemed better to let Levin spend time alone.

More than anything, it seemed better to go alone for this matter.

There was a high chance it would become a long journey, and he did not know when he would return to Neo Seoul.

“Wait a moment.”

Suddenly, Briel dashed into her room.

A short while later, she came out holding a heap of items in her arms.

“Take all of this.”

“What is it?”

“The things I made all this time. This is an Antidote Potion. This one is a spray made from the salivary gland of a Maned Lizard. It contains hydrochloric acid, so it can melt even iron. You’ll be able to use it well. And this one is......”

Briel’s explanation went on without end.

Most of the things she had made were not particularly necessary for Zeon. But ordinary people or lower-grade Awakened would likely be able to use them quite effectively.

Zeon did not refuse the items Briel handed him and placed them all into his subspace.

“Thanks! I’ll use them well.”

“Okay! Tell me if you need anything else. I’ll make it for you.”

“No! This should be enough.”

“Got it.”

“You two should be careful too. There probably isn’t anyone here who would mess with you, but you never know what can happen.”

“Don’t worry. Why should we worry when we have that?”

Briel looked at the Watching Eye.

Even at this very moment, this house was under the protection of the Watching Eye.

Even after all the Paladins of Dongdaemun had attacked together, they had failed to break through the Watching Eye. This place was the safest fortress in the slums.

As long as they were here, no one could threaten them.

Zeon smiled and said,

“Still, be careful. If anything happens, ask the Dokkaebi Market for protection.”

“Okay!”

“Good! I’m sure you’ll handle it well.”

Zeon smiled.

At first, they had been bound together unwillingly by a covenant, but now trust had built between them, and they had come to believe firmly in each other.

Zeon found that change fascinating.

After chatting for quite some time, Briel went into her room, leaving Zeon alone in the living room.

When he sat on the sofa and looked outside the window, the red neon signs dazzled his retina.

He recalled what Duduyan had told him yesterday.

“To save Archelon, they need to find Moby Dick?”

---

“Be careful. This is Neo Seoul.”

“Come on, I told you not to worry.”

At Duduyan’s nagging, Aslan waved his hand dismissively.

His face was already flushed red. He was properly drunk.

Empty liquor bottles rolled across the table in front of Aslan.

The place they were in was a bar in Shinchon.

It was a cheap bar mainly used by the poor of Shinchon. Naturally, the liquor sold here was also cheap hard liquor.

One bottle of hard liquor made from unknown ingredients was enough to render most people unconscious.

Aslan had already drunk several bottles of that kind of liquor.

It was partly because Aslan had a strong tolerance for alcohol, but more than anything, the desperation of knowing he could not drink anywhere else had played a large role.

At present, alcohol could not be obtained in Steel Fortress.

Steel Fortress had only just begun to establish itself. Producing other daily necessities took priority over alcohol.

Naturally, alcohol had no choice but to be pushed far down the list of priorities. And since they could no longer act as Scavengers, he had not tasted even a sip of alcohol after Zeon left.

“Hehe! To think I couldn’t drink something this good all this time. Don’t stop me. I’m going to empty every bottle of liquor in this shop today.”

“Ugh! Do whatever you want.”

Duduyan shook her head with a disgusted expression.

It was not that she could not understand how Aslan felt. But she could not understand drinking until he was that utterly wasted.

That was an act of thoroughly ruining one’s own body.

“I really can’t understand humans. Why do they torment themselves like that?”

“It’s not torment. I’m dreaming of romance. Look, doesn’t the world look so beautiful?”

“Your eyes are completely unfocused. Forget it. I’m going in.”

In the end, Duduyan gave up on Aslan and headed toward the lodging nearby.

She was a little worried about leaving Aslan alone in the bar, but she thought nothing much would happen.

As seen from the reaction in the Dokkaebi Market, Shinchon was tolerant toward Zeon’s guests.

It did not seem likely that anyone would target Aslan. More than anything, her lodging was right next to the bar.

If something happened to Aslan, she would be able to notice and respond in an instant.

“Hehe! Now that the nuisance is gone, shall I get serious?”

Left alone, Aslan smiled wickedly and ordered another bottle of liquor from the owner.

“Khh! This is living. This is what it means to live.”

After emptying a bottle of liquor in an instant, Aslan shouted loudly.

After babbling incoherently for a while, Aslan slammed his head straight onto the table. Then men in black suits appeared from inside the bar.

“He’s something else. To think he only collapsed after drinking five bottles of liquor mixed with Malik’s venom.”

Malik was an insect discovered in a certain dungeon.

It looked similar to a dragonfly, but it contained a highly venomous stinger.

When Malik’s venom was processed, it produced a kind of sleeping drug.

It had no taste and no smell, so if mixed into alcohol or water, even a person with extremely sharp senses would not notice.

Every bottle of liquor Aslan had drunk had been mixed with a sleeping drug refined from Malik’s venom.

They had expected him to collapse after one or two bottles, but Aslan only lost consciousness after drinking five whole bottles.

“In a certain sense, he’s impressive.”

A short man stepped out from among the men in suits.

It was Ho Cheong-yeon, the captain of the Shadow Unit.

He tilted back Aslan’s head, who had fallen unconscious.

His eyes had rolled back. He had clearly lost consciousness.

“We need to finish the work before the woman notices. Administer the truth serum.”

“Yes, Captain.”

A member of the Shadow Unit took a syringe from inside his coat and injected Aslan with it.

Like the sleeping anesthetic made from Malik’s venom, the truth serum was also made from a dungeon by-product.

The greatest advantage of this truth serum was that the person injected would not remember anything at all.

It erased what they had said, and even the memory that they had confessed to someone at all.

Without any aftereffects whatsoever.

It did not even leave traces inside the body.

Because of that, when the Shadow Unit needed to secretly dig out information, they used the sleeping drug made from Malik’s venom together with the truth serum.

“Hmm!”

When the truth serum was administered, Aslan opened his eyes.

His gaze was completely unfocused.

“Name?”

“As......lan!”

“Origin?”

“The...... desert!”

“Where in the desert?”

“Steel Fortress.”

“Steel Fortress? I’ve never heard of it. Is it a newly formed colony?”

“Yes!”

“Location?”

“If you go west from Neo Seoul......”

Aslan began spilling every piece of information he knew.

Ho Cheong-yeon listened carefully to all of it.

After learning every detail, from Steel Fortress’s members, leaders, disposition, and even trivial matters, he asked his final question.

“Why did you meet Zeon?”

“To...... receive help.”

“What kind of help?”

“To treat the mobile fortress Archelon, we need to meet Moby Dick......”

“Moby Dick? Explain in detail.”

Ho Cheong-yeon’s eyes gleamed red.