Chapter 323

Chapter 323

The armored bus carrying Zeon’s group was extremely comfortable.

Its ride was so smooth that it was hard to believe they were racing across the desert.

Thanks to that, Zeon and Briel could travel comfortably.

Briel whispered in a low voice.

“Are we allowed to travel this comfortably?”

“Why?”

“It just feels unfamiliar......”

She had gone out into the desert with Zeon quite often, but this was the first time she had traveled so comfortably, as if they were on a picnic.

Until now, the only vehicles Briel had ridden were small cars like buggies.

This was her first time riding in such a large armored bus.

Everything was prepared inside the armored bus.

There was food, a place to sleep, even a bathroom, so there was no need to take even a single step outside.

Because of that, they did not even have to sleep outdoors, which was usually essential for desert travel.

All these circumstances felt far too unfamiliar to Briel.

Zeon chuckled and said,

“Just enjoy this moment. Something like this won’t happen often from now on.”

“Okay!”

It was then.

ROOOOAR!

A monster’s cry suddenly came from outside.

When they looked out the window, dust clouds were rising in the distance.

Monsters had appeared.

“It’s a Flame Wolf pack.”

Hundreds of Flame Wolves were charging toward the armored bus.

The sight of the Flame Wolf pack racing forward with flames in their mouths was so imposing that it made one’s knees go weak just from looking.

Elder Go, who was beside them, let out an exclamation of admiration.

“What a sight.”

“Shouldn’t you go out?”

“Why should I?”

Elder Go chuckled and looked at the armored bus running beside them. It was the bus Seo Tae-ran was riding.

SCREECH—!

With the sound of brakes, the bus Seo Tae-ran was riding stopped. However, the ones who opened the door and came out were not Seo Tae-ran.

They were staff members from the Secretary Office.

“Hm!”

Zeon watched them with an interested expression.

People who traveled through the desert usually wore loose robes or clothing like deshada.

That was because such clothing was comfortable for moving under the hot sun. But even in the desert, the Secretary Office staff wore black suits.

He wondered why they had come out wearing clothes that ordinary people or ordinary Awakened would never wear.

‘Are they that confident in their skills? Or is there another reason?’

ROOOOAR!

The Flame Wolf pack drew closer.

Once they came close enough that their teeth could be seen clearly, the Secretary Office staff moved.

WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

They kicked off the ground and leapt into the air.

CRACK—!

A Secretary Office staff member’s fist slammed into the jaw of the Flame Wolf running at the front.

YELP!

With a scream, the Flame Wolf’s jaw twisted, and it died.

That was the beginning of the battle.

The Secretary Office staff fought the Flame Wolf pack barehanded, without fear.

No, they were not truly barehanded.

Looking closely, one could see that they were wearing knuckles on both fists.

The sight of them killing Flame Wolves one by one with fists fitted with knuckles was almost beautiful.

‘Efficient movements without the slightest wasted motion.’

Block, attack, and kill.

Then block the wolf’s attack again, attack, and kill.

It sounded simple, but there was no way it could actually be easy.

Facing close-combat monsters like Flame Wolves required tremendous courage.

No matter how much humans Awakened and gained abilities that surpassed their limits, the primal emotion of fear did not disappear.

Because of that, many Awakened gained outstanding abilities, only to fail to display their true skill once they stood before monsters because of fear.

But Seo Tae-ran’s Secretary Office staff were different.

They were like dolls.

There was no trace of the emotions or fear that humans should naturally reveal.

THUD! THUD—!

The Secretary Office staff inflicted overwhelming violence on the Flame Wolf pack.

Occasionally, they were bitten by the Flame Wolves, but perhaps because the black suits themselves were items, not even a scratch appeared.

YELP! WHINE!

The Flame Wolves’ screams burst out one after another.

Zeon murmured,

“I don’t see an Alpha. Is this a straggling pack?”

Hundreds seemed like a lot, but this was still considered a small pack among Flame Wolf packs.

In less than thirty minutes, the Flame Wolf pack that had attacked the armored bus was annihilated.

Pat, pat!

After shaking the blood from their suits, the Secretary Office staff climbed back onto the armored bus.

Even then, Seo Tae-ran did not show her face once.

The armored bus carrying the Secretary Office staff departed immediately.

After watching their battle, Briel quietly whispered,

“Those people are strange.”

“They are.”

Zeon nodded.

At that moment, Eun Su-young, one of the twin sisters, said,

“That’s because they aren’t complete humans.”

“How do you know that?”

“Did you forget our ability?”

At Zeon’s question, Eun Su-young tapped her own head and answered.

“Telepathy?”

“Exactly! If someone is human, we can read their thoughts to some extent. But we can’t read those people’s thoughts at all. That’s something that should never happen with ordinary humans.”

“Couldn’t they just have solid mental barriers?”

“Not one or two people, but all ten of them have solid mental barriers? That makes no sense!”

“You’re right. That makes no sense.”

Zeon nodded readily.

The mind was not something one could easily train.

Most people did not even understand the concept of protecting the mind by building a barrier.

Only a small number of Awakened built mental barriers and guarded against mental contamination.

Zeon was one of them.

Because of that, he knew very well how difficult it was to build a mental barrier. And yet, for not just one or two but ten people with such mental barriers to exist in the same organization was by no means normal.

Eun Su-jin said with a displeased expression,

“City Hall has lots of organizations and laboratories even we don’t know about. They must be creations made by one of them.”

“So they aren’t normal humans.”

“Does a normal human even exist in this world? It’s a world where perfectly fine humans cut off their own arms and legs and replace them with mechanical limbs.”

“That’s true too.”

Zeon nodded.

It was a world where almost nothing was normal anyway.

The very fact that monsters existed on Earth was already far from normal.

“How many staff like that are in the Secretary Office?”

“We don’t know!”

“Even the Numbers don’t know?”

“The Secretary Office is like an extraterritorial jurisdiction. Aside from the mayor and Seo Tae-ran, no one knows what goes on inside.”

“Really?”

“In fact, it’s already extremely unusual for the Secretary Office to reveal this much combat power outside. They almost never appear outside. That means this matter is that unusual and important.”

This was not a matter involving one or two people. The lives of as many as three thousand four hundred people were at stake.

Naturally, City Hall had no choice but to go on emergency footing.

Originally, another organization should have been dispatched, but since so many projects were proceeding simultaneously, the only place left that could move personnel was the Secretary Office.

That was why Seo Tae-ran had no choice but to lead her subordinates out personally.

Elder Go said,

“She may have no manners, but her ability is certain. At least until we reach the open-pit Mana Stone Mine, she’ll handle most things on her own.”

“That’s good.”

Zeon nodded and sank deep into his seat.

Thanks to Seo Tae-ran, it seemed this journey would be comfortable for the first time in a while.

If she kept handling things at this level, there was no need for Zeon to move personally. It was more important to rest comfortably and bring his condition to its peak before they reached the destination.

Zeon fell into a deep sleep just like that.

Briel, who had looked anxious for a moment, followed Zeon’s example and buried herself in her seat to sleep.

Seeing the two of them, Elder Go’s eyes gleamed.

‘It’s clear they have a lot of experience. The twins can’t rest properly because of anxiety, but those two are resting so comfortably.’

In truth, Elder Go was anxious too.

He had plenty of combat experience, but this was also his first time going this far into the desert.

Because of that, he was subtly tense and could not rest properly.

That was why experience was important.

Only those with great experience could respond appropriately to the situation at hand.

‘How embarrassing. I’ve only aged, yet I’m worse than that child.’

He tried to sleep like Zeon and Briel, but perhaps because he was tense, his mind only became clearer instead.

With a bitter smile, Elder Go looked out the window.

---

After that, they were attacked by monsters several more times.

Each time, the Secretary Office staff deployed first and dealt with the monsters. But there was another problem.

The armored buses broke down frequently.

That was because sand entered various parts and caused problems.

Fortunately, one Mechanic was aboard, so the bus was repaired whenever it broke down, but because of that, the journey to the Mana Stone Mine inevitably grew longer.

The twin sisters spoke with sickened expressions.

“The desert really is a scary place.”

“Neo Seoul is definitely better.”

It had not even been many days since they left Neo Seoul, yet they already missed it. And they realized anew.

How good a city Neo Seoul was, and how incredibly lucky they had been to be born and Awakened in such a place.

The twin sisters suddenly looked at Briel.

They had ridden in the same vehicle for several days, but the twin sisters and Briel were still awkward with each other.

Part of it was because Briel was wary of them, but the twin sisters were also clumsy at making friends with others.

Furthermore, Briel spent most of her time sleeping.

Unlike the twin sisters, she had a lot of this kind of experience.

Since she had traveled the desert often with Zeon, she knew it was best to rest properly when there was time to rest.

So whenever she had the chance, she slept and kept her condition at its best.

Because things were like that, the twin sisters had almost no time to talk with Briel.

It was then.

Briel, who had been sleeping as if dead, suddenly sprang upright and began checking her clothes.

Eun Su-jin asked with a puzzled expression,

“What’s wrong?”

“We’re almost at the destination, so I should get ready.”

“How do you know that?”

“How would I not? The air is this heavy, and the smell of monsters is so strong.”

“What?”

“Can’t you feel it? This fishy stench. It carries the breath of monsters.”

“Really? You can sense that?”

“Of course.”

At Briel’s firm answer, Eun Su-jin frowned.

It seemed she could not easily believe Briel’s words.

At that moment, Zeon, who had been sitting beside Briel, rose to his feet.

“It seems we should start heading outside.”

“Why?”

“We can’t fight monsters from inside the bus. You should all prepare too. It looks like we’ll have to fight hard to reach the place where the expeditionary force camped.”

“Really?”

“I don’t joke about things like this.”

Zeon opened the small hatch in the ceiling of the armored bus and climbed onto the roof.

Only then did Eun Su-jin realize Briel had been telling the truth.

Briel followed Zeon up onto the bus roof and said,

“I’ll go up first.”

When Briel climbed onto the roof, she saw an enormous monster army in her field of vision.

They had to break through them to reach the place where the expeditionary force’s camp had been.

The monsters that had discovered the armored bus began to stir.

The heated air and the monsters’ howls surged toward the armored bus like a tidal wave.