Chapter 340

Chapter 340

Zeon stopped walking for a moment and looked around.

A dark passage without a single point of light.

He could feel the filthy water splashing around his ankles.

The place he was in was the underground sewer, the Crocodile den.

After finishing his meal, he had come back down to the Crocodile den with Jetoya.

A terrible stench stimulated his nose.

Perhaps because he had just eaten delicious food, the smell felt even more nauseating. But Zeon continued walking without the slightest change in expression.

Jetoya walked beside him.

“Things have gotten a lot better since the magic power generator started running.”

“Really?”

“People from other places come after hearing the rumor that we have a magic power generator too. Thanks to that, the village’s population has tripled.”

“With so many people increasing at once, you must be short on daily necessities.”

“I can somehow get things like that, so it’s all right.”

Jetoya wiped his nose with his finger and smiled.

People commonly assumed there was nothing in the Crocodile den that could make money. But if one searched through the filth, there were actually quite a few items that could be worth something.

Items that Neo Seoul had failed to recycle and had let slip away were mixed in.

Of course, finding such items itself was not easy.

Even for people who had lived their entire lives in the Crocodile den, rummaging through filthy waste was not an easy thing.

Fortunately, Jetoya had a very strong stomach, and he did not shy away from plunging his body into dirty places.

Thanks to that, he occasionally found proper items, sold them, and bought daily necessities the village needed.

It was truly tremendous resourcefulness.

The villagers trusted and followed Jetoya because of that.

This was a major reason the young Jetoya was recognized as the village’s leader.

“You’re impressive.”

“Not at all.”

“If you need my help, tell me anything.”

“Yes!”

Jetoya answered obediently.

Jetoya had a strong sense of self, enough that he would never show weakness to anyone else, but Zeon was the exception.

Showing weakness to an absolute powerhouse like Zeon did not hurt his pride or feel shameful.

Even while walking through the filthy underground sewer, Zeon did not make a single displeased expression. That made him even more trustworthy.

“This way.”

Jetoya walked ahead and guided Zeon.

It was an underground place with almost no light, but to his eyes, the forks hidden in the darkness were clearly visible.

Thanks to that, Zeon did not need to worry about a thing and only had to follow Jetoya.

After walking for quite some time, they finally arrived at their destination.

“This is it.”

Jetoya introduced his village.

Zeon had already come here once before, so he was not greatly surprised.

Calling it a village was generous. It was nothing more than people living in homes made from something like straw mats in a large open space.

The one thing that had changed was that this place, which had once been dark as pitch, now had lights on.

It was thanks to the magic power generator.

With electricity, they no longer had to shiver from the cold, and life had become more convenient.

Because of people who had experienced the advantages of civilization, and people who had heard the rumors, the village had grown greatly.

“Oh, it’s Jetoya.”

“Jetoya’s back.”

The people welcomed Jetoya’s return.

After looking at the people for a moment, Jetoya soon noticed that Remura was nowhere to be seen.

“Huh? Where’s Remura?”

“Well, about that……”

For some reason, the people hesitated and could not continue.

“I don’t see Auntie Heather either. What happened?”

“They…… left.”

“What? What do you mean?”

Jetoya blinked, unable to understand the words for a moment. Then one of the villagers explained in detail.

“While you went up to the surface, Heather insisted that Remura should receive special treatment.”

“That’s…….”

“We understood her to some extent too. Remura really is a special child.”

“And then?”

“We said we would give her the best house in the village and treat her specially. But she said that wasn’t enough.”

“Not enough?”

“Yes! She said her child was chosen by God, so Remura should rule this village too.”

“Good God!”

“It doesn’t make sense. Everyone knows who protects this village and who developed it.”

The center of this village was Jetoya, first and foremost.

The village was maintained because Jetoya blocked outside intrusions and brought all kinds of daily necessities from the surface.

All the villagers knew that, so they thought Jetoya should naturally be the one to lead.

The leader of this group was Jetoya.

No matter how special an ability Remura had Awakened, that alone could not protect the village.

Only someone with powerful force like Jetoya could safely maintain the village. Knowing that, the villagers rejected Heather’s words.

“When they did, she said she didn’t want to stay with filthy people for even a moment longer and left the village with Remura.”

“Is that true?”

“Everyone tried to stop her, but it was no use. She left without looking back. How can a person change so coldly in an instant?”

The villagers had been greatly flustered by Heather’s sudden change in attitude.

Many people told her to at least wait until Jetoya returned, but their words did not reach Heather, whose eyes had already been blinded by desire.

She grabbed Remura’s hand, even though Remura did not want to leave the village, and disappeared into the darkness.

“So you just let them go?”

“What else could we do? We did everything we could. But Heather didn’t even pretend to listen.”

“Hah!”

Jetoya sighed.

He had never dreamed something like this would happen while he was gone.

He felt he had no face to show Zeon, whom he had gone through the trouble of bringing here.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Zeon!”

“What do you have to be sorry for? If there’s a problem, it’s the desire of that woman Heather.”

“Remura is still young, so she can’t judge things properly. I don’t know what kind of effect this will have.”

“That’s true.”

Zeon did not feel at ease either.

This was not just anyone. This was the appearance of a Grade A Healer.

And an easy-to-handle young girl at that.

Anyone with even the slightest ability to read the flow of the world would never leave Remura alone.

“Hah!”

Jetoya let out a low sigh.

For the still-young Jetoya, this series of events was too heavy to bear. He already had a heavy burden on his shoulders, and with Remura’s problem added on top, his shoulders looked even more weighed down.

Zeon frowned slightly and looked around.

He could feel the excessive expectations people had toward Jetoya.

It could not be helped.

The fate of this village currently rested entirely on Jetoya.

“Jetoya!”

“Yes?”

“Let’s go!”

“Where?”

“You need to become stronger.”

“How?”

“You’ll know when you follow me.”

Zeon took Jetoya and returned to the surface.

Now that Remura and Heather had left the village on their own, there was no reason to remain there.

Instead, Zeon called Levin and Briel.

“Brother, what’s going on?”

“Say hello. This is Jetoya. He’s a resident of the Crocodile den.”

“Huh, really?”

At Zeon’s introduction, Levin looked at Jetoya in surprise.

Unlike Briel, who had met him before, this was Levin’s first time seeing Jetoya.

“Hey! Nice to meet you. I’m Levin.”

“Ah, yes! Nice to meet you.”

“Speak casually. You can call me brother too.”

“That’s……”

At Levin’s friendly words, Jetoya did not know what to do.

“What brother? You’re making the kid uncomfortable.”

“What’s there to be uncomfortable about? It’s good to be friendly from the start.”

Even with Briel scolding him, Levin remained firm.

Jetoya was not used to that kind of friendliness, but it did not feel unpleasant either.

Zeon said to the two of them,

“From now on, we’re carrying out the Project to Make Jetoya Stronger.”

“Really?”

“That?”

There was no detailed explanation, but Levin and Briel understood Zeon’s meaning perfectly.

Because it was already something familiar to them.

“Levin, take responsibility and make Jetoya stronger. Briel, help him.”

“Can I bring Aaron and Dominic in too? Those guys are also total weaklings……”

“Handle that yourself.”

“Okay! Great.”

Watching Levin throw an uppercut into the air, Briel let out a sigh.

“Men, seriously. Do they think this is a game? But Zeon, you’re not joining?”

“If I’m there, it won’t be easy to maintain a sense of danger. You handle this yourselves.”

“All right. But I can take Gaia with me, right?”

“Do that.”

“Yes!”

Briel was delighted that Gaia would be going with them.

Because if they went out into the desert, she could play with Gaia as much as she wanted.

Zeon cautioned her,

“But Gaia absolutely must not be seen by anyone else.”

“Of course. I know that much.”

“Then that’s enough. Start by driving lower-ranked monsters toward him step by step.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll train him properly.”

Briel answered with a confident expression.

Only Jetoya failed to grasp the situation and looked bewildered.

Levin slung an arm over Jetoya’s shoulder.

“Are you ready?”

“Huh? For what?”

“You said you’re ready? Excellent. Heh heh!”

“That’s not……”

“Let’s go! We can call Aaron and Dominic later, so we’ll start with you first and make it tough.”

Jetoya turned his head and looked at Zeon. But Zeon thoroughly avoided his gaze.

At that moment, Zeon was thinking about something else.

‘After Jetoya, now a child named Remura has Awakened in succession. Is it a coincidence? Or is there some factor at work?’

There was no law saying that people who lived in the underground sewers could not Awaken.

In fact, there were quite a few Awakened in the underground sewers too. But they acted very secretly, so their nature was not well known.

‘It might not be a bad idea to use this chance to learn the underground’s movements.’

Unlike Neo Seoul and the slums, which were divided by towering walls, the Crocodile den was all connected.

Although iron bars, iron doors, or barriers blocked places here and there, that much was not a major problem.

Levin and Briel were already dragging Jetoya out of the slums. Jetoya looked at Zeon with a sorrowful expression, but it was no use.

Zeon immediately headed toward Old Man Clexi’s shop.

Because this time, he needed Argos’s Eye, the organization Old Man Clexi operated.

In return, Old Man Clexi would demand a price that was not small, but Zeon could accept that much easily.

“First, I need to understand the entrances leading to the Crocodile den in detail.”

Until now, he had chosen entrances at random and gone in.

If one searched even a little in the slums, the places where waste was thrown away were easy to find, and where waste gathered was the underground sewer.

Thanks to that, finding an entrance was not difficult. But that alone was not enough.

The underground sewer was like a maze, and no one, not even people born inside it, knew perfectly what kind of ecosystem had formed there.

In fact, even Jetoya only knew the area where he mainly operated. He did not know the atmosphere or environment of other places.

Zeon let out a sigh.

“I thought I’d finally get some rest, but work never ends.”

Even so, he could not simply turn his attention away and live as if it had nothing to do with him.

Because it was connected to him.

“Whew!”

He moved his feet and let out a heavy sigh.