Chapter 69

Chapter 69

The mature scent of a woman rushed into his nose.

It was the first time a woman had brought her face this close to him.

Zeon forced himself to maintain his composure and asked,

“Do you know old man Clexi?”

“Know him? I’m desperate enough to want to catch him and kill him.”

“To that extent?”

“If I could, yes.”

Yu Se-hee’s eyes gleamed coldly.

The playful way she had been scolding the merchants just moments ago was nowhere to be found.

If Zeon had been an ordinary person, he would not have been able to breathe properly under her overwhelming presence.

Fortunately, Zeon was not an ordinary person, nor was he weak enough to be overwhelmed by a gaze of this level.

Yu Se-hee also realized that Zeon was no ordinary person.

More than anything, there was no way old man Clexi would give a precious card to someone insignificant.

“How did you meet old man Clexi?”

“Would you believe me if I said it was by chance?”

“It seems you have no intention of telling me.”

“So you don’t believe me after all.”

“It’s not you I don’t trust. It’s old man Clexi. There is absolutely no way that man would give a precious card to someone he met by chance.”

“He certainly was sly.”

“You seem no less sly than him.”

“Me?”

Zeon looked wronged.

Yu Se-hee carefully studied Zeon’s face.

There was at least one thing she had to acknowledge.

She could not read his thoughts just by looking at his face.

That was how thoroughly Zeon concealed himself.

She might be able to find out if she used her unique Skill, but she did not want to go that far.

Because the Skill was so tremendous, the backlash when she used it was not light either.

If he had come with old man Clexi’s introduction, then at the very least, he was probably not someone who would harm the Goblin Market.

“What’s your name?”

“I’m Zeon.”

“Where do you live?”

“Are you conducting a census right now?”

“Yes. Are you not going to answer?”

“I live in the Ant Nest.”

“Shinchon?”

“Yes!”

“Then we’ll see each other often. All right. You can go now.”

Yu Se-hee waved her hand as if driving away a fly.

Zeon lowered his head slightly to her and said,

“Then......”

Yu Se-hee watched Zeon’s back with sharp eyes as he disappeared among the people.

The Black Lion said quietly,

“Shall I put someone on him?”

“No. Old man Clexi has probably already put someone on him. We can share information, so there’s no need to waste precious manpower.”

“Understood.”

The Black Lion accepted her words.

He knew old man Clexi as well as Yu Se-hee did.

He knew how meticulous and persistent old man Clexi was.

Yu Se-hee started walking.

“The atmosphere inside and outside the colony has been unsettled lately. I heard a Flame Wolf pack attacked an Armored Bus a few days ago?”

“Yes. Monster groups are appearing closer and closer to Neo Seoul. It seems the rumor that Neo Seoul’s monster-repelling power is weakening is true.”

What made Neo Seoul different from other colonies was the existence of monster-repelling power.

For reasons unknown, a powerful energy dwelled in Neo Seoul. This energy frightened monsters and made them unable to approach.

Thanks to that, humans had been able to escape the threat of monsters and develop Neo Seoul.

Neo Seoul amplified that monster-repelling power with a magic circle and strengthened its effect.

The range of the monster-repelling power strengthened this way reached no less than several dozen kilometers.

Thanks to that, not only Neo Seoul but also the slums had been safe from the threat of monsters.

Because monster-repelling power existed, humanity had bought time and had been able to develop the city to its current level. Yet for some reason, Neo Seoul’s monster-repelling power was gradually weakening.

People cited the fact that monsters were appearing closer and closer to Neo Seoul as evidence.

It was something that would have been unimaginable in the past.

To hunt monsters, one had to form a team and travel far away from Neo Seoul. But now, monsters could be seen even in places not very far from Neo Seoul.

The old saying that monsters feared approaching Neo Seoul was becoming a thing of the past.

Yu Se-hee looked beyond the enormous city wall, toward the skyscrapers that rose as if piercing the sky.

There, the rulers who governed Neo Seoul resided.

“Just what are they doing inside for Neo Seoul’s monster-repelling power to be weakening? Have they already forgotten the lesson of that day?”

Deep concern filled her voice.

---

Zeon left the Goblin Market and walked along Yeonnam-ro.

Meeting Yu Se-hee, the owner of the Goblin Market, had been outside his expectations.

Zeon thought Yu Se-hee was extremely strong.

‘There wasn’t even a one-second delay when she cast lightning Magic.’

Usually, casting Magic required a slight preparation time.

Magic meant the realization of an image in one’s mind.

Turning the picture drawn in one’s heart into reality was what Magic was.

It naturally took time to manifest an image into reality.

Those with outstanding talent shortened that time to an extreme degree, but those without such talent inevitably took longer.

Yet Yu Se-hee had shown no such gap of time.

The instant she wanted it, she called lightning into reality. And she had done so with only enough power to make Taeo and Brickston retreat without injuring them.

The fact that she had cast lightning Magic, the most destructive type, without wounding either side showed just how remarkable her talent was.

Zeon did not know what Yu Se-hee’s Awakened grade was, but she was certainly at least Grade B.

At that level, there would be almost no one in the slums who could defeat her.

Even more impressive than her was the guard she had brought with her, the Black Lion.

The Black Lion emitted such an intense energy that even Zeon had flinched slightly.

His body was so full of aura that it overflowed and naturally radiated outward.

The Black Lion was the first martial-type Awakened this powerful that Zeon had seen in the slums.

The Black Lion awakened a sense of caution in Zeon, who had inwardly looked down on the slums to some extent.

That alone was enough of a gain.

Zeon thought it had been a good decision to visit the Goblin Market.

If he continued using the Goblin Market in the future, he felt he would be able to grasp the situation in the slums well enough.

“Whew!”

After returning home, Zeon took off the robe he had been wearing.

The house was still empty.

That was because there was nothing inside besides the bed and sofa.

The lightbulb flickered uneasily.

It was because the supply of electricity was unstable. But once the small magic power generator arrived, the situation would change.

Once he could supply electricity on his own, he would be able to use not only lights but various devices as well.

In a way, that would be when he began to properly enjoy civilization.

Zeon sat on the sofa and waited for the magic power generator to be delivered.

They had said they would send it today, so it would arrive soon.

That was when it happened.

CRAAAAASH!

With a tremendous explosion, the building shook as if it might collapse at any moment. The window glass also shattered and flew into the house.

Zeon frowned and rose from his seat.

Through the broken window, he could see an intersection reduced to devastation.

A truck was burning in the middle of the intersection.

It had clearly exploded after someone’s attack.

Such things were common on this street, so Zeon tried not to care. But the moment he saw the pattern drawn on the broken truck, he could no longer do that.

What was engraved on the truck was a goblin pattern.

The goblin pattern was the symbol of the Goblin Market.

A transport vehicle from the Goblin Market had been attacked.

‘A vehicle coming here at this hour?’

At that moment, Zeon felt an ominous premonition.

He threw himself straight out the window.

His house was on no less than the eighteenth floor. Yet he had jumped down without the slightest hesitation.

Zeon’s body fell at terrifying speed and was nearly at the ground.

Then sand piled at one side of the street shot upward like a pillar and caught his body softly.

He had used sand to soften the impact. But no one saw it happen.

That was because everyone on the street was too busy watching the burning vehicle.

Zeon quickly pushed through the people and approached the vehicle.

Violent flames were surging from the vehicle.

Because of that, people could not easily approach.

Their faces were filled with greed.

“Fuck! There must be something precious inside.”

“If only the flames weakened a little.”

They had no intention of putting out the fire.

They were only thinking about how to approach and steal the goods loaded inside.

No one cursed them for it.

That was simply what the slums were like.

Zeon pushed through such people and approached the vehicle.

The raging flames swallowed his body. But they had no effect on him.

At last, Zeon arrived in front of the vehicle.

The first place he checked was the driver’s seat.

There were already two corpses melting in the driver’s seat and the passenger seat.

One of them was the Goblin Market merchant Zeon had traded with.

A long cut was clearly visible across the merchant’s neck.

He had definitely been murdered before the vehicle exploded.

Zeon frowned and moved to the cargo bed.

The cargo bed door was wide open, spewing violent flames. Although his view was blocked by fire and smoke, Zeon clearly saw that the cargo bed was empty.

“Hah!”

Zeon let out a sigh.

It was clear the magic power generator that had been on its way to him had been stolen.

Since the merchant was dead, receiving compensation from him was impossible.

“What kind of bastards dared......”

His eyes turned sharp.

He had wanted to live quietly if possible. That was why he had intended to let most things pass.

But the theft of his magic power generator was not an incident that could be dismissed as just one of those things.

He had to find the attackers, punish them, and recover the magic power generator.

The urgent priority was to discover the identity of the attackers who had stolen the magic power generator.

Zeon examined the area around the burning vehicle.

Not many steps away, he found a piece of metal.

It was certainly not a fragment from the vehicle.

On the surface of the fire-scorched metal piece, the letters “FB130—” were written. The rest of it could not be seen, but this alone was enough of a clue.

Someone had attacked the vehicle, killed the merchant and his subordinate, and stolen the magic power generator. Then they had erased all evidence by making the vehicle explode.

Even if the Goblin Market came out to investigate, they would think the magic power generator had burned along with the vehicle. They would never imagine someone had stolen it.

It was fortunate Zeon had arrived before the flames completely swallowed the transport vehicle. If he had been even a little later, the truth would have been completely burned away by the fire.

Zeon left the flames behind and walked away.

There was no use asking people blinded by greed.

For things that happened at the bottom of this street, one had to ask people from the bottom of this world.

Fortunately, Zeon knew such people well.

Zeon headed toward a dank part of the street.

At a glance, it looked disorderly, but even here, addresses existed.

It was just that the way addresses were assigned was unusual, making them difficult to find unless one had lived here for a long time.

Zeon walked while searching his memory.

After passing through several alleys, he arrived at a warehouse on the first floor of a large building.

Zeon opened the warehouse door and entered without hesitation.

“What?”

“What bastard came in without permission?”

Rough reactions burst out at once.

Inside the warehouse, men with unusual atmospheres were sitting here and there.

They revealed killing intent toward the uninvited intruder. But the moment they saw Zeon’s face, that killing intent vanished instantly.

“Hrk!”

“That man is......”

Their faces turned deathly pale.

The warehouse was the den of the Red Skull Gang.

The ones whose faces had gone white at the sight of Zeon were Jo Sang-hyeok and his subordinates.

Jo Sang-hyeok, the boss of the Red Skull Gang, stammered.

“B-brother, why are you here? W-we haven’t done anything wrong to you......”

Zeon said to Jo Sang-hyeok,

“I have something to ask. You can spare me a little time, can’t you?”

“Of course.”

Jo Sang-hyeok nodded at lightning speed.