Chapter 70

Chapter 70

“This looks like a Flame Buster.”

“A Flame Buster?”

“It’s an incendiary bomb Neo Seoul is supposedly researching for anti-monster use. I heard they were aiming to make it capable of damaging monsters Grade B or higher, but......”

Jo Sang-hyeok trailed off.

Rumors were only rumors.

Monsters Grade B or higher, especially special individuals among them, possessed powerful force fields.

Because of those force fields, ordinary weapons could not inflict even the smallest wound on them.

The only thing that could pierce a monster’s force field and wound it was an Awakened’s attack.

The desert was full of such monsters.

Those factors kept people tied to Neo Seoul.

Safe land was limited, while the population continued to increase.

Expansion beyond Neo Seoul was desperately necessary.

That was why the Flame Buster was being developed.

To inflict great damage on Grade B monsters, especially boss-level monsters and above.

“But as far as I know, the Flame Buster still hasn’t been completed.”

“Are you sure?”

“Among the serial number left here, FB is short for Flame Buster, and 130 means it’s the hundred and thirtieth prototype they made.”

“How do you know that?”

“To be honest...... I have connections with the guys who smuggle weapons.”

Jo Sang-hyeok answered honestly.

Neo Seoul and the slums had a kind of symbiotic relationship.

Weapons developed in Neo Seoul sometimes flowed into the slums.

Some were stolen and smuggled out by smuggling organizations, but there were also some that Neo Seoul deliberately released.

Since they could not openly experiment inside Neo Seoul, they used the organizations in the slums to run tests.

Because of that, weapon-smuggling organizations knew quite a lot about Neo Seoul’s weapon development.

“In any case, it’s a prototype, right?”

“Yes! Its power also seems much weaker than what I heard. Maybe they developed a smaller version separately. If it had been a proper Flame Buster, the street would probably have been completely destroyed.”

Since it was an item developed to destroy a monster’s force field, its destructive power was tremendous.

If it exploded, it could bring down even a massive building in an instant, so it could not be used recklessly.

No matter how lawless the slums were, if damage beyond a certain level occurred, every organization would have no choice but to step in. If that happened, the problem would grow larger.

Zeon asked,

“Which organization recently acquired a Flame Buster?”

“As far as I know, none yet. Like I said, it’s a prototype......”

“Are you sure?”

Zeon’s voice sank heavily.

At that instant, Jo Sang-hyeok felt goosebumps rise all over his body.

Zeon was still smiling. But his eyes were not smiling.

Jo Sang-hyeok stammered without realizing it.

“T-that’s......”

“Tell me even one thing that might become a clue. If it turns out later that you hid information, I’ll show you a fireworks display that the Flame Buster can’t even compare to.”

“Ghk!”

At that instant, Jo Sang-hyeok felt the temperature inside the warehouse grow scorching hot in a flash.

Zeon had released part of his ability.

‘Fuck!’

Jo Sang-hyeok’s face twisted in pain.

It felt as if his entire body would melt from the heat.

If any more time passed, his lungs would burn first from the hot air.

He hurriedly said,

“Th-there are actually some troublesome guys these days.”

“Is that so?”

When Zeon showed interest, the scorching air cooled.

Before Zeon’s mind could change, Jo Sang-hyeok spoke quickly.

“The Crocodiles.”

“The Crocodiles?”

“They’re guys who live underground. They’re called that because they devour anything greedily, like crocodiles. Just like their name, they’ll do anything that makes money.”

“And?”

“The Crocodiles have been moving strangely these days. I don’t know why, but they’ve been poking around everywhere and causing headaches.”

“Other organizations are just leaving people like that alone?”

“The underground sewers are their territory. As you know, that place is......”

“Too filthy for anyone to go in?”

“Yes!”

“I see. So that’s how it is.”

Zeon turned around without hesitation.

There was nothing more to gain by pressing Jo Sang-hyeok further.

From now on, it was time to move.

The slums did not exist only aboveground.

Since there was no longer any land on which to build houses, some people had turned their eyes underground.

They wanted to obtain underground, at least, the homes they could not have aboveground.

He had heard rumors before that such people had gathered and made their base underground. But Zeon had never once seen them with his own eyes.

‘Underground, then?’

Zeon returned to the intersection.

The street where the vehicle had exploded had already been cleared clean.

It was not that someone had deliberately cleaned it up, but that people had looted everything.

Even the burned vehicle body had value to people.

Whether they melted it down and recycled it or used it for something else, there were countless ways to make use of it.

In the slums, nothing was uselessly thrown away. But that did not matter.

What Zeon needed was not the burned vehicle body.

Zeon walked around near the intersection.

The place he was looking for was a passage connected underground.

There was no way they had walked through the streets carrying something as bulky as a magic power generator. They had surely entered the underground through the nearest passage.

After searching for a long while, Zeon finally managed to find such a place.

In a hidden spot in the back alley, behind a place piled high with junk, there was a small passage.

Originally, it should have been blocked by iron bars, but they had all been bent out of shape.

A terrible stench flowed out of the passage.

Because of that, even the people living in the slums avoided approaching it.

Zeon slipped through the gap without hesitation.

Like sand flowing downward, Zeon passed through the gap and descended underground.

Underground was a sewer.

Filthy water filled the floor up to his ankles, sloshing.

The smell inside the sewer was so foul that it made his mind go faint.

Zeon gathered himself for a moment.

Although the environment was terrible, Zeon had survived in places even worse than this.

He could adapt to this much quickly.

In truth, that was exactly what happened.

Zeon soon adjusted to the stench and began moving.

No matter how much sewage flowed underground, if humans moved through it, they inevitably left traces.

In truth, they had.

Marks from hands braced against the wall and traces of something being dragged remained clearly.

Zeon did not miss those traces.

SPLASH! SPLASH!

Each time Zeon moved, water sounded beneath his feet.

Ordinary shoes would have been soaked already, but the shoes Zeon wore were not ordinary.

They too were made from monster hide.

Not a single drop of water seeped in.

Thanks to that, Zeon could walk through the sewer without worry.

Zeon, who had been walking quickly, suddenly narrowed his eyes.

A fork in the path had appeared.

This was where it became important.

Zeon examined the floor.

Sewage flowed through two of the passages, but one was dry, without a single trace of moisture.

No matter how adapted they were to the underground, people could not live underwater. If people lived here, there was a high chance they lived in a place where sewage did not enter.

Zeon moved toward the dry passage.

The passage was tall enough that an adult could walk with their back straight.

Thanks to that, Zeon could walk comfortably.

From this point on, breathing became much easier.

That was because the rotten smell mixed in the air had become very faint.

Rather than Zeon having adapted, it felt as if some artificial force was purifying the air in the sewer.

‘An item?’

Air-purification items were fairly expensive.

They were not easy to obtain even with money.

That was because they were traded only in Neo Seoul.

They were using such a precious item to purify the air in the sewer. It seemed the scale and ability of the people living underground were greater than he had expected.

It was when Zeon took a few more steps.

“Who the hell are you?”

“A tracker?”

Along with rough voices, someone attacked Zeon from the darkness.

The two weapons approaching through the darkness aimed for Zeon’s neck and head.

They were aiming only for fatal weak points.

Zeon lightly moved his body to evade the attacks, then struck back.

“Kek!”

“Ghk!”

The attackers’ screams rang out.

Zeon’s fists had struck their abdomens precisely.

It was a powerful blow that would have rendered ordinary people unable to resist, but the attackers somehow managed to remain standing.

They were wearing protective clothing that looked like rags patched together. Thanks to that, the shock had been offset.

“It’s a son of a bitch from above.”

“Kill him!”

They attacked Zeon in a frenzy.

The way they charged with yellowed teeth bared made them look like rabid dogs.

“Tch!”

Zeon clicked his tongue.

There were no people in the slums who were not vicious, but these men had gone too far.

It seemed he would not be able to subdue them by going easy.

CRACK!

Zeon’s fist and knee struck the attackers’ head and abdomen respectively.

The eyes of the attacker struck in the head lost focus on the spot, while the one struck in the abdomen had his protective gear shattered and had to bear the full shock with his body.

As if his organs had ruptured from the pain, he lost consciousness and collapsed.

Zeon did not even glance at the fallen men and walked forward.

Since the guards had fallen, those inside would have realized an uninvited guest had come.

TAP TAP TAP!

It was when Zeon’s steps quickened.

“Die!”

RATATATATATA!

Suddenly, gunshots rang out inside the sewer.

They were not from mere pistols, but from machine guns capable of automatic fire.

Because they did not do much damage to monsters with thick hides, guns had been pushed to the rear. But that did not mean they had become completely obsolete.

There was no weapon as efficient as a gun for suppressing and killing humans.

The ones beyond the darkness fired their guns madly. But the bullets did not work on Zeon.

The robe he wore perfectly protected Zeon.

TAP!

Zeon kicked off the ground and launched himself forward.

Closing the distance in an instant, Zeon subdued the people firing at him all at once.

“Kraaaagh!”

“Guh!”

The attackers all collapsed with screams.

Zeon stood in the middle and looked down at the fallen men.

Every one of them had not washed properly, and a foul odor rose from them. Their appearance was also so miserable that they were no different from people barely surviving outside the colonies.

“What are you? What the hell are you?”

“Grrgh! I’ll kill you. You son of a...... bitch!”

Although the attackers were collapsed on the floor, they glared at Zeon while spewing venomous malice.

Most people would have lost their nerve after being beaten like this. Yet these men foamed at the mouth instead and hurled venomous curses.

They were no ordinary vicious types.

But Zeon was no ordinary person either.

This much could not place any psychological burden on him.

Zeon easily ignored their resentful gazes and looked around.

Quite a large underground space was filled with many goods.

Among them was the magic power generator presumed to be Zeon’s.

“So it was here.”

It was when Zeon walked toward the magic power generator.

“Who are you?”

A strangely subdued voice sounded.

Zeon stopped walking for a moment and looked toward the place where the voice had come from.

A man was sitting on a large wooden crate, trimming his fingernails.

The man, trimming his nails with a dagger as large as an adult’s forearm, had a face full of tattoos, and his especially yellow eyes gleamed chillingly even in the darkness.

For some reason, only the space around the man seemed distorted and warped.

He spoke once more.

“I’m asking who you are.”

“The owner of that item.”

Zeon looked at the magic power generator.

The man gave a faint laugh.

“You crawled all the way here just to find a magic power generator? You’ve got some nerve. But what are you going to do? I have no intention of returning that item.”

“Then what should I do? I absolutely have to get it back.”

Zeon smiled as he looked at the man too.