“Cough, cough. This is chaos.”
Seo Hwa-kyung came out with her whole body covered in soot.
Even though I was a bit burned, I couldn’t complain when I looked at the surrounding scenery.
It was difficult to find the original appearance of the burned-out research lab.
“… … I barely made it. Kangrim, where did you get something like that?”
“Team Leader Gong gave it to me a while ago.”
The moment Yang Baek activated the tidal wave of fire, Seo Kang Rim immediately took out the key to the armory.
Although there were no more weapons left inside, its function as a subspace item was as valuable as the armory.
During the tsunami, the armory provided the perfect hiding place.
‘Thanks to Parma’s necklace, I also took less fire damage.’
Seo Kang-rim’s whole body was also covered in soot and wounds.
During the evacuation, I received a tsunami of fire all over my body, but thanks to Parma’s necklace, most of the damage was reduced.
He found Yang Yibaek collapsed in the ruined laboratory.
‘He’s already dead.’
Even though he died, he left behind a lot.
Yang Baek had numerous magical abilities, and his magical power was unparalleled.
And just a moment ago, a message was printed saying that the Destiny rank had been raised to a dragon item.
While stealing the fortune teller, Seo Hwa-kyung’s voice was heard.
“Gangrim-ah, it seems like the number of people tied up outside is limited. They say the messengers have entered inside.”
At this point, it had been dragging on for quite some time.
Seo Kang-rim got up from his seat in a hurry.
“Okay, I’ll get out right away, so go into the armory first.”
I wanted to collect the materials, but everything was already destroyed and time was running out.
As Seo Kang-rim hurriedly headed toward the ventilation shaft, he heard the thugs rushing in.
“Everyone, check with Team Leader Yang Baek and Team Leader Gongju first!”
“Yes, Team Leader Seomun!”
While they search the ruined laboratory.
A white rat quietly slipped out of the laboratory, but no one noticed its presence.
* * *
There was a space in the basement of the Bihomun building that even the members didn’t know about.
The basement, located below the room where Dokgo Jun was held prisoner, had walls and floors made of steel, and gave off a cold smell.
The room reminded me of an interrogation room in the Protectorate that I had once visited.
“I saw it on the news, and as expected, there was no mention of the underground research lab.”
The article contained facts that were not true.
A group of clowns planted a bomb in the hospital’s basement, and the explosion caused a small earthquake.
It was also reported that the shamans defeated the clowns that appeared near the hospital without causing any casualties.
Although they were defeated, there were no deaths or captures in the clown group.
Since publishing the news of defeat would have tarnished the name of the protectorate, they published the news after appropriately packaging it.
But it was a clear defeat for the protectorate.
The clown was not captured, and the laboratory was destroyed.
In the process, two team leaders disappeared, so the loss would have been huge.
And one of them was in my hands.
“The part about Team Leader Gong wasn’t mentioned in the news either.”
I looked at the princess who was tied tightly to the chair.
At that time, the situation was the complete opposite of what was happening in the interrogation room.
When Yang Yibaek unleashed the Fire Wave, I hastily evacuated to the armory, dragging the unconscious princess with me.
The key he gave ended up saving his life.
You can just let them die and then use the enchantment, but since the enchantment drops are consumables, it’s better to save them.
And even though I have a lot of magical power, the princess’s fate is of the third rank.
There is also a possibility that the platform may fail.
That’s why we captured him and brought him here.
He was in a state of magical restraint, and all of his equipment and items had been removed, so he was practically naked.
He was glaring at me as if he was going to kill me.
“… … Seo Kang-rim, since when? Since when did you notice us?”
His gaze towards me was filled with mixed emotions.
The eyes were a mixture of shock, anger, and confusion.
I pulled up a chair and sat down facing the princess.
“That’s not really important. What’s important is that you’re a hostage.”
“… … .”
“Since your life is in danger even if you return to the Protectorate, it would be better for you to cooperate with me.”
He bit his lips without saying anything.
He declared his surrender on his own, but when he was captured, his pride seemed to be hurt.
Well, he only has one choice.
“… … Seo Kang-rim, it seems like you have a lot to ask me since you brought me here alive. Even if I refuse, you won’t kill me easily.”
He knew full well that he had value as a hostage.
I could have gotten the order even if I killed him, but I wanted to get the information while he was still alive.
If we were using brainwashing, there would be no need to argue like this… … .
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“Please answer my questions honestly.”
[Activate the ability ‘Voice of Brainwashing’!]
[The target’s level is high, so it cannot be brainwashed!]
Even if I use my power, it still doesn’t work.
I had a hard time brainwashing Berna, so I figured it wouldn’t work on someone as big as the team leader.
Brainwashing over a long period of time might work, but it takes too long.
This time, the research center was destroyed by the Clowns, so the Protectorate will likely respond quite strongly this time.
Before that, I had to get information.
Meanwhile, the princess was looking at me with a distorted face.
“Unless my safety is absolutely guaranteed, I will not agree to this deal. Bring me a written oath.”
The princess glared at me with eyes as bright as a beast.
But even though the beast was a beast, it looked like a cornered beast.
Anyway, I was the one who took the initiative in this situation.
Also, I had planned to use the pledge from the beginning, but since you spoke up yourself, it was not a bad thing for me.
After taking out the pledge, I stated the conditions.
“My condition is that you answer the questions honestly, without hiding anything, and without lying.”
After writing my name in the A section, I started writing down the conditions.
Now I had to fill in the items.
The princess looked at the oath with a slightly anxious look and said.
“My conditions are… … . You will not torture or harm me, and you will provide me with shelter and necessities for living. And I want to receive a token of vengeance.”
A sign of vengeance.
It was an item that made the designator take on the duty of revenge if the target died.
It was also an item the princess gave me at the educational facility.
“Let’s make Seo Kang-rim the designator.”
It was a more demanding and wiser condition than simply protecting one’s own life.
When a princess with a token of vengeance is murdered, I must put everything aside and make revenge my first priority.
If I killed him, I would have to commit suicide, and if Bihomun’s group killed him, I would have to take revenge with blood on whoever it was.
A situation where he must be protected from the clowns and the protectorate.
The princess must have aimed for it and set conditions for it.
“Otherwise, I will not make the deal.”
“Okay. I’m in an emergency situation too.”
After I signed the pledge, I put a pen in the princess’s hand.
The signature was crooked, like a child’s scribble, because it was tied tightly, but it was effective.
After purchasing and writing multiple tokens at the store, a look of relief appeared on the princess’ face.
“Then let’s begin.”
I had a mountain of questions I wanted to ask him.
I felt like splitting his head open right now and looking inside.
“Who is the god of the protectorate?”
“… …His will is unchanging and everlasting.”
Unchanging eternity.
It was a new name I had never heard of before, but strangely enough, it felt like it was stabbing into my heart.
Is that the name of the god who whispered in my ear all night long when I was a child?
“What is your real name?”
“I don’t know. It seemed like the other team leaders didn’t know either.”
It wasn’t enough to just know the name.
I wondered if the princess was hiding it, but since she had even signed the oath, it seemed like she really didn’t know.
“Was it because the Protectorate or the fake clowns were trying to scout me to use me as a vessel?”
“… … Similar. Powerful Awakened Ones are useful in many ways. Among them, you were the one the Director had his eye on the most.”
It’s useful… … .
It seemed like there was a way to use it for more than just a bowl.
I remembered Lananot’s thirst for my blood.
“I think it was for a similar reason that you were after my blood, but what were you planning to use it for?”
“You’re quick-witted. Your blood was the material for the unknown egg.”
The unknown egg.
It seemed as if I could hear the eggs piled up in the basement and the sound of teeth chattering.
I asked, feeling a little disgusted.
“What happens if you inject human blood into an unknown egg?”
“If you’ve come down to the lab, you’ve probably already seen it, but we’re researching hatching humanoid demons from unknown eggs.”
His voice was simply calm.
A dry tone, as if explaining something about a machine.
“I learned that if you feed a certain amount of human blood and special ingredients to an unknown egg and supply it with magical power, a being similar to a human will emerge. It also has intelligence like a human.”
“Why would you do something like that?”
“There were several reasons. The biggest reason was to create an unchanging vessel of eternity.”
I thought of the 42nd director dying in the lab.
The protectorate first appeared on the surface a few years ago, and Baekyoung first appeared before my eyes about twenty years ago.
Even if it’s twenty years, it means that the vessel died every half a year.
“At first, he brought a powerful god and gave him the unchanging eternity. However, the vessel did not last long. So he decided to make the vessel himself.”
The lab was hatching eggs on a lucky day.
With just that, it was possible to produce dragon-level and god-level awakened characters.
As the princess said, making the vessel seemed more efficient than finding it.
“The more you feed it the blood of a strong Mansin, the stronger it becomes, so Seo Kang-rim, I wanted to take your blood.”
Are you saying that all of those countless unknown eggs were individuals that grew by feeding on human blood?
The fact that there was a hospital above the research institute may have also been for the purpose of obtaining materials.
There’s no better place to get human blood.
If it was decided to create a vessel, then it means that the 42nd director who died at that time was also a created being.
And another person with the exact same face as Baek Young.
I took out Baek Young’s photo and showed it to the princess.
“I want to know what this woman’s true identity is.”