Chapter 70
“This looks like a Flame Buster, no matter how I look at it.”
“A Flame Buster?”
“It’s a type of firebomb being researched in Neo Seoul specifically for large demonic beasts. I’ve heard it’s being developed to deal damage to B-rank or higher demonic beasts, but….”
Jo Sanghyeok trailed off.
Rumors were just that—rumors.
B-rank or higher demonic beasts, and especially special individuals among them, possessed powerful barriers.
Because of these barriers, ordinary weapons couldn’t even inflict the tiniest scratch.
Only the attacks of an Awakened could pierce through a demonic beast’s barrier and wound it.
Such demonic beasts were plentiful in the desert.
Those factors kept people bound to Neo Seoul.
Safe land was limited, yet the population kept growing.
Expansion beyond Neo Seoul was desperately needed.
The Flame Buster was being developed for that very reason.
To inflict massive damage on B-rank, and even boss-grade or higher demonic beasts.
“But as far as I know, the Flame Buster hasn’t been completed yet.”
“Are you certain?”
“Among the serial numbers here, FB is the abbreviation for Flame Buster, and 130 means it’s the one-hundred-thirtieth prototype made.”
“How do you know that?”
“Ac…actually, I have connections with some arms smugglers.”
Jo Sanghyeok spoke honestly.
Neo Seoul and the slums shared a kind of symbiotic relationship.
Weapons developed in Neo Seoul sometimes found their way into the slums.
Some were stolen by smuggling organizations, while others were deliberately leaked by Neo Seoul.
Because open experiments couldn’t be conducted inside Neo Seoul, they used slum organizations for testing.
Therefore, the arms smuggling organizations knew quite a bit about Neo Seoul’s weapons development.
“Anyway, it’s a prototype, right?”
“Yes! Its power also seems much weaker than what I’ve heard. Perhaps it was developed separately as a compact version. If it were a proper Flame Buster, the street would probably have been completely obliterated.”
Developed to destroy demonic beasts’ barriers, its destructive power was enormous.
Capable of toppling huge buildings in an instant, it couldn’t be used recklessly.
No matter how much the slums were a lawless zone, if damage exceeding a certain level occurred, all organizations would be forced to step in. Then the problem would escalate.
Jeon asked.
“What organization acquired a Flame Buster recently?”
“As far as I know, none yet. It’s literally a prototype, so….”
“Are you sure?”
Jeon's voice sank heavily.
In that instant, Jo Sanghyeok felt chills run across his entire body.
Jeon still had a smile at the corners of his lips. But his eyes weren’t smiling.
Unwittingly, Jo Sanghyeok began to stutter.
“Th-that is….”
“Tell me anything that might serve as a clue. If it later comes out that you hid information, I’ll show you a fireworks display that won’t even compare to a Flame Buster.”
“Kuk!”
In that instant, Jo Sanghyeok felt the temperature inside the warehouse suddenly soar.
Jeon had partially unleashed his ability.
‘Fuck!’
Jo Sanghyeok’s face contorted in agony.
It felt like his entire body would melt from the intense heat.
If any more time passed, his lungs would burn first in the hot air.
He spoke urgently.
“Ac…actually, there are some troublesome guys these days.”
“Oh?”
As Jeon showed interest, the heated air cooled down.
Before his mood could change, Jo Sanghyeok hurriedly spoke.
“The Alligators.”
“Alligators?”
“They’re guys who live underground. They call themselves that because they devour anything like alligators. As their name suggests, they’ll do anything for money.”
“And?”
“These days, the Alligators’ movements are unusual. I don’t know why, but they’re poking around everywhere, which is a headache.”
“And the other organizations just let them be?”
“The underground sewers are their territory. As you know, that place is….”
“So filthy that no one enters?”
“Yes!”
“Got it. That’s what you’re saying, right?”
Jeon turned around without hesitation.
There was nothing more to gain from pressing Jo Sanghyeok further.
It was time to move.
The slums weren’t only above ground.
With no land left to build houses, some people turned their eyes underground.
They wanted to have a home below, since they couldn’t have one on the surface.
He had heard rumors of such people gathering and establishing a base underground. But Jeon had never once seen them in person.
‘Underground, right?’
Jeon returned to the crossroads.
The street where the car had exploded was already cleaned up.
Not because someone had deliberately tidied it, but because people had looted it.
Even the burned-out car frame had value to them.
Whether melting it down for recycling or using it for other purposes, there were endless ways to utilize it.
Not a single thing in the slums was discarded needlessly. But that didn’t matter.
Because what Jeon needed wasn’t the burned car.
Jeon wandered around the crossroads.
What he was looking for was a passage leading underground.
They couldn’t have paraded down the street carrying a bulky item like a mana generator. They must have gone underground through the nearest passage.
After searching for a while, Jeon finally found such a place.
In a hidden corner of the back alley, behind a pile of junk, there was a small passage.
It should have been blocked by iron bars, but they were all bent out of shape.
A terrible stench flowed from the passage.
Because of that, even the slum dwellers avoided approaching it.
Jeon entered the gap without hesitation.
As if sand were flowing down, Jeon descended underground through the gap.
The underground was a sewer.
Wastewater filled up to his ankles and rippled.
The smell inside the sewer was so terrible it could make one lose consciousness.
Jeon composed himself for a moment.
The environment was poor, but this was Jeon, who had survived conditions far worse.
He could adapt to this level quickly.
And indeed he did.
Jeon soon adapted to the stench and began moving.
No matter that it was an underground sewer, if humans moved through it, they inevitably left traces.
And indeed they had.
Handprints on the walls, scrape marks from something, remained intact.
Jeon didn’t miss these traces.
Splish! Splosh!
Every time Jeon took a step, water sounds came from the floor.
Ordinary shoes would have been soaked already, but the shoes Jeon wore were no ordinary pair.
They were also made from demonic beast hide.
Not a single drop of water seeped in.
Thanks to that, Jeon could wander through the sewer without worry.
Jeon, who had been walking quickly, suddenly brightened.
Because a fork in the road had appeared.
From here on was important.
Jeon examined the floor.
Both passages had sewage flowing through them, but one was completely dry.
No matter how adapted to underground life one was, they couldn’t live in water. If people lived here, it was highly likely they stayed where the sewage couldn’t reach.
Jeon moved toward the dry area.
The passage was high enough for an adult to walk without bending their waist.
Thanks to that, Jeon could walk comfortably.
From here on, breathing became much easier.
Because the rotting stench mixed in the air had faded significantly.
Rather than Jeon having adapted, it seemed some artificial force was purifying the sewer’s air.
‘An item?’
Air purification items were quite expensive.
They also weren’t things that could be easily obtained just because one had money.
Because they were only traded in Neo Seoul.
Using such a precious item to purify the sewer air. The scale and capability of those living underground seemed greater than he had thought.
Just as Jeon took a few more steps.
“What kind of bastard is this?”
“A tracker?”
With rough voices, someone attacked Jeon from the darkness.
Two weapons cutting through the darkness aimed for Jeon’s neck and head.
They targeted only fatal vitals.
Jeon lightly moved to avoid the attacks and then launched a strike.
“Kuk!”
“Kreuk!”
The attackers’ screams echoed.
Jeon's fists had accurately struck their abdomens.
It was a powerful blow that would have rendered ordinary people helpless, but the attackers somehow managed to remain standing.
They wore protective gear that looked like stitched-together rags. Thanks to that, the impact had been mitigated.
“A bastard from above.”
“Die!”
They attacked Jeon with desperation.
Baring yellow teeth as they rushed in, they looked like dogs afflicted with rabies.
“Tsk!”
Jeon clicked his tongue.
There were no pushovers among slum dwellers, but these guys went too far.
It seemed he’d have trouble subduing them with moderate force.
Crack!
Jeon's fist and knee respectively slammed into an attacker’s head and abdomen.
The attacker struck in the head immediately lost focus in their pupils, and the one hit in the abdomen had to absorb the shock directly as the protective gear shattered.
Wracked with pain as if his internal organs were rupturing, he lost consciousness and collapsed.
Jeon walked forward without giving the fallen men so much as a glance.
Since the sentries had fallen, those inside would have realized an unwelcome guest had arrived.
Tap-tap!
Just as Jeon’s steps quickened.
“Die!”
Ratatatat!
Suddenly, gunshots echoed through the sewer.
And not just pistols, but machine guns capable of automatic fire.
They couldn’t do much damage to thick-skinned demonic beasts, so firearms had been pushed to the back lines. But they weren’t completely obsolete.
There was no weapon more efficient for subduing and killing humans than firearms.
Those in the darkness fired their guns like madmen. But the bullets didn’t work on Jeon.
The robe he wore protected Jeon perfectly.
Swish!
Jeon pushed off the ground and launched himself forward.
Jeon closed the distance in an instant and subdued those firing the guns.
“Kuak!”
“Uk!”
With screams, all the attackers collapsed.
Jeon stood in the center and looked down at the fallen men.
Every one of them emitted a stench from being unable to wash properly. Their appearance was so shabby that they looked no different from people struggling to survive outside the colony.
“Who are you? What are you?”
“Kuh! I’ll kill you, you… bastard!”
Despite lying on the floor, the attackers glared at Jeon, radiating fierce malice.
Ordinary people would have had their spirits broken by now. Yet they instead foamed at the mouth and spewed cursed vitriol.
They weren’t ordinary tough guys.
But Jeon wasn’t an ordinary person either.
This level of hostility couldn’t cause him any psychological burden.
Jeon lightly ignored their venomous gazes and looked around.
In the fairly large underground space, many items were piled up.
Among them was what appeared to be his mana generator.
“So it was here.”
Just as Jeon walked toward the mana generator.
“You, what are you?”
An unusually calm, heavy voice was heard.
Jeon paused and looked toward where the voice came from.
A man sat atop a large wooden crate, grooming his nails.
The man’s face was covered in tattoos as he groomed his nails with a dagger the size of an adult’s forearm, and his unusually yellow pupils glinted eerily even in the darkness.
Strangely, only the space around the man appeared distorted and warped.
He spoke once more.
“I’m asking what you are.”
“I’m the owner of that item.”
Jeon looked at the mana generator.
The man smirked.
“You crawled all the way down here for a mana generator? You’ve got some guts. But what can you do? I have no intention of returning that item.”
“Then what should I do? I absolutely must take it back.”
Jeon too smiled as he looked at the man.