The fire burns.

Various thoughts flash through my mind as I watch the trash mountain burning like a giant beacon fire.

What the hell did these bastards put in the trash pile? Why does everything catch fire whenever I light something? I’m going to be scared to even touch a gas range burner from now on.

Regret about life. Pain. It’s hot. Wow, the smell is fucking awful. What did these bastards bury in the trash mountain? If I play dead here, will the situation resolve itself?

At the end of these thoughts that seemed to flow in a chain reaction, I came to my senses.

“Well, we’ve achieved our goal. Let’s go to the laboratory while they’re confused.”

“Can we really just leave that…?!”

Mina made a sound as if swallowing a scream while looking at the mountain and factories behind us.

Certainly, it’s clear as day that leaving a fire of this scale unattended would lead to a disaster.

Since I hadn’t intended to cause such a large fire either, I had been thinking we should get a fire extinguisher from somewhere and put it out.

But among the people rushing toward the fire, I saw a superpower user whose hands transformed into enormous hose-like appendages, and I changed my mind.

Yes, those who set up something like a laboratory in a place like this would certainly have prepared for potential fires.

In case of a fire, police and firefighters would come, and those engaged in activities they don’t want such people to discover would certainly have made preparations!

So we’ll leave the cleanup to the people working here, and we’ll advance, taking advantage of that opportunity.

The flames are just a bit bigger than expected, but there shouldn’t be any major problems. No, there mustn’t be.

“Detective, your eyes look dead…”

Shut up.

Mina and I moved forward, leaving the commotion behind.

Workers instantly gathered at the fire scene, working to extinguish the flames.

It was a quick response that would have surely caught us if we hadn’t fled the moment the fire started. But whether they spray water or freeze it, it will take time to subdue flames of that intensity.

Moreover, the fire is spreading a bit faster…

Damn it.

“When this is over, I’m turning myself in.”

“No, Detective. We did this together. I, I’ll turn myself in too.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. This is all my judgment and my actions.”

“But I didn’t stop you either.”

“No—”

We bickered while infiltrating. Even though we shouldn’t be talking and should proceed quietly.

It was truly a pathetic display, but neither Mina nor I could think rationally. Or rather, we didn’t have the leisure to do so.

But strangely, even as we moved like this, not a single person stopped us.

What’s even stranger is that while arguing about who was at fault, we instantly arrived at our destination.

Yes, all that matters is achieving the goal. That’s what matters. That’s what I decided to think.

---

According to the data in the USB, the laboratory where the superpower awakening drug is made is located in the basement of the factory at the innermost part of this industrial complex.

It’s the largest factory among those nearby, and it appears to be an ordinary textile factory on the outside, but it’s the main place where the superpower awakening drug is made.

There were no people inside the factory right now. It seemed like everyone had hurriedly gone out with fire extinguishers because of the fire. But knowing this wouldn’t last long, I moved quickly.

I looked around searching for the underground path leading to the laboratory.

Kim Yun-shik, who somehow reached here, probably couldn’t move easily. But the fact that even he found the laboratory suggests that infiltrating itself isn’t that difficult.

So where should we go? As I looked around, I suddenly noticed a wall that unnaturally jutted out on one side of the construction site.

In contrast to the unnamed machines and textile materials neatly stacked around, nothing was visible near that protruding wall.

Additionally, there was a fire prevention shutter on one side of the wall, which also looked awkward.

Clear traces of people’s footprints and frequent movements of forklifts or similar vehicles remained on the floor around the shutter.

Moreover, standing in front of the shutter, there was a clean path leading to the construction site entrance. The structure of the factory was clearly strange.

“…It’s beyond this shutter.”

I looked at Mina. She burned with determination at my words, as if ready to charge down there immediately.

I thought we should at least put on workers’ uniforms for disguise before entering.

But in this situation, those who suspiciously wander around the laboratory wouldn’t be overlooked just because they’re wearing work clothes.

I took Mina and immediately lifted the shutter to check inside.

After raising the shutter and looking inside, what I saw was a huge entrance. A square steel door, roughly 3 meters by 3 meters, was embedded in the ground.

It clearly seemed to be the entrance to the underground laboratory, but there was one problem.

“How do we open this…”

The tightly closed door appeared to have a structure that wouldn’t open unless something was done from inside. The door’s features were visible, and there was something like a handle, but no matter how much force I applied, it didn’t seem like it would open.

Ah, damn it. I didn’t think of this. It’s natural that such places would be sealed off immediately when an incident occurs, whether it’s a fire or something else.

What should I do about this? As I bit my lip, pondering how to open this door.

Mina, who was beside me, stared at the handle for a moment and then applied force—

CRACK!!

“Oh.”

“Huh? It opened too easily… huh.”

Mina demonstrated the door opening magic [physical].

I was amazed at how easily the thick steel door, which seemed to be about 3m thick, opened to Mina’s slender hand.

But Mina seemed rather surprised that the door opened so easily.

“I, I barely applied any force…”

I thought she had gotten stronger, and it seems she really has. I wondered if the door wasn’t locked, but.

Seeing all the lock-like things that appeared as the door opened, all snapped like taffy, it was clear she had broken the door’s locks and forcibly opened it.

Mina getting stronger is good regardless of how it happened. But I couldn’t help but furrow my brow at what would follow.

Having forcibly opened the door like this, alarm sounds would be ringing and causing a commotion, whether underground or outside.

It wouldn’t be strange if people came charging in from below or above right now. Given the situation, I decided to quickly run into the laboratory interior with Mina in the lead.

“We don’t have time. Let’s move!”

“Y-yes!”

Mina, who had been flustered by her own strength, regained her senses at my command and ran down inside.

The path leading underground was neatly organized, the lights shone brightly, and it was annoyingly deep.

Roughly counting the stairs visible, there might be more than 100. Do the people in the laboratory climb these stairs to move things?

I thought these criminal bastards were really struggling to do bad things, but there was a rail installed on the side, and if they used just the rail, it wouldn’t look difficult to move things, no matter how many there were.

Having such idle thoughts, after descending all the stairs.

I saw a vast interior that made me wonder how they created such a space underground, and at the entrance to the interior, there were metal detection devices and something like cargo rails.

The things dimly visible beyond the hazy plastic curtain confirmed that this was the laboratory mentioned in the USB. But I noticed something else off about this place.

There was no one. This place, with metal detectors and cargo rails, seemed important for blocking people trying to enter and for moving manufactured drugs, but there were no people.

If it were simply that no one was there, I might force myself to think they had vacated due to the fire.

But looking at what came into view next, the meaning changes. Broken CCTVs, blood splattered in corners, bullet marks, and rifles thrown onto the floor as if discarded were telling us what had happened here.

“—Something’s coming.”

Suddenly Mina muttered, looking beyond the metal detector. Her superhuman senses had detected something.

I picked up a rifle lying on the floor and looked in the direction Mina was staring.

Thump! Thump! The floor shakes. Continuous noise as if a massive object was approaching on two legs, and what appeared from beyond the hazy curtain was—a huge mass of meat, no, muscle.

Dressed in torn jeans and what looked like leather clothing, it appeared so massive that it had to half-stoop.

Big. That was the only word that came to mind. The interior, which had felt unnecessarily spacious until just now, suddenly felt compressed.

Palm-sized as big as my torso, and the tendons and blood vessels that stood out writhed like snakes.

Already sufficiently ferocious in appearance, what made it worse was the blood dripping from the corners of its mouth, seemingly fresh, giving the impression of a gigantic monster to the man before us.

Both Mina and I know the name of this giant brute before our eyes.

Food Ghost. A criminal who had already been defeated by Mina and thrown into prison. I remember that among the names of supervillains who escaped from prison this time, his name was included, just like in the original work—

“…Is this bastard in his growth phase? Why is he bigger?”

He seems to have grown at least 1 meter more. He’s grown not just vertically but horizontally too.

Already a mass of meat, he’s grown even more, becoming not just a mass of meat but a rock made of meat.

As both Mina and I stared at him in astonishment, Food Ghost was looking at Mina with blood vessels standing out on his face.

Since she still hadn’t removed her mask and sunglasses, which weren’t even funny as a disguise, this guy shouldn’t recognize her as New Hope. As I was thinking that.

“New Hope! You really came here! That damn monster actually didn’t lie for once! Hahaha! Well, it’s fine. Because of his constant nonsense, I’ve already eaten all the guys in the basement as a way to vent my frustration.”

Food Ghost immediately recognized Mina and bared his teeth fiercely, smiling.

His words revealed why the underground was so quiet despite us forcibly opening the door and entering, but that wasn’t the important thing.

Food Ghost spoke as if the “monster” had predicted we would come here.

…That damn bitch Sai. Did she predict we would move like this too?

I knew it, but it feels disgustingly demoralizing. If she already knew we would come here, has she already moved the drugs? Is it impossible to stop the terrorism?

As I was grinding my teeth, Food Ghost glanced at me with a face showing no particular interest and said:

“The monster said to tell you that if you want to stop the terrorism, go beyond here. Since I’ve gotten a free meal—I might as well do this much.”

“Well—whether you can pass is another matter.”

After saying that, Food Ghost licked the blood sticking to the corners of his mouth.

I couldn’t help but furrow my brow at the sight of him smiling ferociously like a beast, but I soon relaxed my expression and looked at Mina.

Mina removed the cumbersome mask and sunglasses, throwing them away.

She looked at me and grinned mischievously, saying:

“Detective. I leave the back to you.”

With that, Mina charged forward. Food Ghost reacted and tried to swing his fist, but Mina’s form instantly became light and sent Food Ghost flying sideways.

The two disappeared into the distance, breaking through the wall. The path to enter the interior of the laboratory was now open.

When we first encountered Food Ghost, Mina had said something similar, but back then it had provoked curses rather than the relief I feel now.

Does it mean the novice hero has now grown into a reliable hero who inspires confidence?

It’s a very moving thing, but since she didn’t take off the coat I had put on her, she still looks like a penguin wearing her dad’s clothes.

Is that appearance really okay? Hero.

There was much I wanted to say and argue about, but I kept it to myself.

I mulled over what Food Ghost had said and ran forward with the rifle in my hand.

I had informed the captain about the suspected laboratory location. Before entering this place, I had also sent a message requesting reinforcements if there was no contact for more than 10 minutes.

Even though they’re busy with terrorism preparations and various matters, since Food Ghost is guarding this place, it’s clear that there’s something like a real factory that makes the awakening drug.

What’s troubling me is what Sai is thinking… but whatever, for now I should charge ahead and think later.

I ran forward, forcibly swallowing my unease.