episode_0171

After sweeping away the criminal organization disguised as a trading company in one go, all that remained were the stragglers.

Due to its immense scale, they couldn’t kill ‘everyone’.

As a result of Violet’s simultaneous strike tactics, all the organization’s executives were killed, and some were captured.

However, among the lower-ranking members, some were lucky enough to escape or fled after hearing the news in advance.

“It’s right to catch and kill all of them, but we have something urgent to do right now.”

“Right, those are things the Brotherhood can handle.”

Violet had set the table, so the others would have to take care of the rest.

“Alright, let’s focus on our work now!”

The Violets’ discussion then shifted to future plans. First, Number 912, in charge of drugs, made an announcement.

“We’ve secured Black Ice! It’s a whole box, so we can use it whenever we need to. And while we were at it, through interrogation, we also found out where they get the drugs from, so if needed, we can look into that.”

The drug acquisition was proceeding as planned. If they utilized the power of narcotics, they could introduce more variables for their enemies.

Following the announcement, the interrogation specialist, Number 444, came forward and spoke.

“I interrogated a few of the surviving executives and the boss. These guys, the Pinnacle Trade Network or whatever they’re called. They’re incredibly vile!”

Their human trafficking methods were extremely malicious.

They kidnapped orphans and homeless people from both inside and outside the academy city, and also forcibly abducted and imprisoned people under the guise of job placement.

Of those gathered, some were sent to prostitution establishments, while others were forced into debt and then exploited without pay, employed in dungeon mines or as porters.

But the most horrific thing was something else entirely. Human experimentation!

“As you can tell just from Kalia’s kidnapping case, these guys are dealing with Laplacia. There are several other large clans involved too.”

Laplacia, the wicked biotechnology company that created and tormented Violet, was subcontracting these guys to procure experimental subjects.

Perhaps the ones who kidnapped our Violet were these very people.

“We don’t know that. They said there are other organizations doing this kind of work. But there’s a more important fact.”

The next moment, the Violets grew irritated.

It was only testimony and circumstantial evidence, but there was a familiar name.

“Magnabis was involved too. They’re everywhere!”

The poor patients and people with opened skulls in their suspicious research lab, they wondered where they came from, and now there was a source.

“Horrible…!”

Seeing the filthy cross-section of the relationship between clans and the criminal underworld made them feel sick.

As the enraged Violets condemned the misdeeds of the clans and memories, Number 1085, who had been quiet, spoke up.

“Wait, you haven’t killed the executives and the boss yet, right? I have a good idea.”

“Why?”

“They said they also deal with Magnabis. Couldn’t we use their human trafficking routes to infiltrate their secret labs, like when we rescued Kalia’s uncle last time?”

“Wow, what an idea!”

The Violets nodded in admiration.

They needed a way to access the secret facilities and information that couldn’t be found through mere investigation, and the thought of securing a backdoor from an unexpected place made their hearts pound.

“There must be bad scientists there too, right?”

Violet recalled the faces of the ponytail and slicked-back haired individuals.

Guys like Josef Mengele, Shiro Ishii, and John Cutler.

Sadly, those mad scientists apparently lived out their full lifespans without punishment or remorse.

Moreover, the wicked scientists in this harsh academy city were clearly living even happier lives, sponsored by clans and corporations.

All while using the blood and sweat of poor, powerless beautiful girls as their foundation!

However, that was before Violet’s possession. If they ever saw such individuals in the future, they wouldn’t stand idly by.

Of course, doing this wasn’t solely for their personal revenge.

“If we blow up all their R&D departments, the clan’s future will vanish.”

Magnabis was a clan of mages. They were renowned not only for their pure magical abilities but also for their applied technologies that actively combined magic and science.

The Magnabis Group generated considerable profit from this. Every time a research lab was destroyed, their future would evaporate.

“If it’s someone like Yurik or Ennis, we’ll enslave them. If it’s the ponytail, we’ll kill her. How about it?”

“I agree!”

With this, the fate of the prisoners was decided.

The Violets’ discussion moved on to military organization plans.

“When can we bring out Ruzilin’s Iron Fist?”

“Tanks are our friends. You shouldn’t leave friends in places like that!”

Their naive light tanks, who loved slaughter, were currently neatly hidden in a corner of the dungeon.

Unfortunately, it was impossible to retrieve and use Ruzilin’s Iron Fist and Unit 2 right now. For some reason, the Federal Army, still clinging to the relics, had been lingering inside the dungeon, continuously investigating the surroundings.

If the Atlas Clan hadn’t helped, Ruzilin’s Iron Fist would have fallen into the hands of the Feds.

“Are we going to get our identities exposed?”

“Don’t worry. The clan executives said they’ve coordinated their stories. The people below them don’t know the situation. The captain and the remaining soldiers don’t know our identities either.”

Even assuming the worst, there wasn’t much the Feds could find out.

Only the fact that a suspicious organization appeared, went on a shooting rampage, and killed all the Magnabis guys.

As everyone imagined a future driving around in tanks, Unit 2 interjected.

“Not for a while. Even if we bring the tanks out now, we can’t use them.”

“Oh, right…”

Come to think of it, even if they brought them out, it would be difficult to use them immediately.

They also needed to learn how to operate the equipment, and there were damaged parts from combat. They had no trailers to transport the tanks, nor spare parts or ammunition.

Fortunately, they had Uncle Osprey and the Brotherhood’s automobile expert uncles.

If they bought and modified pickup trucks, Jeeps, and buses, they could use them as tank substitutes.

The problem was how to use them.

They activated their collective intelligence. Then, General Violets appeared within the Violet network. This was the second time since the Vittorio Dungeon.

From the very front of the generals, a strangely humming song could be heard.

A prairie unfurled on the network, and arrows shot up from beyond a hill. From the flutes attached to the arrowtips, an ominous screech rang out.

Soon, a Violet dressed in nomadic attire rode out on horseback.

“Let’s build armed trucks with machine guns and mortars. And, we’ll kill everything bigger than a truck wheel.”

“That’s the best tactic!”

**

They had pondered for a long time. How could they live happily and satisfactorily in this world full of wicked people?

The answer was simple. Meet good friends and earn enough money.

However, according to Violet’s understanding, their friends’ prospects were not very hopeful.

As far as her memory served, in five years, her friends would be in a very depressed state.

“Kalia became a back-alley fixer, and Irene became a failed clan leader drowning in alcohol and cigarettes!”

Nearly half a year after escaping the lab, the Violets vaguely understood why their friends ended up in such situations.

They had been given the opportunity to vividly see the inner workings they hadn’t known before.

“If we hadn’t saved Uncle Osprey, the Brotherhood would have collapsed into a gang, just like we know from history, right?”

It was a gloomy story. It seemed Violet’s friends were all people without parents.

Daphne lost her family to a magic beast when she was young, and for unknown reasons, Kalia’s only family was her maternal uncle.

“That’s right. And Irene… her uncle is definitely the problem!”

And according to the settings she knew, Irene was also destined to lose both of her parents.

Her mother had passed away long ago when she was young.

To make matters worse, Irene’s father, the clan leader, was literally torn in half fighting a top-tier magic beast, barely clinging to life.

There was a reason why the uncle fellow was trying to pull some strings to seize control of the clan.

Wait a minute, something’s odd.

Suddenly, a truth dawned on her. Their barracks were an orphanage!

“Now that I think about it, all our team members don’t have parents!”

Orphans and widows were common on this planet Trist, where gates opened frequently. Nevertheless, it was astounding how, among the myriad heroes and students of the Crimson Scholar, only people with no biological parents gathered around her.

“That’s not entirely true! Our Doctor and the Slave-nim both have parents. That’s why they occasionally make calls to check in.”

Hmm, that’s why they only sent necessary messages under their surveillance. She felt a little envious, somehow.

They should work them harder.

Still, they couldn’t back down.

If their friends had no parents, then they could become their family. They also had the ability to at least ensure they weren’t lonely.

“And we have power!”

If there was someone who teased their friends about not having parents? They would make that person parentless too.

One problem was, how would they deal with those who already had no parents?

The terrifying truth was that the mage who was currently the chairman of Polaris and the real power behind Magnabis was such a being.

“Chairman Valefor is an old man! He already has no parents.”

“Gah! He’s invincible. No parents…”

According to her research, the chairman was from a ruined old noble family, born long before the dimensional invasion.

As an outstanding mage, he maintained a youthful appearance needing no dentures or implants, but within him lurked a 120-year-old madman planning large-scale experiments on the school for inexplicable reasons.

While the student council president and the board were also tricky, the biggest obstacle to their revolution plan to overthrow the academy and the clans was that parentless old monster and his countless combat units.

“The ones who open an era are young and cute beautiful girls. The academy doesn’t need old people!”

Therefore, to succeed in their terror… no, revolution plan, they needed more firepower.

They had no intention of confronting him directly, but in the worst-case scenario, they would have to physically force him into retirement.

Fortunately, they had secured promises of cooperation from Uncle Osprey and the Brotherhood’s skilled uncles, so all that remained was to obtain weapons to attach to their vehicles.

They had seen the catalog provided by the arms dealer, but they didn’t know what the actual equipment looked like.

“All the money we earned from the dungeon, we poured it all in here! If they try to scam us, we’ll turn them into Skullkit food.”

“We’ll have to see.”

If they secured heavy weapons, they planned to reorganize the Violet Battalion into a regiment.

If everything went according to plan, the Violet Infantry Battalion would transform into the Violet Mechanized Regiment, equipped with artillery and armed vehicles.

“We are preparing for war!”

“For peace!”

After the meeting concluded, the Violets resumed their daily routines.

As a day or two passed, the trade date was suddenly just around the corner.

**

A few days later, Violet and the broker steered a borrowed yacht across the moonless night sea.

Violet wondered if the world was helping her.

The sky that night was densely clouded. With such darkness, there would be no risk of the deal being discovered.

After traveling for a long time, it was past midnight when they arrived at the rendezvous point.

The agreed meeting place with the arms dealer was in the middle of the sea, far from the main island.

After turning off the engine and waiting, a regular beep echoed from the communicator. It was a signal that a ship was approaching.

Manager Leslie nodded to the captain who was steering the boat. Soon, a reply was transmitted.

A moment later, a massive ship emerged from the darkness in the distance.

While Manager Leslie fumbled for the binoculars, Violet focused her gaze in the direction of the ship.

A faint red light blinked three times. It would have been hard to see at this distance without an Awakened’s vision.

Violet raised her sword, let a very small amount of magic flow into it, and swung it three three times. A faint, flickering red sword energy replied to the signal.

A few minutes later, Violet and the broker boarded the cargo ship.

On the deck, the ebony-skinned arms dealer they had met before stood waiting among his suit-clad subordinates. In front of him was a table with wine and some fruits.

“It’s been a long time. Ariel. Have you been well?”

“Yes, we’ve been well. Let’s get to the point now. You kept your promise, right?”

In response to Violet’s question, Armas slightly lowered his sunglasses and smiled before answering.

Amidst his smile, Violet could glimpse his confidence from his neatly aligned, gleaming white teeth.

“I told you during our first transaction. I never lie in business deals. If the traded goods could be forcibly returned to me, how could I deceive a client?”

“We’ll know when we see it. We’re busy, show us quickly.”

“That’s a shame. I specifically prepared some good wine here. But I suppose seeing it for yourselves is better than a hundred words, isn’t it?”

Armas gestured to a subordinate who was waiting.

The subordinate opened the door of a nearby container.

The door creaked open, and Violet shone her flashlight inside the container.

The potatoes piled inside tumbled out like a landslide.

“…What? Did you trick us?”

The masked Violets glared with sharp eyes. Armas let out a hearty laugh.

“Of course not. This is just gift wrapping. Inspections aren’t usually easy, you know. Now, hurry up and show them!”

Armas’s subordinates cleared away the potatoes and the boxes behind them.

Once the work was done, Violet could see the metallic objects hidden behind them, sculpted as fire and fury.

Violet’s eyes widened in astonishment.

“…It’s real?”

“As I told you before, I was lucky enough to acquire a neglected surplus military warehouse. Although they are second-line grade, the quantity and firepower are guaranteed. The night is long; I will show you everything.”

As he finished speaking, Armas caught a glimpse of his client, looking like a child excitedly walking into a department store toy aisle.

“Alright, show me quickly!”

He was certain. This deal was definitely a jackpot.