Ch.180Chapter 7. Crisis into Opportunity (4)

I took a sick day.

I can get a medical certificate through the Tavern Owner, and another librarian at the library will cover my work.

If no one else steps up, the library director will take over, which would probably be a nightmare for the other librarians.

I don’t really care.

What matters to me now is the “ship” that’s reportedly just finished preparations to enter Sejong Island.

“Um, I’m skipping class.”

Ymir also skipped class.

If Baek Seol-hee found out, she’d probably think “those two again,” but by now, she’s probably used to it.

She probably thinks we’re spending all day being patriotic instead of working.

But we’re not taking time off to be patriotic; we agreed to meet on Ulleungdo to plan our strategy.

“Teacher. You’re using me as a teleportation shuttle again.”

“Would you teach me teleportation then?”

“I think there’d be chaos if a Goblin learned teleportation too.”

“I already appear mysteriously out of nowhere, so it wouldn’t be a big issue. I’ll continue to rely on you. Anyway.”

“Are you here?”

Taowu, who had been staying in the pension, greeted us.

“I watched your fight at dawn. Ymir, you really put that kid in his place, huh?”

“I just went there to relieve some stress.”

“You weren’t angry because Taejo interfered with your patriotic activities?”

“It wasn’t my patriotism.”

“…Is that so? The internet is going crazy. They’re saying Platinum Sun came out because he was interrupted while being patriotic with the Goblin.”

“What nonsense.”

Though somewhat taken aback by this new information, we couldn’t help but laugh when we saw the community reactions Taowu showed us.

“They’re just making up rumors.”

“Indeed.”

“But Ymir, you know this rumor started because of what you deliberately said, right?”

“I was talking about the patriotism of ordinary people, not specifically saying I was being patriotic with the Goblin.”

“It’s good fodder for rumor-mongers.”

I grabbed Ymir’s head and ruffled her hair.

“Taowu. Where is she now?”

“She’s infiltrating to board the passenger ship.”

“Passenger ship…?”

“The ‘traitors’ are finally coming to Sejong Island. Childbirth is patriotic. Those who’ve lost their reproductive abilities are traitors. Yes, the demons you purified, Ymir, who can no longer reproduce. In this country, they’ve decided to call Zenros traitors.”

Traitors.

What a name.

“Regardless of their intentions or nationality, they’ve all caused casualties and property damage in this country, right? So they’re called traitors who sold out the country.”

“So they’re bringing them to Sejong Island for human experimentation?”

“Yes. The demon seeds that Dueoksini spread. Originally, they harvested them from demons. But they don’t know that. Even if they did, they’d want to verify it down to the last one.”

Can they really not reproduce?

“Officially, the goal is to turn them back into ability users, but they’re actually looking for traces of demons. Sejong Island would be perfect for full-scale experiments.”

“And we’re looking for that lab… How will you infiltrate?”

“With this.”

Taowu put his hand to his face, then channeled magical power and transformed.

“Ta-da.”

“…Zenros?”

“That’s right. We’ll become test subjects ourselves. Ah, not you two.”

Taowu had perfectly copied the appearance of one of the Zenros women.

“Just me and Qiongqi. You two will be agents assigned to each of us.”

“Isn’t that… dangerous?”

“The Goblin planned this himself. He trusts you.”

“Ymir. Want to see something?”

I displayed detailed materials through the electronic devices in the pension.

“These are what they’ll experience when taken to the lab.”

“……!”

The scenes were so horrific that the atrocities were evident even with pixelation.

“This is….”

“These are images created from memories I extracted with magical power. You could call it psychometry.”

Memories I extracted myself using the Goblin’s club.

“This is how they researched demons. They might research Zenros the same way.”

“What should I do?”

“Choose.”

It’s not about whether to do it or not.

“Whether to openly appear as Platinum Sun, or hide your Platinum Sun identity and emerge with a completely new concept.”

“…As an intern for the Syndicate?”

“Yes. Platinum Sun is a righteous hero, but this kind of work belongs to the underworld.”

I pulled out new materials.

“Today’s task is to determine your concept. What will you do?”

“…I’ll do it.”

Ymir looked through the materials I showed her once more, and with a serious face, released magical power from her body.

“But am I the only one creating a concept?”

“Huh?”

“Are we going to operate openly as the Syndicate, or hide that we’re the Syndicate?”

“There’s no real problem with revealing ourselves.”

Since this is officially a Goblin operation, the Syndicate can handle any fallout.

“Then, what about becoming a third force entirely?”

“……What are you thinking?”

“Something I’ve been considering for a while.”

Ymir sat down at the laptop with a meaningful expression, searched for something, and pulled up a new document.

“How about appearing with this concept?”

“…Oh.”

Well, well.

“Can’t resist having an alter ego.”

This could be interesting.

* * *

At that time, at the Busan Government Complex.

“Is Taejo still holed up in his room?”

“Yes. It seems he’s still upset about being excluded from this ‘Sejong mission’…”

“Tsk.”

President Tae Chae-jin clicked his tongue and shook his head.

“Even if he’s S-class, that’s just his ability as a hero. In matters of national importance like this, he’s worse than an A-class…”

“But couldn’t this time be different?”

“No. He’s not ready. He’s still just playing at being a hero.”

When the TV screen on the office wall flickered, numerous profile photos appeared.

“Officially, two S-class heroes will board the passenger ship. Two more S-class heroes will provide support on-site at Sejong Island. Plus one S-class ‘unofficially’ on the escort ship. Except for the number one, we’re essentially mobilizing everyone from second to sixth rank.”

Snow White and Princess Bari on Sejong Island.

Cheok Jun-gyeong on the unofficial escort ship.

Plus two others who would board the passenger ship directly to escort safely to Sejong Island.

“And we’ve attached 30 naval vessels as escort ships. All to safely transport the Zenros to Sejong Island.”

Some might ask why such a fuss for a passenger ship journey from Busan Port to Sejong Island, but even this represents a reduction in naval deployment.

“What a strange world we live in. Two S-class heroes are more reliable than 30 warships.”

“That’s because abilities are so powerful these days.”

“…True. But Taejo is still out. Someone who doesn’t even understand why he was excluded can’t be entrusted with such an important mission based on mere passion.”

“Some say it’s to protect your grandson.”

“Me? Protect my grandson? If I wanted to keep him safe, would I have let him act out like that?”

Tae Chae-jin heaved a deep sigh.

“Among the Zenros is a woman he used to date. He knows this and is trying to get on the escort ship somehow.”

“…….”

“Personal feelings? Fine. But if he participates in the mission for such private reasons, what happens if an accident occurs?”

“There have been many cases where prioritizing personal feelings led to accidents.”

“Exactly. As you know, heroes are very delicate beings.”

Tae Chae-jin tapped his Taegeuk Watch to open a confidential document.

“Japan, China, Russia—they’re all determined to make contact.”

The top-secret document, obtained through all national intelligence networks, was filled with photos of submarines, aircraft, and more.

“Do you really think the transport of Zenros was delayed because of vaccinations?”

“…It’s a bit presumptuous to say, but wasn’t the delay caused by thoroughly weeding out anyone even slightly suspicious?”

“That’s right. As you said, we had a very difficult time mobilizing people.”

Tae Chae-jin covered his face with his hands and sank into his chair.

“We excluded anyone related to Zenros, anyone related to Zenros victims, anyone with regional, academic, or blood ties, anyone with even the slightest past connection to those boarding the ship. We also excluded those who received suspicious calls or emails… After all that elimination, we barely managed to gather this personnel.”

The government had been ruthlessly selective.

“Even with all this, they’ll certainly appear. Why? Because while I and the government have taken every precaution, we can’t prepare for abilities that suddenly appear out of thin air.”

For instance, someone emerging by tearing open empty space.

Or someone landing from the sky.

Or someone swimming through the sea, slipping between warships, and jumping aboard.

“They’ll try to secure their country’s Zenros before they reach Sejong Island. Every nation will.”

This is…

A kind of world war.

“They want to secure even Zenros for research, just like America is already doing.”

“Human experimentation…”

“Something like that. If they discover even one demon cell remaining in the body of a former demon, they could obtain twisted genetic information and research it, perhaps even create demons.”

A world map unfolded.

On the blue map, red flashing points appeared in no fewer than 17 locations.

“We can’t lose even one. Whether by teleportation, aircraft hijacking… Throughout history, there’s never been a case of prisoners being kidnapped while being transported to exile. Such things only happen in movies or novels.”

His fist clenched.

“Yes. Whether they kidnap Zenros for human experimentation or not.”

Tae Chae-jin gritted his teeth as he clenched his fist.

“Murderers who killed our people on our soil must be punished on our soil. How dare they try to take them to their own countries.”