Ch.205Danger Zone! (3)

#205

The OSA’s immediate response team and agents, who arrived promptly after Himena’s radio call, were shocked by the numerous gang member corpses in front of the broken entrance.

“I mean, even if they’re not regular military…”

“Isn’t Agent Hughes more like a killer robot from the future than an agent? I’ve heard Agent Libero is famous for his exceptional shooting skills too, but this is beyond imagination.”

“By the way, where is Agent Hughes?”

The immediate response team leader looked around but couldn’t see Dexter, only four women who clearly appeared anxious and tense.

“Team leader, I’m sorry, but Dexter went up ahead already…”

Himena, who had been comforting Emily whose eyes were slightly swollen, carefully spoke to the immediate response team leader, who responded in a flustered voice.

“What? We didn’t see anyone except a few gang members when we came down here.”

“He, he said he’d handle it himself and went to the surface by another route.”

“How reckless! Agent Libero, do you know where he went?”

Despite the team leader’s urgent tone, Himena still looked anxious and conflicted.

This was because Dexter had warned her before leaving ahead.

‘Even if the boss has sensors scattered throughout the sewers, I know it’s hard to bring in this many personnel when we’re not the military. I think there might be someone unintentionally leaking information, if not an actual spy. The secretary might escape again, so I’ll go ahead first.’

As he said this, Dexter had taken a black wireless earpiece from his chest and handed it to Himena.

‘It’s a long-range communicator. If you need to talk to me, use this. Not your cell phone.’

“That bastard spoke the address so quietly… only Dexter heard it, we couldn’t.”

Himena pointed to a rough-looking man who had died from excessive bleeding.

‘Please let nothing go wrong…’

Himena wished.

Arriving at the gang hideout on the outskirts of Las Vegas in a disguised van loaded with weapons, Dexter surveyed the surroundings.

There were no guards, and it was just an old, abandoned condo like those found in any slum area.

Dexter had brought along his modified hand cannon and swept up all the spare magazines from the gang members’ guns, stuffing them into his tactical vest and pockets. He attached a silencer to his pistol and entered the condo.

Inside, he saw two casual-looking gang members sitting near the stairs, engaged in light conversation. Dexter quietly drew his pistol from his waist.

‘Judging by their relaxed demeanor, news about the bunker situation hasn’t reached here yet… The secretary must be here.’

When one of the gang members heard footsteps and saw Dexter in his black combat gear and helmet standing with his hands behind his back, he smirked and said:

“What are you supposed to be? A lonely SWAT guy?”

“Is the secretary here?”

Dexter asked, though he knew they wouldn’t answer cooperatively.

“What?”

“The boss’s secretary. Is he here?”

At those words, one of the gang members reached for the pistol tucked into his waistband, but Dexter immediately put a bullet in each of their foreheads.

Having confirmed from the gang members’ reactions that the secretary was indeed here, Dexter slowly climbed the stairs.

There was an elevator, but it had caution tape across the doors with a thick layer of dust on it, suggesting it hadn’t been operational for quite some time.

‘At least the secretary won’t be escaping by elevator.’

This was good news for Dexter.

The silenced pistol was effective, and Dexter in his all-black outfit easily dispatched any gang members who confronted him as he climbed floor by floor.

Reaching the top floor, Dexter replaced his pistol’s magazine while pondering.

‘What exactly should I say when I meet the secretary?’

With each step closer to the hidden truth, Dexter had no choice but to proceed relentlessly.

“Why’s it so quiet downstairs? Where’s Sanchez?”

“Probably just went to get high for a bit.”

“What kind of high takes over 10 minutes? Tell him to get back here now.”

Along with the small conversation, one of the gang members who stepped out of the room was about to shout when he saw Dexter pulling back the slide of his pistol.

“Who the hell are you—”

-Phsst!

The silenced gunshot was quiet, but the sound of the gang member collapsing was louder.

The noise of the bullet-riddled gang member hitting the floor caught the attention of another gang member standing nearby in the corridor.

Unlike the gang members downstairs, these men with scarred faces reacted immediately.

They opened fire on Dexter right away.

Though Dexter had no cover, he didn’t bother trying to dodge the bullets. Instead, he simply walked forward slowly, firing his pistol at the other gang members.

-Ping!

A bullet hit Dexter’s chest, but there was only a sharp metallic sound, not the sound of fabric tearing.

After the gang members in the corridor fell, Dexter patted his chest a couple of times during that brief moment.

‘Much better than a standard bulletproof vest.’

Wearing OSA’s combat suit, which had reinforced armor plates at vital points and additional protection at vulnerable areas like shoulders and sides, Dexter headed toward the only room where he could hear signs of life.

-Bang, bang!

As soon as he entered the room, Dexter gifted two bullets each to the gang members who aimed their guns at him, then looked at the middle-aged man who was the only survivor left.

“Are you some kind of wild west outlaw?”

“Then, are you Olivia’s secretary?”

As they both questioned each other, the first to become annoyed was Olivia’s secretary.

Though the secretary maintained a calm expression, his lips twitched slightly, betraying his emotions as he spoke:

“I believe I asked first?”

“Does asking first give you the right to an answer?”

When Dexter responded with his characteristic crooked reply, the secretary visibly contorted his face and said:

“Arrogant bastard!”

Unable to tolerate the disrespect, the secretary hardened his face and took a step toward Dexter, who raised his pistol again and said:

“Calm down now.”

“You think that little pistol can stop me?”

“No, I don’t think so. Of course not.”

As Dexter said this, he lowered his gun and casually tucked it into his holster.

After all, the man before him who called himself the secretary looked like an ordinary middle-aged man you could see anywhere.

But Dexter instinctively knew that appearances were deceiving.

‘This is going to be close.’

It was the first time he’d felt such immediate pressure just by looking at someone.

In front of this man, the firearms Dexter had brought were practically useless.

Even if Dexter had fired his pistol at the secretary when he first entered the room, the man would likely have predicted the bullet’s trajectory and dodged it.

Though Dexter had other weapons, using them might put himself at a disadvantage.

‘If this is the caliber of person who stands beside the boss…’

The atmosphere was completely different from the merely strong Abomination, and Dexter’s instincts were sending warning signals the moment he saw the secretary’s true nature.

‘It’s like…’

“A rare martial prowess, even in the Central Plains.”

At Dexter’s quiet words, the secretary snorted.

“You speak as if you’ve actually been to the Central Plains. You said the same thing to the Demon Twin Masters.”

“Ah, the Demon Twin Masters. It’s been a while since I heard that name.”

Dexter smiled and said:

“I’ve been wondering how someone from the Central Plains was brought all the way here.”

“You think I’d tell you?”

“No, I didn’t expect you to.”

There was something more important than such peripheral information.

“The boss, and you, the secretary.”

Dexter clenched his fist, took a stance, and said:

“I’m curious why you came to Earth and started causing trouble.”

In response, the secretary also clenched his fist, adopting a similar stance, and said:

“Were you that curious?”

“No matter how much I think about it, I can’t understand. Why specifically on this small planet with inferior technology, causing trouble for people.”

Dexter’s fist, filled with power, began to tremble slightly.

“But judging by your attitude, you’re not going to tell me properly… Will you tell me if I defeat you?”

“Ha, that statement presupposes that you can defeat me.”

At the secretary’s words, Dexter lowered his head slightly.

“I’m not confident.”

Then he raised his head again, and with a fierce gaze, Dexter looked at the secretary and said:

“Confident that I’ll lose.”

With those words, Dexter’s leg muscles temporarily bulged, and the floor cracked slightly where his extended foot touched.

The reason Dexter had survived so far while working as Eliya’s head of security wasn’t simply because he was good at shooting or fighting strategically.

It was his mindset that he could overcome any opponent if he set his mind to it.

And the help of the HH gene that had manifested for survival since he was stranded in space, giving him tremendous strength.

Dexter, who had momentarily lowered his stance, leaped forward with the power of his legs and swung his right fist, which he had pulled back, aiming for the secretary’s jaw.

Even as he threw the punch, Dexter didn’t expect it to be effective.

The secretary immediately blocked Dexter’s fist with his right hand, but the force behind it was surprisingly strong.

“You bastard!”

The secretary swung his left foot, which he had kept back, aiming for Dexter’s lower body to break his balance.

-Thud!

‘Damn!’

Dexter momentarily wanted to pull his leg away from the pain in his extended shin.

But if he did, he would lose his balance and allow the secretary to launch a series of attacks.

Rather than rolling around and falling ungracefully, he preferred to endure the momentary pain to gain the upper hand.

Meanwhile, the secretary was surprised that Dexter didn’t fall despite the powerful kick, instead gritting his teeth and enduring.

‘This guy?’

The secretary bared his teeth and reached forward, aiming for Dexter’s throat.

Dexter struck down the secretary’s hand while attempting to attack his jaw again.

After exchanging several such attacks, Dexter and the secretary both jumped back.

They were catching their breath before engaging again, looking for each other’s weaknesses.

‘As expected, his fighting style is similar to martial arts used in the Central Plains.’

‘Where did a guy like this learn martial arts?’

The secretary inwardly clicked his tongue, seeing that Dexter wasn’t being overwhelmed despite using a style closer to external martial arts without the support of internal energy.

‘This is manageable, I can do this. It’s nothing.’

Dexter, who had taken some damage after several exchanges, was focusing on his tingling shin while recalling moments of his training.

‘If you know the origin, if you know the root, you can reduce damage. If you know the beginning, you can know the end.’

This was a principle that applied not just to Central Plains martial arts, but to any martial art or even street fighting.

Having caught his breath somewhat, Dexter stepped forward again, this time aiming for the center of the secretary’s body—his solar plexus.

“Where do you think!”

The secretary pushed away Dexter’s powerful fist, despite his lack of internal energy, but Dexter’s lower body was the problem.

While it was good that he had pushed and diverted the trajectory of the attack aimed at his solar plexus, he couldn’t block Dexter’s knee that struck his solar plexus directly.

“Kugh.”

‘How can someone who’s not even a martial artist be this solid!’

As the saying goes, sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic—the synergy between the nanobots circulating in Dexter’s body and his HH gene was producing an effect similar to having trained in external martial arts.

But the secretary, unwilling to back down, stepped back two or three paces, then suppressing the bile rising in his throat, flew toward Dexter’s chest with his palm flat.

‘Palm technique?’

Dexter tried to divert the trajectory of the hand just as the secretary had done, but the rapid approach meant he couldn’t block in time and allowed one hit.

-Paang!

With an explosive sound like a strong wind, the secretary’s palm struck the center of Dexter’s chest directly.

“Nggghh…!”

The bulletproof plate protecting his chest somewhat mitigated the damage, but it couldn’t protect against the shockwave.

Dexter felt intense pain in his chest as if the ribs protecting his heart had been slightly displaced, but the nanobots’ pain reduction and recovery followed.

“Ptui.”

Dexter spat out the blood pooled in his mouth and chuckled.

“Wow, I wonder how many times I’ve seen such a strong old man. Is this the fourth time?”

The secretary, who had suffered internal injuries from Dexter’s attack, wiped some blood from his own mouth and sneered:

“Presumptuous young punk. So, who was the first?”

“Obviously Grandpa Cheonma.”

At the mention of Cheonma’s name, the secretary’s face momentarily hardened before he twisted the corner of his mouth into a smile.

“Who the hell is Cheonma supposed to be?”

“People who know martial arts don’t believe me when I say this.”

Dexter was putting on an air of composure, but having taken a hit, the situation wasn’t good.

Having each allowed one attack, the secretary and Dexter were thinking the same thing.

‘If I take a few more hits like that, I’m dead.’

‘If I allow that young punk to land more attacks…’

And they reached the same conclusion.

‘I’ll counter with the strongest attack I can muster.’

‘Even if it depletes my internal energy severely, I’ll use my most powerful strike.’

Dexter and the secretary exchanged hostile glares.

The nanobots faithfully executed Dexter’s command, gathering in his right hand to prepare for the strongest possible attack.

Though not pure, the secretary’s fierce internal energy circulated countless times through his body, honing itself for a technique that would finish Dexter in one strike.

And so, a life-or-death battle was unfolding in America in 2015.