Ch.236Chapter 9. The Burning Human Farm (3)

At that moment, near the Phuket City Hall command post.

“What are you saying?! Missiles?!”

“What’s wrong with firing missiles at villains?”

Two middle-aged men were arguing in the command post set up to deal with the two Syndicate villains who had appeared on the Island of Divine Rest.

“Association President, don’t get so worked up. You might suddenly collapse from high blood pressure one day. Heh heh.”

The old general with a white mustache, ‘Red Wolf’ wearing a red beret on his head, chuckled and pointed to the large screen set up at the site.

“Of course, missiles mean nothing to villains. But if we use them well, we can psychologically intimidate the villains.”

“But what if Goblin dodges?! If he avoids the missile, it will hit the island directly!”

“It’s not like there are people on the island anyway.”

“General!”

In response to the Association President’s words, Red Wolf continued laughing and displayed another document.

“It’s GPS. Looking at the Thailand Watch reactions, there are no GPS signals on the Island of Divine Rest. Thailand Watch isn’t responding now, so how could there possibly be people on that island?”

“How can you say that…!”

“If anyone lives there, they’re not people but illegal immigrants. Heh heh, why don’t we just blow them all away? Sneaking into this peaceful country. They must be from Southwest Asia or Africa. Surely trying to get to Korea on smuggling ships. Hee hee.”

Red Wolf snickered while fiddling with his mustache.

“If there are people on that island, they’re not humans. Remember. I’m not firing missiles to kill people, but to kill villains. Ah, the villain dodged, so what can we do? Ha ha.”

“Mr. Association President! The missile!”

“!!”

Before the Association President could say anything, something flew toward the island in a white arc visible even from Phuket City Hall. The missile was clearly targeting the island.

“General! Why is it falling downward?!”

“Because it’s a bombing missile. Don’t you even know that basic fact?”

“You…!!”

“Heh heh. My friend. Do you know who helped you get to that position—”

BOOM!!

The explosion roared.

The vibration in the air was so intense that some people in the command post instinctively covered their ears.

Rumble rumble.

An orange mushroom cloud began to rise from the direction of the island.

Though not a nuclear missile, the explosion had an overwhelming power reminiscent of one.

“Heh heh heh. No matter how much this is the age of ability users, conventional weapons still have unmatched firepower. Even if those Goblin and Qiongqi fellows created illusions across the entire island, against missiles…”

“They’re still intact!!”

When an association employee pointed at the screen and shouted, Red Wolf frowned and approached the screen.

“This is insane…”

As the orange smoke gradually cleared, the flame barrier still stood proudly in place.

If anything, it seemed even stronger than before, as if the flames were burning more vigorously after absorbing the heat of the explosion. Red Wolf trembled with rage.

“Fire more missiles! Drop them in the surrounding sea to create a tsunami or douse it with seawater—break that barrier and hit that place with missiles right now!”

The villain alert overlapped with the air raid siren, but no one could stop Red Wolf.

“Not even an ant should escape alive from that island! Understood?!”

“Yes, sir!!!”

After all, this country’s Hero Association had long been occupied by the military.

“And…!”

Red Wolf hesitated, then quietly called his aide.

“…Contact the Island of Succubus. Tell them to wrap things up as quickly as possible and sink the island.”

“Understood.”

Amid the bustling activity of various agents in the command post, Red Wolf took out a cigarette from his pocket and put it in his mouth.

“…Right. There are no people there.”

There wasn’t a trace of hesitation in Red Wolf’s eyes.

“If there are any, they’re just vermin.”

* * *

Boom, boom boom, boom.

The bombings continued one after another.

The barrier maintained by Qiongqi’s magic power had grown even hotter after absorbing the firepower of the first missile strike.

However, Red Wolf seemed to know a way to break it. Instead of embedding missiles directly into the curtain of fire, he dropped them near the island’s coast to create waves.

‘Not bad.’

When tidal waves surge, even a curtain of fire will inevitably weaken.

Even flames made of magic power ultimately follow the laws of nature and cannot easily overcome them.

It would be fine if I kept pouring in firepower, but I didn’t spread the curtain of fire to protect the island—I did it to prevent those on the island from leaving.

To save those on this island first.

[Get inside the building.]

As soon as I landed, I pointed my club toward the building interior. Those who were outside ran in screaming.

They had no choice.

How could anyone carelessly go outside when corpses with exploded heads were lying around?

[Traces of magic power. An ability. The principle is… I see.]

I think I’m quite villain-like, as I immediately notice and understand the principles behind the evil acts that villains commit in these situations, which is somewhat bitter.

There was a movie like this before.

After implanting microchips behind people’s ears, when they received a specific frequency, the chips would overheat and explode.

Of course, that was a villain’s method, and the corpses lying before me died in a similar manner to those victims.

[Let’s hope it’s not a physical electronic chip.]

I entered the building with my club.

Inside the musty-smelling building were slaves running wild with fear. I reached out to one slave who had somewhat regained his senses.

[Do you want to live?]

“Ah….”

[Will you die with your head exploding, or will you grab a lifeline to survive?]

“P-please save me! Goblin sir!!”

The man knelt before me and clasped his hands together.

His awkward Korean suggested he was probably from China.

That makes sense.

The slaves brought here were likely those who pretended to be Korean.

They probably came to Thailand, tried to seduce women by pretending to be Korean for a one-night stand, got caught with fake passports, and ended up imprisoned here as slaves.

[Stop making a fuss and stay still.]

After warning him, I placed my club on the man’s head.

I extended my magic power downward to scan his head, and fortunately, I was able to identify the nature of the bomb implanted in him.

[Fortunately, it’s not a physical SIM chip or something similar.]

“What?”

[Burn.]

I lightly hit the man’s head with my club.

Simultaneously, dark red flames erupted on his head, and the man rolled his eyes and collapsed forward.

Drip.

Along with the dark red flames, something like purple fluid flowed from the man’s ear.

It wasn’t actually fluid, but a magic power-based creature similar to a worm that had burrowed between the folds of his brain.

[Ah. I now address everyone on this island. I am Goblin.]

I spoke toward the speaker circuit.

Soon my voice echoed in all directions.

[There are bomb-worms sleeping in your heads. Come to the entrance immediately. I will kill the bomb-worms implanted in your heads. Don’t worry. You won’t die.]

No sooner had I finished speaking than I heard the sound of people rushing from inside.

Whoosh!

I swung my club, imbued with Qiongqi’s flames, at everyone who came.

I was concerned about burning their hair, but the slaves trapped on this island were already in a state without hair.

Whoosh, whoosh.

With each swing, I set fire to ten or twenty people’s heads, and the slaves, burning like candles, all collapsed and leaked purple fluid from their ears, eyes, and mouths.

The magic power flowed out through the openings closest to the head.

After steaming Laplace’s bomb-worms to death in the slaves’ heads, I kicked open a closed door in the corridor of the prison-like structure.

“D-don’t come!”

[Are you children born here?]

Roughly scanning the children’s physiques with my eyes, I get a sense of how long this facility has been operating.

[Were you taught that everyone from outside is a monster?]

“H-how did you…?”

[Nothing is scarier than growing up in an isolated environment. Don’t worry. Now, your world is about to change.]

I struck my club downward, causing flames to erupt throughout the building.

“Aaaaargh!!”

The children couldn’t escape the flames.

When dark red flames suddenly engulfed them, the children began to panic, but soon they sensed something unusual and gradually calmed down.

“Huh, what…?”

[They didn’t implant them in the children? Well.]

No bomb-worms flowed out from the children.

It seems they only implanted bomb-worms in the slaves they captured for labor.

[Are you curious about the outside world?]

“……!!”

[Then follow me. I’ll now open a path to a new world for you.]

There are hundreds of children visible before me.

And including those peeking from behind the corridor or watching from a distance, there must be thousands.

Perhaps even more.

But for now, dealing with those right in front of me is the priority.

Rumble.

The missile bombardment stopped.

Sensing the time had come, I turned around and headed toward the entrance I had come through.

[You’ve arrived.]

“…….”

[Heroes are always late.]

About a dozen heroes, including Nguyen Ong Bac, surveyed the surroundings while watching me warily.

[I heard human trafficking and personal degradation were taking place here, and it’s obvious just by looking.]

I placed my club at the entrance, then lightly clapped my hands toward the heroes who had arrived with their weapons.

[Well, this time both you and I were late. There are only victims on this island, not the villains who made them this way. They’re very organized. They noticed the attack the moment we crossed onto the island and escaped in that time.]

They really did escape.

Before the curtain of fire was spread, they must have fled to the sea through an emergency passage connected to an underground route.

[I will pursue them. Will you stop me?]

“…….”

The heroes’ gazes turned to Nguyen Ong Bac.

Nguyen clenched his fist, put his hand on the wireless earphone in his ear, and spoke.

“Mr. Association President. This is Nguyen. From now on… we will begin rescue operations.”

[Good choice, hero.]

Flap.

I spread my wings again.

“G-Goblin…! Where are you trying to go?!”

[Anywhere.]

Flapping my fiery wings and soaring into the sky, I pointed toward the direction of Phuket’s main island.

[To where there are people I need to kill.]

“!!”

I soared up in one breath.

The heroes tried to jump up in realization, but I had already flown high into the sky and spread my wings toward the main island.

I was chasing the very faint traces of lavender-colored magic power.

The trajectory of the magic signal he sent to detonate the bomb-worms he had implanted in the brains of those on the island.

Flying at full speed, I arrived at the end of that trail.

CRASH!!

“……Huh?”

The top floor of the Hero Association headquarters.

“No, why are you already here—”

[You.]

I lunged toward the man with lavender hair standing in front of the large screen—Laplace.

[I came to kill you.]

For now.

I’ll start the conversation after half-killing him.

So he can’t escape.

Thud.

[I’ve learned something.]

THUD.

[Even if I have mountains of questions, I should first break his legs so he can’t run away.]

Stab, stab.

[If you want to argue.]

Blood splattered.

[Go argue with Dueoksini in hell.]

Red blood.