Ch.37After the Collapse of the Nine Dragon Fortress

# The Dirty Secret of District 9: Is the Cleanup of Kowloon Walled City a Signal of W City’s Purification?

# [Secret Operation Name “Garbage Cleanup”: Led by W City’s Police Commissioner?]

# [Police Commissioner Oh Hae-young: “As W City’s first female police commissioner, I could no longer stand by and watch the exploitation of W City’s women.”]

# [A City Highlights Cage’s Past Statement: “All Villains Are Trash”]

# [Some Citizens Complain: Kowloon Walled City Was Just an Entertainment District, This Response Was Unnecessary]

# [The Ruins of Completely Destroyed Kowloon Walled City and the Monster Alert Just Before Destruction: Coincidence?]

# [Citizens Who Escaped Kowloon Walled City Testify: “Black Cat Destroyed It”…]

# [Large Amounts of Drug Components Detected in Bodies of Kowloon Walled City Visitors]

The community forum where W City citizens voiced their opinions was more active than ever before.

The news that Kowloon Walled City, W City’s shadowy underbelly known to those in the know, had been reduced to dust overnight.

Some said the police commissioner destroyed it, others said it was Starlight, or that heroes raided it because it was a villain hideout.

Some claimed Black Cat was actually responsible, or that Starlight was defeated by Kowloon’s owner, no—Starlight completely melted the place.

Amid all these conflicting reports, people were desperately searching for the truth.

[Looking at the destruction pattern, it must have been Starlight who destroyed it? Everything’s melted and shimmering, that’s her signature.]

[Starlight! Did you use the Eraser again! That technique is forbidden…!]

[Wasn’t this a good use of it though? Everyone who knows anything knows Kowloon was just a villain hideout.]

[If you live an honest life, you’d think it was just a casino or entertainment venue, but live just a little on the edge and you’d know exactly what kind of place it was.]

Only two facts were clearly established: Kowloon Walled City was a villain hideout, and Starlight destroyed it.

But what about the other truths?

While everyone was wondering, a hero appeared on the community forum, verifying their hero registration card.

[I’m a B-rank hero making a conscience declaration: District 9 was basically operating as extraterritorial land]

[The reason the news isn’t telling the whole story is because Starlight let Gu Seo-ryong escape, and journalists are afraid of retaliation from villains if they misspeak]

[Starlight took down Kowloon Walled City alone]

[The police commissioner did nothing. Oh Hae-young? Garbage cleanup? Yes, cleanup is needed, but that woman needs to step down immediately]

[The drug and murder festival at Kowloon is real too. They’re not even human. Cage was right when he said villains are trash]

[Starlight lost to Gu Seo-ryong? If she lost, how is she still out there catching monsters? Is she Starleft now?]

[All those Black Cat sightings were reported by people who were inside Kowloon. Didn’t you see the testimony about a fighting arena with rock lions? They were probably high on drugs and mistook the rock lions for Black Cat.]

After this refreshingly direct answer, citizens bombarded the B-rank hero with questions, but shortly after, the hero left a final message saying they’d been caught and were screwed before disappearing.

After the hero’s internet disappearance (likely writing an incident report somewhere), citizens continued discussing Kowloon Walled City.

[My younger sister returned from Kowloon Walled City… we thought she went missing in a monster attack, but she was held captive there the whole time… I’m truly shocked. What were the police doing?]

[Both my first and second older sisters came back too. I’m happy but also starting to hate the world]

[Wow, looking at these posts, I guess no one cares about mothers who disappeared and came back]

[What’s with the comment above? I was shocked until I realized you’re talking about a game chat? Do you want to die?]

[I work for the police… I heard shouting from the deputy chief’s office during overtime. He was begging someone to look the other way, saying Starlight acted alone and the police had nothing to do with it.]

[So the deputy chief was bought by villains?]

[Not the deputy chief, maybe someone higher up? Like the A City police commissioner?]

[There are rumors that W City’s commissioner is involved too. That’s why Starlight went alone.]

[If that’s true, Commissioner Oh Hae-young needs to step down.]

Shortly after, the commissioner and deputy chief stepped down following an emergency press conference.

The new commissioner and deputy chief promised to lead the fight against villains alongside heroes, with Starlight standing behind them during the press conference.

After the press conference, Yu Anna lay on her sofa, opened a beer, and checked the community forum.

[I’ve been able to smile lately thanks to Starlight and Black Cat, but I’m reminded again how messed up the world is.]

[Damn, monsters already make life hard enough, now we have villains causing trouble too?]

[Honestly, villains who don’t destroy houses are better than monsters that do]

[What’s this villain defender? Are you a villain yourself?]

Today’s noisy community forum was heading in a direction Yu Anna found concerning.

Today’s topic: which is better… villains or monsters?

The problem was that the monster people were comparing wasn’t an ordinary monster.

[Villains are much better than Black Cat]

[Are you sane?]

[No, shit, I misspoke. Black Cat is much better than villains]

[‘Black Cat thumbs-up emoji’]

[?? Is there such an emoji? Where can I buy it?]

[Make it ‘for me’]

There was such a thing? Surprised, Yu Anna was about to search the emoji store when she frowned at the next comment.

[In Black Cat vs. villains, Black Cat wins easily. Do villains let you pat their heads? Touch their tails? Though lately we can’t touch them anymore]

[What’s the point of patting villains’ heads…?]

[I would like to pat Gu Seo-ryong’s head though]

[Black Cat catches monsters and barely causes any building damage]

[That’s because our Black Cat is a good monster]

Talking about “good monsters”… it’s true, Black Cat is kind… no, monsters shouldn’t be kind.

As the public continued comparing Black Cat to villains, Yu Anna felt uncomfortable but found it hard to argue against their points.

[Saying Black Cat is 5,000 times cuter than villains is like comparing the dirt under my nails to the most beautiful girl in the province]

[I’d want a Black Cat keychain but wouldn’t take a villain keychain even for free, it would be like carrying a mafia gang sign]

[There’s a Black Cat keychain?? Where can I buy it?]

[Make it ‘for me’]

Again! Yu Anna was about to look for where to buy one when she realized she’d been fooled twice by the same person.

This person should be banned from the forum, she thought, reaching for the hotline to report them to the administrator before hesitating, thinking that she, as an S-rank hero, shouldn’t be doing this.

[Black Cat photo collection = I just want it, Villain photo collection = There are some villains I’d want photos of]

[Make it for me?]

[‘Yes’]

That’s it, you’re done, thought Yu Anna as she immediately contacted the hotline and got the poster banned for three days.

As the comparisons between villains and Black Cat continued, Yu Anna sighed deeply, wondering if it was okay to leave things like this.

Growing wariness and hostility toward villains was good news.

It eliminated young superhumans’ admiration for villains and increased public safety awareness.

She just wanted to stop the comparisons to Black Cat.

Why compare specifically to Black Cat and not other monsters in general?

Of course, Black Cat had become an icon of a “good monster” in W City, but the very phrase “good monster” was as contradictory as “hot iced americano.”

There’s no such thing as a kind monster.

As Yu Anna thought this, memories of recent events flashed through her mind.

Black Cat protecting a child, protecting other heroes, eating bad people, and now even appearing specifically to protect her.

What’s going on? A mere monster, and now instead of me hunting down rampaging monsters, it appears when I’m in danger?

And showing up at such timing, roaring for all to see—what, does it think that makes it cool?

So it’s male too, getting all flustered just because I lowered my clothes a bit… wait, is that really a monster?

“What is going on…”

Even Yu Anna now saw Black Cat as different from ordinary monsters.

Could she still go around telling citizens that Black Cat is dangerous?

It would be nice if people would consider Black Cat separate from other monsters…

The problem was that many people still didn’t.

The #MonstersAreFriends hashtag that spread along with Black Cat… just looking at this tag revealed people doing unbelievable things.

[I want to raise a monster]

[I want to keep a monster as a pet]

[I heard rich people in B City keep monsters]

[I heard they were successfully keeping sedated monsters at Kowloon Walled City and using them in fighting arenas]

[Aren’t some monsters helpful to humans if successfully domesticated? Why not keep them?]

Among those using this hashtag were people who tried to capture small monsters with butterfly nets during monster alerts instead of evacuating to shelters, ending up in emergency rooms or police custody.

Just reading these made her sigh… as if monster research departments hadn’t already tried such things. Researchers had already attempted and abandoned these ideas.

No, it’s impossible. She couldn’t let citizens endanger themselves with these delusional ideas about taming monsters.

[Delivery!]

“Coming~!”

Just then, hearing the delivery she’d been waiting for, Yu Anna quickly went to the door and received the package.

Using her superhuman strength, she carried the new freezer and refrigerator into her room, then unpacked a box of beef and stored half in the refrigerator and half in the freezer.

She had purchased these thinking that sneaking into markets every time Black Cat appeared might eventually get her caught on CCTV.

From now on, she’d feed Black Cat with this. Yu Anna double-checked the special meat bag she’d bought.

Made of the same material as her hero suit, it was a special order that wouldn’t burn even in her flames.

“No, hah… this isn’t the time to be excited…”

As she happily organized the meat, Yu Anna suddenly sighed, thinking she shouldn’t be acting this way.

Why was she smiling when she couldn’t even properly capture a target that needed to be caught?

Yes… the villain who must be captured… Gu Seo-ryong.

“Sigh…”

Sighing, Yu Anna recalled the night she brought down Kowloon Walled City.

When she returned to Kowloon, villains had already gathered, anticipating her return and preparing to face her.

It took just one second to defeat those villains. Using the Eraser—a technique whose original name even Yu Anna had forgotten—she swept through once, and all the villains were neutralized.

Realizing that Gu Seo-ryong wasn’t among the villains with melting limbs and burns, Yu Anna interrogated them, but Gu Seo-ryong had already disappeared somewhere.

The villains attacked with unfocused eyes at the mere mention of Gu Seo-ryong’s name.

Even without limbs, risking their lives, crawling on the floor.

This behavior seemed strange for villains who typically prioritize self-interest. Tests revealed the villains were under the influence of an unknown drug.

That drug was likely the poison from Gu Seo-ryong’s body, which used “dragonization”—the same poison she had tried to inject into Yu Anna.

Because of this, Yu Anna couldn’t feel any joy despite capturing all the villains of Kowloon Walled City except Gu Seo-ryong.

Currently, Gu Seo-ryong posed a greater threat to Yu Anna than Black Cat.

An ability that gradually makes others obey—it’s obvious she’ll build up her forces again if not caught quickly.

A villain who could potentially cause more damage than a Despair-rank monster.

Is it the monster that’s unusual, or the villain?

“Haah…”

She felt her headache growing.

Just as Yu Anna was pressing the cold meat she happened to be holding against her forehead, her phone rang.

Wondering if it was the call she’d been waiting for, Yu Anna put down the meat and immediately picked up her phone.

“Hello? Hye-na? Is everything okay? Are you safe?”