Ch.4545. What Jung Euisuk Left Behind

“Ugh….”

The Dragon King Sentai couldn’t refute my words.

“Isn’t it obvious? Those three corporations swore allegiance to me. In return, I promised to protect their lives. I am a villain. I keep my contracts. But the other two are freeloaders. Why should I save them?”

“You have the power but you’ll just stand by and watch?”

Shin Yukyong seems to have eaten some hypocrisy fruit from somewhere.

“Silver Mirrored. Did you cultivate your power to save citizens?”

“Of course! To defeat evil like you and save citizens!”

Really. This nonsense is becoming pathological.

I know very well that Shin Yukyong’s obsession with the Switch stems from her inferiority complex within the ninja clan. She’s the eternal second-place who lost her chance to become the clan’s successor.

She was raised as an assassin from the beginning. She doesn’t even understand the concept of compassion for others.

Seems she only learned that being a hero is a role to play.

The reason heroes save citizens is simple. It creates a good image in the media.

My reason was simple.

Because it was justice.

Now I know.

This city isn’t worth saving.

Malice overflows here.

It’s rotten to the core.

So I control it.

Evil is suppressed with evil.

The evil above, the evil below.

I just need to have it all in my grasp.

“If you want to save them, you should move quickly.”

I advised the Dragon King Sentai. The barrier was beginning to break from the top. Only then did they come to their senses, and Shin Yukyong, Ji Se-hwa, and Kang Yerin jumped down from the path of light.

The villains were already busy at work. They were reinforcing the three buildings with their abilities. One creating steel frames to support the exterior, another wrapping buildings with thread, and another teleporting people outside.

But Lena was still the most reliable.

“‘Become harder’, ‘Tighten up’.”

Lena strengthened the building structures in multiple layers. That should withstand even bombing.

Crack-crack—

The barrier’s collapse accelerated. Finally, it collapsed beyond the tops of the buildings. The buildings shook simultaneously.

Boom!

The tops of the buildings also began to collapse into pieces along with the barrier.

Naturally, only two buildings.

The three buildings that had contracted with Vengeance were only shaking, but holding firm.

Crash!

Finally, the barrier completely collapsed.

And there remained the ruins of two collapsed buildings and three intact buildings.

Let’s see where the Dragon King Sentai is.

Kang Yerin isn’t visible, perhaps buried while conducting rescue operations.

Shin Yukyong and Ji Se-hwa are standing at the periphery. Seems they escaped the scene early.

The path of light will soon disappear too. I boarded the airship with Lu-a and Lena, emphasizing to the media helicopters:

“Now you know. Heroes can’t save you. There’s only one way to survive. Submit to villains.”

The airship door closed. Optical camouflage activated. We left the scene.

“Phew. It’s over.”

Lu-a stretched.

“Somehow I feel like Vengeance only did good things today, Geo. I like that we’ve elevated the name of the Villain Alliance.”

“It’s fine since we also demonstrated the power of the Holy Tree. This is the first time we’ve made such a flashy public appearance, right? Our levels must have increased too.”

“Well, I’m quite satisfied. Above all… hehe. Geo, won’t you hand over that Switch to me?”

“No.”

I firmly refused.

But I explained the reason precisely.

“I told you. It’s for experience. Besides the power itself, if you use it recklessly, your brain will be damaged. Supernova is originally a level 14 skill. I’ll give it to you when your stats are appropriate.”

“How rude of you to worry about me? Then I’ll have to be satisfied with this for now. ‘Switch, come out.'”

Lena chanted a strange command. Then a tiny switch the size of a keychain popped out of her hand.

“…What’s that?”

“Hehe. Be glad, Geo. It’s proof that you’re not a liar.”

Lena handed me the small switch with an evil smile like a child who just discovered the joy of tormenting others.

It was just an accessory with no function.

“You made it with your command?”

“Look at this. Isn’t my ability truly evolving?”

She seems to have gained plenty of experience from the recent battle.

[Ability: Command (Physical Force)(Creation) Lv.10]

Lena’s ability had reached level 10, unlocking a new skill.

Well, well. Material creation.

Although the ability itself still seems weak, it’s quite threatening.

“So with today’s operation, you’ve conquered Yeouido too. Are you planning to increase your social infiltration this way?”

“Of course.”

“How much do you intend to take?”

Finding the question amusing, I answered naturally.

“Everything.”

◈ ◈ ◈

“Which vehicle is leaving?”

At the Hero Association’s security checkpoint for outgoing vehicles, an employee stopped a large container truck. The driver wearing sunglasses and chewing gum didn’t look very trustworthy.

“Open the gate.”

The security employee saw a face emerge from the opposite window and tensed up, giving a salute. It was Green Nature, Choi Minseo.

“Ah, hello. I… I recognize you as Green Nature, but this is a high-security facility, and for transporting items, there’s a procedure…”

“Open it. It’s under my authority.”

Seeing Choi Minseo’s sharp expression, the employee was at a loss. What could a low-level employee do? If the higher-ups say do it, you do it.

After glancing at his colleagues, he finally opened the multi-layered security gate.

The 20-ton truck smoothly left the facility.

“Weapons trafficking or what? Hey, Hero, can we get in on this deal too?”

The driver asked while turning the large steering wheel. Choi Minseo didn’t answer.

He was a punk she had hired.

“Since you chose to smuggle this out right when Dragon King Sentai was deployed, it must be something good. We have quite a few connections too, you know.”

“Just drive.”

“Ooh, scary.”

The truck sped through the streets. After changing trucks several times along the way, Choi Minseo arrived at her destination.

It was the abandoned factory where she had met Jung Ui-seok.

“No one’s following us. Our skills are guaranteed.”

Four punks, including the driver, sauntered up to Choi Minseo.

“Now for the transport fee. Ten billion just to move it here, right? All in cash or chips.”

“That’s right. I’ll give it to you.”

Choi Minseo replied while reaching into her bag. The punks snickered. The next moment.

Bang bang!!

Choi Minseo quickly drew a gun and shot each punk precisely in the crown of their head. She used only four bullets. The sound of falling shell casings was faster than the bodies hitting the ground.

“Greedy trash. Know your place. Who do you think you’re trying to deal with?”

Choi Minseo mocked the bodies on the ground as she reloaded her gun and tucked it into the holster on her thigh under her skirt.

“Leaving dirty corpses behind, what a hassle.”

Choi Minseo transformed into Green Nature. She unleashed the power of Quetzalcoatl, converting the corpses into weeds and flowers.

“Much better to look at!”

Choi Minseo plucked a flower and smelled it. She shook her head and tossed it to the ground.

After deactivating her transformation, Choi Minseo sat on a nearby staircase, swinging her legs.

“I wonder when Ui-seok oppa will come.”

Muttering to herself, Choi Minseo took out a bottle containing pink powder from her bag.

◈ ◈ ◈

Kang Yerin, changing out of her combat underwear in the locker room, collapsed into a chair, unable to overcome the overwhelming fatigue.

“…I couldn’t save them. But they did.”

Ji Se-hwa, who had finished changing, slammed the door roughly.

“Damn villain bastards. It wasn’t even a situation where we could save hostages! The heroes on our side were all useless!”

Shin Yukyong nodded.

“This proves that Jung Ui-seok is connected to villains, and we now know Vengeance’s purpose in targeting us. The public will still support us.”

Hearing their words, Kang Yerin looked at them in disbelief.

“What are you saying…? Is that important right now? People died. Over a thousand of them, because we were too weak.”

Shin Yukyong shrugged.

“They were people Cancer was going to kill anyway. Bad luck.”

Kang Yerin realized then.

Jung Ui-seok was right.

Even though it involved coercive violence, it was the villains, not them, who saved more than half of those who would have died.

“Yukyong, Se-hwa. Why did you two become heroes?”

To Kang Yerin’s question, both answered without a moment’s hesitation.

“To prove my strength.”

“For the money, why else?”

Kang Yerin didn’t say anything more to them.

No, she had nothing more to say.

Walking down the corridor, Kang Yerin bit her lip.

Weak in body and weak in spirit.

That was the current reality of Dragon King Sentai.

Without Jung Ui-seok and Han Somi, problems were starting to spiral out of control.

Not only did they lack even minimal standards as heroes, but their abilities were also inferior to villains.

Even without Galaxy Empire, they wouldn’t have been able to stop the terror.

‘Still.’

There was a right direction.

Shin Yukyong’s new Switch was practically useless.

Even her own evolved ability had no effect on that powerful villain, Gerogius.

But the new equipment had worked.

If it hadn’t broken so quickly, they might have been able to fight Cancer.

The information about American technology was something Jung Ui-seok had previously shared.

He quietly knew many things.

Although he said it wasn’t time yet and most should be kept secret.

“Maybe.”

There might be something useful in his information. With that thought, Kang Yerin quickly began searching through the data on the PC Jung Ui-seok had used.

Most of the data was encrypted.

After struggling with unpacking for a while, Kang Yerin discovered a few things.

“This filename is…?”