Ch.48It’s you again!

#048

Hector, who was tied up in the passenger seat, was about to start spouting nonsense about needing to use the bathroom or asking for the cable ties to be loosened.

Watching him, Dexter settled the matter with a single sentence.

“Do you still think you’re in your gang hideout?”

Dexter raised his right fist.

The muzzle of his gauntlet-type suppression blaster gleamed in the sunlight.

“Don’t think it’s just for firing bullets. It’s durable enough to put a nice hole in your head if I just swing it.”

As Hector swallowed hard while staring at the fist, Dexter looked at him with a smile still on his face and said:

“So shut your mouth. I haven’t forgotten that your friends put two holes in my body.”

At Dexter’s menacing request, Hector nodded vigorously and replied:

“Y-yes, sir.”

Shortly after, as Dexter arrived near North Las Vegas City Hall, he realized that the atmosphere was somewhat different from usual.

A middle-aged man opening a hot dog stand to sell hot dogs.

A young woman in jogging attire despite it being midday on a weekday.

A construction worker in work clothes but showing no signs of actually working.

All these people seemed focused on their own business, but they were all glancing at Dexter’s pickup truck.

‘They’re here to monitor.’

An ordinary person might have missed it, but it was hard to escape Dexter’s heightened senses.

As Dexter got closer to City Hall, he saw a haggard-looking woman in a black suit pacing anxiously in front of the entrance.

“Well, well.”

It was Himena, visibly anxious and tired.

If the previous Himena had been radiating bright and cheerful energy, now she seemed to be dispersing negative energy all around her.

‘When you look that depressed, it makes me feel guilty.’

Dexter thought about honking but instead opted for a lighter signal by briefly flashing his headlights.

Startled by the sudden flash of headlights in her direction, Himena looked up and her face brightened when she saw the familiar pickup truck.

“Hu…zzz siiiir…”

Himena, who had been looking only at Dexter’s face through the windshield, started to call out his surname with a lively expression to welcome him.

However, upon seeing Dexter’s blood-covered body, her voice automatically lowered.

“Oh, what happened…?”

Dexter, seeing the previously depressed Himena, was about to smile lightly and reassure her that he was fine.

But Himena hesitated for a moment, then suddenly covered her nose and mouth with both hands, her eyes welling up with tears, making Dexter feel that something was off about the situation.

Himena’s tearful eyes were filled with guilt.

Considerably shocked, she approached with weak steps and pointed at Dexter’s body with a trembling hand.

“You… you didn’t tell me you were this badly injured…?”

Taken aback by Himena’s unexpected reaction, Dexter awkwardly smiled and said:

“No, Himena? First, I’d like you to arrest this guy…”

“You shouldn’t be working when you’re injured like this…”

‘This situation is definitely strange, no matter how I look at it.’

As Himena kept muttering “what should I do” while gently touching his wounds, Dexter realized she was under a serious misunderstanding.

It seemed that in Himena’s eyes, Dexter looked like he was on the verge of death.

“Himena. Please focus—arresting this bastard next to me should be the priority. Hello? Hey.”

“I’m sorry, if only I hadn’t said those things, this wouldn’t have happened to you…”

As Himena continued to fidget with Dexter’s shoulder, he snapped his fingers in front of her eyes, but she still couldn’t regain her composure.

Drastic measures were needed.

“Um, Himena. This might sting a little.”

Dexter bent his middle finger inward and pressed it with his thumb to build up tension.

‘Still, she’s a civilian, so I’ll go easy.’

Applying just a little force, Dexter released the pressure between his thumb and middle finger, flicking his middle finger outward.

A finger flick.

Commonly known as a “forehead flick.”

-Thwack.

Despite minimizing the force, it made a sound that shouldn’t come from a mere flick.

“Ah, ah… AAAAH!”

A powerful strike that forcibly snapped Himena out of her distracted state over Dexter’s injuries.

As the intense pain spread throughout her body, making her tingle from head to toe, Himena staggered backward and finally regained her senses.

Clutching her forehead, which had quickly swollen into a red circle, Himena squeezed her eyes shut and said:

“Wh-what are you doing?!”

“I kept talking to you, but you seemed out of it. I’m fine, so please bring an agent to take this guy away. Then I’ll get out of the car.”

When Dexter flashed a slight smile, Himena rubbed her forehead with her palm and said:

“Mr. Hughes, are you really okay?!”

“I said I’m fine. Hurry up.”

As the blood-covered Dexter urged her, Himena sighed deeply and touched the wireless earpiece in her ear.

“…Situation resolved. Arrest the person in the passenger seat.”

As soon as Himena announced the end of the situation, the previously busy surroundings suddenly became quiet.

‘Oh.’

The people Dexter had found suspicious, those disguised as civilians, left their positions and approached the passenger side of the pickup truck.

“So they were OSA agents after all.”

“…How did you know they were OSA agents?”

“Just a feeling, you know?”

Seeing Dexter withhold his reasoning as if it were his own little secret, Himena could only pout her lower lip.

Soon, two agents dressed as construction workers approached the passenger side, and one of them said:

“…Is this the guy?”

The two agents flinched briefly upon seeing Dexter with bloodstains on his side and shoulder, then pointed at Hector.

Dexter simply nodded in response to the agents’ question, and they grabbed Hector by both arms and carried him away.

Watching Hector look around with fearful eyes, Dexter thought:

‘But isn’t this kind of conspicuous to onlookers?’

As construction workers openly apprehended someone without anyone objecting, Dexter looked around.

He had expected many civilians near City Hall, but large objects like construction fences, excavators, and hot dog stands were strategically placed to obscure the view of where Dexter was.

‘Ah, that’s why.’

What Dexter was thinking had already been preemptively blocked by the OSA.

Understanding the situation, Dexter was about to release the parking brake to head to the parking lot when Himena reached into the car to stop him.

“We’ll park it! Mr. Hughes, please get out of the car and follow me quickly.”

Seeing Himena’s anxious expression as she looked at him, ignoring her reddened forehead, Dexter nodded lightly and got out of the car.

As soon as Dexter exited the vehicle, Himena roughly grabbed his wrist and moved with forceful steps toward the City Hall parking lot.

“Why are you so worried? It’s just my side and shoulder, not my thigh or heart.”

Upset by Dexter’s nonchalant attitude, Himena tried not to turn her head toward him as she spoke:

“I didn’t know you’d be injured this badly!”

“I’m telling you it’s nothing, really.”

“How can this be nothing?!”

Angered by Dexter’s casual dismissal, Himena finally turned to face him.

Her large eyes were brimming with tears, and her voice trembled slightly from crying.

As Himena was about to sob again, Dexter could only protest in a small voice:

“I’m telling you I’m fine…”

A 911 ambulance was parked in the parking lot, slightly shaking as if someone was inside.

Standing in front of the ambulance, Himena pointed at it and said:

“Get in there now.”

“I don’t get into strangers’ vehicles.”

“Hurry up!”

At Himena’s insistence, Dexter entered the ambulance to find a female doctor in a white gown and an OSA agent in a black suit waiting.

Dexter deactivated the blaster on his right hand and sat down in an empty chair.

The doctor, surprised by how normally Dexter sat down, said in confusion:

“I was told there was someone with gunshot wounds…?”

The doctor looked back and forth between the agent and Dexter, who was moving actively despite the bloodstains.

“That’s me. Shoulder and here, my side.”

When Dexter pointed to the bloodstained areas, the doctor said skeptically:

“You look perfectly fine to me.”

‘Earlier she was too worried, and now she’s not worried enough.’

Amused by the contrasting responses, Dexter chuckled, unbuttoned his shirt, and took it off.

The doctor was about to scold him when she saw the bullet wounds on his shoulder and side, and her mouth fell open.

The blood-caked wounds revealed finger-sized holes.

The doctor had misunderstood because most gunshot victims would be moaning in pain or screaming loudly.

“I-I’m sorry. Are, are you not in pain?”

“The bleeding and pain have been somewhat managed, so I’m okay. But I’d like the bullets removed before it heals further.”

“Oh, yes! I’ll remove them right away.”

While Dexter was receiving treatment, the ambulance door opened again.

Surprised by the sudden opening, Dexter looked curiously at the gap to see Himena peeking in with worried eyes.

“…Are you okay?”

“Come on, I said I’m fine. Why are you so worried…”

As Dexter tried to brush it off, the doctor, who was searching for bullets in the wounds, shouted sharply:

“You are not fine at all! How can you walk around normally with bullets embedded this deep?”

“Look, I’m fine because of the nanobots.”

“Nanobots aren’t miracle workers!”

As the doctor burst out in anger, Dexter could only offer an awkward smile, and Himena furrowed her brow and said:

“See! How can I not worry when you’re injured like this?”

“Come on, you don’t need to worry. I live like this all the time; this is practically just a scratch.”

“Is that something to be proud of?”

“Wounds like these are badges of honor for a man.”

The agent standing next to the doctor nodded in agreement with Dexter’s words, earning a glare from Himena.

“What are you agreeing with?!”

At Himena’s outburst, the agent quickly averted his gaze, and the doctor, unable to concentrate due to the sudden noise in the ambulance, gave Himena a slight glare.

Realizing she shouldn’t interfere with the treatment, Himena carefully spoke:

“…We’ll talk later.”

“Sure. But really, it’s nothing by my standards, so don’t worry.”

“…Okay.”

As Himena turned to leave, the agent who had been watching quietly said:

“Aw, man.”

The agent seemed annoyed by the sweet atmosphere.