Ch.49Again, it’s you! (2)

#049

Dexter, who had received a plain white t-shirt from an agent in the ambulance, covered his bandage-wrapped body with it.

However, the t-shirt was so large and loose that Dexter unconsciously blurted out.

“Wow, this size is huge.”

“Agent Himena said that Mr. Hughes was as big as a mountain.”

‘As big as a mountain?’

Even Dexter himself had to admit that he did look considerably larger compared to Himena.

Chuckling, Dexter waved his hand dismissively and said.

“Hey, I wasn’t complaining or anything. I was just saying it’s big. Anyway, thanks for getting me a new t-shirt.”

“Not at all. I’m just glad you’re safe.”

After giving a casual hand wave to the agent, Dexter stepped down from the ambulance to find a pouting Himena leaning against it.

“You should have waited inside.”

“How could I when I was worried about you?”

As the weather was starting to get warmer, Dexter had been concerned about Himena waiting in the parking lot without any shade.

But finding himself on the receiving end of concern made him feel a bit awkward, and he scratched his cheek as he spoke.

“If I’m in pain enough to die, I’ll tell you, so you don’t need to worry prematurely.”

As Dexter smiled with a slight chuckle to reassure Himena, she walked ahead toward the city hall.

Looking straight ahead, Himena muttered in a tiny voice as if talking to herself.

“I was… so… that time…”

“Pardon? What did you say?”

Unable to hear what she was mumbling, Dexter asked again, and Himena turned her head to look at him once before speaking again.

“…I said I was sorry, for that time.”

“Oh, that.”

Dexter tried to shrug but winced from the pain in his shoulder before continuing.

“It’s okay. I think I was a bit harsh with my words back then too.”

When Dexter patted Himena’s shoulder as if embracing her, she nodded and said.

“I won’t say those things anymore.”

“What things?”

“Like asking you to join OSA, or saying we need your help…”

“Come on, helping out when needed is fine. Feel free to contact me anytime for that.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Seeing Himena brighten up immediately improved Dexter’s mood as well, but as soon as they entered the OSA headquarters’ interrogation room in the city hall basement, his mood soured.

The sight of Hector rolling his eyeballs around instantly irritated him.

“Hey, stop rolling your eyes and focus.”

Frowning, Dexter sat down across from Hector and let out a deep sigh.

“Let’s make this quick so I can rest quickly. Spill everything you know about the Boss.”

“I-I’ve only seen him once, so I don’t really…”

“You said you met him. Appearance, personality, voice. There’s plenty you can tell me.”

As Dexter scratched his head while speaking, Hector began to stammer.

“Well, you see, that’s…”

“Oh, this guy, seriously.”

Without saying much more, Dexter took out his blaster from his pocket and put it on.

Then, with his arm propped on the desk, he pointed the blaster’s muzzle at Hector’s head and said.

“I’m extremely hungry and tired right now. So I’d appreciate it if you could speak up before this blaster goes off.”

Himena’s eyes widened at this blatant threat.

“Mr. Hughes, what are you doing? No matter what, you can’t do this inside headquarters.”

“I’m being extremely gentle right now, actually.”

Himena couldn’t imagine what Dexter would be like if he were being ruthless.

Besides, having already been shot twice by Hector’s gang members, it was difficult to persuade Dexter to stop.

“H-hurry up and talk. He’s the type who might actually shoot.”

When Himena, who appeared to be an agent, encouraged rather than stopped him, Hector realized the situation was turning strange and began to speak.

“B-because of the perception interference field and voice modulator, I d-don’t know his appearance or voice.”

A perception interference field refers to a device that creates a semicircular area of perception interference around its user.

Unlike perception interference fabric, it doesn’t make people within the field transparent, but rather makes the entire area appear blurry.

To those outside the field, it gives the impression of trying to look through opaque glass, primarily designed to protect a person being guarded among bodyguards.

Normally, there would be no reason to use such a device.

“This guy, seriously.”

Thinking it was just an excuse, Dexter moved his blaster-equipped hand closer to Hector’s face, causing him to cry out.

“It’s true, really true! I’m not lying!”

“Then why did you tell me he was the Boss? Is it because the Boss looks similar to me?”

“Because he was scary enough to pierce through the perception interference field! Even the staff would tremble while talking to the Boss! It’s true!”

Dexter glanced at Himena.

In response to his silent question about whether this matched Professor Chris’s testimony, Himena nodded.

“Why would the Boss need to turn on a perception interference field just to meet with you? Are you that important?”

“N-normally, someone like me, just a gang leader, wouldn’t have any connection to him. I happened to see him by chance when I was guarding the project staff as they reported on the project’s progress.”

Finding this explanation plausible, Dexter added.

“So for official matters, he always uses the perception interference field and voice modulator, is that right?”

“Y-yes. But for private occasions, I’ve n-never seen him, so…”

At Hector’s answer, Dexter scratched his chin.

‘Why would he hide his appearance even from those around him? Does he need to conceal his identity from everyone?’

What was certain was that since he didn’t show himself even to insiders, it wouldn’t be easy to discover the Boss’s identity even if project participants were captured.

‘Well, if the project just started recently, or if he doesn’t trust the people in charge, that could explain it.’

“When was the last time you saw the Boss?”

“Probably a-about a month ago.”

“What did the staff you were guarding do?”

When Hector began to hesitate again, Dexter made a gesture of clenching and unclenching his hand with the blaster.

“I-it was a casino.”

“A casino?”

“A casino hotel near the Strip in North Las Vegas.”

“What did they do there?”

“Nothing else, just ran the casino.”

“Is that all? They didn’t use the casino as a front for drug distribution or something?”

“Huh? N-no drugs. They did handle neighboring casinos rather aggressively, saying they wanted to run things well…”

“Then what was your job there? They wouldn’t hire a gang just for security, right?”

“W-well, it was illegal work.”

At Hector’s obvious statement, Dexter slammed the desk and said.

“Of course a fucking gang would do illegal work! Are you stalling again?”

“I-I-I just killed whoever they told me to kill and shot whoever they told me to shoot!”

“You killed people?”

“Y-yes.”

“Typical gang members. So, you didn’t ask why you were killing them?”

“M-most of them were people who interfered with the business or competitors.”

It sounded like they used Hector’s gang to eliminate competitors and troublesome individuals while running the casino.

However, this could happen in Las Vegas or elsewhere regardless of whether the Boss ordered it or not.

Dexter himself had done similar things during his time in space.

“Well, that’s for the OSA agents to handle. What did the Boss say when you met him?”

“J-just ordinary things.”

“What ordinary things?”

“Whether the project was progressing well, how recent fund circulation was going… really ordinary things.”

“Besides your group, what other businesses does the Boss have? Tell me everything.”

“I d-don’t know.”

“Tsk.”

When Dexter pointed the blaster at him again, Hector sweated profusely and said.

“I really don’t know. Please believe me.”

“Useless guy. By the way, how did you know about me and come to capture me?”

“This morning, I received contact from the staff with your location, name, and personal information, saying it was an order from the Boss and to do it diligently…”

Finding there was really no special reason, Dexter asked incredulously.

“That’s it? Weren’t you curious about who I was?”

“I did find it suspicious that they’d use seven people to kill one civilian… but I thought they wanted to be thorough in case something went wrong.”

It sounded like they were just going to kill him as a morning exercise.

“You guys are ridiculous.”

“I’m sorry.”

“If you’re sorry, why are you in a gang?”

As Dexter was thinking about what else to ask, he sensed something strange.

‘Why is this guy answering everything so readily, knowing where he is?’

When the agents brought Hector in, they hadn’t blindfolded him and had taken him directly to the OSA headquarters in the city hall basement.

If an ordinary person were being interrogated by the OSA, they would typically ask questions like “Where am I?” or “Who are you?” before the interrogation began.

‘Well, everyone here is wearing black suits.’

They clearly weren’t police, and they weren’t wearing blue coats with initials on the back.

‘Yet he’s answering questions straightforwardly without raising a single doubt?’

Even with Dexter’s threats, this situation seemed a bit odd.

“Hey.”

“Yes.”

“Apart from the Boss, I have a question about you.”

“…Yes.”

“You seem to already know where this place is.”

At Dexter’s question, Himena, who had been listening quietly, widened her eyes.

From Himena’s perspective, she thought Dexter had already mentioned that this was the OSA.

“You haven’t asked a single question about who I am or where you’re being interrogated.”

“Ah, I know.”

“How?”

Himena spoke in a surprised voice as Hector confirmed Dexter’s suspicion.

“Our employers, the casino managers, warned us to be careful of the OSA… said they’re men in black suits who always show up for anything related to aliens.”

“A civilian knows about our department?!”

“B-but besides us, n-no one else knows about the OSA.”

Hearing Hector’s answer, Dexter said.

“How can you prove that?”

“A-anyone who tried to leak information to outsiders ended up dead, including the outsiders.”

“Dead?”

As soon as the word “death” came up, beads of sweat began to form on Hector’s forehead.

“Gang members with loose lips who mentioned words like Space Security Agency, OSA, aliens… among civilians were all found dead the next day…”

If true, it was indeed an effective system for maintaining secrecy.

“Are you sure you’re not mistaken?”

“One guy was found dead in a room with no windows, locked from the inside!”

“Hey, don’t shout.”

“S-sorry. But it’s true.”

Death in a room that no one could enter had significant implications.

‘Short-distance teleportation? Warp gate?’

Dexter considered scientific technologies that could enable teleportation, but they were impossible on Earth.

Sensing the matter might be bigger than expected, Dexter tapped his finger on the desk and said.

“Do you know about the ‘Galactic Union’ too?”

“I’ve heard the Boss mention it occasionally, saying we need to be careful.”

“You know about that too?”

Dexter was dismayed that after asking Hector to tell everything, he was surprised that Hector actually knew so much, leaving Hector looking confused.

“Agent Himena.”

“…Yes, Mr. Hughes.”

Himena’s expression had already hardened.

“You know that if this information gets to civilians, it could break the agreement within the Union, right?”

“The personnel in the room next to the interrogation room have probably gone to handle it.”

“If we mess up, Earth could really be doomed.”

“…I know.”

Seeing Himena biting her thumb nervously, Hector asked with a still confused expression.

“I-is this information I shouldn’t know?”

“Yeah. You shouldn’t.”

Dexter scratched his head vigorously and said.

“If we mess up, aliens might come to invade Earth.”