chapter_0144

143 – What on Earth is Going On

143 – What on Earth is Going On

In the alley near the Lampremp Hotel.

“Gasp! Hah…!”

Ferman, wearing a wool beret, was running, panting heavily.

The reason he was fleeing was simple.

He had witnessed a woman with red eyes slaughtering his comrades.

In fact, it was closer to hearing the screams of his colleagues than witnessing it.

From the moment Lucy used her hallucination to kill Harom, Ferman felt something was off and ran without looking back.

Not long after he got outside, the screams of his comrades echoed, so he could roughly guess what was happening inside the hotel.

“Damn it! How did it come to this…!”

Ferman’s plan was simple.

He intended to assassinate Daniel Steiner, return to the Allied Nations, gain recognition for his achievements, and receive rewards.

Tempret had been babbling about ideals and such, but he had no intention of being swayed by such petty patriotism.

Moreover, he didn’t think it was such a dangerous mission.

No matter how notorious Daniel Steiner was, he was sure that he couldn’t overpower thirty seasoned spies who were used to killing.

But he had encountered an unexpected obstacle.

His comrades had met their demise at the hands of Daniel Steiner’s aide, without even reaching Daniel himself.

“I don’t really understand why things have turned out this way, but…”

For now, he decided to be satisfied with the fact that he had managed to save his own life.

Wiping the sweat from his forehead with his hand, Ferman paused to catch his breath.

A figure was slowly approaching from the opposite side of the alley.

At first, he thought it was a lost passerby, but as the distance closed, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of unease.

The eyes of the person with dark skin were clearly fixed on him.

“No way.”

Panicking, Ferman reached into his pocket to pull out his gun, but it was too late.

The black man had already drawn his gun faster than Ferman could react and had his finger on the trigger.

“Shit—”

Pew!

The bullet, escaping the silencer, pierced through Ferman’s head.

As a result, Ferman fell forward, his head hitting the puddle on the ground in the same position he had been in while trying to draw his gun.

Hamtal, who approached the fallen Ferman, carelessly lowered his gun and pulled the trigger.

Another bullet lodged itself in Ferman’s head, splattering blood.

It was a confirmation shot.

Afterward, Hamtal put his gun away and took out a walkie-talkie, pressing the transmission button.

“I caught the one who fled. What about the others?”

After releasing the transmission button and waiting for a moment, a response came from the other side.

─ The screams have subsided, and no more gunfire is heard. Additionally, no one is coming out of the hotel.

This meant that Lucy Emilia had eliminated all the Allied Nations agents.

That was quite surprising for Hamtal.

He hadn’t expected Lucy Emilia to kill all the enemies by herself.

“Although she is a subject of the Allied Nations…”

Hamtal had reviewed the information and confidential documents collected when they annihilated the Palentia branch.

If there was any useful information, he intended to take it; if not, he planned to hand it over to the Security Agency.

Moreover, if there was any information unfavorable to Daniel Steiner, it needed to be erased.

At that time, Hamtal had accidentally collected classified documents related to the Lucy Project.

It was a top-secret document that roughly described the location of the research facility conducting the Lucy Project.

Hamtal thought it was crucial that the fact Daniel Steiner’s aide was a subject of the Allied Nations not be revealed, so he took those documents with him when he left the textile factory.

After that, Hamtal went through a period of anguish.

He pondered whether it would be right to kill Lucy Emilia for Daniel Steiner.

According to the documents he obtained, Lucy Emilia was a monster that transcended the category of human.

Allowing such a monster to roam beside Daniel Steiner was undesirable.

So, he was devising a method to kill Lucy Emilia, even if it meant incurring some losses, but thinking about what Lucy had just done made it seem nearly impossible.

Lucy Emilia was the one who had swiftly slaughtered nearly thirty Allied Nations agents.

Even if Hamtal and his subordinates intervened, it was clear that it wouldn’t make much of a difference.

“Moreover…”

For reasons he didn’t fully understand, Lucy Emilia was currently protecting Daniel Steiner.

Since their goals aligned, there was no need to create a rift.

However, one concern lingered: whether Daniel Steiner was fully aware of this fact.

“If Lucy Emilia were to change her mind in this situation…”

It was highly likely that Daniel Steiner would meet his death without understanding why.

Now that he had grasped Lucy Emilia’s capabilities, there was only one choice left.

Having made up his mind, Hamtal lifted the walkie-talkie and pressed the transmission button.

“Prepare to return to the Imperial City. I have confirmed that Lucy Emilia is on Daniel Steiner’s side, so we will minimize our escort forces. Additionally, after returning to the Imperial City, we will focus all our efforts on locating the research facility where the Lucy Project was conducted.”

Informing Daniel Steiner about Lucy Emilia’s identity and providing him with that weakness.

That was the only help the secret organization Black Swan could offer Daniel Steiner at this moment.

–

Daniel’s eyes fluttered open to the light streaming through the window.

It was a familiar ceiling.

As he blinked slowly, Daniel sat up and frowned.

“…What kind of dream was that?”

In the dream, Daniel had been walking in the park with Kelly, his golden retriever.

The peaceful life he had longed for had manifested in his dream.

“But suddenly…”

In the blink of an eye, Kelly transformed into Lucy and began to approach him.

Panicking, Daniel shouted for her not to come closer, but Lucy just clung to him like a puppy, licking him with her tongue.

“It was as if Kelly’s soul had entered Lucy’s body…”

He couldn’t understand why he had such a bizarre dream.

After a moment of dazed contemplation, Daniel scratched his head.

“Alright. Let’s not think too deeply about it.”

Sighing, Daniel attempted to get up to wash himself but paused.

He felt as if something foreign was lodged in his ear.

When he raised his hand to touch it, he felt something made of rubber.

Pulling it out, he discovered it was a military earplug.

“An earplug? Why…?”

Confused, Daniel looked around.

“Lieutenant?”

There was no response.

No, there was not even a hint of presence.

“Did he go out first?”

Thinking it was possible, Daniel got up from his seat.

There was no point in dawdling, so he planned to finish a quick shower and head out.

“Should I start my day with a coffee at a nearby café?”

The warm sunlight made him feel like something good was going to happen today.

–

After finishing his shower and putting on his military uniform, Daniel hummed a tune as he took the elevator to the hotel lobby.

As he stepped out of the elevator, Daniel froze.

“…What the hell?”

The moment he caught a whiff of the metallic scent of blood, he saw the thirty corpses lying around, mangled.

It looked like a bloody battle had taken place, as none of them had a single uninjured part on their bodies.

Being so shocked that he forgot to scream was exactly how Daniel felt at that moment.

However, regaining his composure quickly, Daniel drew his revolver and began to move cautiously.

He heightened his senses, ready to use neural acceleration at any moment, and slowly opened his mouth.

“Hello? Is anyone there?”

Naturally, there was no response.

“Who could have done this? Could it be…?”

As he speculated about who the perpetrator might be, sirens blared loudly from outside the hotel.

“Is it the police?”

Thinking he was alive, Daniel relaxed his body and walked toward the hotel entrance.

“Charge in!”

“This way!”

Before long, armed police officers stormed through the hotel entrance.

They gasped upon seeing the corpses sprawled on the floor, then turned to look at Daniel, who was walking toward them.

Their expressions were filled with shock.

“Ah. You’ve had a tough time. This situation must be bewildering for you…”

The startled police officers all raised their guns, aiming at Daniel.

“D-Don’t come any closer!”

“Stop! Stay right there!”

“Drop the revolver! Put it down now!”

Cold sweat trickled down Daniel’s back as he halted.

Thinking there was some misunderstanding, Daniel placed the revolver on the ground and raised his hands.

“Wait a moment. I can explain everything. I didn’t do this…”

While Daniel was explaining, a man who appeared to be a sergeant shouted.

“You idiots! Are you not putting your guns down!? That man is Colonel Daniel Steiner!”

“B-But the one who committed this massacre…”

“You fools, look at what the dead are holding! Does it look like Colonel Daniel attacked unarmed people!?”

Hearing the sergeant’s words, the police officers began to lower their guns one by one.

As the sergeant had said, all the dead bodies were armed.

However, they still looked at Daniel Steiner with fearful eyes.

“Wait a minute…”

Realizing that the situation was not good, Daniel spoke seriously once more.

“Everyone. You have to believe me. Please understand that I have no connection to the bodies lying on the ground. I beg you to stop looking at me like that…”

Daniel was trying to explain as clearly as possible, but the police did not believe him.

The same went for the sergeant leading the police.

The sergeant deliberately avoided Daniel’s gaze and picked up the walkie-talkie, beginning to speak.

“Headquarters. This is Sergeant Derento of the emergency security patrol. We have a mass casualty situation at the lobby of the Lampremp Hotel on 8th Avenue. There are approximately thirty dead, and the person who emerged victorious after engaging with them is…”

The sergeant swallowed hard, as if he couldn’t believe what he was about to say.

“One person. Colonel Daniel Steiner.”