episode_0044

With a landing sound, the ramp of the lead transport ship opened, and a red-haired woman rushed out.

It was Scarlet.

“Kang Jin-woo!”

Her usual brave and hearty demeanor was nowhere to be seen.

With a face that looked about to burst into tears, she ran towards me, shouting my name, and threw herself into my arms.

“Gah!”

My body swayed slightly under the unexpected weight, pushed back.

“You, you really…!”

Scarlet couldn’t finish her sentence, her shoulders shaking.

I could distinctly feel her body trembling faintly.

“What’s wrong?”

“Are you asking because you don’t know?!”

“Oh-ho, a girlfriend?”

Nix chuckled, the corner of her mouth twitching up as if amused.

Her gaze was overtly directed at me.

I made an effort to ignore her and comforted Scarlet.

“Scarlet, calm down. As you can see, I’m… well, I can’t say I’m perfectly fine, but it’s not serious. I’m just a little hurt.”

“A little hurt?! Look at the state of your mech! And your face is covered in blood! Do you have any idea how much I, I worried?!”

She raised her head and looked up at me.

I offered an awkward smile and tried to change the subject.

“But what is all this? I only asked for one transport ship. Isn’t this a bit much?”

At my sly question, Scarlet huffed, still clearly upset, then hit my chest quite hard with her fist.

Thwack!

The punch, filled with emotion, quite stung.

“Oh-ho, is this a lovers’ quarrel?”

Nix, still looking amused, crossed her arms and sneered.

That woman was clearly enjoying herself.

As if she hadn’t even heard Nix, Scarlet continued, her voice thick with tears.

“Your voice… it really sounded unusual! It sounded like you were about to die any moment! I didn’t think I could manage it alone… so I contacted Kaien.”

Just as she said, Kaien walked out from the transport ship behind us and gave us a light wave.

I gave her a brief nod, expressing my gratitude.

“If it weren’t for Kaien, we couldn’t even have dreamed of this many mechanics and transport ships, could we? Anyway… I’m truly, truly relieved you’re safe.”

Scarlet buried her face in my chest once more and sniffled.

As I stood frozen, unsure of what to do, Nix, unable to stand it any longer, poked my side with her elbow.

“You should at least pat her back. What are you doing?”

I awkwardly patted Scarlet’s back a few times.

Her trembling seemed to subside little by little.

A moment later, Scarlet finally pulled back slightly from my arms and questioned me.

“So, what exactly have you been doing? Weren’t you going to Valentine? Explain yourself properly.”

Her voice was still full of worry and suspicion.

If I told her the truth, I knew I’d be nagged relentlessly.

I’d be bombarded with a storm of nagging and harsh insults, like, ‘You crazy bastard, don’t you know your life is precious!’

“Oh dear-! I’m dying! Scarlet, my whole body hurts so much I feel like I’m going to drop dead any moment! My head feels like it’s splitting, and I can barely breathe… Ugh…”

I staggered, putting on the most pitiful expression, and exaggerated my pain.

Scarlet completely fell for my Oscar-worthy act of feigned illness.

Suspicion vanished from her face, replaced once again by worry.

“Wh-what? Ji-Jinwoo, are you okay? Me-Medical team? Quickly! The patient’s condition isn’t good here!”

At her urgent shout, the waiting medical team instantly rushed over, loaded me onto a stretcher, and moved me into the nearest transport ship.

Even as I was being moved, I felt Nix’s bewildered gaze, but I made an effort to pretend not to notice and closed my eyes.

‘Come to think of it, the skill enhancement token. I completely forgot about it.’

Lying on a makeshift bed inside the transport ship, I opened my item list and checked the reward I had just obtained.

A sparkling icon caught my eye.

[Skill Enhancement Token x1]

Description: Select one of your possessed skills to permanently enhance its effect.

‘Skill enhancement… I wonder how it will work.’

Filled with anticipation, I unhesitatingly selected and used the Skill Enhancement Token.

[Enhancable Skill List]

[Movement Flow]

Additional effects upon enhancement:

Minimizes reactor burden through optimized mech energy flow.

Greatly improves energy efficiency during explosive maneuvers.

[Data Ghost]

Additional effects upon enhancement:

Enables deep analysis and alteration of extracted data.

Under specific conditions, gains the authority to permanently erase data.

“Oh-ho…”

At first, the enhancement effect of Movement Flow caught my eye.

Minimizing reactor burden and improving energy efficiency. This was undoubtedly a crucial enhancement for mech operation.

But soon, the second enhancement effect of Data Ghost stood out far more prominently.

‘Permanently erase?’

Beyond simple data extraction and analysis, the ability to outright delete data. This seemed more powerful than any other strategic advantage.

Of course, the qualifier “under specific conditions” bothered me, but in information warfare, data erasure could be a weapon beyond imagination.

It meant being able to delete crucial enemy data, erase activity records unfavorable to me, or even wipe out existence itself, didn’t it?

For example, it meant being able to cleanly erase everything I did here today, fundamentally blocking any pursuit from those Genesis bastards.

There was no need to hesitate.

[Do you want to enhance the Data Ghost skill?]

“Yes.”

I confirmed without hesitation.

[Data Ghost skill has been successfully enhanced!]

[You have met the special conditions!]

Condition 1: All core hostile forces within the area eliminated.

Condition 2: Survival of key individuals capable of cooperation within the area confirmed.

[Do you want to permanently erase all activity data within the current area?]

‘It activates this simply?’

With a single selection, I could erase all my traces, and even the events that happened in this area itself.

This was an incredibly convenient and powerful ability.

But I needed to know the specific conditions precisely if I wanted to properly use it later.

‘Elimination of core hostile forces within the area… this must refer to the ones I just dealt with, including that Genesis special mech. And survival of key individuals capable of cooperation?’

Is it talking about Nix? Or the mercenaries, including Dutch?

Considering the circumstances, even though she had been snarling at me just moments ago, Nix’s survival seemed to fit the condition, as there was a possibility she would be involved with me in some way in the future.

Considering her combat power and informational value, she was certainly significant enough to be classified as a key individual.

‘The conditions are… wiping out hostile forces in the area and keeping important individuals alive?’

Finishing my brief thoughts, I nodded once more.

“Yes.”

[Permanently erasing all recorded data within the area…]

******

Nix found the overwhelming scale of the support forces arrayed before her almost unreal.

It felt like a dream.

Dutch and the remaining mercenaries began to move busily, transferring the wounded under the guidance of Scarlet’s forces.

“What on earth is going on…?”

Kang Jin-woo. She had no certainty whatsoever about what kind of man he was, about his true identity.

To call him a freelance mercenary, the scale of forces he commanded was beyond imagination.

Just then, a figure approached Nix.

“I didn’t realize the new mercenary leader would be a woman. Quite impressive, aren’t you?”

It was Kaien, a woman with striking shoulder-length bright blonde hair and a black eye patch covering her right eye.

She scanned Nix up and down with an interested gaze.

Nix frowned at the blatant gaze directed at her and met her eyes.

Her first impression wasn’t very pleasant. No, it was outright unpleasant.

“Mind your own business, ma’am.”

Nix retorted curtly, then immediately turned to board the nearest transport ship.

In this chaotic situation, she had absolutely no desire to engage in useless conversation with a stranger.

Despite Nix’s rude attitude, Kaien didn’t bat an eye.

Instead, a faint smile appeared on her lips.

“It’s been a while since someone spoke to me like that. It’s refreshing, I like it.”

“The one I agreed to cooperate with is Kang Jin-woo, the guy inside there. The moment I board this transport ship, that cooperation ends, so if you’re going to spout nonsense about owing me favors or anything, just get lost.”

Nix growled lowly, as if issuing a warning.

“Quite prickly, aren’t you? That’s… just like Lieutenant Colonel Nix.”

Kaien whispered softly.

Nix’s footsteps, heading towards the transport ship, abruptly froze.

Her body seemed to freeze solid; it was palpable even from a distance.

Slowly, very slowly, Nix turned her head, her gaze incomparably fierce compared to moments ago.

“…How do you know me?”

Nix instantly closed the distance and roughly seized Kaien by the collar.

The veins on the back of her hand protruded.

But Kaien showed no sign of surprise; instead, she looked straight into Nix’s eyes, as if amused, and continued speaking.

“Your temper’s still the same. Or perhaps it’s gotten worse since ‘that incident’? Well, you did lose everything overnight, from being a brilliant Allied Regular Army ace to washing up in this backwater… so it makes sense.”

“You… what are you? Regular army information is top secret…”

Nix, with a face as if she’d seen a ghost, involuntarily loosened her grip on Kaien’s collar and stumbled backward.

An instinctive fear was palpable.

“Are you really that curious about my identity, Lieutenant Colonel Nix?”

The faint smile on Kaien’s lips deepened.

She continued speaking to Nix in a gentle yet firm tone, as if addressing an old acquaintance, or perhaps a lost child.

“Of course I’m curious. You could be a spy who leaked information, couldn’t you?”

Nix placed her hand on the knife handle at her waist and glared sharply at Kaien.

She looked ready to draw it at any moment.

Kaien, despite Nix’s vigilance, paid no mind and gestured to her tense, gathered soldiers as if to tell them it was alright.

“The important thing isn’t who I am, Nix. It’s how much, and how deeply, I know about you.”

Kaien’s voice calmly sliced through the surrounding air.

“For example, the real reason why the Allied Army was so futilely disbanded. Or why you were framed and fled, now acting as a third-rate mercenary leader in this backwater… things like that.”

“What do you know about me?! Don’t spout nonsense as if you know everything!”

Nix’s voice, shouting as if in denial, was trembling faintly.

Her defensive mechanisms were desperately at work.

“I guide lost sheep onto the right path. Sometimes, I also give new opportunities to pitiful souls trapped by specters of the past.”

Kaien slowly took one step closer to Nix.

There was no intimidation in her movement, yet Nix found herself unable to easily retreat.

“Lieutenant Colonel Nix, it genuinely pains me that a talent like you is rotting away nameless in a place like this.”

“…What do you want?”

Nix swallowed and asked.

“It’s simple. I want you to work with me.”

“Work? With a woman like you who spouts top-secret information, her identity unknown?”

Nix let out a hollow laugh, as if bewildered.

“What reason do I have to trust you and join hands with you?”

“If you don’t want to, then don’t. I have no intention of begging. The choice is always yours.”

Kaien shrugged her shoulders and spoke calmly.

Nix glared at Kaien for a moment, then, as if making a decision, opened her mouth.

“Alright. I’ll make you a condition.”

“What is it?”

Kaien looked at Nix with interest.

“Let’s fight one-on-one. Unarmed.”

“What?”

Kaien let out a short laugh, as if bewildered.

“Suddenly? Let’s hear the reason. Why should I?”

“If I lose, I’ll be your dog. Without a single word of complaint.”

Nix’s eyes blazed.

“Oh-ho.”

One of Kaien’s eyebrows twitched, and the corner of her mouth subtly turned up, as if she were tempted.

“Instead, if I win, you’ll have to explain everything you know, including the real reason the Allied Regular Army was disbanded and why I had to bear all those false accusations, without holding anything back.”

Kaien offered a brief, self-deprecating smile, then spoke.

“Hmm, a condition I have no particular reason to accept…”

She fell silent for a moment, then flicked her tongue out briefly, moistening her lips.

At that moment, her aura subtly shifted.

“The loser becomes a dog… Heh heh, that sounds fun. I like it. I accept that condition.”

From Kaien’s perspective, there was no risk in not accepting this duel or trying to gain her through it, but Nix’s boldness and the look in her eyes had stimulated the competitive spirit that lay dormant deep within her.

The first to notice that change was one of Kaien’s soldiers who stood nearby.

He looked at Kaien with eyes mixed with fear and awe and muttered softly.

“They say when Lady Kaien flicks her tongue, she’s truly enraged…”