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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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Chapter 66
"Hyungnim! There are too many of them!"
One of the subordinates shouted, bleeding profusely.
The Awakened that Fengyun had personally brought with him were all strong individuals, ranging from B to B+ rank.
However, just as a water droplet can pierce a rock after a thousand years, the multinational gangster Awakened of Sinpo City came in literally 'endless' numbers.
There was an unusually high proportion of Chinese among them, and they were especially reckless in their attacks.
"Hyungnim! The guest has lost his mind!"
In this urgent situation, Baekya had frozen like a stone, holding the Irregular Polyhedron.
"Damn... Collapse the back hallway! I'll break through the front myself!"
Fengyun roared and stepped forward.
The gear above his head spun, and yellow electricity crackled madly from the two gears in his hands.
【Adjuster's Limbs】
"Hey! You guys confident?!"
Fengyun leaped towards the hallway filled with gangster Awakened.
No longer bound to anything.
He would live like the wind, like the clouds.
Just like the pseudonym he chose for himself, Fengyun's gears danced.
Swish. Swoosh. Swoosh! Swoosh!
The gears pierced and slashed the bodies of the Chinese Awakened, and they exploded from within.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The hallway was covered in flesh and blood, and Fengyun dashed forward, roaring like a demon from hell.
"Uoooooh!"
'Damn it. I really hate this berserker stuff!'
No matter how many wild dogs there are, they can't defeat a tiger.
In front of an A+ rank Awakened, the multinational Awakened, ranging from E to C rank, were swept away like fallen leaves.
Bang!
Fengyun burst out of the salon and...
"Holy shit..."
He let out a hollow laugh.
On a winter night in Sinpo City.
Multinational Awakened gangsters surrounded the entire street in a semicircle.
Among them were several bosses he knew.
"Hey, you guys really confident?"
Fengyun rasped.
"What are you thinking? You really going to cut ties with me?"
His legs were trembling.
He glanced down to see his pants soaked in blood.
'I'm screwed.'
The blood wouldn't stop flowing from the wound inflicted by the Bloodbath Wakizashi earlier.
"You think you can take over the Black Sea Pearl just by taking me down? You're not that stupid, are you?"
Although Fengyun was the head of the Black Sea Pearl, its fate was decided by powerful figures in the political and business world.
"I'm practically a semi-public market! You idiots!"
The Black Sea Pearl was a company that 'the Republic of Korea' had deliberately supported to dominate both the underworld and legitimate business in the Aitel era.
If some foreigner killed Fengyun and pretended to be the boss, a high-ranker like the Fairy King Na Jeongwon would descend and make it all disappear.
"We know."
"We know."
Thud.
Two Hunters who had been observing the situation revealed themselves.
"Who are you?"
Fengyun snapped irritably, but he observed them carefully.
'Chinese?'
Judging by their tone, they were Chinese, and they looked like brothers.
They weren't faces he recognized from the underworld, and he couldn't tell where they came from.
But seeing that both had colorful halos above their heads, they were Contractors.
"We're the owners of that Irregular Polyhedron."
"We lent it out, but it seems we won't get it back, so we came ourselves."
Fengyun frowned.
"Those bastards tried to sell me stolen goods?"
The brothers nodded.
"They asked to borrow it, and we heard that Fengyun of Korea was looking for an Irregular Polyhedron. We had a rough idea of what was going on, so we came to check it out. It was as we expected."
Fengyun pressed his bleeding side.
Should he use a potion?
Given that it was a Master-grade artifact's ability, he wasn't sure if the ones in his inventory would work.
"Those bastards are already dead. Want me to return the Polyhedron? Take it and get your guys out of here?"
The Chinese brothers looked at each other.
"Seems like it."
"Seems like it?"
"We needed to test its performance anyway. It would be perfect to kill you and take the Irregular Polyhedron as well."
"Shit."
While cursing, Fengyun grasped the situation.
'Test the performance?'
He couldn't figure out what there was to test.
As he was examining the faces of the Awakened gangsters to see if they had any artifacts...
'Huh?'
Something strange caught his eye.
'Why do those bastards' halos look like that?'
Ninety percent of the Awakened surrounding the building had strange halo shapes.
They were white and ring-shaped, but the rings were broken in places, or only half-formed.
The characteristic pale white light was also too weak compared to other Awakened.
'Don't tell me these bastards were... made?'
Due to the nature of his job, Fengyun had a hand in everything that happened in the shadows.
In an era where the number of Awakened was directly linked to national power.
Experiments for artificial awakening were conducted secretly in many countries, both past and present.
The most common methods were receiving blood transfusions from Awakened or having parts of their bodies transplanted.
Furthermore, Fengyun knew about the identity and truth of the Irregular Polyhedron.
'A fragment of the Aitel Tower, a terminal, a transplant... I don't know the principle, but it's definitely something.'
It took less than 0.1 seconds to deduce that much.
Fengyun had a hunch.
'I'm really fucked now.'
No matter how big of a shot Fengyun was, he couldn't compare to the secret of successful artificial awakening.
'Given the nature of the Chinese industry, it's likely that the Chinese government developed this technology. If I know, then our country knows too...'
Even before the Aitel era, the Chinese government had been using all sorts of tricks to catch up with South Korea.
'They'll never let me go.'
There was no way they would miss the chance to acquire the technology instead of just catching up.
Thump.
The Chinese brothers approached leisurely.
One was wearing a suit, and the other was wearing armor made of countless scales.
"Recognize this?"
Fengyun recalled for a moment.
"Isn't that the armor I sold you? Dragon Scale Armor."
The one wearing the armor grinned.
"That's right. You know how tough it is, right? You'll never pierce it in that state."
Fengyun noticed that his left hand was limp.
The gearwheel in his hand wobbled as if it were about to fall at any moment.
'It's cold.'
He suddenly realized that it was winter.
Ever since he awakened, he hadn't felt a thing even when swimming in the middle of winter.
Plop. Plop.
Snow began to fall.
"How many people do you need to catch one A-rank?"
"We'll find out soon."
The Chinese brothers smiled ominously.
The artificially Awakened rushed towards Fengyun.
"----!"
Their momentum was like a swarm of ants that had found candy.
Fengyun's subordinates fought like mad, but they couldn't overcome the overwhelming numerical disadvantage and fell one by one.
Fengyun glared at the smiling faces of the Chinese brothers, visible among the crowd.
'Even if I go down...'
Ever since the day Baekya came to him and offered him a hand, he had been living a bonus life.
A life that was good to have but wouldn't be a loss if he didn't, he even named himself Fengyun, meaning 'floating clouds,' to live a carefree life.
He felt the last wind of his life blowing.
'I'd feel better if I took those bastards down with me.'
Fengyun kicked off the ground and melted into the winter wind.
Thwack!
"Uwaaaaah!"
Snowflakes fluttered and danced.
The white grains fell, blanketing the entire street.
'What the...?!'
Fengyun gritted his teeth at the snowflakes hindering his final charge.
He could see their faces in the distance.
He cut down the Chinese artificial Awakened, one after another.
At the end.
The faces of the Chinese brothers, visible at the end, were...
As if they had seen a ghost.
'Huh?'
A white snowflake landed on his cheek.
"Whoa! Did global warming make the snow hot too?!"
It was hot.
"..."
Even as he said it, Fengyun knew it was nonsense.
It wasn't snow.
He looked back.
Fwaaaaaaat...
The entire stone building where the room salon was located was fluttering as a white mass of light.
The light reflected off the falling snow again and again, as if the whole night was dyed white.
Thump.
An Awakened person came up from the passage leading to the basement.
Slightly exposed forehead between wet hair and reddish eyes gazing into the distance.
A presence that dominated the entire space like a single candle lit in the darkness.
Fengyun unconsciously dropped his gear.
"Uh, uhh...?"
The Chinese artificial Awakened also faltered and retreated, not knowing what to do.
There was only one Awakened in the whole world who could wield such light.
Thump.
Baekya stepped onto the stairs leading out of the basement.
His indifferent gaze surveyed the entire street.
Someone called out his name.
"Hong Baekya? Is that… Hong Baekya?"
The high-ranker, who was incredibly good at listening to his own name, subtly pulled down his right sleeve.
Baekya spoke in a voice that wasn't very loud, but strangely carried well.
"I absorbed the Irregular Polyhedron."
A commotion spread among the artificial Awakened.
"What, what?"
"Absorbed?"
"You could absorb that thing?"
The faces of the Chinese Ranker brothers hardened.
"Brother."
"We have to retrieve it even if it means cutting him open alive. The Party won't leave us alone."
Baekya continued speaking, ignoring them.
"I have no more business in this city. If you don't stop me, there's no need for us to fight."
Hundreds of pairs of eyes stared at Baekya.
Baekya calmly approached Fengyun and helped him up.
Fwaaat!
He placed his hand on the wound on Fengyun's side and activated the light of Law of Light.
The bleeding curse scattered like snowflakes.
Fengyun felt the regenerative power of an A-rank Hunter kick in again.
"Thanks."
"We're late. You okay?"
"Not at all."
Baekya took out the coral branch from his inventory.
There was one large branch with seven smaller branches attached to it, and he broke off one of them and handed it to Fengyun.
Snap.
"It's fine. This much will heal if I just get a good night's sleep... Cough!"
"I can see your neck bone right now. I guarantee you that if you wait another 10 minutes, even Chilseong won't be able to fix it."
The coral burrowed into Fengyun's body and began to regenerate him.
Fengyun trembled from the bone-gnawing pain, but at the same time, he noticed that it was much easier to breathe.
"Hyungnim."
"Thank you, sir."
Fengyun's subordinates rushed over and took him.
Baekya led the way, cutting through the artificial Awakened.
Thud. Thud.
The artificial Awakened were frozen stiff, unable to even think of moving.
It felt like thousands upon thousands of needles were piercing their bodies.
As half-Awakened, they could sense it.
The difference in their levels.
It was around the time Baekya had broken through half of the encirclement.
"...Stop."
"Stop!"
The Chinese brothers called out to Baekya.
Thud.
Baekya pushed the backs of the subordinates supporting Fengyun.
"Sir?"
"Keep going."
He turned and took up the rear of the group.
Clang.
The Chinese Ranker in armor drew a broadsword.
"You said you ate the Irregular Polyhedron! Right?"
Baekya readily admitted it.
"That's right."
"That's our government's property, which we secured. You need to return it."
"..."
Baekya turned his head from left to right, looking at the artificial Awakened gathered there.
Whenever Baekya's gaze landed on them, the artificial Awakened flinched, their resolve flickering like a dying flame.
The Chinese Ranker in the suit pulled out a two-span magic wand from his pocket.
The Chinese Ranker in armor looked ready to pounce at any moment.
Baekya met their eyes.
"I was wondering where I heard that..."
He chuckled, lifting his chin.
"What?"
He walked towards the two of them.
"I was once asked by an exiled government in Southeast Asia to do something for them. They wanted me to retrieve fragments of the Tower, artifacts used by their high-ranking Awakened, and all sorts of things, so I went to their capital."
"...!"
Hearing Baekya's story, the brothers flinched simultaneously.
"If I succeeded, half of it would be mine. Of course, I succeeded. I handed over the goods. Since it was such a large quantity, I entrusted the transport to their ship. But on the way back, that exiled government's transport ship was attacked by Chinese pirates."
"..."
"About half of it was stolen, so my share went from 50% to 25%. Back then, I thought those bastards were struggling because they didn't want to pay... I let it slide because I thought they were just trying to feed their own people, even a piece of bread. Seems like I was wrong."
"Wait a minute, brother."
"Damn it."
"They said it was a duo back then too."
The Chinese Ranker brothers made eye contact.
"Uwaaaaah!"
"Uoooooh!"
They rushed to use the strongest and fastest attacks they could muster.
Blue light emanated from the wand, and yellow energy rose from the broadsword.
Baekya simply waved his hand nonchalantly.
"Delete."
【Law of Light】
Fwaaaaaaat!
The ownerless Dragon Scale Armor fell to the snow-covered street.
Clang.
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Hestia
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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