Chapter 78
I wanted to pull out my shock pistol, Ruina, and blow up the entire hallway. With Ruina’s destructive power, there was nowhere to escape in such a narrow space, no matter how fast the enemy was.
But the objective of this mission was capture and interrogation. I couldn’t kill him. Hold it in, Luka.
Chiii!
The smoke grenade the enemy had deployed was still billowing thick fumes. Combined with the concrete dust from the collapsed ceiling, it made it nearly impossible to breathe.
Thunk!
I lunged into the dense smoke. The distance between us closed in an instant.
Swish!
The enemy inside the smoke also adjusted his stance, preparing for hand-to-hand combat.
I had reached arm’s length. A collision was inevitable.
Whoosh!
Our arms crossed as his sharp fingers shot toward my face. I barely avoided them by tilting my upper body back just enough.
Just after a few exchanges, I was already pissed off.
‘This sneaky bastard!’
I couldn’t kill him. I couldn’t aim for his vital points. That meant my targets were limited.
He knew this well, so he attacked boldly, making snap decisions that were almost unfair. So this is what it must have felt like for those who had fought me before.
Srrrk!
The enemy feinted a kick but then retreated, vanishing into the thick smoke, leaving not even a shadow behind.
Tok—tak.
That tongue-clicking sound again.
I had finally realized what it was.
‘Echolocation.’
He was perceiving his surroundings by interpreting sound reflections. That wasn’t something you could just pick up overnight.
‘He can map out the terrain without moving his eyes.’
In a high-speed battle like this, where vision was restricted and even turning one’s head was a luxury, it was a damn useful skill. I should practice it myself.
‘What a pain in the ass.’
The enemy wanted to escape. Even if he hid in the smoke and lay in wait, I had no choice but to chase him down, accepting the risks.
I was fighting under every possible disadvantage. Even with my superior skills, the conditions for victory were too strict to end this quickly.
Bzzzt, bzzzt.
I kept adjusting the visible light spectrum of my right cybernetic eye. The repeated shifts in vision made my head feel like it was going to split open, and the flickering in my right eye made me want to puke.
Finally, I found the wavelength that gave me the clearest view.
‘You son of a bitch! There you are!’
His figure appeared sharp and distinct. He was clinging to the ceiling, poised to pounce on me.
Crack!
I put all my strength into my legs. Raising the output of my right leg, I kicked the concrete debris.
Thudududu!
The shattered concrete scattered like buckshot, pelting the enemy. Letting out a groan of pain, he began to fall.
Whoosh!
I dashed forward, spun mid-air, and kicked off the wall. I leaped behind the falling bastard.
‘Got you, you son of a bitch.’
His defenseless back was exposed.
Crunch!
I landed with my knee pressing down on his back. Then, without hesitation, I grabbed both of his shoulders and tore them apart.
Krrrack!
With his arms ripped off, mechanical components and wires came loose. He wasn’t fully cybernetic—blood splattered from the joints, and chunks of flesh were torn away.
“Guaaah! Ugh…!”
A scream burst from his mouth. I smiled. Hearing his cries of agony made my headache subside.
But it wasn’t time to celebrate just yet.
I swiftly drew my pistol and pressed the barrel against the back of his neck. If this bastard was the contact, he’d try to kill himself.
Pssht! Zap!
The stun round embedded itself in his neck. As the electric current surged through him, the light of consciousness faded from his pupils.
“Target secured.”
Catching my breath, I spoke while glancing toward the stairs.
Clatter, clatter.
Hemillas was descending from the second floor. He was also dragging an unconscious man by the hair. It seemed he had captured another suspect who might be the contact.
“Which one is the contact?”
“It’s either the one you caught or the one I did.”
“What if it’s neither?”
Hemillas scratched his chin before replying.
“We’re not that incompetent.”
Fair point.
* * *
Hemillas and I slung the two captured men over our shoulders and left the wreckage behind. The commotion had begun to draw a crowd.
Creak.
We entered the sewers, retracing our steps.
“Hemillas, sir, all traces have been wiped clean. No footage was recorded on any cameras.”
Paigon spoke as he manipulated his terminal. Despite his ragged appearance, he seemed quite skilled in electronic warfare.
“Good work, Paigon. And you too, Luka.”
Hemillas gave no further instructions to Paigon, showing absolute trust in him. If there had been even the slightest doubt, he would have asked for verification.
“Interrogating this one won’t be easy.”
I tapped the unconscious man’s temple with my finger.
The guy I captured had mastered Akies Combat Techniques to a significant degree. Those trained in Akies Combat Techniques were also well-versed in psychological defense. Extracting information from him wouldn’t be easy using standard methods.
"You don’t need to worry about that. There are plenty of ways."
Hemillas said with a smile. I didn’t ask what those ways were.
Nothing out of the ordinary happened as we walked through the sewer. It looked like we would make a smooth return.
I let my guard down a little, and it seemed Paigon and Hemillas did too.
"There was a time when Master was young too. Just like young master Lukaus now."
"Back then, I wasn’t young—I was just a child."
"Well, I suppose so. I remember when you had me investigate the young lady of the Itanori family…"
"Ahem."
Hemillas and Paigon chatted about the past.
I couldn’t even imagine Hemillas as a boy. There must have been a time when he was inexperienced and made mistakes, when he wasn’t the hardened man he was now. He had to have been born human, with flesh and blood—both in a literal and figurative sense.
But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t picture a young, inexperienced Hemillas. To me, he was the perfect superior officer, an exemplary soldier.
Swish.
Paigon moved closer to me.
"Master Hemillas must care about you a great deal, young master. Enough to risk exposing my existence."
"…Or maybe he just knows he can silence me anytime."
I knew Hemillas could hear me. But he wasn’t the kind of man to be offended by such words. If anything, he’d appreciate my caution.
Starting from the worst possible assumption—that was one of my specialties. It was how I survived. I always had to prepare for the worst of the worst.
"Impressive, young master. That’s exactly how a Custoria soldier should be. These days, a lot of noble brats seem to believe the world will always work in their favor. Blind optimism, with no foundation whatsoever, heh."
Paigon grinned, revealing his yellowed teeth.
"Paigon, now that you’re getting older, you sure talk a lot of nonsense."
"That’s because a certain someone refuses to let me retire."
"What choice do I have when there’s no one as competent as you?"
At a fork in the sewer, Hemillas came to a stop. He handed the unconscious man over to Paigon. I followed his lead and passed my captive to him as well.
"Finish ‘processing’ them before I return."
Hemillas’ words lingered. I had a vague idea of what "processing" meant. A rather grim thought crossed my mind.
"Understood."
Paigon slung the two men over his shoulders and disappeared into the darkness.
A sense of unease crept over me. I wasn’t sure about the one Hemillas had captured, but the man I had taken down was quite formidable. If anything unpredictable happened, Paigon might struggle to handle it.
"If Paigon fights at full strength, even you wouldn’t take him down easily."
As if reading my thoughts, Hemillas spoke in a low voice.
"Couldn’t we have Paigon investigate Kinuan instead? He seems capable in many areas."
I voiced my doubt. With someone like Paigon around, was there really a need for me to investigate Kinuan?
"Luka, the reason you’re still alive is because Kinuan took a liking to you. Even Paigon would be killed if he dared to dig into Kinuan’s background without permission. And… Paigon is to be used only for Custoria family matters. He must not be deployed for official assignments. That’s the rule."
Hemillas stressed his words. I nodded and grabbed the ladder leading up to the surface.
"Haa!"
As I emerged, I let out a deep breath, inhaling the air above ground.
I finally felt like I could breathe again. After being in the sewers for so long, even the gritty, sand-laden air felt refreshing.
Instead of returning to the clearing where we had landed, we headed toward a different ruin. Before long, an air vehicle from the Custoria family arrived to pick us up.
‘Another mission for the Custoria family, completed.’
Hemillas would believe this was a covert operation. But the Empire would soon learn of what happened today.
…Because I was the Empire’s Overseer.
* * *
Three days had passed since the secret mission ended.
Our efforts hadn’t been in vain. The man I had captured turned out to be a wanted criminal in the Empire, while the one Hemillas had caught was a contact for Nemesis.
Since Hemillas was busy with his duties as Commander of the Imperial Guard, I went to meet Paigon in his place. The meeting location was a dark underground chamber. There, I saw firsthand how our captured contact had been "processed."
Bubble, bubble.
I stared at the cylindrical container. It was filled with a textured green liquid. And inside… was a human brain. Electrodes were embedded across its surface.
"A ‘Brain in a Vat.’ A rather delicate method of processing. But there are few who can endure interrogation in this state."
Paigon tapped on the cylinder as he spoke. At the top of the container, a holographic display flickered. Sections of the brain diagram on the screen pulsed in response to the impact.
I narrowed my eyes.
‘He’s still alive like that.’
A brain without a body was incapable of affecting physical reality. All external stimuli and sensory input it received were completely under Paigon’s control.
"That’s… certainly effective."
I covered my mouth with one hand as I spoke. A mix of admiration and disgust surfaced at the same time. Keeping a human alive in that state required incredible skill.
Humans go insane without a proper level of external stimulation. A brain floating alone without a body wouldn’t last long.
‘Paigon’s skill is remarkable.’
He subjected them to just enough stimuli to keep them from losing their minds, yet ensured the torture was relentless. The key to effective interrogation wasn’t simply inflicting pain—it was pushing the subject to the brink of death without letting them die.
In that regard, Paigon was a master. He monitored real-time data, fine-tuning the stimulation signals with precision.
‘Just how many people has Paigon turned into that?’
It was a level of expertise that could only be gained through extensive experience.
"This device can even extract memories and information from the unconscious mind. Young master, humans know far more than they consciously realize."
Paigon spoke with a hint of pride. Even though he was an ally, he was unsettling.
"Ah, my apologies, young master. I suppose I’ve grown too accustomed to this work."
Paigon seemed to gauge my reaction.
"…It’s fine."
I spoke in a low voice.
Paigon draped a cloth over the container, concealing it, and then held out a data chip to me.
"Deliver this to Master Hemillas."
I nodded and took the chip, leaving without another word.
Even with my training in the Imperial Guard, which had drilled emotional control into me, I couldn’t shake the unpleasant feeling. It clung to me like the residue at the bottom of a cup, stubbornly refusing to wash away no matter how hard I tried to shake it off.