Chapter 88: One More (2)
“Did you come to observe the factory?”
Seo Hyeon-yul asked again.
It wasn't particularly strange for a villain to observe another faction's villains.
Rather, it was a natural thing to do.
This was a drug manufacturing factory.
Spying on such a place, couldn't it be thought that they came to steal the manufacturing method because they coveted it?
However, today it looked a bit different.
It was one person.
But what could one person do?
‘It’s right to think of it as simple spying.’
Then, why did he come to spy?
Seo Hyeon-yul could find the answer immediately.
‘…Ah, is it there?’
Not long ago, hadn't he confirmed a villain faction that detested drugs?
It seemed he would have to check.
“Did you come to get drugs?”
Seo Hyeon-yul asked casually, lowering his dagger.
“…What kind of bullshit is this?”
He reacted with displeasure almost immediately.
He hadn't come to trade, and his expression didn't fit someone who came to steal something.
“Do you like drugs?”
“This kind of mi……”
The villain quickly shut his mouth.
It seemed the dagger was bothering him.
However, Seo Hyeon-yul had no intention of lowering it any further.
“They’re selling drugs here, right?”
“We are making them.”
Seo Hyeon-yul corrected the fact.
“……What? Making drugs?”
“Yes. Didn’t you know that when you came?”
“I… that…”
The villain shut his mouth again.
He seemed to have a very quick temper.
“You came without knowing.”
As Seo Hyeon-yul provided the answer, the villain frowned.
“…Filthy bastards. Even if there are no standards, they sell that stuff?”
“Shouldn’t they?”
“You’re stating the obvious. If that goes around, and around, where do you think it will eventually end up?”
“Where?”
“Us! Us! Why on earth are they doing that? Are you going to stop when everyone is addicted to drugs? Are you addicted too? Do you like it that much?”
‘It’s that strange villain faction.’
Seo Hyeon-yul, while making his judgment, looked at the villain strangely.
Uttering such words right now seemed insane.
“Are you a villain?”
Seo Hyeon-yul asked doubtfully.
He might dislike drugs, but speaking in a lecturing tone was far from being a villain.
If this was the case, why bother claiming to be a villain?
“This is really funny. I don’t know when we started judging villains based on drugs. Why? Because I’m talking like this, do I look like a Black Eagle?”
His actions weren't those of a villain, but he himself claimed to be one, so Seo Hyeon-yul found it quite contradictory.
‘…Ah. Do I look like this too?’
Only then did Seo Hyeon-yul realize how the villain saw him.
Wouldn't he think he was a bundle of contradictions?
“Keep blabbering. I’ll just die and be done with it, but don’t forget that my location is all known. Why? Suddenly scared? What to do, if there are so many drugs in the factory, you won’t even be able to move them all out today, will you?”
“It’s not that, I am a Black Eagle.”
Seo Hyeon-yul calmly identified himself.
“You’re kidding me.”
The villain, on the contrary, snorted.
He wasn’t even wearing a uniform.
Above all, that gaze, how could that come from a Black Eagle?
Anyone could see it was the eyes of someone who had killed countless people.
“I don’t want to argue. I am a Black Eagle, and you just need to stay quiet.”
Seo Hyeon-yul once again aimed the dagger at the villain’s neck.
Although he had investigated secretly, he had told Oh Hae-ryeon the truth about this part.
So it was right to drag him in as a Black Eagle.
“Bullshit……”
Before the bastard could speak, Seo Hyeon-yul moved behind him.
Holding the dagger reversed, he struck the back of the bastard’s head hard.
Thwack!
The villain’s eyes glazed over, and he went limp.
He hadn’t thought he would use this, but Seo Hyeon-yul bound his hands and feet with villain-use cable ties.
Seo Hyeon-yul turned his head.
Mr. Ji-hwan was running towards him.
His speed was considerably slow.
Seo Hyeon-yul walked forward and informed Mr. Ji-hwan.
“He’s a villain.”
“…So, huff, huff.”
“He’s a villain from a different faction than the villains inside. I think he’s worth taking in for interrogation.”
“Aren’t you hurt, huff, Sir?”
“Catch your breath first. Why are you coming without using magic?”
“……Ah.”
Mr. Ji-hwan had a blank look in his eyes.
Seo Hyeon-yul was speechless for a moment, then spoke.
“It can happen.”
At the somewhat calm voice, Mr. Ji-hwan choked and coughed loudly.
“…Is that it? Is it there?”
Baek Shin-woo asked, pointing at the drugs.
There were so many types.
Honestly, he wanted to get closer, but Seo Hyeon-yul stopped him.
“It hasn’t been confirmed yet, so don’t come any closer than that.”
Seo Hyeon-yul repeated what he had said a little while ago, then looked at everyone.
They were between the slightly open doors.
“It’s dangerous.”
“Isn’t it dangerous for you too, Hyeon-yul? You said earlier that you shouldn’t even carelessly apply basic cosmetics.”
When Chu Na-yoon asked, Baek Shin-woo reacted immediately.
“…What? You said it was okay?”
Baek Shin-woo’s surprised eyes turned to Seo Hyeon-yul.
It was Chu Na-yoon who had found this place, and it was he who had asked Seo Hyeon-yul if it was really okay.
“Cosmetics are full of ingredients I’ve never been exposed to. They say it’s not harmful to ordinary people. I’m just preparing because I don’t know how harmless ingredients will affect me.”
“Then what about that?”
Baek Shin-woo felt his throat tighten.
What did that mean?
“It’s fine.”
Seo Hyeon-yul replied lightly.
Anyway, there would be many things he had been exposed to.
What he was looking for wasn't a drug he had encountered once or twice.
He was looking for a drug he had been continuously, periodically, constantly exposed to.
The fact that it was relatively important meant it was a faster way to get to the bastard who made him like this.
“Step back and close the door.”
Seo Hyeon-yul warned for the last time.
It was time to smell them.
Toxic drugs had no effect on him, but they did on them.
He didn’t know what impact a small drop could have.
Seo Hyeon-yul waited.
Only after the door closed and he heard the sound of retreating footsteps did Seo Hyeon-yul move.
It looked like there were many drugs, but in reality, there were five types.
He slightly opened the container holding the drug.
‘No.’
Seo Hyeon-yul closed it completely and smelled the one next to it.
‘One.’
Next.
‘Two.’
Next.
‘Three.’
Seo Hyeon-yul smelled the last one and put it down.
‘…Three of them.’
There were three of them in this place alone.
Seo Hyeon-yul hid those three in the darkness.
‘I pinpointed it correctly.’
Finally.
Strength entered his fingers.
He felt an urge to immediately shove a dagger into their necks.
‘…No. I can’t just kill them.’
He closed his eyes for a moment, then slowly exhaled and opened them.
He had thought experiment subjects existed to destroy the Empire.
But Asan, who was the Crimson Witch, had conducted experiments to save her child.
Because he had witnessed an exceptional situation, he could no longer think that experiment subjects were created solely to destroy the Empire.
At first, he had judged the experiment itself as a meaningless act, but through the Poison King and Asan, hadn't he found out that the Empire had started it first to create power?
In reality, it had become a world where most possessed power.
The Empire’s experiment had succeeded.
He finally understood that the reason villains pushed so foolishly was also because of the success stories.
‘…Then, why was I created?’
Seo Hyeon-yul couldn’t help but ask the most fundamental question.
With what intention?
Why?
What were they going to use him for?
Even while being experimented on, he hadn’t heard the purpose.
All he heard were words like ‘get up’, ‘sit’, ‘lie down’, ‘엎드려 (updeuryeo - prostrate/down)’, ‘eat’.
Could it be that his own conversational ability had also degenerated?
‘…No. Let’s think about it later.’
Seo Hyeon-yul postponed his thoughts and took the medicine.
When thoughts began to multiply, his mind became noisy.
Once that noise started, even medicine couldn’t calm it down.
Seo Hyeon-yul turned around as he was and walked to the door.
Before going out, he covered his entire body with darkness.
He hated the disgusting smell clinging to his body.
“…Teacher.”
Seo Hyeon-yul handed over the drug.
Lee Jeong-min, as soon as he saw it, was startled and looked at the CCTV.
“I got permission from the Team Leader.”
“……Ha. You scared me.”
“Why are you surprised?”
“As a Black Eagle, you can’t misappropriate evidence, can you?”
“I know that too. I’m procuring what I need from other sources.”
“Other sources…?”
“Take it.”
“Hyeon-yul. What did you just say?”
“It’s a drug that was used on me.”
“……What?”
Lee Jeong-min’s expression changed completely.
The previous fact was also important, but right now, nothing was more important than this.
“These three?”
“Yes.”
“…H-how did you get them?”
Lee Jeong-min reached out to take them, but then stopped as a tremor ran through him.
He was afraid he might drop the drugs.
“Before work, I ended up doing a mission following Sister Chu Na-yoon’s words. I got them there.”
Seo Hyeon-yul’s expression briefly hardened.
Working before work hours.
He didn’t like it.
“Who made it, d-did you find out…?”
“I don’t know yet. Don’t be happy…, no. You can be happy.”
Seo Hyeon-yul changed his words.
Lee Jeong-min was already happy.
“How, how did this happen like this? To think I’d find it like this. Really… really, I can’t believe it. You searched for it so much. You searched so hard……”
Lee Jeong-min couldn’t continue his words.
His eyes quickly reddened.
Knowing how much Seo Hyeon-yul had suffered, this small hope was so joyful and precious.
He felt like immediately embracing Seo Hyeon-yul and spinning him around.
If he did that, Seo Hyeon-yul might look at him with contempt.
“Are you happy?”
“…Of course! I need to know the drugs used on you so I can make medicine, and then I can call your name more, and for longer than now, can’t I?”
“That’s true.”
Hadn’t he lived a lot already?
He only thought that, but Seo Hyeon-yul didn’t say it out loud.
To him, it was just a natural statement, but Lee Jeong-min was saddened.
“If it was going to come out like this, it should have come out sooner! Why did it give you so much trouble, making you suffer like that? Really, this… what is this!”
“I’ll get more.”
Seo Hyeon-yul pulled out a tissue and handed it to Lee Jeong-min.
He always thought he cried a lot.
Thinking that he was crying in place of his own dried-up tears, this wasn’t bad either.
Oh Hae-ryeon looked at everyone and carefully asked.
“…Is everyone okay?”
They had accomplished a huge task before work.
This wasn’t the first or second time such a thing had happened, but Seo Hyeon-yul was among them.
“I’m fine.”
Mr. Ji-hwan replied.
“I had two cups of coffee.”
Chu Na-yoon held up two fingers.
“I took a nap again, no, I slept at night.”
After Baek Shin-woo replied with a tired face, everyone’s gaze naturally turned to Seo Hyeon-yul.
Not okay.
Definitely not okay.
Seo Hyeon-yul wanted to answer like that.
The situation was quickly handled when the White Sparrows came.
They caught the villains themselves, separated the ordinary people themselves, and took all the drugs and data themselves.
It was convenient, but he was curious if they really took everything.
But apart from that, coming home to rest and then getting on the bus again to go to work, life couldn’t be more horrible than this.
Even if he did nothing at home, even if he was just knitting, home was good.
It had become wider, and more sunlight came in, so there was no better place.
‘I want to go home.’
“…Can you work?”
As Seo Hyeon-yul said nothing, Oh Hae-ryeon asked again.
“I will.”
Seo Hyeon-yul’s voice was even weaker than usual.
Oh Hae-ryeon looked at Seo Hyeon-yul’s forehead.
“Is your head okay? Does it hurt?”
“No. It’s almost completely healed.”
“If it were up to me, I’d let you off, but there’s a bit of a backlog of work today.”
“No, of all days, today?”
Baek Shin-woo asked, startled.
They had already used up a lot of energy.
When they actually went, it wasn’t a small task either.
He had thought they might at least shorten their working hours.
He felt like his hopes were crumbling.
“You said various factions are fighting each other right now, right?”
“…Has their location been revealed?”
Chu Na-yoon asked, thinking ‘no way’.
The reason it was difficult to uproot villains was precisely because they didn’t know how far they were connected and where their real main body was.
Until they found a place where only villains existed, they had to keep chasing tails, again and again.
Isn’t today an example of that?
They found a drug production factory, but that place wasn’t the real one.
Ordinary people were working there too.
Because it was something that deserved disciplinary action, she had actually been constantly observing Oh Hae-ryeon’s expression.
“It’s been revealed. It’s only about two factions so far, but I think more and more factions will be revealed.”
At Oh Hae-ryeon’s confident voice, Seo Hyeon-yul quietly just nodded.
The reason he had taken over the Poison King’s forces in the first place was precisely for that reason.
If they fought and fought, their forces would inevitably be revealed.
Since a fight once started couldn't be stopped, wouldn't being caught by the Black Eagle be a natural outcome?
‘Even just taking over one Poison King faction has a significant effect. What would happen if I took over other factions too?’
Seo Hyeon-yul kept an eye on this.
It wasn't a problem he hadn't thought about before, but back then, he hadn't even considered becoming a Black Eagle.
The Black Eagle, who was supposed to keep villains in check, wouldn't listen to him in the first place, and he didn't think the Black Eagle would accept him either, so he gave up.
“The mission, is it to suppress the factions?”
When Seo Hyeon-yul asked, Oh Hae-ryeon shook her head.
“Not yet. Even if their location has been revealed, we need to attack them simultaneously, so it will take a little more time.”
“Are you saying we should prevent them from causing trouble even if their leader disappears?”
“That’s right. Even if the leader disappears, they can attach themselves to other factions. What we’re trying to do is exterminate the villains. Catching the leader is good, but it doesn’t end there.”
Villains were like cockroaches that lay eggs even as they died.
If they weren't uprooted all at once, they proliferated.
If information about how the Black Eagle did it leaked out, they evolved further and returned.
“Today’s mission is to escort the White Sparrows.”
When Oh Hae-ryeon informed them of the mission, everyone except Seo Hyeon-yul didn’t look too pleased.
There was no one who didn’t know that Seo Hyeon-yul and the White Sparrows didn’t get along.
However, apart from that, Seo Hyeon-yul didn’t understand what kind of mission it was.