Chapter 261
Number Five, Zeon.
The fifth most dangerous individual in Neo Seoul.
Zeon was the first person to enter the top ten danger rankings without possessing a massive faction like the other four.
That alone showed how highly Neo Seoul evaluated him. Because of that, they were keeping especially close watch on his movements.
Personally, Seo Taeran considered Zeon to be the most dangerous of them all.
He had merely been pushed down to fifth place because he lacked an organization of his own, but in terms of individual ability, he was the most dangerous person in Neo Seoul.
Seo Taeran asked Ho Cheongyeon,
“You said the people Zeon met came from outside?”
“Yes.”
“By outside, do you mean a caravan? Or another colony?”
“That’s unclear. They appeared like ghosts, so we have no information whatsoever. Still, I felt it was important enough to report immediately.”
“Hmm.”
Seo Taeran’s expression turned serious.
Without an entry pass, no one could enter Neo Seoul.
It was protected by barriers and magic formations.
But the slums were different.
Anyone from outside could freely come and go. Because of that, accurately identifying outsiders was extremely difficult.
Even the Shadow Unit had limitations when it came to gathering intelligence in the slums.
The best option would be to cooperate with Argos’s Eye, the slums’ own intelligence network. But Argos’s Eye had no reason to comply with requests from the Shadow Unit.
Seo Taeran felt a headache coming on.
Everything related to Zeon gave her headaches.
That was how far beyond her expectations he was.
‘He made contact with outsiders who aren’t even from Neo Seoul? There’s no way it’s for an ordinary reason.’
More than anything, she had a bad feeling about it.
Her instincts were extraordinarily sharp—accurate enough to resemble precognition.
After organizing her thoughts for a moment, she spoke to Ho Cheongyeon.
“How many operatives can we mobilize right now?”
“We have about twenty spare personnel.”
“Assign every single one of them to the people who made contact with Zeon.”
“All of them?”
“Yes. Find out who they are and what their purpose is.”
“And of course, we shouldn’t leave any traces?”
“Obviously.”
“Understood. We’ll handle it quietly so they never even realize.”
A faint smile appeared on Ho Cheongyeon’s face.
By nature, the Shadow Unit specialized in moving unseen.
They possessed dozens of methods for extracting information without even the target realizing they had been interrogated.
“Within two days, I’ll uncover exactly why they entered the city.”
“Just remember not to provoke Zeon.”
“Heh. We know where the line is. Then…”
After bowing slightly, Ho Cheongyeon quietly left the room.
Left alone, Seo Taeran muttered,
“He never lets us lower our guard for even a moment.”
Zeon stroked the gauntlet fitted onto his right arm.
It was the item that had evolved into the Superheated Gauntlet after being fitted with a Dragon’s Eye.
He had worn it for over eight years now, to the point that it felt like part of his own body.
The one who had created the Superheated Gauntlet for him was Kaylie of the Motte Tribe.
Because of that, Zeon always believed he owed Kaylie a debt of gratitude.
And when you owe someone, naturally, you repay them.
No matter how small the favor might be.
Zeon told Duduyan and Aslan that he would depart for the Steel Fortress in two days.
After hearing his answer, the two decided to wait in the slums until then.
“What are you thinking about so deeply?”
Seeing Zeon lost in thought, Brielle spoke cautiously.
“I think I’ll have to head to the Steel Fortress again…”
“Again? Why?”
“Some people who helped me in the past are now asking me for help.”
“Then you should go. When are you leaving?”
“The day after tomorrow.”
“That’s a problem.”
“Hm?”
“I’m in the middle of some research right now, and inspiration just struck…”
Alchemy was by no means an easy discipline.
To properly create results, it required not only intense concentration but also powerful inspiration.
Inspiration was essentially the concrete manifestation of imagination.
You never knew when it would come, so when it did, you had to seize it firmly.
And unfortunately, now was exactly that moment.
It was extremely important research, so Brielle couldn’t easily say she would accompany Zeon.
Zeon smiled and replied,
“It’s okay. I was planning to go alone this time anyway.”
“Will you really be alright?”
“Of course.”
This time, he wasn’t planning to take Levin either.
Like Brielle, Levin also needed time alone.
Right now, Levin was like a lamp that had burned through all its wick.
He had lived solely for revenge, and once he finally achieved it, the wick had completely burned away, leaving nothing left to fuel him.
It would take time for a new wick to form.
Until then, Zeon thought it would be best to leave Levin alone.
More than anything, this seemed like something he should handle by himself.
There was a high chance it would become a long journey, and no one knew when he would return to Neo Seoul.
“Wait a second.”
Suddenly, Brielle dashed into her room.
A moment later, she returned carrying an armful of items.
“Take all of these.”
“What are they?”
“Things I made. This one’s an antidote potion. This spray is made from the salivary glands of a Razorhide Lizard. It contains hydrochloric acid strong enough to melt metal, so it should be useful. And this one is…”
Brielle’s explanations went on endlessly.
Most of the items she had made weren’t particularly necessary for Zeon. But for ordinary people or low-level Awakened, they would probably be extremely useful.
Without refusing, Zeon stored every item Brielle handed him into his subspace.
“Thanks. I’ll make good use of them.”
“Okay! If you need anything else, just tell me. I’ll make it for you.”
“No, I think this is more than enough.”
“Alright.”
“You two should be careful too. There may not be anyone here who’d dare mess with you, but you never know what can happen to people…”
“…you never know what might happen.”
“Don’t worry. With that thing here, what is there to worry about?”
Brielle looked toward the Watching Eye.
Even at this very moment, the house was under the protection of the Watching Eye.
Even all the Holy Knights of Dongdaemun together had failed to break through the Watching Eye’s defenses. This place was the safest fortress in the entire slum district.
As long as they stayed here, no one could threaten them.
Zeon smiled and said,
“Still, be careful. And if anything happens, ask the Goblin Market for protection.”
“Okay.”
“Right. I’m sure you’ll handle things fine.”
Zeon smiled softly.
At first, the two of them had been bound together unwillingly through an oath, but now they trusted each other deeply.
Zeon found that change rather fascinating.
After talking endlessly for a while, Brielle returned to her room, leaving Zeon alone in the living room.
As he sat on the sofa and looked out the window, the red neon lights dazzled his vision.
He recalled what Duduyan had said yesterday.
“To save Arkelon, we need to find Moby Dick?”
***
“Be careful. This is Neo Seoul.”
“Come on, stop worrying so much.”
Aslan waved his hand dismissively at Duduyan’s nagging.
His face was already flushed red.
He was thoroughly drunk.
Empty liquor bottles rolled across the table in front of him.
The two of them were inside a bar in Sinchon.
It was a cheap tavern mostly frequented by the slum residents of Sinchon.
Naturally, the alcohol they sold was also cheap hard liquor.
Just one bottle of the unidentified booze was enough to knock out an ordinary person.
Yet Aslan had already downed several bottles.
Partly because his alcohol tolerance was absurdly high, but more than anything, it was because this was the only place he could drink.
At the moment, there was no alcohol to be found in the Steel Fortress.
The Steel Fortress had only recently begun to settle down properly. Producing other necessities took priority over making alcohol.
Naturally, liquor had been pushed far down the list of priorities.
And since they could no longer live as Scavengers, Aslan hadn’t tasted a drop of alcohol since Zeon left.
“Hehe! To think I couldn’t drink something this good all this time. Don’t stop me. I’m going to empty every bottle in this place tonight.”
“Ugh… do whatever you want.”
Duduyan shook her head with an exhausted expression.
It wasn’t that she couldn’t understand Aslan’s feelings.
But she couldn’t understand drinking until becoming completely wasted like this.
It was nothing short of destroying one’s own body.
“I seriously can’t understand humans. Why do they abuse themselves like this?”
“It’s not abuse—it’s romance. Look at how beautiful the world seems now.”
“Your eyes aren’t even focused anymore. Fine, I’m going back.”
In the end, Duduyan gave up on Aslan and headed toward a nearby inn.
She was slightly worried about leaving him alone in the tavern, but she figured nothing would happen.
Judging by the reaction at the Goblin Market, Sinchon treated Zeon’s guests favorably. It didn’t seem likely that anyone would target Aslan.
Besides, her inn was right next door to the tavern.
If anything happened to Aslan, she would notice immediately and respond.
“Hehe! Now that the nuisance is gone, shall I really start drinking?”
Left alone, Aslan grinned slyly and ordered another bottle from the owner.
“Kuhhh! This is what living feels like. This is living!”
After emptying another bottle in an instant, Aslan shouted loudly.
He rambled incoherently for a while before finally collapsing face-first onto the table.
At that moment, men dressed in black suits emerged from deeper inside the tavern.
“He’s tougher than expected. To think he only collapsed after drinking five bottles mixed with Malik’s venom.”
Malik was an insect discovered in a certain dungeon.
It resembled a dragonfly, but its saliva contained deadly poison.
When processed, Malik’s venom became a type of sleeping agent.
It had no taste and no smell, so no matter how sharp someone’s senses were, they would never notice it mixed into alcohol or water.
Every bottle Aslan drank had contained a sedative refined from Malik’s venom.
They had expected him to collapse after one or two bottles.
Instead, he only lost consciousness after five.
“In a way, that’s impressive.”
A short man stepped out from among the suited men.
It was Ho Cheongyeon, captain of the Shadow Unit.
He tilted back the unconscious Aslan’s head.
The rolled-back eyes clearly showed he had completely blacked out.
“We need to finish before the woman notices. Inject the truth serum.”
“Yes, Captain.”
One of the Shadow Unit operatives pulled out a syringe and injected Aslan.
Like the sleeping agent made from Malik’s venom, the truth serum was also created from dungeon byproducts.
The greatest advantage of this truth serum was that the victim remembered absolutely nothing afterward.
Not only would they forget what they had said, they would even lose the memory of having confessed anything at all.
And there were no side effects whatsoever.
Not even a trace remained in the body.
That was why the Shadow Unit secretly used both Malik’s venom sedatives and the truth serum whenever they needed to gather information covertly.
“Ugh…”
As the truth serum took effect, Aslan opened his eyes.
His gaze was completely unfocused.
“Name?”
“As… lan…”
“Origin?”
“The… desert…”
“Where in the desert?”
“Steel Fortress.”
“Steel Fortress? Never heard of it. Is it a newly established colony?”
“Yes…”
“Location?”
“If you head west from Neo Seoul…”
Aslan spilled every bit of information he knew without resistance.
Ho Cheongyeon listened carefully to every word.
He thoroughly memorized everything—the members of the Steel Fortress, its leader, their tendencies, even the smallest details.
Finally, he asked the last question.
“Why did you meet Zeon?”
“To… ask for help…”
“What kind of help?”
“To heal the mobile fortress Arkelon… we need to meet Moby Dick…”
“Moby Dick? Explain in detail.”
Ho Cheongyeon’s eyes glowed red.