Chapter 303
Nothing in Neo Seoul was wasted carelessly.
Resources, mana stones, even sewage, filth, and garbage—all of it was sent to resource recovery facilities and recycled.
Other than human corpses, anything that could be reused was processed through the recovery facilities.
Naturally, those facilities were located deep beneath Neo Seoul.
No matter how ruined the Earth had become, people still did not want disgusting facilities sitting out in plain sight.
The scale of Neo Seoul’s resource recovery facilities was enormous.
The underground space was so vast that entire skyscrapers could fit inside it.
Most waste and wastewater were reborn into useful resources through those facilities.
Even so, some wastewater still had to be discarded.
That wastewater flowed through sewer channels into the underground beneath the slums.
Wastewater too contaminated to recycle seeped deep below the slums.
The stench was so foul it numbed one’s sense of smell the moment it was inhaled, so even the slum dwellers avoided going underground whenever possible.
There were entrances leading down into the underground sewers throughout the slums.
Each entrance was blocked by iron bars as thick as an adult man’s forearm.
Because of that, ordinary people could neither enter the sewers nor wanted to.
Most people neither knew nor cared what existed down there.
Yet people lived inside the sewers as well.
These were people who could not even obtain a single room in the slums and had descended underground searching for a place to survive.
At first, there had only been a few.
But as time passed, more and more gathered there.
Each had their own story.
Some had killed someone who tormented them.
Some had committed murder just to obtain food.
Others had never possessed any choices to begin with.
People with all sorts of stories gathered in the sewers and gradually grew in number.
They called themselves Crocodiles.
Like crocodiles living beneath the swamp, they were destined to spend their entire lives beneath Neo Seoul.
A red-haired, freckled boy named Jetoya was also one of the Crocodiles.
As he walked through the foul-smelling sewer, he grumbled.
“Fuck! ‘Go find something useful’? What kind of bullshit is that?”
A terrible stench rose from the sewage flowing beside him, but he walked without the slightest reaction.
Jetoya had been born here in the sewers.
He had adapted perfectly to the environment and was completely unaffected by smells like this.
Not only Jetoya , but most children born here had severely deteriorated senses of sight and smell.
In exchange, their hearing and sense of touch had developed to extreme levels, like bats.
His sensitive ears caught even the smallest sounds in the darkness.
Drip. Drip.
He heard water droplets falling from the ceiling.
Exactly once every three seconds.
This was the junction.
At this point, he needed to turn into the sewer passage branching to the right.
The underground sewer system beneath the slums had originally been built during Neo Seoul’s earliest days.
But as more and more Crocodiles gathered and expanded it themselves, the place had become as complicated as an anthill.
Even the people who originally built the sewer system would undoubtedly get lost and starve to death if they came back down here now.
The tunnels were so complicated that even Jetoya , who had been born and raised here, did not fully understand the entire Crocodile Den.
Still, he perfectly remembered the territory where he usually operated.
One of the ways he navigated was by memorizing the speed of the water droplets falling from the ceiling.
Strangely enough, no two places had the exact same dripping pattern.
Some places dripped three drops per second.
Others dripped ten.
Jetoya memorized every one of those rhythms and used them to find his way.
That was why the other Crocodiles said he was the best at navigating the tunnels.
Jetoya ’s expression remained dark as he walked through the black sewer.
He still had not gathered today’s tribute.
He belonged to the Red Horn Crocodile Crew.
Though calling it a “crew” sounded impressive, it was really just a gang formed by kids around Jetoya ’s age.
At first, it had simply been orphans banding together to protect themselves.
But as time passed, hierarchies formed within the crew.
Jetoya ’s rank had fallen near the bottom.
Originally, his status had not been this low.
He was not among the youngest members, and he had been part of the Red Horn Crocodiles since its early days.
The problem began when a boy named Kojiya, who constantly clashed with him, awakened.
Kojiya awakened as an F-rank martial-type awakened one.
Among awakened ones, F-rank was barely considered worth mentioning.
But among children who had not yet fully grown, it was treated almost like being an S-rank awakened one.
In reality, nobody in the Red Horn Crocodile Crew could defeat him in a fight.
That was how Kojiya became the leader of the Red Horn Crocodiles.
The problem was that from then on, Kojiya began pushing Jetoya out on outside errands.
It was his way of keeping a troublesome rival under control.
Every time he sent him out, he used ridiculous excuses.
“Find anything useful? Fucking hell. There’s no way anything useful exists in these sewers.”
The water flowing through the sewers had become sludge.
It clumped together thickly enough that if you stuck your hand in and pulled, it stretched after you like vines.
Still, since Kojiya had given the order, Jetoya had to obey.
If he returned without finding something—anything—merciless violence awaited him.
So he had to bring back something.
Even if it was worthless junk.
Eventually, Jetoya arrived at his destination.
It was a gigantic basin where the wastewater flowing out from Neo Seoul gathered before dispersing deeper underground.
The place was so enormous it resembled a reservoir.
Of course, Jetoya had never actually seen a real reservoir before.
The basin was filled with semi-solid sludge.
No one living in the Crocodile Den dared enter this place.
Among all polluted locations, this was the absolute worst.
The toxic fumes rising from the sludge were so powerful that even awakened ones would lose consciousness the moment they entered.
After stripping off his clothes, Jetoya stepped into the sludge without hesitation.
That was Jetoya ’s secret.
From the moment he was born, he had perfectly adapted to this horrific environment.
Even the toxic fumes of the sludge—the crystallization of pure filth—had no effect on him whatsoever.
He swam through the sludge as though it were water.
He searched the bottom thoroughly, but nothing came to hand.
In the end, he had no choice but to climb back out empty-handed.
“Goddamn it! If I go back like this, I’m definitely getting beaten senseless. Well… can’t be helped.”
Quick resignation was one of the virtues necessary to survive here.
Jetoya sighed, put his clothes back on, and headed toward the Red Horn Crocodile Crew’s hideout.
His steps felt even heavier because he was returning empty-handed.
But he could not simply avoid going back.
If he were expelled from the Red Horn Crocodiles, he would become prey for the other Crocodiles.
It was miserable having to endure violence merely to survive.
But this place had always been like that.
“Haah…”
Just as Jetoya let out a sigh upon nearing the Red Horn Crocodiles’ hideout—
“Kraaaagh!”
“S-save us!”
Children’s screams and desperate pleas echoed from inside.
‘What?’
Sensing something terribly wrong, Jetoya carefully peeked inside.
‘Gasp!’
The moment he saw what was happening, a scream nearly escaped his throat.
A massacre was taking place inside the hideout.
Men he had never seen before were slaughtering the Red Horn Crocodiles indiscriminately.
Kojiya, who had proudly boasted about being the leader of the Red Horn Crocodiles, already lay decapitated on the floor.
As they mercilessly butchered the children, the men chatted casually.
“Fuck! What’s with this smell?”
“You think they’ve ever washed even once in their lives? Of course they stink.”
“The smell’s soaked into their bodies. We can’t even sell them as slaves.”
“The Spider Queen wants pure humans. If we bring her filthy brats like these, she’ll probably get pissed and kill us instead.”
The ones who had invaded the Red Horn Crocodiles’ hideout and begun the massacre were none other than the Helbrin Mercenary Corps.
The survivors who escaped Zeon’s grasp had regrouped near Neo Seoul.
Contrary to Zeon’s expectations, the place they chose as their nest was not the slums aboveground, but the Crocodile Den beneath them.
And among all the Crocodile groups, the weakest—the Red Horn Crocodiles—had become their prey.
“Aaagh!”
“Please spare me! I don’t want to die like this!”
The children wept and begged desperately, but the Helbrin Mercenary Corps slaughtered them without even blinking.
“Hic!”
Watching secretly from outside, Jetoya let out a hiccup without realizing it.
He hurriedly covered his mouth, but it was already too late.
Even amid the chaos, Hashim had heard the sound.
“There’s a rat outside.”
The instant he heard those words, Jetoya bolted at full speed.
‘Fuck! Fuck!’
The awakened ones of the Helbrin Mercenary Corps chased after him at terrifying speed.
True to their reputation as human hunters, they pursued him relentlessly.
Jetoya realized the truth.
There was no way to shake them off down here underground.
‘I have to go up.’
Knock knock.
A polite knocking sound came from the door, and Zeon opened it.
Standing outside was an elf.
“Miss Borin?”
“I apologize for visiting so late, Mr. Zeon.”
The elf knocking on the door was Borin.
Zeon frowned slightly.
“What brings you here at this hour?”
“Would it be alright if I came inside to explain?”
At Borin’s request, Zeon quietly opened the door wider.
“Please, come in.”
“Thank you.”
“Have a seat first.”
“Yes.”
Without refusing, Borin sat where Zeon indicated.
Picking up the kettle, Zeon asked,
“Would you like something to drink?”
“No, thank you.”
After Borin declined, Zeon poured himself a cup of water.
“It must be something urgent.”
“In truth… there’s something I’d like to ask of you, Mr. Zeon. I came despite knowing how shameless it is.”
“A request?”
“Yes.”
Borin bit her lip tightly.
Before coming to Zeon’s house, she had agonized over this countless times.
She was, after all, the leader of the Blue Leaf Special Operations Unit.
Her position within the Northern District was immense.
Though she could not compare to Eli, the second-in-command, there were almost no things she could not accomplish within the Northern District if she truly set her mind to it.
Yet even for someone like her, Zeon was a burdensome existence.
She had already suffered badly at his hands once, and she had witnessed the terrifying divine might he displayed against the magical beast Balrog.
Zeon was like a sandstorm.
A natural disaster capable of devastating everything in its path once unleashed.
The fact that she had to ask someone like that for help weighed heavily on her.
But there was no one else she could ask.
Zeon looked at Borin with calm eyes.
His gaze was so burdensome that she wanted to look away.
But Borin clenched her teeth and forced herself to meet his eyes.
After taking a sip of water, Zeon set the cup down.
“So, what is this request?”
“Please… help the Northern District.”
“The Northern District?”
“Yes. The Northern District needs your help right now.”
“Is this related to the Spider Queen?”
It had been Zeon who recognized the elf Romina beside the Spider Queen Eli and informed Borin about it.
Since Borin had come to him afterward, he naturally assumed this involved Eli.
Borin nodded.
“That’s correct. There are signs that the Spider Queen, Lady Eli, is preparing a rebellion.”
“A rebellion? That’s quite large-scale. But what does that have to do with me?”
“Huh?”
“The Northern District should be fully capable of handling something like that on its own. So I don’t understand why you’d come asking an outsider like me.”
Eli was powerful.
She possessed strength and abilities worthy of being the Northern District’s second-in-command.
But she could not compare to Serian.
That was the reason she had remained second-in-command of the Northern District for over a century.
And Serian held complete control over the Northern District.
Even if Eli attempted a rebellion now, the chances of success were slim.
That was why Zeon could not understand why Borin had come to him.
Borin answered.
“We can restrain Lady Eli from within the Northern District. The problem is the outsiders she has joined hands with.”
“Outsiders?”
“Yes. She has made contact with external forces. We want you to find them, Mr. Zeon.”