Chapter 181 – Vanish (Part Nine)

“What in the world were they doing here…?”

Ghost muttered blankly.

The sprawling laboratory space they had unintentionally stumbled upon was filled with gruesome traces.

The room they had broken into seemed to have been used as a surveillance or control room, offering a clear view of the large area below.

With a hardened expression, Lee Soo-yeon vaulted over the broken window and descended, examining the remnants scattered around.

Typically, human experiments of this nature involved turning ordinary people into the Awakened, but that wasn’t the case here.

Among those present were numerous corpses that appeared to have been used for research, bearing scars from experiments and partially mutated bodies. Mixed among them were a few bodies dressed in what looked like staff uniforms.

Her eyes darted around, quickly assessing each one. Lee Soo-yeon realized that all the victims used as test subjects had been Awakened.

It was unlikely they were conducting research to create Awakened using subjects who were already awakened, so she had to consider other possibilities.

“Come on out.”

Lee Soo-yeon said, gripping her sword.

As she turned, her sword pointed precisely in one direction, and a figure who had been concealing their presence emerged.

“Reporter Park So-yeon…? No, that’s not right…”

Startled, Ghost corrected himself, shaking his head.

It was Hwayeon, the mental ability user from Eclipse who had controlled everyone through suggestion under the false identity of a reporter.

“How long have you been following us?”

“Calm down. I didn’t come here to fight.”

Faced with a menacing killing intent, Hwayeon held up her hands to show she was unarmed.

True to her words, she had no intention of fighting; she wasn’t carrying a weapon or even wearing a Defensive Coat.

Dressed in a neat suit and glasses, she looked like a completely different person from when they had met her as an enemy.

“If you’re planning to pull any tricks like last time…”

“I’m not the real body, so that would be difficult. Though I can’t say the same for the person behind you.”

Hwayeon’s gaze fell on the floating Ghost, who flinched.

If he fell under her suggestion or mental manipulation, he could become their puppet without even realizing it.

But as Hwayeon said, that was impossible.

If she could easily manipulate minds, there would be no need for this conversation. Her real body was far away from this location.

“Did you people orchestrate what happened here too?”

“Does it really look that way to you?”

Hwayeon asked, feigning surprise.

At her sarcastic tone, Lee Soo-yeon replied with a grimace.

“…I suppose not.”

“You’ve seen it too. What those who pretended to repent for their past atrocities have been up to for the last twenty years.”

Hwayeon gestured toward the ghastly scene.

Standing stiffly, Lee Soo-yeon and Ghost already had a good idea of what had transpired.

While the Awakened were holding back the Gates, another faction had been busy developing weapons to suppress them.

And they had used nameless Awakened as subjects for their human experiments.

Although the officials responsible for the series of incidents during the second cycle had all paid for their crimes, nothing had changed after time passed and new people filled their positions.

“Humans don’t change.”

“You talk as if you’re a completely different species.”

“Are you more comfortable with the term ‘non-Awakened’? Either way, it doesn’t matter.”

“So, are these things yours?”

Lee Soo-yeon took out the jammer she had collected, along with another similar device.

She had found them right next to the location where the Gate had appeared.

“That’s right. The one on the left is an inducer that can pull the coordinates of a nearby Gate.”

“An inducer…?”

Astonished, Lee Soo-yeon stared down at the object in her hand.

Inducing the location where a Gate would appear.

She had never even heard of such a device, let alone thought something like that was possible.

Ghost was just as shocked. Though it was hard to believe, he had no choice but to trust her words for now.

Considering all the seemingly impossible things these people had accomplished, trying to understand them within the bounds of common sense was futile.

“So, was this also done for the sake of the ‘Awakened’?”

Lee Soo-yeon asked.

Word of their proclaimed objective had reached the ears of Aegis and the other high-ranking Awakened in the Response Team.

This was because Hwayeon’s suggestions had worn off after she had spoken directly to several of them.

Inducing a Gate at a facility like this to destroy it completely was easily explained as part of that objective.

Hwayeon, standing before them, nodded in agreement.

But one question remained. “Then why didn’t you rescue them sooner? You must have known their location. Weren’t they fellow Awakened?”

“Because the Awakened brought here weren’t worth saving.”

Hwayeon stated coldly.

It wasn’t simply that they were useless in terms of combat strength.

Eclipse was already protecting all the innocent Awakened, directly or indirectly.

The ones who had died in these horrific experiments were all people who, in the future, would have sided with the government and betrayed their fellow Awakened.

Hwayeon explained that the Awakened here had only received the suffering they deserved. Lee Soo-yeon frowned.

“People who would have betrayed you…? How would you know that?”

“Because one of us has the ability to see the future.”

To be precise, they had a regressor, but she didn’t seem inclined to elaborate further.

“That’s…”

For a moment, the thought that it was impossible crossed Lee Soo-yeon’s mind, but that was immediately countered by the memory of her own teammate, Il-hyeon, gaining the ability to see the future through the Peacemaker.

“Even if you’re right, they hadn’t committed those acts yet, had they?”

“They are people who would have done so if the future hadn’t changed. I don’t see much of a difference. But you two are the opposite. You were destined to fight alongside us against the oppression.”

“That’s ridiculous! I’m not particularly fond of you people.”

Ghost, who had been hiding behind Lee Soo-yeon in case he was brainwashed, peeked out and shouted.

“…I can’t say I agree either.”

“Do you want to know the truth?”

Hwayeon took a step forward.

As a mere projection, it was impossible for her to forcibly access Lee Soo-yeon’s mind, but if she was willing, transferring memories would be a simple matter.

However, Lee Soo-yeon’s decision was firm.

“No, I don’t need to know. Just get your neck ready.”

*Swish!*

In the blink of an eye, a slash shot out and severed Hwayeon’s head.

***

“Well, that’s a shame.”

Hwayeon murmured, rubbing her neck.

Even if it was just one of her countless projections, the sensation of being decapitated was hardly pleasant.

“Hoo…”

Hwayeon let out a short sigh, her mind a complex mess.

This whole mess was her own fault.

According to the original plan, this should have been a simple matter resolved without the need for individual conversations, but Il-hyeon’s intervention using the Peacemaker’s power had been too great a variable.

When the situation escalated and she had to appear in her true form, she had hesitated for a moment during her confrontation with Kang Il-hyeon, which led to her capture and the unraveling of the numerous suggestions she had cast.

Re-establishing control over their minds one by one would take too much time, and it was impossible before this operation was over.

Of course, that didn’t mean the current situation was entirely bad.

Although she had failed to persuade Lee Soo-yeon through dialogue, she hadn’t expected to succeed anyway, so it didn’t matter.

In fact, she had managed to buy enough time with a single projection. Once this was over, she planned to visit the high-ranking Awakened one by one, implant suggestions in their minds, and then transfer the memories.

When that time came, everything would be set in stone, with no room for ambiguity.

“We have full control.”

A man with a bloodstain on one cheek said, his hands clasped behind his back.

The nuclear facility, thought to be thoroughly prepared, had fallen into Eclipse’s hands with surprising ease. All the staff were dead, and control of the system had been seized.

There were about half a dozen of Eclipse’s Awakened in white coats, including him. Lining the corridor where they stood were the bodies of the facility staff and the members of the criminal organization used to take over the facility.

Disposable pawns who had faithfully fulfilled their roles.

“First, let’s clean up the trash.”

*Snap!*

Hwayeon snapped her fingers.

At her signal, Eclipse’s Awakened drew their swords and began to mercilessly slaughter the defenseless syndicate members.

“Gah!”

“H-Help me!”

The syndicate members, their suggestions broken, belatedly came to their senses and struggled, but they stood no chance against high-ranking Awakened.

Whether they drew their guns in a final act of desperation or turned to flee, they were all brutally massacred.

Hwayeon watched the scene with a blank expression.

Then, a man in a green mask, Hwang In-cheol, approached.

“How are things on your end?”

“We’ve already smuggled one out. They say it’ll take a bit longer to crack the codes for the other two. We’ve killed all the small fry who tried to get in from outside.”

“There’s nothing that can really interfere with us, so there’s no need to rush…”

Hwayeon suddenly stopped talking and turned her head.

“What is it?”

“Someone else has entered the facility. Could I ask you to handle it?”

***

“Ugh, why am I even here…?”

Gwen groaned as she stepped into the blood-soaked facility.

“Just bear with it for a little while. The Team Leader was very clear about this, so we have no choice. Nothing bad will happen.”

Jo Nam-seok said, trying to soothe her.

As the only person who had managed to contact the vanished Il-hyeon twice, he had been instructed to stick with Gwen wherever he went.

And since his next destination was this nuclear facility, he had no choice but to bring her along to follow Il-hyeon’s orders.

But from any angle, a non-Awakened like Gwen entering what was essentially a warzone between the Awakened seemed like a suicide mission.

He was simply trusting Il-hyeon’s words and stepping into this place.

Though Jo Nam-seok had been half in doubt when he first received Il-hyeon’s instructions, he couldn’t bring himself to distrust the man who had helped him achieve his second awakening.

“But what do they plan to do after stealing nuclear weapons?”

“Isn’t it obvious? What would people who commit mass murder do with weapons like that? We have to stop them, no matter what.”

Jo Nam-seok said firmly.

But suddenly, he felt a chilling presence from the side and quickly grabbed Gwen, leaping back.

Just in the nick of time, the left wall shattered, and a man in a white coat appeared.

From within the dust, the man took off his green mask. Recognizing his face, Jo Nam-seok and Gwen gasped in unison.

There was no mistaking the face of Hwang In-cheol, one of the legends of the past.

“We have to fight *him*?”

“Uh… Um, I wasn’t told about this either…”