Chapter 98: The Great Legacy (4)
As the pitch-black night descended, they began to move.
Hyun Suho concealed himself in the darkness, erasing any trace of his presence as he melted into the streets like a shadow.
There was no need for any special abilities, like blending with objects or transforming into a shadow, to hide. As long as he concealed his presence and moved in the blind spots of his opponents' vision, that was enough.
It was a classic, yet the most reliable and efficient method.
Luckily, the city was littered with piles of scrap materials, providing plenty of spaces to hide.
Because the area was poorly policed, few people ventured outside at night.
The few who did were mostly thugs, gangsters, and beggars. Among them, some moved with particular stealth.
‘Over there.’
No matter how cautiously someone moved, they couldn't escape the heightened senses of Alex and Hyun Suho.
As expected, the person who caught Hyun Suho’s attention was one of the government agents dispatched with Alex.
The problem was that some of them were likely bought off, just like Bishop.
It was possible that some of them had already been attacked, injured, or even killed, like Hyun Suho.
As he moved through the city, he mentally mapped out the agents' areas of activity.
He calculated their movements and range of operation, but so far, nothing seemed particularly suspicious.
Perhaps there weren’t as many traitors as Bishop.
‘No, it’s not that simple. Someone’s bound to reveal their true colors after they locate the doctor or Pluto.’
Pluto, the lost legacy, was definitely here. The doctor must also be hiding somewhere.
Otherwise, there’s no reason a possessed dimensional gate would open at this time.
The reason Alex got shot before securing the item was likely because his loyalty to the country was deemed too strong to sway.
They probably thought he would be the most troublesome to deal with during the retrieval of the item.
Though he took a bullet, Alex had managed to uncover their dark schemes beforehand.
‘Nothing seems odd on the surface.’
Even while observing them secretly, none of the agents acted in ways contrary to their training. At this rate, he'd have to return to the scrapyard without any gains.
‘Guess I don’t have a choice.’
Alex would have proceeded cautiously and gathered more information.
In the training Alex received, it was drilled into him to complete the mission without revealing his identity.
As a secret agent, he was even equipped with poison hidden in his mouth, should he be captured by the enemy.
But Hyun Suho wasn’t one to drag things out.
Dimensional gates always summon hunters in moments that foresee destruction.
At the smallest scale, it could end with the devastation of a village or town, but at worst, entire countries, continents, or even planets could face destruction.
This quest would be no different.
Being too passive could mean missing the crucial moment.
Resolved, Hyun Suho stealthily approached a fellow agent who was scanning his surroundings.
He recognized the agent.
‘His name was Meksell, right?’
When Meksell was momentarily distracted, Hyun Suho struck like lightning, subduing him by the neck.
“Ugh! Ugh!”
As he squeezed Meksell's carotid artery, the man struggled briefly before falling unconscious.
Killing him would’ve been easier, but since there was no proof that Meksell had been bought off, Hyun Suho only knocked him out.
Before Meksell regained consciousness, Hyun Suho searched his pockets.
“Here it is.”
From the deep inner pocket, he pulled out a radio of the same type that Bishop had carried.
Meksell had been bought off as well.
Before he woke up, Hyun Suho bound him tightly using the clothes Meksell had been wearing, then slung him over his shoulder and took him back to the scrapyard.
Of course, he tossed Meksell into a corner of the labyrinth where Maria and the children wouldn’t see him.
Before long, Meksell came to with a groan.
“Ugh!”
“Wake up. I have a lot of questions.”
When Meksell saw Hyun Suho, he was startled and reached for a weapon, but it was in vain.
He was bound and unable to move, and his weapons had already been removed.
“Don’t we have something to talk about?”
At Hyun Suho’s words, Meksell’s eyes darted around, trying to figure out a way out of the situation.
After thinking it over, he checked for the poison hidden in his mouth, but that too had been removed.
Knowing Hyun Suho wouldn’t kill him before extracting information, he had taken it in advance.
Realizing this, Meksell resigned himself and spoke.
“...What do you want?”
No matter how well-trained an agent is, no one can withstand torture.
That’s why they carry poison, and Meksell knew that someone like Alex could easily extract information from him.
“Who sent you?”
“...Deputy Director Carl.”
“What? Carl’s involved in this?”
Carl was the second-in-command in Alex’s secret agent organization.
A legendary figure who rose through the ranks at a young age, even Alex considered him a role model.
“Lies! Why would Carl betray the organization when he has nothing to gain?”
The current director was set to retire next year.
Carl was naturally expected to take his place, inheriting both wealth and fame. It made no sense for him to betray them.
“It’s not a betrayal! It’s a revolution!”
Meksell shouted defiantly, but Hyun Suho scoffed.
“That’s just the usual line used by villains. Is that really all you have to say?”
“You don’t get it. You only think Pluto is some ordinary war machine, don’t you?”
Meksell smirked meaningfully, making Hyun Suho frown.
“What are you talking about? Are you saying Pluto isn’t just a war machine?”
“Heh, you really don’t know anything. Pluto isn’t just a normal weapon. It’s a massive robotic machine that served as the supreme commander of the ancient Atlantis army. It contains not only their military strategies but also data on their most advanced weapons.”
“All of it?”
The technological gap between the present and ancient Atlantis was at least 100 years.
Possessing such advanced technology would give them combat power that no other country could compare to.
The problem was that they lacked the means to analyze the data stored inside Pluto.
Attempts to analyze the software failed, so they tried to directly activate Pluto, but its power source was completely different from modern ones, taking too long to recharge.
Dr. Jacob had worked tirelessly to recharge Pluto just enough to get it operational, but a mysterious explosion had occurred, seemingly destroying Pluto.
Or so they thought.
“That explosion was ordered by the president. The president is a coward. He feared that Pluto, like the ancient Atlantis’s destruction, would also destroy our world.
The president didn’t trust anyone.
He believed that if a country gained too much power, it would inevitably lead to the world’s downfall.
Of course, there were dissenting opinions. But despite all the opposition, the president’s will was firm, and in the end, Pluto, filled with immense power and information, was blown up."
Then, unexpectedly, word came that Pluto had not been destroyed after all.
"What are you planning to do with Pluto? Do you intend to conquer the world or something?"
Hyun Suho's words were meant to be sarcastic, but to his surprise, Meksell agreed.
"That's right."
"What?"
"We're going to conquer the world."
Hyun Suho blinked in disbelief at his calm statement, then responded with an incredulous expression.
"You realize how absurd that sounds, right?"
Even if they managed to study Pluto and create some amazing weapons, the idea of world domination was an extreme leap. Even with access to blueprints for advanced weapons, producing and deploying them would require unimaginable amounts of money and manpower.
"We're already prepared. Who do you think will win the next presidential election?"
"…You’ve got to be kidding me."
Meksell’s words implied deep political involvement.
"So the deputy director wasn’t the end of it. Don’t tell me…the vice president is behind this?"
"Even if we recover Pluto, the president would just order its destruction again, like last time. The vice president opposed that, and so he joined forces with the deputy director."
The director is loyal and would follow the president's orders. The other agents loyal to the director would do the same. That’s why the deputy director handpicked agents who would follow him and assigned them to secret missions.
"So, backstabbing your comrades is what you call a revolution?"
"Heh heh heh! Our job is to kill innocent people for the mission, isn’t it? It’s nothing new. In fact, you’re better at it than I am, aren’t you?"
As Meksell pointed out, Alex was an exceptional agent, filled with patriotism, but he wasn’t known for mercy. To fulfill a mission, he could mercilessly eliminate even children.
"Heh! The tide has already turned. Join us. With your skills, the deputy director won’t cast you aside."
It seemed Meksell was trying to recruit Hyun Suho after all, which explained his surprising willingness to talk. If it had been Alex, he might have been swayed. Alex, though blindly obedient to orders, might have thought that world domination, once achieved, would reduce conflicts and benefit his country. He might have believed that was the true form of patriotism.
But Hyun Suho was different.
"Disgusting."
Having faced great calamities, Hyun Suho knew all too well how dangerous Meksell’s words were. Even if the world were unified under one nation, discrimination and oppression would still persist. In fact, they could become even worse.
Human greed doesn’t draw boundaries around nations. Even within a single country, divisions and conflicts can arise. Trying to suppress them with terrifying weapons would only make things worse.
"You're not an idiot. You can see what that would lead to, can't you?"
Of course, Hyun Suho didn’t agree with the president's stance of destroying Pluto so that no one could use it either. The technology could be used for many practical applications in everyday life, not just for warfare. But he definitely couldn’t support the vice president's idea of sparking another world war.
"That’s a politician’s role. Our job is to carry out the mission and reap the benefits. Think about it. With Pluto, our country will grow more powerful than ever before."
"By sucking the blood of other nations, right?"
"Heh heh! Like I said, that’s a politician's job."
Despite the grand rhetoric, it was clear that what they were really after was greed. They wanted to use Pluto to increase their wealth and prestige.
"How many agents are involved?"
"Most of them."
"…Specifically."
"If I told you all the surviving agents are involved, would that give you a clue?"
"Don't tell me… Did you kill the others?"
Hyun Suho had thought that only dangerous individuals like Alex would be dealt with first, and that they would reveal their true intentions after securing Pluto. But their actions were far bolder than he had anticipated. They had simply decided to kill everyone else.
"I told you. You can’t stop this. Surely you’re not planning to die in vain, are you?"
Even though Meksell was completely restrained, he still exuded confidence. He didn’t think Hyun Suho would reject his proposal after hearing all this.
"I understood you perfectly."
"Then why don’t you untie me?"
Meksell pointed to the ropes binding him with his eyes, and Hyun Suho picked up his knife.
Then…
Stab!
Hyun Suho’s knife didn’t cut the ropes. It pierced Meksell’s heart.
"Ugh!"
Meksell collapsed to the ground, his face filled with disbelief, and quickly grew still.
"Sorry, but I’m not Alex."
Hyun Suho wiped the blood off his knife with Meksell’s clothes.
"This is getting complicated."
He had underestimated the gate, thinking it was a two-and-a-half-star difficulty. But in the end, it was just as tough as he feared. Without Nova's help, the situation might be even more disadvantageous for him.
After cooling his head, Hyun Suho searched through Meksell’s belongings and found a strange photograph. It depicted a large, intricate machine.
"Is this Pluto?"
Pluto was a massive humanoid robot, standing at least 3 meters tall. After memorizing the image, Hyun Suho tucked the photo away.
It was clear now that the dimensional gate’s quest was directly related to Pluto.
Then, another photograph fell out. This one featured Dr. Jacob. Alex had received a similar photo before the mission, but Meksell’s photo was larger, showing several people around the doctor. It included other researchers who had been working with Dr. Jacob.
One face in particular caught Hyun Suho’s attention.
"Maria…?"
It was the same Maria who had been laughing and chatting with them just a short while ago.
It seemed those who hadn’t been recruited had only been given Dr. Jacob’s photo, while the rest received the full picture.
At that moment, a voice came over Meksell’s radio.
“We’ve found traces of Dr. Jacob.”
“…Report.”
“Dr. Jacob has been staying at the junkyard, living there with his children and daughter.”
“His daughter? You mean Maria?”
“Yes. She was alive as well.”
“Understood. All agents, cease the search and head for the junkyard immediately.”
"Damn it… Maria lied."
Once again, the cracks in the situation didn’t give Hyun Suho any time to rest.
