Evil Organization’s Extra Mr. A

The moment I saw his eyes, I could intuitively tell that the Gainesboro I was seeing was not the Gainesboro I knew.

Although I had only briefly encountered him during the Team Guerrilla terrorist incident, what mattered was not how much I had seen of him.

The Gainesboro in front of me was neither human nor hyper-human.

Yet, I could sense what kind of existence he was. It felt like a cold sensation, as if a knife was pressed against my neck, spreading throughout my body.

“Thought it was some rat hiding in the base. It’s you, huh?”

Even though he couldn’t tell who I was because of the helmet, he clearly realized that I was one of those who had raided the transmission base.

“I should have swept them all away instead of just playing around with Indigo.”

Despite the fact that Gainesboro was talking as if it were no big deal, even though he was standing there talking while I was in front of him, having destroyed countless robots at the transmission base and stolen information.

“Should we be grateful for the pretext you gave us?”

Everyone sharpened their senses as they watched Gainesboro muttering to himself. Being so relaxed in such a situation clearly indicated that he had something hidden up his sleeve.

Since nobody knew what would come from where or when, everyone was on high alert, and Gainesboro noticed fallen Dynamis and Drask sitting next to him amidst the keen senses.

“Thanks to that guy, we got help gathering information. Looks like it can be used to some extent.”

“What do you mean?”

Drask stood up from his seat, his eyes filled with mixed emotions, the most prominent being anger, as he watched Gainesboro muttering to himself, incomprehensible words.

“Are you the leader of the kids who came after the Guerrilla team? You don’t seem to cause any trouble.”

Suppressing his anger, Drask focused on Gainesboro’s words.

“Because I didn’t draw attention, I could use that guy as an experimental subject. I’ll thank you for now.”

“What did you do to Dynamis?”

“I used this.”

Gainesboro pulled out a small glass bottle from his pocket. Inside was a slime-like substance, reminiscent of something you might see in a comic or game, but with an eerie reddish-brown color.

“Did you experiment with a Predator?”

“You call them Predators? We call them Baidos.”

“Baido? Isn’t that your name?”

“Looks like the rat knows a thing or two.”

Gainesboro grinned, put the glass bottle back in his pocket, and looked sharply at everyone who was on guard against him.

“Baido is an individual created from life forms we collected. I was made based on Baido, but I’m not exactly Baido either, so I can’t say I am.”

“Who are you then?”

The person in front of me was Gainesboro. Although his appearance was that of Gainesboro, many things were different. It was like a completely different life form wearing the guise of Gainesboro.

He was a hyper-human, yet not a hyper-human; he felt similar to a Predator, yet not quite a Predator—a strange life form. I had met both hyper-humans and Predators before and knew the unique atmosphere they exuded. However, the Gainesboro in front of me was radiating two conflicting atmospheres simultaneously, an unpleasant one at that.

“First off, let’s change the name. Let’s forget the name Gainesboro, which was used for childish play. I am the Dominator.”

It was a presumptuous name, but it wasn’t funny to look at Gainesboro, who called himself a dominator. The atmosphere Gainesboro—or rather, Dominator—was giving off was anything but amusing.

“Dominator? I didn’t ask about your name. What are you?”

“It’s an abstract question. For now, you think of me as someone who handles Predators very well. I’m not the type to answer every question leisurely.”

Seeing his demeanor, the urge to hit him arose naturally, but I couldn’t move rashly. Given the situation, it was clear that Dominator had done something to Dynamis.

It was obvious that he had used a Predator, but it was unclear how he had used it on Dynamis. If it was usable on any living creature, everyone present could be a target.

If it only worked on hyper-humans, it would still be dangerous. Both SpecialForce Team and Drask could be targets of Dominator’s attack.

“Don’t worry. I’m here just to check on things.”

Standing up from the streetlight, Dominator turned to look at the fallen Dynamis and smiled faintly.

“What are you cutting apart? What did you do to Dynamis!?”

Seeing Dominator smiling nonchalantly without giving a proper answer, Drask couldn’t hold back his anger. As he raised his voice, Dominator turned to look at him.

“I used a little Baido. It was originally unusable, but now I can handle it a bit. Isn’t it natural to want to see the effects if the experiment succeeds?”

“Did you use Dynamis for your worthless experiments?”

“What? Are you stupid? Do you think anyone cares about such things when using expendable items? Do you name each chopstick you use?”

“This brat!”

Drask jumped forward by kicking the ground and reached Dominator in an instant.

But before Drask’s attack could land, Dominator’s knee struck his abdomen.

“Gah!”

Drask’s body was thrown forward in mid-air and hit by Dominator’s kick, flying dozens of meters away.

“Drask!”

I called out to Drask, who was stuck to the wall in a blink of an eye, but there was no response.

“Don’t worry. Since he’s a hyper-human, he’ll get up quickly.”

“Are you saying you’re using Predators as test subjects? Do you know what that means?”

Humans had conducted numerous experiments using Predators before. Their overwhelming vitality and regenerative abilities had enticed many researchers.

However, none of the humans who had attempted to experiment with Predators had ever survived. They had been consumed by the Predators they had intended to use as test subjects.

“Do I need to know that? There are many areas that need reinforcement. When targeting active hyper-humans, it seems the output isn’t sufficient.”

With thoughts of experiments filling his mind, it was clear that further conversation with Dominator was pointless.

“I’ll leave the one lying around to you guys. Even though it’s useless now.”

Seeing the fallen Dynamis, it was clear that he had already died when he returned to his original form after becoming a monstrous creature. He might have died inside the monstrous creature.

“Only the HunterKiller Team might be useful in the field. Let me ask while I’m at it. Where is the HunterKiller Team? I haven’t seen them anywhere.”

I didn’t want to hear him mention my girlfriends with his filthy mouth. Since his face was hidden under the helmet, I could control my emotions enough.

“How should we know? Why don’t you ask the self-important folks at the Earth Defense Union?”

Just as I was hesitating over how to respond, Luche, who had been standing behind me, spoke up.

“Stay quiet.”

Whispering softly, Luche walked past me and stepped forward.

“Doesn’t matter? Isn’t your subordinate involved?”

“Would I know personal matters? And even if I did, there’s no reason to tell you.”

“Is that so?”

Tapping his chin, Dominator nodded and looked down at us again. His gaze was unsettling.

It felt like he was viewing everyone present as inferior beings and was looking for a suitable target.

“Alright. I’ll meet you again when I have the chance. Spacystro. You all will help me with my experiments very well.”

Firing the electronic cannon, he aimed to pull the trigger, but Dominator easily dodged the shot from the streetlight, turning into a reddish mass of flesh and disappearing into a manhole beneath the streetlight.

“That bastard!”

“Don’t chase after him!”

I immediately tried to smash open the manhole, but Esmeralda stopped me with her voice.

“There’s no guarantee we can win by chasing him now. And…”

She couldn’t finish her sentence and looked around.

The city was in ruins. Just a few hours ago, the peaceful streets were now in shambles, almost resembling a wasteland.

Traffic lights were broken, sparks flying everywhere, and fires from cars showed no signs of dying out. Buildings, once neatly lined up, were now riddled with holes, and corpses of people lay scattered on the streets.

“Let’s start with recovery efforts. There must be many people who haven’t evacuated yet.”

“Yes, sir.”

After responding, all the soldiers dispersed in all directions, searching for people who hadn’t evacuated or helping those injured and unable to move according to their team leaders’ instructions.

My first destination was the spot where Drask had flown after being hit by Dominator’s attack.

“Hey.”

“Grr….”

Fortunately, Drask seemed to have escaped major injuries, sitting down and punching the ground. It was a look of helplessness, a look I had worn myself in the past.

I couldn’t say anything to him, as he was showing the same expression I had when I felt powerless. Even though I lacked confidence in defeating Dominator, I was a human in the Spacystro environment, considered part of a formidable force by hyper-humans.

If I tried to console him about his powerlessness, he wouldn’t understand.

“…If you can move, help with evacuating people. Now isn’t the time to fight amongst ourselves.”

After whispering, I turned around. Realizing my words, Drask clenched his teeth and soon stood up.

Firefighters helped rescue people, and team leaders discussed the situation with the police. Some subordinates controlled the reporters rushing in.

Cries of people mourning the loss of loved ones could be heard from all directions. Many were searching for missing persons, and others were crying over losing their homes or shops.

“This is Seoul headquarters, A. Reporting.”

On behalf of the team leaders, I reported to higher-ups, relaying the situation in Seoul. The news that followed was about events happening worldwide.

There were reports of 16 cities where creatures resembling Predators had appeared. Most had successfully defeated these creatures, but the methods varied.

Some had found ways to subdue them, similar to what happened in Seoul, while others had used high-powered weapons to eliminate them in civilian evacuation zones.

What was unusual was the report of some creatures mysteriously vanishing on their own, suggesting they had run out of energy.

This was unlike anything seen with Predators before.

Even after hearing about the situations in various locations, the feeling remained unpleasant. From the data I had seen at the transmission base, I knew that preparations for hyper-humans had been made using Predators.

Now, they were creating new life forms using Predators they had invented themselves, as if they had created Predators specifically for this purpose.

After meeting with high-ranking officials on the spaceship, I felt exhausted. But before I could rest, a more horrific situation arose, leaving me with no desire for rest.

“Are you okay?”

When I stood there blankly, looking around the street, Angelique approached me.

“Yes. What about the police?”

“I’ve told them everything we could. We’ll investigate further for more details.”

“Are the team leaders hurt?”

“They’re tough. Stronger than us…”

Angelique trailed off, glancing at the area I was looking at. It was covered in blood, with destruction evident everywhere. The arrival of the horrifying life forms we knew had taken away countless lives as we knew them.

“Let’s confirm the damage.”

“Right.”

Spacystro casualties: 2 dead, 13 severely injured.

Civilian casualties: 37 dead, 13 unaccounted for, 1 hyper-human dead.

After confirming the damage, we began the restoration work and waited for orders from above.

Three days passed since we returned to Seoul without even going home.

---