Chapter 251: Manufactured Heroes (3)
The streets were filled with madness.
Violence, screams, and death were rampant.
“Uahaha!”
Villains were using their abilities to commit all sorts of crimes.
The fact that these were not just ordinary crimes, but ones that harmed ordinary civilians, was the main reason why the streets of Phuket were in chaos.
The only words that could describe this situation was indiscriminate violence.
The villains’ attacks spared no one—men, women, children, even animals and buildings.
They just destroyed and killed whatever they wanted.
“Aaagh!”
Slash.A middle-aged man, hidden in a cafe, had his arm cut off.
Blood spurted, and the middle-aged man fainted, collapsing to the floor in shock.
“Kihihit!”
The one who cut off the man’s arm with a sword appeared to be barely twenty years old.
“I’ll cut you like butter, so just stay still!!”
The young man, who would look like a high school student if dressed in a uniform, skillfully wielded a sharp sword and swung it at the remaining arm of the middle-aged man.
“Die!”
“Stop!!”
Bang bang bang!
Bullets flew towards the young man’s sword.
“Kuh, my sword?!”
The enchanted bullets shattered the young man’s sword instantly, and soon, a group of soldiers in bulletproof vests stormed in.
“You bastard!!”
“Aaagh!!”
The soldiers subdued the young man by force.
Even though the young man had abilities, the soldiers easily overpowered him.
“This crazy kid…!”
“How can someone so young do something so cruel…!”
Although the young man was an ability user, so were the soldiers.
The age difference was just a year or two at most.
The soldiers shuddered at the thought that someone just a bit younger than them had committed such atrocities.
“Ki, hihihit…!”
“Why did you do this…!”
“Why?”
The young man, with his head pressed to the floor and arms restrained, just kept laughing.
“Don’t know?”
“What…?”
“You think I’d tell you? Hehehe. This country’s doomed anyway. Before I go somewhere else… I just wanted to do whatever I wanted. Kuhuh…!”
The soldiers couldn’t understand what the young man was saying.
“You’ve all killed ants when you were kids, right? It’s the same thing, kuhuh…! It’s all about to end, so I’m just doing what I want…!”
The country’s doomed?
Going somewhere else?
“What the hell are you planning!”
“Just let it all die and collapse! This country’s rotten! It’s going to rot away anyway, so let’s all go down together!”
“You’re insane…! Who’s behind this!”
“Who’s behind it?”
He smirked.
The young man opened his mouth as if he had been waiting for this moment.
“The mastermind… is your mom!”
Thunk.
“You crazy bastard!!”
A soldier struck the young man unconscious with the butt of his rifle.
Although it was partly due to a surge of emotions, it was also because the young man had freed his restrained hands and was about to swing something at the soldiers.
“Ugh…!”
“Are you okay?!”
“I’m fine. It just grazed me.”
The soldier, whose ankle had been grazed by the young man’s hand, clenched his teeth as he touched his ankle.
Fortunately, the young man’s hand had only grazed his uniform, leaving no injuries.
“Damn it… This is Falcon 2! We have subdued the villain attacking civilians! There is a civilian with a severed arm….”
[No time to rescue! Subdue everyone you see!]
“What…?”
The soldiers’ hearts sank at the shocking order from headquarters.
“Communication failure, communication failure. This is Falcon 2. Requesting immediate support—”
[Instead of talking, subdue one more person! That’s the only way to save even one more life right now!!]
A desperate scream came over the radio.
[There are no support troops to send!]
Realizing the situation was getting worse, the soldiers quickly administered first aid to the fallen man’s arm and rushed outside.
“Uahahaha!!”
Someone, leaning out of a car’s sunroof, started shooting wildly in all directions.
Bang bang bang bang.
“Fireeeeeee!”
“These maniacs!”
A quick-footed soldier dashed forward to intercept the car head-on, while another leaped to subdue the man gleefully engaging in a shooting spree.
“He’s not an ability user?!”
“…Kuhuh.”
“Brother! This guy, he’s the serial killer!”
“Ah, crap.”
The man apprehended by the soldiers wasn’t an ability user.
He was just an ordinary person, incapable of wielding any magical powers.
He had simply obtained a rifle from somewhere and began firing indiscriminately.
“Damn it. I used to take down cops in the past… damn.”
“What were you thinking, doing this!!”
“What was I thinking? Well.”
The man replied with a guileless smile.
“I just wanted to kill one more person before I died.”
“…What?”
“You know? Our bodies have chips implanted. Very small, tiny microchips.”
He licked the car window and lowered his head.
“…Those chips will explode in a few hours.”
“…!!”
The two soldiers recoiled in shock.
The man shook as he observed the soldiers’ reactions.
“Kuhuh! Even ability users can’t stand the sound of bombs! Of course, that’s natural. Right? We’re all going to die! Uahahaha!”
“This makes no sense….”
“It makes perfect sense!! You erred by implanting bombs in the heads of villains and evil people! Uahahaha!!”
“That can’t be true!!”
“You think so, right? I thought so too! But guess what! I saw heads explode in prison!”
The killer smirked, watching other villains wreak havoc elsewhere.
“If we’re all going to die, I need to take as many with me as I can. That’s the only way it’s fair….”
Phuket Street
Was engulfed in utter chaos.
-Damn it, send the heroes to the villain prison!
-Make sure the villains can’t escape! Some heroes will head to the prison holding regular inmates!
-Do not let the prisoners escape and plunge the citizens into chaos!
Reports were flooding in from all quarters.
The information that Brewer and her aides swiftly compiled was being relayed to our Taeguk Watches in real-time.
“…This is really chaotic.”
[Gunggi, do you understand the situation?]
“It’s exactly as you said, oppa. They are causing trouble with the mindset of letting everything collapse, wanting to see this country burn. These are the villains who aren’t ability users.”
Gunggi bit her nails.
“…Just like how the mafia would go on a rampage seeking revenge if their boss were killed, these villains are rampaging, claiming to avenge the deaths of Jeokrangjanggun and Laplace.”
“Exactly. They’re destroying the country that killed their boss.”
They are releasing prisoners from jail to create chaos.
-Hahaha! Before I die, I wanted to meet you and beep–!
-Krrrr, what a killer back!
-Oh, come on! Even if I have to go, at least once beep– isn’t too much, right!!
Only one thing.
-Damn it! We’re all going to die with our heads exploding anyway, I can’t die alone! We’re all going together, no matter where we were born! Hahahaha!
-Humans will die eventually anyway! Whether it’s now or later, everyone dies the same!
-Someone, get this out of my head! I don’t want to die!!
The confusion wasn’t just about causing a disturbance; it’s the mixture of ‘lies and agitation’ that led to slaughter and riots.
“…They’ve done something truly horrible. The personal guards of Jeokrangjanggun.”
“I found it. This is a video from three hours ago.”
Gunggi pulled up a video on the tablet.
In the video, heavily armed soldiers were saying something to the prisoners packed in the jail, just like how I spoke to the slaves and children trapped in the Sanctuary of God before.
[…So, you all have 12 hours left to live.]
A death sentence.
[Let me repeat. There are chips implanted in your bodies. This is thanks to the law established by the high officials of this country to manage criminals. And those chips… will soon explode.]
I didn’t know why they suddenly started talking about the prisoners’ lifespan since the beginning of the video was cut off, but luckily, the soldier reiterated the time limit to hammer it into those who hadn’t heard.
[The triggers for your chips to explode have all been activated. The death of the Hero Association’s president, the death of Laplace, and the death of Jeokrangjanggun. Congratulations. In about 12 hours, your heads will explode, and you will die.]
The prisoners’ expressions hardened.
They might want to shout that it’s nonsense, but those who had already shouted that were lying cold on the floor in a pool of blood.
[So I give you your freedom. It’s only 12 hours of freedom, but you should do something before you die, right? Whether it’s meeting your parents, finding your family, or committing another crime. Go ahead and do whatever ‘your heart desires.’ You may not be ability users, but you can do anything before you die.]
The video ended with those words.
“…….”
The words of the soldier in the video.
[People believe that.]
Of course, it’s a lie.
“It’s the ambiguous time that makes it worse. During that time, you can really do anything.”
[…Indeed.]
The riots and disturbances inside Phuket were becoming more severe.
What’s even more serious was the absolute lack of hero personnel to properly suppress the disturbances in Phuket right now.
[Where are Nguyen and Red Brassard?]
“…Coral Island. In a straight line, it’s almost like the distance from Seoul to Busan.”
[The house has been thoroughly robbed.]
From the hero’s perspective.
This chaos.
Of course, it’s not what the Secret Society wanted.
[Gunggi. What about the agents?]
“They seem to have already entered. …Are you going?”
[If necessary… I have to step in. Not as Goblin though.]
It’s always the heroes who quelled the chaos.
[For now….]
Beep beep beep.
The phone rang again.
I answered it immediately.
“…Chief?”
[Oh my. Why are you trying to be patriotic while resting?]
“…….Did you intentionally not inform us? About the intel?”
[Hehe. If I did, you’d end up working overtime and late nights again. You both need some rest.]
The proud voice of the Chief.
[Rest assured. No one has died so far. You know, the kids are quite fast.]
Even though Goblin and Gunggi had finished their tasks, the agents from the Secret Society deployed here were already taking action.
[Your job is not to fight, but to patriotically relax, okay?]
Even before we received the news, the Secret Society’s agents were already in action.
“…Chief.”
I lightly tapped my Taeguk Watch with my finger.
“I’ll work overtime and be patriotic.”