Chapter 164: MS Group (1)
The moment Chun Yeowun saw Marquis Albat, he felt a considerable power resonating within him. If they had a fight, it would only be a matter of seconds for this place to be devastated, so he chose the neat way.
Of course, after seeing him kill the Marquis, D and the other man were at a loss of words.
‘I-Is he even a human?’
‘He killed a monster among monsters with a single blow…’
They knew about demons and the strength they possessed.
It would not be an exaggeration to say demons were comparable to or even stronger than those called the strongest among humans, even at the Count level. Chun Yeowun pa.s.sed by the ashes that were scattered and walked towards them.
“What stupid agreement did you make with the demons?”
Chun Yeowun had certainly killed all the traitors of the Demon clan, but the demons kept appearing. Nonetheless, he had somewhat of an idea for their appearances: the one he just killed either came to pursue traitors like Shakena or just had other plans.
‘Is there a high possibility that it is the former?’
From what Chun Yeowun knew, Shakena was ranked third among the Counts. The chances were high enough.
“Y-You think we’ll just answer you?”
While the researcher next to D was scared, he looked at the combat agents who were surprised behind Chun Yeowun. In response, the combat agents pulled out their guns and shouted at Chun Yeowun. It might or might not work, but it was their duty to protect the executives.
“D-don’t move! I’ll shoot!”
“So annoying.”
That was all Chun Yeowun said.
Thud!
At that moment, cracks appeared on the floor, and dents formed in several places as dozens of agents suddenly disappeared from view.
“No… how…”
The two people’s faces turned pale. They could guess just by looking at the pieces of blood and flesh splattered where the soldiers had just been that they were all crushed to death.
What they were most shocked about wasn’t the lack of screaming during this process, but rather Chun Yeowun who didn’t even blink at using such a crude method.
“This won’t change anything,”
D said, preparing for his death. Chun Yeowun responded as if he didn’t care.
“It doesn’t matter if you answer me or not. I just need an ear that can listen to me.”
‘!?’
An eerie blue light shone from Chun Yeowun as he approached them.
Memories began to play like a film.
Inside the laboratory with the words Sector 73 engraved on the wall. There, several researchers wearing full-body sanitary robes were experimenting with exotic-looking naked bodies.
[Don’t worry about the material flowing through. It will naturally disappear.]
[Yes, Senior Researcher.]
The leaders of this were D and H, who were among the 10. They connected various mechanical devices and cut something from the naked man as they observed the reaction.
Bang!
The ceiling collapsed and someone suddenly appeared: a person wearing a white hooded cloak with a splendid pattern on it, and those wearing blue European aristocratic clothes on either side of him were his a.s.sistants. One of them had a familiar face.
‘That’s him.’
It was a man named Marquis Albat, who had just died in Chun Yeowun’s hands. Due to their sudden appearance, the agents guarding the laboratory immediately stepped forward and surrounded them. Then the man in the middle, wearing a hooded cloak over his head, opened his mouth.
[You little worms.]
As soon as he said that, Marquis Albat raised his hand and the people who surrounded them disappeared as ashes, leaving no one behind.
[What are you guys?!]
Among those wearing sanitary robes, a tall man about 190 cm came out throwing his sanitary mask away. He stretched out his hand, and pulled out a sword out of the scabbard that stood on one side of the lab, a blue haze rose from it and flew towards the intruders.
‘Supreme Master?’
Surprisingly, the tall man was a Murim warrior who reached Supreme Master level. The Supreme Master warrior, of which only five were officially in the current Murim, was held by MS Group as an escort to protect the 10. Such a great talent came out, but the result was,
Psss!
Marquis Albat, who easily blocked the sword, turned the tall man into ashes at once. The alarm sounded and numerous agents appeared, but the result was the same: everyone was murdered without a chance to do anything.
Suddenly, the view of the memories started to change again.
‘Did they come in contact with the demons like that?’
The next question Chun Yeowun asked was what kind of agreements were made with the demons. The place had changed. A man in a hooded cloak sat arrogantly in the hall, and those in research suits knelt and spoke to him.
[As ordered, we will surely bring the traitor.]
The one who said this was someone whom Chun Yeowun didn’t get to meet. He was a middle-aged man with short hair and big eyes, giving the impression of a frog and he seemed to be one of the 10.
But at his words, Marquis Albat spoke in an uncomfortable tone,
[Lord! Even so, to entrust these insignificant insects with the divine items that His Majesty has ordered us to use–]
Before he could finish his words, the man in the hooded cloak pulled something out of his pocket.
It was the Golden Wheel that the MS Group talked about as if they had found it, but in reality a demon had actually given it to them.
The man in the hood said,
[If you can’t find the traitor after borrowing this, I will erase all of you from this world.]
[... Is there anything to do?]
[Take it.]
Hearing those words, the frog-like middle-aged man walked forwards with his head bowed and carefully accepted the Wheel.
The hooded man asked the middle-aged man, who took the Wheel and stepped back,
[What do you want?]
As if waiting for the answer, the middle-aged man answered,
[If you are all-powerful, then you must know what’s in the sky.]
At those words, the man in the hood smiled. He seemed to understand what the frog-like middle-aged man was saying.
‘In the sky?’
On the other hand, Chun Yeowun couldn’t understand at all. The middle-aged man continued,
[Please remove the worst thing that took the sky from us.]
At the words, someone other than Marquis Albat, a man with tan skin and blue aristocratic clothes, said with a n.o.ble voice, looking outside the window.
[That is the earnest plea of the bugs that cannot fly even though they have wings, My Lord.]
Even though these were memories, the demons were all arrogant. They acted as if they were ruling over the humans. The man in the hood opened his mouth,
[Is that all?]
When the permission was granted, the middle-aged man smiled. At that time, D’s thoughts were heard.
‘Will we be able to get the right to offer in our hands?’
At the end of the thought, the memory was cut off. As the place changed again, this time it was a s.p.a.ce made of black. There was a large round table in the black s.p.a.ce, and there were 10 people wearing masks with alphabet letters on them.
‘Are these guys the 10 executives?’
The next question Chun Yeowun asked was about their purpose.
It was obvious that the reason they were reaching out to so various places behind the scenes was because they had an objective. At the round table, a voice came out from a masked person named A.
[Welcome to being a member of the 10, J.]
It was a mechanical tone from a hard, cold voice with no emotions. The person A was looking at was D.
‘So he wasn’t "D" from the beginning.’
Jo Ho-gi said that a total of ten executives leading the MS Group were referred to as the 10. There were many other researchers besides them, but these people were the ones he remembered as being the center of the MS Group.
However, they didn’t seem to have an equal relationship.
[Your research paper on DNA extraction and fossil restoration published in science journals is highly appreciated by myself and the others.]
At that, J, who was D in the present, got up and bowed to express his grat.i.tude.
[That is an exaggeration, Commander.]
In response, B, who was next to A, said,
[At the round table, call only by code name.]
[Ah… I understand.]
D, who was called J, cautiously answered.
‘He’s the one.’
Thanks to this, Chun Yeowun knew for sure that A was the leader as A spoke again.
[J’s research achievements will play an important role in achieving our tasks in the future. For this group’s long-awaited goal, all 10 members should support him.]
[Yes!]
Everyone answered simultaneously. Chun Yeowun still couldn"t understand what the purpose of this could be. However, the words A said next made Chun Yeowun"s mind blank for a moment.
[Never stop until the moment we actualize and bring forth the true G.o.d: the source of mankind.]
[Yes!]
They all responded vigorously as if they were a cult.
‘G.o.d?’
What was the meaning of A"s words just before?
What Chun Yeowun knew as G.o.d was the Sacred Fire and the Demon G.o.d that the cultists worshipped in the Sky Demon Order.
Of course, other than that, there were the Jade Emperor and the Three Pure Ones in Taoism, Tathagata in Buddhism. G.o.d was a transcendent being.
However, with their own mouths, the executives declared that their purpose was to embody, create such a being.
‘What are they up to?’
Chun Yeowun felt entirely baffled. It would be more realistic if they wanted China in their hands or to become the masterminds behind the world’s affairs..
‘They are all crazy…’
These people were more absurd than any enemy he had met before. According to the knowledge from Nano, science and technology were said to be created for the development of mankind, but these people were now looking beyond the realm of G.o.d and beyond G.o.d itself.
Shh!
Suddenly, the memory changed again. A number of different places came to mind. These were the locations of the labs that they called sectors.
‘Are these all?’
The places of about thirty bases were imprinted in his mind. However, among the 10, there were only three sectors that D knew.
Phat!
Chun Yeowun opened his eyes. This was all the information he got from D"s Ghost. A’s base, the most important one, was unknown.
“You.”
“Eik!”
Chun Yeowun looked at the man in the research suit, who was trembling.
“What’s your code name?”
Normally, the man would have chosen death, but after seeing Chun Yeowun turn D into a Ghost, he was terrified.
Terrified, he wasn’t able to answer.
“Realize G.o.d? Crazy b.a.s.t.a.r.d.”
‘!?’
The man’s eyes widened at Chun Yeowun’s words. Only the 10 executives knew of MS Group’s ultimate goal. Numerous people had been replaced but even then their purpose wasn"t revealed because leaving the group entirely meant death.
‘H-How does he know? Could it be from when he put his hand on D"s head after turning him into a Ghost?’
The man was a genius; just by seeing Chun Yeowun’s actions, he was able to realize what happened, and the fact that he guessed it put an even greater pressure on him.
‘And if I’m killed, will he be able to search through my memories?’
If so, was there even any meaning to being loyal and keeping his mouth shut?
Shhh!
The corner of Chun Yeowun’s lips rose. This man had realized exactly what Chun Yeowun was intending for, and it certainly helped him.
Puk!
Woong!
Chun Yeowun had his hand on the chest of D’s Ghost, which made a groaning sound. In that state, Chun Yeowun raised his energy.
Pang!
The Ghost vanished without a trace.
‘!!!’
The man’s eyes widened in shock at what he saw. After seeing the Ghost being dispelled, he knew that Chun Yeowun could even kill the ghosts.
“From now on, I won’t be asking twice. Next time, that will be you.”
As soon as he said that, the man shouted.
“My code name is H!”
Finally the mouth opened.
“Do you know the base of the other 10, A in particular?”
At Chun Yeowun’s question, H trembled and said,
“I don’t know the others’, only D’s lab, Sector 4; my lab, Sector 8; and F’s lab, Sector 6.”
At those words, Chun Yeowun was happy to realize one thing; in his memory, G’s sector was revealed.
In that case, Chun Yeowun knew the information of seven people: D, E, F, G, H, I (Chae Mun-tak) and J.
“So the others don’t have code names?”
“S-some of the mid-level researchers who are skilled are given code names.”
“Hmm.”
In other words, it meant that the one called K was a candidate for 10.
“How about B and C?”
“Even among the 10, there is almost no interaction to keep the secrets among them, and they can meet through the virtual roundtable.”
That was true. According to the memory of the deceased, only if their research overlapped did they visit the other sectors.
‘He doesn’t know any important information.’
Chun Yeowun clicked his tongue. The most effective way would be to get rid of the head, but his ident.i.ty was unknown.
‘That would be nice.’
Chun Yeowun thought of a simple strategy. He didn"t know if it would work, but he wanted to give it a try.
“What are you doing here?”
According to D’s memory, the 10 had an important role in MS Group, and if so, their achievements would surely reflect in their sectors.
“T-that…”
“I told you I won’t ask twice.”
Hearing that, H guided him. H, who was hurt and bleeding, led him outside the room and touched a place with no b.u.t.tons with his thumb, making a beeping noise.
[Going down to the bas.e.m.e.nt lab.]
Wheing!
They went down the elevator for about 30 seconds.
‘Energy is around.’
Chun Yeowun sensed about 30 people right outside, but they weren’t very skilled Murim warriors or anything. As the elevator opened, a bright LED caught his eyes and a s.p.a.ce with numerous mechanical devices was revealed.
‘Wide.’
At first glance, it was large enough to fill thousands of people; hiding this underground was a huge task. When H took the lead, two guards at the front let them pa.s.s without any checks.
‘Maybe all of them are researchers.’
This place was a lab filled with people in white coats wandering as they spoke or did their work. However, Chun Yeowun looked elsewhere.
‘!?’
The lab was around three stories high and had numerous capsule shaped objects with living people suspended in blue liquids.
He could understand that they were experimenting on humans, but…
“What are you people doing here?”
In the numerous capsules were people with the same, unmistakable face.
It was impossible to have so many twins, and the face they shared was of:
“Sayogi!”
They were all Sayogi, whom Chun Yeowun turned into a Ghost.