Chapter 34 - The Question (2)

The Question (2)

The gray space within the bubble regained color little-by-little.

Its space went smaller, only stopping at where the man’s head was almost blown off. The explosion is still contained.

The Aegis team members jumped back as soon as they were able to move, astounded by the frozen explosion.

“Crazy!”

Jeong Jin-seong had stopped the explosion before any of them could react.

He was holding it up with one arm outstretched.

“I got it,” Jeong Jin-seong said, as he held out one arm outstretched.

“Are you okay?” Lee Soo-yeon anxiously asked him.

It was difficult to gauge the power of the red energy that was about to explode.

“Am I okay? What do you think?” he replied with a smile.

The explosion was stopped in time – it couldn’t even scratch his body. His defense coat would also be able to take the impact.

“Well? When did you guys arrive?” Il-hyun wondered aloud, as he saw the summoned mice squeaking.

The mice quickly climbed up his shoulders.

He felt a bit embarrassed that he didn’t even feel them approaching despite them being his summons.

They were like ghosts.

“Okay, everyone, pull out!” Jeong Jin-seong announced. “Get away!”

The team members began to run and escape the explosion’s range.

“How disgusting,” Lee Soo-yeon shook her head as she ran. She was thinking about the half-blown off head.

“Did they plant bombs in their member’s heads?” Seok Pil-jun, running beside her, asked.

“No. We would have felt it if they had an ether bomb, even if it’s a small one. The explosion was probably from that man’s ability. It is at least B-rank.”

She stopped running. By her approximation, they were already beyond the explosion’s range.

“If they had enough B-ranked people to send,” Seok Pil-jun continued as he stopped beside her, “it could be a very large organization.”

“Right,” she nodded.

To have a high-ranked awakener to join illegal acts, it’s highly likely that this is the work of an international crime organization.

The problem is that she had no idea who had a good motive to do this. Even IRC, the largest international crime organization, has steered clear from Aegis and the Korean government.

IRC had nothing to gain from going against the most powerful company and the most powerful government with regard to the number of Awakeners.

Who could have the motive to disrupt a gate’s signal knowing that Aegis is handling the situation?

It was ridiculous.

Waging war against the most powerful was like wasting away their manpower and the money they have invested over the years.

Ghost, who was listening to their conversation, joined in.

“Is it a terrorist group then?”

“Well…” she trailed off, thinking.

Terrorist groups have long been eradicated around the world.

During the time of the Great Awakening, the international community took a united front against terrorists and removed their roots completely.

After that, if any budding groups were seen, they were thoroughly removed.

There was also no terrorist group that had such a force to do this.

“Well,” she continued, “it would be impossible for them to reappear…”

“Anyway, they decided to touch us, so we need to look into this matter seriously. We can’t just stand still.” Ghost grumbled.

It wasn’t the first time that Aegis had encountered errors with analysis. Some teams even had long-term injuries because of this.

“Of course, we should,” Lee Soo-yeon answered. “We got the disturbance device, so –“

Quaaang!

A violent explosion erupted!

The team members were shocked; some even had to roll down. Debris flew all over, and the ground shook.

The scale of the explosion was beyond what they have expected.

“Oh, shit!” Lee Soo-yeon jumped up and ran towards the source of the explosion. Jeong Jin-seong, she thought.

“This is not a B-rank level at all!” She yelled as they ran.

From afar, they saw Jeong Jin-seong stumbling around a building.

“I’m fine!” he yelled back.

He wasn’t. He flew from the explosion and crashed against a building; blood flowed freely from his head.

His defensive coat was completely destroyed, and his right arm suffered a noticeable burn.

Jeong Jin-seong looked down at his arm. “I’m fine, really… it’s just a little stingy…”

Lee Soo-yeon frowned as she reached him, then turned back to the team members behind her.

“Everyone, get on the plane now!”

* * *

The staff was busy.

“When the results come out, send them to the analysis team immediately. Let’s go straight to internal crackdown to avoid useless rumors.”

“Okay!”

Everyone at the Aegis headquarters worked with a sense of urgency.

Analysis errors caused by a disturbance device; one of Aegis’ top team leaders was injured – it was a difficult story to accept.

Internal personnel was being mobilized to find out who did this and why.

Lee Soo-yeon was in a furious mood as she walked around.

Stories broke out about the new and unknown hostile force. Other Aegis teams were also on high alert after hearing the news.

In the hospital room of Aegis headquarters, Jeong Jin-seong was lying in bed.

He opened his drowsy eyes when he heard a knock. After a few seconds, someone came into his room.

It was Ryu Jin-tae, the head of Aegis, one of the four S-class Awakeners in the world.

“How are you,” he asked.

In the past, when gates first opened, he was one of the legendary figures who saved the world.

Now, he’s in his late thirties and had shallow wrinkles.

“What… I think I’m okay,” Jeong Jin-seong yawned as he said it.

He didn’t think seriously about his injury.

Injuries during operations are not unusual for Awakeners.

It was his first injury as an A-class Awakener, though, but he didn’t want to worry too much about a little burn.

“It doesn’t look that way at all,” Ryu Jin-tae remarked.

“Haha, did all the test results come out?”

“Your right arm needs at least six months to recover properly,” Ryu Jin-tae said, looking down at his arm.

“Six months? I’m thinking two weeks,” Jeong Jin-seong said with a smile.

“I wish so. For the time being, you need to rest. I’ll handle things in the meantime.”

“Okay. It’s a short vacation, then,” he quietly looked out the window. “Do you have any suspects?”

Ryu Jin-tae hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. “No, not at all.”

“Hmm, I didn’t even anticipate that power… By the way…” Jeong Jin-seong turned to look back at Ryu Jin-tae, before continuing.

“I have something to tell you.”