Chapter 268

Sungyoon followed Russell and Bruce.

Crunch!

Suddenly, he stopped as he had stepped on a half-burnt object. A round heap of ashes broke apart under his foot.

‘Wood?’

He saw a charred piece of lumber off to the side. It seemed it was a part of a house. Sungyoon stomped on the ground to dislodge the ashes from his boots, but as he moved forward, he stepped in more such burnt objects. In the end, he gave up on trying to keep his boots clean from ashes.

“This is horrifying.”

Emily walked close to Sungyoon and grabbed his sleeve.

Sungyoon agreed with her.

This place was rife with a thick acrid smell and ashes, and corpses were strewn on the floor between these piles of ashes. Every one of this village's residents had died fighting, so terrifyingly horrible wounds were on each one of their corpses.

Over time, Emily had gotten used to fighting, but her heart was still soft at its core. She hated what she was seeing right now.

Even Sungyoon, Tim, and Grace frowned.

“Are you sure all these people are terrorists?”

“They are. There were more than we had expected.”

Hyunwoo kicked a corpse to the side to clear the path, and his callous gesture made Russell and Bruce displeased.

“Do you have proof that these people are terrorists?”

Russell asked, but the one to answer his question wasn't Hyunwoo.

“We have no idea. We just follow the orders from above. If you have questions or complaints, it’ll be faster to take it up with our president.”

At some point, Jinsoo had sidled up next to Hyunwoo. Bruce gave an ugly look to Jinsoo, who spoke in a wily manner. However, Russell firmly pressed down on his comrade's shoulder.

“I see. That means we only have your words as evidence. Am I correct?”

“That’s right. I’m sure you want testimony from the terrorists, but they can't give it. So, you’ll have to take our word for it.”

Hyunwoo shrugged.

“We can’t get a testimony because you killed all of them.”

The mood in the place cooled down.

“Do you have more questions for us? If not, we would like to head back now. Our work here is done.”

“Our president made us do ‘volunteer work’, so we wasted a lot of our time. We have our own lives to live, and we have to gather moonstones.”

“You want to leave after making this mess?”

Bruce growled. However, Hyunwoo remained calm in his demeanor.

“We did nothing wrong. It's not like they were innocent people. This was the village of terrorists. Of course, it's our duty to wipe out this village, and...”

Hyunwoo drew down his brows, and for the first time, a displeased expression appeared on his face.

“Do you have the authority to interfere with our actions?”

“Didn’t we tell you already? We came here at the behest of Armstrong city.”

“Bruce, you should learn from your friend a little bit. Do you know why Russell is keeping his mouth shut? If he had the authority, he would've been the first one to use it. That means you guys didn’t receive the authority to arrest us.”

Bruce looked at Russell. Russell firmly shut his mouth and glared at Hyunwoo, but he soon let out a sigh and looked around.

All that appeared in his sight was burnt and broken homes, and Fabion Connectors standing in the wreckage and looking at his group.

‘If we decide to fight head-on, our side will suffer some casualties too.’

Even though Russell had Bruce on his side, the other side wasn't a pushover.

“We have to preserve this site and report back to Armstrong.”

“Be my guest. We have nothing to hide. In fact, we’ll help you preserve this site by getting out of here quickly.”

“Then go.”

Russell pointed towards the tunnel at his back. It would lead them out of the Great Labyrinth.

“Thank you. You shouldn’t make such a grim face. I want you to think about it. Who else would decide to make a base so deep within the Great Labyrinth except for terrorists? No one with permission from Armstrong city would create such a suspicious hideout here. That is why you guys should stop looking at us as if we are cold-blooded killers.”

“Still, are you self-aware enough to realize that your story and actions up to this point have been very suspicious?”

Russell relaxed his face for now. There was a lot of smoke, but there was no fire. Moreover, Hyunwoo was saying all the right stuff.

“You should take it up with our president.”

“I plan to do that. However, we won’t be the one making a fuss about it. Armstrong city will step in, so it’ll cause some near-term issue for your company.”

“That’s something the company will take care of. It has nothing to do with us.”

Hyunwoo gestured towards his comrades from Fabion.

They moved towards the entrance of the Great Labyrinth.

Hyunwoo took Jinsoo, and they walked towards the tunnel leading outside.

However, he spoke when he brushed past Sungyoon.

“You can be at ease now.”

Hyunwoo tapped Sungyoon’s shoulder.

“I killed all the terrorists, who threatened your safety.”

After laughing once more, he walked away from Sungyoon.

After a moment, Sungyoon’s party was the only one left amongst the corpses and piles of ashes.

***

“Do you think they caught on?”

Jinsoo kept glancing backward as his party climbed up the Great Labyrinth.

Hyunwoo spoke with a flat voice.

“Of course, they know something is wrong. However, they won’t know to what extent now.”

“You are quite laid back about all of this.”

“In the first place, I already knew we were pushing it by carrying out this plan. If something bad occurs from this, the president will take care of it.”

“I never expected both of them to show up.”

“Me too.”

Hyunwoo thought about Russell and Bruce.

Both men were considered to be at the top of the category when it comes to Connectors.

Even Hyunwoo had to be ready to put his life on the line if he fought the two of them.

“It means the mayor of Armstrong city is very paranoid right. We have a questionable past, and we took out too many men. That is why the mayor decided to send his two strongest pieces here.”

Even if an investigative party had come, Hyunwoo was leaning towards not attacking that party. However, he had to erase all such thoughts from his mind when he saw the two of them. He wouldn’t lose against them, but there was a high probability either Russell or Bruce would be able to escape.

“Now that I think about it, Woo Sungyoon was there too. It seems the mayor really likes him.”

It was as Hyunwoo had said. The mayor was paranoid, so he had mobilized only a few Connectors, whom he trusted, for this mission.

It proved that the mayor was putting immense trust in Sungyoon. It was an illuminating piece of information.

“It’ll be very troublesome to kill him now.”

“It doesn't matter. That’s none of our business anymore. Let’s just watch how that bastard decides to take care of Woo Sungyoon.”

Hyunwoo’s gaze was planted on the back of the enormous man walking in the front of the group.

Gisoo had been tasked to kill Sungyoon by the president, and one could tell he was very frustrated by his footsteps. He yelled at the other Connectors, who got on his nerve. He nitpicked about the small stuff that the other Connectors were doing.

“It seems Mr. Gisoo is in a foul mood.”

Hyunwoo laughed at Jinsoo’s words. It was petty, but they were happy at the other person’s misfortune.

“He cussed me out, and he made it clear that he could do better than me. However, he really messed up this time.”

“How many got away?”

“A lot.”

In the first place, they had never expected so many people to be living in this village.

They had no preparation or plan. They were on a short time table, so they were just going to ambush the village.

They had done it with overwhelming force.

Their urgency worked in their favor, and they were able to take advantage of everything that came with pulling off an ambush.

However, Fabion wasn't trying to win a fight. Their goal was to completely wipe out their enemies. If one considered their goal, this ambush had been a complete failure.

“Since our opponent has a portal, it was always going to be impossible to wipe them out completely. However, he boasted that he would never fail. It makes me laugh when I think about him swaggering around with his nose up high.”

‘He is an idiot with muscles for his brain.’

Jinsoo sneered at Gisoo.

“However, this means everyone in Fabion will now know about the existence of the portal. How will the president react to it?”

“Of course, he’ll want to own it for himself. ”

Then, it wouldn’t just be about trying to bury the evidence of their past actions.

Dongin probably knew the worth of the portal.

A human with so much greed as he would covet the portal.

“If there is a portal that links earth to the moon, he would be free from the influence of Armstrong city.”

All the countries of the world used Armstrong city to control the Connectors. The Connectors were forced to spend a lot of money in Armstrong city.

None of the Connectors and companies liked this arrangement.

“What should we do?”

“What do you mean what should we do? It is none of our business.”

He was talking about the company that he was working for, yet there wasn’t an ounce of affection in his voice.

“He’ll do what’s best for the company.”

***

“What should we do about this?”

Russell placed his hands on his h.i.p.s as he looked at his surroundings.

It didn’t matter where he looked. He was looking at the devastation. Then there were the corpses strewn about everywhere.

“Thankfully, the corpses won’t decay.”

At the very least, evidence wouldn’t disappear through decomposition.

“I don’t think we should be rash in touching the scene. Wouldn’t it be better if we call for a professional?”

“That sounds like the better idea.”

They were specialists in the field of killing monsters.

They were hopeless when it came to finding clues about what happened to this destroyed village.

“It would be best if we left this site as is. We might accidentally destroy evidence if we aren’t careful.”

“That’s true.”

Russell agreed with Sungyoon’s words. Russell spoke towards one of his party members.

“We’ll have to go notify Armstrong city.”

They had to exit the Great Labyrinth to do this.

“We’ll stay to protect this place. Those bastards from Fabion might come back to destroy the evidence.”

Bruce sat down at a nearby rock.

“We’ll stay too. If Fabion does decide to come back, it’ll be tough to stop them completely with only your party.”

As he said those words, Russell turned to look at Sungyoon.

“I would like your party to go make the report. Is that ok?”

“We are fine doing that.”

“Don’t just contact them. I want you to go back to Armstrong city to receive orders from him. I don’t think it is wise to explain our current situation through the radio.”

“Are you sure he’ll be ok? The ambushers consider him a marked man. What if he gets ambushed along the way? We do not know if the people, who were here, were really the ambushers.”

Bruce tapped the rock that he was sitting on.

However, Sungyoon dispelled Bruce’s worries.

“It doesn't matter. I have a method that’ll allow me to escape.”

The existence of the portal was only a risk when it came to the collection of moonstones. However, it wasn’t a problem when he used it to escape from trouble. Since he could use the portals freely, he would easily be able to run away discreetly when needed.

“If you aren’t worried about it, please go talk to the mayor in Armstrong city.”

As he said those words, Bruce laid on top of the large rock.

***

Sungyoon’s party exited the Great Labyrinth.

It seemed Fabion had completely pulled out of this place. The only thing left outside was the track marks of the Moon Surface vehicles.

They radioed the simplified version of their current situation to Armstrong city. Then they started to return to Armstrong city.

It would be quick and easy to use the portal, but they didn’t want the presence of the portal to be known to Russell and Bruce. This was why they couldn’t leave behind the Moon Surface vehicle. With the permission of Armstrong city, they started driving back.

They were driving for a while when the vehicle suddenly came to a stop. They were about halfway to Armstrong city.

Sungyoon, Grace, and Emily had been resting in the back. They looked towards Tim, who was the driver.

Tim looked taken aback as he pointed out the window.

He was pointing towards a person fallen on the surface of the moon. There were a significant amount of wounds on the body, and there was blood everywhere.

The party quickly exited the vehicle. Sungyoon looked over the body. Severe wounds were present, but the person was still alive.

Sungyoon picked up the person with his arm.

He realized the person was a woman, and he became very surprised when he saw her face.

‘Isn’t she Soyoung’s mother?’

She was Soyoung’s mother, whom he had parted with under awkward terms not too long ago.