Chapter 164 ·The Secret She Carried

Jin ‍​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​‌​​​​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌​​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​‌​‌​​​​​‌​‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌‌‌​‌‍Crow opened his eyes three days after the Church of Cosmic Truth's assault on the Pure Land.

When ‍​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‍the military doctors had first examined him, they had said that no matter how different a Special-duty Officer was from an ordinary person, it would take at least a week for him to regain consciousness.

...Yet ‍​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‍even with the Governor-General's Office assigning its finest medical team under Regcom Ging's orders, his recovery was nothing short of miraculous.

Of ‍​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‍course, given his status, all of his medical examinations and treatment records were classified, so very few people knew about it.

“……Cough!”

After ‍​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‍waking up and accepting the water handed to him by the nursing officer, the first thing he heard was the rather shocking news that the Church of Cosmic Truth had completely collapsed.

Naturally, it was welcome news.

Whether for the Juin people, the Governor-General's Office, or even the future he himself had to prepare for, the Church of Cosmic Truth was an enemy that could never coexist with them.

‘Just like this?’

Yet that was exactly why he found it difficult to accept.

A force that had prepared enough to invade the Pure Land had been completely crushed in only three days.

Even in the original story, where the organization had been considerably weaker, it had never fallen apart so absurdly.

However, the details of what had happened were soon revealed by a woman who visited his hospital room.

“You came to your senses faster than I expected, Instructor Crow. Ah, is that too distant? Then I'll call you Jin. How about that?”

“……You are.”

“Just call me Governor. Or, if you don't like that, 'Big Sister' works too.”

Creak.

She entered without waiting for permission.

She dragged a chair over with an audible scrape and sat down in front of him without being invited.

Perhaps because of that.

Jin Crow quietly observed the unfamiliar woman before him.

‘Olga Tristina.’

Her distinctive blue hair and blue eyes had lost much of their color.

Her body was noticeably thin, though the military uniform concealed part of it.

Even so, not even makeup could completely hide the deep exhaustion and anxiety etched across her face.

Naturally.

If even a Penta Gear Special-duty Officer felt burdened by her own condition, then any ordinary Special-duty Officer should have collapsed unconscious long ago.

“Why are you looking at me like that? It'll be troublesome if you fall for me. I already have someone.”

“You're dying, Governor.”

She was the type of person he found particularly difficult to deal with.

Of course, that wasn't why he had immediately blurted out such an inconsiderate remark.

If anything...

The words had simply escaped his mouth on their own.

“……Aren't you coming on a little too strong? Just like I'd heard.”

Perhaps because of that.

Or perhaps despite it.

Olga Tristina smiled bitterly, yet didn't deny it.

She simply returned his gaze with an expression of quiet composure.

“That's right. I was never a vessel like you.”

However, there was something unmistakably strange about her words.

It was almost as though she understood his circumstances completely.

There was pity mixed into them.

Not self-mockery.

“……”

Jin Crow met her blue eyes for a brief moment before quietly asking.

“What happened?”

His question carried two meanings.

The first concerned the current situation surrounding the Church of Cosmic Truth and Planet Ju.

The second...

Concerned her true identity.

‘In the original story, she was only mentioned briefly.’

Even then, she had never actually appeared.

Naturally, there had been no mention of her being Penta Gear.

Nor of the fact that she was dying.

But what about the woman standing before him now?

Having reached the level of a Quad Gear Special-duty Officer himself, he could tell.

The overwhelming output flowing from her heart—her Psychic Furnace.

And the countless streams of energy leaking endlessly from it.

‘If her Gear were intact, this would be impossible.’

For a Special-duty Officer, the gravest injury was the collapse of the Gear within.

The pain couldn't even be compared to physical wounds.

As if proving that fact, cold sweat flowed ceaselessly down the back of Olga Tristina's neck.

“……Just as I'd heard. No... just as I'd seen, Instructor.”

Breaking the silence, Olga Tristina murmured those words with a faint smile.

Then, after quietly studying the suspicion and confusion filling Jin Crow's black eyes, she slowly leaned toward him and whispered.

“This is all I can tell you, Irregular.”

“……!”

A familiar word emerged from the lips of this unfamiliar woman.

“Hliðskjálf.”

The moment he heard it, Jin Crow's eyes widened.

But Olga Tristina continued without concern.

“In the future that child showed me... you......”

Blood slowly gathered at the corner of her lips as she tried to continue.

Pain distorted the corners of her blue eyes.

Finally, biting down on her lips with all her strength, she forced herself to betray the Golden Rule of Fate.

“……Die. Without fail. Soon.”

As though the betrayal itself had provoked the world's fury, crimson blood like the juice of the forbidden fruit flowed down her chin and fell onto the floor.

Stagger.

Her body swayed.

Almost instinctively, Jin Crow caught her by the shoulder hidden beneath her military uniform.

Feeling the frailness of her emaciated body, he stared at her.

Blue eyes met black ones.

Though wracked with agony, her blue eyes were paradoxically tranquil.

Calm.

Peaceful.

His own gaze, on the other hand...

Though his black eyes tried to maintain composure, they trembled endlessly.

Questions tangled together with suspicion.

Fear mixed with uncertainty.

“……So.”

Olga Tristina looked into those endlessly trembling eyes.

Unable to endure her collapsing body any longer, she slumped against him and whispered.

“You have to find a way to survive. No matter what.”

Thud.

Supporting her body as it slipped downward like a withered branch, Jin Crow stared at Olga Tristina in utter confusion.

And upon her face—

So vividly that it almost hurt to look at—

‘What......’

There rested...

A smile of relief.

Leaving the unconscious Olga behind, Jin Crow entered the bathroom prepared inside the VIP ward, removed his patient gown, and changed into his military uniform.

There were no fresh wounds on his bare body.

Though satisfied by his astonishing regenerative ability, he couldn't help feeling conflicted as he looked over the countless scars covering him.

‘Hound.’

He needed to learn more about them.

Whether he liked it or not, Ean Jung had made him realize something.

Every path Jin Crow had walked until now...

Might have carried meaning rather than simply being coincidence.

As that thought settled—

No.

Ever since Olga had collapsed, there were words he had been deliberately pushing aside.

-Hliðskjálf.

-In the future that child showed me, you.

-Die. Without fail. Soon.

-So.

-Find a way to survive. No matter what.

Jin Crow's reflection appeared in the mirror.

To be honest, he could barely remember what his original face had looked like anymore.

Perhaps...

This had been his real face all along.

Staring at his gaunt reflection, he suddenly chuckled at the thought that crossed his mind.

“……If I die, will Baek Hwi-young regress once again?”

A title that had become familiar before he even noticed.

Irregular.

If he himself truly was the Irregular...

Then once that anomaly disappeared, would nothing remain in the future except destruction...?

Having reached that conclusion, he placed a cigarette between his lips out of sheer frustration.

Brushing back his slightly damp hair, he lit it and stepped outside.

Olga, whom he had clearly laid on the bed, had disappeared.

“……”

She truly was a woman who caused headaches in every possible way.

Especially since she was, at least nominally, his superior.

‘There wasn't anything more I could've done for her anyway.’

When an ordinary person coughed up blood, it meant something was seriously wrong.

Whether it was hemoptysis from the lungs or hematemesis from the digestive tract, it meant the inside of the body had been damaged.

But when the patient was a Penta Gear Special-duty Officer...

No.

It would be more accurate to say there was simply no solution.

How could medicine heal internal injuries that even Psionic energy couldn't?

After all...

The damaged organ wasn't even a real one.

It was a virtual organ.

“……”

As he opened the hospital room window and exhaled the remaining cigarette smoke into the sky, it happened.

Creak.

The door opened.

A large shadow stretched across the floor.

Even without turning around, he recognized who it was from the man's presence alone.

Silently smoking his cigarette, Jin Crow spoke.

“Vice Governor.”

“Smoking in a hospital room, huh.”

“You should throw away the cigarette in your own mouth before saying that.”

“I'm the Vice Governor, so it's fine.”

“I'm a patient, so it's fine too.”

‘Well... he really won't let a single remark go.’

Regcom Ging swallowed the amused retort that almost escaped him.

Instead, he lowered his gaze toward the dark crimson bloodstains left upon the white bedsheets.

“Did Olga come?”

“……Yes.”

“I see. I expected as much.”

Regcom Ging smiled bitterly.

It wasn't jealousy.

Nor envy toward the woman he loved.

Rather...

It was concern mixed with helplessness and sorrow.

“Then you know now.”

“That she's dying.”

“……Yes.”

Previously, Jin Crow had hinted at something to him.

That the situation on Planet Ju, where the Vice Governor exercised complete authority, was anything but normal.

At the time...

Regcom Ging had indeed suspected him.

Wasn't it an absurd leap to suggest that he had eliminated the woman he loved in order to seize control of the Governor-General's Office?

But humans...

Were creatures who made such choices all too easily.

Yet after meeting Olga, every one of those suspicions had become meaningless.

He couldn't help asking.

Sssst.

He crushed his cigarette into the portable ashtray.

Then, turning toward Regcom Ging's complicated reflection faintly visible in the window, he asked.

“What is the secret she carries?”

Regcom Ging closed his eyes for a moment.

Then he answered.

“This will be a long story. The rooftop happens to be empty.”

“I see.”

Naturally.

There was no reason to refuse.

The two men headed to the rooftop together.

Step.

Step.

Their combat boots struck the asphalt, producing heavy sounds strangely out of place in the Pure Land.

Eventually they reached a bench on the rooftop.

Without either of them saying a word, they sat down and lit cigarettes.

Hiss.

As the smoke drifting into the air blended with the clouds and blurred the view, Regcom Ging finally spoke.

“The Divine Relic we recovered from Platform 9 has disappeared. What's strange is that it wasn't found anywhere. Not in the Church of Cosmic Truth's devastated headquarters, nor in any of their remaining branches.”

“If the Church of Cosmic Truth was completely destroyed...”

“Yes. Who else could it have been?”

Jin Crow had already formed a rough guess.

Even judging by the color of the uniforms worn by Ean Jung and the Setter Platoon members he had brought, it wasn't difficult to infer.

As expected.

The organization that emerged from Regcom Ging's lips matched his prediction exactly.

“The Red Hand.”

But the next words carried the situation toward the worst-case scenario he had imagined.

“It seems they've stolen all the Black Iron the Church of Cosmic Truth had accumulated. Everything made from Black Iron, whether Divine Relics or ordinary equipment. Along with the Oparts.”

“Then that means......”

“Yes. I can't be certain, but.”

Without either of them prompting the other, they turned their heads at the same time.

Then they spoke simultaneously.

“They......”

“Want war.”

It was...

A truly horrifying future.

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