Chapter 534

Chapter 534

The East District of Neo Seoul was as distinctive as the other districts.

That was because the main group of the East District consisted of foreigners who had entered Korea before the Great Collapse.

Foreigners who had come to Korea for various reasons—tourism, employment, study abroad—had their feet bound in Neo Seoul along with the collapse of the world.

They despaired at the fact that they could never return to their homelands again. However, humans were creatures of adaptation, and they too possessed outstanding adaptability.

They adapted to Neo Seoul and proudly established their own domain.

That place was the East District.

The main force of the East District was the U.S. military that had long been stationed in Korea.

There had been camps where U.S. troops were stationed in Korea, and they survived even the moment of the Great Collapse and entered Neo Seoul.

They gathered the foreigners and expanded their power.

The greatest characteristic of the East District was the combination of Awakeners, weapons, and strategy and tactics.

They trained the East District Awakeners with tremendous intensity.

Awakeners who endured all this training were reborn as specialists of combat.

Those who freely used Awakening skills and various weapons displayed tremendous power, especially in person-to-person combat.

Those who had entered the ceremony hall now were proof that they were East District Awakeners, with all kinds of firearms hanging all over their bodies.

At their center stood the Dark Mage, Seden Price.

Zeon thought Seden Price’s appearance was quite out of place.

Unlike his subordinates armed with all kinds of weapons, Seden Price did not carry any weapons.

Also, the alias “Dark Mage” did not suit the East District.

‘A being who leads an army is a mage? But is he really a mage?’

Although he was called the Dark Mage, almost no one had ever seen Seden Price actually use magic.

That was because everyone who had opposed Seden Price had died. Even so, at some point people began to call him the Dark Mage.

It was because, like a mage, he mostly appeared before people wearing a black robe.

It was then.

Suddenly, Seden’s gaze turned toward Zeon.

He changed direction and approached Zeon.

The gazes of those watching Seden naturally turned to Zeon as well.

“Huh, who is that?”

“It’s Zeon the Sand Mage.”

People who recognized Zeon’s face whispered.

Zeon slightly furrowed his brow.

He didn’t welcome the attention.

Because of Seden’s sudden action, everyone was focusing on Zeon.

Seden stopped in front of Zeon.

His lips, revealed beneath the hat pulled low, opened.

“Sand Mage Zeon, is it?”

It was an extremely sharp voice.

Even at the voice that sounded like metal being scraped, Zeon calmly replied.

“That’s right, Seden Price.”

“Do you know me?”

“Wouldn’t it be stranger if I didn’t?”

“That’s true. I’m quite famous, just like you.”

“In Neo Seoul, if you don’t know Seden Price, something must be wrong with your head.”

“Previously, my child was in your care, wasn’t he?”

“Your child?”

“Raven told me. He said he received help from you.”

“Did he say it like that?”

“Well, depending on how you hear it…”

The corner of Seden’s lips twisted upward.

It was by no means a friendly smile.

Zeon let out a faint sigh.

Raven was a human hunter who hunted East District deserters and scavengers.

Zeon had encountered him when Damian had led a caravan into Neo Seoul.

Seden whispered.

“Raven told me that you know one of our district’s important secrets.”

“You mean the scavengers?”

As he had clashed with Raven, he had come to know unintentionally.

That a considerable number of the scavengers active in and around Neo Seoul were from the East District.

It was a blemish the East District wanted to hide.

“I want you to continue behaving like that.”

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t make a fuss and just keep it to yourself. Then we won’t touch you either.”

“What if I’ve already spread it?”

“That can’t be.”

“Why do you think so?”

“If you had, you wouldn’t be a person of this world anymore. Heh heh.”

“That’s quite a chilling thing to say.”

Zeon’s words were sincere to a degree.

Seden’s statement meant that the East District was monitoring Zeon’s every move. Still, he wasn’t greatly surprised or flustered.

At present, there was no group in Neo Seoul that wasn’t paying attention to Zeon. Only the degree differed; many places were watching his movements closely.

That was how enormous Zeon’s influence was.

“Then I’ll see you next time, Sand Mage!”

Seden said only what he wanted to say and returned to his place.

Left alone, Zeon let out a long sigh.

“Seriously, all these leaders are the same—doing whatever they please. Tsk.”

He felt fatigue and a headache rushing in even though the main event hadn’t even begun yet.

“I want to go home.”

He desperately missed his home in the slums.

“What have you done to be going home already?”

“Hm?”

When he raised his head at the familiar voice, he saw an old man leaning on a cane and two girls with identical faces as if stamped from the same mold.

Zeon immediately recognized who they were.

They were the old man Go and the twin sisters, members of the Numbers.

Zeon said with a bitter smile,

“It’s been a while, everyone.”

“I didn’t expect you to attend an event like this.”

“Well, somehow I ended up coming this far. Have you been well?”

“As you can see, I’m still holding out without getting into a coffin yet.”

“It looks like you’ll still have to wait quite a while before getting into one.”

“I hope so.”

The old man smiled.

Following him, the twin sisters greeted him at the same time.

“It’s been a while, Zeon!”

“Good to see you both!”

“We’re glad to see you too, Zeon!”

“What brings the Numbers here?”

“A mobilization order came down.”

“All of the Numbers?”

“Probably?”

At the twins’ answer, Zeon swept his gaze around the hall.

The old man said,

“You won’t find them even if you look. They’re all experts at hiding.”

“Seems like it.”

Zeon nodded.

Quite a lot of people had gathered in the hall.

Finding the rest of the Numbers among them would not be easy.

To find them, Zeon would also have to move in earnest. But if he did, the other districts would watch him even more closely.

Being under scrutiny already, it would be troublesome if even more attention was drawn to him.

Zeon set aside his interest in the other Numbers.

His current concern was the West District and Kim Hyunsu.

He still hadn’t discovered why the oil used by the West District’s mechanized Awakeners had flowed all the way into the underground city.

For now, Zeon could purify the water with the Ring of Purification and be fine, but if he didn’t find and remove the fundamental cause, the same thing would happen again in the future.

Zeon stared fixedly at Kim Hyunsu’s face as he sat on the platform.

Unlike other Awakeners, the rulers of each district had separate seats prepared on a high platform.

It was likely consideration by City Hall because their status was different.

‘Something’s definitely strange. Kim Hyunsu wouldn’t manage things so carelessly.’

The specialized oil for mechanized Awakeners was like pure humans’ blood.

Just as humans would die without blood, mechanized Awakeners couldn’t move without their specialized oil.

Therefore, the specialized oil for mechanized Awakeners was treated as a strategic material of the West District. Naturally, it had to be specially managed.

And yet that specialized oil had leaked and flowed all the way into the underground city well?

By Zeon’s common sense, something didn’t add up.

Kim Hyunsu wasn’t someone that careless, and Triox Five was even more thorough.

It was a supercomputer, not a human.

It was hard to believe that a supercomputer could make mistakes.

As Kim Hyunsu said, Triox Five had performance great enough to manage the entire West District.

Would such a supercomputer accidentally leak the strategic material that was mechanized Awakener oil?

It was an unrealistic assumption.

Rather, it was more realistic to think that Triox Five had deliberately leaked the specialized oil.

‘Wait, deliberately?’

Zeon’s expression hardened in an instant.

His head tingled.

It wasn’t clear yet, but it felt like he was about to grasp something.

‘If Triox Five separately manufactures and manages Awakener-specific oil? No. There’s already existing Awakener-specific oil, so there’s no reason to make a new one. Then did it make oil for another purpose?’

Thinking that way, everything fit together perfectly.

Creating new-purpose oil using monster byproducts was by no means easy.

Countless mixtures and experiments were required.

Naturally, failed products had to be disposed of.

To dispose of them officially, they would of course have to be reported to and approved by Kim Hyunsu.

‘If it’s something done without Kim Hyunsu knowing, it would naturally have to be handled secretly.’

The easiest way to dispose of failed Awakener oil without Kim Hyunsu knowing was to let it flow into the underground sewage.

Some of the oil that flowed that way must have seeped into the wells.

‘What is Triox Five plotting? Why would it need separate oil?’

He had felt it before, but Triox Five was too dangerous.

It had a powerful ego to the extent that it had attempted to kill Zeon even without Kim Hyunsu’s orders.

For now it was following Kim Hyunsu’s strong control, but in his absence there was no way to know what extremely dangerous decisions it might make.

“Hoo.”

Zeon let out a sigh.

Having consumed his mental strength to the extreme, his head throbbed painfully.

Zeon took a moment to massage his temples and give himself some leeway.

Everything was still just Zeon’s speculation, and nothing was certain.

For now, it seemed he had no choice but to leave all possibilities open and observe the movements of the West District and Triox Five.

Crack!

Zeon twisted his neck left and right to loosen his tense muscles.

At that moment, someone’s loud shout was heard.

“The mayor is entering.”

Instantly, all the distinguished guests seated in the hall rose from their seats at once.

Everyone invited here was a powerful authority figure in Neo Seoul. But even such people were no more than ordinary humans before Jin Geumho’s overwhelming presence.

Step! Step!

From the moment Jin Geumho entered the hall, people could not take their eyes off him.

His powerful presence forcibly held their gazes.

With a smile on his lips, Jin Geumho headed for the platform. Beside him were his secretary Seo Taeran and Grain, one of the Numbers.

“Mayor!”

“It’s been a while.”

People along Jin Geumho’s path repeatedly bowed their heads.

They were paying the highest courtesy to the greatest authority in Neo Seoul.

“It’s been a while.”

“Have you all been well?”

Jin Geumho accepted their greetings and walked leisurely.

Because of that, it took a long time for him to reach the platform, but not a single person dared to criticize him.

“It’s been a while, Mayor.”

“You’re still in great health.”

“Hm.”

“Welcome.”

All the rulers of each district who were seated on the platform stood up to receive Jin Geumho.

They were the masters who led massive powers, but even they could not dare remain seated in front of Jin Geumho.

Jin Geumho looked over their faces one by one.

Seden Price of the East District.

Kim Hyunsu of the West District.

Xiaolun of the South District.

Serian of the North District.

The strongest cards he had scattered throughout Neo Seoul had gathered in one place after a long time.

The rulers were stars that brightly illuminated each district.

They might think they shone by themselves, but without the sun called Jin Geumho, they could never shine.

In Neo Seoul, the shining sun being Jin Geumho alone was more than enough.