Black Badger - Chapter 436



Only Noblemtl

436. Real Character Delete Bread (1)

Beating Colton was never easy.

But I tried to think as simply as possible.

The simpler the operation, the better it is.

It wasn’t an easy task, though.

“Is it natural death or not?”

“I didn’t find anything strange.”

Yoon answered.

We were now in the leadership lounge. It was a room that Ye-Hyeon often used. As it was a place where the leadership rested, it was soundproofed thoroughly and cameras and wiretapping devices were checked periodically.

It is said that it has been used as a meeting place several times recently.

A space I’ve been using a lot whenever I’ve been to HQ lately. Leonard left here a few minutes ago. He came back after killing a deserter badger from Core 7 and told me that he searched through the deserter’s internal organs but didn’t find anything particularly special.

So now it was just Yoon and me in the room.

Yoon sits with his legs crossed on the chair in front of the desk.

The shooter said.

“Choi Je-seok has been in a coffin state for a long time, but recently he has become closer to a corpse. That’s also why I’ve been called to my parents’ house often recently. So it wouldn’t be strange if he died of natural causes. However, since there was no CCTV, we don’t know the truth. Is the truth important?”

“No. It’s not that important. What’s important is how A-Tac’s succession will be handled….”

“There is no change.”

I see.

It seems Choi Hyun-jun continues to hold the chairman position. It seems that there was nothing written in the will that would change the situation.

As I nodded in satisfaction, Yoon asked.

“I have to leave for my parents’ house in 30 minutes. What are you going to do? Are you coming?”

I didn’t worry about it.

The answer wasn’t mine to decide anyway.

“Which one do you prefer, Chairman Choi?”

“I wish you hadn’t come.”

Yoon answered right away.

“Choi Hyun-jun, you see, wants to become a senior, but he’s not the type of person to get involved in their fierce power struggle. He wants to sneak in and sit in the senior’s seat when the outline of the winner of the current power struggle becomes clear. That’s why he probably doesn’t want to meet you in public right now.”

If you keep being so ambiguous, you might be the first to lose your head.

I laughed softly.

“But now that former Chairman Choi Je-seok has passed away, it won’t be easy to maintain neutrality by making excuses about the former chairman.”

“I guess so.”

“If you don’t like external pressure, then don’t covet the position of elder. If you want to live a long life.”

“I don’t think you’ll listen.”

Yoon responded calmly.

“Is that all you have to say?”

“Please tell him that I still want to buy the core device.”

If it weren’t for this, I wouldn’t have paid any attention to Choi Hyun-jun.

Unfortunately, I absolutely needed the core device to kill Colton.

I’ve been working hard to get it lately. It’s been my and my people’s mid- to long-term goal. Steal three or four core devices without breaking the law.

This was what was needed to defeat Colton, the master of the center core.

It was because they concluded that they had to isolate him somehow. A clean revenge was impossible unless they took Colton and Jaeyeon out of the center core or created a small core inside the center core and put them in there.

If you don’t seal the space, you will either be arrested before you can cut Colton’s throat, or you will be arrested at the same time you cut his throat.

Then, one by one, the people I care about will be charged with complicity in murder.

There were too many people Colton had seated here and there.

The heads of the current military, police, intelligence agencies, judiciary, financial institutions, and major media companies were all Colton’s people.

It’s not like asking one person is a big deal.

Aren’t the accounts of me and my fellow countrymen, who are tied up with ridiculous charges, showing one aspect of the sanctions they are currently imposing?

Colton even froze You’s account at a private bank, demonstrating his immense influence within Centercore.

If it were like before, each and every one of those involved in the sanctions would have been beheaded.

In fact, they were preparing to infiltrate some of the mansions, but the situation was different from before.

“It seems like it’s hard for you to move because of your fame.”

Yoon said dryly.

I smiled faintly.

“Yes. I guess… Thank you for letting me know the news so quickly, Yoon.”

“Do you have money to buy the device?”

“I am collecting gold.”

“The price of one device is close to 100 billion.”

“Of course, a lump sum payment is impossible.”

When I answered with a smile, Yoon raised one eyebrow.

I answered coolly.

“I plan to purchase it by paying only a small deposit.”

Yoon stared at me.

“You’re saying you’re going to extort money?”

“No, really, I’ll pay for it all later. Seriously.”

“Where do you get the money?”

“Once I’ve taken my revenge, Falcon’s fortune will come rolling in.”

Yoon whistled softly.

“That’s a great calculation.”

Oh, why.

I mean, I really intend to pay properly.

So please don’t give me those admiring looks.

Of course, the shooter ignored my sullen gaze.

Instead, he remained silent for a moment, looked at me with dry eyes, and asked me a question.

“Aside from catching the deserter and finding the traces of the spies, would you like to help me out more?”

“no.”

He answered quickly.

Yoon’s eyebrows went up.

“The simpler the task, the better.”

“yes.”

“There are a ton of things that would be simpler if I just lend a hand.”

“But I don’t like it.”

“Isn’t it desperate?”

Yoon blurted out.

I’m saying this on purpose.

I knew I was going to get hit.

But now I’ve become quite resilient. When I first heard that, I was really upset, but now I can laugh it off and argue with it.

“I’ll contact you when I get really desperate. It’s not like I don’t have a social life at all. I had dinner with my colleagues today, and I’m going to observe the promotion exam… .”

“Pretending to live an ordinary life while hiding the past? It’s like the behavior of a politician who boasts that he is doing well in society without any dirty work.”

“I know it’s a bit cheesy, but I guess it’s going to have to be that way for a while. It’s become more limited in my movements since it’s been revealed that I’m not human. If I was just a unique Badger who likes Rexic Noodles, I don’t think I’d have this much trouble moving around.”

Colton is a man of political strife.

He announced that I was a ‘level 10 creature with yellow eyes’, which was a very effective counterattack.

Earhart managed to keep public opinion from reaching its worst, but she could not hide the truth once it was revealed.

It is said that assassination has become difficult because of people’s gaze.

Even the game’s hell mode would be easier than this.

“So, put me in.”

“I told you I don’t want to.”

But even so, I didn’t want to get my seniors too deeply involved.

You know what happens if you get caught up in the wrong thing here.

Colton is ruthless.

If I started to feel pushed back, I would always try to take my beloved seniors hostage.

“And even if you don’t want to get involved, you will end up getting involved anyway.”

He answered bluntly.

“You’re not completely out of it right now. That’s why I’m so anxious that my stomach hurts… Why are you so impatient that you can’t move forward? Didn’t you see Ye-Hyeon and Scar getting beaten up by Jae-Yeon?”

“You’re bound to get involved in the end, just like you said. You’re a very affectionate fool, so if you’re taken hostage, you won’t be able to ignore it.”

“That may be true, but if you stay like this, they won’t touch you for a while.”

“I guess so.”

“Yes. So I don’t want to ask for help.”

“But it looks fun.”

Yoon spoke in a very pure voice.

A chill ran down my spine.

I looked at the shooter in horror.

“What part of this do you find interesting?”

“These days, deserters are said to be incompetent.”

Yoon explained coolly.

The tone was like someone was teaching you how to operate a radio.

“It was fun when there was a truckload of guys who would inject enhanced bodies without considering their humanity and then go off the rails.”

“No… These days, the badgers in each core are being cleared out, so there are quite a few deserters.”

Scar Owen embarked on a massive manhunt for the spy.

It was known externally as an ‘irregular inspection of each core’. At the time when the position of Commander-in-Chief was vacant, the acting Commander-in-Chief was investigating the service status of other core Badgers who were far from headquarters and thus likely to be corrupt, like the National Tax Service.

There were several deserters during the process.

I heard that there were a lot of deserters among the Badgers who had been on long-term leave.

There is a high possibility that more deserters will emerge since the service inspection has not yet been completed.

It seems like such small things don’t suit Yoon’s taste.

He must have been keenly aware of the political strife under the surface, so the tense atmosphere must have excited him.

I couldn’t hold it in any longer and let out a sigh.

“Tigna, please take care of me sometimes.”

“Who is Tig?”

“The robot vacuum cleaner left in the hut.”

Yoon stared at me.

“You didn’t sell it?”

“How can you say that? Tig may not be able to climb stairs, but he can at least clean the place really well.”

“I’ll put it up for sale.”

After saying that, Yoon took out his cell phone.

“No!”

I was terrified.

“Don’t sell Tig! It’s thanks to Tig that the cabin doesn’t get dusty!”

“You can’t even climb stairs. That cabin is on the second floor.”

“But he’s a good kid who at least keeps the first floor clean!”

There was a brief scuffle.

The shooter gave up selling the Tig only after he had picked on me as much as he wanted.

A human being who never changes… .

I let out a tired sigh.

“If I really need help, I will call SOS.”

Yoon nodded his head.

“…Aren’t you going to the funeral?”

Yoon keeps silent for a moment.

The man who had been quietly watching me got up from his seat a little while later.

“It’s a late birthday present.”

ah.

As he walked out of the room, the man threw a vial of medicine at me as I sat on the bed.

I took the vial, recognized it, and smiled.

It is a potion that nullifies Eternal Chaser.

It’s one of those things I’ve been trying to get here and there lately, and every time I get it I just shove it right in my stomach, because lately I’ve been thinking that every liquid I drink outside is probably laced with Eternal Chaser.

Eternal Chaser is so easy to sneak into drinks.

He expressed his thanks to Yoon with a bitter smile.

After confirming that the shooter had left without responding, he opened the cap of the vial and drank the liquid in one gulp.

“Ugh.”

It’s like swallowing fire every time.

I groaned in pain alone, and only after the hot liquid burned my insides did I get up.

And after wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, he quietly left the room.

***

I was trying to go home quietly, but it seems like they found out that I had been to headquarters for the first time in a while.

As I was standing next to the restaurant on the first floor of the headquarters and asking Kairos about the success of his second-hand trading, people approached me.

They were welcome faces.

“Rick!”

I smiled brightly as I looked at my senior’s face, which I hadn’t seen in two months.

“Karl! Long time no see. How have you been?”

“You said you were selling game consoles.”

Carl said that without even responding to my greeting.

Ricardo looked me over and let out a long breath.

The seniors who stopped next to me started searching through their pockets before I could answer.

Ricardo took his wallet out of his inside jacket pocket, and Karl took his wallet out of his back pocket.

I stared blankly at the cash being thrust in front of me.

“uh….”

He muttered as he looked at the wad of cash that was suddenly thrust out, his face blank.

“There is no need….”

“Not accepting it~?”

Ricardo asked slowly.

And he didn’t say anything else. He just looked into my eyes and held out the bill.

The sword didn’t even say anything.

“… I’m really okay… .”

No movement.

“I’m not going around starving… .”

If you could at least respond… .

It was finally broken.

I received cash from them in a timid manner. My promise to return it later was ignored. When I told them that the amount was too large, they told me to shut up before dragging me to the ATM. They even interrupted my words of thanks to ask how I was doing, and when I told them I was going to observe a promotion exam, they said they would see me that day and disappeared.

I came in a bit tired and went to sleep.

The next day, after waking up, the news reported Choi Je-seok’s death.

News that is featured prominently here and there.

The funeral was broadcast live.

The Choi family, including Ami and Yoon, are captured on a clear screen. Yoon, who is wearing a pitch-black suit and has no expression on his face, and Ami, who keeps her mouth shut and keeps sobbing.

Choi Hyun-jun, Choi Hyun-young, and Choi Hyun-seok stand in front of them.

Next to Ye-Hyeon, who was listening to the eulogy, were Scar and Gilbert. They were keeping silent with their heads slightly bowed.

Seeing the three of them standing side by side reminds me of the year-end party.

It was by no means a happy situation.

Still, it was nice to see your face after so long.

But I didn’t contact them. I just watched the live broadcast intently and left Anga on time.

I wasn’t going to the funeral.

I had no intention of showing up at the funeral, as Yoon had said.

Instead, I prepared to go to Eric Earhart’s party.

“Lin.”

I called my subordinate who was spending a lot of time in front of the mirror.

“If you’re any later, I’ll make you drive.”

“Ah, let’s go!”

Lin came running out of breath.

“It’s done, Captain! Oh my, it’s really blinding today too.”