TRPM 222

chapter 222

It was about thirty minutes ago that Richard, the Association President, and I received contact from Morris.

After getting Morris’s message, we gathered the powerful individuals who had been about to leave, thinking the situation was already over.

The zombie incident might have been resolved, but under the pretext of capturing the true culprit behind it, we convinced them to stay.

Of course, some people really did just leave, saying they were too busy.

For example, Sir Sergey from Russia supposedly boarded his private plane and flew off before we could even say anything.

Still, most of the strong ones who hadn’t yet departed stayed behind to hear the explanation from me and President Richard.

“(Core Earth? Why would that company…?)”

“(Is that really true? But…)”

Not everyone believed our words right away.

Especially those who had dealt with Core Earth for a long time. When they heard that Core Earth was practically a subordinate branch of Oracle, some of them outright objected.

Of course…

“(……)”

“(… You’re joking, right?)”

“(No, I’m not.)”

They didn’t seem to think that President Richard or I would lie about this.

It’s one thing if just one person says it, but when two of us—both credible—say the same thing, it’s hard to dismiss it as false.

Thanks to that, forming a special assault team to raid the Core Earth building Morris pointed out didn’t take long.

But honestly… I wasn’t happy about it.

… They’re all planning to head over in military trucks.

Considering the distance, maybe that was reasonable, but I judged it would take too much time.

“Cadet Han Gunwoo? Is something bothering you?”

“… I don’t think we have that much time to spare.”

According to Morris, Core Earth hadn’t just secretly diverted a few trucks—they openly sent them to their own facility.

In other words, they were prepared to be found out for smuggling away the infected and humanoids.

That meant they were confident.

“Confident they could finish everything and flee before we arrive.”

“Exactly. No matter how powerful Oracle and Core Earth may be, they can’t hope to win against this many strong individuals.”

Which meant… if we wasted time like this, we’d be too late.

That thought struck me hard.

“Then let’s just go quickly, right?”

“… What?”

“Tell President Richard that we’ll move separately and head out first. Cadet Han Gunwoo—you have a way to travel faster, don’t you?”

A faster means of travel.

Realizing what Director Shin Hanji was referring to, I reached into my clothes and pulled out Fafnir.

… peeu… peeu…

So that’s why it had been quiet—it had been sleeping in my inner pocket.

“That dragon… Fafnir, was it? It can shrink that much?”

“It’s not a living creature, but a familiar formed from magic power. There’s no size restriction.”

“Interesting.”

I infused my inner energy into Fafnir to wake it up.

kiiing…?

Awakened, it leapt from my chest, growing in size, and—as always—took the posture ready for me to ride.

“… Just how often have you been riding it for it to immediately pose like that when it sees you?”

“… This is only the third time, at most.”

Arthur gave me a scolding look, and I answered quickly.

As if I were some kind of dragon abuser… ridiculous.

Thinking that, I sent Richard a short telepathic message saying I’d be departing ahead.

Nothing more than that.

“Let’s go.”

Kyyaaoo…!

Perched on Fafnir’s back, I gave the signal.

Fafnir flapped its wings and took flight, when—

“Hm?”

“Pardon me.”

Sophia landed on Fafnir’s back.

And not just her.

“I’ll come too.”

“I just said ‘we’ should go ahead. Surely you weren’t planning to go alone, right?”

Arthur and Director Shin Hanji also naturally boarded.

kiiing?

“It’s fine. Let’s just go as we are.”

Fafnir seemed startled at the sudden addition of three riders, so I reassured it.

Then, it flew off in the direction Morris had given us.

Now, here we are.

Upon arrival, I sensed Morris and many others underground, and moved straight there.

“(With this…!)”

At the same time, I spotted what seemed to be a doppelgänger trying to use the infected as shields while pressing some button.

“(Our victory!)”

Boom!

The button sent signals to the devices attached to the containers.

A normal person wouldn’t have noticed, but with my Samadhi vision, I could sense it.

Whatever it is…

Seeing Albatross PMC panic, I judged that the devices absolutely must not activate.

So I cut them down instantly.

Thunk…! Boom…!

The devices were neatly sliced before they could function.

I turned to Morris, who was staring at me in relief and astonishment.

“(Morris. I wasn’t too late, was I?)”

“(Hoo… you came just in time.)”

Seems it was the right call not to wait for President Richard and to rush here.

“(What the—…?)”

“(Everybody freeze~.)”

Right then, Director Shin Hanji cast a binding spell, capturing all those suspected to be doppelgängers.

… As expected, she’s impressive.

My inner energy felt heavier than usual—it must be the influence of Oracle’s devices that manipulate the atmosphere here.

Yet she still managed such precise magic in this environment.

Her pure magical ability might rival even President Richard’s.

… Though that man’s a mage who swings fists rather than a staff, unlike normal battle mages.

But that’s just his exceptional quirk.

Anyway, thanks to my and Shin Hanji’s timely arrival, there hadn’t been major problems.

As for Arthur and Sophia?

Arthur stayed above ground, since the enemies’ equipment was basically his weakness.

Sophia… well…

Judging from her movements, she isn’t exactly weak, but she wouldn’t be of much use here either.

So she stayed with Arthur above ground.

But that’s not the main point.

… These doppelgängers seem to have only planned to smuggle away the infected. The humanoids they took must’ve been extras. No… seeing signs of multiple repairs, maybe they meant to recycle them.

Looking over the facility, I pieced together roughly what had happened.

And I was sure—Albatross PMC had done well.

They clearly tried to minimize collateral damage to the infected. Normally, they’d just call it “necessary sacrifice” and not care.

Perhaps because of their relationship with me, they acted differently.

People don’t change overnight. So it must be my influence.

Thinking that, I descended from the containers and spoke to Morris.

“(I’m going to look around this facility. There may be documents on Core Earth or Oracle.)”

“(I hardly need to say this, but please be cautious.)”

With Morris’s farewell, I began searching the interior.

This section looks like living quarters. Even doppelgängers need to eat and sleep, not much different from humans. Their only differences are their lack of emotions and whether or not they obey Oracle.

I briefly remembered the doppelgänger who had emotions and disobeyed Oracle—my uncle’s imitation.

But I quickly dismissed the thought.

“Let’s see… this must be the comms room?”

There might be records of communications with Oracle.

But after a cursory search, there was nothing—probably deleted.

Given the circumstances, the doppelgängers likely planned to send all infected to Oracle and then die fighting, so erasing records wouldn’t be strange.

Or Oracle themselves might have remotely wiped it.

Still, not all clues are gone.

In one corner, I found burn marks.

Something had been hastily burned here—so hastily the traces were obvious, and they hadn’t even cleaned up after.

Psychometry.

My inner energy read the lingering traces of magic in the air and ground.

I read their memory.

It had been a long time since I last used this ability, but it was enough.

Hard to read precisely thanks to their device making the energy heavy.

That device scattered the ambient mana.

But no matter.

I can’t restore the documents, but I did catch glimpses of a scene.

A doppelgänger burning data while talking to someone through the communicator.

And that conversation carried significant information.

“Oracle betrayed the organization and left…?”

I couldn’t catch all the details, but the person on the other end raged violently, ordering them to kill Oracle if they found him on Earth.

Hearing that, I recalled Sophia’s words yesterday.

(Recently, Oracle has split into two main factions.)
(Yes. At some point, Oracle began giving prophecies more passively.)
(Seeing that, some extremists concluded Oracle had lost his prophetic power and was useless. Of course, they didn’t revolt yet, fearing the organization would splinter without him.)

So the one on the other end must have been one of those extremists.

And Oracle… must have fled Earth to escape them, leaving the Mars headquarters.

This… is more useful than I expected.

It’s unclear whether Oracle truly lost his power.

But if the nominal leader betrayed the organization, it meant Oracle was at risk of splitting.

Not just into Oracle and the extremists, but into multiple fragmented factions.

An organization as large as Oracle, without a proper leader, will inevitably fracture.

Especially if a civil war breaks out for succession.

Thinking that, I smiled.