My Children Swarm the Cosmos – Chapter 18

𝐁𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐤 (3)

Aria died a little while ago. No sooner had she died than the Foundation was notified, and just as Haber had told me, the other secretaries probably informed their own subjects of the news.

And it’s not hard to predict that an attack will come as soon as Aria’s death is confirmed. After all, a proper battle requires time to regroup.

I’m taking advantage of that time to walk the night streets.

━𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫. . . 𝐈’𝐦 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡. . .

“Ludwig. You’re not a combat unit. Do your best to secure your territory.” 

━𝐈𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 . . .?

‘𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘸.’

━𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 . . . . 𝐈𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐢𝐭 . . . .

I am currently wearing a piece of clothing with a hood covering my head. This piece of clothing is also made with cells, just like what I wear to go to work every day.

Humans call this type of clothing design a hoodie.

━𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 . . . . 𝐈 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐛 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 . . . .

I had previously weaved my walking route to be complex, being mindful of the security cameras and parked vehicles whose locations I had thoroughly scouted out earlier. This was to make it difficult for humans to notice me easily.

Of course, it is possible that humans might find my actions suspicious and try to get in my way like last time, but judging from Haber’s excellent handling of things, it seems that human intervention can be easily suppressed.

I have arrived at Damian’s address, which I found from Aria’s memories.

Damian’s residence is a mansion slightly smaller than my own, and it does not seem to have any separate security system for detecting intruders. This is thanks to the fact that the installation cost of a security system is very high.

There was a flat device attached to the entrance of the mansion to identify visitors.

「This is the XProtect home security system, always ensuring high reliability and safety.」

「Waiting for visitor authentication . . .」

When you don’t have a cell phone, it is very common to use your body for authentication.

I create Damian’s fingerprints, Damian’s face, and Damian’s irises, then wait while placing my five fingers on the screen.

「Fingerprint pattern matching rate: 82.5%」

「Facial pattern matching rate: 99.7%」

「Iris pattern matching rate: 99.4%」

「. . . Fingerprint pattern does not match. Please try again.」

「If you cannot use your fingerprint, you can try cell phone authentication or password authentication.」

「Waiting for visitor authentication . . .」

It seems that there was a wrong fingerprint among the five fingerprints of Damian that I saw from afar.

I correct the fingerprint by recalling the visual memory.

「Fingerprint pattern matching rate: 93.1%」

「Facial pattern matching rate: 99.6%」

「Iris pattern matching rate: 99.5%」

「. . . Visitor authentication successful」

「Welcome, Bellum Damian.」

「Physical authentication will send a notification message to Damian’s cell phone.」

The door opened automatically.

𝘛𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘥𝘢𝘬!

I quickly crossed the garden, which was made up of only grass, and reached the front door. If a text message was sent to Damian, he would be on alert for intruders by now.

Therefore, in order for an ‘ambush’ to work here, I have to simultaneously recognize Damian’s presence and kill him.

𝘊𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘩!!!

I broke the window on the first floor and entered. The lights inside the mansion were all switched to night mode, emitting a faint light.

Damian specializes in legion control and strategic tactics.

This means that rather than personal combat abilities, he has developed more towards legion control and using his brain. Therefore, the more time I give him to think, the more disadvantageous it will be for me.

The space where I entered after breaking the window was a spacious shower room.

𝘚𝘸𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘩 . . .

I equip my full body with black armor within 1.6 seconds. I maximize my sensory abilities in order to find Damian’s presence as quickly as possible.

The sound of insects in the garden stepping on grass, the vibration of vehicles running on the road 60 meters away from the mansion, and . . . .

My eyes that brighten the darkness found Damian first.

This is an unexpected situation.

Just like it was unexpected for them, it was unexpected for me as well.

There is a dead body.

A dead body that has not moved an inch. I can’t tell who it is because it has decomposed to such an extent, but the stench of blood is stronger than the smell of decay.

I approach the unidentified corpse.

Judging from how painfully it must have been before death, the fingernails are all exposed with the joints twisted here and there. The bloodstains on the bathroom floor are connected from the corpse to the large bathtub in the corner on the other side. It seems that it crawled desperately on the shower room floor from the bathtub to this location before dying.

The skin that has turned a dark color, the flesh that has been decayed and necrotized, the dark red entrails flowing out from the outside of the navel, and the distorted and swollen face.

The remaining opponents in this coming-of-age ceremony are only Autophagy Tosis and Bellum Damian.

The owner of this house is Damian,

and upon taking a closer look at the eyes of the corpse, they are Damian’s eyes.

I did not kill Damian. I tried to kill him.

In that case, the only one who could have killed Damian in such a gruesome manner is Tosis.

𝘚𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘴𝘩 . . . .

I happened to step on a bloodstain, and the blood had not hardened.

This is strange.

The corpse has decomposed to this extent, but the blood has not hardened. There are no maggots, no flies, and the stench of blood is stronger than the smell of decay.

I understand.

Tosis killed Damian while he was still alive and let him decompose.

Up until I left my mansion, Haber did not bring me the news of Damian’s death.

This means that Damian entered this shower room and was attacked by Tosis. Tosis used some kind of ability to decompose him while he was still alive, and as a result, Damian just died. And I arrived right after that, before the blood could even harden.

Since he just died, I might be able to obtain some meaningful information from Damian’s corpse.

I reach out with tentacles from my fingertips and access Damian’s brain. I forcibly send electrical signals into the dead body and concentrate my consciousness on the neural cells that make up the brain.

There is a lot of information loss due to decomposition and necrosis inside the skull as well.

However, what Damian experienced right before he died was the most recent information stored the strongest, and fortunately, I was able to catch a glimpse of those damaged memories, albeit in fragments.

🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸🔸

Former 4th batch experimental subject 374.

Bellum Damian is a case that barely passed the preliminary selection with excellent legion control and strategy. He judged that he would be lacking in strength and preparation time compared to the 1st batch, 2nd batch, and 3rd batch experiment subjects who had passed the preliminary selection before him, so he took a strategic approach to the coming-of-age ceremony.

━𝐓𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐬. 𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭.

━𝐔𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝. 𝐒𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠-𝐨𝐟-𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐲. 𝐃𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧?

━𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐈 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐬.

━𝐇𝐮𝐡, 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧’𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐞?

━𝐎𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐈’𝐦 𝐚𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐝. 𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞, 𝐬𝐨 𝐈’𝐦 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐞.

━𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝, 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐥𝐥 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐦𝐞, 𝐰𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮? 𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠-𝐨𝐟-𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬? 𝐃𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐚𝐧.

━𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐟 𝐈 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐰𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝟏 𝐨𝐧 𝟏 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝.

━𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐲 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠. 𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐫.

━𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞?

━𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩. 𝐈 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠-𝐨𝐟-𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞.

━𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞, 𝐬𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞? 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭. 𝐄𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐟 𝐚 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠-𝐨𝐟-𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡, 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐛𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞.

━. . . .

━𝐖𝐞’𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞. 𝐖𝐞’𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟? 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠?

━𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐞, 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮?

━𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐈𝐟 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐤, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝟎.

━𝐇𝐦𝐦.

━𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐈’𝐦 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞. 𝐈𝐟 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐚𝐢𝐦 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐫, 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭?

━𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐝. 𝐀𝐥𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭. 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭, 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡.

This was the promise Damian made with the 1st batch experimental Subject 13, Tosis.

━𝐃𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐚𝐧. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐦𝐞.

━𝐙𝐞𝐮𝐥? 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞?

━𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞, 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞 𝐁𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬.

━𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫. 𝐈𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠-𝐨𝐟-𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐬𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞?

━𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐛𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

━𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥. 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐭? 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐲𝐩𝐞.

━𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐲𝐩𝐞. 𝐃𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐚𝐧.

━𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲?

━𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐛𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥. 𝐏𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫, 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐞, 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲’𝐬 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞.

━𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬, 𝐬𝐨 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 . . . . 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐜𝐤?

━𝐈𝐟 𝐈 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐞𝐬, 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥?

━𝐈’𝐥𝐥 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐇𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐞, 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭? 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥.

━𝐖𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐞𝐬?

━𝐘𝐞𝐬. 𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐬, 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫. 𝐋𝐞𝐭’𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝.

━𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐚 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚.

This was the deal Damian made with the 2nd batch experiment Subject 166, Bythos.

━𝐀𝐫𝐢𝐚! 𝐀𝐫𝐢𝐚! 𝐀𝐫𝐢𝐚!

━𝐁𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐞𝐭. 𝐖𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞? 𝐃𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐚𝐧?

━𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐦𝐞.

━. . . 𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰?

━𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝.

━𝐆𝐞𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭.

━𝐀𝐫𝐢𝐚. 𝐓𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐫. 𝐈 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩.

━𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠-𝐨𝐟-𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐲 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝. 𝐃𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐛𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬.

━𝐍𝐨, 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲! 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐡𝐞’𝐥𝐥 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈’𝐦 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬.

━𝐒𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭? 𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐢𝐞, 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲.

━𝐈𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞? 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐓𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧?

━𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐩𝐮𝐧𝐤.

━𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐓𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐬’ 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞. 𝐈𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭?

━𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬. 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐧𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮.

━𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧. 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭.

━. . . 𝐆𝐨 𝐚𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐛𝐞𝐫.

━𝐓𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡. 𝐈𝐟 𝐈 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐬, 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭. 𝐒𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐀𝐫𝐢𝐚, 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐬’ 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐧𝐭.

━. . . .

━𝐓𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐊𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐞, 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐁𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬. 𝐓𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

━𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧?

━𝐀 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞’𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲.

━𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲?

━𝐀𝐧𝐲𝐰𝐚𝐲, 𝐈’𝐦 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐮𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝. 𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐓𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡, 𝐧𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭.

━𝐈 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐭, 𝐬𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭.

This was the conversation Damian had with the 3rd batch Subject 240, Aria.

Damian reused the cards he obtained through promises in promises with other opponents.

In that way, Damian, who had cleverly escaped from the ‘priority of attack of competitors’, decided to quietly watch the situation to decide which side to take and who to use.

Anyway, since the experiment subjects except for him would kill each other and only one would survive in the end, he could at least increase his chances of winning the coming-of-age ceremony with a 1 on 1 battle.

The 5th batch Experimental Subject 412, Kreion, who came out of the facility the latest, did not seem to have any strengths to utilize in the coming-of-age ceremony.

He didn’t even seem to realize his disadvantage, and after the coming-of-age ceremony began, it seemed like he had no experience negotiating with other experiment subjects until Damian approached him first.

Nevertheless, Damian did not rule out Kreion as a variable and approached him. That’s how he was able to secure a safe position and a promise of strength to utilize in the future.

Not long after, he heard from Aria that Bythos was dead. Kreion killed Bythos.

However, he did not believe her words. It was unimaginable that Kreion, who had a strong emphasis on strategic aspects similar to himself, would defeat Bythos in an engagement.

However, for some reason, the police were moving to restrain Kreion at that time.

So for the time being, he pretended to agree with her words and helped her restrain Kreion. From Damian’s point of view, the first person he should join hands with was Aria, not Kreion.

Every single action was cautious and passive, as if walking on a slippery ice rink. First, the easiest Kreion, and after Kreion dies, the next easiest Bythos.

That’s how he planned it.

He intended to continue doing that.

But things went seriously wrong.

He thought Bythos’ death on the first day was just a minor incident, but on the second day, Aria suddenly died.

Two people died in just two days.

‘𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩?!’

Did Aria kill Bythos and then Kreion killed Aria?

Did Kreion kill Bythos and Tosis kill Aria?

Did Tosis kill Bythos and Aria from the beginning?

Or did Kreion kill both Bythos and Aria?

There are many scenarios that come to mind, but none of them can be confirmed.

He doesn’t know who killed who.

‘𝘈𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 . . . . 𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺.’

Damian entered the spacious shower room with the intention of soaking his body in boiling water.

‘𝘈𝘴 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘛𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘒𝘳𝘦𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘺.’

While Damian was trying his best to calm his mind, something was approaching from the basement.

It broke through the bathroom floor and popped out.