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Alpha Team’s gazes were all fixed on Yoon Tae-ha’s spear. There were agents shaking their heads in disbelief, some stroking their chins thoughtfully, and others desperately clamping their hands over their mouths, unable to contain their grief.
A short gasp from Ahn Jeong-seop, who belatedly squeezed in between his teammates, broke the silence. At that moment, Choi Bo-mi, with a humorless expression, looked at Eom Byeong-wook and said,
“That’s the spear used by the missing agent. As you’ve probably heard, contact with one of our colleagues and our main team has been lost. She was the agent who entered the forest first under Gaia’s command. She might be isolated somewhere, waiting for rescue. No, it’s certain she needs help.”
“I see.”
“We’re dispatching a rescue team immediately.”
She strongly emphasized the word “rescue.” Eom Byeong-wook nodded seriously.
“That sounds absolutely necessary. I also have many questions for Agent Yoon Tae-ha. Even more so if the blood on the tip of the evidence is Agent Iroa’s.”
He seemed to accept the fact that Yoon Tae-ha had harmed Iroa as a foregone conclusion. Soon, the white cloth was pulled back over the corpse. Ahn Jeong-seop slumped down in front of the stretcher and began to pray.
Eom Byeong-wook surveyed the desolate landscape of the camp. His gaze stopped at a large tent, whose supports were barely holding up.
“I’d like to present the Mobile Command Team 1’s opinion on the incident and discuss future plans with Alpha Team.”
Ji Seong-chan coldly retorted, “What are they saying upstairs? Do they even know about this situation?”
“The Director has expressed deep regret. An order has been issued to mobilize all resources to identify the main culprit of the incident.”
“Main culprit? A fire-breathing snake appeared, and we need to find a separate culprit? It’s Kali. Even though the involvement of a chimera was new, the army of spiders and snakes moving together is highly likely to be Kali’s.”
A female Esper standing beside Ji Seong-chan snapped. But Eom Byeong-wook’s expression remained unshaken. He replied in a tone that clearly suggested he suspected Alpha Team as well.
“Then we must uncover the main culprit who summoned Kali here. The Green Sea is vast. Given that you were attacked as soon as you left the camp, we cannot overlook the possibility that information leaked from somewhere.”
Upon hearing that, Ahn Jeong-seop finished his prayer and stood up. An indignant Ji Seong-chan was about to say something, but was stopped by Ahn Jeong-seop.
Baek Sang-ho was still utterly absorbed by the stretcher. Instead of the team leader, who was pale with shock, Ahn Jeong-seop spoke stiffly.
“The Special Activities Department has no right to suspect us. If you want to find someone who colluded with Kali, you’d better look elsewhere.”
A sneer briefly appeared and then vanished from the lips of an agent standing behind Eom Byeong-wook. Eom Byeong-wook pretended not to notice his subordinate’s reaction and suggested they talk inside the tent.
“There are too many ears listening. There are quite a few outsiders in the camp, so let’s move.”
As morning broke, non-combat agents with relatively low security clearance began to appear one by one, carrying their equipment. The soldiers guarding the tent where the medical staff were staying were also a source of concern.
Alpha Team and the Mobile Command Team hurried to move. However, Baek Sang-ho remained standing idly in the passage connecting the forest and the camp. He watched with dead eyes as Eom Byeong-wook’s subordinates moved away with the stretcher.
Choi Bo-mi’s lips quivered, not wanting to leave her leader alone. But Ahn Jeong-seop, with a sorrowful face, restrained her.
“Let’s give him some time.”
She walked with heavy steps, glancing back several times at Baek Sang-ho’s wretchedly hunched back.
________________________________________
The forest surrounding the camp began to shine beautifully, covered in morning dew as usual. However, Yoon Tae-ha’s situation had worsened.
From the very first meeting, Eom Byeong-wook calmly and meticulously brought up the theory of Yoon Tae-ha’s betrayal.
He spun a narrative where Yoon Tae-ha was responsible for everything: summoning Kali, tipping her off to attack Alpha Team, thus preventing them from tracking the crow, and even the destruction of the chimera research lab before Alpha Team could act, all as a result of her espionage.
“She knew the exact location of the research lab, and she was not with Alpha Team at the estimated time of the lab’s destruction.”
“At that time, the agent in question was resting at a hotel with her guide. Ark agents stationed in Cocytus witnessed Yoon Tae-ha and Cheon Geon-yeong moving around the city.”
Despite Choi Bo-mi’s refutation, Eom Byeong-wook didn’t bat an eye. He dismissed the rebuttal by saying that Agent Yoon Tae-ha would know more about Ark’s internal system than anyone else.
“Two agents obtained the location of the research lab before Alpha Team: Yoon Tae-ha and Cheon Geon-yeong. One is still out of contact, and the other collapsed unconscious from overexertion while trying to save you. Can you be sure?”
Eom Byeong-wook looked around the room. Baek Sang-ho, with a stern expression, listened to him with his arms crossed in a corner.
“That Agent Yoon Tae-ha had no influence on Agent Cheon Geon-yeong collapsing like that?”
Alpha Team’s female Esper frowned deeply and retorted, “What are you saying? Aren’t you an Esper? Are you implying that an Esper did something harmful to her own guide’s body?”
“They’ve known each other for less than a year. Also, as far as I know, this isn’t the first time Agent Yoon Tae-ha’s guide has been seriously injured during a mission.”
A male agent sitting on the Mobile Command Team’s side interjected with a cold smile. “Her first dedicated guide died. Come to think of it, Kali was involved then too.”
“How strange... Are you saying that every time Kali appears, that woman’s guide dies or is severely injured?”
The woman sitting next to the man scoffed along. Choi Bo-mi looked as if she wanted to grab her head and slam it onto the desk.
“Yoon Tae-ha might have contacted the chimera research lab to evacuate them. The very lab Alpha Team was supposed to attack, I mean. It is indeed suspicious that not a single researcher or test subject was left. The scale wasn’t insignificant either.”
The Mobile Command Team seemed determined to put Yoon Tae-ha on the suspect list and discredit her. Choi Bo-mi did her best to assert her alibi, but the opinion that an alibi was meaningless for an agent capable of teleportation was strong.
The first meeting concluded when Choi Bo-mi’s face turned beet red with rage. The very next day, a search party, equally composed of Espers from the Mobile Command Team and Alpha Team, entered the forest.
The search continued for several days. But there was no progress. In the meantime, the situation worsened. Eom Byeong-wook mentioned the disappearance of Yeo Su-min and Oliver Cornet.
He revealed that Yeo Su-min disappeared immediately after receiving Gaia’s order to assist Yoon Tae-ha, looking even more serious. It was at that moment that some of Alpha Team’s agents began to feel confused. Baek Sang-ho warned them,
“I can’t control what you think inside, but showing it on the outside is a different story. Just try to show doubt towards a teammate in front of all these outsiders.”
“Yoon Tae-ha is an associate, though.”
“Then why isn’t she returning? Eom Byeong-wook thinks she might have already escaped the Green Sea.”
Suspicion and distrust deeply permeated Alpha Team. Like getting drenched by an invisible, fine rain, they were increasingly listening to the Mobile Command Team’s arguments. The powerlessness of losing a colleague and the guilt of not being able to prevent Iroa’s death had created a vulnerability in their hearts.
Time passed, and it was the night the search party returned from the forest. Smoke rose from the somewhat restored camp to prepare dinner. Just then, a military doctor with an urgent face opened the tent where the injured were staying and called for Oh Ki-cheol.
Oh Ki-cheol, who had been monitoring how Ark’s Mobile Command Team was operating, sprang up from his seat as soon as he heard the military doctor’s whisper. Cheon Geon-yeong had regained consciousness.
________________________________________
Cheon Geon-yeong opened his eyes, pressed by a strange sensation.
A white ceiling greeted him. He was lying on a sofa. Raising his body, Cheon Geon-yeong immediately realized that this was not reality. His hands were very small, like a child’s, and clean without a single scar.
Just then, he heard the sound of slippers shuffling from behind. He quickly got up from the sofa. And as he turned to look at where he had been lying, he was greatly shocked.
His childhood self was sitting there, swinging his legs that didn’t reach the floor. It was very strange to be able to look at his past self like a third party.
The man who approached, wearing slippers, was completely unaware of Cheon Geon-yeong’s presence. He sat beside the boy.
<“Everyone becomes like this at first. They scream that they’re dizzy, vomit, and sometimes even faint. But there’s nothing wrong with your body, so don’t worry. The Chairman had an urgent matter and had to leave. I’ll send you home safely, so don’t worry.”>
The man was Yoon Jung-hoon. He looked a little younger and healthier than when Cheon Geon-yeong had met him after he developed flame immunity.
<“You endured well, Geon-yeong.”>
Cheon Geon-yeong’s innate sensory abilities in his physical body told him that this was not reality, but some point in his memory.
For a hallucination, Professor Yoon seemed solid. But when he blinked, the surrounding background and objects began to melt and collapse like water-soaked paper.
A moment later, Cheon Geon-yeong was standing in a different place. The benevolent-faced Professor Yoon had transformed into a woman in a white gown. Young Cheon Geon-yeong, clutching a large teddy bear in his arms, was walking down a corridor behind her.
<“Since it’s swimming day today, let’s leave your doll in the waiting room.”>
<“She’s my friend, a birthday present.”>
<“No one will take her if you leave her here. It would be a problem if she got wet, wouldn’t it?”>
At that, young Cheon Geon-yeong pouted disapprovingly but eventually followed the researcher’s words. Just before entering the room, the boy neatly placed his doll on a chair in the waiting room. Then he opened the door and disappeared.
Cheon Geon-yeong followed the boy, then suddenly turned at a small sound. He saw a small girl, with a white towel wrapped around her head, turning her head back and forth as she ran into the waiting room.
<“Oppa Hae-kyung! Did you hide here?”>
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