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The largest conference hall in the Central Hub was full. Attendees sat behind tiered tables, listening intently to the speaker. Advanced equipment providing simultaneous interpretation was in their ears. Few people seemed bored.
Today’s speaker, who had the ability to captivate an audience, was Geum Gang-seop. Standing at the podium, he was engrossed in capturing the audience with his characteristically powerful voice.
“Nautilus City also recycles discarded plastics. The source of the plastic is the sea. The effort to reuse sea waste from the land to build the aquatic city existed from the very beginning of the project’s conception.”
Many people nodded their heads in agreement with Geum Gang-seop’s idea. Soon, environmentally friendly facilities built in this way appeared on screens placed on both sides.
Meanwhile, Seo Do-jin, who had come to the aquatic city as one of the representatives of the Korean office, was toying with the interpreter device with a bored expression. Baek Sang-ho, sitting next to him, looked quite focused.
Baek Sang-ho jotted down the Chancellor’s words on the tablet in front of him. Seo Do-jin, who peeked at it, frowned in displeasure and leaned back in his chair.
What was important to him was not the Chancellor in an expensive suit standing at the podium. It was Yoon Tae-ha, who had probably jumped into the swirling hot air of the vent by now.
She doesn’t like hot places. I wonder if she’s doing well without getting angry.
Geum Gang-seop had been in the conference room for an hour and had been talking about how to expand the aquatic city project for the past 20 minutes.
This was why the operation time was set for midday. Right now, Geum Gang-seop could not respond to any problem that arose immediately. His reaction would inevitably be delayed by a few minutes. And in operations where the operation time and the life of a field agent were closely linked, those few minutes could mean the difference between life and death.
The Chancellor’s speech continued smoothly. As time passed, Seo Do-jin put the interpreter device on the table, opened a bottle of water, and took a drink.
While pretending to drink water, he turned his head to the side to re-confirm the presence of Chairman Cheon Seong-beom sitting in the corner. Just then, one of the bodyguards positioned in front of the conference room wall touched the device in his ear.
Seo Do-jin’s sharp gaze immediately went to him. The bodyguard, frowning as if he had received some serious news, headed toward his superior. The superior who received the news was Eom Byeong-wook of the Special Operations Department.
He’s a Titan. Why is his gaze like that? Don't tell me they got caught.
The Chancellor was deeply immersed in his role as a speaker, making eye contact with the audience. Eom Byeong-wook seemed anxious, as if he wanted to convey what he had heard to the Chancellor. Seo Do-jin discreetly glanced at the area where the Union team agents were sitting.
Likewise, Guillermo, who was on surveillance duty, was getting up from his seat after asking his colleague for permission. Seo Do-jin’s and Guillermo’s gazes met in the air. Guillermo gave a subtle nod. It was a signal that he would also relay what he had seen to the outside.
Just you dare get hurt. Seo Do-jin clenched his jaw and looked straight ahead again, as if he had noticed nothing. At that moment, the Chancellor also spotted the Titan anxiously awaiting his master’s command and his mouth twitched.
Yoon Tae-ha moved around between the server equipment that rose high to the ceiling. The second-floor server room, which she had successfully entered, had an eerie atmosphere, like a library with the lights off. Small, multi-colored lights blinking at a regular speed shone like the luminous eyes of bats in a cave.
Her head was throbbing from the extreme temperature changes she had experienced while passing through the vent and the cooling tower. Yoon Tae-ha, who had kept her mouth tightly shut to prevent any sound from escaping, concentrated on Hong Eun-su’s voice in her ear.
— 211 section entry successful. Now find the T-50 in the 4th row from the east wall.
The office building where the employees worked and the computer room where the equipment was located were separated for security. There were no employees coming and going, and surveillance cameras were only installed at intersections, so it was not difficult to find the T-50 server by teleportation.
After a while, Yoon Tae-ha arrived at the designated location, took out a small camera from her pocket, and broadcast the server’s appearance. The agent from Changcheon, who received the data, took over the communication and told her what to do, step by step.
Following his instructions, she removed one layer of protection, entered the password on the protruding panel, and finally took out the server access device. She then plugged it into the recessed port.
There were five holes on the outside of the access device. The agent explained that for it to function normally, all five of these lights had to turn green.
The green lights filled up one by one, very slowly. Yoon Tae-ha watched as the lights filled from two to three, and from three to four, while staying alert to the sounds around her.
Finally, as if in response to her irregularly pounding heart, the last light turned on.
— Installation successful. Agent returns to the starting position.
Yoon Tae-ha finally sighed in relief and quickly tidied up the area. By the time the explanation that an allied data center employee would retrieve the access device separately after the work was done was coming through the communicator, she had already left the server room.
— I will first access the drone system on your route. The clothes you were wearing during the operation will be collected by a drone.
“What about the variable at the department store?”
— Eom Byeong-wook of the Special Operations Department is moving to the department store. His arrival time appears to be similar to yours.
I have to hurry. If the empty dressing room is discovered, everyone will be in trouble. She contacted Cheon Geon-young and asked him to choose an outfit that would be difficult to put on alone. He said he would, without asking for a reason.
Soon after, Yoon Tae-ha also threw herself into the cold air.
The boots of the field agents tapped the department store floor at a regular pace. Shopping customers noticed the men, dressed all in black like a special forces unit, and their eyes widened. Some customers, to get away from their intimidating presence, suddenly changed the path they were on.
“Did they get a report of a terrorist attack?”
“Then a siren should be going off.”
Ignoring the curious glances, Eom Byeong-wook gave an order to the agents of the Special Operations Department to scour the department store.
Due to the possibility that an enemy had infiltrated the aquatic city, a city-wide identity verification order was issued for all persons of interest currently staying in the city. Eom Byeong-wook and his subordinates were assigned Cheon Geon-young and Chimera.
He headed to the VIP lounge with four agents. As they got on the private elevator to the lounge, the male agent standing behind Eom Byeong-wook spoke cautiously.
“Do you think Cheon Geon-young caused this? If he was planning something suspicious, the Chimera would have reported it.”
“Any word from the data center?”
Eom Byeong-wook ignored the question and asked one of his own.
“Yes. They said there were no particular issues. The surveillance cameras are also clean. The propeller’s speed only slowed for about two seconds. There is an opinion that Gaia itself was testing a security protocol in preparation for a natural disaster due to recent rough waves.”
“Meaning the machine made a judgment that a person should have made.”
“Well, it is smart.”
“No matter how smart it is, it’s a machine without even sense organs.”
The elevator doors opened with a small sound. Eom Byeong-wook had not contacted the department store staff in advance. The employees sitting at the lounge's reception desk were greatly flustered and stood up.
“You can’t just enter here!”
“We are looking for Mr. Cheon Geon-young.”
A small commotion arose between those who wanted to enter and those who were blocking them. Just then, the lounge manager, his face pale, ran up from the end of the corridor.
He saw the agents, who looked ready to shoot people on sight, and firmly extended his arms to block their path.
“This is an obstruction of business. And a very expensive one that you will have to pay for.”
“We are looking for Mr. Cheon Geon-young. We know he’s here.”
The department store manager’s eyes widened.
“This is not acceptable. Have you already forgotten the agreement between Ark and our group? You clearly said you respected our business operations because they are our domain…”
Eom Byeong-wook gave a cold command to his subordinates.
“Find them even if you have to open all the doors. I don't care if they’re naked.”
“You’re, you’re out of your mind!”
All the employees at the reception desk were women. Even if there had been strong male employees, they couldn't have stopped the Espers from the Special Operations Department. Cold sweat beaded on the manager’s forehead. Eom Byeong-wook gave him two options.
“What customer isn’t precious? So, as the person in charge here, make a choice. Is it better to offend one customer, or to ruin the day for all the customers in the lounge?”
Unable to withstand the killing intent of the Esper, the manager dropped his arms weakly. The employee at the desk, understanding his intention, stammered out the location of Cheon Geon-young’s room to the agents. The agents took the lead. Eom Byeong-wook patted the manager on the shoulder and followed them.
When they arrived at the luxurious door, the agent in front stated their business stiffly. There was no knock.
“It's urgent. We’re going in.”
Without waiting for a reply, the agent flung the door open. Unfamiliar men poured into the open space, which was furnished like a reception room.
The room, with its curtains completely drawn, was empty. The agent who opened the door let out a low groan of dismay. Eom Byeong-wook’s face became colder than ever. The only things in the room were a few undressed mannequins.
“Issue a warrant immediately…”
Just then, a faint moan was heard from inside the dressing room on the opposite side of the mannequins. The door was slightly ajar. A nasal voice followed, allowing them to imagine what was happening in the dim space, along with the rustling of soft fabric and a clattering sound. The men’s faces instantly flushed.
The manager, who had followed them in, understood the situation and wore an expression as if he wanted to fall out the window and die. But he coughed loudly, like a true professional, so that the man and woman inside the dressing room could hear it. The sound of the cough, as loud as a car horn, made the rustling sounds from the dressing room stop.
A moment later, the dressing room door opened, and Cheon Geon-young came out, tidying the sleeves of his shirt. There were wrinkles on his forearm, as if someone had grabbed it tightly.
“I didn’t expect you to surprise us like this.”
Yoon Tae-ha also came out of the dressing room, making a sarcastic remark. She was wearing a dress with a zipper on the back, and her face was flushed red.
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