Chapter 88

Chapter 7 Masked Ball (4)

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The professor began to find Jack's mask-like smile increasingly repulsive.

“Is this... a suggestion? Or an order?”

“Hahaha, of course it’s a suggestion. You don’t have to take it so seriously.”

“Sorry, but even I, who am rather insensitive, can tell this is odd. Do all the people who come out of the Dome work this way? Deciding everything from start to finish and then just informing us?”

Ian kicked the box containing the uniforms, knocking it over.

[Havven]

[Ian]

[Vex]

The names on the military uniforms that spilled out of the fallen box were clearly visible.

They were name tags sewn on with thread, not written with paint or ink. This meant that the three of us were presumed to accept this mission from the beginning.

“I don’t like it. Telling a discharged person to put on a uniform again? Jack, right? You’ve never been in the military, so you don’t know how terrifying a suggestion that is.”

Ian stood beside the professor, showing strong resistance, and the people around them were gradually turning their attention to this side.

“Oh... Everyone is taking it so negatively. As I said before, it’s just a suggestion. If you really can’t do it... there’s nothing I can do. However,”

Rustle.

Jack took out one of the military uniforms from the box Vex had neatly arranged and said,

“When Old Picture goes on a rampage, the people who provided the cause become the ‘main actors,’ which has a certain punitive meaning. You could be killed by it, you know. If you avoid that punishment... there will be various disadvantages. For example, we might demand compensation from the BDSM caravan for the repairs here and the delay in the operation, or consider you as a hostile group and impose a trade ban in the nearby areas. Most importantly, you would be expelled from Sector 47. One mistake is an accident, but two is intentional, they say. Who knows? If Professor Park, who has been involved with Old Picture twice, has other intentions and is deliberately causing terrorist acts in Sector 47, which is under the Dome’s control? What if it turns out that ‘Professor Park’ harbors a deep grudge against the Dome?”

A fake smile hung on Jack’s snake-like face, hiding a dark malice beneath.

He knew about the incident five years ago involving the Dome and me.

As soon as the decision was made, the professor’s face also bore a fake smile, similar to Jack’s.

It’s foolish to give information to the enemy, even if it’s something as trivial as a mood or emotional state.

“Hah.”

The professor smiled, trying to create the most detached expression from his true feelings.

“You know everything, don’t you? Then why all this unnecessary talk about suggestions and whatnot? You could have just said, ‘If you don’t want to be kicked out, just bow your head nicely.’”

“Until now, I’ve been quite generous, haven’t I? In fact, there were many objections within the Dome to keeping you alive. They thought there was no need to keep someone who had already turned hostile and risk creating a problem. According to the records from five years ago, one of the high-ranking officers in the Enforcement Department strongly opposed it, and it was decided to leave you alone as long as you didn’t show any hostility towards the Dome. That officer, who defended you, suffered a significant political setback and was soon ousted. Well, comradeship. A heartwarming story, isn’t it?”

High-ranking officer in the Enforcement Department.

Someone who could have defended me when I fled with my mother.

Comradeship.

-----

‘You’ve really improved, Havven.’

‘It’s been about three or four months since I was discharged.’

‘I had no choice. I didn’t know you were my mother. I have... a daughter and a wife here.’

-----

“Ruel Bartos.”

Five years ago, Ruel Bartos, my comrade, threw me the documents detailing the horrific acts the Dome committed against my mother, apologized, and fled.

“He was a foolish man. The 14th Special Operations Unit was treated like gods by civilians at the time. If he had just stayed in the Enforcement Department and used his strong and upright image, he could have easily become the head of the department by now.”

“What happened to him?”

Swish.

“Havven, here.”

“Hmm? Ah, thanks. I was just thinking about it. When did you get it?”

“Since Joga kicked the box, the two of us agreed. The atmosphere was tense, so we thought we should have a weapon that the enemy doesn’t know about. An ambush starts from outside the enemy’s awareness, right?”

The professor tore a small part of the military pants and hooked the large sword Vex had slipped him inside.

“People in the wasteland are either quick with their hands or their minds. Both is better. Hey! Over there! Anyone, look at this! You’re so absorbed in the props! A large sword! Can you take responsibility? If the details are messed up and that monster eats us, and the Dome’s project fails!”

After Jack left, the people who had been cautiously observing began to move. One of them approached and, seeing the empty spot where the large sword should have been, soon brought a new one to the group.

“By the way, the fact that it’s called a ‘surface’ suggests that it’s not really that democratic, right?”

“Of course. The Dome, known for its secretive and dirty tactics, is selecting a leader for one of its factions. The lower-class people in the Underdome don’t even have the chance to vote, and the votes of ordinary people living above are only about 4-5%. The remaining 95% is decided by the upper echelons of the Dome, the influential people.”

In reality, it’s more like an oligarchy in ancient Rome. The upper echelons of the Dome, like the noble families of the Middle Ages, revere those who bring them the most benefits.

“So, as long as we’re in Sector 47... we have no choice but to be dragged around by these guys? Seriously, Professor, are you serious!”

“If we fall out of favor with the Dome, we won’t be able to live anywhere properly.”

“So, we have to live like this? If we don’t want to die, we have to obediently do what they tell us and live like dogs on a leash? Bullshit. I’d rather we three run for the rest of our lives...!”

What an amusing guy. His emotions are all over his face. He seems quite disappointed by my bowing to the Dome. Yet, he refers to running as ‘the three of us.’ Should I call him foolish or loyal?

“Am I crazy? If this was a done deal, I would have torn Jack’s head off and stormed the Dome without a second thought. I’m just pretending to comply because I have a plan.”

“Pretending?”

“Yeah, man.”

Clunk clunk.

Clang! Clang!

The professor, now fully dressed in the uniform, looked at the people around him who were trying to make the place look more like a battlefield.

“This will definitely fail. The Enforcement Department will fall from this project.”

Educating Old Picture? What a joke. The Enforcement Department, being mostly composed of powerful forces and combat personnel, must have lacked research personnel. That’s why they’re proceeding with this operation as if it’s a farce.

When the Inspection Department mobilized all the research personnel from the Administrative Department to understand the monster’s behavior and successfully trapped it in the model garden with an airtight plan, 127 people officially died. No matter how much it follows certain rules like a psycho gang, Old Picture is a mutant. It’s not something that can be handled with ordinary acting.

Teaching such a creature to be controllable? And this is a hastily put together operation before the election. It’s so absurd that I can’t help but laugh. It must mean the Enforcement Department’s situation is not good.

“That guy said earlier, the Dome is not easy to climb back up once you fall, and they won’t just leave you alone.”

The smug look on his face as he announced Ruel’s death like a victorious survivor.

“I really hate the Dome, but I’m more than willing to help take down those fallen Enforcement Department friends. If you don’t let me, I’ll pay to join.”

I want to see their faces, now at the bottom, completely shattered. I’ll spit on those wrinkled faces, call out my mother’s name, and dance while mutilating their corpses.

“Fall as far as I have, bastards. I’ll make sure to treat you properly.”

[Chuckle]

The professor swallowed the old anger that had resurfaced and recalled Ruel’s documents, which were still vivid in his memory after all these years.

Three researchers from the Administrative Department. Five corrupt information officers from the Inspection Department. And...

=====

Enforcement Department: Ruel Bartos

Enforcement Department: Adler Kiel

Enforcement Department.

Enforcement Department.

Enforcement Department.

Enforcement Department.

,

,

,

,

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Enforcement Department, 73 people.

“While a gentleman’s revenge is said to take ten years, I’m not a gentleman... five years seems enough to me.”

Screech!

At exactly 12:00, a psychic wave that sounded like scraping glass echoed through the entire central area.

“Let’s go, friends. We don’t want to be late for the Enforcement Department’s teleportation party.”

Old Picture starts patrolling the model garden at 12:00. There’s still some time before we reach the prepared stage, so they’ll likely start briefing us on how to handle it.

'The Enforcement Department is completely wrong about the 3rd type mutant. It means they didn’t share information properly with the Inspection Department, who led the previous Old Picture project. The political conflicts within the Dome are more serious than I thought.'

This project will definitely fail. Sector 47 will lose Old Picture, the security officer who periodically eliminated naturally occurring psycho gangs and other mutants, and someone will have to bear the blame.

‘I’ll follow their orders for now, but I don’t want to die, and I don’t want to let the other two die either. I need to move desperately.’

The operation must be carried out perfectly to avoid any criticism. If even a minor mistake is made, the Enforcement Department will blame the professor’s group for the failure.

All the blame must fall on the incompetence of the Enforcement Department.

“So, I’ll do my best. Go ahead and use me as you wish! Even though I’m known as a man of impossibilities, who knows? I might even create a miracle!”

Screech!

As if in response to the professor’s resolve, the psychic wave of Old Picture echoed from afar.

***