Seo-Yeon continued to track down Seong-Hwi despite the pursuit being officially over. She recalled what he had whispered to her.

“Don’t trust Kim Seo-Gyeong. Don’t trust anyone. It’s easy, right? It’s what you always do, after all. Oh, and...”

What did he mean by that? What do you know, Cheon Seong-Hwi? Seo-Yeon wondered.

His words were stuck in her head. Seo-Gyeong, her stepbrother, was the man she trusted most and was the only remaining family member she had. Although they were not blood-related, their bond was thicker than blood.

She initially thought Seong-Hwi was trying to break her bond with her stepbrother, but couldn’t see how he would benefit from it. He had a first-class murder license, freeing him from the spec force’s pursuit.

Once the seed of doubt was sown, she observed her surroundings more carefully and found a clue from an unexpected source.

“Lalisa... Braga!” Seo-Yeon mumbled, gritting her teeth as she glared at the alley.

Lalisa was a specialist with a psychometry ability; she burned an individual’s strand of hair and inhaled the smoke to view their memories from up to twenty-four hours before.

Seo-Yeon suddenly became suspicious of her team member and friend one day. Not only did Lalisa regularly trim Seo-Yeon’s hair, but she also playfully, or coincidentally, burned the hair she had just cut. Seo-Yeon thought it was just a joke from a good friend, but she suddenly became suspicious of her actions.

She had secretly tailed Lalisa for a month and discovered something at last.

“Xin and Geng... Clan Heavenly Stems!”

Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding, Wu, Ji, Geng, Xin, Ren, and Gui were codenames for the members of Clan Heavenly Stems.

“She said she wasn’t affiliated with any clan... She lied!”

Thinking back on it now, every pursuit team wanted Lalisa because of her rare specialist psychometry ability. Even the leader of Pursuit Team 1 personally scouted Lalisa, but she chose Team 5 because she felt more comfortable under a female team leader.

Even if that were the case, the leader of Team 3 is also a woman. I should’ve noticed!

Lalisa’s objective had been to keep an eye on Seo-Yeon up close. Her ability was specialized for such missions, after all.

But why? Who could have given her the order?

She could infer the answer.

“Heavenly Stems is an affiliate of Clan Earthly Branches... whose clan leader is Seo-Gyeong oppa. That means...” Seo-Yeon trailed off in disbelief at the truth. “Oppa... Why?”

***

“Hah, I’ll never talk! I’d rather die than betray the family!” yelled a South American man with dreads and piercings all over his face, tied to a chair in a dark room.

A white-haired old man in a tidy tailcoat stood before him. He was Gerard D’Armont.

“Is that right? You must be accustomed to pain, young man.”

“Kekekek! Of course, I am. Do you want to know what I used to be on Earth? I was a member of the disposal squad in the Argentinian gang, Halliche!”

The man’s name was Nazzareno Votto. He had joined a criminal organization at a young age and had committed various evil acts.

“Untie me this instant, geezer! If you don’t, I’ll kill your family! You think I’d stop at killing them? I’ll make them feel endless humiliation, agony, and mortification before I do them the favor of killing them!”

Nazzareno’s eyes were those of an average killer—filled with filthy, stinking bloodlust. However, Gerard couldn’t be calmer under such bloodlust.

“You seem to have killed a few people. I can see it in your eyes,” Gerard remarked.

“Kekek! I have the Hundred-Man Killer trait. Do you understand the situation you’re in now?”

“A hundred, eh?” Gerard smiled chillingly, widely enough that his canine teeth showed. He grabbed Nazzareno’s shoulder and continued, “So, you’re small fry.”

“What did you say, you demented geezer?! Let go of me!”

“0.1 second.”

“What?”

“I will add 0.1 second each time you fail to answer my questions.”

“What the fuck are you ta—Gasp!”

Nazzareno locked eyes with Gerard’s blood-red eyes.

I-I can’t... move! he said inwardly.

The pressure was so overwhelming that he couldn’t move an inch. He felt like a fly stuck in a flytrap, an ant stuck in an antlion pit, or a butterfly stuck in a spiderweb.

Is this... bloodlust? How could someone have this kind of bloodlust?!

“Endure it the best you can,” Gerard said with a smile as he activated a trait.

[Activating Trait: Ten Thousand-Man Killer.]

[The Ten Thousand-Killing Aura permeates the target’s body.]

“Gurgh!”

Nazzareno took a trip to hell and back for 0.1 second and experienced ten thousand kinds of pain—stabs, lacerations, cuts, trauma, severance, contusions, ruptures, fractures, frostbite, burns, gunshot, and much more. Countless pains whittled down not only Nazzareno’s body but his soul as well.

Nazzareno convulsed intensely as filth spewed from all his orifices, instantly filling the dark room with a putrid stench.

“Who hired you?” Gerard asked.

“Gurhhh...” Nazzareno was in no condition to answer.

Gerard said with shame, “0.2 seconds.”

“Urgh... GAAAH!”

***

Gerard walked along the hallway toward the cafe terrace as he wiped his hands with a handkerchief. Jurie always drank coffee at the cafe terrace lately. Gerard couldn’t be happier since she stopped drinking alcohol constantly as she had before. In that sense, he was grateful to Seong-Hwi, albeit he disliked him in many other ways.

He arrived at the cafe terrace and basked in the sunlight after spending time in the dark basement.

“You’re back, Gramps. How did it go? Did he talk?” asked Jurie, sitting on a chair as her blonde hair fluttered and her blue eyes shone beautifully under the sunlight.

Gerard smiled and answered, “Yes, my lady. He was a very kind young man.”

“Really? Which clan is he affiliated with?”

“According to him, Clan Heavenly Stems.”

“Heavenly Stems? Isn’t that clan an affiliate of Earthly Branches? Hmm... Shall I try shaking the tree a little?”

Jurie rapidly tapped on her smartphone, and Gerard quietly walked behind Jurie to put away the empty coffee cup.

***

“Hahaha! Thank you, Mr. Smith. We couldn’t have reclaimed Djibouti without you,” a middle-aged man in light armor and a bow on his back said as he bowed to Seong-Hwi.

He was Jang Mun-Gyu, the leader of the intermediate clan, Bullseye. He had hired Seong-Hwi to defeat Anguis, the Named Chaos occupying Djibouti, an unclaimed city in the third zone.

“It’s nothing. You paid me, after all,” replied Seong-Hwi, who undoubtedly looked like a white man through the item skill, Myriad Faces.

Mun-Gyu’s eyes shone as he asked, “Would you like to join Clan Bullseye, Mr. Smith? We have a vision! We plan to establish a professional training facility in Djibouti that develops archers! As you know, good archers are a dime a dozen. Clan Bullseye wishes to raise professional archers, dispatch them to areas with many Lambs, and systematically train them to expand our clan.”

“Oh? Sounds like a good idea.”

“You think so too? If you join us, I am prepared to offer you as many Coins as you’d like and give you an advisor position in our clan!” Mun-Gyu desperately appealed.

He thought, If he joins us, our clan’s power will skyrocket!

Seong-Hwi smiled and said inwardly, This is already the fifth.

He had been offering his services to clans undergoing city reclamations for the right price. The jobs involved things the clan lacked the power to do, such as boss raids.

He did not use the Wings of Evolution, only using the Two-Line Hwando and Chok Chun-Gyong’s exclusive skill, Chok’s National Sword Technique, but that was more than enough. Because of that, he received scout offers from every clan he assisted.

“My apologies. I don’t want to be tied down,” Seong-Hwi replied.

“I see...” Mun-Gyu expressed disappointment, but immediately fixed his expression and smiled. “In that case, please remember us at Clan Bullseye. I would love to work with you again in the future.”

“I will.” Seong-Hwi nodded and looked behind him at the lifeless warp gate user he had hired from Clan Taxi. “Hey, it’s time to go to the next location.”

“S-sir... Could you give me a break? I don’t have the mana to—”

Seong-Hwi interjected, “What are you talking about? I hired you for three weeks. I’ve already paid the Coins.”

“Hurgh! I never thought we’d be going around this much!” shouted Duke, a driver of Clan Taxi, desperately as he stared at his monstrous client.

He initially thought it was a golden opportunity, so he grabbed the job worth five million Coins before anyone else to be an exclusive driver for three weeks. Clan Taxi acted as an intermediary between drivers and clients, taking ten percent as commission. Even if the clan took ten percent, the driver would still earn 4.5 million Coins.

The client’s only condition was that the period between Warp Gate uses be no more than three days. Duke was a B-rank driver, so he could easily clear that condition. On top of that, he rejoiced once he heard that his client, Smith, had hired him to go to unclaimed cities to take on clan requests.

Since city reclamations were difficult, Duke expected to use his Warp Gate no more than twice. However, his client exceeded his expectations and finished the requests of five clans in only fifteen days.

“This is the fifth one! Hurgh! Do you know how much energy it takes to open a warp gate?”

“How should I know? I can’t use the skill. That’s why I hired you. Let’s go already. If I lose profits because you wasted my time, I will file a complaint with Clan Taxi to have your pay reduced.”

“Urgh! You’re the Devil!” Duke shouted in tears and squeezed out his mana. He felt like he was losing excessive weight, and his hair was falling out.

I’ll chase you to the depths of Hell to curse you if I start balding! Duke said inwardly.

He created a blue, oval warp gate. Seong-Hwi ignored the heavily panting Duke and walked inside.

He thought, About two more should be good. I’ve earned enough Karma. I’ll also reach one step higher once I absorb the genes Lina extracts.

***

A three-story building came crashing down on North Earth. It was the secret base of Clan Heavenly Stems.

“Get away! It’s coming down!”

“Ahhh! Who the hell did this?!”

“What a spectacle!”

Some ran away from the collapsing building while others watched. Seo-Gyeong was among the crowd with a stiff expression.

Someone arrived behind him, and he asked without looking back, “What is the meaning of this, Jia?”

“M-my sincerest apologies. We were no match for them,” Jia replied.

“Who were the culprits?”

“We... couldn’t identify them because they were all in black robes.”

“This is already the third attack. This confirms that someone is attacking Clan Heavenly Stems,” Seo-Gyeong said with certainty.

Jia, the leader of Clan Heavenly Stems, asked, “Could it have been the foxes?”

Seo-Gyeong thought momentarily and shook his head. “It’s only been three days since they were witnessed in the Capital. They couldn’t have settled in the Capital already, nor could they have found a clan to assist them. It can’t have been them.”

Despite that, Seo-Gyeong did not erase them from his list of suspects since the fox beastfolk from Fox Village would have the most cause for attacking Clan Heavenly Stems.

“Regardless... This attack is a declaration of war against Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, and I plan to accept it,” he remarked with a smile.

Just then, he heard a familiar voice. “Seo-Gyeong oppa?”

“Hm?” Seo-Gyeong turned around.

Jia was gone, and he saw his little sister Seo-Yeon. Seo-Yeon had arrived on the scene with her Pursuit Team 5.

Seo-Yeon? Why didn’t Lalisa contact me? I told her to let me know about any mission Seo-Yeon goes on, no matter what! he shouted inwardly as he frowned, displeased by the occurrence of an event out of his control.

Seo-Gyeong stared at the nervous Lalisa, her lips quivering as if wanting to say something.

“Why are you here, oppa?” Seo-Yeon asked.

Seo-Gyeong smiled softly as he turned to Seo-Yeon again and said, “I ran here after hearing the noise. It looks like someone blew up the building. There doesn’t seem to be any casualties, but the culprit aimed for a massacre. It’s a serious crime.”

“But you’re not part of a Pursuit team, oppa. Why would a member of the Extermination team go out of his way?” Seo-Yeon inquired.

“The spec force is one whole. I was free, so I rushed here for aid, and to help my beautiful little sister as a plus.”

Seo-Yeon remained silent as she stared intently at Seo-Gyeong. He couldn’t feel the usual warmth in her eyes.

“Why are you looking at me like that, Seo-Yeon? Is something wrong?”

“Did you not see the Network posts, oppa?”

“What?”

“Show him, Dicky,” Seo-Yeon said to her team member, Dicky, a smartphone D Weapon user.

Dicky, a red-haired, slender man, tapped on his smartphone and showed Seo-Gyeong the display.

“What could it be for you to—”

Seo-Gyeong froze as he read the screen’s contents, his eyes widening with each second.

Nazzareno Votto’s Shocking Confession!

Nazzareno Votto, a warp gate user and a member of Clan Heavenly Stems, made a shocking, issue-worthy confession. His confession is as follows:

“My name is Nazzareno Votto, a member of Clan Heavenly Stems. I would like to confess my sins to repent for my appalling crimes. My clan and I have been part of a top-secret mission for the past six months: to kidnap the fox beastfolk of Fox Village and transport them to the Capital. On top of that...”

...

The Tragedy of Fox Village.

Fox Village is a city in the northern second zone, which has been experiencing disappearances of fox beastfolk for the past six months. Fox beastfolk testimonies matched Nazzareno Votto’s confession in many ways, and...

...

The Brutality of Heavenly Stems! What about Earthly Branches?

If the brutalities that Clan Heavenly Stems caused are true, it is imperative that the Union actively get involved. We once condemned Clan Trophy’s atrocious acts and prepared for war against the goblins. However, the opposite may occur to us. To prevent that, there must be a thorough investigation of the facts, and...

...

Since Clan Heavenly Stems is an affiliate of Clan Earthly Branches, they are also under fire about whether they were involved. Clan Earthly Branches is led by the Ranker Kim Seo-Gyeong, 143rd in the human ranking, whose rank was updated twice, and...

“What the—?!”

Seo-Gyeong’s expression grew pale.

He shouted inwardly, Nazzareno Votto’s confession? What the fuck is this?! Is this a declaration of war? No! The war has already begun! We’ve lost the initiative!

The unidentified force attacking Clan Heavenly Stems had long since taken action. He had no idea how they found out, but information about the fox hunt had been released on the Network.

“It started being uploaded one at a time ten minutes ago. What is the meaning of this?” Seo-Yeon asked.

Seo-Gyeong’s smile was distorted, and his eyes twitched as if he had a magnesium deficiency.

“I don’t know anything about this, Seo-Yeon. Something has... gone wrong. Although Heavenly Stems is an affiliate of Earthly Branches, they are two separate clans,” he replied, taking immediate action.

They’ve got us. We must dump Heavenly Stems and hide from the public until their interest dies.

“Seo-Yeon, you trust me, don’t you? I swear I don’t know anything about this. I have to head to headquarters immediately,” Seo-Gyeong quickly said as he sprinted toward the Empire State Building.

Seo-Yeon stared at his back with a hardened expression.