The Weapon Genius: Anything I Hold Can Kill-Chapter 176: Old Allies, New Blood

The station was louder than Jin remembered.

Not in a chaotic way—just alive. Busy. Echoes of training calls from the courtyard, the low hum of power conduits running through reinforced walls, and the clatter of weapons being checked and rechecked by patrols that passed every few minutes. System lights flickered above hallways made from salvaged steel and scavenged architecture, now reinforced with glowing glyphs and defense modules.

It felt like a real stronghold.

Not just a place to survive.

A place to push forward.

Jin walked just behind Ryu, the rest of his group fanned out loosely behind him. Seul kept her eyes sharp on every corner, her boots silent on the worn concrete. Joon craned his neck at the massive plasma-core generator embedded into the left wall like a trophy, whistling under his breath.

"I see you’ve been busy," Joon said, brushing ash off a rail as they passed a side corridor. "You installed a whole lot of interesting stuff while we were gone."

Ryu gave a faint grin over his shoulder. "Only the basics. Most of it’s patchwork. System dumped a lot of upgrade options once we passed a few territory milestones."

"Still," Echo added, eyes scanning every hallway they passed, "this place was just a regular police station last time I saw it. Now it looks like a bunker."

"We built what we had to," Ryu said simply. "And with what’s coming, it’s still not enough."

They passed a group of younger fighters running a sparring drill in a sunlit atrium—none of them older than twenty. One paused to nod at Ryu, nearly missing a parry in the process.

Hanuel drifted up beside Jin, brows slightly raised. "This used to be your safe zone?"

Jin nodded. "Our first one. Back when the system fell."

"Wow," Areum murmured, taking in the reinforced glass over the ceiling and the small armory visible behind a locked gate. "This is impressive."

" It is," Seul said quietly.

They passed another hall before Ryu finally slowed in front of a secured checkpoint flanked by two steel-banded doors.

"Wait here a sec."

He stepped ahead, fingers brushing a glowing plate embedded near the edge of the door. A pulse of light ran through the wall, and a moment later, the steel twisted—not opened. Shifted. Like it had melted to one side and cooled again.

"Got tired of hinges," Ryu said. "Melting doors is cooler."

The group followed him through.

They entered a long corridor with thick lights hanging low from the ceiling and another set of doors waiting at the far end. As they passed through, a voice spoke from behind them.

"Ryu."

It was low. Smooth. And slightly amused.

Everyone turned.

A figure leaned against the wall by a supply locker, arms crossed loosely over her chest. Pale eyes, sharp jawline, and a frame lean like a coiled whip.

Seul’s body went rigid.

Echo blinked.

"Oh no," Joon muttered.

Jisoo Kwak pushed off the wall and started walking toward them. The coat she wore was black and sleeveless, marked with faded red thread near the edges. A whip—no, a coil—hung looped at her side like it was alive, faint wisps of violet shimmer running along its spine.

She didn’t look like a prisoner anymore.

She looked like someone who could put one in the ground.

"Well," she said, smirking faintly. "Didn’t think I’d be seeing this crew again."

Her eyes passed over Echo, Joon, then Seul. She lingered on Jin for a moment longer. Not with hatred. Not even tension.

Curiosity, maybe.

And then her gaze slid over the new faces—Yujin, Hanuel, Jisoo Oh, and Areum.

"Huh," she murmured, smiling faintly. "You have a larger team now."

She didn’t say it with malice or mockery—just quiet interest, her eyes drifting over each of the new arrivals as if mentally cataloging threat levels.

"Guess I should reintroduce myself," she said, tone casual. "Jisoo. Kwak, if we’re being formal."

"Wait," Echo said, blinking as he looked over to their own Jisoo. "That’s your name, too?"

Joon turned toward their team’s Jisoo and raised an eyebrow. "This is going to get confusing real fast."

Yujin snorted. "Do we nickname one of them or just let the chaos happen?"

Jisoo Oh crossed her arms, gaze steady. "If anyone tries to call me anything weird, I’m stabbing them."

"See," Areum muttered, deadpan. "They’re definitely different."

Jisoo Kwak chuckled. "Relax. I won’t claim the name. I lost the right to act proud of it a while ago."

Seul glanced her way but didn’t comment. Neither did Jin.

The air hung just long enough for everyone to feel it—history, tension, the edge of something once sharp dulled by time.

Then Ryu’s voice broke through.

"Cells are down this way. Let’s drop off the ones you brought."

Behind them, the three attackers still floated mid-air, unconscious and suspended by Seul’s subtle gravity control. They drifted with awkward, half-spun rotation, like puppets half-forgotten.

Seul flicked her wrist, tightening their orientation. "Lead the way."

They followed Ryu deeper into the station, down a corridor that sloped slightly to the left and dimmed as they walked. System runes along the wall pulsed every few seconds, casting rhythmic glows across the concrete.

"Security wing?" Echo asked.

"More or less," Ryu replied. "We expanded it with some of the system upgrade points. Doesn’t just hold people—it monitors for breach attempts, scans for item presence, and floods the hallway with tear gas if something goes wrong."

"System tear gas?" Joon echoed, grinning. "You always had a flair for dramatic defense."

Ryu smirked but didn’t argue.

As they turned a corner, they reached a bulkier door reinforced with pulsing metal lines. Two people were stationed just outside, but it was the third figure leaning against the far wall who caught Jin’s attention.

Tall. Muscled. Scar visible along his chest even through his sleeveless tunic. A sword—long, straight-edged, and resting in a vertical sheath—hung at his side.

Hanseong.

Hanseong’s gaze flicked up the moment they arrived, falling on the floating prisoners first, then slowly tracking up to meet Jin’s eyes.

Jin nodded once.

Hanseong didn’t move. Didn’t shift his weight. Just studied him for a long moment.

"You’re back," he said.

"Looks like it," Jin replied.

Hanseong’s tone was neutral. Not cold, not warm. But something unreadable still hung in the space between them.

Yujin gave a subtle glance toward Jin. "Friend of yours?"

Hanseong’s gaze drifted toward her, then back to Jin.

"We’ve met."

Jin didn’t flinch. "Not under the best circumstances."

Hanseong’s mouth twitched, but not quite into a smile. "You nearly gutted me."

"You were trying to kill my team," Jin replied calmly. "We’re past that now."

Hanseong gave a slow nod. "Yeah. I guess we are."

It wasn’t forgiveness. But it wasn’t bitterness either. Just fact.

Ryu gestured to the side, where three reinforced containment cells hummed to life with a low pulse of energy. "Let’s lock these guys down."

Seul flicked her wrist, lowering the gravity field slightly. The three unconscious prisoners hit the ground in awkward, boneless thuds. Han stepped forward, producing a compact set of black-capped restraints from a nearby case.

"System cuffs," he said, holding one up as the metal split into separate segments. "Keyed to suppress aura flow and disable external summons. Once they’re on, they’re not going anywhere."

With practiced efficiency, they moved the bodies—one per cell. Han clamped the restraints on each of their wrists, behind their backs, locking them against recessed slots in the cell walls. Each cell sealed with a low thunk, transparent barriers sliding into place.

Joon tilted his head. "You guys always had nice toys."

Han gave him a flat look. "We earned these the hard way."

When the last of the prisoners was secured, Ryu turned toward the group. "That’s done."

Jin looked toward the door. "Now for the part I actually came for. We need to talk business."

Ryu studied him for a second, then gave a single nod.

"Leader to leader, then."

He glanced over his shoulder. "You all head up. Cafeteria should still be serving. Tell them I said to stack the plates."

Echo gave a small salute and turned for the door. "Finally."

"Don’t hog the rice cakes," Seul warned, smacking him lightly on the shoulder as she followed.

Yujin, Jisoo, and the others filtered out, footsteps fading up the corridor. Ryu lingered a moment, watching them go, then turned back to Jin.

"Come on."

They left the cell block behind, passing through a side corridor that led toward the more secure areas of the station. Unlike the open commons above, these hallways were narrower, walls reinforced with etched metal and system-lit indicators. Quiet. Private.

They stepped into a room that looked more like a war cabinet than an office. A wide, table-sized interface sat in the center, its surface displaying a paused map of the surrounding territory. Several chairs lined one side, a few half-folded notepads and empty cups scattered around from earlier briefings.

Ryu shut the door behind them, the soft hiss sealing the room.

"Alright," he said, turning to face Jin directly. "We’ve shared food. Helped each other once or twice. But you didn’t drag your crew all the way here for memories."

"No," Jin agreed. "This is about something bigger."

Ryu motioned to the chairs. "Then let’s talk."