Chapter 608

“So the supplier has been coming once a week since two months ago?”

“Yes!”

“And their identity?”

“I only know they’re a sales rep from the shop that supplies the alcohol.”

Molina looked at Zeon with tears and snot running down her face.

Her expression was filled with fear.

She prided herself on having gone through all sorts of hardships, but the pain from earlier was something she never wanted to experience again.

The searing agony that rose from inside her body was not something a human could endure.

If she had to go through that kind of pain one more time, she felt like she would go insane.

Just being in the same space as Zeon made it hard to breathe.

“And the location of the shop?”

“It’s a secret.”

“A secret?”

“Ah, I don’t mean it’s my secret—the shop’s location itself is secret. They make and sell bootleg liquor, so it can’t be exposed.”

“Who would know the location?”

“The bartender oppa. He’s the only one who has external contact.”

“That’s just your guess, right?”

“Yes.”

“Not very useful.”

“Please, spare me. Please…”

Molina took Zeon’s words to mean he was going to kill her.

Her body trembled like a leaf as she cried. A damp liquid flowed down between her legs.

Overwhelmed by fear, she had wet herself.

Zeon clicked his tongue at the sight.

He had no intention of killing her, but she had already been consumed by her own assumptions.

Just then—

Bang!

“Nobody move!”

“What the hell is that?”

With a loud crash, shouting voices came from downstairs.

Zeon frowned and stepped outside.

“Arrest them all.”

“Uwaaa!”

As he came out into the hallway, the sounds from below became clearer.

The men who had been rolling around upstairs with prostitutes came out to see what was happening, only to turn pale.

“Shit! Isn’t that a raid unit?”

“Of all times? We’re screwed.”

They hurriedly got dressed and looked for a way out, but all the windows on this floor were sealed shut.

To prevent customers from running away without paying, every exit except the first floor had been blocked.

The only way out was to go downstairs.

Leaving the panicking men behind, Zeon went down to the first floor.

The pub floor had already turned into chaos.

“You dare sell drugs in the South District?”

“Kill anyone who resists.”

Awakened enforcers dispatched from the South District were beating down everyone inside the pub.

“You think we’ll just take it?”

“Die, you bastards!”

The guards fought back with everything they had.

They knew it too—

If they were captured by the South District’s Awakened, it meant death.

No matter how this happened, the South District Awakened had found out that drugs were being traded in the pub and had come.

Lying or making excuses wouldn’t work against them.

The only option was to break through and escape.

“Damn it! Where did the leak happen?”

The bartender muttered with a flustered expression.

Though he looked ordinary, he was actually a C-rank combat-type Awakened.

He could usually break through most situations by force, but today his opponent was bad.

“Of all people, it had to be that snake bastard.”

His gaze turned to the middle-aged man standing at the entrance with his arms crossed.

His sharply slit eyes and thin red lips stood out. His name was Paoshan.

An Awakened known as “Poison Snake” in the South District, he led the Punishment Unit.

The Punishment Unit was essentially a task force dedicated to crime.

They were responsible for finding and eliminating those who disrupted order in the South District.

Paoshan had detected something unusual in the South District just three days ago.

He had received information that drugs were spreading rapidly, centered around bars.

Knowing that once drugs spread, they became uncontrollable, Paoshan acted immediately.

“Get out of the way!”

One guard charged at Paoshan with fierce momentum.

In his hand was a large greatsword. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

He intended to stab through Paoshan and break past him.

“Insolent!”

In an instant, Paoshan moved his hand like lightning and grabbed the greatsword.

Not only did he catch the blade barehanded, he snapped it in half.

“Guhk!”

The guard’s eyes widened at the sight of his broken sword.

Paoshan drove the broken blade into his forehead.

Thud!

The guard died without even a scream.

Though he was a fairly capable Awakened, he was dealt with instantly.

That was how formidable Paoshan was.

Seeing this, the bartender’s expression twisted further.

‘Damn it!’

With Paoshan blocking the entrance, escaping that way was impossible.

“Argh!”

“Kek!”

Even at that moment, guards were collapsing with screams.

It was a fight they couldn’t win from the start.

Low-level Awakened lurking in the back alleys were no match for the South District’s elite.

“Is it… over?”

Despair began to surface on the bartender’s face.

That was when—

He noticed something strange.

The customer he had sent upstairs with Molina earlier was doing something odd halfway up the stairs.

He had placed his hand on the wall and closed his eyes.

“Has he gone crazy?”

With no escape upstairs, it seemed like he had lost his mind.

But then something unbelievable happened.

Crack—

The thick concrete wall crumbled like sand, revealing a hidden space behind it.

Despite running this place for so long, he had never imagined such a space existed behind the stair wall.

The man stepped straight into it.

“Shit!”

There was no time to think.

The bartender instinctively followed him inside.

Behind the wall was a passage leading underground.

The foul stench wafting from within suggested it was a sewer line.

The man entered without hesitation.

The bartender hurried after him.

“Hey! Let’s go together.”

“If you want to live, follow quietly.”

The man who answered irritably was none other than Zeon.

For Zeon, locating the underground sewer wasn’t difficult.

He had deliberately opened the wall where the bartender could see.

Unaware of this, the bartender followed without suspicion.

“So you’re an Awakened. Do you have a detection-type skill?”

“I said be quiet.”

“Sorry! Just curious.”

“I’m a Pathfinder.”

“Ah! That’s how you found the route so easily.”

The bartender immediately understood.

Pathfinders were an extremely rare class.

They led expeditions or caravans, finding paths, and all of them possessed detection skills and strong combat ability.

For such a Pathfinder, finding an escape route in an unfamiliar pub wasn’t difficult.

“Looks like I got lucky. With you, finding a way out should be easy, right?”

“Stop talking. I need to focus to find the path, so shut up.”

“Ah! Sorry.”

At Zeon’s irritation, the bartender shut his mouth.

Then—

“There’s a passage here.”

“Catch the rats that escaped!”

Voices from the Punishment Unit echoed from the entrance they had used.

They had discovered the passage and were pursuing them.

At a fork in the sewer, Zeon deliberately made a conflicted expression.

The bartender couldn’t hold back anymore.

“What’s wrong? Can’t find the way?”

“I said be quiet.”

“No, I’m just in a hurry. What’s the problem?”

“I can’t decide which way to go.”

“What do you mean?”

“If we go right, it seems like it leads east. If we go left, it might connect north.”

“Then go left.”

“Why?”

“If we get out north, there’s a liquor supplier I know. That bastard will hide us.”

“A liquor supplier?”

“The one who supplies our pub. If we go there, we’ll be safe.”

“Okay.”

Zeon nodded and moved into the left passage.

The sewer was dark and complex like an anthill.

No matter how good one’s sense of direction was, it was useless here.

The bartender felt intense fear.

If he lost Zeon, he felt like he’d wander here for days and starve to death.

He hurried along to keep up.

Though several forks appeared, Zeon chose without hesitation.

The bartender followed blindly.

At some point, the sounds of their pursuers disappeared.

They had given up the chase in the maze-like tunnels.

But it was too soon to relax.

They were still underground, and if Zeon failed to find the exit, they’d be trapped.

Then Zeon suddenly stopped.

“What is it?”

“That drug.”

“Huh?”

“It worked well.”

The bartender immediately understood.

“You want more?”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t have any right now. I escaped in a hurry and couldn’t bring it.”

“Damn it!”

“But don’t worry. Once we get to the supplier, I can give you some. He’s the one who supplies me.”

“Really?”

“Of course. Trust me.”

“It’s a promise?”

“Of course.”

The bartender nodded quickly.

As long as they got out of here, he didn’t care how much he gave Zeon.

In fact, Zeon’s attitude reassured him.

He had worried Zeon might betray him.

But now that he was clearly addicted, there was no chance of betrayal.

Zeon led the bartender through several more forks.

Finally, they reached their destination.

“This way leads to the northern area.”

“Damn, you’re amazing. Let’s get out already. I’m suffocating.”

“Yeah.”

With that, Zeon threw a punch.

Boom!

The wall shattered, revealing the outside.

The bartender stuck his head out and took a deep breath.

“Ha! I’m alive.”

After breathing nothing but foul air, the fresh outside air felt like heaven.

After taking in lungfuls, he came to his senses and looked around.

“It really is the northern area.”

He immediately recognized the location.

Turning to Zeon—

“The supplier’s nearby. Follow me!”

The bartender led Zeon to the liquor supplier.

The building was fairly large for the South District.

From the first to the fifth floor, it was secured with iron doors.

The bartender knocked on the door.

“Open up!”

“Who is it?”

A small window opened, revealing someone’s eyes.

“It’s me, Joe from the slums.”

“Bartender Joe? Why are you here?”

“The Punishment Unit raided the pub. Just let me in.”

“Is that true?”

“I barely escaped, so just open the door.”

“Got it.”

Clank!

The door opened.

Zeon followed the bartender inside with ease.

Inside, numerous people moved in an orderly, ant-like manner.

The smell of rotting monster carcasses mixed with chemical compounds filled the air.

‘So this is where the drugs are being made.’