Chapter 144: Star-forsaken Land (6)

Chapter 144: Star-forsaken Land (6)

Kurosaki Sosuke...

Yuij, who spat that name out of his mouth, had deep hatred glistening in his eyes.

"You want us to kill Kurosaki Sosuke?"

"Yes! I'll provide whatever assistance I can in order to kill him!" Yuji shouted while he was on his knees with a desperate voice.

"I-I may have been sent to a branch as I was deemed useless now... but I was the one who invented the device that makes 'nutrients' and worked directly under him for over a year! There are many things I can tell you!"

Ha-eun frowned at the pathetic plea.

"And how can we trust that you aren't saying this just to make it out of here alive?"

"I'm not saying this to survive. If you wish, you can hear the information you need and kill me on the spot."

There was no fear in his expression while he was bluntly telling another to kill him.

Ha-eun sighed with a perplexed expression.

"So, why are you going that far to try and kill Kurosaki Sosuke? Is it because he forcefully kidnapped and exploited you?"

"No."

Chewing his lips, Yuji continued as he looked like he was about to cry at any moment.

"I... I have a little sister."

His remaining arm trembled.

"Sosuke kidnapped my little sister and fed her 'Seahorse Poison' so that I wouldn't be able to use any underhanded moves."

"Seahorse poison?"

"It's a poison that causes death if one does not drink water that Sosuke himself makes once a week. He manages his subordinates by feeding them that poison so that they can never betray him."

"...Then you, too?"

Yuji nodded his head with a stiff face.

"Yes. Since I drank it three days ago... I'll die in four days."

The way he bluntly spoke about his death was still as dry as the desert.

"I don't mind. Even if it isn't in four days, I was destined to die to you people on this spot. However..."

He clenched his fists and continued in a shaking voice.

"My little sister... Please save my little sister! Kurosaki should be in possession of the antidote!"

Bang!—

Slamming the floor, he yelled.

"My little sister... Yoko, has done nothing wrong! E-Everything is my fault!! If... If only I didn't submit that thesis to the institute...!"

"What thesis are you talking about?" Sakaki, who was listening with a stiff face, asked.

"It's about... a method to artificially open a gate that leads to the sanctum in Japan."

—Artificially opening a gate to the sanctum.

—Reconstructing the Star-forsaken Land.

Would there be any other words that could be more tempting to the Japanese that were always looked down upon and ridiculed by nearby countries?

"I-Is there such a method?"

"Yes."

Yuji nodded his head that had shadows cast over it.

"It's possible if we obtain a gigantic potion and artificially create a dragon vien. Needless to say, the institute didn't receive it well, calling the thesis unrealistic, as the large-scale magic circle required an absurd amount of resources and manpower..."

"So someone who's trying to accomplish that unrealistic thing appeared."

"...Yes."

"Then this thing called 'nutrients' is also..."

"A liquid that is a substitute for the potion. Obtaining a potion that's several tonnes is something that's impossible for even a Seven Star, after all."

As Yuji said, no matter how low the quality of a potion made with starstones was, they were all still exchanged at a high price. It was realistically impossible to obtain a potion that amounted to several tonnes.

It was especially hard to supply potions in Japan, as their national power was hitting rock-bottom along with their name of 'Star-forsaken Land'.

'So is that why they made this device?'

Ohjin looked at the tubes installed in the basement and narrowed his eyes.

It felt like the fishy smell of blood was coming out of the tubes that were filled with clear water.

"...Crazy bastards."

Ha-eun ground her teeth and roughly kicked the tube.

"No matter the circumstances, does putting whole humans into this thing and melting them make any sense to you?!"

Ohjin smiled bitterly while looking at Ha-eun explode out in rage.

Would she know that the deeds they were committing were basically no different from what he did?

'She probably knows since I told her.'

However, she probably mistook him as a sort of hero who only killed the bad guys and took away their stigma as the reward.

'But that isn't it.'

Immoral or not didn't matter to him if it was beneficial.

The concept of good and evil was bound to be subjective, anyway.

Hunting down the Black Star Organization was just because the mana of the Black Stars they possessed was helpful for the growth of the Black Heaven.

'Well, if Ha-eun has that kind of misunderstanding...'

Becoming something called a 'Hero' didn't sound all that bad to him.

"So what information can you tell us?" Ohjin asked as he held back Ha-eun, who was kicking the tube with enough momentum to break it.

Yuji, who was kneeling down on the floor, slowly got up.

"Please, follow me," he said as he went into the control room.

Inside the room full of large and complicated devices were twelve monitors giving off light.

"This person is the King of Seahorses, Kurosaki Sosuke."

An image of a man appeared on a certain screen.

—A middle-aged man with narrow, snake-like eyes and bulging cheeks.

With his goatee and mean look, he was drawing a dragon.

"Kurosaki Sosuke..."

* * *

* * *

That moment was when the appearance of Kurosaki Sosuke was revealed for the first time after he'd gone into hiding.

Sakaki, who was staring at the photo, narrowly suppressed his boiling rage and clenched his fists.

Thick veins popped out on the back of his hand that was as big as a pot lid.

"Oyabun. Isn't that person that guy? The... the person who was a part of the National Diet."

"Hm? Now that I look at him..."

It seemed that Sakaki was familiar with Sosuke's face, as his eyes widened.

Yuji nodded his head.

"Yes. That's right. Kurosaki Sosuke had a record of being an ultranationalist politician in the past."

"Is that why he's gone mad about creating a sanctum in Japan's territory..."

Sakaki looked at the image of Sosuke with eyes that expressed how pathetic he thought the man was.

The insult 'Star-forsaken Land' would've been a dishonor that was hard to endure for those drunk on their former glory.

"Sigh. It seems that we've shown you a pathetic sight."

Sakai exhaled a deep breath and shook his head.

"So, where is the bastard hiding?"

"I don't know. He is continuously on the move and doesn't stay in one place for a long time."

"Then is this image all the information you have on him?"

There was no method of catching Kurosaki Sosuke with a single picture.

Yuji calmly shook his head and continued.

"I don't know where he is, but I know a method that could draw him out."

"Draw him out?"

"As I've said, Sosuke is kidnapping Awakeners and has made facilities called 'digestion facilities' all around cities in Japan to open a gate to the sanctum."

Yuji continued explaining.

"I'm not sure exactly how much progress has been made... but he probably still hasn't obtained enough 'nutrients' to open the gate yet. If the established digestion facilities get destroyed in the current situation..."

"He'll have no choice but to show himself, right?"

"Yes."

"But how are we going to find the location of the other digestion facilities?"

Several months of time had been consumed to just find a single branch. In a situation where other groups and guilds weren't giving any assistance because of fear of the Black Star Organization, destroying enough digestion facilities to hinder Sosuke's plans was nearly impossible.

"I know the locations of the digestion facilities."

"You do?"

"Yes. I'm the one who developed these devices in the first place. I secretly planted a code in every device which enables me to confirm the locations of the digestion facilities."

"...So you were prepared and waiting for this day to come."

"That is correct."

Yuji's eyes shone fiercely as he nodded his head.

Clutching the surface of his decapitated left arm, his built-up anger was suddenly released.

"Ever since I was captured by that devil... I have been waiting for this day to come."

"Hmm."

Sakaki stood silently while feeling the distinct emotions of anger that pricked his skin.

"These are the locations of the digestion facilities. As there is no way to move these massive devices in a short period of time, you should be able to find and destroy them if you mobilize immediately."

The locations of the digestion facilities were detaily marked on the map Yujin brought out.

There were a total of five marked locations.

Amongst them, two of them were on the exact locations as the information of the Hippocampus faction's branches obtained from Cheon Doyoon.

"Then..."

Yuji, who handed over the map to Sakaki, smiled faintly as if he had accomplished his mission and dropped his shoulders.

"Now, as promised, please kill me."

"..."

"..."

Suffocating silence settled down.

With a smile mixed with self-deprecation, Yuji lent out his neck to Sakaki.

"There's no need to hesitate. No matter how threatened I was... I'm still the one who made these horrible devices."

Yuji's clenched fists trembled as he weeped.

"Every time I saw the captured Awakeners here die... I had these thoughts. Thoughts about how those people would also have their families they wished to protect."

Tears dripped down as he dropped his head.

"I... I'm a piece of trash that doesn't deserve to live. I beg you. Please... kill me."

"...Do you not regret making that decision?"

"Yes. Ah, and the final thing I would like to request is..."

He looked up at Sakaki with a smile mixed with self-scorn.

"Um... I would like you to send me painlessly. Haha, I know that a piece of trash like me doesn't deserve to die in peace... but now that I think about dying for real, it is a little frightening."

They could see his trembling shoulders.

Yuji gently closed his eyes like he had prepared himself for death.

"..."

Sakaki looked down at Yuji with his mouth closed shut.

Intangible shockwaves gathered in his clenched fist.

Even if he had his heart-wrenching circumstances, he was still one of the people who'd kidnapped and killed his family.

Sakaki knew better than anyone that he mustn't ever be forgiven, but...

"Fuu. Koshiro, bring me the Yumehanashi."

"Yes! Oyabun!"

Koshiro quickly ran outside and brought a white rope that was about as thick as a finger.

There were several complicated magic circles engraved on top of the white rope.

"Tie him."

Koshiro tightly tied the white rope he'd brought around Yuji's forehead.

"This is..."

"Don't resist the mana that flows through. Obediently take it in."

Yuji gulped and nodded his head.

Soon, the white rope wrapped around his head poured out blue light, and Yuji's eyes gradually became cloudy.

He entered a hypnotized state once the Yumehanashi's effects were activated.

After confirming that Yuji was in a completely hypnotized state, Sakaki quickly opened his mouth.

The Yumehanashi's effect lasted only 10 seconds.

As someone who had already been affected by it once developed a tolerance, he needed to confirm whether Yuji was telling the truth in a single go.

"You haven't lied about anything you've said until now, right?"

"Yes. Everything... I-is the truth."

Yuji answered Sakaki's question while stuttering just like how the Owls in the past had when Ohjin had used Domination on them.

"Haa."

Sakaki sighed deeply and scratched his short hair.

If he was just lying instead, there would be no reason to feel that heaviness in his chest with those suffocating emotions.

"...There really isn't anything in the world that goes my way."

Sakaki sent a signal to Koshiro and ordered him to take the Yumehanashi off of Yuji's forehead.

"...Yoko."

Right before taking off the Yumehanashi, the name of a woman left Yuji's mouth.

It was the name of his little sister, who was said to be captured by the Black Star Organization.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry, Yoko..."

"..."

Simultaneously with the Yumehanashi being taken off, Yuji fell unconscious on the spot.

Sakaki held Yuji up without saying a word.

"We're returning."

"Oyabun, about that person..."

"We're bringing him with us, for now."

"...Yes."

Koshiro lowered his head and took Yuji from Sakaki.

"I'll have him tied up in an outbuilding."

Koshiro headed outside.

"You aren't going to kill him?"

"...I'm still contemplating."

Ohjin looked at Sakai, who was in deep distress, and slightly nodded his head.

"I'll leave the choice to you."

"Thank you. Ah, I'm thinking of ambushing the branches starting from this afternoon since they could escape, is that okay with you?"

"Of course. I didn't even do much this time."

"Haha. Thank you, Ohjin."

With laughter that contained no energy, Sakaki's hand patted Ohjin's shoulder.

Sakaki's hand that he used to pat Ohjin's shoulder to the point it was painful was lacking a ton of power.

—After Sakaki went outside the building.

"Ohjin, if we think about Jang Sukho back then, by any chance, could his little sister already be..."

Ha-eun slurred the end of her sentence with sadness in her eyes.

"We don't know yet."

"...Right?"

Grit—

Grinding her teeth, she stared at the image of Kurosaki Sosuke that was displayed on the monitor.

"I thought the Owls were sons of bitches, but these guys are even worse."

"There are crazy people wherever you go."

"Let's just sweep all of them up."

Ha-eun's fighting spirit burned up while she took out a cigarette and put it in her mouth.

"Ah, Ohjin, you aren't using that this time? I'm talking about how you make them say what they said in reverse."

"There wasn't really a need to do that this time around."

"Well, I guess we used the Yumehanashi or whatever."

Ha-eun took a big drag out of the lit cigarette.

"Then let's destroy this goddamn digestion facility and head outside."

She flicked the butt of the cigarette into the tube that was filled with water.

Fwooosh!!—

Flames rose up and covered the digestion facility that had stolen the lives of countless Awakeners.

"..."

Ohjin looked at the digestion facility that was encompassed with flames in silence and slowly turned around.

On his face was a bitter expression that couldn't be hidden.