Chapter 612

Chapter 612

The leader stood there blankly, staring at the scene before his eyes.

Everything had turned pitch-black.

The queen spike mole that had just been giving birth, the newborn pups, and even his subordinates.

The massive lightning bolt that had struck the canyon had burned everything black.

Tremble, tremble!

The leader’s body shook like an aspen tree.

He knew it too.

That the reason he had survived was not because of his own ability.

If Levin hadn’t intentionally limited the range of Giga Lightning so that it wouldn’t hit him, he would have died along with his subordinates.

With a single strike, everything they had painstakingly built up until now had turned to ashes.

The leader couldn’t believe the reality unfolding before his eyes.

“Y-you… who are you? Do you even know what kind of insane thing you’ve done?”

“The insane ones are you. Raising monsters to use as drug materials? Do you think you’ll be safe if City Hall finds out about this?”

“Who says anyone would care?”

“What?”

“Only a fraction out of twenty million people get addicted, right? The ones who take the drugs are happy with their lives, and we’re happy making money. It’s a win-win.”

The leader brazenly talked back as if he were in the right.

Levin spoke with an incredulous expression.

“What’s so good about that? Getting addicted to drugs?”

“Did anyone force them to take it? They came looking for it themselves because they liked it.”

“So you think you did nothing wrong?”

“It’s the law of nature. The strong prey on and exploit the weak.”

The leader kept insisting to the end that he had done nothing wrong.

Flash.

Levin lightly struck the man with Purple Lightning.

“Gahhh!”

The leader screamed as he was electrocuted by the high-voltage lightning.

He was a B-rank Tamer.

He could subdue and tame monsters weaker than himself, but he had no combat ability.

That was why he had no choice but to be helpless against Levin’s attack.

Levin walked up to the man, who had collapsed weakly on the ground.

“If you want to die without pain, tell me everyone you’re connected to.”

“Fuck! Can you even handle it?”

“What?”

“You think this involves just one or two people? People far above what you can even imagine are involved. If you dig any deeper, not just you, but even your family will die without a trace.”

“Do you even know who my family is to make that kind of threat?”

“What?”

“Sand Mage Zeon. He’s my hyung. Can you handle that? Can you touch him?”

“Fuck! Don’t lie.”

“Why would I lie to someone like you?”

At Levin’s contemptuous gaze and cold voice, the leader felt his mind snap awake.

Instinctively, he realized that Levin was telling the truth.

‘Sand Mage Zeon…’

Cold sweat ran down his spine.

There were twenty million people living in Neo Seoul, but there were a few beings you must never touch.

No matter the reason, even by accident, there were those you must never get involved with.

Jin Geum-ho, the ruler of Neo Seoul, the rulers of each district, and the Sand Mage Zeon.

Among them, Zeon was an especially unique existence.

A man for whom all the sand of the desert was his weapon.

As long as sand existed, the general consensus was that he could never be killed.

Levin spoke to the leader.

“Go ahead. Try threatening me again.”

“Fuck…”

“If you have nothing left to threaten me with, then spill everything honestly. How many are involved, and how far it goes.”

Crackle!

White sparks burst from Levin’s hand.

The leader flinched without realizing it.

Even without being touched, his body reacted first.

Levin was not someone threats worked on, nor someone he could face with strength.

There were no options left to him.

In the end, the leader opened his mouth with difficulty.

“There’s only one thing I know. Illusion!”

“Illusion? An illusion?”

“Yeah! An organization called Illusion is leading all of this.”

“Then the members?”

“They’re varied. Scavengers, Awakeners from each district, and the Lion Gate… Gahhh! This damn curse user!”

Suddenly, the leader screamed.

The skin on his face began melting like dough.

“What the—?”

Levin recoiled in shock.

There was no time to do anything.

The leader melted away in an instant with a horrific scream.

Even Levin was left speechless at the gruesome sight.

“What? A curse user?”

Levin frowned deeply.

A Curse User was a class that did not officially exist in Neo Seoul.

At least as far as Levin knew, there were no Curse Users in Neo Seoul. But in the shadows, they could exist in any number.

Because the class itself was so shunned, if they hid thoroughly without revealing themselves, it was only natural that no one would know.

And it wasn’t just anyone—

The leader himself had mentioned a Curse User.

It was clear that a Curse User was involved in this matter.

“Looks like it’s a type of curse that activates when a specific word is spoken. Ugh… I can’t stay here any longer.”

Levin turned around.

Seeing a person melted like ice cream made him feel like vomiting.

No matter how strong his nerves were, he didn’t want to stay here long.

Levin unleashed Giga Lightning at full power into the canyon.

Boom!

With a thunderous roar, the canyon collapsed.

After confirming that the leader and the corpses of the monsters were all buried under a massive pile of dirt, Levin left the canyon.

---

Brielle welcomed Levin back, covered in dust.

“Are you okay?”

Not long after Levin went in, the Thirteenth Slaughterhouse had exploded. She didn’t think someone with Levin’s ghostification ability would die from something like an explosion, but she had still been somewhat worried.

Levin nodded.

“I’m fine! As you can see, not a single scratch. Thanks to the potion you gave me.”

“Really?”

“I inhaled some powder with drug components, but it detoxified it instantly. Thanks.”

“I’m glad it helped.”

“Whew! Seriously, if it weren’t for your potion, it could’ve been bad.”

“Did you figure out who they are?”

“Looks like a lot of people are involved. It’s not something the two of us can handle.”

“Then?”

“We tell hyung and ask for help. Let’s head back to Neo Seoul right away.”

“Okay!”

Brielle nodded.

The two immediately took the portal back to Neo Seoul.

When they went to the solver office, Zeon was waiting.

“You’re back. Everyone’s safe, right?”

“Yes! But more importantly, hyung…”

Levin explained in detail what he had experienced at the magic stone mine.

From capturing the queen spike mole and forcing it to repeatedly give birth, to explosively growing the offspring with growth accelerants, and then extracting drug materials at the Thirteenth Slaughterhouse—he told the entire process without leaving anything out.

After hearing everything, Zeon began to speak about what he had experienced.

“Those crazy bastards! Selling drugs in a South District pub? Is that even possible without someone turning a blind eye?”

“And what about the slaughterhouse? It’s a facility of the East District. High-ranking officials from the East District are definitely involved.”

At the scale of the drug organization, far beyond imagination, Levin and Brielle shook their heads.

Zeon asked Levin,

“You said a curse user might be involved?”

“Yes! Right before he died, he grumbled about a curse user.”

“Looks like the tamer and the curse user were the key.”

“But now that the tamer is dead and the monster farm has collapsed, it’ll be hard for them to produce more drugs.”

“The problem is how much they’ve stockpiled.”

Just as Zeon tapped the table with his finger—

“Levin!”

Aaron and Dominic suddenly rushed into the office.

“What is it?”

“We found him! The guy with the scorpion ring.”

“Really?”

“Yeah!”

At their answer, Levin shot to his feet.

“Where?”

“Beggar’s Den.”

“Guro?”

“That’s right! The boss of those bastards is wearing the scorpion ring.”

“Those sons of bitches…”

“Habin and Kaden are definitely being held in their hideout too.”

Crunch!

Levin clenched his teeth.

Beggar’s Den was a notorious criminal organization in Guro.

Unlike Sinchon, which had been unified under Eaton’s organization because of Zeon, Guro still had numerous criminal groups running rampant.

Beggar’s Den was one of them.

It was a criminal organization formed by abandoned children of Guro.

They committed crimes like pickpocketing, human trafficking, theft, robbery, and murder without hesitation.

Being at the very bottom, they didn’t think about consequences and clung like starving beasts.

Because of that, even other criminal organizations in Guro would shake their heads and yield a step when it came to Beggar’s Den.

But to Levin, whose eyes had turned red, none of that mattered.

“Gather the others!”

“They’re already gathered.”

“Let’s go!”

Without a moment of hesitation, Levin went outside.

Brielle whispered to Zeon,

“You’re not going to stop him?”

“Would he listen if I did?”

“True. His eyes already looked gone.”

“It’s not like Levin would lose to some slum criminal group. We should let him handle it.”

“Then you’re not going to do anything?”

“As if.”

Zeon smiled and stood up.

At that chilling smile, Brielle shuddered slightly.

Whenever Zeon smiled like that, something big always happened.

But she had no intention of staying behind alone.

She followed Zeon out.

The place Zeon and Brielle headed to was City Hall.

Using a free pass, they went up to the mayor’s office where Jin Geum-ho was.

Jin Geum-ho, who had been working, looked at Zeon with a puzzled expression.

“What brings you here without notice?”

“There’s something I need to discuss.”

“Discuss? It must be serious.”

“Yes.”

“Shall I call Taeran as well?”

“Yes.”

Jin Geum-ho immediately called Seo Taeran.

Seeing Zeon’s stiff expression, she silently sat beside Jin Geum-ho.

Zeon told them everything that had happened so far.

After hearing it all, Jin Geum-ho’s expression remained perfectly calm. But Zeon knew he was angry.

The angrier he was, the colder he became—that was the kind of man Jin Geum-ho was.

On the other hand, cold fury radiated openly from Seo Taeran’s face.

If Jin Geum-ho weren’t beside her, she looked ready to leap up at any moment.

She too knew that Jin Geum-ho was truly enraged, so she held herself back.

Jin Geum-ho muttered,

“It’s not all that surprising. Even in the worst situations where humanity might be wiped out, there are always scum who pursue only their own greed.”

In the early days of Neo Seoul, there had been even greater chaos than this.

Back then, there was so little to eat that people resorted to cannibalism.

A time of chaos where neither law nor order existed.

At that time, Jin Geum-ho, along with Deion, cut down everyone who opposed them.

They punished them brutally, without exception.

Tens of thousands died, and the streets of Neo Seoul were filled with corpses.

Those who remembered that time still trembled in fear when they thought of Jin Geum-ho.

But many years had passed since then, and that fear had faded from people’s minds.

“That’s why they dared to pull something so absurd. And using the portal I value the most.”

It had been a long time since he had felt such filth.

He thought that after ruling Neo Seoul for over a hundred years, his emotions had dulled—but it seemed that wasn’t the case.

Anger boiled up from deep within his chest.

Even so, Jin Geum-ho smiled.

Smiling, he said to Zeon,

“Leave this matter to me.”

“That’s why I came.”

“As expected, you’re wise. You know how to use power most efficiently.”

“Everyone has their own domain.”

“Indeed. This kind of matter is my specialty. Taeran.”

Jin Geum-ho’s gaze turned to Seo Taeran.

“Yes, Mayor.”

“You heard him?”

“Yes.”

“Mobilize the Numbers.”

“There seem to be many involved across each district. How far should we purge?”

After a brief moment of thought, Jin Geum-ho spoke firmly,

“Not a single exception. Every last one of them.”