Chapter 572: Vestiges of Memory (5)

After realizing that Kaiser had hidden the secret he uncovered in the Machine City, Machina, Lennok investigated all the remaining facilities of the power plant. He then returned with the artifacts and data he had acquired.

“I obtained data, including daily necessities, from the dormitories and warehouses.” Ilya, too, seemed to have found something, carrying various books and spell catalysts.

“It seems they used a large amount of various catalysts during their research; there were a lot of materials left. If we can deduce their origins, we might find more clues.”

“Good work.” Felix said, then slightly parted his beak, looking at Lennok, who had followed behind.

“Van, is that…?”

“I found it fallen in the engine room,” Lennok replied, holding up Gileon’s Iron-Plated Wings, which he had secured with mana threads.

“It’s broken and can’t be used immediately, but if we replace the internal components and reconnect the circuits, the function itself can be restored.”

Gileon had possessed independent flight capabilities decades before anti-gravity technology was even developed. This was likely because the Iron-Plated Wings themselves contained flight-related abilities or functions, separate from Gileon’s intrinsic mana or superhuman abilities. If Lennok could repair them and restore their function, he might be able to acquire that ability himself.

Furthermore, even though they had been exposed to the fallout, there was still some of Kaiser’s blood on them, so there was no reason to leave such an item behind.

“I also acquired a large number of artifacts and research equipment parts from Kaiser’s laboratory. Let’s discuss the details once we’re out of the Sealed Zone.”

“That’s a good idea. We’ve just finished preparing to escort Krod Azlan.”

“What?” At his words, Lennok turned his gaze to Purity, then quietly fell silent.

Purity’s neck and both wrists were clamped in long iron plate restraints, like a cangue.

Purity, who had been bowing his head, gave Lennok an awkward smile.

“If this is what puts you at ease, then I don’t mind…”

“…”

To a Level 8 user of the Peak of Extremes, these iron plates were no more than paper, but perhaps it was better than nothing.

“Alright, let’s move. We acquired more items than expected, so it would be good to get some transport.”

Saying that, Lennok picked up a jeep abandoned near the power plant, quickly repaired it, and started the engine.

Vroom!!

Felix peered curiously at the rattling jeep. “It’s an old wreck, decades old, yet you managed to get it working.”

Lennok, who was wiping dust from the steering wheel, replied, “The parts are old and worn, but the internal structure isn’t completely broken. It must have run perfectly fine decades ago.”

“No, isn’t it actually broken? If it was parked near the power plant, it must have been heavily affected by the Exposure Phenomenon…”

Lennok nodded, looking at the bewildered Ilya.

“That’s right. The internal wiring and circuits were almost completely melted away.”

“Then how…?”

“I replaced the pathways connecting the internal components’ power with mana.”

“…”

“I materialized mana into thin, long pathways, temporarily making them act as circuits. It’s not that difficult once you get used to it.”

“It might not be difficult for you. For me, it’s impossible to even attempt.”

“I agree.”

Taking his bewildered companions, Lennok quickly left the Sealed Zone and arrived at the outer sluice gate of the Kurbas Dam.

Unlike when they first entered the area, the path out was eerily smooth.

While Felix explained the situation to Keegan Grimes, who rushed out with disheveled hair, and handed over Purity’s custody, Lennok leaned against the jeep’s steering wheel and lit a cigarette.

As he forced his consciousness to stay focused, scattering the rising smoke, he saw Purity being restrained by the soldiers Keegan had brought.

It was an arbitrary action, not discussed during the operation, and carried out for purely personal and inhumane ends. It would have been difficult to overlook such a deviation from an operation initiated by the Central Council and the Elder Council.

Krod, too, seemed to know this would happen, as he showed no surprise.

Purity, tightly bound by the special forces members who had followed Keegan, walked past Lennok and then stopped abruptly.

“H-hey…!” The trembling voice of the special forces member escorting him from behind.

He was escorting him as part of his duty, but he knew how meaningless it was against a Level 8 superhuman.

If Purity were to lose his mind and go on a rampage again, everyone present, except Lennok and his companions, would be torn pieces of flesh.

But Lennok, knowing this, nonchalantly smoked his cigarette as Purity walked toward him.

Facing Purity, who was wrapped in thick chains and steel ropes like a walking coffin, Lennok asked, “You walk well even with your limbs bound. Is that also a martial arts technique?”

“You could say that,” Krod chuckled.

“If you wish, I could teach you myself.”

“I’ll decline.” Lennok chuckled in response.

“I’ve been burned too many times to trust that promise. My head’s still throbbing from the blows.”

“Hehehe…” Purity let out a weak laugh and said,

“Though Kaiser Bajour’s help was involved, the decision regarding my fate was unequivocally yours.”

“…”

“I will never forget this favor you’ve granted me, this opportunity. As a Guardian of Turyeonmun and in the name of Krod Azlan, I will surely repay this debt.”

It was difficult to even bow his head with the iron ropes wrapped up to his neck. Nevertheless, Purity slowly bent his restrained body and bowed his head toward Lennok.

As he watched Purity disappear beyond the sluice gate as if nothing had happened, Keegan, who approached Lennok, spoke.

“Lord Azlan will be court-martialed, then escorted to a special prison.”

“Court-martial?”

“The matter of the Sealed Zone is effectively treated as an operation equivalent to wartime, you see.”

Keegan, who looked decades older than when the operation began, gave a strained smile.

“Since he nearly ruined the operation with his unilateral actions in a wartime situation, his culpability is subject to heavier penalties.”

“…”

“As he was responsible for this operation, it will be difficult for him to avoid charges of treason. I imagine he’ll spend a considerable amount of time in prison…”

He likely had no regard for consequences once he realized he was losing his mind. However, Lennok, knowing this, chose to use the ability of Kaiser’s Pocket Watch to save Purity at that moment, not out of mercy or goodwill.

It was a rare opportunity to use the pocket watch’s ability on a living human without repercussions or responsibility. And there was the existence of a debt of gratitude that Purity, having received such a temporary chance, would owe Lennok.

He believed that in addition to utilizing Kaiser’s power, incurring a debt from Krod Azlan would prove useful someday.

Should he hope that he wouldn’t be imprisoned for too long? Either way, it was no longer something Lennok could intervene with. Nor should he.

Keegan, sweating profusely with an anxious, trembling expression, raised a shaky hand and began to guide Lennok.

“By order from above, we will now settle this matter at the Kurbas Dam control room. Is that acceptable?”

The meeting room of the Kurbas Dam, where the initial operation to enter the Sealed Zone was planned. The tidy appearance of that time was nowhere to be seen; the meeting room was utterly messy.

It was a chaotic sight, with all sorts of documents, food scraps, clothes, pens, and ink scattered about. It looked as if dozens of people had been living and working there for days.

Seeing the dozens of screen transmitters on the meeting room walls and the dozens of broken communication devices lying around, Lennok easily surmised what had transpired.

‘They said it was around 840 attempts when the signal finally got through.’

After they entered the Sealed Zone and lost contact, had they been continuously trying to reach Lennok while also trying to find personnel to help with this matter from the outside?

As Lennok, Felix, and Ilya took their seats in the meeting room chairs, the atmosphere in the room grew heavy.

“…”

They were trying to stay composed, but their demeanor was somewhat dazed. Even saint-grade physical ability users like Felix and Ilya couldn’t escape the fatigue from what had just happened.

Keegan and the other aides were no different; all of them moved with dazed expressions.

If it weren’t for the need to report on the outcome of this matter, there would be a room full of people who needed to collapse somewhere and rest immediately.

Keegan, sitting in the center of the meeting room, composed himself and spoke first.

“Approximately three hours ago, right after communications were re-established… we confirmed that the Exposure Phenomenon within the Sealed Zone had completely vanished.”

“…”

“I want to congratulate you on the success of the operation within the Sealed Zone and express my gratitude. Preventing the complete contamination of the water resources of District 20 and saving its people is entirely your accomplishment.”

Keegan gestured, and an aide, standing with a dazed look, hastily turned on the projector.

Deep dark circles were visible under the aide’s eyes.

Keegan confirmed the results displayed on the projector screen: the reduced concentration of contaminant particles detected in the dam’s water quality, and the internal landscape, previously unobservable from outside the Sealed Zone, was now visible. Then he said,

“However, there were so many violations of responsibility and overstepping of authority, both on-site and administratively, during this operation that I intend to take responsibility for this matter and step down from my position as administrator.”

“…Administrator Grimes, is that your own decision?” Felix, who had been listening with his beak agape, his eyes regained their focus.

“If it’s not your own will but the result of coercion, we can formally raise an objection on your behalf.”

“…”

“I know how much effort the Administrator put into this operation. If you’re stepping down, taking on unnecessary responsibility unexpectedly—”

“I appreciate the thought,” Keegan cut him off with a smile.

“Resigning from public office is entirely my own will. In fact, it’s something I had been considering, which is why I was able to act without worrying about the repercussions.”

“…Is that so.” Felix’s reaction as he closed his eyes regretfully and leaned back in his chair.

Lennok could, to some extent, understand Felix’s thoughts.

The Kurbas Dam control room was a top-secret facility, with access strictly prohibited to anyone outside authorized personnel. Keegan’s judgment was bold enough to invite Olivera Ron Maize, the Chairman of Cartel, to seek her counsel, solely out of a desire to resolve the incident.

Regardless of how helpful that decision was to this operation, it was natural for Keegan to bear responsibility in handling the aftermath.

“What happens now?”

“I kept you here to explain that. I will now tell you what will happen to District 25.”

At Ilya’s words, Keegan took a slow breath. As he gestured around, the other aides, as if on cue, left the meeting room in perfect unison.

The quiet scene of the spacious meeting table, with only four people seated around it. With the silent torrent of water pouring from the dam beyond the window, Keegan quietly began to speak.

“With a very high probability… District 25 will be released from the isolation measures that have lasted for decades.”

“…”

Everyone understood the meaning and remained silent.

Since the mega-city of Vulcan was divided into districts and development was completed, the designation of Sealed Zones had never changed. Was this saying that District 25 would be the first to end its isolation and be released from its status as a Sealed Zone?

“The Central Council Senate created a manual for changing, merging, or separating districts during the Urban Expansion Development Plan. I personally saw that manual a very long time ago.”

Keegan continued, “Among those clauses, there was one that allowed for the reconstruction and opening of the area to match the purpose of neighboring districts if the purpose of a sealed zone was completely fulfilled and it lost its meaning.”

“Do you think a manual created decades ago can be adhered to at this point?” Lennok asked.

“If it’s merely a clause created as a formality to prepare for unforeseen circumstances, it would be difficult to uphold, given the conflicting interests of the city government and the council.”

Regardless of whether such a clause actually existed, the situation of the mega-city had continuously changed over decades. It wouldn’t be strange if almost none of the city government officials who created the clause back then remained. If it was merely a clause created as a formality for the future, it would be rather awkward to expect it to be upheld.

But Keegan listened to Lennok’s words and slowly shook his head.

“No. Almost certainly, the Sealed Zone will end its isolation and be opened.”

“Why?”

“Because the districts divided by the Urban Expansion Development Plan are not merely the result of administrative measures.”

“…”

“The powerful figures of the past city government didn’t just remove existing district names and assign numbers to them simply for ease of management,”

Keegan emphasized. “It was a clever method of secretly hiding the city’s darkest and greatest secret within the gaps of the districts.”

The city’s darkest and greatest secret. Who wouldn’t know that it was a byproduct of the failed Black Consumer Project? But the fact that entire districts were reorganized to conceal its devastation was a new revelation even to Lennok.

Felix, too, seemed unaware of this fact, as his prominent brows twitched, and his beak twitched.

“Are you saying the byproduct of a project that only existed as a rumor is hidden between the gaps of the districts?”

“Gaps in the districts? Are you saying such things actually exist?” Ilya asked with a bewildered expression.

“There would be empty spaces that would arise when considering the area of the mega-city as seen on satellite maps and its actual three-dimensional structure,” Lennok said, tapping the table thoughtfully. “With a few magical measures, creating a space unknown to anyone during the design phase isn’t difficult. Is that what you mean?”

“No one knows which district has a gap, or where the secret is hidden in the city,” Keegan replied. “However, given the truth of the project’s failure, and the certainty that they couldn’t deal with all its byproducts, that is the only possibility we can consider at this point.”

“That’s a very risky statement to stake your position as administrator on,” Felix said, subtly glancing around the meeting room. “Was dismissing everyone from the start intended to explain this to us?”

“I believed it was my duty to tell you, who have returned after successfully completing such a dangerous operation.”

Keegan nodded weakly and spoke again. “After receiving a hint from Ms. Maize, I immediately understood what she meant by her words and searched through all the relevant data.”

“Maize?”

“Olivera Ron Maize. It seems you don’t recall her last name,” Lennok explained instead, seeing Felix’s puzzled reaction.

“The Chairman of Cartel gave you a direct hint?”

“Yes. As a result, I realized that the lifting of isolation measures on the Sealed Zone is not merely at the city government’s discretion, but a necessary measure to maintain the overall structure of the assigned districts.”

It wasn’t that they were following an old manual just because it existed. Keegan was saying that they had to follow the manual to maintain the district structure of the mega-city they had designated.

This was because the countless areas of the mega-city, now assigned numbers, were themselves one of the means to conceal their failures.

Keegan, operating the projector himself, displayed a map of District 25 and said, “As District 25 is located close to the Kurbas Dam and the District 20 residential area, it will likely be used for similar purposes once the isolation measures are lifted.”

“…”

“In that process, various construction projects, development work, and collaborations will become active.”

Keegan said, then for the first time, he offered a mischievous smile. “Do you understand what this means?”

“…Hmm?” At Keegan’s sudden question, the companions’ expressions subtly changed.

Only then did Lennok chuckle, understanding why Keegan had revealed such a secret to explain the future of the Sealed Zone.

“I see. So, since the city government can’t directly compensate you, they plan to handle it this way?”

“It is, after all, the land of the Sealed Zone that you yourselves reclaimed.”

Simultaneously, the core contents of the District 25 redevelopment plan manual naturally appeared on the screen. It explained where commercial zones, including subways, would be designed, where government offices would be built, and how far district expansion would proceed during the redevelopment of the Sealed Zone.

At that moment, Felix and Ilya realized the value of the information a moment too late, their faces slightly paling.

Keegan naturally transmitted the map displayed on the hologram to each of their cell phones and smiled. “Naturally, it’s only right that you all get the first opportunity to purchase.”