Chapter 65

chapter 65

“did you enjoy your meal, mr denver?”

“it was more than enjoyable. the t&c’s reputation is well-deserved, especially the main course. it’s a dish i’ve never tasted before.”

“it is an oven-roasted dish with earthland pork as the main ingredient. raised through pure free-range in an environment that is similar to that of earth, it has a very rich texture.”

“huh, i thought that all the pigs on earth had gone extinct?”

“my research team managed to succeed in cultivating the pig seeds after coming from a difficult expedition. we plan to introduce a new brand to the market in a few years.”

“well, that’s impressive. i’d definitely want to purchase it when it hits the market.”

the t&c family is a pioneer in noble colonial expansion. their power lies in the abundant resources they have secured from their numerous colonies. thanks to this, the t&c could secure their influence in a distinct way compared to other families. ‘politics through cuisine’. that was how they exerted influence on the upper class of megacorp.

they own more than a few hundred colonial planets, meaning they can acquire various ingredients from planets with different environments. as a result, t&c almost monopolizes the high-end ingredient and spice market mainly targeting the upper class of the megacrop.

of course, in terms of supplying food within megacorp, the yujin family, which specializes in producing genetically modified foods, has a much higher share as they target all the low income groups within the megacorp.

however, the benefits gained by actively using fresh and rare ingredients to maintain a good relationship with the upper class are not insignificant.

in fact, it works wonders, like now denver felt reassured after eating the banquet’s cuisine, enough to anticipate seeing laila again.

“i deliberately chose this dish to suit my taste.”

the room, the cuisine—everything catered to denver’s preferences.

with this level of information, the likelihood of making a significant mistake at the council is slim. denver, feeling relieved, picked up a crispy piece of pork skin with his fork just as the door to the banquet hall opened, and two people entered.

“huh?”

“what’s happening?”

the newcomers were laila’s secretary and vice commander vicus. both hurriedly approached their respective masters.

“my lord, urgent news.”

“urgent?”

“we lost contact with the four knights who went to protect william.”

denver’s face hardened at the vice commander’s words.

‘all four of them?’

the silver lion knights are a unit stationed with the task of protecting the flagship of eden, which specializes in defense and assault against enemy ships and is the most crucial unit of any fleet.

therefore, the capabilities of the silver lion knights, who were tasked with safeguarding this flagship, can be considered to be the highest among the eden families’ ground forces.

warriors of such caliber being wiped out hinted at a formidable adversity

“...what’s the follow-up plan?”

“it’s already in motion. i dispatched all the 20 knights available. jacob is leading them.”

“hmm... also, recall the members sent outside immediately... huh?”

denver, calmly instructing vice commander vicus, suddenly stopped speaking. on the other side of the dining table, laila, receiving a report like denver, had an unusual expression. her usually composed face was visibly distorted.

having heard about the reports from the secretary, she tried to maintain composure and called denver.

“mr. denver. there’s a report that the silver lion knights forcibly attacked the civilians at the hospital in the commercial district.”

“...what?”

“i’ll show you.”

as laila gestured, the secretary operated the terminal pad, and a large holographic screen appeared at the banquet’s wall.

[i am dailymass field reporter sara and i’m currently standing in front of the commercial district hospital no. 2 , the scene where a tragedy has occurred.]

the screen showed a journalist reporting from in front of the hospital.

‘surely not?’

when denver glanced at vicus, he nodded slightly. that place was the hospital where william was admitted.

in the meantime, the journalist appeared with a new figure. the person in question was a man wearing a patient’s gown.

[can you explain what the hell is going on in there?]

[i was injured while working and was hospitalized. i came out to smoke at night, but i saw four people in weird clothes come in. they were trying to destroy the hospital, shooting guns and breaking the intact walls, and even shooting the people—everyone went crazy.”

[you mean people in armor?]

[yes! armor! those ‘beep’ guys in armor. they shot guns, and the walls that were intact broke, and ‘beep’ people also ‘beep’—it was a complete ‘beep’ disaster!]

[thank you for the detailed explanation. with the council meeting just a few days away, what does the massacre of civilians by the ‘armor-wearing individuals’ in t&c’s special trade center mean? what exactly are the city administrators doing? more details...]

midway through, laila gestured to stop. the hologram turned off, and the banquet hall fell into pin drop silence.

laila, breaking the silence, spoke first.

“mr. denver, i don’t believe eden’s knights would do such a thing without reason.”

“.......”

“this matter is not exclusive to the eden family. i, as the administrator of this city, have the right to know about the situations occurring in the city. so, please tell me.”

it was a request to tell everything before the situation escalated, and blood was forced to shed.

during the banquet, denver had taken a friendly attitude, making laila realize that denver was friendly to t&c and had no ill intentions. therefore, she politely requested cooperation, expressing that this issue was not just a problem for eden but for the entire city.

‘the problem is, she doesn’t know about the situation on denver’s side.’

initially, the knights were sent to protect william, but since all of them had perished the possibility of william being alive was slim. the current situation became difficult for denver, as the only one who knew the truth had died. any mistake could lead to a war between t&c and eden rather than an issue with the council.

‘i have to tell everything.’

taking a deep breath, denver briefly explained the situation to laila; he told her about william and the orders he had given to his subordinates.

“does that mean there’s a connection between the so-called william and the police?”

teams 1 and 2 entered the burning hospital, after changing the surveillance system in their helmets to a different format, but these 6 haven’t done it yet.

i opened my mouth wide. the internal incendiary mechanism activated, and soon an enormous amount of flames poured out through my throat.

“ah!”

“he’s shooting fire!”

the magma gaiter’s trait, the ‘fire breath’, erupted against the knights. black smoke rose from the flames spreading in front of the station, penetrating even inside the station.

“everyone, switch your sight!”

despite the blockade of movement and vision, the enemies calmly responded.

of course, i’m not going to wait for them to get ready.

i charged at the journalist who was in charge of communications. the journalist, who took the brunt of my charge, couldn’t even scream as his whole body was crushed.

[team 1 here. team 3, respond! what’s going on?”

“this is rex! ferris is down!”

with little time left, i picked up the dismembered body of the fallen knight and immediately placed it in my mouth.

meanwhile, another knight, who had switched the surveillance system, aimed a plasma bolter at me.

“huh?!”

his intention to shoot me with a plasma bullet did not succeed.

there’s a single reason why i shot fire.

to block the enemies’ line of sight.

here, the term ‘enemy’ doesn’t just refer to the knights in front of me. the ‘enemies’ i mentioned also include the cameras installed in the station as well.

「big baby, we’re here.」

my underground friends. they were hiding in the smoke, ready to assist me.

“ugh, guh!”

the knight affected by number 26’s ‘restraint’ floated in the air. like a child grabbing a bug and tearing off its limbs, his arms and legs attached to his body danced independently.

“ah!”

“rex!”

following the sound of bones detaching, his arms and legs fell off with the sound of a firecracker. the knight, now resembling an octopus, fell into a puddle of blood, twitching for a moment before becoming still.

[this is team 3! we’re under attack! requesting supp... ack!]

[what the hell is happening?]

[this is team 2! we’ll provide support right away!]

[damn it! tennessee, stay in your position!]

the confused voices of the enemies through the communication device, the journalists thrown into panic after losing a colleague in an instant.

it was a familiar scene.

“retreat! retre... urgh!”

one knight, trying to flee, was shot in the throat. it was adhai who accurately aimed at the enemy’s weakness.

「organism」, 「throat」, 「weakness」.

through the smoke, adhai transmitted a low-frequency wave.

if the knight had activated the psychic shield embedded in his advanced reinforced armor, he would have survived. it was his mistake to expose his back during the battle.

after that, it was a swift process to clean up the station completely.

within a few minutes of starting the fight, the journalists, having lost half of their comrades, were not in their right minds. the knight order, which has always brought victory to their masters, perished.

there were only herds trembling with fear.

as for what a herd without a leader could do in front of a wolf, there was only one thing.

just cry pitifully.

like there was no wolf to save a herd crying.

having dealt with the remaining three knights, i quickly picked up two corpses and rushed into the station.

after dealing with the three remaining knights, i quickly picked up two bodies.

‘hurry, hurry!’

i cut the bodies and poured them into my mouth, while swiftly entering the station.

[zz zzz zzzz zzz zz zz (get everything you can eat and go back to the nest)]

「can’t we eat here?」

[zzz zzzzz zz zzzzz zz (no time. grab as much as you can and follow me)]

「i」 「hungry.」

「got it. i’ll take care of what’s left.」

knowing that i was in a hurry, number 26 quietly reached out its tentacles and picked up two bodies. adhai also tried to pick up one, but it was too heavy, so it gave up.

that’s how we carried four bodies with us and returned back to the nest.

just before the effects of the ‘symbol of the hunt’ wore off, i could hear it.

one of the late-arriving enemy knights screaming in frustration.

in the smoke and darkness which engulfed the surroundings, i smiled.

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