CHAPTER 127: CHAPTER 127 - THE MISSING PIECES

Chapter 127 - The Missing Pieces

It didn’t take long for Jhin to spot the Lizardmen horde.

"So many of them."

All it took was a short walk before he saw the streets crawling with the creatures. Dozens—no, hundreds—of Lizardmen wandered the roads, screeching as they scoured the ruins for hiding humans.

Jhin took cover in a nearby building and crouched low to observe their movements. Fortunately, the Lizardmen didn’t seem comfortable navigating modern buildings; not one of them had ventured inside yet. For now, they were safe from immediate detection.

Time passed slowly in that silence.

Peering warily at the Lizardmen, Millie finally broke the quiet.

"...Something’s off."

"You felt it too?"

"Yes. None of this adds up."

Jhin nodded as he watched a Lizardman jab its spear into a heap of garbage on the street. Their current perch was the second floor of a shopping center. A perfect view—glass windows gave them a clear line of sight down onto the roaming monsters.

"Lizardman soldiers," he muttered.

Their slick green scales shimmered under the light, tails dragging along the pavement. They gripped their spears tightly and flicked their forked tongues, sniffing for prey with piercing eyes. These were standard Lizardman soldiers—nothing more, nothing less.

And that was the problem.

"Something’s missing," he said.

"Yes. Every Lizardman we’ve seen so far is the same."

"Mmh."

Adonis, who had been listening in confusion, finally raised a question.

"Wait... what are you two talking about?"

Jhin glanced around. Adonis wasn’t alone—his team wore the same puzzled expressions. Most of the Ark-affiliated players around them didn’t seem to grasp what was being implied.

Not surprising. They were low-level players. While Adonis and his group had decent experience, the support team they’d joined at BeyWorld was filled with rookies.

He pointed at the Lizardman poking at trash on the street.

"They’re too weak."

"...What?"

The creature looked tough—muscular, destructive, even. Just earlier, it had brought down part of a wall with a single thrust of its spear.

But to Jhin, that didn’t mean much.

"They’re weak. Plenty of numbers, sure, but their individual strength is abysmal."

Like baby goblins, he thought to himself.

Even for a species known for group tactics, this was unusual. These Lizardmen weren’t living up to their rank.

And that directly contradicted a key assumption they’d held up until now.

Millie spoke up again.

"Could it really have been a C-grade dungeon that triggered the dungeon break?"

"Hm..."

Jhin furrowed his brow in thought.

The Giant Horned Lizard definitely showed up. That was a fact. He’d seen the footage.

But something else was bothering him.

He replayed Pete ’s video in his mind.

"There were none. Even at the front lines—next to that Giant Horned Lizard—every single monster was just a soldier-type Lizardman."

Still no answer.

If this had really been a full-blown C-grade dungeon break, the monsters showing up should reflect that—stronger variants, at the very least.

No Lizardman centurions. No captains. Not even the elemental variants like Red or Blue Lizardmen.

Even a lowly decurion should’ve been present.

"...Whatever’s going on, we should keep moving. The number of patrols around here seems to be thinning."

With that, Jhin took the lead. Following a winding alley, the group began moving again. And sure enough, the deeper into District 2 they got, the fewer monsters they saw.

It was a good sign—and a strange one.

"They’re wandering aimlessly," Jhin noted.

The Lizardmen weren’t pushing toward District 2. They seemed to be looping around the outer rim of District 3 instead.

Adonis pointed toward a side street.

"This way. That alley leads to Checkpoint G, one of the entrances to District 2."

No reason to hesitate now. The group picked up the pace, pushing forward toward the checkpoint.

The crowd hit them like a wall.

A sea of people had gathered in front of the gate—refugees from all over, desperately trying to get into District 2. But something was off. Instead of squeezing in, the crowd was retreating.

Then the reason became clear.

Tatatatatata!

Muffled rifle fire erupted, bullets riddling the masses with brutal precision. Silencers couldn’t mute the horror as people screamed and crumpled to the ground.

It was chaos—panic, pain, blood.

Terrified faces bolted from the frontlines, eyes wide in disbelief, in helpless fear.

"...What the hell is this?" Jhin muttered.

Adonis’s voice was low, pained.

"A lockdown order. Prioritization."

"Prioritization?"

"Yes. Ark’s supplies are limited. If they let all those people into District 2, they’d starve before the fighting even began."

"And the solution is... shooting them?"

Adonis hesitated. His mouth opened and closed several times before he finally answered.

"Ark only exists to preserve humanity’s future."

Jhin’s eyes narrowed.

That phrase.

It hit like a hammer to the head—brutal and cold. He clenched his jaw and forced the words through gritted teeth.

Of course.

’Ark was never for everyone.’

It wasn’t a sanctuary. It was Noah’s Ark, built to carry only the chosen few. In the original Exodia, that was what Ark always stood for.

A stronghold for the elite, built to preserve superior bloodlines—no more, no less.

People thought it was a refugee camp. A new government rising from the ashes.

But maybe... that illusion had vanished long ago.

Chapter 128 - Here

’Still, I thought Corelands might be a little different...’

It wasn’t some swell of national pride that brought this thought to mind. Corelands was a nation historically strong in times of crisis.

A long, proud history of withstanding foreign invasions stood as proof of that resilience.

And with the large number of high-level players in Exodia, maybe—just maybe—he’d hoped this world would find a slightly different conclusion from Exodia 1.

"..."

In Jhin’s gaze, there were no monsters—only corpses, struck down by bullets from fellow humans.

Vagrants with nothing to their names. Patients, the elderly, children, those without the power even to become players.

District 3 was a space for the powerless. It had always been.

’This is really fucked up.’

He didn’t intend to deny the logic or rationale behind preserving the human species.

In a world like this, where everything had gone to hell, the stronger the surviving group, the greater the odds of dungeon conquest.

It wasn’t something he could criticize blindly.

But—

But still—

’This isn’t it.’

A man pleads for his life, only to have a gun barrel pointed at him. Killed simply because he failed to cross a district line.

Can such actions ever be called "just"?

A wretched massacre.

There was no other word for it.

"Haa..."

Jhin slowly quelled the fury rising in his chest. Whoever at Ark had given the order wasn’t the point right now.

The more pressing matter was stopping this goddamn madness playing out before his eyes.

Thud.

But before he could move—

Someone else stepped forward.

A man holding a blue spear, its tip shimmering with a gentle wave.

He was wearing a police uniform.

"...Detective Caleb ?"

At his sudden appearance, the gunfire ceased for a moment.

The "Tidecatcher’s Spear" in his hand had the unmistakable majesty of a server-shutdown reward item.

The soldiers didn’t dare shoot him on sight.

Caleb spoke.

"Please... open this gate."

"...Who are you? State your affiliation."

"I’m Caleb . Recently joined Ark. I’m asking you—please, open the gate!"

The soldiers atop the barricade exchanged murmurs. Then, slowly, they raised their guns again toward Caleb .

"Regardless of your experience, no one enters once Ark is sealed. I’m sorry, but you’ll have to turn back."

"There are many wounded here. If you don’t open this gate, these people will die!"

"It doesn’t matter. Once sealed, Ark doesn’t open. You’re on your own."

Caleb took a step forward.

A shot rang out, hitting the ground just in front of his feet.

"If you come any closer, we’ll consider you a threat—even you. Don’t come any closer."

Goddamn it. These bastards were more stubborn than New Capital’s highways during a holiday rush.

As the soldiers’ gun barrels flared with tension, Jhin’s anger flared with them.

Then—

The soldiers suddenly said something strange.

"Sorry, but these are Viktor ’s orders. I’m just a grunt—I can’t go against him. I don’t want to shoot you either. Please turn back!"

...The hell?

Caleb pushed back with equal fervor.

"I’m an acquaintance of this Viktor . Let me speak with him directly. Just pass on my message!"

"That’s the whole point—we can’t even do that. You think Viktor ’s name is some stray dog’s? Even we aren’t allowed to speak to him freely!"

The noisy argument echoed out to the people of District 3. Faces turning red, a few citizens spat toward the soldiers and shouted:

"Bullshit! Viktor—what the hell are we supposed to do? Do you bastards not have families?!"

"Back off! I’ll fire!"

"Yeah, go ahead! Pull the damn trigger! Whether I die to a monster or your bullets, what’s the difference?!"

The atmosphere among the people was boiling over again. If they couldn’t leave this place, they’d die anyway.

In that case, better to take a chance and rush the gate.

"Let’s go! We die either way!"

"Don’t come any closer! I’m serious—we’ll fire!"

The soldiers raised their guns again, fingers curling around the triggers. The people of District 3 surged forward—

Just before the massacre could begin—

KUUUUNG!!

A massive dust cloud erupted between them, and a lone figure emerged from its heart. He swung his sword several times, kicking up a violent wind.

The dust quickly cleared.

The soldiers murmured,

"...A goblin?"

What they saw was a towering figure resembling a "Triple Goblin" in full bloom. Jhin, wielding a blade glowing with a cold blue hue, stared up at the wall.

The people of District 3 saw it too.

No one moved.

Was it fear?

Or had the sheer absurdity of the moment frozen their thoughts?

Slowly turning his gaze, Jhin exhaled long and slow. His golden eyes shimmered with power.

In that deafening silence, only his voice rang out clearly.

"Stop. That’s enough."

He turned his eyes to the soldiers atop the wall.

"Are you really not going to open it?"

"Whoever you are, we can’t. That’s Ark’s policy."

"I see."

Without a word, Jhin turned his back on them and approached the people of District 3. A few startled and wary eyes met him, but he walked unimpeded.

"Let’s fall back for now."

"Wh-what?"

"What, are we just gonna get shot?"

The people turned their eyes to the soldiers’ guns still aimed their way.

And finally, realization struck—like a bucket of cold water poured over their heads.

If Jhin hadn’t intervened, they’d all be dead.

"...But if we retreat, we’re as good as dead anyway."

"No," Jhin said firmly, his gaze unwavering, "You won’t die."

He paused—and then, with quiet certainty:

"Because I’m here."