CHAPTER 39: CHAPTER 38: HOMEBOUND

"...how could they have possibly known about this?" Johann frowned, staring at the document before him.

Karloff was by his side as usual, only this time he didn’t have any answers. Upon receiving the report from the global HQ, he had made a face even worse than Johann’s. That’s just how damning it was.

"Do we have a mole?" Johann wondered but quickly shook his head. "That’s impossible... but then..."

He didn’t complete the thought in his head and just sighed.

Someone had taken down a notorious C-rank anomaly in Malaysia. Everyone had heard about the anomaly, as it was quite strange. Unlike usual anomalies, Bus 357 was rarely ever encountered by ordinary humans.

Most of the time, only the players and agents could even notice it. But once someone did, they inevitably entered the bus and died. Because of the lack of information surrounding the anomaly and its fatality, it was marked as a C-rank anomaly, one that would take multiple squads to eliminate at the least.

That’s why it came as a shocker that one individual had disposed of the anomaly all alone. But Johann wouldn’t have batted an eye if that was all.

Along with the report, a sketch of the perpetrator and presumed cultist was attached.

"Bandaged eyes, a stick, and a sword as weapons," Karloff shook his head. "There’s no mistaking it."

"But how is it even possible?" Johann asked, slamming the report on the table. "You’re telling me Zaen crossed three oceans, killed the anomaly, and returned all within five to six hours?"

"I’m not saying anything, Captain," Karloff replied. "But your theory that someone was trying to frame Zaen to capture him doesn’t seem all that plausible either."

Well, it was true.

Since they hadn’t entered anything related to Zaen in the database, there was no reason for the global HQ to target someone they didn’t know even existed.

"Could he have spatial abilities?"

Zoey, who had been standing there idly, couldn’t help but ask. Since they didn’t know a lot about the abilities his ’system’ had given Zaen, they couldn’t deny the possibility.

However, there was one small issue.

"Teleporting to or from the base isn’t possible," Karloff reminded them. "Anomaly OB-203 doesn’t only ’see’ everything, it also prohibits sudden teleportation."

Zoey scratched her head before going silent once again.

At that moment, Zaen was in the middle of another lesson from Jenna after getting treated for his ’superficial’ injuries.

Someone who gets injured so easily... could he have actually taken down a C-rank anomaly?

The thought was baffling.

Johann picked up the report again and scoffed as he pointed a section to Karloff.

"Read what it says here."

"The suspect was impaled by over a dozen flesh-like extensions but still recovered..." Karloff mumbled, tilting his head. "But Zaen—"

"Exactly. If he could heal injuries, then why was his body a mess when Ann healed him?"

Just then, there was a knock on the door, and Ann entered the room, looking uncharacteristically grim.

"The reports, Captain," she said, handing a thick folder to him. "Both his fluid and blood reports came back normal."

"What about skill analysis?"

"With the proper sample, the results aren’t reliable, but..."

Johann raised an eyebrow as Ann trailed off. Eventually, she clicked her tongue and dropped a bombshell on everyone in the room.

"He... doesn’t seem to have an inherent ability."

Absolute silence shrouded the room.

"What? Even without his ’proper’ sample, the result can’t possibly be this skewed!?"

Surprisingly, Karloff was the first to lose his composure. Even so, he had only voiced the thoughts that were swirling inside everyone’s head.

"Didn’t the ones Zoey rescued along with him say he could restore their sanity by physical closeness?" Johann asked, being uncharacteristically calm.

Ann threw her hands in the air. She knew the results were true, but even after retesting five times, nothing popped up. No discrepancies, no contamination, no anomalous illness, nothing.

Even during the test, she felt like something was hiding away everything they knew about skill testing.

But she didn’t include it in her report due to the sheer absurdity of the conclusion. Besides, she thought such a result would force the captain to order Zaen to hand over the sample she wanted.

Just the thought made her cheeks flush since there was so much she could do with Zaen’s sample.

Unfortunately, Johann had something else on his mind.

"That’s perfect then," he clapped, tossing a lollipop in his mouth. "Since he doesn’t have an ability, we can just let him go."

"Ehh?"

The three others simultaneously made the strange sound.

"If he doesn’t have an ability and still took out the Endless, and those D-rank anomalies, shouldn’t it be more reason to not let him leave?" Ann asked. "He could be a special-type—"

"No, he isn’t." Karloff cut her off, knowing what Johann was aiming for. "It’s unfair for us to let him stay here longer."

They both smiled at one another as if they had hit the jackpot, leaving Zoey and Ann baffled.

Why did they go through all that trouble of creating a fake rehab if they were just going to let him leave before he even spent twenty-four hours there?

Zoey was about to question them when one of the 9992 receptionists ran into the room, panting wildly.

"Captain... there’s a caller asking about the rehab center and if they could have a patient out temporarily. What should I—"

"Tell them he’ll be on his way shortly."

"Ehh?"

Now it was the receptionist’s turn to act surprised.

"But what about the wolves?"

"What wolves? Why would they chase after someone who wasn’t a part of the org, nor had any abilities?" Johann cut her off. "By the way, you got a loud mouth, don’t you?"

"Eek!" the receptionist exclaimed and hit behind Ann. "I never told anyone about him. I swear!"

"Of course you won’t," Johann said, waving his hand. "Get lost and tell everyone to zip their mouths or else... my suit will be waiting for you."

The girl didn’t waste any time and hurried outside. Ann was about to follow suit when Johann called her back.

"Oh, and Ann?" he said. "Pack a bag. You’re going with Zaen as his... rehab coordinator."

"What? Oh! I got it, Captain!"