It was a concentrate with a plant as its raw material.

Since no chemical compounds were mixed in, it could be considered a natural substance.

If so, would its toxicity truly be harmful to the World Tree, the incarnation of Mother Nature?

‘Just as I expected.’

The World Tree absorbed even the medicinal properties of the elixir, which could have been a burden on the body, without any loss.

No matter how strong the side effects were, the toxicity of a mere drug fell far short of it.

I was confident it wouldn’t work on me.

“How is it?”

Bordon asked subtly.

His expression was full of anticipation.

I gave him the answer he was hoping for.

“I’m satisfied.”

“That is a relief. As I said, there are side effects, but considering the feeling of elation as if you’ve reached the heavens, it’s a minor problem. It is worthy of being called a gift from the heavens. It is a grace bestowed by God.”

Bordon shouted in a loud voice.

A solemnity that even felt somewhat reverent was present.

‘This is something I can’t get used to.’

That’s how these brokers were.

It wasn’t a priest cosplay to feign harmlessness; in their own way, they sincerely served a god.

And it made sense, as it was a job where they put their lives on the line against the city government’s crackdowns.

It was a profession that only madmen would dare to attempt.

“I’ll buy them all.”

“Thank you.”

Bordon quickly switched from a fanatic to a merchant and packaged the goods.

One by one for each product.

The lack of stock was a flaw, but it was actually for the better.

I had spent a surprising amount of money arranging the request for the Mage Tower.

Unlike other direct markets, this was a legal business, so there was no fear of it disappearing.

I could just come back next time to pick up the remaining stock.

***

In reality, there were no side effects left in my body.

Was it because the raw material was a plant?

The increase in Nature Affinity was more prominent than the increase in mana.

「The World Tree pats its stomach in satiety.」

Was this doping agent a substitute for a drink for it?

It didn’t seem like it would go wrong from excessive consumption, so I probably didn’t have to worry.

It was when I was staring blankly at a streetlight on the roadside.

There were presences caught at the end of my forcibly expanded senses.

「The World Tree pays attention to the unfamiliar faces.」

I had deliberately not gone straight home and had changed my route several times.

Nevertheless, since the presences were following me, it had to be a tail.

‘Who are these guys?’

The reason brokers exist is because the contractor profession is one that easily earns grudges.

They were mediators who certified that everything that happened during a request was purely business.

There was no one who didn’t know that.

Even so, the resentment that people held was an unavoidable area.

So I avoided personal grudges as much as possible.

My purpose in entering this industry was elsewhere.

So, considering everything, there was one suspicious part.

‘Did they catch my tail?’

The existence of Beta.

Although I had diverted all attention to Bianca, there must have been some people who were suspicious.

They were more than capable of tailing me.

‘I have to shake them off.’

If I were clean, I would have pretended not to notice and moved on.

Since I wasn’t, it was uncomfortable to have them on my tail.

It was a good opportunity.

The effect of the doping agent was still there, so they were perfect as punching bags to relieve it.

Thump!

As I ran with all my might, I could feel their flustered presence.

I had only intended to cause a little confusion, but my body stretched out so much that I was surprised too.

I was so fast that even the guys I hadn’t noticed began to reveal their presence.

That was exactly what I wanted.

They probably thought they were hiding in a safe place, but now that their location was revealed, I could target them.

BANG!

“Gak!”

One of them, who was standing on a water tower, collapsed.

The accuracy of the M2 Maximum had already been confirmed against the mounted bandits in the land of quicksand.

When I took down three of them from a distance as if I were a sniper, they seemed to have realized the seriousness of the situation and moved in unison.

The way they scattered organizationally and then closed in was sharp.

It gave the impression that they were acting according to a pre-planned plan.

I had a strong feeling that they were luring me somewhere.

The place we arrived at was a main street.

It was probably their intention to avoid a narrow alley where they couldn’t attack all at once.

「The World Tree finds the empty main street strange.」

The traffic light was stuck on red, and there were no cars, let alone people passing by.

‘Is this a pre-arranged location?’

Soon, five people popped out from all directions and confronted me.

They looked at each other and their eyebrows twitched.

“This is all that’s left?”

“To think he took out this many while fleeing.”

“His skills are quite good. All the less skilled ones were taken down.”

“I don’t think this is the time for idle chatter.”

I returned my gun to its holster and said.

“You went to the trouble of arranging a stage like this just to catch me, so you probably won’t open your mouths easily no matter what I ask.”

“……So?”

“Let’s make it easy for both of us.”

This was a world where fists were closer than the law.

“If I make you kneel, won’t you say something?”

I was also looking for a place to run wild.

***

The battle was one-sided.

They probably thought they had a high chance of winning if they created a one-on-many situation.

Generally, that was correct.

However, my abilities tended to show more advantages in a battle against many.

‘Their skills aren’t so bad that I can’t understand their confidence.’

They were martial artists skilled in using their bodies.

They had enough skill to show themselves without being fazed by my checks.

They must have been confident that they could easily subdue anyone if they just surrounded them in a wide area and got close.

Pududuk!

“Kraaak!”

It was a misjudgment.

No matter how good the technique, if there is a large difference in physical ability, it is nothing more than a petty trick.

My greatly amplified physical ability threw their calculations into disarray.

I didn’t even use synchronization.

When I pierced their weak points with my eyes and realized it with my body, they were quickly turned into a mess and collapsed.

“Now it seems we’re in a state to talk.”

“Gak!”

I grabbed the man whose elbow was bent backwards by the collar and pushed him against the wall.

He was the most skilled one, having exchanged dozens of blows with me.

If he wasn’t a guy who just did as he was told, he would probably know a lot.

It didn’t matter if he didn’t.

I hadn’t killed the others, so I just had to break an arm or a leg and wake them up.

“What was the purpose of tailing me, and whose request was it? If you don’t want to die, spill everything you know.”

“Hngh! Heo-eok!”

The guy groaned with his mouth wide open.

He was a guy with one arm and leg modified with machinery.

Breaking his good, opposite arm seemed to be quite painful.

「The World Tree focuses on the trembling pupils.」

I noticed the incongruity at the same time as the World Tree.

His tongue moved, but no voice came out.

I had cleanly broken only the bone, so it wasn’t an unbearable pain.

But cold sweat was pouring down his face, and his eyes rolled back.

His body twisted as if having a seizure, and the scratch on his head turned red.

Swiiik!

The moment I heard a sharp sound cutting through the air, I immediately let go of him and stepped back.

Splat!

His head burst like a watermelon.

I turned my head and confirmed the presence of a vehicle crossing the main street.

Screeech!

A van that had braked sharply stopped in the intersection, leaving long skid marks.

People in suits poured out of a sedan that was following it like an escort and opened the back seat door of the luxurious van.

“It’s a relief I could intervene in time. That was a close call.”

Her skin was strangely tanned, as if she had been in the sun a lot.

Her hair, with scattered white strands, was tied tightly together.

Her wrinkled skin and the eyepatch on one eye gave a very charismatic impression.

“Are you Allen?”

Her attire of cargo pants and a bulletproof vest screamed ‘soldier.’

Considering her apparent age, she was probably a former soldier.

「The World Tree shrinks at the strange sense of pressure.」

‘Former soldiers are tricky to deal with.’

They are stubborn and rigid, so it’s hard to communicate with them.

The way she confirmed my identity as soon as she got out of the car was just like that.

“And who are you?”

“I asked first. I know you’re on guard, but shouldn’t you pay the price for being saved from danger?”

The woman nodded her head towards the man’s corpse.

“They’re crazy bastards with bombs in their heads. It’s a trick you can’t help but fall for if you don’t know.”

I touched the man’s skull, which had fallen at my feet along with the blood.

It was the part that had turned red.

From inside the split-in-half skull, explosives and a signal device were visible.

It wasn’t the first time I had seen a machine man with a modified skull, but adding a self-destruct function was just vicious.

‘I have to admit I was helped.’

I obediently answered the woman.

“I don’t know where you heard it from, but as you said, I am Allen.”

“Right, Allen. I thought so when I saw your face. That kind of appearance isn’t common. First, shall we get in my car? This isn’t a good place to talk.”

Kwajik!

Her escort finished off the remaining unconscious members.

The hand movements that ended their lives were precise and without hesitation.

She herself exuded that kind of atmosphere, so had she even formed her escort with former military personnel?

‘I’ve escorted a councilor before, but I’ve never been involved with former military personnel.’

They were different from the guys who had been tailing me.

What was their purpose?

I had no idea.

“I’ll tell you their identity and the rest of the details inside.”

It could be a trap.

Of course, the possibility was slim.

If they had been aiming for my life, they would have appeared after I was hit by the self-destruct terror.

Although she was rigid, her attitude was at least favorable to me.

‘I guess I can at least listen to what she has to say.’

The people I could have questioned were taken care of by them, using the self-destruct terror as an excuse.

It must have been a deliberate act.

It meant, ‘If you’re curious, follow me.’

Without letting down my guard, I got into the vehicle.

***

“They’re the hunting dogs of Bellis Inc.”

The woman didn’t waste time with small talk and got straight to the point.

“They’re not guys raised directly by the company, but they recruit personnel in conjunction with a gang they back. Making them self-destruct to silence them is their classic way of cutting their losses.”

No wonder they didn’t say anything when I interrogated them.

Had the corporation put a leash on them?

“I haven’t earned the grudge of a corporation called Bellis Inc. in relation to any request.”

“Their purpose was probably to get information about the first android from you. It would be a burden to touch the Shadow Empress, so they probably poked the other side.”

It was exactly as I had guessed.

Although I had taken care of all the personnel who had been tailing me for now, since it was confirmed that they were related to a corporation, a sense of unease remained.

I glanced at the building complex visible through the tinted window and muttered.

“Should I eliminate the future trouble?”

“It’s hard for a single contractor to go against a corporation. It’s not impossible, but it’s troublesome. Bellis Inc. didn’t put all their effort into planning this operation either. They know you’re not an easy target, so they probably won’t touch you again. Just think of it as being bitten by a stray dog and move on.”

“I don’t know how you can be so sure about a corporation’s greed.”

If it was a corporation that only used a gang as its underlings, I could have taken it down by myself.

As she said, it was just troublesome, not impossible.

Beta was an item that even a megacorp had coveted.

In my common sense, a corporation that had started something to aim for such an item and then gave up on the first try was abnormal.

“It sounds like you’re saying you can influence Bellis Inc.’s decisions. Am I mistaken?”

I said, moving my hand closer to my holster.

The woman explained with a confident attitude from beginning to end.

Unless one was deeply involved with a corporation, it was difficult to speak so definitively about a corporation’s internal information.

“If you think I’m representing them, you’re mistaken. I’m just telling you what I know.”

The woman glanced at my hand’s movement but did not change her attitude.

“You must have misunderstood because my introduction was late. I have no relationship with those corporation guys. That’s the field Cromwell is putting his effort into.”

“Cromwell?”

An unexpected name came up.

“You wouldn’t not know the name of the broker you mainly deal with.”

“Do you know each other?”

“I helped him out a few times when he was a rookie.”

The woman chuckled as if recalling the past.

“Let me introduce myself. I’m the broker, Reina. I received your profile from Cromwell.”

I see, then I could understand how she had found me at just the right time and was well-versed in Bellis Inc.’s interests.

A famous broker would have picked up information here and there.

“Now that I’ve shown myself, Bellis Inc. will soon re-evaluate the situation. It’s obvious they’ll judge it’s too much of a burden to touch you any further.”

“……I understand that you helped me. But a request is a separate matter.”

What reason would a broker have to appear before a contractor?

A designated request.

I subtly expressed my refusal, but Reina paid no heed.

“I know you just returned. But at least hear me out first. After you hear it, you’ll be tempted.”

Just as she hadn’t doubted that I would get in the vehicle, her tone was as if she were waiting for a predetermined result this time as well.

“My main client is the military.”

The military.

“The Public Security Bureau has requested support. I intend to recommend you to them.”

As if she knew I was shaken, Reina crossed her arms arrogantly and asked.

“How about it, isn’t it a tempting story?”

(End of Chapter)