Chapter 185: Asuka 2
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Junhyuk was at home eating dinner when he saw huge flames not very far from his house and decided to find out what was happening. He knew how dangerous a novice with PTSD was. Sora only had the power to run, and that didn't make a scene, but the novice from Japan had burned down an entire building.
In such a situation, they couldn't just let that novice be. She could kill innumerous people.
The problem was that they weren't sure about that novice's power. Even Junhyuk could be killed if he wasn't careful.
He walked out of his house and ran toward the flames. Soon, another fire started. They appeared in sequence, which meant that either the situation was precarious or the novice had gone berserk. At that point, Junhyuk felt obligated to stop the fire and teleported to where the fire was.
When he arrived at the scene, there were two cars burning up and three more cars stopped there.
The head of a large wolf appeared in front of a car as it came running over the fire, and Junhyuk realized that Jeffrey was also there. The wolf ran toward a woman riding a motorcycle, and she turned around and lit another flame.
"Twenty-second cooldown?"
Regardless of the opponent, when someone had a dangerous power, it was always a good idea to find out its cooldown time.
Junhyuk watched as a chain reaction started on the wolf, and it burned to death. It was possible he wouldn't be able to survive a fight with that novice. The chain reactions could focus on a single person, and there were five of them. He felt that she was overpowered.
He hadn't been hit by her power, but it looked as dangerous as the Spatial Slash.
However, even she couldn't do much during its cooldown. All of a sudden, a gorilla raised the back of her motorcycle and knocked her out. Junhyuk had calmly watched the entire thing and sighed.
Jeffrey had restrained her, and she would return to her cell. Doyeol couldn't be tricked twice. He was not easy to deal with.
Junhyuk watched as the agents took her and turned around. There was no longer any reason for him to step in.
"That's a relief."
He thought about asking Jeffrey about the incident later and headed home.
---
They injected her with a tranquilizer so she wouldn't regain consciousness.
"Is this place safe?" Doyeol asked while looking at her.
"She won't be able to escape so easily. We all saw how her power works."
Asuka could create flames, but she had to do it in sequence. They came out almost all at the same time, but the fires had to happen in sequences of five. Thick walls wouldn't keep her enclosed, but thin walls that were also cold and fireproof would work.
There were twenty layers of thin walls surrounding her. If she wanted to destroy the walls, she would have to use her power at least four times.
Within that time, even if she used her power once, the cell would fill with gas, and Asuka would fall asleep. Unless there was another monster attack, this would work to restrain her.
Doyeol looked on Asuka and asked, "Can you wake her up?"
Elise operated the controls. Zaira was also in control of that place, and Elise said, "She'll wake soon."
Doyeol watched silently as Asuka came to. She looked around and gritted her teeth.
"Do you think you can hold me here?"
Within a moment, the high-temperature flames burst in sequence, and five holes appeared in the fireproof walls. Then, a gas started coming out from the ceiling, and Doyeol said, "Shut it off."
Elise stopped the gas, and Doyeol walked without speaking. Jeffrey was standing behind him, and Doyeol smiled and added, "You may follow me."
"Even I can't protect you."
"You can stay here if you wish."
Before Jeffrey had a chance to reply, Doyeol opened the door to Asuka's cell and went inside. She stared angrily at him, but her cooldown wasn't over yet.
Doyeol showed her the palms of his hands, pulled up a chair and sat in front of her. Asuka looked at him intently and said, "I can roast you anytime I want to."
"I know that."
"Then, why are you sitting in front of me?"
"First, you should listen to me. Then, you can decide whether to roast me or not," he said smiling.
Asuka stared at him silently, and Doyeol, still smiling, continued, "I guess you activated a power at the Dimensional Battlefield, am I right?"
She didn't reply and just stared at him.
"There is an arrest warrant for you in Japan," Doyeol added. "Release her."
Asuka was free to move again, and she looked at him, surprised. Doyeol calmly pulled out a tablet and gave it to her.
"It's the Japanese Cabinet's investigation team's report. The Information Headquarters and the Public Security Intelligence Agency are both after you. We brought you here quickly, but they found out who you are."
Asuka realized the Japanese knew who she was, and she couldn't live in Japan anymore.
"What will happen to me if I'm captured?"
"You killed twelve people in the process of burning down that building. The problem is that one of the people killed was an army general."
She sighed.
"They will execute me."
"They won't, but they will work you like a slave."
Asuka looked at him.
"OK. I understand I can't go back to Japan, but how are you different from the Japanese government? The people who captured me weren't ordinary people, especially that last thing that knocked me out. You can only find that at the Dimensional Battlefield."
"Is it time to introduce myself?"
Doyeol smiled, pulled out a business card and gave it to her.
"I am ST Capsule's CEO Doeyol Kim."
"ST Capsule is Guardians' parent company."
"So, I don't have to explain that," he crossed his arms and continued, "Guardians was established to stop monsters, but that's only a front. We are here to gather things from the Dimensional Battlefield to save the world from destruction."
Asuka started shaking a little, and Doyeol continued calmly, "I want you to work for us."
She had wanted to work for them as well. Before she went to the Dimensional Battlefield, she had already known about Guardians.
Now they wanted her, and she no longer felt like a monster. Instead, she was someone who could stop monsters. She felt like activating her power had been her destiny, but then she thought of something else and raised her head.
"But what about my family...?"
"We're way ahead of you. They've all been brought to South Korea."
She realized how scary Doyeol could be, and her eyes widened a little, but she asked, "OK. Can I ask you about the contract's conditions?"
---
Junhyuk reported to work and saw that they had cleared most of the debris. The iron soldier was very powerful. It was even better than heavy machinery.
He watched as the iron soldier unfolded steel walls that had been destroyed during the attack. He was standing there when Dohee approached him.
"We'll be working from the basement. The surface has to be cleared before we move back."
"The Administrative Department?"
"We decided to use the bunker as the Administrative Department. You should meet with the CEO first. Follow me."
Junhyuk followed Dohee to where Zaira's hardware was located and climbed down the ladder to where Eunseo was. She hadn't left work since the day before.
She fixed her glasses and looked at him.
"I must tell you a few things first. The Administrative Department must organize files concerning the last monster attack and check on the amount of monster bodies that will be arriving today."
"I understand," he said. Junhyuk was glad he had some work to do.
"Then, you may start. Zaira will help you, so it'll be easy."
Zaira had helped him before, and Junhyuk nodded calmly. He said goodbye to Eunseo and climbed down the ladder to the bunker.
Once there, he shook his head.
"Surprising."
Like usual, his "office" had a desk, a computer, a fax machine and a printer. He sat on the chair and booted his computer. It quickly turned on, and he heard Zaira's voice.
[How can I help you?]
"I don't have a lot to do to be honest."
[As you know, each nation will send us the monsters' bodies today. I'll show them to you.]
Junhyuk was surprised by the amount.
"There are a lot of them!"
Zaira had worked with Junhyuk before and gave him the documents at his pace. He checked them quickly and said, "Before the bodies get here, I want to see a list of casualties for each nation."
Soon, the screen displayed the list of the deceased from this monster encounter, and Junhyuk clicked his tongue.
"There were extensive casualties. Was there anyone who activated his or her power during this attack?"
[You don't have clearance for that information.]
Junhyuk sighed and said, "Fine, then show me the footage."
Fifty different feeds appeared on the screen, playing the recordings, and Junhyuk paid close attention to them.
"Play it at twice the speed."
He watched the video from China and asked, "China deployed an army, but they didn't do anything. What happened?"
Jowee from the Central Politburo was still there, but they didn't to anything.
[You don't have clearance for that information.]
Junhyuk frowned and said, "Can you connect me to the CEO?"
[Of course.]
Soon, another screen appeared with Eunseo in it. She looked a little surprised.
"The Chinese army was deployed, but they did not move. Can you tell me what happened? Considering Jowee's stance, that's hard to believe."
Eunseo fixed her glasses and said, "Jowee hasn't been seen since the attack. He is missing."
"Is that even possible?"
Jowee was one of the most powerful figures in China. It was hard to believe that he had gone missing.
"They are investigating his disappearance. Maybe it was pressure from W.A.N.C.S. and the U.N., but they are keeping their promises. There won't be any trouble from China, at least for now."
"That's good to hear."
Junhyuk was still curious, so he asked, "Did anyone activate a power from this attack?"
Eunseo looked around herself and said, "They found people in England and India, but we don't know for sure."
"Right."
There were more novices now, and it had happened faster than ever before. The Dimensional Battlefield's managers had succeeded in their goal.