It had been easy to bring down and devour the Helmon Family. Their clear dislike for me at the alliance meeting made it all too easy to accuse them.

The real problem was how we could swallow the entire Alliance.

Which, actually, wasn’t that difficult either.

After all, there was no one left in the Inferesse Family who could question the decisions I made. I was now much freer to do as I pleased. I could use the information I gained from the game much more easily from now on.

So, I quickly said three words to the artificial intelligence open on one of the screens on my desk using voice commands.

The Morten Family.

A brief ‘loading’ message appeared on the screen, then public information quickly filled the screens in rows. The AI had also added a few details from the Inferesse Family’s data that were normally inaccessible.

The Morten Family was ranked sixth in terms of influence among the families in Old Gundam. They possessed wealth and power that we couldn’t reach even if we combined the Inferesse Family and all the others in the Alliance. Despite this, they pursued a policy of avoiding conflict and maintaining neutrality.

However, this situation was about to change.

According to information obtained from some optional content in the game, they would completely take control of Black Blood in about two years. Then, instead of remaining allies with Saligia, they would join them directly, monopolizing the Old Gundam’s dominance.

The reason for this change was the heir who would take over the family a year later. This heir was a wiera belonging to none other than Saligia. He had sworn revenge by blaming Black Blood for the disappearance of his two dead siblings, thereby justifying his future actions.

Ironically, he himself was the real culprit behind his siblings’ demise.

Saligia had devised this plan because it could not directly control Black Blood. This way, they could benefit from the economic and military power of Old Gundam not as an ally, but as its direct controllers.

It was a carefully crafted, almost flawless plan.

Their only problem was that I was completely aware of this plan.

I sighed softly as I scrolled further down the information in front of me. At the same time, I realized an obvious truth once again.

Knowing the future is really disturbingly useful. Knowledge really is power.

…

Well, that is, unless some idiot goes, thinking everything will be easy, and ruins everything.

~knock! ~knock!

Hm?

“Come in.”

The door opened with my permission. But just before seeing who it was, I paused for a moment, remembering something.

“Ah, right… I forgot that I told you to come.”

The person who entered the room was none other than Alex, disguised.

After quietly closing the door behind him, he approached my desk in a few steps. Even though his role within the family had changed, his steps were measured and silent.

Five days after Stephen’s death, he was now able to come and go from my room more freely and move around the mansion more comfortably. He had taken Stephen’s place, after all.

Yet he still managed to feel like an assassin with his habits.

“The Morten Family…”

When I saw his eyes on the screens, I gave him a nod. He was the only other person besides me who knew what that name meant for us, as he was aware of every move we would make in the Old Gundam.

“Are we finally making a move?”

“Yes. Have the servants prepare the car. It’ll just be the two of us.”

“Understood.”

He left the room as quickly as he had entered, while I stretched out where I was sitting and leaned back in my chair as far as possible. Then I slowly got up, took two of the pills that helped me suppress my sleep, washed my face, and walked slowly toward the front of the mansion.

Alex was waiting for me in the car he had prepared as quickly as possible, the engine already running.

*******

Before the other two members of the Morten family disappeared, there were three potential heirs.

The first was the heir who belonged to Saligia and would take control of the family in the future, only to hand it over to the organization he was a member of.

The second was the unfortunate brother who had disappeared about six years ago when he was only fourteen years old, and whose lifeless body was found three months later.

The last was the sister who had been kidnapped around this time, but had not yet been killed because she was still useful. If I’m not mistaken, she would be killed about a month later, her body parts sent to the Morten Family as a provocation, but the perpetrator would never be found.

That is, until Thomas Morten died of the heart disease he developed as a result of the tragedy he experienced, and was succeeded by his eldest son.

Of course, the current fate of both Thomas Morten and his daughter would differ from the game’s original scenario.

Because I knew exactly where she was being held captive. The place Alex and I were heading to was precisely there.

She was deep inside a factory belonging to the Morten Family, which was still in active production, in a place that could be called the edge of Old Gundam.

Control of this factory had been given to the family’s eldest heir years ago so that he could learn finance, even if a little. Therefore, no one had realized that the kidnapped heir was actually, so to speak, at their doorstep.

“We’re almost there.”

At Alex’s words, I sighed softly, cleared my mind, and put the black mask I had taken out of the torpedo over my face. Alex had the same mask on his face. And we weren’t limited to just that; we were also using a magical device that hid our height and body type.

For our plan, our identities had to remain unknown. After all, the next two hours or so would be a bit… action-packed.

About half a minute after I put the mask on, Alex turned right off the main road. We left the vehicle among the trees, in a spot where it wouldn’t be easily found. And after using an extra camouflage device to ensure no one would find it until we returned, we began walking slowly.

After a ten-minute walk, the factory finally came into view. Black smoke rose from its chimneys among the trees, and the rhythmic hum of distant machines, detectable by my heightened senses, created a slight noise in the forest that should have been silent.

“Are you ready?”

Alex did nothing but nod his head.

“Then let’s begin.”

After placing my cane inside my ring, I wrapped the caora around my body.

And at that very moment, I couldn’t help but pause for a second.

I hadn’t realized it before because I hadn’t had the chance to try it, but even the simple act of patching my body was surprisingly much more… efficient and effective. I felt like I was approaching my caora limit more slowly, and I felt more… powerful than I normally did.

How nice.

“Did something happen?”

“No, I just noticed something I hadn’t before. Never mind, let’s keep going.”

Alex held his gaze on me for a moment, then turned back to the front without saying anything.

Just then, when we had come out into the open and could now see the factory in its entirety, a figure entered our field of vision.

It was approaching us from there, which looked like a complex of four long apartment buildings, with nearly fifteen people behind it.

He was a well-built middle-aged man. He looked quite ordinary, but he was bald and had a stubbly beard. He seemed quite calm with a confident smile on his face.

We came face-to-face almost immediately.

“Even though I don’t think I’ll get an answer… who are you, exactly? You are on the Morten Family’s property, for your information. So even if you succeed in your purpose, which would be quite comical, you should know that it won’t be profitable for you.”

…

What?

Who does this guy even think he is? Isn’t he just about C- grade if I’m not mistaken…?

Is he relying on those behind him? Even if he were the highest-ranking guy among them, he probably feels like a maximum B or B+.

I didn’t respond beyond taking a deep breath when I realized the conversation was a waste of time. I simply raised my hand and pointed it at those in front of me.

“Oh, so you’ve made your decision… How sad. Guys! Beat th-“

Before he could complete his sentence, caora responded to my desires and granted what I sought. My entire body filled with a strength I had never imagined possible for me. I closed the hand I had pointed at the group in front of me, forming it into a fist. Then, pushing off the ground with my feet, I thrust myself forward.

And I was…

“…!”

Fast.

Much faster than I had anticipated.

The strength provided by caora was so explosive and immense that I didn’t even realize I had reached the man I was thinking of punching.

But I had already tensed and clenched my fist. The immense power gathered in my muscles thanks to caora was practically begging to be unleashed.

All I had to do was let it go.

And that’s what I did.

When my fist made contact with the man’s cheek, before he even realized what was happening, I felt his bones shatter through my fist. As the flesh on the bone was torn apart, my fist sank into his skull. Then, time suddenly sped up as warm blood covered my hand.

The man I punched was thrown back with such force that he took several people from the team behind him with him. He practically flew back to the factory he had come from, taking the wire mesh with him and crashing into the wall of the first factory building as hard as possible.

A small shockwave spread around, and the factory alarms started blaring simultaneously.

Meanwhile, I just stared at my fist as the warm blood dripped through my fingers onto the floor.

Wow.

I didn’t want to hold back, so I used a little too much caora, about two-thirds of my limit.

But even I didn’t expect something like this…

How powerful was that punch? I guess it was good enough to take on someone rated A or A+…

“The thing you said you noticed…?”

In response to Alex’s normally quite emotionless but now slightly cracking words, I answered the question with excessive satisfaction, wiping my hand to clean off some of the blood on it.

“Yes.”

Alex said nothing, completely speechless, and I finally took my eyes off my hands and turned to look ahead.

Of the sixteen-person team, including the one in front who was speaking nonsense, only nine remained. They all stood there waiting, staring at me with wide eyes as if they were looking at some kind of abomination.

“Hmm.”

Seems like they’re a little scared.

Well, I guess it’s normal when you see that kind of damage from a punch without even sensing any mana being used.

“What are you waiting for? Aren’t you the security team?”

With my voice, they began to come to their senses one after another, realizing the situation they were in.

“Come on, fight.”

However, despite my provocation, none of them took that first step. On the contrary, they only responded when Alex and I eventually lunged at them.

This time, since I didn’t use such explosive force, they resisted a little and gained motivation thinking they had a chance, but after only two minutes, the result was defeat for them once again.

I cracked my neck over the bodies lying on the ground, the intoxication of my newly acquired strength making me feel that this would be much easier than I had initially thought.

Well, it’s not such a bad idea to relieve some stress while also executing the plan, I guess.

“Alex.”

So, with slow steps, I began to move toward the factory, where the alarms were still blaring like crazy. Alex followed right behind me.

“Yes?”

“Leave the big fish to me. Aside from that, leave no one alive except our target.”

I received my answer with absolute coldness.

“Understood.”

And so, we entered the factory.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep