Chapter 73

[Target confirmed. The target is currently traveling in a flying sedan. ‘R-Mosk’ model, license plate ‘AR3852’. Altitude 480m. Moving at 120 km/h toward Goomaryong Street in Sector E.]

[Confirmed. What about the passenger?]

[A member from the Foundation Secretary’s Office.]

[Then proceed if necessary. You haven’t been spotted, right?]

[No sign they’ve noticed us.]

[Understood. Stand by until further orders.]

[Confirmed.]

Three Grand-Mage-Class Wizards.

Seven Elder-Class Wizards.

Eleven high-level Adaptees above Lv.80.

Forty-two mid-level Adaptees above Lv.50.

Twenty-three over-augmented individuals above Lv.80.

And twenty-two augmented individuals above Lv.50.

Over a hundred combatants in total.

Every single one wore tactical-grade Powered Armor of at least Lv.4 and carried the S-201, the Stingray Security Division’s standard rifle for Adaptees.

It was a monster of a weapon, firing 8mm depleted uranium armor-piercing rounds at a hypersonic speed of 30 rounds per second.

This kind of force could easily take down several large production colonies without breaking a sweat.

Yet, all of them were aiming for just one man.

Aaron Stingray.

The Chairman of the Stingray Foundation.

Gathered under the orders of Benedict Stingray, they were pouring all their efforts into eliminating the Crown Prince.

Frankly, for a unit organized to take down a single target, it was an excessive show of force.

Even if that man was the heir to New Valhalla City’s largest megacorp, and the very symbol of that megacorp’s military might — the Crown Prince.

That was why someone finally asked.

He was a man who had only recently broken past a combined module output level of Lv.50 — in other words, a rookie, the junior of this operation.

[Do we really need to go this far? This feels like overkill.]

[What do you mean by that?]

[Come on. No matter how strong he is, he’s still just one man. I get being cautious, but this goes beyond cautious — it feels like we’re scared.]

The rookie’s grumbling.

At his words, someone laughed.

[Heh.]

It was the kind of incredulous chuckle that said, What the hell is this guy talking about? Soon, the laughter spread, and the inside of the transport vehicle became a sea of chuckles.

[W-What? What’s so funny?]

[You really don’t know, rookie.]

[Well, it’s not surprising. He’s just shed his “rookie” badge. What would you expect him to know?]

[True. The Crown Prince’s exact specs are classified, after all. All that’s known is that he has two Game Changers.]

[Exactly. And you know, there are rookies these days who don’t even know the Crown Prince is an Adaptee.]

[He was in the hospital for a long time.]

Irritated by their mocking tone, the rookie shot back.

[So what if he has Game Changers? Even if it sounds grand, it’s just Lv.5 Arcane Modules. Even I have a few Lv.4s…]

[Rookie.]

But his whining was cut short by a cold voice. The man who interrupted growled:

[You don’t understand until you see it.]

[I have seen it. I’ve seen the video of the Crown Prince taking down a Titan in an instant. But something like that—surely you guys could—]

[Looks like you really didn’t understand.]

The man let out a deep sigh.

[Let me tell you a few rumors I’ve heard. They say he once wiped out about ten top-tier demons on his own. That he saved a colony that was about to be overrun by a massive Arcane offensive. And some even say he killed a demi-god single-handedly.]

[Rumors are just rumors. Besides, nobody here has actually seen Aaron Stingray fight.]

[True. But I have.]

[Seen what?]

[The aftermath of where the Crown Prince passed through.]

The man continued.

About ten years ago, when Aaron was still a teenager, he had been stationed at a combat drone production colony in the south as part of security.

Then came a sudden large-scale Mystic assault that nearly brought the colony down. In the end, they were forced to seal the outer walls and prepare for a last stand in the colony’s shelters.

[That’s when word came in — the Crown Prince had arrived.]

Someone received the news from outside and spread it among the people in the shelter.

Not long after, the shelter lock was lifted, and the surviving Security Division members went out to clear the Mystic corpses.

And then they saw it.

[It was a disaster.]

Torrential rain, blizzards, earthquakes, raging wildfires.

Catastrophes beyond human control.

What they saw was the aftermath of a “battle” on that same scale.

[Th-Then that means…]

[You get it now? And that was when he was still in his teens — before he’d even been completed as a human weapon.]

The man went on.

[It was around last year or the year before, right? When the Crown Prince stopped all public activities. There were plenty of rumors about him being sick.]

[Yeah. Then he returned this year.]

[And you must’ve heard that there were several assassination attempts on him during that time. And how they ended.]

[No, I didn’t. I was too busy “over there” killing monsters for over a year…]

[Fair enough.]

[So, what happened?]

The rookie asked, and the man replied.

[Nothing much. Just that there was an assassination attempt, and the Crown Prince wiped out the attackers by himself.]

[And?]

[The point is, among those attackers were some well-known A-rank mercenaries. And now we know for sure that the Crown Prince really was sick at the time.]

Genetic Overcast.

A rare but deadly condition that, once contracted, inevitably drives an Adaptee to death. Benedict, who had ordered the current assassination attempt, had confirmed that the Crown Prince had suffered from it.

[From what I’ve heard, just using normal modules in that state causes excruciating pain. Without painkillers, it’s almost impossible to stay sane.]

[And in that condition, he took down A-rank mercenaries by himself…?]

[Hard to believe, right? I don’t believe it myself. Rumor has it he didn’t even get a scratch during the whole mess. After that, all assassination attempts just stopped.]

[Come to think of it, last time he even took a rocket hit to a Militech Aerial Transport Vehicle and came back without a scratch.]

[Right. Do you get it now? You can’t think of Aaron Stingray as the same kind of human as us.]

He was a beast.

Not a man, but a beast.

A beast in a beautiful form.

When the man stressed this, the rookie finally gulped, looking a little frightened.

[Th-Then this operation…]

[Deploying this much combat strength is only natural. If anything, I think we should bring even more. Even with this force, I’m not certain we’ll succeed.]

If it weren’t for the promise of enormous rewards, they wouldn’t have joined.

And the one who gave the order was Benedict Stingray — the man most likely to become the new Crown Prince if the current one was eliminated… so the man explained.

At that, another voice cut in.

[Don’t be stupid! Don’t scare the kid and ruin morale! You all saw the video! That Crown Prince, who didn’t even seem like he’d bleed if stabbed, actually got injured! After his illness, he’s definitely weaker now!]

[Let’s hope he really is weaker.]

A heavy tension settled in the air.

What if the Crown Prince hadn’t weakened?

What if he still possessed that monstrous strength they’d only ever heard about in rumors?

No one knew.

Everyone feared Aaron.

It wasn’t just because of his overwhelming combat power.

His overbearing yet aristocratic demeanor, his untouchable status, the aura he exuded simply by breathing — all of it shook people’s hearts without them realizing it.

Reverence.

Respect and fear.

A fear born from rampant rumors and secondhand stories, swelling like a giant balloon inside their hearts.

But they had to do it.

They had no choice.

[Target has arrived at the expected location.]

[Coordinates received. Designate from Point B28 to Point D65 as the operational zone. Place snipers at C23, C39, and D11.]

[Have all positions set within five minutes. The operation begins simultaneously with the Wizards’ hacking.]

As planned in advance, the soldiers swiftly began preparations to assault Aaron Stingray.

With professional efficiency, they were ready in under three minutes and waited quietly for the call sign.

[Stand by.]

Aaron Stingray’s destination was the outskirts of Sector E — the place reduced to ruins by the Titan attack last time, still littered with debris.

Sector E had already been a high-crime area, and after the incident, existing residents had fled, causing rapid slumification.

In a way, this was fortunate.

The Stingray Group had already been drawing too much media attention lately. Any more publicity wouldn’t end well for them.

The reason the target had come to such a place was unknown, but with fewer witnesses, they could carry out the mission quietly and make it disappear.

The soldiers took positions nearly 1 km away, observing Aaron. He stepped out of the flying sedan and, for some reason, walked into an empty, ruined building.

[Target exited vehicle and entered warehouse. Can ‘Wall Vision Module’ confirm?]

[Negative. Signal lost. Scanner compromised by concrete dust. We’ll need to get closer to secure a stable signal.]

[Denied. Wizard team, I need the building’s schematics.]

With the Wizards’ help, the soldiers downloaded the blueprints on the spot. The floor plan appeared before them, and Aaron’s position lit up as a red dot.

[Fortunately, only one entrance.]

[Do not take your eyes off him until direct orders are given.]

Tension thickened.

Among the team were veterans with extensive experience in Mystic territory, but even they felt their hearts tremble.

Then, in the midst of the growing silence—

[Target has started a call.]

[Who’s on the line?]

[Maria, Secretary Chief.]

[Prep AI voice replication.]

Maria had been detained shortly before the operation began, after suddenly opposing the plan.

Since then, an impersonator had been handling her duties — writing reports, managing emails — to keep Aaron from suspecting anything.

This time was no different.

The soldiers planned to fool Aaron using AI-generated imitation of Maria’s voice.

[Mimesis AI ready. Begin call.]

Aaron’s call connected to Maria’s number. The AI-crafted voice flowed into the earpieces of every soldier eavesdropping.

[Yes, young master.]

[Preparations going well?]

[Of course, young master.]

[Honestly, I didn’t expect you to prepare to this extent. I’ll have to reevaluate Benedict. Pass along my thanks to him.]

[How should I convey that?]

[…]

Aaron fell silent for a moment.

And then—

[Aaaargh—!]

A scream.

At the same time, an unknown object flew through the air and was sucked into the building Aaron was in. The speed was so great that even the watching soldiers couldn’t tell what had happened.

No — they had seen it.

Their cybernetic eyes, with motion-tracking sharpness like high-speed cameras, could follow even bullets.

They just couldn’t comprehend it.

Because it was unbelievable, even after seeing it.

[W-What the hell just happened?]

Just moments ago—

The object that had flown into the building was a person. Specifically, one of the snipers stationed 2 km away.

It didn’t make sense.

A sniper who should have been 2 km out was suddenly dragged through the air and into Aaron’s ruined building.

But soon they realized—

The sniper at Point D11’s life signs had vanished. What they had just seen really had been one of their own.

[Ah…!]

The shock was so great no one could speak. Then Aaron’s voice came again.

[Then tell Benedict this.]

And Aaron chuckled.

As if he were delighted.

As if he couldn’t contain his excitement.

[Thank him for preparing so many hunting targets for me.]

The web Aaron had spun—

—had already spread in all directions.

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