Sand Mage of the Burnt Desert

Chapter 261

Number Five, Zeon.

In Neo Seoul, he ranked as the fifth most dangerous individual.

It was the first time that someone without a large faction had made it into the top ten of the threat rankings, which showed how highly Neo Seoul regarded Zeon.

Because of that, his movements were being closely monitored.

Seo Tae-ran personally considered Zeon to be the most dangerous of them all.

The only reason he was ranked fifth was because he didn’t have a faction. When it came to his abilities, however, there was no one more dangerous in all of Neo Seoul.

Seo Tae-ran asked Ho Cheong-yeon.

“Did you say the person Zeon made contact with is from outside?”

“That’s correct.”

“By ‘outside,’ do you mean a caravan, or perhaps another colony?”

“That’s unclear. They appeared like a ghost, so we have no information whatsoever. Still, I thought I should report it, so here I am.”

“Hm!”

Seo Tae-ran’s expression became serious.

No one could enter Neo Seoul without an entry pass.

The city was protected by barriers and magical formations. However, the slums were different.

Anyone could come and go freely there, making it difficult to accurately determine someone’s identity.

The Shadow Unit also faced limitations in gathering information from the slums.

The best option would be to gain cooperation from Argos’ Eye, the slum’s own intelligence network. But there was no reason for Argos’ Eye to cooperate with the Shadow Unit’s requests.

Seo Tae-ran felt a headache coming on.

Everything related to Zeon made her head ache.

Zeon was that unpredictable.

‘He made contact with someone from outside Neo Seoul? It’s definitely not for an ordinary reason.’

More than anything, she had a bad feeling.

Her instincts were sharp, almost as if they bordered on foresight with their accuracy.

After organizing her thoughts for a moment, she spoke to Ho Cheong-yeon again.

“How many operatives do we currently have available?”

“We have about twenty men to spare.”

“Assign all of them to monitor the individual who contacted Zeon.”

“All of them?”

“Yes! I want to know the person’s identity and their purpose for meeting Zeon.”

“I assume you want no traces left?”

“Of course.”

“Understood. We’ll handle it quietly without the person even realizing.”

Ho Cheong-yeon gave a slight smile.

Given the nature of the Shadow Unit, they had to move discreetly.

They had dozens of ways to extract information without the target even knowing they were being interrogated.

“I’ll find out why they came within two days.”

“Just remember not to provoke Zeon.”

“Haha! I know the boundaries we need to respect. Then…”

Ho Cheong-yeon gave a small bow and quietly left the room.

Left alone, Seo Tae-ran muttered to herself.

“He never lets me rest, does he?”

* * *

Zeon was gently running his hand over the gauntlet on his right arm.

The gauntlet, which had been enhanced with a dragon’s eye to evolve into the Inferno Gauntlet, had been with him for over eight years. It now felt like a part of his body.

The one who had made the Inferno Gauntlet was none other than Kaylee of the Motte Tribe. Because of this, Zeon had always considered himself indebted to Kaylee.

If you receive a favor, you naturally have to repay it.

No matter how small the favor might be.

Zeon had told Duduyan and Aslan that he would depart for the Steel Fortress in two days.

Upon hearing this, the two decided to wait in the slums until then.

“What are you thinking about so deeply?”

Brielle asked carefully, noticing Zeon deep in thought.

“I think I’ll have to go to the Steel Fortress again…”

“Again? Why?”

“The people who helped me before are now asking for my help.”

“Then you should go. When are you planning to leave?”

“The day after tomorrow.”

“Well, that’s a problem.”

“Hm?”

“I’m in the middle of a project, and I’ve had a sudden breakthrough…”

Alchemy is never an easy field of study.

To produce a proper result, you need intense focus and strong inspiration.

Inspiration is essentially the concrete realization of imagination.

Since you never know when it will strike, you have to grab hold of it tightly when it does.

Unfortunately, this was one of those moments.

It was such an important project that Brielle couldn’t bring herself to say she would follow Zeon.

Zeon smiled and said.

“It’s fine! I was planning to go alone this time anyway.”

“Are you sure you’ll be alright?”

“Of course.”

He didn’t intend to take Levin with him either.

Like Brielle, Levin also needed some time alone.

Right now, Levin was like a lamp with its wick completely burned out.

He had lived for the sole purpose of revenge, and now that it was fulfilled, the wick had been consumed, leaving nothing left to burn.

It would take time for a new wick to form.

Until then, it seemed best to let Levin spend time on his own.

More than anything, Zeon thought it would be better to go alone this time.

There was a high chance it would be a long journey, and he wasn’t sure when he would return to Neo Seoul.

“Hold on a second.”

Suddenly, Brielle dashed to her room.

Moments later, she came back, her arms full of various items.

“Take all of this.”

“What is it?”

“It’s everything I’ve made so far. This is an antidote potion, and this is a spray made from the salivary glands of a Mane Lizard. It contains hydrochloric acid, so it can even melt metal. It’ll definitely come in handy. And this is…”

Brielle’s explanations went on endlessly.

Most of the things she had made weren’t particularly useful to Zeon. But they would definitely be useful to ordinary people or low-rank Awakeneds.

Zeon accepted everything Brielle handed him and stored them all in his subspace.

“Thanks! I’ll make good use of them.”

“If you need anything else, just let me know. I’ll make it for you.”

“No, I think this is more than enough.”

“Alright.”

“You two be careful while I’m gone. I don’t think anyone would dare mess with you here, but you never know.”

“Don’t worry. With that around, what’s there to be afraid of?”

Brielle glanced toward the Watching Eye.

Even now, the house was under the protection of the Watching Eye.

Even when the Paladins of Dongdaemun came at them full force, they couldn’t penetrate the Watching Eye’s defense. This house was the safest fortress in the slums.

As long as they stayed here, no one could threaten them.

Zeon smiled and said.

“Still, stay cautious. If anything happens, request protection from the Goblin Market.”

“Got it!”

“Alright. I’m sure you’ll handle things well.”

Zeon smiled warmly.

At first, the two of them had been bound together by a contract. But now, they had built mutual trust and had become close.

Zeon found the change fascinating.

After chatting for a while, Brielle went back to her room, leaving Zeon alone in the living room.

As he sat on the sofa, gazing out the window, the red neon lights blurred his vision.

Duduyan’s words from the other day resurfaced in his mind.

“To save Archelon, we need to find Moby Dick?”

* * *

“Be careful. This is Neo Seoul.”

“Come on, stop worrying.”

Aslan waved dismissively at Duduyan’s nagging.

His face was already flushed. He was clearly drunk.

Empty bottles littered the table in front of him.

They were in a shabby bar in Sinchon.

A cheap bar frequented by the slum’s residents, which naturally meant they served cheap, strong alcohol.

The type of liquor that could knock out most people with just one bottle.

Aslan had already downed several.

Though he had a high tolerance, the real reason he drank so much was because he couldn’t find alcohol anywhere else.

Alcohol had become impossible to find in the Steel Fortress.

The Steel Fortress had only just started stabilizing. Producing alcohol was low on the list of priorities, behind other essentials.

Naturally, alcohol was far down the list, and since scavenging was no longer an option, Aslan hadn’t had a drop since Zeon left.

“Heh heh! I can’t believe I’ve gone this long without something this good. Don’t stop me. I’m going to drink this place dry tonight.”

“Do whatever you want.”

Duduyan shook her head, exasperated.

She could understand Aslan’s feelings. But getting this drunk was something she couldn’t understand.

It was like he was deliberately ruining his body.

“Really, I’ll never understand humans. Why do they do this to themselves?”

“It’s not self-destruction. It’s called indulging in life’s pleasures. Look, doesn’t the world seem beautiful to you?”

“You’ve lost focus in your eyes. I’m going to bed.”

In the end, Duduyan gave up on Aslan and headed to the nearby inn.

She was a little worried about leaving Aslan alone in the bar, but she figured nothing would happen.

Just as the Goblin Market had been lenient with Zeon’s guest, Sinchon was also likely to be tolerant of him. No one seemed to be targeting Aslan. Besides, their inn was right next door.

If something did happen to Aslan, she would know instantly and could respond quickly.

“Heh heh! Now that the nag is gone, I can really drink.”

Aslan grinned mischievously and ordered another bottle of alcohol from the bartender.

“This is the life. This is what it means to live.”

Aslan downed the bottle in one go and let out a loud cheer.

He babbled incoherently for a while before finally slumping face-first onto the table. At that moment, men dressed in black suits appeared from the shadows.

“Quite a tough one. Took him five bottles of liquor laced with Malek’s venom to pass out.”

Malek was an insect discovered in a certain dungeon.

It resembled a dragonfly but had venomous stingers.

When processed, Malek’s venom could be turned into a kind of sedative.

It had no taste or smell, so even those with keen senses wouldn’t notice it if it was mixed into their drink or water.

Every bottle of alcohol Aslan had consumed had been laced with this sedative.

They had expected him to pass out after just one or two bottles, but Aslan had held out until the fifth.

“In a way, he’s impressive.”

A short man stepped forward from the group of men in black suits.

It was none other than Ho Cheong-yeon, the captain of the Shadow Unit.

He lifted Aslan’s head.

His eyes had rolled back, showing that he was completely unconscious.

“We need to finish this before the woman notices. Administer the truth serum.”

“Yes, sir.”

One of the Shadow Unit members pulled out a syringe from his coat and injected Aslan with it.

Like the sedative made from Malek’s venom, the truth serum was also made from dungeon materials.

The best thing about this truth serum was that the subject would have no memory of the interrogation.

They wouldn’t remember what they had said, or even that they had been interrogated in the first place.

And there were no side effects.

Not even a trace would be left in their body.

For this reason, the Shadow Unit often used Malek’s sedative and the truth serum together when they needed to gather information discreetly.

“Mmm!”

Once the truth serum was administered, Aslan’s eyes opened.

His gaze was completely unfocused.

“Name?”

“As… lan!”

“Where are you from?”

“Des… ert!”

“Where in the desert?”

“Steel Fortress.”

“Steel Fortress? Never heard of it. Is it a newly formed colony?”

“Yes!”

“Where is it located?”

“If you head west from Neo Seoul…”

Aslan began to spill everything he knew.

Ho Cheong-yeon listened carefully to every detail.

The composition of the Steel Fortress, its leader, its tendencies—he absorbed every bit of information, down to the smallest detail.

Finally, he asked the most important question.

“Why did you meet Zeon?”

“To ask for help…”

“What kind of help?”

“We need to save the mobile fortress Archelon, but in order to do that, we need to find Moby Dick…”

“Moby Dick? Tell me more.”

Ho Cheong-yeon’s eyes gleamed red.

———-