Chapter 38
Bivol’s large hand opened the Container before anyone had a chance to stop him.
Clunk! Psssh!
Accompanied by the sound of metal, a milky chill flowed out from the slightly opened gap.
It was a chill one might feel when reaching into the ice cream section of a Convenience Store.
Max reflexively deployed a Shield.
It was a simple magic, but his head throbbed.
Max frowned in extreme fatigue and snapped at Bivol.
“Hey, it’s a problem if you just open it as you please. You should get consent for this kind of action.”
“Hahaha! It’s something I already discussed with the Association, so don’t worry!”
“What?”
“I kept arguing about how we’re supposed to distinguish the items if they just tell us to dispose of them without telling us what they are. If I’m left alone, I don’t have any ranged options, so if I hit it and it explodes, that’s a dog’s death.”
It was the result of his Persistent talks with the Association.
He said a Bohemian Mercenary Association Employee, who never spoke vaguely, assured him that they would know what to dispose of once they saw the inside.
Only then did Max relax his furrowed brow.
Usagi also sighed and shook her head.
“You should have said that earlier…”
“Life needs surprises big and small! Now, fully open!”
As Bivol threw the Container wide open, the trapped chill poured out like a waterfall.
The chill was faint enough to lightly brush their skin, but the three people who faced the inside froze in place.
Not because of the bone-chilling cold, but because the sight transmitted through their optic nerves froze their minds and bodies.
“…What is this?”
The exterior looked like a normal Container, but the inside was completely different.
The inside of the Container was like a single incubation room.
On one wall, glass tubes filled with green liquid were lined up without a single gap. Floating in that solution were countless brains.
They turned their gazes to the opposite wall.
A massive number of hearts were hooked up to mechanical devices, forced to beat repeatedly. It was a gruesome picture.
“…”
Max left the frozen Bivol and Usagi behind.
He stepped inside and examined the hearts first.
[It’s not an Artificial Organ.]
After examining them, he turned his eyes to the other side.
[Human brains… Their sizes and shapes are all different.]
The green solution holding the brains was Bio Gel.
It was a necessity for buffering against external impacts and maintaining shape, commonly used by a Corporation dealing with biological tissues.
[It’s my first time seeing brains stored in Bio Gel, though.]
Even if the solution wasn’t special, the contents were.
That was why Max was doubtful.
[I don’t understand.]
The sense of incongruity was too great to dismiss it as simple Organ Trafficking.
Because there was no reason to hide Organ Trade in Haze, human organs were an openly traded commodity.
[Even if hearts can be used everywhere, what are they going to use brains for…?]
Even searching through his knowledge from Before Regression, he couldn’t guess. His speculations led nowhere.
The brain was a sanctuary that Artificial Organ Technology had not yet reached. The fact that they were stockpiling such an irreplaceable part was incredibly bizarre.
[Are they making a new product?]
That didn’t fall into the realm of plausibility either.
If they were aiming for commercialization through legitimate experiments, there was no reason to use a troublesome route, nor any need to hide it.
Were they then attempting something that was repulsive even by the standards of Haze?
“…”
Max inspected every corner of the Container.
Wires for preserving the organs were laid out delicately like blood vessels, and the batteries were neatly installed.
[The installation method is too neat to suggest some thugs sold it off. I should consider this a Corporate Transaction.]
Having briefly concluded his speculations, Max stepped out of the Container.
Outside, Bivol, who was frowning just like Usagi, clicked his tongue.
“Tsk, what an unappetizing sight.”
“What did you think would be inside?”
“Gold? Or a mind-blowingly beautiful android?”
“Yeah, right.”
Max let out a chuckle and opened another Container.
The insides were all the same, full of brains and hearts.
“About the Item Disposal, can we just smash what’s inside?”
Bivol was already rolling his shoulders and clenching his fists.
The unnecessary movement caused his patched-up wounds to open, and blood trickled out. He didn’t seem to care.
“Do we have to? Just cutting the wires running inside is enough to scrap it. Organs ultimately rely on freshness.”
“Handling it like that feels a bit empty. How about pushing them into the sea?”
“Hmm, we could cut the wires and push them into the sea.”
The three people moved.
They each destroyed the insides of the containers in their own way.
Max finished by lightly pulling out the wires, and Usagi cut the wires directly with her sword.
Bivol stuck to his method of crushing the batteries by stomping on them with his heel.
Coming out of the last Container, Bivol cleared away the Driver’s corpse and boarded the forklift.
“Is it over once we dump them in the sea? Let’s not waste our strength and just send them off with the forklift.”
“Do you even know how to use it?”
“Before I became a Mercenary, I drove a vehicle in a Corporation warehouse for about three years.”
Thanks to Bivol driving the forklift in high spirits, Max and Usagi spaced out and rested.
Right after the Request Procedure of Item Disposal ended, Max held out the Cheongrin Family’s sword to Usagi, telling her to hold it.
“How is this sword? I don’t know much about swords.”
Usagi swung the sword through the air a few times, then slowly scanned the blade with her eyes.
“…Even though it’s not my preferred shape, there’s no sense of incongruity when using it. It’s a fine sword.”
“I’m going to hand it over to the Association. It doesn’t look like it has a separate tracker or anything, right?”
Usagi inspected it again and nodded.
“Let’s hand it over to the Association and get a bonus. Let’s add this gun too.”
“Ooh! Sounds good!”
Bivol expressed his delight at Max’s suggestion.
Afterward, they killed time by taking a brief rest.
Max, Usagi, Bivol - none of them were unscathed.
They all repeatedly stumbled, holding onto their consciousness with sheer perseverance as they pushed toward the end of the request.
And the final procedure.
“It’s time for the vessel to arrive.”
“Let’s call the Association and have a Driver on standby so we can get out right after it’s done.”
The vessel the Association requested them to destroy wasn’t a massive cargo ship fully loaded with containers.
It was the smallest among small cargo ships.
“Mage. Did the Request Details say the vessel was unmanned?”
“The information provided by the Association said so, and that even if there were people, they would only be accompanied by a small number of 1st to 2nd tiers.”
They had decided on the method of destruction.
If Max or Usagi was in good condition, they would have easily smashed it using magic or Ninjutsu, but since that was impossible at this point, they decided to throw all the grenades that the Security Staff and mercenaries had been carrying.
Above all, there were high-performance incendiary grenades mixed in.
They judged there would be no major problem with the destruction.
Sssss - .
A ship quietly cut through the night sea and entered the Harbor.
Max and the others quietly watched the situation from the darkness before approaching the vessel.
They lightly checked the inside.
Just as the Association’s information stated, there was only a single Container loaded beneath a thick waterproof tent.
The inside of the Container was the same as the ones in the Harbor. Other than that, there was no worthwhile information to salvage. It was excessively clean, as if conscious of being traced back.
The three got off the ship and distanced themselves.
“Let’s wrap this up.”
Usagi pulled the grenade’s safety pin just like that.
“an Unmanned Vessel… Even if it’s a gloomy method, it’s nice that it’s easy for us. I don’t even want to fight a 1st tier right now.”
Bivol also laughed refreshingly and prepared a grenade.
“Request complete.”
Max, with a lemon-flavored Lollipop in his mouth, threw his grenade.
The explosion was spectacular.
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A vehicle arrived in front of the Blueline Motel, which had been their Rally Point.
Max first opened the trunk and loaded the Cheongrin Family’s sword and the gun Steiger had used.
The large Bivol took the passenger seat, and Max and Usagi got in the back.
“You’ve all worked hard. We will move to the Hospital connected with the Association.”
“Yeah. If I die because we’re late, it’s your fault, so let’s go quickly.”
Bivol affirmed the Driver’s words with his eyes closed. He looked ready to fall asleep at any moment.
Max also needed treatment, so he stayed still, but Usagi voiced a different opinion.
“I don’t need treatment. Drop me off on the way.”
Sitting next to her, Max furrowed his brow in question.
Having fought the Cheongrin Family’s Swordsman together, he knew what kind of attacks Usagi had taken. She absolutely had to receive treatment.
“Your prosthetic arm is smashed, isn’t it? You should probably check your nerve condition before fixing it. Your body isn’t fine either.”
“I’m fine. To a Ninja, this level of injury is nothing.”
“What are you talking about? You can’t even walk properly.”
While Max and Usagi were conversing, Bivol was already snoring and asleep.
What cut through that gap was a single comment from the Driver.
“Usagi-nim. It has been decided that the Association will fully cover all treatment costs incurred from this request. Please focus solely on your recovery.”
Silence hung inside the vehicle.
Usagi, who had been rolling her eyes with her arms crossed, carefully withdrew her statement.
“…Money was absolutely not the issue. Still, it wouldn’t be polite to ignore the Association’s sincerity.”
The request was over.
The vehicle left District 41 and sped toward the Hospital.