Chapter 248: Not All Ability Users Are Heroes (2)


    At that moment,


    In the small meeting room of the Hero Association in Thand, those gathered maintained a grave silence, speechlessly scanning the documents in front of them.


    “…as a mother.”


    When Nguyen cautiously opened his mouth, everyone turned their eyes toward him.


    “The mothers of these children, it’s practically impossible to find them, isn’t it?”


    “It would seem so.”


    Jeong Gong-in did not disagree.


    “The children’s ages range from as young as 3 years old to as old as 17 years old. Even if by some miracle we find the mother of a 3-year-old, where would the mother of a 17-year-old be? At most, she’d be 37 years old.”


    “Red Brassard. It doesn’t necessarily have to be 37 years old…”“What if it’s not?”


    “Ahem. It’s somewhat awkward to say directly. The, the possibility might be even lower…”


    Bang!


    “What are you saying! No matter the circumstance, that’s outrageous!”


    Jeong Gong-in shouted, his face turning red.


    “So you mean to say these viinsmitted acts too heinous to speak of?! How did ite to this…!”


    “I’m sorry, Red Brassard.”


    Nguyen, having inadvertently provoked the ire of the vice president of the Hero Association, received a sharp look before apologizing on his behalf.


    “But please understand. This isn’t Korea.”


    “…Sorry, I got carried away.”


    “No, your reaction is perfectly normal. Right now, we should first discuss how to resolve this situation, then we can talk about what to do next.”


    “……”


    The children were looking for their mothers.


    Fortunately, the education at the Marine Academy didn’t face much resistance from the children.


    Experts agreed that a military-style education in a controlled environment would be beneficial, and hearing it was based on the South Korean Marine training intrigued the children, which was a positive aspect.


    Despite growing up on an ind, the children didn’t know how to swim. The survival swimming training for ability users, which began on the first day at the Marine Academy, garnered significant attention.


    However, the issue extended beyond education to the cooperation terms set by the oldest child and the representative of the group.


    “Has the father been confirmed?”


    “We are currently drawing the children’s blood and running tests. We can only investigate those whose gic information is registered, but even this will likely make it hard to find the fathers…”


    “Tsck.”


    These children were born and raised in a confined environment.


    And if that confined environment were merely a ce where men and women were locked together, it would be tolerable. However, ‘God’s Sanctuary’ was not where the children were born.


    “Nguyen. That other ind you mentioned, ‘Subus Ind,’ have you still not found its location?”


    “Unfortunately, yes. We’ve thoroughly searched the inds near Phuket and the surrounding area, but we haven’t found the ind suspected to be Subus Ind. However.”


    Nguyen briefly covered his face with his hand.


    “…The minions of General Jeokrang have not yet surrendered, upying a small ind and resisting. They opened fire on a boat trying to enter the ind, and now we are deploying ability users to subdue each ind.”


    “How many inds are there?”


    “So far, we’ve confirmed there are more than seven inds. One of them is even estimated to have about 500 armed personnel…”


    “That’s…! ……horrific.”


    Jeong Gong-in was about to re up again but controlled his anger with a deep breath.


    “If rioters are upying the inds and taking hostages, that’s an even bigger problem. It’s uncertain if the children’s mothers are there…”


    “Whether the children’s mothers are Korean, foreign, or Thai, we don’t even know, Nguyen. Is Thand as active in ‘gic registration’ as Korea?”


    “Not at all. Even in Korea, isn’t gic registration only about 30% of the poption? The only ce that might have achieved 100% registration is China.”


    “Ugh… We can’t even look them up by fingerprints. This is driving me insane.”


    Both A-sses bowed their heads in frustration.


    No matter how much they thought about it, there was no way to find the mother.


    And even if they did find the mother, would she really be a proper mother?


    Beep beep beep!


    In a situation where it was hard for anyone to speak, a sudden emergency signal went off.


    “What’s happened?”


    “A massive fire has broken out on Coral Ind in western Pattaya!!”


    “…On Coral Ind?”


    Fire.


    Even an ordinary fire could not be overlooked, but how could those already on edge remain calm?


    “Get the satellite images!”


    “…My God.”


    The live footage of Coral Ind disyed on the screen inside the meeting room was truly horrific.


    The entire ind was aze.


    It was as if someone intended to erase the ind itself, not only burning the trees but also every trace of human presence.


    Was it an illusion?


    The ck smoke seemed almost like the malicious screams of humans.


    It looked as if the death throes of dying people were rising with the smoke.


    “Could it be…”


    “…Mobilize the navy in the area immediately! It might be that Lace’s aplices have set the ind on fire!”


    “If that’s the case… it’s evidence destruction!!”


    Hurriedly, the heroes deployed.


    However, the fire showed no signs of subsiding, and only after the ability users generated waves to cover the entire ind with seawater did the mes finally calm.


    Afterward.


    About 3 hours after the first sighting of the fire.


    Agents on the scene discovered that the deep underground of the ind was filled with charred bodies.


    Judging by the build, they were likely females.<hr>


    Couldn’t they have been saved?


    Did it have to be this way?


    I understood that discussions like these were inevitable, but I acted in ordance with the directives of the Secret Society.


    Not solely based on the Secret Society’s directives, but also guided by my abilities and conscience, I reached a decision.


    Eliminate the murderers.


    The individuals who perished in the fire beneath Coral Ind were murderers.


    They were not merely individuals forced into killing by bing ves to Lace; they were individuals who killed for profit.


    And the tally of their victims was far from negligible.


    Initially, those selected by Gunggi showed potential for reintegration into society, while those left behind were deemed irredeemable, facing either the death penalty or life imprisonment if judged by society’s standards.


    They perished painlessly, unconscious, never regaining consciousness.


    Not one awoke during the ordeal to experience the agony of their bodies being consumed by mes; I ensured their departure was as clean as possible.


    There were harsher methods of execution avable, but I reserved those for the ‘genuine’ confrontations thaty ahead.


    After destroying the boat and swimming back to the hotel,


    “Oppa, you’ve worked hard.”


    Yun Hye-ra, who had arrived at the hotel before me, greeted me, prompting me to quickly transform back and don a hotel robe.


    “The women?”


    “The brewers are currently interviewing each one to collect information. But you know… even if you scoop fish out of contaminated water, they’re already infested with parasites. To cleanse them and release them back into the wild, it really requires a great deal of time and effort.”


    “I understand.”


    Rehabilitating viins might seem straightforward, but reintegrating those who had been deeply involved in criminal activities back into society was anything but simple.


    This was particrly true for those who had acquired significant wealth through rtively effortless means, regardless of their initial intentions.


    Considering their future, it’s hard to ignore the temptation they might feel to use their skills just once to earn what others do in a month.


    “I gave them a choice: to live as they are, or to lose their memories and live as new humans, mentally bleached.”


    “…As heroes?”


    “Is it time for the Sephiroth Knights to step in, or is that a bit much?”


    “Well, I haven’t seriously considered that far yet.”


    While the children at the Marine Academy seemed to be adapting well, those ‘chicks’ from Subus Ind was a different story.


    “Mental bleaching is the cleanest method, but whether they want that is another question.”


    “What about those who don’t want it?”


    “The way of the Secret Society is to keep them alive and use them for societyter…eh?”


    Beep beep beep.


    The phone rang.


    It was my Taeguk Watch, received in Bangkok for operations in Thand, ringing, and I checked the iing number.


    “This is…”


    Click.


    “The call has been connected.”


    [Oh, nomunication security?]


    “…Everyone knows it’s the Chairman’s number, why would we need that? We’re not in Korea.”


    I set the phone to speaker mode and sat next to Yun Hye-ra.


    “Reporting in. Together with Gunggi…”


    [I’m sorry to interrupt your report. I understand the situation and thought you might be pondering it, so I called.]


    “It seems the Chairman knows us too well.”


    [Of course. Gunggi certainly, but especially you.]


    “…So you know that your call has brought a new worry for me?”


    [Of course. I’d like to say ‘don’t see or hear anything bad’, but the Chief of the Secret Society can’t just ignore these things.]


    The Chairman, the Chief, continued in a serious tone.


    [Abortion and infanticide. The crime is horrifying, unimaginable to me, but what can we do? These people are still humans of this Earth.]


    “Just give me the orders, and I’ll handle it.”


    [You and Gunggi don’t need to dirty your hands. The brewers are working hard right now, and we’ve already decided how to proceed.]


    Ding.


    A message arrived on my Taegeuk Watch.


    I tapped the Taegeuk Watch, and a holographic screen materialized in the air. Soon, a PDF file, glowing with blue mana, unfolded before me.


    “…Chief?”


    [Yes.]


    “Are we really going through with this?”


    [It’s the way of the Secret Society.]


    “……”


    The name of the PDF file was revealed.


    It was titled:


    [Irredeemable viins are forcibly rehabilitated for the sake of social order.]


    The Sephiroth Project.


    [Killing their vicious viin selves and rebirthing them as new beings. Yes, as angels fitting for the Sephiroth Knights. Hehehe.]


    Once again, I questioned.


    [So, it’s like justice through brainwashing?]


    The Secret Society did not discriminate in its methods.


    “Maybe we could consider changing the name…”


    [No. I’m quite fond of the name Sephiroth Knights. It seems like it might be time to step forward in a new form, or as the Dark Charisma—]


    “…….”