Chapter 228
We walked inside without paying any attention to the three n.
This was all thanks to Luri's instructions.
“When you enter the lawless zone, you'll see a few people. It's a thod to figure out the visitors' disposition, so no matter what you see, ignore them all.”
To find out even this much, it was Elidore, as expected.
The lawless zone was bigger than I thought.
Still, it was a place where people lived, so I could see street stalls and inns.
‘It's better than I thought.’
Right now, nothing seed particularly dangerous.
It even felt peaceful, belying its na of a lawless zone.
‘I'll have to see when night cos.’
We went into the largest-looking inn and got a six-person room.
Originally, we were going to get a four-person room and a one-person room, but this happened because they said they didn't have any small rooms.
As the group who got the room was about to go upstairs.
“Hey, wait a minute.”
The one who stopped the innkeeper was none other than .
“Do you, by any chance, have, that, that? I feel like I'm about to go crazy….”
My fingertips trembled palely, and my complexion was blue.
Just as the innkeeper was about to say sothing upon seeing my chapped lips.
“What are you doing?! Shut up and follow ! What kind of trouble are you trying to start here again!”
It was Adela.
We, who were dragged into the room, did not let our guard down.
It was easy to tell that there were no eavesdropping or surveillance spells on this room.
However, the truly cautionary part was the analog thod.
I could feel presences from the ceiling, floor, and beyond the walls of the room.
Their breathing, their heartbeats.
‘They're thorough. Are they really monitoring everyone who cos to the lawless zone for the first ti like this? Even for the King of the Underworld, this is a serious waste of manpower.’
“Ah, really! Let go of !”
As soon as we arrived in the room, I shook off Adela's hand.
Then I complained.
“What's wrong…? You know my withdrawal symptoms are severe. One ti. Just one more ti. That Angel dic is so good.”
“You're completely crazy for Angel dic.”
Adela shook her head and turned away.
It was difficult to expect normal acting from Adela.
No matter what she said, her usual arrogant tone would seep out, so her concept had to be that of a fallen noble.
Soone grabbed .
It was Lilac.
“Martin! Please get a hold of yourself! You can't do that!”
It was a line that reflected her opinion that she absolutely could not speak informally.
“You even killed soone because of Angel dic. Don't you rember…?”
“No, so….”
Slowly backing away.
“Just once, okay?”
“Martin….”
Lilac's eyes welled up with tears.
‘Uh, oh. Crying here wasn't in the script…?’
Anyway, as per the script, while ssing up my hair.
“Argh, I'm going out for so air!”
I escaped as if running away and gasped for breath outside the inn.
“Damn it, I'm going crazy.”
I had adjusted my body through Wild Instinct to induce symptoms like a drug addict, and the withdrawal symptoms were unusually painful.
Itchy.
I desperately wanted to scratch my back.
I tried scratching with my hand, but it didn't stop.
“Uggghhh!”
I went to a stone wall and rubbed my back against it.
“That feels good, so good…!”
“Hey, you there. What are you doing against soone else's house?!”
“What?”
When I turned my head, a rough-looking man was standing there with a robe pulled over his head.
“A-are you the hoowner? My apologies.”
“From the looks of it, you're a junkie.”
The man threw a small paper package from his pocket to .
When I caught it, it was Angel dic.
It was really small, probably for a single use.
“30 silver for one.”
“Wh-what did you say?”
30 silver was one-seventh of a month's living expenses for a family of four.
“What's wrong? Isn't it much cheaper than what you bought in the capital? This price even includes my service fee. You're not going to say that's an outrage, are you?”
“N-no, I'm not. Thank you, thank you. Thank you so much.”
As I was about to open the paper package, a hand was extended to .
“Money first.”
When I looked up, he was making a scary face.
I bowed my head from the waist down.
“Ah, ha, just one hit, please…!”
“….”
When there was no reaction, I grabbed the hem of his clothes and clung to him.
“Please…!”
“…Pay it off by working with your body. Follow .”
“Y-yes! Okay!”
I followed the man through the lawless zone.
When I first ca, I was worried about what to do if it was a den of beasts in human skin, but it was surprisingly peaceful.
“This, this place is more peaceful than I thought.”
“From the way you talk, you must be an outsider. You might not know since it's your first ti, but even the lawless zone has its own laws.”
“Laws…?”
“Don't touch the rchants, and refrain from murder or violence unless it's a major incident. If you break the law, you'll be punished by death…. Anyway, this is a place where people live too. It's just a bit freer, and in return, freedom cos with stricter responsibilities.”
The place we arrived at was a crumbling shantytown.
He knocked on the door of one of the houses.
It was heavy, but there was a rhythm to it.
And the password that followed was in a loud voice, as if he wanted to hear it.
“Co in.”
The door opened and we went down to the basent.
The inside of the shabby shantytown was the truth of the lawless zone, a place leading to the underground.
As we went down, a world of pleasure unfolded.
Slaves, duels, drugs, lust.
It was a hotbed of all kinds of desires.
“Wow, wow, wow….”
As I gaped in naive admiration, the man smirked and urged to keep following him.
He then arrived at a factory.
At the entrance of the factory, people were moving a pure white powder with a lovely pinkish hue.
“Th-th-this, this is all….”
“Angel dic. You're lucky. I'm pretty well-known around here.”
The man opened the factory door and handed a hat and apron that were right next to it.
“Put it on. And work.”
“Work? Work…?”
“Yeah, it's a job even a drug addict like you can do. Co here.”
Inside the production facility, laborers in the sa situation were working with shovels.
I could also see supervisors packed in tightly.
The man who had guided looked around casually and then positioned in a place with sparkling black powder.
“Take a shovel.”
Then he pointed to the other laborers.
“Follow them. Just scoop up the black powder and pour it into that container. It's a simple job.”
Thousands of laborers were holding shovels, scooping up black ore powder, and pouring it into a seemingly endless tunnel.
What was this ore, and what was happening inside there?
“Really, if, if I just do that, you'll give it to ? Angel dic?”
“Yeah. As long as you don't drop the shovel in there. They pay you daily and give you Angel dic too.”
“G-good! Good!”
I imdiately ran over and started scooping up the black powder with a shovel.
The man who was watching smirked again, then turned and headed sowhere.
I had to shovel all day, sweating.
The man ca back a couple of tis in the afternoon, and each ti, he brought a person blinded by drugs and put them to work.
There were well over ten people like the man who brought in junkies to work.
One of them saw the man and said.
“Hey, you're doing well.”
“Well, the timing is good. A large number of guys who got wanted for selling slaves in the imperial capital during the Founding Festival were released.”
I understood the other groups I had seen on my way to the lawless zone.
Did that make things easier?
It felt good that the imperial family was helping with even such trivial things.
“Alright, that's it for today!”
We finally finished work late in the evening and were able to receive our daily wages.
A single dose of Angel dic and a day's pay.
Most of the laborers used their wages to buy more Angel dic on the spot.
After so hesitation, I pretended to quit.
As I was about to head ho.
‘As expected.’
I was being watched.
‘It’s not just .’
A sowhat awkward body language.
People who seed to have just arrived in the lawless zone were being watched, just like .
But not all of them.
There were exceptions.
‘What’s the difference?’
Those who are watched and those who are not.
The difference….
‘…Hmm?’
It was the drugs.
There was no surveillance on those who had taken Angel dic right after receiving their pay, while those who hadn't were being watched.
‘That’s strange. They lift the surveillance once they confirm the intake of Angel dic…?’
I wondered if it was just a coincidence.
But I couldn't just dismiss it.
‘For now, let’s just keep it in mind.’
I returned to the inn with the Angel dic and my day's pay.
“I'm back.”
Lilac greeted with eyes full of worry.
“Martin! I was worried, you didn't even eat dinner!”
“Ah, it's fine. I need to use the bathroom.”
I gritted my teeth and acted like a libertine.
When I entered the bathroom, thankfully, the surveillance didn't follow this far.
As soon as the presence of eyes and ears disappeared, I imdiately took out the Angel dic.
And another package.
Inside, I had stashed so of the black powder I had been working with earlier.
‘These things, as I thought.’
The black powder and Angel dic.
When I placed my hand on these two and infused them with Stellar Force, sparks flew and a crack appeared on the old bathroom mirror.
Black and white sparks.
It was a clash between Stellar Force and Chaos.
It was only for a mont, but the aftermath was not small.
“Martin?! What's wrong?!”
“Hey! What's going on?”
They pounded on the door from outside.
‘Crap.’
I didn't expect it to make such a loud noise.
But one thing beca certain.
These things repel the Stellar Force of Cosmos.
They contain ‘Chaos,’ which is ‘Chaos Stellar Force’!
‘But from the outside, I didn't feel any Chaos at all! What's going on?!’
I quickly stored the unidentified black powder and took a small dose of Angel dic.
The door opened and the group ca in, and they were horrified when they saw .
“Martin! You, that, Angel dic…!”
‘…Huh.’
I feel nothing.
I don't feel good, or even dizzy.
Know-It-All (Master) says that a body that has reached a certain level is not easily swayed by a re drug ingredient. To see an effect, you would need 50 tis the usual single dose. But he says to leave it to him. He will analyze the tendencies of Angel dic addicts.
Wild Instinct (Master) arbitrarily adjusts the body's condition, creating symptoms similar to drug addiction.
“Ah, sorry. I feel so, so good.”
As I said that, I stumbled, slipped, and hit my head on the cabinet.
Another loud noise rang out as it collapsed.
“Ugh, that hurts….”
“Aah! Sobody stop Martin!”
“Ah, really!”
Luri, Adela, Anette, and Lilac clung to and tried to stop .
As I ca out of the bathroom, I checked for presences.
‘They've decreased.’
I could feel that most of the surveillance had disappeared as soon as they realized I had taken Angel dic.
‘It’s a drug that contains the Chaos of Chaos. There was a reason they lifted the surveillance after confirming the intake of Angel dic.’
But why go through all this trouble?
As I was struggling to figure out the reason, I was laid on the floor by the four won and pretended to fall asleep, high on drugs.
…And I actually fell asleep.
And the next day.
When I woke up, no one else was in sight.
‘I should have at least shared yesterday’s findings.’
I couldn't.
‘Today is the second day.’
Even if it ant doing sothing a bit reckless, I had to expose all of their identities today.
The continent had moved for this operation, so if it was delayed any further, information might leak.
The opponents were the King of the Underworld and the mind-controller, Vistavern.
‘There’s no ti for this.’
Adela, Luri, Anette, Lilac.
They must have all gone to blend into the lawless zone and gather information in their own ways.
I had to move too.
“Hey, you're here again today.”
I went down to the underground of the lawless zone, the world of entertainnt and pleasure.
When I went to the Angel dic factory, the man was waiting for .
“Give a mont of your ti today.”
“What is it…? I'd appreciate it if you made it quick. I need to go earn my fix.”
The man took into an empty room.
As I went in first, I saw the man turn back and lock the door.
One lock, two, three.
“Why are you locking it so much?”
“Ah, because it's important.”
Soon, the man turned back to look at .
Black smoke billowed from his eyes, nose, and mouth.
The stench of the evil god Chaos flowed right under my nose.
“Hah!”
When I pretended to be surprised, the man smirked.
“Whoa, calm down and look at this.”
He took out a string with a black gem attached to it from his pocket.
‘That's.’
It was the sa as what Vistavern had shown on the train!
He slowly swung the hypnosis tool and said.
“Stop.”
‘…?!’
I felt sothing inside my body.
The Angel dic I had taken yesterday.
As the drug was absorbed, the Chaos of Chaos was also absorbed, and it began to force its way into my brain.
And then it began to try to control my body.
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