Chapter 16: Wastewater Purification Facility
When we slipped over the wall and infiltrated the facility’s backyard, what greeted us was an unbearable stench.
[Ugh, what is that sll…….]
Jason pinched his nose and frowned.
[You’d better turn off your olfactory sensors. If your nose is made of actual flesh, then my condolences.]
[This doesn’t even compare to the factory zone. I’ll have to install one as soon as we get back.]
As we sohow endured the unfamiliar stench, Zeon spoke while tagging a signal on the interface.
[Watch out for autonomous turrets ahead.]
Just as the hacker said, three high-grade autonomous turrets were monitoring the facility.
The backyard where the Ghostcatchers had landed was precisely a blind spot for the turrets.
When Diesel examined the turrets with an Electrosphere projection, information far more dangerous than expected appeared.
Not only were they protected by what looked like a level-six firewall, but there were also programs installed inside to counter intrusions, making it seem extrely difficult to disable them through hacking.
[Shouldn’t it be about ti?]
Jason asked while checking the ti.
The reason we had gone through the trouble of entering the sewers during the preparatory work was all because of those machines.
No matter how advanced the turrets were, there was one thing they couldn’t stop.
That was sheer numbers.
‘They’re coming.’
The first to sense the disturbance was Diesel.
A faint tremor felt from afar.
As if feeling a loud sound from a speaker not with the ears but with the skin’s sense of touch, the emotions emanating from the spirits spread widely in all directions.
[Get ready.]
Jason must have sensed it too, as he took a stance with his shield in his left hand.
Soon, the tremors echoing around us began to surge violently.
At the sa ti, the spirits’ emotions burst forth from all sides as if screaming.
The water that had been flowing toward the sewage discharge facility surged up in the opposite direction, forming rolling waves.
Physically, it made no sense, but that itself was proof that this was not ordinary liquid.
Those surging waves were ‘spirits,’ beings that possessed their own emotions and wills and had dwelled in this world since its creation.
The fierce streams of water that had been flowing about without direction gathered together and took shape.
So resembled seahorses, so rn, so tentacled mollusks…….
However, their coloration was slightly different from the water spirits that had appeared yesterday.
[Wait a second……. Those aren’t just water spirits.]
Jason reported, sensing sothing off.
[Those are contaminated wastewater spirits.]
Instead of the clear, pristine water that true water spirits should possess, pitch-black polluted wastewater filled their bodies.
[Don’t tell the water spirits we summoned yesterday have already turned into wastewater?]
[That has nothing to do with our plan.]
Zeon replied curtly to Jason’s words.
[How can it have nothing to do with it? Contaminated spirits can’t be properly used by us—]
Tududududu……!
The sound of gunfire from the autonomous turrets cut off the orc’s words.
Soon, the surroundings descended into chaos with the rampaging wastewater spirits and the turrets’ muzzle flashes trying to suppress them.
[The alarm will sound now.]
With Alfred Park’s words, a deafening alarm rang throughout the entire facility.
A mont later, a helicopter descended from the air with a noisy engine roar.
“Team 1, head to the sewage outlet! Team 2, suppress this area!”
A suppression unit wearing black gas masks poured in en masse.
Now it was the Ghostcatchers’ turn to act.
[Make sure you pick your targets accurately.]
Zeon cautioned us.
The top priority targets were the spirit mages.
They were easy to identify thanks to the long spirit-binding staves they held.
‘If it’s a spell that requires precision.’
Diesel chose the most efficient option among several.
He then materialized crackling blue electric mana into a spell.
A simple projectile spell called ‘Lightning Spear.’
Pajijik— the surging power jumped erratically within his grasp.
‘Let’s modify it a bit.’
He split the tip of the lightning spear into several branches.
A form that an ordinary mage wouldn’t dare attempt.
But with the delicate mana control he had realized by making Seolha Thousand-Year Ice his own, it was an easy task.
When the spell was completed, the spirit mages finally noticed the ominous aura and turned toward Diesel.
“Th-that mage over there……! Ughgggggh!”
Before he could even finish a single sentence, the branched spears plunged down upon the spirit mages.
The five spirit mages struck by the lightning convulsed from electrocution and collapsed where they stood.
[Whoa! That’s incredible.]
Jason exclaid briefly, then said as he bulged his muscles.
[This ti, it’s my turn!]
He knocked on his round shield with a hollow clang, then raised his empty hand high into the air.
At that mont, a heavy club flashed into existence.
“Ha ha! Isn’t this Kim the Bachelor! Where have you dragged off to this ti!”
“It’s been a while, Mr. Club.”
“Indeed, good to see you! You quack shaman who kills people!”
After exchanging brief reminiscences with the club, Jason charged straight into the heart of the enemy formation with his shield raised.
He then swung the blunt weapon in a wide arc, and the object itself shouted ‘Thunk!’ from its own mouth.
When the blow struck the ground, golden and silver spikes erupted with a cracking sound.
‘The world of Miracles is truly profound.’
[I will comnce firing.]
Alfred Park said as he shouldered his submachine gun.
With a rattling sound, the heads of gas-masked spirit mages burst apart between the formations Jason had scattered.
Just as the battlefield was being steadily cleaned up, one by one.
Suddenly, an unsettling presence was felt from sowhere.
‘……?’
Diesel, who sensed it imdiately, frowned and scanned his surroundings.
At that mont of distraction, a wastewater spirit shaped like a skeletal horse lunged at him.
“Watch out!”
Jason shouted as he spotted the charging spirit.
But despite the orc’s urgent cry, Diesel did not even blink.
‘What was that just now…….’
“Diesel!”
Just before the skeletal horse’s body collided with Diesel.
Without even looking, he unleashed an electric spell at the wastewater spirit charging at him.
Pajijik……!
The lightning strands that spread out like buckshot struck the target that had tried to harm their master.
Unable to withstand that trendous energy, the wastewater spirit oxidized and vanished without a trace.
“Whoa…….”
“Hm…… that guy isn’t an ordinary mage.”
Jason, who had rushed over in a hurry, stared blankly at him while holding the club he had been speaking to.
Then he dismissed the summoned weapon and approached Diesel.
“What’s wrong?”
“Didn’t you feel sothing just now?”
“Huh?”
The orc looked at Diesel with an expression that said he had no idea what he was talking about.
[The outside has been completely dealt with!]
[That’s enough. Move now.]
At Alfred Park’s report, Zeon issued the next order.
At that, the half-android pointed toward the building entrance and said,
[That way!]
After confirming it, Jason lightly tapped Diesel’s shoulder.
“For now, let’s move according to the plan.”
‘…….’
Diesel, who had been scanning the surroundings until the very end, also followed them into the building.
〈Ar, didn’t you feel sothing earlier?〉
〈Hm……?〉
Ar looked at Diesel with an innocent expression.
‘If even Ar didn’t feel it, then it wasn’t sothing that happened in the Electrosphere. And if even Jason didn’t notice…….’
What Diesel had felt just now was a kind of ntal image.
A ntal image so unpleasant it made his face twist.
At first, he thought it was because of the negative emotions being emitted by the wastewater spirits.
The emotions coming from the contaminated spirits had almost dominated that space just monts ago.
But it was definitely sothing different from that.
‘It feels like I almost know what it is, but…….’
[This is the climax now.]
Jason advanced with his body lowered, his footsteps silent.
[Let’s stay focused until the end.]
The objective of this operation was to free the spirits trapped in this facility.
Granting freedom to spirits—that is, releasing contracted spirits—could be done in two ways.
One was for the contractor to personally annul the contract.
The other was for the contractor to die.
Naturally, for this operation, the plan was to free the spirits through the latter thod.
[It’s up ahead.]
The Ghostcatchers, who had infiltrated to the third floor of the building, were hiding while facing a spacious lobby that overlooked the area below.
“What’s all this commotion?”
“Well……. We’ve been told that a spirit rampage has occurred.”
“What kind of rampage can’t be suppressed by the suppression teams?”
“There also seems to be an intruder, but I’m not entirely sure…….”
“Tsk, it’ll be a disaster if even the director has to step in…….”
Inside the facility, people who looked like researchers were scurrying about in white lab coats.
[As expected, this wasn’t just a wastewater purification facility.]
Jason muttered.
According to the briefing, this place was a spirit research institute disguised as a wastewater purification facility.
[Follow . It’s right ahead.]
As we infiltrated deeper inside, a wide space with walls covered entirely in white wallpaper appeared.
The ceiling was especially high—this was the largest laboratory in the research institute.
[My god…….]
Looking down at the laboratory from the upper railing, Alfred Park uttered an uncharacteristically emotional response for an android.
[No wonder the environntal groups went berserk.]
What they saw in the laboratory were countless water spirits writhing in agony while trapped inside gigantic tanks.
Moreover, restraints had been fitted to their bodies to prevent them from releasing their manifestation.
That wasn’t all.
In one corner, a water spirit in the form of a woman was being dissected by researchers.
[Is it even possible to dissect a spirit?]
At Alfred Park’s question, Jason frowned.
[Well, I’ve never imagined it……. If you forcibly manifest them, they end up with a material body, so I suppose it’s possible?]
‘That’s horrifying.’
Diesel muttered, venting his disgust.
To him, the pain being scread out by the dissected spirit was being transmitted directly.
Jason, standing beside him, also clenched his fist as he looked down, seemingly feeling the sa thing as Diesel.
[If they’re spirit mages, they should be able to feel the spirits’ pain directly. Are all the bastards here psychopaths?]
As they were assessing the situation, contact ca in from Zeon.
[The target will be entering soon.]
[What about the hacking?]
When Diesel asked, Zeon replied irritably.
[I’m working on it now. Once the hacking is complete, the spirits will pour into those tanks.]
[Hm……. I’m a bit worried.]
[What?]
Despite the hacker’s irritation, Jason continued speaking.
[I’m worried because of the wastewater spirits. Contaminated spirits have emotions that are too strong. If we gather them in such an enclosed space, there’s no telling what might happen…….]
[Then what are you planning to do? Is it because you don’t know what kind of target this is? This is the research director of Black Water Institute, a research institute under a gacorporation. Do you really think we can just deal with a level 4 spirit mage who controls that many spirits at once?]
[Khmm…….]
When the orc shut his mouth, Zeon continued.
[Shut up and do as you’re told. Nothing will happen.]
As the one-sided argunt ca to an end, a mont later the door opened and a woman who appeared to be the target entered.
“What in the world is going on here?”
“Director Siena!”
Black skin, pointed ears, a slender figure.
The Dark Elf, the main target of this operation, walked into the laboratory.
“Well……. It seems soone has infiltrated the building.”
“Infiltration?”
The mont she heard that word, the director shoved a researcher aside and approached the spirit being dissected.
“Wait! That spirit is an experintal subject that’s almost finished—!”
Ignoring the man’s plea, the Dark Elf placed her hand on the spirit’s body.
Then, the large type-7 spirit, already halfway to death, dissolved into liquid and began floating around the director’s body.
“T-this is an experintal subject we’ve been researching for months!”
“Shut up! My life is more important than this kind of graduate-student-level research.”
Then she said while peering into the tank,
“Take out another one. At least type 6 or higher.”
At the Dark Elf’s command, one of the spirits contained in the tank was caught by restraints.
The machine violently hauled the struggling being up to the surface.
[Hacking complete. Begin the operation.]
At the sa ti as Zeon’s words, wastewater began pouring out from the pipes connected to the tank.
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