Humanity Protection Company

125 - Tree

TL/Editor: raei Status: 5/week mon-fri

Illustrations: posted in discord

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Many small groups shared a modest wish.

They wanted to possess a danger level 6 anomaly that was controllable, with manageable risks and consequences, and that fit their group's concept!

In that respect, the Green Association was lucky.

They had obtained seeds of a great tree that met their conditions. They had gained the opportunity to sprout that great tree.

In that respect, the Green Association was also unlucky.

Because that opportunity came in the form of Lee Yeonwoo.

'I've completely restrained him. I've prepared for all the rolls Yeonwoo might make. His life is in our hands. And yet...'

Kim Podo gulped. He looked at Yeonwoo.

Yeonwoo was bound in different ways by anomalies, analog devices, and electronic equipment. He was threatened with death and under constant surveillance, with only his face exposed.

In that powerless situation, Yeonwoo had regained control of the conversation.

Not just in momentum or logic, but in reality.

"Maybe I won't die at all."

Yeonwoo's eyes sank deep. His senses transcended physical limits. Like an insect's antennae, they protruded slightly,

Yeonwoo naturally picked them up, frowning. The pistol felt light. The normal bullets had been removed.

'Did they not bring normal bullets because the bills are anomalies?'

It was a shame, but there was no time to look for them.

Yeonwoo quickly took out a bundle of bills from the bag and set them on fire again. His goal was escape.

"I'm leaving. Look forward to seeing how angry the company will be."

He didn't want to get further entangled with these bastards. This was the first time he'd suffered damage to this extent.

Revenge?

If he reported to the company, they'd take care of it.

"Wait! Negotiate! Let's negotiate! Money, anomalies, whatever-"

Kim Podo approached Yeonwoo urgently and desperately, but the bundle of bills had completely burned. Yeonwoo vanished as if he had never been there.

Kim Podo fell to his knees with a despairing expression.

He shouted towards family members who belatedly approached to extinguish the fire.

"He's escaped! Flee immediately!"

---

---

The vanished Yeonwoo appeared on the mountainside.

'Where is this? No, before that.'

He called Mark Jung. Mark Jung answered immediately.

"Yeonwoo? What's going on? We lost contact with both you and the friend who drove-"

"That's not important right now! The Green Association is-"

Yeonwoo summarized the key points concisely. That they were trying to grow a danger level 6 tree. That he was attacked instead of the battlefield being chosen.

Yeonwoo expected something. Having said this, wouldn't the headquarters or the Korean branch take some action? It was a danger level 6, after all.

But Mark Jung spoke calmly.

"Then the tree has failed for now. The only method left is to grow it on the battlefield, but we'll eliminate it the moment it shows itself. We can't let it fully grow."

"...You're not retaliating right away?"

Hearing Yeonwoo's disappointed voice, Mark Jung hesitated before speaking.

"Well, headquarters is in the midst of war preparations, so they can't afford to waste resources..."

"What about the Korean branch? Don't you have the special forces?"

"Considering the time it would take to mobilize and arrive, wouldn't they have all fled by now? I'll request deployment just in case."

It was disappointing. He thought they'd smash everything to pieces.

But given the company's situation, Yeonwoo understood and suppressed his desire for revenge, changing the subject.

"Anyway, my injuries are severe. I was hit by a bomb, buried under a collapsing house, bones broken. Send medical support or something."

The pain was starting to rise. Hearing this, Mark Jung was startled.

"You're that badly injured? No, how... Where are you currently?"

"I'm not sure. It's a mountain, but I escaped by burning bills."

"Then I'll send help by tracking your phone location. Please wait there. A helicopter will come."

Just as they were about to end the call.

Yeonwoo mentioned something he suddenly remembered. The only thing he couldn't retrieve.

"Oh right. I lost the normal bullets. I couldn't find them with the bills, so I fled without-"

"W-what did you lose?"

Mark Jung's voice flipped. There was a crash, the sound of something falling and breaking.

Yeonwoo answered puzzledly.

"The normal bullets. These guys confiscated them while I was unconscious."

Wasn't it just one of the company's anomalous equipment? Used in a limited way?

But Mark Jung was about to pass out.

"If those fall into their hands, no, where, where are you!"

"I told you I don't know just now-"

"Ah! Then this, for now! Get down from that mountain quickly!"

Then he abruptly hung up.

Feeling a sudden wave of unease, Yeonwoo burned another bundle of bills and fled far from the mountain, and.

A few minutes later, a meteor fell from the edge of the sky.

It was a satellite. Something that fell from an artificial satellite. Shining like a small star as it plummeted, it pierced the mountain without a shockwave, creating a transparent barrier that isolated the mountain.