As Yonghoon entered the old city center, he felt the Dimensional Power that had been tickling him disappear. This Dimensional Power had been felt throughout the entire city.
It was similar yet different from the sensation he had felt at the Warp Zone not long ago. It felt not too different from his own spatial ability.
‘Last time, it was something that blocked spatial movement, so is this one perhaps monitoring spatial movement?’
Yonghoon came up with a plausible hypothesis. But if the hypothesis was true, it was a big problem.
A spatial movement monitoring device that enveloped the entire city.
The enemies probably weren’t certain that Yonghoon would appear in this city. If so, it was clear that such devices had been installed throughout all European cities.
‘From now on, if I teleport inside the city, I’ll get caught?’
Moreover, inspections were still ongoing at the city gates. He had been lucky not to get caught this time, but there was no guarantee he would always be lucky.
Even if they had made Yonghoon say just one word, he would have been caught immediately due to his pronunciation.
This place was still close to the fortress city.
Although the unsettling Dimensional Power wasn’t felt here, there was no need to attract uncertain danger. Yonghoon decided not to use spatial movement and started running toward where Eunseo and Sunhee were.
Lieutenant General Eunseo stood on the rooftop, gazing at the wall that surrounded the city.
Sirens continued to blare throughout the city, and soldiers were being deployed onto the streets.
However, Lieutenant General Eunseo’s expression was not good.
“Too slow.”
She was irritated by the city’s slow response.
If the Warp Monitoring Device had detected a warp, the city should have immediately gone into emergency mode and contacted them at the same time.
But in reality, even after contacting them, the city had continued to operate as usual.
Moreover, even after she gave orders, it still took time for the city to go into emergency mode. At this rate, capturing the target was going to be difficult.
“It can’t be helped. It’s been decades since humans fought each other on this world aside from battles with Dimensional Beasts. Even the Rebels that appeared afterward were just small fry, so it’s natural that city defenses are weak.”
The Black man standing behind her spoke up.
He was right. All battles had taken place in other dimensions. Apart from occasional terrorist attacks on Warp Arrays by the Rebels, the Empire had not been attacked.
“While we were busy conquering other worlds, the interior was rotting away. Should I be grateful they even reported the warp?”
At Eunseo’s grumbling, the two personal guard unit members smacked their lips in frustration.
“Wouldn’t it be better to go wait at the city offices? Searching the city will take some time.”
The sharp-looking white man who had detected Dimensional Power suggested to her.
But she shook her head.
“We’re returning to New Berlin. He’s already escaped.”
“What? Although we were a bit late in closing the gates, inspections were ongoing before that too. Isn’t it more likely he’s still hiding in the city?”
The Black man asked her, puzzled.
No, that couldn’t be. Lieutenant General Eunseo recalled Yonghoon’s appearance from the stolen memories.
He was different from Kenny, who had just spoken. If it were just a simple spatial ability user, he might have hidden, but Yonghoon was a Linker with strike-type abilities as well.
If it were Yonghoon, he would have broken through before the gates closed.
And judging by the fact that no sounds of fighting had been heard, it was clear he had escaped safely without being detected.
“Tell them to continue the search, but we’re returning.”
The enemy was an A-rank Linker who possessed both spatial movement and strike-type abilities. As expected, it was difficult to capture him with these methods. Moreover, he would undoubtedly be even more cautious from now on.
“In the end, the only way is to set a trap.”
Eunseo muttered, and shortly afterward, their figures disappeared from the rooftop.
The two women who heard Yonghoon’s story became serious.
At this rate, one of their strongest abilities would end up being sealed.
Seeing their gloomy faces, Yonghoon spoke up.
“No need to worry too much. We just have to avoid using spatial movement inside the city. And it seems they’re only looking for me, so you two just need to be more careful with your disguises.”
Both women had changed their hair color.
Eunseo now had brown hair, and Sunhee’s hair was dyed a color close to blonde.
Their eyes had also been changed to gray.
Last time during Dimensional Movement, Yonghoon had struggled because he had to wear sunglasses all the time.
So before this Dimensional Movement, he had made thorough preparations. Yonghoon had prepared plenty of disposable gray color lenses without prescription, as well as hair dye and makeup tools.
Fortunately, it seemed that the Eunseo of this world hadn’t noticed the preparations.
Eunseo looked a bit embarrassed, realizing she hadn’t caught on because she had been so focused on Yonghoon, but thanks to that, they had managed to escape safely again.
Yonghoon and the women now didn’t look much different from the people of this world. Their faces also looked less East Asian thanks to the makeup.
In any case, it didn’t seem wise to stay here much longer.
Yonghoon needed information. He decided to head to the island where Robert was.
The two women agreed with Yonghoon’s decision, and they teleported to the island.
Upon arriving at the island, they immediately spotted Robert. Against the backdrop of the setting sun, Robert was sitting on the breakwater.
Robert, holding a fishing rod he had somehow acquired, was fishing while sitting on the breakwater.
Seen from behind, he looked extremely pitiful. His clothes were worn out, and his hair was a mess.
As the group approached Robert, they heard him muttering.
“I’m not lonely. I’m on vacation. I’m enjoying a leisurely fishing trip. I’m happy. I’m not lonely. I’m not lonely……”
Yonghoon and the group flinched and stopped. Eunseo and Sunhee even started to back away.
“You’re alive.”
At Yonghoon’s indifferent remark, Robert’s head snapped around like lightning. Upon seeing Yonghoon, he threw away his fishing rod and ran toward him.
“I’ll tell you everything you want to know. Please ask me anything. I actually know a ton of stuff!”
It seemed he had been incredibly lonely. Tears even welled up in Robert’s eyes as he clasped his hands together and spoke.
“Is this the person the captain mentioned, the one in charge of the Warp Zone?”
Sunhee’s voice, speaking in English, was filled with suspicion.
Here, they had agreed to speak in English except for secret matters. There was no need to cause misunderstandings by speaking Korean.
Both Sunhee and Eunseo seemed unable to trust Robert because of his shabby appearance and behavior.
Robert snapped back to his senses. It seemed his comrades had arrived. Moreover, they were women.
Compared to that stiff kidnapper, he thought he might have better luck appealing to emotions.
Robert immediately ran up to them.
“I am indeed the person in charge of the New Berlin Dimensional Warp Zone. I may look like this because of all the hardships, but I am your loyal collaborator. I also originally had a lot of resentment against the Empire…… Eek!”
In the middle of speaking, Robert screamed. He had seen Eunseo’s face.
“Lieutenant General!”
He froze stiff.
“You definitely seem to know a lot.”
Seeing him frozen, Yonghoon smiled in satisfaction. It seemed he would be able to get all the information he needed.
It took a while for the group to bring him back to normal. Fortunately, thanks to Eunseo dyeing her hair brown and disguising herself as a Westerner, they succeeded in convincing him she was someone else.
After some time, once he regained his senses, Yonghoon began questioning him. Thanks to Eunseo, Robert cautiously answered his questions, though he still occasionally stole glances at her.
First, Yonghoon tried to learn as much as he could about Lieutenant General Eunseo.
Lieutenant General Eunseo.
The Eunseo of this world was an incredibly famous person.
Born in the small Seoul branch with a population of less than 1,000, she showed exceptional growth from a young age.
At fifteen, she reached C-rank and was specially recruited as an executive at the Japan branch, where she continued to grow and became a B-rank Awakened at eighteen.
She then immediately joined the capital’s personal guard units and continued to rise, reaching S-rank two years ago.
Eventually, she became one of only three S-rank Awakened in the Empire, and the youngest S-rank Awakened. She was now the commander of the entire personal guard units, wielding one of the top five powers in the Empire.
Hearing the story, Yonghoon looked at Eunseo with a surprised expression. From his own case and the stories of other Linkers, he knew that people generally had the same limit abilities across dimensions.
That meant the Eunseo standing before him could also potentially grow to S-rank.
Of course, thanks to Yonghoon teaching people how to break their limits, more individuals had been surpassing their original limits, but fundamentally, a higher limit meant faster growth.
In other words, Eunseo had excellent potential.
However, the problem was that the Eunseo of this world, an enemy, was stronger than expected. He had anticipated she would be strong based on witnessing her attacks, but hearing her actual level was another matter.
She seemed even harder to deal with than he had expected.
Yonghoon asked Robert about other matters. He inquired about cities with other Warp Arrays, the Warp Arrays leading to A and B dimensions located in the capital, and finally about the Rebels.
Robert looked at Yonghoon with a puzzled expression when he asked about the Rebels. Robert had thought Yonghoon was affiliated with the Rebels.
In any case, Robert answered Yonghoon’s questions sincerely.
“……And so, even now, New Prague is rumored to be the city where Rebel activity is the most intense. Apparently, they even occasionally distribute posters. Thanks to that, the city’s development has completely stalled.”
Hearing this, Yonghoon thought of Elena, who had gone to New Prague.
If he wanted to learn about the Rebels in New Prague, it would be best to go through Elena.
Yonghoon discussed the matter with the women.
They agreed with Yonghoon’s suggestion to go to New Prague and make contact with the Rebels, but felt displeased at the mention of meeting Elena again. It must have been an instinctive aversion as women.
“We still have some food left, right? Then let’s come back in a few days. I’ll bring food and other supplies then.”
After sharing opinions with the women, Yonghoon spoke to Robert, who was waiting on the side. Robert’s face looked miserable.
“Please take me to where you all are staying. I’m a hard worker. I can do anything you ask. I don’t think I can survive alone any longer.”
Yonghoon tilted his head at Robert’s words.
“It’s going to be really far. Are you sure you’re okay with that?”
“I don’t care how far it is. As long as I’m not alone on this island.”
For Robert, it seemed like anywhere on Earth would be fine.
Yonghoon nodded at Robert’s words. This man was worth taking along. If things went well, maybe Yonghoon’s dimension could also build a Warp Zone.
In that case, they would first need to acquire a Dimensional Core.
“Wait a little. I’ll think about it after I get back.”
That evening, the group decided to spend the night on the island. Anyway, it was difficult to move around the city at night. It was safer to spend the night here where there were no monsters.
Yonghoon and the group settled on the second floor of the island’s only two-story house.
Fortunately, the house was clean. It seemed Robert had cleaned the entire place out of boredom.
Yonghoon took the first night watch. The women, still exhausted, fell asleep immediately.
Robert, downstairs, seemed to have already fallen asleep too. Unbeknownst to Yonghoon, Robert had barely slept due to fear until now. Thanks to Yonghoon’s arrival today, he was finally able to sleep soundly.
Yonghoon stood night watch, lost in thought.
First, it seemed he would have to go to New Prague tomorrow to meet Elena. If he was lucky, he might be able to make contact with the Rebels through her.
And there was one more important task.
He had to capture Lieutenant General Eunseo.
Today’s encounter had been unexpected, so Yonghoon had fled the scene.
But for Eunseo’s sake as well, he had to capture Lieutenant General Eunseo. Even though she was an S-rank Awakened and it was concerning, given that she was actively pursuing him, they would likely meet even if he didn’t seek her out.
In that case, he needed to take a more proactive approach.
“In the end, is a trap the only way?”
Yonghoon’s worries deepened.