It was a trap that held the entire C dimension as collateral. Faced with such an enormous bait, Yonghoon was at a loss for words.
“Could it be a decoy? To lure us in.”
Sunhee’s hopeful words offered little comfort.
“It doesn’t seem like a decoy. But we’ll have to check.”
Yonghoon didn’t think such a massive nation would lie just to lure him in. Still, confirmation was necessary.
“If it’s true, what should we do?”
Upon hearing Branch Leader Karel’s words, Eunseo’s expression darkened. She felt like everything was her responsibility.
“We have to stop it here by any means possible before the dimensional movement happens.”
At his words, Branch Leader Karel tilted his head.
“I’m not sure, but if dimensional movement is possible, wouldn’t it be right to return to your original dimension and give a warning?”
Yonghoon shook his head at Branch Leader Karel’s words.
In principle, he was right. They were merely scouts dispatched to gather information about this world.
Upon hearing such information, it might have been correct to return quickly and prepare countermeasures.
Since Eunseo from this world couldn’t return, perhaps she could temporarily stay with Robert on the island or with the Resistance in the city while Yonghoon made the trip.
But they couldn’t do that.
More than anything else, the problem was the Dimensional Beasts.
These were beasts that had contaminated half the population of Jeju Island and turned a quarter of Los Angeles into corrupted humans with just one creature.
No one knew where the Dimensional Beasts would fall, but if they were dropped near a major city, hundreds of thousands would surely be contaminated.
Having witnessed the events on Jeju Island firsthand, especially for Sunhee, whose family had been turned into vegetative states by a Dimensional Beast, it was something she couldn’t allow.
Moreover, if they lacked the ability to stop it, returning might have been the right choice, but here, they had Yonghoon.
Honestly, for Yonghoon, it was much more advantageous to stop it here. The defensive capabilities against general attacks from the other world and this world were completely reversed.
“In the end, it’s a matter of comparing your own risk against the lives of hundreds of thousands.”
For the same reason, looting after the dimensional movement would be meaningless. The scale of damage was entirely different. This world could respond to their attacks, but their own world’s Awakened found it hard to deal with Dimensional Beasts and the Awakened with gray eyes.
‘His own dimension…….’
Yonghoon made a bitter face at the thought that suddenly crossed his mind.
At Yonghoon’s words, Branch Leader Karel looked shocked.
What one knew theoretically and what the parties involved testified to were two different things.
“Ah, I see. So billions have already died.”
That was right. The leaders of this world-no, the people of this world-had already killed billions from other dimensions and were still doing so.
Leaving the shocked branch leader behind, Yonghoon began a discussion with the women.
They spoke seriously. About reconnaissance, attack methods, and escape plans-but none of it was easy.
Especially with Yonghoon’s spatial movement hindered, even reconnaissance was a major problem.
But they couldn’t just stay idle. They began discussing infiltration methods excluding spatial movement.
“Looks like we’ll have to infiltrate at night.”
“Right?”
“What’s tonight’s weather like?”
The conversation progressed as if they were planning to scout tonight.
As the group seemed ready to move immediately, the branch leader, who had been listening, spoke up.
“Please wait until morning. I’ll try contacting the higher-ups urgently.”
Saying so, he left with a grim expression.
This resistance organization operated as a decentralized network at the city level.
The Resistance cells in each city couldn’t contact each other, and only the leadership could communicate with each city’s representative.
Furthermore, even the leadership and city representatives strictly kept to scheduled communications except during emergencies.
It was for everyone’s safety. Thanks to this method, the Resistance had survived for a long time. Even if one city’s Resistance was wiped out, others remained safe.
Branch Leader Karel had planned to report Yonghoon to the leadership at the next scheduled communication.
But the news he just heard changed the situation.
It was now a crisis.
Branch Leader Karel decided to attempt an emergency contact.
After the branch leader left, the two women sighed.
“Good work.”
Yonghoon said to the women.
“All we did was match our words to the captain’s signals. But how did you come up with all that in such a short time?”
Eunseo looked at Yonghoon with a curious expression.
The discussion they just had was merely a show for Branch Leader Karel. As the discussion began, Yonghoon had secretly signaled the women, and they had matched their words to his out-of-character comments.
Fortunately, the branch leader took the bait.
Seeing their urgent demeanor, the branch leader agreed to connect them to the higher-ups.
“Since spatial movement is blocked, we’ll need these Resistance members to infiltrate their cities or bases anyway. It’s better to have them move voluntarily. If this doesn’t work, we can ask for help later.”
At Yonghoon’s words, Eunseo and Sunhee looked at him with amazement.
Though he usually appeared somewhat composed, he wasn’t the type to strategize like this. But when it came to war or combat, his mind worked swiftly.
Seeing the women’s surprised expressions, Yonghoon gave a bitter smile. It had already been twelve years since he started fighting monsters, and nine years of military experience.
As a C-Rank Awakened, he had experienced all sorts of situations. This wasn’t his first time dealing with something like this.
Of course, many times it was Sunhee, his lover, who resolved things, but he had also gained plenty of experience watching from the side.
“But when you lose it, you really can’t see anything around you.”
At Eunseo’s words, Sunhee nodded. Seeing them, Yonghoon was at a loss for words.
Yonghoon had no choice but to change the subject.
“For now, get some rest tonight. Whether it works out or not, starting tomorrow, we’ll be really busy.”
At Yonghoon’s words, the two women nodded.
And so that day came to an end.
The next morning.
Yonghoon and the women were having breakfast on the first floor with Elena.
Elena had visited in the morning to call them for breakfast.
Knowing that Yonghoon and the women were in the same room, she had kept a subtle distance, but seeing them all get up separately from different beds, her expression brightened.
In the end, she ended up joining them for breakfast.
The side dish for their breakfast was Yonghoon. They took turns teasing him and agreeing with each other’s jabs.
Branch Leader Karel approached them as they ate.
“Approval has been granted. One of the elders from the leadership wants to meet you. They asked if you could come to the eastern region of Paris, or rather, to the eastern region of France, in two hours. Would that be possible?”
“Yes, it’s possible.”
From Prague to eastern France was about 800 kilometers. It was a distance he could cover in three or four jumps. At most, it would take about ten minutes.
But there was no need to show off his abilities. Yonghoon simply said it was possible.
The branch leader handed Yonghoon a note. On it were latitude and longitude coordinates. After that, the branch leader tried to give him a map, but Yonghoon declined.
He had a mobile phone with a world map app installed. Although he couldn’t make calls, the map app worked separately.
Yonghoon opened the map app and checked the coordinates.
The coordinates pointed to a place about 100 kilometers east of Paris.
The branch leader looked at the device containing the map with great curiosity, while Yonghoon and the women felt puzzled at the coordinates pointing to an empty field. In any case, they would find out once they got there.
After finishing breakfast, the group followed the branch leader to a building attached to the wall.
Since this was a secret mission, Elena couldn’t come along.
Once inside the building, the branch leader led them to the basement.
There, they were shown a hidden secret passage.
“Since the leadership has approved and I trust you, I am showing you this place. Only a few people in our branch know about it. Please keep it as secret as possible.”
Behind a giant oak barrel used for storing wine in the basement, there was a small tunnel that stretched on.
The tunnel, where one had to crouch to walk, extended about 500 meters and connected to the basement of another building.
However, judging by the hidden paths Yonghoon noticed along the way, there seemed to be other routes leading elsewhere.
As they passed through the tunnel, Yonghoon felt the lingering Dimensional Power that had been bothering him disappear.
It seemed they were now under the city wall.
After walking a bit more, the group climbed to the first floor of the building through the opposite basement.
Yonghoon peeked outside through a window. They were in a building in the old city center. The tunnel seemed to pass under the wall and connect to the old city center.
“It’s a tunnel we built over a long time. From now on, you can use this building to enter the fortress city.”
Hearing that the government was monitoring spatial movement, the branch leader had guided them through the secret tunnel.
Thanks to that, they could now move around New Prague through this place. Among many cities, they had at least secured one base.
Of course, trust between us will still be necessary going forward…….
The branch leader opened the back door to see the group off.
“If you go out this way, you can leave the city without being detected.”
However, Yonghoon had no need to go through the door.
“We’ll depart from here.”
At Yonghoon’s words, the branch leader wore a sheepish expression. The other party was an Awakened with spatial movement abilities. There was no need to step outside to move.
Yonghoon grabbed the arms of the two women and performed spatial movement.
To reach the intended destination, a total of four spatial movements were needed. It took eight minutes from departure. Even that time had been extended due to instability in the Dimensional Power midway.
Yonghoon appeared a few kilometers away from the coordinates.
He had kept his distance for safety.
The place they arrived at was a desolate plain. It might have once been a granary, but now it was a barren wasteland overgrown with weeds.
In the distance, at the location indicated by the coordinates, vehicles could be seen.
They were modified vehicles. Not just slightly altered trucks like before, but modified cars assembled from several different vehicles.
And around those vehicles stood people wearing various types of armor.
Yonghoon’s eyes narrowed.
They were Raiders.
It couldn’t have been a coincidence.
Yonghoon focused Dimensional Power into his eyes and checked each person one by one. Among them, he spotted an unusual individual.
It was a middle-aged man with white hair and an intellectual appearance. Unlike the other Raiders, he was wearing casual clothes and exuded an atmosphere different from ordinary people.
As Yonghoon observed further, he noticed that even the others were unusually disciplined for Raiders.
“It seems they’re the ones we were supposed to meet.”
After confirming the atmosphere of the group, Yonghoon decided to meet them along with his companions. Since there was a significant gap in power, he didn’t feel any danger.
Aside from personal guard units and Hunters, there weren’t many places where he would feel physically threatened.
Yonghoon and his group jumped through space and appeared in front of the Raiders.
The Raiders were startled by the sudden appearance of Yonghoon’s group.
Even the middle-aged man with white hair looked slightly surprised.
Sitting on the car, he quickly regained his composure and stood up.
He approached Yonghoon and extended his hand.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Frank Ellison, an elder of the Resistance. You can just call me Frank.”
His eyes, as he offered a handshake, shifted from gray to blue.
He was a Linker.