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The end of Grand Stall that day was almost the same as any other, until dozens of execs broke in. The sight of identical uniforms spread panic among the citizens, as they moved aside, forming a circle around the intruders. In the middle of the execs, a girl with ombre pink hair and a slender guy could be seen tied up, pulled along by them. At the head of the group, a blonde executive proclaimed in front of the uneasy crowd:

"...Mania mutation has been confirmed inside Drifter Camp. There is a confirmed Mania field and contaminations. We have captured an A-Class Sinner. To sum up, the Reconstruction Executive Committee shall thoroughly investigate all dangerous phenomena, and once private possession of Hypercubes, Mania weapons, or any suspicious prohibited powers are found, they will be strictly dealt with! Don't resist the orders, don't hinder the execution, or else..."

Murmurs of suspicion arose on all sides, but no one dared to speak loudly. Until a boy in a yarn hat couldn't take it anymore. He shouted toward the execs:

"Eastside bastards! We didn't do anything wrong. We never touched Mania contaminations. You're accusing the wrong people. Give me my parents back!"

A nomad guy in layers of pink turban hurriedly pulls the boy back and covers the child's eyes, which are somewhat red from anger. His own hands are also trembling slightly, he whispered anxiously:

"What should we do...? Dudu is captured, and that person... and Granny Margaret..."

Instead of continuing to confront the crowd, the lead executive wanders over to his group, crouches down, takes Granny Margaret's hand, and speaks softly with a smile, ignoring the tension at the scene. The old woman looked up, her eyeballs clouded:

"...Who... Who's back?"

"It's me, Margaret. It's Donald."

"...Who are you?"

"Donald."

"Do-Donald?"

"Donald."

"Don...Don?"

"Donald."

"Don... Donny... Donna... Don... Don..."

"Yeah, Donald the duck. Don Don, Donny Aroman, it's all me. I'm back."

Margaret went silent for a while, then, as if had forgotten everything she had heard before, the old woman mumbled, hazy fog shrouded her cloudy eyes:

"How come you're still not back?..."

"Enough!!!"

Tally rushed over and swatted away the executive with a punch. He picked up Granny Margaret then ran back into the crowd. Kim Dokja recognized him, he was the chef that approached K.K. before. All the signs couldn't be more oblivious, the blond executive was a drifter.

Despite being treated like some kind of disease, Donald was completely unfazed. In fact, he even acted like he didn't know why at all:

"Why? What's gotten you so riled up? I was just saying hello to dear Margaret. Why are you so angry? You are the ones who have done bad things. Why are you acting like justice is on your side? Look at this woman, and look at you! An evil force is spreading!"

The smirk on his face spread out into a wide, triumphant grin, as if the one he confronted weren't innocent citizens but a gang of accomplices:

"Do you know how many people in the camp have been corrupted? Have you really not had any nightmares these past few nights? Guess who secretly introduced that monster into Drifter Camp, huh? And for what?"

The crowd let out shouts of alarm. They started to murmur with suppressed panic. Taran's expression had returned to the time he faced Kim Dokja's gun. His icy gaze met with Donald directly:

"Drifter Camp doesn't have that kind of evil power. We have our own anti-Mania system. Furian didn't go crazy and turn into a Corruptor. She left this world because she was in too much pain. All her suffering was caused by you. You have taken away Syndicate's hope."

People in cloaks suddenly appear on the upper level, clutching guns with anger in their eyes. Their burning gaze followed the execs closely, ready to fire at the slightest movement. Yet the blond executive didn't seem to bother, he turned his head to the teenager in dark hood among the crowd:

"The gangs have caused all these. They have gone mad in their pursuit of violence, and they're the ones who have made you suffer. But I heard that you guys have been very successful recently. You finally have the ability to fight back against them. You've won many times, even facing Mania weapons. Isn't it because you're secretly using the same kind of power? Isn't that why there's now a Mania mutation in your backyard?"

"You're the ones who colluded with the gangsters, who let them use Mania power, and now you're blaming it on Drifter Camp? You are just looking for a reason to crack down on us!"

"There can be many reasons. That Mania specialist we got, that Chief, went missing on your turf. Can you explain what happened?"

"...There was a gangster attack."

In the far back, Dudu quickly whispered to Kim Dokja:

"Hey, they're talking about you, do something."

Kim Dokja tried his best to lower his head, avoiding being recognized.

"...Not yet."

Donald laughed out loud, rather scornfully:

"Haha, haha... You're still so naive. Whatever reason or evidence you have, as long as they don't want to hear it, it won't work. There are already suspicions about you using Mania weapons. Leave Drifter Camp. Be smart about this, or they'll think you want to use Mania and go on the same path as the Legion. When my big guns arrive, it will be the end of this place!"

His provocation was so oblivious, even the wordings were cliche to the point of making Kim Dokja want to sigh. Yet, it was proven to work. Taran clenched his teeth, shouting furiously toward the blond guy.

"...How dare you mention that!?"

Taran raised his gun at Donald, and almost simultaneously, all the armed individuals on both sides raised their weapons. The strained situation immediately escalated, even Dudu stuck close to Kim Dokja. The sunglasses obscured half of Donald's face, making most of his expression unreadable:

"Hey, hey, drop the gun, kid. We can still talk about this."

Neither Taran nor the people in cloaks falter:

"Give those two back. I'm not buying your shit. Isn't it what you want, me raising this gun? I know almost too well what you're trying to do. Inspecting without reason, interfering, harassing, and weaving charges every now and then to pick a fight...Drifter Camp is a pain in the ass, and some people want us gone, but they can't deal with us the way they did with the gangs. That's why you're forcing us into a corner, and when we light a fire, you'll be able to eradicate Drifter Camp as you did with the Legion!"

The crowd erupted when they heard the Legion's name.

"So the Legion was really set up? The Black Ring wasn't set off by them?"

"What about Zoya? Was she killed?!"

"Bastards, I knew none of you were any good!!!"

Backed up by the drifters, Taran delivered the final blow:

"Do you want to do it to us again?! Come on, then. I've put up with it for a long time already!"

He slams a mechanism on the side, triggering a series of dangerous roaring and clanking sounds. The ground below the square shook violently, before the panels below where the guards stood suddenly caved in. Kim Dokja, Dudu, and the execs on the side all fall straight down. Cursing the dumb kid inwardly, Kim Dokja reached out to Dudu, ready for impact. But before he could feel anything on his back or sides, a pair of strong arms already caught him, along with a somewhat familiar scent.

Ink?

Kim Dokja wanted to ask where the guy went, but the intense shooting sound from above cut him up. The man immediately pulled him under a lattice bridge, avoiding countless metal pieces, rocks and electrical wires. Somewhere in between the loud bangs, two familiar voices called out to him:

"Chief!"

In surprise, he abruptly turned his head to find the two sinner girls were already right next to him. All three of them didn't seem injured, only their hood and shoulder being greyed by falling dust. Dudu was hanging a bit further away from them in Nightmare's palm, seemed to be dizzy, but wasn't injured either. As he was checking on the group's condition, a girl in metal mask approached them, the gun in her hand shook lightly:

"You...Mr. Yoo?... Why are you with them?..."

Both Hella and Hecate immediately entered fighting stance, but Kim Dokja shook his head. He got off from Yoo Joonghyuk's arm, being princess carried in front of too many people was too much for his old face.

"You recognize me."'

"...."

Her palm was sweaty and shaken, hesitating between whether to raise the gun or not. He could use his Potestas to knock her out if needed, but then her next action surprised all of them. The girl threw the gun away, then bowed deeply:

"Please, go help them!"

"Ok."

The reply came out from Kim Dokja so naturally that this time, even the masked girl was also stupefied. All of the eyes were now focused on him instead, except for Yoo Joonghyuk who showed no surprise from the beginning. Hella was the first to snap out, shouted unbelievably:

"Ha!? Why the *** should we help them? They tried to kill us!"

"We did not! We just wanted to capture you people, didn't your Chief also—"

Their voice was interrupted by another bang, this time much louder than the previous gunshots. A bad premonition crawled up Kim Dokja's nerves. He stopped the two girls from quarreling, leading all of them toward the sound direction. The maze of stairs quickly opened up to the bright sky, showing the dusty roads and exotic houses on the ground level outside. However right now, barely any sunlight could shine through the rising smoke. The rumbling of the tracks and the huge, muddy figure in the smoke facing Taran had taken the breath away from everyone present.

Hecate recognized the machine immediately, even she was bewildered by the sight:

"...That's an FAC armor used to deal with Corruptors, and it's very lethal. What are they..."

The FAC, or the Framework Against Catastrophe is DisCity's primary military force, established specifically to deal with all things related to Mania such as the Black Rings or Mania Weapon incidents. Even with evidence of Corruptors appearing, it still wasn't something that could be dispatched so fast, especially in residential zones like this.

Donald clearly came prepared. Then again, the problem returned to how he got his hand on this.

Donald's voice could be heard from afar, already pulling out the speaker on his belt:

"The Reconstruction Executive Committee specifically asked the City Council's Speaker to deploy this big thing. FAC - Propulsion Type 023, just decommissioned from DisSea Surveillance Zone, is exceptionally well maintained. Composite function, fully automatic attack, automatic repair, full ammunition reserve, and heavy firepower. Think about it. Do you have skin as thick as Corruptors? Or do you think your pathetic little bullets can penetrate the armor of this beast?"

Kim Dokja narrowed his eyes. Since when did the City Council's Speaker have direct power to dispatch this machine?

If the City Council could do whatever they pleased with the FAC that easily, Burns wouldn't need to put up such a grand show at Keyland Square to kill Zoya.

But it was something a drifter kid like Taran could never know.

When Kim Dokja reached where Taran's team was, the machine had already fired at a corner of Drifter camp, triggering a burst of alarm. Donald laughs could be heard from where the machine was, urging people to hand over Drifter Camp to investigate the Mania. The drifters in cloak recognized Hela and Hecate, but were confused by the sight of Joo Yoonghyuk and the masked girl. Yoo Joonghyuk's reputation in Drifter was almost on par with Zoya, and the fact that their leader was his fan also buffed his fame in the young Drifter team.

Taran's attention was completely in the machine's direction, didn't even realize someone was approaching until a voice resounded right next to him:

"Calm down, kid. You've messed this up well enough."

This was way pass safe distance. Taran jolted, reflexively raising his gun against the man, but the trigger didn't move an inch, no matter how hard he tried to pull. If he had been calmer, he could have noticed the red flash on the gun just now, but unfortunately the fury had consumed him completely. Kim Dokja paid the barrel on his chest no mind. From this distance, he could see that Taran's comm was on. He couldn't hear the other side clearly, but he knew they could hear him.

"Stop testing me. Want to see where I stand? I'll show you."

A small buzz came from the small earpiece, and Taran's pupils widened. He shouted objectedly, but still gave in after a short silence:

"...understood."

Kim Dokja turned his head a little, signaling the sinners, naturally, Yoo Joonghyuk also walked to him. Only now that Taran realized his idol was also here. The color on his face changed dramatically, then as if inferring something, his mouth agape, almost shivering as he pointed at Kim Dokja with an expression so dramatic like the sky was about to collapse.

Still, whatever he deducted had to be put back for later. As Kim Dokja approached the armed robot, Donald's frivolous remark resounded from the machine:

"Yo! I don't know you, but I bet you are a big shot. Shall I take you home?"

"I'm the Chief you're looking for."

"Hm, how strange? Taran testified that he got killed by the gangster though."

Kim Dokja sighed inwardly, he knew Donald wouldn't buy it, not because the guy didn't believe him, but because it would only hinder their plan. The Reconstruction Executive Committee probably wanted him dead even more than the dumb kid behind him.

"The contamination here has nothing to do with the Drifter Camp. Stop your so-called mission. I know what the Reconstruction Executive Committee is planning."

"Hmm... You're making it very difficult for me... Should I call someone and make you go back? But my superior would say..."

The frivolous tone in Donald's voice changed:

"Complete your mission first."