The Regressor is too Powerful in Martial Arts – Chapter 39

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: JayM
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Beep-bo… beep-bo…!

Numerous ambulances and police cars entered the vicinity of the building I was in.

And the police, who had entered a certain building, were carrying out unconscious people from inside, and the paramedics, who came out of the ambulances, were putting these people, who were in bad condition, on gurneys and into the ambulances.

A man appeared behind my doll, which was watching that scene, and spoke.

“We have arrested about 30 researchers and about 80 criminals that you, Mr. Artist, subdued… and we have rescued about 200 civilians who were reported missing.”

“…Good work.”

“No. It’s you, Mr. Artist, who has done the hard work.”

The man who had appeared behind me was named Ji Hyeong-man.

He was the head of the Cheol-hyeol guild, which had been taking the lead in subjugating criminal organizations lately, and was the person who had been on the run while being framed as a serial killer when we were on our way home from the amusement park before.

It was I who had cleared his name and at the same time rescued the hostages who were being held by the criminal organization.

Thanks to that, he regarded me as his benefactor and had gathered those who were in the same situation as him to establish the guild named Cheol-hyeol.

And then they had become famous as a guild that wiped out criminal organizations.

“Anyway, are you okay these days? I feel like you guys, who are known to be connected to me, must have suffered some disadvantages thanks to the bounty on my head.”

“Haha. No way. It’s just a rumor, and at least, there are no guys who are openly hostile to us.”

“Well….”

Although Cheol-hyeol was a small guild in terms of members, most of them were experts that the criminal organization had gone to the trouble of taking hostages to control.

It would be foolish of them to be hostile with such experts.

“There are some guys who are messing around behind our backs, but they got their asses kicked instead.”

“……”

Even if it wasn’t of their own free will, since they had worked in a criminal organization before, they were well-versed in the methods of criminals.

Thanks to that, he said that it wasn’t difficult for them to notice the existence of guys who were plotting behind their backs.

“Well, let’s end the talk about recent events here and move on to business… We, Cheol-hyeol guild, have decided to protect the civilians who were rescued this time.”

“That would be for the best.”

I had rummaged through the Doctor’s head at the seaside laboratory, and I was able to grasp all the evil deeds he had committed for his goal of annihilating the Black Fog.

First, the research that the Doctor had considered as most important, the research of synthesizing human genes into monsters, was something he himself had been conducting alone at the laboratory where he was staying.

But that wasn’t all…

The Doctor had many subordinates, and he had entrusted some of his research to those subordinates….

“To think that they’d synthesize monster genes into humans….”

The Doctor had not only collected the genes of the kidnapped children and synthesized their genes into monsters, but he had also gone so far as to synthesize monster genes into those children.

This place, which I had just attacked and then called the Cheol-hyeol guild and the police to handle the aftermath, was the very laboratory where monster genes were being synthesized into children.

“Wasn’t there a similar incident in the past?”

“Yes. They say that there was a person who made such an attempt in the history textbooks.”

If there was a difference, it would be that it had failed at that time, but this time, the Doctor, who had forced the experiment, had succeeded.

Thanks to that, the bodies of the people rescued from the laboratory had mostly been transformed into different forms due to the monster genes.

If there was a silver lining, it was that their self-awareness was close to human.

“…There are brokers in foreign countries who specialize in children who have been transformed like that?”

“According to the information I’ve obtained… Yes.”

It seemed that the Doctor had sold off the children who had been transformed like that to wealthy people at home and abroad.

It also seemed that among the wealthy people who were the Doctor’s clients, there were some who would kidnap children they liked and commission him to implant the genes of the monster they wanted into them, and there were also those who had come to him directly while asking him to synthesize monster genes into their own bodies to obtain the power of a monster….

“This list… If it becomes known, I think the repercussions will be quite large.”

“I don’t think so. Even if it becomes known, it will be covered up quickly.”

The higher-ups were extremely sensitive about suffering losses.

Since they were aware of what kind of damage they would suffer if the list became known, they would try to quickly cover it up by changing the subject.

And they would try to fatten themselves up by dealing with the people on the list.

It would be better to just hide the list itself than to let that happen.

Though it wasn’t a method that I liked.

“In that sense, rather than touching the higher-ups, it would be more beneficial to track down the criminals who have been supplying the monsters or the children to the Doctor.”

“It’s frustrating.”

At my words, Ji Hyeong-man answered like that.

He also understood that he shouldn’t touch the higher-ups, but he seemed unwilling to do so.

I said to him.

“Don’t worry. The greedy higher-ups will begin to fall on their own at some point.”

For example, by driving out their competent right-hand man because of trivial greed.

The reason they had been able to live well all this time was all because that competent right-hand man had been taking care of thing behind the scenes.

But by the time they realized that fact and tried to take the problematic right-hand man back into their fold, the man was already dead, and his child had already begun to drag them to the bottom for revenge.

For that reason…

“Ah, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t rescue the children who have been sold off through human trafficking.”

“What? But….”

I handed him a few masks.

“This is….”

“In any case, I’m a criminal for now, right?”

Then let’s use that point to our advantage.

“If figures presumed to be the Artist or those associated with the Artist were to attack the houses of the wealthy… it would be quite an interesting turn of events, wouldn’t it?”

“…Will it be alright? Your reputation, Mr. Artist, will accumulate notoriety….”

“It’s fine. In the first place, it’ll be tricky for the houses that suffered damage to reveal that they were attacked, don’t you think? It’ll be the same even if it’s discovered that it was Cheol-hyeol guild’s unilateral crime, and not the Artist’s.”

Although the Artist had a bounty on his head as a criminal, he was also famous as a hero who only targeted monsters or Villains.

The Cheol-hyeol guild was the same.

Although their methods were cruel, they also only targeted criminals.

For such people to attack the house of a certain wealthy person?

Once that was revealed, then people would be more curious about why the Artist or Cheol-hyeol guild had attacked that wealthy person’s house rather than blame them.

Those who had engaged in human trafficking would have no choice but to cover up the incident so that that fact wouldn’t be revealed.

“If they had committed a crime without it being revealed, it might be different, but if there’s clear evidence that they committed a crime… and it was evidence of a serious crime like human trafficking at that, even the higher-ups won’t be able to avoid a prison sentence. We’ll use that point to rescue the victims.”

“…Yes. I understand.”

Ji Hyeong-man said in a solemn voice and left.

With this, the laboratory subjugation that had started with Lee Ha-eun’s kidnapping was over.

Strictly speaking, there were still remnants left, but I had decided to leave that to the Cheol-hyeol guild.

‘There’s one last thing I need to think about.’

I carefully observed the small device I had taken from the laboratory.

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After defeating the Doppelganger, I had searched the Doctor’s memories and obtained answers to several of my questions.

‘Like the reason why he had given his masterpiece the name Doppelganger.’

The answer was because it had the characteristic of imitating others.

‘Like what he had done with the people who had been kidnapped as his specimens.’

The answer was that the kidnapped people had monster genes implanted in them at another laboratory.

‘Like what was his source of the capital for maintaining his laboratory and for procuring specimens from criminal organizations.’

The answer was that he had secured capital by selling the people who had monster genes implanted in them.

In that way, I was able to get answers to the several questions I had wanted to ask him.

But there was only one question I couldn’t get an answer for no matter how much I searched the Doctor’s memories.

‘…The reason why my intrusion was discovered even though I had definitely fooled the sensors when I entered this laboratory.’

According to the Doctor’s memories, this device I had taken had detected my presence.

But even the Doctor didn’t know exactly what this device detected, or on what principle it operated on.

And for good reason. This device was something that the Doctor had received from some strange person.

‘It means that there’s someone who supported the Doctor while giving him this device….’

Since the Doctor was not an Awakener, he probably didn’t know the identity or principle of this device, but I was different.

No, to be precise, it would be right to say that because it was me, I could know the identity and principle of this device.

This wasn’t knowledge from before my regression.

It was just….

‘I was able to notice it because I see the same world as this device.’

This device saw the essence of the things it shone on.

And it sent out a signal based on what it saw.

…The essence I was talking about here was….

‘Samādhi is the ability to see through to the essence.’

‘What it saw wasn’t just simple energies like mana or aura, nor was it just invisible waves like electromagnetic waves.’

‘Souls, thoughts, concepts….’

“If I had to express it, I was able to observe something close to those things.’

The Samādhi of the Samadhi True Fire, which I often used.

In other words, this device was literally a sensor that detected non-material things like souls, thoughts, and concepts, and….

‘At this rate… it’s impossible for even someone like me to avoid this sensor.’

No matter how much I could hide my color.

No matter how much I could hide my weight.

No matter how much I could hide my presence.

No matter how much I could hide my heat.

No matter how much I could hide even my internal energy.

There was no way I could hide something like my soul, thoughts, or concept.

And this suggested another possibility.

“Does it mean that there’s someone who is more well-versed in things like souls, thoughts, or concepts than me?”

No, there really could be someone who was more well-versed in such things than me.

Although I had learned Samadhi True Fire and had become able to feel such things by observing them myself, in the end, I was a martial artist and not someone who had researched such things from the beginning.

But it was a little surprising that there existed someone capable enough to put the function of detecting those things into a mechanical device like this.

‘The most likely candidate is an Occult-type ability user like a shaman, but….’

Why would such a person support the bioengineer, the Doctor?

I still didn’t know.

Perhaps he also needed the monsters with human genes mixed in them or the humans with monster genes implanted in them that the Doctor had made.

Or, if not that….

‘Could it be that the organization this ability user belonged to coveted the Doctor’s abilities?’

If it was the latter, I thought that it would get a little troublesome.

Because they would try to track down the Artist, who had killed the Doctor, or attack the Cheol-hyeol guild that was connected to the Artist.

“…Well, it should be fine for a while.”

I finished my thoughts and looked at Lee Ha-eun.

“Uuuungh….”

Lee Ha-eun, who had already found out that the Artist was my doll, naturally participated in my and Yeon Mi-rae’s training.

In fact, you could say that she had started to follow us around as she pleased.

Of course, Yeon Mi-rae and I, who were martial artists who used internal energy, trained in different ways compared to Lee Ha-eun, who was a mage.

And so, I decided to teach Lee Ha-eun the support magic I knew.

“Ah, I did it! Sanctuary!”

“……”

“……”

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T/N – Well, that’s a wrap for Lee Ha-eun’s kidnapping arc with foreshadowing for future developments. Quite surprising that someone actually made a device that could ‘see through all things’.

If you find any mistakes, feel free to point them out in the comments.