The Wise Cleaning Life Of A Returning Genius Hunter [EN]: Chapter 199

198

Hong Kong Branch, Central Operations Control Room.

“Team 1, focus solely on stopping the escaped monsters. Team 2 will handle entering the dungeons.”

「Yes!」

“Team 2, proceed to subjugate the dungeons in the order they appeared. Dungeon information has been sent, so check it.”

「Understood.」

Kim Min-joo from Team 1 and Han Yu-bin from Team 2 replied, their voices noticeably tense.

“As you all know, we don’t have many personnel. Don’t overdo it, and if anything seems off, report it to Director Lee Ah-young immediately. That’s all.”

I put down the radio after saying that.

I shifted my gaze back to the monitor displaying the operational status.

A hastily arranged formation.

A plan akin to banging one’s head against a brick wall.

Given the situation, there’s no time to conduct operations as systematically as we did at the US branch.

The immediate priority was dealing with the escaped monsters.

But there were so many that we might have to deploy all teams.

If that happened, dungeon subjugation would be delayed, and more monsters would escape in the meantime.

A vicious cycle, indeed.

Even though we scraped together all the elites from headquarters, it’s still too much to handle with our personnel alone.

Well, the only fortunate thing is that I’ve taken over command of the Hong Kong branch.

“Attention all operational teams within the branch. Operations Team A and B, join Team 1 to stop the monsters. Operations Team C and D, join Team 2 to proceed with subjugation.”

That meant I could move the branch’s personnel as I pleased.

Of course, our forces were still severely lacking, but at least we could prevent the situation from worsening.

If we could just hold out until the dungeon generation stopped, I could move personally from then on.

Yes. If we could just hold out until then…….

「Is this really going to end?!」

Just then, Director Lee Ah-young asked urgently, as if she had the same thought.

「If the International Association keeps creating dungeons, isn’t it like pouring water into a bottomless pit?!」

“No. That’s not the case.”

I replied firmly.

“Their goal is to crush the Chinese Association, not to destroy Hong Kong. They’ll probably stop soon. We just need to hold out until then.”

「…Are you sure?」

“Of course.”

After all, the International Association would be in trouble if Hong Kong were destroyed.

The Chinese Association, having nothing left to lose, might immediately turn its back on the International Association and secede.

You have to tighten the leash just right to control a dog.

If you try to tighten it too much, it might bite the owner.

“If any monsters appear that are too difficult to handle, report to me immediately. If you try to step up unnecessarily and the formation collapses, it’ll be a real disaster.”

「Okay. Then… keep up the good work.」

Lee Ah-young ended the transmission.

This is all I can do for now.

All that’s left is to entrust it to each of them.

It’s not as systematic as previous operations, but everyone’s a veteran, so they should be able to do well enough.

‘Now that I’ve taken over command, if we can just complete this operation, the Hong Kong branch will be in our hands…….’

That’s what I was muttering to myself when.

Bbrrr.

My phone rang.

An unknown number.

I answered the phone with a puzzled expression.

「…Help me.」

A woman suddenly blurted out something incomprehensible in English.

“What are you talking about? More importantly, who is this?”

「It’s Chloe.」

“……?”

Chloe?

Why is this person suddenly contacting me…?

「I don’t have time to explain. If things continue like this, you and I are both going to be screwed.」

***

PB Corporation Headquarters.

Bank Item Control Center under the Bank Item Management Team.

It was utter chaos.

“The dimensional stone’s etheric wave level is too high!”

“110%, 120%… Current level is 135%! It’s still rising!”

“Damn it…! Activate the suppressor!”

“I, it’s already beyond the suppression range!”

Only two hours after raising the dimensional stone’s etheric wave to its maximum.

The etheric wave level began to rise uncontrollably.

‘I knew it…!’

Team Leader Chloe, who was watching the situation, gritted her teeth.

The dimensional stone is an item that hasn’t been fully researched yet.

It can emit such powerful etheric waves that it can create dungeons, so extreme caution must be taken when handling it.

But they recklessly increased the output, so this situation was inevitable.

‘That’s why I said it was dangerous…….’

The CEO and Secretary-General don’t know anything, yet they issue such ridiculous orders.

Bunch of morons who only care about subjugation rights!

There’s no choice.

No matter what orders come from above, it can’t continue any longer.

“Stop the equipment.”

“Y, yes? Are you sure? What about headquarters’ permission…….”

“Is headquarters the person in charge here?! The suppressor isn’t working either! Don’t you know that if we continue like this and it goes berserk, we’re really screwed?!”

“…….”

“Cut off all power to the entire center right now and reboot the system!”

“A, understood.”

At Chloe’s command, the center staff immediately got up from their seats.

They hurriedly shut down the system and cut off all power to the center, but.

Zhiiiiiing—.

“Wh, what……!”

“Why is it like this…?”

For some reason, the dimensional stone’s operation didn’t stop.

“T, Team Leader! It won’t stop operating!”

“The level is still rising!”

“Shit…….”

The dimensional stone is operating even though the power has been cut off.

It’s creating energy on its own, beyond over output.

And what that means is…….

“……Evacuate.”

“Y, yes?!”

“Run away! Sound the meltdown alarm throughout the facility and run away immediately!!”

The overload of a bank item.

Commonly known as a meltdown [a catastrophic failure of a system].

The worst possible situation that can occur in a bank item research facility, and a phenomenon that must be avoided at all costs.

In the end, it happened.

‘I’m screwed…….’

Chloe’s pupils shook violently.

The dimensional stone can no longer be controlled.

The dimensional stone, which has begun to create energy on its own, will soon create dungeons like crazy all over the world, including Hong Kong.

Honestly, she didn’t care what happened to it.

But the problem was what would happen to her afterward.

‘How… how am I supposed to…….’

The moment she bit her lip hard enough to draw blood.

Ironically, a man came to Chloe’s mind.

Of course, she didn’t want to, but there was no time to hesitate now.

Chloe immediately called him.

“I don’t have time to explain. If things continue like this, you and I are both going to be screwed.”

「What are you talking about?」

“The dimensional stone is going berserk. We can no longer control the creation of dungeons on our end.”

「Huh?! Wh, what does that…!」

Kim Jun-woo also trailed off in shock at the news.

But only for a moment.

「What am I supposed to do?」

“I heard you’re in Hong Kong, is that right?”

「Yes. I’ve taken over command.」

“Then our plan has already gone down the drain.”

Chloe continued with a faint sigh.

“To stop the rampage, you have to subjugate all the dungeons that are currently being created at the same time. If even one remains, it will continue to generate around it.”

「With the current personnel, we can barely stop the escaped monsters. Simultaneous subjugation is impossible…….」

“I’ll try to arrange support troops.”

「…….」

“Why? Can’t you do it?”

「Is there any other choice in this situation? I have to.」

The answer I was waiting for finally came.

「But why are you asking me for this favor? The situation here doesn’t really concern you.」

“Why doesn’t it concern me? They’re going to pass all the responsibility on to me. More than anything, you can’t abandon Hong Kong, can you?”

「Tsk, I don’t really like the reason.」

“If you have time to talk, hurry up and move.”

Chloe hung up the phone with those words.

“Evacuate, evacuate!”

“Leave everything behind and get out!”

“No time to back up! Just run away!!”

All the staff in the facility were already scrambling to get out.

Zhiiiiiing—!

Even in the midst of that, the dimensional stone continued to vibrate and glow more and more intensely.

And soon.

KWAH-!!!!

With a tremendous impact, the control center exploded.

***

“Why are dungeons continuing to be created!”

Chairman Lee Jei-jing raised his voice in a furious tone.

“Is there still no contact from the International Association?!”

“Y, yes. They just said they’ll check and haven’t responded yet…….”

“These damn bastards!”

He slammed his desk.

They clearly said at the beginning that they would only create three dungeons.

It was just enough that the Hong Kong branch couldn’t handle it on its own, but the headquarters personnel could handle it sufficiently.

If the Hong Kong branch requested help from the headquarters, the headquarters would take over command of the branch and proceed with the subjugation instead.

Once the subjugation was completed, they planned to hold onto command under the pretext of follow-up measures and the reconstruction of Hong Kong.

After that, they only needed to replace the branch’s executives with headquarters personnel to successfully recapture the branch, but…….

Why did it turn out like this?

‘Could it be the International Association, those bastards…….’

Is this a demonstration?

Are they trying to crush us completely so that we can’t use the International Association withdrawal as an excuse to rise up again?

‘I shouldn’t have trusted those guys from the start…….’

The current situation in Hong Kong is the worst of the worst.

The personnel dispatched earlier can’t handle this situation. We have to mobilize all the remaining headquarters personnel.

The problem is that all means of entering Hong Kong have been blocked.

Too many people are involved in this operation.

High-ranking officials and even ministers are paying attention to this operation.

If such an operation fails, the people involved will not be safe either.

That meant that those people cornered would not leave him alone if the operation failed.

‘Shit, damn it…!’

And then.

“Lee Jei-jing.”

A middle-aged man entered the chairman’s office.

“M, Minister…?”

Wang Xi’an.

The person who authorized this operation and the Minister of National Defense of the People’s Republic of China.

He came in person.

“Wh, what brings you here…….”

“I heard the situation in Hong Kong is a mess.”

“Ah, th, that’s…….”

He trailed off, then looked Wang Minister in the eye and pretended to be calm.

“It’s a difficult situation because dungeons are continuing to be created, but it’s still at a level that can be resolved sufficiently.”

“How?”

“If we mobilize all the headquarters troops as soon as the road repair work is completed, we can sufficiently…….”

“Ha!”

Minister Wang Xi’an scoffed.

“Karma Corporation has taken command.”

“……Y, yes?”

“Are you deaf? Kim Jun-woo already has the Hong Kong branch in his grasp.”

Chairman Lee’s eyes widened at those words.

He then handed over a document.

“Wh, what’s this…?”

“A blockade order.”

“Yes?”

“Dungeons are being created endlessly. If this continues, the mainland will be in danger. More than anything, since Karma has taken command, recapture is out of the question anyway.”

“Then…….”

“As of this moment, the authorities are giving up the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.”

Minister Wang said those words with a stern face.

“My life is also on the line in this operation. I’d rather destroy it than have it taken away. You are to immediately block all entry routes into Hong Kong and completely isolate it from the mainland. No one can get out, and no one can get in.”

“W, wait a minute! We still have personnel in Hong Kong! More than anything, there are still citizens inside, and if something happens to them…!”

“Didn’t you hear me?”

Minister Wang’s voice was low.

“As of this moment, no one can get out of Hong Kong.”

“…….”

“It’s better this way. Since the plan has already gone wrong, let’s just bury everything as it is and blame it all on the International Association.”