The Author's POV

Exchanging glances with each other, two guards at the front of the car laughed out loud.

"Hahaha, who would've thought that you were the lucky bastard that got to catch the escapee, huh, Jerome?"

"Yeah, I'm fucking envious of you."

'So his name is Jerome.'

Listening to their conversation, I made a mental note to myself of every little detail. This was so that I could blend in better.

With my head still in between my legs, I responded.

"...mhm, you're absolutely right."

There were a total of ten people in the car, including 'my unit'. From the brief conversations, I was having with them, the name of the 19th unit captain was Jerome, he was 28 years old, and judging from how friendly they were being to me, I figured that he was someone popular.

The layout of the car was two seats at the front of the car, with five more seats leaning by the side of the vehicle.

Switching the conversation, one of the guards next to me spoke up.

"Man, who would've thought that the commander himself showed up."

"Yeah, just his aura alone almost made me piss my pants."

"Tell me about it...just imagine what Jerome must've gone through when questioned by him."

With my head still lowered, I made small talk as well. This was so that I didn't look too suspicious.

"Yeah, it was really nerve-wracking. I thought that I was in front of a tiger...just look at me, I'm so exhausted just from that exchange."

"Hahaha, You indeed look tired."

"Hahahahaha."

Laughter erupted in the car. I too laughed, but it was a fake one.

My mind was too preoccupied with other thoughts to care about whether it sounded genuine or not.

'...Six bombs, eight serum dosages, four health recovery potions, and eighteen mana recovery potions.'

If I had to count how many people I killed the past few hours or so, the headcount would be around the twenties.

Every time I killed someone, I would never forget to collect their dimensional space. In it, were many resources that could become extremely useful for me. Bombs and serum being prime examples.

Without them, I would've never have made it as far as I did.

'That aside, I'm still not in the clear though.'

A bitter smile appeared on my face.

My mana was currently at around 1/9 of what it should be.

Having depleted all of my mana from the stunt I pulled in order to escape the lab, I had a hard time recovering it to what it was before.

Despite the multiple mana recovery potions I chugged in, they were only the lowest grade, and thus I barely recovered anything. This was also the reason why I was only able to hold out for a couple of minutes when the commander came.

To make matters worse, with my mask now off, I had to be in this awkward position where I had my face in between my legs and arms. Fortunately, I was wearing a hat and thus they did not notice the fact that I wasn't bald like the 19th unit captain was.

Had I not thought of this beforehand, they would've realized that I wasn't him just because of the fact that I wasn't bald.

"Man, how long do we still have till we arrive?"

"20 more minutes. The road is a bit rough here so it'll take that much."

"Ahhh, I'm hungry."

'...20 minutes'

the conversation the other guards were having, it became even more apparent to me just how big the Monolith domain was. Just the distance

to keep it hidden for so long,

be best to act before

more minutes to arrive, I opted to wait till my mana recovered a

the main reason was I was choosing to act late was because of my mana, it wasn't

in the direction of where the other cars were, I

just had a

***

time, in a different

a small smirk at the edge of his lips, the

"Commander, is something wrong?"

and flashed his teeth. "Oh,

"Something funny?"

unit members in the vehicle, Isaac noticed that each of them had a

"...hur hur."

'subject 876' who was passed out on the ground, with an amused smile, Commander Luther traced his

by the commander's weird behavior,

what are you

answering, Commander Luther continued to trace his finger all over

side of his chin, he

to give him scars? Is there a mask...or was he someone that he had he killed long ago and stored in his

What?!" The captain's eyes opened widely. Pointing at the scarred man on the ground, he frustratedly asked. "A-re you suggesting that he isn't the one we are looking

"Yes."

nodded

ran down every guard present in the room. Not once did they doubt the identity of the scarred

thought took their breath

the

is

19th unit captain,

replied without the slightest bit

unit members, Isaac struggled to find the right words to say. "b-ut how is that possible? I saw him just moments ago. He looked

the 7th unit captain by the side

"Did he though?"

"Yes!"

Though they only met briefly, Isaac did not find

face before he turned his attention back to 'subject 876'. "Though he may have fooled you guys, he couldn't have fooled me. I've met Jerome a couple of times in the past, and I can tell you that it's not him. His face maybe, but..." Pausing and

commander's point, Isaac's brows knit as he

lot more skinny

All of the squads worked with each other most of the

a bald head. That was how everyone

long ago, a shocked looked appeared on Isaac's face as he lifted his

him to have the same

identical to that of Jerome in that short period

what I'm wondering as well," Luther replied with a solemn look. "The only thing that comes to mind is that this is the work

"An artifact?!"

"Yes."

now, the second possibility was the one that made more sense, but if it was the first

of greed flashed

is an artifact, I really want to get my hands on

not have heard the commander's last words, Isaac hesitatingly asked. "...sir, but what if there

"Impossible."

Luther firmly replied.

what makes

before entering the vehicle, I asked him what happened

"...and?"

There really

Taken aback, Isaac asked.

made you think that

sure about the fact

eyes. "his unit members. The

"What!?"