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

they manage to keep it hidden for so long, I wondered as the

be best to act

that it would take twenty more minutes to arrive, I opted to wait

to act late was because of

of where the other cars were, I knew that things were not as easy as

just had a

***

same time, in

at Commander Luther next to him and noticing a small smirk at the edge of his lips, the 7th unit

"Commander, is something wrong?"

his head, Commander Luther looked at Isaac and flashed his teeth. "Oh, I

"Something funny?"

his unit members in the vehicle, Isaac noticed

"...hur hur."

at 'subject 876' who was passed out on

by the commander's weird behavior, Isaac involuntarily raised

what are

of answering, Commander Luther continued to trace his

his chin, he muttered out

killed long ago and stored in his dimensional space...no that wouldn't work since he's alive? There also doesn't seem

ground, he frustratedly asked. "A-re you suggesting that he isn't the one we

"Yes."

nodded

doubt the identity of the scarred man before them. If not for their commander pointing it out,

took their breath

the

who is the

the 19th

replied without the slightest bit of hesitation in his

Glancing at his unit members, Isaac struggled to find the right words to say. "b-ut how

7th unit captain by the side of his eyes, Luther

"Did he though?"

"Yes!"

replied Issac. Though they only met briefly, Isaac did not find anything strange

"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

to the commander's point, Isaac's brows knit as

lot more skinny than the last time

given. All of the squads worked with each other most of the time, so

bald head. That was how everyone

a shocked looked appeared on Isaac's face as

is it possible for him to have the

mask to be prepared. For subject 876 to actually have a mask identical to that of Jerome in

replied with a solemn look. "The only thing that comes to mind is

"An artifact?!"

"Yes."

that made more sense, but if

greed flashed

artifact, I really

to not have heard the commander's last words, Isaac hesitatingly asked. "...sir, but what if there is no artifact and

"Impossible."

Luther firmly replied.

makes

Luther raised his finger. "...but right before entering the vehicle,

"...and?"

his story checked out. There really was

Taken aback, Isaac asked.

you think that

checked out, what made him so sure about the fact that the man before them wasn't

"his unit members. The moment

"What!?"