I Possessed a Broken Academy Instructor

Chapter 98

In the great war that had reached its third phase, the Free Planet Alliance was, how should I put it.

To speak kindly, they were those who only reaped benefits, and to speak harshly, they were the embodiment of cunning capitalism.

They were fundamentally positioned on the border between the Empire and the Synthesized States, but quite far from the main front.

The reason was simple.

Their location was on the outskirts of the galaxy, and there was no need to disturb them at all.

Goods moved, and they served as a base for mercenaries, but that was all.

Each nation had populations exceeding ten trillion, and to think that poking at the Free Planet Alliance would affect the front lines was sheer nonsense.

Yet, they were not easy prey either, possessing a rebellious national character and considerable defensive strength, making them a nuisance even if they weren’t outright dangerous—a true chicken rib.

Perhaps that was why.

For the Empire and the Synthesized States, as well as the Council, the Free Planet Alliance’s external political body, this news was nothing short of a disaster.

It wasn’t merely the loss of life that posed a problem.

To put it simply, everything was back to square one.

“A reason to invade the Free Planet Alliance? There are a hundred reasons not to.”

“A manual prepared for the sudden rampage of creatures, which led to the deaths of hundreds of millions in the Empire and the Synthesized States? Do you think such a thing exists?”

“Send me home. This place is hell!”

Caught unexpectedly in this monumental event, the admiral of the Fourth Fleet, along with the emergency diplomats dispatched from nearby planets, could not shake a single word from their minds.

‘We’re screwed.’

Media control? That was a laughable notion.

The press had already begun reporting on the creature as if it were some harbinger of the apocalypse, regardless of the truth.

As I had previously likened it, the creature’s infamy, once merely akin to that of an “African killer lion,” was now skyrocketing due to this incident.

Of course, for Jin Crow, this was the “right world.”

Wouldn’t he be furious?

Some were suddenly possessed by the spirit of a deranged instructor in a place they had no ties to, clamoring to save the world, while around them, chaos reigned supreme.

—Ta-da, it’s the creature leisure industry.

…Didn’t they say that?

—Ta-da, we’re trying to sow discord between the Empire and the Synth States using the creature.

…Didn’t they say that?

Even without resorting to such extremes, the attitude of those confronting the creature felt akin to gazing at a wild beast in a zoo.

They knew it was dangerous, but that was about it.

Yet now, people had come to realize something.

The wild beast they thought would remain caged for life, never to cross paths with them, could indeed leap over the bars and sink its teeth into their necks at any moment.

“Did everyone manage to get some sleep?”

“Thanks to you, I got an hour.”

“Lucky you. We barely managed thirty minutes.”

“Ugh, let’s wrap this up quickly.”

“If possible.”

The diplomats from various nations met in the relatively intact Imperial Embassy, beginning discussions on all manner of aftermath.

Of course, it was not something that could be resolved in a day or two, so they attended the meeting with cigarettes in hand, resembling a raccoon den.

It was no wonder that a passing citizen, seeing the smoke seeping through the window, reported a fire.

“That’s all.”

On the other hand, Jin Crow had little to do.

Outwardly, he was a soldier on leave, a person who had played a significant role in resolving this incident.

Moreover, he belonged to the Rosen faction.

Was that the reason?

The investigator dispatched from the Ministry of Defense of the Synthesized Nation had indeed met with him in private, yet it was merely a formality.

“Ah, I see. I suppose I should cross-verify, but I trust there is no falsehood in your testimony, Instructor. It is an honor to meet you.”

“Yes, indeed.”

He concealed what needed to be hidden and fabricated what required embellishment.

Everything was a matter of suitable coordination with Ideale.

In particular, thanks to Ideale’s unexpected cooperation regarding Nectar, it became easy to bring him to the Central Special Officer Academy.

‘So compassionate. That must be why they call it a noble act.’

Fortunately, Ideale was the only one to receive the report about the artificially cultivated human, and since the doctors conducting the examination were local medical staff, when Jin Crow made contact behind the scenes and offered a “modest gratitude fee,” they promptly promised to keep silent.

‘If there’s something that can’t be bought with money, it’s a small amount.’

Indeed, that statement had proven to be a winning streak.

Of course, Ideale had shown some discomfort regarding that matter, but what could be done?

It was already in motion, and the moment it was revealed that Nectar was an artificially cultivated human with the brain of a Mother AI, there would be no destination other than the laboratory.

In the end, her goodwill chose silence.

Though anxious, the first thing he did after patching up the situation regarding Nectar was to address the cadets’ whereabouts.

“Is there really a pressing need to send them back? If it’s a concern for security, the two divisions under the Sixth Fleet have come to support, so it should be fine.”

However, considering the busy circumstances of the Fourth Fleet, Ideale suggested delaying the repatriation a bit, but her thoughts were swiftly dismissed by Jin Crow’s next words.

“Do you know why the cadets have come to the Free Planet Alliance?”

“Huh?”

“To hunt creatures.”

“……Let’s send them back immediately. By the fastest transport ship.”

The names ‘Dokoran’ and ‘Baek Hui-young’ must have flashed through the minds of the two speaking, not by coincidence.

The former was a mad dog by nature, while the latter was an emerging dark horse.

‘Just madness and true madness. It’s hell.’

Doesn’t it swell the heart?

To think such beings are your cadets and the heralds of the stars.

As a result, the cadets were elegantly packaged and escorted back to the academy by the unanimous decision of Jin Crow and Ideale.

Jin Crow, suppressing the urge to light the cigarette he had unconsciously brought to his lips, saluted Ideale before moving on.

“To loyalty!”

The awe-filled gazes of the soldiers he occasionally encountered still felt foreign to him.

Of course, he knew well where that sentiment originated.

‘Was it all for nothing?’

As the rain poured down, my gaze fell upon the anchi-so at the edge of my vision, and the remnants of my humanity stirred within me.

If it had been a war between the Empire and the Synth States, perhaps I could have cast a more self-deprecating glance at the chaos.

A grand war for rights and territory is necessary, yet paradoxically, it is a war that is all the more repugnant.

But in this instance, there were no rights to be had.

At least, the reason they fought—gripping guns, wielding swords and spears, their bodies roasting aboard exploding ships, their innards torn asunder by the claws and fangs of creatures—was to protect someone.

The calculations of nations were merely pocket change in the grand scheme; each of them was a hero, throwing themselves into the fray to halt the calamity that was the creatures.

‘More will die in the days to come.’

There was no guilt.

Even if I knew the future, I could not change the fate of death.

There was but one thing he could do.

‘We will win. For the sake of my life after retirement.’

With a cigarette clenched between his teeth, he exhaled, the smoke swirling around him, tangled with complex emotions.

The goal was the annihilation of the creatures.

What lay beyond that—returning to reality or living out his old age in this world—remained uncertain.

Yet one thing was clear.

No matter what future he envisioned, victory was the only path to possibility.

Thud—.

He extinguished the half-burned cigarette in a portable ashtray and swept his damp hair back, slightly moistened by the humidity.

“The sky is clear.”

He took a step forward, savoring the sight of the ships from various nations floating in that clear sky, occasionally pierced by the screams of creatures.

“Loyalty! We greet the instructor!”

“Is Professor Lilian inside?”

“Ah, yes.”

After meeting Ideale, he headed toward the massive requisitioned storage warehouse near the hangar.

Originally a place for storing various cargo for the ships, it had, of course, been repurposed to suit the needs of Professor Lilian’s research team.

And the result was…

—Crrrreeeak!

—Kyaaah!

“Hey, bring me the number 7 serum.”

“Isn’t the usual sleeping pill enough? Then bring something stronger!”

The space had become a strange tangle of creatures bound in chains and restraints, transported in a solid container made of carbine alloy, alongside researchers in protective suits dissecting corpses.

“Ah, you’re here, hwaam.”

“Lilian.”

Professor Lilian approached, as always, with her tousled long hair and horn-rimmed glasses precariously perched on her nose, exhaling the smoke of an electronic cigarette.

Jin Crow looked at her and asked, “The specimens?”

“I secured them first and sent them to the lab. They risked their lives to obtain them, hwaam.”

How many nights had she spent awake? She yawned repeatedly, rubbing her dark-circled eyes, and took a swig from the energy drink in her hand.

The specimens they spoke of were none other than the corpses of the Queen and King.

“I heard the Empire took a look too?”

“They must have felt the threat of the creatures; it’s only natural.”

Feeling an inexplicable thirst, Jin Crow pulled a hip flask from his coat and took a sip.

Of course, it was pure 50-proof whiskey, free of any stimulants, as advised by the military doctor.

Gotta take care of my health, after all.

As he lit a cigarette, Lilian did the same with her electronic one.

“Is it possible to make T.D. from that?”

“Well, it’s not impossible, but I wouldn’t recommend it. We’ve already had too many teams contacting us about it…”

Her words were not an exaggeration.

Fundamentally, the rights to the corpses of the Queen and King belonged not to the Synthetic Nation but to Jin Crow personally.

It was only natural.

After all, there were more than a few who had witnessed him kill them.

Ownership was clear in this situation.

The problem was that this incident had also accelerated research on the creatures.

Until now, there had been observations of the Queen and King, but securing their corpses was unprecedented. Teams claiming to study the creatures were bound to be fired up.

“I won’t let it slip away, hwa.”

And that was true for Professor Lilian as well.

What drove her, who despised the hassle of everything, was her insatiable curiosity for new research and knowledge.

For a moment, a strange madness lingered in her mutterings, and Jin Crow turned his head absentmindedly, but soon lost interest.

‘She’ll manage.’

Of course, if it were up to me, I would want to bring it to Professor Lee Su-jong, but that is no easy task.

How should I put it?

He has the air of a quintessential rebel researcher.

Not someone you can just meet on a whim, nor is he the type to be swayed by budgetary constraints; he is a stubborn intellectual through and through.

‘He may be an ally to the herald of the stars, but with me, who knows how he might react?’

There is no urgent need to meet him just yet.

As he mulled over such thoughts, a name that had slipped his mind until now suddenly flickered in his consciousness.

‘Wait, now that I think about it.’

Captain Satra. Had he ever heard mention of her?

*

Once Tita Genolua assumed her rightful place as the Godmother, the boss of the murder company, the number of tasks increased manifold.

This was only to be expected.

What had their role been from the start?

A shadowy blade that eliminated all threats to the family from the depths of darkness.

Even though Volk had made his presence known to the outside world, it was not strange at all.

After all, it was the wolves he led who were meant to step forward when the murder company needed to reveal itself.

However, this time, even Volk could not help but feel a twinge of surprise.

And who could blame him? Such a development had never occurred before.

“You want to join the company? Why?”

The catalyst had been a brief stay in a civilian hospital due to an injury.

Outwardly, he was a mercenary for a small PMC, sharing a ward with Satra, who also bore a forged identity, and he had been caught by her the moment he was discharged.

His awkward smile, obscured by a military cap and a mask covering his mouth, belied the dagger hidden beneath his wrist, poised to strike at her throat at any moment.

‘They said she was a fugitive.’

It wasn’t that there weren’t others like her.

In fact, there were many.

Fools and dimwits who thought of the company’s deep-seated secrecy as merely a refuge.

And Volk was not a leader who would show mercy to a stray dog daring to enter the pack.

But then.

Splash—.

Perhaps it was the rain that turned the ground to muck, but as she knelt and bowed her head, Volk found himself at a loss for words.

“……There is nowhere to go.”

“Pardon?”

As she lifted her gaze, low-set eyes emerged from beneath a tangle of violet hair.

“All my comrades who followed me are dead, and my body is broken beyond repair.”

The comrades who had once stood by her side perished in the battle against the creatures.

Her body was further ruined, pus oozing from the gaps of implants hastily operated on by a shoddy reaper doc.

In any case, she was a body destined to die in misery.

Yet, she craved vengeance.

No, perhaps it was a lash against herself, a reminder of the foolish, vermin-like choices she had made.

“In the Synth Empire, I will be hunted for life, and the same goes for the Red Hand.”

Now, she no longer knew where her anger should be directed.

Was it towards the Synth Empire that had abandoned her first?

Or the Red Hand, which had deceived her with paltry hope?

Or perhaps, the creatures that had taken everything in the end?

She spoke with a calmness that suggested she could tie a noose around her neck at any moment.

“If I am to die in wretchedness, then I would rather become your dog. I must live, even if it is like that.”

This was the only path she could see.

To survive, forsaking even the honor she had long sought as a soldier, and to gaze into the future.

Even if she found no self at the end of it, she wished for that.

“Then, I could repay my debt to him.”

In response to her words, aimed at a single man, Volk wiped the bewildered smile from his face, looking down at her with an unyielding coldness in his eyes.

And without hesitation, he swung his dagger toward her throat.

“……Tch.”

“Arrogant.”

His dagger met her neck with precision.

There was no need to swing it with psionic energy; a simple cut would sever her breath.

Yet, she did not move.

Calmly acknowledging that her life rested at his fingertips, she silently endured the fangs of the alpha wolf, the one who would take in a lost and wounded wild dog like herself.

Swoosh—.

In that moment, Volk sheathed the dagger.

And he looked down at her with eyes that were endlessly cold and detached, saying,

“From today, your name is Jane Doe.”

Jane Doe.

An unidentified woman. The name that signifies the lowest-ranking member of a murder syndicate lingered in her mind as she silently nodded.

“Follow me. It’s already too late for regrets.”

Following Volk, she vanished into the thick darkness of the alley.

And soon, at the mouth of the alley where they had disappeared,

“What a bunch of fools! You just let a wanted criminal get medical treatment and walk away?”

“Scatter immediately! Find her by any means necessary!”

The military police of the Synthesized Nation, realizing too late that Satra’s identification was forged, trailed behind, but it was already too late.