Machine God with EX-rank talent (Deus ex machina)

Tatiana’s confession that she was the General.

Honestly, Hyun Suho initially thought it was a reckless statement made to help the General.

Or maybe this was all part of the General’s strategy.

But after seeing the bewildered look on Bayets, who had arrived with the troops, he realized that something had gone terribly wrong.

Bayets, with a restless expression, tried to stop Tatiana.

"T-Tatiana! You can't do this!"

"Let go, you idiot! You should’ve stopped me earlier!"

Tatiana’s image had always been that of a reckless, scatterbrained tomboy.

A personality that didn’t fit in with the military at all, but it was thought that she became an officer due to her healing abilities.

But now, she was showing a charisma so strong that even Bayets was at a loss for words.

Moreover, her language had become rougher.

"You damned Tang bastards! If you so much as lay a hand on the old man, I’ll grind you up and throw you across the Siberian plains as fertilizer!"

At this point, even Tang Tianqi, who had been watching this bizarre scene unfold, asked with a doubtful expression.

"Are you really the General? A skinny little brat like you?"

"Shut up! Don’t speak so lightly about someone’s complex! I may not look it, but I’m a blossoming 30-year-old!"

No matter how you looked at her, Tatiana appeared underage.

In fact, there were even those who didn’t think it was right for her to be in the military.

They said it was cruel to exploit a child who should be playing outside.

But here she was, claiming to be 30 years old.

She was even older than Hyun Suho.

At Tatiana’s words, the man who had been about to stab his own neck with a dagger—the one they had all believed to be the General—sighed and said,

"Why is it that nothing ever goes smoothly? Didn't you say you’d leave this operation to me?"

"Shut up, Alexander! I’m the commander here! I will never allow such a foolish plan!"

At Tatiana's firm words, Alexander, who had been playing the role of the General all this time, sighed again.

"Vladivostok needs you. The city could only develop this much because of you."

Just like Alexander said, everything had started with Tatiana.

The previous lord, as well as the lord before that, and the one before them—all of them were nothing but villains who exploited the city.

So even though the ruler changed, the city didn’t improve at all.

It only got worse.

The lords squeezed the residents harder to recover the losses from war.

When there was nothing left to exploit, they even started selling the residents as slaves.

When the situation became unbearable, Tatiana couldn’t take it anymore and organized the people to rise up.

She created anti-hunter ammunition through alchemy and convinced the hunters in the city to join her cause.

Alexander and Bayets were also some of the hunters who had joined the army that way.

Even though their forces were vastly outnumbered, Titiana never gave up.

Finally, the civil war broke out.

Tatiana had meticulously planned every single operation and achieved a miraculous victory.

The seemingly foolish Tatiana had actually been a brilliant and brave commander.

That’s why she was the General.

In Russian, “General” means commander.

Alexander had merely been a figurehead.

"If I can stop this with my life, it’s a small price to pay."

"Shut up! If a city can only survive through someone’s death, it’s better that it disappears!"

"Haah..."

Alexander let out a deep sigh.

He was both proud and worried at the same time about her words.

"The Tang clan is persistent. They will never give up on you! This operation was the only solution."

This was all part of Alexander's unilateral plan.

He had lied to Hyun Suho and the others, saying it was a plan to fake his death, but he had actually intended something else.

Tatiana, being an alchemist, had created a potion that could momentarily stop the heart, but Alexander hadn’t expected it to fool Tang Tianqi.

Alexander's plan had been to shoulder everything and die.

Even Hyun Suho had been completely fooled.

If the plan had gone as expected and Alexander had died, both Tang Tianqi and Hyun Suho would have believed that the SS-class alchemist had vanished from the world.

That’s how he intended to protect Tatiana.

"It was all nearly finished… Bayets! You fool! I told you to keep things under control!"

Alexander vented his frustration, and Bayets, stammering, said,

"I’m sorry, father. But even I think this is… a bit too much."

At last, the secret of their relationship was revealed.

It turned out Alexander and Bayets were actually father and son.

No wonder they looked alike. They both had that typical Russian macho vibe, but I had just brushed it off as coincidence.

As Tang Tianqi watched this spectacle unfold like a farce, he smirked and pulled something out, tossing it toward Tatiana.

Bayets, startled, stepped forward to catch it, thinking it might be another hidden weapon, but it was unexpectedly a pink pill.

"Halo?"

To be precise, it was the raw material in its original form, before being processed into Halo.

'The goods that the Tang clan had procured from somewhere and supplied.'

Tang Tianqi pointed at it with his chin and said, 

"Prove it! If you’re really the General… in other words, if you’re really an SS-class alchemist, you should be able to complete that."

At those words, Tatiana snatched the pill from Bayets and looked at it with a serious demeanor.

Bayets hurried to stop her, but Tatiana focused her mind and used her skill.

"Transmutation!"

Even though she was an alchemist, Hyun Suho had expected her to need some sort of device, like a flask, but with a single skill, it was done.

As soon as Tatiana used the skill, a complex magical array appeared behind her.

She looked more like a wizard than a researcher.

The energy gathered through the magic circle flowed downward, coalescing like a droplet.

And when that droplet landed on the pill, there was a 'ding' sound, and the energy was absorbed into the pill.

Tatiana threw it back at Tang Tianqi.

"Check it!"

"Hmm…!"

Tang Tianqi, who had been looking at it with interest, brought one of the pills to his mouth.

He began chewing it with a crunch.

Hyun Suho thought that this might be the normal way to ingest Halo.

But everyone else grimaced as if they’d witnessed something terrible.

"To consume what’s supposed to be split into a thousand doses all at once…!"

Even a tiny bit of Halo powder was enough to have an effect. Yet Tang Tianqi had just ingested thousands of times that amount in one go.

Even though Halo was said to have no side effects, a drug was still a drug.

It stimulated the brain, causing auditory and visual hallucinations, and left users in a daze all day long.

Given how much Tang Tianqi had taken, it wouldn’t be surprising if he remained intoxicated for a month—or even died from overdose before that.

But unexpectedly, Tang Tianqi appeared fine.

Far from being dazed, he seemed even more energized than before.

"Hahaha!! It’s real! You really are an alchemist!"

From Tang Tianqi’s perspective, it didn’t matter who was in charge.

All he needed was an alchemist capable of completing Halo.

With a gleam in his eyes, Tang Tianqi stared at Tatiana, who provocatively replied,

"Release the old man. Then I’ll make as much Halo as you want."

It was essentially a declaration of surrender.

Previously, they had opposed the Tang Family because they didn’t want to handle the drug lord’s goods, but now the situation had changed.

Alexander's plan had backfired.

If he had teamed up with Hyun Suho from the start and fought step by step, things would have turned out much better.

But from Alexander's point of view, he couldn’t trust Hyun Suho, who had shown up so conveniently.

Alexander had intended to deceive both Tang and Hyun Suho with his fake death.

Despite Tatiana’s offer, Tang Tianqi shook his head and said,

"No. You’ll be coming with us."

At that, Bayets stepped in front of Tatiana and shouted,

"We’ve already been exposed, but we’ll keep our promise! We said we’d help you make a fortune! So don’t even think of pulling anything shady!"

He looked ready to fight to the death if necessary, but Tang Tianqi simply laughed at them all.

"Hahaha! You fools! Do you really think I’m doing this just for money?"

Tatiana and Bayets froze.

"If not for money, then what…?"

"Hahaha! It’s no wonder you don’t know. Even the Tang clan hasn’t figured it out yet."

Tang Tianqi had been trying to monopolize Halo, even while deceiving the Tang clan.

It was practically like waging war against a huge organization like Tang.

While resources are important in war, simply having lots of money isn’t enough.

Especially in the current era of hunters, what’s more important than money or the size of an army is the presence of transcendent individuals.

In this era, a single powerful individual could overwhelm hundreds or thousands of soldiers.

Of course, Tang Tianqi was only at level 6.

Even though he was overwhelmingly skilled in combat, he was far from reaching level 8 and becoming a ranker.

As such, Tang Tianqi had no choice but to be satisfied as Tang’s hunting dog.

But once he discovered Halo's potential, everything changed.

"It’s the drug lord’s product! Do you understand what that means?"

At that moment, as Tang Tianqi swung his hand through the air, a massive current of air formed in line with his movements, sweeping across the surroundings.

Boom!

The ground around them, composed of gravel and stone, had become incredibly solid due to the cold weather.

But now, the ground bore a massive scar as if a giant had clawed at it.

He had displayed this much power without even summoning his full energy.

Only then did people begin to notice the aura of energy overflowing around him.

Rumble!

Just by existing, he was generating a destructive force that pushed everything around him away.

In terms of sheer power, he had already surpassed most rankers.

This was a power that Tang Tianqi, still at level 6, should have never been able to wield.

Simply by taking Halo, he had gained such power.

“Halo is the drug lord’s power itself. And you, you're the only alchemist who can stabilize it for use without any side effects.”

At those words, Tatiana's expression hardened.

She had thought of Halo as merely a means to make money, but it was far more significant than that.

A new substance capable of granting ranker-level strength just by ingestion.

And it wasn’t limited to Tang Tianqi.

With enough materials, they could create an army of dozens or even hundreds of superhumans.

If such a thing fell into Tang Tianqi’s hands...

“What are you planning?” Tatiana asked.

“Heh! I’ve secured enough raw materials! First, I’ll devour the Tang clan. At the very least, I’ll make half of China and Korea my kingdom.”

He mentioned only half of China because of the top ranker, Tahwa Ja-jaecheon.

Since Korea didn’t have a top ranker, he probably saw it as easy prey.

Indeed, if he could mass-produce ranker-level fighters with the drug, it wouldn’t be impossible.

Tatiana spoke with fear in her eyes.

“Do you think the drug lord will just sit by and watch? If what you're saying is true, that’s not just a drug—it’s part of the drug lord himself!”

Tatiana had tried to distance herself from Halo precisely because it was the drug lord’s creation.

A transcendent at level 10.

If he wished, he could destroy Vladivostok in an instant.

Tang Tianqi, however, shouted angrily.

“Shut up! The drug lord never leaves South America! He’s lost in his own pleasure palace, playing god!”

According to Tang Tianqi, the drug lord only operated in South America.

There were rumors that he had built a massive pleasure palace in Brazil where he spent his time indulging, eating, and enjoying himself.

Like all addicts, the drug lord might have become addicted to his own drugs, losing his mind in the process.

Tang Tianqi laughed at them and gave orders to his subordinates.

“Kill them all except for the woman! No, capture a few. We’ll need some hostages to make her cooperate.”

At his command, his subordinates began to move.

A few days ago, Tang Tianqi only had about 20 men, but now their number had swelled to nearly 100.

Tang Tianqi had staked everything on this operation.

Even if the mission failed, this amount of manpower could storm the city if necessary.

But there was an even more important reason for this show of force.

“I knew you would show up.”

As Tang Tianqi spoke, Hyun Suho slowly emerged from the shadows.

“So, you didn’t trust me after all?”

“Heh! Whether I trusted you or not doesn’t matter. After the humiliation you dealt me, the outcome wouldn’t have changed.”

From the beginning, Tang Tianqi had intended to eliminate Hyun Suho.

While Hyun Suho had also planned to deceive Tang Tianqi, he felt somewhat bitter about it.

“In the end, I couldn’t gain anyone’s trust.”

Both Alexander and Tang Tianqi had never fully trusted Hyun Suho.

In the end, he had been used by both sides.

“Being a double agent isn’t for everyone. I guess 007 really is something special.”

Then again, Hyun Suho had also lied to everyone.

After all, everyone thought he was a wizard.

The destructive energy surrounding Tang Tianqi was still surging uncontrollably.

Even brushing against it slightly was enough to cut through trees and stone.

Despite witnessing this, Hyun Suho remained calm, causing Tang Tianqi’s expression to twist.

“Do you think you can escape from me?”

“Escape? Why would I?”

“Because I’ve gained superhuman power! Not even rankers or high-rankers can withstand this power!”

Indeed, the longer time passed, the stronger Tang Tianqi’s aura grew.

It seemed the effects of the drug he had taken earlier were finally kicking in.

Just by standing there, his immense power was destroying everything around him.

Except for top rankers, he felt confident he could easily crush anyone in his way.

But Hyun Suho’s reaction was completely different from what Tang Tianqi expected.

“Heh!”

Hyun Suho was laughing at him.

“You think you’re on the level of a high-ranker? That’s delusional.”