Translator: miraclerifle
“Captain-nim?”
Seol-A looked toward Ju-Heon with a confused expression.
This was only possible because Seol-A was able to notice even the slightest of changes to Ju-Heon's expression.
“Did something happen?”
Ju-Heon showed her the phone instead of responding.
Seol-A was also shocked after seeing the message about finding Dan.
“Dan? Really?! They really found him?”
“I guess so.”
The chance of it being a lie was low because it was coming from the 'always do everything properly' Julian.
‘They somehow managed to find him.’
Ju-Heon had hired people to look for Dan but had no luck until now.
He had no idea how they ended up finding him.
Ju-Heon immediately made the call. Julian picked up right away.
- Hey. Captain.
“Where is he?”
Julian scoffed at Ju-Heon who got right down to business.
[You don’t want to know how I found him?]
“I don’t care about your methods.”
[Ho, anyway, it's the penitentiary.]
“Penitentiary?”
Ju-Heon tilted his head.
Yoo Jaeha was poking Seol-A on the side to ask a question as he listened.
“Hey, hey, who is Dan? Is he a lawyer... No we already have one of those, what is it this time, an accountant? Or maybe a voluptuous babe?”
Seol-A looked at him with disbelief before saying one word.
“Hunter.”
“Ah! That’s right! There was still a Hunt......huh?! You mean someone like those shitty bastards Chairman Kwon had with him?!”
It was a combatant position that all excavation teams needed to have. However, Yoo Jaeha, who had almost been killed by those motherfucking bastards when he landed in front of them as an old man, was shaking in fear.
"Why, why do you need such a scary person?”
“Why else?! The competition for tombs will be even more fierce from now on! It’ll be extremely terrible when the Heirlooms come into play!”
Dan was extremely strong.
He was almost legendary among people who used battle-type artifacts in the past. He was a genius when it came to all sorts of battle-type artifacts and was strong enough to be a Monarch.
He was like a human weapon that allowed Ju-Heon to only focus on excavation. The enemies all called him Asura and quaked in fear in front of this man who neither shed blood nor tears.
“A Hunter is essential to an excavation team!”
However, Yoo Jaeha shook his head.
“N, no, a Hunter is one thing, but he said the penitentiary! That means that he is a criminal! Now the Captain-nim's godly gacha hands is plucking someone from the penitentiary?!”
“What? Godly gacha hands?”
“Yeah!”
He could not understand it at all.
Why?
It was because the way Ju-Heon looked for his team members was quite odd.
All these people had nothing in common. They had never even met Ju-Heon. But each and every person he brought over was crazy strong.
“How else can he do that if he doesn’t have godly gacha hands?!”
That wasn’t all.
“Plus, everybody he brings over like that are all soulmates except for me! Were you guys all childhood friends or something?! Huh? Why do you guys alienate me?!”
‘We’re not alienating you. You have no problem hanging out with us as if you've known us since birth whenever we go out to eat.’
Yoo Jaeha became extremely angry.
“I want to be a part of the secret conversations too! All of you share a common memory, don't you?!”
Seol-A nodded her head as if she understood.
“Fine. I'll let you know since you want to know so bad. I'll tell you about that memory or whatever.”
Yoo Jaeha's face lit up.
“Really? Thank you! The Captain-nim wouldn't tell me no matter how many times I asked!”
That was probably true. He had told them to not tell Jaeha anything since it was annoying.
"Seol-A, you're an angel! I think you might be the prettiest girl I've ever met. No, you really are the prettiest girl and I almost fell for you, but anyway, you’ll be blessed!”
Seol-A put her hand on Jaeha’s shoulder.
“There is something I need to ask before I tell you.”
“Hmm?”
Seol-A started to smile like a scamming ascetic.
"Do you believe in a former life?”
“......”
Yoo Jaeha’s expression was quite the spectacle.
It happened at that moment.
"What? What did you just say?”
Ju-Heon raised his voice while talking on the phone.
Around the same time...
Irene was looking at Julian and Chloe who had serious expressions on their faces.
It was fine that they followed Yang Chen to this suspicious penitentiary.
However......
“Umm......”
The two of their expressions were too scary after chasing Yang Chen here.
It was rare for Julian and Chloe to show such murderous intent on their faces as they were very rational people.
But why...
“Umm, did something happen with Mr. Yang Chen in the past......?”
Chloe had a rare frown on her face after hearing the question.
"There's no need to speak formally about that bastard.”
Irene flinched after feeling the murderous intent Chloe was giving off.
She did not know how many times Julian and Chloe had to suppress their anger while chasing after Yang Chen.
‘Chairman Kwon's damn dog.’
Yang Chen.
He was the last person to join the Tomb raiding team.
TKBM's official excavation teams were made with 12 large teams.
The man who was in Team 1 and was the Vice Captain of all of TKBM's excavation teams had joined the unofficial thirteenth team, their tomb raiding team.
It was pretty much a demotion.
He had reached the Monarch-Grade after getting his hands on Apollo's artifact.
However, he overused the artifact until he became unable to use any artifacts stronger than the C-Grade because of the artifact’s risk. His body had been destroyed.
‘He instantly fell from a Monarch to a third-rate Novice-Grade (Low-Grade) artifact user.’
He had then been relieved of his position and sent to their tomb raiding team.
But there was no point for it.
‘He couldn't even go into tombs.’
Yang Chen was just a supporter.
He was responsible for the team members’ communications and their pay. He probably went crazy after having to face this demotion.
It would probably be similar to a talented musician or surgeon who could not use their hand anymore. That was why Ju-Heon had paid quite a lot of attention on Yang Chen to heal him.
‘He was able to use up to A-Grade artifacts again thanks to the Captain-nim, but he......!’
Chloe clicked her tongue as she walked toward the penitentiary.
Anyway, he had spent three years with the rest of the tomb raiding team as if they were all part of one large family. He was even on great terms with that scoundrel of a captain, and acted as if they were siblings.
But how did things end up?
That bastard had betrayed them.
Seo Ju-Heon, Captain and the greatest Expert Excavator.
Julian Miller, the greatest analyst.
Yoo Jaeha, the greatest restorer.
Lee Seol-A, the greatest pathfinder.
Dan, the greatest Hunter.
Chloe Laurent, the greatest doctor.
Ilya Volgof, the greatest aftermath clean-up crew.
Those were the seven main members of the tomb raiding team.
There were two other supporters with the greatest abilities as well. All of them, including these two supporters, had disappeared aside from Yoo Jaeha and Yang Chen.
To be more specific, Chairman Kwon had gotten rid of them and their tomb raiding team had forcibly been erased from the world that day. It was no wonder they were grinding their teeth in anger.
‘How dare he make the Captain cry tears of blood. What the hell is he planning now?’
“Excuse me, Miss Chloe?”
“Ah, please don’t worry. It’s nothing.”
She could understand how Ju-Heon was feeling and what he was trying to do.
He probably wanted to gather all of the old team members again and place them in the highest positions possible.
‘I will help him do that. Let’s focus on what's in front of me right now.’
Maybe that was the reason. They had been trying to figure out why Yang Chen had come to the penitentiary as quickly as possible.
However, the moment they met with a guard that Irene had bribed...
"Dan?!”
They couldn't help but freak out after seeing the picture of a prisoner the guard handed them.
It was a muscular Asian man in his mid-thirties whose features were quite sharp. They saw their former teammate in the picture.
That was why they freaked out.
‘How does Yang Chen know about Dan?’
The Yang Chen of this time should not know about Dan at all. Was it just a coincidence?’
Or did he come looking for Dan because he knows something?
Either way, Julian had contacted Ju-Heon as his mind was a chaotic mess.
And currently...
“Dan is on death row?”
Ju-Heon started to frown while listening to Julian.
‘No wonder I couldn't find him.’
His network did not reach the penitentiary.
But why?
‘It’s not yet time for......’
Ju-Heon realized something and quickly asked.
"What about his daughter?”
[What?]
“His daughter. Soo-A.”
[!]
Julian realized something and told him to wait before quickly hanging up.
“Have you been well? You homicidal maniac.”
Yang Chen, the person who was pretty much responsible for sending him to prison, started to smile.
There was a man in an orange jumpsuit in front of him.
Right now, he was just the owner of a butcher shop. He was just a regular dad with a four years old daughter.
However...
‘This bastard is going to end up as Seo Ju-Heon’s teammate?’
He was just a thorn in Yang Chen’s eyes right now.
Maybe that was the reason.
“I'm sure you know why I'm here?”
He had come to take care of Dan.
Dan would end up being extremely helpful to Seo Ju-Heon according to the Monarch of Fate's prophecy. This was the warning the Monarch of Fate had given him.
‘You must get rid of all of them before the Heirlooms appear. Can you do it?’
Of course he could do it.
Yang Chen started to sneer internally.
‘This bastard was just framed for murder.’
The person responsible had been a member of TKBM's excavation team. The son of one of their partner companies had come to learn about excavation when he and Chairman Kwon's eldest son had caused an accident.
‘Apparently they killed a civilian while fighting after getting drunk......’
There were quite a lot of casualties as many people ended up being involved. Dan happened to show up because his daughter had gotten lost.
Of course, Yang Chen knew better than anybody else that Dan was not the murderer. He was the one who had framed Dan.
He had called the aftermath clean-up crew that was great at manipulating evidence and messed with people's memories and the CCTV. Dan claimed he was innocent but he was at a disadvantage because he could not even hire a lawyer.
Even the judge did not side with Dan since he had no evidence.
‘It’s not hard to change the criminal.’
They helped the actual criminal escape out of the country.
They made sure to shut up any and all witnesses.
As for the dead... They could not talk.
So many people had to work their asses off to take care of that incident.
‘It’s still unsettling because the police are not done with the investigation.’
The FBI somehow heard about the situation and was working around the clock to investigate. He needed to make Dan admit to the crime to make his days more relaxed.
“Like I said, it wasn't me. The culprit was that man named Steven who was there.”
Dan’s fists were shaking. He had seen the person who had committed the crime.
But the business partner who came with Yang Chen clicked his tongue and started to speak.
“Man, this person doesn't know how to live in this world.”
“!”
“I will get right to the point. President Maison, the father of the man you are claiming is the culprit... He’s in a coma after falling down in shock. What are you going to do about it? Don't give me some bullshit about a public defender or an appeal and just confess.”
“I never killed anyone. I really didn’t!”
“The evidence is there. The evidence. There’s proof you killed the person on the CCTV!”
Dan clenched his eyes shut.
He had no idea how that was possible. He just went to deliver some meat that day.
He ended up witnessing the murder when he went to look for his daughter who had disappeared.
It was at that moment. Yang Chen's eyes flashed wily.
“Now that I think about it, you... You have a daughter.”
“!”
Dan’s gaze changed after his daughter was mentioned.
“I heard she’ll die if she doesn't get surgery? But you can't give her the surgery because you don't have the money.”
Dan’s hands started to shake again.
Yang Chen started to smile as if he had been waiting for this.
“I'll let your daughter live if you confess. TKBM will pay for her surgery.”
“!”
Dan’s eyes flashed.
Yang Chen could not tell at first, but he became more certain the more he saw Dan.
‘This bastard has quite high levels of Dominance and Fit.’
The man himself seemed to have no clues about artifacts at all though.
However, he would become a headache if he ever learned about his abilities.
And if he ended up in Seo Ju-Heon’s hands......
‘I can't let Seo Ju-Heon get any stronger than he is already.’
That meant that he needed to get rid of this seed before he could meet with Seo Ju-Heon.
Yang Chen started to smile wily once again.
Sadly, he had no idea who was in the next room.