## Chapter 156 – (8)
Thwack!
“Ugh…”
The man groaned, clutching his stomach as he collapsed.
Thud.
“I should have bought a different suit… Haa…”
For the first time in a while, I sighed at my own stupidity.
I shouldn’t have been trying to infiltrate wearing such a flashy outfit.
It didn’t seem so bad in the store.
The lighting there was subdued.
The suit looked like it had a good balance of subtle blue and red.
Not to mention its performance.
But this suit…
Under the strong summer sun, it was screaming color and drawing attention like crazy.
It was so blue that even the shadows looked blue.
Even a real Superman suit probably wouldn’t be this noticeable.
So, I changed my strategy.
Knock out or subdue everyone I meet.
If you could call it infiltration, that is.
However, doing this meant—
“Hey! Get up! What’s wrong with him?!”
The commotion started when someone spotted the unconscious guy on the lower floor, who hadn’t been hidden well enough.
After knocking out so many guys, I’d finally been caught.
“Damn it.”
This wasn’t good.
I hadn’t even found the ledger, let alone Hornet’s room.
And now, another silhouette appeared in front of me.
“Kyaa!— Mmph!”
As I rushed forward to knock them out, a woman screamed in my face.
A familiar face.
Grab.
I quickly clapped my hand over her mouth to stop the screaming.
“Wait.”
I pulled down the thin mask attached to the suit to get a better look, and saw the woman’s face.
It was Yuri.
Hornet’s girlfriend.
“Mmph! Mmmph!”
I could feel the vibrations in my palm.
Yuri seemed to want to say something, not just scream.
I cautiously removed my hand a little, and Yuri blurted out in a fluster,
“You, what are you doing here? And what the hell is with that outfit…?”
Yuri pointed at my face and the bright blue suit.
Doesn’t she know Superman?
Well, perfect timing.
I changed my plans in my head.
But first, I asked,
“Where’s Hornet’s room?”
“…Why would I tell you that?”
Yuri said, crossing her arms.
She probably remembered what happened last time, because she was crossing her arms, but her legs were trembling nervously.
Usually, people would be scared after an experience like that.
I guess she had some pride as a member of the gang.
Personally, I liked this attitude better.
The change was more dramatic.
“You really won’t tell me?”
“Wh-what! Don’t you know where you are? If I scream, just once— Mmph!”
“That’s right. It’ll get annoying if we stay here, let’s go.”
Come to think of it, this wasn’t the time to be chatting leisurely.
If she didn’t want to tell me, that was fine.
Even if she told me where Hornet’s room was, there was no guarantee I’d find the ledger, and I was already thinking about getting out of here anyway.
I covered Yuri’s mouth again.
I silenced the uncooperative mouth that was hindering my abduction, and with my other hand, I grabbed her waist and lifted her up.
I noticed it when I took those nude photos before, but she was in good shape, with no excess fat.
She felt lighter than the suit.
“Did someone scream?”
“Hey! Hey! Someone’s passed out here too!”
“Shit… Hey! Search! Someone got in here!”
“Find him!”
Whether they heard Yuri’s scream from before,
The noisy voices of the gang members were getting closer.
It was only a matter of time before I was discovered, but Yuri’s scream had brought the gang members much faster than I expected.
I should have hidden the unconscious guys deeper.
I regretted just hiding them haphazardly in my haste.
“In that case…”
I quietly looked outside.
I was currently on the 4th floor.
I opened the window with my hand, and the large window slid open smoothly.
I cautiously peeked my head out the window and looked down.
Below, I saw a few trees and a concrete floor.
The height made the pine trees below look cute.
It felt a little higher than the 4th floor of a normal building.
Had I ever fallen from this height before?
“Hmm…”
Yuri, whose mouth was covered, looked up at me with surprised eyes as I made a troubled expression.
I could read Yuri’s mind in those eyes.
She looked like she was saying, “No way, right?”
“You trust me, right?”
She shook her head violently from side to side.
Of course, she wouldn’t trust me.
I had covered her mouth, wrapped my arm around her waist, and was ready to kidnap her.
That distrust was actually giving me strength.
I was the type to feel more motivated when someone told me I couldn’t do something, rather than when someone patted me on the back and said they believed in me.
As I put my foot on the window sill, I heard a rough voice from behind.
“There! He’s over there!”
“Sh-shit! A blue, a blue bastard is kidnapping the boss’s girlfriend!”
“What the hell is that, Pepsi Man?!”
“Huh.”
They don’t know Superman, but they know Pepsi Man?
The world was really turning upside down.
But thinking about it, maybe it was obvious.
Coke and Pepsi would still be popular drinks in the future.
I decided to save the random thoughts for later, took a deep breath, and—
Tap. Tap!
“Oof!”
“Mmmph!”
I threw myself out the window.
“Mmph! Mmph!”
I couldn’t hear her scream because her mouth was covered, but I could feel the vibrations of Yuri’s scream in my palm.
Whoosh!
The combined weight of me, Yuri, and the suit, which was twice as heavy as a normal suit, made us fall quickly to the ground.
The sound of the wind cutting through the air was deafening.
After falling about one story, I extended my foot towards the tree I had spotted just before falling.
A kick filled with plenty of internal energy flew towards the tree.
Bang!
My foot kicked the tree hard, and the impact made my body lurch forward.
The middle part of a large branch burst from the force of the kick.
Thanks to that, the impact was somewhat reduced.
The falling speed decreased.
But now I had to stop the body that had started flying forward.
Screech—
The moment I put my feet on the ground to land, a rough sound rang out.
My shoes scraped against the ground and slid for a long distance.
A faint smoke rose.
“Haa…”
I was finally able to regain my balance after sliding for a few seconds.
It worked.
Leaving behind the tree, with a third of its leaves fallen on the ground and looking pathetic, I started running again.
“Mmph! Mmmph!”
I smiled at Yuri, who was screaming and even shedding a few tears.
In response, Yuri gnawed on my palm with her teeth as if protesting.
Of course, the gloves were reinforced with anti-stab protection, so it didn’t hurt.
I immediately headed to where my car was parked.
“…What is that…”
“Hey, did you see that…?”
The gang members were gathered in groups of three or five in front of the window I had jumped out of, just watching me run away with their mouths open.
They didn’t even think about following me, and they kept looking back and forth between the tree with the broken branch and me.
I thought that since they were modified humans, at least one of them would jump down and follow me like I did.
I guess they weren’t that capable.
I opened the car, threw Yuri inside, and quickly got in.
“Haa… Haa… You, you crazy bastard…”
I was worried that she would open the door and run away as soon as I put her in the car.
But Yuri was leaning against the car seat, breathing heavily.
The fall must have been quite shocking.
Which was good for me.
I gave a command to the AI, Haru.
“Take me to the nearest motel.”
[Yes, designating a route to Sky Motel.]
“Wh-what! Cancel! Cancel that! Stop the car!”
Yuri shouted urgently when she heard the destination.
But the car didn’t stop.
[Prioritizing the instructions of the occupant in the driver’s seat.]
“Ugh…”
That was why the driver’s seat and passenger seat were still separated in future vehicles.
The person sitting in the driver’s seat was still in charge of driving.
“What, what are you going to do at a motel?”
“Don’t worry, I’m just going to make a deal with Hornet.”
“…I’m nothing but worried…”
I smiled at those words and gave her more detailed information.
Yuri would see the scene with her own eyes soon anyway.
“I’m going to trade you for the ledger.”
“Ledger? What ledger?”
“There’s such a thing.”
Even Yuri, Hornet’s girlfriend, didn’t seem to know much about the ledger.
If Yuri didn’t know, it must have been hidden very carefully.
Looking at it this way, it was amazing how Sian knew about the ledger at all.
…Did she happen to see it when she was his girlfriend before?
Anyway.
“If Hornet cooperates, I won’t touch you.”
“…I trust Hornet, but I don’t trust you.”
That was an all too predictable answer.
The car drove quickly for about five minutes and was entering an unfamiliar area.
I looked out the window.
It was a place that felt completely different from the corporate district.
It was obviously a decadent area.
Women who were almost naked and rough-looking men were seen everywhere on the streets, and there were also women who stuck to men and tried to initiate skinship without hesitation.
“Oppa, come play~”
As my car slowed down as it approached its destination,
There was even a woman who kissed my car window, leaving a lip print.
“Ugh…”
Yuri, who was in front of the window, cowered in her seat in horror.
The gap between the corporate district, which was surrounded by walls like a fortress even inside the city, and the most secluded place on the outermost edge of the city was astonishing.
Most of the shops also had signs with that kind of atmosphere, shining with neon lights.
“Female Introduction Room, Adult Massage, Bitch Bar, SM Bar…”
“…D-don’t read the signs…”
Yuri said, lowering her head as I was reading the names of the stimulating and explicit signs because they were interesting.
Yuri herself didn’t seem to come to this area often, as she was peeking out at the outside with a curious look while keeping her head down.
And finally, we arrived at our destination.
The car slowly came to a stop.
“Get out.”
“…Tch…”
Yuri, who had no choice, eventually got out of the car with me.
