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Illustrations: posted in discord

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Even after everyone had entered the thatched house and sat down, the conversation struggled to start. The representatives of the three factions eyed each other warily, reluctant to speak first.

Eventually, Lee Yeonwoo placed his hand on the small table and broke the silence.

"I\'ll explain the company\'s position. We\'ve received intelligence that certain factions within the Green Association have developed ulterior motives-"

At that moment, it happened.

As if they\'d never stopped talking, the three people suddenly erupted into a cacophony of words.

"That\'s right! These bastards-!"

"It\'s all slander! We\'d have to be insane to-"

"No, no! It\'s true, I swear!"

It was like disturbing a beehive. All three flushed red, exploding into violent noise. They waved their hands, pointed fingers at each other, and whimpered.

Yeonwoo\'s mind went blank for a moment. What was this situation? Weren\'t they all part of the same group?

\'What the hell? This is a mess.\'

His head started to throb. The discord of voices made him dizzy. They\'d forgotten about Yeonwoo now, starting a verbal brawl as if ready to grab each other by the collar.

"Ha, you think we don\'t know? The plants whispered it to us!"

"Nonsense! It\'s obvious you\'re trying to use the company to wipe us out!"

"Don\'t be fooled by them!"

Yeonwoo rubbed his face with his palm, then banged on the table.

The three lowered their voices and stopped arguing. They quietly looked at Yeonwoo, who wore a tired expression.

"I don\'t care about your internal affairs. I\'m here to warn you. Don\'t do anything stupid during the war."

Coordinating or cooperating with friendly groups wasn\'t his job. He wouldn\'t know how to do it even if he wanted to. Unless it involved blowing everything up.

\'Ah, I\'m already exhausted.\'

His expression mixed a little irritation with a lot of annoyance.

The three members of the Green Association looked at Yeonwoo and flinched in surprise. They glanced at each other.

Then, as if reaching some agreement through eye contact alone, James Park and Lee Chaerin stood up.

"It won\'t work with all of us here. How about talking to us one at a time?"

"Yes, let\'s do that."

Yeonwoo nodded slowly.

As the two left, only Kim Podo and Yeonwoo remained in the thatched house. Kim Podo gave a bitter smile.

"It\'s a mess, isn\'t it? We\'re just a bunch of people thrown together under the name of an association, so there are problems in many ways."

"That can happen. More importantly, I heard the alchemists and environmentalists have developed ulterior motives. Explain that first."

Yeonwoo quickly got to the point.

Kim Podo\'s face reddened. His voice rose.

"Those bastards! The alchemists who desecrate plants and the environmentalists who want to kill the humans who serve plants! They finally-"

"Keep it brief. Just the main points, please."

"Ah. Yes."

Kim Podo calmed his excitement, looked up at the ceiling for a moment, then spoke.

"The plant alchemists plan to plant a great tree in the afterlife and use the war as nutrients to grow it."

"And the environmentalists?"

Yeonwoo asked briefly, without enthusiasm. He was planning to just give a warning, pretend to investigate a bit, and leave quickly.

"They\'re planning to act like doomsday cultists, saying people must die for the environment to live. The sect hasn\'t grasped the details, but..."

Kim Podo continued speaking with fervor, determined to convince Yeonwoo.

"It\'s clear that both factions are preparing to go against company policy. Please make sure to teach them a harsh lesson, Special Investigator."

"Ah, yes. I understand. Please call in the next person."

Yeonwoo waved his hand, and Kim Podo bowed politely before leaving the room.

After a short while, James Park entered. He was hugging some kind of fruit basket.

"It must have been tough dealing with that lunatic. Good grief, plants are gods and humans are slaves? That\'s nonsense."

Yeonwoo had grown used to people badmouthing each other. He ignored it and looked at the beautiful fruits in the basket.

Grapes, apples, strawberries, all flaunting their lovely colors. They looked delicious even just to the eye.

"What are these fruits?"

"They\'re our main source of income. Try some. They\'re not anomalies, just deliciously cultivated fruits. We sell them as luxury items in small quantities, but they\'re quite popular."

James Park plucked a grape and put it in his mouth to show the fruits were harmless, but Yeonwoo hesitated and gently pushed the fruit basket away.

They really did look sweet, juicy, and fresh, but his counterpart was still plotting something, wasn\'t he?

\'It doesn\'t feel quite right to eat them without worry.\'

James Park looked disappointed at the rejected fruit, but Yeonwoo immediately moved on to the main topic.

"I heard your alchemist faction plans to use the war as fertilizer to grow some dangerous tree. Explain."

At that moment, James Park, who was about to sit down, jumped up and shouted.

"It\'s not true! Don\'t listen to the sect, those lunatics!"

That shout and exaggerated gesture.

Yeonwoo flinched involuntarily, his hand moving to the gun in his bag as he glared at James Park.

James Park sat down on the floor with an awkward smile.

"Of course, we\'re thinking of growing a few plants in the afterlife. Have you heard of mandrakes?"

"Just the name, I guess?"

"It\'s a legendary plant said to grow in execution grounds. We have something similar. Since the afterlife will be a battlefield, we only plan to cultivate a small amount."

Yeonwoo thought for a moment before asking.

"Is it dangerous?"

"It is dangerous, but on par with guns or grenades. It\'s really not something the company needs to worry about. A dangerous tree is nonsense!"

Then, James Park started speaking heatedly, waving his hands.

"More importantly, the Green Sect and the environmentalists have lost their minds!"

"The Green Sect?"

This was information the company hadn\'t grasped? Yeonwoo asked reflexively, and James Park nodded quickly.

"The Green Sect plans to purge other factions using the company\'s hand! They\'ll make up lies to find fault!"

"And the environmentalists plan to massacre humans?"

"Yes! They\'ve both gone mad, I tell you!"

Yeonwoo pressed his temples.

He couldn\'t figure out what was going on. He had no idea what was true and what was false.

\'I don\'t think this is something I can investigate from the start.\'

Suddenly, Yeonwoo lowered his hands. His clear eyes were revealed. Come to think of it, there was no need to get a headache over this.

\'I don\'t need to deliberately fail. I\'ll just listen to their stories and go back.\'

An unsolvable problem, a task that wasn\'t his responsibility. It was best to quickly pass it on to the appropriate person in charge.

Yeonwoo waved his hand.

"Call in that environmentalist."

"Yes! Please make a wise judgment. Crush the Green Sect that\'s trying to climb up, blow away the environmentalists-"

"I\'ll handle it myself."

James Park placed the fruit basket on the table and scurried out.

A moment later, the environmentalist Lee Chaerin carefully opened the paper door and entered. Before Yeonwoo could react, she fell to her knees and started crying.

"Please spare us! We really haven\'t harbored any ulterior motives! Just please let us live!"

"...Pardon?"

Yeonwoo couldn\'t hide his bewilderment.

She\'d come in and immediately prostrated herself, crying and sniveling. He had no idea what was going on.

In response to his unintended silence, Lee Chaerin started wailing even louder.

"You\'re the elite agent who tore off the doomsday cultist\'s arm recently, right? You\'ve come to clean up the Korean branch as a warning, haven\'t you? We really-"

"No. First, calm down."

Yeonwoo flailed his hands, genuinely flustered.

\'Well, they could know about that recent incident.\'

It wasn\'t exactly a confidential operation, and from the Green Association\'s perspective, they might be able to gather intelligence on a company employee coming for inspection.

But the fearful reaction, along with the earlier two people\'s comments about teaching harsh lessons and crushing them, left Yeonwoo confused.

\'How do these people see me? Sure, I did commit those acts, but I was a victim too, just desperately trying to survive.\'

At that point, Lee Chaerin slightly raised her head to gauge Yeonwoo\'s reaction, then started crying even louder.

Yeonwoo sighed and asked briefly.

"I\'ve heard that the environmentalists plan to massacre people. What\'s that about?"

"It\'s not true! We\'d have to be crazy!"

Lee Chaerin trembled as she barely managed to lift her head. Her swollen eyes looked at Yeonwoo, and a desperate voice came out.

"There are a few extremists. But they\'d never dare to actually act on it. If we did something like that..."

She swallowed hard. Her eyeballs rolled down to look at the floor.

"We\'d all die at the company\'s hands. Our hostility level would rise, a dedicated unit would be formed, we\'d suffer all sorts of machinations."

"Are you certain?"

"It\'s true. We\'re a weak group, aren\'t we? We don\'t even have a danger level 6 or anything. We really have no intention of turning our backs on the company."

Not just the environmentalist faction, but the Green Association itself was a minor group.

To be recognized as a top-tier group, they needed to possess a danger level 6 anomaly comparable to a nuclear bomb.

Like the Goldberg Club\'s Golden Omnipotence or the Free Artists Association\'s president.

\'If they don\'t have a danger level 6, they probably won\'t make any weird gambles staking their group. Ah, I don\'t know.\'

In any case, the situation was spiraling confusingly, and Yeonwoo gave up trying to make sense of it. He just wanted to do his job perfunctorily and leave quickly.

"What about the Green Sect or the plant alchemists?"

"Those bastards are really plotting something!"

Lee Chaerin suddenly raised her head stiffly.

"The sect is trying to take over the Green Association-"

"And the plant alchemists are trying to grow a dangerous tree? I\'ve heard it all, so you can go now. Please call everyone else back in."

"Yes. Please just spare our lives. We really, really won\'t do anything to become a hostile group."

Lee Chaerin kept whimpering until the end, then left the room as if fleeing.

Alone in the room, Yeonwoo slung his bag over his shoulder and prepared to leave.

"Come in."

The three entered. Kim Podo sat down immediately, James Park looked regretfully at the untouched fruit, and Lee Chaerin sat as far away from Yeonwoo as possible.

They opened their mouths.

"You must have heard everything. You\'re probably confused because of these bastards, but if you want an inspection, we\'ll bring whoever you point to and guide you to any space."

"Of course. We\'ll cooperate fully. It\'s not like we\'ve done anything to feel guilty about. Unlike those liars-"

"Please make a fair judgment!"

Their voices were loud enough to hurt his ears.

Yeonwoo shook his head.

"Anyway, I\'ve heard your stories well. I have only one thing to say. Don\'t do anything strange."

"...Is that all? Are you leaving already?"

Kim Podo suddenly looked at Yeonwoo with a dark expression. The other two did the same.

Under their identical gazes, Yeonwoo adjusted his bag, firmly showing his intention to leave.

"Yes. I\'ll be going now."

The three spoke simultaneously.

"That won\'t do."

"That won\'t do."

"That won\'t do."