GH | Chapter 1.6

The material was so limited that the exact details were unclear, but when it was shown to relevant experts, they answered that it was certain they were handling substances that were lethal to the human body. In addition, the common opinion among experts was that the basic structure was so meticulous it seemed unlikely to have been assembled by simply cobbling together existing ingredients, and was more like something created with the heads of experts from many different fields put together.

“But the scale of the case grew, so it was handed over to the FBI. The FBI then discovered the illegal laboratory she had belonged to. And they requested Amabile to quietly eliminate that laboratory, including all the researchers affiliated with it.”

Upsilon understood from Robert’s final words why this mission was classified as a black mission. The FBI had requested the destruction of the laboratory and the “assassination” of the researchers, something they themselves could not do. Including this researcher Sara Greenwood.

“Did they figure out what they were researching?”

“Putting the conclusion first, they were making some kind of poison or toxic substance. Naturally, there was no antidote. The FBI tried to arrest Sara Greenwood and interrogate her, but right after she was handed over to her family, she fled again and her whereabouts are now unknown.”

Robert paused there and quietly looked at the profile of Sara Greenwood displayed on the monitor.

“I thought Sara Greenwood might have been threatened by some organization. The same might be true of the researchers at that illegal lab. And I thought we also needed to find out who was making such a deadly poison and for what purpose…”

“Is there a problem?”

“I proposed cooperation to the FBI, but they refused. They said the risks were too high and that they couldn’t predict when the suspects might flee if they continued investigating. It seems the FBI has already had multiple agents killed by the suspected poison while investigating the illegal research.”

At that point, it was understandable why the FBI had refused cooperation. They could not add any more victims. The danger of the poison had already been confirmed, and actual casualties had occurred, so they intended to destroy the laboratory itself and eliminate all the researchers who had made the poison before even greater damage could happen.

“Moreover, the illegal laboratory is near the border. It’s a rather difficult region for the FBI to move openly in. I imagine the person who built this laboratory chose the location for that very reason. The FBI seems concerned that if information about the antidote-less poison leaked to the public, it might unnecessarily stir up public anxiety.”

After finishing the background explanation, Robert fell silent again and stared at the monitor showing the information provided by the FBI. He seemed to be thinking about something, then eventually turned his gaze back to Upsilon. It was the look of someone asking whether he still intended to take the mission despite everything he had just heard.

“I’ll do it.”

“Good. It’s already been quite some time since Sara Greenwood fled. If my guess isn’t wrong, she will definitely have headed back to that illegal lab. There may still be enough time to steal all the lab’s records, samples, and materials, so hurry as much as you can, Upsilon.”

“Understood.”

“I’ll assign Delta and Theta as backup. If you’ve seen enough, head out immediately.”

✿ • ✿ • ✿

“Please, please…”

Inside the dark laboratory, where all the power had been cut off by someone, Sara Greenwood looked at the laptop screen, the only light in the room, while sweating coldly.

“File transfer in progress…67%”

Unlike her frantic heart, the number crept upward far too slowly, and she swallowed hard.

“File transfer in progress…68%”

With a face taut with tension, she stared only at the laptop monitor, and when she heard faint gunfire from outside the lab, she squeezed her eyes shut, then pulled her phone from her pocket. With trembling hands, she called someone, and soon opened her mouth in a shaking voice.

“I, I’m sorry. Someone has entered the lab and is killing the researchers as they see them, and I, I think this is as far as we go. I’m really sorry I couldn’t be of help until the end…”

She was still pouring words into the phone when the lab door suddenly burst open, and she flinched, turning her head toward the entrance. There stood a colleague she had worked with on experiments for years, clutching an arm drenched in blood.

“Sara! You have to run now…”

Before her colleague could even finish speaking, a soft whooshing sound came from beyond the door and the person’s body pitched forward. That was the end. The fallen colleague no longer moved at all. Sara Greenwood stared at the corpse of the colleague who had been murdered before her eyes, phone still in hand, and froze in place. When she finally turned her head to look again at the laptop screen, despair gripped her.

“File transfer in progress…75%”

Step, step. At the clearly audible, slow footsteps, Sara’s eyes fixed on the door to the laboratory. Then a man in jet-black clothing and coat, black from head to toe, appeared. In his hand he held a pistol fitted with a suppressor, gloved in black leather.

When her eyes met the man’s, cold and utterly devoid of emotion, Sara had a strange experience. Her heart was still pounding wildly, but the trembling that had seized her body moments ago stopped. Was it because she had sensed death and given up? Looking at the gun barrel slowly turning toward her, she left her final words to the phone, which was still counting the call time, as though they were a last testament.

“Please, may you achieve what you have wanted.”

“File transfer in progress…78%”

Before the gun aimed at her could fire, she pressed the button mounted on the side of the laptop. The instant she did, a huge spark erupted and the laptop was shattered to pieces, and at the same time the trigger of the gun aimed at her was pulled.

Before she could even feel pain, Sara Greenwood felt her body collapse limply. And in her consciousness, receding little by little, she faintly heard the flat voice of the black-haired man who had shot her.

“This is Upsilon. All researchers eliminated. Detonating the laboratory in five minutes.”

– This is Delta. The boiler room work was finished earlier too. We should start withdrawing.

– Ah, this is Theta. The guards outside are all taken care of too! But, Upsilon, can I do the debrief report back at headquarters? I’ve never done the return report for a black mission and I want to try it.

Delta’s and Theta’s voices flowed through the small radio worn in his ear. Upsilon removed the wristwatch from his left wrist, activated the timer, and set it on a nearby table. Then exactly five minutes later, the illegal laboratory, filled with gas leaking from the boiler room pipeline, vanished without a trace in a massive explosion.

✿ • ✿ • ✿

“Agent Theta reporting. Black mission complete, and Theta, Upsilon, and Delta have all returned!”

The moment she entered Robert’s office, Theta reported with sparkling eyes, and Robert smiled softly at her and at Upsilon and Delta who came in behind her one after another. It was normally the main agent assigned to the mission who made the return report, so the fact that Theta was doing it instead of Upsilon suggested that Upsilon had yielded the spot to her.

“Yes, you three have worked hard. It seems the client side has also at least breathed a sigh of relief thanks to that.”

“This was nothing!”

“You seem full of energy, Theta.”

“I just got to move around for the first time in a while, so my body feels properly loosened up. Then, boss! It was a black mission and not just any mission, so you’ll give us vacation, right?”

Watching Theta wait with bright, expectant eyes for his answer, Robert nodded as if it were obvious.

“Of course. But Theta, with all that energy of yours, how about you also take the regular pheromone training you postponed last time before you go?”

“Eek. Boss, I suddenly feel pain all over the place. My head’s a bit dizzy too…”

The moment he heard “pheromone training,” she immediately changed tactics and started faking illness, but Robert showed no sign of giving in and continued speaking with the same smile.

“If you keep putting it off, you’ll never want to do it, so close your eyes and get it over with. No more delaying it. How about you finish the regular training and rest well for three days?”

“Waaah. You heard him, Delta? If you tell me there’ll be a venti-sized milkshake waiting for me after pheromone training, with two special blend shots, two pumps of caramel syrup, one pump of chocolate syrup, caramel drizzle, and a ton of animal-based espresso whipped cream, I think I can summon the courage to go through training. You’re a beta who doesn’t need to do horrible training like this, so you can handle this small favor, right?”

Theta turned tearfully toward Delta standing behind her, and Delta muttered that it sounded like the hardest request ever and looked horrified.

“Well then, Theta and Delta, you may go. I’ll see you both in three days.”

At Robert’s words, Delta left the office with a tearful Theta. Once the office was quiet and only Upsilon remained, Robert let out a low sigh.

“Upsilon, did anything unusual happen out there?”

“It’s certain there was someone behind the illegal research order. When we found Sara Greenwood, she was on the phone with someone and working on her laptop. Before we could even secure it, she destroyed the laptop with a built-in device.”