<h4>Chapter 148 </h4>


    Ji-Eun fixed her eyes on the dong leader. He trembled, his eyes darting all around.


    All this time, I’d been overthinking it. There was a rather simple solution to my worries.


    I didn’t have to fight.


    I, too, hadn’t been a match for stage-two mutants until I got blue eyes. It was only natural for such a thing to happen to a dong leader. A dong leader who was barely able tomand one thousand underlings and had not eaten a ck creature’s brain had no chance of tracking a stage-two mutant’s movements with their naked eye.


    “Fuck!!!”


    The dong leader let out a grotesque scream and ran for his life. Seeing this, I gave Ji-Eun an order.


    <i>''Go kill it.’</i>


    Ji-Eun seemed to flinch, but she didn''t follow my order. Her expression grew nk again as she stared at the fleeing dong leader. I frowned at her and repeated myself.


    “Go kill it.”


    "Child… My… child.”


    Ji-Eun came to my side, her expression growing sad. After that, she looked over my entire body, then smiled gently. Even though she was still supposedly under mymand, Ji-Eun disobeyed my orders to attack. As I considered her reactions, a rather interesting thought crossed my mind.


    Ji-Eun’s desire was rted to maternal love. Which in turn meant that she prioritized her child’s safety.


    Safety, maternal love.


    Through all the research I’d done on mutants to this point, something else stood out to me. Certain mutants would not follow the chain ofmand, depending on the type of desire they had.


    And because of this, I’d taken care of those kinds of mutants with my own hands. There was something within them that superseded the chain of themand. Something that made them go against absolute orders. And to them, they prioritized their desires over following orders. Their mindsets went against absolute desires. And this was their desire.


    In the case of Ji-Eun, she was a being who loved peace and didn’t harm others. She was a mutant who fought for people that she considered her family and her children. If Mood-Swinger was the spear that could break through any shield, Ji-Eun was the shield that could block any spear.


    “AHHH!!!”


    I heard the dong leader running for his life, followed by the cries of stage-one mutants. A littleter, my stage-one mutants entered the building after their fight with the dong leader. They had three heads with them.


    I asked my underlings for the heads, and the stage-one mutants tossed the heads toward me. I cracked open the dong leaders’ skulls and took out their wet brains. I then helped Kim Hyeong-Jun up.


    Kim Hyeong-Jun coughed and furrowed his brow. His condition was abysmal. I knew I might lose him if I didn’t do something quickly. I put the brain next to his mouth.


    “Come on, eat,” I said.


    "Ahjussi…”


    Kim Hyeong-Jun looked at my face with heavy-lidded eyes. I forced his mouth open and shoved the dong leader’s brain inside. This wasn’t the time to be having emotional conversations. He had to eat and recover first.


    Kim Hyeong-Jun chewed the brain and just barely gulped it down. He blinked his eyes like a sleepy calf. I observed his reaction, then broke another skull and offered him another one.


    “Eat.”


    "Wait no.. Ahjussi, how about you?”


    “Don’t you worry. You eat first.”


    I shoved the brain in front of Kim Hyeong-Jun, and he frowned like a picky eater who did not want to eat. I had no choice but to force open his mouth again. But as soon as I shoved the brain inside his mouth, he did a good job of chewing and swallowing it down.


    He grimaced painfully as he swallowed, as though his throat wasn’t functioning properly. He looked like he was forcing down hardtacks without any water. But once he was done eating, his arms sagged helplessly to the ground.


    He’d fallen asleep after finishing the dong leader’s brain.


    I looked at my underlings around me.


    “Stealthily scout the surroundings so that the ck creature doesn’t notice you and make sure that nothing, absolutely nothing, gets close. Ji-Eun, you stay here and just wait. Nod if you understand.”


    All the mutants nodded.


    Ji-Eun sat cross-legged again and stared nkly at me. I wanted to stay awake as well… But I had to eat the dong leader’s brain too. After all, I had to survive as well. I figured that the Family’s forces were fighting the ck creature, which would buy me enough time to close my eyes for a little bit.


    Before I closed my eyes, I broke another skull and went over to Mood-Swinger.


    “Mood-Swinger. Mood-Swinger.”


    When I pped Mood-Swinger on the cheek, he looked at me sullenly.


    “Lo… sing… gains…” he muttered.


    Mood-Swinger sounded like he was almost crying. I wet my lips and held out the dong leader’s brain to him. His eyes went wide, and he looked back and forth between me and the brain.


    "Losing… gains?"


    “Yes, it’s yours.”


    “Losing gains!”


    He grinned like a child that had just gotten a toy they’d been eyeing for a long time, and quickly gulped down the dong leader’s brain. I patted Mood-Swinger on the back.


    “You did some good work,” I said. “Now that I gave you the dong leader''s brain, you have to protect Hyeong-Jun. Got it?”


    Mood-Swinger nodded a couple of times and smiled gently. I wondered if he understood what I’d said. Even though he wasn’t my underling, I’d grown fond of him. Mood-Swinger neverined when Hyeong-Jun gave him orders, even if they weren’t ideal.


    I knew it was overkill to give him a dong leader’s brain to regenerate his damaged body, but I knew it was good to treat him with healthy food like that every now and then.


    I chuckled and broke the remaining dong leader’s skull, fishing out the brain inside. I licked my lips.


    "Don’t mind if I dig in,” I muttered.


    * * *


    The battle between the second officer and the ck creature continued between Sogang Bridge and Mapo Bridge. The three stage-two mutants and two thousand two hundred and fifty underlings that were under the second officer’smand were ganging up on the ck creature.


    The countless number of underlings yed a huge role in holding back the ck creature. The second officer was a zombie with blue eyes, and so his underlings boasted superior physical abilitiespared to ordinary zombies.


    They were strong enough that fifty of them could easily handle a single bait. And if five hundred of them attacked, a dong leader would probably go down.


    Now that two thousand two hundred and fifty of those zombies had ganged up on the ck creature, its advance was slowed considerably. The three stage-two mutants were also doing a good job, living up to their names. They were targeting the ck creature from behind and were dealing good damage to it.


    However, they still weren’t overpowering the ck creature. They were like dwarfs going up against giants; they were just barely preventing the ck creature from advancing forward.


    The second officer bit his lower lip as he regenerated his damaged body.


    <i>''I’m out of time.''</i>


    The second officer noticed that his rate of regeneration was much slower than before. He could fully regenerate two or three more times, and that would be it. He clenched his fists and crouched down. He had to finish off the ck creature before all of his underlings were wiped out.


    “<i>Kaaa…!</i>”


    Hot steam spewed from his mouth as he charged toward the ck creature in an instant. He poured strength into his arms and punched the ck creature in the chest. The sound of something hard mming into reinforced concrete echoed across the battlefield.


    The second officer noted the dent that his punch had formed on the ck creature’s chest. Gritting his teeth, he continued to attack. He twisted his lower body and kicked the ck creature in the face, then followed up with a roundhouse kick.


    The ck creature stumbled and fell back, the second officer’s underlings clinging onto it like leeches. The stage-two mutants started kicking the ck creature’s weak spots as the regr underlings bit into its flesh. However, the ck creature’s skin was rock-solid, and most of the underlings ended up with broken teeth instead.


    <i>KWAAA!!!!!</i>


    The ck creature roared and straightened its upper body, shaking its body vigorously. The zombies attached to its body were thrown off, rolling across the ground like jockeys falling off their horses. The stage-two mutants that had momentarily retreated crept up from behind the ck creature.


    Its eyes darted about as it sensed their presence. It twisted its body in a bizarre way, and with its sharp teeth, bit clean through one of the stage-two mutant’s heads. At the same time, it grabbed onto the mutant on its left and hammered it into the ground as hard as it could.


    <i>Crunch!!</i>


    The ck creature was momentarily bent over. The only surviving stage-two mutant went for its neck and bit into it. The ck creature screamed and began to struggle. The second officer did not let this opportunity slip by. In a sh, he was in front of the ck creature, and mmed a foot into its side.


    <i>Crack!!</i>


    The second officer felt its ribs break beneath the impact of his toes.


    <i>''There we go!’</i>


    The second officer wondered if the ck creature was growing tired. Even though a ck creature, the second officer assumed that it would have limits on how much it could regenerate and strengthen itself.


    The ck creature’s skin, which had seemed imprable earlier on, had begun to soften. Realizing this, the second officer kept up his offense.


    The ck creature stumbled several times before finally losing its bnce and falling to its knees. The second officer didn’t miss their chance and kicked it in the face as hard as he could. Its teeth shattered, and it finally copsed to the ground.


    The stage-two mutant that had been biting its neck finally pierced its skin. All of the other underlings ran toward the ck creature and started biting into its flesh.


    "Ha… You fucking monster.”


    The second officer smiled a satisfied smile, breathing heavily.


    Steam no longer rose from his body. He had pushed his body to its limit, and his bones were no longer regenerating.


    He sat on the ground and gave orders to his underlings.


    <i>''Stop eating the ck creature’s body. Bring me its brain.’</i>


    The second officer let out a sigh andid down spread-eagled on the floor. They knew that everything would be over once they ate their brains.


    <i>‘Wait, if I eat its brain right now…? Wouldn’t I grow stronger than the boss?’</i>


    The second officer started to get greedy. He never once thought about surpassing the boss, but right now, he could already picture himself as the new boss.


    He questioned why he hadn’t ever thought about surpassing the boss. Previously, he’d been afraid because the boss had blue eyes, and now, he was afraid because the boss had two stage-three mutants under his control.


    But if he ate the ck creature’s brain right now… It would be more than possible to be the new boss.


    The second officer’s eyebrows rose as he considered this n. He picked himself off the floor and shouted at his underlings.


    “Go get the brain, you bastards!”


    <i>Tear—</i>


    The second officer’s jaw dropped to the ground as he witnessed what was unfolding in front of his eyes. The ck creature that he’d thought was down for the count was eating his underlings.


    The second officer couldn’t understand why it was still alive despite having its neck torn out. His eyes roamed the area, searching for the stage-two mutant that had been biting the ck creature’s neck. To his surprise, that mutant was already dead.


    The ck creature was a freak. Despite its body being torn to shreds, it was still tearing the second officer’s underlings to pieces.


    The second officer was taken aback. He tried to consider who would emerge victorious if he engaged the ck creature again. But no matter how much he thought about it, he could not imagine a scenario in which he won. He couldn’t enhance his body’s strength, nor could he regenerate his broken bones.


    It didn''t matter how tired and exhausted the ck creature was. The second officer didn’t even have the strength to clench his fists.


    <i>''I have to get away.''</i>


    The only thought that upied his mind was how to get away. He knew that he’d probably go down like the dong leaders if he went back to Sogang Bridge, but he also knew that he couldn’t go forward. There was only one option left.


    The second officer gathered his remaining strength and ran toward the city. As he ran, he did not forget to give orders to his remaining underlings.


    <i>‘Stop the ck creature at all costs. Block its way no matter what!!’</i>


    His legs trembled violently, and his broken arm dangled uselessly by his side. He ran through the darkness, his eyes darting about, searching his surroundings.


    .


    He didn’t have the courage to look back. He felt a rather strange gaze, as if some unknown being was pulling him toward it.


    The second officer shuddered with fear and nced backward. Fortunately, the ck creature wasn’t following them.


    When the second officer arrived at the city, a rather eerie, dreary atmosphere weed him. He entered a shabby building, muttering to himself like a person possessed by a ghost. The only sound he could hear in the dusty building was his own breathing.


    The second officer knew that he could not let himself get caught, even if it cost him all his underlings.


    “I can''t die. I can''t die. I cannot die here.”


    The second officer sat down on the floor, cradling his broken right arm. It didn’t matter if he had to stay here for days, just breathing. He was ready to endure anything, as long as he could get away from the ck creature and return to Gangnam.


    However, there was one thing that the second officer hadn’t thought through. Because of the fear that had engulfed his mind and body, he hadn’t bothered to look around. And because all his attention had been focused on the ck creature, he hadn’t scouted out the city properly.


    <i>Stomp, stomp.</i>


    The second officer heard footsteps from outside the building. His eyes widened in surprise, and he covered his mouth with his arm.


    The footsteps quickly came to a stop just outside the half-open window, and after a moment, a long shadow appeared, blocking the moonlight that shone in from the window.


    The second officer closed his eyes tightly and prayed that nothing would happen. However, he sensed a presence on the other side of the window, and had no choice but to open his eyes.


    <i>Kiaaa…</i>


    A red-colored stage-one mutant had its eyes fixed on him. The second officer let out a wail.


    “These motherfuckin’ bastards!!” he cried.


    <i>KIAAA!!</i>


    Without hesitation, the stage-one mutant attacked the second officer. The second officer was already at his limit, and stood no chance against the stage-one mutant. Very quickly, more stage-one mutants started pouring in through the window, each one looking like a grim reaper.


    “ARGHHH!!!”


    An unknown man’s death cry echoed throughout the empty, dead city. The ck creature on Gangbyeonbuk-ro heard the man’s loud wail as well.