The container, now devoid of the black-clad ninjas, was left with only the lingering heat of the recent battle.

I paused for a moment to catch my breath, and with each inhale, it felt like I was breathing in the intense heat that still hung in the air.

The small space inside the container, which had become eerily quiet compared to the peak of the fight, was now filled with the smell of blood.

As I began to fully grasp that the battle had finally ended, I took a deep breath and shouted out loud.

"Ah! We survived!"

I raised my hammer high and let out a cry of joy.

To be honest, I had no idea why the ninjas suddenly fled.

Nor did I understand why they appeared in the first place.

But I was just glad to be alive.

When I turned around, Hyejin looked surprisingly fine.

I wasn’t sure if it was because of her natural temperament or because of the Golden Horn.

The client, on the other hand, seemed quite shaken.

It's understandable—having ninjas suddenly show up and try to kill you would shock anyone.

Bang, bang.

Suddenly, there was a sound of knocking on the container wall. I quickly turned my head to see my senior, dressed in the familiar yellow suit, standing there.

“Seems like you had quite the situation here?”

With a familiar expression and a casual smile, the senior had returned.

Looking around inside the container, I saw a chaotic scene filled with blood.

There were three ninja corpses scattered inside the container.

One had died from a gunshot—Junior Number 2 must have been the one to take him down.

Two had been crushed—clearly the work of Junior Number 1.

Truly, superhuman strength.

The ninjas had targeted the camp residents, so it seemed they fought the juniors because of the client.

As I suspected, the client and the camp residents were of the same kind.

Perhaps they were victims of an Object or some byproduct of it.

“Senior! Why did you take so long to get here? And without any contact!”

“I got here as fast as I could. Plus, those ninjas must have been jamming the signal or something because my phone was completely dead.”

I shook my phone as I spoke.

“Those black-clad attackers seemed to be targeting the client, didn’t they?”

“Yes, they suddenly went straight for the client. Do you know how shocking it was when the ninjas appeared out of nowhere?”

Junior Number 1 looked exhausted, drenched in sweat, but fortunately, there didn’t seem to be any significant injuries.

Looking around, Junior Number 2 also appeared to be in good condition, while the client seemed a bit shocked….

Hmm.

The client had shrunk?

It was becoming almost certain that the client wasn’t human.

Well, whether the client was human, an Object, or even an alien, it didn’t really matter.

Clap, clap.

I clapped twice to get everyone’s attention.

“Alright, we’ve got our destination. It’s the underground sewer in the northern part of the camp. I think that’s where we’ll find the client’s younger brother, who she asked us to locate.”

I urged the juniors and the client to move.

This request was now approaching its conclusion.

I just hope we can find the client’s younger brother in the sewer….

Beyond the underground sewer was a vast subterranean structure.

A basement filled with blood.

The basement was piled high with ninja corpses.

And even more numerous were the bodies of researchers.

Heh heh heh.

The director was laughing while spitting blood.

He was laughing, even with several ninja swords stuck in his body.

“Seems it’s time to abandon this camp. If even strange fellows like these are interfering, I’d better relocate.”

The director turned to look at the only human tied up in this basement.

A man, severely tortured, unable to stay conscious.

“At least there’s some good news. We managed to create a successful test subject.”

The director circled the lone survivor, muttering non-stop.

“To think that Objects could originate from humanity’s desires. Though with only one success, it’s still too early to call it a complete victory.”

After examining the survivor’s condition, the director turned and spoke.

“At this level, he should be able to endure a long-distance transfer.”

The director spread his arms and shouted.

“Let’s begin the relocation of the lab!”

As the director’s voice echoed through the basement, the researchers, who had been lying like corpses, began to stir and rise.

Despite their burst eyeballs, severed limbs, and spilled intestines, the researchers moved, their expressions filled with despair.

When we reached the north side of the camp, a large sewer entrance loomed, contrasting with the desolate landscape.

“This must be the place.”

“Senior, are you sure this is the right spot?”

Junior Number 1 asked, his expression uneasy.

The sewer, which spewed blood and was lined with corpses from the entrance, was understandably unsettling.

Judging by the ninja bodies scattered around the entrance, it was clear this was where they had all been heading.

With each step we took, countless bodies lay lifelessly sprawled around us.

Corpses drenched in blood.

The underground sewer was filled with the bodies of ninjas.

As we delved deeper, the number of corpses only increased.

There were so many bodies that the sewer was spewing blood instead of water.

When I looked back, I saw that my companions were tense.

Junior Number 1, gripping his hammer, stayed close behind me, carefully watching all sides.

Junior Number 2, with both hands tightly clutching the revolver she had reloaded, stuck close to the client.

The client seemed off somehow.

She appeared dazed, almost as if she were in a trance.

As we went deeper into the sewer, to the point where the entrance was no longer visible, we began to hear an unfamiliar sound.

Thump, thump.

A heartbeat echoed from deep within the underground.

The thick blood flowing through the sewer combined with the heartbeat, creating a chilling atmosphere.

We continued deeper into the sewer.

And the deeper we went, the more bodies we encountered.

But strangely, the only bodies were those of ninjas.

What were the ninjas fighting against?

The heartbeat grew louder.

It was now so intense that it vibrated the walls and floor.

At the end of the sewer, we were greeted by a surprisingly clean open space.

A mysterious area where a giant heartbeat echoed, and unknown blood continuously flowed down the walls.

The outer perimeter of the space was filled with ninja corpses, and at the center stood those in white lab coats, waiting for us.

“It’s been a while! The detective in the yellow suit.”

The research director, who had a twisted smile, shouted from the center.

It was the same director I had seen at the central lab, but with a vibrant face.

Yet this was not the same being I had encountered at the central lab.

I could feel it, and the words displayed in my monocle confirmed that this was a different entity.

When I saw the director at the central lab, the message was, “[As long as the Director is present, the lab cannot be destroyed.]” But now, it had changed completely.

“[As long as the Director exists, he controls the researchers.]” “[As long as the research is not complete, the Director will regenerate.]” “[As long as the wish is unfulfilled, the research will not end.]”

My monocle sometimes omitted information or showed nothing at all, but it always displayed the same message for the same Object.

In other words, the director before me and the one at the central lab were entirely different Objects.

‘Found him.’

The person I was searching for was indeed here.

The client’s younger brother, whom she had asked us to find.

I had spotted a young man who looked exactly like the one in the photo from the personnel file.

He was bloodied and tied to a chair, but still, he was there.

“My brother! My brother is over there!”

The client shouted loudly.

Sure enough, her finger was pointing at the bloodied young man.

A younger brother who looked much older than the client?

Junior Number 1 and Junior Number 2, who had assumed the brother was a child, looked utterly confused.

Hearing the client’s words, the research director glared at us with a fierce expression and spoke.

“So, you’re thieves trying to steal my test subject.”

With the director’s low, grating voice, the researchers around him suddenly charged at us.

Nom, nom, nom.

I was happy as I ate the mountain of pudding.

No matter how much I ate, the pudding didn’t seem to decrease!

While I was busy indulging in the pudding, a faint noise reached my ears.

A small, faint sound coming from underground.

At first, I ignored it, focusing on the pudding, but the sound grew clearer.

Meowwww!

It was the urgent cry of the ghost cat.

Ah, the ghost cat!

I had completely forgotten….

The fun with the ninja pyramid had made me forget completely.

Could something be wrong?

To trace the sound coming from underground, I phased through the ground in my ghost form.

Beneath the ground was a room filled with the smell of blood.

As I descended into the underground space where I was searching for the cat, I found the source of the malice.

It was the place I had initially been seeking.

The location where the unsettling malice had been emanating from.

Blood from a person was splattered all around.

The gray concrete was stained dark red, and the blood pooled on the floor emitted an eerie glow.

The blood smell was so intense, it felt as if I was licking iron.

In the center of the room, there was a body tied to a chair.

A headless corpse.

I could sense the remnants of the malice I had felt earlier coming from that body.

It was faint, barely noticeable, but it was definitely there.

However, whatever had been the source of that malice was no longer present.

Hmm, what on earth was it?

Meowwww!

At that moment, the sound of the cat’s cry came again, this time from not too far away.

The cry sounded urgent, almost desperate.