After dealing with a criminal organization like it was a snack, we moved to the next stage.
“Evergreen Clinic Center?”
“It’s a hospital mainly dealing with severely injured patients and neurological disorders.”
Based on the information gathered at the scene and data acquired online, the Violets continued their discussion.
“From the introduction, it seems like just an ordinary hospital. Where on earth are they conducting experiments?”
“It has been closed for business since two years ago. They say they shut down under the pretense of renovations…”
“Hmph, it looks suspicious to anyone.”
We struggled with the issue for a while. Initially, the argument to raid it immediately was dominant, but it was countered by claims of insufficient information.
“We don’t have enough information. We don’t know the internal structure, the personnel, or the medical capabilities.”
“Is Kalia’s uncle here? It might be false information.”
Amidst the exchange of opinions, Violet 10 raised a question to the Violets who remained at the Water Pigs’ hideout.
“Did you take care of all those punks?”
“We left a couple alive, still asking questions.”
“That’s good. Try to find out how to make contact with the hospital.”
“Contact?”
10’s thoughts spread through the Violet Network. It was a decent idea. One by one, we nodded in agreement.
“That’s good, let’s start quickly!”
The next day, a car arrived at the back door of the Evergreen Clinic Center, which was currently closed. The doctor who came out upon being contacted stared blankly at a brown-haired girl with short hair and an associate beside her.
“Seriously, didn’t I just hand over the personnel two days ago? Why are you here again?”
“Well, it seems we missed one person. Haha…”
“Hey, now I have to redo the list!”
The doctor grumbled. The associate, who was peeking repeatedly into the car, returned to the hideout after handing over the girl.
“I did what you asked. You’re sending her over, right? The reward too…”
“Yeah, I’ll send it. To heaven!”
The Masked Violet, trailing from the car, smacked the associate on the head.
“Letting you in on your own. Such fools! No need for stealth.”
“What’s inside?”
“You see, right? It brings back memories. Looks like all research facilities are the same.”
“Here we are in the city, and they’re doing this in the open; they’ve got guts!”
As we processed the incoming information, we began to devise our plan.
The identity of the girl infiltrating inside was a disguised Violet. We had Violet 231 disguised as a test subject, leading one of the surviving punks.
Dressed in a patient gown, Violet kept watch while pretending to follow the instructions of the internal staff.
The Violets in the command center gathered the information that came into their line of sight to estimate the internal security level, guard armament, and size of the facility.
“Seriously, this is on par with the facility where we were trapped.”
“There are more people here. They don’t seem to engage in battles with monsters, though, what’s the purpose?”
The surveillance continued into the night.
“First, let’s locate the people. Focus on places marked as restricted areas!”
“Got it!”
The clones that appeared between the ceiling and floor of the walls spread out inside the hospital. Some cautiously moved to find places beyond the reach of CCTV.
“Found it!”
In the line of sight from room 483, there was a single middle-aged man with red hair bound to a bed.
Surrounded by unfamiliar medical equipment, various tubes were inserted into his body, pushing in colored drugs.
“He doesn’t look too good, but it’s him!”
“It’s awful. We should take a picture, just in case.”
The Violets had found their target. It had been just two days since infiltrating the hospital.
“By the way, if there’s no problem with Daphne, ask her to stay a few more days!”
“Got it.”
I asked Daphne for help with household chores and various petty matters, and I received a positive response from her.
Next, we shared the information we’d gathered with Kalia.
“Where did this photo come from?”
When Violet showed her uncle’s photo, Kalia initially displayed skepticism.
“There’s always a way. So is it really him?”
She fell silent, staring at the tablet screen with intensity. Her green eyes flickered several times. Eventually, Kalia reacted fiercely as if a volcano had erupted.
“Yes… This person is our Uncle! Where is he? We must go rescue him immediately!”
“Wait, Kalia. How about calming down and listening to me?”
She seemed ready to rush out the door at any moment, so several Violets held her back. Only after a while did Kalia take a steadying breath.
“Ha… Sorry, I really lost it there. I should have been more thoughtful. I was captured when I went out alone a few months ago still…”
“Don’t be too hard on yourself! Your family is missing, after all. I’d behave just like that.”
“Hey, thanks for saying that. I have to contact the Brotherhood members first.”
With her determination made, she picked up the phone.
“Uncle Marco! It’s me. Why am I calling at this hour? Gather some people! I have urgent news. The sooner, the better!”
Immediately, the Brotherhood members came together to hold an emergency meeting. The venue was a bar run by members of the Brotherhood, and most of the members looked like tough, rough men.
“Kalia, you’re not mistaking things again, are you?”
The mustached man who was crossing his arms asked, and Kalia placed the tablet on the table.
“No, I’m sure! Can’t you guys see? Look at the photo and the video. It’s clearly our uncle.”
Seeing that everyone fell silent, tension filled the room.
“My god, Mr. Rodriguez…”
“He’s the captain! This must be something those damn gangsters pulled!”
“It could be the clan or a corporate scheme. The captain is an independent Awakened one!”
Kalia angrily slammed her hands on the table. The table burned in the flames of her fury. Unknowingly, she wrapped her body in her unique ability out of anger.
“Anyway, now that we know his location, we need to rescue him quickly! Right now!”
Propelled by her passionate demeanor, even the hefty men raised their arms and shouted.
“Right! We need to go now! The Brotherhood doesn’t abandon family!”
“Let’s rescue the captain!”
From among the quiet crowd, a man in a black vest with a mohawk stood up. I turned my head. It was Uncle Marco, the one who picked me up in a truck when I escaped from the lab.
“Everyone, calm down.”
“Marco! What are you talking about?”
“If that place is a corporation’s lab, we won’t be able to handle it alone. Shouldn’t we approach more cautiously? We need to hire a resolver and ask for help from elsewhere.”
Pointing out the reality, Marco’s remark cooled the atmosphere that had been heated.
“Uncle.”
“Kalia, I owe a debt to the captain as well. Wouldn’t I want to rescue him? But you know, don’t you, that it’s dangerous for us to act recklessly at our current level?”
Kalia stole a glance at me and grinned confidently. Before attending the Brotherhood meeting, the two of us wrapped up how to communicate our thoughts. Now it was time to show it.
“Don’t worry about that. We’ve hired the best resolvers.”
“Mercenaries?”
“There’s always a way. You’ll be surprised!”
As Kalia snapped her fingers, the bar door swung open. The Violet Squad, clad in black combat uniforms from head to toe, stepped into view. The Brotherhood members inside the bar widened their eyes in shock.
“What the hell…?”
“It’s a long explanation. Hurry up and get ready to head out, uncles!”
*
A few hours later, in the midnight west district of the city, various vehicles arrived at the Evergreen Clinic Center, carrying people.
“Alright, the operation starts now. Are the internal members ready?”
“Yes, I’ll start the security neutralization right away.”
The Violet Squad who were waiting outside took Kalia towards the building’s main entrance and nearby windows.
At the same time, inside, the Violets that had been waiting in the walls, floors, lockers, and bathrooms began to move after changing their clothes.
“Head! Head!”
“Ugh!”
Quickly neutralizing the guards on night duty, we secured Ospri Rodriguez, who was lying in a hospital bed. His face was pale and looked very unwell.
“Rescue target secured!”
“Good, now we start the extermination operation.”
“Kalia, are you ready?”
“Needless to say. Let’s get in quickly.”
The Violet Squad entered through the hospital’s main entrance. Moving simultaneously from inside and outside, we subdued the hospital’s researchers.
“Ah! The test subject is escaping! Don’t move!”
“Stay quiet!”
—Bang!
“Uwaaaaaaah!”
I swung my violence without mercy. These guys are all in the same boat. There’s no need to show restraint.
In the ancient times, wicked scientists found budgets, supervisors, and schedules to be their greatest calamities.
“—If you’d give us more budget!”
“No way. I’m cutting back further! You have one day, so solve it quickly!”
“Graaaaaah!”
So, what would be the greatest calamity for today’s scientists?
The answer is the rogue, illegal Violets born from indiscriminate human experimentation!
The defective, illegal Violets created by Laplacian have become the murderous terrorist Violets without hesitation.
So this is all your fault! No mercy!
“Uwaaaaaah! My leg!”
“It’s a raid! Where are the guards?”
“Help! Ugh!”
While the external Violets moved swiftly, the internal Violet Squad also lifted Kalia’s uncle onto the bed and moved him.
Now, we were just supposed to meet and hand him over, but it felt like the guards were multiplying.
—Bang! Bang!
“Not the time to be talking while fighting, but it brings back memories. Right?”
Right after Kalia blew off one guard’s head with flame-cased bullets, I pierced the heart of another awakened guard with a crossbow.
“Yeah! Yeah! That was really tough back then.”
“Hope there aren’t any ogres like back then here?”
As soon as she spoke, two large black-clad guards appeared, smashing through a wall.
“Is it a raid? I don’t know which clan you are, but you won’t get past here!”
“I’ll turn you into mashed tomatoes.”
I shouted in a shriek. A massive frame, wielding a sledgehammer. It was such a familiar sight.
“Oh, it’s an ogre! And there are two!”
Did that ogre thing come back to life? I clearly killed it!
“Crazy, is it a trend among guards to carry hammers these days?”
Kalia muttered with a look of disbelief. She must be recalling something similar to me.
This is getting annoying. They got perfectly in between the infiltration team carrying the bed and the incoming forces. We were so close to a family reunion! No forgiveness!
Three Violets charged at the imitation ogre guard. At the same time, Kalia also pulled out her pistol and sword and jumped towards the guard next to her.
“Violet Stream Attack!”
“Hmph, ridiculous.”
—Woosh!
The guard’s attack came flying in. In the past, I wouldn’t have dodged it, but now it’s different. The leading Violet simply ducked to avoid the hammer.
The second Violet leaped over my back, just before colliding with the hammer. Simultaneously, the third Violet at the back took out her crossbow and targeted the lower body.
“Uwaaaaaah! My leg!”
“Die!”
The second Violet stabbed the neck of the one who was crouching in pain. Their attack was pathetic. Slower than Kalia and Irene!
“Graaaargh!”
—Bang! Bang!
While I brought down a guard, Kalia took down another imitation ogre. Confirming the kill was just the bonus.
“This is different from back then.”
“You weren’t trained back then. I was in terrible condition after being beaten and starved by those guys.”
I see. I can feel that I’ve definitely become stronger.
After taking down the hammer-wielding guards, I received the bed from the waiting infiltration team.
“Uncle…!”
“Get back quickly.”
“What about you?”
“We have a lot to do. Remember, we told the Brotherhood members? We’re rescuing other people inside.”
Kalia nodded. She, accompanied by the Violets, took her uncle outside. As I felt the ambulance carrying Kalia and her uncle leave first, we continued our work.
“Team 1, escort the patients out. Team 2, check if there’s anything we missed.”
“What about our team?”
“Lay incendiaries and set explosives.”
The Violets rescued the poor test subjects and brought them outside. Responses varied widely.
“Hey! Hurry up and come out! I’ll send you home!”
“Don’t kill me!”
“Is this the police? The Inspection Bureau? I’m alive!”
We smashed through everything that got in our way while examining the laboratory.
“Ugh! Why does everyone like brains so much?”
Violet 471, who was inspecting the restricted area of the lab, jumped in surprise. On the operating table lay a brain extracted and contained in a transparent container. Horrifyingly, it seemed like the brain was alive.
“Here too! So many!”
“Rescue target secured!”
“First, gather the stuff around here. We don’t have time. We’re in the city center. Police or reinforcements will arrive soon. Fall back quickly!”
Hurrying to the command’s urging, the Violets quickly vacated the place. Before long, vehicles carrying the laboratory’s human experiment victims, the Violet Squad, and Brotherhood members powered up and disappeared into the darkness.
“Detonation!”
Finally, flames soared. The Evergreen Clinic Center collapsed from the fire caused by explosives and incendiaries.
The remaining Violets watched until the end. Late-arriving police cars and fire trucks surrounded the burning hospital. It was also seen that suspicious black cars were gathering and engaging in a staring match with the police.
“Operation successful!”
“What about the uncle’s side?”
“Daphne is healing him.”
Bringing Daphne along proved helpful. She is currently assessing the patients’ condition inside the ambulance.
“It was a really dangerous situation. How did it turn out like this…”
As Daphne finished healing and began explaining, Kalia anxiously spoke up.
“So? What’s going on?”
“First, we’ve crossed the major hurdle! Measures have been taken, but he needs long-term care at the hospital.”
“That’s a relief… I’m so glad…”
Hearing the answer, Kalia let out a sigh of relief. The escort team quickly raced down the roads of the central district at dawn.
“Hey, you know this isn’t the end, right?”
“Yeah. But for now, I’d like to sleep on it.”
For now, I decided not to think about it until we got back. We had just twisted one branch of the main story five years later.
No, it had already twisted long ago, so I guess it didn’t matter.
Whatever the case, it’s great. Today, the Violets destroyed another wicked laboratory!