Master Smith Under Ministry of National Defense

Chapter 134: The Child with a Keen Sense of Smell

Master Smith Under Ministry of National Defense

134 – The Child with a Keen Sense of Smell

Located 15 kilometers west of the center of Sejong City, the Korea Gate Laboratory (KGL) was a facility that demanded extreme security measures, making the entire surrounding area a no-fly zone.

An automatic interception system capable of shooting down any intruding aircraft or even a palm-sized drone instantly.

Numerous automated turrets gleaming beyond warning signs that unauthorized civilians would be shot on sight.

Awakened EDA members patrolling the perimeter around the clock, living and dining on-site to protect the laboratory.

The internal structure of the research facility, mostly built underground to avoid satellite surveillance, was meticulously designed by Moon Hee-cheol, ensuring that the security level of the Gate Research Institute was more stringent than any other military facility in South Korea.

However, at this moment, a single aircraft was hovering in place above the research institute, bypassing all those security measures.

The Shadow Hawk.

A special-purpose transport aircraft of the Liberal Clan, designed to be undetectable and untraceable by current human technology.

Although the Gate Research Institute, created by Moon Hee-cheol, had an anti-air defense system superior to that of an Aegis destroyer designed to protect aircraft carriers from all kinds of aerial attacks, it unfortunately lacked the technology to detect the stealth system of the Shadow Hawk, created by Soo-jeong.

[Begin.]

Sitting in the cockpit of the Shadow Hawk, Byung-tae, who was waiting for Myung-jun’s command, radioed his colleagues waiting in the cargo hold.

“They say to start the operation. Are you ready?”

Then, the voice of Ito Kei, who was waiting in the hangar in a power suit, came through.

[We just need to do it as we practiced, right? I’m ready.]

“Soo-bin, are you ready?”

[Let’s finish this quickly. I want to go back and sleep.]

“You slept in the hangar the entire flight here, even bringing your bed.”

[My Halo operates even while I’m sleeping. Since I can’t improve the quality of my sleep, I have to compensate with quantity. Are we starting right now?]

“Yes. The operation begins in 5 seconds. 5… 4… 3… 2… 1. Launch the anti-air system neutralizer.”

[It’s called a jammer, Uncle Byung-tae.]

“Whatever, launch it.”

When Byung-tae pressed the button, the bottom of the Shadow Hawk opened, revealing eight launch ports.

From within, eight 30cm-long stakes were simultaneously launched.

The stakes, which fell silently and embedded themselves in the ground, began hacking all electronic signals within a 10km radius, but the research institute remained silent.

The neutralizing jammer created by Soo-jeong didn’t shut down the opponent’s system but instead neutralized the security system by copying normal signals and creating fake ones.

<All general signals within the area have been fully replicated. Fake data generation complete. Bypass for system disruption installed. Initiating fake data transmission through the bypass from the data bank.>

“I don’t really understand what they’re saying, but it seems like it’s done.”

[Then let’s go.]

Soo-bin, wearing a power suit with eight large halos attached to her back, stood up and pressed a button.

The door at the back of the hangar opened, letting the bright midday sunlight flood into the hangar.

“Isn’t this kind of thing usually done at night?”

Soo-bin smiled and replied to Kei, who had stood up and was grumbling.

“If the goal was to sneak in without being detected, sure. But we might have to break in forcefully if things go south, right?”

“As you know, my suit doesn’t have combat functions. Its defense isn’t particularly high either. So if something goes wrong, I’ll be counting on you.”

“Trust me. When it comes to fighting while protecting someone, I’m more experienced than Ho-chang.”

With that, Soo-bin jumped out of the open door.

Kei sighed and followed Soo-bin, descending towards the research institute.

– Thud!!!! –

With the aid of reverse thrusters, the two landed in the forest near the research institute without much impact and immediately took up defensive positions.

However, the perfectly hacked security turrets detected them but showed no reaction. Confirming their safety, Soo-bin quickly radioed Byung-tae.

“It seems safe.”

[Alright. I’ll send the fence right away. You know you need to align it correctly, right?]

“Yes.”

As soon as Soo-bin finished answering, a large box fell from the sky.

Using the assistance of her power suit, Soo-bin pulled the box out of the ground, where it had embedded itself due to the impact and weight, and opened it to take out its contents.

It was a mechanical device similar to the neutralizing jammers they had shot into the ground earlier, but it was much larger and heavier.

There were eight stakes of identical size and shape.

When Soo-bin pressed a button on her wrist, two long rods with hooks for securing the stakes extended from her back.

“Give me a hand.”

As Kei attached the stakes to the hooks on her back, Soo-bin’s appearance transformed into that of an angel spreading its wings.

“Can’t I handle at least two of these?”

“If they fall and we get attacked, it’ll be a hassle for me. Just stay close.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

With the stakes prepared, Soo-bin immediately began to move.

Drawing a large circle around the research institute, she started planting the stakes at the pre-determined locations with incredible speed.

“Installation complete.”

[Got it. I just confirmed. So, shall we start right away? Once we activate it, you won’t be able to get out either. Are you sure you’re okay with that?]

“We know. Leave the rest to us.”

[Okay. Initiating the barrier-type area… whatever.]

“It’s called the barrier-type area blocking device.”

[Anyway, initiating the whatever.]

In an instant, the eight stakes arranged in a circle around the research institute began to emit light.

They started generating a massive energy barrier that looked like black glass.

This barrier was an almost perfect dimensional barrier that blocked not only visible light and air but also the security communication network and even the electrical supply connected through the underground.

“What the hell?!”

The sudden blackout threw the staff inside the research institute into a panic.

If it had been just a power outage, they might have thought it was a wiring issue, but it wasn’t just the electricity that went out; even the surrounding sunlight was completely blocked.

It felt as if someone had forcibly turned day into night.

“What about the security system?!”

An awakened security officer in the control room asked the staff member in front of the computer, who then checked the entire security system.

However, there was nothing on the CCTV or motion detectors that indicated any issues.

“There’s no problem.”

“Then what the hell is it? Why has the power supply been cut off suddenly? What about communications?”

“All security lines from 1 to 20 have been disconnected. We can’t pick up any wireless signals either.”

“Is internal communication within the research institute possible?”

“Yes, that’s possible because it uses a separate transmitter installed in the institute. The only thing that’s been cut off is the connection to the outside.”

“Declare a level-1 alert. All EDA members on standby are to begin searching for external intruders.”

“Could it be an intrusion?”

“If someone isolated the highest-security awakened research institute in South Korea in broad daylight, that’s a reasonable assumption.”

In the pitch-black darkness, Soo-bin, who was watching the research institute through her goggles, quietly smiled as she saw the flashing warning lights accompanied by the sound of sirens.

She then spoke to Ito Kei, who was sitting with his eyes closed and not wearing any goggles.

“Isn’t it inconvenient without light? Should I turn on some auxiliary lights?”

“It’s fine. Actually, it’s more comfortable for me to focus on my sense of smell without light.”

As Kei began to extend his abilities, small LED lamps attached to his suit started to light up, indicating the activation of his powers.

Those LEDs, which looked like glowing dots in the darkness, functioned as a kind of power indicator, showing that Kei’s abilities and his suit were fully synchronized.

Once the synchronization with the suit was complete, Kei began to feel a unique sensation that he never got used to, no matter how many times he experienced it.

‘It feels like my entire body has become a nose.’

The full-body suit developed by Soo-jeong for Kei was not designed to provide additional combat means or enhance defense.

Instead, the suit had the function of extremely amplifying Kei’s awakened ability, his sense of smell.

Through the power of olfactory enhancement sensors distributed throughout the suit, Kei could detect every single scent molecule floating in the air without even inhaling through his nose.

In this state, Kei could ‘feel’ almost every event occurring within a 20km radius at a level akin to psychometry.

Based on the traces left by the scents, Kei could tell that one of the staff members hadn’t brushed their teeth before coming to work in the morning or that someone had left candy in their pants pocket for a week without washing them.

With his eyes closed, Kei began to search for his target, feeling the ‘scents’ with his entire body.

‘The ability enhancer that Myung-jun hyung provided had the scents of several people, but there was only one human scent common to all the vials. If I find that scent…’

The state of blocked external air created optimal conditions for Kei to track traces, and he easily found the scent molecules he was looking for.

They were emanating from a small ventilation shaft in the middle of the forest.

‘That passageway… it seems to be mixed with other scents, so there must be a HEPA filter for air purification in between… If I go further past that…’

Kei stood up and said,

“I found it. Someone is trapped about 150 meters below the lowest floor of the research institute.”

Soo-bin, spreading her hands, responded,

“It seems they’ve found us too.”

Where Soo-bin, with her eight rings of light spread out from her back, was glaring, EDA-affiliated Awakeners were running towards them, fully armed.

====

***

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“Hello!? Hello!? Damn it! Why can’t I get through!?”

Director Oh Joong-sik, who was at a café in Kyoto with Myung-jun, repeatedly tried to contact the Gate Research Institute.

However, the research institute, completely cut off from external communication by Soo-bin, was in no position to receive his calls.

Believing all this to be Myung-jun’s doing, Nam Joon-woo angrily confronted him.

“What are you doing right now?!”

“I told you, I need to check if there’s someone imprisoned in the underground of the research institute.”

“Even so, you should follow the official procedures and wait your turn. Attacking the research institute with such forceful means is an act of complete disregard for the South Korean government!”

“But the moment we try to follow those procedures, you would probably move the imprisoned Awakener to another location. Don’t worry. I’ve instructed them not to kill anyone, even if there’s resistance.”

Nam Joon-woo gritted his teeth.

As soon as they accepted the proposal, Myung-jun exploited the loopholes in their plan.

But even so, there was nothing they could do.

They could mobilize the Awakeners from the EDA headquarters immediately, but doing so would endanger their own lives.

They finally understood Myung-jun’s true intention in calling them to Kyoto.

From the beginning, Myung-jun had planned to take them as hostages.

Realizing the full scope of the situation, Yoon Se-ah sighed and spoke to Myung-jun.

“Did you know everything?”

“As you know, we have Ito Kei, a seeker-type Awakener with the strongest sense of smell in the world. He checked samples from over 800 awakener research institutes and identified a common scent in all the samples.”

Myung-jun explained that humans, in a state of intense emotions, secrete hormones within their bodies.

Kei, whose sense of smell was thousands of times stronger than that of canines, could even discern a person’s emotional state through the hormones on a substance.

And the emotion Kei sensed from those samples was none other than resentment.

The very sensation Myung-jun had felt before his regression.

The desperate resentment of a person who, despite serving their country, had their freedom taken away under the pretext of national circumstances.

In all 800 samples, Kei strongly sensed the hormones emanating from that resentment.

“Ultimately, you have nothing to lose. If there’s truly no one imprisoned in the underground of the Gate Research Institute, you can just take the 50 Strikers. But if, by any chance, such a person is indeed imprisoned, you should abandon any hope that we might not find them.”

Director Oh Joong-sik, who had secretly hoped that Sergeant Park Seung-ho’s presence might go unnoticed due to the tight security of the facility where he was held, was startled and looked at Myung-jun in shock upon hearing his words.

Myung-jun’s next words sounded like a death sentence to him.

With endlessly cold eyes, Myung-jun said,

“The Liberal Clan member I sent is Ito Kei, the best seeker of the Liberal Clan and the most powerful tracker in the world. He is an Awakener who can find a corpse buried ten years ago if he sets his mind to it.”

At that moment, Director Oh Joong-sik, who had been clinging to a sliver of hope, abandoned all hope upon hearing Myung-jun’s words.