Kang Woo exhaled, voice quiet.
"…Guess I'll just sell it. Though first—"
He smirked. "Let's raise the tension. Let the market beg for it before the price skyrockets."
Suddenly A pair of arms wrapped tightly around him from behind, clinging with unexpected desperation.
"Kang Woooo~!" Kobeni's voice came muffled against his coat. "I missed you! You didn't even message me once—even though you left me in that four-star hotel!"
Kang Woo blinked once, lips twitching. Then slowly, he looked over his shoulder, an amused glint in his eyes.
Kobeni stood there clinging to his back like a kitten, dressed in a fresh devil hunter uniform—jacket slightly oversized, badge hanging awkwardly at her belt.
He raised an eyebrow. "Did you… just join Public Safety?"
She immediately nodded, face flushed. "Y-Yes! So I can be more useful to you! I don't want to be just the Kobeni who panics and runs… I want to be the Kobeni who stands at your side. Always."
Kang Woo turned around fully now , reached out and gently patted her head. "Good, Then stand tall… even if you tremble."
Kobeni's eyes shimmered, clutching those words like a lifeline.
A low hum of an engine pulled their attention away. A sleek black sedan came to a stop just five meters down the road—its polished surface stained slightly by dust and ash. The door opened.
Makima stepped out, coat fluttering gently behind her in the breeze.
Aki, standing nearby, straightened immediately and gave a respectful bow.
"Makima-san."
Makima walked forward, heels clicking softly over the ruined pavement. Then, stopping just in front of Kang Woo, she smirked faintly—the kind of smirk she only wore when she'd won.
"Told you I'd find you," she said smoothly, folding her arms. "As long as you're still on the ground."
Kang Woo didn't respond immediately. The cruciform key was still in his hand, catching Makima's gaze like a magnet. Her eyes narrowed just slightly, curiosity blooming behind them.
Makima murmured, eyeing the strange, interlocking relic, "what does that open? Don't tell me it's some treasure hunt."
Kang Woo stared back at her. Then, with the faintest grin, he pocketed the key and said, "Let's go back to your Public Safety HQ, We've got things to discuss."
He leaned in just enough for her to hear his next words—a whisper against the edge of her ear:
"That key? To the right buyer… it's worth over a hundred million dollars."
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
Inside the Public Safety HQ cafeteria, the fluorescent lights buzzed faintly overhead, casting a sterile glow on the group gathered around two long tables pushed together.
Denji was already halfway through his third plate of curry rice, slurping shamelessly.
Aki leaned back slightly, arms crossed, and glanced over.
"How's your arm, Denji? Healed yet?"
Denji grinned, wiping sauce from his cheek with the back of his hand.
"As long as there's blood, I'm good. That's what Pochita told me when I first became a hybrid. Instant refill."
Power kicked her chair back and scoffed loudly. "Pathetic! You brag about healing from a scratch while I was eaten and still survived!"
"You were unconscious the whole time!" Denji barked.
Makima just sipped her tea, unreadable.
Himeno chuckled and looked around the group.
"Where's Arai? It'd be fun if he joined us. He always looks like he's about to scream in situations like this."
Aki shook his head, expression mildly thoughtful. "Arai doesn't want to get deeper into this mess. Said he wants to help people… not get caught in Alien -level threats and devils with world-ending hobbies."
Then his eyes turned to Kang Woo. "…Isn't that right, Kang Woo? This is about the key you're holding, isn't it?"
Kang Woo didn't respond immediately. He sat one seat over, arms resting casually on the table, while an open ROG laptop beside him softly whirred. On its screen, an encrypted program ran lines of data and web crawlers silently — pinging hidden servers, archives, and dark web chatter.
Makima glanced at the screen, then tilted her head toward him with a teasing lilt in her voice.
"It's rude, you know," she said lightly, "to play RPGs during Eat Time and ignore your friends."
Kang Woo didn't even look up. His fingers tapped once on the keyboard before replying with a half-smile. "I'm a two birds, one stone kind of guy, What I'm doing now? Multitasking.
The others leaned slightly closer as if instinctively drawn to Kang Woo's quiet confidence.
He finally looked up, eyes calm, tone casual — but carefully measured.
Kang Woo said, "To simplify it, this key will open something inside a sunken submarine."
Himeno broke into laughter. Loud, unfiltered. "Pfft—Ahahaha! That's rich!". "Kang Woo, chasing a lost sunken ship now? What's next, treasure maps?"
She leaned across the table, picked up the beer pitcher, and poured some into Kang Woo's glass. Then filled her own.
"A toast," she declared dramatically, "to the drunkard and the lunatic — one who dives for a submarine instead of picking a normal fight."
Denji clinked his chopsticks against his glass. "Yosaaa, cheers to that!"
Aki, ever the composed one, merely exhaled and shook his head slightly. "Please continue, What's inside the submarine?"
Kang Woo's fingers curled slightly, tapping the table. Then, with slow precision, he pulled the now-complete cruciform key from his coat and set it down on the table between them.
"Inside that submarine, is something called a Podkova Drive. A stealth system — self-learning, evolving, more advanced than anything this era should have."
Kang Woo looked across the table, making sure they understood. "If you think brute force can destroy the vault holding it, you're dead wrong. The Sevastopol's vault is locked to this key. Without it… the submarine self-destructs."
He gave a short, almost amused breath. "And there goes the Podkova. Along with anyone stupid enough to be nearby."
Power leaned back in her chair with her usual smug frown, arms crossed. "Pathetic ,That means the ship is weak. It sank."
Kang Woo tilted his head slightly, unbothered. "For seventy-five days, no one could detect it. Not a ping. Then suddenly… it was 'sunk.'" He raised an eyebrow. "To simplify: with that drive installed, nothing can detect you."
Power made a face. "Don't wanna understand. Too weak for me."
Denji waved a hand as he chewed on his meat. "She's always like that. Just ignore her."
Himeno gave a sympathetic shrug. "Mmm. I understand your pain."
Makima rested her chin lightly against her knuckles, her eyes locked on Kang Woo. "Kang Woo," she said, tone even, "your opinion. How did that submarine sink in the first place?"
Kang Woo smiled dryly. "It might be a lie," he said, voice low and slightly playful. "Also… you do know I'm a very high-grade chunni."
Makima didn't blink. "Tell that to the Citadel of Ricks, That place is filled with nothing but drunkard Ricks. Compared to them… you might just be mid-grade at best."
"Thank you for the compliment," Kang Woo replied with mock sincerity. Then his expression shifted, tone turning more clinical. "Now… back to the main topic."
He tapped the table near the cruciform key.
"On February 29th, 2012, the Sevastopol encountered something strange in theie long travel c. The official report says it engaged a U.S. Virginia-class submarine… and lost. It got detected—somehow—and took a direct torpedo hit."
Himeno smirked and leaned in, swirling the last of her beer. "You really love storytelling, don't you, Kang Woo?"
Aki crossed his arms, frowning slightly. "Himeno-senpai, I don't even know what the Sevastopol is or what really happened. I think he's trying to clarify the full picture."
Kang Woo nodded once. "Right. Now here's where it gets strange."
He leaned forward, voice calm but edged. "The Virginia-class torpedoes—specifically the Mk 48 ADCAPs—don't have enough destructive yield to fully rupture a sub like Sevastopol. That hull was built for arctic ice-breaking, reinforced against depth compression and thermal anomalies. The math doesn't add up."
"So?" Denji asked, chewing loudly.
"My guess?" Kang Woo said, eyes gleaming. "The Sevastopol sank itself. Fired its own torpedo… from within. A self-destruct protocol. Maybe triggered by a breach."
Makima's gaze narrowed slightly. Power snored beside her with complete disinterest.
Himeno raised her eyebrows. "A suicide ship? For something that valuable?"
Kang Woo tilted his head. "For something like the Podkova Drive? Yes. Absolutely."
There was a brief pause. Then Makima leaned back slightly, eyes never leaving his.
Makima said coolly. " I have my own theory . To complete your half-ass theory."
Kang Woo grinned. "If I'm half-ass, then maybe you're the perfect one, Makima."
Makima ignored the compliment, lips twitching only slightly before continuing, voice sharp.
"My guess is the Sevastopol did detect the Virginia-class submarine. And it fired a torpedo… but the Virginia wasn't really there. Or rather, something glitched. It vanished."
Aki furrowed his brow. "Wasn't there, Makima-san? So… the submarine was like a devil? Has some kind of supernatural trait?"
Makima shook her head. "No. Not like devils. More like a phantom. Something wrong in the Sevastopol's sensors—maybe the radar had a bug,. The torpedo launched, locked onto the false data… and looped back. Turned tail. Hit the Sevastopol itself."
Aki rubbed his temple. "I still think someone inside sabotaged the ship. A mutiny. The explosion came from within, just like Kang Woo said."
Makima turned to him calmly. "A mutiny would leave records. And the Soviets weren't that reckless, especially not on a black-budget sub like that. I believe there was a third party inside the Sevastopol. Something else is inside there ."
Kang Woo didn't say a word. He simply sat there, watching her, a smile ghosting his lips. Would you look at that, he thought. Makima's already guessing the wrong answer. But it's still not enough to realize there's a rogue AI—an Entity—trapped inside that metal coffin.
Makima leaned slightly forward, eyes steady and unreadable. "Kang Woo… how about we find the Sevastopol ourselves?" she said. "I'm more interested in what's really inside that Podkova Drive."
Kang Woo tilted his head faintly, lips quirking again. "You sure?". "The Sevastopol can't be detected. Every nation has tried. Satellites, sonar sweeps,."
He leaned closer to her, just enough for his voice to drop into a whisper only she could hear.
"Your range of detection," he murmured, "relies on what lifeform you borrow. Mice. Crows. Rats. Urban scavengers. But the Sevastopol? It's below 3,000 meters. That's deep—far into the abyssal zone. Not even most fish survive there."
Kang-woo gave her a long look. "And tell me, Makima—have you ever controlled a fish?"
Makima said nothing at first. Her lips remained curved, but her silence said more than words. She hadn't.
Before she could answer, Denji shot up from his seat, one fist raised like he'd just won a lottery ticket. "I say we sell that key!" he declared with his usual half-mad grin. "If it's worth like a hundred million dollars… that's probably more than the entire yen in Japan, right?!"
Aki didn't even look at him. "Do you want me to smack you again, Denji?"
Himeno leaned back, swirling her beer in a half-full glass. "Still," she grinned. "Denji's got a point. Moneyyy~ I want to get rich."
Power slammed both hands on the table. "Yes! More money means more karaage! And meat! And more meat on top of the meat!"