Chapter 817: PAID

Childhood Friend of the ZenithWords: 1994

After finishing my conversation with the Celestial Stream Sect Leader and returning, the sun had already set.

I entered the base without any inspection and headed straight to the quarters prepared for us—a relatively spacious area set aside for our unit.

Hah-!

Hoo-!

Shouts echoed in my ears, coming from the training ground within the quarters.

It seemed they were absorbed in their training.

I turned my steps toward the source.

The training ground wasn’t particularly large, so there weren’t many people inside. I counted—just over ten.

Moreover—

‘Exactly the ones I expected.’

None of the men assigned by the Alliance were there. Only those I had personally selected were present.

They wouldn’t be openly practicing their clan’s secret techniques here, so this was likely just basic physical training.

I waved my hand lightly.

Whoosh—!!

The aura gathered inside dispersed and flowed out through the window.

The eyes of the trainees turned toward me, reacting to the disturbance.

“Leader?”

“I told you to rest. You’re really bad at listening.”

“Oh, you’re back.”

“Yeah. Nothing happened while I was gone, right?”

“No, the base’s accommodations have been quite comfortable.”

“This doesn’t look like resting, but… Anyway, where are the others?”

“They’re probably resting in their assigned quarters.”

“Is that so?”

I asked a question I already knew the answer to while scanning their faces.

I needed to memorize their appearances for future use.

“Deputy Tang.”

I called out Tang So-yeol, who was among the group training.

She looked up with widened eyes at being singled out.

“Yes?”

“I need to talk to you. Come see me after training. By sunset should be fine?”

“Ah, understood.”

After delivering my message, I turned and left.

I had no further business at the training grounds, so I strolled around the quarters, keeping an eye out for people.

It wasn’t long before—

“…Hmm?”

I witnessed a strange scene.