Mercenary Black Mamba

"Close your eyes."

Black Mamba lightly held Leah's head with his two hands. The brain was still an unreachable realm despite modern medical advances. A single mistake could cause an accident.

Boom—

His dimensional sight swept past her brain. There wasn't much difference. Nothing changed, even after several tries. Black Mamba decided to change his approach. The dimensional sight was a basic detective sense that located the animals' living energy.

A parasite was detectable because it had a different wavelength. In order to detect the unique substance, he had no choice but to use resonance. Unlike the dimensional sight, resonance was physical. There was a risk of turning a weak brain to mush.

"Trust yourself when taking action. The moment doubt settles, your consciousness will turn Namu Amita Bul back into Namu Amita Bul. Fists can't break a rock, can it? It breaks from will."

It was his master's words that he'd heard endlessly while he trained in the five combined movements.

Booom—

The resonance which swirled around his veins and meridian was pushed down into his two arms. He rescinded most of the resonance, leaving partially behind. He pushed the thin strands of resonance into her veins as though he was pulling fuel out of Korean paper.

It was said that an adult human's vein length added up to 120,000 kilometers. 10 percent of that length was in the brain. It was extraordinary, even without the minor veins.

His hair grew damp from sweat. Sweat dripped down from Black Mamba's forehead. Edel carefully wiped them off with the hem of her clothes.

"Found it!"

It had almost taken an hour. He had found several blood clots near the motor and language central systems after sweeping every vein with his resonance, several times.

The resonance's vibrations grew stronger.

Boom—

Boom—

It kept knocking on the clots as though it was breaking the hardened vein apart. He wasn't able to increase the resonance's power in case the sensitive construction became damaged.

It took 30 minutes for him to drill through all six blood clots. Two capillaries had lost their elasticity and were damaged, but that wasn't a major problem. Black Mamba collapsed, completely tired out. His entire body was wet as though he'd been in water.

"Edel, I've managed to break through all six capillaries."

Edel's face brightened.

"Oh my god, you've finally done it!"

"Ugh, I'm never going to do this again."

"Oh, look at all this sweat. Oh, dear!"

Edel hovered, not knowing what to do. As a doctor, she knew how much strength Black Mamba had used. What Professor Giz had said about him shortening his lifespan didn't seem like a lie.

"It's fine. When do you think this kid will recover?"

"The dead cells will be replaced or regenerated in about two months. I'll check in on her with an MRI tomorrow."

"That's good."

"Leah, how do you feel?"

Leah didn't respond to Edel's question.

"Leah, you need to reply if someone older than you asks a question."

"Yes, I feel really good," Leah replied immediately.

"I don't get how he does it!"

Edel shook her head. She had never been refused by a child, even in her memories. Children could tell whether a stranger truly liked or disliked themselves. That man was someone who could make a disabled child open her heart to him. There wasn't a man like him in this world.

Her father, who'd hung limply off the cross, she who had to hide from fear—she had grown to respect the emotional strength from those incidents. Black Mamba's strength was something unimaginable within humanity!

She even wanted to foolishly ask him to seek revenge for her father but not anymore. He wasn't someone who took on an individual's request like a problem solver. He was the Ashura who saved the world by burning himself. Her face turned bright red, like a Rhododendron indicum.

A mother knew her child's differences, best.

"Oh, Leah! What happened? You're walking with your head straight," Julie said in happiness.

Leah had always walked with her head, tilted to the right.

"Madame, Leah's been completely treated."

"What do you mean?"

Julie looked at Edel with an inquisitive expression.

"Leah's speech and motor centers had been blocked by capillaries. The brain cells had died due to a lack of oxygen."

"That, how is that possible, the hospital never told me that. I thought autism was...when did you conduct the surgery?" Julie stuttered.

She couldn't understand what Edel was saying.

"Black opened the blocked veins in her brain. The brain is homeostatic. The necrotic parts will be replaced by healthy cells once the oxygen and nutrients are supplied. Your days are going to be different from now on. She'll run around and chatter away like a sparrow."

"Oh, how wonderful would that be. Black, is doctor Edel speaking the truth?"

Julie looked at Black Mamba. It was a desperate gaze. Julie looked like she might believe a pebble was a stone if Black Mamba said so.

"Mom!"

His mother's face overlapped with Madame Julie's face. He'd once scraped his knee on Shinjak-ro. His mother who'd licked his wound because they had no medicine, his mother who had secretly handed him a rice cake at her family's reunion party, and his mother who used to mend socks underneath the dim light. Mothers all across the world were similar in that way, whether the land or water changed.

"Julie, Leah will be a troublesome child, who'd bounce around, unable to restrain her newfound strength in two months. I'll swear that by my name, Black. My cousin has to be better than all the other children, right?"

"Oh my god! Leah becoming a troublemaker...my husband has sent you. He's sent me Mr. Long-Legs! Oh!"

Julie clung on to Black Mamba's waist as she cried.

She'd momentarily thought of dying the moment she heard of her husband's death. What could she do with the few dollars of veteran's aid? Fear overstepped her sadness.

She had no courage to continue living with her two daughters. Black had kicked her murky future away and fixed her daughter's autism too. Her chest had been filled with darkness even when she had stepped inside the hospital room. One ray of hope turned her entire world brighter once more.

"I've no idea how to repay this huge debt. I heard monsieur Ombuti and the lackey are your servants. I'll be your maid, then."

Black Mamba jumped at the unexpected declaration. His head swirled.

"What are you saying! No, they're not my servants but my friends. Julie, you can repay me by helping others."

"Of course. Of course, I will."

Julie nodded her head like a Chinese grasshopper.

Emil and Jang Shin, who had been enjoying macaroons and tarts, began to whisper to each other.

"Look at that b*stard. He's making an older woman cry on top of all the young women. Those kind of bad b*stards need to be sent back to the Sahel."

"Have you rubbed cheese over your eyes? He's gained another follower. I feel like he would establish a new religion soon."

"Ha, right, that guy hates showing off in front of other people and would rather die. He's basically the dark lord or the boss behind the scenes, someone among those types."

"How unfortunate."

"What is?"

"If we used a dojo in China, we'd have gathered mountains of money. It probably won't happen, would it?"

"Shh, Ombuti's coming. Don't call Black Mamba a b*stard if you don't want to be chased out into that snowstorm."

"Damn it. I can't even chew my friend out because of the servant."

"We need to be wary of Edel too. She's becoming more and more like Ombuti."

"The Ombuti virus is really scary. It's fatal."

"Tsk, it's so unfortunate. A dojo would have earned us so much."

Jang Shin was unable to hide his dismay, as any other money-loving Chinese would have.

There was no party that didn't end. Night fell. Ombuti brought the families to the reserved hotel.

"Black, my new son, may God's protection be with you."

Emma and Emily weren't letting go of Black Mamba's hands.

"Thank you. Thank you so much."

Pierre couldn't move away, either. Julie had shoved her crying face into Black Mamba's chest. Leah had fallen asleep in his arms.

His heart warmed. Sympathizing was a part of a human's condition. Sympathizing with positive emotions contributed to a human's happiness. Happiness was necessary to live, and sympathy was needed to be happy.

"This is harder than the battle of Er Ekdim." Black Mamba sprawled across the bed.

"Everyone was happy, thanks to you. We've made you out to be a cold-hearted, evil man to gain those rewards. Colonel Philip, no, major general will go into hysterics whenever he hears your name. Forgive him, won't you?" Paul laughed in glee.

"Good. Showing your emotions doesn't help. We only need to gain what we need to gain."

Those were emotionless words. Paul was shocked. The sight of his unbending personality towards his emotions, despite his young age, was always surprising.

Is it because he had lived as a monk before?

"Do you find it strange that I'm not mad?"

"Yes. It could be said that you are the greatest victim of mission Raccoon. You had to roll around in a sea of blood, the very blood you hate, due to betrayal and schemes. I find it heart-wrenching. You're not a human who'd flip out from emotional rage, but I had thought you'd cause a scene."

"An organization has its own will. The will of an individual is bound to be overlooked by the organization's will. There are many unfortunate variables. Paul, you've made several decisions for the sake of the organization in Chad, too. We simply need to forgive, but never forget."

Paul's back grew cold.

This human wasn't just a human who was strong in battle. He was a human with high intelligence. He was a human who'd followed the leader's decision despite knowing his leader's mistakes, for the sake of the organization's survival.

"You've handled things smoothly, but I still find some things unfortunate. I wanted to beat them up some more."

"Paul, curses go away when the gold jingles. We've got a lot of knots here and there, but we're soldiers. Mercenaries, on top of that. Since the country's given us appropriate compensation, we should forget about it."

Paul couldn't help but laugh. His actions until now, which had been aimed towards relieving Black Mamba's anger under colonel Philip's order, became meaningless.

"Paul, you led the team very well. You have some stubborn sides, but you were an amazing soldier. It's a life that doesn't last 100 years. A good friend makes life bountiful. You're Black Mamba's good friend."

Black Mamba slapped Paul's back with the back of his hand.

"Hmm, it's nice to hear a compliment from Black Mamba. Your presence is like salt, which makes everyone around you happy. You didn't minimize your rewards trying to gain your friends', right?"

"I received enough. Bonipas and Jermain's heads would have ached. The newly instated Head of Africa had commenced a surprise attack just then, much to my gratitude."

"Keke, why don't you shove your head up an alligator's jaw if you want to die. Did you kill everyone?"

"What's the point of killing those small fries? I frowned, and they gave me a bunch of bribes in exchange for silence."

"There's no point in thanking them, is there?"

"They're humans with stinking rears. They'd be over the moon since I've received those bribes."

"I suppose Miguel won't survive your temper."

"I went to Annecy Lake this morning."

"Annecy? Are you talking about the Annecy in the Southern Alps?"

"He was hiding there. He was really scared of me. He became roasted."

"Roasted?"

"He covered himself in white phosphorus. There won't be any traces of his bones."

"You've given him Allah's judgment, then."

Paul's back became cold again. He was someone who'd sinned, but to burn him in white phosphorus was something only the Kanma would do. That b*stard had been playing with Burimer's two daughters not a moment ago. He had been worrying about the children's future and crying over the old couple's hands. It was certain. His base nature was that of a monster's.

"So, is everything over?"

"There's still that b*stard Geofrey and colonel Tanshe."

"Ha, well, you're not going to listen to me even if I stop you, so I should just express my regrets to them."

Their fates were over now that the Angel of Death was eyeing them.

"Do you know where the 11th Airborne Brigade is located?"

"It seems like you need some explanation. The 11th Airborne Brigade belongs to the Special Integrated Command. Eight regiments are organized under their command. Our Deuxieme Rep is a part of those eight regiments. Each regiment operates two or three GCP[1]. The GCP is an elite combat group of 12. There's a high possibility that those who've attacked the hospital are the GCP. They're the people you need to be wary of."

"If they're the elites, they've all been discharged." Black Mamba laughed, but Paul's expression didn't relax.

"On your level, perhaps. Anyway, they're the mobility strike team. The GCP is an elite organization that moves out in three minutes, the main regiment in five with a signal. When Tanshe learns of Miguel's death, he's going to send over a smoke of humans. If they camp out in blocks and focus their firepower, you won't be safe either."

"That's why I'm moving today. Don't forget. I'm an assassin."

Paul slapped his head.

"Right. Who can stop a shadow? What I wanted to say was that the airborne brigade isn't an easy organization. The main headquarters of the airborne brigade is at Dover Beach. Tanshe should be at the headquarters, while there's a high possibility that Geofrey would be at George Island. There's a Unified Elite Post commanded prison in George Island. The serpent may have gotten rid of Miguel but not Tanshe. You can't leave any traces of Black killing that b*stard."

"You're right. Le Havre and George Island, this is becoming annoying."

[1] Groupement des Commandos; The Commando Parachute Group.