I didn't kill the rest since I should get some questions answered first. I expertly knocked all but what I deemed the weakest-willed one out. By expertly knocked, I mean I hit them until they fell unconscious.

I had to pull my punches. Damn, how weak are they?

[Lv 300]

Huh.

Master Wang once told me that the average citizen would reach level 100 in their lifetime while our soldiers are double that.

Three hundred is another cutoff point. Be lucky, talented, or hard working to surpass that level. Or was it all three rather than just one of those things?

How much power do I currently have? What's the final cutoff point? Master Wang said something about not reaching 'bottlenecks' if I did the attunement ritual at level 100, but that doesn't mean there isn't a 'bottle cap.'

I wonder if there are any ramifications for growing this fast.

I interrogate the only person conscious. Rather than torturing him, I leverage my entire [Royal Decree] on him to force out any answers. Unless his answers will kill him, I should get all the information I want.

Q: Why did you shoot me?

A: We have orders to exterminate any monster that breaches through a fracture.

Q: I'm noticeably human.

A: Monsters can take many forms.

Q: Do you know who I am?

A: ...you look vaguely familiar.

Q: I'm Ellis Vincere, and I was thrown into a fracture against my will. Ring any bells?

A: Oh shit.

Then I had the guy tell me everything I missed the last two months.

Apparently, the members in my [Court of Allegiance] raised hell. Everyone in the country is aware of this controversy one way or another. And that the FIB is split into two groups.

Those that want me to be found just for the noise to stop and those who give absolutely zero shits.

I still feel like there is something not right. It feels too convenient. Someone in the FIB tried to kill me by placing me somewhere dangerous, and as soon as I made it out, the FIB attempted to gun me down?

When I started working in the capital's hazard branch, I was on edge about an invisible 'higher-up' planning my downfall. The lowest-level creature I met in the [Isle of Ancient Dragons] was level 500.

Literally, any other level 200 would've died to the creatures in there if not on impact. If I didn't befriend the elves, the elves would probably try to kill me. It would've been hell finding the exit alone.

Traveling around without movement skills aside, not having people watching my back would force me to be more careful of where I went, slowing my travel.

I wouldn't have killed the Land-Tyrant. If I even got that far, I'd jump into the volcano.

I take the gun and ammo from the man who shot a hole in me and wake him up with healing. I enforce my [Royal Decree] on him and get more answers.

He's the team leader and got direct orders to terminate anything that popped down here with extreme prejudice, even more so than usual. When did he get those orders? Roughly two months ago.

What to do...

Let me scheme for a second. I borrow a phone from a corpse and make a phone call.

~~~

I told Free Chains I was free and a summary of my predicament and what put me in that situation.

Free Chains knew I was stuck somewhere and became free as soon as I was. Duchess told him.

She noticed instantly and alerted the rest of the court. They'd been making preparations for this moment, so there wasn't much scheming I could do. I sent Free Chains a collage of pictures so he could prove my situation.

That I'm alive. That I'm free. I'm in a FIB containment site.

...I have a funny idea. It might work out in my favor, might not. After looting the bodies, I forced their leader to inform their superiors about what happened.

Inform them that Ellis Vincere escaped from a fracture that someone in the FIB put him in in an attempt to kill him. And that half his squad was murdered in self-defense.

Rampage. Murder. Desecrate. Those aren't the feelings I'm feeling.

I got more benefits from the fracture than detriments. But that isn't why I'm not feeling those things. I'm feeling overwhelmingly rational. I want those behind everything to be punished, not the randoms they use to shield themselves.

That bald asshole will get his due diligence, but it wouldn't end after his death. There has to be a conspiracy. There has to be one. An itch tells me I'm going to uncover who wanted me dead.

My two hearts beat with the rhythm of an engine. I wonder how high up this goes. Am I scared? No, the opposite.

Stolen novel; please report.

If this was me not even a year ago, I would've shit my pants and hid behind my Master's doors when a seemingly overwhelming group had it out for me. But things have changed.

I still have no idea if the Stricklands are after me and why they radicalized that online blogger to attack me publically, then literally.

The walkie-talkie crackles with life, and whoever is on the other line confirms they got the message. I grab their walkie-talkie and speak into it. I'm also scrolling through some websites with the phone I borrowed.

I only have one arm, so I place the smartphone on the ground and use my foot.

"Hello."

"Who is this?"

"...what a silly question."

"What do you want, Ellis? Can I call you Ellis?"

"I don't know who you are. Why are you asking about what I want? I'm not a hostage taker. If I desire reparations, I'll go through the proper channels."

"I'm Commander W of the security task force in the FIB."

"I don't recall asking."

"Listen. I'll come down and meet you personally, and we can talk about the skirmish that happened in the tunnels."

"Do you want to cover it up?"

"I want to de-escalate the situation. You seem to be a smart man. We can talk things out, right?"

This dude is treating me like a terrorist or something. I guess that's what happens when a single man takes a squad of lv300s without much issue... These people don't seem that strong.

I could probably take them out as a level 200. During my interrogation, I also asked about my location.

I know I'm in a FIB containment place, but am I still in the capital? The answer is yes. I'm not far from where I was snatched. After getting some directions, I start moving.

"Hey. Check the news. If you want things to de-escalate, call your boss's boss or whoever can help me get justice."

With all the media coverage regarding my disappearance, Free Chains gained some contacts in the news. Because of that, they were able to push out some breaking news. With the photos I provided, the reporters from different news agencies churned out articles about my return.

"......Mr. Vincere, someone will contact you. Please stay on this frequency."

My 'funny idea' is to contact the highest person in the FIB I can and make a deal with them before *I* publically say anything. Either I get the help of some top brass or even the director himself, or I get some insights on how far up this conspiracy goes.

First, I should move to the hazard branch, where I was snatched away. Maybe I can find some clues or my stuff? It is a shot in the dark, but the people on the other side of this walkie-talkie are moving, so I should, too.

I found a service elevator. The doors require a keycard to open, so I jam my fingers through the seam where the two elevator doors meet. The mental bends and creaks.

I rip the doors open and stand inside. Here, a FIB ID card is needed to go up or down, a card different from the keycard to unlock doors. Pity that all my stuff is gone.

I jump lightly and punch up. My fist tears through the ceiling of the elevator. It's a bit awkward, but I pull myself up. The steel elevator cable is right in front of me.

I look up and gauge the distance before climbing... with one arm. It wasn't hard, but slightly inconvenient.

~~~

The hazard branch is next to the containment branch and shares storage facilities for hazardous fractures. The hazard branch manages its fractures but uses containment branch technology and resources.

Because of this close relationship, an access tunnel under both branches connects the two to make work convenient. ...And to keep hazard branch members publicly distanced from the FIB.

I didn't go topside to the office first. First, I went right outside my fracture, then where I was surrounded and had a fracture thrown at me.

There was nothing. Not on the ceiling, walls, or floors. My fracture isn't even there anymore. A notice from the research branch is plastered on the secure door about it being moved to a research facility.

Mother fuckers.

One step at a time. One problem at a time.

I came up with an ingenious way to bypass FIB security checkpoints.

I run straight through them. I have a might of 1100. That's 220 times stronger than a human without any levels. Even WITHOUT my [Environmental Movement], which doubles (+55% or +110%) my movement speed, I can break the sound barrier twice over.

Air resistance and friction slow me down considerably, and turning and stopping would be a problem, but that's what my resistances are for.

It doesn't matter if you can break the sound barrier if your organs shatter from the force, your skin rips from your flesh, and your legs shatter from each step.

I fill my lungs with air and run through the underground passageways, uncaring for the people at the checkpoints. Luckily for them, I don't think I trampled anyone. Not directly.

After climbing another elevator shaft, I'm officially back at the hazard branch. My office is gone. I commandeered a janitor's closet, but it was still MY office. Semantics aside, this irks me.

...not a lot of people in the office today... I don't know if that's good or bad.

A guy pushing a dolly of boxes of what seems to be paperwork turns the corner. We lock eyes. I'm dressed in bloody leathers held together with teeth and bones, and he's in a suit.

He abandons his dolly and casually tries to walk away, so I use [Royal Decree] to walk us into a nearby meeting room, which was thankfully empty.

"Hey, Ellis, right? Please don't hurt me. I don't know what you did to my body for me to consensually move."

"There was a bald guy with an entourage. Who is he?"

"Huh?"

I push my skill more, forcing an answer.

"I honestly need time to process what you're asking? Is this related to the hazard branch, the FIB, or both?"

"A bald man with a squad of battle-ready people accosted me outside my fracture on the way to the hazard branch's exit. Since he had specialized gloves to hold a fracture and a fracture that was thrown at me. With those context clues, I assume he works for one of the branches in the FIB."

"Oh... okay. I know a lot of bald people in the FIB."

"Start with captains or people who can command a large team... with access to high-level fractures."

"Uh, did the bald man not have eyebrows? Or any hair?"

"...no. I don't recall that person having any hair. Why? Do you know someone like that?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I do. Captain of Subsidiaries Jerimiah of the hazard branch has universal alopecia. No hair at all, congenital, I think. I deliver him lotions and creams every other Thursday."

"Could it be someone else?"

"Uh... Probably."

"Huh?"

"I just remembered that he left for a fracture two months ago and has been missing in action. No one has heard from him since he entered. I don't recall if he left before or after the... incident regarding you."

"...Is there anyone else?"

"There are a few bald captains, but only one bald Captain of Subsidiaries. I can write a list of bald people in the hazard branch."

"What do you do here?"

"Deliver coffee, paperwork, and lotion - I guess - around the office. Lots of paperwork and coffee."

I got a list from the helpful assistant before telling him not to talk about anything regarding me, and he agreed before sprinting away.