# Chapter 116
Someone suddenly grabbed Ben’s arm. Startled by the unexpected touch, Ben hastily shook off the man’s hand.
But it was useless. With the arm not budging, Ben frowned and glared fiercely at the man.
Ben considered whether he should use his superpower.
Though abilities shouldn’t be used against ordinary citizens, this strength was beyond what any normal person could possess. Although he couldn’t know exactly who this person was or where they belonged, this person must be a superpowered individual. There would be no disadvantages to him if he were to use his superstrength.
But the problem was that he might not be able to get any clues about Kane.
“Who are you?”
The person was covered in all-black clothing. With their hat pulled down low, it was difficult to see their face clearly.
The man silently stared at Ben, who was looking at his captured arm lost in thought. Just as he was about to reach out hesitantly, Ben raised his head, making the man lower his hand again.
“What exactly are you planning?”
Instead of answering, the man led Ben into a dark alley.
“…”
“Where are we going…!”
Ben, being dragged to a place without a speck of light, kept trying to speak to the man, but he remained silent. Growing increasingly displeased at the feeling of talking to a wall, Ben finally used his superstrength to stop the man.
“Where is Kane?”
Barely suppressing his rising anger, Ben applied force to the arm that was holding the man. The man’s hand stiffened momentarily in pain.
“If you don’t want it broken, you’d better speak quickly.”
Breaking a person’s wrist is a simple task. Despite feeling the grip strength increasing, the man just kept staring at Ben silently. Soon he raised his free opposite arm.
Thinking he might be attacking, Ben frowned at the man’s next action. He had started removing his hat.
Ben had thought the man was trying to hide his identity, but was that not the case?
Hair that had been pressed down by the hat fluttered in the wind. With the covering gone, Ben could examine the man’s face in detail.
“You’re…”
The man was someone Ben couldn’t fail to recognize. Taken aback, Ben uttered his name.
“Kay…?”
Brown hair with lighter brown eyes. Slightly dark skin and a robust physique. It was the appearance of the man that matched the Kay in his memory.
But even though he knew his identity, Ben couldn’t easily accept it. After all, Kay, an executive of ‘Alice,’ was already dead. Peace’s research team had even confirmed it.
Ben couldn’t hide his suspicious expression.
“Weren’t you dead?”
“Somehow, I’m alive.”
Ben felt irritation rising at the casual tone, but he tried to maintain his composure. Thinking coolly, whether Kay was alive or not wasn’t really his concern. They were barely connected in the first place.
“Why did you call for me?”
Yet despite the fact that Ben could tell Raymon that ‘Kay is alive,’ Kay deliberately came to him. What could be the reason for taking such a risk to meet him?
“Is it because of the battle from before?”
Since their first meeting was in the Peace lobby, there was no other reason if not that.
“…”
Kay, who had been silent throughout, finally opened his lips slightly. An unreadable gaze was directed at Ben.
“Do you still believe in Peace?”
Though there was a hint of apology in his voice, Ben didn’t notice it.
“…Why do you ask?”
“Please answer me.”
Ben just didn’t like that Kay was brushing off all his questions and only saying what he wanted to say. Ben scoffed at Kay, who was anxiously waiting for his answer.
“I don’t have any obligation to tell you that.”
Whatever his purpose was, Ben wasn’t foolish enough to speak carelessly to an enemy. Just as he was about to open his mouth, thinking he should extract information about Kay quickly and then leave.
“Then would you tell Kane?”
Ben’s words never left his mouth. Because as soon as Kay finished his statement, Ben reached out first.
BANG—
In an instant, Kay’s neck was caught in Ben’s grip. With superstrength that wasn’t deliberately controlled, Kay’s back hit the wall hard. Kay let out a painful groan.
“Kuh…!”
“Where is Kane?”
Half-crazed eyes were filled with killing intent, as if ready to kill at any moment. He had tried to hold back. But it was hard to endure Kay’s attitude any longer, bringing up Kane as a threat.
“If I bring Kane… will you tell me?”
Kay, whose face had been contorted in pain, returned to an expressionless state and asked. His complexion was still bright red, proving his lack of breath, but his extremely composed demeanor made Ben wonder for a moment if his ability wasn’t working.
With Kay’s attitude as if his own life didn’t matter at all, Ben experienced the strange phenomenon of his anger subsiding.
“Fine, so bring him quickly.”
Ben, now drained of energy, treated Kay much more calmly than before. Though he still didn’t remove his hand from Kay’s neck.
Looking at the calmer Ben, Kay once again spoke words that were hard to understand.
“…You said he would die.”
“What?”
“In the note, you said Kane would die.”
Ben, who initially intended to ignore it, stiffened at the subsequent words. That was definitely something only Kane would know.
“How do you…”
Could Kane have told him? Of course, since he knew about receiving the music box as a gift, it wasn’t strange that he also knew about the note’s contents.
But… there was something that had been bothering him all along. If Kane had been kidnapped, they wouldn’t have questioned him about such trivial matters. The reason for the kidnapping wouldn’t be to learn about his personal life.
For Kay to know such details, the most plausible explanation would be that Kane was a spy, but…
He couldn’t avoid the brainwashing that would make him die if he disclosed information about the experiments to outsiders. In the end, no hypothesis could be the correct answer. It was Kay who broke Ben’s thoughts as he was getting increasingly lost in the labyrinth.
“How would I know?”
Kay spoke as if he had read Ben’s thoughts. But rather than a mocking tone, there was a stronger atmosphere of distress. The calm end of his words trembled subtly.
“There are various abilities in the world.”
“…No way.”
“Becoming another person is nothing compared to those.”
Kay’s expression gradually crumbled. As if afraid of Ben’s reaction, Kay slightly avoided his gaze.
Although it was just a few seconds, all kinds of thoughts crossed Ben’s mind. The impact of someone hitting his head arrived. Ben muttered in disbelief.
“You were Kane?”
He had never even considered it. That Kay was Kane. But the man was saying he was Kane. His reaction, not denying it, was proof.
Now he could understand why Kane knew about the notes they exchanged and the contents written there, and why he used the music box as a hint to lure him here. Because he was Kane. It would be strange not to know.
However, even in a situation where everything fit together, Ben couldn’t accept the fact that Kay was Kane.
Ben remained frozen like a statue, not thinking to move. And without realizing it, he was applying even more force to his grip on Kay’s neck.
Though it must be painful, Kay was accepting his fading breath as a matter of course without resistance.
“To be honest now, Hans was also… me.”
At the faint voice, Ben hastily asked.
“…What? But the timing—”
Only then did Ben notice Kay, who had turned deathly pale. Ben, who had no intention to kill, quickly withdrew his hand.
“Are, you alright?”
Kay, who had just been released, collapsed ungracefully. Supporting his body with his arm, he exhaled deeply, making up for the lack of breath. Finally, air filled his lungs. After taking several more deep breaths, Kay spoke without even clearing his raspy throat.
“Becoming Kane happened a bit later.”
Kay, who had stood up perfectly fine, really seemed unaffected. Thinking his worry had been unnecessary, Ben smiled emptily.
He wished Kay would tell him it was a lie.
“…So you came to let me know you’ve been playing me?”
He had trusted Kane. Trusted Hans. For the first time, he had someone precious. That’s why he wanted to protect them and didn’t want to cause their death.
But it was just a one-sided feeling. To Kay, he was just an enemy. An enemy that could be killed at any time.
He didn’t trust them expecting something in return, but he couldn’t help feeling a terrible sense of betrayal.
Eyes marked with deep wounds stared at Kay. It was a wound so deep that even Kay could clearly read it, with a depth that couldn’t be fathomed.
Kay’s head fell limply. Ben must be feeling the same emotion that he had felt towards Zenon.
The feeling of being dominated by a betrayal deeper than anything else was so painful that he never wanted to experience it again. Yet he had made Ben go through that emotion.
It was unavoidable. But he couldn’t even make excuses to Ben. Because he knew that no words could erase Ben’s wounds.
“No.”
If he had been playing with Ben, he wouldn’t have felt such painful emotions. Just as Ben had cared for him, he also cherished Ben. To the extent that he didn’t want to use this method, knowing Ben would obviously be hurt.
“Don’t be ridiculous! An executive of ‘Alice,’ if you weren’t playing with me, what else could it be?”
“If it was just a simple game, I wouldn’t have come here.”
But now, there was no time to approach Ben slowly. That’s why he had no choice but to meet him this way.
“Then why on earth…!”
Tears finally began to flow down Ben’s face. Kay desperately suppressed his own emotions stained with guilt.
“I know it’s selfish, but I have a proposal I’d like to make to you.”
The time to ask Ben for forgiveness should be after all this is over. An apology now, when he had something to propose to him, wouldn’t be a complete apology.
