Dear Heroes, I really am a Villain-Chapter 44: UEC Investigation

The name Shadow Thief, once known for attempting to assassinate the former chairman of the Arkadian Resources Committee, Luther Rook, is a name that sends shivers down the spines of the elite.

These elites live lavishly, growing rich off the backs of the lower and middle classes, and even engage in questionable business ethics, such as removing essential medication from healthcare programs and turning them back into expensive, commercial-only drugs.

This earned the ire of the common people. So, a villain like Shadow Thief, who robbed the rich elite and even killed some, particularly those leading such unethical campaigns, is exactly the kind of nightmare the powerful fear most.

A lunatic who is not afraid to break the law, offend the UEC, and kill them for harming the public is someone they feel must be eliminated immediately.

This is why the investigators and police officers who are on the payroll of the elites feel like their backs are on fire. They must find and kill this "Shadow Thief." Yes... kill, not arrest.

Because the IHB and UEC have a strong track record of recruiting skilled individuals like these in exchange for full pardons. So now, both the official UEC investigators and the elite-backed police and investigators are racing against each other.

After all, someone who can infiltrate a high-security location like Luther’s penthouse and make it look like it was secured by a group of first-graders is no ordinary criminal.

Within the hallway led to the lift that led to the penthouse, a group of UEC and IHB investigators were being held back by a team of private bodyguards hired by Luther.

"Please step aside. Do not obstruct official business!" the lead investigator demanded, addressing the leader of the bodyguards. All of the guards were heavily armed.

"I’m afraid I can’t do that, Officer," the guard leader replied politely, though his tone was far from friendly. "Our contract with Mr. Luther dictates that we are to stand guard here and prevent any outsiders from entering unless we receive direct instructions from Mr. Luther."

"What part of official business is so hard to understand? Move, or I’ll arrest all of you for obstructing UEC official investigation!" the UEC investigator leader barked sternly.

Hearing this, the bodyguards immediately raised their weapons at the officers, who in turn responded in kind.

The air thickened with tension, both sides on the brink of a deadly standoff.

"Stop!" a commanding voice rang out. At the sound, the officers quickly lowered their weapons.

The bodyguards, however, kept their weapons raised, smirking confidently.

Two figures stepped to the front of the lift. The first was Heinrich Strauss, a Level 9 IHB officer from Central, and the second was Oldcowboy, a veteran hero of Arkadia City.

Strauss took the lead, stepping forward as if to shield the officers behind him. His sharp gaze fixed on the defiant bodyguards blocking their path.

"Civilians! Lay down your arms and step aside! You have ten seconds to comply!" Strauss commanded, his voice loud and authoritative, posture straight and unwavering.

"1!" he began counting. The bodyguards merely laughed and continued aiming their guns.

"I’ll help you count, officer—2, 3, 456789," the bodyguard leader mocked, his lackeys laughing alongside him.

"Ten." Strauss’s hand reached for the earpiece in his ear as the bodyguards laughed, still oblivious.

"Kill them."

Zaaap!

A photon beam fired from outside the building, instantly vaporizing all of the bodyguards behind the leader.

"Arrrrrgghh! My arm!" screamed the sole survivor, who lost the arm that had been holding his weapon. The others were vaporized, leaving behind only scorched legs.

"What!? What are you doing!?" the bodyguard leader cried out, breaking down in panic at the brutal efficiency of Strauss’s order.

"Arrest them," Strauss said coldly.

"Yes, sir!" the officers behind him moved swiftly to restrain the bodyguard leader and the wounded survivor.

At that moment, Photon Fury flew in through the hole she had created with her beam.

"Thank you for your cooperation, Ms. Photon Fury," Strauss nodded.

The female hero snorted in response.

Her arms were bandaged, still showing wounds from last night’s injuries caused by a forcefield-negation bullet. Fortunately, Photon Fury’s durable skin held up. The bullet only managed to penetrate her shield, its kinetic energy greatly reduced, preventing it from piercing her flesh.

Strauss noticed this but said nothing. Two bullets fired from a pistol last night were not that uncommon, especially when well-funded gangs could acquire such rounds from the black market. There wasn’t enough evidence to connect it directly to Maximilian.

Strauss entered the lift alongside Oldcowboy and a group of investigators while another team escorted the bodyguards down to the prisoner transport. The remaining group ascended to the penthouse floor.

When the lift doors opened, the investigators—emboldened by Strauss’s leadership—immediately got to work. They began halting Luther’s hired cleanup crew, determined to gather and secure any evidence.

Strauss walked toward the water tank and looked up at the gaping hole blown open by the previous night’s explosive.

He noticed the melted section of the tank, where the metal had clearly been subjected to intense heat. The tank was built from highly durable metal—ordinary explosives bought off the black market shouldn’t have been able to cause such damage.

Strauss pulled out a device that looked like a hybrid between a camera and a tablet. He snapped a photo of the tank and then examined the screen closely.

"We’re dealing with someone using military-grade explosives," Strauss said, scanning through data on known explosive types. "It’s the same type still actively used by UEC Special Forces."

"That narrows down the list of suspects," Oldcowboy added. "Unless Shadow Thief’s changed his methods."

He continued, "As far as I know, if it was Blood Mongoose, he’d definitely plant a few bombs around the enemy base to create distractions before extracting from the mission zone."

"But Blood Mongoose lacks the technical expertise to shut down the kind of security this place has," Strauss replied. "This mansion doesn’t use government-standard security protocols like those used by the IHB, which are full of UEC official systems that he could bypass with the hack-assist function from his Infiltrator Prototype armor."

"This penthouse uses a private security protocol, none of it tied to UEC systems. He should’ve been detected the moment he tried tampering with the system."

Strauss had previously investigated the IHB break-in incident and determined the hacking pattern came solely from the hack-assist module included with the Infiltrator Prototype suit, which had gone missing from a lab about ten years ago.

After discovering this, Strauss requested security upgrades from UEC Central to prevent future breaches of that nature.

"If this really was Blood Mongoose’s work, there would’ve been more combat and more explosions—not just a single blast to cover a retreat after achieving his objective."

"And Shadow Thief wouldn’t be bold enough to counterattack Photon Fury either," Strauss added. "If it were him, he would’ve used the darkness to slip away unnoticed the moment he lost her trail. It’s too risky. Despite her flaws, Photon Fury is known as a powerful hero who’s taken down many villains on her own. Shadow Thief wouldn’t challenge her directly."

"You’re suggesting this is someone else’s handiwork—someone impersonating Shadow Thief?" Oldcowboy asked.

Strauss nodded. "Highly possible. As far as we know, there’s one individual who—"

"Sir! Excuse my interruption," a voice cut in.

One of the UEC investigators accompanying Strauss stepped forward and handed him a tablet.

Strauss took it and studied the display. "Lead me there. Where did you find it?" he asked.

"This way, sir," the investigator replied, guiding them into the main penthouse building and toward Luther’s bedroom.

Inside, they were met with a gaping hole in the ceiling, still mid-cleanup. Debris from the ceiling lay scattered across the floor.

"We’ve detected the use of a quantum force field, which is only found in alien force field generators," the investigator reported. "The quantum field appears to have contained superheated plasma, possibly to keep something secure inside the room. We suspect this is also the reason for the blackout in the city center last night."

"We’ve also found traces of a data bomb used on this console to erase everything in the storage unit," the investigator continued.

"And there was a suspicious energy transfer directly from the city grid into this building. From what we’ve uncovered, something consumed an enormous amount of electricity last night, so much that the city grid dried up, and the power from the power farm couldn’t keep up. The Automated Grid Protection System had to cut power to prevent a total electrical collapse."

Strauss remained momentarily silent, staring at the ceiling, deep in thought.

"There’s alien tech involved," he said coldly. "Search for any trace of it. Even a scrap of alien alloy on the wall can be used as evidence. Leave no stone unturned."

"Yes, sir!" the investigator responded immediately.

Strauss was deep in thought. Although alien technology is highly classified under UEC regulations, many wealthy individuals and large corporations still manage to own such tech. So even if Strauss had evidence that Luther possessed alien technology illegally, it wouldn’t be enough to bring him down.

Especially considering Luther’s former position as the Chairman of the Arkadia City Resources Committee, through that role, he could legally acquire certain low-risk alien technologies from the UEC by claiming it was for the advancement of human research.

Strauss needed something else... something more substantial, more devastating...