Chapter 155: Penis Hunter Uprising!
Rooftop Rendezvous
The wind swept gently across the rooftop of the Metro Daily building and rustled the sharp edges of Judy Cho's neatly pressed blazer. Her polished heels clicked softly as she paced along the edge, phone pressed to her ear.
Her lips bent into a small, playful smile as she spoke.
"What happened?"
She asked in a smooth and teasing voice.
She didn't sound like that woman who'd been fuming after waiting ages for a guy she only agreed to date because she was hungry. Instead, she seemed to enjoy the fact that he hadn't shown up yet—it meant she'd get a chance to tease him a little.
"I thought you said you'd be swinging in any second? Not that I'd put you among the most reliable men in the world, but you should at least be responsible enough to not keep a lady waiting."
Her words lingered in the open air.
A ripple of darkness shimmered behind her and thick shadows bent unnaturally until they gave birth to a tall figure.
His silhouette sharpened, solidifying into the form of Shadow as his lean frame stood with a quiet confidence. His hands rested on his waist, and the plain, unreadable look on his masked face hinted at neither amusement nor annoyance.
"If you don't think I'm reliable, hmm…"
His voice was low and cool.
"Then that's just you assuming the worst of someone. Personally, I don't rate a lady that does such in the slightest. Maybe I should've made you wait a little longer."
Judy's eyes widened slightly, and she turned as she slipped her phone into her handbag. A small frown touched her lips, but a quirk of mischief danced in her expression.
"Oh? You're really gonna talk like that?"
She took a step forward, arms folded over her chest.
Her head tilted, and she stared up at him with a look that balanced on the edge of playful and seductive.
Silence blanketed them.
Shadow didn't move, his mask said nothing.
His stillness only seemed to draw her in further as curiosity glinted in her big, brown eyes. Her hand lifted until her soft and slender fingers brushed lightly over the cold, sleek surface of his mask.
"Hm…"
Her voice softened.
"I wonder what you look like under this."
Her touch lingered, delicate, exploring.
Shadow's breath hitched in a barely audible sound, and he gently caught her hand. His grip was firm but careful, as if handling something fragile.
He let out a nervous chuckle.
"Uh, maybe we should focus on the whole mysterious case you called me here to handle?"
There was both professionalism and unease in the manner with which he spoke──as if he desperately wanted to be casual with her like they were back at the museum, but at the same time he didn't want their relationship to go past what it already was.
"You, uh… said you had some documents for me, right?"
A brief shadow crossed Judy's face as her tender lips pressed into a thin line. But the moment passed, and she pulled herself together with a shaky smile.
"Haaah, yeah."
She exhaled with both resignation and forced cheer.
"Let's focus on that instead. Since my attempts at a romantic approach failed."
"Eh?" Shadow's confusion bled into his voice.
"Oh, please."
She huffed, stepping back with a very dramatic roll of her beautiful eyes.
"Don't act like you didn't know I was trying to cause some romantic tension between us. Hmph."
She punctuated her words with a pout as her slightly reddish cheeks puffed modestly.
Shadow tilted his head as his dark mask made the gesture almost comically exaggerated.
"You do know I'm already in a relationship, right? A very complicated one, too."
"Well, whatever."
Judy turned away.
She tried to sound indifferent about it all, but there was no hiding that disappointment in her tone.
"If you want to be difficult, that's absolutely fine, and…"
Her voice dropped and became something sexier.
"It's your loss."
She gave him a small glance and in the corner of her eyes he could see that seductive look she always used for every male celebrity she'd managed to pull into an interview.
Shadow raised his hands and waved them dully.
"Woooww, I'm so pained."
The dryness of his sarcasm hung in the air, and Judy's lips curled into a smirk. She reached into her sizable leather handbag to retrieve a slim, black folder.
"Here…"
Her voice went back to its businesslike tone.
"Take a look at this. Seems some well-known businessman died of some sort of… peenar explosion syndrome or whatever doctors call it these days."
Shadow's gloved fingers closed around the folder as his head jerked up.
"Peenar explosion syndrome? Uhmm… what the hell's that supposed to be?"
Judy shrugged with effortless motion.
"It's the name of a mysterious medical condition I, Judy Cho, coined myself."
She flicked her hair back as her expression glowed with a self-satisfied pride.
A short minute of silence.
Shadow stared at her, then at the folder.
He hesitated, as if wondering whether to ask more or simply accept whatever madness he'd just stepped into. He chose the latter, then cracked the folder open and scanned the documents.
Judy's expression softened as she watched him.
Her earlier boldness faded into something more gentle, almost wistful. Her gaze trailed over the sharp lines of his form, lingering on the subtle rise and fall of his chest, the confident yet reserved way he stood.
She wasn't subtle about it.
Shadow's eyes darted up from the page, and though she couldn't see his expression, she felt his attention shift to her.
"What?" he asked.
Judy blinked as her cheeks tinged with the faintest blush.
"Nothing. Just… wondering if maybe, behind all that, there's a guy worth waiting for."
"Hrmm…"
Shadow didn't know how to reply.
Either way, it was better to ignore it all.
『Yeah… should remove the awkwardness a bit…』
Shadow's gloved fingers rifled through the documents as the brisk rooftop breeze toyed with the edges of the papers.
His head tilted slightly as he squinted at the contents.
"Hmm…"
He murmured with some confusion.
"Peenar Explosion Syndrome… so, basically, this guy's penis exploded due to over-excitement?"
Judy blinked as her lips curved into a sly grin.
"Yup."
She placed a hand on her chin as her nails brushed against her smooth skin.
"The autopsy showed elevated levels of endorphins and adrenaline in his body at the time."
The weird, almost devious smile on her face didn't go unnoticed.
Shadow raised an eyebrow beneath his mask.
"Ohhh…"
His voice drew out as if a literal light bulb had flickered on in his mind.
"So, the guy really was having sex when his… uh… junk exploded? Did he take performance-enhancement drugs, or was he just riding so hard he—"
He cut himself off when he noticed Judy's face turning red as she bit down on her lip, struggling to contain her laughter.
A low sigh escaped Shadow as he smacked his palm against his masked face.
"I can't believe I'm even able to say all this shit with a straight face…"
He muttered as his fingers dragged down the cold surface of his mask.
"But it's not like I have a choice."
Judy folded her arms whilst maintaining her jovial look.
"Well, the funny thing is, when the guy was found, he was fully clothed."
She tapped her finger against her arm rhythmically.
"So, I'm not exactly sure it was, you know… sex. Unless he somehow didn't make it past first base."
Shadow's gloved hand tapped against his chin.
A thoughtful hum followed right after.
"Hmm. So that's what makes this case interesting."
His voice adopted a tone of genuine curiosity as he flipped through more pages.
"And from what I'm seeing, his hormone levels weren't just through the roof. They were beyond anything the human body is capable of producing."
His head shook slowly.
"Which makes no sense. Even performance-enhancing drugs wouldn't have done this. If they could, I'm pretty sure someone's junk would've popped a long time ago."
"Wait a minute."
Judy's fingers snapped out, and she snatched the document from his hands.
"Let me get another look at that."
Her sharp, well-manicured nails brushed over the lines of text as she tilted her head.
"Huh… You're right."
She blinked like a lost puppy.
"How did I not pick that up earlier?"
A gentle, almost brotherly pat landed on her head.
Three soft taps.
"Because I'm more experienced in this."
Shadow's tone was light, teasing.
"If I wasn't, you wouldn't have called me, now would you?"
Her lips twisted into a frown, a fiery little glare aimed straight up at him.
Shadow chuckled a warm and soft sound despite the cold demeanor of his mask.
"Is that supposed to scare me?"
His voice dropped into an impish drawl.
"If anything, you just look super cute right now. Maybe if you keep that look up, some guys might finally start coming your way… then you'd let me go."
A small, indignant grunt escaped Judy as she slapped his hand away. Her movements were sharp, but her pout gave away the heat in her cheeks.
Shadow just chuckled again as he turned away and sauntered to the edge of the rooftop.
Judy's pout deepened as she clenched the documents in her hands and the paper crinkled under her grip. She stared daggers into his back, her lips pursed tightly as if she was holding back a storm of words.
『Tch──jerk!』
An adorable smile appeared on her face after.
━ ━ ━ ━
Nero Labs – The Morning After
The sterile, white walls of the Testing Room still held hefty evidence of last night's chaotic event.
Equipment was scattered across the floor, shattered glass glittered under the harsh fluorescent lights, and half-empty coffee cups sat abandoned on countertops.
Isaac sat in the middle of the wreckage.
His sweaty dress shirt was untucked and his tie hung loose around his neck. His hair that was once combed to absolute perfection now looked like a bird's nest after a storm.
Dr. Frill wasn't faring much better.
His lab coat was stained with coffee, his glasses sat askew on his nose, and his usually sharp expression had dulled to a blank, exhausted stare.
The two men sat amidst the chaos.
Their faces were lined with sleeplessness and disbelief.
Isaac's voice cracked through the silence.
"I… I just… hrmm, I really can't believe we just sent an intergalactic beacon…" r
His hands trembled as they ran through his tattered hair.
"Who knows what that beacon could signify? It could be calling an armada of space conquerors to our planet or, hell, even a destructive race of planet-devourers… beacons are just… never a good thing."
Dr. Frill shifted, his voice weak but steady.
"But, sir… There's no way to prove that the beacon traveled across the galaxy that fast. It's impos—"
"SHUT UP!"
Isaac's roar ripped through the air.
Dr. Frill shrank back and his chair creaked as he sat ramrod straight, staring anywhere but at his boss.
Isaac's hands balled into fists as he glared at nothing in particular.
"I have a friggin' satellite in space with FTL transceivers!"
His teeth clenched, jaw tight enough to crack.
"I can tell when anything leaves or enters the damn solar system… or even the goddamn galaxy!"
Dr. Frill swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing.
"Hopefully… this doesn't cause any trouble."
A heavy, suffocating silence followed.
Isaac pinched the bridge of his nose as his tired voice slipped into a whisper.
"Emma's gonna kill me if she finds out."
Dr. Frill's brow furrowed, curiosity forcing him to ask.
"What does this Emma have to do with th—"
"Shut up."
The two words were sharp, final.
Dr. Frill bit his tongue and nodded as he retreated into his own trembling thoughts.
"Go… go get me some water…" ordered Isaac.
"Y-, YES SIR!"
The doctor didn't waste a moment to depart.
The room's silence wrapped itself around Isaac.
Heavy and stagnant.
His eyes stared blankly ahead.
Failure was something he was used to… but he wouldn't be able to live with himself if people got hurt because of his scientific endeavors.
He blinked.
And then she was there.
A woman stood in the center of the disheveled room, with a sharp and unsettling presence. She wore a white, futuristic combat attire that clung to her lean, powerful form.
Her blue eyes studied him, unblinking.
Isaac didn't flinch.
Instead, he squinted, wondering if his exhaustion had finally pushed him to the edge of hallucination.
"Uhm…"
His voice crawled from his throat, scratchy and raw.
"Please don't tell me you're Dr. Frill's significant other or something stupid like that…"
Silence.
He raked a hand through his tousled hair as his face caught somewhere between confusion and resignation.
"I mean, I know even a doctor like Frill has to sleep around, but I hope it's not on my property."
His gaze wandered over her shapely figure──she was like an hourglass made entirely out of meat… thick, juicy meat that every man would drool over.
He lingered just a fraction of a second too long.
"Although…"
He paused.
"I doubt Frill could charm someone like you."
Her lips didn't move, but a shadow of annoyance passed through her eyes.
Isaac sighed as he rose from his chair as each movement weighed down by fatigue. He took slow steps toward the phone mounted on the wall as his fingers already reached for the receiver.
"Look…"
He spoke with flat tone.
"I'll just call security to escort you out. I'm not in the mood to entertain strangers, okay?"
Before his hand could touch the phone, the woman vanished.
A rush of wind, a blur of white—she reappeared before him with her slender fingers wrapped tightly around his right arm.
Isaac's breath caught. The sheer speed at which she moved sent a chill crawling up his spine.
"Who is the owner of the X-cube?"
Her voice was smooth—like a robot's.
"I'd like to know."
Isaac's brow twitched.
X-cube?
His mind raced, but his face said nothing.
The name sparked recognition—he knew exactly what she was talking about.
But admitting that now would be pure suicide.
"X-cube?"
He forced a confused smile.
"Can't say I know much about that. But, uh…"
He tried to ease his arm from her grip, only to find her hold as unyielding as steel.
"If you can tell me more about it… then maybe we can use it to get the answers you want. Right, ma'am?"
Her eyes narrowed.
"You're just like all the other Terrans on this planet…"
There was such disdain in her tone.
"You don't have the sexual power required to nail me in bed and give me—and my sisters—the satisfaction we crave. It is quite unfortunate."
Isaac's head tilted.
"I've got a politician friend with a sex trafficking ring if you wanna give it a go."
His lips curled into a dry smirk.
"But I doubt any man could handle a thunder-thigh mommy like you. Don't you think?"
His gaze dropped to her legs. Her thighs were thick, corded with muscle, and packed with a strength that looked capable of crushing bones to dust.
Ezel followed his line of sight, then met his eyes once more.
"Do you have what it takes to satisfy me?"
Her eyes narrowed threateningly.
"Or are you just like all the limp-dick Terran men on this backwater planet?"
Isaac shrugged, a casual motion that belied the frantic calculations running through his head.
"Well…"
His left hand moved ever so slightly.
[Beep… Xenon System loading…]
His neuralink established a connection to the Volkner Gauntlet strapped to his wrist.
"I'm kinda experienced in all matters of the bed, y'know? I mean, I'm packing an impressive six inches down there. I wouldn't mind giving you a try…"
Her expression remained blank.
"But something tells me you've got more muscles between your legs than your arms. I once slept with this Russian gym girl that's way bigger than Dwayne Johnson and phew… her pussy gripped my banana so hard I was sore and depending on pain relief patches for days."
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He gave a theatrical shudder.
"Not sure I can handle all that grip."
Beneath the banter, his gauntlet whirred to life.
[Xenon System is now active!]
The nanotech exoskeleton began to shift, crawling up his arm in segmented plates of obsidian black.
"Uh, your grip must be out of this world, huh?"
Her frown deepened.
Her fingers tightened.
Bone cracked.
Isaac's face twisted as pain lanced through his arm.
"Grip?"
Her voice dipped, almost a purr.
"You mean this?"
Another twist──CRACK!
Isaac's knees buckled as a strained grunt slipped past his tightened lips. His Volkner Gauntlet flared and the nanotech armor raced to cover his body.
But Ezel moved first.
Her fist shot forward—a white blur.
BAM!
His vision shattered.
His body flew across the room and the world turned into a smear of color and pain.
He slammed into the wall as the impact rattled the room.
His body crumpled to the ground, limbs twisted, blood trickling from his mouth.
Ezel sighed with zero emotion in her voice.
"Surely even this one isn't manly enough to satisfy me."
Her gaze lingered on his broken form, and then, with a casual turn, she vanished.
What followed… was lifeless silence.
Isaac lay there—still, broken, and utterly unconscious.
This was the start of one of Metro City's most notorious and feared serial killer──the Penis Hunter.