Spy Classroom - Volume 4 - Chapter 3.5

Interlude

Purple Ant  

“Two hundred and eighty-seven—that’s how many Worker Ants I have in Mitario,” said Purple Ant. The number fluctuated from time to time, but that was generally about where he kept it.

If you included the Worker Ants he had scattered across the globe, their full ranks were more than four hundred strong.

“I have them deployed all across the city. Their orders are to kill any spy they find, and if they fail, another twelve of them will come in to finish the job.”

As he spoke, he split peanut shells between his fingers, removed the peanuts from within, and lined them up on his so-called pet dog’s back. Once he had 287 of them in neat little rows, he nodded in satisfaction.

His captive still wasn’t saying much, so he had decided to handle the exposition himself.

At the moment, he was in the middle of explaining his devastating ability. He wasn’t worried in the slightest about her doing anything with the information. After all, her fate was already sealed. “No spy can compete with numbers like that. And even if someone managed to capture a Worker Ant, the majority of them are under orders to kill themselves the moment they’re beaten. Your people put up a good fight, but alas, those minor skirmishes you won meant nothing.”

His captive shot him a quizzical look. In her eyes, something didn’t add up.

“I know what you’re wondering,” Purple Ant said understandingly. “You’re thinking that if my Worker Ants banded together, they could take me down. Is that it?”

She nodded.

It was a legitimate thought. If one of those groups of twelve Worker Ants teamed up and conspired to kill him, it would pose a serious threat to his life.

“Well, you’re absolutely right. As a matter of fact, even the bartender or my pet dog here could kill me like it was nothing. I’m no good at fighting myself, you see. Oh, dearie me! If they turn on me now, I’m done for!”

Those two had exceptional skills, even for Worker Ants.

If either of them ever wanted to kill him, it would take them only a few seconds to finish the deed. All they would need to do was crush his throat with their bare hands, and freedom would be theirs.

But that was something they’d never be able to do.

“The mere thought of it is ridiculous. You’d do well not to take my power so lightly.” Purple Ant kicked the dog man in the stomach. “Strangle yourself.”

The moment the words left his mouth, the dog reached up and began squeezing his own neck. His fingers dug into his flesh. He started letting out pained gasps, but he still didn’t loosen his grip.

Purple Ant watched with clear amusement as the dog man got to work killing himself. “And there you have it. They can’t rise against me, not with how I’ve wired their minds. The revolution will never come. They’ll just keep on obeying my orders until the day their meaningless lives end.”

Right before the man passed out, Purple Ant stopped him. “That’s enough.” He cruelly dug his foot into his exhausted “pet.”

“That’s why nobody can beat me.”

His captive was still unable to speak—even more so now.

Purple Ant proudly listed off his accomplishments. “I wiped out the CIM’s Retias team. The five of them managed to kill fourteen Worker Ants, but that was as far as they went. Now, the Goosefoot Sisters were smart. They ran for it after their seventh kill. The older sister didn’t make it, but still. Shadowseed committed suicide after nine kills. The JJJ started sniffing around my business, too, but that ended quickly when I sent them the Giraffe’s and the Turtle’s corpses. And Ouka, Ouka was incredible. He managed to kill seventeen of my Worker Ants all on his own. I have to say, seeing his corpse gave me a shock. I had no idea he was just a teenage boy.”

White Spider had described them as international all-stars, but they had all been powerless against Purple Ant. He had an inexhaustible supply of assassins who cared nothing for their own lives. Even if his foes tried to capture one, his minions would just kill themselves without a moment’s hesitation. Then the next assassin would descend.

Purple Ant’s position was nigh unassailable.

He had the power to crush every spy who entered his territory and every member of the secret police trying to defend it, and what’s more, he could do it all without having to lift a finger.

“Also, I’ve already gotten started replacing the Worker Ants I’ve lost. It’s simple, really. All I have to do is track down promising civilians so I can capture and torment them.”

And thus, his reign would continue.

There wasn’t a single person in all of Mitario who could stand up to him.

“How many…?”

He heard a hoarse voice.

His prisoner was finally choosing to speak, glaring at him with all her might.

“How many lives do you have to ruin before you’re satis—?”

“Don’t talk back to the king.” Purple Ant kicked her.

He was halfway through pummeling her face before he finally returned to his senses.

“Ah, I’m so sorry. It’s a policy of mine to be kind to women, yet here I am, resorting to violence…” He apologetically removed his hat and offered her a smile. “Let’s all see if we can’t mind our manners, shall we?”

Purple Ant thought of himself as a gentleman, and it was a designation he’d never once doubted. After all, every time he hit a woman, it filled him with remorse. Oh, what a compassionate king he was. And so humble!

The question was, why had he hit her?

One reason was because of how much of an eyesore his dog was. He gave the man another kick to the stomach as punishment for that transgression.

The other reason was because the man he was waiting for was nowhere to be seen. He glanced down at his watch. Quite a bit of time had already passed.

“Unfortunate. Young Klaus doesn’t seem to be coming, does he? You’d think he would have at least killed one of the Worker Ants by now.”

Purple Ant hadn’t received a single report of anyone having seen him.

According to his intel, Klaus treasured his allies, so Purple Ant had been working under the assumption that if he kidnapped a Din spy, Klaus would be sure to show up.

Where was he? Had he abandoned his teammate to her fate?

Purple Ant’s patience was wearing thin.

“Oh, forget this. I’ll just kill you now.”

He pulled out his automatic and blasted his captive right in the gut.

The sound of the shot rang out loud.

Fresh blood splattered across the bar, and a metallic smell filled the room.

“With that, I’d say you have about five minutes before you bleed out,” Purple Ant said. “If you have any dying words, I would love to hear them. But first, there’s one matter that still needs settling.”

He wiped away the blood that had splashed on his face and went on.

“Now, before you die…would you be so kind as to finally tell me your name?”