Chapter 1455: Return to Work (5) |
Lee Hyeon-Su sat there in stupefaction while trying to process this absurd demand in his mind.
They wanted what? They wanted Kang Jin-Ho to fight the United States military?
Wasn’t this the same kind of nonsense as a main character in a webnovel busy hunting monsters in a gate to level up, only for a demon lord to show up out of nowhere?
…Oh. So this is what the enemies confronting the Assembly Master must’ve felt like.
What an absurd and unreasonable demand this was!
“Excuse me, but…” Lee Hyeon-Su frowned in puzzlement while staring at Reynold Spencer. “Our Assembly Master is just a lone individual, while your army is, well, an army. But you want him to prove his strength by fighting an army? Do you honestly think that makes any sort of sense?!”
Kang Jin-Ho calmly called out. “Calm down, Lee Hyeon-Su.”
“B-but, sir! This is clearly bullsh*t! If they don’t want to negotiate, then fine! They should just leave instead of trying to screw us over like this! What the f*ck…! Fine! I’ll give you back that bottle of Romanée-Conti I’ve stashed away, so take it and get out of here!”
It seemed Lee Hyeon-Su was genuinely furious, judging from how prepared he was to give up on “free” thirty million won!
“Calm down?!”
Wiggins reached out and grabbed Lee Hyeon-Su’s shoulder just as the latter shot up to his feet while glaring murderously at Spencer.
“It’s no use to lose your cool here, Mister Lee,” said Wiggins.
“But, master! He said he’s here to represent his government, didn’t he?! That means he’s ready to take responsibility for what he said, too!”
“Yes, you’re right. But let’s hear him out first, shall we?”
“Hah…!”
Lee Hyeon-Su’s expression shifted rapidly. His previously placid expression and demeanor were gone for good now, and he glared at Spencer like a serial killer instead.
Spencer saw that murderous glare and instinctively realized that the absolute worst situation for him might unfold in this place if the negotiation went sideways for some reason.
As I thought, this won’t be easy.
Spencer was no idiot, so he knew how tricky this topic was. And that was why he tried to approach it as delicately as possible, but it was still not enough to prevent the other side from reacting emotionally.
Then again, he shouldn’t be surprised by this reaction. Even Spencer would’ve responded similarly were he in Lee Hyeon-Su’s shoes, after all. No, maybe his reaction would have been even more visceral.
…Because even he had to admit that this was one hell of an absurd demand.
“Continue,” said Kang Jin-Ho. That prompted Spencer to focus his attention back to him.
Kang Jin-Ho’s expression remained “disinterested” while staring relaxedly back at Spencer.
“What do you want from me?”
“As I’ve said before, you must prove…”
“If you’re planning to beat around the bush forever, leave.”
“…”
“You can dance around all you want, but the content of your demand still won’t change. Since that's the case, let’s not waste each other’s time.”
Spencer nodded in agreement. Knowing when to match the other side’s pace was also an accepted negotiation tactic, wasn’t it?
“You need to threaten them.”
Kang Jin-Ho cocked an eyebrow. “Threaten, you say?”
“Yes, Assembly Master. Threaten their lives. Make them experience the terror of… When a top-tier martial artist wants it, they can easily kill anyone, regardless of who the target is. Including the higher-ups in the government. Instead of merely knowing it in their heads, let them feel it on their skin. Let them experience what it’s like to have a blade thrust right under their chins.”
Spencer paused briefly there, as if to heighten the mood.
“And that threat will be most effective when they are being guarded by their most trusted shield, the United States military. They will only change their minds after learning that nothing can save them from you.”
Kang Jin-Ho smirked. “The naysayers aren’t happy about nurturing American martial artists because they think martial artists, no matter how strong they are, can never win against the military. Is that it?”
“Yes, sir. In a way, they are right. Because the military’s firepower will simply overwhelm any martial artists.”
Kang Jin-Ho agreed with that notion. After all, hadn’t he already gone through a proverbial hell in North Korea thanks to their artillery?
Martial artists were still humans at the end of the day. As such, there would always be a limit to how far they could move in an instant. The same applied for their movement speed, too. They wouldn’t be able to deal with the artillery bombardment coming from over ten kilometers away.
Not to forget, the American military’s artillery should be the best in the world. Not only would their destructive power be greater than North Korea’s artillery, but their range should also be several times longer, too. Worse still, what if the US military didn’t use single-shot artillery but fired off multiple rockets at once and blanketed the entire region with continuous bombardments?
No martial artists would be able to withstand that, never mind counterattack.
Spencer grimly explained. “That’s why you must prove the worth of the martial artists to them. You must threaten them directly in person. Let them know that they must be prepared to give up their lives if they want to use the military to wipe out the martial artists. That’s the only way to break this impasse.”
Kang Jin-Ho sighed deeply. Why did it feel like he had already heard something similar not too long ago…?
Back when the former Prime Minister of South Korea, Kim Myeong-Chan, requested Kang Jin-Ho to assassinate someone, Kang Jin-Ho naturally grew furious. But now? He remained rather relaxed.
However, he couldn’t tell if that was because he wasn’t trying to kill someone but merely threatening them. Or maybe the conditions were different now? Or could it be that he had gotten more or less used to such a thing?
Whatever the case might be, he didn’t need to think too deeply about this demand.
“So, when you said you’d give us even more on top of what we demanded from you… That was the compensation for making me do this, wasn’t it?”
Spencer nodded slightly. “Yes, Assembly Master.”
Kang Jin-Ho subtly chuckled. To prove martial artists and himself…?
He didn’t think he’d need to prove anything after coming this far. However, that story would have to change somewhat when his opponent this time was the United States military.
However, could he even win against such a military in the first place?
No, that’s out of the question.
Not even Kang Jin-Ho’s ancestors joining the battle would be enough to win. If this was an open warfare, even if the Martial Assembly teamed up with the Three Kings and their factions, they would still get one-sidedly slaughtered by the American military.
One only had to imagine what might happen if the United States Air Force joined the action. One bombing raid from the air force, and the battle should end right there and then.
However, in this particular case…
Kang Jin-Ho glanced at Spencer and Reese. “You’re not telling me to win against your military.”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“You merely want me to break through and reach the target.”
“Yes, that’s it.”
That changed the situation significantly, didn’t it? Kang Jin-Ho dismissively waved his hand. “That doesn’t sound difficult, then.”
“I see. That means…?”
“If the price is right, I’m willing to try it. But there’s a problem here.”
Spencer furrowed his brow. “A… problem? What kind of problem is it?”
“You see, I’m not the one who sets the price on such things.”
“I’m sorry?” Spencer asked back, only for his head to reflexively snap toward someone else in this room.
That was when he spotted Lee Hyeon-Su glaring back at him with enough coldness to freeze the air between them.
“Mister Spencer, I’m getting curious about something here.”
What was Lee Hyeon-Su trying to say here? Spencer narrowed his eyes and listened.
“As the undersecretary of the army, I’m sure your faith in your… team is absolute. Isn’t that right? The United States military is not only the world’s strongest, but it’s also the sheriff of the world order, after all!”
“…?”
Spencer could feel his anxiety rapidly building up while listening to Lee Hyeon-Su speak of inconsequential things. “Y-yes, of course. I trust our military. That goes without saying.”
“In! That! Case!” Lee Hyeon-Su began growling like a wounded beast. “Aren’t you also curious about what kind of compensation would be enough for a lone individual to fight against the world’s strongest, greatest military? Surely, that compensation must match the sky-high faith you have in your military, no?”
Spencer frowned deeply. Huh? That’s… surprisingly logical?
“Then! Let us hear it!” Lee Hyeon-Su put his foot down with some force. “Tell us! How much you trust! Your precious military! In monetary terms!”
While watching panic quickly spread on Spencer’s face, Reese squeezed his eyes shut.
Here was the moment of a new name being added to the list of Lee Hyeon-Su’s victims.
***
Click…
Kang Jin-Ho leisurely mouthed a fresh cigarette, then used his trusty lighter to ignite its tip. The unhealthy smoke rushed into his lungs next.
“We didn’t even get to enjoy all this food,” said Kang Jin-Ho.
“Indeed, my lord. How unfortunate,” said Wiggins. Despite saying that, however, he didn’t seem to care at all. “How about we search for a Korean restaurant in the area instead?”
Kang Jin-Ho weirdly stared at Wiggins. “…Any thoughts of becoming a naturalized Korean citizen?”
“Although that would be nice, I’m far too tangled up in various matters to do so. For one, the Master will throw a massive tantrum if I do that. Instead of witnessing that scene, sir, I’ll just hold on to my British passport, thank you very much. It shouldn’t matter as long as my home is in South Korea, no?”
Kang Jin-Ho helplessly shook his head.
“Besides all that. I’m guessing that our American friends must be nursing a nasty heartburn right about now,” said Wiggins.
“Yeah, I think so, too.”
Lee Hyeon-Su was like a hyena. Not content with being a shockingly competent hunter, he even cosplayed as an avaricious predator, too! To him, even things like rotting meat and unbreakable bones that other animals left alone were a part of his balanced diet regime!
After getting absolutely torn to shreds by such a vicious predator, the poor Reynold Spencer trudged out of the suite while looking like a man whose soul had abandoned him.
As for Lee Hyeon-Su, he returned to his room while saying he wanted to study the terms of their deal even more thoroughly. Was he thinking of ripping the Americans off some more or something?
Even though Lee Hyeon-Su was his disciple, Wiggins couldn’t help but get chills whenever something like this happened.
“My lord?”
“Yeah?”
“Are you really going to do this?”
“Any reason why I shouldn’t?”
“The United States military will be a completely different breed of enemy than what you’ve fought against until now, my lord. Even with your considerable strength…”
“It’ll be fine.”
“But…!”
“This might sound weird, but hear me out. The thing is, I have more experience in fighting an army than you. Probably.”
“…”
Wiggins couldn’t really refute that. He certainly had some experience in fighting in small-scale skirmishes, but surviving against helicopters shooting rockets and artillery bombarding the area around him? Of course he had never experienced such a thing before.
“My lord… Do you have a hidden ace up your sleeve?”
“No, nothing that grand,” Kang Jin-Ho chuckled softly. “It’s more like… Having experienced it once, I think I figured out how to deal with the military. It’s not as complicated as you might think.”
Wiggins furrowed his brow. Not as complicated? Unfortunately, he couldn’t relax at all. Even the mere name of the United States military was enough to lump this intense pressure on his shoulders, after all!
“My lord, please remember that any injury you suffer will put the Martial Assembly in great difficulty. In my opinion, we should just forget about this deal and return to Korea rather than taking on the risk of...”
“You don’t have to worry. Just focus on installing those teleport magic circles instead.”
“That won’t take long at all, my lord.”
What Wiggins really wanted to say was something else. And that was…
What if Kang Jin-Ho died during the bombardment? Then everything would be over.
However, Wiggins couldn’t bring himself to say that out loud. Because Kang Jin-Ho was no fool and must’ve considered that risk already. Bringing up a topic the other party already knew was a form of nagging, wasn’t it?
“My lord, I’m sure you have a plan, but…” Wiggins sighed softly. “Please remember this.”
“Mm?”
“You’re getting involved in more and more dangerous events lately.”
“…”
Kang Jin-Ho silently stared at Wiggins.
“The Martial Assembly exists to protect you. That is its sole reason for growing stronger. But you still view the Assembly as an entity requiring your protection.”
“That’s not necessarily true, though.”
“But you’ve been pushing yourself beyond your limit recently. In my honest opinion, you don’t have to go this far for this deal. Yes, Americans enjoy an extensive information network. But is that a reason enough for you to risk your life? No, I don’t think it is. The Martial Assembly is already powerful enough as is.”
“…”
“My lord, please trust us a little more. Believe in the Martial Assembly.”
Kang Jin-Ho slowly nodded, then sucked in another lungful of the unhealthy smoke. “I should correct you on two things.”
Wiggins looked up at Kang Jin-Ho quizzically.
“First of all, I believe in the Assembly. Probably more than you think. It’s not just you or Vator. The other members, excluding the directors, are now at a level where they can boast about their strength. Maybe the current Assembly is stronger than the Demon Cult of the past. So, yeah. I definitely believe in you all.”
Wiggins subtly clenched his fists. This had to be the first time Kang Jin-Ho said this out aloud. And it felt like the well-deserved recognition of all the hard work everyone had put in.
“And secondly…” Kang Jin-Ho chuckled again. “I haven’t risked my life yet.”
“…? I beg your pardon?”
“I know that sounds weird. I get that. Also, there’s something else. I felt a bit embarrassed to say this, so I tried not to mention it, but the thing is?”
The corners of Kang Jin-Ho’s lips curled up.
“It’s not the case of me not figuring out or trusting the Assembly, but it’s the other way around. You guys still have not figured me out yet.”
“…?”
“Don’t be mistaken, Wiggins. I’m stronger than you think. By several folds, even. It’s no good if you still think of me as the same person as when we first met.”
Wiggins’ cheeks subtly trembled.
“Do not forget that while you were getting stronger, so did I. Even more so. Sometimes, even I get surprised by my own growth.”
Kang Jin-Ho stubbed the cigarette on the ashtray, then chuckled softly.
“So, stop with unnecessary worrying and tell Lee Hyeon-Su to make sure we’re getting paid what we deserve.”
Kang Jin-Ho coolly turned around, then left the suite.
Wiggins couldn’t help but grin at the sight of Kang Jin-Ho’s confident stride.