The Inauguration Ceremony... But These Guys Really?! (2)
“This is the first time I’ve seen such a short and intense inauguration ceremony.”
“Congratulations on a successful inauguration ceremony, Grand Blue Master.”
After the auction ended and the crowd lingered with lingering disappointment, Seoha slipped in a top-tier phase stone from the upper ranks to provide a final bit of indulgence. Amid the murmurs, the presidents and vice presidents of the Suseong Group and NG Group approached him for a greeting.
“I figured you wouldn’t come. It’s a short inauguration ceremony with nothing special, but you got to see it?”
Even with his direct words, the two presidents smiled knowingly and nodded.
“Of course. Leading a raid team at such a young age is just one example of how outstanding Master Jung Seoha’s qualities are. In this inauguration ceremony as well, witnessing your own demonstration of those qualities, we can see that heroes are born with that innate talent.”
“Our NG Group is fully prepared to maintain a close cooperative relationship with the Grand Blue Raid Team at any time. We’ve put in every effort and preparation at the group level and sincerely hope we can help lead South Korea’s business world together with Grand Blue.”
“It seems NG Group is the first to speak. The Suseong Group also intends to lend our full support at the group level to Grand Blue.”
They had once thought of trampling on him and Grand Blue, yet now they were smiling and spouting such words. It was as if they were raising three cunning foxes inside themselves.
Our Yeongeun was raising nine of them, but...
The presidents and vice presidents were fine, but when Seoha glanced at Franc and Hiarid standing behind him, the grandchildren and children behind them swallowed hard. The intent was obvious on their faces.
“Who doesn’t know the reason I’m painting gold on my face? The intention of positioning their children and grandchildren behind me is clear for all to see.”
“For now, let’s smash Japan first and then talk. I remember that you all remember the actions of the Ability User Association that were exactly the same as what Japan did. And there, don’t look away.”
At Seoha’s words, the color drained from the presidents’ faces. The added remark made them belatedly realize and turn to glare at their grandchildren.
While he was talking to these humans, Seoha noticed that his sister and Aunt Hyeongryeong had not come to help, so he looked around.
Cha Yeong-eun and Park Jiwoong were facing the bosses of Cheonggung, Ashburn, and Muhwa-ryeong, while the ministers and ambassadors of various countries were being handled by Yeong-eun, his sister, and Aunt Hyeongryeong.
Kim Pyochung and Ha Yucheol were swiftly checking for shortages or inconveniences in the banquet hall and maintaining order.
After briefly observing their figures through spatial perception, Seoha felt a sense of futility about why he had to deal with these old men. They were not even friendly humans.
Now that he thought about it, he didn’t even know the names of the Suseong Group president and NG Group president.
At that moment, he spotted Yoo Chae-rin from afar, fidgeting restlessly.
Unlike her appearance, Yoo Chae-rin was tapping her feet restlessly near a chair, then approached Miho, who was greedily eating a whole box of cookies handed to her by the Arab Emirati prince, and whispered in her ear.
Even as the two presidents continued their endless talk about the certification factory and union, Seoha’s irritation began to simmer because it felt like a mosquito was sitting in his ear.
Just as the whispered conversation ended, Miho, dressed in a cute hanbok with green, red, and gold embroidery, flew over using the wind, holding a premium cookie box in her arms, hugged his neck, and tugged at his clothes.
“Master. A human from the Unified Management Headquarters Response Team is making a disgusted face while looking at Master.”
……I really need to give the etiquette teacher a good scolding.
“Just a moment.”
Realizing that the conversation would break off without an opportunity if he continued this way, Seoha took Miho on his back, leaving the two old cunning foxes behind, and walked toward Yoo Chae-rin and the Arab Emirati prince.
People cleared a path as he walked, and Yoo Chae-rin, with a stern face, rushed over and whispered into his ear.
“Miyabi Yasuhiko, the Japanese Prime Minister, has been assassinated. The Japanese Central Broadcasting is broadcasting an urgent news flash right now, and a government official has named Master as the culprit.”
……What kind of nonsense is this?
Seoha stared at Yoo Chae-rin’s expressionless face as she finished her words. At that moment, a voice called out from beside him.
“Mr. Grand Blue?”
“Yes?”
“Even though I look like this, I have some connections. I think I can lend a hand. I hope you understand that I want to maintain a friendly relationship with Mr. Grand Blue.”
Prince Jake, the Second Prince of the United Arab Emirates?
Hyeongryeong’s aunt had repeatedly emphasized that he was a figure on par with the kings of other royal states, and when Seoha had asked if he should be impolite, she had said “It can be done, but still!” Seoha had no choice but to remember the name...
Even though he wasn’t an ability user, Prince Jake, who looked as handsome as one, was grinning widely at Miho, who was clinging to his neck, instead of at Seoha.
“I don’t plan to crush Japan alone. Thank you for your goodwill. Miho, go tell Director Kim Pyochung to turn on the TV.”
“Japan 2 Channel.”
Yoo Chae-rin’s interruption was passed on to Miho again.
“If it’s Japan 2 Channel, I’ll know.”
“Kim Mudangbeol-eo Director? Okay!”
With that, Miho flapped her six tails and shot toward the stage like lightning. Kim Mudangbeol-eo?
Meanwhile, Prince Jake was staring at the back of Miho with the expression of a man whose heart had been pierced by an arrow, and Seoha thought he might be in serious trouble.
“Ah, how can such a cute and pretty being exist…!”
It wasn’t serious trouble, but terminal loli.
“Prince Jake is a lolicon?”
Seoha’s blunt words made the surrounding people and Yoo Chae-rin flinch. But Prince Jake turned his gaze to Seoha, grinned, and then looked back at Miho and spoke.
“Miss Miho is not human, right? It doesn’t violate the law. Hehe.”
“If it’s legal loli, aren’t there ability users worldwide who fit that? I only know two… people.”
One had gone to heaven…
“Hahaha. Of course I know. But Miss Miho has a charm that sets her apart from those people, capturing the heart of the scorching desert.”
Seoha was talking to him, but his eyes kept following Miho, which felt strangely refreshing. No one had treated him like this in such a normal way since his lovers and family.
Maybe it was because he was an Arab prince and full of bravado?
Soon a large panel TV turned on, tuned to Japan 2 Channel, and the screen repeated the news that Miyabi Yasuhiko, the Japanese Prime Minister, had been assassinated in his residence, with a breaking news mark.
Ishikawa Harunobu, the second-class samurai, had discovered it? Ishikawa, that bratty kid.
The Japanese government spokesman said: On July 31, Miyabi, the Japanese Prime Minister, visited South Korea informally and secretly. After the visit, his complexion darkened, he complained of headaches and chest pain, and on August 1, today at 2 p.m., he died in his residence, which was accidentally discovered by Ishikawa Harunobu, the second-class samurai.
This auntie died… Did she get purged for talking too much after being criticized by the right-wing group? The screen showed a luxurious indoor floor with a white line drawn in the shape of a person, and a dark red blood trail flowing from the head of the line looked eerie.
……These people would rather kill the prime minister than let their political lives be threatened. It’s even more unforgivable.
Yoo Chae-rin was translating the news content beside him, and the news was getting more outrageous.
The Japanese government spokesman named Master as the culprit and stated in a public setting that he had been affected by a poison-related ability in South Korea.
“Hehe. Even if I ate a bucket of pesticide and went wild, it wouldn’t be as flashy as this. How could they be so stupid?”
Irritation bubbled inside him, but since the wedding was still ongoing, he couldn’t vent his anger. However, his mood was showing, and the surrounding people’s expressions changed slightly as they began to back away.
Controlling the bubbling anger, Yeong-eun approached with a stern expression, carrying Miho and Hiarid.
“What should we do? Something like this happened.”
“I don’t know what kind of thinking led the Japanese citizens to kill their elected prime minister, but it’s better this way. Yoo Chae-rin, go ask the reporters if they can do live broadcast filming.”
“Understood.”
After seeing Yoo Chae-rin’s military uniform as she walked quickly toward the reporters, Seoha turned to Yeong-eun with a blank expression.
“Madam. The audience is sufficient, and there are many reporters and broadcasting station cameras. Shall we make the announcement right now?”
“What announcement do you plan to make?”
“Hehe. I don’t know whose head got something, but if they want to solve it by peeing on the floor, they should show their cheek and get slapped.”
Seeing the eerie smile on Seoha’s face, she raised her eyebrows slightly and nodded.
“If a problem arises, we can release the video of the conversation with Miyabi that day. Do as you please. After that, the government will handle it.”
“Thank you.”
As he turned around, a voice muttered from behind, “What a waste of a kid…”
Turning back, Seoha saw Yeong-eun walking toward the foreign envoys, and her back looked strangely lonely… Was it just his imagination?
Ignoring Prince Jake’s intense gaze, Yoo Chae-rin rushed over and immediately got to the point.
“We are preparing for a live broadcast with urgent news.”
After nodding at Yoo Chae-rin’s words, Seoha slowly walked through the air above the crowd using the Space Wall and moved to the stage.
The crowd, including Franc and Hiarid following behind, stared intently at the pumpkin-colored transparent platform that appeared beneath his feet. Some even tried to look inside Hiarid’s dress hem, but Seoha glared at the pervert gentleman and made them turn away in fright.
Standing on the stage, after the large panel TV behind him showed the Japanese government spokesman’s announcement, all eyes turned to Seoha.
Everyone had a curious expression after watching the news on TV.
“Have you seen the news on TV just now? Japan is going to great lengths to take a simple path and unnecessarily increase damage. Most of all, they don’t seem to understand why I’m holding back.”
With Mana Vision on, Seoha scanned the crowd and confirmed the flinches, then spoke again.
“It’s exactly as the news said. On the 31st, Miyabi, the Japanese Prime Minister, visited the South Korean government informally and secretly. And the government contacted me. Madam, the Japanese Prime Minister, and I held a conversation. It wasn’t anything special, right? They came to apologize because they thought a bomb would fall on their heads.”
Seoha confirmed that the reporters and broadcasting station cameras were all facing him and spoke again.
“So they demanded: If you kill me, at least detain and extradite the person who planned it. Isn’t that natural?”
They nodded in agreement from all sides.
“But it turned out that more than 70% of the current Japanese lawmakers had a hand in killing me. When I asked for their extradition, some of them were people who didn’t even know they were aiding terrorism, and they accepted Miyabi’s desperate request and the government’s mediation, saying that if all of them were extradited, the Japanese government would be paralyzed. They also agreed to compensate citizens affected by the incident and me for the thirty-seven or more masterminds of the event and those swept up in the terror. Was this also an excessive demand?”
Seoha turned on his ability certification device and raised a holographic window showing the conversation between Yeong-eun and Miyabi. As the video played, many people’s eyes widened.
“At first, I wanted to go wild until I felt relieved. But Madam told me not to and persuaded me, so I decided to follow her words and only hand over the masterminds while compensating those who suffered because of me. But…”
Seoha gritted his teeth and smiled.
“This will spread to Japan too, right? So I’m telling you, you stupid ones who tried to frame me with murder charges. I’ll give you a hot one that makes it easy to understand and cover up the crime. Change the title in front of my name from murderer to assassin.”
Smiling brightly at the frozen crowd and reporters, Seoha spoke.
“Apologies are no longer needed. For the people injured because of you…”
Inhaling deeply, Seoha concentrated Mana Sieve throughout his body, raised his left hand, and prepared a bomb in his palm. Then he lifted a deep-sea-like dark TP and phase power crystal, about 7 cm in diameter, and said.
“I can’t stand it because I’m sorry to the security guards who died trying to protect me. In exactly 48 hours, I’ll carve a 150 km crater in Tokyo. Come as far as you want.”
At first he spoke with a smile, but in the end, his face twisted as he let out a sharp Mana Sieve aura from his whole body. The reporters’ flashes popped and burst, capturing the scene on camera.
“Seoha, are you really going to do it? Really?”
“Master. I understand your anger, but if you detonate a bomb in Tokyo, thousands of millions will die. Even killing one person is hard to bear guilt for, but thousands of millions…”
“There are stories that killing one person makes you a criminal, but killing hundreds makes you a hero.”
The executives who had come to persuade him in his office, his sister, and Aunt Hyeongryeong tried desperately to stop him, but they became speechless at his words.
After seeing the scene at the inauguration ceremony, Yeong-eun quickly returned to the Blue House to prepare a countermeasure, and the crowd began to disperse. Among them were the pale-faced presidents and families of the Suseong and NG Groups.
He had wanted to meet the bosses of Cheonggung, Ashburn, and Muhwa-ryeong once, and he had something to say to the British ambassador, but he had lost his mood because of Japan’s antics and couldn’t say anything. Damn it.
Aunt Hyeongryeong, who had been watching his expression, sighed deeply and picked up a pad, checking things and speaking.
“……We’ll have to evacuate our citizens in Tokyo through the government.”
“Not only Japanese citizens inside Japan, but also inform the world about this incident so that Tokyo citizens can all evacuate…”
“It’s not enough with just our government. Through various media, we’ll direct them to evacuate as much as possible…”
“I’m asking Your Highness to ask the United States about citizen evacuation…”
“Upload Master’s proclamation to YouTube so Japanese citizens can see it…”
The executives, with their mouths moving as they whispered, began to tense at Seoha’s unchanging expression. Then his sister and Cha Yeong-eun gestured for them to go, and they glanced at each other, exchanged glances, bowed to Seoha, and quietly slipped out through the elevator.
In the office, Franc and Cha Yeong-eun stood as if praying or with arms crossed, eyes closed. Only Miho, hugging a premium cookie box tightly, and Hiarid, standing like a mannequin beside the large flower pot as if it were her seat, remained.
His worried sister had rushed out first to make an emergency plan for evacuating Tokyo citizens.
Franc opened her mouth after five minutes had passed since the executives left.
“Seoha.”
“Hm?”
“Can I ask how you plan to handle this?”
“I knew Franc and Cha Yeong-eun would figure it out.”
At Seoha’s words, Franc smiled faintly and flew behind him, hugging his neck and rubbing her cheek against his.
“When Seoha gets really angry, he becomes expressionless, right?”
“That… was it? Anyway, the inauguration ceremony and auction today were all broadcast, right? The information about my abilities and what situations I would cause would have leaked to Japan.”
Seoha picked up a cookie from the table and brought it to his mouth and continued.
“I don’t know why they’re trying to provoke me by assassinating their own prime minister in front of so many people, but they showed an extremely excited expression while the Japanese government spokesman spoke, declaring that they would go all out. That excited kid even caused an explosion over Tokyo a few days ago. So what kind of reaction will the Japanese politicians show?”
Seoha pinched Franc’s cheek while she was hugging his cheek and looked up at Cha Yeong-eun, who was crossing her arms and emphasizing her large chest.
“They must have planned something beforehand by flipping ridiculous accusations, but they probably didn’t expect your extreme reaction. They probably didn’t think you would use the citizens’ lives as a shield against the murder charge and negotiate with you.”
“Then they’ll think the situation is ruined, so the parties will have a very high probability of fleeing overseas to avoid death…”
“That’s right. For 48 hours, the executives including my sister will do everything to evacuate Tokyo citizens. In that scene, the citizens will feel the sincerity that ‘Their leader is really going to shoot a bomb!’ If we capture and confirm the images of Japanese politicians fleeing overseas and leak them to the Japanese public, won’t a riot, not a demonstration, break out?”
“So, innocent ordinary citizens will leave Tokyo to evacuate, while the real perpetrators who threw the match into the powder keg will escape to safe and comfortable places. And by capturing and filming the appearances of those people and throwing them into Japanese society, they will cause division?”
“That’s right.”
Franc summarized the content from the conversation between Seoha and Cha Yeong-eun and spoke.
Seoha grinned and pulled Franc’s waist, making her sit on his lap.
“In 24 hours, I plan to throw another bomb. And if the politicians in Tokyo hide somewhere else, I’ll warn them by throwing a bomb there too.”
Franc and Cha Yeong-eun looked surprised, wondering if they had thought that far in such a short time.
“I tried this because Yeong-eun and our Grand Blue executives are there. If it had been just me, I would have made Japan a wasteland by now, with a headache and irritation, and it would be annoying.”
Anyway, after that, Seoha sent Miho off to play with her mom while she clung to him, and Hiarid chased away suspicious people outside the building, saying she was scouting.
After the Japanese prime minister left, he hadn’t done anything foolish in Japan, but just in case, he had to station guards near his mom and dad.
Cha Yeong-eun and Aunt Hyeongryeong also went down to their offices, saying they would lend a hand in the plan he had made, so only Seoha and Franc remained in the office.
Seated in the boss chair with Franc sitting on his thigh, Seoha played with her, hoping they would move as he had expected.
That way, the damage to ordinary citizens would not increase.
After analyzing the Japanese map for several days, Seoha realized that Japan had fewer uninhabited areas than he thought. It meant that civilians would inevitably be caught up if the bomb fell to the ground.
While he hoped he wouldn’t have to drop a bomb, Seoha stroked Franc’s soft body and turned on the TV.
The news was showing Seoha’s warning toward Japan from the Grand Blue inauguration ceremony. Curious about the Japanese reaction, he switched to a Japanese news channel and watched for a moment, then suddenly the newsroom on the TV screen began to shake and rattle.
“……What is that?”
“It’s not the TV shaking, but the camera filming is shaking?”
Even the male and female anchors were surprised since it was a live broadcast, but they soon erased the surprise and tried to continue with a calm expression. But Franc’s fingers, which had been playing between her thighs, stopped, and she stared fixedly at the TV, thinking something unusual was happening. The shaking of the newsroom intensified.
Drdrdrdrdrd.
[Kyaaak!] [Help!] [Earthquake!]
The background panels flipped and the fixed stands collapsed. The ceiling lights fell and the walls cracked, captured on screen.
Then the camera fell, showing the tilted newsroom on the floor. Sparks flew from the fluorescent lights attached to the ceiling, and with a popping sound as the fluorescent lights broke, the newsroom was stained black and the screen went completely dark in an instant. The sound of people’s screams and something crashing and falling came clearly from beyond.
After a moment, the screen changed to a flower field, and a message appeared asking to wait a moment.
“It’s an earthquake?”
“It’s an earthquake.”
Franc reached out and grabbed the TV remote, switching to another news channel, but a horrifying scene was unfolding on the screen.
The camera was shooting Tokyo from the sky in real time, showing high-rise buildings collapsing and detached houses collapsing. There, the sight of dozens of skyscrapers slowly swaying was so eerie that it made one wonder how terrifying an earthquake could be.
Soon flames began to rise from various places in Tokyo. Sirens wailed across the entire city. With the continuous thudding sound, the Tokyo Tower in the distance was seen shaking violently left and right.
“That’s, what’s the scale of the earthquake. If high-rise buildings are collapsing and houses are falling, it must be over 7.0 on the Richter scale.”
While watching the TV as Tokyo was half-destroyed by the continuing earthquake, Franc suddenly jumped up in surprise, fell from Seoha’s arms, and straightened her disheveled clothes. Immediately after, Aunt Hyeongryeong burst into the office.
“Master! An earthquake in Japan… Ah.”
Seeing Seoha watching TV, Aunt Hyeongryeong’s eyes widened and she smiled awkwardly.
“Am I a bad person for thinking this moment is the end?”
“No. Given the emotions accumulated so far, it’s only natural that you feel that way.”
Images of Japanese people taking refuge in a wide open space from fires breaking out in various parts of the downtown area were captured by the camera.
An earthquake that occurred in response to Seoha’s warning. How would the Japanese people think?