Chapter 197
Chapter 197
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 197
Chapter Title: Poseidon's Summons
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A few days later, the first call came not from Olympus Guild, but from the Korean government summoning him.
Naturally, it was for a meeting about the Golden Maneho hijacking that Pastor Lee had pulled off.
Yoo Seongwon usually wanted nothing to do with government officials or the association—not even catch a glimpse of them—but this was a massive global incident, so he had no choice but to attend.
To keep up his "still recovering" facade, he donned fresh patient scrubs and sat in a specially prepared wheelchair, arriving at the association building looking every bit like a high-ranking official reporting to the prosecutors. Shin Somi and Baek Gayeon flanked him, and they were immediately escorted straight to the conference room by internal staff.
Inside, he saw the president's cabinet, the usual bigwigs, and the association chairman.
"Good to see you all."
"We heard your condition's improved quite a bit... but you're still in rough shape? Or does it only hurt when you have to come here? Anyway, even a legend like you can't brush off this mess, huh."
"Yeah. I'd love to say I'm not that clueless, but my guardian insisted I had to come this time."
"Ahem! Got it. Take a seat over... oh, you're already sitting. Let's get started, then."
The briefing and presentation kicked off right away, covering what the Korean government and association had pieced together about the Golden Maneho hijacking.
They needed to know the details in case Olympus Guild threw any questions their way.
"The incident started when the Scavengers under Slaughter King in Japan caught wind of Olympus Guild's expedition team arriving and resumed their plundering. Olympus, on site, naturally mobilized their fortress ship with solid tactics—missiles, laser barrages, landing craft, assault ships, transport planes, and Hunter assaults—all in rapid response."
"Damn, check out the scale. No joke. But how'd we get this footage and photos?"
"From the Japanese government, who were coordinating with Olympus at the time. This isn't just about national interests or petty fights—it's a crisis that could spark war across Asia. Anyway, moving on. After deployment, Pastor Lee somehow infiltrated the Golden Maneho, combat broke out. Then, about five minutes later... the ship vanished like a ghost, and all comms cut out. Everything connected to it."
The screen showed perfectly streaming feeds—comms, cameras, records—snapping off one by one.
It was ghost-story levels of eerie, but up to here was public news, so no one freaked out much.
"You all probably know this part, but here's the new intel. As you can imagine, this is no ordinary crisis, so Olympus sent investigators: Apostles of Constellation Athena, plus Apostles from other Constellations."
"...What, Awakeners doing investigations?"
"Simple enough. They go there and re-observe past events. We just got the report, and it spells out exactly what went down."
*...Re-observing past phenomena? Good lord.*
Amazed by the investigative method, Yoo Seongwon dove into the report, piecing together the hijacking's gritty details over the ocean.
Pastor Lee showed up, bluffed and stirred chaos with various tricks and fights, then submerged into the sea of blood, guts, flesh, and bones piled under the ship—vanishing in an instant.
"Wow, no way to counter that."
"Association analysis agrees. He infiltrated using a relic from a foreign Constellation—not his own—bought time with combat and bluffs, then teleported the entire Golden Maneho. Diabolical doesn't even cover it. The value of the 10,000-plus Staff, cutting-edge gear, and supplies inside? Incalculable. But above all, Constellation Poseidon is in a towering rage right now."
"Yeah, can't blame him."
"The Golden Maneho was blessed personally by Poseidon, and Lady Tritonias—who enjoys the grace of Triton—was especially fond of it. Losing it, plus her elite Apostles who serve her directly? Huge blow to his pride."
Even just taking the hit was humiliating for a Constellation, but for Poseidon's Apostles to get done in by cannibal freaks from Asia's backwater—on the *sea*, no less? His ego had to be shattered.
"So now he's furious, ready to unleash the full Laistrygon Legion, Lion under Orion's grace, Antiochus, Karib, Poli... pulling every Apostle and fleet from around the world for total war..."
"Ugh..."
"But stripping those forces would leave the main Pacific front against Eternal Wrath exposed. If that world-devouring swarm of colossal beasts breaks free from the Pacific core, we're done for. So the other Olympus Constellations are desperately holding him back. No one matches Poseidon for fighting sea monsters right now."
"But still, he's not gonna sit idle... Anyway, with the full story out like this, no need for us to sweat it. They'll handle their own..."
No excuses needed on his end—Pastor Lee's insanity was confirmed, so no more beef with Olympus Guild. Yoo Seongwon relaxed.
Nothing implicating the Korean government or himself, either.
Sure, letting the Commander Legion settle had cut off their Japanese lifeline, giving reason to invade—but that wasn't Korea or his official problem.
"Actually, quite reassuring. So the takeaway is... Olympus is pissed enough to crush Pastor Lee themselves."
"Yes. That's how it looks now. We'll hear their official statement next... Oh! Right now! Emergency message from Olympus to the World Hunter Association! Hold on, it says..."
As things wrapped up, fresh comms from Olympus hit, tension spiking the room again.
The association chairman read it first, face twisting. He shot Yoo Seongwon an uneasy glance.
Yoo Seongwon felt a bad vibe from the sudden stare.
"So... to sum up, Constellation Poseidon is *livid* about this. He wants to march every Apostle and fleet to grab that insolent Pastor Lee, but it risks failing to block the massive evil lurking to claim this 'star.' So he'll hold off for now."
"That's what we discussed here. Good they're not pulling frontline forces. B-but why look at me?"
"Not done yet. Next part... He's putting a world-level bounty on Slaughter King's subordinate, Pastor Lee. And... Constellation Poseidon is personally requesting *you*, Hunter Yoo Seongwon..."
"Huh...?"
"Come to Olympus Guild's fortress in the Pacific, the Sea God's Palace. They sent a separate invitation too."
Stunned by the direct request from a Constellation—plus an *invitation*—Yoo Seongwon's face crumpled in dismay.
A direct name-drop from a Constellation? Honor of a lifetime for most humans. But Yoo Seongwon could tell it meant grilling him on Slaughter King or assigning a job—nothing good.
"Ughhh... No way. Seriously, it's right there?"
He checked his phone email in shock, spotting the Olympus address glaring back. He scowled.
"Isn't it an honor? A personal invite from a Constellation."
"Don't even joke. Haaa~ An invitation. Like I'm some party guest... Hooo~"
*[...Moreover, Yoo Seongwon, we already know your mind and body are fully fit. Unless there's another reason, please reply to this invitation soon...]*
The invite even called out his "Core Dungeon raid recovery" excuse—he'd been lounging this whole time. No dodging it.
Destined to visit the Sea God's Palace for Poseidon's request, he decided to head back with Elder Baek Gayeon to prepare his RSVP.
***
Yanbian Helong City, Under City.
What became of Pastor Lee's crew after royally pissing off Constellation Poseidon? They scored big, so no sticking around Japan—they slipped back through North Korean territory, crossing north to hide in an Under City worshiping the same Slaughter King.
Pastor Lee, Park Sookja, Kwak Wonho, and their Scavenger followers rolled in as a pack. But the local bosses—ethnic Koreans and Chinese criminal Scavengers—weren't welcoming, weapons drawn at the entrance to drive them off.
"Scram! You flower-sniffing bastards! Don't you know you're fucked? Who the hell do you think you are, coming here?"
"Aw, come on, we're family. Gotta look out in tough times, right? *Chaoni ma*!"
"Strutting in with your smug mugs, huh! You *byaozi* bitch!"
"Hahaha! Back in the day, I was Pyongyang's ace. But after turning into *this*, I started selling my body in a whole new way. Anyway, not coming empty-handed. Brought your favorite—human flesh dumplings."
"That sounds great! Er, no! Bad idea!"
Ways to serve Slaughter King varied, as everyone knew. Some offered captured humans or Awakeners; some fed their Apostles. Others ate the flesh themselves to grow stronger.
Like Pastor Lee, cooking human meat for Apostles followed the same principle—not everyone, but Slaughter King's followers pulled levels of depravity beyond other crime syndicates.
"You pissed off Poseidon big time! Bounty's insane—every bounty-hunting Hunter worldwide is heading here! You know that, right? The *whole* world!"
"Yeah, probably. But could we have survived without this score? Down south, those bloodless, fleshless Undead—we'd starve fighting a losing war."
"Then piss off to another country!"
"Not happening. Our Core Dungeon's here—where else? Anyway, same Constellation and all, so listen nice when we talk? Refuse, and you've got one option left~"
*Clang!*
Park Sookja thrust out her demonized arm, claws bared in threat. The Chinese Scavengers pondered.
Infighting among the same Constellation? Fine. But odds? They had two near-S-rank Hunters, plus Pastor Lee ascended from human to Apostle. Other Scavengers matched, but those three? Under City's forces were outmatched.
"...Haa~ No choice. We're not going anywhere either, and fighting just weakens us for the bounty hunters. Kids, open the gate. One rule: No trouble inside."
"Not bad for chinks. Don't worry. Prey's coming to us~ We'll prep for that. Turn this into prime hunting ground. Anyway, let's head in. Won without a fight—lucky us~"
They slipped past the opening Chinese Scavengers.
They veered to the outskirts, away from Chinese turf, pulling camping kits from inventory to set up base.
Park Sookja, meanwhile, yanked a full container from her inventory—*thud!*
"Heave-ho! Alright! Time to rearm with Olympus Guild's fanciest gear and weapons? Hey! Gather our crew! Big sis risked her neck for this haul—time to divvy it up! Wonho! Call your kids too! Check this out!"
"Wooooaaah!"
"Is this Olympus Guild's armory?"
"Kyaaa!"
"Man, always dungeon scraps or overpriced from that fox bitch. This? Mind-blowing. For real!"
Her container? One of Olympus's supply depots, plucked wholesale from the trapped Golden Maneho in the Core Dungeon.
Weapons, armor, even Staff suppression gear! US tech, Olympus capital, and Hephaestus Apostle craftsmanship—top-shelf, bleeding-edge stuff. Scavenger eyes gleamed.
"But these assholes—all gunpowder or magistone blasters. Too damn loud for my taste..."
"Standard military blades etched with Hephaestus marks. Ha! Fucking A, America's got that edge."
"Whoa, this armor—what's it made of? Light but tough. My bolts won't pierce."
"War prep—gear up solid. Bounty prey's coming from everywhere. Hahaha! Olympus can't come; too busy saving the world. We've got this."
Hearing Park Sookja's laugh, the Scavengers armed up with the pilfered high-tech loot.
One big Olympus raid had boosted confidence. Guerrilla war in their Manchurian home turf? Easy win.
At that moment, Pastor Lee smiled with his clones, assembling a new lab from Golden Maneho's premium parts and rare metals—his ideal near completion.