Chapter 94
Translator: MJK
Chapter: 94
Chapter Title: The Toddling Threat Approaches
Wanting to plant the seed from Rio's body in my garden carried a wealth of implications.
From China's perspective, an S-rank healer was nothing less than a walking strategic nuke—a national asset at the pinnacle of their strategic resources.
For such a person to suggest planting the core of her very life in foreign soil, let alone some individual's private territory, was tantamount to a declaration of defection. It meant abandoning her Chinese citizenship and placing herself under my protection.
'If only that seed weren't quite so threatening.'
It was a decision that could spark an international incident—with China claiming ownership, dispatching special forces, or dragging the matter before the International Hunter Court.
Fortunately or not, Rio had gained the freedom to choose precisely because of the seed's disaster-laden power.
And she looked like someone who'd already made up her mind.
"Gorani Man, there's something I'd like to ask you."
"Sure."
"Would it be okay if I wanted to live?"
Her voice was tentative.
"Of course. That's only natural."
"But... I don't want to get rid of this seed."
Rio placed a hand on her chest.
"It's made things hard for me, sure. But over the past three years, it's also been the thing protecting me. And besides..."
Rio's gaze drifted toward Muryong, who was frolicking in the yard.
"It reminds me of myself. I grew up an orphan, you see. I know better than anyone that bone-chilling loneliness of feeling like you're the only one in the world. That's why... the struggles it went through inside me trying to survive weren't entirely hateful. It felt like looking at my younger self."
It wasn't mere pity—it was profound empathy.
From that moment on, it was like the two of us had forged a deep resonance.
"Is there a way for me and this seed to coexist... without harming the world?"
"Naturally."
"Really?"
"But first, I have a question."
I set down my teacup and asked in all seriousness.
"Do you have no desire to return to China?"
"No. I'm not going back."
"Why is that?"
"China might have treated me like a hero, but they never once saw me as a person. Not even when they callously discarded me."
A flicker of bitterness crossed Rio's eyes.
"But you were different, Gorani Man. You saved my life and asked for my will. If it weren't for you, I'd have died trapped in eternal darkness."
The Rio I'd first glimpsed had been in a state where death could've come at any moment.
Her condition had looked so hopeless that Xiao Lin's desperation made perfect sense.
"I just want to repay the favor. Nations, patriotism—I've got no interest in that anymore. I simply want to help the man who saved my life."
Her eyes turned to the garden plot in the yard.
"And... I'm curious. What would happen if I planted this seed in your garden, brimming with such vibrant life force? If you'll allow it, I'd like to plant it here."
Rio's choice was clear.
She wanted to start her new life right here.
"Alright then. It's decided."
Woooong!
A heavy resonance echoed from the sky moments later.
I looked up to see space warping like crumpled paper as a single figure descended lightly.
It was Xiao Lin, back from Seoul.
"Lin!"
Rio waved happily.
Xiao Lin's expression, unlike the grim resolve she'd worn when leaving, now held a cool, sharp smile.
"Did you take care of your business? You're later than I expected."
"Yeah. Had to make some preparations."
Xiao Lin brushed back her hair with a smile.
In her hand was a thick envelope stamped with a red seal.
"Isn't that envelope from the International Hunter Court...?"
"Spot on. You recognized it right away."
International Hunter Court (IHC)
Supranational judicial body handling Awakener crimes and inter-nation disputes.
More than a mere courtroom, the IHC held immense significance in the Hunter world.
Guild or national disputes were usually settled through power plays or political deals.
Bringing a matter here meant no compromises.
It was an ultimatum: expose their dirty laundry to the world and bury them under the hammer of international law.
A de facto declaration of war.
"What business did you have at the Asian branch?"
Xiao Lin shook the envelope lightly and smirked at my question.
"What else? I went to prepare one hell of an expensive bill for those traitors."
Xiao Lin opened the envelope and showed me the draft indictment inside.
The contents were explosive.
Vice Chairman Zhou Lun's orders for human experimentation, Mei Ling's violations of Hunter management laws and complicity in murder—all laid bare.
But the more I skimmed, the more I frowned.
"...Lin. You planning to file this right away?"
"Yeah. Tomorrow morning, simultaneous release to global media and submission."
"That's too dangerous."
Xiao Lin looked puzzled at my firm tone.
"Dangerous? The evidence is ironclad."
"Your opponent isn't some guild—it's a nation. If the Chinese government wants, they'll block this before it even hits the docket and muzzle the press."
These were the people who'd hidden Rio for three years.
A frontal assault like this would just give them time to cut off tails.
They could destroy evidence or, worst case, brand the Xiao family traitors and justify a preemptive strike.
"Then... what do we do? Just sit back and take it?"
"No. We tie them down even tighter."
I grabbed a pen and struck through the title: Indictment.
"How about this instead?"
I wrote new words in its place.
"Is... that even possible?"
"Leave it to me for now. I'll explain once it's all done."
I pulled out my terminal and messaged someone.
Executive Director Shin Seung-ah. I need Yu Jin-hyuk Hunter's assistance.
Just say the word. How do you want us to move?
Have Yu Jin-hyuk Hunter make an official visit to the Xiao family estate's main gate. Excuse: hospital visit and final farewell.
My plan was simple.
Leverage Yu Jin-hyuk's fame.
And Rio's faked death.
Use those two to create a perfect smokescreen for the Chinese government.
The world-renowned hero who'd escaped a curse and saved Okinawa, visiting a critically ill comrade.
That was an emergency for China.
Foreign press would swarm, and every eye from their public security and intel agencies would lock onto Yu Jin-hyuk's every move.
"While the chaos unfolds, we'll quietly wrap up the real work."
By the time the world meets Rio again, the seed will already be planted in my garden.
"Rio, ready?"
"...Yes."
Rio closed her eyes, her face tense.
I steadied my breath and began reciting the passages of the Soul Fusion Heart Method, from start to finish—all inscribed with the Ink of the Martial God.
Wung—
The internal energy drawn from my dantian thinned like diluted ink, flowing hazily from my fingertips into the space between Rio's brows.
It was absolute synchronization—carrying my very consciousness into the depths of another's soul.
'Found it.'
At the heart of Rio's mana core.
Crouched in that pitch-black abyss burned a crimson sun-like seed.
Fwoosh!
Sensing my approach, the seed bristled with thorns in ferocious fury.
The space-warping vibrations screamed a blatant warning.
Who dares profane this sacred resting place?
A savage killing intent surged: withdraw now, or be devoured soul and all.
'Not a chance.'
But I didn't retreat.
Instead, I unleashed the aura dormant within me—the master of the Absolute's Herb Garden.
Kwaaaaa—!
My internal energy overwhelmed the seed's crimson aura like a colossal tidal wave.
—...?!
The seed's momentum shattered in an instant.
It sensed the extraordinary aura from this being.
A vast, fertile earthly energy incomparable to this frail human shell.
And the absolute dignity of its ruler.
—!
The seed began to realize, bit by bit.
The immensity of this existence.
When an entity starved across eons in dimensional cracks finally finds the bondage it sought, joy surges instead.
This being before it wore a human guise, but something more.
Behind that soul stretched an infinite, fertile expanse of earth—vast beyond comparison to any S-rank Hunter's vessel.
An absolute abundance, as if it could nurture all life in the universe.
Aah, this is it.
The seed understood.
The true soil for its roots wasn't some body.
Only the territory touched by this great Absolute's hand—the land it permitted—could let it bloom in its true form.
—...
Hostility flipped to submission in a heartbeat.
Arrogant thorns lay flat; crimson waves calmed obediently.
It was desperate courtship toward the one master who recognized its worth.
Shrrrk—
The seed withdrew its roots of its own accord.
The vines binding Rio's mana core unraveled smoothly, as if by magic.
I didn't even need to force them out.
Pop!
The seed burst from Rio's body like a cork.
Like a pilgrim meeting their savior—or a bee spotting honey.
It settled demurely into my palm.
Thud.
The crimson seed now rested in my hand.
Gone was its earlier ferocity; it glowed meekly at my touch.
"...Hoo."
I pocketed the seed without spilling a drop of sweat.
Rio's mana core was pristine, without a single blemish.
But it wasn't over yet.
I placed my hand on Rio's now-stilled mana core.
A perfect halt, without even the faintest vibration.
'Now, in this state...'
I located the subtle surveillance spell China had embedded near her heart.
Instead of destroying it, I honed my internal energy and slipped it into the spell's circuit gaps.
Freezing the cardiac arrest signal in its current state.
Surveillance spell signal locked.
Target: Ryu Liu / Status: Deceased (Irreversible)
Rio was now gone from the world.
"Time to plant it."
I gazed at the pulsing seed in my palm.
It already knew.
Where it belonged. Where its true earth lay.
I set it down gently, covering it with soil.
Kugugugugu—!
A massive quake shook the house—no, the entire mountain.
As if dimensional axes twisted and the earth's nature itself transformed.
Fwaaa!
A blinding pillar of light erupted from the soil, piercing the heavens.
The World Tree's seed takes root.
Warning! Territory rank rises to immeasurable levels!
'Just as I thought.'
[World Tree].
In Norse myth, called Yggdrasil—the absolute divine tree upholding dimensions and birthing mana.
Planting this in my personal garden was like driving a dimensional pillar into my backyard.
'The key is successful rooting.'
I kept my tension high, channeling internal energy into my soil-covered hand.
No room for failure here.
The World Tree seed's energy was compressed at densities that made a small nuke look like a joke.
If this land rejected it?
The backlash could obliterate my yard, the entire mountain range—erasing it from the map.
Kuuung—
Light from the World Tree voraciously sucked in ambient mana, savagely warping surrounding space-time.
It rampaged, proclaiming its presence with the ferocity of its suppressed eons.
World Tree seed begins germination.
Warning! Dimensional stability plummets sharply. At this rate, the entire territory may be ejected into subspace!
I didn't step in to suppress the seed's energy.
I simply gazed up at the sky-piercing pillar of light.
It was a battle of wills, of sorts.
Arrogant, childish tantrums—as if testing whether I could contain such power.
I figured I'd see how far it would rampage.
'Feistier than I expected.'
Was it testing its master? Venting pent-up rage from confinement?
Either way, to me, it was just an immature kid's cute rebellion.
That was when it happened.
-Hmyu?
Muryong stirred from his nap at the commotion.
He blinked up at the towering light pillar.
Then...
Toddle toddle!
He started waddling toward the seed.