Chapter 285
Chapter 285
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 285
Chapter Title: 65. Blue Outshines Blue (1)
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“What?”
“…Huh?”
“Did you just call him Hero Hong…?”
At Young-woo’s denunciation of their treason, all three Tongwon Swords gaped in shock.
Wasn’t this bastard the one talking about toppling Beijing and all that?
“That guy’s completely insane.”
Tongwon’s First Sword, Jeong Cho-san, spat in fury, but they had no time to properly call him out.
In the meantime, Second Executive Committee Member Hong Kyung-baek had closed right in on them.
—Kneel before the Party! Anyone still standing on two feet from this moment will have their head chopped off!
Hong Kyung-baek demanded submission in a terrifying voice, and quicker than anyone, Young-woo dropped to his knees.
Thud!
In response, Tongwon’s Second Sword, Hwang Seong-ri, ground her teeth and glared at him.
“What are you doing, right now?”
“They said they’ll cut your head off if you don’t kneel.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be Lim Du-pyeong’s archenemy? Then obviously…!”
“Ah, that was just when I got paid. You’re not planning to pay me yet, right?”
“…What?”
Hwang Seong-ri’s eyes, nose, and mouth all flew open at once.
She’d just realized this bastard was protesting until they paid up.
“If you don’t want to kneel with me, then fight Hero Hong. Let’s see if you really have what it takes to defend the city.”
Young-woo, already kneeling, scratched his chin with a serene expression. Meanwhile, Tongwon’s Third Sword, Kwak Wang-bo, bellowed at the citizens.
“Don’t kneel! Are you crazy?”
Half the gathered citizens were already hesitating and dropping to their knees.
They’d judged that the Tongwon Three Swords couldn’t beat Executive Committee Member Hong Kyung-baek.
The other half wore confused faces, unable to decide.
They wanted to trust the Three Swords, but instinct told them kneeling now was the right call.
Hong Kyung-baek’s aura suggested his skills were no joke.
“Ha, are there truly traitors dreaming of rebellion?”
Finally, Hong Kyung-baek sneered fiercely at the Tongwon Three Swords.
Central Political Bureau Second Executive Committee Member, Hong Kyung-baek.
Age 68, height two meters.
Estimated current second-in-command in Beijing.
Unlike the Fourth Committee Member Baek Gang-ryang he’d met earlier, Hong Kyung-baek’s body wasn’t grotesquely mutated.
If anything, his overall lanky, gaunt frame made him look the most normal among the freaks Young-woo had encountered so far.
But instead.
‘Huh? No weapon?’
He was wrapped only in purple demonic energy, carrying no separate armament.
And for Beijing’s number two to walk around without one…
‘Doesn’t that mean he’s got something that makes weapons unnecessary?’
The moment Young-woo thought that, Tongwon’s First Sword, Jeong Cho-san, charged at Hong Kyung-baek first.
“You’ve come to dig your own grave!”
He figured he had to reverse the mood before all the citizens behind him knelt.
Then Third Sword Kwak Wang-bo followed suit, and finally Second Sword Hwang Seong-ri reluctantly stepped forward.
Tatat!
“Everyone, be careful! Look at that bastard—he’s definitely got something up his sleeve!”
Here, the ‘bastard’ Hwang Seong-ri meant was the brazen intruder kneeling shamelessly over there.
And at last.
“Die!”
Leading the charge, Jeong Cho-san thrust his broken sword at Hong Kyung-baek.
The very sword Young-woo had sliced clean as a bastard child.
Seeing it, Hong Kyung-baek narrowed his brows.
“Who did that to your sword?”
As befitting Beijing’s second-in-command, he sensed something ominous from the clean cut.
In this world, equipment—especially weapons—was common sense to be made damn near indestructible.
But Jeong Cho-san had no time to answer.
Having committed to a preemptive strike with his half-sword, he’d used up all his courage.
“Raaah!”
Oblivious even to the question, he mindlessly thrust the blade.
Screeeee!
“Ha, still a green kid. Courage is admirable, but…”
In contrast, Hong Kyung-baek laughed savagely and caught the incoming blade barehanded.
Crack!
“Huh?!”
Only then snapping to, Jeong Cho-san’s eyes bulged, and right after, Third Sword Kwak Wang-bo barged in, swinging his broadsword.
“Fall back for now! I’ll handle him!”
Though only third sword, Kwak Wang-bo was the eldest by age.
A carpenter from Tongliao and Kailu County.
With his well-developed forearms, he wielded the massive blade like paper.
“You Hong scum! I’ll lop off your head and hang it in the streets!”
As Kwak Wang-bo charged with his brutal line, the smile finally vanished from Hong Kyung-baek’s face.
“Guess you lot can’t be reasoned with.”
Then both his left hand—still gripping Jeong Cho-san’s blade—and his free right hand turned a chillingly deep purple.
Fsssh!
“Everyone, fall back!”
Sensing something, Hwang Seong-ri urgently hurled her sword at Hong Kyung-baek.
She judged it would tie up his arms just long enough for her comrades to retreat.
And that judgment…
Piiiing!
Was spot on.
“Huh?”
“Urk!”
“S-Sword…?”
As Hwang Seong-ri’s sword flew in, Hong Kyung-baek’s right hand transformed into a massive blade.
Shiiiing, flick!
Bounced off Hong Kyung-baek’s blade, it embedded far away in the ground, leaving her weaponless.
“Damn it.”
Seeing two Tongwon Swords already disarmed, Kwak Wang-bo grimaced at the bleak future.
And they weren’t the only ones with darkening faces.
“It’s… over.”
“Even all three together can’t do it?”
“What the hell do we do now…?”
The remaining half of the citizens still on their feet hurriedly knelt too.
Hong Kyung-baek burst into laughter.
“Ridiculous. What an amusing world.”
Then he pointed his grotesquely protruding arm-blade at the Tongwon Three Swords.
Stab!
“For daring to defy the Party, I’ll levy more military tribute.”
“……!”
“The Tongliao chief must bring 40 million karma to Beijing every day!”
“What?”
“Huh?”
At Hong Kyung-baek’s threat, the Tongwon Three Swords reflexively whipped their heads around.
Whiiiish!
Toward the uninvited ‘Supreme Sword’ who’d descended from the tower into the sky.
If defiance bumped tribute to 40 million, what the hell was the original amount?
Definitely not 50 million.
‘No, wait. Something’s off?’
‘Huh? It increased by 40 million for defiance?’
‘Didn’t that bastard just say every city pays 50 million?’
As all three Tongwon Swords edged toward the chilling truth, Young-woo finally rose.
Swoosh.
“Ha, what a sight. Hero Hong, you’ve got a soft side. Is drawing a blade on the Party only worth 40 million?”
“……?”
With some outsider standing alone, Hong Kyung-baek’s attention naturally shifted to him.
“…And who the hell are you?”
“Ha…….”
Young-woo swept back his bangs with his left hand, looking pitying.
Then he murmured softly.
“I’m the representative of the Korean Peninsula.”
“……?”
“And Lim Du-pyeong’s biggest headache, Jeong Young-woo07!”
“What?!”
Seeing this outsider casually mouth Chairman Lim’s name, Hong Kyung-baek realized much in an instant.
The mystery of Executive Committee Members vanishing one after another while collecting tribute in the east.
And that absurd sword cut he’d seen earlier too.
“You… you’re the one.”
As Hong Kyung-baek’s face lit with realization, Young-woo revealed the ‘Supreme Sword’ title he’d been hiding.
Flash!
『Supreme Sword』
“Supreme Sword…!”
Hong Kyung-baek’s eyes went wide at the radiant Korean Peninsula title.
It was because First Executive Committee Member Chairman Lim Du-pyeong had mentioned a prime suspect.
Among the headaches branded with China’s internal territory mark, one unusually long-surviving in the east.
And judging by looks, that was…
“Hong Kyung-baek! Come to me and serve the national interest!”
The Korean Peninsula’s elected ‘Supreme Sword,’ Jeong Young-woo, rolled his greedy eyes.
Meanwhile, his right hand had already flung a sword wrapped in crimson demonic energy.
Whiiiish!
But as befitting Beijing’s second-in-command, Hong Kyung-baek kept his cool.
“Urgh……!”
Even now, he twisted his torso to dodge Young-woo’s sword.
The blade that sliced only air embedded in the ground ahead, just like Hwang Seong-ri’s.
Crack!
“You’re nothing special either. Falling for such a shallow trick with even shallower skill.”
Confirming the sword in the dirt, Hong Kyung-baek laughed wickedly.
Unlike the sudden ominous vibe earlier, the opponent’s hand turned out to be nothing much.
But conversely, Young-woo’s face brimmed with delight, like he was thrilled.
“Young Hero Hong!”
“……?”
“Recognize this sword?”
As he spoke, Young-woo reached into empty air, summoning the mutated guandao ‘Dark Fragment’ from his weapon codex.
None other than Fourth Executive Committee Member Baek Gang-ryang’s weapon.
“That……!”
Sure enough, Hong Kyung-baek ground his teeth in rage.
“I’ll tear your limbs apart with that blade!”
Provoked by Young-woo’s corpse-mocking, Young Hero Hong lost his reason for a moment. The instant he stepped forward in fury to show his power.
Snap!
Young-woo flicked his right hand, remotely recalling the distant-embedded ‘Bastard Child.’
「Clown’s Iron-Plated Belt」 - Mutated Belt
【Remotely retrieves weapons.】
This fake sword arts was Young-woo’s famous ultimate technique too.
But as the auto-combat greatsword ‘Golden Trajectory’ charged in sync, no one spotted that this Supreme Sword was a fraud.
At least not in terms of martial prowess.
Screeeee!
Whiiiirrr……!
From behind, Bastard Child flew like an arrow to its master, while upfront, the golden greatsword danced like a living thing.
The spectators gaped in awe.
“Ah……!”
“I-Is that real flying swordsmanship?”
A realm of martial artistry.
Even Hwang Seong-ri, whose own sword was still stuck far away, couldn’t help but gasp.
She knew that bastard was a conman, but this martial art was undeniably real—she’d seen it herself.
“T-That……!”
Meanwhile, under triple attack, Hong Kyung-baek displayed insane skill amid the chaos.
Clang!
He blocked Young-woo’s swung Dark Fragment with his arm-blade, then pinned Golden Trajectory to the ground with his foot.
“Grr, you bastard!”
Of course, even he had never fought all-out like this.
And so.
Swoooosh!
He couldn’t block the final sword flying at his shoulder.
Kablooey!
“Eek!”
Young-woo’s Bastard Child shredded Hong Kyung-baek’s left shoulder clean off, and the kneeling Tongliao citizens surged to their feet en masse.
They realized the madman’s ravings about toppling Beijing and erasing Lim Du-pyeong were actually feasible.
Thud!
Retrieving Bastard Child, Young-woo scanned the now-all-standing citizens.
Then he backed away greatly, stowing all weapons but Bastard Child back into his codex.
Dark Fragment, and even Golden Trajectory pinned to the ground.
Pop!
As the weapons that had dazzled their eyes vanished at once, Tongliao’s citizens looked dumbfounded.
“W-What? Suddenly?”
“Where’d they all go?”
To that, Young-woo sheathed Bastard Child at his waist and spoke in a businesslike tone.
“The rest is pay-to-win. If you want me to kill Young Hero Hong right here, pay up.”
Seeing Hong Kyung-baek’s shoulder slowly regenerating, the citizens freaked.
“What the hell does that mean?”
“W-What? You need money to keep fighting?!”
The line he’d been waiting for finally dropped, and Young-woo fully spread his right hand.
“O.”
“O……?”
“Fifty million. Gather it now. Installments available.”
“……!”
At last, Young-woo’s tribute surpassed Beijing’s.