Chapter 286
Chapter 286
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 286
Chapter Title: 65. Azure Sky and Blue Waves (2)
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“O… fifty million?”
“How are we supposed to come up with that kind of money right now…?”
“We can pay in installments. Just scrape together what you can for now.”
The citizens fumbled through their pockets with bewildered expressions.
And who could blame them? They had all assumed Hong Kyung-baek was as good as dead and had stopped kneeling.
But then, as Hong Kyung-baek’s shoulder nearly fully healed, he began to rise, and the atmosphere in the hall grew tense.
“Hurry up and get the money out!”
“If we don’t, we’re really all dead!”
The Tongliao citizens scrambled to collect funds, their voices bordering on screams.
In response, Hwang Seong-ri, the Second Sword of Tongwon, glared at Yeong-woo.
“Fifty million is way too much, isn’t it? Earlier, I saw that even Beijing only charges…”
He meant it wasn’t even forty million originally, let alone fifty.
And since that was true, Yeong-woo quickly raised a finger to cut him off.
“You’re right. I lied.”
“What?”
“But wasn’t it overkill for three of you to gang up on one person? So let’s call it even.”
“Wh-what kind of…”
“If my martial arts weren’t so strong, I’d already be a pincushion from your blades, dead on the spot—before I even had a chance to lie.”
“…”
“And maybe I jacked up the price because you attacked me out of nowhere and pissed me off.”
“But that’s not true, is it? You planned to gouge us from the start.”
“Ha.”
Yeong-woo let out a wicked laugh at Hwang Seong-ri’s retort.
“Who knows? But what’s certain is that if you’d just tried talking first, the price might’ve been different.”
“…”
In any case, he’d planned to squeeze tens of millions of karma out of them from the beginning.
But the powerless Tongwon Three Swords couldn’t argue further, and by then, Hong Kyung-baek—now fully recovered—cracked his neck side to side, his face twisted in fury.
“You lunatics are just barking like dogs.”
His words made it clear he was absolutely livid.
Yeong-woo pointed his killing sword at him.
“If you’re the Second Executive Committee Member, doesn’t that mean you’re second in the martial ranking too? Then how weak are the rest?”
Now even dropping the polite speech, Yeong-woo made Hong Kyung-baek’s face contort viciously.
“This pup thinks a little power makes him invincible.”
Hong Kyung-baek was sixty-eight years old, after all.
He was a veteran who had lived nearly twice as long as the ‘Supreme Sword’ standing before him.
Or more precisely, a veteran from the previous world.
So Yeong-woo made that clear.
“Between you—still Lim Du-pyeong’s lapdog after all these years—and me, an elected official from the Korean Peninsula, who’s the real pup? Don’t forget, the world has reset.”
Whoosh.
As Yeong-woo assumed his battle stance again, Hong Kyung-baek drew a blade from his fingertips, his eyes flashing.
The second round: Beijing’s number two versus the demon chosen by the Korean Peninsula folk as their representative.
Of course, most in the hall already knew the outcome.
They’d all seen Hong Kyung-baek’s shoulder get pulverized by Jeong Yeong-woo’s single strike.
“Is the money ready? How much did you get?”
With his eyes fixed on Hong Kyung-baek, Yeong-woo simply opened his mouth to ask, and the Tongliao citizens—pale-faced but dutifully—replied.
“Ab-about ten million.”
“Hmm, ten million.”
Yeong-woo mulled over the amount.
It fell far short of the initial fifty million karma demand, but considering the number of people present, it showed they’d made a real effort.
It meant at least ten thousand karma per person.
“Fine. I’ll collect the remaining forty million tomorrow.”
Yeong-woo nodded, and the citizens finally breathed sighs of relief.
They’d gotten the murder machine—that normally required fifty million to activate—running on just ten million, after all.
That said, at this point, it was debatable whether daily payments from the Korean Peninsula treasury or tributing forty million a day to Beijing’s Lim Du-pyeong was the lesser evil.
‘Ha, but we already stopped kneeling, so Hong Kyung-baek won’t let us live.’
‘No choice. For now, Hong Kyung-baek has to die.’
As the citizens glanced back and forth between Jeong Yeong-woo and Hong Kyung-baek with conflicted looks, Hong Kyung-baek—somehow reading their minds—widened his eyes.
“Tongliao independence!”
“…?”
“Huh?”
“What did he say…?”
It was such an out-of-left-field line that they wondered if they’d misheard.
Hong Kyung-baek drove the point home.
“Beijing guarantees Tongliao’s independence!”
Then he pointed his thick blade—grown from his forearm—at Jeong Yeong-woo.
Whoosh!
“But only if the Tongwon Three Swords join me here to kill this Korean Peninsula demon! We should settle our own affairs among ourselves, right?”
Cleverly avoiding words like ‘our country’ or ‘China.’
A true veteran of nearly seventy years.
With his odds of beating the ‘Supreme Sword’ one-on-one looking slim, he’d chosen the lesser evil over the worst.
But the Korean Peninsula folk’s choice, Jeong Yeong-woo07, was far more unpredictable than Hong Kyung-baek anticipated.
“What’re you blabbering about? Die already.”
Like a villain charging before the hero finishes transforming, Yeong-woo lunged at Hong Kyung-baek before any discussions with Tongliao could even start.
Thud-thud!
His figure closed in on Hong Kyung-baek’s face in an instant, making some of the Tongwon Three Swords flinch.
They’d unconsciously moved to backstab Jeong Yeong-woo in response to Hong Kyung-baek’s offer.
Surprisingly, Yeong-woo halted them with a bold shout.
“Don’t do something you’ll regret! If I die here, Lim Du-pyeong’s monopoly begins! Beijing loses its only rival!”
“…!”
The logic was sound, hitting the Tongwon Three Swords hard.
China’s current ‘tribute market’ was a duopoly between Jeong Yeong-woo from the Korean Peninsula and Lim Du-pyeong.
It was already rotten, but at least there was minimal competition, so not the absolute worst.
But if Jeong Yeong-woo died here, Lim Du-pyeong’s sole rival vanishes, handing China to the dictator outright.
On the other hand, if Jeong Yeong-woo survived?
‘We’ll still get fleeced as planned.’
But the one dying here would be Hong Kyung-baek, not Lim Du-pyeong, keeping the market a duopoly. The lesser evil.
“And do you really think Beijing will keep its promise? Both sides gouge money the same, but Lim Du-pyeong was already a dictator before!”
Yeong-woo’s pitch was pure self-promotion.
Lim Du-pyeong had been Tongliao’s enemy pre-reset, but Jeong Yeong-woo from the Korean Peninsula was an unknown.
No history of rampaging over pre-reset Tongliao, at least.
Shiiiing!
Then Yeong-woo’s killing sword whipped through like lightning, and Hong Kyung-baek swung his blade in a roar.
“Die!”
A purple trail erupted largely from Hong Kyung-baek’s forearm tip.
Whoooosh!
In contrast, Yeong-woo’s blade traced a red arc.
Kwaaak!
It stabbed diagonally into Hong Kyung-baek’s blade, mercilessly splitting it.
“Urk?”
Kwa-jajak!
Hong Kyung-baek’s blade shattered in midair like brittle candy.
The sight of an ordinarily indestructible weapon getting wrecked left everyone—Hong Kyung-baek included—stunned anew.
And over that massive shock, Jeong Yeong-woo07’s voice rang out.
“You don’t need to demand Tongliao’s independence from me. I’ve never put Tongliao under me even once.”
“…!”
“Just pay the set amount. That’s all I need. If you want a name for it, call it ‘independence aid fee.’ Since I’ll end up killing Lim Du-pyeong anyway.”
With that, Yeong-woo stomped down on Hong Kyung-baek’s knee with his left foot.
Paaak!
Hong Kyung-baek’s lower body tilted, half-kneeling, and Yeong-woo raised his sword for another strike.
Whish!
But the opponent was Beijing’s number two, after all.
At the last moment, Hong Kyung-baek figured out how to counter this Korean Peninsula demon.
He sprang back with all his might, grabbing Yeong-woo’s forearm with his left arm.
Thud!
If blocking the sword was impossible, control the arm wielding it.
“Wh-what the hell is that weapon?”
Hong Kyung-baek trembled faintly as he gripped Yeong-woo’s arm, asking.
He was pouring everything into resisting the raw power holding the killing sword.
Yeong-woo looked down at him calmly.
“Opponent scanner.”
“…What?”
“If you can’t even block this sword, you’re not my opponent.”
As Yeong-woo finished, he poured more strength into his sword arm, and Hong Kyung-baek’s eyes bulged.
“St-stop!”
His arm was being forcibly bent.
A simple contest of strength—and he was losing utterly.
Crack.
The killing sword’s tip neared his forehead, and Hong Kyung-baek spat out a loaded line.
“So you’re not just human either…!”
“‘Either’? So who else isn’t just human?”
Yeong-woo realized instantly.
It referred to Lim Du-pyeong, who’d granted power to the Executive Committee members.
“Lim Du-pyeong? What about him? Who’s backing him?”
Yeong-woo twisted the blade threateningly, but Hong Kyung-baek clamped his mouth shut.
He knew the fight was over—his death certain.
“Hah… The world dances in the demons’ palms.”
Hong Kyung-baek suddenly feigned detachment.
But Yeong-woo had no patience for more nonsense.
“No more words? Then die. I’ll meet Lim Du-pyeong’s sponsor myself.”
“…!”
Yeong-woo flexed his arm fully, and the killing sword—halted in midair—pierced Hong Kyung-baek’s forehead instantly.
Squelch.
It sounded like a blade sinking into a watermelon, then crimson steel burst from the base of his skull.
“Ugh…”
The Tongwon Three Swords, witnessing it, realized anew.
‘Strength’ is always relative, after all.
Who could’ve imagined the once-mighty Hong Kyung-baek dying so helplessly?
“Guh.”
With his head impaled, Hong Kyung-baek let out a brief groan, then his pupils stilled.
“…”
He was dead.
“Gone already.”
Whether this corpse seeped into the void or headed to Remy’s lewd paradise was unknown.
Yeong-woo pulled the killing sword free after checking the face, and Hong Kyung-baek’s gaunt body toppled sideways.
Thud!
Then purple demonic energy surged skyward from his corpse.
Shoooo!
The power granted to him returning to Beijing, no doubt.
“…”
Yeong-woo figured it was time to take on Lim Du-pyeong.
The committee members who’d received power directly from him were far weaker than expected.
‘Lim Du-pyeong probably isn’t that strong either?’
Contempt for the weak.
As Yeong-woo eyed Beijing with his usual sly glint, a presence flickered above his head.
Shweeeee…!
Something was plummeting at high speed.
The threatening aura made Yeong-woo reflexively swing his sword, cleaving the object.
Slash!
It split in two as it fell toward his crown, and a single sheet of paper fluttered down like a dance.
Flutter.
“Huh? What’s this?”
Yeong-woo snatched the paper with a furrowed brow, and ink-written text entered his vision.
「The owner of the Skyscraper wishes to meet Hero Jeong.」
“…Suddenly wants to see me?”
Many instincts stirred, but Yeong-woo first checked the seal at the bottom.
There, clearer than anything, was the name he most desired.
『Beijing Evil Subduer』 Im Du-pyeong.