Chapter 436
Chapter 436
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 436
Chapter Title: Harley's Modern Diary (3)
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In a dingy alleyway in Daegu, far from any main road and littered with all sorts of trash.
The place was so dimly lit that proper streetlights barely reached it—a spot no ordinary citizen would bother glancing at twice.
No matter how much Korea's public safety had improved lately, there were limits.
Sure, measures against everyday crimes were one thing, but wandering into a place as blatantly shady as this out of curiosity guaranteed no safety.
And that went double for somewhere outside Seoul, where the Blood Alliance held strong sway.
"Heh heh heh, you idiot. Got your ass handed to you gambling again, huh?"
"For real? Again?"
"Shut up. I'm already in a shit mood."
"Knew it. People gotta live right, man. Chasing quick bucks never ends well."
But to the underworld's residents, such dangerous surroundings were just part of everyday life.
A rowdy group of young men, their faces flushed red from booze, laughed noisily as they staggered along.
"I said shut up! And live right my ass—what the hell do guys like us..."
Perhaps too drunk to watch their surroundings, they were lost in their banter.
Thud—
The guy leading the pack, grumbling irritably, didn't notice the figure approaching from the opposite direction and slammed shoulder-first into him.
"Ah, fuck! What the—?!"
"Keh heh heh! What's this punk doing?"
"Heh heh heh."
He hit the ground like he'd crashed into an iron pole, sprawled out flat. Grimacing, he staggered back to his feet.
The alcohol dulled the pain, but that wasn't the point right now.
His crew, already yapping away, now pointed and laughed outright. With his temper already maxed out, the guy's lid blew clean off.
"You little shit, who the fuck do you think you are, bumping into people like..."
"Huh? Me?"
As he glared daggers and unleashed his rage at the guy across from him...
A sturdy figure slowly emerged from the alley's shadows.
"Man, sorry about that. It's been a while since I had to worry about stuff like this."
People usually got out of his way on sight, so he hadn't expected a collision.
The sunglasses-wearing man, built like a tank and gentlemanly in his apology, scratched the back of his head with a light chuckle.
"Think a sorry fixes it? Cough up treatment money."
"Yeah, yeah, nice suit and shades too—leave 'em behind."
Unfortunately...
The young men, utterly wasted and reason shot, weren't having any of his sincere apology.
Sure, the guy looked anything but ordinary at a glance, but to them—members of the Black Poison Gang, Daegu's biggest underworld outfit—looks meant squat.
"Count yourself lucky. Back in the day, it wouldn't end like this."
"Heh heh, he'd have smashed your shoulder first, for sure."
"If you even survived that long, kid."
They weren't just street punks wandering drunk in a danger zone like this.
Mystical energy rippled up from their bodies, like they were ready to beat him half to death the second he resisted.
Their power levels weren't impressive, but the mere presence of abilities made them plenty dangerous.
Thus, the man—now surrounded and threatened by a pack of Returner thugs—was in a real pickle.
Harley, who'd come here based on intel from his new hires, smacked his lips.
'Talk about a novel experience. Guess changing my build to "Manager Ha mode" and suppressing my aura as much as possible played a part.'
Even so, most folks would feel some instinctive wariness.
But booze had numbed not just their reason, but their instincts entirely.
With things like this, he had only one option.
"Tch, no helping it. Wasn't planning on illegal medical practice, but..."
Contrary to his words, he grinned brightly, rolled up his sleeves with enthusiasm, and prepped for some physical therapy.
"Oh yeah? Wanna go?"
"Rip his limbs off first."
What happened next didn't need detailing.
"Guhk..."
"Cough! Cough!"
After some time, the cocky thugs lay scattered like crumpled trash around the alley—perfectly matching the decor.
"You... you dare... do you even know who we are...? Touching the Black Poison Gang in Daegu—you're as good as dead!"
As he admired the scene with satisfaction...
One who looked relatively intact—thanks to the treatment—sobered up completely and bellowed in fury.
'First visit, huh? Not fully cured yet.'
He seemed to need follow-up care from his speech.
Harley nodded and strode toward the still-feisty patient on the ground.
"Eek! M-my big bro's a Black Poison Gang exec! You think he'll sit still if something happens to me?!"
That made his steps falter for a second.
Thinking his threat worked, the guy beamed and kept yelling.
"You've heard the rumors about Black Yaksha Kwon Cheol-yong, right? Our gang's big boss, the Black Yaksha! My bro, Jang Tae-hyuk, serves right at his side! If anything happens to me, he'll... Huh? Yeah, the boss himself will step in right away. You get it? So right now..."
"Oh? Looks like I hit the jackpot."
A casual voice cut through his frantic rambling.
The man, speechless, stared blankly upward from the ground.
With the alley's hazy light behind him.
The figure's teeth gleamed white through the shadows on his face.
Like he'd struck gold, genuinely thrilled.
'...Fuck, we picked the wrong guy...'
Only then did the treatment kick in fully. His reason and instincts returned, doing their job properly.
Too little, too late.
"I was just looking for that friend of yours. Since we're fated and all, why don't you show me the way?"
***
The Blood Alliance had been a fixture in Korea's underworld for over fifteen years.
Sure, most forces had moved to Seoul to solidify their influence there, but at heart, it was a coalition spread across the country in crew-sized units.
Bang!
"Damn it! You rotten scum...! Posing as a public safety outfit, too weak to take down vampires, and now you're their lapdogs just to save face?!"
So it was no surprise they'd stirred up trouble nationwide and clashed with local underworld powers over turf.
No—in fact, the unreported casualties from those fights probably dwarfed the public ones.
For vampires, harvesting blood through underworld brawls was far easier and more efficient than sourcing it legally in the light.
'Trouble. Real trouble. Hasn't leaked yet, but with those tenacious Guardians sniffing around, it's only a matter of time.'
Black Yaksha Kwon Cheol-yong, boss of Daegu's Black Poison Gang, was one who'd built bad blood with the Blood Alliance in the process.
Defending Daegu's turf against their scattered forces hadn't been hard, but he'd lost several brothers he cherished like family along the way.
"Ha! Shameless bastards. Think they can really live under the sun now that they've gone public? As if the stench of blood they spilled back then has faded!"
When the Blood Alliance conquered Korea's underground and claimed dominion of the night, he'd grudgingly fallen under their umbrella.
Like it or not, this world ran on raw power.
Even with grudges lingering, once the gap in strength was clear, accepting defeat was inevitable... or so he'd thought.
'But this is different. You broke the underworld's rules first.'
They stood in the light, policing underworld crime.
Didn't that make them outsiders to the underground code?
A separate police force might be one thing.
But for someone like him, who stuck strictly to the shadows, allying with outsiders to betray the Blood Alliance was hardly unjust.
'Damn it, everything's gone sideways. The bomb plot failing was fine, but who knew they'd squash those celebrity troublemakers and hand them straight to the Returner Association? Dumping their mess on investigators instead of handling it themselves. No pride as night lords?'
The bomb to take out Ricoris was a win-big-or-no-harm gambit.
His real aim was what came after.
If the celebrities who'd clashed with them all got assassinated at once, who would the public blame first?
'A hundred percent if the bomb succeeded. Even without it, Ricoris the victim and her vampire backers would top the list.'
Plenty of witnesses—no denying it.
Add the prepared media spin, and public opinion would ignite. Then the government and Association would hesitate to shelter them.
Chip away at the Blood Alliance's trust, sow division, and shatter their daylight foothold—that was the plan.
"Damn, all those plans down the drain. Got nothing to say to them now..."
Kwon Cheol-yong gnawed his lip, thinking of his secret ally.
The assassination—the plan's crux—was beyond his skills.
Master-level powerhouse or not, covertly killing top celebs like Cheon Seol-hyang was impossible.
Hell, he wasn't even sure he could beat her in a straight fight, so the assassin had to be someone on that level.
[No need to explain. I've grasped the situation fully.]
"What?! When?!"
Right then, as if he'd snuck up undetected even by a fellow Master.
[Tch, total bust. If it weren't for that Thunder Emperor in Seoul's southern branch, I might've made something work.]
The shadow, conveying intent through vibrating air rather than voice, slowly shook its head.
Specialized in stealth and on the cusp of transcendence, but without crossing that wall, fooling a true transcendent's senses for a kill was too risky.
"...We still have a shot. We can't hold them forever anyway..."
[Timing's off. Better to scrap and replan.]
The shadow—Black Shadow—clicked its tongue inwardly at the clinging man.
He'd seemed useful enough after vetting, but clearly not long-term material.
'Wrap this up and cut him loose. Keeping dead weight like this just risks exposure.'
With Pandemonium pulling out of Korea entirely, this was prime time to infiltrate.
For the Black Dragon Society, cornered in vampire-overrun China, shaking the Blood Alliance on this little peninsula and striking amid their chaos was optimal survival.
'But with a partner this sloppy, we're the ones in danger.'
Mess up halfway, and they'd face attacks from both Blood Alliance and Pandemonium—game over.
Time to scout someone more competent for the job...
Knock knock—
"B-Big bro. It's Tae-hyuk. Got urgent news..."
Then, a subordinate's voice came from outside the office.
Kwon locked eyes with Black Shadow briefly, then snapped irritably at the door.
"Busy now—come back later!"
"It's critical. For some reason, a Guardian investigator barged into our turf, and they won't listen to reason. If we don't handle this now..."
But the frantic reply made him frown.
Only he knew the full plan.
The rest were clueless pawns. Had the trail led here already?
Black Shadow nodded slowly, melting into the room's darkness.
"...Come in."
Click—
As the security door's barrier disengaged at Kwon's word...
"Sniff sniff! Smells like conspiracy in here—reeking of plots! Kahaha!"
The door flew open, and a stranger barged in.
A burly guy in a suit with slicked-back hair, looking every bit the thug.
Kwon whipped around to his subordinate Tae-hyuk in shock, but...
"...Sorry, big bro."
"You, you...! How could you...!"
Tae-hyuk just stood at the door, head bowed, face a mess.
As Kwon trembled in betrayal...
Harley strode in confidently, grinning at the corner's shadows.
"Whoa~ Jackpot! Came to rough up the perp like my sharp newbies said, and the mastermind's right here too?"
Right after.
The shadow in the dark bolted to escape.
[Kuhk!]
"Hey now! I just got here—where you off to first?"
Far away, maybe he'd slip. But in plain sight? No chance.
Kaboom—!
The fortified office exploded in an instant.
Harley pursued the slippery shadow like a hawk.
After a brief chase, the hunter clamped down on his prey's throat with a feral grin.
'Could've really lost him. Got lucky.'
All points in stealth over combat—escape skills were unreal.
Barreling in guns blazing like usual? He'd have gotten away.
'See? Gotta live right.'
Who knew "Manager Ha mode" to minimize noise would pay off like this!
All thanks to generously treating those street punks earlier.
Thus, Harley racked up violence points smoothly today.
As always.