Chapter 393: Suspicion Breeds Demons (6)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 393: Suspicion Breeds Demons (6)
China.
A nation that boasts one of the world's largest black markets and, consequently, is a hiding place for countless villains.
To villains, China is known by another name.
A paradise for criminals.
It was a truly disgraceful moniker for a national government, yet they were surprisingly nonchalant about it.
After all, they’re the ones who made it that way.
The country was so vast that if someone decided to hide, they were not easy to find.
The population was so large that a simple change in appearance was enough to slip through any dragnet.
On top of that, corrupt officials were everywhere. Slip them a few coins in the name of guanxi [connections], and a criminal could sleep with both feet stretched out.
The government, plagued by this persistent situation, eventually had a change of heart.
Instead of trying to control a situation that was already spiraling, they decided to use it.
A truly Chinese way of thinking.
They opened direct lines of communication with the big shots who held sway in the criminal underworld.
In exchange for recognizing their territories and activities to some extent, the government began to receive tribute payments.
It was a mutually beneficial arrangement.
The government was happy to pocket all the money that corrupt officials had been taking for themselves.
The criminals living in the shadows were happy to have the government, not some low-level official, watching their backs, giving them a greater sense of security.
Of course, the amount of tribute they had to pay increased, but what did it matter?
They could just steal more to make up for it.
That’s China for you.
The only ones who lost out in this absurd deal were the ordinary citizens.
But they were never part of the equation to begin with.
Not for the villains, and not for the government.
Neither side considered them a valuable resource.
The occasional death?
In a country like this, it didn't even make a ripple.
The number of children born to a population of over two billion far exceeded such losses.
In terms of financial gain, it was definitely a successful business model.
The money collected from the underworld significantly boosted the national budget, and in turn, the powerful grew richer.
Life at the bottom became even more grueling, but to those sitting on cushions of money, the cries of the poor were nothing more than a silent scream.
For a country with over two billion people, China had a strangely low number of talented Hunters.
Just as they were about to launch a massive Hunter development program with their newly secured budget to restore their bruised pride, a problem arose.
“Recently, the number of criminals operating outside our control has surged,” the man said.
Just as one must follow the laws of Rome when in Rome, eight or nine out of ten criminals who barely managed to escape their homelands and arrive in China would obediently comply with the Chinese government's demands.
To be precise, they had no choice.
China was the only sanctuary where they could live with some peace of mind.
The moment they were branded as criminals there too, they would have no place left to rest.
But recently, some had begun to defy the government's demands without a shred of fear.
“At first, we didn’t think much of it.”
And that was true.
It was something that happened from time to time.
There had always been a few rebels who would rather die than bow their heads or hand over their profits to others.
The government punished every single one of them severely.
They were made into examples.
A grim warning to all criminals that this was the fate of anyone who defied the government's will.
“…But recently, people have started to push back.”
Several factions that held firm territories in the underworld began to defy their will.
They declared they would no longer be the government's cash cow, suffering unjust treatment.
They made a demand.
To be treated as citizens of China, not as criminals.
Otherwise, they would no longer comply with the Chinese government's demands.
Faced with this considerable uprising, the government's first move was appeasement.
“We tried to coax and placate them… but it was completely ineffective.”
Officially accepting them as citizens was impossible, even for a country like China that brazenly ignored the opinions of others.
These were criminals who had committed all sorts of crimes in their home countries before fleeing.
It was painfully obvious what would happen the moment they were officially recognized as citizens.
Not only would China be ostracized from the international community, but it would also become an uncontrollable criminal state teeming with villains of every stripe.
When a reasonable level of appeasement failed, the Chairman became enraged.
“The government intended to mobilize hundreds of Public Security officers and soldiers to wipe them out completely.”
Not only the Public Security forces in charge of domestic order but also the military was set in motion.
Their next move after appeasement was to eradicate them root and stem.
They sought to uproot those who were causing chaos with their absurd demands and eliminate the source.
They had no doubt that the hundreds of proud Chinese soldiers would emerge victorious, elevating the government's prestige.
But then…
“…Shamefully, our Public Security and soldiers were defeated.”
They were defeated.
Utterly and miserably, without even putting up a decent fight.
Only then did they realize.
Their own criminal-friendly policies had given them sharp fangs.
And those sharp fangs were now pressed against their own necks.
“The Chairman wished to mobilize the entire army to uproot them, but even that is not a simple matter.”
The current government was grappling with several other problems besides the underworld rebellion.
The most troublesome among them was a power struggle.
“You all know him. The one whose fame as an S-rank Hunter has spread throughout the world—‘Lu Bu.’”
“Hmm…”
A groan escaped someone’s lips as soon as the name Lu Bu was mentioned.
An S-rank Hunter whose skills were among the best not only in China but in the world.
The Minister of National Defense, recalling a face so fierce it would make one’s knees tremble, shivered once before continuing.
“He has been strongly criticizing the current government and revealing his ambition for power.”
He claimed that the current government's incompetent and lax administration was making the country sick.
That to return China to the center of the world stage, this corrupt state of affairs had to be shattered.
“His statements have put the current government on trial.”
Who would have known?
That a day would come when the gazes of the people they never cared about—whether they lived or died—would feel so piercing.
Thanks to that, they were now in a position where they had to show results, one way or another, to quell the public's anxiety.
And in the midst of that, declare a war on crime by mobilizing the military on a large scale?
“Lu Bu would never miss that opportunity. He would point to it time and again as proof of the current government's incompetence.”
The moment that happened, it would be over.
His words would gain power, and the government would be branded as the epitome of incompetence.
What followed would naturally be a change in regime.
Therefore, a large-scale military mobilization was impossible.
They had to suppress them as quietly as possible and return things to the way they were.
That was the only way the current government could survive.
And that was something nearly impossible for them to achieve on their own.
“That is why we requested this secret meeting.”
The Hunter Association Presidents of Korea and Japan.
And the Vatican’s Orthodox Church.
That was the reason for arranging this secret meeting.
“If this land turns into a lawless state, it will have a significant impact on Korea and Japan as well.”
That was certainly true.
Their countries were far too close.
Weren't Korea and China connected by land?
The moment the vast territory of China descended into lawlessness, the impact on Korea would undoubtedly be immense.
Therefore.
“Lend us your strength.”
It gave them a justification to borrow their power.
With a wretched heart, the Minister of National Defense bowed his head to those he had always looked down on as his inferiors—Korea and Japan—and continued.
“If you help us, we will never forget this debt.”
*
Listening from the back, I couldn't help but think that China had been put in a proper checkmate.
In a way, they had brought it on themselves.
I mean, seriously, who told them to run a country by colluding with criminals?
If I had my way, the right thing to do would be to reject their proposal while saying, ‘Serves you right, you idiots.’
“Hmm… this is quite a difficult proposal.”
“It doesn’t seem like a proposal we can readily accept.”
The problem was what would happen if the entire, massive landmass of China really did become a lawless state.
There’s an old saying that when you move, you need to meet good neighbors.
It means you have to be careful, as the things they do in their daily lives can affect your own.
It was the same for countries.
If a neighboring country—one that was even connected by land—became a lawless zone, Japan might be spared, but Korea would inevitably feel the effects.
And funnily enough, if Korea was affected, some of that would seep into Japan as well.
After all, Korea and Japan were also neighbors, just a sea apart.
Sharing my thoughts, the Hunter Association Presidents of both countries groaned, unable to commit one way or the other.
The Saintess, who had remained silent between them, finally spoke.
“In my opinion, for them to rise up on such a scale, there must be a central figure… am I wrong?”
At this, the Minister of National Defense nodded with a grim expression and replied.
“…You are correct. After sacrificing hundreds of soldiers, we learned that there is an organization orchestrating this movement.”
As he said this, his gaze turned to Moon Cheol-jun, the president of the Korean Hunter Association.
“To be precise, we should say we found a clue thanks to Korea.”
“…Us, you say?”
“That’s right.”
When Moon Cheol-jun asked back with a bewildered look, the Minister of National Defense nodded and continued.
“A Hunter in Korea named Kim Do-jin mentioned it, did he not?”
My expression instantly stiffened.
I said something? What?
Then, a name suddenly came to mind.
At the same time, the Minister of National Defense’s lips uttered the very name that had just popped into my head.
“The name Hexagram.”
No way.
“They have been running rampant within our country as well. And in a very cunning manner.”
…It’s you guys again?