Negotiations (2)
Eunha carefully parted her lips.
"Uncle, there's something I'd like to say."
"What is it? I'll listen to anything."
"Uncle, I don't want you killing everyone just because they rub you the wrong way. That would make you no different from Hitler or Stalin."
Hanul regarded his niece with a faint smile.
She really does take after her father. Unlike me, she's a kind-hearted child.
For a girl this gentle to steel herself so deliberately…
Why? To make the country better.
Hanul felt a fresh surge of pride in Eunha and continued.
"I wasn't planning to kill those fellows, but from the way you put it, you're saying you don't want violence as the answer to everything."
"Yes, that's right."
"Then what direction do you want?"
"I hate the idea of a weak nation having its sovereignty stolen. Every other country wants the same thing, I'm sure. So I want to believe in humanity and international cooperation."
"It would be nice if that sort of thing actually worked."
"Yes. Of course it won't be a hundred percent. But at least since the world became a civilized society, that kind of…"
Eunha poured out her convictions with real heat. Listening, Hanul laughed inwardly.
Pure idealism.
In the Demon Realm? That kind of nonsense wouldn't even earn a sneer.
Honestly, he still thought the same, and he had no particular intention of changing his own methods.
But!
Laying the board for his niece's little playhouse, at least on the surface?
Not hard at all.
Kill the ones who needed killing.
As for the ones he had to cooperate with for his niece's sake?
Show them the difference in power, break their will, and make them docile. That was all.
No—perhaps the latter would be far more cruel.
Breaking a person's spirit.
The means? Endless methods more painful than death itself, and Hanul, who had lived in the Demon Realm, was a master of every one of them.
Eunha, of course, had no idea her words had produced a monkey's-paw result. She simply thought the conversation had gone well.
"Anything else you need?"
"Actually, they're negotiating with China somewhere else. It's a relief you're here, but the atmosphere over there right now…"
"About the same as this place before I arrived, or worse."
"Probably. It is China, after all."
The thuggery China would be pulling in the back-channel talks? Obvious without even looking. They needed a counter strong enough not to fold under it.
"Eunha, mind putting a call through to that side?"
"You're going yourself, Uncle?"
"Of course not. You're here, so I stay here."
"Heheh, I'll go then~!"
Quick on the uptake, Hatchery crunched her candy and her eyes sparkled.
"Think you can handle it?"
"Yes! Just do it like you did here, right yong? Eunha unnie, leave that side to me yong!"
"Eunha, you heard her. Let them know a kid named Hatchery is coming. They need to know she's on our side."
Eunha made the call.
"Hatchery, you are absolutely not allowed to kill anyone over there. Got it?"
"I won't kill anyone! Yes, unnie! I got it yong! Then I'm off yong!"
Hatchery vanished in an instant.
Leaving only the fading trace of her presence behind.
Somehow ten minutes had already passed. The door opened again and Rick Hasset and Sarah Cameron returned. Deputy Director Park Jincheol and Choi Doyun took their seats as well.
"Thank you very much for letting us rest."
Rick Hasset's manner had become noticeably more respectful.
Conference room, annex of the Seoul Government Complex.
The air was thick with cigarette smoke.
Clink—
Wang Lei, special envoy from China's State Council, sat in the seat of honor and toyed with his teacup. Beside him, Secretary Chen Wei sorted another stack of documents and passed them over.
"Minister Lee, why are you so slow reading the papers? Even a Korean minister is only this good, I see."
Wang Lei took the documents Chen had handed him and seemed about to push them toward the Korean side—
Thud—
He deliberately angled his hand outward so the papers scattered across the floor.
"Oh my, a mistake!"
"I-It's fine. Secretary Park, pick those up, would you?"
Gathering them again fell to the Korean secretaries. Barely ten more minutes passed.
"Haaawn! This is a terrible waste of time. Are you doing it on purpose? Trying to refuse the goodwill a great nation has so kindly extended!"
"Please give us a little more time. We need to review carefully…"
That was the reply from Lee Hyunseok, Minister of Science, Energy and Industry—the expert on the Korean side. The veins stood out on the forehead of Oh Gwangseok, the Blue House chief of staff seated with him.
"Even so, sitting across from each other like this and going on about 'great nation' this and that is hardly polite…"
"If a great nation isn't a great nation, what should we call it? Is Korea the great nation, then?"
"By its proper country name…"
"We didn't even call Korea a small nation—that was already us being generous, and you don't even realize it. Secretary Chen, working in a place like this must be rough."
"Thank you for understanding, sir."
Behind Minister Lee and Chief Oh sat S-class Hunter Kang Jinwoo of the Presidential Security Service. Being Korean himself, his blood was boiling; his fists clenched tight.
"No need to look any further. I'll summarize for you. Hand over Korea's magic-stone refining technology."
"Envoy Wang, the monopoly rights on the Yellow Sea shipping lanes must be included as well."
"I nearly forgot. Thank you, Secretary Chen."
"Just a moment, that matter…"
"Don't talk nonsense!"
Hot-tempered Oh Gwangseok finally snapped.
"A petty bureaucrat from a small nation dares raise his voice at a special envoy from a great nation?"
"You've been saying 'great nation, great nation' this whole time, but China's just a big piece of land—"
"Chief, any more of that and the atmosphere of the talks will truly collapse."
Only then did Oh Gwangseok snap back to his senses. Minister Lee Hyunseok tried to mediate, but it was already too late.
"Haa! If you're only going to keep wasting time, I intend to leave."
Minister Lee and Chief Oh looked at each other and shook their heads.
"Then we will also…"
As the Korean side made to rise, a flicker of surprise crossed Wang Lei's face—he hadn't expected that. At his glance, the hunter standing behind him, Fang Tian, released his mana.
"…Ghk!"
"Ugh… Wh-what are you doing?"
Minister Lee and Chief Oh dropped back into their seats.
"This is… a clear violation of sovereignty. Under international law, using force against another country's officials… kuh!"
"Hm? Is something the matter? Do the two of you have some chronic condition?"
"It would seem so."
Minister Lee's and Chief Oh's hands trembled violently. The president had sent Hunter Kang Jinwoo to protect them, yet he too was being overpowered just as helplessly.
These insane bastards… Not even ten minutes into the talks and they're pulling this shit…
Bzzzt—
At that moment Minister Lee's smartphone buzzed.
They're sending someone in this situation? Who?
"Hello yong!"
In that instant, a bright, cheerful voice rang out—
KRAAANG!
—and a little girl smashed straight through the wall.
That wasn't the end of it.
An unexpected assault, no matter how you looked at it. Fang Tian tried to react, but in the next heartbeat his head was buried in the floor. KRAANG!
"Cough… Guh! Kweh!"
He spat blood. And perched cheerfully on top of him, smiling sweetly, was none other than Hatchery.
"You already got the call that I was coming, right yong?"
"A call that someone was coming… from Minister Kang Eunha… you mean?"
"Yes! Eunha unnie said to wipe them all out, or maybe she didn't? I can't quite remember yong, heh!"
Eunha hadn't even breathed the first syllable of "wipe them out." Yet the very situation she had feared was unfolding in the China-Korea negotiation room.
"What is that little girl?"
"Hah, even for back-channel talks, to just let anyone walk into the conference room!"
In that moment Hatchery flicked her fingers—
KRAAAANG—!
Fang Tian's massive frame, which had been leaning against the wall, lifted into the air—
KRAANG!
—then slammed into the floor—
—lifted again—
KRAANG!
—and slammed down once more.
"Grrraaagh…"
And that still wasn't the end.
Ssssss—
Violet smoke coiled around Fang Tian's body. Crack— snap! Crunch! Crrrack!
"Aaaargh! M-my arms! AAAAAAARGH! Guh…"
A late-stage Dragon-class hunter. Effectively on the level of an SS-class. Yet Fang Tian's bones crumpled like soft taffy.
Worse, the tentacles burrowed inside him, seeping into his organs and polluting them with demonic energy.
He couldn't just take this!
Don't be fooled by appearances—respond properly!
Judging so, Fang Tian gathered his mana and prepared his strongest skill: Black Flame Bullet. The power began to flicker at his fingertips—
"Where do you think you're going yong? How rude!"
Even finer strands spilled from the violet mist. This time the purple tentacles invaded Fang Tian's blood vessels and mana circuits.
Mana and blood reversed course. Pop, pop-pop-pop!
Capillaries burst all over his skin.
"S-stop! This is going too far! Make her stop at once!"
"Hunter Fang Tian?! Are you all right?!"
Crunch-crunch— grind-grind-grind—
The sound of his mana core being shattered into fine pieces and pulverized. All the while Hatchery forcibly kept his life functions going so he wouldn't die.
"U-uuuh…"
Fang Tian's screams dwindled. Only once he had reached that state did Hatchery release the technique.
"…"
Silence. Only Fang Tian's faint "uuuh…" could be heard.
"Wh-what… what is the meaning of this! This is as good as a declaration of war!"
"How dare you!"
Envoy Wang Lei and Secretary Chen finally came to their senses and recoiled in horror. Hatchery beamed at them and took one step, then another, closer.
"Don't worry yong! She told me not to kill anyone, so I didn't!"
True, she hadn't killed him.
But—
He was now a cripple who would never use mana again. He would never walk. He would never even lift a spoon. Reduced to crawling on the floor with every limb crushed. Death would have been kinder.
"I'll move this one out of the way, so you can start the negotiations again yong!"
Negotiate? In a room painted wall-to-wall with blood?
"Still not starting yong? Ah! It's because it's dirty, right? Then I'll clean the room yong!"
Hatchery's mana swept through the chamber. The room became spotless once more. And there, neatly folded into a perfect cube, was Fang Tian's body.
"Huh? Why aren't you starting the meeting yong?"
"…"
Envoy Wang Lei's and Secretary Chen's faces went paper-white. A late-stage Dragon-class hunter—no, not just any late-stage Dragon-class, but effectively a candidate for the next Heaven-class—had been turned into garbage in a matter of seconds.
Yet the arrogance that surpassed even their pride in China, the emotion soaked into their very bones, would not vanish so easily.
"Call your country's hunters right now and arrest that bitch!"
"No need for that, Secretary Chen. Contact the Black Dragon Guild. A Heaven-class hunter has already arrived."
"Of course! Understood. We'll extradite that witch to our country and punish her under Chinese law…"
"Someone else is coming yong? How nice of them to bring me more toys!"