The Imperial Watcher
Fortunately enough—or so one hoped—what Dang Un-hwa had created was not white phosphorus munitions.
It was, however, genuine toluene!
“When we dry-distilled coal, it produced an oil that catches fire with terrifying ease! Since it came from coal, I named it petroleum—rock oil.
“We mixed that with sulfur, bitumen, and the like to form a special compound, sealed it in porcelain jars, and launched it!
“Well? What do you think of my masterpiece!”
Well, for someone who has never seen real petroleum, calling toluene “oil drawn from stone” is fair enough.
Hui-yeom breathed an inward sigh of relief.
White phosphorus was banned in warfare under international law—not merely for its lethality, but for its sheer cruelty. If the Dang Family ever fielded such a thing, the orthodox sects would stop treating them as a proper clan and start treating them as some Sichuan branch of the Demonic Cult.
“…You have done well. Creating an entirely new substance through your own research is a feat worthy of the Roll of Heroes.”
“Thank you!!”
Dang Un-hwa beamed. Hui-yeom continued,
“However, mass production of the Type C Dabal-shingijeon is forbidden for the time being.”
“Why?!”
“We must never forget that the Dabal-shingijeon we have built is not a siege weapon. It is a defensive system—meant to protect fixed positions. Every stronghold we hold sits in mountainous terrain, and Type C starts fires far too aggressively.
“Shall we burn down the entire thatched cottage just to kill a few bedbugs?”
“Mmmmm… that is…”
“Furthermore, this ‘petroleum’ of yours. A liquid with such a sharp odor is surely highly volatile, is it not?”
Hui-yeom already knew everything about toluene, yet he played the innocent.
Dang Un-hwa nodded in admiration. As expected of the Young Master!
“Yes! Exactly!”
“Even if porcelain and beeswax can contain it, long-term storage may still allow gradual leakage. If that leaked gas—vapor, rather—fills a sealed space, it could poison people or ignite spontaneously.”
“I see…”
Dang Un-hwa wilted. Had he possessed a tail, it would have been tucked firmly between his legs. Hui-yeom clicked his tongue inwardly at the sight of such thorough demoralization.
“Still, I acknowledge its power as a weapon is outstanding. Should we ever face a great host on open ground, or need to burn an enemy’s grain stores, it will be a most reliable tool for fire attacks.
“We will mass-produce it when the need arises. You have worked hard, Director Dang Un-hwa.”
“Thank you!!”
With toluene in hand they could build flamethrowers—and TNT. Flamethrowers were one thing, but TNT was an explosive of almost limitless utility. In a certain light, the toluene-loaded Dabal-shingijeon would prove far more useful against the Emperor’s armies than against fellow martial artists.
I was actually thinking of poison gas, you know.
Trenches, barbed-wire entanglements, machine-gun nests, and distilled mustard gas—the combination that had turned the Western Front of the Second World War into a living hell on earth. Until tanks and aerial bombers appeared that could break such lines, the mix had been nearly invincible.
But…
Too much.
In Hui-yeom’s judgment, martial artists included a few superhumans who could outperform tanks single-handedly—yet the vast majority remained ordinary men. Fully eight-tenths of all martial artists were third-rate or second-rate fighters.
True, first-rate masters were common as dirt among the Nine Sects and One Gang and the Nine Great Noble Families, and Peak masters were not rare…
This is enough for now.
Hui-yeom reached his conclusion.
“Begin preparations for mass production of Type A and Type B. We must deliver them to the Imperial court, and we must also arm every outpost held by our Noksan forces.”
“Understood!”
Conversation finished, Hui-yeom turned to Sama Yun with a smile.
“Well? How do you like the power of our Dang Family?”
“…The Dang Family…”
Sama Yun swallowed dryly.
“has been hiding a truly terrifying strength. You can mass-produce these?”
“Of course.”
“Wow…”
She covered her mouth in admiration, then nodded.
“It is an excellent weapon. If the Noksan Road and Traffic Management Corporation arms its key positions with these and pours fire upon an enemy, a single company might hold off a million men. Yet…”
Her eyes grew cautious.
“That firepower is so great that using it against close-range foes becomes a burden. Perfect for striking distant targets, but at a place like Noksan—where the enemy must approach the outpost before friend and foe can even be distinguished—would it not be excessive?”
“An accurate observation. No need to worry, however. Officially, the Dabal-shingijeon exists not for the Dang Family but for the Emperor’s armies. When those armies face a host of equal size, they will need exactly this level of firepower.”
“…And if an Emperor armed with such power decides the martial world has outlived its usefulness—like a hunter discarding a hound once the hunt is done?”
Sama Yun felt an instinctive dread of gunpowder weapons. No sect could withstand an imperial army equipped like that.
Hui-yeom remained coldly composed.
“Martial artists labor under a fundamental misconception. The Emperor does not leave the martial world alone because he lacks the strength to crush it.
“His million-strong army could grind the martial world to dust whenever he wished. Of course, if a master of the Realm of Profundity—or the Saeng-sa-gyeong of legend—appeared, that would be another matter.”
Such a person would be a living nuclear warhead; they could be set aside for now. No known master in the present martial world possessed nuclear-level martial arts.
In short, the Emperor could, at any moment, sweep the martial world clean with millions of troops, the Eastern Depot, and the elite masters of the Imperial Guard.
“The reason the Emperor guarantees the martial world’s survival and upholds the principle of non-interference between court and Jianghu is that the martial world itself is the tool he chose to check the excessive growth of regional power.
“And no matter how powerful the Emperor’s armies become, they cannot police every province. Guarding the capital region is one thing; the Central Plains are simply too vast. You need not fear. The martial world will be fine.”
What truly threatened the martial world’s existence was not stronger weapons, but the development of rapid transport and communication that could link a vast continent, and the growth of administrative capacity. Those things tightened central control over the provinces… and rendered the martial world obsolete.
Yet that danger lay centuries away. The China Hui-yeom remembered had still been ruled by regional warlords even after the Second World War—until Mao Zedong drove out Chiang Kai-shek and unified the mainland under a single red flag.
Sama Yun nodded at his explanation.
“I see.”
“As for close-range suppression weapons… I already have something else under development. And once war begins—once we no longer need to wait for the enemy to come to us—that weapon will more than earn its keep.”
“A close-range suppression weapon?”
“I’ll show you next time.”
A Gatling gun nest would keep most martial artists from even contemplating a charge—unless a legendary Indestructible Diamond Body appeared. In truth, that was the weapon Hui-yeom wanted to hide from the Emperor even more carefully than the Dabal-shingijeon.
In terms of spectacle and raw slaughter, the multiple rocket launchers looked superior. Yet they required enormous quantities of gunpowder—an advantage that would keep the Imperial court dependent upon the Dang Family.
“War… Young Master Dang, are you actually preparing for war against the Imperial court of the Central Plains?”
“Of course I do not hope for war. There is an old saying, however:
‘If you desire peace, prepare for war.’”
“…Only when one possesses the power of self-defense will the other side refrain from attacking?”
“Something like that.”
Of course, they could also keep their heads down, live quietly inside Sichuan, and never appear threatening. But that would be a false peace that could end the moment the Emperor’s mood changed.
“My goal is to build enough strength that the Emperor will feel the cost of striking us is too high—and will therefore keep us as allies rather than enemies.”
“…And the Sama Clan? Unlike the Sichuan Dang Family, which can simply dig into the Bashu mountains and defend, the Sama Clan sits in the heart of the Central Plains. If the Dang Family ever confronts the Emperor, the Sama Clan will be dragged in as well…”
“I will never allow that.”
Hui-yeom’s voice was absolute.
“And why do you keep assuming the Emperor will attack us?”
“Because…”
“Stop worrying so much. We endure these inconvenient disguises precisely so the Emperor will not see us as a threat. Leave it to me.”
“…I trust you.”
“Let me restate this clearly: the Sichuan Dang Family’s primary goal is to expand its influence across the Central Plains and become the foremost clan under heaven—not to found some independent state seceding from the Gyeong Dynasty. I will make certain the things you fear never come to pass, Yun.”
“Yes.”
Less than a week after Hui-yeom and Sama Yun held that conversation, the Imperial inspector sent by the Emperor arrived from Beijing.
“I am Baek Beon of the Eastern Depot.”
A young eunuch in his twenties bowed low before Dang Un-sang.
Dang Un-sang returned the courtesy with a formal fist-and-palm salute.
“I am Dang Un-sang, Family Head of the Sichuan Dang Family. In the martial world they call me the Myriad Poison Gentleman.”
That the head of Sichuan’s greatest sect and most powerful clan would personally offer respect was only natural: Baek Beon had come bearing the Emperor’s secret mandate as watcher.
Having received the courtesy, Baek Beon smiled with elegant grace. He was a slender man of refined beauty, eyes narrowed to fine lines—an orchid of a figure.
“I shall be imposing upon your hospitality for some time. May my presence serve both as proof of the Dang Family’s innocence and as a lasting token of the trust between the Imperial court and your house.”
“It shall be so. The Dang Family welcomes you. Quarters have been prepared; rest as you please.”
“My thanks. Then let us first settle the matter that may prove most inconvenient.
“Grant me permanent access to the Innovation Hall.”
“…Even I, the Family Head, cannot enter the Innovation Hall without a daily-renewed pass.”
“I shall observe the same procedure. What matters is that I may inspect every place without concealment.
“Otherwise, how could trust exist?”
It was the request they had expected. Dang Un-sang pretended to deliberate, then gave a heavy nod.
“Very well.”
“My gratitude. May I, then, tour the Dang Family at once?”
“As you wish. Yeom.”
“Yes, Father.”
Hui-yeom stepped forward and bowed.
“A pleasure to meet you, Inspector. I am Dang Hui-yeom, Young Master of this house.”
“Ah, I have heard much of the Prophesied Young Dragon. It is an honor to meet you in the flesh.”
“You flatter me. I shall assign my most trusted secretary, Ye-eun, to escort you. Please examine every corner of the family. I would guide you myself, but accumulated duties press upon me…”
“Ah, I appreciate the consideration. Though I lack the usual masculine equipment, I am still a man—and I confess I would far rather be guided by so lovely a young lady than by the Young Master. Yohohohoho! Only a joke, of course.”
Faced with Baek Beon’s self-deprecating humor, Hui-yeom could only laugh awkwardly before handing the inspector over to Ye-eun.
“Come, come, Young Lady Ye-eun. I place myself in your care. Please explain everything comfortably, in language even a village idiot could understand. Yes?”
“Yes.”
“Ah, that is not to say I am a village idiot. Despite appearances, I am something of a prodigy even within the Eastern Depot. Yohohoho! Another joke.”
“Yes.”
“Young Lady Ye-eun’s expressionless face is truly beautiful. If one were to tap it, might it crack and let beauty spill out like a broken vessel?”
“I’ve never had my face cracked, and I have no desire to experiment.”
“Yohohahaha! What an amusing person you are!”
“You laugh a great deal, sir.”
Incredible…
Extraordinary…
While Baek Beon chattered and cackled in pure foolishness, Ye-eun remained as cold and unmoving as ice. The spectators found themselves sweating as they watched this strange duel between two proud geniuses.
Hui-yeom merely smirked.
Play the fool all you like. Ye-eun never lets her guard down.
Every preparation for deceiving the Emperor had long since been completed—for the sake of the true peace the Dang Family sought.
Now it was time to return to daily life.
“Secretary Lee.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
“For the next fifteen days, bring every piece of business that does not require personal inspection straight to the Young Master’s office. And during that period I will not be leaving work—so deliver completed documents the moment they are ready, whether it is night or dawn.”
“Uh…”
Then what about me?
When do I get to go home?
Lee Jin-myeong’s face turned paper-white.
And—whether it was imagination or not—Ye-eun’s footsteps, as she led Baek Beon away, seemed to quicken by a factor of two.