Chapter 105
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 105
Chapter Title: Ghosts of the Liberation Brigade
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A criminal syndicate of players who committed every manner of atrocity under the pretense of "liberating players."
At the same time, the organization that Rimon Asfelder, in his final mission as a PAB agent, had fought and ultimately crushed.
Liberation Brigade.
Even hearing that name, Ryu Kangcheol showed no surprise.
He simply looked up at Wang Gineung with a puzzled expression and asked flatly,
"...Why the hell would the Liberation Brigade pop up here all of a sudden?"
"No need to play dumb."
If this had been an attempt at leading questions, it was a total flop—his reaction was too convincingly bewildered.
But Wang Gineung wasn't disappointed.
He spoke with utter conviction.
"We've concluded you're with the Liberation Brigade after the Seven Dragon Society reviewed every angle of the intel."
"What kind of intel review leads to that conclusion?"
"Simple process of elimination."
Curious about the basis for such unshakable certainty—even while writhing in agony from the torture-like pain of his foot being crushed—Ryu Kangcheol's intrigued expression made Wang Gineung twist his lips into a smirk.
"There aren't many organizations that could command a player of your caliber as a mere underling, are there?"
"Aren't you overestimating me a bit?"
"Not at all. This is a perfectly objective assessment."
A player of level 80 or higher—a duke-class—was essentially a one-man corporation and a one-man army.
Players at that level typically founded their own guilds to become guild masters or, at the very least, rose to key positions like sub-master.
"Only three kinds of groups have enough talent to spare a duke-class player on a job like this."
The top ten guilds with their monarchs.
The Seven Dragon Society, which controlled the world's wealth.
The great powers that operated player militaries.
Groups at the pinnacle, whether in military might, financial power, or political influence.
Unless high-level players were overflowing like that, it was impossible to pull off the insanity of deploying a duke-class for corporate terrorism.
"The problem? We dug into all three, and came up empty."
The Seven Dragon Society was a non-starter from the beginning.
No matter how the seven clans operated independently, there was no reason for them to start something like this.
Some great powers were the same.
Attacking the Seven Dragon Society, which gripped the global economy, would be tantamount to plunging entire nations into the streets.
The only real suspects were the top ten guilds.
With their monarchs' power and dungeon resources, they were the undisputed hegemons of this era—and dangerous rivals now reaching into the Seven Dragon Society's domain.
That's why the Seven Dragon Society had focused its investigation on those guilds.
But the results? A big fat zero.
No connections to Ryu Kangcheol turned up, no matter which guild they scoured.
"We nearly hit a dead end once, but right then, someone suggested a change in perspective."
"What kind of change?"
"If we can't find clues in those three places, why not look for spots outside them where a player like you might belong?"
"That sounds contradictory."
"Well, when you're drowning, you grab at straws."
Individuals or groups plentiful enough in manpower to use a duke-class as a killer, yet not one of the big three.
It was like hunting for someone who had no house but owned tanks and fighter jets—utter nonsense by any common sense.
Still, the Shanghai Wang clan pursued it, figuring they had nothing to lose.
Major corporations and tycoons.
Third-world countries and cults.
Even legendary witches and shamans.
They investigated so wildly that they even seriously debated if it could be one of Rimon's self-staged acts.
"But lo and behold, we found exactly one perfect match."
"And that's the Liberation Brigade, huh?"
"Precisely. Once we looked into it, it fit so perfectly I couldn't believe we hadn't thought of it sooner."
The Liberation Brigade was packed with hidden high-level players among its player criminal ranks.
Its player-centric ideology kept even the Seven Dragon Society's intelligence at bay.
Despite countless crimes and mad acts, its upper echelons had rarely been caught or bases exposed—an enigmatic organization with no real substance.
Its intel was so scarce that its leaders were secretly dubbed "ghosts."
But flipped around, that also meant records of the Liberation Brigade's crimes did exist.
"The Jeron family massacre of a U.S. senator, four years ago."
"The Slokovskaya Bratva wipeout in Russkhan, two years ago."
"The Malta Knights serial killings, one year ago."
"Know what these three incidents have in common?"
The victims' identities.
The countries where they happened.
Utterly unrelated events.
But the Seven Dragon Society, unbound by national borders in its intelligence, had uncovered the link—and Wang Gineung listed them with mocking relish.
"One: All victims were anti-player hardliners, or schemers pushing player power curbs via taxes and regulations."
Of course, anti-player zealots easily drew player grudges.
But aside from mafia, high-level lunatics capable of massacring senators or Malta Knights were rare.
And the most likely home for such criminals? The Liberation Brigade, per every law enforcement agency's consensus.
"Two: No skill traces to follow, so all went cold as unsolved cases."
The Liberation Brigade was notoriously hard to track.
Ryu Kangcheol, whom even tracers couldn't pin.
His still-unidentified comrades.
In an era where prophecy and info skills made letting culprits slip rare, this was no trivial commonality.
"And three: The killer used a knife as the weapon. Funny thing—same specs and material as yours."
Since their usual skill-based forensics failed, agencies missed the weapon.
But the Seven Dragon Society's pursuit arts masters deduced it from autopsy records alone: a similar knife.
"Think all that's just coincidence? Bit of a stretch, no?"
Separate, mere chance.
Together? The conclusion was crystal clear.
Ryu Kangcheol was a Liberation Brigade killer, and they were behind the Black Dragon Clan's affiliate attacks.
"Huh. Gotta admit, it makes sense."
"So you're admitting the Liberation Brigade's your backers?"
"Nah, just saying it holds water."
Ryu Kangcheol shook his head.
Then grinned and continued,
"But comrade, that's all circumstantial. No hard evidence, right? Kinda forcing it, don't you think?"
"And what of it?"
"...What?"
"Don't get it twisted, Liberation Brigade ghost. We're not the cops—we're the Seven Dragon Society."
Law-abiding citizens.
Champions of the people.
Special agency operatives.
They couldn't settle grudges or avenge themselves without evidence—but the Seven Dragon Society was different.
"Even if you're truly unconnected to the Liberation Brigade... hell, even if you're not the one who hit our clan."
In the Bronze Age, the whims of the seven dragons trumped law or propriety.
Descendants of those world-rulers.
Who idolized that era as utopia.
Fought to restore it.
Made it their faith and creed—earning the label "demonic cult" for their fanaticism: the Seven Dragon Society.
Among them, the head of a prestigious house that had proven absolute faith and loyalty for generations looked down at Ryu Kangcheol with a cold sneer.
"If I believe it, and the other clans buy it, that's that."
"...You lot are insane."
"We're not the insane ones. The world's just gone weird compared to the old days."
"That's what insanity is."
Modern laws.
Modern ethics.
Modern common sense.
Watching Wang Gineung dismiss it all, Ryu Kangcheol muttered absently.
Even for him—who prided himself on his own brand of madness—it was logic so cleanly unhinged he couldn't help but click his tongue.
"So what if we're a little mad? Crushing pests like the Liberation Brigade only does the world good, not harm."
"Comrade, underestimate the Liberation Brigade and you'll regret it."
"No need for your concern. Worry about what you and your pals are in for from here."
"Oh, I'm looking forward to it."
"Expect the worst. You won't be disappointed."
Thwack!
Wang Gineung turned on his heel and strode out of the torture chamber after kicking Ryu Kangcheol square in the head.
Then he sighed.
'What a pointless waste.'
Compared to the agony of the countless torture techniques already in play, a mere kick barely registered as pain.
Stimulating him like that only dulled the torment.
He knew that full well, yet still swung his foot.
Not like him at all.
'Get your head straight.'
Wang Gineung steeled himself.
To pull the Shanghai Wang clan back from expulsion, he had to handle this perfectly.
And his next move was clear.
'Somehow, pry his mouth open and get the Liberation Brigade intel.'
That was why.
He'd issued the order to his waiting intelligence captain without hesitation.
"Prepare it."
"...You sure?"
"No choice. Our house techniques aren't breaking him, so only one place can crack that mouth."
Of the Seven Dragon Society's thirty-six thousand five hundred torture arts, only one hundred eight had been passed to the Shanghai Wangs.
Those arts were secret techniques, brutally hard to master—no single person or even a few could learn them all.
So the Seven Dragon Society had cultivated specialists.
Experts who divvied up the full arsenal.
And created a facility.
To handle torture for the clans or outside requests.
"That's what the Torture Hall is for, isn't it?"
"True, but..."
The intelligence captain trailed off.
Not just the hefty fees or shared credit.
The location of the Torture Hall.
Or rather, its overseer.
"Will the princess accept?"
"She will."
Wang Gineung declared it.
Li Chingwei's authority had shrunk as much as it could, even if things had stabilized lately.
For personal matters, maybe.
But using the Torture Hall on a scourge who'd harmed the clan? She couldn't object, wouldn't dare.
Even a fool like her could weigh the gains.
If she refused anyway?
"Then we make her accept."
Via elders.
Or clan opinion.
Pressuring Li Chingwei was child's play, he said, striding forward.