Chapter 102
“Be careful when moving it. These are the items we’re taking to them.”
“Understood.”
“Hey! Bring that this way! That one has to be classified separately!”
The atmosphere was disturbingly chaotic.
Dozens of people hurried about, rushing to relocate the newly arriving goods.
Around them stood general mercenaries armed with bulletproof vests and firearms, while hunters with an aura of awakening scanned the surroundings with cold, piercing eyes at intervals.
Among them, a man with his hair dyed exactly in half red and half gold turned his head and spoke.
“Is there any suspicious movement around?”
Peng Ruoan.
A hunter of the Hwangryong Guild in China, yet simultaneously the guardian who protected the secret vault of the Black Moon.
He was a man who operated in the light and the dark everywhere, but his skill was among the absolute top within China, ranking only below a handful of fingers.
Peng Ruoan’s words were met with his subordinate Wi Rang nodding his head.
“Not a single ant remains. You need not worry.”
“The goods that came in today are exceptionally special, so we must be even more thorough than usual.”
“Don’t worry.”
Peng Ruoan gazed at the men carrying the black boxes.
Black boxes entering the interior alongside the guidance of non-awakened mercenaries carrying firearms.
Inside that.
‘So it is the Lightning-struck Cypress Branch….’
Among the cypresses that had grown for a long time in regions with strong mana attributes, there were those struck by lightning in a special way.
This was the first time Peng Ruoan had actually seen one.
Not only was it extremely rare, but among them the specimen was of the highest quality in size and perfection.
That was why the Lightning-struck Cypress Branch had been decided to be directly transferred to them.
This thing….
‘If it comes up for auction, the hunter world will shake greatly.’
I must give advance notice to the Hwangryong Guild and prepare.
Weapons combined with the Lightning-struck Cypress Branch were like a dream material even for hunters who used mana attributes.
Peng Ruoan soon turned his head and checked another section.
He did not need to check it himself, but it was precisely because of this meticulousness that he could become the chief of the secret vault of the Black Moon.
Peng Ruoan circled the entire newly arriving items as well as all the pre-arranged ones to be moved, then relocated his position.
Wi Rang, following behind, spoke.
“If you do this much, aren’t you going to get too tired? You have to enter the dungeon in the afternoon as well.”
“Remember this, Peng Ruoan’s philosophy: perfect is the only way to mean anything.”
Don’t put on any half-hearted arrogance or leisure.
Always give your all to the task at hand and try to revive even the embers that have gone out.
Perhaps that was the driving force that had allowed Ruoan to grow the fastest since becoming an awakened being.
Most people, the moment they become awakened, their personality inevitably becomes more arrogant.
In a way, it was natural.
They were no different from those who had transcended ordinary humans.
But precisely because of that, the difference between those who worked harder within it and those who grew complacent was bound to be extreme.
Wi Rang asked cautiously.
“Um… Master Ruoan.”
“What is it?”
“Aren’t you reaching 250 levels soon?”
“…Not yet.”
250 levels.
To awakened beings, perhaps the realm of dreams.
Experience from 200 levels upward was already at its worst, and even raising one level from there made the difficulty change noticeably.
In that situation, raising another 50 levels….
“In ordinary cases, it is almost impossible.”
The number was not that many even across the entire world.
But….
‘…Only three levels left.’
Even in such a situation, Ruoan did not give up and continued stepping forward one step at a time.
Of course, even three levels.
It could take months or even years to reach 250 levels, but.
“If it’s the Red Gate dungeon we’re entering this time… could it be possible?”
Wi Rang asked with eyes full of expectation and excitement.
A dungeon whose mana level had risen to as high as 180,000 MAH.
Moreover, the level restriction was 180, and the number of people was as many as 200.
Because of that, the Chinese authorities had been tense with great expectations.
If Ruoan properly pushed forward in this dungeon,
“It might even be possible to achieve China’s first 250 levels.”
If they properly supported him and swept through the monsters of the 180,000 MAH Red Gate dungeon,
Ruoan was also a little hopeful and did not deny it.
Simply….
“Useless talk. First, faithfully carry out the mission you’ve been assigned.”
He was simply gathering his emotions.
Seeing that, Wi Rang let out a small laugh.
“By the way, Gangmu called for a full mobilization, but are you attending?”
“We can’t attend because of the mission.”
Peng Ruoan’s expression hardened.
Recently he had heard information that a hunter had crossed over from Korea to this place.
‘So it’s that he was going to be taken by Bladi.’
Bladi was one of the awakened beings that even Ruoan acknowledged.
The guy was extremely vicious and perverted in nature, but the blood chains he used were enough to make Ruoan feel threatened.
‘Full mobilization… that would be something.’
If it was the personality of that Gangmu guy,
He would definitely handle whatever task it was.
Peng Ruoan said.
“We’ll just do our own work properly. That one can be left to Gangmu.”
“Yes!”
Wi Rang answered loudly and followed behind him.
But….
Sly.
A black shadow stealthily seeped in behind the Black Moon’s secret vault.
* * *
“Is everyone gathered?”
About thirty awakened beings gathered in the place.
Everyone except those who could not attend for special missions had gathered.
The awakened beings of the Black Moon’s Asia branch.
Gangmu looked at them and said.
“I called for a full mobilization for exactly this guy.”
Gangmu projected Dojin’s screen onto the wall.
The screen contained quite detailed information about Dojin.
At that moment someone spoke.
“It’s true that Bladi was taken?”
Bladi, who was not in the room by coincidence.
The one who questioned was Kiranon Kitaya from Thailand.
When Gangmu nodded, Kitaya carefully looked at the photo on the screen.
It was a figure that somehow… looked familiar from somewhere.
But….
“……Eh?”
Kitaya soon strode toward the screen.
He then briskly covered Dojin’s nose and mouth with his palm.
“This guy… isn’t he that guy?”
He turned around and looked at the Thai man who had come with him.
The man nodded his head.
“It seems right.”
“What do you mean?”
Gangmu asked, and Kitaya replied.
“A while ago, the guy who dealt with the Red Gate that appeared in our country. He was the one sent from the association, but he kept his identity hidden.”
Naturally, there was no complete face photo.
Only a few photos taken on-site, and even those were taken while wearing a mask and hood, so it was impossible to know properly.
But the atmosphere.
“It seems like it’s him.”
“I think the same. Then… he has quite high skill, don’t you think?”
After all, the skill had already been sufficiently proven by the fact that Bladi and Jun, Chenhao had been taken down.
Gangmu said.
“So this time we’re going to split into two teams and catch the guy for sure.”
“Are you not going to move all these members?”
One member asked.
“That’s not it. Five people per team. Of course the team might be enough, but to be safe, one team will wait at the scene. And the rest will stay in Shanghai for now in case of any unexpected situation.”
“……That’s ruthless.”
“For just one guy, this is too much trouble.”
“It’s not because of one guy being that Korean, but because of that Gangmu personality.”
It was so excessive that it even made the word ‘thorough’ insufficient.
Setting traps in all directions and even releasing a pack of wolves just to catch one dog.
But….
“I think it’s not bad. The guy who killed Bladi. I think it’s best to end it as soon as possible.”
“That’s… right.”
From the fact that he had killed Bladi, the highest level of vigilance had already been placed upon him by them.
Gangmu nodded his head.
“Then when the guy’s location is confirmed, move immediately.”
And….
“Assign to team 1 the members who will hunt the guy.”
The following words from Gangmu had everyone nod their heads in agreement and begin preparations.
* * *
“……Here?”
He moved as the sun was setting.
Dojin saw the secret vault of the Black Moon that he had learned about from Haoyu’s information.
A rather luxurious-looking large mansion.
From the outside, it simply looked like an old Chinese-style mansion.
But when he activated his mana and widened his senses inside,
‘……Armed mercenaries and awakened beings.’
The situation reminded him of when he had gone to Libya to rescue Sua.
There too, he had faced a good number of non-awakened armed mercenaries along with awakened beings.
‘……That guy.’
The moment he recalled Libya, a certain person came to mind.
The encounter with the guy who would one day reach the top of the world had been quite a new experience for Dojin.
But he soon cleared his thoughts and slowly began checking the structures.
It was most important to check if the information from Haoyu matched.
Slowly moving inward to check the mansion’s structure, the result was.
‘It can’t be said to be 100% accurate inside, but… it seems reliable enough.’
Haoyu’s self-confident expression came to mind when he passed on this information.
The information he had given was great enough to have enough confidence.
No idea where he got it from, but.
‘If we nurture him a bit more, it might even be usable inside China.’
If that happened, it would also make it easier to receive support inside China.
Dojin, who had briefly organized the next plan in his head, turned his attention to the inside.
The things gathered here were used for creating the so-called ‘upper echelons’ of the Black Moon’s underground funds.
Their value reached tens of trillions of won.
Of course, more than half of them were illegally distributed.
‘If I can take them all, it would be the best… but….’
In reality, it was impossible to outrun and steal all these things while escaping with so many of them.
Then….
“All of them will be destroyed.”
Dojin put down the bag on his back and checked the items.
Six mana bombs brought for this situation.
Mana bombs with a destructive power about 100 times stronger than ordinary 1kg dynamite.
Two each in three safes.
With this much, the place could be blown up without a trace.
The only problem was installing them by moving to the safe, but.
“Hoo.”
Dojin let out a small breath and slowly moved toward the mansion.
First, the smallest scale safe.
‘That’s it.’
After passing through the garden, he saw one of the traditional halls built on a fairly large scale at the left end of the mansion.
It looked unreasonably large for the smallest safe.
‘That’s a deception.’
Behind the mansion, there was a narrow passage leading underground, and only by entering that could the real safe be accessed.
Sly.
Dojin hid behind the wall and looked at the people guarding around the safe.
Only fifty… non-awakened armed mercenaries? And ten awakened beings?
Even though it was the smallest safe, the guarding was significant.
Probably including the personnel who were resting while on shift, there would be more than 100 people guarding the place.
‘For the next… 20 minutes’
From what he had checked so far, their shift time was 2 hours.
Since the shift times differed for each safe, it was important to match that time.
If the operation started 20 minutes later,
‘The overlapping time of the three shifts would be about 45 minutes.’
Inside that time, he had to install the mana bombs in the three safes and escape the place.
It would not be easy.
“This is the second signal.”
Dojin’s eyes grew sharp and he lowered his gaze.