Chapter 194
Chapter 194
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 194
Chapter Title: I'll Find Out for Myself
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Hwangbo Yeop scowled as he stepped off the boat.
The truth was, he had set out today because he had obtained a solid piece of intelligence.
He had received a tip about the hideout of the pirates who had been persistently harassing the Hwangbo family's merchant ships.
So, he was on his way to raid it.
But along the way, he spotted a boat that strangely got on his nerves.
Figuring the pirate stronghold wasn't going anywhere, Hwangbo Yeop decided to trust his gut and ordered his men to pursue the boat immediately.
At that, the boat began to flee in a different direction.
Convinced his intuition was correct, Hwangbo Yeop chased after it more aggressively.
But no matter how much they increased their speed, the distance between them and the other boat didn't shrink in the slightest.
In fact, it seemed to be getting farther away, little by little.
Finally, Hwangbo Yeop couldn't stand it and took action. He planned to shout and make them stop.
He thought that dropping the Hwangbo family name would elicit some kind of reaction.
But just as he was about to do so, as if they somehow knew, the boat suddenly sped up.
It shot forward at a speed that was unbelievable for the same vessel.
In the end, like a dog that had lost its quarry, he could only stare blankly at the spot where the boat had vanished.
What was lost was lost, and their work wasn't finished, so they changed course for the pirate stronghold.
And after arriving at the stronghold, he was even more dumbfounded.
The stronghold had already been raided.
Someone had gotten there first and utterly destroyed it. If not for the floating debris, no one would have even known a massive pirate base had once existed there.
Recalling the day's events, Hwangbo Yeop stomped his foot on the ground.
"Damn it!"
He felt like he'd been played for a fool. No, it wasn't just a feeling; it was a fact.
"If only I hadn't chased that boat."
Hwangbo Yeop muttered under his breath before clamping his mouth shut.
He was the one who had made the decision. There was no point in dwelling on it.
Hwangbo Yeop glanced at the family warriors disembarking from the boat.
They were all expressionless, but to Hwangbo Yeop, it looked as though they were hiding their discontent.
*At this rate, my standing is going to plummet.*
The succession contest in the Hwangbo family had just begun.
His plan had been to secure a strong position early on and pull ahead.
If only this pirate raid had succeeded, that's exactly what would have happened.
His brothers, aside from himself, didn't even have a plan for what to do yet.
If he had succeeded this time, he could have made them anxious and induced them to make mistakes.
The thought made the loss feel all the more bitter.
Lost in thought, Hwangbo Yeop idly scanned the boats at the dock.
But then, his gaze fell upon a particular boat, and his eyes widened.
"That's the boat!"
At Hwangbo Yeop's cry, the Hwangbo family warriors approached him.
"Young Master, what is it?"
Hwangbo Yeop pointed a finger at the boat.
"That's the one that fled when it saw us earlier!"
The warriors finally looked at the boat. They tilted their heads. It looked similar, but honestly, they couldn't be sure.
"I'm sure of it. Are you doubting my eye for detail? Go find out who owns that boat and who was on it earlier. Now!"
The Hwangbo family warriors rushed toward the boat in a group.
And they found out that someone had rented the boat and returned it today.
They couldn't determine exactly who had rented it, but they learned that the group consisted mostly of women.
Hearing the warriors' report, Hwangbo Yeop's eyes gleamed.
"So it's some pretty boy leading around more than ten women, is that it?"
This was Nanchang. And there was no one the Hwangbo family couldn't find in Nanchang.
***
"There are a total of two Nameless bases in Nanchang."
Of course, that was only what Byeok Taesan and Hwaok had identified. There might be more bases.
No, there were definitely more.
And after Byeok Taesan stirred things up this time, they would surely lie even lower.
"And there are a total of six Nameless masters stationed in Nanchang."
"Six of them? That's quite a lot."
"It seems they've paid special attention, likely because the Hwangbo family is here."
Byeok Taesan nodded, lost in thought.
These Nameless bastards... they were larger and more powerful than he'd thought.
They might even be stronger than the Martial Alliance or the Black Alliance.
*No, they're stronger. Perhaps even stronger than both combined.*
There was no concrete evidence to support such a conclusion yet, but Byeok Taesan's intuition told him so.
"In what order should we proceed?"
At Hwaok's question, Byeok Taesan frowned slightly.
"It's a pain to hunt them down one by one. Is there a way to gather them all at once?"
The idea of facing six masters and two bases all at once was something no one but Byeok Taesan would dare to conceive.
In truth, they hadn't even properly gauged what kind of formidable forces a single Nameless base might hold.
When Hwaok couldn't answer right away, Byeok Taesan asked again.
"Are you checking to see if the brains are doing their job?"
Hwaok lowered her head slightly and answered.
"Yes. I am checking on them frequently. They are truly remarkable. They are effortlessly resolving the difficulties we've faced and are putting pressure on the Golden Moon Trading Company."
Hwaok was surprised every time she received a report.
Currently, their business lacked the decisive martial power to match the Golden Moon Trading Company and Nameless.
The Sword Demon was still there, but there was a limit to what one person could do alone.
If the Sword Demon were someone like Byeok Taesan, it would be a different story, but he wasn't.
Hwaok cautiously offered a suggestion.
"Young Master, what if we were to leak information about Nameless to the Hwangbo family?"
Hearing this, Byeok Taesan stopped walking and stroked his chin.
"Hmm."
It wasn't a bad idea, now that he thought about it.
In fact, it might not be a bad idea to take this opportunity to leak most of the information he had on Nameless to the Five Great Families, the Martial Alliance, and the Black Alliance.
Hadn't they already done so with the Hubei Martial Alliance?
If that caused a clash between Nameless and those factions, he could use it to dig up deeper information.
After roughly organizing his thoughts, Byeok Taesan asked Hwaok.
"The Hwangbo family, what's their situation these days?"
"They've just started their succession contest. Hwangbo Yeop, Hwangbo Chung, and Hwangbo Guk—those three are competing."
Hwaok took a breath and continued.
"Among them, Hwangbo Yeop is currently the most active. Because of what happened earlier, I checked the information we've gathered on the Hwangbo family, and the person on that boat was Hwangbo Yeop."
Hwaok looked at Byeok Taesan with a meaningful expression.
"It seems his plan was to raid the pirate stronghold and pull ahead right from the start."
"And we ruined that for him."
"Yes. He must be feeling anxious by now. And not just Hwangbo Yeop; the other two will also grow impatient."
They must have been caught off guard by how quickly Hwangbo Yeop acted, simply watching him move. This would be a wake-up call for them.
"Interesting."
"Yes. If we leak the information skillfully, they will surely run rampant, competing amongst themselves."
Nameless had recently been secretly provoking major factions like the Five Great Families, the Martial Alliance, the Black Alliance, and the Hubei Martial Alliance.
They were testing the waters without revealing themselves, which was extremely unnerving for those on the receiving end.
The Hwangbo family was no different.
So if they obtained information about it, they would undoubtedly take aggressive action.
And Nameless, in turn, would have no choice but to respond if the Hwangbo family acted aggressively.
Byeok Taesan grinned.
"That sounds more fun. Do it. I'll make my move depending on the situation."
"Yes."
Hwaok replied with a bow of her head.
The group headed straight for an inn.
An annex of a rather large and splendid inn run by the Underworld Sect in Nanchang had been prepared for them in advance.
Upon arriving at the inn, the group first had a meal and then rested well.
But their break wasn't very long.
Byeok Taesan began training alone.
Seeing this, everyone else felt they couldn't just rest idly.
Byeok Taesan didn't pressure them or order them to train.
But how could they rest while Byeok Taesan was training?
And so, everyone devoted themselves to training late into the night.
***
With a hint of irritation in his eyes, Hwangbo Yeop read the document his trusted subordinate, Yang Chibaek, had just brought him.
The document summarized several pieces of information that had recently reached the Hwangbo family.
"Is this information reliable?"
Yang Chibaek replied cautiously to Hwangbo Yeop's question.
"Honestly, I'm not sure. But it seems highly credible. Moreover, it's clear that the other two young masters have obtained the same information."
Hwangbo Yeop's eyebrow twitched.
"Chung and Guk got it too? How on earth are you managing intelligence?"
Yang Chibaek bowed his head.
"The one who obtained the information in the first place was the General Manager."
"So the General Manager distributed it fairly?"
"I went and received it myself. The General Manager had no intention of distributing it in the first place."
The corner of Hwangbo Yeop's mouth twisted.
"So this is also part of the test."
It was a test to see if they could find out that the General Manager had such information, and then if they could extract it from him.
Yang Chibaek cautiously spoke, observing Hwangbo Yeop's expression.
"And Young Master, I have found those people you mentioned before."
"Those people? Ah, the boat?"
"Yes. What should I do?"
Hwangbo Yeop frowned and shuffled through the documents.
"What are Chung and Guk up to right now?"
"On the surface, they are quiet. But secret movements are frequently detected nearby."
"Hmph, as if those two would stay put."
Hwangbo Yeop carefully read the document again.
"How did the General Manager say he obtained this information?"
"He wouldn't tell me that much. It seemed like he was hiding something."
"Is that so?"
A slight smile touched Hwangbo Yeop's lips. What could the General Manager possibly be hiding? He was merely a messenger for this information.
The person who had actually obtained this information and passed it to the General Manager was likely the Hwangbo family head himself.
The succession contest had begun in earnest.
Therefore, the possibility that the information in this document was real was extremely high.
With the others making their moves, it made no sense for him to be distracted by something else.
But the feeling he got when he saw that boat earlier was too unusual to simply give up on it.
"I'll leave that to you."
"Pardon?"
"You investigate them. Find out who they are, where they came from, and what connection they have to the destroyed pirate stronghold. Everything."
Yang Chibaek bowed his head.
"Yes. I will investigate them."
Hwangbo Yeop took a rather large silk pouch from his robes and tossed it to Yang Chibaek.
Yang Chibaek caught it reflexively, his eyes widening. It was much heavier than he had expected.
"Don't run around by yourself; hire people who are good at that kind of investigation. That money should be enough. If you need more, just let me know."
Yang Chibaek bowed so deeply it seemed his forehead would hit the ground.
"Thank you, Young Master!"
Hwangbo Yeop nodded.
All that remained now was to see how great an achievement he could make using this information.
He didn't know how far Hwangbo Chung and Hwangbo Guk would go, but he was certain that no matter how hard they tried, they could not surpass him.
Hwangbo Yeop was sure of it.
***
"Young Master, we've been spotted by watchers."
As Byeok Taesan looked at her, Hwaok continued her report.
"They're an intelligence organization active in Nanchang. We believe they're acting on a request from the Hwangbo family."
"The Hwangbo family? Why?"
"We'll have to look into that part further."
In truth, the Hwangbo family was currently preoccupied with fighting Nameless.
The information Byeok Taesan had leaked was about the Nameless bases and masters in Nanchang.
Intertwined with the Hwangbo family's succession contest, the conflict had erupted on a massive scale and was growing fiercer by the day.
So for them to turn their attention elsewhere was rather strange.
"Are they an organization that only operates in Nanchang?"
The question was about the intelligence organization. Hwaok nodded.
"Yes. But if a client requests it, they seem to trade information about Poyang Lake or the Nanchang area as well. They were the ones who previously passed the information about the pirate stronghold to the Hwangbo family."
"Oh? Then they must be quite skilled."
"They're not bad."
But compared to the Underworld Sect, they were clearly lacking. The old Underworld Sect might have been a different story, but the current one possessed capabilities that ranked among the best in the world.
Byeok Taesan grinned and rose from his seat.
"Then let's catch them and put them to use. I'll find out for myself if the Hwangbo family really made the request."
Byeok Taesan said as he walked outside.
"Round up all the ones nearby. I'm going straight to their den, so lead the way."
"Yes."
Hwaok was the one who answered, but it was the people training in the rear garden who moved.
The members of the Underworld Sect had already pinpointed the locations, so all they had to do was move in and capture them at once.
Byeok Taesan glanced at his companions quietly dispersing around the inn, then gestured to Hwaok with his chin.
Hwaok hurriedly took the lead, guiding him to their den.