The Anointed Ones (12)
“Don’t think too badly of me for getting distracted in these trying times—especially when it comes to eyeing a capable subordinate like that.”
Gao Xusen quickly added his excuse.
“You’re a man too, Vice President, so you’ll understand. When life hangs by a thread, the instinct to breed surges in all living things, doesn’t it? I had a wife once, but she used child-rearing as an excuse to go abroad and hasn’t shown any sign of coming back even now that the kid’s grown. These days, it’s harder than ever to even catch a glimpse of her. In times like these, it’s only natural for a woman’s heart to lean toward someone fighting the same battles against the same enemies, wouldn’t you say?”
“I get it,” I said.
“So you’ll allow it?”
“Allow? There’s no allowing or disallowing. If you can win her heart through your own merits, that’s none of my business. But if word gets out that you’re coercing her with your position, I’ll take appropriate measures. It could hurt my subordinates’ morale otherwise.”
“No need to worry about that. Didn’t I already say I respect Madam Park? Just watch. A man’s worth lies in his money and power, after all. I’ll win her heart fair and square, as one man to another. That’ll give you and me an even sturdier bridge between us.”
It was absurd hearing this adulterer talk about doing things “fair and square,” but this was a continent ruled by the conscienceless. I had to let it slide. Weren’t there even one or two countries here where legal wives didn’t bat an eye at such things? No wonder he’d taken his secretary’s death so calmly—Gao Xusen’s heart had already wandered to another flowerbed.
I’ll have to warn her firmly. No needless overzealous loyalty.
I didn’t want Miju throwing her body around just to be useful to me. I didn’t hate honey traps—in fact, I used them often. What could be safer or cheaper for extracting information? But jobs had to be assigned with care for the person. Some subordinates treated that kind of work lightly, others didn’t. If I couldn’t distinguish between them, I had no right to sit at the top of this organization.
In short, I wasn’t so mad with grief over losing a loved one recently that I’d throw a subordinate into a honey trap. Even if she said she was fine, there was such a thing as the soul wearing away unnoticed. How many people truly knew themselves, anyway? If there were no other options, fine—but I couldn’t afford to burn through my people like that. It made harsh, unavoidable orders in critical moments easier for the ranks to swallow.
They’d think: If there’d been another way, hyungnim wouldn’t have made this call. It must’ve truly been unavoidable.
Managing the organization’s loyalty so rust didn’t set in was exhausting work.
“Is that all you wanted to ask?”
The communist noble snapped out of his waking dream at my words.
“Ah, no. One more thing. About turning the newly recruited Awakened Ability Users into combat assets. Any way to use them right away? With the decisive battle looming, shouldn’t we fill the ranks even if it means some inefficient losses...?”
“Give it up. Right now, they’re just oversized sheep. One wolf shows up, and they’ll scatter like the rabble they are.”
“Really no way?”
“They’re not new recruits—they’re defeated stragglers drawn by news of victory. The memory of being routed by the enemy is still fresh.”
As in most defeats, more of Gao Xusen’s private guards had fled like rats than had died to the peasant workers’ artillery and the Black Sea Party’s assault teams.
Now those same cowards were returning on a wave of patriotism, lured by Gao Xusen’s fame. But expecting the trauma of a one-sided massacre to fade in a day or two was wishful thinking. If we stuck them in the rear as meat shields for the suicide squads, maybe—but there was no way to use those who still remembered hell.
Gao Xusen mumbled with lingering regret.
“Still, they were hunters making names for themselves before joining any unit. I hear one choked out a bear that escaped us, and a woman took down a rampaging Awakened water buffalo with a single axe. They came from different groups, sure, but they’ve got experience coordinating in units. If used right, they could work fine.”
“What good is uncoordinated training in a battlefield where unit cohesion matters?”
“Not on the front lines, but flank cover...?”
“That’d end like the Germans handing their flanks to the Romanians at Stalingrad.”
Seeing the communist noble didn’t get it, I put it plainly.
“Your flanks get pierced, and it’s total annihilation.”
“……”
“So they’re unusable. And considering the future, we can’t waste them recklessly now. Rear support is the best we can do for the moment.”
“The future? What do you mean?”
“Suppose we finally drive the Black Sea Party out of the urban areas. Does that mean they’re gone root and stem? No. Things never go that smoothly. Mark my words: they’ll hole up in forests and mountains hundreds of kilometers deep and start guerrilla warfare. You know what Southeast Asia and Central America are going through right now.”
Gao Xusen couldn’t refute me.
Rugged mountains impassable to civilians were backyard hills to Awakened Ability Users. Bases in places vehicles couldn’t reach were hard to root out even with armies—and those wilds teemed with primitive magic-wielding flora and fauna. That’s why the world was tearing its hair out over superhuman pirates at sea and now superhuman bandits ashore. Some groups did both, or massive armed coalitions formed. The age of brigands and outlaws was upon us.
The most economical way to deal with such lawless Awakened was with equally powered primitive magic groups. Wasting our current Ability Users just to pad numbers would leave us bleeding out later.
“Hunters are just as risky. Throw unprepared ones into battle, and if some scatter again, what then? If I were them, I’d look for safer, more profitable work. Legal or not wouldn’t matter much.”
Bounty hunter or outlaw joiner? For money-worshipping Chinese, profit was the only line between them.
With patriotic fever still burning in these Ability Users, we had to manage them carefully now.
“I’ll stress it again: surviving this crisis isn’t the end, Minister. Fail to preserve and weaponize your Ability Users, and this whole region will turn into Somalia long-term. All your achievements will fade.”
That wouldn’t suit me either, since I needed this man and the three inspectors.
Conversely, safeguard the regional base maximally, and it differentiates you from lesser nobles. Backed by central support as Hong Kong’s hinterland.
Sure, overpowered hunters were a problem too—but the peasant workers’ artillery had handled that. With my independent, unrivaled unit here, I could squeeze massive profits from it.
A sigh escaped Gao Xusen’s lips.
“So we’ve no choice but to fight this tough battle as is.”
I encouraged the deflated noble.
“The harder it is now, the easier later. Leave hunter selection to me. I’ll gather ones who’ll serve you long-term.”
“Why would I doubt your eye? No Ability Users in this land match you and your subordinates.”
Unless one revealed their power, only fellow Awakened could spot them. So Gao Xusen, building his private army, had to rely on me here too.
Sift the chaff from hunter applicants to his unit, and he’d dominate security here—official and otherwise.
“Let’s talk something more practical.” I changed the subject.
“The enemy split east-west will hit harder from the east—their larger territory. They’re quiet now, recovering from shock, but once reorganized, they’ll push. So from now, my crew and I will operate around Dongguan.”
“You mean...?”
“Playing to our mobile base’s strengths. With flight freedom at last, I’ll oversee key areas personally, slotting my people where needed—decisive time, decisive place. We’ll use Dongguan’s police and military too, if you share command.”
“Uh...”
At my plan to shift Becklux from the docks to the Pearl River Delta’s eastern tributaries, Gao Xusen couldn’t hide his unease.
He was thinking: Without you here, how do I handle the next fight? Fear, yes—but more that I’d made things too easy for him lately.
The communist noble mustered opposition.
“I understand, but wouldn’t concentrating forces be better? It’d help if you held the center with me.”
“No.” I rejected firmly.
“This isn’t army against army. It’s chain of small-group skirmishes along streets and alleys. Mobility is key against their coming push.”
“……”
“Trust me, Minister. No one reads the field better. And with helos for most ops, we can reinforce you fast if needed.”
Gao Xusen hesitated, then agreed.
“Fine. Do as you will.”
My plan: Fortify a few high-rises with helo pads as simple strongpoints, maneuver Becklux along waterways to counter Black Sea Party assaults.
As Gao Xusen said, decisive battle loomed. Regaining Guangzhou’s initiative split the Black Sea Party east-west. Without reconnecting, reclaiming control was hopeless. So they’d strike now, while strength remained—before police solidified or reinforced.
The Round Table’s vanguard will poke its head out soon.
One reason I’d led from the front: unpredictable London imperialists. Guangzhou stabilizing wasn’t ideal for imperialists fixated on Hong Kong. If Round Table Cabinet tentacles lurked in Hong Kong’s shadows, they’d divide forces to prolong chaos in this 50-million-strong Pearl River basin.
I knew their wish. The Round Table of light and truth had long dreamed of empire. A “sun-never-sets empire” led by chosen supermen.
True, my knowledge came from mentor’s memories, with a near-half-century gap since he defected. But the ambition from founding over 200 years ago wouldn’t shift in 50 years.
Of course not. Faith of zealots fossilizing in past glory, abandoned by state and era, wouldn’t waver easily.
No full war yet. Pre-London, it’d harm me. Their vanguards couldn’t go overt either—so blunt Black Sea Party momentum, and they’d watch from sidelines awhile.
Their non-negotiable line was Hong Kong. In that gap, I’d raid a few more noble vaults and wrap my hunt here.