Chapter 161
Translator: penny
Chapter: 161
Chapter Title: Forming the Harmony Corps
After finishing the private meeting with the Chief Strategist and stepping out of the Strategist's Hall, a reddish sunset was already painting the sky.
By now, Moyong Hui should have already clocked out and made it home.
'Hmm, Harmony Corps...'
I silently repeated the name of the newly formed group in my mind.
It had nearly been named Divine Dragon Corps after my recent moniker...
-Isn't Divine Dragon a bit childish? How about Harmony instead?
-Harmony... Considering it's made for reconciliation with the Four Black Alliance, it doesn't sound half bad.
We settled on Harmony Corps at my suggestion.
Thanks to that, I felt even closer to the nickname I'd already coined for myself.
'The Divine Dragon of the Harmony Corps... That's basically Harmony Divine Dragon, right?'
I doubted anyone in martial world history had ever named their moniker this way, but whatever.
There probably wasn't anyone who'd regressed like me either.
I trudged homeward, mulling over the Harmony Corps once more.
'Hmm, rooting out the puppet masters and spies...'
The mission aligned perfectly with my own goals.
But there were a few issues.
First off, the inspection authority.
It was tricky.
The Harmony Corps was, after all, a secret organization.
I could poke around the Murim Alliance through the Black Tortoise Corps, the Chief Strategist, or the Alliance Leader, but other sects and clans? Practically impossible.
Any sect of decent size would obviously refuse even official orders from the Alliance, and the Harmony Corps had to keep its identity hidden.
So how the hell were we supposed to conduct inspections?
That's where the immunity authority came in.
-If they're suspicious, shake 'em down by force if you have to. We won't hold you accountable.
The Chief Strategist hadn't put it quite that bluntly, but the intent was the same.
Still, there was a problem with that too.
'The Nine Great Sects and Five Great Families are off-limits.'
You don't mess with numbers like that.
Not yet at the Transcendent Realm, I couldn't flip places like those on my own.
So the authorities the Chief Strategist granted were useless for any official mission.
'Though they're plenty useful for personal stuff.'
Immunity authority first and foremost.
What a beautiful phrase.
I could beat up anyone I didn't like, then bark at them to cough up their backers. If they weren't spies, oh well.
The uses were endless.
'The Chief Strategist said no, but I could always take a little backroom bribe.'
He'd said he'd overlook anything short of major crimes like murder.
And bribes didn't count as that major.
I nodded in satisfaction, sketching out various plans.
Then my thoughts reached the ten members the Chief Strategist wanted me to gather.
'Hmm, do I really need a full ten?'
More hands made work easier, sure, but also more headaches.
And I, Mok Jimyeong, preferred using my body over my brain anyway.
Thinking it over, ten was too many.
'First, Hui-a and Nangong Sojeo. That's two.'
They were in solely for the immunity perks.
I'd just put their names on the roster while leaving them in the Vermilion Bird and Azure Dragon Corps as is.
'Gotta milk those benefits for all they're worth.'
Since the Harmony Corps was secret, dual affiliations were allowed.
We could still sniff out spies that way.
I'd include Sword Phoenix and Spear Phoenix—Eun Garyeon and Ma Haryeong—and couldn't leave Red Phoenix out, so Baek Iryeong too.
That made four, including me.
Six spots left...
'Gotta bring in Cheon Woojin.'
I'd love to fill it entirely with beauties, but I needed someone for the tedious jobs.
Especially since the Chief Strategist said I'd be meeting the Earth Dragon strategist a lot, and that sounded like a pain for me.
'Can't dump that on my girls.'
Besides, Cheon Woojin and Earth Dragon Jeon Galwi got along great.
Back when Lecherous Demon days, those two meshed so well trying to kill me...
No one else came to mind.
Conveniently, I'd reached my destination, so I stopped thinking.
'I'll hash out the details with Hui-a.'
I flung open the manor gates and strode in.
There stood an unexpected face.
'Huh? Why's that guy here?'
Earth Dragon—no, wait, Earth Dragon Peng Deokjo.
Last I'd seen him was the first night in Jeongju at that drinking party. No idea why he was at my house.
He was chatting with Baek Rihyeon and grinned like we were old pals when he spotted me.
"Ah, long time no see. Where've you been?"
"Had some business... Anyway, what's your deal here? Where's Hui-a?"
Baek Rihyeon answered me.
"Sister Hui-a's talking with the beggar uncle right now. Big brother went out to the market."
"Beggar uncle?"
I belatedly realized he meant Hu Gai.
Figured he'd gone off after showing me around, but he'd ended up here.
I wondered what those two were discussing, but Peng Deokjo took priority.
"So why are you here...?"
"Ahem, came to ask your advice on something."
Advice from me?
One thing immediately sprang to mind.
'Ah, it's about Nangong Sua, isn't it?'
If he'd come to me, that had to be it.
Nangong Sua had left Jeongju just yesterday, after all.
'Hmm, what to do.'
He'd already outlived his usefulness.
Nangong Sua and I had our secret thing going, so he was just an annoying interloper now.
'Not like he has a pretty sister like Nangong Chan.'
His only remaining value was teasing him for fun...
'Might as well hear him out.'
No Hui-a around anyway; a quick chat wouldn't hurt.
Who knows.
Might spark something fun.
I led him to the very room where Nangong Sua and I had gotten cozy.
Plopped down on the floor and got to it.
"What advice did you need from me?"
No tea served, he looked flustered for a second.
But he recovered with an awkward grin and sat across from me.
"Heard about your run-in with that Sword Dragon guy. Knew he wasn't ordinary when we met before, but you holding your own like that..."
"That why you came?"
Seemed like it'd drag on, so I cut him off.
Peng Deokjo coughed awkwardly.
"Ahem, you seem different from last time."
Obviously.
Last time, Moyong Hui and Nangong Sua were both there. Now it was just us.
I stared silently, and he hemmed and hawed before getting to the point.
"Remember that fishing analogy you used at the drinking party?"
Yup, Nangong Sua it was.
But oh well.
She'd been moaning under me in this very room just yesterday.
Tempted to brag about it, but the fallout scared me off.
His reaction didn't matter, but Moyong Hui hearing? No thanks.
"Yeah, I remember. What advice do you need on that?"
"Ahem, too embarrassed to say back then, but... that story was actually mine."
Guy spouts it so boldly.
I played along, feigning surprise.
"Oh, really? So the girl was...?"
"Mm... Just as you guessed, Sua—Spear Phoenix."
Dying to tell him what went down yesterday.
But I held back, pretending ignorance.
"Got it. So what's the problem?"
"Truth is, after your advice, I've been keeping a bit of distance from Sua lately. Figured it'd start getting a reaction soon, but things suddenly went sideways... Ah, not blaming you or anything. It's just, after your fight with Sword Dragon, Sua took a break from the Alliance and yesterday..."
Tough acting attentive to stuff I knew, but I leaned in like I cared.
Meanwhile, scheming in my head.
'What's the most fun way to play this?'
Most fun was spilling the truth right here, but as said, vetoed.
Rubbing it in his face somehow was tempting too...
'Same issue.'
Moyong Hui risk either way.
Short deliberation, then a gem hit me.
Fun and beneficial to me.
"Seems like you loosened the line too weakly for how hard you pulled."
"Too weak? What do you mean?"
"You've been pretty aggressive with her all this time. But loosening up? You did nothing. Must've felt flat to Nangong Sojeo."
"...Really? So what should I have done?"
Even I knew it was nonsense, but he was hooked.
Riding the wave, I spun more BS.
"If it were me, I'd show interest in another girl. Jealousy ploy, basically. Target can't be too inferior, though... Hui-a's out, how about Red Phoenix?"
"What're you saying?"
"You act interested in Red Phoenix. Same moves you pulled on Nangong Sojeo before."
Time to use Peng Deokjo to reel in Baek Iryeong.