#118 Combat Power: Unmeasurable
“Mommy!”
Seol-a spotted Theo and beamed, charging over with her arms flung wide.
“Hug!”
Theo snorted and scooped her up into his arms.
“......”
Kang-ho, looking oddly miffed, blew his nose for no reason.
Ian approached him then.
“You’re here.”
“Yeah.”
“The situation here is pretty tense. Looks like Am-jeok-mun and Jeongdo-maeng are about to throw down.”
If there was one place on Earth that felt like its own independent world, it was China. Their war for dominance was still raging.
Kang-ho glanced around. Hostile glares and presences prickled from every direction—overt enmity, out in the open.
He took it all in quietly, then let out a soft sigh.
To the Chinese, the mainland was the entire world. It had been that way even before the Awakeners’ era, and once it began, it devolved into a brutal Spring and Autumn Warring States period of constant strife.
China unification! Kang-ho knew better than anyone how much blood had been spilled under that banner.
And knowing that, he spoke slowly.
“Their war started ages ago. It’s a history forged in rivers of blood. We can’t just butt in recklessly. We’re here to collect the demon corpses and...”
He glanced across the way before adding,
“...focus on what we came for.”
“Got it.”
In the meantime, Kang-ho caught Theo pulling something from his pocket and feeding it to Seol-a. On closer look, it was chocolate.
Seol-a snatched it up like she’d been waiting forever, then grinned ear to ear. Theo cooed and fed her another piece.
That little—! Kang-ho narrowed his eyes.
He’d only ever allowed Seol-a one luxury: hard candies. Next time, I’ll have to bring something fresher, more tempting, he thought—until an alien presence snagged his senses.
A man was approaching from afar.
Kang-ho tilted his head and eyed him.
“Well, if it isn’t...”
The newcomer was a middle-aged man, smirking smugly.
“All the big shots are here, huh.”
Kang-ho stared him down. Bingryong cast a translation spell on him.
As Kang-ho crossed his arms, Ian whispered a heads-up.
“World Rank 9, Wang Jin-wi. Am-jeok-mun’s boss—called the Dark King around here. Think of him as the ringleader trying to cover up the demon incident.”
Seol-a’s innocent “Yeah!” echoed back, clueless as ever. It was a whisper only someone like Kang-ho could catch—and it cracked him up.
“You laughin’?”
Wang Jin-wi shot him a cold, incredulous glare.
Kang-ho waved it off.
“Nah, just thinkin’. How about you mind your business and leave ours alone?”
Wang Jin-wi narrowed his eyes. His gaze slid to Han Su-hwa, raking over her greedily—then to Kirin.
Kirin...!
The beast that made Zhang Wei’s name rang out was right there. To Kang-ho, the man’s greed shone like a neon sign.
Wang Jin-wi swallowed hard.
“We want the uninvited guests gone. Now.”
“Sorry, can’t do that.”
Kang-ho flicked his eyes toward Theo and nodded. Theo got it instantly and nodded back.
Theo vanished with Seol-a, and Kang-ho’s aura shifted.
He spoke slowly.
“We’ve got important business. And we’re taking the demon corpses.”
A slimy grin curled on Wang Jin-wi’s lips.
“Delusional. This is our turf. The demon corpses are—”
Shwaaaaa—
A chill swept in from all sides. Wang Jin-wi flinched, sensing Kang-ho’s shift.
Kang-ho’s face was blank.
“Killing a nobody like you in the process wouldn’t be hard. But if you don’t interfere, I promise no issues. Whatever you do in your country? Not my problem.”
Grrrrrrr...!
For a split second, Wang Jin-wi swore he heard a monster’s growl from Kang-ho. Frozen stiff, he just blinked.
“We’ll need this area for a bit... Problem?”
Kang-ho added with a smile, and the icy tension shattered.
Whoosh!
Wang Jin-wi shuddered violently, stumbling back.
“Wh-what the hell did you just...?”
Kang-ho stared silently. Wang Jin-wi gulped and nodded.
“F-f-fine.”
“Good. Pull your people back and get back to your business.”
Wang Jin-wi fled.
“You sure that’s okay? They’re bad news,” Ian asked once they were gone, worried.
Kang-ho gave a wry smile and waved it off, then called over Bassago, who’d been watching pitifully from afar.
“How’s it going?”
Bassago couldn’t fathom their attitude toward Kang-ho.
Kang-ho smiled. Bassago flashed back to when Kang-ho had broken every limb—and flinched like PTSD.
Kang-ho nodded at the blue aura pouring from him.
“Proceed.”
* * *
Thump thump thump!
Wang Jin-wi clutched his pounding heart in shock, finally calming as he put Mount Tai behind him. His subordinates called urgently.
“Sect Master!”
He ran until the mountain was a speck, then whirled on them, eyes bulging.
“Wh-what the hell was that...?!”
He shuddered, reliving the eerie sensation from Kang-ho.
“It’s weird.”
Am-jeok-mun was a strict hierarchy. The First Squad Leader approached with a bizarre look.
“Combat power: unmeasurable.”
“......!”
Wang Jin-wi cocked his head.
“What?”
“That guy’s combat power didn’t register.”
The goggles on the First Squad Leader’s face were top-tier, measuring up to 150,000.
No one in this world was unmeasurable!
Something’s off.
Wang Jin-wi pondered, then asked,
“The others?”
“Ian clocked 90,000.”
“90k.”
“The one holding the kid: about 50k. Carron around 85k.”
Wang Jin-wi’s mind raced.
Off.
Broken device or special ability. One or the other. No one had over 150k.
He decided.
“Choi Kang-ho, lives in Korea, right?”
“Yes.”
“Send the Shadow Ops to scout his base discreetly.”
Shadow Ops: Am-jeok-mun’s intel unit.
“Right away.”
Wang Jin-wi ground his teeth.
Won’t hand over the demon corpse?
Tricky. He knew its value all too well.
“Might have to deploy the Black Jiangshi. This fight feels off.”
“The Black Jiangshi...!”
Am-jeok-mun’s secret weapon: the Black Jiangshi that made them one of China’s four great powers, despite lacking top global rankers.
Post-Daybreak 50 years ago, demons flooded China too. Am-jeok-mun collected corpses for a massive jiangshi project.
Countless bodies yielded just two successes. Demons didn’t retain full power as jiangshi, but they were five times stronger than normal—and tireless.
Choi Kang-ho... dares touch me, the Dark King’s pride?
Wang Jin-wi’s eyes gleamed murderously.
. . . . . .
Am-jeok-mun’s HQ was a massive skyscraper in Beijing, China’s old capital, teeming with people.
Wang Jin-wi and his men entered.
“Regroup first. Tonight, we hit Jeongdo-maeng fast. Shadow Ops update?”
The First Squad Leader replied,
“Contacted the Liaoning branch as ordered. They’ll send a stealth flight to Korea ASAP.”
“Good. Crush Jeongdo-maeng first, then Choi Kang-ho. Dig up everything on him. Gimme that thing. Probably busted.”
The Squad Leader handed over the combat gauge without protest.
Wang Jin-wi gritted his teeth and jabbed the penthouse button irritably in the elevator.
Do you know how much this cost?!
Donning the goggles, he checked it as the elevator stopped. He kicked open his office door.
Plans solidified in his head. More Black Jiangshi the better—especially now, with demon corpses rarer than stars.
“......?”
Suddenly, Wang Jin-wi noticed someone in the dark office, lounging in his chair.
He flicked the lights. A man sat there, black hair tied back tight, utterly at ease.
Daring to invade the Am-jeok-mun Sect Master’s office?
“Who the hell are you?”
“Oh, you’re finally here.”
The intruder waved casually.
“......?”
Stranger. Translation spell conveyed Korean clearly.
“Heard some fun rumors around here, did a little digging...”
The black-haired man grinned.
“You made something real interesting. Turning demons into jiangshi? Never crossed my mind—very continental thinking.”
“What...?”
Wang Jin-wi focused on the goggles. The man’s combat power: 0. Unmeasurable.
Broken for real?
Ziiing—
Suddenly, space warped behind the man, cracking open to a barren world. Countless weapons stabbed the ground; a long sword flew to his hand.
“Got questions. Lie once, lose a finger.”
Chill!
Wang Jin-wi felt raw terror. Where Kang-ho evoked a beast, this man was an endless abyss.