Buy?
Taeju stored the dead handler's corpse in his infinite storage space and climbed up from the sewer.
"Grrrrowl..."
Boom! Boom boom!
The white tiger was still rampaging.
Doing great.
After feeding it those precious peaches, this was the least it could do.
Hell, he could push it even harder.
Taeju headed up to the sky lounge of the building where he'd first encountered the handler.
Two men lay there, still unconscious. He grabbed the pulse point of one and infused him with poison qi.
He hadn't had time to check earlier, but he needed to see if these guys had high-level poison parasites too.
Vmmm!
The poison qi flowed in.
He found it easily.
A mogu, huh.
The mogu that controlled parasites. Bigger than the jago he'd failed to eradicate at first.
They'd probably used this to manipulate the mines.
Melt it.
This time, he dialed back the power. Gently.
Vrrrrm!
Sizzle sizzle sizzle...
The high-level parasite melted away in seconds.
Power control was the key.
A vile leech that dominated human minds.
It was poison, too.
But he had zero intention of adding something like this to his poison core.
One more.
Sizzle sizzle sizzle...
The mogu was gone.
And that meant?
The mines possessed by jagos would die too.
Their heads exploding.
Meaning it was over.
Taeju pulled the handler's corpse from his storage and laid it neatly beside the two unconscious men.
Time to call Deputy Director Moon Kyungshik.
He was great at hunting down and killing mines, but investigations were best left to the Imperial Investigation Agency.
Let them handle it.
Moon Kyungshik and his Imperial Investigation Agency agents rushed to the sky lounge after Taeju's call.
"Chairman!"
"You're here? Take these guys too."
"...Hm?"
Moon Kyungshik seemed to recognize them.
"Black Forest's Kwak Guyang and Blood Ghost Alliance's Ho Cheongban. Heads of villain groups in Chinatown. But this one...?"
"A mine."
"Pardon? No way."
He was clearly dead.
But not in monster form.
No choice but to find it suspicious.
"Let's move them to Imperial Investigation HQ first. I'll explain later."
"Y-yes, sir."
Taeju headed downstairs.
The streets were deserted.
With merchants and tourists all evacuated, Chinatown held only Awakener combat units.
Suddenly!
"Nyaaang!"
Ilbaek appeared out of nowhere, rubbing against Taeju's leg.
"All done?"
"Nyaa."
"Good work. You earned your keep."
"Nyang!"
Gulp.
Moon Kyungshik eyed Ilbaek warily, his expression uneasy.
Now he was certain.
Of the white tiger's true nature.
Taeju smiled and reassured him.
"Look at her pretty. She's a good girl."
"Uh, y-yeah, sure."
It was hard to believe.
The terrifying white tiger that tore off a mine's head was this cute cat?
But with no civilian casualties besides the mines, she really was good.
"How many mines have we confirmed so far?"
"Fifteen bodies secured."
"Search every corner. There'll be more."
"More?"
"Like Sergei and Daigo—their brains exploded."
"Ah!"
Then he called Jeong Yeonhui.
"Yeonhui, remember our deal?"
"...Ahem, yes."
"Tomorrow in Gurye, then? That work?"
"Yes. I'll take the day off."
After setting the appointment with Jeong Yeonhui, Taeju pulled out his smartphone.
He needed to share today's intel right away.
※ ※ ※
Taeju entered the imperial palace.
Not the official front gate— he used the back door for palace staff.
Geum Suhu was waiting.
But his face was grim.
He even glared openly at Taeju and cleared his throat.
"Ahem! Hem hem!"
What's with him?
After taking down so many mines.
Then Ilbaek poked its head from his pocket and,
"Kyaaak!"
hissed threateningly at Geum Suhu.
"What're you?"
"Kyaak!"
Zap!
Ilbaek and Geum Suhu glared at each other.
"Argh!"
Geum Suhu broke eye contact first.
"If you've got a problem, just say it."
"Ahem!"
"I need to know what—"
"Seo Pilmyeong resigned."
"Oh!"
Perfect.
So he was settling in Paju for good.
"It was a five-year dispatch, right? Couldn't wait and bailed early?"
"Seemed capable."
"You know that! You've ruined my retirement plans."
Retirement plans?
"His Majesty recovered, the imperial family's discipline is shaping up, so I wanted to retire to the countryside and live easy."
"...I see."
"Won't let me go. Thinks he's King Sejong or something."
"..."
Geum Suhu saw himself as Prime Minister Hwang Hui, apparently.
"Negotiated with His Majesty—agreed to stick it out five more years. Planned to hand over to Pilmyeong when he returned."
He got it.
Seo Pilmyeong was Geum Suhu's successor.
"No one else in the palace? Pass it to someone and retire."
"Where do I find another Pilmyeong? Rarer than a Master. You have no idea how much I invested in him."
"...Should've treated him better from the start."
"I did! No civil servant his age pulls that salary."
Too bad, but unavoidable.
And would the emperor let Geum Suhu go easily?
He'd probably have to wait till the emperor died.
Taeju was pressed too.
Gurye lifelong governorship plus Paju territory.
He needed people to run them.
More the better.
"Sigh. Five more years and I'd be out—now where do I find Pilmyeongs?"
Ignoring Geum Suhu's grumbling, Taeju met the emperor in the rear garden annex.
The emperor lit up at the sight of him.
"Come in! Good work."
Damn right.
Though Ilbaek did most of it.
"...With that one? The cat."
"Yes. She's here."
Taeju set Ilbaek down from his pocket.
"Yaaong."
Ilbaek prowled around the room.
"Haha, definitely no ordinary beast. ...That elite three-headed white tiger from Jirisan, right?"
"Yes."
"As I thought—not a spirit beast, but a divine one. ...Huh? Its face changed."
"Nia?"
It had just switched to Sam-baek.
"Three heads, so the faces rotate."
The emperor stared in wonder, then asked,
"Did you and the white tiger take down that Beyond elite black evil dragon too?"
He already knew, just confirming.
No point hiding.
"I did it, but... not purely my skill. Items helped, and luck."
Without the talisman and Myriad Horizon Sword, impossible.
The dragon's slowness was key too.
"Luck is skill. Items too."
Geum Suhu nodded in agreement.
Time to report on Chinatown.
Taeju explained the intel from the handler.
Their expressions shifted with every detail.
"Not just got hit— that bastard's not even the boss, just a subordinate?"
The emperor pounded his chest in rage.
"That's what pisses me off most! That vice chairman's still alive! Without those peaches, I'd be dead. My pride's in shreds."
Taeju got it.
How much had he suffered?
"Can't leave him. Early Awakener mine for sure. At least 200 years old. How many victims? I'll hunt him myself."
Healthy now, and the vice chairman weakened.
The emperor commanded the imperial army.
Mobilize a Gobi Plains pioneer unit, find the base, blast it with firepower—done.
He glanced at Taeju.
"You rest. I'll handle this."
Planning to finish it solo, but
"Can you find them? Gobi Plains is huge."
Six times Korea's size.
Imperial territory, but barely scratched.
Monsters everywhere—only 1/10 pioneered.
"...Hm."
"And if you start searching, think they'll sit? They'll bolt."
Might lose them poking around.
"End it with the Chinatown mines. Can't tip them off we know."
Too much unknown.
Vice chairman alone—he nearly killed the emperor while injured.
Stronger than him, obviously.
Then the chairman above him—what power?
Didn't even know looks, age, strength, gender.
"Gather intel first. Quietly, covertly."
Army would blow it.
The emperor nodded.
"Fine. We'll do it that way."
Good chance.
Find new poisons, reach 10th stage of Hunwon Musang Dokryeong Gong.
Gobi Plains totally different from Gurye.
How many poison types there?
Take a trip, scout mines too.
※ ※ ※
Immortal Realm.
Building construction nearly done.
Time to open for business.
Prerequisites first.
Immortal currency: immortal peaches.
Too bulky for trade.
Can't pay a whole peach for one chocolate.
Can't split them.
So he came up with...
"Cr-credit cards?"
"Ho! Good idea. No lugging huge peaches."
Gwigok Seonin and Galhong Seonin sparkled at Dang Gunak's suggestion.
Smart, formation experts.
Toss an idea, they ran with it.
"Issue metal plates engraved with spell formations as credit cards."
"Right. Give Dokseon peaches, load equivalent coin value."
"Payment readers as formations too. Coins deduct on purchase."
"Peach value?"
Dang Gunak pondered.
"One peach: 100 coins. Candy: 1 coin. Buy 100 with one peach."
"...Too cheap?"
"Fine. My loss."
"Dokseon style!"
One peach for 100 candies.
Cheaper than before.
Generous to build goodwill.
"Wristwatch?"
"200 peaches?"
"20,000 coins. Haha, perfect!"
Cheap spurs demand.
Boosts economy.
Earn peaches and treasures for Taeju.
Reactions varied.
Some thrilled to shop freely, others fretted over peaches.
"Can't live like this!"
"Right! Overthrow it!"
"Treat immortals like suckers."
"Clear exploitation."
"Protest now!"
They swarmed Taesang No-gun's abode.
"One peach a month? Awaken!"
"Immortal union fights for 300 monthly!"
"Fight! General strike!!!"
Lazy immortals striking? Whatever—they hounded him daily.
Geomseon pestered Dang Gunak again.
"Buy?"
Relentless.
If no bike, disaster.
"No..."
Then—
Zzzing!
Delivery signal in his head.
Already?
Faster than expected.
Geomseon's obsession worked?
Dang Gunak tensed.
Had Taeju been generous?
Harley inside?
He checked the shared warehouse slowly.
Oh!
It came.
Gleaming two-wheeler.
Dang Gunak moved it fast.
Pulled items from sub-space too.
But his return goods? Pathetic.
Just 50 peaches.
No business yet—no earnings.
Treasures same.
Most hoarded them like kids; tricking them out took time.
Sorry, Taeju.
Embarrassed.
Earth treasures for 50 peaches.
"Buy?"
Silence, Geomseon asked again.
"Buy?"
"Came."
"Wha—? Re-repeat that."
Geomseon's eyes bulged.
He heard right.
Not "no"— "came."
"Yes. Delivery arrived."
Dang Gunak pulled the Harley from infinite space.
"Eek!"
Geomseon's scream—not cheer.
The longed-for Harley.
Right there.
"Hahaha."
His eyes misted.
So beautiful.
Unique across mortal, immortal, celestial realms?
Trembling hands caressed it long.
"H-how many peaches?"
"Take it. Gift for Formless Sword Arts."
"...Tell Taeju Hero thanks. I'll repay this grace."
Onlookers swarmed.
"Haha, seeing the real thing."
"Jealous."
"Electric kick scooter for me."
"Yeah, roads are there."
"Sell those?"
Taktop Shinjang among them.
With a stranger in odd robes.
"Dokseon, long time. Wondered when movies start."
"Soon. ...Who's this?"
"Ah! Hwangcheon friend. Introduce yourselves."
Even from underworld now.
"Haha! Heard much. Kangrim, deputy."
"Call me Dokseon."
Perfect timing.
"Kangrim, question—"
"Anything I can answer.""That Cheonma terrorizing mortals—know him?"
"Who doesn't? Hwangcheon wanted him too. You sent him."
"Where is he now...?"
"Avici Hell, naturally. King threw him in on arrival."
Good.
Dang Gunak felt satisfied.