Chapter 1588. Regaining (3)

Goh Han-Bong curiously asked, “By the way, how did you persuade Chairman Jeong?”

“I wonder about that myself,” Lee Hyeon-Su grinned brightly. “Maybe it’s all thanks to your timely mediation, sir.”

“That alone isn’t enough to change a person like that. From what I hear, it sounds as if Chairman Jeong had a comprehensive change of heart?”

“All I can say is that he has discovered how nicely our interests align,” said Lee Hyeon-Su with a casual shrug. “But that’s how human relationships evolve, sir. Yesterday’s enemies can become tomorrow’s friends if they get to know each other better today.”

“Hahaha! Yes, that’s true!”

Goh Han-Bong guffawed, but he was definitely not laughing inside.

I mean, we’re talking about that Jeong Hong-Geun here...

According to the latest report, Jeong Hong-Geun was in the middle of upending the entire Taegwang Group just to set up a joint company with the Martial Assembly. He was going all-in on this venture as if his current company wasn’t even on his mind anymore.

Making someone work for you through coercion, threats, and ruthless pressure wasn’t difficult. However, making them enthusiastic about it was the exact opposite.

As a leader of an organization, Goh Han-Bong knew the difference between those two things. If the members populating a massive organization willingly worked their butts off, and did so gladly, the overall efficiency would shoot up by several folds.

But Jeong Hong-Geun wasn’t some random office worker, but a chairman filled to the brim with ego. So, changing his mind to this degree was nothing to scoff at.

“This is how things always end up,” said Lee Hyeon-Su.

Goh Han-Bong narrowed his eyes. “...? What do you mean?”

“Middle grounds don’t exist for our Assembly Master, you see?”

“I don’t follow, Chief Lee.”

Lee Hyeon-Su shrugged again. “As you’ve seen already, those who get to learn more about our Assembly Master end up in one of the two camps. One, they will agree with him completely and try to work together with him. Or...”

“...Or, they become his enemies.”

“Yes, correct. For some reason, that always happens. I wonder, is it because of how headstrong our Assembly Master can be?”

Lee Hyeon-Su asked rhetorically in a joking manner, causing Goh Han-Bong to shake his head.

“Whatever the case might be, it’s a good thing that Chairman Jeong is so enthusiastic about this matter. It means the Assembly can now proceed with its plan, doesn’t it?”

“With the government’s help, yes, everything should get resolved in no time at all. Please help us with the approval of the new joint venture, sir. Large corporations need to cut through all sorts of red tape if they want to set up a new subsidiary, after all.”

“We’ll enact a special law when the time is right, Chief Lee. That should take care of it. My boss is also eager to get this project off the ground, after all.”

Lee Hyeon-Su grinned smoothly. Yes, I’m sure he is.

Why would the President be against his countrymen wanting to pillage another nation lawfully? The incoming wealth would fill the country’s coffers through various tax payments, after all!

No sane man would reject the idea of filling up his vault.

“However...” Goh Han-Bong asked worriedly. “Will it be okay? Their resistance will be considerable, after all.”

“We know that. And we don’t plan on fighting them using their own laws.”

Lee Hyeon-Su would never underestimate the Japanese.

He feared them as much as he hated their guts. What made them so scary in his book was that the Japanese didn’t care about saving face if push came to shove.

That might sound odd, since the Japanese were infamous for their obsession with aesthetics, but that was only on the surface. They only cared about the rituals involved, not the mindset that should accompany such rituals.

That was why Japanese politicians routinely spouted insensitive remarks without care and displayed zero shame for what they had done.

Once MK started ransacking Japan, those people would try to hinder the process by any means necessary, international law be damned!

“However, we actually prefer that,” said Lee Hyeon-Su.

“I’m sorry?”

“Because, once they resort to petty tricks, we’ll finally have the... license to do what we do best, you see? Such as unleashing our mad hound in... Oops, I mean, an enraged tiger in Japan.”

“Did you... just say your mad hound?”

“Ehheeei! Of course not! It seems your hearing is failing you, sir. Perhaps I should prepare a top-of-the-line hearing aid for you?”

Goh Han-Bong chuckled. “Then, I’ll consider this discussion closed for now. In that case...”

Lee Hyeon-Su tilted his head. “Yes?”

“Bring them in!”

Goh Han-Bong shouted at someone outside the private dining room. A short while later, the doorway smartly slid open, and several servers stepped inside while carrying kettles of liquor in both hands.[1]

Goh Han-Bong smiled brightly at Lee Hyeon-Su. “Nothing is better than booze to bolster friendship, wouldn’t you say? I’ve heard that the people from your side can hold their liquor, which is good news, since I’m confident of drinking anyone under the table. Well, then, how about we get piss-drunk tonight, Chief Lee?”

“I beg your pardon?”

...Prime Minister, sir? Where did you hear about martial artists being able to hold their drink?

Because that’s not me, you see...?

Lee Hyeon-Su’s complexion grew pale.

***

“B-bleeeergh!”

“Urgh...”

Kang Jin-Ho sneakily stepped back while grimacing at the sight of Lee Hyeon-Su dry heaving nonstop.

“This is all... Awoo!” Lee Hyeon-Su wiped his mouth with a handkerchief, then groaned loudly. “All those pro-democracy activists claim they had risked their lives to fight for us back then, but they must be lying, sir. Because, a man can’t become immune to alcohol like that unless he’s been drinking every single day!”

“...”

“Holy cow! How on earth does a human being drink like that, anyway!”

Lee Hyeon-Su held his forehead as if a bout of dizzy spell was attacking him again. He got his ass properly handed to him by Goh Han-Bong and his ability to hold his liquor, which had been trained over the years by the countless bowls of hardcore makgeolli.

“Urgh... In any case...”

Kang Jin-Ho chuckled. “So? Did you win?”

“No, well, the thing is... He stopped drinking in the middle so I kept drinking by myself, you see? I noticed only after a while that he had passed out while sitting upright.”

“...”

“Geez! I’ve never met an old man with such stamina before, sir.”

Kang Jin-Ho slowly shook his head.

In terms of one’s alcohol tolerance, Kang Jin-Ho wouldn’t lose out to anyone. Unfortunately for some, however, he was not a drinker. He didn’t even enjoy it, and would never seek out a drink or two on his own unless the occasion called for it.

That was why, despite being a martial artist, he’d sometimes be awed by people boasting the ability to drink like there’s no tomorrow and still not get drunk.

“But how did the discussion go?”

“Oh, that? He was more amiable than we thought, sir.”

Kang Jin-Ho cocked an eyebrow. “Really? Not because you got too drunk to notice anything?”

“Of course not,” Lee Hyeon-Su replied with a firm wave of his hand. “The current Prime Minister isn’t the type to think too deeply about things like Kim Myeong-Chan, sir. And his thirst for power isn’t worrisome, either. Also, he’s not some uptight boomer who wants to sacrifice himself for the country. How should I put it... He’s not as colorful but more flexible?”

“Mm...!”

Since Lee Hyeon-Su arrived at such an evaluation, it meant Goh Han-Bong might not be a bad person to deal with.

Lee Hyeon-Su continued to explain. “However, I believe his demeanor is a result of lessons learned from the Kim Myeong-Chan incident, sir. While we were conversing away, I kept getting the impression that he was trying his best not to get on our nerves.”

“Really?”

“Yes, sir. Maybe he cares more about self-preservation than working for the country or the Blue House. As a person, he’s worse than Kim Myeong-Chan, but... People like him are easier to deal with. For me, people who get obsessed about one thing and can’t even think straight are the hardest to deal with.”

“Like Chang Min?”

“...Yes, sir.”

Lee Hyeon-Su couldn’t help but chuckle away. If he was being honest, though, Chang Min wasn’t the right example. It wasn’t as if he couldn’t think straight, after all. No, he was more like a religious zealot, wasn’t he!

The type of person Lee Hyeon-Su found the hardest to deal with was someone like Kim Myeong-Chan.

If a person who looked like a rational thinker suddenly drop-kicked their rational thinking to next Sunday and started acting irrationally, even Lee Hyeon-Su’s thought process would go out of whack.

Yup, rather than someone like that, Goh Han-Bong is a hundred times better.

Lee Hyeon-Su turned and stared at Kang Jin-Ho. “In summary, I was able to mend the totally fractured relationship, more or less.”

Kang Jin-Ho chuckled. “It must’ve been hard.”

“I didn’t do much, sir. This event was bound to happen sooner or later, after all. It was merely a question of when.”

Lee Hyeon-Su looked away again.

“Dealing with elected officials will never be easy, sir. The quirks of such posts mean the odds of said officials not holding much information or understanding of us are rather high. Before the next presidential election, we need to make as thorough a preparation as possible. We must set up a system so that even if the next President holds an antagonistic view of us, they won’t be able to do much about it.”

Kang Jin-Ho suddenly stared weirdly at Lee Hyeon-Su, prompting the latter to tilt his head.

“Sir? Do I have something on my face?”

“No, it’s not that, but...” Kang Jin-Ho snickered softly. “It’s like, you have a lot on your mind, don’t you? How do you stay sane while worrying about all these things?”

“Sir? In my honest opinion, I think you’re too unworried about everything.”

“Maybe. Maybe that’s true.”

Lee Hyeon-Su massaged his temples as if a migraine was assaulting him.

“In any case... With this, we’ve taken care of our problems in Korea. Although we’ll be busy for some time while setting up the joint company and laying out the foundation in Japan... Those matters don’t require your attention, sir.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“That means you should focus on what you were supposed to be doing, sir.”

Kang Jing-Ho tilted his head. What he was supposed to be doing?

“You know, that thing you’re good at? Taking a bunch of slackers and lazy bums and instilling discipline in them by beating the living snot out of them.”

“Oh, that?”

Lee Hyeon-Su grinned brightly. “The members of the Special Operations Brigade have all arrived in Korea, you see? The message I received said they were ready to receive your guidance. And the pro-Korea folks from Japan will arrive tomorrow, as well.”

“Is that right?” Kang Jin-Ho slowly nodded.

“And... This is just my opinion, but it feels like the Assembly members need to be reminded once more. Under your personal supervision, of course.”

“Mm.” Kang Jin-Ho nodded again. “However, there’s something we must do before that.”

“Sir? Such as?”

“We need to raise everyone’s level.” Kang Jin-Ho furrowed his brow. “The current cultivation methods aren’t enough, no matter how much everyone trains with them. Their strength will see only a marginal improvement.”

“Then... Are you thinking of providing new cultivation methods?”

“That’s right.”

Lee Hyeon-Su grew a little worried. “I understand your intentions, but... We don’t know what will happen and when, sir. If we start imparting new cultivation methods now and a war breaks out tomorrow, won’t there be some risk of our people becoming actually weaker or useless in combat?”

“Then, can you think of a way to avoid shouldering the risk?” Kang Jin-Ho asked calmly.

“...”

Lee Hyeon-Su couldn’t think of one. And that meant he had to agree with Kang Jin-Ho. Maybe they were taking a massive gamble here, but that was what the Martial Assembly needed to do—take this gamble head on and make it work for them.

“Understood, sir. I’ll do my best to provide support. Then, the demonic cultivation you’d be imparting will...”

“No, wait.” Kang Jin-Ho shook his head. “With demonic cultivation, it can be done relatively quickly enough. But that’s not the case with the new orthodox cultivation for the rest of the Assembly. That’s what we must focus on. I’ve already talked to Director Bang about it, so he should have prepared something by now.”

“You were talking about higher-tier cultivation methods, then. If everything works out, the new methods will help us greatly in the war against the Chinese. However, will it really be possible, sir?”

“Yes, it will be.”

After replying, Kang Jin-Ho glanced at his hands.

I’m sure it will be.

It would’ve been impossible for Kang Jin-Ho in the past, but that was no longer the case for him now. After all, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say half of his cultivation was orthodox in nature. And his understanding of orthodox cultivation methods had improved incomparably so, too.

How interesting.

In all honesty, Kang Jin-Ho was at a stage where he couldn’t quite tell if he was “better” than Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor or not. More specifically, he couldn’t decide if he was still weaker than his past self or if he had subconsciously glamorized the past and incorrectly remembered Crimson Demon’s true strength as much stronger than in reality.

Whatever the answer was, one thing was still certain. His current understanding and even utilization of orthodox cultivation methods far surpassed that of Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor.

I’m a little relieved that I’m finally better at something than my past self.

Which meant it’d be a waste not to utilize it. An advantage not exploited was not an advantage, after all.

Kang Jin-Ho smirked. “However, I am concerned about something, and that’s...”

“Sorry?”

“I’m not sure if their idea of orthodox cultivation methods is the same as mine.”

Lee Hyeon-Su stared weirdly at Kang Jin-Ho.

Sir, if I’m being brutally honest with you? Even a blind idiot can tell they are totally different, you know?

Hang on, just what are you even thinking of creating this time? Sir?

For some reason, Lee Hyeon-Su thought he could hear the mournful wailing of the Assembly members already.

1. Yes, the raw said “kettles,” not bottles. But that’s because they are drinking makgeolli, which is traditionally served in a kettle. Makgeolli is a milky, off-white and lightly sparkling rice wine. ☜