Chapter 1622: Occurred (2)

“The battery plan has borne fruit, more or less, my lord,” said Wiggins.

“…”

Kang Jin-Ho stared weirdly at Wiggins. Anyone unaware might think the Martial Assembly had started a battery supply business or something if they heard that!

No, hang on? I suppose that’s not really incorrect?

The plan Wiggins had mentioned was pretty straightforward.

No matter how hard he worked, mass-producing combat-ready mages in a relatively short period would still be impossible. This was because of the quirk of magic itself.

Whether it was magic or martial arts, reaching the higher realms required considerable time and dedication. The decisive difference between the two was that the in-training martial artists still could be used as combatants as long as they were given suitable weapons. However, the in-training mages were as useless as they came.

One could say the mages were a typical late-bloomer type of profession. To overcome this fatal flaw, Wiggins had been focusing on one area until now.

Martial artists choosing to join the school of magic didn’t experience difficulty in storing mana. After all, they were familiar with breathing exercises to absorb qi from the air. As a result, they could use that experience to increase their mana reserves easily and quickly.

But the real problem with magic was that… One's magic knowledge needed to reach the level of PhD holders to be able to freely utilize the accumulated mana. But the Assembly's mages were still at the level of elementary school kids!

“That's why I decided to not focus on that, my lord. Instead, I'll use them as mana batteries to cast magic myself,” said Wiggins.

Kang Jin-Ho frowned. “Look, I get that. I do.”

Truth be told, he had no understanding of the principles behind such phenomena. But he still forced himself to understand how things would unfold.

“When you said it more or less bore fruit, what did you mean, exactly?”

“Activating it was a success, but the overall efficiency was still poor, unfortunately,” said Wiggins. “Every mage boasts a unique mana wavelength, my lord. What we succeeded in was getting those disparate wavelengths to work together without causing a backlash, but doing so has led to a rougher mana transmission than I'd like. The loss of mana is…”

“Stop right there.” Kang Jin-Ho raised his hand to interrupt Wiggins. He couldn’t make heads nor tails of what was being said here. “In summary, you’ve done it. That’s what you want to tell me, right?”

“Yes, my lord. We’ll now focus on the measures to improve the efficiency.”

Lee Hyeon-Su, who had been silently listening from nearby, asked a question. “Does that mean you can now unleash large-scale magic spells similar to the ones you used against the Japanese?”

“Very much so. No, even more than that.”

“Sorry? What do you mean?”

“It’s simple. Back then, we needed to prepare magic circles and go through synchronization in order to activate spells of such scale. But now? Since magical energy can be transferred to me rapidly, we can now skip some of those steps.”

Wiggins smirked smoothly.

“In the past, we needed to lure the enemy to a location we've designated if we wanted to blow them away with large-scale magic. And we would have performed preparatory work on said location, too. However, now I can unleash large-scale magic while on the move. Which means… I'm probably the only mage in the world who has reached such a realm.”

Just as the smug-looking Wiggins tried to sit up a little taller and prouder than before, Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head in confusion.

“Hang on? What about the Elder Knights?”

“…My lord, that’s cheating.”

All the pride instantly abandoned Wiggins at the mere mention of the Elder Knights.

Kang Jin-Ho cocked an eyebrow. “Are you saying you can’t beat them?”

“Mm, well… If I rely on my swordsmanship and the mana batteries, I might be able to deal with one Elder Knight. However, if the question is about whose realm is higher, then… Hmm…”

Wiggins pondered his reply for a while.

Lee Hyeon-Su testily muttered, “Before that, please stop calling your fellow human beings batteries, master. Aren’t you letting your true nature slip out a little too much?”

“One’s purpose supplanting one’s given name happens often, Mister Lee.”

Lee Hyeon-Su almost yelled, And you should stop limiting a person's purpose like that! I mean, even these so-called batteries are protected by human rights, okay? Human rights!

“In any case…” Wiggins resumed his report, his voice firm. “With this process completed, we can now hold an upper hand in a large-scale battle, my lord. The Elder Knights might surpass me when it comes to the firepower of each spell, but in terms of wide-scale spells supported by an ocean of mana? I assure you, I am stronger.”

Kang Jin-Ho's expression hardened after he remembered his fight back in the Round Table HQ.

Those Elder Knights were powerful.

Even the one and only Kang Jin-Ho was stunned by the Elder Knights and their powerful magic. If such powerful magic could be unleashed over a wide area… The Assembly should be able to literally wipe out the enemy.

“You did well, Wiggins. Good work.”

“Thank you, my lord.”

It felt as if things were falling into place, one by one.

Vator took his disciples to the American military base to train them in his unique way. Most average folks might get scared by this type of arrangement, but not Vator's disciples. Folks like Gong Yeong-Gil had always been rather “easy-going” on such matters. That meant they had no problem acting as teaching assistants for the American soldiers while focusing on their own training.

Meanwhile, Bang Jin-Hun had already begun imparting the completed Harmony Art to the Assembly members. As for Chang Min, not only did he increase the harshness of the combat training for the Demon Cult believers, but he also didn't forget to temper the Demon Flames.

Then… What else is left?

The Martial Assembly's people were already doing everything they could.

Kang Jin-Ho glanced at Lee Hyeon-Su. “I almost forgot. How is the training going for the Japanese?”

“They have started mastering combat-related demonic arts under the Demon Cult's supervision, sir.”

“Hmm…”

Even though they had already decided to do this, it still felt a little wrong to Kang Jin-Ho. With the completion of the Harmony Art, it’d be a lie to say he didn’t feel tempted to impart the same cultivation art the Martial Assembly was mastering to the Japanese. However…

…Demonic cultivation is better if we want to make use of them as soon as possible.

Kang Jin-Ho had no obligation to worry about the future of the Japanese martial society, after all. Trying to do that was him being too meddlesome. Or too caring.

He glanced at Lee Hyeon-Su again. “Any other problems I should be aware of?”

“It seems the Japanese business world has realized that we’re planning to compete in their backyard, sir. They have begun heaping tons of pressure on our government through diplomatic channels.”

Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head slightly. “Really? Who leaked that information?”

“…? We’ve never hidden it, sir.”

“…?”

“…?”

Kang Jin-Ho and Lee Hyeon-Su stared dazedly at each other.

“Hang on? Is that okay?”

“Sir, it’s not feasible to completely hide the creation of a new business venture.”

That… sounded logical, didn’t it?

“With how large-scale our venture is, they would have learned about it sooner or later, even if they didn't want to. Unfortunately for them, however, there's nothing they can do to stop us. What can they do when it's literally a legitimate business trying to enter a new market?”

“If that’s true, why are they heaping pressure on our side?”

“Their aim is probably to buy themselves as much time as possible so that they can prepare countermeasures,” said Lee Hyeon-Su with a casual shrug. “But our government isn't paying much attention to their whining, sir. Since the relationship between the two governments has soured recently, I'm guessing our side can't even be bothered.”

Actually, that was not true. Rather than “not being bothered,” it'd be more correct to say that the Korean government had rolled up its sleeves to open up a path and even cover it in asphalt so that MK could smoothly expand into Japan and pick the place clean!

The important part to remember here was that it was MK, not the Martial Assembly, that was behind this expansion. A legitimate company was trying to bring in profits from a foreign market through legitimate channels, so the Korean government had no reason to stop MK.

Besides, it obviously didn’t want to yap on about some useless things like “preserving the relationship with Japan,” only to become a helpless bystander once the Assembly stepped in to fix the situation.

“Then… We can proceed as is?”

“Yes, sir. We’ve already expected this level of resistance, after all. You don’t have to pay attention to this matter.”

Kang Jin-Ho nodded. He should believe Lee Hyeon-Su on this one, since the latter sounded so certain about it.

“I see. Anything else?”

“Well, there's one more issue, sir."

“Mm?” Kang Jin-Ho cocked an eyebrow.

Lee Hyeon-Su frowned slightly. “It's the amount of information we've been receiving from the Chinese government, sir. We've not been getting as much info lately. It's not as if they have completely cut off the flow of information, but compared to when it was most active, I'd say the amount is now less than one-tenth.”

“Is that so?” Kang Jin-Ho scratched his cheek. “What about Blood Demon?”

“That son of… I mean, that man, he…”

Lee Hyeon-Su groaned loudly.

Kang Jin-Ho had dispatched Blood Demon to China to collect information. Of course, Blood Demon initially resisted, saying he’d rather volunteer as Kang Jin-Ho's bodyguard.

However, when Kang Jin-Ho retorted with, “Why would I need a bodyguard? After all, when things go down, it’ll be me protecting you, not the other way around,” Blood Demon had no choice but to raise a white flag.

Lee Hyeon-Su frowned again. “He's still sending us information, but… It's all so random, sir. He's got no concept of a fixed schedule. And…”

Kang Jin-Ho cocked an eyebrow. “Can you even order him around, though?”

“Well, if I mention you, he will get off his lazy ass and unwillingly do what I tell him to do, but… Haaah! I should have focused more on my own cultivation, sir. I've lost count of how many times I nearly lost it and beat him up like a dog.”

Kang Jin-Ho shook his head. Nope, don't do that. You will never win against him, even if you go through a reincarnation or regression.

Different people were born with different talents. No matter how much a little chick trained, it could never triumph against a tiger.

“All in all, this is not a good sign, sir.”

“Hmm…” Kang Jin-Ho turned his head toward Wiggins. “What’s your opinion on this?”

Wiggins pondered his answer for a little while before replying to Kang Jin-Ho. “It's possible that the situation in China has become too volatile, which, in turn, has prevented them from collecting good-enough information.”

“Really? Wouldn’t a volatile situation generate more information, though?”

“Once a war breaks out, yes. However, until then, the participants will try to keep their houses in order and restrict the outflow of information.”

“Mm… Yes, that makes sense.”

Lee Hyeon-Su tilted his head in slight confusion. “But… Isn't it possible that the Three Kings and their factions are getting rid of the government forces before they can start fighting in earnest? In my opinion, that seems more likely.”

Wiggins shook his head. “No, that can't be it. If that were so, the Chinese government would've asked for our assistance. They wouldn't have entered into an alliance with us, even if it’s only on paper, if their mindset was, The Chinese will solve problems in China.”

“That… makes sense.”

Lee Hyeon-Su nodded.

Kang Jin-Ho subtly furrowed his brow. “So, in summary…”

“Sir?”

“The Three Kings and their factions are tightening the leash on their own people, and it has become very difficult to extract information as a result. And even if our people get their hands on some information, it's still difficult to send it our way. That's the current situation?”

Wiggins nodded. “Yes, my lord. However, there’s another possibility. The Chinese government could also be looking for a suitable time to sever ties with us and join one of the factions. Whatever the case may be… None of it is encouraging news for us.”

“Hmm…” Kang Jin-Ho contemplatively nodded. “So… The time is fast approaching, in other words.”

“Yes, I believe so.”

Just as Wiggins said that…!

“Unfortunately, that's not the end of the news, my liege.”

Kang Jin-Ho turned his head and stared at the corner of the office. A man in black attire emerged from the shadows like a mirage.

“…! What the hell, it’s you!”

Lee Hyeon-Su loudly gritted his teeth at the intruder.

But the intruder was none other than Blood Demon, and for some reason, he had abruptly shown his face once more.

“You bastard! You’ve gone totally radio silent for a while now, yet you dare show your face in Korea again? Hey, man! Do you want to die that badly?!”

“Huh. You seem to have forgotten what fear is while I’ve been away. Don’t worry, though, because I can make you remember in five minutes. Or less.”

Blood Demon licked his lips and threatened Lee Hyeon-Su, prompting Kang Jin-Ho to groan loudly.

“Blood Demon.”

“Yes, my liege!”

“Threaten Lee Hyeon-Su again, and I'll personally rip your head off.”

Blood Demon kowtowed on the floor. “Please forgive me, my liege!”

Kang Jin-Ho groaned again. “So… Why are you here?”

“I’ve come to deliver a report of utmost importance, my liege! I thought reporting it over the phone would’ve been inappropriate.”

“Fine. What is it?”

“The Crimson King’s faction has begun fighting the Azure King’s faction!”

Kang Jin-Ho’s expression stiffened immediately. Even Lee Hyeon-Su, who had been glaring at Blood Demon in irritation, froze on the spot.

Lee Hyeon-Su asked back, “Say what?”

“It's as I told you. They have begun fighting. For now, the scale is limited to localized skirmishes. But the situation is clearly different from the past skirmishes.”

“Are you sure about this? Maybe they will back off after a while?”

Blood Demon firmly shook his head. “The rumors speak of the Azure King's personal involvement. That's because his faction, which actively avoided expanding the war until now, has become much more aggressive than before.”

“The Azure King…!”

“Remember that the Azure King is like a treacherous snake. This minor change must’ve been a deliberate move on their part. For now, the fighting is contained to small skirmishes, but soon… I wager that the situation will evolve into a full-on conflict.”

Wiggins and Lee Hyeon-Su simultaneously turned their heads and stared at Kang Jin-Ho.

Kang Jin-Ho slowly nodded. “Summon the directors back.”

“Understood!”

Kang Jin-Ho mouthed a cigarette while watching Lee Hyeon-Su jump up from his seat and bolt outside his office.