Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 493

“Things are taking a turn for the worse.”

“……”

“Do you know where ‘he’ is?”

“I don’t know.”

“I thought so. The fact that he hasn’t shown up even when things have reached this point means two things. Either he’s lying low, or he’s abandoned us both.”

“……”

“Whatever the case, we can’t afford to just sit idly by. Yeon Ho-Jeong and Jeagal Mun-Ho are already tightening the noose around us. Especially Yeon Ho-Jeong, that bastard seemed suspicious of me.”

“……”

“I need your help.”

“What kind of help do you need?”

“What kind of help would be useful? Why else would I risk coming to see you? What is your greatest strength?”

“……”

“We need to buy time. Cause some chaos.”

“Who is the target?”

“Bok Ho.”

“……”

“Is it possible?”

“Nothing is impossible for anyone. The problem is the aftermath.”

“You see the situation well.”

“The faster we divert suspicion, the faster they’ll get closer to the truth. It will take them at least five days, or three at the earliest, to figure out that we’re behind this.”

“Three days… It would be a blessing if it takes even three days.”

“……”

“If Yeon Ho-Jeong’s suspicion of me is strong, he’ll keep an eye on me even while investigating Bok Ho. In other words, it won’t be beneficial at all except for diverting attention.”

“Then why are you asking for my help?”

“Because I plan to kill them. Yeon Ho-Jeong and Jeagal Mun-Ho.”

“……”

“Tell me when the job is done. I’ll kill them the very next day.”

“May I ask you one question?”

“Are you curious about how I’m going to kill them?”

“Yes. Yeon Ho-Jeong and Jeagal Mun-Ho are not easy opponents.”

“Don’t worry. Wouldn’t I have prepared for times like this?”

“Are you thinking of using ‘that’?”

“……”

“That is not meant to kill enemies. In the worst case, it’s for destroying evidence…”

“Do you want to die?”

“……”

“Do you want to die that badly?”

“……”

“You might, but I don’t. Does that mean my loyalty to the main sect has disappeared? No, it doesn’t. I want to survive to the end and help the main sect in any way I can. That’s why I’m doing this.”

“…If it fails, what will you do then?”

“If it doesn’t work out even after trying everything, then there’s nothing we can do.”

“……”

“Isn’t that how it is? It’s the same for us, and for the martial artists who live in this land, calling it the Central Plains, intoxicated with their arrogance. If you fail in a gamble where you bet your life, the end is death.”

“……”

“Do you want to get one more chance? Or do you want to run away with me right now? But would we even survive if we ran away?”

“…It’s tonight.”

“……!”

“I’ll start the job tonight. The incident will happen before noon tomorrow.”

“Thank you.”

“Then, I’ll be going.”

With that, the contact disappeared.

Pung Byeok-Ja’s eyes turned cold.

“Tomorrow noon is too late. If we’re going to do it, it’s better to finish it before dawn.”

* * *

Whooosh.

The candlelight flickered as the wind seeped in through the window.

In the dark night, Yeon Ho-Jeong, sitting alone in his room drinking tea, had eyes that resembled those of a ghost.

“Is summer slowly coming to an end?”

The night air was quite chilly, perhaps because he was in the mountains. Even considering that, it seemed like summer was almost over.

The cool breeze cleared his stuffy mind.

As the stuffiness cleared, his mind began to work again.

This time was essential. After clashing and talking with many people, there were times when his thoughts became disorganized.

This time, this moment, was the perfect time to organize his thoughts.

‘Should I make a move?’

Whether it was about Seung-Hyeon Jin-In, the Bok Ho situation, or Pung Byeok-Ja.

Whoever the spy was, they would have many thoughts due to their conversation with him.

‘Logically speaking, the Bok Ho situation is more likely than Seung-Hyeon Jin-In.’

He had thought about this so much that the moment he thought of the Bok Ho situation, a list of organized points would pop up in a corner of his mind.

‘But if I go by my gut feeling, Pung Byeok-Ja is suspicious.’

It was a conflict between reason and emotion.

Yeon Ho-Jeong usually followed his gut feeling in such cases. When he was younger, before he gained the reputation of the Dark Emperor, this gut feeling didn’t work properly, but after experiencing countless chaotic situations, his sixth sense became incredibly accurate.

Survival, exploration, slaughter, detection, betrayal.

The environment he had lived in, not as a ruler dominating the underworld but as a shadow warrior skilled in intrigue, had sharpened his senses to avoid being deceived and to deceive, to kill without being killed.

However, even with such a past and abilities, he couldn’t just trust his gut feeling and proceed.

‘The spy who was dispatched is extremely capable. But there are gaps.’

Yeon Ho-Jeong’s ghostly eyes flashed menacingly.

‘He lacks experience.’

Whether he was raised by the Three Sects before entering a sect, or if he turned traitor in the middle.

He had lived his life without ever being caught as a spy. That was proof of his great ability, but it was also proof that he had never felt this kind of pressure before.

A martial artist grows by experiencing real battles, and a politician grows by rolling around in the political arena.

It was the same for spies. Only by experiencing the ruthless pressure that slowly tightens around their necks countless times could they find the right response in a crisis.

At least, the spy from the Martial Alliance lacked such experience. That was certain.

‘But it’s ridiculous to move hoping for a mistake from a lack of experience. He’s the best. I have to think that way.’

And one more thing.

‘He won’t just sit still. He’ll almost certainly try to kill me, the military advisor, or both of us.’

Endure until the end and then escape at the crucial moment?

A normal spy would do that. But he was in this position as a servant of the Martial Alliance. And for a long time.

That meant he was used to proactive work, and he was smart enough to know that running away wouldn’t solve anything.

He was a spy who had been lying low for a long time, only to steal information from the Martial Alliance. He would try to maintain his position by any means necessary.

‘He’ll probably start with preliminary work before trying to kill us.’

Whooosh.

The candlelight flickered precariously in the blowing wind.

‘He’ll try to shift the attention to someone else.’

What if that person was Seung-Hyeon Jin-In?

‘He’ll implicate Gong Gong [a respectful title for a high-ranking official].’

What if that person was the Bok Ho situation?

‘He’ll implicate Pung Byeok-Ja.’

What if that person was Pung Byeok-Ja?

‘He’ll implicate the Bok Ho situation.’

Yeon Ho-Jeong’s index finger tapped the table repeatedly.

‘Time is important. He could move at any moment. Right after the preliminary work is done, he’ll try to kill me and the military advisor.’

If Pung Byeok-Ja knew what Yeon Ho-Jeong was thinking right now, he would have felt terror.

Yeon Ho-Jeong was reading Pung Byeok-Ja’s thoughts almost perfectly.

This was the difference in experience. If Pung Byeok-Ja had experienced many ups and downs as a spy, he would have tried to strike first, even if he acted the same way as he was now.

And Yeon Ho-Jeong, who had even considered that first strike, had placed top experts and stealth specialists around the Pagun Hall and the Military Advisor’s office.

‘Whatever happens, I’ve made all the preparations I can.’

Now, he just had to observe the opponent’s reaction. If nothing happened by noon tomorrow at the latest, then Yeon Ho-Jeong’s counterattack would begin.

“Hoo.”

Yeon Ho-Jeong, having organized his thoughts, drank his tea. It had already gone cold, but the bitter taste gave a sense of refreshment to his parched mouth.

“By the way…”

In fact, Yeon Ho-Jeong didn’t feel much anxiety in the preparation process for finding the spy.

What he was really curious and anxious about was something else.

“Where is that manager bastard?”

Yeon Ho-Jeong unconsciously touched his lips.

“Could it be that I misread it? There’s no way the manager wouldn’t be involved in this situation, in this process.”

The plan he had made after reading the spy’s movements also included the manager’s existence.

Surely, even if there was a manager, the spy would try to kill him or the military advisor. The problem was, he had no idea who that manager was.

“It’s safe to say that the heads of the Nine Factions or the Six Families are almost certainly not involved. Then, it’s highly likely to be someone the spy meets often, or someone they meet regularly, even if not often.”

And that possibility included the contact.

Yeon Ho-Jeong’s eyes deepened.

“Who could it be…”

It was then.

“Lord Daesu [a respectful title for a leader].”

Dang Sang-A’s voice was heard from outside the window.

“I received a message from my father. He said they’ve moved.”

“Where?”

“Inside the Martial Alliance’s inner city, a worker from the Eumhyangdan (Drinking Fragrance Group).”

Yeon Ho-Jeong’s eyes blazed.

Eumhyangdan. Drinking fragrance.

It was the place in charge of the tea leaves and liquor that were distributed to the taverns throughout the inner city of the Martial Alliance. They received goods from subcontractors beyond the outer city and distributed them, and because they inspected the liquor and tea leaves for poison in the middle, there were quite a few people who had trained in martial arts.

That wasn’t the important thing.

‘The Bok Ho situation.’

Coincidentally, Seung-Hyeon Jin-In, the Bok Ho situation, and Pung Byeok-Ja each had people from other inner city organizations they met regularly.

Seung-Hyeon Jin-In had the Iron Workshop that distributed weapons, the Bok Ho situation had the Eumhyangdan, and Pung Byeok-Ja had the Clothing Group.

In the case of the Bok Ho situation, she had a knack for tea since she was young, so she was said to be quite picky about choosing tea leaves. In other words, it wasn’t strange for the Bok Ho situation to be friendly with the people of the Eumhyangdan and receive tea leaves separately.

But what if she was a spy?

Or, what if the real spy was trying to frame her?

“Tell Moyong Clan Head! To stick with the Bok Ho situation! Clan Head Dang, to the Military Advisor’s office!”

“T-The Military Advisor’s office?!”

“There’s no time. Hurry!”

“Yes!”

Yeon Ho-Jeong jumped up.

If the Bok Ho situation was a spy, it was better for the proactive and cunning Moyong Clan Head to stick with her.

The same was true for Pung Byeok-Ja. That’s why he had to go himself.

Sending Dang Gwan to the Military Advisor’s office was because he predicted that the spy’s attack would focus on poison or explosives. The Military Advisor’s office was one of the most heavily guarded places in the Martial Alliance. There was no way they would waste time with quiet assassinations.

And he sent his father, Yeon Wi, to Seung-Hyeon Jin-In. If it was Seung-Hyeon Jin-In, Yeon Wi, the embodiment of the Yeon family’s martial arts, would be the best opponent.

Whoosh!

Yeon Ho-Jeong, who had leaped out of the window in an instant, headed straight for Pung Byeok-Ja’s residence.

How long had he been running?

“Where are you going in such a hurry?”

Bang!

Yeon Ho-Jeong, who had stopped his movement technique, looked sharply to his right.

It was a truly perfect place. It wasn’t a forest, but the alleyway that stretched endlessly was pitch black.

And there.

Pung Byeok-Ja was there.

“If you’re not too busy, would you like to have a conversation with me?”

At that time.

The manager, whose existence Yeon Ho-Jeong suspected, was looking out the window.

‘He’s moving.’

He could tell without seeing. The energy of the ‘mask’ that was located in Pung Byeok-Ja’s dantian [an area in the lower abdomen believed to be the center of vital energy] was burning red.

‘It’s faster than I thought. This isn’t because Pung Byeok-Ja is in a hurry. It seems like Jeagal Mun-Ho has really shaken Pung Byeok-Ja.’

Even he, the best of the best, didn’t know that Yeon Ho-Jeong was the main player in this. He just thought of him as a shield for Jeagal Mun-Ho, like Pung Byeok-Ja.

‘Is this the end?’

It couldn’t be helped.

He had put a lot of effort into cultivating the spy for a long time, but he had to be decisive when discarding them. Anyway, he had already stolen a significant amount of top-secret information from the Martial Alliance. The higher-ups seemed quite satisfied.

With this much, it wasn’t bad, even if it was a little disappointing.

‘I should start preparing too.’

At that moment, Yong Hwa Jin-In said.

“Damn it! When I get out of here, I’ll chew Yeon Ho-Jeong’s flesh to pieces!”

Deung Cheon-Gyo, with a distorted face but indifferent eyes, chimed in.

“I won’t leave the Yeon family bastard who raised his son like that alone!”