Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 813

“……”

The massive conference hall, where figures from the nine factions had gathered, was filled with an unsettling silence.

Each one of them was a formidable martial artist. Having entered a place where they couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable, they were unconsciously emitting a chilling aura.

Surprisingly, there were over twenty of them. More than twenty from nine different factions—it was an unusual situation.

“Damn it.”

Go Bok-san, the successor of the Janggang River Pirates, cursed.

“If you’re going to call people, shouldn’t they come quickly? Even so, isn’t this too much?”

Toward the grumbling Go Bok-san, Seok-deung, the sub-chief of the Gwangdo Clan, spoke in a calm tone.

“Have patience.”

“What?”

“Is it because you’re from a band of pirates? You have no sense of leisure. Well, I guess you wouldn’t have any patience, considering you were always busy robbing other people’s ships and running away.”

Go Bok-san’s eyes flashed with murderous intent.

“Have you said all you wanted to say?”

“Haaahm!”

Seok-deung, openly yawning, asked the woman sitting next to him, Hwa-ryeon.

“What are you doing after this is over? Want to have a drink with me? I heard the food at the executive dining hall is really good.”

Hwa-ryeon silently sipped her tea. It was a cold and indifferent response.

It would have been embarrassing, but Seok-deung showed no such signs. He simply chuckled and followed her, sipping his tea.

Bang!

Just as Go Bok-san slammed the table and was about to draw the dagger from his waist,

“Enough.”

Go Bok-san flinched at the heavy voice.

The owner of the voice was Jo Pil-hak, the successor of the Green Forest Stronghold and the eldest son of Jo Dong-guk, who was recognized as the next chief.

“Do you want to cause trouble in the Black Dragon Deputy Chief’s place? Behave yourselves.”

Jo Pil-hak’s voice carried weight.

In fact, he was the oldest among the successors, and his skills were among the best.

Of course, no one looked down on him just because he was a bandit. Rather, the current Green Forest Stronghold had a larger number of people and more power than any other faction.

The Green Forest Stronghold, with its unique black-heartedness, intense wildness, brutality, and cunning, as well as its vast capital and organizational power, was one of the top black-hearted factions of the time.

Go Bok-san’s lips twitched.

Bandits and pirates. A truly fitting combination, but Go Bok-san didn’t particularly like Jo Pil-hak.

He was older, more talented, and already sharing the duties of his father, Jo Dong-guk. Among the successors here, he was one of the few who had been recognized by their leader.

From Go Bok-san’s perspective, who was relatively less capable, he was someone he could never like.

However, he couldn’t ignore his words either. The world might be wider and deeper than the land, but in terms of power, the Janggang River Pirates were bound to be inferior to the Green Forest Stronghold.

Decisively.

Twitch! Twitch!

The successors sitting on either side of Jo Pil-hak twitched once each.

It was a reaction of their bodies, not their minds. The heavy murderous intent emanating from Jo Pil-hak’s body was pressing down on them.

Moreover, everyone knew that Jo Pil-hak’s mood was the worst among those gathered here.

“Tch.”

Go Bok-san sat back down. Of course, his glare at Seok-deung remained unchanged.

A moment of silence fell.

“By the way.”

It was Lee Ja-gon, the successor of the Black Movement Merchant Group, who broke the silence.

“Why did the Deputy Chief call us and these guys here?”

Lee Ja-gon pointed behind the round table where the successors were sitting.

Behind the successors stood one or two men and women. At first glance, they looked like the successors’ guards or servants, but in reality, they were people with their own positions within the factions.

“I’m wondering that too.”

Ho Baek, the successor of the Jeonryong Merchant Group, scratched his head.

“Looking at them, their positions are all over the place, and they don’t have any particular characteristics. And this one is even a picky eater.”

Ho Baek pointed behind him with his thumb. Behind him stood a man who looked at least ten years older than him, with a stern face.

“That’s quite a coincidence. It’s similar on this side too.”

Lee Ja-gon chuckled and turned his body while sitting.

The person Lee Ja-gon was looking up at was a hunchbacked young man who looked sickly.

“He’s quite good at calculations, but he’s obsessed with trivial things. He has no ability, he just talks nonsense, and on top of that, he’s unsightly.”

Slap! Slap!

Even after being slapped a couple of times as if it were routine, the hunchbacked young man’s expression didn’t change. It was a more humiliating assault because it wasn’t done with much force.

“It seems the Deputy Chief was bored.”

Go Bok-san, who seemed frustrated, got up from his seat and wandered around the conference hall.

“Oh, indeed.”

Go Bok-san touched the wall of the conference hall.

In an instant, greed flashed in his eyes.

“Amazing? This wall isn’t just a stone wall. It’s made by processing dark demon stone.”

Cheol-wi, the sub-chief of the Ghost Hand Fortress, asked in his unique metallic voice.

“What’s dark demon stone?”

“It’s a rare mineral. I don’t know where it comes from, but it’s a rare item that’s harder than most iron and can’t be processed by ordinary methods. It’s incredibly heavy, but it absorbs vibrations and allows air to flow well, so it’s used by really rich people when they make secret rooms.”

Go Bok-san pounded the wall with his fist.

He clicked his tongue.

“It’s incredibly thick. I don’t think there’s any organization that has processed dark demon stone this thickly to make a conference hall. They say the Black Dragon Deputy Chief’s financial power is the best in the world, and it’s indeed amazing.”

Lee Ja-gon chuckled.

“Isn’t that all money that came from our pockets?”

“It must be nice to be rich.”

“By the way, how do you know about dark demon stone?”

“You can’t be a pirate if you can’t recognize rare items.”

“Oh my! It’s only natural that you have such great insight?”

They chatted, chuckling.

“You all have good personalities.”

A neat yet chilling voice.

The owner of the voice was Hwa-ryeon.

“Are you pretending not to know even though you do? Or do you really not know? This isn’t the time to be laughing and chatting, is it?”

Go Bok-san frowned.

“What are you talking about?”

“Why do you think the Deputy Chief called these people?”

Hwa-ryeon pointed to the people who were not sitting at the round table.

Go Bok-san shrugged.

“I don’t know either.”

“Then shall we talk about something else?”

Hwa-ryeon looked at Jo Pil-hak.

“I heard a rumor that the Green Forest Chief has passed away.”

In an instant, silence fell in the conference hall.

Tsutsutsutsu.

The murderous intent that had been fluctuating from Jo Pil-hak’s body finally turned into a killing aura.

Hwa-ryeon was not fazed by his killing intent.

“And I haven’t met my father yet. Since entering the Black Dragon Stronghold, I haven’t been able to step out of my room.”

There were successors who came with their leaders during the sub-chief’s inauguration ceremony, but there were also successors who couldn’t participate due to unavoidable circumstances. Hwa-ryeon was the latter.

Lee Ja-gon spoke in a voice full of annoyance.

“It seems there’s something that needs to be done in secret. When everyone does something in secret, they usually gather their subordinate leaders, don’t they?”

“The important thing is that the Green Forest Chief has passed away.”

Jo Pil-hak growled.

“If you bring up any more useless talk, I’ll cut off your limbs and throw you into the pigsty, you wench.”

Hwa-ryeon shook her head.

“I’m not trying to insult the sub-chief. It’s just that this situation feels strange.”

Seok-deung asked cautiously.

“What’s so strange, Yeon Mae?”

“Don’t call me Yeon Mae.”

“Haha, you’re so prickly. Anyway, what’s so strange?”

“Since the leaders and successors came to the Black Dragon Stronghold, we haven’t seen each other once. And decisively, the atmosphere isn’t good.”

“Atmosphere?”

“From the entrance of the Black Dragon Stronghold to my room, the atmosphere around me was unusual.”

“It was noisy and good. It seems the Black Dragon Stronghold is going to change a lot. Because of that sub-chief.”

Hwa-ryeon looked at Seok-deung and asked.

“You came with your clan leader during the sub-chief’s inauguration ceremony, right?”

“I did.”

“How much time has passed since the Gwangdo Clan leader went to the main hall with the other adults?”

“About five days?”

“Have you seen your clan leader in those five days?”

Seok-deung’s face hardened.

Only then did he realize that the situation was unusual.

“No, I haven’t.”

“Then didn’t you find that strange?”

Surprisingly, not only Seok-deung but everyone else hadn’t found it strange.

In the Black Dragon Stronghold and within their own organizations, it was common to call subordinate members and assign them tasks.

Moreover, if one side finished their work first, the members who had finished their work would often wait indefinitely until the other members finished their work.

Of course, their positions were not ordinary. However, from the perspective of the Black Dragon Stronghold, they were not much different from the organizations under their command.

Besides, the rooms assigned to them were incredibly large and spacious. Meals were provided on time, and there was even a space for training and a toilet in the room.

It was only frustrating that they couldn’t see the sun, but for those who had cultivated martial arts, it was a space and time where they could live without any difficulty. In fact, some of them were so eager to break through their stagnant martial arts that they spent all day practicing their inner energy.

“Isn’t it strange? The outside is so noisy, but we haven’t been able to leave our quarters. Such cases are common, but even so, five days is too long.”

“What are you trying to say?”

Ho Baek frowned.

“Are you saying that our fathers have been purged or something?”

Hwa-ryeon looked at Ho Baek without a word.

The silence was a confirmation. To be precise, it was a silent answer that such a possibility might exist.

Ho Baek chuckled.

“Don’t talk nonsense.”

“Can you be sure?”

“Of course.”

“How can you be sure?”

“Because I received a separate message from my father. Even just yesterday. And it’s not just me, right?”

Ho Baek looked around. The successors nodded in agreement.

Hwa-ryeon’s eyes turned cold.

“You received a message?”

“Why? Didn’t you receive one?”

“Did you receive that message in writing?”

“Haha, the Black Dragon Stronghold is a huge and maze-like place, but there’s no need to send a message in writing, is there? It’s not like we’re in different neighborhoods.”

“Then who did you receive that message from?”

“Who?”

Ho Baek unknowingly pointed behind him, at the hunchbacked young man.

“I heard it from this guy, and from others……”

In an instant, Ho Baek stopped talking.

Only then did everyone in the group, who had felt something was off, turn around. They too had received direct messages from those standing behind them.

Hwa-ryeon’s face darkened.

“Today… might be the last day of our lives.”

It was then.

Kugugugung!!

With a sound close to a roar, one part of the dark demon stone caved in and opened.

And from the opened door, Yeon Ho-jeong and Pae Yul entered.

The successors sitting at the round table awkwardly stood up.

They should have greeted him, but the word ‘sub-chief’ didn’t quite stick yet. Moreover, they were all flustered by the serious atmosphere that had heated up in an instant.

In particular, Jo Pil-hak’s eyes, as he looked at Yeon Ho-jeong, were filled with madness. He had come face to face with the enemy who had killed his father and younger brother in one place, so it was a relief that he hadn’t drawn his sword immediately.

“Well, well.”

Yeon Ho-jeong chuckled.

“Did you all get iron rods stuck in your waists? Have you never learned any etiquette?”

Only then did the successors bow their heads.

“We greet the sub-chief.”

“We pay our respects to the sub-chief.”

Yeon Ho-jeong nodded.

“It’s not like I’m begging for a bow, that’s enough.”

“……”

“By the way, why are you sitting in this place? I told the successors to sit down. You’re no longer successors, are you?”

“……Yes?”

Yeon Ho-jeong’s smile turned cold.

“What kind of successors are you when you’re about to die? You’re just candidates for corpses.”