Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 875

“Deployment complete!”\n\n”Advance team ready!”\n\nAs reports poured in from all directions, Lee Hyun-soo scanned them with a hawk-like gaze.\n\n”Cooperation is complete. However, controlling merchant ships around the surrounding sea is proving difficult. We’ll try our best to stop them, but there’s no legal authority to enforce it…”\n\n”That’s unavoidable. Move on!”\n\n”Yes!”\n\nLee Hyun-soo quickly scanned the screen.\n\n‘The world has changed.’\n\nWhen an order is given, the progress is immediately reported on the screen. He was keenly aware that the system had been overhauled and a reporting structure had been established.\n\n‘This is why a new department was needed.’\n\nIt wasn’t about gaining power. As the organization grew and the number of departments increased, there was a need for a central place to manage and control everything. That’s why the Operations Management Office was created.\n\nAnd now, its effectiveness was being demonstrated.\n\n”Moving the advance team by vehicle. Estimated time is two hours.”\n\n”We can complete the ship deployment within two hours.”\n\n”Good.”\n\nLee Hyun-soo nodded.\n\nHe still wasn’t entirely comfortable with the current situation. If possible, Lee Hyun-soo wanted to keep Kang Jin-ho hidden as much as possible.\n\nAlthough he didn’t think it would happen, if by some chance Kang Jin-ho were to die, not only would the General Assembly collapse, but the entire Korean martial arts world would crumble.\n\nThe current Korean martial arts world is like a structure where the entire thing is supported by the massive pillar that is Kang Jin-ho.\n\nWas that too much to think?\n\n‘Not at all.’\n\nYou could see it just by looking at the conference room.\n\nBator, Wiggins, Bang Jin-hoon, Jang Min, and Lee Hyun-soo.\n\nThese were people who would never have been connected under normal circumstances. Maybe Lee Hyun-soo and Wiggins could have interacted without Kang Jin-ho. But the others? Absolutely impossible.\n\nAll the key figures of the General Assembly are not connected to each other without Kang Jin-ho as a mediator. If Kang Jin-ho were to disappear, Bator and Wiggins would leave the General Assembly, and Jang Min, unable to return to China, would try to maintain the Demonic Cult [a martial arts sect] independently within Korea.\n\nThen, the General Assembly, which had been enduring discomfort thanks to Kang Jin-ho’s charisma, would explode. It wouldn’t be strange if a full-scale war with the Demonic Cult broke out.\n\nThen?\n\n‘Annihilation.’\n\nIt was not an exaggeration. This was the best-case scenario. If their emotions clashed in the middle, it would be hell on earth.\n\n‘I don’t even want to imagine it.’\n\nAnd the moment Kang Jin-ho disappeared, the Hongwang Clan [a powerful martial arts clan] would foam at the mouth and rush into Korea.\n\nAnnihilation either way.\n\nIf they were in a situation where they were bowing down to China and Japan like in the past, they might have been able to find a way out, but with their relationship at its worst, there was no room for negotiation.\n\nConsidering all of that, Kang Jin-ho must never be put in danger. It wasn’t a joke; he really wanted to lock him up in the Lord’s room if he could.\n\n‘But there’s no other way.’\n\nBator was right.\n\nKang Jin-ho is the most important person in the Assembly and also its most important asset. Not using such an asset would be a mistake.\n\nIn the end, what Lee Hyun-soo had to do was clear.\n\n‘Support.’\n\nNothing had changed. Lee Hyun-soo just had to support Kang Jin-ho with all his might.\n\nHowever, this time, instead of creating an opportunity for Kang Jin-ho to run wild, he had to focus on securing Kang Jin-ho’s retreat.\n\n”What about tracking?”\n\n”We’re still tracking them. They’re in international waters now. The coordinates are…”\n\n”Forget the coordinates! Show me an image!”\n\n”Yes!”\n\nLee Hyun-soo pondered as he looked at the map.\n\n‘Alright, what should I do now?’\n\nBlocking ships from docking is easy. The Coast Guard and the port authorities are all on their side. But that’s not a solution.\n\nAs they had proven when they escaped from China, martial artists don’t need to dock to get on and off a ship. They can just be thrown into the sea at a suitable location and swim to the shore.\n\nThe scary thing is that the routes these people take to enter Korea are not fixed. They could just spread out along the coast, dropping off a hundred people in Busan, a hundred in Pohang, and a hundred in Uljin, making it ten times harder to deal with.\n\n‘So, I need to deal with them before they get close…’\n\nBased on past experience, they could attempt a raid without losses if they approached within 10km of the coast. But the Japanese martial artists are not as weak as the Maims. They had to consider at least twice that distance.\n\nThat meant they had to deal with them before they got within 20km.\n\nSo, should they block them from coming within 20km?\n\n‘Impossible.’\n\nThen they might just turn the ship around. That would be even more troublesome. They had to end it this time.\n\n”So, we can’t attack them, huh.”\n\nLee Hyun-soo smiled bitterly.\n\nThey were coming to Korea on passenger ships. Even if they hadn’t properly reported their arrival, an attack was impossible. Martial artists are not soldiers. If they just started shooting at civilians, it would invite international condemnation and a furious backlash from Japan. And torpedoes?\n\nThat would be a declaration of war.\n\nThey absolutely could not allow a hellish situation like a full-scale war between Korea and Japan to happen.\n\nIt wasn’t a matter of winning or losing. The martial arts world is a hidden existence. They must not harm the people of the visible world. And they had no right to make such a decision on their own, a decision that would affect so many lives.\n\nSo, this was the best they could do.\n\n”Then, are all the other preparations complete?”\n\n”Yes. Everything is perfect.”\n\n”The last one?”\n\n”It’s coming! It’s coming now!”\n\nAt that moment, a deafening noise began to be heard from outside the window. Lee Hyun-soo curled up the corners of his mouth as he listened to the sound. If it was something they had to do anyway?\n\n”Let’s make it flashy.”\n\n”Ugh…”\n\n”Hmm.”\n\nNakata Yuji looked at the phone with a displeased expression. The phone in his hand was not his, of course. It was Nobuo’s.\n\n”See? It would have been better if you had just given it to me willingly. It would have been easier for both of us.”\n\nNakata Yuji flicked Nobuo’s finger in his hand. The finger fell in front of Nobuo.\n\nNobuo glared at the scene with a venomous look.\n\n”Scary.”\n\nStep, step.\n\nNakata Yuji approached Nobuo with steady steps. Then, he smiled lightly.\n\n”Do you know what’s scary?”\n\n”It’s scary what I’m about to do to you.”\n\nNakata Yuji smiled brightly.\n\n”I’m not a person who gets angry easily. Do you know why? The reason is very simple. Everything in the world is divided into profit and loss. But anger doesn’t create profit. An angry person can’t see the world properly. In the end, they lose. And I hate that kind of loss.”\n\nHis voice was soft.\n\nBut no one present would think that Nakata Yuji’s voice was soft. It felt like chills were dripping from it. From his voice, from his smiling face.\n\n”But sometimes I do get angry. That’s how people are. There are things you think are right, but you can’t always do them. I’m also a person, so sometimes I want to act on a whim without thinking about profit or anything. And it just so happens that now is one of those times, now.”\n\nNobuo chuckled.\n\nNo one could maintain their composure in front of Nakata Yuji right now. But Nobuo was able to laugh.\n\nBecause he had nothing to fear.\n\nHis body was already a wreck.\n\nA body that had been shattered by beatings and torture.\n\nNo, that wasn’t really important.\n\nWhat was important to Nobuo now was that no matter what he did, the situation wouldn’t change.\n\nEven if he cried and begged, Nakata Yuji wouldn’t spare him. So why should he show fear?\n\nThe fact that he was going to die horribly wouldn’t change.\n\n”Let me ask you one thing.”\n\n”Why did you do this?”\n\nNakata Yuji murmured quietly. His voice was so small that it was hard to tell if he was asking Nobuo or just thinking to himself.\n\n”No matter how much I think about it, I can’t understand. What benefit could this possibly give you? No matter how much I think about it, you have nothing to gain. Did they promise you a good position? Or give you a huge sum of money?”\n\nNakata Yuji shook his head.\n\n”That’s impossible. You’re not worth it. And they didn’t know we were coming. It doesn’t make sense to give something good to someone worthless to prepare for something they don’t know about. Right?”\n\nNobuo glared at Nakata Yuji without saying anything.\n\n”Right. That’s impossible, it’s impossible. Even if such an absurd thing actually happened, I can’t understand it. Because it’s impossible for them to accurately identify and attack you in the middle of a battle. If this ship were to sink, you would die. And… you would contact them while taking that risk?”\n\nNakata Yuji laughed as if he was dumbfounded.\n\n”I don’t understand. I can’t understand it at all. I’ve never thought of myself as stupid, but you made me think about it again. Could I be stupid? But I don’t think so. Then you’re stupid….”\n\nNakata Yuji reached out and grabbed Nobuo’s hair.\n\n”Now, tell me.”\n\nAs his hair was pulled out, beads of blood appeared.\n\n”Tell me. It’s not hard, is it? I’m not gagging you. Why did you do this? Why did you do this stupid, absurd thing? You had nothing to gain. If you had just followed orders and moved, you could have gained merit and lived comfortably for the rest of your life. Why did you do this stupid thing? Is it because of that pathetic patriotism? Huh?”\n\nNobuo’s body trembled.\n\n”Hehehehehe.”\n\nIt wasn’t fear.\n\nLaughter.\n\nAn uncontrollable laughter leaked from Nobuo’s mouth. He tried to hold it back, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t.\n\nNakata Yuji narrowed his eyes. Laughter in this situation?\n\nHe wasn’t bluffing. This guy was really laughing.\n\n”Why did I do it?”\n\nNobuo said with a smirk.\n\nHis cracked lips tore again, and blood dripped down.\n\n”I wish I knew the reason myself. You moron, how am I supposed to explain something I don’t even know? Ptooey!”\n\nNobuo spat.\n\nNakata Yuji didn’t bother to dodge the spit.\n\nNobuo’s blood-mixed phlegm dripped down his cheek.\n\n”Do whatever you want. I have nothing to say anyway.”\n\n”Hmm.”\n\nNakata Yuji tightened his grip on Nobuo’s head.