Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1427

The sound of someone swallowing dryly could be heard from somewhere.

‘Well-trained, I see.’

Lee Hyun-soo looked around. Armed soldiers were waiting outside. And those inside were probably considered some of the best in the U.S.

However, none of them showed any sign of displeasure at Kang Jin-ho’s words.

They must have been trained not to provoke Kang Jin-ho under any circumstances.

Lee Hyun-soo knew how difficult it was to control a Murim warrior [a martial artist from a specific genre of Korean fantasy]. Murim warriors were inherently arrogant and full of fighting spirit. No matter how hard you tried to suppress them, they wouldn’t be suppressed.

‘More like soldiers than Murim warriors… That’s more like it.’

Their reactions were definitely those of soldiers.

Lee Hyun-soo quietly opened his mouth.

Normally, he would have kept his mouth shut when Kang Jin-ho was angry, but not now. He was there to mediate this situation.

“Isn’t asking us to break our existing alliance and side with you the same as telling us to make enemies of them?”

Lee Hyun-soo said in a cold voice.

“Considering the relationship between the U.S. and China, it’s obvious how they’ll react. And if we accept your troops, you’re basically asking us to act as a bulwark against China… Are you looking down on us? How dare you say such things to our faces?”

Lee Hyun-soo rebuked in a low voice.

“That rationality of yours seems to only apply to your side. And you want us to be friends with such people… That’s quite a relationship you’re proposing.”

Willie Reese waved his hand.

“There seems to be some misunderstanding. I didn’t mean it that way.”

“Lee Hyun-soo.”

“Yes, Guild Master.”

“Let’s go.”

“Yes.”

Lee Hyun-soo nodded and looked at Willie Reese.

“Whatever your intention was, once you’ve said those words, there’s no going back. So, please leave for today. And bring your superiors who can take responsibility. Or, do you even need to?”

Lee Hyun-soo chuckled and said.

“You’ve probably heard everything already, so you’ll decide.”

“What do you mean…”

“Not consciously focusing your gaze on one spot isn’t a good way to handle things either. We’re more sensitive to such things than you think. I didn’t stop you because there was nothing to hide, but…”

Lee Hyun-soo shook his finger.

“If you bring a bug next time, you’d better be prepared for the part where it’s attached to be cut off.”

“Then, goodbye.”

Lee Hyun-soo waved his hand cheerfully and went outside.

Thud.

As the door closed, Willie let out a deep sigh.

“Colonel.”

“Ah, yes.”

Willie waved his hand as his aide approached.

“It’s okay.

This much is…”

His brow furrowed slightly.

‘This is just a probe for now.’

There are two ways to understand a person.

One is to take a long time and get to know them slowly, and the other is to throw an incident at them.

The more extreme the reaction, the better the effect.

“It’s a relief that they only mentioned the bug. I thought they would find the cameras too.”

“Did they notice?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

The data had already been transmitted.

And at this very moment, an analysis of Kang Jin-ho and Lee Hyun-soo would already be underway. What emotions they had about Willie’s words, what type they were, and how to deal with them.

Experts in each field would analyze them in detail.

“I thought my heart was going to stop.”

“You think you’re the only one.”

Willie leaned back in his chair and let out a deep sigh.

‘I thought I was going to die.’

Sitting face-to-face with Kang Jin-ho was a terrifying experience even for Willie, who was a veteran in this field.

Kang Jin-ho, as analyzed from existing information, was chaos itself.

His principles of action were incomprehensible, and his points of anger were impossible to grasp. The only thing the experts could say was that once he was angry, he would attack without looking back.

In other words, he had to talk to someone who could get angry at any moment, and if he made him angry, his head could fly off at any moment.

It was more strange not to be nervous.

“What about John Factor?”

“What do you mean? Send him back to base.” Willie smirked.

“He must have had a hard time being dragged out. I should buy him a donut. The pig will like it.”

“He was quite good at acting.”

“He’s been doing that for decades, of course he should be good. It would have been better if it had worked.”

Willie shrugged.

“We’ve figured out that they’re not the type to be coerced, so that’s enough. It’s a shame. If he had come a little later, he would have become a pensioner.”

“Him, or his wife?”

“Of course, his wife. I don’t do things for others. What a pity.”

At that moment.

Bang!

The door burst open, and Lee Hyun-soo stepped inside. He looked at Willie with a serious expression.

Willie’s face hardened as he met Lee Hyun-soo’s gaze.

‘Did he hear everything? No, if so, there would have been a report…’

“You there.”

Lee Hyun-soo pointed at Willie with a subtle expression.

“Lend me a car.”

“And a navigation system if possible. I came here in that guy’s car. I don’t know where this is.”

Willie thought that dealing with these guys might be more difficult than he thought.

“You made contact?”

Wiggins jumped up from his seat.

Wiggins, with his eyes wide open, grabbed Lee Hyun-soo’s shoulders and shook him.

“No, I thought you were just going to see them off! What did you do in the meantime!”

“C-calm down! Nothing happened!”

“Nothing happened? That can’t be right? Their methods wouldn’t have pleased the Lord.”

“There was a crazy guy in the middle, but they were quite polite?”

“Crazy guy?”

Wiggins said, as if frustrated.

“Explain properly, properly!”

“Ah, no, what happened was…”

Lee Hyun-soo began to explain what he had experienced. After hearing the whole explanation, Wiggins sighed and went back to sit on the sofa.

“They were playing a game.”

“…There were some signs of that.”

“If we had given in, the second guy wouldn’t have appeared.”

“I knew it?”

Wiggins smiled bitterly.

“There’s a chance that such a situation could have actually happened, but it’s better to think of it as their trick. It’s better than being backstabbed.”

Wiggins shook his head.

“It’s a method the U.S. often uses. In fact, the U.S. is one of the most helpless countries when it comes to diplomacy. They act like very gentle gentlemen, then suddenly turn into madmen and spout nonsense, and then go back to acting like gentlemen.”

“…They seem to have divided roles.”

“Probably.”

“Those bastards…”

Lee Hyun-soo gritted his teeth, and Wiggins chuckled.

“There’s no need to be upset. Anyway, I’ll give you credit for making it possible to continue the conversation without anyone dying.”

“It wasn’t me. It’s just that the Guild Master wasn’t as angry. If it had gone a little further, there would have been wailing.”

“Hmm.”

Wiggins seemed more interested in something else.

“More importantly, they want to station U.S. troops here?”

“Yes. That’s what they said.”

“It’s not different from what they were asking the Round Table.”

Wiggins stroked his chin.

‘The target is different, but the pattern doesn’t change.’

In the end, what the U.S. wanted was to strengthen its influence around the world. To expand the reach of their financial power, their military power, and their authority. That was the U.S.’s goal and principle of action.

However, it was also true that they were several times more cautious than when negotiating with the Round Table.

Wiggins realized the completely changed status of the Assembly in this regard. Of course, it was a result of the geopolitical location and various other conditions, but all those conditions would not have been considered in the first place if the Assembly had not had power.

“Hmm.”

Wiggins nodded.

“I think it’s not a bad idea.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Lee Hyun-soo organized his thoughts and opened his mouth.

“The way we parted wasn’t great, but the proposal itself seems acceptable. After all, the Assembly is also seeing the existence of the Three Kings as a big burden, right?”

“Just say it plainly.”

“We’re scared to death of the Three Kings.”

“…You went too far.”

He doesn’t know the limits, the limits.

Lee Hyun-soo coughed and continued.

“Right now, they’re just fighting among themselves, so they can’t turn their attention to us, but if they change their minds and decide to take care of Korea first, we’ll be the only ones to get crushed.”

“That’s unlikely to happen.”

“But it’s not impossible. We have to prepare for all situations, right? That’s why we formed an alliance with the Round Table.”

Yu O. Hugh

..

Wiggins groaned.

“China’s influence in the unmanned world may surpass the influence the U.S. has in the outside world. No, putting aside influence, their power might actually be stronger than the U.S. If the Three Kings unite, we can’t guarantee victory even if all the Murim warriors in the world attack them, right?”

“Now that I hear it, that’s true.”

“Then we need to increase our allies. So that we can fight back even if such a thing happens.”

Wiggins looked at Lee Hyun-soo with a listless gaze.

“I understand your thoughts, but the problem is that your thoughts don’t really matter in such a big matter.”

“What was the Lord’s reaction?”

“Well…”

Lee Hyun-soo scratched his head.

“If he didn’t like it, he would have killed them all, and if he did like it, he would have continued the conversation, but he just stormed out, so I don’t really know what to say…”

“It seems ambiguous.”

Wiggins glanced upwards. Kang Jin-ho was probably resting upstairs.

‘He couldn’t have made a decision on such a matter on the spot.’

Their authority was also ambiguous.

“What should we do? Should I try to persuade him…”

“Don’t do anything.”

“…Yes?”

“You don’t know the U.S. well enough. They’ll do anything to get what they want.”

“Then isn’t that dangerous?”

“Dangerous?”

Wiggins chuckled softly. Then he said, as if dumbfounded.

“What they need to do is to make a good impression on the Lord and reach a good agreement. Threatening us is out of the question.”

“Ah…”

Lee Hyun-soo nodded as if he understood.

“Interesting things will probably happen from tomorrow.”

Having said that, Wiggins turned his head and looked out the window.

‘However, that’s only if the Lord agrees.’

The U.S. was still an unknown country to Wiggins. No one knew exactly how much power they had in the unmanned world.

‘Maybe I’ll find out on this trip. It shouldn’t be a bad thing.’

Wiggins sighed and turned to look at Lee Hyun-soo.

“So, is the Lord going to have another meeting tomorrow?”

“No. He said he’s going on a date.”

“…Huh? What?”

“Disneyland, or Universal, or whatever. He said he’s going to go around.”

A date rather than the fate of East Asia…

‘Is this okay?’

Wiggins couldn’t shake off his unease.