Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1432

Kang Jin-ho frowned as he looked at the endless desert stretching below.

The desert viewed from a light aircraft was quite a sight.

However, staring at the endless horizon soon brought a wave of boredom.

“We still have a bit further to go.”

Willie Reese gave a wry smile, as if understanding Kang Jin-ho’s feelings.

“Since it’s in such a remote location, it takes some time to get there. There’s nothing we can do about that.”

Lee Hyun-soo opened his mouth, sounding intrigued.

“Is the facility in the middle of the desert?”

“That’s correct.”

“Then, is it perhaps Area 51?”

“Ah, no, it’s not. We did use that area as a training ground for a while, but it’s being used for other purposes now.”

“Hmm, so you did use it for a while.”

Kang Jin-ho tilted his head.

“Area 51?”

Lee Hyun-soo immediately answered Kang Jin-ho’s question.

“It’s a secret U.S. military base located in the middle of Nevada. It’s in the middle of the desert and access is completely restricted, so all sorts of rumors have come out. The most famous theory is that it’s where the U.S. conducts experiments on aliens…”

“So, it was just used by the Murim [martial arts world]?”

“That’s a letdown.”

“I know, right?”

Willie Reese smiled contentedly as he listened to their conversation.

‘They’re more fascinating than aliens.’

From the perspective of ordinary people, Kang Jin-ho and the others were just as bizarre as aliens. And yet, they were showing such disappointment.

“As I mentioned, we only used it for a while before moving to another location. We don’t know what’s happening there now.”

“Hmm, so there’s still a possibility left…”

Lee Hyun-soo sighed in relief.

“Are you interested in aliens?”

“Well, that’s…”

Lee Hyun-soo shrugged.

“As you know, when you live as a Murim, you generally don’t get interested in occult things like ghosts or spirits, right?”

“Well, yeah, I guess so.”

“So, the only hope is aliens. Since the outside of Earth is beyond the reach of the Murim, there might still be something amazing left.”

Willie Reese shook his head as if he couldn’t help it.

Meanwhile, Lee Hyun-soo looked at Kang Jin-ho, who was deep in thought, and asked.

“What are you thinking about so intently, Chairman?”

“Are aliens strong?”

Lee Hyun-soo pondered for a moment before speaking.

“Well, if they came all the way from another place to Earth, their science must be incredibly advanced, so I don’t think they’d be very strong in terms of martial arts? And if they’re being captured and experimented on by the U.S., they definitely wouldn’t be strong.”

“Then, that’s fine.”

“…Okay.”

Willie Reese sighed in relief as he saw Kang Jin-ho quickly lose interest in Area 51. He would be the most troubled if Kang Jin-ho demanded to enter a restricted area.

Willie Reese’s gaze shifted to the old man sitting next to him.

‘Knight Wiggins.’

Frankly speaking, from his perspective, Wiggins was a more difficult presence than Kang Jin-ho.

To Willie Reese, Kang Jin-ho felt like a king from a distant land, while Wiggins felt like a high-ranking noble from a neighboring country. In terms of power and strength, Kang Jin-ho was obviously stronger, but Wiggins had the knowledge to see through his mistakes.

That’s why he felt nervous in front of Wiggins.

Wiggins’s gaze turned to Willie. He must have sensed Willie’s gaze.

Wiggins smiled at Willie.

“Have we met before?”

“…I don’t know if you remember, but I accompanied you to a few meetings in the past. Back then, I was just a nobody who couldn’t even sit at the table.”

In other words, Wiggins was already a Knight when he was just a nobody.

‘Such a big shot…’

It was information he knew in his head, but seeing Wiggins assisting Kang Jin-ho made him realize how amazing Kang Jin-ho was.

“I apologize for not remembering. I meet so many people.”

“I understand completely, Knight.”

“I am no longer a Knight.”

“Ah, I apologize. Mr. Wiggins.”

Wiggins smiled.

“I didn’t expect to meet like this, but I look forward to it. However, I would appreciate it if you could follow the proper procedures next time. Usually, we don’t go straight into negotiations with the Chairman like this.”

It was a pointed remark.

Willie coughed slightly to express his embarrassment.

In fact, as Wiggins said, if he had intended to proceed with formal negotiations, he should have contacted the General Assembly instead of directly contacting Kang Jin-ho.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright. Just do it next time.”

Wiggins smiled.

But that smile did nothing to ease Willie’s mind. Willie, feeling stung by the sharpness hidden in that smile, couldn’t bring himself to look at Wiggins and turned his head away.

‘It’s just one more person, but I feel so much pressure.’

One of the things that surprised Willie the most was that Knight Wiggins was only an executive director of the General Assembly. There were three other directors besides Wiggins in the General Assembly.

‘Three people at Wiggins’s level…’

Of course, not all of them could be considered at Wiggins’s level. But the fact that there were three more people in positions equal to Wiggins proved how powerful the General Assembly was.

Knight Wiggins was a distinguished figure even among the other Knights of the Round Table.

“We’re approaching the runway!”

As the pilot shouted, Willie put his thoughts aside and spoke.

“Belts… it wouldn’t matter anyway. We’ll be there soon.”

Wiggins shrugged.

The plane, slowing down, descended onto the desert. Since it was literally a desert, a roughly flattened piece of land served as the runway.

The plane successfully landed, and the door opened.

Lee Hyun-soo narrowed his eyes and looked outside.

‘Where exactly is this?’

He had lost his sense of direction after flying in the plane. All he could see outside was the desert, so it was difficult to guess the direction by looking around. Judging by the distance, it must be part of the Nevada desert…

‘It probably won’t be on any map, right?’

If there was anything he was curious about, he could just check it with his own eyes.

Lee Hyun-soo got out of the plane and looked around. An endless desert. Unlike what he had imagined, there weren’t even any cacti. All he could see was just land and gravel.

‘It’s desolate.’

And on one side, he saw a long stretch of barbed wire.

“This way, please.”

Willie Reese led the way.

Following him, they came to an entrance blocked by a barricade. The guards, recognizing Willie Reese, saluted and quickly removed the barricade.

Lee Hyun-soo narrowed his eyes as he looked at them.

‘Guns…’

The guns the guards were carrying caught his eye. Lee Hyun-soo didn’t have much of a problem with people carrying guns in the past, but after being traumatized by soldiers in China, he flinched at the sight of anything resembling a gun.

Lee Hyun-soo, with a displeased look on his face, glanced at the soldiers before moving inside.

Passing through the entrance, he saw a desolate field along with a few small buildings.

‘Is this it?’

Lee Hyun-soo’s brow furrowed.

He had expected a certain scale since they were going to show off their power, but it didn’t look like it could even hold a hundred people.

‘It doesn’t seem like they’ve gathered only elites…’

“Oh.”

At that moment, Wiggins spoke first.

“Is it underground?”

“That’s correct.”

Lee Hyun-soo exclaimed, “Ah!”

“Come to think of it, the Round Table was like that too.”

“That’s right. It’s inevitable that it would have such a structure. As the number of Murim increases, the scale will inevitably grow, and as the scale grows, it will become noticeable. If you want to increase the scale while avoiding people’s attention, you eventually have to dig underground.”

Wiggins quietly lowered his gaze and looked down.

“Hmm, indeed.”

Seeing Wiggins nodding as if he understood something, Lee Hyun-soo complained.

“Don’t act like you’re the only one who knows, can’t you let us know too?”

“It’s not difficult. As we go along, let’s train in mana detection. I’ll teach you thoroughly.”

“Ah, no, there’s no need for that…”

“Don’t worry. A week is enough.”

It was clear that the words ‘if we grind you down’ were omitted after that.

Lee Hyun-soo, who had foolishly poked at him and ended up worse off, looked at Kang Jin-ho with a pitiful face, but Kang Jin-ho paid no attention to Lee Hyun-soo.

“Can we go that way?”

“Yes, Chairman.”

The group arrived at the building in front and opened a small iron door to enter. The inside of the building was desolate.

“There’s nothing here?”

“This way.”

Willie Reese approached the wall of the building and stood there. Then, he knocked on the wall a few times.

Then, the spot he knocked on clicked open, and a small safe-like object popped out. Willie Reese pressed the password, opened the safe, and placed his palm on the sensor inside.

Click.

With the sound of something unlocking, the wall rose up, revealing a large elevator.

‘Wow, this is amazing.’

Lee Hyun-soo’s eyes sparkled.

He had passed through a secret door when he infiltrated the Round Table before, but that time, he had opened a magical lock, so it wasn’t as impressive.

But the sight before his eyes now was…

‘It’s like a spy movie?’

It felt like he had become a character in a movie, and his heart was pounding.

Whoosh.

The elevator opened automatically.

Contrary to expectations, the elevator looked a bit old rather than state-of-the-art. But Lee Hyun-soo, thinking that was quite cool too, quickly got on the elevator.

“I should have brought a pistol or something.”

“Can you even shoot a gun, Director Lee?”

“Haha, you forgot that all South Korean men receive basic military training. Of course!”

“A pistol?”

“…I’ve never held one before.”

Should I have said a rifle?

As the remaining people all got on the elevator, the door closed.

Clunk.

Then, it slowly began to descend.

“It seems like it’s deeper than I thought.”

Willie Reese nodded.

“The facility itself wasn’t originally for the Murim. The reason this place was first built was for nuclear testing.”

“You’re conducting nuclear tests in your own country?”

“It’s common. Especially Nevada, which has been a U.S. nuclear test site since the past. More nuclear bombs have been detonated here than in all other countries combined. Now that the era of nuclear testing is over, they’ve converted the pre-dug nuclear test sites into training grounds. Of course, we’ve expanded the scale a bit.”

After descending for a long time, the elevator stopped.

“Welcome to Sector H27, everyone.”

Willie Reese extended his hand forward. At the same time, the elevator opened, and the interior came into view.

“…Wow!”

Lee Hyun-soo exclaimed without realizing it. A vast space, so large that it was impossible to believe it was underground, unfolded before his eyes.