Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1442

“Ughhh…”

Wiggins slumped, looking utterly exhausted. Seeing this, Kang Jin-ho wore an uncharacteristically concerned expression.

“Are you alright?”

Wiggins’ head slowly tilted towards Kang Jin-ho.

If you added some eerie background music, it would be a scene straight out of a horror movie.

“Did you just ask if I’m alright?”

“The shame… the shame…” Wiggins covered his face with both hands.

Having had to recite the lines of a teenage girl in love all night, with full emotion, it was stranger that his mental state was still intact.

“In all my life…”

Kang Jin-ho subtly turned his head. He felt like he had abused an old man. He hadn’t physically harmed him, but Wiggins would probably scream that he’d rather be physically abused, so it didn’t really matter.

“You’ve worked hard.”

Wiggins’ eyes rolled back as he stared at Kang Jin-ho. Seeing those glazed eyes, Kang Jin-ho slightly lowered his gaze.

It was the first time Wiggins had ever looked at him like that. Feeling guilty, Kang Jin-ho couldn’t say much.

“I hope you pass the audition.”

“Otherwise, everything I did for the company’s sales! Will all be for nothing.”

With each word, the sound of teeth grinding was like a musical accompaniment.

Kang Jin-ho awkwardly coughed.

“It’s not like I did anything wrong…”

“Huh?”

“…Never mind.”

Watching Wiggins grind his teeth, he couldn’t help but think he should be careful for a while.

Wiggins, looking very displeased, shook his head to change the atmosphere.

“More importantly…”

Wiggins’ eyes became serious again.

“What are you planning to do, Lord?”

“About what?”

“Are you going to accept their offer?”

“Hmm.”

Kang Jin-ho leaned back on the sofa.

“There’s no reason not to, is there?”

“They are the United States. Great powers have their reasons. They will surely try to use us. They may act like they’d give us their liver now, but if our usefulness declines, they will immediately cut us off or change their stance.”

“They probably will.”

“So…”

“But you know.”

“Yes?”

His voice had a slightly higher tone. Wiggins looked at Kang Jin-ho with a puzzled expression.

“Isn’t that the same for everyone?”

Kang Jin-ho took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth. After lighting it, Kang Jin-ho chuckled.

“That’s what a deal is in the first place. It’s not like we have some great loyalty that makes us do business with them. If the Round Table doesn’t meet our needs, we’ll reconsider our deal with them.”

“Ugh…”

“Or are you going to keep taking losses to maintain loyalty?”

“That’s not it. You’re right, Lord. However, the reason I’m wary of them is that they intend to use us from the start.”

“That’s the same thing, isn’t it? We’re using them too.”

“Lord.”

Wiggins looked displeased.

“They are the United States. They are the best in the world at extracting benefits. If we move with the same intentions as them, we will inevitably be the ones who lose out.”

At Wiggins’ words, Kang Jin-ho shrugged.

“I don’t care about minor losses.”

“Hmm.”

“Wiggins, the world isn’t that easy. You can’t always live only for profit. If you only think about profit, the things you can do will be endlessly reduced.”

“Sometimes, you have to move forward even if it means taking a loss. That’s all.”

Wiggins quietly nodded.

He confirmed that Kang Jin-ho had his own thoughts. For now, that was enough.

“Lord, may I ask you one thing?”

“Of course.”

“If you were to train them, how far do you think their level would rise?”

Kang Jin-ho slightly narrowed his brows.

It wasn’t because he was upset, but because he was deep in thought.

“In about half a year, they should be useful, wouldn’t you say?”

“Then they will become stronger over time.”

Kang Jin-ho shook his head.

“It’s impossible. They lack the basics. No matter how much they train, they’ll only reach the level of a Demonic Cultist at best. The problem is that while the Demonic Cultists will become stronger in the next generation, they have already set their limits.”

“Oh…”

This was something Wiggins had also been thinking about.

‘If my thoughts align with the Lord’s, there’s no need to worry further.’

Although he hadn’t voiced it in front of Kang Jin-ho, the reason Wiggins was wary of the United States wasn’t just for the present.

The manpower and capital of the United States were enormous. They may have been misguided now, but if Kang Jin-ho were to guide them, there was a concern that they might become a powerful enemy of the Assembly in the distant future.

“Lord, I…”

“I don’t live looking that far into the future. What’s important is whether it’s helpful right now.”

“That’s true.”

“And one more thing.”

“Yes?”

“What we need right now isn’t those nobodies. What we’ll really gain from this deal is information.”

Wiggins’ eyes slightly wavered.

‘Ah…’

That was something even Wiggins hadn’t thought of.

“Information.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

“Didn’t you feel it while dealing with the Chinese and Korean governments this time? They’re looking at us like we’re in the palm of their hand. But we can’t see anything. That’s unfair.”

In game terms, it was like China was playing with a map hack. While the alliance with the Chinese government had blocked surveillance for now…

‘You never know.’

The moment the alliance was broken, surveillance would surely resume. No, even before that, there was no way to confirm if they had really stopped monitoring Kang Jin-ho and the others.

“There’s a limit to extracting information using Blood Demons. The moment it’s confirmed that Blood Demons have crossed over here, they will also be wary of them.”

“That’s certainly true.”

“The alliance we made with the Chinese government will probably fall apart soon.”

“It’s just an alliance for show.”

“And the United States knows that we’ve allied with them, and they’ve already figured out that the alliance is just for show. When you think about it, it’s ridiculous.”

He said it so calmly that they hadn’t thought deeply about it.

The United States was also watching the movements of the Assembly and China at a glance.

“Certainly, the Assembly’s intelligence capabilities are pitifully lacking.”

This was inevitable.

The Assembly basically hadn’t turned its eyes overseas. Those who couldn’t even sort out their internal affairs had no capacity to look abroad.

While Lee Hyun-soo and Wiggins had been expanding their intelligence capabilities towards China since getting involved with them, it was still just the beginning.

Therefore, the Assembly supplemented its information from two sources.

One was the Round Table, and the other was the National Intelligence Service [NIS].

The problem was that both of these places were not in good shape right now.

The Round Table was suffering from growing pains as the Master overturned the system. They were focusing on that situation, reducing their overseas dispatches and concentrating internally. Naturally, their intelligence capabilities had to plummet.

In the first place, the Round Table’s intelligence capabilities were spread widely across the world, but they weren’t enough to fully grasp China. They had reduced even that intelligence, so they weren’t of much help now.

The National Intelligence Service was the same.

With the arrest of the Director of the National Intelligence Service, the NIS had completely collapsed. With the Director’s arrest being publicly known, system reorganization and audits were essential.

Thanks to that, the NIS was now like a battlefield.

Moreover, since the relationship between the Assembly and the NIS was so strained, it wasn’t easy to request information from them.

In other words, the Assembly was now as good as blind.

“There are only two places where proper information is coming from right now.”

“One is China, and the other is the United States.”

“That’s right.”

“Hmm.”

Wiggins stroked his chin.

‘That’s reasonable.’

Considering the information aspect, an alliance with the United States could be an invaluable gain.

Regardless of the era, who wouldn’t know how important information is in war? Moreover, the Assembly had already suffered greatly from the information gap with China.

If they didn’t learn even after experiencing it firsthand, defeat was inevitable.

“I understand, Lord. I didn’t think that far. Please forgive me for not anticipating your insight.”

“You must have been overwhelmed, it’s understandable.”

Kang Jin-ho could look at the United States objectively as just another country, but Wiggins couldn’t see it that way. He knew the United States too well.

“Then do you think they will accept those conditions?”

“They will. They have nothing to lose. They wouldn’t have a reason to accept if we asked for American information, but they have no reason not to give us information about China, which they consider an enemy. If we wage a war of attrition with China based on that information, they couldn’t ask for more.”

“You mean they’ll aim for ‘divide and conquer’?”

“That’s the kind of relationship it is.”

At Kang Jin-ho’s words, Wiggins nodded.

“You’re saying it’s beneficial even if we move as they want.”

“If you worry about that, you won’t be able to do anything. And it doesn’t really matter anyway. They’re not a problem at all right now.”

“If the United States has any sense, they’ll try to stop us from going to war with China right now.”

“They probably will.”

“Hmm.”

Wiggins tapped his cheek.

The situation was roughly sorted out, but something felt unclear. So many things were intricately intertwined.

As if understanding Wiggins’ feelings, Kang Jin-ho chuckled.

“Think simply.”

“Yes?”

“Relationships and deals, those are just secondary issues. What’s important is who’s stronger in the end.”

“Do you think they can hold me back?”

The moment Wiggins saw Kang Jin-ho’s face with his lips curled up, he felt his heart calm down.

‘That’s right.’

Kang Jin-ho and Wiggins lived in different worlds.

Wiggins’ world was a place where countless interests were intertwined, but Kang Jin-ho’s world was simply a world of the survival of the fittest.

The strong trampled the weak, and the weak were robbed.

And…

At least in that world, Kang Jin-ho was the strong one. More so than the United States.

“It would be good to proceed with the alliance.”

Wiggins smiled brightly.

“In the Lord’s way.”

Kang Jin-ho quietly nodded and slowly exhaled cigarette smoke.

The trip to the United States was now roughly coming to an end.

Although things had become bigger than expected, it was a trip that had its own rewards.

‘Now all that’s left is to wrap things up.’

He didn’t know how they would react yet…

‘If they have any sense, they won’t back down now.’

“Then now…”

“Ah, their contact…”

“All that’s left is to pass the audition.”

Kang Jin-ho’s gaze turned to Wiggins.

Seeing Wiggins’ face starting to heat up again, Kang Jin-ho let out a deep sigh.

‘This is going to take a while.’

Wiggins was surprisingly one to hold a grudge.