Descent Of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1531

“It took a bit longer than I expected.”

Reynolds spoke as soon as he sat down at the cafe on the first floor of the hotel, even before ordering.

‘What should I say?’

He felt a little different from when they met in the United States. Back then, he seemed to be under a lot of pressure, but now he seemed a bit more relieved, or something?

“It’s because those damn CIA guys kept yapping about how they had to get involved too.”

Even so, Kang Jin-ho and Lee Hyun-soo were foreigners from their point of view, so was it okay to badmouth their own country’s agency like that in front of them?

“Those old-fashioned ghosts still think it’s the Cold War era. Damn them.”

“Ah, I don’t know if I should tell you this…”

‘Then don’t say it.’

“The CIA guys were caught trying to strengthen their surveillance of Korea and were disciplined.”

“Hmm?”

“It means they were trying to monitor Chairman.”

Kang Jin-ho’s mouth slightly opened.

‘Are they telling me this?’

If Kang Jin-ho had found out about it through his own intelligence, he might have been angry. But since they were just blurting it out like this, he was more dumbfounded than angry.

“I’m sorry. It’s not like the CIA guys doing their own thing is a one- or two-day occurrence, but we didn’t expect them to go this far.”

Lee Hyun-soo asked with a dumbfounded expression.

“No, so you’re saying that the higher-ups told them not to, but the CIA tried to send intelligence agents to Korea on their own?”

“That’s basically it.”

“Is that even possible?”

Reynolds scratched his head.

“Because of the principle that if independence isn’t guaranteed, the intelligence agency will just become a tool of power, the CIA has not reported the use of funds and the utilization of intelligence agents since the past.”

“That’s ridiculous…”

“It’s a remnant of the old era, but…”

The next words came from behind.

“It’s also true that we’ve solved various problems thanks to it.”

“Huh?”

Lee Hyun-soo and Kang Jin-ho turned their heads.

Willie Reese bowed his head slightly towards them and approached.

“Eastern greetings are still not very familiar to me. I almost asked for a handshake without realizing it.”

“It doesn’t matter, do as you feel comfortable.”

“I appreciate you saying that.”

Willie smiled brightly.

Soon, Willie, who sat next to Reynolds, loosened his tie slightly and sighed.

“Maybe it’s because I’m not used to this culture… I almost had a fit because they kept going around in circles instead of getting to the point.”

‘Don’t you think you guys are the ones who are too direct?’

‘Maybe it would be good to try putting yourself in their shoes?’

“Anyway, it was a bit late coming to Korea because of those CIA guys. They’ve always been like leeches, sticking to things.”

Reynolds chuckled.

“It only calmed down after the Alpha Male stepped up and suppressed them.”

“Alpha Male?”

The leader?

“You know, that guy with all the masculinity.”

Reynolds pointed his finger above his head.

“Ah, him.”

Yeah.

That powerful figure with overflowing masculinity.

“Anyway, things calmed down after he got angry.”

Kang Jin-ho laughed.

If ‘that person’ on TV had yelled, even the CIA would have had no choice but to back down. That bulldozer of a man might even push the CIA out of the way.

“You must have been scared.”

“He has a very clear direction…” Reynolds smiled awkwardly.

“That’s not important… Anyway, the site is almost finalized.”

“Is it something that takes this long?”

“If you think about it simply, you can just expand or repurpose the existing US military base, but…”

Reynolds shook his head as if he was in trouble.

“The problem is that there are already regular soldiers stationed there. For security reasons, we can’t have the SOBs [Special Operations Brigade] living with regular soldiers. Didn’t we throw them in the desert for that reason before?”

“That’s right.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

The reason why the General Assembly was located in a remote area away from the metropolitan area was the same reason as that.

Non-humans must be separated from ordinary people.

“So, we need to build a new base in a place where ordinary people don’t have access as much as possible. That’s why there were a lot of things to consider. Whenever we found a good place, it was tied up in Korea’s development restrictions.”

Reynolds rubbed his forehead.

Of course, he understood why the government was reluctant.

It’s difficult to make the public understand without explaining the reason. The only way is to solve it quietly without making a fuss as much as possible.

The only good thing is that the opposition party isn’t trying to pick a fight.

Of course, that’s not the case for the small and medium-sized opposition parties.

“Anyway.”

Reynolds shrugged his shoulders.

“I’ll take care of the political issues and the site issues. Since our will is firm, the Korean government will eventually have no choice but to give permission. After all, it’s not something that will be detrimental to them.”

“That’s true.”

“Ah, just a moment.”

Lee Hyun-soo raised his hand slightly.

“I’m saying this because of that wild person’s tendency, but you didn’t ask for any subsidies for the stationing costs, did you?”

Reynolds closed his mouth.

“Did you?”

“…That’s not my proposal, but… well, should I call it a policy stance? Anyway…”

Lee Hyun-soo jumped up from his seat.

“No! You guys are going to cause big trouble! Is this what we asked for? We’re the ones who are granting your request, so why are you asking Korea for the stationing costs?”

“Ugh…”

“Our ‘kid’ is half dead because of taxes these days.”

“Kid?”

“…Ah, Hyun-joo.”

Kang Jin-ho narrowed his eyes.

“I, I mean, Director Lee Hyun-joo.”

“Yeah.”

“Anyway, you’re going to suck up that precious tax money? Without any justification?”

As Lee Hyun-soo came out strongly, Reynolds sighed.

“That wouldn’t be the General Assembly’s money.”

“Then, does the Vice Minister not care about money going out from places other than the Ministry of National Defense?”

“…That’s not true.”

“You guys should take care of the stationing costs yourselves. No, rather, you should be paying us for renting our land. It’s already a big deal that we’re reducing it, so why are you taking money from us? That’s not fair.”

Reynolds subtly avoided Lee Hyun-soo’s gaze.

He could bring up various political logics, but the person in front of him now is not a politician. So, it wouldn’t be of much use to bring them up.

“How much did you ask for?”

At Kang Jin-ho’s words, Reynolds hesitated slightly.

“Tell me.”

“It’s not that much. About two hundred million dollars.”

“How much?”

“…Two hundred million dollars.”

Kang Jin-ho stared at Reynolds with a blank look.

“O-of course, it may seem like a lot, but this is not the full amount. It is estimated that at least two billion dollars will be spent to build a new base and deploy personnel. The annual operating cost is also close to one billion dollars.”

“So, you want to split the money?”

“It’s the policy stance to share the cost of the USFK [United States Forces Korea] defense…”

Kang Jin-ho chuckled.

“That’s what Korea asked of the US.”

“This is a situation where the US is asking Korea for a favor, and you’re asking for money while doing us a favor?”

“Chairman.”

“Well, do as you please.”

“Yes?”

Reynolds’ eyes widened as Kang Jin-ho changed his stance.

“That’s not something to negotiate with me. You can negotiate well with whatever the government comes up with.”

“Ah, thank you…”

“However.”

Kang Jin-ho’s expression turned serious.

“If it costs that much, we need to get more than that in return. I plan to extract more value from those who are stationed here, so be prepared for that.”

“Do you understand?”

Of course, he understood.

But understanding doesn’t mean agreeing.

Reynolds opened his mouth with a slightly pale face.

“I will discuss this matter with the higher-ups again. It seems that we cannot approach this with the same stance as the existing USFK.”

“It’s something that can be done with common sense.” Lee Hyun-soo smiled slightly.

‘Trying to take advantage of another country.’

The nation of Korea cannot stand up to the United States. Because there is not much that the United States can gain from Korea.

But the General Assembly is different.

The United States must obtain something from the General Assembly. So, even if they come out this strong, they can’t say much.

‘Ah, that feels so good.’

It wasn’t that Lee Hyun-soo particularly disliked the United States. The feeling he was experiencing now was not the joy of making the United States suffer, but rather the pleasure of taking the initiative, even if only partially, from a powerful country that could not be touched.

“Then, let’s reconsider that matter…”

Reynolds’ gaze turned to Kang Jin-ho.

“If the negotiations are finalized, the base construction will be completed and personnel will be deployed within a maximum of one month and a minimum of two weeks.”

“…That fast?”

It’s not like they’re cooking beans in a flash of lightning, how can they build a base in just two weeks?

Did they catch an alien somewhere and torture it?

“We are putting all our efforts into it because it is something that needs to be started as soon as possible. Once the basic training ground is completed, we will deploy them using tents or tarps, and the additional facilities will be completed slowly.”

“I like your boldness.”

“So, from then on, Chairman, you must keep your promise.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

That was something that had already been agreed upon.

“The training is…”

“Ah.”

Kang Jin-ho raised his hand to stop Reynolds from speaking.

“That’s not something to discuss with you.”

“Um, that’s right.”

As Kang Jin-ho’s gaze turned to the side, he saw Frank and Reggie.

“How was Korea?”

“To be polite, I should say it was good, but to be honest, I don’t know yet. The damn schedule didn’t even give us time to sightsee.”

Kang Jin-ho chuckled quietly.

He liked this aspect of them. They respect Kang Jin-ho, but they also stand firm on their own ground.

“Training ordinary soldiers is different from training non-humans.

Can you do it?”

“If we didn’t have that determination, we wouldn’t have come here.”

“That’s right.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded as if he was satisfied.

He looked around at the people in front of him.

‘Something is starting to happen.’

When they were just discussing it, it didn’t feel real, but seeing these people, who he had only seen in the US, come all the way to Korea, he felt a mix of emotions.

He also felt a little proud that the General Assembly had now become capable of dealing directly with the United States.

However, there was one thing.

“About that site…”

“Yes.”

“Is it close to the General Assembly?”

“…Yes?”

Kang Jin-ho shrugged his shoulders.

“I just wanted to reduce my commute time if possible.”

Reynolds’ face became strange at the completely unexpected request.

“W-we haven’t thought about that. We don’t know the location of the General Assembly, so…”

“It’s okay. Well, I was just saying.”

Kang Jin-ho smiled brightly.