Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1550

Nurturing (5)

‘The selection?’

‘It’s all finished.’

Kang Jin-ho chuckled.

‘It was like cooking beans in a flash of lightning [a Korean idiom for something done very quickly].’

‘It’s not something we need to be so strict about from the start. Aren’t we selecting three times the number? We’ll weed out the weak ones during the training period.’

Kang Jin-ho nodded quietly.

‘Were there any useful ones on the other side?’

‘Don’t get your hopes up.’

‘I guess not.’

Kang Jin-ho smiled bitterly.

Who could he blame? It was none other than Kang Jin-ho who had decimated Japan’s abundant talent pool.

‘Why did you kill them all back then?’

‘Did I know this would happen?’

Kang Jin-ho clicked his tongue.

Back then, he hadn’t even considered keeping the lineage of Japanese martial artists alive and using them as subordinates. At the time, he was too busy just surviving the Japanese attacks.

Thinking about it, he realized he had been struggling to survive all this time.

‘These guys are fundamentally different from the martial artists in America or Europe. Even if they come for training, we have to respect their own identities.’

This meant that they couldn’t openly teach demonic arts or the Assembly’s martial arts. For example, just as the chevaliers [knights] maintained their own martial arts while belonging to the Assembly, the American and European martial artists coming to Korea this time would only aim to improve their skills while maintaining their systems.

However, Japanese martial artists were different. He could teach them whatever he wanted. Because for Japanese martial artists, there were no more martial arts to protect or pass down.

‘Have you thought about what to teach them?’

‘Not really…’

Kang Jin-ho scratched his cheek.

He hadn’t started with such deep thought, so he didn’t have a specific plan. He just thought that traditional Japanese martial arts had limitations.

‘It’s excessive.’

Are Japanese martial arts inferior to Korean ones?

That’s not the case.

In the end, martial arts are just martial arts. ‘Who learns it’ and ‘how they learn it’ are far more important than ‘what martial arts they learn.’ There’s no way Kang Jin-ho would have been weak just because he learned orthodox martial arts.

The problem was versatility.

Japanese martial arts are difficult to learn, and even if you do learn them, the effects aren’t immediately apparent. To see real results, you have to endlessly refine yourself and delve deep.

Perhaps Japan’s unique dedication was reflected in their martial arts, but either way, it was a martial art that took too long to be rewarded for the effort put in.

And Kang Jin-ho and the others didn’t have the time to teach so leisurely.

If they couldn’t become a short-term force, their value would drop by more than half.

‘There’s no need to go down that path.’

Kang Jin-ho nodded lightly.

‘Since we decided to leave it to Bang Jin-hoon in the first place, let’s stick with that.’

‘I think that’s the best way too.’

If they learned demonic arts, their power would increase in the short term. The problem was that demonic arts were somewhat incomplete. In places like the Demonic Cult or the Assembly, where there were people to manage them, there wouldn’t be any problems, but to watch over and manage Japanese martial artists until they could stably use demonic arts?

That would be putting the cart before the horse [doing things in the wrong order].

They couldn’t let those they were teaching to be useful become a burden.

‘Director Bang will take care of it.’

‘Ugh…’

‘Actually, Director Bang is the most underrated person in the Assembly. The role Director Bang plays now is several times greater than what Lee Joong-geol used to do. He’s managing all the increased personnel from the merger of Yeongnam Association and the Assembly, and he’s resolved all the conflicts between them. Moreover, he’s currently teaching the kids while also suppressing conflicts with the Demonic Cult.’

‘There’s no one who underrates him.’

Kang Jin-ho smiled slightly.

It’s not just those who step forward to fight and raise their voices who are doing their part. Bang Jin-hoon was creating a foundation for everyone to be able to perform their roles.

If it were the Kang Jin-ho of the past, he might have thought such a role was insignificant, but now he knew. He knew how difficult and challenging it was.

If he had to choose just one person among the current directors of the Assembly, Kang Jin-ho would choose Bang Jin-hoon without a second thought.

Kang Jin-ho could completely replace Bator’s role. The same goes for Jang Min. Wiggins would be a bit ambiguous, but Lee Hyun-soo could solve that to some extent.

However, no one, not Kang Jin-ho or Lee Hyun-soo, could replace Bang Jin-hoon’s role.

‘I really need to give him a bonus.’

‘Raise his salary, raise his salary!’

‘……We already agreed to raise it.’

‘Don’t just say it, raise it quickly!’

Kang Jin-ho sighed.

‘That guy from earlier was cuter.’

Now that Lee Hyun-soo had grown up, he was constantly pushing his luck.

What could he do? It was his fault that Lee Hyun-soo had become like this.

‘Anyway, with this, the preparations are mostly done. We have to try everything we can.’

‘That’s right.’

‘Now, there’s one thing left.’

‘Hmm, again?’

‘Yes.’

Lee Hyun-soo put his hands together and said.

‘We have to pray. Please, let those guys destroy each other!’

‘Please, please.’

Kang Jin-ho sighed deeply.

‘There’s no hope, really.’

[You keep doing this even though there’s no evidence?]

‘Chief Prosecutor Lee, are you really trying to go against me?’

[Chairman, how could I, a mere minnow, defy your words? This isn’t something we can do anything about.]

‘Does that even make sense?’

Jeong Hong-geun gritted his teeth.

This was the third call already.

The Chief Prosecutor, who had been making excuses to investigate more thoroughly each time he called, was now completely abandoning his responsibilities. Seeing his attitude, Jeong Hong-geun’s teeth were grinding and his stomach was churning.

‘Why does no one know about something happening in broad daylight? Does it make sense that the CCTV in that luxury officetel [a type of building with residential and office spaces] all disappeared at that specific time? Who would do such a thing if not you guys!’

[It’s not something we orchestrated. Frankly, why would we do such a thing?]

‘So, you really don’t know anything?’

[Heh, really.]

Jeong Hong-geun’s brow furrowed.

‘Look at this?’

Even if the words are the same, a person’s attitude can be completely different.

They couldn’t find evidence, so they couldn’t identify the culprit.

That was the gist of what the Chief Prosecutor was saying.

The problem was that the Chief Prosecutor didn’t show the slightest hint of apology while saying it. It was as if he was an old man causing trouble at a store.

Jeong Hong-geun narrowed his eyes and subtly probed the Chief Prosecutor.

‘If you keep acting like this, I have my own ideas.’

[Chairman, we really did our best. If you still don’t believe us, there’s nothing I can do.]

‘Okay, is that so?’

Jeong Hong-geun put a cigarette in his mouth. Then, with a slightly trembling hand, he lit it.

‘He’s not scared?’

Jeong Hong-geun could replace the Chief Prosecutor in a day if he wanted to. Considering the power that his money brought, he didn’t even need a justification to replace the Chief Prosecutor.

They would create the justification themselves.

But the Chief Prosecutor, who knew this better than anyone, wasn’t even listening to his words.

This meant only one thing.

‘Who is it?’

[Yes?]

‘Who is it that you trust so much?’

[I don’t know what you’re talking about.]

‘You don’t know?’

Jeong Hong-geun scoffed.

‘Listen, I’m Jeong Hong-geun, Jeong Hong-geun! Do you know who I am and still pull such an obvious trick? Do you think I’ll just back down if you do this?’

A low silence flowed from the other side of the receiver.

‘I can find out even if you don’t tell me. Fine, let’s see! Watch closely how I do it!’

[Chairman.]

‘What?’

[Haa…]

A low sigh escaped from the other side of the receiver.

[Please listen to what I’m about to say and forget it.]

It seemed like something was finally coming out.

Jeong Hong-geun smiled triumphantly and put his legs on the table. Then, he slowly inhaled the cigarette.

‘Go ahead and tell me.’

[Don’t get involved, Chairman.]

‘……What?’

Jeong Hong-geun’s relaxed expression was shattered by the Chief Prosecutor’s words.

[This is a poison that will kill you if you touch it.]

‘Do you know who I am and still say such things?’

[Yes, Chairman. Who in Korea, living on this land, could ignore the Taekwang Group and you, Chairman? But this is not a joke. Don’t touch it. Don’t dig into it. Even you won’t be safe.]

Jeong Hong-geun’s eyes narrowed.

‘Is it them?’

[No, it’s not them.]

It meant it wasn’t related to the President. It also meant it wasn’t a powerful figure in politics.

But still, such words were coming out?

Jeong Hong-geun’s face twisted.

‘Listen here.’

[Yes, Chairman.]

‘As you know, I’ve been through thick and thin to get to this position. Sometimes, I’ve clung to enemies that seemed impossible to handle and eventually brought them down. But are you saying there’s someone I can’t handle?’

[Chairman, this is my last act of courtesy. I can’t tell you the details. However, you must keep one thing in mind. Don’t get involved. Just pretend you don’t know anything.]

[It’s not a situation I can handle with my power. It’s something I can’t even interfere with.]

Jeong Hong-geun exhaled a long stream of cigarette smoke and then nervously stubbed out the cigarette in the ashtray.

‘Let me ask you just one thing, this.’

[Yes, Chairman.]

‘Do you know who did this?’

[I don’t know.]

‘Really?’

[Yes. That’s why I told you there’s nothing I can do? The investigation itself isn’t allowed. Can’t you guess at what level the order came down from?]

[Stop, Chairman. I’m only talking to you because I owe you a debt. If it weren’t for me, no one would even try to talk to you on this matter.]

‘……Okay, I understand.’

[Yes. Stay well.]

The call ended immediately after he finished speaking. Jeong Hong-geun, feeling the urgency in the abrupt disconnection, chuckled to himself.

‘Don’t even touch it?’

To Jeong Hong-geun?

Jeong Hong-geun leaned back on the sofa.

If they had at least given him a hint about the other party’s identity, or even if they had just told him to endure it, he wouldn’t have felt this way.

But the Chief Prosecutor’s words had touched something that should never have been touched.

Jeong Hong-geun’s pride.

They don’t know.

Those guys don’t know.

Those who still have a life ahead of them and can achieve more don’t know. How much those who have to live with what they have already achieved value what they have achieved.

But now, the Chief Prosecutor’s words had denied everything Jeong Hong-geun had built in his life.

‘Let’s see.’

Let’s see.

Jeong Hong-geun pressed the intercom.

‘Tell Executive Director Park to come in.’