Descent Of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1634

“The Hong King moved?”

[Yes.]

Normally, the Blood Demon would have answered Lee Hyun-soo’s question informally. However, the fact that he was using honorifics meant the Blood Demon was very serious right now.

“He survived quite well.”

[It was a stroke of luck.]

“So, where did the Hong King go?”

[According to their conversation, he must have moved to Wuhan.]

“Wuhan, Wuhan…”

Lee Hyun-soo pulled up a map of China on his phone. After confirming the location of Wuhan, he turned to Kang Jin-ho with a serious expression.

“He’s heading north.”

He had always anticipated this moment. This makes a full-scale war certain.

“Any other information?”

[Shall we track him?]

“No.”

Kang Jin-ho said firmly.

“The Hong King won’t let you get away twice. Return.”

[Yes. Then, I will instruct the informants to refrain from approaching as much as possible while gathering information, and I will return.]

“Okay.”

As soon as the call ended, those gathered looked at each other with serious eyes.

“…It has begun.”

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

He knew there wouldn’t be much time left, but hearing the news that the Hong King had moved made him feel restless.

“Is it war?”

A cold air filled the conference room.

The feeling of impending war must be what this atmosphere is like.

“The information…”

“It’s meaningless.”

Kang Jin-ho cut off Lee Hyun-soo’s words.

“Once the Hong King starts moving, he will try to sweep everything away. The speed is not something that informants can keep up with. At best, they will only see the aftermath.”

Wiggins asked in a somewhat serious tone.

“Let’s connect with the United States.”

Kang Jin-ho looked at Wiggins with a glint in his eyes.

“This is an incident that the United States would also take seriously. If we go through the chargé d’affaires [a diplomatic official] stationed in Korea, we could use a few military satellites. Wouldn’t it be better to track the Hong King’s trail with military satellites?”

“That’s a good idea.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

He hadn’t thought about it this way. Indeed, Wiggins always surprised Kang Jin-ho in these situations.

“We have to use every resource available. Because that’s the situation.”

He didn’t think they could track the Hong King with military satellites.

Even with satellites, it is still people who are operating them. The Hong King could easily escape the satellite’s range in the blink of an eye if he wanted to.

To track the Hong King’s trail with a satellite, they would have to narrow the range to a distance where they could distinguish people, which would make it impossible to capture the entire scope of the Hong King’s movements.

‘But it’s better than nothing.’ Kang Jin-ho stroked his chin.

“Chairman.”

Lee Hyun-soo spoke with a stiff face.

“I will issue an emergency order to the entire Assembly. We will monitor the situation and enter China immediately if the opportunity arises.”

Bang Jin-hoon quickly followed up.

“We need transportation when entering China. To mobilize as many people as possible, we need to transport them by land, sea, and air, but land is absolutely impossible…”

With North Korea in the way, they cannot enter China by land. That leaves only ships and airplanes.

“The problem is how those government bastards will react…”

Bang Jin-hoon’s face twisted in frustration.

Currently, the Assembly and the government forces are nominally allied. If they give permission, they can use anything, but if they change their stance, the sea and air routes could be blocked simultaneously.

“What about the gate?”

“There is a limit to its capacity.”

Wiggins said firmly.

“I can manage to push in elite troops… but it is virtually impossible to transport all personnel through the gate. It will take at least ten days to move everyone.”

“Ten days…”

They have to move swiftly when the opportunity arises. If they drag it out for ten days, the situation will likely be beyond repair.

Kang Jin-ho turned to Lee Hyun-soo.

“What do you think they will do?”

“They will definitely try to lure us into Chinese territory.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Lee Hyun-soo said firmly.

“If the Hong King faction and the Chang King faction settle things, there will be only one path left. The winner among them and the Black King faction will fight, and the winner will take China. Then the government forces will not be able to handle the situation.”

“Unless they are prepared to bomb their own territory.”

Wiggins chimed in, agreeing with Lee Hyun-soo.

“A martial artist cannot defeat a soldier. Ah, of course, there are exceptions like Lord, but that’s a special case, so let’s exclude it.”

Wiggins continued with a wry smile.

“The two have completely opposite strengths. No matter how many martial artists gather and increase their numbers, they cannot handle firearms. Except for a few strong individuals who make up the command, they will all be swept away by firearms.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

Even if Ma Yeom-jeong is considered elite in the Assembly, it doesn’t seem like Ma Yeom can face an American armored division.

If they can somehow get close, they can overwhelm them using their superior martial arts, but realistically, more than half of them will be taken down before they even get close. And even if they do get close, they will be vulnerable to the bullets of the infantry combined with the armored division.

“But conversely, they cannot stop the strong martial artists. In other words, if martial artists and soldiers have a real war, most of the martial artists will die, but the command and power figures of the soldiers will all be beheaded.”

Wiggins smirked.

“Then it becomes a fight over how many people are willing to give up their lives to not lose control of the country…”

“That will never happen.”

“Life is precious.” Wiggins shrugged.

In fact, it is not right to criticize the powerful. Who wouldn’t value their own life? It is those who are willing to throw away their own lives to achieve their goals who are great, and there is no reason to criticize those who value their lives.

“Heh heh heh.”

Bator, who had been listening to the story, let out a low laugh.

“Why?”

When Kang Jin-ho asked with a puzzled face, Bator shrugged.

“No. It’s just funny to listen to. Usually, isn’t it unreasonable to even consider bombing one’s own territory before getting to that point?”

“I think China would do it.”

“I think they would.”

“Wouldn’t they do it if things go wrong?”

Bator asked with a dumbfounded face.

“Are they really going to go that far?”

Lee Hyun-soo shrugged.

“The powerful never want to give up power. If they can maintain their control by bombing not only China but also their own territory, more than half of the countries in the world would do it.”

“…That’s crazy.”

“I exaggerated a bit. Let’s say about 30%. Wouldn’t that be the case in Africa and the Middle East?”

This time, Bator closed his mouth.

When he thought about it, it seemed like the dictators there would really bomb their own territory.

“Even so, China wouldn’t go to that level…”

“You never know what will happen when they are cornered.”

Lee Hyun-soo said firmly.

“Anyway, let’s move on. This discussion isn’t that important anyway. What’s important is that the power figures in China absolutely do not want the moment to come when they have to make this choice.”

“That’s true.”

Bator readily agreed.

“So they will cooperate. They won’t expect us to stop them, but they will think that we will at least reduce their power.”

Kang Jin-ho narrowed his brow.

“Isn’t it possible that they might back out later because of the fact that they cooperated with us?”

“That’s not the case. Because the Three Kings factions also need them. We are martial artists, not politicians. If we recklessly purge them, the country will be turned upside down or ruined. That’s something that even the martial arts world would never want.”

A hostile symbiotic relationship.

That was the perfect way to describe the relationship between the martial arts world and the government.

Kang Jin-ho summarized the situation.

“It won’t change anything if we come to a conclusion among ourselves. Lee Hyun-soo.”

“Yes, Chairman!”

“Request cooperation from the Chinese government.”

“Yes, I understand!”

“We’ll see what happens when we get the results.”

“What if it’s a trap?”

“We’ll still go ahead. It’s better to break through even if we fall into a trap.”

“I understand.”

As Lee Hyun-soo nodded firmly, Kang Jin-ho turned to Wiggins.

“Wiggins.”

“Yes, Lord.”

“Request satellite surveillance from the US side, and check if they can support aircraft or ships in case China doesn’t cooperate.”

Wiggins stroked his chin.

“The US military, the US military… It’s a bit extreme, but it could be a solution. However, if we are not careful, it could escalate into an international issue.”

“That’s a problem for them to decide.”

“Certainly. I understand, Lord.”

Kang Jin-ho turned his head and looked at Bang Jin-hoon.

“Director Bang, please complete the internal preparations. So that we can enter immediately, even tomorrow.”

“Don’t worry, Chairman. I will finish it perfectly.”

Kang Jin-ho took a deep breath.

“Bator.”

“Yes!”

“What about the US military?”

“I will make them ready to move at any time. It won’t be of much help in a battle between masters, but they might be better at catching ordinary martial artists than the Assembly. First of all, they are basically familiar with tactics and are specialized in following instructions.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

“And they can use firearms appropriately in case of emergency.”

“Firearms?”

“In case of emergency, in case of emergency.”

Kang Jin-ho, who frowned at the word firearms, shook his head.

‘It’s not the time to be picky about firearms or anything.’

Now is the time to use every resource available. If they are pushed back here, everything they have protected so far will collapse.

“As you wish. And what about Mongolia…”

“Don’t worry, Master.”

Bator hit his chest hard.

“The warriors of the steppe follow me. I follow the Master. That’s enough.”

“Good.”

As the conversation with Bator ended, Jang Min, who had been quietly listening to the meeting, slowly opened his mouth.

“Demon Lord.”

“Hmm?”

“If a battle of this scale breaks out, there is no way that civilians will not notice the situation.”

“…That’s true.”

“But China is a country that can control that information.”

“That’s also true.”

“I will use the Demonic Cult members remaining in China to gather information. Even if we don’t know the Hong King’s trail, we can at least confirm their movement routes or location.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

“Coordinate that with the Blood Demon’s informants.”

“Yes. I will do that.”

Jang Min’s tone was also heavy, unlike usual.

Everyone gathered here understood how serious this situation was.

The fate of everyone is decided by a single war.

The pressure was so heavy that his shoulders were drooping.

“Everyone…”

Kang Jin-ho spoke in a low voice.

“I know you are all nervous.”

Everyone focused on Kang Jin-ho.

Receiving their gaze, Kang Jin-ho continued.