Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1648

‘This is absurd.’

Lee Hyun-soo’s lips jutted out.

“Zip it.”

Lee Hyun-soo, having subtly tucked his lips back in, turned to Kang Jin-ho with a thoroughly disgruntled expression.

“Lord.”

“No.”

“No, that’s not it… Lord.”

“No.”

‘At least hear me out before saying no, you blockhead!’

“No, it’s not that I don’t want to go…”

“That’s exactly it.”

“Right. Of course, it’s right. It is, but that’s not the whole reason!”

Lee Hyun-soo quickly licked his lips.

“I think I’ve said something similar before, but this time, I’m telling you I’ll be a hindrance. If the Assembly is invading China, I’ll go no matter how much you try to stop me. I’ll find a way, you know? But this is supposed to be a small, elite force.”

“That’s right.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded and pointed at Lee Hyun-soo.

“A small, elite force.”

“…Damn it.”

“Huh?”

“…It’s nothing.”

Lee Hyun-soo rubbed his eyes.

‘Ah…’

‘Is it possible for faith and trust to torment someone this much?’

‘That’s why you can never know what will happen in this world.’

Lee Hyun-soo looked around with teary eyes.

‘Why isn’t anyone here yet?’

Even though it’s an airfield inside a US military base, the surroundings felt desolate, perhaps because it was nighttime.

“Hey, Director Lee.”

At Bang Jin-hoon’s voice, Lee Hyun-soo whipped his head around.

“What is it?”

“Is everything actually going smoothly right now? How can we be inside a US military base and not see a single soul?”

Lee Hyun-soo gave a wry smile.

“It can’t be helped. This is a top-secret operation. And from their perspective, it would be difficult to explain why they’re suddenly launching fighter jets at night, wouldn’t it?”

“Couldn’t they just make up some excuse?”

“…Even with us hanging on?”

Bang Jin-hoon, at a loss for words, nodded with a sullen expression.

Wiggins, watching this, smiled faintly.

“It’s not a sight you can show to ordinary soldiers, not on a deserted island.”

“Ugh.”

Seeing Bang Jin-hoon groan, Wiggins slightly clenched and unclenched his fist. The prosthetic hand made a soft, rippling sound as it moved.

‘China, huh…’

He was trying his best to maintain a gentle expression, but in truth, Wiggins was extremely tense right now. For this small group to enter a place swarming with the Changwang Clan [a powerful Chinese clan] was a task that would be insufficient even with ten lives.

“Haa…”

Wiggins let out a low breath and raised his head sharply.

“…Weren’t we supposed to take the fighter jets from the hangar?”

“If information gets out that we departed from a US military base, the problem will become serious. So, they must be calling in fighter jets from elsewhere.”

At Lee Hyun-soo’s words, Wiggins nodded.

Whether they took the fighter jets here, from an aircraft carrier, or from Japan, it wouldn’t make much of a difference, but politics is all about those subtle differences.

They probably wanted to minimize the burden.

Having roughly understood, Wiggins looked up at the fighter jet landing on the runway.

“But, Director Lee.”

“Yes.”

“…Did the US have fighter jets like that?”

“Huh?”

Lee Hyun-soo narrowed his eyes and looked at the plane landing on the runway.

“Uh…”

‘That?’

No matter how he looked at it, it didn’t seem like a US fighter jet.

Lee Hyun-soo, with a flustered expression, turned on his phone. He was trying to find a fighter jet with a similar shape.

At that moment, someone walked towards them and said, as if shouting.

“There’s no need to be surprised. It’s not a US military plane.”

“Hmm?”

Everyone’s heads turned in that direction.

“Ah, Undersecretary!”

Lee Hyun-soo bowed first, and then Reynolds, who had walked towards them, approached Kang Jin-ho and extended his hand.

“It’s good to see you again, Lord.”

Kang Jin-ho shook Reynolds’ hand and nodded.

“But what do you mean it’s not a US military plane?”

“It’s a Russian fighter jet.”

“…What?”

“A Russian fighter jet.”

‘Russian?’

Kang Jin-ho looked at Reynolds with a dumbfounded expression, then turned his head back to Lee Hyun-soo.

It was a look that asked if he could understand what was being said.

Reynolds, having guessed Kang Jin-ho’s thoughts from his reaction, opened his mouth with a wry smile.

“After repeated meetings at the higher-ups, they concluded that deploying a US fighter jet into Chinese airspace in this situation is too risky.”

“…That’s true.”

The relationship between the US and China right now is the worst of the worst.

They’re not attacking each other only because it’s a burden, but it wouldn’t be strange if swords were drawn or missiles were launched at any moment.

In such a situation, pushing a fighter jet into enemy airspace would be almost like a declaration of war. If it weren’t for this situation, Lee Hyun-soo would never have wanted to consider such a thing.

“But, Russian?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Reynolds smiled wryly.

“If you look for a country that could slip into Chinese airspace and slip out without raising eyebrows, Russia is the only one left.”

Lee Hyun-soo nodded without realizing it.

It was Russia’s hobby and specialty to poke into other countries’ territories with fighter jets.

It was something that happened frequently not only to Korea and Japan, but also to China.

“It’s certainly appropriate, but…”

Lee Hyun-soo let out a hollow laugh.

“But does that mean Russia agreed to this? Weren’t Russia and the US enemies? Or is that news about Russia and the US rapidly growing closer recently true?”

As Lee Hyun-soo poured out questions, Reynolds shrugged his shoulders.

“I don’t know much about that. However, I do know one thing.”

“What is it?”

“In this world, there are no eternal enemies, nor eternal friends.”

Reynolds slightly curled up the corners of his lips.

“Of course, there will be sufficient compensation, but even without that, Russia has no reason to refuse this. If the unmanned forces of China are unified, the one that will be substantially threatened is not the US, but Russia.”

Everyone nodded.

Although the unmanned forces are not active and are excluded from calculations, Russia is also a country that influences the power dynamics of East Asia. It’s clear that the stronger China becomes, the more damage Russia will suffer.

“Even so…”

Lee Hyun-soo looked at the Russian fighter jet that had finished landing with a subtle expression.

“…It feels a bit strange.”

To go to China on a Russian fighter jet from a US military base in Korea.

‘How ironic.’

Lee Hyun-soo looked at the fighter jet with a renewed expression.

“The situation seems a bit twisted, but we don’t have time to be like this. Isn’t this a situation where every second counts?”

At Wiggins’ words, Lee Hyun-soo nodded.

“But are you really going to hang on?”

“Is there a way to drop us off in the middle?”

“…It’s not that there’s no way, but it’s true that it’s a burden.”

“Then isn’t it unavoidable?”

At Lee Hyun-soo’s words, Reynolds shook his head.

‘They’re definitely not normal.’

He already knew that the unmanned were half-crazy people, but this was beyond that level.

From here to Zhangjiakou in China, their destination, is over 1,000km in a straight line. However, if they were to take the shortest route, they would have to pass over Beijing, so this route was impossible to use.

In the end, for safety, they would have to return to Russia, pass through Mongolian airspace, and then go to Zhangjiakou, which would mean flying a distance of nearly 4,000km.

‘They’re going to hang onto a fighter jet for that distance?’

If it were anyone else, just mentioning it would be enough to call an ambulance straight to a mental hospital.

“To be honest…”

Reynolds opened his mouth with a truly sullen expression.

“Bringing these fighter jets here was also a very difficult task. I had to get permission from the higher-ups, coordinate with Russia, seek cooperation from Korea, and negotiate with Mongolia at the same time.”

“…You’ve worked hard.”

“I’m asking after going through all that, but are you really going to be okay?”

“They’ll be fine.”

“They?”

“It’s me who won’t be okay.”

Reynolds looked at Lee Hyun-soo with a very pitiful expression.

“Don’t tell me… are you going with them?”

“Oh, dear.”

Lee Hyun-soo squeezed his eyes shut.

‘See!’

‘Everyone else is worried too!’

‘You heartless people!’

“Even I think this is absurd…”

“Don’t waste time, get ready!”

“Yes, sir!”

Lee Hyun-soo, while grumbling, dragged over the wire rope that had been prepared on one side.

“There should be a place to hook it on the fuselage.”

“Weren’t we supposed to hang on top of the plane?”

“Fighter jets are delicate things. I don’t want to unnecessarily affect the airflow.”

“…Don’t you think a human body is delicate too? You’re complaining, but you’re diligently throwing yourself into it.”

“I didn’t know I was going.”

“…You’re probably going to hell.”

“Do you think Master won’t?” Lee Hyun-soo, having uttered a curse, sighed and wrapped the wire rope around the bottom of the plane.

The wire rope could withstand over 10 tons, so it wouldn’t break because of the weight of one person. Nevertheless, Lee Hyun-soo couldn’t shake off the anxiety at the thought of hanging on.

And Reynolds, watching what they were doing, picked up a radio and said something.

“Is something wrong?”

“Ah, it’s just the Russian guys in the cockpit relaying a message.”

“…What are they saying?”

“As is, or sanitized?”

“…Sanitized.”

“Those crazy bastards, if they’re going to die, they should die nicely…”

“Stop.”

Lee Hyun-soo neatly cut off Reynolds’ words. He knew what was coming next without having to hear it.

“Just to be safe, it would be good to adjust the length of the rope well. If you stretch it out too long and get sucked into the jet engine’s rear, you’ll be nicely roasted.”

“…Thank you for the advice.”

‘Damn it, thank you.’

Lee Hyun-soo, having wrapped the wire rope tightly around his body, let out a deep sigh without realizing it.

“Lord, this…”

“I’m fine.”

“Yes?”

Kang Jin-ho walked over nonchalantly and grabbed the wire rope that was binding Lee Hyun-soo with his hand.

“I won’t let go.”

‘Yes, yes.’

‘Do as you please.’

Lee Hyun-soo looked around with trembling eyes.

There were so many things he wanted to say and so many things he wanted to confirm, but right now, as Wiggins said, he had to save every second.

“Damn it, let it be!”

Lee Hyun-soo, seeing the directors behind him finishing their preparations, gritted his teeth and shouted.

“We’re leaving first!”

“…Director Lee.”

“Yes?”

Bang Jin-hoon’s loud voice was heard.

“Don’t worry. Even if only one arm is left, we’ll hold a funeral for you.”

“…Just die.”

Bang Jin-hoon’s laughter, as he chuckled, was more infuriating than usual today.

“Undersecretary, let them depart! And tell them not to forget to signal when they arrive over the destination’s airspace.”

“Understood. Then!”

As soon as Reynolds finished speaking, he retreated backward as if in a panic. Then, he picked up the radio and started shouting something.

“This is crazy. This is really crazy.”

Kang Jin-ho chuckled as he watched Lee Hyun-soo mutter under his breath.

“By the way…”

“Yes?”

“I wonder if I can smoke.”

“Is that what you’re worried about… Uwaaaaaaa! Damn it!”

Before he could even finish speaking, the fighter jet began to accelerate rapidly. In movies, it seemed to rise leisurely, but being attached to a fighter jet made the sense of speed indescribable.

Kang Jin-ho lifted Lee Hyun-soo with one hand and ran in sync with the fighter jet that was shooting forward. Soon, as the fighter jet soared into the air, the rope tightened, pulling them into the sky.

“There’s no better first-class seat.”

“It’s a first-class seat to hell!”

“Your mouth is still alive?”

‘Don’t worry.’

‘Soon, your mouth will die too!’

The fighter jet, with Lee Hyun-soo and Kang Jin-ho attached, began to fly at a tremendous speed.