Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1983

The spoon clattered onto the table.

“I’m starting to get tired of this, too.”

“…Only now?”

“Hmm, I’ve changed. I used to eat even rotten rice gratefully for a whole week.”

Baek Yeon-heung shook his head.

People often say that people don’t change, but this is a bit different. In this case, not changing would be a sign of mental illness.

“Shouldn’t we question the mental state of the time when you ate garbage so well?”

“…You’re right, I wasn’t in my right mind.” The Black King stared blankly at the combat rations on the table, then chuckled.

“Liu Yang.”

“Yes, Black King.”

“What’s the situation?”

Liu Yang nodded lightly and opened his mouth.

“First of all… about 20 countries have expressed their intention to support our position.”

“And they must have asked me not to shoot nuclear weapons at them?”

“That’s correct.”

“Humans.”

The Black King chuckled softly.

It’s said that people are sensitive to gains, but that’s what those who don’t know say. People are much more sensitive to losses than gains.

When sharing gains, they can still make concessions, and even if their share is a little smaller, they can tolerate it, but if they think they’re going to suffer a loss, their eyes change.

“They’ve also asked us not to disclose it to the outside world.”

“They want to save face, I guess.”

The Black King looked at Liu Yang with a listless gaze, as if he wasn’t particularly interested.

“They must be minor countries, right?”

“Not necessarily. Russia and Japan have also expressed their intention to support us.”

“…Oh?” A smile appeared on the Black King’s lips. He seemed quite pleased with this news.

“Even if it’s an ICBM [Intercontinental Ballistic Missile], the short distance seems to be more threatening than I thought. Japan is understandable, but Russia is unexpected. I thought they wouldn’t even flinch at a few nuclear bombs falling on their vast land.”

“It seemed that Russia was more welcoming of the emergence of an unmanned autonomous region within China than afraid of nuclear weapons.”

“They welcome the emergence of a tumor within a neighboring country, is that what you’re saying? That’s not wrong, for sure.”

Liu Yang nodded deeply.

“China and the United States have not yet stated their positions. However… according to the ‘dogs’ we’ve released, there are signs that the People’s Liberation Army is gathering in this direction from all over China.”

“I figured.”

That’s the natural course of things.

Even if they don’t intend to attack, they have to pretend to do something.

In this situation, where a bomb has fallen in the middle of the square, if they just stand by and watch, they won’t be able to control public sentiment.

“Even if they allow an autonomous region, borders are necessary. A border drawn with tanks and barbed wire, isn’t that quite romantic?”

“…It’s terrible.”

“You don’t know what romance is.”

The Black King chuckled softly.

“In my opinion, I don’t think China will just stand by and watch.”

“My opinion is a little different.”

“…What do you think?”

“If they were going to move, they would have moved already.”

The Black King lightly waved his hand.

“People hate to lose. Look, the nuclear weapons we have now aren’t just aimed at China, are they?”

“That’s right.”

No one knows where these nuclear weapons will fly.

Anywhere in the world can be a target of these nuclear weapons.

“The whole world is sharing that risk. But China is going to solve that risk alone?”

That’s impossible.

If they recklessly step forward and all the nuclear weapons fall on Chinese soil, China will be destroyed. Even if most of the nuclear weapons are shot down, if even one nuclear weapon falls in the middle of a city, at the very least, the regime will be overthrown.

The problem is that those making this decision are the heads of this very regime.

“Why should they take such a risk, putting their own positions on the line? There’s nothing to gain, only risks.”

“But even if they wait, there’s still a risk, isn’t there? An autonomous region will be created.”

“I don’t think it’s that big of a problem… Even if they hate the autonomous region, would that hatred be great enough to take such a risk?”

“People don’t gamble with their lives. At most, they’ll bet an arm or a leg. A crazy person who would gamble with their life can’t become the head of a country in the first place. They’re too rational, so they won’t be able to move.”

The Black King shrugged.

“Even if they make a firm decision, the United States won’t leave China alone now, will they? If they mess with us and an ICBM goes ‘bang!’ in the US, then what?”

“…They would definitely want to avoid that.”

“That’s right. People always choose the second-worst option. That’s not because the second-worst option is the wise path, but because they want to avoid the worst. The worst is that nuclear weapons are launched from this base. No matter where they’re headed.”

“Then…”

“They’ll probably stall for time and eventually go through the process of acknowledging it. But we’ll have to kick them in the butt once before that.”

Liu Yang nodded.

The core of this operation is just one thing.

To put the outside of China within the range of threat.

If they had tried to negotiate with the Chinese government by holding China hostage, the result might have been completely different. China is a country that can endure a considerable amount of damage.

But if there are multiple heads to think, things change.

The gains and losses that each person considers are different. If a limited time is added to that, they will eventually fail to reach a conclusion.

And those who cannot find a firm answer tend to avoid the immediate danger.

“Hoo.”

Liu Yang took a deep breath, feeling a pressure as if his body was tightening.

If he had to solve this situation from the opposite side, he would break out in a cold sweat.

This plan is not that great, nor is it perfect. There are definitely loopholes that they haven’t thought of. The way they execute things is also more aggressive than meticulous.

But that doesn’t matter.

This scale buries all those shortcomings.

“How are the reactions of the unmanned units?”

“They’re encouraging.”

“Hmm, communities? SNS [Social Networking Services]?”

“It’s more than that. Unmanned units from all over China and around the world are gathering around this area.”

“…Oh?”

“The public security and soldiers guarding the perimeter are trying to block access, but…”

“It’s impossible. Aside from the fact that you can’t stop unmanned units with firearms, even firing itself is a burden.”

“Yes, that’s right. Thanks to that, there are a lot of unmanned units gathered on the ground right now. With the human wall in place, it’s impossible to break through them silently. The moment they try to enter in any way, we’ll know first.”

“So, they can buy enough time until the missiles are launched?”

“That’s right.”

“The response is better than I thought?”

“Wasn’t it you, Black King, who told them to come here?”

“…I was just saying.”

“It’s an era where the whole world can exchange opinions online. There’s no way the unmanned units wouldn’t know the situation. It’s about changing their fate, so it’s only natural that they participate.”

“…I guess I’m getting old. I can’t keep up with the flow of the world at all. I’m old.”

Liu Yang smiled.

It’s most encouraging that the unmanned units are gathering here. That means other unmanned units have sympathized with the Black King’s ideology and purpose.

If that happens, after obtaining the autonomous region, the unmanned units will begin to fill that space. The worst-case scenario is not failing to open the autonomous region, but the autonomous region that they managed to obtain being ignored.

“It won’t be long now.”

Liu Yang’s eyes began to boil.

It’s a dream.

Yes, it’s literally a dream.

A dream is called a dream because there is no possibility of it coming true.

But those gathered here are those who have sympathized with the Black King’s dream. They threw their lives into that reckless dream, which seemed to have no chance of realization.

Those who are still alive…

And those who died in the process…

They did not spare their lives for only one purpose.

Liu Yang doesn’t think that all of this is because they have a great cause.

He always thought that whenever he looked at history.

Those who throw their lives away for a vast purpose. Was that purpose really more important than their lives to them?

‘That can’t be true.’

Even if the world changes, the fact that nothing is more important than one’s own life will not change.

How would the past be any different?

Something he couldn’t understand before. But now he understands.

Liu Yang’s gaze turned to the Black King.

‘The purpose doesn’t matter.’

A vast purpose cannot blind people. What matters is not what the purpose is, but who is speaking about that purpose.

Because the one who said those words was the Black King.

Everyone risked their lives for this reckless endeavor that seemed impossible. Only because it was the Black King.

And…

Now they are making that absurd plan a reality.

“…In the end, everything will be as the Black King said.”

“Hmm.”

The Black King rested his chin on his hand and frowned.

Liu Yang, seeing the change in his expression, asked as if puzzled. This isn’t a situation to frown, but to smile, isn’t it?

“…Is there something bothering you?”

“It’s not that there are no variables…”

The Black King’s finger lightly tapped his cheek.

“It’s too quiet. That guy is too quiet.”

“After saying that much, he’s not the type to just sit back and watch. He’s the type to come after me with a knife even without saying anything. He’s silent even after crushing my proposal? That can’t be right… What on earth is he thinking?”

Liu Yang frowned as if he didn’t understand.

“I now fully understand why the Black King values him so highly. But this isn’t that kind of situation, is it?”

“That’s right.”

“Even the leaders of each country are just watching, not knowing what to do. What can he do? It’s impossible to break through here by force. He said he would protect this world. But the moment he uses force, he will destroy this world with his own hands.” It’s a dilemma.

If Kang Jin-ho breaks through here, the Black King will launch the missiles without hesitation. In the Black King’s opinion, the worst thing is not that the unmanned units become the enemy of the world. It’s that they are suppressed without achieving any results even after this struggle.

A wolf that has lost its fangs and claws is worse than a dog. From that point on, the unmanned units will be in a position to fawn over ordinary people to get even rotten meat.

‘It’s better to destroy everything than that.’

The more science and civilization collapse, the higher the position of the unmanned units will be.

“He’s not the type of guy who wouldn’t think of that.”

“Then why…”

“There’s only one problem.”

“Yes?”

The Black King twisted his lips.

“That guy always does something strange that I can’t even imagine.”

“The longer the silence, the more so. He’s definitely preparing something. That’s what I’m worried about.”

Liu Yang stared at the Black King and sighed.

‘I don’t know.’

Is that really the face of someone who is worried?

The Black King had the face of a child waiting for a friend he had invited to a birthday party.

‘Something strange that even the Black King can’t imagine.’

That’s nonsense.

‘The Black King is wrong this time.’ But that’s not a mistake or a fault. You can’t say it’s wrong for a person to be humble.

Maybe it was different for the Black King of the past, but the current Black King is not someone that Kang Jin-ho can do anything about. At least Liu Yang, and all of the Twelve, firmly believed that.

Except for the Black King himself.