Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 871

The conference room was thick with tension. No one knew the exact reason for the sudden gathering, but the atmosphere alone made it clear that something serious had occurred.

The directors, led by Bator and Wiggins, along with the interpreters, all swallowed hard, the silence heavy in the air.

“Where is the Assembly Leader?” someone finally asked, breaking the quiet.

“He’s on his way,” came the reply.

Bator nodded, his gaze drifting to Lee Hyun-soo. The younger man’s face was unusually grim.

‘It’s as if the Crimson King himself has invaded,’ Bator thought. Lee Hyun-soo was usually serious in his work, and considered himself taciturn, but Bator knew him to be more cheerful than serious. The fact that he was making such a grim face was a clear indication of the gravity of the situation.

However, Bator didn’t press Lee Hyun-soo. He knew the younger man would speak when he was ready. There was no need to rush and make the atmosphere even more oppressive.

Bang!

The door burst open, and Kang Jin-ho strode into the conference room. Everyone immediately rose to their feet.

“Sit down,” Kang Jin-ho commanded.

“Yes!” they responded, quickly settling back into their seats.

The usual banter and jokes were absent. Kang Jin-ho, taking his place at the head of the table, gestured to Lee Hyun-soo.

“Report.”

“Yes, I will report,” Lee Hyun-soo replied, picking up a document and moving to the back of the room, standing before everyone.

This was unprecedented. Until now, all reports had been delivered casually from their seats. Lee Hyun-soo’s formality signaled that the situation was unlike anything they had faced before.

Everyone watched him with a mix of nervousness and anticipation.

“According to the news we just received…” Lee Hyun-soo paused, his eyes sweeping over the room before continuing, “The Japanese Yakuza groups have joined forces and are invading Korea.”

“Huh?” The unexpected news caused faces to harden. Most had anticipated a move from the Crimson King’s forces, not a sudden invasion from Japan.

“Japan?” someone asked, bewildered.

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“But why would Japan suddenly…” another started to question, but Kang Jin-ho raised his hand, silencing them.

“Let’s hear the rest of the report. Questions come after.”

“Yes,” Lee Hyun-soo replied, taking a short breath. He wasn’t one to get easily flustered, but this situation had him on edge.

“Intelligence indicates that each of the Japanese Yakuza groups has selected elite warriors and are currently moving towards Korea. The number is estimated to be over a thousand.”

“…A thousand?” The room was filled with murmurs of disbelief.

“Yes. But that is not certain. That is the minimum estimate.”

“A thousand…” Kang Jin-ho nodded, his expression unreadable.

“Continue.”

“…That’s all for now,” Lee Hyun-soo concluded, and the room fell into a contemplative silence. Wiggins was the first to break it.

“I have a few questions.”

“Yes.”

“This report lacks detail. Where did you get this information? From informants?”

“This is a bit of a headache,” Lee Hyun-soo admitted, a troubled look on his face.

“Hmm?”

“The information itself did not come from our informants.”

“Then?”

“Someone within the invading force contacted us. To be precise, they sent a message to an acquaintance of the Assembly. They have already set sail.”

“Set sail?” someone repeated, incredulous.

“Yes. They are traveling by ship.”

Bang Jin-hoon exclaimed in an annoyed voice, “No, can we trust that? Why would someone from their side give us that information?”

Several people nodded in agreement. The situation was too suspicious to accept at face value.

“Well…” Lee Hyun-soo paused, organizing his thoughts. “There is a possibility that they would contact us. According to the informant, the person who contacted us is a third-generation Korean-Japanese, a Korean.”

“A Korean-Japanese is Korean? Not Japanese?” Bang Jin-hoon asked, confused.

Lee Hyun-soo explained, “Korean-Japanese are people who hold Korean citizenship but have obtained permanent residency in Japan and live there.”

“No, then they are Japanese,” Bang Jin-hoon insisted, about to sigh in frustration. However, he knew it wasn’t the time to react emotionally. Letting emotions rise during a meeting was the most dangerous thing to do.

“To clarify, Koreans who have acquired Japanese citizenship are called Japanese-Koreans. And those who live in Japan but maintain Korean citizenship are called Korean-Japanese.”

“So… you’re saying we can trust them because they are Korean-Japanese?” Bang Jin-hoon asked, skepticism dripping from his voice.

“I wouldn’t go that far…” Lee Hyun-soo admitted.

Bang Jin-hoon shook his head, clearly not convinced. “I don’t trust it at all. I mean, what do you call them… it’s not that I’m ignoring them, but it doesn’t make sense. What do they gain by telling us?”

Lee Hyun-soo nodded, acknowledging the validity of Bang Jin-hoon’s concerns, despite his emotional delivery.

“If they are on that ship, wouldn’t they be putting themselves in danger? If we know and prepare, their lives could be in danger, so why would they tell us this? Why would they risk their lives?” Bang Jin-hoon leaned back on the sofa, his voice laced with suspicion.

“Something smells fishy. I feel like it’s a trap.”

“I share that concern,” Wiggins added, his tone serious.

“Right? It’s a bit strange, isn’t it? It doesn’t make sense. If they don’t gain anything, the only reason they would tell us this is patriotism, but patriotism isn’t that great of a thing,” Bang Jin-hoon’s voice grew louder.

“Of course, there are people who have sacrificed their lives for patriotism. Like independence activists. But the reason those people are praised is because they did something that ordinary people couldn’t even imagine doing. If there were so many people who could sacrifice their lives for patriotism or the sake of the country, why would those people be considered great? It’s because ordinary people can’t do that.”

Lee Hyun-soo agreed with Bang Jin-hoon’s logic. Bang Jin-hoon usually didn’t offer his opinions in these meetings, but now he had to step up. In cases involving Korea, Japan, and patriotism, the directors of other nationalities had no room to intervene.

“But a Korean-Japanese happens to be on that ship, and that Korean-Japanese has the patriotism of an independence activist, so they risk their own lives to contact us?” Bang Jin-hoon chuckled, his disbelief growing with each passing moment.

“It’s like a movie, a movie. If we made a movie out of this, it would get ten million viewers,” he concluded, shaking his head.

Lee Hyun-soo’s face hardened slightly. He knew that he wasn’t being mocked, but he couldn’t take the comment lightly.

“Then,” Kang Jin-ho interjected, cutting off Bang Jin-hoon’s words at the right moment, “It seems we need to verify this.”

“Yes. It’s better to be sure,” Lee Hyun-soo agreed.

“Who received the message?” Kang Jin-ho asked.

Lee Hyun-soo shook his head. “It seems they don’t know the details either. They weren’t that close.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes,” Lee Hyun-soo cleared his throat and continued, “We tried to contact them again, but we can’t reach them anymore. The phone itself doesn’t work. The messages are being sent, but there is no reply. We don’t know if the messages aren’t being received or if they are in a situation where they can’t check their phone.”

“I see.”

“Wait…” Lee Hyun-soo took out his phone and sent the messages he had saved to everyone. “Please check.”

Everyone took out their phones and read the messages. Kang Jin-ho, having finished reading, quietly spoke, “Lee Hyun-soo.”

“Yes, Assembly Leader.”

“It seems we need to verify this.”

Lee Hyun-soo nodded. “The information itself could be fabricated, but even if it’s not, we can’t just blindly trust this message and act. This is not a small matter.”

Kang Jin-ho was right. If a thousand or more elite warriors were coming from Japan, it was a matter that could determine the fate of the Assembly.

‘That’s an enormous force,’ Kang Jin-ho thought. Compared to the total number of members in the Assembly, it might seem insignificant, but in reality, it was not. Most of the Assembly’s forces were not suitable for combat; they were just there to fill the numbers.

Especially the demons who came from China. Even if they charged in a group, they wouldn’t be a significant force. If they could have been used, they would have been used during the Crimson King’s war. Wasn’t what Kang Jin-ho was doing now about turning those who were not a force into a force? They needed time to become a force. And what they lacked the most right now was that time.

“So, we are already verifying a few things,” Lee Hyun-soo announced.

“What are you verifying?” Wiggins asked.

“First, we are investigating all the ships that have departed from Japan and are entering Korea.”

Wiggins scoffed, “Does that even matter?”

“Wasn’t it the same when we smuggled the Demonic Cult out of China? We disguised cargo ships and actually carried people. It’s the same on their side. I don’t think they can’t do what we can do. If they are really serious about invading, manipulating departure records would be too easy.”

“Yes. So…” Lee Hyun-soo’s eyes lit up. “We are checking if there are any passenger ships that do not have departure records between Korea and Japan.”

“Is that possible?” someone asked, doubt in their voice. How could they find one ship in that vast ocean?

“It’s not difficult. Basically, all ships carrying a certain number of people are required to report their departure. This is to prepare for accidents.”

“So?”

“We just need to find a ship on the sea that has not been reported. The opposite way.”

Kang Jin-ho frowned. ‘Is that even possible?’ How could they find one ship among all the ships on that vast ocean?

“Hmm, indeed. That would work,” Wiggins said, nodding as if it was obvious.

Kang Jin-ho’s head turned, surprised. Wiggins smiled lightly, sensing the unspoken question on Kang Jin-ho’s face.

“It’s difficult to search the entire vast ocean, but it’s not impossible. And… unless it’s a small boat or a submarine, a passenger ship that can carry over a thousand people would have a harder time hiding.”

“But how?” Kang Jin-ho asked, still skeptical.

“It’s simple. We just need to get support from the Coast Guard, the Navy, or the Air Force.”

Kang Jin-ho’s eyes widened. ‘Support from the military?’ This was escalating quickly. Honestly, wasn’t that a bit of a fantasy? Just as he was thinking that, Lee Hyun-soo spoke up.

“Yes. We have requested cooperation, and they are currently searching.”

Kang Jin-ho stared at Lee Hyun-soo with a dumbfounded expression.