Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 807

“……Ho ho?”

Yang Cheon chuckled.

“So, that’s what happened?”

Baek Seo’s face was completely stiff.

“Shouldn’t we stop them quickly?”

“Stop them? Why?”

“Yes?”

“As the young master of the Black Path, he’s just trying to establish some discipline. Why should we stop him? We should let him be.”

“Vice Chief! If things go wrong, organizations that harbor resentment towards the main headquarters might emerge!”

“Don’t they exist now?”

“……?!”

“Do you think such organizations don’t exist now? They’re overflowing. They’ve only united because they’re afraid of dying, succumbing to my reputation and power. At least half of the Black Path sects are like that.”

“But……!”

“I was planning to lead them gently. I had no choice. I’ve seen a lot of bloodshed in the process of unifying them.”

“The Young Vice Chief is not like that. Since he wasn’t originally one of us in the Black Path, many forces might turn their backs on us because of this incident!”

“That won’t happen.”

“……Yes?”

“You’ll see. I’ve talked about the heads of the Black Path sects enough to make you sick of it. So, let’s see what kind of unified Black Path that guy is thinking of.”

Yang Cheon smiled coldly.

“I thought he’d start slowly, but those foolish bandits have already rung the starting bell.”

* * *

‘Just as I thought.’

Yeon Ho-jeong looked around.

The warriors of the Mukryong Unit were buzzing and watching him.

‘It’s just like back then. Their nature will never change.’

Back when he was trying to create the Black Emperor Fortress and change the Black Path itself.

Even back then, they were the same.

Except for the leaders of the organization and the powerful combat unit members, the ordinary warriors never step forward first, no matter what happens.

Is the Martial Alliance similar? Of course, there are some like that, but most of them have different eyes and mental fortitude.

That’s because becoming a member of the Martial Alliance itself provides a strong motivation. The Martial Alliance is a symbol of the righteous martial world, and becoming a warrior there is considered a great honor for a martial artist.

From Yeon Ho-jeong’s perspective, he never thought of such a thing as an honor, but what was important was the strong pride as a member of the group.

Of course, sometimes that pride becomes excessive, leading to unfortunate incidents. However, that’s just a mistake made by fools who can’t distinguish between pride and arrogance. Feeling pride in a group was definitely an important virtue.

The people of the Black Path don’t have that.

They gather around the strong, and if the strong are defeated, they quickly scatter.

That was the way of survival for the people of the Black Path. Sometimes they are cowardly, sometimes they are shameful, but rather than dying honorably, they would rather roll in the mud to save their lives.

It was a wise attitude, if you think about it. However, there was a huge difference between scattering and regrouping with a sense of belonging, and just running away thinking only of oneself.

‘If they had a strong sense of belonging and pride in the Mukryong Unit, there would have been someone who stepped forward first.’

Even if no one stepped forward, the atmosphere would be different.

However, they were all watching the situation as if it were not their business, with eyes full of curiosity, fear, and unease.

‘The beginning of the process of unifying them, huh?’

Yeon Ho-jeong’s smile turned grim.

“It reminds me of the old days.”

It was more of a mumble, but the restaurant was so quiet that everyone heard his voice.

Muk Bi said,

“Young Master Yeon, if you’re doing this because of me…….”

“Didn’t you hear me? This isn’t because of you. Rather, you’re the victim. Because of that moronic bandit leader, you, my person, were harmed.”

Yeon Ho-jeong slightly lowered his head.

“I’m sorry.”

“……?!”

Muk Bi was slightly surprised to see Yeon Ho-jeong bowing his head. He had received this kind of apology from Yeon Ho-jeong a few times, but they weren’t close enough for him to bow his head for such a thing.

‘……?’

Muk Bi glanced around.

‘Ah.’

The warriors of the Mukryong Unit, as well as Jo Pil-do’s guards, were looking at Yeon Ho-jeong with shocked faces.

Muk Bi turned his gaze to Gang Ryang.

Gang Ryang, who was smiling slightly as if the situation was getting interesting, nodded.

Muk Bi cleared his throat.

“Hasn’t this happened a few times? Don’t bow your head so much. It’s becoming burdensome now.”

“Okay, I understand.”

Yeon Ho-jeong, who had raised his head, crossed his arms and looked at Jo Pil-do.

Jo Pil-do was trembling. The pain was severe, but he couldn’t even groan because of the growing fear.

Not only that. Yeon Ho-jeong’s aura was gradually encroaching on the entire restaurant. No one within this area could move rashly or open their mouths.

Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes sank.

After a while.

Whoosh!

A fierce energy rapidly approached the restaurant, which was completely dominated by a sharp pressure.

And finally, the one who revealed himself.

He was over fifty years old, but his height was the same as Yeon Ho-jeong’s, and his build was even larger than Yeon Ho-jeong’s.

Moreover, his whole body was muscular. However, he didn’t look clumsy. It was clear at a glance that he was the owner of an ideal physique.

A man with half-gray hair, imposing eyes, and a wooden sword hanging from his waist, all of which blended together surprisingly well.

It was the appearance of the contemporary Green Forest King, Homa [Tiger Demon] Jo Dong-guk.

“……!!”

As if he had already heard the story, Jo Dong-guk’s expression was as cold as ice.

“You’ve come.”

Yeon Ho-jeong’s calm voice added weight to this tense situation.

Jo Dong-guk looked around.

The warriors of the Mukryong Unit, his son’s guards, Muk Bi and Gang Ryang, and finally, his gaze turned to Jo Pil-do.

Jo Dong-guk’s eyes twitched.

‘Damn it.’

He couldn’t believe the current situation.

‘I told him that if he caused another accident, I would tear off his limbs and feed them to the dogs, and yet he caused such a huge accident?!’

Jo Dong-guk was always busy.

He wasn’t just a bandit king who received what his subordinates gave him.

Rather, as the king of the bandits, he was even busier. There were countless people trying to rise from below, and there were many more who were trying to skim off the intermediate tax payments.

Dealing with and managing those guys required a tremendous amount of mental energy. Moreover, in order to suppress them with force, he had to train every day without fail.

After completing all those schedules, he had less than an hour of personal time outside of sleep.

That was the life he had lived. He knew about his second son’s excessive behavior, but he had only called him in and lectured him a handful of times. He was too busy.

Still, he had given him warnings and tried to discipline him, but his son hadn’t changed.

And, honestly, he didn’t think his son’s behavior was that serious of a problem.

He was a bandit. If he were the son of the head of the entire group, he would have to have that kind of dignity, but it would be ridiculous to cut off his head for acting this recklessly.

However, since the world was changing, he had scolded him severely a couple of months ago, telling him to be careful. He had shouted that if he did that again, he would really kill him.

But he couldn’t stand it and caused an accident. Even inside the Mukryong Unit!

“Young Vice Chief.”

Jo Dong-guk, who had walked a few steps forward, clasped his hands in a respectful bow.

“I haven’t managed my son properly. But I didn’t know he would cause such a huge accident. I don’t know what to do.”

“Is that so?”

“I apologize like this. I’m ashamed because of my worthless son.”

“Apologies are not important.”

“……?”

“What’s important is whether it’s something that can be resolved with an apology or not. Isn’t that right?”

Jo Dong-guk’s face became even more stiff.

“What do you mean by that?”

“No matter how much I think about it, it doesn’t seem like the son of the head of the entire group would be so ignorant of how the world works and act so recklessly.”

“……?”

“Of course, there are many fools like that in the world. Worthless people who act recklessly without thinking, who have grown up so spoiled that they act as if they are princes, and who don’t have the brains to submit to a stronger power.”

“……What is the intention behind those words?”

“Is there even a need for an intention? If you just use your head a little, you’ll find the answer.”

Yeon Ho-jeong smiled coldly.

“If he’s the son of the head of the entire group who rules tens of thousands of Green Forest bandits, even if he grew up spoiled, he would have the brains to judge whether or not he should mess with someone. But this guy messed with my friend and even dared to call my position as the Young Vice Chief so carelessly.”

“Young Vice Chief, that is…….”

“Are you saying that this guy is really such a worthless fool? That can’t be. The Bandit King, who has achieved one of the most remarkable feats in history, wouldn’t have raised his son like that.”

“……!”

“Isn’t that right?”

Jo Dong-guk’s eyes wavered.

If he said, ‘As the Young Vice Chief said, he’s a worthless fool,’ he would completely lose face. He would become a fool who couldn’t even control his own son.

But he couldn’t say that it wasn’t true either. If he did, rumors would spread that his son had some intention of insulting the Young Vice Chief.

The rumor itself didn’t matter. The problem was that it could also backfire on him.

Jo Dong-guk lowered his head.

“I apologize to the Young Vice Chief. I heard that he had some upsetting things happen to him recently. He’s not the type to make such a mistake, so it seems he was very distraught.”

“Oh, so he’s not in his usual state?”

“If not, how could he dare to be so rude to the Young Vice Chief? Please, for my sake, forgive my son.”

It was very rare for the head of the Green Forest to bow his head and apologize like this.

Yeon Ho-jeong chuckled.

‘A slippery snake.’

He avoided saying that his son was a fool, and he also avoided saying that his son had no intention.

It was definitely not easy to use his head like that under this pressure. His martial arts were impressive, but the iron-faced cheek that knew when to bow down was the decisive factor in how Jo Dong-guk became the head of the entire group.

“I see how you became the Bandit King. Indeed, it’s a move worthy of the Green Forest King who has taken control of tens of thousands of Green Forest bandits.”

Jo Dong-guk lowered his head even further.

“I’m just embarrassed.”

He was confident even in the face of the word ‘maneuver.’ That was Jo Dong-guk.

Yeon Ho-jeong nodded and said,

“Still, I cannot forgive your son.”

“……Young Vice Chief.”

“This guy not only disrespected me but also harassed my friend.”

“That is, as I said…….”

“Decisively!”

Yeon Ho-jeong looked around and said,

“This foolish guy ruined the mealtime, which is the only happiness for the warriors who are always busy with training and work.”

“……!”

“More than three hundred people were harmed because of this one guy. Furthermore, just by hearing his title, I can tell that he doesn’t acknowledge me. He has no respect for the warriors, and he doesn’t acknowledge the Young Vice Chief of the Mukryong Unit. This can be interpreted as a challenge to the authority of the Mukryong Unit.”

Jo Dong-guk’s face turned slightly pale.

A strong majesty settled in Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes.

“Is there any reason why I should let this guy live?”

“…….”

“Could it be that you also feel the same way as your son?”

“Young Vice Chief.”

“I heard that your eldest son’s talent is great. Are you resentful that you couldn’t push your first son into the position of successor of the Mukryong Unit?”

Clang!

Jo Dong-guk drew his sword.

Everyone in the restaurant was shocked.

Yeon Ho-jeong’s eyes deepened.

“What does that mean?”

“Young Vice Chief.”

“Speak.”

“Can you really not forgive my son who has been rude to the Young Vice Chief?”

“I’ve said all I have to say.”

“Then.”

Jo Dong-guk’s eyes were filled with murderous intent.

“Let me cut him down.”