Chapter 166
Lee Kang-San was the hope of humanity. Most humans admired and cheered for him. He was their only World Ranker, and his presence alone could serve as a war deterrent. The Dark Humans refrained from crossing the final line because of him.
Because of this, most humans misunderstood that he was a righteous advocate of virtue. However, the first-generation Lost humans who lived in the same generation as him thought differently.
What is that crazy bastard up to now?
Why is the man who always kills first and asks questions later suddenly holding a meeting? It’d be more believable to hear that pigs could fly!
What is this goddamn hoarder about to take from us this time?
The first-generation humans stared at Kang-San with distrust, while those who only knew him by rumors stared at him with admiration.
Kang-San basked in their gazes and then said, “As you all know, Union and Faber have formed a strategic alliance. It could be called our greatest accomplishment in years.”
The humans nodded. The dwarves, an intermediate race, distributed items throughout the ecosystem, making them a crucial race in the Mirror World. If it weren’t for them, people would have to use Karma to open item cubes, the most expensive cube of them all, leading to a negative effect on upgrading stats.
“Faber has promised to mass supply the Union with items ranked F to E for three years,” Kang-San remarked.
Responses were divided; some nodded while others expressed disinterest. Most people in the hall did not use items ranked that low, but they were all too necessary for the human race at the moment.
Kang-San continued, “These items will be prioritized for the item rental business set up by the Union. The goal is to provide gear for every lamb.”
“I knew it. He negotiated with Faber for the lambs.”
“I’d expect nothing less from the number one.”
“Lee Kang-San! Lee Kang-San! Lee Kang-San!”
Cheers and applause filled the hall. Kang-San smiled and raised his hands like a conductor, and the applause died down.
“Of course, items ranked A to B are also included in the item register. The item supply of every dwarf city, including Ferrum, will be released to us,” he said.
“Wow!”
“For real?!”
“Then let’s go right now!”
The response was even more explosive this time. The dwarves were highly restrictive when it came to the sales of high-ranking items, reflecting their caution. There were several reasons, like controlling resource volume and cost stability, but the biggest reason was to prevent the items they made from being used against them.
This was why many Rankers gathered during the Ferrum Festival, because it was the only time the dwarves released items into the market without restrictions. If they understood Kang-San correctly, it meant that humans could buy items from dwarves as if it were always during the Ferrum Festival.
“Of course, these privileges are limited to humans. Additionally, one needs a certificate issued by the Union to take advantage of this privilege,” Kang-San added.
“A certificate?”
“Tsk, I knew it. He’s trying to single us South Earth humans out.”
“This is discrimination!”
The Dark Humans frowned. They believed that the Union would never issue Dark Humans a certificate that would allow them to purchase items.
Just then, a woman raised her hand and said, “I have a question, Tortoise Emperor.”
People turned to see who the brave human was. It was Sonya Gerhard, Clan Black Market’s item director.
She asked, “What are the conditions required to acquire this certificate?”
“To be a human, and not to sell the purchased item to other races. Of course, there will be limits to the number of items purchased per person,” Kang-San replied.
“Is that all? Does the same apply to the South Earth humans?”
The humans affiliated with the Union expressed displeasure at the Dark Humans, but Kang-San did not meet their expectations.
He said, “I believe I said the condition is to be a human. Are you saying the South Earth humans are not humans?”
“Hmm. Equal treatment, I see. I appreciate the difficult decision,” an elderly gentleman in a black suit slightly lifted his fedora to express his gratitude.
He was Don Carlos Giuseppe, the Godfather, the last head of the Sicilian Mafia on Earth, and the leader of Clan Loaners in the Mirror World. He was a dignified elderly gentleman, but was a Dark Human nonetheless.
Just then, a robust Asian man with four swords on his waist and six on his back shouted, “Tortoise Emperor! How could you do this?! You are the pillar of the Union. Why would you issue the same certificate to those goddamn loan sharks who care about nothing but money?”
He was Gao Weiguang, the Ten Heavenly Swords, the leader of Clan Seven Swords.
He spat, “Dark Humans are a cancer to our society! We cannot allow them the opportunity to arm themselves! They will use them to sell more drugs, extort Coins, and engage in murder!”
“Those are hurtful words, Ten Heavenly Swords. Do not put me on the same level as that brat El Chapo of Hard Drug, who sells filthy drugs.” Don Carlos smiled gently and continued, “We simply lend money and get it back with interest. We are no different from a bank. If the money isn’t paid, we partner with debtors.”
Don Carlos looked around and saw a few partners. Connections led to power.
“Do you understand? We do not kill for pleasure,” he declared. “Blood is like money; we don’t shed it for no reason. If my money is taken, their lives are taken as collateral until the day they pay it back.”
Don Carlos grabbed a Cuban nostalgia cigar from his suit’s breast pocket and bit it. A man who had been standing to his right like a statue suddenly cut the end of the cigar, and a man standing to his left lit the cigar.
“Fuuu, haaa. History has proven this to be a successful business model. I do business, not commit crimes. I heard you failed your recent dungeon excavation, Ten Heavenly Swords... Do not take your anger out on me,” he said.
As one, the Dark Humans shouted energetically in response.
“Kekekek! I couldn’t have said it any better!”
“Take the Don’s wise words to heart, dumbasses!”
“This is how money is made, you hobos!”
Weiguang’s expression crumpled, and his ten swords shook in their scabbards. The atmosphere froze, and anxiety filled the air. Just then, a water droplet was fired like a bullet from the podium, going through the end of Don Carlos’s cigar and putting it out.
People turned to the podium and saw Kang-San smiling like a thug and his D Weapon, Black Tortoise, with its mouth wide open on Kang-San’s shoulder.
“No smoking indoors. Let’s keep good manners, yeah? Manners maketh man. Don’t you know that quote? Shall I teach it to you?” Kang-San said.
“My... apologies,” Don Carlos replied as he placed what was left of the cigar back in his breast pocket.
Kang-San continued his explanation. “The supply will be released, but there aren’t many items ranked A to B in the first place, so they can easily be traced. If you were to kill anything other than the Chaos with them... Well, look forward to what will happen.”
Sounds of gulping echoed throughout the banquet hall.
That son of a bitch never goes back on his word.
It’s idiotic to go against the Tortoise Emperor.
I should keep my guys in check.
He should just stay on the frontlines where he belongs. Why does he even concern himself with the Capital?
Satisfied by the silence, Kang-San said, “Next...”
***
The Ranker meeting continued, mostly with Kang-San talking and the attendees listening in silence.
“Faber wishes to sign the mining contract they had with Humilitas, with us humans instead. Lambs who aren’t suited for battle and are unemployed will be sent to the mine village owned by Faber.”
“Tortoise Emperor. Please allow us at Clan Pickaxe to educate the lambs.”
“I will let Edu know so they can immediately add it to one of their regular courses. We also need to choose those who will become apprentices in the dwarf workshops,” Kang-San replied.
“Please allow us at Biwa Smithy to take part!”
“Clan Hammer has a B-rank artisan!”
Several opinions flew, energizing the meeting. Everyone nodded in satisfaction at the benefits gained by the alliance between the Union and Faber. However, their curiosity only grew as Kang-San continued to speak.
Isn’t this deal way too favorable to the Union?
Why is Faber showering us with such wonderful propositions?
Did Lee Kang-San fulfill the Steel King’s request or something?
I heard he defeated Hadafu, the leader of the rebellion. Is this a reward for that?
They wondered what the Union had done for Faber to give so much. This was an alliance, meaning it wouldn’t be established if only one side benefited.
“We also need a military alliance. Something like a friendly sparring exchange. It would be appreciated if one of the High Rankers could volunteer,” Kang-San said.
“I volunteer,” said a man as he raised his hand.
He was a large German man with black hair and blue eyes, wearing gold-rimmed glasses and a large Zweihander on his back. He was Gustav von Seyffer, the Sword Emperor, who had disregarded his D Weapon and skills, rising to the position of High Ranker with swordsmanship alone.
“Good. Allow me to say one last thing,” Kang-San said.
Those who discussed with one another for privileges simultaneously turned to Kang-San, realizing this would be the most important part of the meeting.
He remarked, “It is about the direction that we humans must take.”
The people murmured.
“Direction?”
“Is he talking about reclamation?”
“Is he already planning the reclamation of the fifth zone?”
Kang-San glanced at Seong-Hwi standing among the pioneering faction Rankers and thought, I will trust your card reading. Everything you have accomplished until now couldn’t have been just coincidences.
Seong-Hwi grinned once Kang-San looked at him.
Haha! What a confident junior!
Kang-San said, “From now on, humanity will form alliances with several intermediate and inferior races, building an unbreakable confederation that will not fall even against the superior races’ tyranny.”
The attendees expressed shock.
“The Sēmen can only protect us so much. We must protect ourselves.” Kang-San emitted a powerful aura. “We secured a future for our lambs just by allying with Faber. What if we make more alliances? We will no longer have to worry about extinction.”
Everyone stared at Kang-San with wide eyes. Even the reporters jotting down notes stopped writing.
“This goes against the mainstream, but so what? Humanity was never a mainstream race in the Mirror World in the first place. We won’t become anything if we continue to let ourselves be pushed around.” Kang-San’s eyes blazed ferociously as he said, “Now is the time to act. We will show them that even a worm will struggle if stepped on!”
Kang-San’s voice had the charm to influence people’s emotions. The humans’ expressions lightened up.
“I will name this confederation, Underground! We, who have been buried in the dirt, will rise. Let’s bask in the sunlight of the Mirror World’s center!”
The banquet hall exploded with Kang-San’s declaration. Cheers and screams of exhilaration, expressions of opposition, and indecipherable acrimonies intermixed to blaze like a red-hot blast furnace.
***
“Yeah, the Tortoise Emperor is right! We can’t let ourselves be treated like expendables anymore!”
“The superior races treat us like worms. They think it’s okay to trample us for their entertainment!”
“That may be so, but you want to go against them? It’s suicide!”
“Yeah, the Tortoise Emperor overstepped. Everyone knows what happens if you get on the superior races’ bad side.”
The banquet hall was split between those who agreed with Kang-San’s future direction for humanity and those who opposed. Although the hearts of the opposing humans agreed with Kang-San, their sense of reason furiously rang alarm bells.
Just then, a powerful vibration rang throughout the banquet hall, and people turned to its epicenter—a blond man with green eyes, appearing to be in his thirties. He wore a white vestment, a white mozzetta, and a silver necklace of the cross. He also wore a white zucchetto and held a gold cross staff. He was Lazarus, alias Pope.
“Your jokes go too far, Tortoise Emperor,” he said.
“Do you think I gathered everyone to joke around?” Kang-San asked.
“It is even worse if you are serious. You know better than I what kind of entities the superior races are,” Lazarus said with a hardened expression.
Kang-San smiled and remarked, “I sure do. They’re unrivaled pieces of shits.”
Laughs broke out from place to place, but a few humans expressed fear or discomfort.
“Not all humans are as powerful as you are. Most humans simply live to survive day by day,” Lazarus stated.
“So?”
“If we must form alliances, I believe it should be made not with inferior races, but superior ones. For example... The God of Heaven will embrace humans with his benevolence.”
Lazarus’s intentions were transparent. As the leader of the dependence faction, he always emphasized that they should leave humanity’s destiny to the superior races. Among them, Lazarus was most connected to the angels.
“Keh. Alliances are made with those in similar positions, but you suggest an alliance with angels? That’s no different from being colonized,” Kang-San said.
Most humans nodded.
Lazarus replied, “What’s so wrong about that? If we are guaranteed safety by becoming colonized, that in itself is another method of survival.”
“Hah! Did you seriously just ask what’s wrong with it?” Kang-San scoffed exasperatedly. “Are those words coming out of your mouth despite knowing what they have done to the birdfolk, their subordinate race? Are you saying that Pollon Nest collapsed on its own?”
Pollon Nest was razed to the ground by the hands of the archangel Gabriel. Countless birdfolk died, but the birdfolk couldn’t even complain.
“They... got what they deserved,” Lazarus stated.
“What about Uriel destroying the naga city, Superficies, without reason?”
“That’s...”
“There’s more. The God of Heaven, Creo, almost descended on Ferrum. Although it thankfully ended at just an indirect advent, that was enough for him to almost obliterate Ferrum.”
The murmurs throughout the banquet hall got louder after the release of information they had not known.
“You want to trust and depend on bastards like that? Are you insane? Does Clan Vatican wish to sell off the human race for just one season of safety, or even less?”
Lazarus remained silent, and his eyes quickly darted around to observe the reactions of those around him.
Kang-San scanned the hall and shouted, “Your oppositions don’t matter! The plans for Underground have already begun! I will make it happen, whether you like it or not.”
Although the members of factions other than the pioneering faction expressed displeasure, they knew that Lee Kang-San’s actions represented humanity’s actions. If his mind was set on something, the Union had no choice but to follow suit.
“Hmm... Has the Steel King agreed to that plan?” Bong-Seong asked.
Kang-San nodded and replied, “Of course. The dwarves are now on the angels’ bad side. They are also looking for other forces to ally with.”
Optimistic murmurs sounded from various areas of the hall.
“The Steel King did?”
“He’s an upper World Ranker. Not just that, but isn’t he known for his vast net of connections?”
“There might be some hope in this plan...”
“I know you are worried about whether the superior races will sit still and watch the confederation being made.” Kang-San smiled as he watched attendees nod in agreement. “The angels are in no condition to do such a thing. They’ve caused so many issues that they are under severe pressure from the Sēmen.”
Lazarus’s expression crumpled.
Kang-San revealed, “I’ve also developed an amicable relationship with the demons. Besides, they were never interested in the outer zones in the first place.”
The demons were divided into multiple factions and filled with Rankers who did whatever they liked, so they could never be united.
“The typical proud dragons will probably just laugh at the idea, and that’d be it. They’d rather focus on the war between Cadaver and Nivalis.”
The attendees nodded. It seemed a little too optimistic, but Kang-San wasn’t necessarily wrong.
He added, “Those apart from those three superior races may pick a fight with us, but I plan to claim the imperativeness of the Underground Confederation to the Sēmen directly.”
“To the Sēmen? They wouldn’t listen to the likes of us—”
“The Sēmen exists to maintain balance between all races of the Mirror World to exterminate the Chaos, our mutual enemy. The values of Underground align with those of the Sēmen.”
Kang-San had a point. Ostensibly or not, the Sēmen sought unison and balance between each race.
“If that happens...”
“It won’t be just a dream.”
“There are fewer human cities the closer we get to the center. If Underground’s name holds power even in the inner zones...”
The attendees finally began to think about the confederation seriously. Kang-San watched them as he petted Kang-Il on his shoulder while walking down from the podium and heading to his fellow pioneering faction Rankers.
Remy nodded and said, “The die has been cast.”
“Now, it comes down to whether it will be a one or a six,” Kang-San replied.
Seong-Hwi said from beside Remy, “If things go according to my expectations, the chances of it being a six are high. If we follow the trends well, that is.”
“The World Tree, huh?” Kang-San mumbled.
He couldn’t suppress his shock when Seong-Hwi had told him that Sefirot, the World Tree, had possibly gone out of control. He knew what kind of tree it was. If things transpired as Seong-Hwi said, humanity could earn immense profits.
Kang-San placed his hand on Seong-Hwi’s shoulder and said, “I’ve prepared the stage for you. Go on, Junior. I don’t have to act as your mic, do I?”
Seong-Hwi smirked as he shook his head and approached the podium.
***
The banquet hall was filled with loud murmurs. They either didn’t notice Seong-Hwi climbing up the podium or didn’t give him any attention.
“Gather the clansmen this instant!”
“We must develop an amicable relationship with the dwarves first, and...”
“Upload it to the Network!”
Seong-Hwi looked down at the attendees who treated him as if he were invisible.
This shows the extent of my current reputation, he thought.
Although he was all the rage among the humans as the Record Breaker, he was nothing but a firefly compared to Kang-San’s nuclear bomb-level announcement.
What should I do to engrave my presence in the minds of hundreds of people at once, with most of the Rankers being among them? It’s simple. It’s about time I showed them who I am.
A crimson energy filled Seong-Hwi’s eyes; it was his suppressed madness, filled with his goal-driven attitude. He exuded the caliber he had accumulated.
[Operating Wings of Evolution.]
[Twelve Wings.]
[Activating Trait: Thousand-Man Killer.]
[Activating Trait: Scorn for the Weak.]
[Activating Unique Skill: Borrowing Destiny.]
[Macedonia’s King of Conquerors]
Twelve wings sprouted from Seong-Hwi’s back like blades. His stats were amplified by a multiplier of 3.5, and the air suddenly grew heavy.
“What... in the...”
“Gasp!”
The attendees in the hall simultaneously looked to the podium and saw an Asian man with eyes blazing with crimson bloodlust like will-o'-the-wisps. They could feel a tyrannical aura from him, and the twelve wings behind him shone mystically like stained glass. On top of that, the Destiny Force, which only Seong-Hwi possessed, gave people a strange sense that he was no ordinary man.
The Dark Humans were the first to react to Seong-Hwi’s bloodlust.
“Hundred-Man Killer? No, such concentrated bloodlust has to be...”
“Kyahaha! Thousand-Man Killer! He’s crazy!”
“Ehehehe! You have my respect, pal! How did you kill that many humans?”
They exuded bloodlust in response to Seong-Hwi, stimulated by his madness, as if they felt a sense of belonging. The Dark Humans weren’t the only ones stimulated by Seong-Hwi’s aura.
“Hmm... What the hell is with him?”
“This aura, mana, caliber, and bloodlust... It’s as if...”
“A Semi Ranker? 143rd? What a load of horseshit. He could easily overpower the average Ranker. Perhaps even a High Ranker...”
“His aura is... like that of a conqueror.”
The expressions of a few High Rankers hardened, realizing that Seong-Hwi was by no means below them.
“Hahaha! It’s like seeing myself in my youth,” Kang-San laughed delightfully as he watched Seong-Hwi exuding his presence without restraint.
Bong-Seong clicked his tongue and remarked, “Here’s another one with hooligan tendencies.”
Don Carlos grabbed a cigar out of habit and ordered his subordinates, “Bring me all the information you can gather on him.”
Lazarus glared at Seong-Hwi furiously and mumbled, “So, that’s Cheon Seong-Hwi! The one who destroyed the statue of the God of Heaven!”
“He’s grown so much stronger already. He’ll catch up to me if I dilly-dally,” Yuki said with a faint smile.
Weiguang stared at Seong-Hwi with a stiff expression, and Nicholas’s right head stared at Seong-Hwi like a boy in love. Nino clenched his fists, and Gustav was listening to the whispers of the red-haired Frank.
The aura filling the banquet hall vanished instantly, displaying Seong-Hwi’s complete control over his powers.
I should be at around ninety percent of my prime. No, perhaps a little higher, he thought as he expressed satisfaction about his heightened caliber.
He enjoyed all the focus placed on him and remarked, “My apologies. I’m a bit of an attention seeker.”
The attendees remained silent.
“It was a joke. Was it not funny?” Seong-Hwi said.
A few members of the pioneering faction, Yuki, Sonya, Seo-Yeon, Douglas, Frank, and others who knew Seong-Hwi, snickered, but the rest continued to have stiff expressions.
“I have come up here today to offer you all a proposal. No, I suppose it’s more accurate to call it a sales pitch,” Seong-Hwi announced.
“Are you a peddler or something, damn daredevil?” Bong-Seong said with a frown.
Seong-Hwi smiled and answered, “You can’t choose the merchandise. After all, there’s only one item, which is... an admission ticket to Subterra.”
Every attendee expressed shock. A statement on par with Kang-San’s announcement spread throughout the hall.
Seong-Hwi smiled widely and continued, “Since we are fellow humans, I will give you all a discount. No negotiations, and only for one week.”